It is insanely cheesy, it is insanely clever, it is insanely part of pop-culture! The Snuggie will be sure to warm you up at anything your heart desires.

Oh holy art thou Monk-looking robes coming in the three most beautiful colors any one eye desires –burgundy, royal blue, or sage green! You will match anything, and bring medieval in with style!

Seriously people! Blankets? I mean, they are “okay.” BUT! They can slip and slide, and to top it off your hands are trapped inside. =(

To resolve the issue at hand, and to help lower the cost of heating up your house, you can just buy an affordable and trendy monk robe and show the economy just who is the boss! To top that off, it is “super soft” and “luxurious fleece.”

It is the cult of the Snuggie taking over America that we need to look out for, not terrorist. The parodys are almost too much to bear.

Snuggies went on sale in August, began TV advertising in October and started shipping to retailers in December. Already, 4 million have been sold.

Did you know that Snuggie drinking games are sweeping colleges? Students take a swig every time a Snuggie ad airs after midnight. Oh the joys!

This is just stupid.

?????

All of my Facebook friends and enemies have been jumping on the “25-things” bandwagon, where you write a note listing 25 things about yourself and tag your friends to make them do the same. Instead of tagging anyone, I’m going to do it here; I don’t have the mental capacity to maintain more than one blog at the same time.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(to do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, past these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. I drank my coffee black for the longest time (no sugar/sweetener/cream), and I’m starting to prefer a couple of packets of Splenda nowadays. It makes the coffee easier to drink if it gets cold.

2.  My wife and I will not have a kid until we have a high enough steady income to hire a babysitter when we want to go to the movies or out to eat.

3. When I was in college, I made a list of things I could put off until later rather than a list of things to do.

4. I like sushi, but I am not a pseudo-snob about it. I can distinguish between good sushi and bad sushi, and in my opinion, there is more good than bad in Baton Rouge.

5. I don’t think there exists an American or British TV show that requires someone to be intelligent to understand or laugh at it. If it’s not funny, it’s not funny.

6. I have around 350 Facebook friends. I absolutely cannot stand at least 100 of them. I often wonder if that makes me a bad person.

7. One of my dreams is to have a pet lion or tiger that’s completely docile, hangs out around the house and likes to go on walks around the neighborhood.

8. I was a creative writing major at LSU, and I found myself hating most English majors. You just can’t teach talent.

9. Nothing irks me more than to hear one Christian of a certain denomination tell another Christian of a different denomination that he or she is going to Hell for not being a certain denomination.

10. I don’t like when people constantly call themselves opinionated, assertive, or offensive. Just make your point and keep moving. You don’t have to warn us about your personality; we’ll figure it out quickly.

11.  I can name 50 of my favorite movies, and only two of them were ever nominated for Best Picture.

12. Most of my favorite songs aren’t on the radio, (except maybe 98.1) but you’ve probably at least heard of the band.

13. When we have a baby, I have to give up one of two rooms in the house: My elaborately decorated, classy home office/music room, or the dog room, where the dogs stay during the day so that they don’t piss on the couch or chew up anything. I honestly don’t know which to choose.

14. My superpower wish list is, in order: The ability to stop time; invincibility; the ability to learn anything in an instant; the ability to go back in time; telekinesis; the ability to fly; the ability to go forward in time.

15. I’m afraid of getting old.

16. I’m afraid of failing at anything, including video games. I have put off fighting the end boss for the Wii game “No More Heroes” for the last two weeks out of fear of having to fight her more than once.

17. I feel bad for journalism majors at LSU, especially those who made the fatal mistake of working for Tiger Weekly and other not-the-Reveille publications.

18. After exercising, I feel great. My days are most productive if I wake up early. My stress level reduces tremendously if I get household chores out of the way before doing anything else. I love a clean car, inside and out. And I never do any of these things.

19. I am an OTer on Tigerdroppings.com. They wouldn’t approve of this blog post, but if I listened to everything they suggested, I’d be having anal sex with everyone who even slightly upset me.

20. Stories like this do not make me hopeful for this city.

21. I really have to fight the urge to correct signs that use an apostrophe-s to pluralize words.

22. I am a member of a Yorkshire terrier online forum. I’ve made 37 posts.

23. I have a prissy dog, and I love to show him off.

24. I feel really proud of myself when I complete a Guitar Hero song on “Hard.”

25. Most of these are about things I dislike. Should I be worried?

Sorry I haven’t blogged recently. I spent Friday and Saturday visiting my grandmother in the hospital and hospice care. We lost her on Sunday night, and the wake was Monday, the funeral Tuesday.

I don’t have a lot of experience with losing loved ones. I’ve lost some aunts, uncles, and a cousin in the past, but nothing hit me worse than in 1999 when I lost my grandfather.  Now, he and Grandma get to be together again. It’s hard to believe that the “second parents” who lived next door and spoiled me for 14-15 years aren’t here anymore.

Maybe I’m one of the few in my family who doesn’t feel the need to hide emotions, or maybe I took it the hardest. Most of her family and friends were at the wake and funeral to celebrate her life, but maybe my grief is carried by guilt for not visiting her as often as I know I should’ve in the last few years. I guess there’s no point in dwelling on it now, and knowing her, she wouldn’t want me to.

She left three sons, one daughter, 13 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. She was 85 years old and lived a long, eventful life surrounded by people who loved her. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body. She loved every person who visited her like family and treated everyone as if they could do no wrong. A lot of people didn’t deserve the kind of unconditional compassion she gave.

If you believe in an afterlife, you have to believe that she’s doing something amazing there right now. I’ll miss her.

Found this one among old photos. That's me in purple. My brother Jeremy to the left, my brother Chris on the right, then my cousin Danielle and my brother Brandon. The old folks in the back are Grandma (who died Sunday) and Pappy (who died in '99)

Grandma and my dad dancing at my wedding in July '08.

By George Monson

This past Saturday (January 24) I got to experience art in many different forms at the “Nothing is Sacred� show that went down at Spanish Moon.

For everyone who wasn’t there, shame. However, you’re lucky because there was a high attendance for this event – one everyone could be pleased with.

Everyone performing at this show was a first for me.

The Real Steven started and ended the show, spinning what my friend Sarah and I dubbed as being “indie house.� His main job for the night, it seemed, was to set the mood and keep the mood. The mood of the show was very mellow, indie, fun, creative, inspiring, emotional, tender, touching, warm, and ardent.

This night was a first for Lisa Haefner, being her first art show. And hopefully it will not be her last. Her art consisted of self portraits proclaiming her virtue and blame.

Field Day took the stage first and gave me something different than what I expected. Every element to Field Day had its own personal way of fitting into the music and creating a blend that brought energy and goosebumps to my body. The best part of the set was guest vocalist Zuly. This was vocals with soul.

Please do not miss Field Day’s show on February 10 at Red Star. Just go and check out what I am talking about. Obviously, Field Day will not give you a dance party; however, if you appreciate music and/or are interested in hearing something you’re not used to then you should definitely come out.

Cindy Davis aired her self-narrated independent film with Lisa Haefner and Andrew Callaway (Piano/lead vocals of Field Day) performing a sweet interlude to drive the emotion out from what Davis was trying to convey.

Shortly after, Cohen and the Ghost took the stage and brought about their usual high-spirited attitude to the stage. Playing an 11 song set, their time was not wasted nor was the crowd in eager pursuit of every song.

When doing the review on this show I sit in my room and talk to Davis, Haefner, Callaway, and friends in Cohen and the Ghost on the phone and just get their feel and opinion about what is to be expected and get a tiny piece of their emotions behind the artwork. Physically going to the show, and personally seeing the hard work that each individual put into making this show a success is a great feeling.

There is obviously a positive outlook for everyone involved Saturday night. Being Davis’ third art show. Haefner’s first art show, she is headed in the right direction. One of Field Day’s first shows together performing a new feel from in the past, something more real to them. Cohen and the Ghost always bringing down the house with their originality. And The Real Steven spinning something new, bold, and creative.

In sum: A successful night for all.

*Photo credit to Lisa Haefner and Sarah Schaff

Karaoke is a tool. It’s the one source of entertainment that occurs when no other ideas come to mind. And the greatness of it all is that everyone looks like an idiot.

You have your typical, normal group of friends who think it would be funny to do a particular song –let’s say N’SYNC or Love Shack. To them, everything is so funny and yet such an inside joke to the rest of us. So we smile politely while you act like such a bad-ass to your friends for singing the cheese song, but really we just don’t get it and don’t care to. (Unless, of course, you are the lonely depressed type that wishes you had friends. Then by all means, look deep into the insideness of the inside joke and try your hardest to make sense of its meaning).

You have your random drunkard singing the most annoying songs that NO ONE LIKES. It really wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t make the whole place feel so awkward in your presence. Instead of being able to enjoy your crappy song we struggle to even look at you because at first eye glance you give us those ever-so-sweet creepy eyes that are not only begging for attention but are begging for your lovin’. Errrm. . .

If you can actually sing then what are you doing singing karaoke? Seriously, are you just trying to rub into our faces that you are the king at karaoke? I mean, the rest of us don’t mind listening to your perfectly tuned melody; however, when it is our turn to sing we feel like we have to live up to a legend. Let’s put this into perspective quickly, it’s like Celine Dion opening up for Vanilla Ice, V-illa will never compare to Celine just like you oh so pretentious bringing down the house.

And finally there are the outsiders/spectators. The ones that will rarely, if ever, perform karaoke. The cute ones, that everyone loves, is the romantic karaokes that include lover boy singing Air Supply for the girl of his dreams. Or birthday drunk-as-all-hell girl singing “Spice up your Life.”

Whoever you are, and whatever karaoke bar you go to, just make sure it’s done in style. You will fit into one of these categories and you will be made fun of for standing up there. But, for the simple fact that your balls are big enough to be up there makes me want to raise my glass and present a toast to you, except I’m the outsider who always says “gosh, karaoke is so lame. I hate this!” (And secretly, it amazes me).

TEAMWORK

Chris Curran, Dan Roth, Joey Helnarski, Tom Finne, and Kieran McCoobery team up to form the Teamwork. And what a surprising dose of synth rock action they pack into your speakers.

Check Teamwork out @ . Here you can listen to their upcoming EP titled “Play or Get Played.”

Despite whatever beliefs I may have, I found this funny.

It’s interesting how ridiculous both sides have acted throughout the whole election ordeal.  One side wants to leave the country, and the other side is under the impression that the entire country unanimously voted for President Obama. Both sides are stupid, and I find that I’m a much happier person by comparison simply because I don’t care who gets/got elected. I’m just not a political person.  But I did vote; I won’t deny that.

Just imagine how much you could accomplish in your day if you weren’t cursed with the burden of having an opinion.  I’ve considered trying out the technique from the movie “Yes Man,” where I would have to agree to any proposition presented to me — though, that would mean starting my day by taking the worst driving route my TomTom can think of, adding to my breakfast every 50-cent powder offered by Smoothie King, spend my day at work doing the usual stuff but with more a I’m-your-bitch flavor, and cap the evening as my wife’s live-in slave.

In all seriousness, I should start saying yes to myself more often, as well as the miniature red self with horns.

I’m going to post the news story from CNN.

(CNN) — The estranged brother-in-law of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson entered a not guilty plea in a Chicago, Illinois, courtroom Tuesday to charges he killed Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew.
Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew were killed in October. Her brother-in-law is accused in the deaths.

Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew were killed in October. Her brother-in-law is accused in the deaths.

The judge who had been assigned to hear the case against William Balfour, 27, was replaced Tuesday at the request of prosecutors, according to defense lawyer Joshua Kutnick.

The replacement, Cook County Judge Marjorie Laws, who was given the case Tuesday morning, was not available for the hearing, so Kutnick’s request that his client be moved from a state prison to the Cook County Jail was reset for a hearing next week, Kutnick said.

Balfour, indicted in December on three counts of murder, has been held in the Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet since soon after his arrest in early December. Kutnick said the distance makes it hard for him to consult with his client.

Balfour remained silent during his short hearing Tuesday, which was heard by Judge Lawrence Flood, filling in for Laws.

Kutnick entered the formal not guilty plea for Balfour.

Kutnick said he did not know why prosecutors wanted Judge Evelyn Clay removed from the case, but he said they had the right to demand it.

Balfour was detained for questioning on October 24, the day Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother Jason Hudson, 27, were found shot to death. Authorities said at the time that they were holding Balfour for an unspecified parole violation.

Prosecutors have portrayed Balfour as a jealous man who murdered three people in rage at the thought that his ex-wife had a boyfriend.

Balfour is the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, and the stepfather of one of the victims, 7-year-old Julian King. He has also been charged with one count of home invasion.

He denies the charges, and his lawyer told the court in December that there was no forensic evidence linking him to the killings.

Hudson won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Effie in the film version of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls.” She competed on the third season of the singing competition “American Idol” in 2004, becoming one of the top seven contestants before being eliminated from the contest.

Hudson has not performed in public since the deaths, but the NFL announced last week that she will perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl next month.

So, ever since I had the disposable income to spend on restaurant food, I’ve been on a quest to find the best pizza Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas have to offer. I had tried quite a few places, thinking I had found a good cluster of ideal pizza choices thus ending my quest. In fact, I’ll give you a list of all the BR pizza I’ve tried, in no particular ranking order so as to not offend hard-working managers and restaurant owners:

Papa John’s
Pizza Hut
Dominoes
Rotolo’s
Mellow Mushroom
Ghattis
Deangelos
CiCis
Sicily’s
Reginelli’s
Olive Garden
Kona Grill
Carraba’s
Louisiana Pizza Kitchen
Fleur De Lis
Papa Murphy’s

And among those, I had a couple of favorites — until I tried Fox’s Pizza Den in Central (yes, I’m aware of the other locations now). Call me a pizza noob for never trying this, or just call me a culinary retard for liking it so much, but my friends, I think my Baton Rouge search is over — or is it? I’ve been told to try NY Pizza Company and Rosa’s, and I most certainly will. Never mind that I’ve been on a diet for the last three months and have lost 30 pounds. I’d gain it all back for good pizza.

It took me a year to try the place because first, I didn’t live in Central again until July; second, when I passed by the place six months ago, I saw a family bringing in their 9 kids and had instantly written it off as another buffet or mediocre take-out at best; third, when I tried to call and place an order a while back, the order-taker was rude, sounded like he was in a hurry, told me it was an hour wait, and disconnected me when he placed me on hold. So I said fuck it.

After many recommendations, however, I decided to give it another chance.  It’s not a buffet, but I understand the flock of kids (it’s a family pizza place). It’s difficult to describe how flavorful the crust and sauce is, so I’ll just let you try it yourself.

Now, I don’t want to discount the other fine pizza establishments in Baton Rouge. There are quite a few places to get a decent pie, and when I lived closer to campus, I was very much addicted to one certain place.

But now, I have found a place that serves, in my humble fat bastard opinion, the best pizza in Baton Rouge. Granted, I’ve never been to Italy or New York, so I don’t have anything else to compare it to, but I’m not pretentious when it comes to food. If it’s good, it’s good. I don’t care what city it’s from.

Given that, I am open to suggestions. Although, this so-called best pizza in Baton Rouge I speak of is literally 2 minutes from my house, so any other suggestions better be damn good.

It’s official, Obama is now a maker of history.

I applaud thee newly inaugurated president Barack Obama.

Today Barack Obama was sworn into the office of Presidency; being an African American, Obama made history.

His tone was a medium mixture of Joy and Melancholy. Joy for his newly elected position and being a man of history; melancholy, ripping the crutches away and healing a nation the right way, opposed to a quick fix solution.

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America,” announced Obama in his speech. ”

“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given, it must be earned.” To do that, he said, America must dismiss the cynical, resist the easy but futile fix, “reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

I shed a tear. However, I couldn’t figure out if this tear was about the fact that I feel so strongly about Obama, or one in the joy of watching Bush climb aboard the Helicopter and fly away from the mess he has created.

Obama is a powerful man, and with an audience of high hopes, we shall witness a president that will not only bring about a change but a lasting impression.

“Yes we can. . . Yes we will.” ~Barack Obama