bootlace, bootleg, bootless, bootlick, bootneck?

Song: "Handle Me" by Robyn
Problem: Potential racial slur
Feelings: Mixed

In the song there is a hard to understand line, that to my ears sounded like "Boot-necked, Hispanic creep." I like to think of myself as being hip with all of the new slang, but boot-necked, was not an expression I was familiar with, which is why I wasn't sure that it was a racial slur. To my knowledge "Hispanic" isn't a slur, and "creep" while not a nice thing to say, doesn't typically apply to one group of people more than another. But for all I knew the combination of innocuous words like Hispanic and creep could become a fatal (and very rude) slur.

After searching urbandictionary.com I found out that boot-necked is an actual thing and it is: Royal Marine (British Special Forces). Known to each other as "Royal" but the rest of the British Forces know them as boot necks. This nickname is derived from them cutting the top from a leather boot and wearing it like a modern neck brace to stop sailors cutting their throat while they guarded officers on board British sailing ships in the days of old. This certainly doesn't have anything to do with Hispanic people.

Finally I caved and searched the various websites that have song lyrics on them. I put it off for a while because they are usually very unreliable. According to three such websites, the line is "Boot licking Nazi creep." In my defense, they blur the Nazi part because apparently you can't sing about fascists without being censored by fascists.


Song: "Handle Me" by Robyn
Problem: Censorship
Feelings: Mixed

the moment i've been waiting for

I've done some pretty exciting things in my life. I've seen great concerts, outstanding comedians, and even been known to stay home alone on a Friday night and watch Foyle's War in bed all night. It's a very glamorous life. However, the greatest night of my life is swiftly approaching and I didn't even know it until yesterday. On May 1st, 2009 one of my life goals will have been accomplished. I will be attending a Sound of Music sing-along at the Palace Theater in Albany, NY. You might wonder, Eileen, who is possibly qualified to host such a magical night? Well, I would tell you that the event is being hosted by Charmian Carr (Liesl von Trapp). You might ask, What actually happens at a Sound of Music sing-along? Where to begin? There will be costume contests, Julie Andrews look-a-likes, goodie bags, and I can finally watch a movie where it is ENCOURAGED that you shout at the screen and sing along with the songs. It will be heaven. To quote the Palace Theater website "the first rule of Sing-Along is THERE ARE NO RULES!" That's right buddy. Julie Andrews look-a-likes, goodie bags, singing, no rules.

not to sound petty but

...Eve 6's highest charting song was "Inside Out", which peaked at number 11 in 1998 on the Top 40. Third Eye Blind had two songs that reached number 1 on the Top 40, "Semi-charmed Life" and "Jumper" in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

I forget, did Third Eye Blind break-up, get back together with only two of the original three members, and only manage to write 2 new songs in 8 years?

Enough said.

In your face!

This weekend I will be reliving middle school. I know, I know. For young people across America, middle school is, was, and ever shall be the most uncomfortable period of an adolescent's life. Why would I want to relive such a time? Well, I will be reliving the good times that I had in middle school (which you were not there for, as we were in the midst of our friendship break) when I see Eve 6 on Saturday. They are playing for free, but I would be willing to pay up to $7 to see them perform.

Try to control your jealousy, and feel free to rub it in my face when Third Eye Blind plays at the Tulip Fest. Also, please note that I am including a photo with this post because I feel the need to compete with your giant Smartee pictures.

re: snack du jour

A comparative shot--a giant Smartie and a quarter. I told you they were big!

Snack du jour!

On my facebook profile, under interests it states: Real life things in miniature. As luck would have it, the reverse is also true. I really enjoy things that are normally small in gigantic sizes. So I was really excited to see GIANT Smarties in the Campus "Grocery" Store. I am not sure if this is true at your institution of higher learning, but at our campus store we will randomly have candy that used to be really popular and isn't anymore. I imagine a backroom stashed to the top with beloved candy from the 90's that no one really wants anymore and they'll periodically stock some of these items in front, and I usually buy them in bulk and then I'll never see them again. I played this ridiculous game with Sixlets all last semester. While I feel like Smarties have remained relatively popular (they are frequently found in the jumbo variety bags of candy)--but I think we can all agree that giant Smarties had a limited run back in the day. Needless to say I am more than happy to welcome them back into my life, even if it's only for a short while. I realize that it's hard to tell from the picture above that they are giant Smarties because there isn't really anything to compare it too--they could be in a small dish. But trust me friend, they are giant Smarties. I know this because when I Google imaged searched "Giant Smarties" this is what came up, and Google wouldn't lie to a gal like that.

Sticking It to the Man

This is ridiculous. It's been almost a month since our (your) last post. I think I'm too busy reading blogs to be able to write one.

Anyway, this month's post is about how to deal with your nasty bank policies. I would like to use stronger language than "nasty," but lets try and keep this a family friendly blog. Once upon a time, I bought some books on Amazon (which I would not now do for this completely unrelated reason). For over drafting my account by about $20 I ended up getting hit with over $100 in overdraft fees. When I called my friendly bankers they basically told me to fuck off. So I filed a complaint at the OCC's website, and eventually got a $105 refund from my bank. Even though, after additional charges, I'm still out about $60, I feel like I took on The Man and kicked ass. Anyone who gets screwed with overdraft fees should feel free to do the same.

I guess this blog is no longer family friendly. Oops.