Bromances

                      "Rock out with your cock out...bromance style."



Society focuses a lot on female-female interactions and the varying degrees of friendships - the BFF, the "frenemie" etc. - leaving discussion of male-male friendships on the periphery. But finally, a movie has come out that puts male-male friendships in a whole new light: I Love You, Man. It stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel (for you guys who know I love HIMYM, this was a moment for me!). The plot starts us off with Paul Rudd and his imminent marriage and the realization that his character has no close guy friends. So he sets off to find some, or even just one...poor guy. During his search he befriends Jason Segel's character, and the "bromance" begins. (Sidenote: Paul Rudd is EXCELLENT in this movie!)

bromance - n. a loving, mutual and purely platonic friendship between two heterosexual men. Signs and symptoms: going on "man dates," referring to each other as "bro," "dude," or "buddy" and saying "I Love You, Man" without fear of judgement.

I feel that the "rules" driving male-male interactions are fewer and more straightforward than those in female-female relationships. Here are some of my favorites:

1) If there are a few urinals open in the Men's Room, NEVER take one right next to another dude, because that's just weeeeiiird.

2) NEVER bring your girlfriend to boys' night. (Ladies, would you really want your BF around while you and the gals chat it up about Sex and the City? I think not...). 

3) It's okay to say that another dude looks good, but only when you say it in the "dude" voice.

4) When in a hug, give the customary back pat if the hug lasts longer than 5 seconds.

5) Dude:: wingman as girl::shopping buddy. 

For more rules check out Barney Stintson's The Bro Code. The weird thing is, I'M the one who recommended it to AE. Oh well, haha.

The bromance is a universal concept, as it seems to have made it's way into the hearts of men all over hollywood. Some of my favorite celebrity bromances:

                                       George Clooney and Brad Pitt

                                        Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

                                       Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson

                                     Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly

Note: it seems that Bros choose other bros who are their equal in looks and in comic timing...hahah

Gals, try not to get too grossed out by "manly bonding." You don't want a potential BF who has no friends.

Guys, find your bro and "hug it out, bitch."

AE Gives Us "The Ugly Truth"

Lots of girls love getting guys' perspectives on dating and relationships. It's just a matter of finding a person who will give you an honest answer, whether you're ready to hear it or not. There are some guys, like AE, who do just that. In my opinion, it's important to hear both sides of an argument so today we have him onboard to "enlighten" us. 

Disclaimer: Take the following with a grain of salt; it's pretty much a no holds barred approach on a touchy subject. I bet you it even made AE do a double take a few times while writing it. And guess what? It did.

To get the general gist of the tone of this article, watch the movie trailer for The Ugly Truth:

A few nights ago, I was watching Nip/Tuck (the closest thing to hardcore porn you’ll find on network cable) with a bunch of my friends. At one point, my buddy’s girlfriend comes out of the other room and says she’s watching Biggest Loser.  She then goes on to say how the contestants are crying and how she’s about to cry also.  I quickly respond with, “Yeah, it’s really sad watching fat people try to lose weight.” 

That little offensive and tasteless interaction got me thinking, not about fat people making such an emotional big deal about losing weight, but about how physically unattractive girls go on complaining about how they can’t find a relationship…about how “all men are shallow pigs,” and how “pretty girls are all bitches.”

Well ladies, the fact of the matter is, the problem is actually you, not men, and not necessarily the pretty girls.  Gerard Butler said it best in his upcoming chick flick The Ugly Truth, “Listen up ladies.  You want a relationship?  Here’s how you get one:  It’s called a Stair Master!  Get on it!  No one falls in loves with your personality at first sight!”

That isn’t to say that personality and brains isn’t important.  It’s quite the opposite in fact.  Once you get past the initial five minutes of an encounter with a man, your personality will make or break you going home with him that night (that or the copious amounts of alcohol that you both may or may not have consumed).  However, it is getting to that encounter and eventual conversation that is the problem with you types of girls.  I’m sorry to tell you that it isn’t your personality or dizzying intellect that the guy is going to be staring at from across the bar.  Unfortunately, if you’re not physically attractive, forget about it.  Men are visual people, and if they like what they see, they go for it. Without that initial physical attraction, 99% of men will have no reason whatsoever to come up to you, strike that conversation, and get to know whoever the hell it is you are behind your less-than-stellar physical appearance.

So let that be a lesson from me to all you girls who think that intelligence and personality are all that matter.  You’re really only kidding yourselves.  Unless you’ve got the physical goods to back up that brain and charm of yours, don’t expect that cute boy to be coming after you at your next girls night out.  Having said that, don’t hate on all the pretty girls.  While their good looks may give off the bitchy vibe (and truth be told some of them really are bitches), they are simply using the gifts that God gave them, and regrettably for you, it’s those gifts that are going to attract the cute boy you’ve had your eye on all night. So take a tip, and “make it work.”

-AE

So what do I think? Ouuuuuchhh, it buuuuuurrrnns! But in all seriousness, AE via Gerard Butler has got a valid point. 

I read a book called Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes? by Jena Pincott, which puts the rules of attraction up against scientific/clinical evidence. And guess what? Pincott shows that even science agrees with physical attraction at first sight; when you're out at a bar among strangers, physical attraction will be the incentive to meet someone, since you can't gauge personality by sight alone. 

So for you girls and guys who are reading this going "oh great, what the hell do I do now?" don't fret. As Pincott says, there is such a thing as "love at second sight: depending on your personal experience with a person, beauty can turn ugly, and ugly can become beautiful."

Neil Patrick Harris: Fuck Yeah!

If any of you have ever seen "Doogie Howser, M.D." or more recently, "Harold and Kumar..." and especially "How I Met Your Mother," you know just how awesome NPH is. 

He should be winning awards because:

- He sings and dances well (please see the Prop 8 the Musical, his stint on SNL and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog)

- He plays the BEST womanizing straight man ever, being a gay man himself

- He's done Broadway

- His comic timing is spot on

- He's just legen...wait for it...DARY!

I'm continuously blown away by this guy, and I see that I'm not the only one. On my usual IMDb perusing I stumbled across the ULTIMATE NPH website:

www.fuckyeahneilpatrickharris.com

Some samples:

                            From when Barney sets Ted up with a "hooker"

                        "Let's open our own bar and NEVER have last call!"

This one's for the guys: Season 3 with the Victoria's Secret models...combined with a joke from season 4

So if you're an NPH fan, go...

...we'll be watching you.