Another blog in the machine...

2011-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been almost two years since I've scribed anything on this blog. I forgot that it even existed. It probably would have remained that way had I not experienced something so funny that it made me think, "hey, that's worthy enough to write about somewhere. O, my blog!" And, here we are.

This is a story of true awkwardness and it, once again, involves a bathroom. So, we're bringing in our good, ol' friend MS Paint. If you've read my much older posts, you'll see other uproarious episodes of clumsiness and bathrooms--sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes both. But, the common thread that binds them is MS Paint. So, here we go:

I work at the UN, so here's more or less what it looks like:

As you can see, it's undergoing renovation. OK, enough with the exposition. I tell you where I work because it's pertinent to the story. The UN department I work for has its own Secretary-General and he's my boss of bosses. He's kind of like a Kofi Annan, but not as well-known. For my purposes, though, he has to be treated like a VIP whenever he visits our office. The guy is so important, I feel like I have to worship him when he comes around.

That is me worshipping him. I know I look like a tribal, deformed Three Stooges Moe, but, alas, MS Paint is limited in its capabilities of illustrating my awesome physique. I also didn't know how to signify the guy's importance, so I just stuck a crown on his head.

I don't speak much to him, I'm just responsible for getting done whatever needs to be done-- then he's on to the next one. Conversation is at a minimum when he's around staff, and we all kind of just know to get out of the way.

CUT TO: Bathroom (Interior)
So, I had to really go to the bathroom around lunchtime. I exited quietly from the room, thinking the big boss was out to lunch. This is what the bathroom on our floor looks like:
Two stalls and one urinal. Sinks are not shown, but obviously they're there, even though some dirtbags refuse to use them. But, that's a different MS Paint story.

So, I casually walked into the bathroom, humming my happy song because this room is often my safe-haven from the rigors of work. Only this time, it was a hall of horror. I saw the big boss standing over at the other side of the room. I'm sure most people can relate, but I hate talking to people in the bathroom, let alone someone I completely feared and had nothing in common with. So this was my initial reaction:

After spotting him, I dashed into the first stall:
For a good amount of time, I was safe. I wasn't spotted, and now I could relax. A second later, I heard someone else walk in. I didn't see who it was, so I'm going to portray him as a long-haired cowboy for now:

This is the point when the proverbial poop hits the fan (figuratively, not literally). Now, I've gotten to know the doors of these bathroom stalls pretty well over the course of the years. They're terribly built and a light breeze could probably blow them over. The entire frame also has a knack of shifting over if someone slams the other stall door. Some of you may notice the same things in your own wash rooms. To counter this effect, I usually have to do a little dance by using one foot to lift up the door, using both hands to manipulate the door into position, and then locking the door. Here's a close-up drawing of the distance between the locks of the door:
As you can see, it's a matter of about 3 millimeters that separates the door from the frame. On a good day, the door locks fairly well on its own, but, on a bad day, if someone else comes along and slams the other door, this one comes unlocked, and it swings open really quietly, as if the door is saying, "O, this is gonna be good." Well, this wasn't the good day scenario, it was the bad day one. I guess you know where I'm headed with this.

So, as I'm standing there and as the other guys walks in and slams his door, I'm completely oblivious to the fact that my door is now wide open. My problems were compounded because on this day I chose to wear the most horrid-looking boxers . I can't really describe them. They have this kind of paisley design all over and there's even a rip on the side of them. I didn't know how to illustrate that, so I just drew some symbols on them:
So, as I'm standing there, I hear the guy washing up; mind you, my door is still wide open. As he finishes at the sink I can hear his steps getting closer to the exit door, but I'm thinking that it sounds really loud. Here's my internal conversation: "Wow, those footsteps sound a lot louder than usual. I wonder why my door isn't blocking the sound." Here's what the scene must have been like before I noticed anything:
Well, I finally did notice what was going on because the footsteps were passing right behind me. Just as I turned to look, the guy was right behind me. Here's how it looked:

OK, so I didn't wave, but I might as well have because it was awkward beyond belief. We briefly glanced at each other as I tried everything to get that door shut. He had a look of almost absolute disgust.

There's a period of pitiless, self-loathing that one goes through when he or she is now alone in a bathroom stall, just seen by his or her boss, with ugly-ass boxers and pants down to his or her ankles. I think if a bird somehow came out of the vent and took a crap on my head, it would have made the day complete.

Needless to say, I didn't speak of this incident to him or to anyone else.

I thought that by revealing this event to you all now, it would have provided some type of cathartic after-effect. I was wrong. I'm going to go and cry now. Thanks for listening.

Freestyle

2009-03-13T10:58:00.001-07:00

Had to get some thoughts on virtual paper because the last few weeks have been pretty tough. I just wrapped up some mid-terms for school, so now all I have to worry about is working on my Spanish for this language class at my job. That's the plan as I head into Spring break, which incidentally, isn't as fun when you have a full-time job.

In other news, I'm reading about B. Madoff and the numbers he's making now: 61727-054, which is his inmate number. The dude is obviously deserving of what he gets and maybe worse, but is it just me that also feels anger towards the investors? I mean, it involved a huge group of already insanely rich people who felt compelled to go after higher returns and higher returns quickly. It's like the rich eating the rich. Most of America can't relate to this story. By the way, has anyone ever seen that guy Ponzi, originator of the eponymous scheme? I caught a picture of him on CNN a few weeks back and he looks like he would be the guy to have a scheme named after himself. I think I have a picture... oh, here it is:

Isn't that a hoot?

Well, that's all that's on my mind. I was hoping for Seton Hall to go farther in the Big East tourney but those hopes are dashed. And I'm looking forward to getting No Line on the Horizon so if anyone has reviews, let me know. Actually, if anyone is still even reading this, then thank you.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

2009-03-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

Oscars '09

There was a slew of great pictures this year. Here’s my verbose rundown:

Gran Torino – How do you adjust to a changing world?

I was reading Roger Ebert talking about Eastwood and how relatively few people can actually get better at their jobs as they get older. I would agree that that pertains to Eastwood. This movie reflects his age and, presumably, some of his thoughts on life as he ages, so well so that the sheer honesty of it really keeps you fixated. Race relations have always been an interest of mine and this movie is almost a study in that topic. No longer is racism so overt, but when it is, it’s almost shocking. And it shouldn’t be hidden--if it’s there, it should be displayed for what it is, so that it can be addressed correctly. That’s what I really liked about this flick. The counterparts to Eastwood are on an equal footing with him. They respond to his attitude with the same asshole-ishness that he gives out. I have a feeling that those people, who say there’s too much PC in the world today, probably wouldn’t be saying that if those same un-PC comments were thrown back at them. This is a great commentary on how our society has evolved and is continually evolving, and I hope Eastwood picks up best director or Schenk picks up best screenplay.

Benjamin Button – Should there be a certain progression in our lives?

I liked this movie. I like movies that play with the concept of time and our relationship with time. It reminds me of that saying, “The older I get, the less I know.” The world either gets so much more complicated or you just think about things more to the point of utter confusion. It kind of begs the question as to whether we should be living life a certain way, is there an order for us to do or accomplish certain things. I thought the acting was good. I think Taraji Henson has a shot at winning supporting actress and I think this one or the next flick might pick up best editing.

Slumdog Millionaire – Can you still have faith in your own abilities when everything is against you?

They say that this is Hollywood mixed with Bollywood, but I see this as a quintessentially Hollywood movie by the way it is written and acted. Great story, acting, directing, cinematography. While I was watching it, I could imagine it being the Philippines or any South/SE Asian or Latin country. It reminded me a lot of City of God but this movie actually had a love story at its center. There was one scene in this movie that I particularly liked which helped the movie to avoid falling into the trap that other “slum” pics fall into: When the brothers are talking they’re looking out at Mumbai and it is evidently thriving—roads, cars, skyscrapers. With the spotlight now on this movie, people who are exposed to seeing images of those slums for the first time believe the rest of the country is like that. But in one small scene, the movie counters those perceptions. People who are critics of the film and its negative portrayal of poor areas should really think about that. I can see this picking up directing, cinematography, or best picture awards.

Revolutionary Road – What if?

This was a really brutal flick, and there wasn’t even any violence in it. I wouldn’t recommend this to people who are considering getting married. You get a real feeling of heaviness after you watch it. The acting was incredible but there’s something that’s starting to bother me about Mendes’ (the director) subjects. He seems to have a real bias against 50s American suburbs, aAs if the entire era was just a façade and evil things were lurking. How about picking a different setting or time period?

Frost/Nixon – How does a country move on after it’s been wronged?

Another good acting duo in this movie in Sheen-Langella. In thinking about this movie I really believed it was more about the President and the interviewer and less about the country, but it’s really the other way around. The country couldn’t move on in its affairs after Watergate, or didn’t know how to. Ford pardoning Nixon was probably a good thing because it acted as a catharsis for the country. This kind of background tension really adds to the battle between Frost and Nixon. You get a sense of what is at stake for these two. I’d like Langella to win for his portrayal but I’d have to say that the winner for lead actor should be from either of the two next films.

Milk – How much should you fight for something you know is right?

I used to think Morgan Freeman was the greatest living actor, but I’m really reconsidering that with every Sean Penn movie that I see. He is pretty much astounding in this movie. I hadn’t seen footage of the real Harvey Milk before so I can’t do an adequate comparison, but Penn’s performance speaks of real acting, not impersonation. The movie documents the rise of councilman Harvey Milk and his repeated attempts at public office. The strength of this movie is in how it portrays the struggle for gay rights not only from a local perspective but nationally as well. It really elevates the magnitude of what Milk is doing because he had the potential for overturning, or having laws passed, in every state of the country. What might be overlooked is how amazing a politician Milk really was. Taking the gay rights issues out of the equation, Milk really knew how to ‘milk’ the political system. Incidentally, this movie really makes the city of SF shine. It shoots the city so well. I hope Penn picks up leading actor, but if not, it should go to the guy in:

The Wrestler – How do you survive in a world that’s forgotten you?

I have yet to see a couple of movies, but from what I’ve seen, I think this is the best movie of the year. Set aside the fact that it’s filmed entirely in Jersey and Springsteen is on the soundtrack, the story is just too moving. I can see a thread linking the movies this year and it seems to be on the theme of getting older. This movie shows the painful side of that. If a lifestyle that you enjoyed no longer cares for you, do you face the real world or keep trying to capture that excitement? This is Mickey Rourke’s dilemma and it’s sad to watch. This movie really felt like I was watching a documentary. Everything was just so real, even the technical aspects of wrestling. I really loved wrestling as a kid, but I never knew it was staged. What I did know was that guys get hurt, and you see a lot of that behind-the-scenes stuff in this movie which makes it even more fascinating. For Rourke’s character the pain that hurts him more is mental and emotional rather than physical, and he makes his ultimate choice based on that realization. I think Aranofsky should get the director award for this.

I’ve written too much already, but if I could, I’d talk about the Dark Knight and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, of which I hope both win awards. I'd give honorable mention to Defiance and Marley and Me. I have yet to see Doubt or the Reader so hopefully I’ll have the chance soon. I’ve also heard about a picture called Synecdoche but it's playing in about 2 theatres.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

2009-03-13T09:16:00.003-07:00

The first black US President

Well, what's new these days. Oh yeah, there's a new young, black US president... I guess that deserves a quick write-up. For a long time, it seemed as if the country had been watching these campaigns and had been getting weary, and almost sick of all of it. What struck me was how fast it all started to go about a day or two ago. It was like watching a slow movie and then when it starts to build up and climax, you fast forward through the rest of it.
I read a short blurb on what Tim Russert would have said about this election and what he would have wrote on that board of his and it probably would have been "Bush, Bush, Bush." You just have to look at an electoral map to see how many red states turned blue. People really wanted to fight Bush with their votes. It's a bit strange how much people hated Bush. He was actually a little bit more centrist than everyone thinks. I mean, a solid conservative President would not have signed a campaign finance reform bill into law like he did, which, incidentally, was sponsored by McCain. Either out of ignorance or shrewdness, he went against his own party on several initiatives but then again he did start a war that no one cares for now.
But, back to my main point about Obama. I don't believe there was much doubt that he would win. These types of political party realignments happen every so often--it happened after FDR and his New Deal and after Nixon's horrible performance. It basically happens after something really bad happens. In today's case it would be the economy, which leads to my main point about the man. My raging enthusiasm for Obama is tempered by my dislike for another thing--hype. Hype distorts reality, and hype is pretty much what surrounds Obama right now. He hasn't really proven himself professionally and he has yet to take control of the office of Presidency. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be much of a bother, but a new face that is facing the worst conditions could have negative effects. He is working quickly already, though, by picking Emanuel as his chief of staff, and mulling over others for his cabinet. He's also already planning to pitch that the Olympics be held in Chicago in 2016 (incidentally, he made an awesome statement on being a White Sox fan). Overall though, I think people are going to have to be patient with Obama because if he's going to change things it's going to start happening maybe a year or a year and a half from now--not in the first few months.
The thing that I'm most interested in is the aspect of race relations and how it could potentially be permanently changed. We know now that race is not a factor in the selection of President. I'm so fascinated by the interplay of race and politics and there were so many interesting things about how race was used and looked at in the media during the presidential campaigns. But, what's going to happen in the next 4 years with President Obama? Are people going to look at his some of his future actions as motivated by some kind of loyalty to some groups over others? Or will people be able to judge his actions based on their merits and only that? On the other side, will some citizens expect him to support their initiatives because they perceive him to have or that he should have certain allegiances to them? Or will people take those feelings out of the process and judge his decisions objectively? I can't wait to see what happens and how our country responds.
But, whatever side of the aisle you're on, this is still a day that has no equal. I'm sure our civil rights leaders could envision a black man at the helm one day, but I'm sure many of them thought it would take many more years (although Bobby Kennedy actually did predict a black president right about now). Hopefully, it won't take many more years before we see an Asian-American president :)

EDIT: Scratch everything I said. I just want to see how Iraq turns out.

Monday, August 11, 2008

2009-03-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

Joe Namath II

So it looks like the AFC East is fun again, yay! It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement with the Faverererer trade to the Jets but, folks, you know who the real loser is in this entire deal? It's the man himself. Yes, that's right. To wind up with the Jets and to know that your market worth is a "conditional" 4th round draft pick? Yipes! I honestly don't know if he's going to be a good fit with the Jets lineup. They've got a terrible run game and now they're going to have to depend even more on the pass game with Favre. I dont even know who's on the team these days. Coles? Cotchery? Martin-or did he retire already? They're going to have to have a great backup QB also and I don't see it in that guy Clemens. As far as his surroundings go, I think he'll be able to handle the NY media and fans alright. And you can probably even compare the frozen tundra of Lambeau with the muddy swamp of Giants Stadium which can get pretty frozen during our crappy winters--so he should have no problem adjusting. I think this will give rise to another NY-Boston rivalry with the Patriots, and it'll probably last for a while if the Jets improve.

I've been watching the Olympics and there was a moment where they showed Amanda Beard and some kind of crazy swimsuit that swimmers are wearing this year. I wondered what other new tech gear is out there and I found this:

http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=8251075

I think my favorites are the discus (disci?) and the bball jersey. It seems like R&D for olympic gear is just as crazy as the Pentagon's spending on military weapons. In a related story, I was reading about this:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/invisibility.cloak.ap/index.html
How awesome would it be if they combined the olympic swimsuits with an invisibility cloak? The possibilities...

Monday, June 09, 2008

2009-03-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Journey from the Philippines

This guy could be really great. Already seems a lot less bizarre than Pe

Friday, May 30, 2008

2009-03-06T09:01:00.003-08:00

Kobe's miserable treatment of women continues...

Monday, May 12, 2008

2009-03-06T09:01:00.001-08:00

Multicultural Lesson of the Day

Today we go to Italy--more specifically, Naples--for my first and last Multicultural Lesson of the Day. The Nepalese, Neapolitans, take their pizza very seriously. They should, they invented it.

Pizza makers here in the US strive to meet exacting standards, and some go so far as to even have the same pH level in their water as the water used in Naples to make the dough. In order to be called an authentic Naples pizza, it must meet certain requirements. Enter the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana--an association that originated in order to ensure that any pizza that calls itself Neapolitan meets said standards.

So what are these rules? Here's a piece extrapolated from the VPN Charter (yes, there's a charter):

The certification mark of Verace Pizza Napoletana is reserved exclusively for those establishments whose pizzas fulfill the following standards:

"Verace Pizza Napoletana" must be made from the following raw ingredients:

· Flour
· Natural Yeast, Yeast of Beer
· Water

The pizza dough must be worked with the hands or with a mixer approved by the Association's committee. After rising, the dough must be shaped with the hands and without a rolling pin or any mechanical means.

The cooking of the pizza must take place on the surface of the oven and not in any pan or container. The oven must be a wood burning oven and structured in a bell shape and of special brick with the floor of the pizza oven constructed of volcanic stone. The oven must be fired with only wood and kindling.

The classic pizzas and their respective basic ingredients are the following:

· Marinara (Napoletana): Tomato, olive oil, oregano, and garlic.
· Margherita: Tomato, olive oil, grated Parmesan, and fior-di-latte or mozzarella.
· Ripieno (Calzone): Ricotta, fior-di-latte or mozzarella, olive oil, and salami.
· Formaggio e Pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, and grated Parmesan

All types of pizza are agreeable to basil leaves.

Variations of pizzas are recognized if they are informed by the Neapolitan tradition of pizzas and are not in contrast with the rules of gastronomy, with judgment reserved to the Association's committee.

The pizza, when eaten, should present the following characteristics: soft, well cooked, fragrant and enclosed in a high, soft edge of crust.

Excerpt from the "Disciplinare" Manual:

Art. 5. Characteristics of the final product

a. Description of the product: «Pizza Napoletana» STG [Ed. an EU designation of an authentic regional product] is an oven made circularly shaped culinary product , of a variable diameter which should not exceed 35 cm, with a elevated border (crust) and with the central part covered with toppings. The central part should be 0.3 cm thick, and the crust 1-2 cm thick. The pizza as a whole should be soft, elastic, easily folded as would be a pamphlet.

b. Aspect: «Pizza Napoletana» STG is characterized by a raised crust of golden color, typical of oven-made products. It is soft to the touch and taste, especially in the center of the toppings, where the red of the tomato stands out, and to which the oil or for the pizza marinara, the green of the oregano and the white of the garlic has perfectly amalgamated; In the case of the pizza Margherita, the white of the mozzarella should be in patches more or less close together, with the green of the basil leaves, more or less dark from the cooking process. The consistency should be soft, elastic, easily foldable. The product should be soft to the touch, with a characteristic taste deriving from the crust, presenting the typical taste of risen and cooked bread, mixed with the acidity of tomato, combined with the aroma, respectively of the oregano, garlic or basil, and with the flavor of the cooked mozzarella. The pizza, at the end of the cooking process, will emanate a characteristic aroma, at once perfumed and fragrant.

There you have it. If you want to believe this author, go with the Neapolitan, it's my favorite type (if you're in NYC get it at Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, etc.). But if you want the best slice, go to NY Penn Station, to Don Pepe's near the Krispy Kreme. It's a secret, only 500,000 commuters know about it. It really is the best, though. And next time Tony's flipping your dough up in the air, ask him if his Neapolitan pie is certified by the VPN. You don't have to, but I just want you to get laughed at.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

2009-03-06T09:00:00.002-08:00

For Prospective Parents

Most of you have probably seen these already, but I thought I would just pass on the wisdom anyway:

I have like 20 more of these, by the way. Someone just tell me they want to see more and I'll post the rest. I'm always seeking affirmation, thanks.

Monday, March 31, 2008

2009-03-06T08:59:00.002-08:00

Hey you, check this out. It's fun.

Thanks, Wendell.

Monday, March 17, 2008

2009-03-06T08:59:00.001-08:00

My first cricket...

I was walking past Grand Central Terminal the other week and I saw some freebies being handed out on the street. I thought they were free samples of food, but after I got one I looked at it and they were dead, flavored crickets:

Funny enough this was a promotion for the show Bizarre Foods, which I had just started watching lately.

These things don't seem to have that much nutritional value. Only .5g protein and 9 calories? I think it's time for the cricket eaters to push for organic. Anyway, I decided to dive in and see what all the fuss was about, and these are pretty much the results. Please excuse the attire and, for clarification, I'm using tongs not chopsticks:
So how did it taste, you ask? It was kind of like an unpopped popcorn kernel...pretty much just shell. I think I was really disgusted by the sour cream and onion flavoring. God, I hate sour cream and onion.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

2009-03-06T08:58:00.001-08:00

Man oh Manning

This Superbowl will be so super! After watching the playoff games, this may turn out to be the better matchup over Pats - Cowboys... Packers, etc. I'll tell you why... the strengths of one team will offset the strengths of the other team making it, hopefully, competitive. The passing game of Brady & Co. has been the thing that has boosted them during the regular season. I think the Giants will neutralize that with their amazing secondary. It's such a great thing seeing good defense in any sport nowadays. I think it takes more focus to play that role compared to the offensive side, and people who excel defensively never get the spotlight unless it's the only thing working for a team.

Anyway, for the Patriots I see their strength being their run game lately, and also the way they protect Brady. The Giants really need to get that first step and, more importantly, collapse that pocket, because only when Brady gets hit and starts to feel shaky is when it shows in his passing. I keep saying what the Giants need to do because they're the underdogs here. They're the ones who are going to have to learn "on the job" much quicker during one game than the other team. The Giants only really found their groove in the latter half of the season on into the playoffs, but the Patriots had it the whole time. Damn, F the Patriots! The more I think about them, the more I hate them. Boston doesn't deserve to have all of these championship teams, at least not all at one time. For godssakes, how about some parity, people. I guess I shouldn't rail against parity because then the Giants wouldn't even be in this year.

Well, I'm not going to make a prediction this year. I will predict without a shred of confidence, that it will be a close game. I will also predict that Tom Petty will blow big chunks, but the caliber of commercials will be of a higher quality as compared to last year. I believe there will be a great Bud commercial involving some type of animal and a hot chick (or 2 different commercials dealing with each separately). I think they'll also unveil the trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie and for a Godfather prequel. OK, maybe the Godfather one is a stretch, but it'd be cool to see them do a new Godfather and completely CGI Marlon Brando, ha! Actually, they should just dig him up and dress him like Bernie, that would be a hoot. OK, I'm clearly done here.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

2009-03-06T08:57:00.003-08:00

Thought this was interesting:
Mark Malkoff Lives in IKEA
This, too:
First Pay Toilet in NYC
$.25 per use... It's funny that it now costs more to make a public phone call than to have your waste evacuated. They should charge by the turd.

Now, what's there to talk about... what's there to talk about... ahh, yes, the primaries. Well, Iowa showed once again how insignificant they are. I guess one could say that they have their finger on a pulse that's non-existent. I mean, Huckabee? wtf?!! I think registered Republicans are thinking, "who can we nominate that we hate the least?" or, "who is our best chance of beating Obama or Clinton?" If I were to vote on that side, my man would be Ron Paul. He believes in the Constitution and would probably do all that he could do to protect it. His mega-flaw is his timidity--he seems too grateful at times and not outspoken enough. But a Mike Gravel-Ron Paul matchup would be so friggin sweet.
Although, it won't probably won't line up that way. I can see Clinton winning only because she has more experience at the federal level. It took a lot for Obama to vote against the war which should automatically push him into the White House, given how tough a decision that was at the time. But most Americans will probably look past that. I see Clinton as someone who knows how to play the game, but isn't willing to change the game much. Obama seems as if he wants to change the game but doesn't want to play the game. If Clinton is elected, look for universal health care, and if Obama is elected, look for a completely different foreign policy.
The primaries/caucuses have been fun to watch this year because they're so unpredictable. This election year is a really unique one and one that everyone should be engaged in. It's truly an open election, meaning that for the first time in a long time, there is no sitting Pres. or VP who is running for election. These are all new candidates for us to judge on a somewhat blank slate. This is the year for the independent voter. If you feel as if you're waiting for the right time to learn about these issues and vote, well this is a good year to start learning about it. The next person in the White House wants to undo or change a lot of things, so that person could have a great impact on the way America does business, even on the way each of us lives. Don't think so? If Huckabee gets elected, he wants to eliminate an income tax. Think that doesn't apply directly to you?

But, Januel, where do they stand on the issues, you say.

Look here, says I.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

2009-03-06T08:57:00.001-08:00

Hey, if you really want to reminisce, check out http://www.ratemyteachers.com. It's advised that you look at the website with former classmates. And if you didn't go to school then disregard this post. Actually, you're probably not even understanding this right now because you might not be able to read.

This site got me thinking about my old teachers and which ones were major influences and which ones were garbage. It's strange how you have to go through different experiences in your life to, only now, understand how great a teacher was--and that person didn't even have to be teaching something that is even remotely related to what you are doing today. I guess it's because passion and loyalty for something is never more visible in anyone than in the face of a teacher. And these days, it's hard to find those qualities in many people regardless of what field they're in. We respect people who are good at what they do and who love what they do. But teachers are different because their passion actually changes your life in some way, and that's a pretty unique thing that no one else can really lay claim to. My favorite teacher was a teacher of theology in high school and he didn't tell me what to think, but that it was OK to think and question things that were, prior to that point, a "given." So, Mr. Dellanno, if you're reading this, I just want to say, what the hell are you doing on my site, stalking me? you perv, get lost!

Any teachers influence you all out there?

Friday, September 07, 2007

2009-03-06T08:56:00.001-08:00

Ya sas from Crete!

We've made landfall in the land of Zeus and we are now getting used to our surroundings. Here are just a few observations so far after day 1 (well, technically, day 2, since we spent day 1 on a plane).

1 - The Greeks are very proud people. Almost every building is painted in the Greek colors of blue and white; the same goes for all the signposts, restaurant interiors, chairs, walls, etc. We couldn't imagine the US getting away with the same things. I'll bet even Americans wouldn't tolerate the same thing at home. Being here in Greece, I'm surprised they didn't color everything right down to the toilet paper (although, if there is a country that has a brown and white flag, then I believe that I did them justice).

2 - The Greeks are hospitable. Now, I'm not one to speak in generalizations and of course, we didn't speak to every Grecian for me to come to this conclusion, but, obviously we don't have the time nor the means to stay with old Mama Nikodopolous and see how the "real" Greece lives and acts. However, I do believe that you can get a good sense of the people from just the merchants that the normal tourist would interact with (away from the metropolitan areas). Our rental car driver was the first Grecian whom we spoke to and he was very nice and very direct. He spoke openly and honestly, but not in a crass way. He gave me his opinion on his personal life, tourism on the island and even baseball and the Yankees.

3 - To drive like a Greek is to drive like a crazy person. I ended up renting a standard shift car for our time here in Crete and Santorini. I've only driven a stick shift a few times so this was very much a trial by fire and, unfortunately, these fires are pretty damn hot. The drivers like to tailgate you to get you to move faster and if you don't pull to the side, then they just pass you on their one-lane roads. It's also nifty how the motorcyclists drive at night without their headlights. I am probably over-exaggerating as we have been making our way around pretty well but I haven't driven during the busy times, yet so that is yet to be discovered. I guess with any country if you drive safely, you'll avoid any problems.

4 - Many "colorful" smells. Already passing through some areas of Europe, I've noticed a thread that binds European Community countries, and that thread would be a smelly one. The stories are true about body odor and I just get on my knees and thank God for our soap. Please, don't extrapolate my views to the European population as I am just speaking based on my experiences with a handful of European tourists, but body odor does exist and it exists in large doses here.

4 - Greek food is great. Not only that, but the local Cretan liquor is extremely strong. I think it's called raki and when we tried it, it almost burned our throats. I think we'll need a few more tries in order to get used to it. After all we can't offend the locals, right?

We've been enjoying an excellent honeymoon so far and we'll try to post pics on here when we can. The architecture is beautiful here. Our hotel is on the beach and Nikos, the owner, is very friendly. Hopefully, I'll have more stories in the next post.

Monday, July 30, 2007

2009-03-06T08:55:00.006-08:00

RIP, my silent partner. Don't pee on God's shoes.

Edit: Thanks to everyone that have sent their condolences. I've just been thinking about loss in general, so I'll just dedicate this entry to anyone that has lost or lost touch with someone special to them. Hopefully, you can take solace in the fact that carrying on is what would make those people proud; and those who are estranged, maybe a phone call wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

2009-03-06T08:55:00.005-08:00

http://lynnandjanuel.com

Monday, May 21, 2007

2009-03-06T08:55:00.003-08:00

Quite possibly the best SNL monologue that we'll ever see...

If I can continue on this NJ vibe, last night's Sopranos was the most well-crafted episode yet. I don't predict Tony dying but a member of his immediate family will and there will be a NJ/NY war. 2 episodes left and then the best series is lost forever...

LOST has been excellent also, but I have no predictions for the finale. Lately, there has not been much else to watch on TV. I think I've weaned myself off of Grey's Anatomy--it seems a little too inconsistent for me, and I also compare it to how great ER was in its heyday. For the reality show viewing, I'm really into Miami Ink and the Deadliest Catch and I think those shows are really underrated. This post was really about nothing so thanks for reading.

Friday, May 18, 2007

2009-03-06T08:55:00.001-08:00

The Purpose of Life?

Maybe it's hidden in stuff like this...

28 on the 28th

2009-03-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

Monday, April 30, 2007

Hello audience,

I wanted to say thanks to all for the birthday wishes. It was an enjoyable day and I'd like to pay it forward and say happy birthday to the following:

Jessica Alba
Penelope Cruz
Harper Lee
Lionel Barrymore
Saddam Hussein (R.I.P. - the "P" standing for pieces)

The preceding list was in order of preference.

Oh, word has it that Xanga has now allowed anyone to comment on sites, even if you're not a member. So, perk up, Mr. Stalker in West Virginia. Now you can contribute to my next post on bathroom mishaps, and nobody will be the wiser. Huzzah!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

2009-03-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

So I was all ready to launch into the whole Imus thing when the shootings at VA Tech happened. Here's the latest that I've read: 32 people killed, 15 injured; Killer was a student by the name of Cho Seung-Hui; Early in the morning, he killed a couple of students at a dorm while looking for his ex-girlfriend; An email went out advising students of a serious situation and that they should be cautious; A second email was then sent which said that a gunman was loose on campus; Either before that or after that a second round of shootings happened at another section of campus, where some 30 people died.

Now the first thing that bothers me about this is the re-introduction of the gun control debate. This is such a red herring--why are we even bringing it up now? If no action is going to be taken on guns either way, then let's leave the topic alone. I think the real issue here is not even protection of college students but communication with college students. I saw a woman on CNN last night who represented securityoncampus.org who said that it is possible to enable a program whereby instant alerts can be sent to the mobile phone of every college student in the case of an emergency. That means that after the first shooting, 26,000 students could have known about it and everyone could have stayed inside a safe place. I keep seeing the president of the college being pressed on the issue of why an email wasn't sent out soon after the first shootings but he keeps saying that under the circumstances it was difficult to ascertain the nature events and they were going on the information that they had. But, I think the gripe that people have and the question he seems to not be being asked is why they didn't even try. Why didn't they try to send an email out sooner and why wasn't it more serious than "be cautious?"

I don't have much else to say about this. I'm just angry that this freak turned out to be Asian, and I hearken back to my days in college and wonder how our campus would have responded to the same such incident. I think of our fat, old security guards who could barely make it around to the front of their desks without being winded let alone chase down a teenager across campus.

On the completely opposite side of the spectrum and in much happier news, I am officially a Tito. Big congrats to James and Kristine Formanes on the birth of their daughter yesterday. Hopefully I can get a picture soon, wink wink. OK, be safe all!

Friday, March 30, 2007

2009-02-24T07:55:00.001-08:00

Toilet Humor

OK, so I did another dumb thing, but in the end it turned out to be funny--only to myself, of course. In order to make a bathroom story cute and humorous, what better way to illustrate it than with our ol' friend MS Paint, yay!

So here's me. The two hands extended towards my groin area would obviously indicate my need to go to the wash closet. You can also see the uncomfortable expression.

Pretty self-explanatory--here's me walking to the bathroom. As you can see, I grew an afro on the way there, too.

So, I arrive at my destination, and in our bathroom there's only two stalls and a urinal on the left side. I proceed to take stall A (for our purposes, A is stage-left) and do my business (check out my Nike's).

I then pull out my trusty pda and start fiddling with it. I was on the precipice of showing the default high score of Bejewelled what's-what when, out of pure excitement, I fumbled the pda, dropped it, and it slid into the next stall. My heart sank as my Bejewelled high score now had to wait another day.

I was now frozen in terror because I didn't know how exactly to get it back, so I blurted out the contents of the above bubble to my commode compatriot.

It turns out, this is one of my colleagues who I speak to just about every day. He usually jaws my ear off about the Yankees and the Knicks and then he can actually talk for another 30-45 minutes about everything else. Some days he repeats stories, and sometimes he'll tell a story that he told just a day before-hand.

So he recognizes my voice and I now recognize his, and he proceeds to slide the device back to me. Now, ordinarily, I would have no problem striking up a conversation with this gentlemen. But, folks, we're in a place where doody is made--and all guys know that you don't talk to each other under these circumstances (for further explanation refer to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1mCAVyMw). Hell, even Rev. Al Sharpton would freeze up and turn to stone in a bathroom. So, observing the rules, we both shut up, bringing us to this:

I don't think I've experienced a more awkward moment in my life. I sat there for another few mins, without the heart to tackle Bejewelled again.

As a postscript, in case you were all wondering, my colleague and I continue to talk about the Yankees starting rotation every day and we don't bring up what transpired in the bathroom. But, it's a secret between us that we'll both bear for a lifetime.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

2009-02-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

I called it before the tourney, Georgetown and Florida for the championship. Yes, people, the Big East is still around. Unfortunately Florida's gonna repeat and take this one 90-75.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

2009-02-24T07:52:00.002-08:00

Foregoing the option to buy new skis, I decided instead to get something I've had my heart set on for a long time: A Fender Stratocaster, yay! It's a 60th anniv. version--now I'm like Hendrix and Jimmie Vaughan, but without the musical talent... well, yet, at least. Enough waxing poetic, here're the money shots:

And this is me sleeping with my guitar:

Wait a second, I don't remember taking this picture, what the...?

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

2009-02-24T07:52:00.001-08:00

A riddle for the road...

A black dog stands in the middle of an intersecton in a town painted black. None of the street lights are working due to a power failure caused by a storm. A car with two broken headlights drives towards the dog but turns in time to avoid hitting him. How could the driver have seen the dog in time?

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

2009-02-24T07:51:00.003-08:00

Huzzah! Apple just showcased the iPhone and I just found out that it's being sold with Cingular. Double Huzzah! Now I have the option of wasting $600. For anyone who hasn't seen it, get in the know, fool:

It's "supposed" to have 4 gigs of memory, 5 hours of talk/browse time and 16 h of audio time, which seems pretty good. The most important thing they have to focus on is battery time. It seems that's what most people care about but nothing out there really seems to deliver on that nowadays. Another thing they need to start thinking about is how to make them theft-proof. You figure that people are now carrying mini-computers on their waste and they're attaching them with a $5 leather strap, or maybe nothing at all.

In completely related news, Bush is making a speech about Iraq policy tonight. Hopefully everyone can tune in and watch. Comments sometime this week when I feel like talking about it.

Monday, November 20, 2006

2009-02-24T07:51:00.001-08:00

Kumusta kayo,

Si Manny Pacquiao ito. I busted headz on Saturday.
Ingat kayo.

For anyone who didn't hear/see the fight, Pacquiao beat Eric Morales in the 3rd with a KO. It was awesome. Just like the last two fights, it felt like Filipinos vs. Mexicans. Instead of Pacquiao Morales III, they should have billed it Revenge of the Spanish Colonies, or something to that effect. Anyway, I'm starting a campaign to move my favorite fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr., to come down in weight and fight Pacquiao. I love Pacquiao but PBF is still my favorite. So, let's say Pacquiao-Mayweather in '08...yeah, right. Well, for now we'll just have them battle it out by Youtube training clips:

Vs.
Check out how fast Manny's shadowboxing is...awesome.

Friday, November 17, 2006

2009-02-24T07:50:00.001-08:00

Dear Mommy,

Can I have a West Coast Customs 2007 customized Mercedes S550 for Christmas? Oh, with leather interior, thanks.

--Me

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

2009-02-22T07:45:00.002-08:00

Black and Blue and Red...

The election coverage was funny last night. I watched CNN first and I chuckled when I saw the "panel." I thought to myself, here we go... I chuckled first when I heard Paul Begala mention Limbaugh and called him a "drug-addled gasbag" or something to that effect. Then I laughed again when James Carville came on because Limbaugh always refers to him as "the forehead." Then I switched over to Fox News and it was so depressing, I felt like I was gonna jump out the window. The coverage was a bit confusing, too, so I left it on CNN the rest of the night.

Well, I didn't think Bush would win re-election and, now, I didn't think the Democrats would win so easily in this year's mid-term elections. Right now, the Dems have 227 seats in the house as the Republicans have 195. There are still some undecided races, but the Dems will still have the majority. In the Senate, it's actually tied 49 seats to 49 with Montana and Virginia still being decided. The Democrats would need to take those last 2 seats to have the majority but if it becomes split 50-50, then VP Cheney (since he is the Senate pres. by authority of that thing we call a constitution), would most likely side with the Republicans, thus establishing a Republican majority. What complicates matters even more is that there is the ability for any candidate who loses by less than 1% to ask for a re-count, and that still can't even be done until the official count is announced which is sometime later this month, I think.
In cases like this I'm always reminded of people who say that their vote doesn't count, so why bother. Albeit, a vote does count in every election, but the consequences of someone's action (or inaction) are even more glaring in a really tight race. If you think about it, that one person's vote could determine what type of senator they have, and, by consequence, what type of majority is in congress, thus leading to whether we pull troops out of Iraq, and then whether we use stem cells to cure Michael J. Fox, and then whether we stop killing babies, and then this and then that... ok, maybe one vote won't be that drastic, but isn't it nice to imagine that we have that kind of power?

In other boring news, the Nets are 1-1 (but they should be 2-0; that last game against Miami was a fluke). They're looking good so far and I'm liking Marcus Williams. I think the Knicks are gonna be sorry they didn't pick him up. Actually, the Knicks are gonna be sorry for a lot of things as the season goes. Giants are looking great even with injuries and for the first time in a very long time, Rutgers football is nationally ranked. This might not be big news outside of the state, but it's huge over here, and we might actually see Rutgers playing in a BCS game. They're undefeated and playing another undefeated team this Thursday.

Lastly, I just wanted to slip in that we saw The Departed this past weekend. It was GREAT! I checked on IMDB.com afterwards and found out it was a Hong Kong movie remake. Scorcese says he was "inspired" by the film, but from what I'm hearing, both movies seem to be almost identical. That's kind of a bummer because I've always liked the Hong Kong stuff eg, John Woo, Ringo Lam yadda yadda, but their stuff never seems to translate well to American audiences. And that sucks, because they've been making good flicks. Even more, I've heard Oscar buzz around The Departed, but if Scorcese got passed over for Kundun, the Aviator, Goodfellas, god, even Gangs of NY, and gets an Oscar for this one, then I would just see it as a pity Oscar. Kind of like what Morgan Freeman got for Million Dollar Baby or Paul Giamatti for Cinderella Man.

OK, I'm gonna end this now because it's pretty clear I'm not doing any work. If anyone's got a good movie review for me, lemme have it cause I want to hear what's good.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

2009-02-22T07:45:00.001-08:00

I just came back from a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and it was awesome. It should be airing tonight. Details soon.

I came across this the other day. Anyone have plans for Halloween?

http://www.hauntedhousenyc.com

Public - 9:09 PM - 1 view - 2 eprops - 1 comment - edit it - email it - fix language

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

It was announced a while back that Harvard, starting in 2007, will drop its early admissions policy. Essentially, students won't be able to apply in like October of their senior year and know by December whether they get into Harvard or not, and then agree to solely consider Harvard. So, jocks, you can stop thinking of joining that chess club in order to boost your extracurriculars because it probably won't matter that much.
Harvard is adopting this policy (and Princeton just followed suit) in order to give minority and/or low-income students a better chance, according to them. They didn't provide any statistics to show that this would improve the situation, but it would seeeeeeem like this would help; low-income students probably don't have the money to hire private tutors, join SAT classes, or buy expensive study materials. Also, if they're locked into one school early-on, they can't compare financial aid packages from other schools.
I don't remember my own experience too much. I think I applied for early admission to UPenn, but they dropped me like a bad habit. I then applied regular admission to some other schools and got wait-listed at one. Financial aid was important for me, so I can see how weighing your options is important. But, I didn't really see a frenzy with people trying to compete for early-admissions spots, which is the circumstance that Harvard is trying to address. I would think that with schools dropping their early admissions policies, it would maintain or even increase the competition for regular admission, because now the pool of applicants is that much larger. I think the real problem for incoming students is the SAT and just the cost of tuition alone. SATs are the worst indicator of potential college performance and tuition costs are really unbearable, even with financial aid.
But, why worry about all that stuff. Maybe in the future all schools will drop their early admissions policies, and that's good news for you seniors. So put down the books and do those keg stands, because now you'll be able to enjoy your senior year. Cheers to you!

Public - 10:44 AM - 1 view - add eprops - add comments - edit it - email it - fix language

Monday, September 11, 2006

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

2009-02-22T07:44:00.002-08:00

Someone at work told me this looked like me if I wore a woman's wig. Is that true? Because if it is, I will be severely depressed. And then I will proceed to kick major ass at work tomorrow morning.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

2009-02-22T07:44:00.001-08:00

So, I was at the gym the other day and as I was walking by the TVs, I saw on the news crawl that a suspect in the 10 year-old JonBenet Ramsey case had confessed. The first thing I thought was, "What the hell, it's been 10 years?" It really doesn't feel like it's been that long.

Well, anyway, when I read that this guy Karr said it was an accident, my question was how could it have been an accident when the girl was molested, beaten and killed? It seems like a basic question but it's strange that all the news reports don't seem to be trying to reconcile those facts. One of the legal advisers on NBC was saying that this still might not bring an end to this case because any whack-o can confess to anything but it still might not be supported. Another strange thing is that if DNA was found from JonBenet's body and John Mark Karr was already a suspect (AND a convicted child molester), then why didn't they try to match his DNA before? There's something bizarre about everything. Even the press conference in Thailand was creepy. Well, if this guy is guilty I guess the one good thing that you can take away from this, if anything, is that the parents of the child will be vindicated. It's crappy to think of all the indicted innocent people out there who don't have a John Mark Karr to come forward to prove their innocence. Sometimes the court of public opinion can doom you just as much as those prison walls.

Meanwhile, midway across the world, things have been quieting down (somewhat) in the Middle East. But, now it's getting crazy over here in the office. Our chief broke the news to us that the UN is coordinating the movement of 45,000 extra people to the region. That's about 30,000 new potential compensation claims that I'll be handling. That's on top of the 40,000 people that I already handle, BY MYSELF! I don't even know why I'm writing this Xanga right now, I've got a stack of crap to get to. I guess when the amount of work just gets so absurd it fortifies your latent hatred of things to the point where you don't care too much about performing well anymore. Maybe all I need is a vacation. Sorry, I'm just talking to myself now. Are you still reading this?

Well, the weekend should be fun. Yanks only 2 games up on Boston and after today's game they got a 5-game series against the Red Sox, in Fenway. Oh mercy. This is the stuff that dreams are made of. I have no idea what that means.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

2009-02-22T07:43:00.004-08:00

Find this magazine in your bookstore--you'll find the culmination of 6+ great years.

Friday, June 23, 2006

2009-02-22T07:43:00.003-08:00

Kool & the Gang dead in Maplewood?

Most of you probably won't care for this.. Actually, scratch that, none of you will care for this, but I just read that a Kool & the Gang co-founder died in my town. It's odd seeing "Maplewood" in a national news story in connection with the writer of one of my favorite and sometimes hated Filipino party tunes. Apparently their house is on the other end of my street. Maybe he died from hearing the song too much.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/23/obit.smith.ap/index.html

Friday, June 09, 2006

2009-02-22T07:43:00.001-08:00

Always Wear Your World Cup

After another four years, it's time for another World Cup. I probably wouldn't even know about it, but it's all anyone can talk about around here. I might be heading over to the German permanent mission to check out Germany's match against Costa Rica. The US won't play until Monday and it should be fun to follow the team--it's supposed to be the best US team ever assembled.

I think I'll be more interested in the audience behavior than I will be with the games. Jeremy Schaap presented a crazy story on Sportscenter the other day about racism in soccer/football. In some matches, fans have been known to throw bananas on the field to provoke black players; they've shouted racial slurs at other players; and some bring in posters of swastikas and do the Nazi salute. Let's hope FIFA can take the proper action if things like that start to occur.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

2009-02-22T07:42:00.003-08:00

If Katie Couric can do it, then, dammit, so can I.

http://www.wnbc.com/entertainment/9297466/detail.html

Friday, May 26, 2006

2009-02-22T07:42:00.001-08:00

NE Still Has Dumbest Drivers

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/05/26/dumb_driver_states/index.html

Yes, CNN does not spare us any cruelty in naming the above article. What it says is that, according to the results of a driving test given by GMAC Insurance company, 1-in-11 licensed drivers would fail a state driving test. Rhode Island is at the bottom in terms of failure, followed by NY, NJ, MA and others. Yours truly took this test, and, like you I was thinking, hey, I've got a clean driving record so this should be a piece of cake. The result was a 40%. Try it:
http://www.gmacinsurance.com/SafeDriving/2006/drivertest.asp

The state results were surprising to me. I would think NJ drivers would have scored higher. There's a lot of things to complain about in this state, but driving would be the lowest on that list. Although, I did see someone reversing on a one-way road once. But, in general, we know the roads because we have a lot of them. I mean, how is anyone going to know what particular vehicles have to stop before railroad tracks.

I don't think the test is measuring driver intelligence, but rather intelligent people who happen to drive. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are a lot of stupid people in the Northeast. Just don't insult our driving. OK, you can insult NY and MA.

Sports & Idols

2009-02-22T07:41:00.001-08:00

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Keep your eye on Howard's birdie... I don't know how many times I've watched this already.

Is it me, or are the NBA playoffs amazingly fun to watch this year? The regular season was such a damn bore, but now we have a wonderful post-season to bask in. I think Dallas can take the series against the Suns. If the first game is any indication, both teams played virtually equally, but the X-factor turned out to be Boris Diaw, WHO!??!?! Yeah, exactly. I don't see him putting up big numbers in the next few games, thus I don't see the Suns taking it. Dampier needs to get involved, too.

The Heat-Pistons series would be the more complicated one to judge. I'll take the Heat, only because they have such a complete roster. I'm also probably speaking out of hope, because I hate Rasheed's big mouth and I'd like to see it shut for as long as possible.

Clicking over to YES last night, the Yanks looked alright against the Red Sox. Why is it that with any pitcher for the Yankees you can never have complete confidence in him? When you see Clemens or Beckett, at least your palms don't get sweaty (if that's your team, at least). At least they're only half a game out despite playing the way they have been. We'll just wait and see...

And Taylor Hicks won that singing contest by the way. Does anyone else not get him at all? It's one thing to imitate Ray Charles' voice, but to imitate his movements, too? It's not just weird, it's offensive. There was only one Sam Cooke, one Otis Redding and one Ray Charles, but I think this guy is trying to make it two. The finale was fun to watch, and they did a good job of transitioning from skits to performances. I thought Prince was incredible, and I thought it was even funnier how he walked off stage like he was George Jefferson rather than stay with Seacrest as they cut to commercial. That guy rules.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

2009-02-22T07:39:00.003-08:00

Too bad if you missed class this day...

Go to their website. It's 10 times funnier.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

2009-02-22T07:39:00.001-08:00

Anniversary VI

An excellent weekend was had for Lynn and my's 6th anniversary. I think it might have topped our last year's celebration in Hershey but it's still a close call. We tried to conquer lower Manhattan, but it was tough. Here's the rundown, just to give some of you some ideas if you're looking for things to do in Manhattan:

Friday--We came in and got to our hotel. It was the Millennium Hilton and it was bordering Ground Zero. I was told it was close but I didn't expect that we would get a window view of the entire area. It was breathtaking and haunting at the same time. Later that night we headed to South St. Seaport and it was a ghost town. Tried to hit up a bar (Heartland Brewery) but the kitchen was closed at 10PM and then the bartender tells us last call at 10:30, haha. Now I know why it was a ghost town. Good microbrew selection, though.

Saturday--After breakfast, went back again to South St. Seaport to check out the Bodies in Motion Exhibition. I remember this getting some press a while back because the exhibit uses actual human bodies/remains as learning tools. Those into forensics or pathology out there would probably have an orgasm walking around this show, but even regular joes like me will probably have their mouths open as they look at everything. It was simply amazing. I highly suggest this one, even if you only plan to visit one museum this year.
Unfortunately, we didn't have much more time because we had to make it over to Tribeca to go to the trapeze school (http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/about/index.php). This place was impossible to find because it was wedged in between some construction site and it had a small white tent covering it. A far cry from the Sex and the City episode that Lynn showed me afterwards. So after many mins of looking like idiots, we peeked in the tent and there it was. A huge safety net and two bars suspended about 30 feet up. After we took care of the formalities we were ready to go and we were quickly briefed. Lynn was the first to go and I was the last. Now, I'm afraid of heights and the big thing for me was just climbing the ladder to get to the platform. So that was enough of a scare, but once I got onto the platform, I actually wasn't afraid of the height much. They then tell you how to stand and someone holds onto your harness from the back while you lean forward and slightly off the platform. Then on their signal, you jump upwards, at which point they let go and you're in the air. It was nutty, I felt like Spider-Man for a few seconds. You kind of get disoriented but once you've done it the first time, it gets easier and you really start to focus on fine-tuning the little mistakes. There were passers-by looking at us through the windows, so I think we'll get a much bigger high when the tent comes off in the nicer weather. We do plan to do it again so if anyone wants to sign up with us we might be able to get a class to ourselves. Let me know.

This is where my camera broke so the rest of the weekend went like this:

-Shot over to St. Mark's Pl. to get the best hot dogs at Crif Dogs, and Australian ice cream two stores over.
-Returned to the outpost, passed out, woke up and watched Walk the Line while we lost an hour. I liked the movie, but I was more interested by the relationship between Cash, Lewis and Presley more so than Cash and Carter. They must've had crazier times than the movie showed.
-Sunday we had good Mexican food at Mama Mexico, bought cupcakes and guarded it like gold bullion while we walked around the Museum of Modern Art. We got loaded up on Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh before heading up to the Munch exhibition. I was excited that I was going to finally see the Scream in its original form, only to find out from a security guard that it was stolen in Norway a few years ago. I totally forgot this news story and got bummed until I discovered his "The Kiss" painting. It's even more beautiful than The Scream. So the silver lining was that I discovered his lesser-known works which I probably would not have paid attention to otherwise.

Well, that's all folks. Check this link out if you don't believe me:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107681957

Ta ta, have a good week!

Monday, March 06, 2006

2009-02-22T07:38:00.001-08:00

The BEST show on TV right now and it's less than a week away...

Monday, February 27, 2006

2009-02-22T07:37:00.003-08:00

FYI - For Your Inspiration

Anything can happen, kids.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/23/earlyshow/main1339324.shtml (Autistic Teen's Hoop Dreams - Watch the video)

Monday, February 20, 2006

2009-02-22T07:37:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately at work today. I thought I'd post some comedy to get you all through the week. God knows I need it today...

Russell Peters (Indian guy - one of the funniest guys you'll ever hear):
http://www.youtube.com/?v=lB-5gxQhP68
http://www.youtube.com/?v=f2yovRFo0HQ

Jo Koy, another Asian comic (Funny clip but he's better when he's uncensored):
http://www.jokoy.com/

George Lopez:
http://www.youtube.com/?v=IeP1FTiwriA

Dane Cook:
http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/1256.html

Larry David:
http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/1228.html

Bernie Mac (Watch Kings of Comedy if you haven't seen it yet):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZhn9f74l60&search=bernie%20mac

People getting roasted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qx3_QGSRbA&search=hugh%20hefner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBk6FfGEW7g&search=roast (G. Ross, brutal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbcygTRvTFo&search=roast

And for anyone who missed the slam dunk contest:
http://www.youtube.com/?v=bePTWNFtMZ0

Monday, February 13, 2006

2009-02-22T07:36:00.002-08:00

It's time for Freestyle Thursday:

Murda Mook vs. P. 80

http://www.youtube.com/?v=VedZJkz8Hpc

Shellz vs. Jin

http://www.youtube.com/?v=g4y4uqlGD7s

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

2009-02-22T07:36:00.001-08:00

Clash of Civilizations ?

Worthy of Violence ?

http://cryptome.org/muhammad.htm

Of course not. But, this is also not definitely a clear-cut case of fundamental differences or “they’re crazy and we’re not.”

A recap for those whom aren’t following. The Danish paper, “Jyllands-Posten,” printed some “cartoons” showing the prophet Muhammad in different situations. Some of the more extreme images have led to rioting and, in some cases, deaths in various countries. The “why” is explained in an article by the Copenhagen Post: “Jyllands-Posten called for and printed the cartoons by various Danish illustrators, after reports that artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam, out of fear of fundamendalist retribution. The newspaper said it printed the cartoons as a test of whether Muslim fundamentalists had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark.”

Well, I guess they found out the results of that test. Now, first off, before people start shaking their heads and wagging their fingers, I don’t think anyone who is a believer in the tenets of any faith and who has not gone through the same thing, should cast judgment. As a Christian, I have not had the experience of coming across anything tantamount to what Danish Muslims saw. Critics have tried to prove the contrary, by trying to draw comparisons; one that I heard the other day on CNN: “Well, Kanye West was on the cover of Rolling Stone posed like Jesus, but no one went ape-shit about it,” (emphasis and “ape-shit” added). That might not be a close-enough comparison—maybe if I saw a cartoon of Jesus molesting young kids in my paper, then we could start talking. But, I haven’t seen anything like that pop up in my Sunday Ledger or Times, yet.

Secondly, I think the use of the word “cartoon” in these discussions, leads us to take their concerns less seriously. When I hear the word “cartoon,” it connotes images of Ziggy, Broom Hilda, Peanuts, and Family Circle (a kick-ass cartoon, especially when they drew the little trails behind the kids as they ran around the house). Finding images of Muhammad lumped together with these comics wouldn’t exactly be fitting. I guess that’s why the term political cartoon came about.

Which leads to my last point: political cartoons are supposed to be satirical. Aside from a few boxes, where is the satire to be found? It’s pretty clear that these images were meant to incite and, if we are to deem the Copenhagen Post article as true, then even the editors themselves admitted that fact. How to prove it? Ask the cartoon designers to explain what they meant. If these were tools of free speech, then they must have had some opinion to express. My guess is that they would have nothing intelligent to add to the discussion.

Violence is violence and it should not be condoned, that goes without saying. But this isn't a case of a clash of civilizations. This is about a few terrorists who got in the mix and started riling people up. On the Limbaugh station today, the guy filling-in pointed out that these cartoons were printed in September 2005!?!?! And, only now, in February, are people rioting over them? Someone got involved, and that someone had bad intentions. I think, from here on out, in order to slow the momentum, these papers should move on to other material and content on their pages and stop reprinting the cartoons in other papers. People can write op-eds supporting free speech, but reprinting the cartoons to support that fact does nothing.

What do you all think?

Oh, and before I end this, I read about a major major study that was undertaken, which shows that a low-fat diet does not cut health risks. Great article, but tons of caveats, as usual with these health studies:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/health/08fat.html?pagewanted=print

Thursday, January 19, 2006

2009-02-22T07:35:00.002-08:00

Poe was one of my favorite writers. Maybe that's why I find this story to be so cool...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/19/poe.mystery.ap/index.html

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

2009-02-22T07:35:00.001-08:00

A New Year and new movies on the way. Pretty cool that even the trailers are in HD now:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/ (Apocalypto--nice photography, not too much in the way of details)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/da_vinci_code/ (A longer trailer than the one I saw before. Might be a good fit for Howard but I can't see how a film can present a story that's so narrative-based. Also don't see Tom Hanks in this role.)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/hd/ (Superman Returns)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x3/hd/ (X3; looks awesome. I wish they used CGI for Beast, though)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/water/trailera/ (This looks great, like one of those old Satyajit Ray films)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/freedomland/hd/

And some unexplainable ones:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/ladyinthewater/
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

2009-02-22T07:34:00.002-08:00

Strike 2

It's been relatively non-chaotic during my walks through the city to work. In the days leading to the strike, the news coverage led me to believe people were going to be running crazed in the streets, arms flailing, screaming that they were going to be stranded. Of course it hasn't turned out that way, although there have been some circus-like incidents. It's actually been generally quiet, and my train in from Jersey has been running better than normal. It isn't too bad for me because I just have to walk across town but some of my colleagues have to walk from farther out, like Queens. Fox interviewed people who spent 4 hours walking back from work last night. I guess all of this discomfort would provide greater leverage for the transit union, but I'm not really sure who's going to win out in this one.

At first, I thought, if the transit union is willing to face huge penalties and possibly jail time, then the cause they are fighting for must be worthy and they must really need what they are asking for. But, looking at the last offer that was left on the table, greedy really crept into my mind. The MTA offered the union a 10.5% raise, over several years! They also dropped their demand to raise the retirement age, but asked the union to contribute more towards their pension. I also read that the average salary wage for a union member is $55,000. Hot damn! So, that average worker would have gotten $5,000 extra a year. Maybe the MTA shouldn't have thrown in that pension demand at the last minute, because it wouldn't have saved them that much money, but the union workers would definitely have been in a better position if they took the last offer.

All I can say is that I'm getting great exercise and seeing a lot of little stores and restaurants that I've never come across before. I actually think that Bloomberg and the MTA are going to cave first, because as much as this pains New Yorkers/New Jerseans/Ct people, they always find a way.

Monday, December 12, 2005

2009-02-22T07:34:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was long and, most definitely, emotionally exhausting. Over the span of three days I witnessed an eloquent and moving celebration of a woman's full-life lived, and in the same day, I was part of the celebration of a friend's new phase of life just begun. Going through these experiences, I came to the realization that I've lost "it." That awe of life; looking out the window as a kid and wondering where the snow comes from; taking some time out to go on a walk instead of driving somewhere. I'm not saying I need to be more naive or childish, but, just through the rigors of daily life, I know that I became jaded. I know that somewhere along the line, I forgot the things that I should relish every day. This past weekend got me thinking a lot about mortality, about legacies that one leaves behind, about the future, about transitions in one's life, about great family and great friends and about God. 2005 held a lot of lessons for me. Actually, I think everyone should have been able to learn a lot from this year, that is if you opened your eyes and wanted to learn from those experiences. I know for a fact that 2006 will be a stellar year. I'm going to set my own standards. I will expect much more from myself and I plan to fulfill those expectations. Yeah, 2006 is gonna be a great year, and I'm gonna keep my eyes open the whole way through.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

2009-02-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him under water for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

2009-02-22T07:31:00.001-08:00

What did they really eat at Thanksgiving?:

http://www.historychannel.com/thanksgiving/?page=meal

I guess it's Happy Fowl Day, then. 37 million heading home, travel safely!

http://www.break.com/articles/turkeyshot.html

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

2009-02-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to vote today!

Friday, October 28, 2005

2009-02-21T19:35:00.002-08:00

EDIT-Don't forget to turn the clocks back tomorrow.

I'm not one for Bush-bashing nor for forwarding forwards, but this one was funny:

1) Go to www.google.com and type "failure" (sans quotes)

2) Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button

3) Observe the hilarious hijinks. Anyone know how this is even possible?

And a treasure trove of clips:

Full House uncensored: http://www.compfused.com/directlink/958/

Funny: http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/946.html

http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/965.html

What the hell?: http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/970.html

Cool: http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/986.html

And, I'm old: http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/948.html

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

2009-02-21T19:35:00.001-08:00

On Montgomery buses, the first four rows were reserved for whites. The rear was for blacks, who made up more than 75 percent of the bus system's riders. Blacks could sit in the middle rows until those seats were needed by whites. Then the blacks had to move to seats in the rear, stand or, if there was no room, leave the bus. Even getting on the bus presented hurdles: If whites were already sitting in the front, blacks could board to pay the fare but then they had to disembark and re-enter through the rear door.

Some other interesting things in the news:

Nasa is now seriously considering the idea of an elevator to space. One cable would be tethered to some point here on Earth and the other end would be held under tension somewhere in the atmosphere because of centripetal forces. It was never thought of as a reality before because they didn't have the right material for the cord, but they recently discovered a material that could be used under those conditions. An interesting article: http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html

And... the NBA Commissioner has recently instated a dress code requiring players to wear "business casual" during public functions, press conferences, pretty much anywhere where non-family members are going to see you. Now, there have already been claims that this is racism and claims by others that it is treading on a player's personal freedom. But is it? In my opinion, David Stern brought all this on himself. For years he's been courting the 'hip-hop' culture and now the slippery slope has gotten too slippery for him. When you authorize games like NBA Street to represent the image of your league, when you let your players make millions off sneaker contracts who now won't even be able to wear those same sneakers to the games, he deserves to be in the mess he's in.

So, what about those claims raised by players? On the racism point, I say no. I think the confusion comes when people automatically tie "hip-hop" to "black." Hip-hop isn't owned by black people and it never was. It might have been created overwhelmingly by black people but hip-hop, at its core, is an idea, and ideas can't be owned; they're fluid and subject to evolution. A doo-rag isn't germaine to a black person's history/identity. So, when David Stern tells people how to dress according to certain standards, he does it as a businessman, not as a white man. On the point of trampling personal freedoms, well, yes it does trample on their freedoms. But, in this situation, these guys have no personal freedoms. You might say, "their business is on the court, so why do they have to dress a certain way off the court," then I would say their business extends off the court also. Everywhere that they're seen by the public, they're a living representation of the business called the NBA. I guess I'm in favor of this because I always enjoyed seeing Jordan arrive at a game looking like the smoothest mofo that ever lived--it gave me something to shoot for. I'd rather see guys walking around like that instead of this:

Sunday, October 09, 2005

2009-02-21T19:34:00.002-08:00

18,000+ people dead and 45,000 people injured in Pakistani earthquake. God help them:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/quake.pakistan/index.html

Thursday, October 06, 2005

2009-02-21T19:34:00.001-08:00

From The White House With Love

- Filipino spy in White House:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1187030&page=1

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

2009-02-21T19:33:00.002-08:00

Here's something I want you all to see. My brother made a movie--some thought-provoking social satire, with a poignant ending:

http://home.comcast.net/~maridon/Donut.mov

Let me hear your thoughts.

I just read the Nets' slogan for this season. Are you ready? It's "BRING IT." wtf!?!?!

Friday, September 23, 2005

2009-02-21T19:33:00.001-08:00

I was flipping channels today and came across BET and it was the Fugees performing at a show. I realized after a while that it was the BET Awards and it was strange because I caught some of this show before, but I never knew that they were the openers. Anyway, it turns out that they reunited and they're going to record a new album for next year. You know when you hear great music that you haven't heard in a while, and when you hear it again it feels so good that you can actually hear your heart say, "thank you." I can't wait for them to come out with an album and if they decide to tour, I'll be in the front row.

Some other stuff, you might like:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/funonwheels/09/16/bugatti_veyron/index.html (A look at the new Bugatti, 1,001 horsepower!)

Funny ish: http://www.floppytaco.com/video_clips/conan_obrien_1864_baseball.php

http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1127213782

Cool ish: http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/616.html

http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/balloon/blob.htm

http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/583.html (Only for Mortal Kombat fans)

And, finally, the World's Ugliest Dog. Actually, the owner-pet relationship is touching, but, yeah, the title says it all: http://unoriginal.co.uk/footage55_4.html

Breaking News: Artest, Jackson and O'Neal get probation. Catch them cleaning up trash at a highway near you.

That's all folks... Betters, put your money on the Giants this weekend, Jets are going to fall short (Remember, I'm right just about every time)

Monday, September 19, 2005

2009-02-21T19:32:00.002-08:00

The Emmy Awards were surprisingly entertaining yesterday. It got me excited about this upcoming season of shows. But, it also reminded me of a lot of shows which the world seems to have fallen in love with, but either I've never seen one episode of or I've watched a few mins. of an episode, didn't like it, and never watcehd again. If anyone follows any of these shows, please let me know if they're worth watching: (feel free to add your own)

Lost, Entourage, Arrested Development, Deadwood, Oz, 24, Six Feet Under, Medium, Monk, Alias. And some older ones which I never followed - MASH, Frasier, Mary Tyler Moore, Wings, Murphy Brown, Welcome Back Kotter. Actually scratch that last one, that show is a gem.

One thing that annoys me about the Emmys is that they consistently pass over The Simpsons for the best comedy Emmy. They're always relegated to the animated category, and that sucks because that show is 10x funnier and smarter than Will & Grace. Maybe they'll get their due someday, but most likely not. And, there's a handful of friggin' awesome shows that no one talks about. Namely, Rides (Chip Foos makes over cars for some damn-lucky person), Miami Ink (tattoo artists in Florida), and Deadliest Catch (about the guys that catch that stuff that ends up on your plate). Now, those are some great reality shows.

Friday, September 16, 2005

2009-02-21T19:32:00.001-08:00

A lot of stuff happening, who knows where to start...

Firstly, forget the wild card, the Yanks are gunning for the division: I don't know why all the talk about the Yankees has been focused on whether they will get the wild card spot or not. They have never been that far out of first place and they have never settled for less. I think the real story is going to be the postseason, win-or-lose, because Gene Michael, the head scout is being benched. And, God knows we need great scouts now more than ever, unless we can use the money to keep hiring veterans. And, it's also news to me that Cashman is dissatisfied with the current structure.

The article that put a dent in my day: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/346961p-296090c.html

On another topic that some would say is completely unrelated, I've been reading about Bush's poll numbers. They've gone down big-time and rightly they should. And y'know what? So should the performance ratings of the Governor of Looziana and the Mayor of N'awlins, based on that fiasco two weeks ago. All 3 of them should be thrown out of office. I've read some things that shocked me and made me question the capability of people in charge, e.g.:

--FEMA conducted a hurricane exercise 13 months ago to assess the results of a Class 3 hurricane. The study theorized that the Lake's waters would topple levees and through a gap, flood the city. Officials estimated that half of the residents won't evacuate and that many will be trapped. WTF?!?!!

--FEMA Director Brown asks Bush to call officials to evacuate cities, Bush responds, "Mike, you want me to call them?"

--Only 20 hours before Katrina makes landfall, Mayor Nagin calls a mandatory evacuation. This is after it's upgraded to a Category 5 storm.

--Empty Amtrak trains offer to take away people, Mayor refuses. Later, Mayor denies the offer was ever made.

--In a speech on Medicare, Bush says "we've got equipment in place. And once the -- once we're able to assess the damage, we'll be able to move in and help those good folks in the affected areas." 1 day after Katrina, Bush says "we're beginning to move in the help that people need."

--Governor Blanco, when asked about the toxic water, during a press conference:

Blanco: It didn't -- I wouldn't think it would be toxic soup right now. I think it's just water from the lake, water from the canals. It's, you know, water.

Q: Well, something could be underneath that water.

Blanco: Pardon?

--Red Cross denied entry into New Orleans because of potential conflict with military/security planning.

--Brown says he did not know about the food and water situation in the Superdome until 3 days after.

--Bush says Brown is doing a fine job, then later he is removed as FEMA director.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

2009-02-21T19:29:00.002-08:00

For anyone interested in donating to the Hurricane Relief fund:

https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp

Insurance officials estimate $25 billion worth of damage, which would make Katrina the costliest in history.

Monday, August 08, 2005

2009-02-21T19:29:00.001-08:00

New miscellaneous crap for you, because I'm that kind of guy:

http://www.media.uio.no/personer/arntm/McGurk_large.mov (Listen to it first with eyes open; then again with eyes closed. Notice a difference? Something called the McGurk effect--Apparently, when we hear, our brain also depends on visceral information as well. When the two are isolated, the brain tries to find a resolution, hence the differences in comprehension.)

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/greenball.html

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=novak-200508040004-2

http://www.hedonistica.com/media.php?path=/videos/amazing_escape.wmv

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/25candle.html

http://www.postcrap.com/aug05vids.php?filename=promninja.wmv

Thursday, July 21, 2005

2009-02-21T19:28:00.002-08:00

First time in history a game gets an Adults Only rating, and after seeing the clip, I can see why:

http://www.filecabi.net/host/file/gta/wmv

The rest for your entertainment:

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=23721

http://www.wimp.com/caughtdancing/

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/oldcelebpics2.html

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/road_trip_prank.html

Monday, July 04, 2005

2009-02-21T19:28:00.001-08:00

A funny thing happened...

A funny thing happened in the office a few weeks ago, and what better way to illustrate it than with our good, ole' friend MS Paint.

Here I am arriving at work. This has nothing to do with anything.

So, if anyone has never worked in an office before, imagine a room chock full of papers, computers, people, and desks, crammed so tight and organized so badly, that you would think Helen Keller helped plan these things. With that, here's an inaccurate sketch of my office:

In my own cubicle I have someone sitting on the other end of my desk. The good thing is that we are tucked away in a little alcove, where someone has to actually walk into the cubicle to talk to us. Bad thing is that someone can sneak in without us knowing (obviously, this is the set-up for y'all).

This particular day I got in a little bit later than usual, and everyone was already in, hard at work. Now, it's my normal ritual to check the news websites and see what's going on in the world first thing when I arrive.

See, there I am, checking away. Well, after a few mins. of surfing, I was going to check one more site and then start the day's work. I think I was going to go to the CNN website and then I hit the wrong keys by mistake. That's when this happened:

I stumbled onto some kind of site with flashing boobies and ipod / girls gone wild advertisements. It wasn't a porn site per se, but probably some stupid frat guy's site trying to be a porn site. This wouldn't have been bad at all, except that my boss chose to walk in at that moment, and that the guy had some friggin' Slipknot song playing loud as hell on his site. (at least I think it was slipknot, unless someone can confirm what band sings:"guts on the floor, but you want more")

Needless to say, I tried to X the window, but maximized it instead, and after some fumbling, I managed to close the window. I turned to my boss, who didn't look too happy, and retrieved whatever stupid papers I handed to her for a signature a few days earlier. But, I think it was made all better by my laughing co-workers. So, there you go, I continue to do stupid things, and I will continue to use Paint to detail my stupidity.

Happy Birthday to the greatest country in the world! Hope you're all having good summers.

Friday, June 24, 2005

2009-02-21T19:27:00.002-08:00

Probably one of the bigger stories on the world front in recent weeks was the Newsweek publication of Koran desecration at GitMo. Unfortunately, the incident was a little bit more than a holy book being trashed. There have been a lot of times when I've seen people on the street handing out pocket bibles like they were flyers for the next reggae party, and some of them even wind up in the trash a few yards away. Now, if this doesn't provoke outrage here, why should its equivalent action do so in the Muslim world. First, it has to deal with the way in which it was allegedly desecrated and, probably, the more important, our feelings toward symbolic actions. The controversy is deeper than a simple act of desecration because it involves a convergence of many symbols that were spawned from the actions and emotions of the post/911 period. Everything is seen as a symbol to everyone and that's what people have to realize. GitMo is seen as as a base of torture that is an insult to Muslims. Our soldiers are probably seen as a intruders representing an aggressive, imperial power. To us, Saddam represented every authoritarian leader in the world that has to be replaced. The insurgent represents
the minority trying to sabotage the good work of the US. It's like this anti-flag-burning bill that is likely to pass the Senate soon. The important thing to remember is not to generalize these symbols to the broader population. While someone might burn a US flag as an act of freedom of speech against the US, another one who criticizes the US will do so in more convincing ways. Symbols can be very telling but only if we interpret them correctly.

Monday, June 13, 2005

2009-02-21T19:27:00.001-08:00

Nice weekend for sports fans. The big talk was probably about Mike Tyson. I remember watching my first Tyson fight, when he fought Larry Holmes. I didn't know much about boxing, so I couldn't really understand how great he was, technique-wise, back then, but what I could comprehend was that he was a nasty pit-bull who was just gonna kill a guy. Fast-forward to this past weekend, and that is no longer the case. It's funny because I just saw Cinderella Man and hearing the post-fight analysis of the Tyson fight and seeing some highlights, it seems as if Tyson's talent is so far drained that he had to resort to dirty tricks like Max Baer. He may be back or he may not, but I don't see how he can be as exciting as he once was...unless he pulls off a Jimmy Braddock.

And then, my Yanks. Thank goodness there will always be a Tampa Bay to look good by comparison. But, the team isn't in dire straits, yet. If they have a good upcoming homestand it could put them right back into the race. The real story in baseball is the Washington Nationals. Those guys are blazing. It would be bizarre to see them in the World Series.

And my prediction of Detroit in 7 is still a reality. Although, it is very convincing to see the Spurs play basketball. It's like Basketball 101... pass the ball and move. With the Pistons it's as if a play breaks down in the first 15 seconds and then they have to depend on the talent of the individual players. But, Brown is excellent at adjusting and that is why I'm still holding on to my prediction.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

2009-02-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

Another brush with greatness... As I was walking into my gym I noticed a small billboard to my right. It had a picture of some supplements, so I thought there was some promotion going on because near the board was a small table with some people crowded around it. When my mind actually caught up to what I was seeing, I noticed the "Iceman" Chuck Liddell (A UFC fighter who's won like 20+ matches) sitting at the table. For some odd reason he picked that gym at that time to be signing autographs and promoting a supplement. I'm sure you would all understand my confusion if you saw my gym. It's a broke-ass gym in Newark, where all the seats on the machines are ripped up, no one puts the weights back and everyone smells. That night, there also weren't that many people there. So, once I got over the bewilderment, I waited behind a dude and then stepped up to him. He's a little taller than me, but a lot skinnier than I thought. Of course, he looks like one of those guys in high school that could kick your ass just for sneezing, except a lilttle more neo-Naziish, although the chinese symbols tattooed into his head are a little inconsistent with that image. So I asked him for an autograph and I tried to start up a conversation. "Chuck, when's your next fight?" "August 28th," and then he looks at me dead in my eyes and I swear a small amount of pee-pee came out. "OK, good luck," and with that, it was all over.

For about the next hour, it was even more bizarre because I was doing bench presses with Chuck Liddell standing a yard away. I should've asked him for a spot. He looked extremely bored, too. While I was looking at the guys around me in the gym and a UFC fighter to the right of me, it really got me thinking about what people think "power" really is. Is it the ability to really hurt someone, or putting on as many muscles as you can, or the ability to sway people with your words? Because just because you can bench 350 doesn't mean you can fight, nor get people to vote for you. I remember reading a good article by Bruce Lee on the physical side of power: WarmMarble: http://www.mikementzer.com/

So add this knucklehead to the list of other notable encounters: Taimak, from the Last Dragon, in Hollywood, Method Man and Redman by their tour bus in Boston, Warren Beatty at a film screening, Ian something-or-other at a subway stop (one of those MTV VJays). Yes, some people have met the Pope, others have met the President, but I'm stuck with the likes of Bruce Leroy. The lesson learned: if you're usually broke and travel to places like the dirty parts of Hollywood, or buy cheap memberships to crappy gyms, don't plan on running into Prince Charles anytime soon. Anyone else have more interesting sightings?

Friday, June 03, 2005

2009-02-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

Anyone catch the show Hit Me Baby One More Time last night? The show where they ask old bands to perform their hit song again. That's the kind of show I like to call a generation cutter--40% of the nation was probably saying, wow, they're performing again, and 60% was saying, wow, what the fuck is this crap? To some of us it was like watching a Woody Allen movie where most of the audience didn't get the jokes. But, it was interesting that the host was British, which led me to believe that it's only foreigners who still have Loverboy records in their jukeboxes.

This leads to an interesting thought, because there does seem to be a preponderance of cover music, actually, a resurgence of all things "redone" i.e. music, movies, plays, TV shows, video games... I'm still watiing for a "cover" novel, but I guess copywright protection actually works in that area. I think the reason for this is not that we exactly enjoy the inherent high quality of the original work, but more so, the memories that we associated with that period when we initially lived through all that. For instance, when I was watching that show, I wasn't thinking, "Damn, Speech and Tiffany really held up well, or Flock of Seagulls used some great guitar riffs," I was thinking about the collection of Umbros I had, or the Zubaz pants I wanted, or the ice cream guy stopping near our house and me buying those red, white and blue pops, or me killing time at the mall for a dozen hours and then heading back home to watch the Bulls wreck shop. Blame it on a lack of quality stuff today, our disillusion with the times, or a failure to create good, lasting memories, whatever it is, we're losing our creativity fast and that could really suck in the long run.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

2009-02-21T19:24:00.002-08:00

I was just reading a little bit about the electronic entertainment expo this year. It's gonna be pretty crazy for gamimg this fall on into next year. The new Xbox console is coming in November along with about 40 new Xbox games. I haven't heard anything about the specs of the machine itself, but Gates' just confirmed that Halo 3 is going to be released next year about the same time as the Playstation 3 is launched.

From what I've seen of the PS3 it looks really impressive. It runs on a new "Cell" processor and it's supposedly 35x faster than a PS2. Although, I've heard that the CPU for the Xbox is faster than the PS3's. The machine is HDTV compatible, can be played on two screens side-by-side, has wireless Bluetooth controllers, and uses discs that hold more data than a DVD. It looks pretty sleek, too. I didn't know what to expect until I saw a trailer from a PS3 game and an Xbox 360 game and they both look incredible. Judge for yourself.

Killzone for PS3:

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/748/748475/vids_1.html

Gears of War for Xbox 360:

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/747/747891/vids_1.html

In the meantime I think I'll be happy with Ghosts n' Goblins on my Genesis.

Friday, May 20, 2005

2009-02-21T19:24:00.001-08:00

A smoking chimp for all of you to enjoy for the weekend. Because, really, the world needs more of them, right?

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/smokeape.html

Thursday, May 19, 2005

2009-02-20T20:25:00.001-08:00

Currently Reading
A Short History of the World
By J. M. Roberts
see related

U2 was absolutely amazing. We went last night to the Nets arena for a sold-out show (too bad Nets' games can't look like that). Bono had said before that they don't make as much off touring as people think because of what they spend to put a show together, and it was fairly evident last night. I felt like I was at a friggin light show let alone a concert. But, I think my favorite point of the night came in the middle of their set. They built this ring extending in front of their stage, where people could stand inside while they walked around them. Anyway, the lights dimmed and when they turned on again, Bono was at the top of the key (the ring) and Larry Mullins brought a small drum set out, too, and they started with Love and Peace or Else. Near the end of the song, the lights dimmed again and a spotlight was on Larry who was standing there banging the drums, and he was hitting them hard, almost like a war beat. Then, all of a sudden, on the main stage Larry launched into the opening drum beat for Sunday Bloody Sunday, my favorite U2 song. Before I could realize that it was Bono who was at the front drum set all along, I already had my hands in the air. It was so goshdamn beautiful I almost cried. God bless those men.

A few things struck me while I was watching the show, though. One, namely that people are hypocrites. Throughout the arena, there were several humanitarian non-governmental groups and, repeatedly, throughout the show, Bono talked about peace, human rights, AIDS prevention, and they even flashed the first few articles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights on a huge screen. Now, whenever a reference to these things was made, people roared with applause as if they actually cared about these things, but they don't. You might say I'm making a gross generalization, and you're right but you also know that I'm right. Secondly, it's interesting to see how deep into religion the whole band is. I mean, obviously if you listen to the songs you get a sense of it, but in the middle of the set it almost turned into a praisefest. Bono mentioned Abraham at least 5 or 6 times and at one point he wore a headband with the Jesus fish Ictus symbol, pointed to it and said "Jesus healed the sick, it's true" like 10 times over. It really was a whole experience in every kind of way. And the final thing I was fascinated with was the thing about being a musician. Imagining the power of having 10 or 20,000 people listening to you for 3 hours; being able to control the rhythm of an audience and making them move like one big wave; having them sing your thoughts or celebrating your father as if they knew him too. Not to mention all the coke and whores you can get your hands on. And to be able to do all of that until you're 60 or more (Rolling Stones is a good example) is pretty unbelievable. Well enough of that and onto the next big thing, Revenge of the Sith probably this weekend. Anyone seen it?

Thursday, April 28, 2005

2009-02-20T20:24:00.002-08:00

Yes, my friends, the date of my naissance is here. Apparently I share my birthday with a lot of other people:

Jessica Alba - April 28, 1981

Jay Leno - April 28, 1950

Harper Lee - April 28, 1926

James Monroe - April 28, 1758

Penelope Cruz - April 28, 1974

Ann-Margret - April 28, 1941

Lionel Barrymore - April 28, 1878

John Daly - April 28, 1966

Kari Wuhrer - April 28, 1967

Saddam Hussein - April 28, 1937

So, hot chics, golfers, late-night talk show hosts, authors, founding fathers, dictators, one-and-all, I salute you and wish you many fruitful years ahead.

...Except you, Saddam

...And Jessica, give me a call, maybe we can celebrate together

"May you live to be 100, and may the last voice you hear be mine." -- Frank Sinatra

Friday, April 15, 2005

2009-02-20T20:24:00.001-08:00

Anyone heard about this story about drinking too much water? The NE Journal of Medicine came out with a study of patients exhibiting effects of hyponatremia. Whereas people were concerned before about being dehydrated during sports and drinking water to relieve it, now it's said that drinking too much water can dilute the body's system and lead to severe side effects--death, in some cases. It's pretty interesting... sodium is an electrolyte that helps our system when we exercise. While we exercise, we lose electrolytes, and therefore sodium. So, if someone drinks too much water, then they're diluting an already-sodium depleted system.

Why is it that everytime you think you're on the right path of doing something, there's a study that comes out that says not to do it too well or don't do it at all. Oh well, this story makes me want to urinate. I think I'll do that, have a nice weekend all!

Thursday, April 07, 2005

2009-02-20T20:23:00.003-08:00

And so the Catholic Church commentary begins, just like Terry Schiavo, the death of a person has become bigger and representative of larger things than the individual involved. Terry Schiavo wasn’t a dying patient but a rubber band in the culture of life debate. In the same vein, we have barely heard anything about Pope John Paul II and his life and achievements, but more questions on the future of the church. The pope actually had a very interesting life as a priest in Poland and helped form a basis for revolution in that country. He wasn’t just a moral leader to many but he was a revolutionary to an entire country and region. But, the questions are appropriate in this case, because the next pope will have many issues to deal with, and will be central to the larger debate.

It’s pretty exciting to read the talk of who is expected next. There’s a Honduran cardinal being considered, a Brazilian archbishop, a Milanese archbishop, and a Nigerian cardinal. People like to point out race and geography because they think the church is going to base most of their decision on the booming adoption of Catholicism in Latin America, Africa and Asia, or how the color of the next guy’s face is going to get more Catholics. But, I don’t think they will consider it much, if at all. Their chief concern is going to be someone who will continue to centralize the church like John Paul did and someone who sticks to church teaching, whatever they look like. Probably no one knew that John Paul was going to be selected in ’79, and the same will be true this time around.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

2009-02-20T20:23:00.001-08:00

A great commercial which I wish they would have run on TV:

http://www.exbyte.net/showit.php?videoid=808

Prediction: Terminal Two = UNC and Illinois. UNC wins 95-90

Thursday, March 03, 2005

2009-02-20T20:22:00.001-08:00

Maybe if Natalie Imbruglia's video was like this, I could've gotten into the song:

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/torn.html

And I found a nice freestyle battle of Jin's. Verse isn't too bad, but Jin takes it. This dude is too hot, he just needs a good label and producer to back him up:

http://madnet51.free.fr/jinverse(u-mad.net).wmv

And since I'm in a nostalgic "elements of hip-hop mode":

http://battle2stgermain.free.fr/blog/ronnievswakeup.wmv

http://www.bboy.com/media/video/windowsmedia/floorwasrs_teaser_2.wmv

http://perso.club-internet.fr/kempsk8/S2O/break-411.wmv

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

2009-02-20T20:21:00.004-08:00

And now for the first, and only, annual Xanga Awards for Terrible Posting. Through my various sojourns to other Xanga sites I've managed to compile some very disgustingly pieced-together entries and I've posted them here so that you can choose the winner. If you've happened to come to my site and it just so happens that one of these entries belongs to you, please don't visit again. Thanks, and good voting! (Note: these entries have not been altered by me in any way)

Contestant #1 - Kinda interesting how i ended up liking the villian rather than the protagonist. i like how he's capable of controlling his emotion (if he does have any...well, he does get angry sometimes) and cool and reserve, full of confident. well.that's the good side of him. he is a demon (in a human form most of the time) and i guess he wants to be the most powerful or something DORKYFREAK

#2 - yO! 2dae [saturdae] was funn... 'rOund 1o Or sumting mike 'nd kev came Over tO my hOuse... we chilled fOr a while... we were lOokin at da pixx Ob us when we went tO LA... haha "gOod times ::slaps knee::" hahaha then ehhh i gOt my suitcase full Ob my pOlynesian [hawaiian tahitian 'nd maOri] cOstumes fOr the shOw ready... my mOm 'nd us kiddOs left 'rOund 1.3o headin tO the SAN MATEO COUNTY FAIR... when we gOt there we had tO w8 like an hOur fOr my teacher LEILANI tO arrive sO that we cOuld get Our tixx... haha i was free since i was a DANCER hehe sam_sam_ster’s

#3 - today happen many things......but i know now all the thing already settle down lu.........i know wtever how many thank you i tell my fds, still not enough.....but really in this 2 days i can feel that i have many many many REAL fds.....so that ' THANK YOU VERY MUCH~~~'

this 2 days i have a big quarral with someone

#4 - Hey! Today was awesome! My friend,and I through paper toilet wodes on the bathroom wall in the girls bathroom! This is my third time lol! My other friend....the one who started it all...showed me if first! Then I did it,then the other girl! Then me and the girl..through them at the hallway down by the steps lol! Tomorrow looks like another lovely day! MABE...I'll put one in Artie's locker lol! Well peace out bitches

2009-02-20T20:21:00.003-08:00

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Regarding the State of the Union speech, I thought the President delivered it very well. But, I had a few points of difficulty with some of the things he raised. First off, the big one (besides social security)--Iraq. The President and most people have proclaimed Iraq a free and sovereign state. He is confusing democracy and constitutional liberalism. The Iraqis have taken a big first step by voting, but they are far from sovereign. Just having elections doesn't make a viable state. There has to be a rule of law, protections of speech, equality and due process among a lot of other things, which have yet to be seen. And, let's get it straight, too, the people they voted for are just temporary. They're only elected for a year period to write a constitution and then they will have the real elections. I'm not being a pessimist about the situation, because it is, of course a significant step, but the President needs to stop with the hyperbole.

The other one was Social Security. I like the idea of personal accounts and the idea of taking that retirement money and putting it in an account is an exciting one. But, the argument should focus on the premise of social security. Social means just that, "social." It is a shared responsibility, taken on by society. Bush should change the name of it if he's planning to install a new system, which would probably make a lot of people think twice before they support it. Also, in my mind, people are generally conservative with their investment money. The 4% that you can take from your payroll taxes might even be too high for a lot of people. And, we're dealing with the market here--Bush failed to mention that if the market dives, then there goes your social security. If the money was invested in completely stable things like bonds and money market funds, then that would be safer, but he's included stocks into the mix. People stand a chance to gain much more than the regular system or lose more. Other things the President didn't talk much about: Latin American, other than a guest-worker program, and Africa and the tsunami effort.

In a completely unrelated aside, TO is playing for the Eagles and I'm really excited about the Superbowl this year. Even if it's a massacre, these are the two most deserving teams. The Eagles deserve to win, of course, but at least the two of them deserve to be there. And, I found this banned commercial that was supposed to run during the game, but it was pulled. Enjoy.

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/bannedsuperbowl.html

Public - 1:02 PM - 1 view - 6 eprops - 4 comments - edit it - email it - fix language

Monday, January 31, 2005

Done and done: U2-May 18. My hand was shaking just ordering the tickets.

Monday, January 24, 2005

2009-02-20T20:21:00.001-08:00

Currently Playing
London Calling
By Clash
see related

- -

Time to play... Add the Caption. Here's Mine:

Mary, the village idiot, tries her hand at soap-making, with unexpected results.

Now, you try.

Yes, folks, this picture pretty much sums up the weekend. Bottom-line--we still had work, though. So, it might as well have been 80 degrees and sunny all weekend.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

2009-02-20T20:20:00.003-08:00

Hahahaha!

http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/videoswitcher.jhtml?show=chappellesshow&reposid=/multimedia/chappelle/showclips_s2/210_vd.html&clip=chappelle/210_vd.wmv&mswmext=.asx

And Markus Ruhl shopping:

http://www.m90.org/view_image.php?image_id=1347

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

2009-02-20T20:20:00.001-08:00

The death toll in the Indian Ocean countries is about to reach 45,000. A third of that figure might be children. Now, I have my problems with the UN, but situations like these are where the organization really excels. Last year almost 30,000 people were killed when an earthquake hit Bam, Iran. The world never even knew about it, but the UN did and they're still trying to repair the damage. Now, this happens, and just because there are a lot of relief organizations out there with money to contribute does not mean that that will automatically help the situation. There has to be coordination, and that is where the UN does its best work. I hope that these countries get the relief that they need, as well as Iran, as well as the Philippines, as well as Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq... just thinking about it now, I complain about things in my life, but it definitely pales in comparison to walking on a beach in Thailand and having your baby ripped from your arms by tidal waves. God help them.

To donate:

http://www.mercycorps.org/donate/

http://www.ifrc.org

Monday, December 20, 2004

2009-02-20T20:19:00.002-08:00

So I did this "bit" one time, I guess you could call it, which got a lot of laughs from people around me. And I decided to do it again this morning because the opportunity presented itself. What I do is, in the subway, if someone is hauling something heavy i.e. luggage, down or upstairs, they usually look like they need help. So, I offer a willing hand and take it for them. Once at the bottom of the staircase, I pretend to start running away with the heavy object i.e. luggage, only to walk back and show that it's only a joke. I do this if the person looks like they can take a joke and if it looks like they could use a good laugh. Unfortunately, this time I picked the wrong time to do it. In order to help you visualize my anecdote, I've employed some stick-figure drawings:

I'm coming down to the R train and notice that a woman is struggling with some luggage. She makes eye contact and I ask her if she needs a hand.

She obliges and willingly hands over the luggage to me and I begin to carry it the rest of the way downstairs.

As I near the bottom I start taking off with the luggage. But, there's a wall on the right side of this staircase, so you don't see anything to your right until you round the corner. As I turned the corner, I bumped into a policeman who happened to be coming up the stairs (I didn't know how to draw a policeman, so I just drew a guy with a cowboy hat with the sheriff's badge signifying his martial authority).

And that's when the confusion started. The woman thought I was going to steal her stuff, while I was explaining to the cop that I was just joking around. I was there for a while trying to explain myself and I somehow talked myself out of it, eventually. I got into work and I laughed at myself for a good 10 mins. What a dumbass!

Saturday, December 18, 2004

2009-02-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

Kidd, Jefferson, Carter. A great addition to the West Coast offense. They might as well reserve a time slot on Sportscenter for the Nets highlights, cause I'm sure there are gonna be a few. On the other hand, there goes our defense, or what we had of it.

Friday, December 17, 2004

2009-02-20T20:18:00.002-08:00

My holiday movie list. There's a lot of them coming out now, presumably to be eligible for the Oscars. If anyone has seen one of these, please comment and give me your review, because it might be the deciding factor for the one I pick. Unless I don't like you, in which case I'll ignore what you have to say and might use that block user feature:

Ocean's Twelve

House of Flying Daggers

Sideways

Million Dollar Baby

Blade: Trinity

The Aviator

The Life Aquatic

Hotel Rwanda

2009-02-20T20:18:00.001-08:00

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Work is really really pissing me off today

God, give me the patience...

to wait until the right time so I can shoot my boss and co-workers

Public - 4:54 PM - 1 view - 6 eprops - 3 comments - edit it - email it - fix language

Friday, December 03, 2004

For all y'all trick-ass hos:

http://gprime.net/video.php/pentricks (pen tricks)

http://lightertricks.com/tricks/easy.php (lighter tricks)

http://www.big-boys.com/articles/foosballchamp.html (fooseball tricks)

And, of course http://pokerchiptricks.com (Still trying to perfect the butterfly)

Public - 11:28 AM - 1 view - 4 eprops - 2 comments - edit it - email it - fix language

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Silly smart kids and their pranks. If anyone from BU is reading this, please do this to BC, or something of equal merit.

http://www.harvardsucks.org/

And, another one for you. A guy making fun of accents. This could very well be about anyone with an accent.

http://www.exbyte.net/showit.php?videoid=406

Public - 3:56 PM - 1 view - add eprops - add comments - edit it - email it - fix language

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Today is World Aids Day. But, I've always wondered why AIDS is given topshelf attention over other damaging infections. Maybe the anti-AIDS cause was adopted by stars early on and, so, it isn't cool to recognize other illnesses? For instance, 36 million people are now living with AIDS, but according to the WHO, in the year 2000 alone 2.1 million people died from diarrheal diseases; 300-500 million cases of malaria occur each year; and tuberculosis kills around 2 million people a year, most of them 15-45 years old. Thinking about it now, though, I guess a Walk for Diarrhea wouldn't have the same turnout as a Walk for Aids.

In other news, my boss and the organization he represents is taking a beating in the press lately. Actually, I'm surprised more mainstream outlets besides Fox, haven't picked up on the UN scandals, but I'm sure more news will break soon. Chief among them being the oil-for-food program. It's alleged that some associated with the UN, siphoned money from Iraq's oil program back to Saddam and his cronies, in the tens of billions. Another scandal that maybe the world does not know about yet is the SG's pardoning of the chief of our Internal Oversight Department, who made sexual advances towards several employees. He was later cleared by Annan, but, the people that lodged the complaints were never spoken to during the investigation. A third bombshell involves Kofi's son who was involved with the oil-for-food program, and was receiving payments from his contractor far beyond his term of service, again allegedly. Obviously, many people who are already against this institution, will not need to wait for the investigations to finish in order to make up their minds, but there are still ongoing investigations, one headed by a former Fed Chairman. I guess one can say I'm losing hope in the leaders of this place, but I still believe in the ideals and processes of what this building embodies. We just need the right person(s) for the job.

Public - 12:42 PM - 1 view - 2 eprops - 1 comment - edit it - email it - fix language

Monday, November 08, 2004

Currently Playing
Born to Run
By Bruce Springsteen
see related

World's tallest, fastest roller coaster here in Jersey. Check out the virtual ride clip:

http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/index.asp

Friday, November 05, 2004

2009-02-20T20:17:00.003-08:00

Star Wars Episode III trailer just released:

http://www.starwars.com/

Thursday, November 04, 2004

2009-02-20T20:17:00.001-08:00

My unique analysis of the US elections:

Point 1- It's been said that the biggest factor pushing most people to vote for Bush was moral values. And what issues usually come to mind when we hear moral values in association with politics? Right, abortion and stem cell research etc. But, my view is that the average American who voted for Bush because of moral values, combined Bush's beliefs about domestic policy AND foreign policy. Meaning to say, that they agreed with his policies on abortion, gay marriage, stem cells as well as the perception that he stands up to terrorists and he "tells it like it is." A red carpet to the Presidency was laid out for him because people felt that his foreign policies were connected to his domestic policies.

Point 2-The Democrats got trounced, no two ways about it. Kerry's loss wasn't a complete surprise though, because if you pull up a side-by-side electoral map of the 2000 elections and 2004 elections, they are virtually identical with the exception of NH, IO and NM (by the way, do we still not know what the result is in IO and NM). What is a surprise is that the Dems lost seats in the House, lost in the Senate (which is where our best chance was to gain seats) and no governorships. What does this mean for the party from here on out? It means a very difficult time because in order to come back from a defeat like this requires change. And what does change amount to in the political world? It amounts to weakness. So, the Dems are caught in a rough spot. For the present administration, it will also be interesting to see how Bush reshuffles his cabinet, and if he will take this election to mean that he can continue full-steam ahead with what he was doing or if we might see considerable changes in how he conducts business.

Point 4-Redistricting is taking power away from Dems. If you go back to the electoral map, you'll see that Kerry continued to carry some very big states. But, in the future redistricting will take the power away from Democrats. I'll break it down for you. Every ten years after a census is released, districts are redrawn to reflect population shifts. If you go back to the map, you'll see that since the last general election, big states like NY and Mass are LOSING electoral votes. This means, that these terrorities are losing population and more power is going to Republican-held areas.

Point 4-Vote or Die. Now, I ask Diddy, if I voted and I still die in some terrorist attack, how can that be possible? I mean, the alternative to not voting was dying. You can't do both, right? If that happens, I'll be screaming for the head of Diddy in the afterlife. I think for the '08 elections, he might have to change the slogan to Vote and Die.

Point 5 - Maybe someone can enlighten me on this, but how is it legal to claim victory when votes have not been finished being counted? Please don't take this as sour grapes from a Kerry supporter, but if there is an election process that is to be followed in this country, how can one side take a shortcut in that process? And if a politician makes a concession speech, is it binding? Maybe not because Gore took back his concession speech the last time around. Some wrinkles really need to be ironed out in these things we call elections.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

2009-02-20T20:16:00.003-08:00

Jersey's with you, man. Stay strong.

Friday, October 29, 2004

2009-02-20T20:16:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of Halloween I found some scary stuff for you all:

http://www.howfuckedup.net/ (the Saw movie website)

http://www.ring2-themovie.com/ (trailer for the Ring 2)

http://www.thebeastmovie.com/trailer/index.html (Anyone heard of this? Apparently it's a movie about the non-existence of Christ. Check out the release date. Can't wait for people to tear this movie down.)

And here's a picture of a house near my block. I just thought it was a really well-decorated house, but when viewing the photo I noticed that the face on the spider is Bush's. And check out what the tombstones say. The one on the far left reads: "Basic English Usage -- 2000-2004" Haha!

Happy Halloween Everyone

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

2009-02-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

Currently Watching
Wall Street
see related

Here's a rant for you:

I think the most obsolete and lagging industry that no one ever seems to talk about is the auto mechanic industry. Has anyone ever had good service by going to these guys, unless you're paying an arm-and-a-leg to go through the auto dealer's servicepeople. I once had to wait an entire day just to get my oil changed. This is why I started changing my own oil and spark plugs etc. myself.

I believe that certification by the National Inst. for Automotive Service Excellence is entirely voluntary. So, you don't even have to be certified to work. Now, imagine a medical doctor that practices without being licensed. Would that be cool with the government? In addition, one can choose different specializations within that ASE certification i.e. brake systems, engine repair etc. I highly doubt that when I bring my car into the shop and there's a problem with something, they're saying "Joe, we're having a problem with the suspension on this car, we better bring in the suspension specialist." Right now, I believe that mechanics get a commission related to the labor charged to the customers. So, these guys have an incentive to give you a higher quote and also to delay their work. Mechanics need to be technicians. They need to learn how to use computers more in their work. It's already tough enough with cars because they use on-board computers, but imagine how it's going to be when hybrid, or fuel-celled cars become really popular. There definitely needs to be some government oversight in this industry or conditions on the road are gonna get worse.

Monday, October 25, 2004

2009-02-20T20:14:00.003-08:00

Haha Ashlee Simpson lip-synch:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/ashlee-snl.html

Friday, October 22, 2004

2009-02-20T20:14:00.001-08:00

Currently Reading
The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity
By Ann Gostyn Serow, Everett C. Ladd, Everett Carll Ladd
see related

--Loyalty is trusting two pitchers who have relatively no postseason experience with the team in the biggest game of the series--Loyalty is diving into the stands with no regard for your health for a foul ball, and coming up with a bloody face--Loyalty is re-signing your GM and continuing to trust your manager, instead of running your manager out of town because he made the mistake of leaving a star pitcher in a game a little bit too long--Loyalty is always being behind your team's manager instead of criticizing him during the season and then worshipping him during the playoffs when they're winning--Loyalty is waiting in line on a cold morning to get an autograph from a pitcher who gave up a grand slam in the 7th game of the ALCS

Amazing job by the Sox, but thank you again Yankees for providing a lot of great moments during this season. Thanks for the memories and thanks for making me feel like a kid in little league again. And to all the Yankee sell-out fans, we're coming back stronger next year, and we definitely won't need you.

This is only a sport, folks, let's move on to more important things...

Monday, October 18, 2004

2009-02-20T20:13:00.001-08:00

Apart from the green and white background, how many colors can you see? (scroll down for the answer)

Answer: The X only contains a single color pink.

Friday, October 15, 2004

2009-02-20T20:12:00.001-08:00

Currently Playing
The Joshua Tree
By U2
see related

Some quotes and notes from Phil Jackon's new book:

--[Jackson] asked Bryant if he had 'someone to talk to' about the rape accusations. Bryant said that he had a minister to consult. Then, suddenly, Bryant, a star guard, vowed that he would not hold back from replying if O'Neal criticized him publicly"

--Jackson said he had learned that Bryant voted against the current labor agreement because it placed a cap on salaries

--O'Neal refused to have his feet taped by a trainer who was allied with Bryant, while Bryant would not be taped by the trainer who wraps O'Neal's feet

--Jackson sought out General Manager Mitch Kupchak to demand that Bryant be dealt before the trading deadline in February

--Concerned that his relationship with Bryant was worsening daily, Jackson asked O'Neal and Rick Fox to come to his hotel suite. He asked them what they thought about the possibility of the Lakers' offering Bryant a leave of absence. The players said it was unnecessary, that he would contribute when he was healthy

--In a video session after the Pistons and the Lakers had split the first two games of the series, the Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter offered a withering assessment of O'Neal's defense against the screen roll. When his career is over, Winter said angrily, he vowed to expose O'Neal as overrated.

And, here's the most bizarre excerpt I've seen:

--After the Lakers lost the third game of the finals, Jackson and O'Neal met in a bathroom to plot strategy. O'Neal suggested that Jackson play the little-used small forward Bryon Russell. Jackson called the idea ludicrous because Russell did not know the offense. Then, other players, including Bryant, joined them in the bathroom. After hearing several suggestions, Bryant told the group how much he hated the triangle offense, but he would run it, pass the ball to O'Neal and beat the Pistons down low.

Met in a bathroom? wtf?!?! This book sounds very interesting...

**New poll up. Results from last one: A majority have an average liking for polls, with one Fuck Off. Vote in the new one**

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

2009-02-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Currently Watching
Porn Star - The Legend of Ron Jeremy (Uncut & Unrated Edition)
By Ron Jeremy
see related

Game 1 of the World Series tonight, at least it is to Yanks and Red Sox fans. Mussina and Schilling get the starts tonight. There's no point in me analysing this series because you can just hop on espn, sportingnews, or any other related resource. What I will say is that even though the Red Sox look great on paper, there is something about this month, this stadium, this crowd, this history and this spirit that only the Yankees have. People like to talk about the camaraderie in the Boston dugout, well, you can't come from behind 61 times in games and not feel that you are especially close with a bunch of other guys. What this team has been through during the regular season and even up until now with Mo's situation is really going to propel them.

Meanwhile another great weekend for NY Football. I really do think the Jets can make it 5-0. San Francisco has a terrible running game. For the Giants, Tim Carter's loss is going to hurt them and it's definitely going to be noticeable on the scoreboard. But, then again what do I know, I thought Manning would be starting.

"Call the Yankees my daddy. I can't find a way to beat them at this point"

--Pedro Martinez

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

2009-02-20T20:09:00.001-08:00

Ahh, another political debate. It was definitely not Lincoln and Douglas up there on that Ohio stage, but it was definitely "more" than the presidential debate. It was "more" because it just felt exhausting after it was over. These two came armed with numbers, statistics, trends, "facts" and a whole host of other elements that most of the nation probably could not verify, so it felt like seeing New York City for the first time for someone who was born in Nebraska. My thoughts on the two:

Edwards: I thought he was on the ropes for the first half hour. He stuck to "talking points" that were echoes of Kerry's remarks in his debate. Whereas Kerry-Bush spoke about themes and general concepts, Edwards eventually expanded on those ideas with specifics. The one statement by Edwards that I thought was pretty vicious was his introduction of Cheney's daughter into the discussion. While it was under the guise of a compliment, I think Edwards actually talked about Cheney's gay daughter to show his flip-flop on the issue of banning gay marriage, an issue that Cheney's does not believe should be constitutionally banned (or at least hasn't said that) while Bush supports it. Edwards excelled in his domestic agenda arguments.

Cheney: Performed extremely well also but, the fact, that he did well and Bush did not might say something about how the administration is currently run. But, then again, people give too much consideration to these debates and outward appearances and not enough to the policies. Cheney was succinct and very crotchety but he was effective in highlighting the inexperience of Edwards. Cheney excelled in the foreign policy arguments. One other thing that I thought was funny was Cheney's reference to factcheck.org. I used the site way before he mentioned it, but as soon as he referenced it, I couldn't get on it for a day because the server was too busy. I finally get through, and I find that factcheck has deconstructed most of what Cheney said during the debate. Before he talks about a site called factcheck he should check his own facts.

This debate had an undercurrent of animosity, which represents this entire contest and it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks and also how the next two debates play out.

And, Lieber vs. Radke? Game 2 goes to the Yanks.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

2009-02-20T20:08:00.002-08:00

I decided to spruce up my website with some different design scripts. So, I'm going to try to start using polls first. My first test one is just above. Do your duty as an American citizen and vote. I SAID VOTE!!!

Monday, September 27, 2004

2009-02-20T20:08:00.001-08:00

Currently Reading
The Ragamuffin Gospel
By Brennan Manning
see related

It's official... Conan's going to replace Jay in 2009. What interested me most about the story is that Conan will be 46 when he takes over. 46?!?! I remember the exact night he took over for Letterman, he looked like he was under 30. When events like this happen, it really makes you realize how fast life goes by.

Anyway, in celebration, I found some good ole' Triumph clips:

http://www.banthis.com/movies/TAI.wmv

http://www.banthis.com/movies/TAI2.wmv

2009-02-20T20:06:00.002-08:00

Monday, September 20, 2004

Currently Playing
Live at the Apollo 1962
By James Brown
see related

This was a one-of-a-kind weekend. For those that didn't know, our hometown hero Therese Lizardo was a contestant in the Miss America Pageant (pics to follow as soon as I feel like putting them up). I made the trek to AC with Lynn and her family and so began my free weekend complete with comps.

Apparently they made some changes to this year's pageant which made the event completely shitty. They announced the top 10 finalists about 10 mins. into the show, so already about 80% of the audience has divested itself of interest in the rest of the competition; there is also a 'casual wear' portion of the show; and the two finalists have to square off in a talent competition near the end. I did some fact-finding and it seems the Pageant was at an all-time low in terms of viewers last year--only about 10 mil. people tuned in. This got me thinking about how the show was done this year and I forgot that the host was from a reality show. So if you combine lower ratings with the reality show influence (casual wear, talent-off, host) it all equals a crappy program, but one hoping for bigger ratings. I don't know what the ratings were for the program this year, but I wish I could have pressed fast-forward. Regardless, congratulations to Twit, our reigning Miss Foggy Bottom 2004. I then went on to lose a bill in the casinos, so after the pageant and the gambling, all-in-all it was a gender-confusing weekend for me, but nevertheless well worth it.

In other developments, I started Mike Mentzer's H.I.T. weight training schedule. If anyone has tried this let me know how it worked out for you. I puked twice in the gym today, but I've followed this regimen in the past and it's been great. I just never stuck with it. But, I think I'll do it now since time is very scarce. OK all, bonne semaine!

Friday, September 10, 2004

2009-02-20T20:06:00.001-08:00

Currently Reading
East of Eden (Oprah's Book Club)
By John Steinbeck
see related

I watched the party conventions on TV in the last few weeks but there was nothing new said by either side. I think what I'll be much much more interested in is the presidential debates that will be starting at the end of this month. The Commission on Presidential Debates has scheduled three: the first on domestic policy, the second a town-hall meeting, and the third on foreign policy. There's also a vice-presidential debate scheduled. Right now the two sides have negotiators to discuss the particulars of each debate. Bush's father's secretary of defense Baker is negotiating for him and Kerry has two lawyers on his side. From what I've read so far, Bush hasn't agreed to the three debates, he wants to narrow the length of the debates and he wants to skip the town-hall one. Kerry, on the other hand, would agree to more. Bush wanting to skip the town-hall meeting got me thinking... has he had to answer one tough question while campaigning about anything he's done? While Kerry is caught in a blitzkrieg of questioning. This is the most important contest on the face of the earth. I hope both sides will come to an agreement, and I hope America will be listening.