This is the brown M&M character you're looking for

When I learned that my "Why isn't the brown M&M represented?" post was consistently one of the most viewed pages on my blog, I honestly felt kind of bad, as though I were letting readers down, because I suspected people were arriving there looking for answers, only to instead end up at an insubstantial post by a guy wondering the same thing as them.

But, in case you haven't heard the big news, M&M's recently unveiled its latest character, Ms. Brown, here voiced by Vanessa Williams in a Super Bowl ad:

What I've Been Watching #1

Previously on The Vampire Diaries . . . .

Season 3, Episode 13: "Bringing Out the Dead"

Stefan looked to be in trouble, at the mercy of an angry Klaus, who has no mercy.  But Klaus's brother Elijah, already once betrayed by Klaus, decided he would be the one doing the fooling this time.  After Klaus sent him to retrieve the mystery casket, Elijah instead returned with . . .  two daggers!  Then, from behind him, out stepped an undaggered Kol, one of the remaining two original vampires and brothers of Klaus who had yet to be revealed on the show.

Even Klaus, despite being the unkillable original/hybrid, could not remain calm at the prospect of answering to two pissed off original vampires with scores to settle against the brother who had betrayed them.  Forgetting about Stefan, he makes a vampire-speed dash for the exit but is vampire-speed cut off by Finn, the last remaining brother, also undaggered!  So cool!

But it's not over yet!  Klaus starts to flee in the other direction but is cut off this time by . . . Rebekah!  And she's also undaggered!  The original sister, last seen daggered and stashed away by Klaus a few weeks ago, stabs Klaus with her own dagger, at which he staggers back into the restraining arms of his brothers.  Klaus may be unkillable, but he's never seemed otherwise significantly stronger than any other original, so I'm thinking, if he's outnumbered like this, they could just stick him in a vault somewhere and he'd be done.

Elijah then tells our heroes, Damon and Stefan, that they're free to go, informing them that "This is family business."

My first impression: Damn, that was awesome.

My second take: Damn, this stupid vampire show is the only thing I have that I still look forward to in my life.

. . . .

Can't wait for tonight's new episode!

The Double Eyelids Nonsense

My coworker was sharing with me her feelings on the Korean pop star and actor Rain.

"I used to think he was ugly, but now I think he's handsome."

Um, sure, that's great.

She then proceeded to relate to me this Rain guy's sad story of having been born with single eyelids.

"A lot of people get surgery to make double eyelids, but he didn't want to get the surgery. I don't think people should have to get the surgery. That's not right. You know?"

I nodded.

Actually, I had no idea what she was talking about, with these "single eyelids" and "double eyelids." But it was too late in the workday, and I did not have sufficient mental energy left to endure one of her typically meandering, broken English explanations. So I simply nodded.

Afterward, I went home and looked up this "double eyelids" nonsense. Turns out, my coworker was not making this up at all, as the "double eyelid surgery" is, according to Wikipedia, one of the most common cosmetic procedures in Taiwan and other parts of East Asia. I had to look up some photos even to see what the difference was, and I found that the "double eyelid" description was apt. All my life, I had never before been consciously aware of the difference between single and double eyelids, although I suppose I had always intuitively noticed that different people (and, to generalize, different races) had different-looking eyelids. My coworker was also right that it was a pretty stupid and needless surgery, the cultural prejudice against single eyelids entirely unjustified.

As for this Rain guy, it's also true that, early in his career, he was repeatedly rejected in auditions because he did not have double eyelids. It says so right in his Wikipedia entry, so it must have been a big part of his life story.

Reading that, I found myself seething, but not because of the injustice done unto Rain. Rather, it was because the whole thing sounded like the most unbelievably ridiculous nonsense I had ever heard, and yet the guy's fans, including my coworker, apparently take it as a very sad "aww"-worthy story.

So, let me get this straight, this Rain guy's MAJOR ordeal . . . IN. LIFE. is that he was born without the double eyelids? No, don't even deny it. It's right there in his Wikipedia entry, under the "Early life" section. And now he's a millionaire pop singer and movie star, adored the world over, probably lives in a mansion. And I'm supposed to feel sorry for this guy?

Okay, okay, I kid. No, I don't feel sorry for Rain, but neither would I want to trade lives with him. It's ridiculous to me that this "double eyelids" obsession is such a thing that for him to not get the surgery was a big deal. But I don't suppose that's in any way his fault.

The Gay Friends Episode

(Names changed to protect the innocent.)

I had the most uncomfortable workplace conversation ever the other day. It was the end of the day, and people were getting ready to leave, or else had left already. Susie, my neighbor at work, was telling me about some Taiwanese drama. Apparently, there's a homosexual character on the show, which led Susie right into asking me directly whether I had any gay friends.

The question took me by surprise, although it probably shouldn't have; my coworker is always asking me these very direct, often personal, and entirely random questions. I mean, I like her very much, but sometimes it's as if she has no filter, and so expects other people to be just as open and forthcoming with every detail of their lives.

I pretended to reflect, but I actually knew very well that my answer would be no. No, I don't have any gay friends. This is not due to any homophobia on my part, but more so it reflects the special value I invest in the word "friend," which I personally reserve for only a very select few individuals with whom I have felt a strong sense of camaraderie. By that definition, I would say that I can probably also count on one hand the number of heterosexual friends that I've had in my entire life.

I was probably considering the question more deeply than it deserved. I've had gay classmates and coworkers with whom I've been on friendly terms. I suppose, in the broader sense of the word, they would qualify as "friends."

Anyway, it hardly mattered. Susie was a little surprised that I didn't have any gay friends. Then, as if conducting a survey, she turned to another coworker, Colleen, and asked her if she had any gay friends. Colleen, not quite understanding the question, raised an eyebrow and turned to me. I just shrugged and restated the question: "Do you have any gay friends?" No, we're not at the uncomfortable part yet, but almost.

Colleen, now realizing that this was not a joke, casually named one of our male coworkers.

"Who?!" asked Susie quite loudly.

Colleen repeated the name, only this time she leaned in and whispered it, whereas she had spoken it in a normal tone the first time. I couldn't understand it at first. If our male coworker was openly gay, then why were we whispering as though it were some shameful secret? If it was a secret, then maybe it wasn't such a good idea for Colleen to be outing this guy to the one person in the office with almost no filter nor any sense of boundaries.

Sure enough, upon hearing the name more clearly, Susie responded, "Kevin is gay?!"

As she practically yelled out her question in astonishment, I immediately wished we could go back to whispering. And as Susie proceeded to repeat "Kevin is gay?!" several more times, mixing things up with the occasional "I didn't know Kevin was gay!" as well, I did not want to be anywhere near that conversation anymore.

Of course, Colleen didn't help things much. Even though she appeared to be just as embarrassed as me, that didn't stop her from naming all the other gay guys at our workplace. Some were news to me, some I already knew. Somehow all of it was shocking to Susie, who continued to loudly express her astonishment.

I wondered under what circumstances Colleen even came by all this intel. And as for Susie, she seemed so out-of-touch with who was and wasn't gay in the office, I seriously wondered whether she herself had any gay friends. I might have turned the tables and asked her, but, really, I didn't want to prolong the conversation any further.

Blind Spot

Was driving to work this morning when I passed a Braille Institute truck. My first thought: "My God, they let these people behind the wheel?"

Sorry.

And before you even ask, yes, I also think the Budweiser truck driver is drunk.

Beastiality

A coworker was telling me how she wanted to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast 3D. She hadn't seen it since her childhood, and she remembered it as "the most romantic cartoon ever." I could agree that it was a fine film, but I remembered it somewhat differently . . . .

Me: No, I don't think Belle had romantic feelings for the Beast.

Coworker: But that was the whole point. He had to make her fall in love with him in order to break the curse.

Me: Did it say she had to fall in love with him? Or just that she had to love him? Like, as a friend? I think they just became friends.

Coworker: OH. MY. GOD. That was the whooooole point. You missed the whooooole point of the story, Henry!

Me: I don't think so. First of all, there's no way she could have been attracted to him. Also, I don't remember them sharing a single romantic moment together. I certainly don't remember her singing any songs about it.

Coworker: THEY KISSED.

Me: Well . . . I don't remember that . . . . I could be wrong. It's been a long time since I've seen it. I was a different person then.

Coworker: *groan*

Yes, I could be wrong. But I don't think I am. If my coworker is right, however, then it was a lesser film than I remember. Thoughts?

No, Darkside Chronicles doesn't count . . . .

In case you haven't seen it yet, Capcom recently released an extended version of Blur Studio's Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City short:

I wouldn't expect the actual game to be anywhere near as cool as this movie. Honestly, I don't even really expect the game to be good. Even so, just hoping for a lot of fanservice, I'm probably looking forward to it more so than to any other releases scheduled for this year. At least, I was until today's Resident Evil 6 reveal:

Trailer is fairly incomprehensible, obviously not as slick as the Blur video. But, hey, it's got Leon and Chris in the same game, at long last. That's gotta be worth something . . . .