Trevor: The Mentos Intern

Have you hear about Trevor the Mentos Intern?

You can watch him at work all day on his webcam. You can assign him tasks to complete. You can chat with other Trevor-watchers on the little live IM tool. I am totally fascinated. I may never do work again. What a brilliant marketing idea.

Waiting for HaPot...

Due to popular (well, Nancy Drew's) demand. Here are pictures from the Denver celebration. The Tattered Cover was crowded but not as crowded as we feared. Mame braved the lines and brought back some much needed caffeine and we caught up on our celebrity gossip while we waited. There were some great costumes- especially the Umbridge ones. There were also some schoolgirl costumes (the ones at Hogwarts probably aren't that short) and a pair of girls with Mrs. Fred Weasley and Mrs. George Weasley t-shirts. The line moved really quickly and we probably got our books less than 5 minutes after midnight. We were lucky and stood in the voucher line so no one had to stop and pay. It reminds me a little bit of that Visa commercial where everything runs very smoothly and quickly until someone tries to pay cash.

I also enjoyed the book. It was much tighter than the earlier books and I wonder how they are going to adapt it for the movie. I wonder if there will ever be another phenomenon like this again. Before this, who could imagine that we would be lining up at midnight for BOOKS! In full disclosure, I did go to the midnight showing of Star Wars I. Some friends slept out for tickets so I sat in line around 7 or 8pm with a few other people and then ran in to save a block of seats. The book was worth it. The movie was not.

HP and the Deathly Hallows: Reviews and Party Updates

Well, the Harry Potter party I went to here in the 'Burg was a little crazy - many screaming adolescents crammed into our little college bookshop. But it was fun. The kids were dressed up and in high spirits. Sadly, none of my pals here are big Potter fans, so I went to buy the book alone. Everyone thought it was quite funny that I left our carousing at a downtown bar to go buy Harry Potter. They just don't understand.

Sounds like the shindig in Denver was great fun, but I'll let Mame, Ramona and Suzaaku report on that.

I enjoyed the book even more than I expected. I thought Rowling did a great job of wrapping up the many loose plot lines that had been developed over the years. It was a pretty intense read - really not many slow points and my heart was racing many times. I'll try to avoid blatant spoilers here, but I will say that I liked how Harry really seemed to grow up in this book. He seemed more confident and in-charge. You could definitely feel him becoming an adult.

I really want to go back and read the series from the beginning now. There were so many characters who popped up, and so many references to objects/adventures/lessons from other books, I sometimes found myself having to think hard to remember what they all meant.

Hooray for a thoroughly satisfying end to a delightful series!

Today is the Day (well tomorrow is)

Really Top Drawer is hereby admitting to be totally and completely excited about picking up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at midnight tonight!

Suzaaku has organized an extravaganza tonight involving food, drinks and a midnight party at the Tattered Cover on Colfax. Ramona and I will be there or be square (or be AND square).

Nancy reports that she heard some spoilers but she is refusing to believe that they are real spoilers - for it would be sad to have everything spoiled. Nancy's got a busy (and dark) night planned - she'll attend an adaptation of The Tell-Tale Heart . . . . and then on to the midnight party in the 'burg.

None of us are planning to wear costumes.

This is what a Nina Totenberg costume looks like

And this is also what a Bill Gates costume looks like - Jeremiah and I were into the nametag-based costumes that year. It was a last-minute idea, but it went over pretty well at the party. I still have the "press pass" on my bulletin board at home.

Halloween Pressure!!

I've never been one to get super into Halloween, but one of my friends here throws a big Halloween bash every other year, and I'm already feeling the pressure to come up with a fun costume for the occasion. Despite a lack of planning, I've managed to come up with some pretty good costumes in the past few years. Last year, I went as my future self winning an Oscar (based on a desire to wear a pretty dress for the evening). The year beofre that I was Sydney Bristow in the pilot episode of Alias. And of course, there was the classic Nina Totenberg costume of '03.

This year I am totally stumped. I need inspiration! Any thoughts or suggestions, friends? Favorite costumes you've seen/worn in years past?

Who's Got the Maillot Jaune?

I debated about watching the Tour this year, especially because they still haven't ruled on whether Floyd Landis actually won the Tour last year. It was a lot of time to pour into something (as one of the commentators said, "it's 4 hrs of Marie Antoinette and 20 minutes of Die Hard") that had no satisfactory conclusion.

Surprisingly, it's been pretty fun so far. The tour is a totally different game without Lance Armstrong (the patron of the peloton) or a clear favorite. It was the case last year but last year felt weird because they kicked out the big favorites two days before the tour started and this year we've had a lot of time to adjust to the controversy around Floyd Landis. Also last year I think they anointed Floyd Landis as the clear favorite pretty early on, whereas all the big contenders have been relatively silent this year (except when they have crashed. ouch).

It's pretty mesmerizing to watch a pack of cyclist essentially swallow up the leaders close to the finish each day and to listen to the commentators debate when and whether or not the "catch" is going to happen. And they are very elegant in their own way, whether they are free-wheeling down the mountain or

I've also noticed the difference between the commentators since sometimes I catch the same bit on TV in the morning and at night. In the morning you get the team of Paul Sherwen and Phil Ligget (two Brits- one of whom runs a gold mine when he's not covering cycling! it's so agatha christie!) and at night you get Al Trautwig and Bob Rolls (two Americans). If I had more time I think it would be really interesting to study the transcripts of their commentaries around the same moments, especially when they have totally opposite viewpoints. I want to say it's a very interdependent view of things vs an independent view (this bring me back to my psychology days where we talk about how some cultures promote interdependent view of self vs. independent views). But it's hard to say without more analysis.

For example, when Tom Boonen's leadout man won a jersey (you typically expect his lead out man to lead him in to win the stage, not actually clinch the stage himself), Paul and Phil said that Tom would be happy for his teammate and/or didn't want to rob him of the victory if he could win it, and Al and Bob thought that Tom Boonen just didn't have the legs to pass his teammate. Yesterday they also differed in opinion on whether or not Vinokurov (race favorite who crashed HARD) would make it back to the main field before they reached the finish line. It does make sense for different people to have different prediction, but it's interesting that the different pairs both agreed in their predictions.

Maybe I just miss the days in the ol' psych lab.

Glamping

Ramona, this is for you!

I saw a short segment on the Today Show about Glamping, or glamorous camping. In most cases those tents had furniture nicer than what I have in my apartment. Here is a Newsweek article about glamping gear you can buy as well as some places that offer glamping sites. USA Today also has some pretty pictures.

It's definitely expensive- on average guests pay 10,000 a week and families can pay 40-50,000 a week. Some sites are essentially resorts with tents- there are chefs and massage tents on site!

I think it's an odd trend. It's like being in nature without actually having to deal with being in nature. I feel like you miss out on the whole camping experience by doing this. You don't set up your tent, dig a ditch around the tent in case it rains, put your food in bear lockers and cook on the camping stove. I'm not the most hard core camper and sure I prefer places where they have actual shower facilities, but I feel like camping and being in nature is incomplete without those experiences. You're either part of it or you're not.

Some places bill it as an incentive to get your kids to enjoy nature and come along on these trips. But it seems like if the only way to get them to go "camping" is to offer them 5-star accommodations, you're not really cultivating a love of nature and camping in them.

What's next, "hiking" with Segways?

Brides (and Brides-to-Be): Would you trash your dress?

A friend recently forwarded this Salon article, Wedding Trashers, to me recently and I'm kind of fascinated by it. Even more fascinating is the web site that inspired it, trashthedress.com.

On the one hand, wedding dresses seem like such sentimental objects that it's hard for me to imagine just ruining mine outright (assuming one day I have occasion to buy one). But really, it seems silly to just keep it forever, never to be worn again. Why not have a fun photo shoot and get some beautiful images to keep forever. Because really, some of those photos are just stunning.

What do you all think? Any brilliant insights about what this trend says about modern feminism?

Fashion Review: "Bitten" by Sarah Jessica Parker

Have you all heard about Sarah Jessica Parker's new clothing line, Bitten? I went and checked it out this weekend and I was very impressed!

SJP's manifesto is: "It is every woman's inalienable right to have a pulled-together stylish, confident wardrobe with money left over to live."

I'm not sure about "inalienable right," but it sure is a nice idea! And Bitten makes it a bit easier to accomplish. The line is full of super-cute clothes and surprisingly low prices. Tees, skirts, shoes, jeans, dresses...all fashionable, all affordable. I bought two cute tees, and my pal Bobbi found a hot pair of jeans (only $15!!) and a pretty shirt. The only real problem is that apparently word has gotten out in Lynchburg about the fab new fashions, so things were pretty picked over and it was hard to find sizes. But they'll be restocking soon, so we'll be back for more!

Bitten is only found at Steve and Barry's, so you have to hunt for it. Denverites, your closest store is at Southwest Plaza Mall. In the mean time, you can check it out at www.bittensjp.com.