Rodney Dangerfield Passed Away

Rodney Dangerfield passed away. He was 82 years old. I don't know anybody who didn't like him or didn't think he was funny. He made me feel like comforting him even while making me laugh. I always wanted to say, "You're not so bad looking." or "Your luck will turn around soon."

I have two favorites when it comes to Mr. Dangerfield. One was when he was a guest voice on The Simpsons as Montgomery Burns's long lost son. It's episode 4F05 from season 8. The second of my favorites, is the movie Back to School where he plays the wealthy owner of a chain of clothing stores for big and tall men. In it he attends his son's college to help his son fit in and feel better about himself in general. Of course the plan backfires, as Rodney's character Thornton Melon becomes more popular than any student on the campus. Part of what makes him so unbelievably, and I mean that literally, popular are his outlandish parties featuring Oingo Boingo as the main act (Danny Elfman, former lead singer, wrote the theme for the Simpsons and many movie scores) and his irreverence for his teachers.

You know the movie. You've seen it many times as one of your guilty pleasures. You've watched every time your clicker has fallen on Comedy Central while you were channel surfing on Saturday mornings. You know that the funniest scene in that movie is when he performs his dive the triple Lindy. A dive that is so impossible nobody could possibly do it. And if you know the movie as well as I do, you understand why it's my favorite of his.

Anyway, thank you Rodney Dangerfield for making me laugh. I'll miss you.

Ahhhhh. Theraflu.

I almost completely forgot about my favorite OTC cold remedy, TheraFlu. I added a packet of the powdered elixir to 6 oz of water and I feel so much better. I think I'll be able to sleep tonight. At work today, I was thinking about sleep having gone virtually 2 nights without it. I started thinking about some pillows that I'd seen on some recent rides down the internet highway.

Rides, rides . . .that leads us to my first online pillow memory. A few weeks ago, my friend Vidiot, informed his readers of a link he found to the Kropserkel God Father Horsehead pillow. I don't know how peaceful a sleep I would get, sleeping next to a reminder of the horror of that early scene in Part 1 of the Godfather, the best movie ever made. That wouldn't do.


So my mind wandered back to a link I saw on the Drudge Report last week for the Man Pillow. A manufacturer in Japan started marketing the arm pillow to the female population of Japan. They have been selling like hotcakes. What a brilliant idea. But why stop there. The pillow is just half a torso and an arm. Why don't they just make a whole man pillow? Why don't they sell that here? It would save single American women the expense of having to get a cat.

So, given a choice between the severed horse head pillow and the Man Pillow, which one would you choose?

Why?

Why would anybody go after these guys, especially with what they've just been through. Shame on those men.

Monday

It's early Tuesday morning and my sinuses have kept me up a second night in a row. Well, I haven't been awake exactly, but I haven't been asleep. I'm in that frustrating limbo between the two that most insomniacs understand whic is frustrating because I haven't had trouble sleeping in quite some time.

Sunday night was a night like that. Upon awaking Monday morning I felt neither refreshed or recharged. Working was a bit of a challenge but not as much as you would think. Something about 8 or 9 hours of light sleep makes your brain a little sharper even though you hurt other places. For me, it was my eyes that hurt. The combination of lack of sleep and sinus pressure was pretty bad. At one point, I had to breath water up my nose in the ladies room to try to get some relief. It didn't work like it usually does. It seemed to make it worse by making my eyes tear.

After work, I met Jon and Sandy at Wo Hop in Chinatown. Apparently the restaurant has two parts. At 15 Mott, the restaurant is set up more like a traditional restaurant but downstairs at 17 Mott is more cafeteria style. It's a famous New York eatery that gets referenced often on cop shows situated in New York City. Interestingly enough, there were three cops just sitting down to eat dinner as we were getting up to leave. The portions were generous. The three of us shared, steamed dumplings, cold sesame noodles, sesame chicken, Szechuan shrimp, beef chow fun, rice and we each drank a Diet Coke. This enormous feast, that we couldn't even finish, came to a grand total of $36.00.

When we got home we played two games of Scrabble. I lost the first game but won by 100 points in the second game. I bingoed with the word ADJUSTS on a triple with the first "s" connecting with the word ICING to make ICINGS. My total score for that play was 103 points including the 50 for the bingo.
That is the highest score I have ever gotten from playing one word.

I guess I felt a little better after we ate, thanks to the tab of Claritin I took before dinner. But I think the Claritin is what has been keeping me up these last two nights. The makers of Claritin aren't kidding when they list non-drowsy on the label. I've also determined that I am suffering from the ill effects of a cold rather than seasonal allergies, so I'm done with the Claritin and seeking something else for relief - something that doesn't cause drowsiness, yet doesn't keep you awake; something that doesn't dry you out painfully like Sudafed; something good.

Any suggestions?

Another Dead Celebrity

Guess who died. Come on. Take a stab at it.

Weekend Resume

Friday

• Worked
• Russian Turkish baths - see below
• Played Scrabble with Jon
• Slept

Saturday

• Woke up
• Watched the end of Osama
• Had brunch
• Napped
• Went to closed gym
• Picked up food for dinner
• Made steak and salad
• Watched When Harry Met Sally
• Played Scrabble with Jon
• Slept

Sunday

• Woke up
• Watched the beginning of Osama
• Made coffee
• Surfed the web
• Went to Renaissance Festival
• Went to Time Warner Center
• Came home
• Watched tape of National Scrabble Championship
• Made and ate dinner
• Played three games of Scrabble with Jon (lost twice)
• Watched a very special episode of Star Trek

Any questions?

My New Favorite Show

What Not To Wear on TLC is my favorite new show.

I just love it!!!

Salt is corrosive

Tonight I went to the Russian Turkish baths on E. 10th Street. It was my fourth time there, first time going alone.

I signed up for another Dead Sea salt scrub, this time with S . Last time, T scrubbed me down, so this time I wanted to try a woman. It was a much different experience. S explained to me every step of the process which was especially good when my skin started to sting. She is studying skin care and her scientific explanations were both interesting and a little frightening. Keep in mind that when T did the scrub there was no stinging involved.

S explained that, because she was doing it correctly, the salt was stinging because it was corrosive and burning off the top layer of my skin. Huh? What? Come again? After she slathered the corrosive agent all over the back of my body she told me to turn over. Those large grains of salt sstarted pressing into my back and were getting very warm. I was getting concerned. But I stayed the course while S rubbed more stinging salt all over my front. When she was done she wrapped me in a sheet, covered my eyes and told me I had to stay like that for 12 minutes. She warned that if the salts became too hot that I should yell for her, but just in case she couldn't get in there fast enough she left the hose for me to rinse myself off. IT WAS ALL VERY DRAMATIC and for no reason. Yes the salts were hot but their hotness leveled off. I was so relaxed lying there wrapped in salt and wet sheets I didn't want it to end.

S really knew what she is talking about. She said I shouldn't put anything on my skin that I can't eat. Instead of baby oil I should use olive, almond or sesame oil. She said I should use sour cream on my face because it has lactic acid. She then gave me a facial mask from her school that doesn't contain a single ingredient that I would want to eat.

Interesting.

She washed off the salt (I love being bathed - does that make me evil) packed away my left over salt and advised me that now that I'd been scrubbed I was really ready to sweat. So I did. I went into the various saunas before washing my hair and heading home.

I feel more relaxed than I've felt all week.

Ahhhhhhhhhh.

XP SP 2 WARNING

Whatever you do, do not, I repeat do not download the update for XP called service pack two or SP2. It screwed up my computer something good at work.

If you go to the MSN homepage, the update is sitting right there on the front page, begging to be downloaded.

DON'T DO IT.

Our company's IT group said that they have had to attempt repairs on 5 computers in three weeks that have received the download. After two rounds of repairs, my computer is still not functioning properly.

DON'T DOWNLOAD XP SP@!!

Wallet Woes

My wallet was lifted out of my bag this morning, somewhere between 28th/5th and 28th/Broadway.

I had only had about 2.75 in it, my debit card, some old UFT ID and insurance information, an expired Driver's license, some receipts, library cards for both Queens and NYC, maybe a moth - so it was no great loss, except. . .

The beautiful earrings that Jon gave me our first night in our new apartment were in my wallet.

Why was I carrying them around? Because no matter how fine the earrings I wear, my earlobes get irritated and sore. I carried them around because I couldn't wear them all the time, just some times.

I'm not big into jewellry but those really meant something to me.

Well. At least my robbery didn't involve any physical violence. I am thankful for that. I just feel a little violated, I guess.

Put His Money Where His Mouth Is

Here it is and believe me when I tell you it is good.
Why We Must Not Re-Elect President Bush, by George Soros.

Billion Dollar Ball$

Billionaire George Soros is spending his money on an anti-Bush election campaign. He is distributing his pamphlet, Why we must not re-elect President Bush, to 2 million voters. He is travelling to 12 cities to speak with local news and media about why we must not re-elect President Bush. He also plans to run ads in several US papers including the Wall Street Journal.

(From Turkish Press.com) "This is the most important election of my lifetime," Soros writes in the brochure. "I have never been heavily involved in partisan politics but these are not normal times. President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and undermining American values. That is why I am sending this message."

It's probably not a good idea to get on Mr. Soros's bad side. Dennis Hastert suggested on Fox News Sunday (link here for transcript of show) back in August, that Mr. Soros has been earning his billions through illegal drug activity (link here for Slate article).

What will happen next? Will George Soros run a successful anti-Bush campaign? Will the undecideds (if they actually still exist) issue their one vote for a viable candidate like John Kerry or give their votes to candidates that don't stand a chance in hell of winning like Ralph Nadar or Homer Simpson? We'll just have to wait until November to find out.

Update

Progress Apartment
Jon and I added a new piece of furniture to the living room - a day bed that we placed amidst our bookshelves for our library corner. Also, we've been enjoying the kitchen table we bought two weeks ago and assembled ourselves.

Weekend
Friday - worked, played, drank, slept
Saturday - slept, awoke, prayed, slept, ate, watched Glengarry Glenross
Sunday - slept, awoke, cleaned, rearranged, brunched, rented movie, cleaned, played Scrabble, watched The Passion of the Christ, slept.

About The Passion of the Mel
Not having a deep and abiding understanding of the stories, fables and fantasies surrounding the death of Jesus, I had a hard time understanding the movie beyond this one point. Jesus suffered. Who was there when he suffered and why he was suffering, I couldn't tell you because nobody in the movie spoke to each other or addressed each other by name. Well, Mel did seem to go out of his way to paint Pontius Pilot in a sympathetic light or at least I think it was Pontius Pilot. Mel also really seemed to stress that the leading Jews of Jesus's day were very much against him and were adamant that he not only be tortured but crucified and humiliated as well.

I don't know any more about the Jesus coming out of the movie than going into it except that he sure could take a beating.

Yom Kippur

Today is the day of atonement and boy did I atone. Jon and I went to services this morning at our local synagogue in Astoria through my bad hangover. Don't look so surprised. Amidst the overwhelmingly Christian Orthodox and Muslim population of my neighborhood, there exists a Jewish congregation on Crescent Street called The Astoria Center of Israel.

======================================

Last night, I convinced young Sarah to leave her borough for a second night a row. Once in Astoria, we had difficulty deciding what to do. It's always very exciting when a friend visits your house for the first time. I wanted to show her all my stuff and she wanted to see it. After a tour of our movie collection (Jon's and mine) we decided to watch a movie. I wanted to show Sarah A Star is Born, starring James Mason and Judy Garland. That got boring really quick. There is a feature before the movie, of the premiere for A Star is Born. Quite a large number of stars were brought up to a podium to be interviewed before the movie started. They basically all said the same thing - that they were looking forward to seeing the movie. Stars interviewed include Liberace and his mother, Ricky and Lucy, Janet Leigh and some guy. Then after getting through that interminable pre-movie feature, the movie opens with a premiere, which was just as long and winding as the one before the movie. BORING!!! We were too antsy for that.

So then we tried to watch a movie starring Judy Garland where she was a lot more innocent, because in A Star is Born she was quite boozy and over the edge and a little too thin. So we put in The Wizard of Oz, which is absolutely on my list of favorite films. We made it all the way "out of the woods" to the gates of the Emerald City. Maybe we have just seen the movie too many times, because we turned it off and moved on to something else. That something else was hanging out with my neighbors until 3 in the morning. Hanging out in this case is synonymous with drinking gin with key lime juice and gin with cassis.

That is why when I woke up this morning at 9 to attend services with Jon, my head felt as heavy as a led zeppelin. Jon was already ready to go by the time I awoke but I managed to throw together a nice outfit in 5 minutes or less. We were off to services.

We got there 15 minutes into the service so we didn't miss too much. Everything was going swimmingly. Granted the songs were unfamiliar to me, but that happens when you go to a new temple, except in the case of the prayers surrounding the torah ceremonies. Usually those songs are the same from temple to temple. We were sitting in the back, under this overhang, when everyone rose for the removal of the torah for ceremonial march around the temple (giving everyone an opportunity to kiss it) and then the reading. That is one of my favorite songs. It's the Kee Meetzi-ohn and it's quite a lovely tune, quite enjoyable to sing along with. Being under the overhang, we didn't know that above us was an organist and a choir being led by the cantor from below.

Well, that killed it for me. How do you sing along with opera singers that are butchering your favorite prayer? The answer is you don't. We left shortly after the torah was replaced, just before the Amidah service.

The moral of this story is that organs, choirs and synagogues don't mix. If I wanted to go to church, I would go to church.

It was jarring.

After the services, I came home and slept until 7:30, pretty much giving the day over to my endless need for sleep.

Please write to me about your own Yom Kippur experiences and your views about attending synagogue as an adult as it compares with your childhood experiences. You can send those to genxmisanthrope@aol.com or comment below.

Huh?

Dogs sniff out bladder cancer.

Why?

Random Links

Cupping
Plating

Forking
Knifing
Spooning

More Trivia?

Yes. The answer is always yes. Tonight, I'll be attending Drinking and Thinking at Dempsey's on the Lower East Side. Jon is c0-hosting tonight and has been preparing his questions in secret all week. I'm really looking forward to attending because, gosh darn it, he's just so good at hosting trivia and I'm dying to know what he's been working on.

Something To Think About

Last night Michael and I hosted trivia for a modest crowd. There were 8 team present and a lot of new faces.

• Winning team - can't remember but they had 35.5 points, out of a possible 50. If you remember their name please mention it in the comments section.
• Funniest team name - Capitalism Stole My Virginity, although Michael and I were the only two who thought so.
• Last place prize - went to Hungry Girls - they won a granola bar.

Michael ran three excellent rounds. His top ten list was to name the first 10 Democrat Presidents. Audio round was to name the artists covering various Beatles songs and naming the Beatle song - songs ranged from William Shatner's version of Lucy in the Sky to George Burn's cover of a Sgt. Pepper's song. The visual round was merely to name the entertainer pictured but the theme was that all the entertainers had alliterative names.

I took on the General Knowlege and Current Events Rounds. For fun, I've listed my egg themed general knowlege round below.

1. Varieties of this vegetable include the large and purple; the skinny, lavender Japanese variety; and a small, white version. Name the vegetable.
2. What great novel takes place in New York City, the valley of ashes and East Egg and West Egg, Long Island?
3. Do you remember Egghead? He was the super smart bad guy whose brain was too big for his head was rumored to be the world's smartest villain. Who played him in the 1960's Batman TV show?
4. When I was a child, my younger brother and I used to create many adventures for these little egg shaped people utilizing accessories like their tree house and their cars. What were the names of these little toys that wobbled but never fell down?
5. Which Czar commissioned the first Faberge egg as a gift for his wife the Czarina Maria in1884?
6. According to Martha Stewart.com "these small, white, stringy pieces help anchor the yolk to the thick white, and are most apparent in fresh eggs. They are harmless, but can be removed through straining for aesthetic purposes." What part of the egg is she defining?
7. How often do chicken lay eggs?
8. What are the three ingredients in an egg cream?
9. How bird lays the smallest egg coming in at .02 ounces? You can put 4700 of them into an ostrich egg.
10. Hard boil some eggs, removing the yolks, mixing with mayonnaise, paprika and spicy seasoning -- then scoop the prepared yolk back into the eggs. What have you just made?

Tuesday Night Trivia

I am hosting Tuesday Night Trivia.
Please come down and bring some friends.

A Theory to Poop On

Did you hear they have found methane in the Martian atmosphere? Scientists (see article) are arguing whether or not this is proof of life.

Just think, someone or something could be pooping on Mars.

The Weekend

Every time I try to write about the weekend, I get interrupted.

So, I'm linking here and here so you can get an idea of what I did and where I went.

3 books purchased at Cranberry Bookworm
Are you There God, It's Me Margaret
A Journey to the Center of the Earth
A book on greek mythology

Cranberry, NJ

After visiting Cranberry, we continued on to Princeton, our final destination. Having attended a state university in New York and not having even the closest exposure to a school like Princeton, I was pretty envious when I saw what the campus. I can't even imagine what my school experience would have been like amidst the beautiful environs of ivy colored walls as opposed to the brick on brick existence of SUNY Purchase. Do you see the picture on the right? This is the campus of an arts college. The building on the right was the library. The building on the left, the school store. There were 8 other buildings on campus and they all looked the same. Brick. Our paper was called The Load . . . as in "one brick short of a". . .

Tiger Tiger Saved My Life

Roy Horn is talking to the press 1 year after his tiger Montecore mauled him during a performance. He insists that the tiger was trying to save his life after Montecore witnessed what Roy described as a stroke. He felt dizzy and fell down. Montecore dragged him to the edge of the stage because he knew that was where Roy would be able to get help.

I don't know how much of that is true but I do know that a lot of people were concerned about Roy Horn after this happened. For those of you who are fans, I'm sure you are relieved that Mr. Horn is doing well considering the extent of his injuries.

For those of you who aren't fans, I'm sure you are relieved as well. If you're like me, you're not a fan but were concerened just the same. I was pretty amazed when I read this article at the PEOPLE website at how well he is doing.

Welcome back to the media circus Roy Horn.

The Red Train

Did anyone else notice that the red train doesn't run on the 7 line anymore? All of the red trains are being replaced by newer trains.

Here is a link to Kevin Walsh's FORGOTTEN NEW YORK where he explains what is happening in his article Bye Bye Redbird.

I think it is a little bit sad that this old and familiar bit of New York folklore is being replaced.

R.I.P. Johnny Ramone

Johnny Ramone dies in sleep
At his bedside were Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante.

Johnny Ramone of 'The Ramones' Dies at 55
Johnny Ramone, Member of Punk Legends 'The Ramones,'
Dies at 55 After Battle With Cancer

Punk guitarist Johnny Ramone dies
Johnny Ramone, guitarist in punk band The Ramones, has died at the age of 55 following a long fight against cancer.

Punk legend Johnny Ramone dies of cancer
Johnny Ramone, lead guitarist of The Ramones, the punk band that influenced a generation of rock musicians, has died in Los Angeles after a five year battle with prostate cancer. He was 55.

Johnny Ramone, member of punk legends 'The Ramones,' dies at 55

According to MTV.com, Johnny Ramone died of prostate cancer last night.

Love The Bunny

Sarah did a good job last night co-hosting trivia. Yes. Her audio round was very challenging. I mean who ever heard of the musical Pal Joey except for two or three people there last night. Thank goodness one of those people was on my team. Well, the whole game couldn't be as easy as the visual round, where we had to identify the characters from the movie versions of the Harry Potter books. Our team got 12 out of 12.

Speaking of our team, which last night was named 4 Words or Less, we achieved the highest score of all the team, making us the 1st place winners.

But that isn't the good news. The good news is that Candy Blue Kite did not make the bunny cry.

You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile

Does a smile have to be genuine? Does it really matter? How important is smiling to getting along with others? Cosmic Zephyr wrote a nice piece about the importance of smiling in Western culture and how it contrasts with some Asian cultures. He writes:

"But, the cynic in me does wonder how genuine [smiles] are. I suppose I [have] to attribute that to the Asian way of upbringing which is to keep a mindful distance, and speak only when spoken to. Sadly, this behavior has often been misconstrued by most foreigners as being cold or rude. Hence, I've made a conscious effort to dispel that notion by initiating a gentle smile and acknowledgement to strangers or people I know. Thanks to increased Westernization, the Asian culture is slowly evolving (and vice-versa) into a more globally accepted one."

Living in the melting pot (I know, trite) that is New York City, I've picked up that different cultures have different ways of showing respect for one another. In some, direct eye contact is rude. In some, not making eye contact is rude. This leads to a lot of anger and misunderstanding (e.g. Korean shop owners vs. Brooklyn during Mayor Dinkins administration). It's a shame we aren't more culturally aware of each other. I don't think it's because we're mean people or anything, I just think that, especially in the case of New York City, there are so many people living together from so many different countries, it's impossible to understand the cultural mores of each country represented.

Anyway, Cosmis Zephyr linked to a great BBC quiz that allows you to see how good you are judging whether a smile is real or not. You can link to that here.

Twosday

Good morning. Let me start his post by saying that over the last two nights I watched The Menagerie from my new Star Trek DVD. Awesome. Just awesome. Not only is it a prime example of 60's science fiction but it's laugh out loud funny. If you've seen it and agree that it's funny, please write to me. If you don't think it's funny, you can still write to me. My address for all matters concerning or relating to this site is genxmisanthrope@aol.com

It's early Tuesday morning and the garbage men are making their bi-weekly rounds. The trucks are noisy and smelly. The work of throwing our trash into their truck is loosening up pungent trash odors and releasing them into the air.

I don't know why I'm up so early. Maybe it's just because I miss listening to Howard Stern (go to his website to register to vote) so much. Nah, that's not it. I'm listening to his show now and it's like I didn't even miss a day never mind 2 months. He's arguing with his producer Tom about what a bad job Tom is doing; how he can't wait to leave the show; how he only has so much time life on his contract; how he is responsible for everything that is holy on the radio. What a kvetcher!!! He's became the most successful DJ in the history of radio by complaining, every day, about being on the radio. Isn't it ironic? Don't cha think? It's not the seemingly pornographic content I don't like. It's his constant whining. Oy!!!! The whining about his job and the constant arguing with his staff is the reason I stopped listening to the show and I've been listening since 1985 (that's a long time for those of you who are bad at math).

Tonight should be fun. Sarah is hosting Tuesday Night trivia tonight at 7:30 p.m. to be exact. She is hosting with Neil. Besides . . . I have to go. We all do. It seems that the people at Candy Blue Kite are holding a bunny hostage and if we don't go, they are going to make the bunny cry.

Oprah's Amazing Give Away

Say what you want about Oprah but I think she is just about the nicest talk show host out there.



Talk show host Oprah Winfrey sits atop a Pontiac G6 outside her Chicago studios Monday, Sept. 13, 2004, surrounded by some of the 276 people from her audience who each received one of the new cars at the start of the show to celebrate the premier of her 19th season. Winfrey said the audience members were particularly chosen because their friends or loved ones had told the show about their need for a new car. (AP Photo/Harpo Productions, Bob Davis)

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Perhaps it's bad form to wish myself a Happy Birthday on my own blog but then again, if I don't mention it to people, how can anyone deliver Happy Birthday sentiments to me? Last night, for the first time in my adult life, I threw myself a birthday part. I invited my friends to join me for dinner at Doyers Vietnam, a fantastic little hole in the wall place on Doyers Street in Chinatown.

I had a really good time. I haven't had a birthday party with friends since I was a teenager and I forgot how much fun it could be.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I posted that I wanted the Star Trek Season 1 DVD for my birthday? Well, so did my friends. I was so excited when they handed me the present I read the card second which I know was really impolite, but they seemed to forgive me when they saw the jubillation on my face. Or hopefully they did.

So, thank you to my friends for helping me celebrate the end of my 37th year of life and the beginning of my 38th year. For those of you who are confused, I just turned 37. The year I was born was a very interesting year. Read about it here.

Mona Lisa - Hottie or Has Been

The writer Tom Utley expressed his disappointment with seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time in his 50 years of life. He claims that seeing La Jaconde at the Louvre was hardly any different than seeing one of her many, many reproductions on mugs, postcards, key chains, etc. He thought that if the curators of the Louvre had attached the price tags to the paintings at the Louvre, perhaps people would be more interested in the Mona Lisa and the paintings on the way to her gallery. He didn't seem to get what the big deal was about seeing a painting that he can buy a copy of for say 10 pounds (I think he's British). I couldn't figure out if he's pro reproducing art, con reproducing art or just anti art. I guess some people just have a hard time understanding why some art objects take on such great value.

With regard to reproductions, I say "Huzzah. Keep them coming." It is through cheap reproductions that people get to see artworks they may never have an opportunity to travel to and visit with. It is such an opportunity for those of us who aren't fortunate enough to travel the world to see artworks that in the past have been primarily seen by those who could afford to buy or be in the circumstances to see them. I saw the Mona Lisa and I couldn't have been more excited even though I'd seen her in text books, on mugs, on notebook covers, etc. If anything, that much exposure to the painting gave me even more of an opportunity to appreciate it. The Venus de Milo. I saw her there too. Even though I'd seen her image oodles of times before, it still made my heart jump a little to see Venus just standing there on a pedestal in the middle of a gallery.

It's such a strange article. Please read it and tell me what you think.

Steppin' Out

The author of this article attended a blogger party that sounds suspiciously like the one we all attended this weekend.

What do you think? Could there be a connection?

Apres Le Deluge, Moi or Wet Wednesday

Yesterday, in New York City, we were struck hard by the remnants of Frances, the hurricane I vowed to never again to discuss. So for the remainder of this posting Frances will be referred to by other weather terminology about water falling out of the sky. We reportedly received three inches of rain between 6 and 9 in the morning, screwing up subway service in four of the five boroughs - I'm sure it would have been screwed up service in Staten Island as well if SI had a subway.

Here is a description of my commute which is most likely typical of everyone elses.

train
I arrived at subway platform at 8:15 in the morning. Remember my train is an elevated train. When I arrived I saw there was an "N" waiting in the station. At first I was excited because how often, during rush hour, do you happen upon a train waiting for you with its doors open? Not often - is the correct answer. I read Memoirs of a Geisha while people piled on to the platform. Once I saw the train was really delayed, about 8:30, I called into the office. It wasn't so bad outside. It was drizzling and it was about 70 degrees. I looked around. People didn't seem upset or angry, just puzzled.

I certainly wasn't either upset or angry. If the train was stuck on my way home, I probably would have been on the verge of tears. But on the way to work - just more time out of the office. By 9:15 I was on a train on it's way to the big city. I had to get out of it at Queensboro Plaza because it was just too darn packed in there. The 7 train was running beautiful and wasn't too crowded for a change. At Grand Central Station I transferred for a 6 train. I had a let a couple of those go by because of the crowds and finally I was able to catch a ride down to 28th Street. The whole process took about 90 minutes. I walked into the office about 10 minutes after 10. Everyone was there already and of course they all came from the suburbs.

It was kind of a hum drum day at work. The tasks were the same but I guess the weather was bringing everyone down. Everyone had a story. Last night, I went to the RussianTurkish Baths as if the streets of New York weren't steamy enough, I needed more. I was accompanied by Sarah who didn't need much convincing. I used the same masseuse as last time and got a pretty decent massage although I won't say it was the best one I've ever had. The masseuse seemed rather obsessed with working on my hips and right buttock saying that the muscles are just very tight there.

Down in the saunas one can find many different body types. For the most part they are the types you might typically find at a County Fair and of course there are your ridiculously gorgeous women with the impossible to achieve bodies. There was one woman there last night who I've seen on both of my previous trips. She's old, skinny woman - a pile of bones held together by some loose fitting skin. I nicknamed her Grandma Death because she looked like that character from the movie Donnie Darko. She looks like how Grandma Death would look if she was almost naked and soaking wet. Weirdly enough she punched Sarah in the arm.

More relaxing than the massage was jumping into the ice cold pool after sitting in the hottest of their four saunas, the Russian sauna. That sauna is so hot that you have to dump buckets of ice water over your head in order to stand it. I got really hot twice and jumped into the cold water twice. Amazing. My ankles felt as though they were chilled right through to the bone. 2 hours in that place will make anyone feel like a million bucks, even without the massage. Just going back and forth between the four different saunas is all you need to feel relaxed. The massage definitely helps.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Our Blogger Meetup fun continued last night as we all gathered at the Baggott Inn to include Wes and Wendy in an evening of Tuesday Night trivia.

Before trivia we met up for dinner. Sydney took Wendy to BLogo or Vego or something like that. It's a vegan place somewhere in the Village.

Our group included Chris, The Anonymous Blogger (yes, I'm still speaking to him), Sarah, Caren and of course Wes.

Our group, feeling more carnivorous than Sydney's group chose Harry's Burritos for our evening repast. Sarah and I weren't as peckish as the others and split an order of nachos and guacamole while the rest the gang ordered meat and cheese filled delights. One of our group even ordered a shrimp something or the other which she let everyone taste.

When the bill arrived we were all surprised when Wes decided to treat. He wouldn't even allow us to tip. I have to say, that was pretty nice of him and I hope he realizes how much we all appreciated the gesture.

By the time we got to trivia we were ready for some competition. Wes played on my time while Wendy played on Sydney's. We were called OB/GYN Kenobi for Bush. Playing on our team were Chris, Barry, Jason, Roslyn, Phil, Wes and Robert. Not to brag (okay, to brag) we scored a total of 40 out of 50 points leaving the other teams not too far behind but far enough to win first prize. Wes and Chris totally dominated the visual round, devised by Caren's co-host Brad which was identifying cartoon characters and the shows they were from. The audio round done expertly by Caren, were 10 songs about school to coincide with school being back in session.

Brad's top ten list were Woody Allen's first 10 theatrical releases in reverse chronological order. Current events and general knowledge were just that. I am proud to say that several of us on our team knew that Locutus was Picard's name when he was abducted by the Borg.

We won a prize for having a silly answer which was a sippy cup with a picture of a donkey in the center of "New Jersey Democratic Campaign Action Team". I had to fight Robert for it but once I told him that Jon had lived in New Jersey he finally relented.

What else can I say? We had fun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was so lovely meeting Wendy I was sad to say goodbye last night as the younger folks ventured further into the W. Village to visit the Magnolia Bakery.

Wendy is gone now, having parted ways with Sarah earlier today at Port Authority.

I hope she has a safe trip home and writes all about her incredible visit over the days to come.

More Blogger Meetup

I gave you an idea of what was seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when we met up on Monday. Originally, we weren't going to meetup with everyone at the museum and I told everyone that Jon and I were going to be working on another project. After listening to Wendy talk about the Met's collection of Van Gogh, I got caught up in her enthusiasm and changed my mind about going. It was very exciting when Wendy first glimpsed the paintings she had been studying for some time. She showed me her goose bumps upon approaching the gallery and it felt really special to be a part of that. I love to show people New York City, especially when I can show them museums.

Our Very Own Blogger Meetup (cont'd)

As you know, Sunday night found many of my little blogger community partying at Sarah's Entertainment Spot (in this case her apartment). Members of the community have started circulating pictures, allowing us to create a visual record of what occured that evening. You can already see pictures at Sarah's Entertainment Spot, and Phil's Spin Zone.

Here is one, sent to me by akachris of Candy Blue Kite and myself and of course the birthday girl, Zoey.

Au Musee

As promised we met up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw the Van Goghs, the Gaugins, the Monets and the Manets, the Picasso, Lichtenstein, the Courbets, the Cot.

We saw Washington crossing the Delaware, a woman with lute, and we saw Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer.

We visited The Oxbow, the Parthenon, and the Gulf Stream.

Then we visited the museum restaurant and then we called it a day. We certainly would have continued looking at all of the great art but by the time we were done gabbing over lunch the museum was closing.

Our Very Own Blogger Meetup

I've heard about other meetups, where bloggers from a certain community arrange to meet face to face. Tonight I attended my first. Sarah of Sarah's Entertainment Spot was kind enough to host 20 or so bloggers and friends in her lovely apartment. This evening I met up with the people responsible for akachris, Blog of Wes, Candy Blue Kite, Caren Lissner, Dave, Diva Who, Evil Twin Theory, Brain Spew, Phil's Spin Zone, and Wendy Fournier.
I was particularly happy to meet with Pam, Wendy and Wes because they came in from out of town for the party.

We were also celebrating the birthday of Sarah's wonderful Lhasa Apso Zoey who turned two years old today.

Sarah did a wonderful job hosting as there was plenty to eat and more than enough to drink. I bet you wouldn't think bloggers could drink so much or perhaps this wouldn't surprise you at all. We drank and some of us were what some would consider drunk, even pie eyed or shit faced!!!

The party doesn' t end. The out of towners are staying for a few more days. Tomorrow we're heading over to one the larger museums in town, which I am not naming for purposes of privacy. One of our guest did some research and really knows where to go and what to see at the museum. They are pieces with which I'm familiar so I'm looking forward to sharing the experience, in this case, seeing the museum's permanent collection of Van Gogh.

Quiet Friday

It's a quiet Friday night at the ranch and well deserved.

Something incredible happened on the subway ride home tonight. I was sitting by the subway door minding my own business when all of a sudden a knight in blue armor came riding through the car on a silver unicorn. Chasing this knight was a 3 headed bull with 6 horns and 3 rings through his 3 noses.

He was breathing foul smelling steam but in all fairness the smell could have been eminating from the bum sleeping half way across the car. They continued like this for 20 steps when all of a sudden the blue knight stopped turned around and started charging the 3 headed bull. He stabbed the beast 47 times with the tip of his peppermint striped lance. The loser next to me, not realizing that this was all happening in my imagination pulled the emergency break. It turns out he was veterinarian and he wanted to save the life of this rare 3 headed bull saying over and over again, how he could become rich by selling its sperm. Anyway, after the 1/2 hour delay, the train started moving again. When I got out at the station nearest my house, I thought "Isn't it wonderful that I live in New York City and that I get to see amazing things like this."

I Would and I Did

I both watched and listened to the President's speech last night. I watched it until 11 and then when I went to bed and I turned on the radio, I heard him there too.

Well written speech, well delivered.

I hated the constant chanting from the GOP everytime he paused to take a breath and I found the FLIP FLOP chant both distracting and interesting.

Those were grownups in the crowd, right?

Will I or Won't I

It's Thursday night, 2 minutes to 10:00. I've spent the last two hours roasting a chicken, surfing the internet, doing a facial and watching television. Most of that hour was spent watching my new DVD of South Park Season 1.

Here is the question.

Now that the chicken is roasted, I'm bored with the net, my face is as clean as it's going to get and the television is still glowing, will I or won't I watch President Bush' acceptance speech for the GOP's nomination. CNN is on. Wolf Blitzer is wrapping things up and I'm balanced on the edge.

Will I or won't I?

Tune in tomorrow to find out if I did or I didn't.

Yeah . . . I Know Him

Met this guy again last night, he played on my team at Wednesday night trivia. Second time in as many weeks, that I seen 'im.

He's a little fuckin' ray of shine, let me tell ya'.

Strange but True

This little baby girl survived for days on her own.

Is It Really Thursday?

I can't believe it's really Thursday.

Work, this week, has been like watching paint dry. Of course the others don't feel it because they are the ones actively applying the paint while I followup on all of their incredibly mundane and tedious efforts to sell our clients marketing services.

But while the work week drags by, the non-work week seems to go by quickly. I feel like I exist in parallel temporal zones; one where time is measured in painfully slow increments and the other where time flies by so quickly it can't be quantified.

Speaking of temporal mysteries, I am reading a book called The Science of Harry Potter by Roger Highfield. In the book he talks about the scientific possiblities of recreating the magic that takes place in the books with explanations from Quantum Physics and Physics. It's a great way to get general overview of some of the more advanced advancements in the above two fields.

I'm enjoying it and learning quite a bit.

If it weren't the mathematical figuring part of it, I'd probably be pretty good at physics.

The Weekend Was (cont'd)

The most exciting moment of the day was when cops came bursting into our building, between 12 - 15 cops actually, to stop a burglar from breaking into a fourth floor apartment using a baseball bat.

The Astoria Sports Complex has a four lane pool, regular length. The locker room was kind of small. That was alright, not great. The pool was very chlorinated and it felt good to be back in that environment. I tried my first lap. Three strokes, face in the water, turning my head on the fourth stroke. I was winded at the end of the first lap but it felt good to stretch out and pull my way through the water. I didn't last too long. Not having swam in more than half my life, I'll admit I'm not in top swimming form, so after 15 minutes, I called it a day and came home.

A couple of hours later, I went to my friend's birthday party where Jon later joined me. After the party guests left, we remained and watched Clambake with the host until 3 in the morning. Good times. Good times.

Saturday, Jon and I slept really late. Well, not that late. But, I have to admit that I didn't really do all that much on Saturday. After Jon left for work, I chilled out. I watched a couple of movies on DVD. I napped. I read. I went food shopping (ahhhhhh). It was nice. Very, very nice. When Jon came home we played a couple of games of Scrabble and then called it a night because we had big plans on Sunday.

Sunday, we ventured into the city. I wanted to show Jon some stores I like but we couldn't get to them because of the protest moving up 7th Avenue. We ended up going to Bed, Bath and Beyond which was swimming with NYU students and then to Old Nave which had nobody in it, except a few protestors picking up some school clothes for their kids. (the kids were wearing T-shirts that said Kids Against Bush. Obscene to have children messed up in all that if you ask me).

Going home, we walked as far away as we could from the protest toward Broadway where we could pick up our train, but little did we know that there was another protest (or perhaps the same one) walking down Broadway. We made it safely to the subway without having to hear any malarchy about how Bush sucks and all. Of course he does, but I knew that already.

After we got home, 3 hour nap. Yeah.....then pan fried steak for dinner.

The most exciting moment of the day was when cops came bursting into our building, between 12 - 15 cops actually, to stop a burglar from breaking into a fourth floor apartment using a baseball bat. Turns out it was my neighbor just trying to get into his apartment.

It was a good weekend.

Consider Yourself Chastised

I have suspended The Anonymous Blogger's link due to the graphic nature of his last posting. I understand that he is trying to be funny and even controversial, but his last posting regarding abortion was over the top. It is a subject that people are barely comfortable discussing on a personal level even though they argue about it from the safe distance of political and philosophical debates.

He may as well have written a humorless and offensive limerick about rape or incest or female castration. What happens to a woman emotionally and physically with regards to abortion is too sensitive a subject to be set to the tune of Yankee Doodle. I find his choice of language particularly offensive.

It is no wonder T.A.B. is not able to maintain an adult relationship with a worthy women when he views the world through the eyes of an immature 16 year old inner child.

If you want to read the post, you're going to have to find it on your own. I refuse to give positive attention for his negative behavior by linking to the piece of crap that is his most recent post.

I am thoroughly and completely offended by his Yankee Doodle Abortion song and I think an apology is in order, not only because he offended me, but because his attitude about abortion is an affront to women everywhere, women both for and against the issue.

Those Wascally Kids

Read about this charming 11 year old's antics.

The Weekend Was

The weekend was great. Friday night I did something I haven't done in years. I did something I forgot I even knew how to do. I went swimming. I was reminded that I know how to swim at the beach a week ago Sunday. The ocean was beautiful that day. No seaweed, no jellyfish, no dangerous shells in the soft sand beneath my feet. There were crabs in the soft sand but no shells to jab and cut. Once you got past the breakers, about chest deep, the ocean was smooth and calm. While wading through and diving into swells I started to remember my swimming lessons from childhood and then waves of memories flooded over me from the time I trained with the swim team during my first period gym class in my senior year of high school.

All of a sudden, I was swimming free style. I was then seized by the idea of starting to swim at the pool. The idea stayed with me the whole week, building and brewing until this past Friday. I was so worked up that I couldn't even walk to the pool which is about a 15 minute walk from my house. I took a car service.

I live near the Astoria Sports Complex.

to be continued . . .

GOP in NYC

Republican National Convention Opening in New York

Republican National Convention Opens in New York

A NYC Tale: Two opposing cultures collide

More than 100,000 protest Bush in NYC

Anti-Bush Protestors Heckle Broadway Theater Goers

Jaw Breaker

Here is a story in favor of stem cell research.

Doctors in Germany grew a jaw bone in a man's back to replace one he had to have removed because of a cancer.

Critical to the growth of this new jaw bone were stem cells.

Subway Sorrows

Dear Unsuspecting Older Woman on the Subway:

You do not know this but you really upset me yesterday when you asked the gentleman and me to make room for you on the subway. You did not fit comfortably. You had no business trying to squeeze in between us. You made it worse by not being able to sit still. Your elbows stuck me several times and I was skeeved by your hips rubbing against mine every time you bent down to take a tissue out of your bag, to get a candy out of your bag, to get a tissue out of your bag, to get a piece of paper out of your bag.

You really seemed to enjoy getting things out of your bag because you did it repeatedly for the 15 minutes you were rubbing against me in the subway.

Interestingly enough, I noticed that you stopped moving when I finally lost patience with you and moved away, choosing to hold the pole over putting up with your nonsense. It is almost as if you were moving around in order to ensure that I would move away from you giving you more space because you knew full well that you didn't fit.

Toil-etiquette

Dear Random Woman with the Hairy B---:

Perhaps you might take an extra second when you have finished peeing, to look at the seat before flushing. Every day now for the last several months I have walked in on one of your pubes balancing ever so gently on the rim of the toilet in the stall furthest from the door. I don't know if you leave fresh one for me every day or if the same one keeps finding its way back home. Either way it is disgusting.

Please find a way to keep your bush in tow.

I'm sure I speak for everyone on the 10th floor.

Thank you.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Our team, Costas is a Crack Whore, won second place, missing first by half a point. Our team name, thought up by me, made two people on my team laugh but brought silence down upon the crowd worse than the first announcements of Kennedy's assassination.

I thought it was funny though. I'm pretty sick of Costas. He's a little overexposed.

Don't you think?

Let's Get Bombed

Is it really a security risk if someone sneaks a fake bomb onto a plane? In this article, Yahoo reports on an English reporter who through a series of fakeries and lies was able to get a job as a baggage handler and then smuggle a fake bomb or bomb making equipment onto a plane at Birmingham International Airport. The reporter, Anthony France, used fake references to get a job as a baggage handler. Admittedly, that's pretty scary and yes I do believe that it is a bit of a security risk. You can read about his story here or you could just read my summary. He basically put together resume where one of his previous places of employment was completely made up. He had access to all kinds of places in the airport and smuggled bomb stuff onto a plane. How did he do that? When he set off the airports metal detectors, he explained that they went off because of his steel tipped boots and then got through.

The Yahoo article stated that the Department of Transport and or transportation officials are taking this quite seriously and have launched an "urgent investigation".

It would be nice if someone could catch the airlines doing something right. I remember learning when I was teaching that it was very important to catch children doing something right and then make a big fuss over it, in other words, to positively reinforce positive behavior. By bringing attention to this huge security mistake they are giving something negative too much attention, possibly hurting the travel industry even further, which could potentially make travelling even more expensive than it already is.

Instead, I would like to see a piece that positively reinforces what usually goes on in travel which is nothing more than people getting from one place to the other.

Master and Commander

I am reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.

It's very good.

More later.

As if you care . . .

I'll tell you about my weekend. I'll pretend that you care. (sniff) I'll tell you about it. Gosh! Alright. Geez!!! Stop pushing me. Fine. . . twist my arm.

Friday night, I wanted to go to the Russian Turkish baths for a steam and a quick massage but I got held over at work and it killed the mood. I was held over for no reason. The rushed document I worked on was a red herring. The guy who actually needed it today (as opposed to the guy who wanted it done on Friday) said there was no reason for me to have stayed late. Anyway, I got home at 7:30. Kill Bill Vol. 2 had just arrived at our doorstep two days previous, so I watched it and made it an early night.

Saturday morning, for no apparent reason, I woke up at 6 am. What does one do at 6 'o'clock on a Saturday morning you might be asking? Probably, you have never seen that side of noon yourselves because you have the ability to sleep late. How I envy you. In answer to the question I asked for you, I went online and visited sites I've been meaning to visit. For weeks, Jon has been telling me about these 30 second animated shorts of bunnies re-enacting famous films. Finally, I was able to visit www.angryalien.com and watch these shorts. Very funny. Highly recommended. My personal favorite was Jaws, second The Shining . . .but they are all good. I think the artist has 5 posted. They don't that long to view, so you might as well check them out. Go ahead. . .my weekend story isn't going anywhere. Check it out.

About 10 am, Jon was up and wanted to see Kill Bill, Vol 2 so I watched it with him. How could I watch that movie twice in such a short time? You have to ask? What is wrong with YOU? How could I not watch it? The movie is/was THAT GOOD!!!! After Jon left for work, I took a three hour nap and then headed out to Long Beach to my parents house. I slept through the most amazing thunderstorm but I slept. When was the last time YOU took a three hour nap during a rain storm on a Saturday? Exactly. It was perfect.

Once in Long Beach, I had a nice mom-cooked meal, after which I popped in Kill Bill Vol. 2 into my parents DVD player for my dad, so he could watch it too. No. I did not join him for a third viewing within 10 hours of a second viewing which came 12 hours after a first viewing on DVD of a movie I'd already seen in the theater on the big screen. My mom and I finished a NY Times crossword puzzle from two weeks ago. After which we picked up Jon at the train station. Jon, my mom and I played a three way Scrabble game, then the four of us (MOM and DAD, Jon and I) played PICTIONARY until 2 in the morning.

Why did Jon and I spend Saturday night with my parents? Because my parents live near the beach, which was our Sunday destination.

If any of you live in the tri-state area you understand how perfect yesterday was for the beach. By far, it was the best beach day I've seen in two years. We spent hours there, splitting our time between the swimming ocean and basking in the sun. The sky was the bluest blue without a cloud to be seen. The air temperature was perfect. The water was smooth and clean. The sun was strong. I lotioned up at least 5 times, however one of those times I forgot my ankles and insteps leaving me with a most unusual and painful sunburn.

We ended our weekend with a fine dinner at a local Italian restaurant that you really, really must try. Amici Amore. Charming, quiet, romantic and delicious food. What more do I need to say?

Please rate this weekend on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means bloody awful and 10 means brilliant. You can rate it in the comments section.

Not So Subtle

Perhapsyou noticed that I dropped a hint about my birthday. I'm not sorry or embarassed. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking about registering somewhere. Why not? I've bought enough stuff for other people off of registries. Why shouldn't I?

Because it's in bad taste, that's why.

When I posted that I was reacting to the fact that Star Trek is on DVD period. I thought it would be funny to not only bring attention to the release of this TV gem but also broadcast that my birthday was coming up.

It came out in a way that I'm not proud of. But I will leave it, because you guys left great comments.

September 13, 2004

The above date is my birthday. I am starting to compile a list of things I want for my birthday.

Here is the first item on the list.

You can't see me but my mouth is watering and there is lust in my eyes.

Sad Story

My friend's mother told me the sad story of a 480 pound Florida woman who was found by rescue workers attached to her couch. She had been couch ridden for so long that her skin became grafted to the upholstery.

In the article I read yesterday (which I haven't been able to relocate), the woman was scared to leave her house for years after an incident where she fell down, hurt her knee and needed assistance getting back up. She was scared to fall down again in public, scared to suffer in front of others. Before she fell down, she was known to the community as a big, happy woman who volunteered and did things for her neighbors. Everyone knew who she was.

In another article, her 54 year old friend Herman was quoted as saying he took care of her the best way he could and repeatedly told her to get up. He must have missed the other ways he could have helped her, like by cleaning her up or cleaning her apartment. The walls and floors of her aparment were reported to have been matted with feces and trash was strewn across the floor.

I don't think it gets any sadder than this. She was so isolated, so cut off, that this woman died what can only be described as the most humiliating of deaths.

Her name was Gayle Laverne Grinds and I pray she rests in peace.

Does Anybody Remember the Rest of This?

Ms. Lucy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Miss Lucy went to heaven
and the steamboat went to

Hello operator
Please give me number nine
And if you don't step on it
I will chop off your

Behind the fridgerator
There was a piece of glass
Miss Lucy sat upon it
And it went right up her

Ask me no more question
I'll tell you no more lies. . . . .

Thursday Morning

Well. I've made it this far. It's Thursday morning and I'm right in the middle of my work week morning routine. The bath is waiting for me, the coffee is brewing and I'm catching up on my online correspondence.

Are you bored yet? Well you shouldn't be. You should be very interested in what you're doing otherwise you should be doing something else!!!!

The Aftermath

Last night's trivia game was a whooping success!!! The bar was packed. People were loud and drinking a lot (which never looks bad for the people on the stage). There were 10 teams, 2 or which were huge.

This time, I have the answer sheets with me to help remember Funniest team name and funny answers.

Funniest Team Name: New Jersey Doesn't Suck, but It's Governor Does.
Winningest Team: McGreevey Gets Gold on the Pummel Horse.

Honerable mentions go to these other team names:
Flames of the Week: The Olympic Torch and McGreevey
We Didn't Know Whether to Take Julia Child Out of the Oven or McGreevey out of the Closet
The Frugal Gourmetn, Julia Child - Only One more to go for Dead Chef Tic-Tac-Toe

Eric and I ran the game without the Top 10 list or the Current Events round. We replaced those with two theme rounds. The first theme round was Eric's Games People Play round. People did very well on that round, each team had at least four correct answers. The second theme round was my Greek mythology round. People did very well on that too. Actually they might have done too well. One team answered all ten correctly and several had 8 or 9 out of ten. But it was still a fun round to compile.

Perhaps you would like to try it yourself. (Greek names only)

1. This son of Zeus was doomed to stand in water that always receded when he tried to drink it and under branches of fruit he could never reach. Who is this mythological figure who inspired a word meaning to tease by withholding?

2. What class of gods were overthrown by the Olympian gods? A metallic element is named for them.

3. Because this mythological figure's image appeared on the front of a certain type of reference book so often, the book itself came to be named for him. Who is he?

4. During the Trojan War, which of the gods aided Paris in killing Achilles by firing an arrow into his heel? (hint: he shares his name with one of Rocky?s opponents)

5. Who was doomed eternally to push a rock up a hill, only for it to roll back down again?

6. King Midas once rescued a Satyr, earning him the gratitude of a god who had valued the beast as his right-hand goat. In fact, this god was so pleased that he rewarded Midas with the golden touch. Who was this god?

7. Megaera, Tisiphone, and Alecto were the three daughters of Gaia created from the blood of Chronus when he was castrated. They were the spirits of Conscience, Punishment, and Retribution. What is the collective name for these three goddesses?


8. What nymph as punishment for running away from Pan was condemned to a life of muteness, only able to speak by repeating others?

9. The gods were always trying to get with humans and humans were always rejecting them. This leads us to this woman who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo because he was trying to win her affections. When she rejected him, he let her keep her ability to foretell the future but cursed her by making it so no one would ever believe her predictions. Who was she?

10. Who was the Greek god of the sea, earthquakes and horses?

My Personal Hell

The New York Yankees, Scientologists
Circle I Limbo

General asshats, Creationists
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

Militant Vegans
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Parents who bring squalling brats to R-rated movies
Circle IV Rolling Weights

PETA Members, Uday Hussein
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

Osama bin Laden
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

NAMBLA Members
Circle VII Burning Sands

Saddam Hussein
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Qusay Hussein
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

Tuesday Night Trivia

What? You can't believe I'm co-hosting trivia two weeks in a row? Well, believe it. Because I am. Tonight, I will be assisting the ready and ador"able" Eric Kabakoff.

We're changing things up a bit and it should be an exciting night.

Meet us at the Baggot Inn, tonight at 7:30pm.

There will be prizes and drinking and fun and thinking.

If you don't already know, the Baggot Inn is located at 82 W. 3rd St. between Thompson and Sullivan, in New York City.

Hope to see you there.

Something else
Perhaps, this guy shouldn't be broadcasting his alibi so far in advance:

Down the road in the park sat Vietnam veteran Gary Snyder, drinking Miller High life. Snyder, who was among only a handful in Harborview who rode out the storm, said residents were anxious about looters, but he was prepared. "If I see 'em, I'll shoot 'em," he said. "They're gone. I'll tell 'em I had a flashback."

Saturday the 14th to Lucky in Love

(this originally ran on August 14th, 2004 but I was unhappy with the original post so I changed a few things and now it's back)

I looked but there aren't any legends about Saturday the 14th being unlucky. Too bad because traditionally that has been my unlucky day. Perhaps I was spared from bad luck on the 13th because I was born on the 13th of September so many years ago. (many, many) Yes, that does mean I have a birthday coming up.

Actually, I don' t much believe in luck anymore anyway. I believe more in the power of doing things, positive things to improve your life. It is a little more work than just waiting around for my bad luck to change to good but it's true what my mom says which is "The more you work, the luckier you get." Sometimes, she says that a little bit too much but it's true.

For example...I took a chance on someone I liked and now I am living with him. Is that lucky? Perhaps, but it's more likely a result of paying attention to my life and what is going on around it. Last year, I started attending trivia games. That led to meeting more people which led to meeting Jon. I watched Jon at trivia for several weeks. Then one day I said to my friend, "What about him?" and she replied, he's a nice jewish guy and I think he's available. That led to paying more attention to him and attending a trivia event hosted by him, etcetera...

Thank you to that friend because she obviously believes in your philosophy of friends matching up friends. I paid attention to her suggestion and now I'm happy.

I had another friend who said that MR RIGHT isn't going to come knocking on my door. She was right. I had to look for him. It took a while but I think I found him.

I agree with the Bloggette's point of view and will pay closer attention to my friends that I already was in the past.

Met the Parents

This weekend, Jon and I went up to his hometown to visit with his parents.

We had a nice time.

We visited with a 99 year old woman who didn't look or act a day over 75.

We went to a couple of garage sales.

We went shopping at this great place called Wal-Mart. I can't believe how cheap this place was.

We went to a town called Skaneatlas (pronounced skinny atlas) and watched the sun set from a long pier where we taken out to a fabulous, wonderful dinner.

We had a nice time.

Check Out This Web Site

The administrator of this web site asked me to give a mention to Recipes and Relations, a new advice blog that combines the wisdom of Ann Landers with the practicality of Food TV.

Please take a look and see if it is something that interests you. If you have any questions that you would like answered, you can write to the adminstrator at Recipe_Relations@aol.com. (Delete the underscore between the words but leave the space),

Also, the administrator asks that other people start publicizing Recipes and Relations on their own website. She is trying to generate some buzz.

Julia Child is Whisked Away

Julia Child passed away. She was 91 years of age. I used to love watching Julia Child as a kid on PBS and then later as an adult on the Food Network which reran her shows as well as PBS again.

She is basically responsible for introducing French food to the American public. Before that, our food was pretty Ameri-centric centering around hot dogs, hamburgers, meat loaf and steak. She also sneered at the health food movement because she believed that people shouldn't eat fake food (referring to low-fat or engineered food). The Yahoo obit quotes her as saying that red meat and gin would be her ultimate meal.

She was enjoyable to watch. She loved what she did and took great pride in sharing it with others.

She will be missed.

More on Friday the 13th

taken from the website Urban Legends and Folklore

The Devil's Dozen
It is said: If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names). There are 13 witches in a coven. (Click here for more)

Friday the 13th

Abstract from the British Medical Journal

Is Friday the 13th bad for your health?
Scanlon TJ, Luben RN, Scanlon FL, Singleton N.Department of Public Health, Mid Downs Health Authority, Haywards Health, West Sussex.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom.
DESIGN--Retrospective study of paired data comparing driving and shopping patterns and accidents.
SUBJECTS--Drivers, shoppers, and residents.
SETTING--South West Thames region.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Numbers of vehicles on motorways; numbers of shoppers in supermarkets; and hospital admissions due to accidents. RESULTS--There were consistently and significantly fewer vehicles on the southern section of the M25 on Friday the 13th compared with Friday the 6th. The numbers of shoppers were not significantly different on the two days. Admissions due to transport accidents were significantly increased on Friday 13th (total 65 v 45; p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS--Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended.
PMID: 8292946
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Governor McGreevey Resigned Today

The Governor of New Jersey announced today that he is gay, acknowledging an affair he had with a man and simultaneously resigned effective November 15th.

I think it's a great that he came out, but find it odd that he resigned. Clinton admitted to having an affair and they couldn't peel him out of office.

I wonder what else is going on.

Perhaps it's nothing more than him feeling guilty about the dishonesty of having an affair.

Blog Round Up

The Anonymous Blogger is pandering for comments. That's sad.

The Anonymous Blogette pleads with her coupled up friends to be on the lookout for single friends that would be good romantic matchups.

Wes has been watching the New Cutey Honey which I'm guessing is Japanimation.

Candy Blue Kite expresses herself and well.

Caren woke up, got dressed and linked to some information about a hurricane/tropical storm.

Dawn is back from her vacation.

Evil Twin Theory is teasing us with his first few short entries in over a month.

George Takei presents his essay "Seattle: The Crucible of Imagination".

Human Oddities' Amanda has been on a roll. She's been writing a lot. Her observations continue to entertain us.

Phil sums up last evening's activities and gets a little political.

Sarah continues to be cute.

Vidiot continues to post good links.

Violently Executed Blog's Adam and his wife celebrate the one year birthday of their son and are paying attention to the terror alerts.

Wendy is coming to New York City over Labor Day Weekend!!! Hoorah!!!

The Fun Continues

It is Wednesday and the work week trudges on. I have been assigned a mailing of 100 pieces. It is the oven mitt mailing. Don't ask. I already put together 100 boxes last week. Today, I was told to affix the specially designed lables, get this . . . are you ready? . . . nice and straight. That was literally part of the directions for getting this mailing done. I received these instructions by email where someone else was copied. It's a little humiliating. I'm looking forward to the job where I don't have to label or stuff anything.

On the fun side of life, last night I co-hosted trivia with the seasoned veteran Jonathan Bloomfield. There was a good turnout by the way of 10 teams, I'd say at least 70 people showed up. Granted the turnout wasn't as good as when Sarah and Caren hosted together but it was good none the less. Funniest team name. . . can't remember. Winning team . . .can't remember. I'm bad that way. But again, it was fun and I had a great time doing it. I'll be co-hosting again next week with Eric Kabakoff.

Tonight I'm treating myself by going to a turkish bath. I won't say where to protect my privacy but I'm going with a girlfriend and I imagine we are going to have a great time.

Well, back to the salt mines. I've got to go label 100 boxes, nice and straight.

Tuesday

Today is Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday
It will be fun day, fun day
All day long . . .

. . .and all night long too at the Baggot Inn when you come down to Tuesday Night Trivia.

Tonight I am co hosting with Jonathan B. not my Jon B., but an other.

It will be nice to see you there.

In a surprise move today, Laura Bush came out in support of her husband's policy on embryonic stem cell research.

Honk twice if this is news to you.

Happy Birthday Gen X Misanthrope!!!!

As of August 6, Rantings of a Gen X Misanthrope is officially one year old.

Here is my first post.

Bad vs. B*A*D

I am reading a book by Paul Fussell called Bad or, the Dumbing of America. I am enjoying this book because he eloquently put into words why so many things in America are stupid for not so obvious reasons. His book gives credence to my cynical attitude about various institutions and the people and crap they turn out.

If Mr. Fussell googles himself, I hope he finds this post.

Thank you for writing your book. It's a relief to learn that I am not some weird, societal black sheep with an arrogant attitude looking down on the dopes around me.

Thursday

If I click my heels three times and repeatedly chant, there's no day like Friday, there's no day like Friday, do you think I will move forward in time to 5:15 Friday afternoon?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

Channukah Came a Little Early This Year

Hey Ladies!!

Check out who is "cruising" for a new wife.

Tuesday Night Trivia

Trivia was packed last night. Hats off to young Ms. Ackerman for doing a great job co-hosting for the first time. Her questions really excited the crowd and got people talking. Perhaps it's Ms. Ackerman's teaching background or perhaps she is just a skilled speaker . . .she provided solid back up to the main host Caren Lissner, who is back on stage after a few weeks away from hosting.

We were on the winning team , which I named "Paris is Bruising" per a recommendation by Phil that we make fun of Ms. Hilton somehow. Playing with me were Barry, Bob, Claire, Eric, Phil, and Robert the Republican. Claire and Phil were first time trivia players and I was very happy to have them with us on the team. They contributed throughout the game but ran the Top Ten list which helped put us over the top at the end.

In a personal best, this was the first team I've gathered that scored so unbelievably high. In the second round out of a possible 20 points we scored 19. I won't say why we missed the 20th question, but you can read about it here.

I also played against two other great bloggers, Candy Blue Kite and akachris both of whom I link to and both whom were worthy opponents.

I particularly enjoyed the audio round last night. Ms. Lissner provided 10 snippets from famous songs from American musicals and when answering we saw that she arranged them alphabetically. Definitely fun and my favorite audio round yet from the year or so I've been playing trivia.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch . . .

Today is Tuesday and it's back to work time at the salt mines. Having the day off was priceless. Jon and I got a lot done and had a lot of fun doing it. Because of our work schedules the only full day off we have together is Sunday. Monday was a bonus, an extra, a treat and romantic.

I won't bore you with the seemingly mundane and together activities that occupied most of our time but I will tell you about two fun things we did.

We set up the home entertainment center and watched an episode of the Simpsons from the 4th season DVD. It was lady's choice and I chose the episode called "I Love Lisa" where Ralph Wiggums develops a crush on Lisa because she gives him a pity valentine with a picture of a train and the words "I Choo Choo Choose You". Aside from being a tremendously sweet episode, it introduces Ralph as Chief Wiggums son, gives us a President's Day pageant with the children of Springfield paying homage to our nation's mediocre Presidents in a song and dance number which is funny on "so many levels", it features some great details regarding Krusty and his show giving the writers an opportunity to satirzie Carson and the talk show format. . . .of course I can go on but then I'd be telling you how to enjoy the Simpsons instead of letting you enjoy it on your own.

We also saw Thunderbirds, the live action version directed by Jonathan Frakes. Too much cheese to write about in this post. I'll give you more later.

Monday

Today is Monday, Monday . . . .

Hey, wait a second. . . .Today is Monday and I have Monday off!!!!

Yay!!!! Wahoo!!! Yippeeee!!!!!

The move went well. All of Jon's stuff is in. It's officially official. We picked up a couple of great pieces from my parents on the Island and they followed us back to the city to help us unload. My friend and neighbor helped with a particularly large piece of furniture, "in the speed of light, he arrives just in time."

We were pretty wiped out last night. We were also pretty out of touch. We didn't find out until dinner time that the terror alert was not only on orange but underlined as well. I guess that really does justify the defense budget afterall. Sometimes I think the terror alerts were designed to convince people why we need to spend money on the military. I also thing the timing of the underlined orange alert is conveniently juxtaposed agaisnt the backdrop of the Republican Convention, but that's just me. I could be over thinking things.

I'm going to go to the post office now and pick up the baby mug mugs.