you must tell them true stories, and everything will be well

So, uh, casting's moving forward with Sea of Monsters for like reals this time? (MISSI PYLE, WHAT)

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I love the cast and I'm excited to see them together again. On the other hand, this movie terrifies me because HOW WILL THEY WRITE AROUND THE FIRST MOVIE and it's so werd because the fandom is in its usual activity coma post-new-book-release phase.

Astronomers have decided to change the zodiac signs. I am now a Taurus, apparently.

This is bullshit. Gemini for life. And what is this nonsense about Ophiuchus? I am so confused.

For a look outside presidential bubble, Obama reads 10 personal letters each day

"MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT," read a sheet clipped to the folder. "Per your request, we have attached 10 pieces of unvetted correspondence addressed to you."

Inside, Obama found crinkled notebook pages, smudged ink, cursive handwriting and misspelled words -- a collection of 10 original letters that he considers among his most important daily reading material, aides said. Ever since he requested a sampling of mail on his second day in office, the letters have become a staple of his presidency. Some he immediately reads out loud to his wife; others he distributes to senior staff members aboard Air Force One. Some are from students requesting help with homework; others are from constituents demanding jobs or health care. About half of the letters, Obama said during a recent speech, "call me an idiot."

...

Obama opened the purple folder on Jan. 8 and pulled out a three-page letter written on lined notebook paper. He prefers handwritten letters to e-mails, believing them to be more thoughtful, with better stories. The return address showed Monroe, Mich. The writing consisted of bubbly block letters, sometimes traced twice for emphasis. Obama started to read.

"Dear Mr. President," the letter began.

It's long and has some interesting information in it, but oh is it a good piece of journalism. I love the way the story is told and I got a little sentimental at the end because I am a ginormous sap and the American dream and all that. Just ignore the politics, and enjoy the story.

Dear Disney Channel,

Please, for the love of all things holy, don't fuck up the Avalon High movie.

Sincerely,
Me

So, I see this headline on the USA Today Web site today:

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog

And am immediately intrigued. According to the article, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs redesigned because 17% of all food related choking incidents are caused by hot dogs. Who knew?

After containing my five minute giggle fit at the unfortunate headline, I began to wonder how exactly would one redesign a hot dog? It's a hot dog, like the simplest of food designs after the hamburger patty. And of course, the ultimate question, would it still be a hot dog if it was in a different shape and fifth graders around the country could no longer make unfortunate phallic jokes about it at lunch time?

What are your thoughts on hot dogs, f-list?

McCain's face at the end is equally as hilarious.

:D

I've found two interesting articles about the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movie floating around the Internet today.

The first is an article that discusses the filming of the Lotus Land casino scene, and has a couple of quotes from Logan Lerman in it. There are the Harry Potter comparisons, of course, but this is probably the first article that says, "Yeah, at first glance they look similar, but PJO's a lot different so stop trashing it as a rip-off already."

This is the one paragraph that really grabbed my attention:

So Percy Jackson involves a road trip from New York to Los Angeles, which in this scene has Percy and his friends in a Vegas casino, an enchanted spot called the Lotus Land where those inside are lured and frozen in time, hence that holdover guy from the '70s. The heroes will make their escape in a black Maserati on a nearby podium - the downtown Bayshore Hotel was tarted up Vegas- style for the exterior scene where the car crashes out a plate-glass window.

Dude, if Annabeth gets to drive the Maserati like a total badass, I will completely forgive Columbus for not making her blonde.

And then there's this article where Colubmus talks about the casting for Harry Potter and how he decided to go about it differently while doing PJO. I thought the first part of the article where he talks about how hard it was working with the HP kids when they were little to be very interesting.

Again, the paragraphs that most PJO fans will probably care about:

For Percy Jackson, also based on a best-selling series of teen fantasy novels, Columbus was once again facing the prospect of casting actors to play characters who start out as 11-year-olds. Instead, he opted to rewrite the starting ages to 17 years old, and cast veteran actors Logan Lerman (3:10 to Yuma), Brandon T. Jackson (Tropic Thunder) and Alexandra Daddario (All My Children).

Percy Jackson is a modern-day American kid who discovers he’s descended from the Greek gods, and that a magical world exists in tandem with our own. An epic battle between supernatural good and evil ensues.

“I felt when we  got into this process, that the types of scenes we were getting into, really it was necessary to cast slightly older actors,” says Columbus. “The physicality of some of these battle sequences, the action sequences were very demanding, so we’ve changed that.”

Thoughts?


Also, for the non-PJO fans on my f-list, I apologize for all the PJO-related spam lately. It's my fandom baby. :)
 

Watch this.

Today looks like its a very gay day for the entertainment media.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, but Clay Aiken has come out of his closet. Finally.

Also, no surprise, Lindsey Lohan is - in fact - dating Samantha Ronson.

I'm now going to wait with baited breath which one completely dominates the media for the next week or so.