Friday, April 10, 2009

Iron Mike

I was mesmerized by this man when I was a kid. The question was never "will he win?" it was, "how quickly?". Now that Im grown, and Ive watched his descent, Im no less spellbound.

Counting Sheep

Generally, I prefer goats, but Im pretty sure you wouldn't be able to coax them into these sorts of shenanigans. Hey, Ive heard of farmers doing worse to their herds...

Friday, January 30, 2009

Wayne's Grill

Is it just me or is Wayne sporting some crazy looking porcelain caps on his teeth?
Anyway, here's a clip from the Katie Couric interview.
I wonder if she went home and cried in the shower with a brillo pad after staring directly at Wayne for that hour...

Watch CBS Videos Online

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Veg Porn

Im generally not a fan of Peta. They have always felt heavy handed and overly idealistic. Seeing that my family was raised on money made on the manufacturing of leather clothing didn't exactly make me any more receptive to their tactics. That all being said: I agree that the American mass cattle and poultry farming industry needs a serious overhaul, but I still believe in the food chain. Personally, I only eat what I would likely be able to catch and kill myself (and the occasional bit of kangaroo meat, they're the deer of Australia), but Im a big fan of a beet or an asparagus based meal.

I love my greens, just not in that way....

Friday, January 23, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Power of Numbers

44
Impeccability, desire with insight, wisdom with reason, intensity, conviction, adeptness, heroism, self-control, discipline, controlled energy focussed.

8 represents material accomplishment -- money, material freedom, business, high finance, control, power, success, achievement, recognition, profit, executive ability, management, authority, fairness, and responsibility.

44 represents a higher octave of 8


Lets continue to hope and change together.....

Monday, January 19, 2009

I Have No Lambo....

Jeezy "My President is Black"

Obey

"Spread My Arms, Gonna Meet You in the Sky"

Young Jeezy has had a big couple months with "My President is Black'. Ever since election day (and a lil bit before) his track has been pumping out of car windows, at clubs, and of course, at victory parties. Last night he even caught a legitimate interview on ABC news. Jeezy got joined by Jay-Z on stage the other night for a little freestyle of what may or may not be Obamas morning theme song. Hell, my president has a stack of mixtapes to choose from at this point.

Jay-Z My President is black Remix LIVE 1-18-09 from pleasedontstare on Vimeo.

Monday, January 5, 2009

What You Know about That?


This is nerdy as all hell....and I dont care

Friday, January 2, 2009

Friday, December 26, 2008

Santa Baby


Eartha Kitt passed this xmas at the age of 81, but this song will live on.
New York Times article

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sweet Dreams


Fifty People, One Question: Brooklyn from Crush & Lovely on Vimeo.

I'd wake up on the beach, on Big Island, and go for a wake-up swim with the turtles....how about you?

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

That's So Gay




When I went away to school in Massachusettes (almost a decade ago, yikes!) it felt like everyone would say "that's so gay" ALL the time. I was offended at first, then sort of let it get drowned out. There was no way that I was gonna change the lexicon of an entire campus. When I came home for a break and spent some time with one of my dearest friends, somehow that phrase passed my lips, and I saw his heart sink. I think I didnt even finish my statement when I began appologizing and explaining my inundation into stupidity.

Prop 8 was a huge set back. Not just for same-sex marriage rights, but for human rights, and most of all our current fantasy of true progress and "CHANGE".


Nuance is everything...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

How It's Going to End

They've begun dismanteling Astroland a few weeks ago. Eviction date is Jan. 31st. The rocket is looking for a home, the rides are gonna live on as far away as Australia, and I just welled up over the sight of the bumble bee and the apple ride. One of my favorite childhood pictures was taken on that ride. My mom: young and pretty. Me: barely a yard tall, wearing a purple jumpsuit, tall brown boots, and a fraggle fur coat. I wish I could have that day and that outfit again.

With New York in a state of financial panic, and Thor equities getting their plans shut down by the city, one is left wondering about the fate of Coney. Maybe it's time for a facelift, I just hope the bandages don't stay on too long.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008

"You and Your Friends Vs. Me and the Revolution"

IMG_4451

The New Yorker shows up at my door, every Tuesday. It doesnt let me catch up on other reading, so Im usually fighting against the clock just to finish one before the next shows up. This week it struck a few personal cords.

During an interview with Naomi Klein (the lady working on moving the center of politics and understanding generation branding iron), she touched upon the energy of the pre-9/11 globalization movement. She talks about Quebec City during the Summit of the Americas in 2001. April 19, 20, and 21 as I recall. We missed Extravaganja, and thats hard for the young and outraged.

" ...when the officials surrounded themselves with a tall protective fence, a group of activists built a medieval-style wood catapult and lobbed Teddy bears over the top."

We presumed it was Ya Basta, the Italian yippies that also wore full body armor made of stuffed animals. I have a picture up close of that catapult. It was glorious.

" 'Quebec City was just madness,' she says, 'It was one of those times when nobody knows what's going to happen, and there are these breakthrough moments, these liberated moments, of euphoria. It was mostly young people, and they were getting gassed, but they were still enjoying themselves tremendously, playing cat and mouse with the police. What I loved about it was that the whole city joined in - people working in cafes on the main streets, and neighbors got buckets of water to wash out people's eyes. It was like an alternative reality.' "

When we left the country, we expected the border police to hassle us.
"Did you get wet kids?"
"What? The rain? It wasn't that bad."
"We meant the hoses. Have a good day."

IMG_0763

The next editorial was about Derrick Parker, he just released a book "Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from the NYPD's First "Hip-Hop Cop". Starts explaining the politics of urban nightlife, he's got a security service now. He still recognizes people he's arrested and investigated from his detective days, but he's been retired since 2002.

"Guys I arrested back in the day are surprised I still remember their real names, their priors, what they did time for, the names of their baby mamas.....A couple of years ago, at this club called Avalon, this dude tried to slip by with his hat down over his face, and I looked and I recognized him. It was a guy who'd been an enforcer for some Brooklyn drug dealers called the Ortiz brothers, Dominican guys. While he was working for them, this guy had a guy handcuffed in a bathroom and he was beatin' him tryin' to find out what he'd done with some moneyhe owed the Ortiz brothers, and this guy gets carried away and he kills him. So now he doesn't know what to do, so he cuts the guy up into parts, and later the victim's bones were found in trash bags beside the highway. The guy eventually got arrested for something else, and he turned state's evidence for the Feds...he was out in eleven years.

"Anyway, as he was goin' by me at Avalon, I said to him, 'So you still like to use cutting tools?' and he said, 'Aww, Parker, man, don't be bringin' that old stuff up, all that's in my past, I did eleven years, I got my life back now.' Later I told the promoter, I said 'What can I do, man? He was dressed properly, according to the U.S. government, he's paid his dues.' "

That's the guy that I narrowly averted having to serve on jury duty for, to determine if he was gonna be looking at the chair. He must have not finished paying his debt.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I Don't Believe in Umbrellas


But I believe in this one. Next time I almost get hit in the face with an errant midtown umbrella spoke, I'll be thinking about this little bruiser. Or maybe I should just invest in a four-finger ring and call it a day.