...the blog that goes with everything. Your daily source for a hilarious take on social media, marketing, ketchup, Michigan and pretty much whatever else I feel like.
Send all tips to: catchuplady at gmail dot com
« December 2008 | Main | February 2009 »
Alright kidoodles. It's time for another edition of The Crapper, where I dump all the random shit I can't turn in to its own post.
This Crapper revolves around hilarious signage that I've seen over the last few weeks.
3rd Place...
Keep Your Patriotic Hands Off My Patriotic Memorabilia. KThanksBye.
(Spotted at Hook in Georgetown)
Runner Up...
Thank You Kind Sirs, For Protecting Me From Mike Myers My Fellow Hotel Guests.
(Spotted at the Hyatt in Dearborn, MI)
First Place...
But Are There Heaters?
(Spotted at Mr. Smith's in Georgetown)
Just came across this photo that is too epic not to share. Every summer a group of us gather on the shores of Gull Lake in Michigan for an extended weekend of ridiculousness. This year we had an 80's Party aboard the beautiful Lady Gulldiva pleasure cruiser.
However, as you can see, when throwing an "80's Party" it is apparently necessary to clarify the desired CENTURY of reference, lest you leave the door open for asshats like my friend Tom.
My faithful readers may recall this is the same crew that rocked Edward 40 Hands two years ago... again I maintain there is no way to look classy when holding a 40.
Some time in 2007 I bought a button that said "1.20.09 Bush's Last Day In Office." Not only did that day finally come but I was able to get a good enough seat to make sure that the dude actually busted out.
This morning I got up bright and early and headed over to a friends house for the walk down to the Mall. We had preferred standing tickets SE of the Capital steps, so had to get down there and actually circumnavigate the Mall. With the help of a cab driver who took us to Chinatown we were able to get there in about an hour.
While walking in to the orange section we were shoulder to shoulder with some kid from High School Musical, some NFL player I didn't recognize but the men I was with were really excited about, and.... OPRAH! That's right, we followed her and Steadman right in and some how managed to sneak past the preferred standing area in to the seated area, which had a much better view.
This plan was working really well until a Capital police officer informed us we were blocking an aisle and not only did we have to move to the side, but if we wanted to stay there we had to KNEEL so people behind us could see. As you can see from the video below, this mandate applied to everyone - from the Catch Up Lady to four star generals.
I mean seriously, some people should not have to kneel in freshly laid sod for 2 hours - General Wesley Clark is one of them. Also, there were some real asshats in the seated areas yelling "down in front" like we were at a freaking Redskins game (and there was anything to look at at that moment.) But hope was on the way!
As the Inauguration began it was amazingly cool to be so close to the action. From my kneeling position I was able to alternately look at this...
and this... (this is Biden being sworn in)
Here is a video of Obama getting sworn in. He is the dot to the right behind the blue plated glass.
Leaving the Mall was a wholllle other story. Let me tell you there were about 10,000 websites, newspaper articles and newscasts dedicated to telling you how to GET to the Inauguration - but I would have paid a ransom for directions on how to get OUT. I mean, this was easily the biggest cluster fuck I'd been in in the last year - which is saying something since I went to the Super Bowl and the Beijing Olympics in the last 12 months.
It took me about 2 hours and a near-crowd induced panic attack to walk down the mall and back to Georgetown - which was do-able. Not to mention that whole seeing history being made thing, which really made it worth my morning. Now, off to get my hair done and then to dinner at Nora's and the Eastern Ball at Union Station!
Now that the Dems are back in town, I finally have some hook ups here in Washington! This has resulted in an exciting few days leading in to the Inauguration.
Friday night I headed out with two girlfriends who will be working in the administration (this means no more pictures on the Catch Up Lady - guess I'm still not on par with the WaPo... go figure.) We attended the National Finance Committee Gala where I watched rich Dems try to break it down to a well known DJ who was apparently forced to spin the soundtrack from an early 90s bar mitzvah. (But seriously, we loved it. Who doesn't like getting down to Whitney Houston's I Want To Dance with Somebody?)
After that we headed to two more parties - rubbed shoulders with some minor (very, very minor) celebs. Then I left the girls and defaulted to Smith Point to meet up with some other friends.
Some how, these classy nights always end up at the shittiest bars. I'd post pictures, but I'm rocking a 40 in most of them - and it just goes to show that no matter how fancy you are dressed a 40 will totally ruin your look. Why is that I wonder? If I'd been holding a glass of wine, no one would think anything of it - but a Cobra 40 and suddenly I look like an extra in Britney & Kevin: Chaotic.
The next morning the Catch Up Man and I were up and out to head to the much hyped We Are One concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Our tickets were for standing preferred, which means we were up front and actually had a lot of room to move around and mingle - I was able to snap some shots of the "front row" for open standing. The gates for this area opened at 8:30 so these people up front were there for six hours - pretty amazing. Crowd estimates were in the hundreds of thousands.
The program itself (if you missed it on HBO) was a mix of A-list musical acts and actors giving dramatic readings of varying effectiveness.
The highlights in no particular order:
The lowlights (there are only a few - I mean it was kind of hard to find something to complain about...)
Getting home wasn't too bad - with major road closures we were able to hop on the Whitehurst Freeway and get home pretty quickly. (And by hop on, I mean on foot...yes that's me dressed like a North Face ninja...)
Stay tuned for more - tomorrow I'm attending the Swearing In and then the Eastern Ball!
Last week it was Obama and Britney - this week The Smithsonian?
Seems like a far cry to go from Tweets about the rainforest surviving, children's books and @ing the Getty Museum to i can has cheezeburger speak...
Here's side splitting screen grab of @richsanchezcnn's hacked Twitter account.
No one would argue with the fact that Twitter has become a watering hole for thought leaders in a variety of fields - social media, technology, design, Moms, and more. Experts share links, tips, quotes, and use the collective brain power of the crowd to help refine concepts, sound board ideas and more.
Kind of begs the question of what would have happened if historical figures of the past had access to Twitter? Look no further than Historical Tweets. Hilarious.
This is a great visual outlining how those commenting on blogs on behalf of the Air Force should respond in various situations. If it were all this easy... can I get one of these for my life?
Via Global Nerdy, who reports that the Air Force has appointed a Chief Emerging Technology Officer "whose job is to develop strategy, policy and plans for the Air Force’s 'communicators' and whose mission is to use or build web applications as a means of engaging Airmen and the general public in conversation. The goal is to make every single Airman a communicator." Nerdy also shared links to existing Air Force social media efforts including:
In my travels on the interwebs I have discovered that other defense oriented agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of State, are also out in front when it comes to adoption of social media and are using it as a way to connect and maybe even, umm.. market... themselves. DOD's site is especially impressive and gets beyond the block and tackle social media tools (like social bookmarking, embedable video, etc.) with forays into sites like BlogTalk Radio. Will be exciting to see what comes next, especially with the new administration paving the way.
Dear Mike,
I've been faithfully blogging for the last two years and just can't seem to figure out how to make $6,000 a month. I'm just a regular girl, and my blog even looks better than your shitty, basic Word Press template blog!
What am I doing wrong, will my luck ever change? Can you ask Miss Cleo to call me, and while you're at it could you send your free course to my door?
(Note: Based on this and my previous Snuggie post, I'm proclaiming January 5 National Awesomely Bad Advertising Day.)
Suddenly it seems the world has caught Snuggie fever. If you don't know what I'm talking about you probably didn't spend one nanosecond watching TV over the holidays. The Snuggie is "a blanket with sleeves" made from "super soft, thick, luxurious fleece" which, based on the commercials, will allow you to stay warm while doing virtually anything in or out of home. Watch minute 1:07 for some classic shots of people wearing Snuggies in public.
So
I think we can all see plainly that this is just a backwards fleece bathrobe, and that you would never, under any circumstances, wear it in public. (Unless of course, someone at your neighborhood bar had recently purchased one for $19.95, receiving the second Snuggie as well as 2 book lights absolutely free....)
