Ya'll with myspace profiles need to add Luca as your friend (He's my roommate's dog). Only then will your friends list be complete. Holler.
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Don't ask me why I was reading the feature recap of the Times' Weddings and Vows, but if I hadn't I would've never learned that the bride was the inspiration for the "man hands" female character on Seinfeld!
It was their first kiss, and, Dr. Whitney said, “it meant everything.” The next day he left for California. They began a long-distance relationship, but soon he was working around the clock. Within a year they had broken it off.Mr. Mandel’s response was to write “a ‘Seinfeld’ episode about her,” he said. “It’s the modern equivalent of a Shakespeare sonnet.”
He explained that in the episode, called “Bizarro Jerry,” Jerry Seinfeld dates a woman with “man hands.” Dr. Whitney, who winces when he mentions it, chimed in, “I would like to clarify that my hands are farm hands and not man hands.”
Hilarious.
I had such a strange dream last night. I dreamt that I was standing in queue at the grocery store check out behind Team9--my favorite remixer/mash-uper. And then I later dreamt a terrible nightmare (redundancy alert!) that I was in Mogadishu as witness to the bloody aftermath of a violent clash between rival milita. On that propitious note, Happy Saturday!
I declare today to be Aaron Neville Day Week. The man sings the gospel truth. Don't deny it.
It was 70 degrees outside today here in New Yohk Citay. Sunny and warm. I walked around in just my t-shirt. No jeans, nothing. JUST a t-shirt. And cot damn, I was comfortable! However, I hated it. It just should not be that warm in January.
This is password protected for obvious reasons, but if you read this "article" (or excerpted below) and you know me and my experience with the ex-girlfriend, then you'll understand the headline to this entry. Reading about this hour by hour recap of sexy MTV VJ's New Year's night out with her boyfriend Nick Lachay made me laugh out loud, because basically it reminded me of what it was like to go out with my ex back in the days. She was Vanessa, especially at hour 3:35 am.
-- 1:44 a.m. Nick, Vanessa and their huge entourage arrive at the Joonbug.com party at Marquee in a black SUV with Vanessa sitting on the Nick's lap because there isn't space for everyone in the car.The former Miss Teen USA is wearing backless mini-dress with a plunging neckline, and the couple of eight months holds hands while they walk into the club.
The gang heads to a VIP booth and Vanessa begins sucking down glass after glass of champagne. Soon her eyes are half closed, her head rolling around.
She keeps opening her legs and the ladies in her entourage physically shut them for her. Vanessa then straddles Nick and makes out with him passionately while her short skirt rides up.
She later falls off of the booth and into the recesses of the furniture. Her crew helps her up while Nick watches in stony silence, unamused by her antics.
-- 3:35 a.m. Vanessa takes Nick's beer and chugs it, while some of the beer runs down her face and neck.
As the group gets ready to leave, an unsteady Vanessa tries to stand up but she falls down into the booth. Nick starts to pay the bill, and Vanessa digs into her wallet puts a wad of cash in her mouth and jokingly starts waving it around.
Vanessa's girlfriends take the cash from her mouth and distribute tips to the beleaguered staff.
-- 4:23 a.m. Vanessa's pals help her out the back entrance of the club while Nick ignores her and talks on his cell phone. As Vanessa is poured into the car, Nick climbs into the back seat and avoids her.
I'm not quite sure how I accomplished this, but I've already used up 75 percent of my GMail storage capacity.
There's an article in today's Times that summarized what hit and what missed in the movie theaters in 2006. Their basic summary was that movies that emphasized "heavier" themes were ignored by the general moviegoing peoples who instead chose films that allowed them to ignore how truly fucked up this world is.
A year after Hollywood rediscovered weighty political and social issues in movies like “Syriana,” “Crash” and “Brokeback Mountain,” the box office story of 2006 was that moviegoers finally said, “Enough.”
They showed no appetite for a critique of their eating habits in “Fast Food Nation.” They weren’t ready to fly along on “United 93,” no matter how skilled its exposé of homeland insecurity. They didn’t care to see combat or suffer its after-effects in “Flags of Our Fathers.” And even Leonardo DiCaprio couldn’t interest them in touring the ravaged Africa of “Blood Diamond.”
And the numbers prove this true to a certain degree, but I've always been curious about the "cultural-ness" of New Yorkers compared to that of inhabitants of other cities in the U.S. of A. This is all based on pure anecdotal evidence, so you've been warned. I stand by everything I write here without any evidence beyond that which I've seen with my own prejudiced discerning eyes.
Without a doubt, certain mega Hollywood movies are a hit and play to a packed theater whether it is being shown in New York, Portland or Punxsutawney. Perfect examples of such a film are "Spider Man" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" (which I'm proud to admit I've never seen for absolutely no good reason). New Yorkers, Portlanders and Punxsutawneans will all line up to see these films on opening day, opening weekend, the random Tuesday matinee, the following weekend and so on and so on.
However, once you delve deeper into the plethora of cinematic offerings each weekend beyond those with marketing budgets allowing for gigantic billboards and full page ads in the newspapers, many of these non-mainstream or to completely generalize "art house/foreign/independent" films escape the attention of most, except in New York. In New York, it seems that both the 200 million dollar big budget action movie du jour and the random Indie film about the transvestite donut shop owner in New Jersey sell out to huge crowds. My first experience with this phenomenon which I had never seen really any where else was in 2003 after I had first moved to New York. I had read in some random cinemaphile magazine about a small British film that was getting rave reviews and was eventually going to make its way to the U.S. at some point. That 'small' film was called Bend It Like Beckham, which today is some what well known. Sure, fine. But back then, I did not see a mention of that film anywhere else other than in this magazine. And then I saw a small highlight that mentioned that it was opening at the theater on Houston and 1st Ave.
My friend and I planned arrived thirty minutes prior to the 7 o'clock showing. When I arrived, I saw a massive crowd milling around outside the ticket counter and I was informed that the 7 o'clock showing was sold out. As was the 7:30, and the 8 and the 8:45 and the 9:30 and so on. I think we ended up catching the 11 o'clock showing which played to a packed theater. The point here is that I'm not disputing that someone in San Antonio wouldn't go to this movie or know about it, but I somehow highly doubt it would be completely sold out as it was in New York. And this has happened repeatedly since.
So to go back to the New York Times article, specifically the part I highlight in the excerpt above, the Times's inclusion of "Blood Diamonds" as bolstering its argument that "weightier" movies bombed in 2006 was interesting to me. It caught my attention because I just saw Blood Diamonds this past Saturday.
I'm not quite sure when it opened and I'm too lazy at the moment to open another window and Google this information, but I'm assuming it opened a week or two weeks ago. Either way, its been out for a while now (two weeks is a long time nowadays for mainstream movies). From the Times article, one would surmise that if you went to see Blood Diamond, you might possibly have an entire row all to yourself.
When I went on Saturday, again my friend and I met at the theater about half an hour before the 8 o'clock showing. It was sold out and the next one was at least an hour later. We then walked a few blocks to another movie theater and at this one, the next showing of Blood Diamond, too was sold out. We decided to purchase tickets to the next showing, which was also about an hour plus some away. We walked into the theater approximately 20 minutes prior to its start only to find the upper section of the theater entirely packed. We had to sit in the "orchestra" seats, which we all know is where the losers sit. And this loser section was completely full as well by the start of the previews.
Basically, unlike the Times's contention, in New York I would argue that this movie featuring Leo Dicaprio, Blood Diamond is a mothafuckin hot movie.
The movie is good ya'll. Go check it out.
So New Year's was spent like this:
Hmmm...why is the smoke detector covered? Because of all that...ham...yea, ham....we were cooking.
2...
0...
0...
7. 2007 bitches.
Breaking and not being able to enter.
Apparently plaid is the thang for the night.
CabPoses (Trademarked).
Henry trying to make the phone calls with his ass broken phone, er, awesome phone with 360 swivel action.
New York, New Yorkkkkk
CabPoses. I was all about the Blue Steele faces that night.
This photo marks the beginning of the end for all of us...and we were so not aware of this at the time...at the time...
"HAPPY NEW YEARS!" screamed Matt. When Cy saw this photo today, he said, "Oh my god...I do not remember wearing those glasses." And then he laughed.
2007. Exactly.
These glasses made the rounds. Slutty, slutty glasses.
Plastic red cups...CLASSY. Just like the glasses.
The communal celebratory bottle...that assisted in our later destruction. One. By. One.
Henry was the first casualty as we shall see later.
The presence of that camera was so not good for all these aspiring future leaders of America...
It's so tasty on the lips.
"Keep back! This is all mine!!"
Kenny and friend.
And Henry's out for the count by this photo. Haha.
And for a while, Cy as well.
Something interesting is on the ground...yea...
Cy silently judges.
Anyway, Happy New Years, boys and girls!!
The door to yet another year has closed. Let the meaningful reflection begin!
It's been an interesting year, and my narcissism aside (this IS a personal blog, people), even a momentous year for me--if one conveniently ignores the macro perspective of everything that occurred in 2006 (um, basically the news of KFed and Britney's divorce for one) and take a micro glance at the year that little ol' me had. I mean, isn't the Time Person of the Year for 2006..me?
My life today is certainly not at all how I envisioned it at the beginning of 2006, but I say that positively. How is my life this New Year's different from last year's?
1. I'm single; 2. I'm no longer in any way, shape or form pursuing law school or any other form of certified book learn'n; and 3. I live in Brooklyn.
At the dawn of 2006, I only foresaw the possibility of one of those three changes occurring in my life and for all three to occur practically simultaneously really gives legs to the old adage, "when it rains, it pours"--without the negative insinuation.
What's been interesting to me about 2006 is that while so many changes occurred last year, I find myself living a life with a slight sense of deja vu infused with a good dose of Nietzsche's notion of eternal recurrence or eternal return. That is, my life today mirrors, in actuality and symbolically, what it was 4 years ago when I was just a fresh, bright eyed, punk inchoate college graduate embarking on my next great adventure in life. Since then, my comrades have gotten engaged, married, popped out a kid or two, advanced up the corporate ladder, purchased an apartment or house, and fixed the Hubble Telescope (okay, maybe not the Hubble thing...), while oppositely I find my life since then has not changed at all. It's almost as if the past four years were simply but a dream from which I just recently awoke from.
Nietzsche wrote in the Gay Science:
What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.' [Thanks Wikipedia!]
I would answer the latter only if given the opportunity to relive with the knowledge gained from the previous cycle of the great karmic wheel of eternal recurrence and I have a feeling that 2007 will be just that: 2003 redux with some knowledge. However, that knowledge--the insight and perspective gained the past four years--will provide a road map that will proactively allow me to wake up to a whole new day as Bill Murray was finally able to do in his classic movie...the Groundhog Day. I'm just very thankful I get to do this in New York City, the city I heart, instead of Punxsutawney.
Anyway.
Without further ado, these are my resolutions for 2007:
1. Lead a healthier lifestyle: More exercise, less junk food, and less drinking; 2. Save money better and spend less on frivolity; 3.
Lose or get resolution for my addiction to Krytonite; and lastly 4. Marry Kristin Kreuk or this girl.
And while the orchestra starts to play on this speech, I want to specifically thank a few people that really helped me out this past year: KC, CD, LS, CM, and LH.
So, here we go kids. One door closes and another one opens. Lets make it exciting. Let's make world peace finally happen. Let's make it sexy.
Last night, we went out in park slope to celebrate my roommate's birthday. For once, it was great to go to dinner and a bar that was within a walking distance of our apartment. No subway or cab ride for us bitches.
But first, Luca time!
More Luca time!
Getting in on Luca's photo.
Birthday boy.
Yea, I can't help it if I'm naturally photogenic. I mean, look at those eyes! LOOK!
Whaaa?
Chris and his oh so ca-razy friends!
Not quite sure what this is about.
The most artistic jump picture ever.
Jeff gives a thumbs down to the chicas in the background at Union Hall.
Chris and Annie.
Back at the apartment, we got the munchies and opened up a can of cranberry sauce and some Oreos.
I offered Chris twenty bucks if he could finish the rest of the can of cranberry sauce (about 2/3 left) in less than two minutes without using utensils.
Luca wants in on this situation.
Chris finishes the cranberry sauce....five minutes later. Pussy.
After a few week hiatus, I returned to Babel on Thursday night last week. I was expecting a slower night on account of the holidays, but it was surprisingly happenin.
The bartender holding the simian dick in a box.
Wha?
"Play better music Hey Mr. DJ!"
What is going on here...
"Are you in?"
Hmmm, I should look more cheerful in photos...
OHhhh, Blue Steele in the hizouze. I don't know what even means.
L tryin to get up on it. Haha.
It's the law!
So former President and Nixon pardoner Gerald Ford passed away and the effect this had on me was...zero. None. Zip. Nadda. This is not to say, I don't feel a sense of sympathy for his family and friends, because I do, however my raw emtional and intellectual indifference to his passing struck me as more interesting than his actual death. I suspect that many people's reaction was probably, "He was alive? I thought he was already dead."
Anyway, I'm no Patch Adams, but supposedly laughter is the best medicine, says the old adage. Sooo if you are finding yourself going into deep depression at the death of Mr. Ford, I hope this prescient sketch from an old SNL skit will help pull you out of that presidential funk.
Apparently many, many, many B- and C-List celebrities want to get their photos taken with this man. Check out his bizarre Flickr set.
There's a cute fish and chips British restaurants a few blocks from my apartment. Along with the the fried battered fish filets and the accompany fries, they also serve various mashers and pies and Indian food as well. For an appetizer, before my order of fish and chips, I requested the "Fried Pizza" which looks and tastes exactly as it sounds. They take a slice of cheese pizza and deep fry it. It should come with a health notice however, warning of heart attacks.
This is the bananas:
So tasty.
A few days ago, someone asked me what was the best Christmas gift I had ever received. Without missing a beat, I replied "Optimus Prime." And it's true. Anyway, check out the new trailer for the upcoming Transformers movie which looks pretty bad ass.
Britney and her classy snatch would like to wish you a happy holiday weekend. What's that you say? It's only Thursday? Well, I have Thursday and Friday off so the weekend starts now, bitch.
