Thursday, August 23, 2007

Not Quite my Mother's Basement but...

I'm currently living in my Father's den. It's about as fun as a series of gradually more invasive colonoscopies, but, due to his prime location on the East End of Long Island and my keen abilities as a waiter, it's a necessary evil. Anyway, I'm actually a resident of Williamsburg, Brooklyn and had been living there for about a month prior to my sojourn to the Hamptons. The area that I live in is particularly dense with Puerto Ricans and as such this is the first installment of....Observations of a White Man Living in a Puerto Rican Neighborhood in Brooklyn:

1. Puerto Ricans like to dance a great deal

2. Puerto Ricans are much better dancers than white people

3. Puerto Rican women are pregnant far more often than white women

4. Puerto Ricans have some sort of philosophical opposition to the boom box, as such all of their music is played from cars parked along the side of the street they’re hanging out on

More to come, and more general posting to be done in the near future.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Rhetorical Quiz

When I was in high school I wrote for my school's monthly magazine. A recurring feature was a rhetorical quiz. I'm much older now but I don't think that individuals can plagiarize from themselves so here go's:

1. Why does everyone over the age of 30 think that the "forward" is an acceptable form of internet communication?

2. Why would a Judeo/Christian God spend over 150 million years fucking around with dinosaurs before creating man "in his own image"?

3. I don't really trust this source but...how funny would it be if Jenna Bush was pregnant? (Guess we'd have to scrap that whole abstinence only thing)

4. Do the people at Fox News really think that changing a couple words of the Al Franken wikipedia entry will change the mind of anyone who would go to the Al Franken wikipedia entry to begin with?

5. There are currently 22 facebook groups dedicated to ending women's suffrage. Okay so that's not a question.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Wreck List

Flight of the Conchords - funniest show since Arrested Development. Funniest line I've heard so far (three episodes in): They're turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers/But whats the real cost/Cause the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper/Why we still paying so much for sneakers when you got them made by little slave kids/What are your overheads... Give it a couple episodes, it's not for everyone but if you appreciate their brand of humor you'll love it.

This New York Times article is why the Christian Right hates the New York Times
: In the article an Oxford University professor suggests there is a 20% chance that our lives are actually a computer simulation. The writer goes on to say that it's more like a 100% chance.

Friday, August 10, 2007

A Post or not a Post; That is the Question

I ended yesterday's post by writing that I would be back today. While I had intended that to be true, and while that is technically now true, I did not intend the post to be like this. My laptop is experiencing traumatic computer failure and I'm currently writing this post at the 23rd Street Public Library in New York. As such I have only 45 minutes to take care of all my computing responsibilities for the day and can't give the time to the post I had intended (a rhetorical quiz which will be done on Monday).

On another topic, I once watched a TED lecture (I don't have the time to find it right now but will on Monday) in which the speaker said that every particle of our being is a different particle than those that made up our being when we were born. I can't explain why this is but it has something to do with atom replacement or matter substitution or other phrases I may or may not be making up. Anyway, the speaker used this point to illustrate how amazing the human mind is, in that it can maintain memories despite the replacement of the matter that stored said memories. I mention this because I am going to Saratoga this weekend for a friend's bachelor party. I suspect I may lose a great deal of memories from this trip as or even before they happen, but I hope to have at least one evening when I'm up from somewhere around 3 in the morning to somewhere around 6 with a bunch of friends, sitting around drunk as shit and ripping on one another. There is no greater experience than those times and those memories will last a lifetime.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Eight Stages of Job Hunting

8. Excitement about the possibility of a new career - the hunter is naive to the treacherous task that lies ahead. There is a sense of optimism about the future. 1-5 days

7. A feeling of superiority toward those already employed - the hunter is surprised by the lack of response he has received and considers how much better he could perform than those currently employed in the positions he desires. 5-8 days

6. Concern that the resume - attached - has a virus. day 9

5. Creeping feelings of self-doubt - the hunter starts to think maybe he isn't capable of answering phone calls and making photocopies. 10-17 days

4. Regretting every educational decision the hunter's ever made
- Johns Hopkins University Bachelor's Degree: $140,00
- Syracuse University Master's Degree: $36,000
- Not being able to attain employment: Priceless
17 - eternity days

3. Jealousy of the employed - the hunter never expected to look at a mailman and think, 'man, he's lucky,' this now happens every time he sees a mailman. 21-27 days

2. Feeling sorry for yourself - the hunter is devastated by a complete inability to attract potential employers. Feelings of sorrow envelop his thoughts. 27-30 days

1. Resignation - an acceptance of the hunter's utter unemployability and a willingness to look into other avenues of employment.


Interesting link: This New York Times article on a book entitled A Farewell to Alms is real interesting. The central premise of the book is that the industrial revolution in England occurred because middle-class values became the norm in society as a result of a greater degree of procreation amongst middle-class individuals. I once touched on a similar idea in my groundbreaking post Society be Getting Stupider. Be back tomorrow.

Friday, August 3, 2007

With Nobody Else Part III

Editors note: This is the third installment of the lone drinker. The last two statements are song lyrics, from Modest Mouse and the Beastie Boy's respectively, I don't know why I wrote them. When I returned to my computer this morning the word coarsened was up on dictionary.com. Also, my hand still hurts and I woke up on the floor this morning. To ensure authenticity, I have not edited any of this.

8:00: Welcome to the third installment of the lone drinker. Tonight’s post is being brought to you by a magnum of Sutter Home Pinot Grigio. Sutter Home: making taste buds question their day jobs since 1890. Tonight’s Pinot is a 2001 vintage which is probably more of a testament to the amount of time it’s aged on liquor store shelves than on vines.

8:18: I’ve been looking into the Church of Satan. My interest is more for networking opportunities than spiritual concerns. Regardless, it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. I feel like the name was chosen more to rile up “squares” than for any other reason. I actually agree with a lot of their principles. Hell, the founder even said the religion is “just Ayn Rand's philosophy with ceremony and ritual added.” Plus cardinal sin number one is “stupidity” – I can get behind that.

8:33: Don’t Forget the Lyrics! is on Fox. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the show and it is frighteningly entertaining. The format seems very similar to Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If I were a pessimist I might suggest that the evolution of reality television has (unbelievably) trended progressively dumber – this would definitely bear out that pessimist’s perspective (if I were a pessimist) (onto glass three).

8:43: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the current contestant. He’s like a gayer Richard Simmons. It’s unreal.

8:46: Wayne Brady (the shows host, who’s been surprisingly funny) just made a Richard Simmons joke – I wish someone could confirm me beating him to the punch, such is the struggle of the lone drinker.

8:58: Richard Simmons just went out on the Roy Orbison tune Pretty Woman, I’m not making this up.

9:32: The lone drinker was temporarily interrupted by an Aunt who had seen I was in town this evening and asked if I could drive her husband to meet her. (umm, two and half glasses in)

9:45: During the car ride home I was listening to the “alternative” rock station in New York, 9.23 K-rock. They played a song by Chevelle, called Send the Pain Below, I like this song a great deal and did when it came out (apparently in 2002). It’s honestly one of the few commercial rock bands I thought had true potential over the last 5 years. I have no idea what they’ve done since.

10:35: Watching Mad Men. The jury’s still out on this show. I did notice something in the last episode that I thought was ill-conceived. At one point one of the secretaries says to the other “that sandwich is making me sad” with regards to a stay-in meal the woman was going to have at work. That sentence seems very 200- to me – not something that would be said in the 60s. I had another example of the liberties the program is taking with colloquialisms but I’m not on top of my game right now. (glass 6)

11:09: I truly believe the most frustrating thing that an individual can experience is knowing that which they can do well and not being given the opportunity to perform that task. I look forward to serving drinks. (7 drinks in)

11:20: Couple things; so I’ve been watching the “Send the Pain Below” video on youtube and maybe I’m wrong but the only part about that song that sucks is when they incorporate the snowboarding…without that, that songs a killer example of good early ought’s rock. Also, I’ve been punching the wall in my study, this is not an important idea but I’m curious where the studs are, I use to work in construction (also my hand hurts).

11:26: I’m on such a Chevelle kick I just air guitared myself into the ground on my rolley chair. I heard some sort of metallic object trickle away after my fall but the chair still works and I don’t seemed to have experienced traumatic back failure yet – so that was rockstar. (goodbye magnum)

11:54: Finished watching the episode of Mad Men I had been watching earlier. Who knows? I would never cheat on my significant other but every relationship exists on it’s own plain. I’m drunk and am not willing to indict others for behavior I would not engage in, despite my disagreeace with it.

11:57: btw I spent a bit figuring out which parts of my wall are supported by studs. My fists prove much of my wall is unexpectedly sturdy.

11:59: Much of my hands hurt.

12:14: I just watched the All These Things That I’ve Done video in the hopes of explaining the idiocy of myself and my dearest friends. I’ve failed completely. Jesus, that video’s stupid.

12:18: I haven’t made an alcohol update in awhile so I feel obligated. Magnum gone, Budweiser gone, onto a beer called Tecate, going to have a cigarette.

1:02: I’ve drank a great deal of water. There’s no beer left, I’m a magnum and two beers in, I’ve drank a great deal of vodka, I’m the olive king of New York.

1:12: Here’s an idea: every magazine I’ve ever read portrays a bullshit liberal perspective. How ‘bout a progressive magazine that isn’t all about left leaning politics. There’s obviously a market for men that have views that don’t coarsened

1:22: My idea does not disassociate liberal ideas, it just invalidates them.

1:29: My idea does not disassociate liberal ideas. But I think its funny to type that reflex.

For your sake I hope heaven and hell, are really there but I wouldn’t hold my breath, you wasted life why wouldn’t you waste death, you wasted life why wouldn’t you waste death.

12:48 – cause you can’t and you won’t and you don’t stop

2:20:

Monday, July 30, 2007

A Relatively Uninformed Analysis of 18 Presidential Candidates Part: II

Editors note: This analysis is limited to the front page of the websites of the 18 main presidential hopefuls. For a further explanation see Friday's post.

Duncan Hunter: I honestly haven't the slightest idea who Duncan Hunter is. His name makes it sound like he has a 1:30 tee time at Winged Foot but his front page makes it look like he'll be carrying bags and figuring out distances.

Cheesedick campaign slogan: Lets Work Together to Make America Great Again...there are high school marketing teachers that would fail students for that anti-gem. Why not just go with America, Darn Right.

Front page grade: C-


Dennis Kucinich: The main image here has Kucinich asking God to make him two feet taller so that he can have a shot at the Democratic nomination. Unfortunately God doesn't believe in his policies.

Irritating ploy: The video implores us to text message the word "peace" (73223) to send a message to the White House. A couple things: one, it never tells us what number to send the text to; two, unless the text is being sent to the White House, I'm dubious that they're going to "get the message" (in fact, they're not getting the message regardless); three, the text message must be the laziest form of protest in the history of mankind, I'd be insulted if I were a Kucinich supporter.

Front page grade: C


John McCain: Straight talking his way to three campaign slogans: The courage to do the hard things needed to address America's most pressing challenges; Defeat is not an option; and Islamic Extremists are in this war to win and we cannot let them, McCain actually has one of the sleekest front pages we've seen - fitting for a one-time favorite who seems to be reminiscing about the good ol' days in his picture.

Strange "coincidence": I know McCain was a Navy man but his website logo and coloring look a whole lot like the more recognizable army symbols, hmm, that's curious.

Front page grade: B+


Barack Obama: Obama's the first candidate not to be prominently displayed on his own website's front page. I'm floored by this. Maybe he doesn't need to tie his face into his name because he's so well known (not to mention he's the only candidate who's skin shades past olive) but nevertheless I'm surprised. Otherwise the site seems extremely well conceived and links to all the social networks (almost 120,000 supporters on facebook as of publication).

Non-cheesedick ploy: The dinner with Barack promotion is a stroke of genius.

Front page grade: A- (they couldn't make room for the Obama girl?)


Ron Paul: Paul also has links to the social networks - not surprising for a candidate who essentially made his name via the internet - as well as a finely realized front page layout.

What?: A 14 minute front page video? A campaign as savvy in the ways of the internet should realize the attention span of their viewers matches that of a Saturday morning cartoon viewer on crystal meth.

Wha what?: I learned from the website that Ron Paul has a son named Rand Paul. I was not able to confirm the origin of the name but judging by Paul's politics, I'm wondering who John Galt is?

Front page grade: B+


Bill Richardson: Richardson's real experience and real accomplishments won't endear him to the American public nearly as much as his real weight problem. I think Richardson should push himself as the real "minority" candidate on the Democratic side. (Also note the undone top button and tie, he must have really worked hard during that photo shoot).

Email sign-up: These are just a really bad idea, especially for a candidate that's handicapped by region.

Front page grade: C

Mitt Romney: I was surprised to not see Romney's pearly whites on the front page, then the flash feature kicked in and there he was. I knew Mitt wouldn't miss a photo op. My favorite is the one of him in a ski jacket, I'll bet he went back and forth all the way down that mountain.

Campaign slogan: True Strength for America's Future...a clever play to the Republican base, there was some genuine thought put into this site.

Front page grade: A-


Tom Tancredo: Tancredo hopes to give Duncan Hunter a run for most obscure candidate to run on a major ticket and with this website he's got a chance.

Amusing headline: "Tancredo will crisscross Iowa, meeting more crowds and campaigning in more towns than ever, as we lead up to the Iowa straw poll." Oh, really? You mean he's going to campaign more as the election approaches? That's an unusual tactic, I wonder if he's also going to shake union workers hands and kiss babies, that might just do the trick!

Front page grade: C-


Tommy Thompson: As the second most likely Republican - with the last name Thompson- to become president, Tommy Thompson is facing an uphill battle. Fortunately he seems confident of his ability to win one percent of the vote.

Front page grade: C

And until Fred Thompson throws his hat in the ring and hires some tech nerds to dream up a website for him that completes "A Relatively Uninformed Analysis of 18 Presidential Candidates," here's to hoping you didn't learn too much.