Fancies & Fascinations | "Can't Stop The Feeling"

It's Wednesday.

I'm fighting an illness that has been kicking my butt since last Thursday evening.

It's totally grey outside, while also being 80+ degrees and humid as all get out. (#gross)

I just made a mistake at work that I could—and should—have avoided.

My fries from lunch have gone cold.

And yet, I'm smiling. Thanks to this song, and this video.

Phillip from Venus Art & Flowers is The. Best.

P.S.—Watching Justin Timberlake dance, even if it's only for a few moments, is an absolute gift.

Fancies & Fascinations | "Love Yourself"

I had another post written up for today, but it seems to have gone missing. While I work on redoing that post (#grumblesigh), have a confession of a new guilty pleasure that was scheduled for later this week.

Full disclosure: I dislike Justin Bieber. I find him creepy to look at (maybe it's the Miley Cyrus twin thing?), and I have never been a fan of his music (which is somewhat surprising, considering how much I love boy band music). Typically, when a song of his comes on the radio, I'll turn it to another station tout suite.

Recently, however, I found myself actually enjoying one of his songs. And then I started singing along. AND THEN I listened to his entire album—the deluxe version—and enjoyed more than one song. (I also might have listened to it more than once. I might even be listening to certain songs right now.)

I don't even know myself any more.

I posted this shameful confession on Twitter last week, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who responded "YOU TOO?!" Apparently, there's something magic about his new music. Also: I have awesome friends.

Thankfully, the song that started this whole thing—"Love Yourself"—has been turned into a pretty awesome video sans The Beibs' mug.

I also recommend "What Do You Mean"—

—"Sorry"—

—and "The Feeling."

And FYI—PURPOSE: The Movement is a series of short dance "films" set to the songs from the new album. Color me impressed. (And appreciative. I just can't with your face, Justin!)

Fancies & Fascinations | Star Wars

Today is a huge day in Nerdom, friends: The seventh movie in the Star Wars franchise, a movie that promises to bring the prestige of the movies back, a movie that features some of my favorite characters of all time and some new characters I hope I love, a movie that extends a fandom that I've been a part of since I was a child, officially opens today.

To say that I'm a little excited about seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens tonight is an understatement. I tried, really hard, to keep my hopes to a minimum. (I was excited about the prequels, and we all know how that ended up.) But even after sequestering myself from spoilers and avoiding watching any trailers but the first one, the excitement in the geek community, and, well, the world at large, finally got to me. I can't help but look forward to watching this film.

One of the other writers for Forever Young Adult posted yesterday about her long-time love of Star Wars. Since we're around the same age, I felt a strong connection to everything she wrote. (Although, shame, I never had a Boba Fett cardboard standee.) Like her, Star Wars has pretty much always been a part of my life. I was born the year Return of the Jedi was released, and so I never saw the films in theaters. But my parents taped the movies off of HBO during a free trial weekend, and I watched those tapes frequently, 80s HBO commercials and all.

As I got older, my love for the franchise never really diminished, even when being a pop culture nerd wasn't really "cool." (I like to think that I never cared that I wasn't "cool," but I probably just didn't notice.) I wore Star Wars gear in high school—someone from back in the day even commented on my Facebook recently that seeing all the news recently made her think of me. I stood in line for hours to get good seats for the prequels when they opened, regardless of how terrible I thought they were. (I was totally into Hayden Christensen back then. What can I say?) I started a collection of toys and merch that has grown exponentially. At our wedding, I walked down the aisle to a Vitamin String Quartet cover of the Throne Room theme from A New Hope. The Millennium Falcon has a place of honor on my sci-fi tattoo sleeve.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to feel later tonight after seeing The Force Awakens, but that's OK. I will always love Star Wars, no matter what. (And when I do write my Haiku Revieu, I will do my best to keep it spoiler-free.)

May the Force be with us all, always.

P.S.—Watching this video yesterday, I teared up. That is not a good sign for what's to come.

Fancies & Fascinations | DJ Earthworm's United States of Pop 2015

Each year since I discovered it was a thing, I've looked forward to hearing DJ Earworm's end-of-year mashup. They were great to start with, but they just keep getting better, and this years' is no exception. I can't even imagine how long this takes to put together.

(Check out a list of all 50 included songs here.)

Check out last year's post about my love of these mashups for the 2014 edition and links to previous years' editions. (I actually posted last year's mashup on Dec. 4 as well—it's a tradition now!)

Fancies & Fascinations | The Rock's Instagram

I've never really understood the appeal of pro wrestling. Which, when I think about it, is kind of silly—I mean, I adore ridiculous action movies like The Expendables, which feature a ton of actors made famous in "sports" like pro wrestling. (And MMA/UFC, which is definitely a sport, not a "sport." Please don't hurt me.)

But often, pro wrestlers become larger than their wrestling personas, and cross over into the realm of pop culture. I am very thankful for this, particularly in the case of The Rock.

Over past couple of decades, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has transitioned his pro wrestling career into super stardom. He's one of my favorite actors, and is equally good at action as he is at comedy. (Have you seen The Rundown? You need to see The Rundown.)

When people achieve superstars status, it often seems like they've—to borrow a gaming term—"leveled up." Meaning that celebrities no longer seem approachable or like "normal" people. To a certain extent, this is understandable. But my favorite thing about The Rock is, regardless of his successes, he's never become unapproachable. He seems like a genuinely fantastic human being. A GIANT human being who could crush me with his pinky finger, natch, but fantastic nonetheless. There's no better evidence of this than his Instagram feed.

This is but one example of his posts, complete with People's Eyebrow reference and hilarious hashtags:

AM cardio and the moon's still out, it's hot, muggy and I just heard a mutated bullfrog that sounds like he weighs 32lbs. *slowly raises eyebrow. #IHaveStrongQuads #IWillPuntHimIntoTheCanal #FloridaBoys #AMCardioStartsNow

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on Sep 17, 2015 at 3:33am PDT

Seriously. The man knows his way around a hashtag.

But his feed isn't just filled with workout selfies. He recently adopted two French bulldog puppies, and the world collectively fainted when he jumped into his pool to rescue them. (One of them is named Hobbs.* I MEAN.) He also posts heartfelt messages to/about friends and family. If it wasn't for the occasional promo photo for one of his projects or a shot of him at a premiere, I'd feel completely like I was scrolling through the feed of a friend.

I'll give you a moment to go follow him.

Done?

You're welcome.

*Hobbs is The Rock's character in the Fast and Furious franchise. More of my favorite movies.
Special thanks to my friend Ben for showing me the light.

Fancies & Fascinations | The 100

If you've hung out with me in person, or are following me on any form of social media, you might have heard me talk about or seen me post about a certain show ... a certain show about a group of juvenile delinquents who are sent back to Earth 100 years after humans left the surface to escape the affects of nuclear war.

Officially:

The series is set 97 years after a devastating nuclear war wiped out almost all life on Earth. The only known survivors are the residents of twelve space stations in Earth's orbit prior to the war. The space stations banded together to form a single massive station named "The Ark," where about 2,400 people live. Resources are scarce and all crimes, no matter their nature or severity, are punishable by ejection into space ("floating") unless the perpetrator is under 18 years of age. After the Ark's life-support systems are found to be critically failing, 100 juvenile prisoners are declared "expendable" and sent to the surface in a last ditch attempt to determine if Earth is habitable again. (via)

In case you're more of a visual learner, here's the season one trailer:

I've long been a fan of teenage soaps, particularly those that air on the CW. But I'll freely admit that I didn't see the appeal of The 100 when it premiered last Spring. I share recapping duties for the show over on Forever Young Adult, and neither Sarah (my co-recapper) nor I liked the show much at first. In fact, it wasn't until about halfway through the first season that we realized that we had gotten completely sucked in without even noticing. And it was around that same time that we realized that the CW had created something really special.

Fast forward to the end of the second season—which was AMAZING—and we've both become full-blown fanatics. In fact, Sarah wrote an excellent post on the show's appeal: "100* Reasons To Watch The 100." I agree wholeheartedly with her sentiments.

*Or 5.

Obsessed? No way. Yes way.

The 100 features:

• Action
• Badasses (Of both the male and female persuasion.)
• Comedy
• Drama
• Enemistry
• Friendships
• Gorgeous scenery
• Hot people (It is the CW after all.)
• Intrigue
• Jokes
• Killing (That's not exactly a selling point, but I figured I should put a warning out.)
• Language (The guy behind the Game of Thrones languages created one for The 100, too.)
• Machinations
• Nerds
• Original storylines
• Peace Treaties
• Quality relationships
• Romance (#BELLARKE FOREVER.)
• Sexy Times
• Traitors
• Undertakings, Epic
• Visions of the Future
• War
• (e)Xcitement
• YA Novel Inspiration (The books are very different. Fun reads, but the show is so much better.)
• Zoological oddities

Basically, I could go on forever about the reasons I love this show. But I hope that by now you're interested enough (if you're not already sucked in like I am), to want to check it out on your own.

Season one is available on Netflix. Season two's not yet on free streaming, but you can buy the episodes on Amazon or iTunes. (I'm sure there are, uh, less official places you might be able to find it, too.) A word of warning (I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating): The show can be hard to get into. But I promise you, it's so worth it!

If you're already a fan, let me know in the comments! I'd love to discuss. And if you're not yet a fan, come back and discuss once you've had a chance to check it out.

Fancies & Fascinations | Alice in Wonderland Tattoo Chain

My friend Meredith introduced me to this project yesterday, and I immediately signed up.

A little backstory: Litographs, a company that creates awesome shirts, art and more from the text of famous books, created a Kickstarter to launch a new line of temporary literary tattoos. The Kickstarter perks included being a part of the world's longest tattoo chain; backers would receive a unique tattoo with a small piece of Alice and Wonderland on it, and were asked to put it on and take a picture, which they then were to share. The pictures have been combined, in order, to create a readable story out of body art.

The Kickstarter was such a success that they opened the project to the public, and expanded the project to the Alice in Wonderland sequel, Through the Looking Glass.

For $5, you, too, can take part in the project. There are only about 400 spots left (out of 5000), so be sure to jump in now if you're interested!

I'll be sure to share my tattoo once I've received it and taken a photo.

Fancies & Fascinations | Adagio Teas' fandom blends

I've seen/heard about Adagio Teas' fandom blends for years, but never got around to trying them until lately. Boy, was I missing out!

Adagio's fandom blends are tea blends inspired by or based on pop culture (TV shows, movies, books, video games, etc.) created by fans. And, if you can believe it, there are more than 70,000 blends available on Adagio's site. Thanks to my new friend Chris, I was recently able to sample a few blends inspired by Sherlock and Harry Potter. They were delish, so I decided to buy some for myself.

Per usual, I might have gone a little bit overboard in ordering, but you never know what you're going to like until you try it, right? I was also drawn in by the fact that many of the blends are by Cara McGee, and feature her art. Tea + nerdy fandoms + great art = irresistible.

Sherlock Sampler

Full sampler

Mycroft | black, rooibos vanilla chai and cream teas with cinnamon bark, ginger root, cloves, orange peels, cardamom, natural chocolate flavor, dark chocolate chips and cocoa nibs
Sherlock | lapsang souchong, assam melody and oriental spice teas with orange peels, cinnamon bark, ginger root, cloves, cardamom
Lestrade | gunpowder, pu erh dante and hazelnut teas
Mrs. Hudson | assam melody and almond teas
Molly Hooper | chamomile, dewy cherry and snowbud teas with rose hips, hibiscus flowers, apple pieces and dried cherries
Watson | assam melody, irish breakfast, cinnamon, earl grey green and ceylon sonata teas, with orange peels and blue cornflowers

Doctor Who Sampler + TARDIS blend

Full sampler

10 | chocolate and irish breakfast teas with chocolate chips and marigold flowers
9 | gunpowder, chestnut and irish breakfast teas with aniseed and cinnamon
11 | assam melody, vanilla and coconut teas, with dried coconut
Rory Williams Pond | irish breakfast and vanilla green teas
River Song | earl grey moonlight, coconut and rooibos lemon cloud teas with orange peels, blue cornflowers, lemon grass, marigold flowers and dried coconut
Amy Pond | orange, cranberry and rooibos vanilla chai teas with cinnamon bark, ginger root, orange peels, cloves, cardamom and raspberry leaves
TARDIS | earl grey bravo, blackberry and vanilla teas with orange peels and blue cornflowers

Avengers ("Hero Recovery") Sampler

Full sampler

Double Agent | lapsang souchong, assam melody and currant teas with raspberry leaves
Stars & Stripes | spiced apple chai, almond and assam melody teas with cinnamon bark, ginger root, cardamom, cloves, orange peels and apple pieces
Sharp Shooter | thai chai, assam melody and gunpowder teas with ginger root, cinnamon bark, dried coconut, lemon grass and cardamom
Mean & Green | earl grey green, green pekoe and chamomile teas with orange peels and blue cornflowers
Exiled | toasted mate, ceylon sonata and black teas with apple pieces, marigold flowers and apricots
Playboy | lapsang souchong, ginger and tiger eye teas with ginger root and cocoa nibs

Loki ("Adopted") blend

Adopted | Gunpowder, spearmint, rooibos and jasmine teas

Guardians of the Galaxy blends

Tree | green chai, hojicha and kukicha teas with raspberry leaves and lemon verbena
What's a Raccoon? | mambo, hazelnut and lapsang souchong teas with apricot and red peppercorn
Pelvic Sorcery | almond, cream and tiger eye teas with chocolate chips, cinnamon and sprinkles
Vengeance | lapsang souchong, gingerbread and candy apple teas with aniseed, ginger and cocoa nibs
Surrounded by Idiots | spiced green, thai chai and vanilla green teas with red peppercorn and cocoa nibs

I haven't tried them all yet, but the ones I have tried have been, for the most part, very tasty!

Want a $5 to try some of your own*? Leave your email in the comments and I'll send you a coupon.

*And help me earn points toward future discounts.

Fancies & Fascinations | "Got the morbs"

I ran across an old (but new to me) phrase on Tumblr the other day, and it struck a chord:

via goodinthestacks

Isn't that just the best? I mean, it's kind of sad, because the one experiencing it has to be sad to do so, but I am so enamored by the phrase. And, as someone who experiences this feeling on occasion, it's certainly more expressive than just "feeling low."

Fancies & Fascinations | Galavant

You guys. Do you like musicals? Do you like silly musicals, a la Monty Python's Spamalot?

Did you watch Galavant's premiere last night? (If not, you can do so here.)

I freely admit to being excited about the prospect of the show prior to last night's premiere, but it met and exceeded all expectations. It's ridiculous, entertaining, and I really wish it was going to be on for longer than four weeks.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a trailer:

Edited to add: And here's a video that will teach you the words to the opening song!

(Thanks, Mister!)

Fancies & Fascinations | Peter Hollens' "I See Fire"

As one is prone to do while traipsing through the Internet, yesterday I stumbled across a new to me video cover. It's by Peter Hollens, who apparently is quite famous on YouTube for his epic a capella covers. This cover, of Ed Sheeran's "I See Fire" from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug soundtrack, is one of his more recent covers ... and it is ah-mazing.

Warning: The video's a bit awkward. It's just a whole bunch of shots of Peter singing. And although he's an attractive dude, it can be weird to watch someone singing up close and personal. It is kind of cool, however, to see all the various parts come together.

(Here's the original, in case you'd like to have a listen. It's also very good.)

I listened to this on repeat, at much too loud of a volume, for most of the afternoon. It's just so sweeping and grand and beautiful and I can't quite believe the human voice can do such things.

I also listened to a bunch of Peter's other songs. I was having a frustrating day yesterday, and it was cathartic to listen to powerful songs on high volume and block the world out for a bit. A Spotify playlist of his self-titled album is below; there are many more covers on Spotify as well.

So good, right?

Fancies & Fascinations | DJ Earworm's 2014 United States of Pop

I've spoken more than once (on other blogs) about my love of a good mashup. Each year, I eagerly await the release of DJ Earworm's United States of Pop, which is a mashup of a whole slew of popular songs from a specific year. Yesterday, I saw that the 2014 version had been released ... and it does not disappoint.

Ugh. The skillllsssssssssss DJ Earworm has. Always blows me away.

You can hear previous years—which are equally as awesome—at the links below.

2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008