Daily Internet Rituals
stolen from Sophia.
Wherein I tell you my favourite haunts on the Interwebs, regardless of whether you wanted to know in the first place.
1. ONTD_twatlight.
Currently, this Livejournal community is my biggest time waster on the Web. It's a community that's devoted to mocking and bagging the hell out of the most craptastic book since the time of A.D. The book is called Twilight, the community is _twatlight and the members are lovingly called twatfaxers. It's basically one big inside joke and it brings the LOLs in massive amounts. It's great to be part of a community that have little baggage and awesome personalities. And gosh, the inside jokes... I now smirk at the mention of the weather, maize, bacon, duct tape, sous vide, umbrellas, Chris Hansen and a zillion other innocuous things. This site has also completely won me over the prettiness of Robert Pattinson, whom I pic-spammed about two posts ago.
2. ONTD.
ONTD is the best gossip site in existence. It's just a fact. There's no draggy add-on life story like PinkIsTheNewBlog, and neither does it promote inbred-neanderthalness as exhibited on PerezHilton.com. Because all the contents are user generated, you get celebrity news from members who come from all over the world. Add to that magazine scans, newspaper articles, and industry insight, it adds up to a really comprehensive coverage of news from the celebrity realm, all for your easy access from one site! If you google "best communities on Livejournal", this site is the first one on the list. Yes, seriously.
3. Pajiba and by association, Webster's Is My Bitch.
Pajiba is my favourite and most trusted movie review website ever. The reviews are usually spot on, the comments very clever and the snark and wit invokes the essence of Television Without Pity, but without the excessive bitchiness. Webster's is a subdivision of Pajiba, or more accurately the gossip arm of the parent company. I really like the format they use in presenting posts, where they utilize a word or phrase and explain the meaning as well as attach it to the celebrity gossip. See for example, the explanation for the word worthless, and the phrase, I've made a huge mistake.
4. AV Club.
The AV Club deals with all things pop culture-related. Music, TV, movies, art... their articles are well-written and covers a very diverse range of topics. The only thing that shits me up the wall about the site are the commenters. Commenters on pop culture sites as a whole, are generally predisposed to having an inflated sense of self-worth that often translates to bitchiness and wit that run the gamut from genuinely funny to bucketloads of fail. Go ahead, ask me how I know this. For whatever reason, the AV Club seems to be the proverbial trailer park for the trailer trash of the commenting world. Although to be fair, their trashniess doesn't even come close to the commenters found at IMDb.
5.. Gala Darling, Fashion is Spinach and Fops and Dandies.
I've put these three blogs together because they mostly talk about the same subject, fashion and to a lesser extent, lifestyle issues.
6. All the links on both my blogs and my Livejournal friends-list, which is basically made up of communities and Sophia.
I might not always comment, but please know that I'm lurking in the corner watching every post you make. Wow, I sound about as lame-stalker as that reads.
7. Quaintly.net.
I don't remember how I stumbled across this blog, but ever since, there's been no regret and constant lurker action. Su Ann is a really intelligent girl who writes like a dream. She describes her feelings very succinctly without relying on flowery prose and the impact is that much more overwhelming because of the underwhelming way it's been conveyed. Does that make sense? Probably not. Just know that she is very, very ridiculously articulate and her command as well as usage of the language makes for a fantastic read.
8. Karen Cheng.
Look Sophia, I read her too! I'm not usually a big fan of 'mommy-bloggers' because most of the time, I'm not nearly as fascinated as they are about their self-described cute kids who also most of the time, are about as cute as a new born pug, which is to say, not very cute. At all. Holy run-on sentence, Batman! (I really need to stop doing that). Anyway, Karen bucks the trend, not simply because we share the same first name, or because she's got two very adorable sons, but because she conveys the ups and downs of being a stay-at-home mum with lots of grace and dignity. Often times we get hints of her frustration, but there's always an awareness of her good fortunes with the life she's chosen.
That concludes the top 8 sites I frequent everyday. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I don't go to news sites much, but I read the paper and watch the 6.30 pm SBS World news, which for me, is sufficient consumption of daily news.
Number 9 and 10 shouldn't technically be included because they've both shut down and stop producing new material, but back when they did, I was a constant visitor to the sites. Even now, I troll the archives re-reading the articles. Please know that if I had my way, they wouldn't have stopped and instead lived forever, thus making themselves number #1 and #2 respectively on this list.
The would-have-been number #1 but now is number #9: Stylus.
Stylus was this beautiful slice of perfection when it came to news reporting from the realm of popular culture. There was the obligatory coverage of movies and music, but what sold it best was the diverse topics Stylus wasn't afraid to cover. Unlike one certain music website that is all about the hipster wankery music -rolls eyes-, Stylus didn't shun popular music and often wrote really introspective articles of the state of pop. The movies reviewed covered art house flicks, cult movies, foreign films and big Hollywood blockbusters. Discussions were passionate but never rude. And the Staff Top 10 lists as well as features, were always an excellent read. It's a shame this site had to die for I have yet to find an equal to it.
Would-have-been number #2 but now, number #10: Fametracker.
Fametracker was the absolute shiznit when it came to talking about celebrities. I believe it's from the same people/company who brought you Television without Pity, so there was the inbuilt snark from the get go. Their 'Hey! It's That Guy!' feature covers the plethora of actors who you often find yourself saying, "Hey! It's that guy from _____". To put it simply, the site was complete and utter brilliance.
When I am really, really, really bored and am looking to waste more time on the Internet, I go to eBay and Flickr. I also stalk famous people on the Internet, namely James Gunn's MySpace blog, Jason Mraz's blog and the people who run and work or created College Humor.com. Well, I did say "waste more time" and I never do a half-assed job if I can help it. I also go to Cracked for the occasional laughs. Oh, and Nintendo 8 to play old-school Mario and Galaga.
I suppose it's easier to say that the Internet becomes a free for all when I'm looking to kill time.
Sites that I loathe
1. Perez Hilton
Ugh. The shameless self-promotion, the childish picture scrawling, the irrepressible need to plaster his goddamn ugly mug on every third post.. How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways. I honestly lose respect for people when they say they frequent this site. True fact. I overheard this one girl in my tute talking about it in a tone that wasn't derogatory and we never became friends. I don't think it's my loss.
2. TwoP
I used to go to TwoP a lot but the insane amounts of fanwank got to me after a while. Look, the third season of Veronica Mars sucks. It really does. Accept it and deal with it. No amount of explanation or fanwankery will make others see otherwise. Fuck, season 2 wasn't even all that great. Blame CW all you want, but ultimately Rob Thomas CHOSE to subvert the formula that make Season 1 such a critical success. He chose to end season 3 without a proper ending knowing full well, that there was a very big chance the show won't be coming back. Get over it or I'll sick the wahhhmbulance on you.
/end rant.
Honestly, I still frequent the Mondo Extras bit. It's content that would have ended up on Fametracker anyway.
3. IMDb
Ditto for IMDb. It's very hard trying to present an articulate argument because whatever you say, asswipes are just going to come back with a "If you don't like it, get the fuck off the boards" type comment. And regardless of how you tell them you're just trying to have a discussion, they call you a troll and the whole boards deteriorate into a name-calling session. Goddamn wankers. These days I get my information off Wikipedia. It's a lot easier and makes me less prone to stabbing people with a blunt fork.
4. Pitchfork
I sincerely want to smack every self-congratulatory bastard on this site for their self-deluded thoughts on being music maestros of the music universe just because they frequent this oh-so-exclusive website. Wake up and smell the green grass, because there's so much more to music than Indie Rock. You're so much worse than those 14 year old die hard My Chemical Romance fans, because they at the very least, do not have age and experience on their side. Fuck you for giving the genre a bad name with your self-wankery.
This post ended up a lot longer than I expected. Sorry, Sophia! And as a treat for reading all that, here is a great interview by Complex magazine with both James McAvoy and Common for the upcoming movie, Wanted. Yes, that's the actor from Scotland and rapper from USA. It's a bizarre match but both of them seem to have a good rapport and the interview is a fun read. Here's a snippet:Common: ...I was just excited to work with James. I seen James in Last King of Scotland, I’m one of them people like, if I see somebody and I think they got something, I become a fan and follow they stuff. So when I seen James, after that, what was that movie you did with “ten?”
James McAvoy: Starter for 10? I can’t believe you watched that.
Common: [Laughs.] I wanted to see that just because I liked James. So I was excited to work with him. Going back to the whole classical training, whatever he was bringing was just right, and he’s like that in every movie I seen him do.
James McAvoy: Thank you, man.
Part 1.
Part 2.
via, where else, the fabulous ONTD.
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