Michael Jackson

This is a very very sad day. People can make jokes and laugh, but they cannot deny the true talent this man had. Simply stated: he was a genius. No one ever in the history of music was able to connect with so many different people, regardless of their race, gender, age, class, nationality, ethnicity, you name it. Because that is the true power of music and what it can do in this world. MJ showed us how united we can be over something as simple as one song. Everyone loved his music. Everyone knows his music. His music immortalizes him.

What is sad is that I don't think he was ever truly happy. Obviously I would have no way of knowing it, but common sense points to that sad fact. The way he butchered his face, the way he lightened his skin, his weird relationship with children - this made MJ a very human figure. He was a genius when it came to music, but a struggling man when it came to things outside of music. But how could he not be? We all are familiar with his life story, his launch into stardom at the age of 11. 11! He was always in the spotlight, always performing, always trying to please other people. That can mess a person up! And it sure messed him up.

But this should be a moment for remembering the positives. Part of me feels like its not right to only remember and appreciate a man at their death. But that is the reality of the situation. MJ is gone. No more new music, no more new genius. Even though he hadn't recorded in a while, all of us still held out hope that he would regain his contemporary status with something new, something amazing. Now, that will never happen.

Somehow I knew this was going to happen. He always seemed so frail, so fragile. I had this feeling that he's just not going to make it, something bad will happen. But it is still an unbelievable and devastating shock. You always looked at MJ and thought about all of the things he could've been doing to right his life. He would keep making these dumb decisions! Wasting money. Having kids over. Plastic surgery. He was a fascinating human being who was able to fixate the whole world on himself.

But man, his music... his music will live forever. Hit after hit after hit. He made pop. He revolutionized music. Everything we see now is a recycling of what he has done.

I hope he rests in peace and perhaps finds what he has always been looking for.

I Love Apocalyptic Movies...

...Like this one coming out:



I would say my top 3 apocalyptic/futuristic let's-fuck-with-the-landscape movies are:

1) Day After Tomorrow

2) I Am Legend

3) Children of Men

What are yours?

Um.... SICK!!

Martin Scorcese's "Shutter Island"

DangEARous, that girl is so DangEARous... hee hee!

OK, nasty newsflash: it appEARs Michael Jackson has been using the cartilage from his ear to rebuild his nose ever since the 90s.

Here he is before the butchEARing:

Here he is after the butchEARing:

I mean, really? This is SO fucked up!!! I guess it makes total sense, but still its freaking nasty. WHere else has he been getting skin from? You know his nose needed skin upon skin throughout the yEARs.

Things I Despise

These (boat) shoes really piss me off. First of all, they are so unbelievably ugly, it hurts. I don't want to see people walking around with their nasty-ass feet exuding stank smells from those holes. Which brings me to my next point - these (boat) shoes look (and probably are) extremely uncomfortable. I mean, they're plastic, right? Regardless I just think that people that wear these shoes are douche-bags. I believe you can judge people by what they wear - you can judge their fashion sense, there personality, and their decision making skills. These (boat) shoes are fugly, they look like extensions of annoying people and they are definitely a HORRIBLE decision no matter which way you want to twist it.

Oh, and they're called "crocs"? Unbelievable.

Funny

Watch this. It is funny. But if you lack time, just fast forward to 2:19, then watch for 6 seconds.

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

The Fate of My License Plate

I have been an avid automobile operator since 2001. It took me 4 times to pass my road test, but when I did, I propelled myself into my Solid (Jersey?) Gold 1995 Toyota Camry. 

Witness the greatness:

This car was passed down (given) from my father, to my mother and then to me. I didn't care about its age or lack of a security system, or the fact that it was stolen in '98 from my driveway and all they left was a dollar on the ground (true story), or its eventual lack of the honk feature, all I cared was that I could drive. Now what I did grow to care about greatly was my license plate. "License plate??", you ask. Yes, license plate. 

Witness the greatness, part deux:

Nothing special to you, but to me this was basically the name of my car. I cannot tell you the amount of times I had to input this plate number into the Traffic Violations Bureau website in order to see how much I owed for a ticket. It had to have exceeded 30. But as time passed, New York State license plates changed. The Statue of Liberty vanished; in it's place, some random blue jungle shit. Now, when New York state instituted these changes and required all plates to change, the amount of digits ALSO changed. So New York went from having the very symmetric and beautiful looking ABC-123 format to the ugly nasty ABC-1234 format. But not I!  My license plate number stayed the same!

Witness the greatness, part III:

Unfortunately folks, F80-1LK recently passed away... for good. For reasons I shall not get into here, I was forced to go to the Department of Mean Vaginas not once, not twice, but THREE times in order to get a new registration for my vehicle. My prize for my patience? This foul piece of horridness.

Witness the ebb, part "this sucks fat cow dick":

Come on!?!?!? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??? ERK...??? Ugh! Ugly ugly ugly. UGHly. Now I go from being a one of a kind driver with a super-awesome-cool ABC-123 formatted licence plate to a run-of-the-mill looking-like-every-other-car ABC-1234 formatted piece of crap.

This may sound unreasonable and retarded, but I am so serious. I am so sincere.

I want my plate back!

Look Alikes: Amalgamated Bank Logo & "American Bandstand" Logo

Some Thoughts

Haven't updated in awhile. SORRY!

Some quick thoughts:

1) Riverdale in the news a lot recently. First about Horace Mann closing for swine flu ::cough:: BULLSHIT ::cough:: and now this:

FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane

Wow. I mean, what the fuck?? I guess this is where I would make a Jewish joke, but this is too much! Home grown terrorists in the 'Dale... of all places??? Messed up.

2)  Yankees have been making me feel real good. Mr. Leigh Teixeira is finally stepping up. Maybe Alex got him some juice?

3)  Fox news: obviously, it is a joke network. But, it has had the highest ratings consistently. This has pissed me off. Then I got to thinking about it. We all know our education system has been failing miserably for the past 20+ years. So, now we have a lot of people who have grown up with a sub-par education, right? Well, are those people more likely to watch real, objective news that make you think?.... OR.... bullshit propaganda that is basically a low form of entertainment? The fact that Fox News is so popular is just a sad testament to the educational state of America.

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

Aerial shot of opening day, 1923. This is amazing. Especially if you know that area.

Another Old Picture

I've been looking at a lot of picture of the old OLD Yankee Stadium, like from 1923-1973 yankee stadium, before it was renovated. I came across this picture from 1951 and I thought it was cool. Mostly because it shows the old Yankee Stadium (left), as well as the Polo Grounds (mid-right). This is also where I travel back forth everyday to go to work.  I love how the FDR drive wasn't even built yet, but you can see the beginnings of the Major Deegan. Also, the skyline in the background is pretty sick.

Controlled Road Rage

You may think this post is about me keeping my road rage in control. Quite the opposite - I have really learned how to successfully control the output of my rage in such a way that my words come out clearly and stutter-free. I used to get so mad that I would mutter some Russian-accent shit that no one understood that made me even more mad! Or I would think of something way too late and miss the perfect opportunity for the rethwart (pun).

Not anymore!

I have had a sick streak recently of totally laying into the opposition. 

Exsickbit A:  Stuck behind a van at a red light. The light turned green and the van wasn't moving. I start honking; do not stop until the van moves (a good 10 straight seconds of honk). When finished I hear someone say "Shut up!" and think its  from an apt window. Light is red again. Some blond shaggy haired woman emerges on the sidewalk and says "You! Shut up!" I roll down my window as she says "So fucking rude!" Walks away. I say, "MIND YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! NO ONE WAS FUCKING TALKING TO YOU!" I see her bright blue umbrella stop, then she walks back and starts saying something that I totally interrupt and say "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" As she walks away and the light turns green, I go around the van and honk more when I pass her.

Exsickbit B:  On way to work. Coming out of underpass stop for red light behind some cars. Look left. Some bum-ass old guy is positioning himself to piss on the wall of the underpass, third of a way up the staircase. I am dumbfounded and I get pissed. As he stops and walks away and I start driving, I roll down window and in clear concise American English: "FIND A BATHROOM!"

Exsickbit c:  Way back from dinner, about to go on Damn Macombs Bridge (pun). Traffic cops out to regulate bc end of Yankees game. I am first at red light. Looking at my phone. Look up, light is already green and traffic cop is belligerently waving his hands for me to go. Then makes some mocking hand movements as if he's holding the wheel and doesn't know what to do (making fun of me) as I am approaching him he is muttering some F-words. Without missing a single beat, I say turning to him- "FUCK OFF!!"

What A Horrible Weekend for NY Sports...

... I mean seriously. The Rangers blow a 3-1 series lead, and the freakin Yankees get swept by the Red Sux, in an extremely embarassing fashion.

I was away in DC, was that the problem?

Anyway, only one thing can make me feel better, and that thing is the following trailer:

Look Alikes: Reverend from "Haunting in Connecticut" and Agent from "Law & Order: SVU"

New movie from the director of Office Space

Um... Amazing

Look Alikes: Wall-E and Johnny 5 from Short Circuit

Look Alikes: Kid from AT&T Rollover Minutes Commercial and Anthony Anderson

Old School NYC

So this is apparently a photo of Broadway in New York City from get this...

1848!

I've always been fascinated with old photos of the city. Not just old like 1920's, 1930's, but "old" like 1700's, 1800's. I mean, look at the photo! It's crazy how different it looked back then! 

Some more old pics of NYC can be found here.

Some highlights (albeit later than 1848):

West St. circa 1885

Broadway circa 1894

Twitter Killed The Blog Star

You know twitter does that. It sucks all the good ideas out of you (in under 140 characters only). I have ideas, but I then immediately twit them. No need for a blog post now.

It's like masturbating. A quickie. A tad shameful if you've been blogging a lot.

Nonetheless I can't use Twitter as an excuse not to blog. And neither can you.