Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘memes’

(Link via Cathy, thanks to whom I also discovered the joys of OhSoGood’s Lemon Lime Cheesecake.)

But this one’s the Muppets, so of course I just had to take it. (Via Red “Swedish Chef” Rabbit):

The Muppet Personality Test

You scored as Hermione Granger. You’re one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out. Hermione Granger 85% Ron Weasley 65% Albus Dumbledore 60% Draco Malfoy 50% Ginny Weasley 50% Severus Snape 50% Remus Lupin 45% Sirius Black 45% Harry Potter 35% Lord Voldemort 25%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is…?
created with QuizFarm.com
(Via Imshin, who’s also a Hermione Granger).

I am 43% Evil Genius.

I want to be evil. I do evil things. But given the opportunity, and a darn good reason I may turn to the good side. Besides I am probably a miserable evil genius.

Take the
Evil Genius Test
@ FualiDotCom

Damn, I thought I was much eviler than that.

In related news, I’m also apparently 13% idiot (which somehow translates to “friggin’ genius”, though I don’t seem to be genius enough to understand how that works), and only 18% hippie.

This blog meme is floating around asking people to go here, find the top 100 songs from the year they graduated high school, and list them crossing out those you hated and underlining the ones you really liked.

Most of mine, not too surprisingly, are cross-outs; songs that do well on the charts rarely appeal to me. Especially by 1997, when all the early-to-mid 90s good music was over. But here goes:

1. Candle In The Wind 1997, Elton John – I liked the original but the remake in the wake of Princess Diana’s death was cheap and exploitive.
2. Foolish Games / You Were Meant For Me, Jewel
3. I’ll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans – this was when he was still called “Puff Daddy” and was just discovering how filthy-rich you can make it in the music biz by ripping off someone else’s work. At least Elton John (see #1) was only plagiarizing himself.
4. Un-Break My Heart, Toni Braxton
5. Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down, Puff Daddy
6. I Believe I Can Fly, R. Kelly
7. Don’t Let Go (Love), En Vogue
8. Return Of The Mack, Mark Morrison
9. How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes
10. Wannabe, Spice Girls – I actually had a whole website at the time dedicated to my hatred of the Spice Girls… and of the Backstreet Boys (see #11).
11. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys
12. MMMBop, Hanson – a classic SNL skit defined “torture” as being forced to listen to this repeatedly.
13. For You I Will, Monica
14. You Make Me Wanna…, Usher
15. Bitch, Meredith Brooks – Yep, that’s me
16. Nobody Keith Sweat
17. Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
18. Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
19. Hard To Say I’m Sorry, Az Yet Featuring Peter Cetera
20. Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G.
21. The Freshmen, Verve Pipe
22. I Want You, Savage Garden
23. No Diggity, BLACKstreet Featuring Dr. Dre
24. I Belong To You (Every Time I See Your Face), Rome
25. Hypnotize, Notorious B.I.G.
26. Every Time I Close My Eyes, Babyface
27. In My Bed, Dru Hill
28. Say You’ll Be There, Spice Girls
29. Do You Know (What It Takes), Robyn
30. 4 Seasons Of Loneliness, Boyz II Men
31. G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T., Changing Faces
32. Honey, Mariah Carey
33. I Believe In You And Me, Whitney Houston
34. Da’ Dip, Freaknasty
35. 2 Become 1, Spice Girls
36. All For You, Sister Hazel
37. Cupid, 112
38. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?, Paula Cole
39. Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin – this won the Grammy that year if I recall correctly; I still can’t figure out why, cause it’s fairly mediocre
40. It’s Your Love, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
41. Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit, Gina G
42. Mouth, Merril Bainbridge
43. All Cried Out, Allure Featuring 112
44. I’m Still In Love With You, New Edition
45. Invisible Man, 98 Degrees
46. Not Tonight, Lil’ Kim
47. Look Into My Eyes, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
48. Get It Together, 702
49. All By Myself, Celine Dion
50. It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, Celine Dion – it’s all coming back to me just how much I can’t stand Celine Dion
51. My Love Is The Shhh!, Somethin’ For The People
52. Where Do You Go, No Mercy
53. I Finally Found Someone, Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams – normally I like Bryan Adams but come on
54. I’ll Be, Foxy Brown Featuring Jay-Z
55. If It Makes You Happy, Sheryl Crow
56. Never Make A Promise, Dru Hill
57. When You Love A Woman, Journey
58. Up Jumps Da Boogie, Magoo And Timbaland
59. I Don’t Want To / I Love Me Some Him, Toni Braxton
60. Everyday Is A Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
61. Cold Rock A Party, Mc Lyte
62. Pony, Ginuwine
63. Building A Mystery, Sarah McLachlan – I’m a fan but this isn’t one of my fave songs
64. I Love You Always Forever, Donna Lewis
65. Your Woman, White Town
66. C U When U Get There, Coolio
67. Change The World, Eric Clapton
68. My Baby Daddy, B-Rock and The Bizz
69. Tubthumping, Chumbawamba – gave Hanson a run for their money for most annoyingly awful song of the year.
70. Gotham City, R. Kelly
71. Last Night, Az Yet
72. ESPN Presents The Jock Jam, Various Artists
73. Big Daddy, Heavy D
74. What About Us, Total
75. Smile, Scarface
76. What’s On Tonight, Montell Jordan
77. Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen
78. The One I Gave My Heart, w Aaliyah
79. Fly Like An Eagle, Seal
80. No Time, Lil’ Kim
81. Naked Eye, Luscious Jackson
82. Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix), Los Del Rio – was this the remake? I remember the Macarena being earlier than 1997.
83. On and On, Erykah Badu
84. Don’t Wanna Be A Player, Joe
85. I Shot The Sheriff, Warren G
86. You Should Be Mine (Don’t Waste Your Time), Brian McKnight Featuring Mase
87. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Madonna
88. Someone, SWV
89. Go The Distance, Michael Bolton
90. One More Time, Real McCoy
91. Butta Love, Next
92. Coco Jamboo, Mr. President
93. Twisted, Keith Sweat
94. Barbie Girl, Aqua
95. When You’re Gone / Free To Decide, Cranberries
96. Let Me Clear My Throat, DJ Kool
97. I Like It, Blackout Allstars
98. You’re Makin’ Me High / Let It Flow, Toni Braxton
99. You Must Love Me, Madonna
100. Let It Go, Ray J

As I suspected, that’s 85 strikeouts on a list of 100 songs. Of those I didn’t strike, I was generously indifferent in several cases and only found two I could tentatively underline; even those were a stretch.

I move that 1997 be nominated the worst year in music history.

Update: On second thought, there was plenty of excellent music in 1997. None of it made the charts, though. But I was having a very good music year in my personal history then. I attended my first three Collective Soul concerts that year, for example. The problem wasn’t with the music, it was with the charts. That’s my theory.

Here’s the thing about chain letters… you can groan about them all you want, but sooner or later one gets to you and you find yourself completing it and passing it along despite yourself.

Pieter has “tagged” me on the latest one making the blogosphere rounds: book tag.

I’m a self-admitted bookworm, so this was a near-impossible list to compile. But for what it’s worth, here are my answers-of-the-moment. (If I’d compiled this tomorrow, I probably would’ve picked different books, but alas, I had to choose something.)

Number of books I own: About 150 currently in my apartment, because I don’t have a lot of storage space. But add about twice that number in boxes in my parents’ basement, and an untold more in my ownership past that were donated or sold at various garage sales. This doesn’t count my frequent library forays. Like I said, I’m a bookworm.

Last book I bought: Between Mountains by Maggie Helwig, which is a love story set against the aftermath of the Balkan wars.

Last book I read: Not counting the umpteenth re-read of books I first read a zillion years ago (because I do that), the last book I read for the first time would have to be The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. One of the more enjoyable reads I’ve had lately. I hear they’re making it into a movie that will probably be frighteningly awful and will destroy an otherwise excellent book. Why must bad movies happen to good books?

Five books that mean a lot to me:

• 1984 by George Orwell. Okay, this one’s almost too obvious; in fact, it was even on Pieter’s list, so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to use it. But I challenge you to find a book that’s more relevant or insightful.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. I loved it when I first read it, and went through a brief period of hating it after having to analyse it to death for subsequent English classes in high school and cegep. Now I’m back to loving it.
• Exodus by Leon Uris. Sure, all the critical reviews are justified; it takes broad liberties with historical accuracy, the writing is often appalling, and it tries too hard to be an epic. Nonetheless, my copy is dog-eared and falling apart, and I probably bungled many a question on a Jewish history exam in high school because I remembered this book’s version of an event instead of the textbook’s.
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. No, I have no interest whatsoever in motorcycles. I still love this book, though, less for the story than for the ideas it tries to set forth.
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I read this as a kid and it made a major impression on me as a model of standing up for the right thing even when it’s unpopular to do so. This is one of those timeless classics that will endure because it continues to be relevant to modern circumstances.

Yikes, now that this list is complete, I’m second-guessing it because of all the books I’ve left out. Ah well, I guess I have to hit publish sometime.

One last thing, I have to tag 5 more people. Lynn, Paul, Imshin, Meryl and Elana… you’re “it”.

Oh and P.S., last year’s meme was the whole listing of books from childhood. There’s a good list of some of my favourites from way back when up there.

This has been circling the net like wildfire, coining a new catchphrase: “In the future, everyone will be Hitler for 15 minutes”.

(Hat tip: Damian Penny).

This quiz seeks to go “beyond red or blue” and classify American voters according to 9 different political categories:

Contrary to the widespread impression of a nation only divided into two unified “red” and “blue” camps, our latest survey finds important cleavages on values and basic attitudes within each party. As a result, both parties face internal challenges as well as opportunities to expand their constituencies.

Anyway, the quiz stubbornly insists that I’m an “enterpriser”, which it classifies as Republican, Conservative, rich and male. Er… not exactly accurate. I tried to tell it that I was against government meddling in religion or morality, in favour of gay rights, and that I probably would’ve voted for Kerry if I were American, but it didn’t listen. I guess I have to win the lottery and get a sex change operation now.

Then again, reading the 9 categories I have to conclude that I don’t fit any of the descriptions. “Canadian”, unfortunately, was not one of the choices.

(Via Mike Silverman, who the quiz didn’t listen to either).

According to this religion quiz, seems all those years I spent thinking I was Jewish were wrong. I shall join the ranks of Lisa Simpson because I believe I’m actually Buddhist:

You scored as Buddhist. Buddhist 80% Jewish 55% Anarchist 55% Christian 45% Cult 45% Catholic 30%

At least all those years of Hebrew school amounted to something…

(Via Paul Jané).

Montreal

What Canadian City Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

How coincidental! I guess that’s good cause, well, I live here and all…

(Hat tip: Elanamatic).