celebrity spottings #9 and 10 and other fun things

finally catching up with that growing pile of laundry in my closet, i find myself with an hour to kill before dooming myself to laundry folding hell.

what shall i blog about?

my thoughts on palin?
...nah

the whereabouts of the reclusive kim jong-il?
...not interesting enough

the most recent gossip girl cast spotting?
...why yes, of course!

blake lively and penn badgley were standing directly in front of the restaurant today, looking across hudson street. at first, i thought they were waiting to cross, until i noticed cameras all around. blake was standing behind penn, as if trying to hide from the cameras, while penn was busy "hailing" a taxi.

i assumed the cameras were paparazzi until a server at the restaurant explained that they were filming video (no audio), presumably for the show. this was my first chance to watch a celebrity from afar, so i wasn't at all ashamed to take a picture with my camera phone. i should be allowed a little celebrity indulgence every now and then.

and this brings my sightings to 9 and 10... a nice, round number for my first year in the city.

for all those wondering who else i've spied with my little eye, the list is as follows:

- anthony rapp
- catherine zeta-jones
- drea de matteo
- julia stiles
- heather graham
- alicia keyes
- cole haan
- eugene levy

half of these people have dined in the restaurant, the other half were just seen out and about in manhattan.

i would really like to believe that eugene levy was in fact eugene levy, because he was pretty awesome. i was was by myself, staring as he walked by, trying to figure out if it was really him. he kind of raised his eyebrows at me - not in that creepy old man way, but in the "i'm an awesome friendly guy" kind of way.

dang. that didn't take long at all to write. i still have twenty-five minutes to kill.

well, to save face from all that celebrity talk, i will now discuss... the merits of pop culture.

i recently finished reading everything bad is good for you.



generally, steven johnson explains that a lot of the things commonly thought to hinder people's intelligence (especially children) can quite often do just the opposite. video games, internet use, and popular tv shows have actually been advancing cognitive development when it comes to certain brain functions like problem-solving skills and understanding complex ideas. it's form, not content. people have been getting too hung up on the violence of the sopranos and not paying enough attention to how much the viewers have to use their brains to follow the complicated multi-thread stories. compared to the days of starsky and hutch, tv has gotten a lot more complex

i think where he won me over was in his epilogue, where he makes the clear point that everything in life is about a balance. video games and tv aren't necessarily harmful, but it's just as important to go out and play baseball or read books to be an overall healthy, intelligent person. pop culture can enhance some forms of intelligence, but knowledge and emotional intelligence must be obtained elsewhere. the clincher is that he and his wife decided that, for the sake of balance, they would raise their family near prospect park in brooklyn. this way, his kids can enjoy everything city life has to offer while still having access to nature. isn't prospect park wonderful?

and with that, it is time to do my laundry.