Gramercy Gives Back

Tonight, Gramercy is starting something very special!  As your RA's were deciding how we could give back this semester, RA Twig suggested we buy an acre of the rainforest!  We all loved the idea and who doesn't want to save some cute animals in need!

Who wouldn't want to save that face?!

So, this is where we ask for your help!  We are going to be collecting change to adopt our Gramercy Acre!  Tonight, at 9:30pm in the Lounge, we will decorate a few jars that you will see scattered around the building for the remainder of the semester.  If you find yourself walking into the building with a few extra pennies in your pocket, PLEASE drop them in the jar.  Every little bit helps!

Peas can I haz ur moniez?!

We will also be having an event at the end of the semester to help raise money towards our acre, so keep an eye out for that!  For now, we need help kicking it off!  So we'll see you ladies tonight!  Twig and I will be bringing snacks, so get excited!!!

Fashion Bug

Alright Gramercy, you're a fashionable bunch.  Please tell me what these stars were thinking at this years Golden Globes?!

Kelly Osboune

Jessica Biel

Amanda Peet

I mean... did you ladies like any of these?  Which stars were the best dressed of the night?

A Year in Music with Kerin 2011 (Part 2)

And now, the songs I wanted to include on part one of this list, but then said 'no wait, I have some dignity left', and then decided I probably don't after all when I saw the play counts on my iTunes...

11 Songs I Wish I Could Say I Shamelessly Played in 2011, But In Fact Played Them With Significant Amounts Of Shame

• "Blow" - Ke$ha.  Absolutely, hands down, my #1 pop song of this year that I was ashamed of. I put it on every mix CD in my car this summer. Every. Single. One. I didn't even hesitate. I love you, Ke$ha, have my glitter-covered babies.
• "Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj.  There is no greater feeling than being able to seamlessly rap every word of this song. I do it often. When this comes on if I had slightly less shame than I do now I would yell "THIS IS MY JAM, TURN IT UP BITCH."
• "Do It Like A Dude" - Jessie J.  Her voice is like warbly-Jamaican Katy Perry but just kidding, she raps and she's from England? This track is crude, and it's fierce as hell and I have no problem with either of those things.
• "This Is What Rock N' Roll Looks Like" - Porcelain Black (feat. Lil' Wayne).  Even though this is definitely not what rock and roll sounds like, Porcelain Black is hot. I can't believe I just admitted that to a blog. Bitch has hair like Cruella de Ville and her voice is growly and deep and I don't even hate Lil' Wayne that much on this song. THAT'S SAYING A LOT. I have tons of shame. But I love you, Porcelain, so the shame is worth it.
• "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5. I feel like a hypocrite on this one because I proclaimed it "the dumbest pop song of the year". I stand by that. The lyrics are positively atrocious, I mean seriously? That doesn't mean I won't dance to it, though. Or sing all of the really dumb words. Regrettably, this one got me. You win this time, Adam Levine.
• "Stereo Hearts" - Gym Class Heroes (feat. Adam Levine). ......okay, maybe you win again, Adam Levine. 2-0.
• "You Make Me Feel" - Cobra Starship (feat. some chick). I once loved Cobra Starship. When they were good. And I loved them. Yes, this was an actual time in history, and no, it is not now, but that doesn't mean I won't jam out to this song. With the windows up.
• "I Wanna Go" - Britney Spears. Not gonna lie, I blasted a lot of Britney this year. She's makin' herself a comeback, y'all. I distinctly remember my brother and I whistling with this one in the car this summer. Sorry, Andrew.
• "Sexy And I Know It" - LMFAO.  Find me one person who did not turn the volume all the way up when LMFAO came on the radio this summer and wish they knew how to shuffle. That person is a dirty liar. Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle. Yeah.
• "On The Floor" - Jennifer Lopez (feat. Pitbull). Only because Pitbull is in it and for some reason I will listen to any song if he just randomly starts rapping on it. And I think the way she says 'Africa' a la 'ah-FREAK-uh' is hilarious.
• "Tonight (I'm ((Explative of Your Choice))-ing You)" - Enrique Iglesias.  You know there are two versions of this song. One of them is the clean, good-for-radio version. That is not the version I love, worship and dance around in my short-shorts to. Be as crude as you want, Enrique. I will always dance even if it is with shame.

And there you have it. My favorite songs I would never admit to liking were some of my favorite songs of the year.  Well, I guess I kind of admitted to liking them on this blog.  I hope no one will remember because my music cred will be gone forever.

Your adorableness for the day...

WANT TO SQUEEZE IT!

A Year in Music with Kerin: 2011 (Part 1)

I will forever remember 2011 as the year I discovered Spotify, the equally beautiful gift and curse given to music lovers by the internet. Using this wonderful program I made playlist after playlist that I jammed out to all year. Here are some of my favorites that got put on repeat that I hope you'll check out for yourselves (It's really easy. With Spotify. I've even linked all of the songs to Spotify for you. TRY IT.)

So, in no particular order...

5 Songs I Found in 2011 That I Shamelessly Played on Repeat Because They Are Perfect In Every Way

• "I Wish" - Eisley.  The DuPree Sisters use their hauntingly beautiful voices to create unreal harmonies. If honey made sounds and had a broken heart, this is what it would sound like.

• "You Sleep Alone" - Hellogoodbye.  Gone are the days of techno-pop and autotune, thank god. Their album this year easily made my Top 10 as they transitioned (seemingly effortlessly) into folky pop. This song is upbeat and has hints of ska with a killer bassline.

• "If I Die Young" - The Band Perry.  This song was all over radio this year, but that was the crappy pop-turned-country edit. Listen to the original if you like The Dixie Chicks or Taylor Swift.

• "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster The People. If you haven't heard this song you've been living under a rock. Peek your head out and fall in love with that bass line. Hot damn.

• "You & I" - Lady Gaga. I worship the ground Gaga lays for all other pop artists walks on and this song is astonishing. Since you've probably already heard this one, check out her solo-piano version on Youtube:

What's in my coffee?

I am absolutely amazed by these!

I must find a coffee shop that does this!

Hooow?!

BEAR!

Anybody know of a place that does this?!

Your adorableness for the day...

I want a dashboard cat!

Great Student Films

Loom tells the story of a successful catch. This student film of 2010 won Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project at the VES Awards. The people who contributed to this short are doing amazing work today.


Student Academy Award winner (Bronze) in the animation category for 2011 went to two students from Ringling. These guys managed to pull off a very European style of animation and look. The ending result = awesome.


Along those lines, in 2007, came an extraordinary short film from the legendary Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image or Goblins School of the Image (in France). "Oktapodi" was nominated for an Academy Award for best short film in 2009. European style animation is simply amazing!


And still one of my favorites, and of course a great inspirational piece:

Mondays

TGIF

Who's ready for the weekend?

Your adorableness for the day...

It's just so... so...

CUTE!

Out with the blah, in with better options!

It's a new year ladies, and I've decided after a semester of good food and recipe sharing it's time for some thought about what we're actually putting back into our bodies. To start out with, I'd like to share with you seven of the worst foods that you should never eat...

1. Canned tomatoes.

Why? The metal linings of the cans contain a synthetic estrogen connected to heart disease, diabetes and obesity that becomes released through the high acidity of the tomatoes.

Instead: Buy your tomatoes in glass bottles, or Tetra Paks (Trader Joes carries them!). Also, it's always much more delicious to simply buy fresh tomatoes for use in your sauces and cooking.

2. Corn-fed beef.

Why? Cows are natural grazing herbivores, but when kept in pens are fed corn and grains. This leads to different nutritional content in their meat. In a national study conducted by the USDA, grass-fed beef is contains a higher content of beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega 3s, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and are lower in saturated fats-which are linked to heart disease!

Instead: Grass-fed beef. It's a bit more pricey, but easily found nationally at Whole Foods and speciality markets. If you don't see it, ask the butcher.

3. Microwave popcorn.

Why? The lining of the bags contains an acid known to cause cancer in lab rats. This acid is becomes vapor in the microwave and migrates to your popcorn, to then be ingested and sadly, stick around. Scientist say this build-up could lead to cancer, and thus all of these acid bags will be phased out by 2015. But there's a few years (and a lot of movies demanding popcorn) between now and then.

Instead: Pop kernels the old-fashioned way-in a skillet. This is also dirt cheap in comparison…plus you get to control exactly what spices and flavorings you put on. Not too much salt!

4. Nonorganic potatoes.

Why? Potatoes are grown in soil that has been sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. That's a lot of chemicals. Because the vegetable is grown underground, it absorbs those same chemicals through the water it takes in. Later, they are sprayed with more chemicals to stop them from sprouting the store. You can wash all that off the surface, but you can't get it out of the flesh itself.

Instead: Just spend the extra dollar or two and buy organic potatoes. It's a better investment in your health in the long run.

5. Farmed salmon.

Why? Nature didn't intend for salmon to live in small pens and eat poultry litter. Or be fed high levels of antibiotics and pesticides…which you also get dosed with when you eat farmed salmon. As a result of farming, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D, and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardant, and pesticides such as dioxin, and DDT-linked to diabetes and obesity.

Instead: There are NO commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon. If the packaging says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon, or canned salmon almost exclusively from wild catch, which comes at almost $3 a can.

6. Milk produced with artificial hormones.

Why? The growth hormone that milk producers treat their dairy cattle with allows them to produce more milk…but also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. This also leads to an increase in a hormone directly linked to causing breast, prostate, an colon cancers. While there isn't 100% that this is increasing cancer in humans, it's still banned from most industrialized countries. Ban it from your fridge too.

Instead: Look for labels that indicate hormone free products, such as 'produced without artificial hormones', 'organic', and 'rBGH-free or rBST-free)'.

7. Conventional apples.

Why? Apples are are descended from the same tree, grafted down to maintain their individual flavors. Because of this, they don't develop a resistance to pests and diseases, earning them award for 'most doused in pesticides.'

Instead: Buy organic apples. And if you can't, be sure to wash and peel them.

Click Read More for a yummy recipe to start the year off right! -With organic potatoes of course.

We're baaaaack!

Happy New Year people!

Did you miss us?!

Gramercy is full of life again as we start a new semester!  It's your first week back in class, which means it's our first week of posting!  Be sure to check back for programs, fun blogs starring your RA's, recipes, music, movies, and of course EVERYONES favorite....CATS!

It is beautiful...isn't it?!

Welcome back to Gramercy everyone!!! Let's make it a great semester!!!!!