Ottoman Love

I was supposed to post this last week, but got bogged down with work.

From Arlene



I'm late on this or whatever, but I'm still not exactly sure what to make of it.

Zach Braff ode to NJ

haha...so now that I work online essentially might as well give this thing a shot again...

If you hate NJ no need to watch...or wait, maybe you should watch if you hate NJ for no particular reason.

Another...

...miserable day at work. How did I get myself in this situation?

Ha, you thought I was going to have an actual post.

Out of Contact...

Hey look...its another post...two days in a row (pat on the back).

Everyone has their share of flaws..and I'm no different. However, a major flaw I have is an inability to keep contact with people. Now I'm not talking about people who have pissed me off, or wronged me in some way. I mean people who I generally have no issues with, and probably consider them to be friends in some twisted way. Unfortunately, I have the worst time keeping up with most of these people unless the are in my general vicinity, or they make a concerted effort to stay in contact with me.

Maybe you remember me saying this, but I'm not really a fan of talking on the phone. I can't explain why, but for some reason I'm unable to carry on a phone conversation for more than 30 minutes in most cases. I just can't do it. To date the only people who can stretch me past that time limit on the phone are my girlfriend and my mom. Ask my girlfriend the struggle she went through(and probably still goes through) when it comes to talking to me on the phone. I'm a computer person...I guess on a broader level I'm just a technology person. When I got to college, everyone used instant messenger to communicate. My room phone was basically a hotline for my parents to reach me and not much else. I've gotten to the point where online seems like a reasonable equivalent to a phone call...unfortunately I seem to be in the minority in this issue. I realized for many people a phone call does not equal a IM conversation.

I'm also pretty lazy. I can easily busy myself with other things like writing a blog post or playing video games or anything other than actually trying to stay in contact with friends and acquaintances. I'm sure its not just me who has some of these problems, but I guess over time I realize theres shit I miss out on. For example it seems my man Bonus and his girl got engaged at least 4 months ago, and are getting married sometime this year. Somehow I only found out about this 2 weeks ago (My bad Bonus if you're reading this, congrats to both of you), and I know I didn't find out cause I wasn't keeping up with my friends. Sucks to be me.

I guess there's no real point to this other than my own catharsis, however if you are reading this and I haven't spoken to you in a while, there's a good chance you'll be getting some kind of contact from me sooner than you think. I'm going to at least make an effort to reconnect with my people (not weoples as E-40 would put it) before I have no friends left.

That is all.

Play it by ear...

...this is going to be a post about music, so that was a bad pun. However, it works in so many ways when describing the state of this blog....

What I'm currently listening to (because I have a false sense of self importance and think people give a shit what I listen to):


Album: Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Released: 1998
Standout Songs: Definition, RE: definition, Respiration
My take: It was around 1997-1998 when hip-hop took a terrible turn as far as I was concerned. Biggie and Tupac(who I wasn't really a fan of) were both dead, and this glam, frilly, music took over thanks to the likes of Sean Combs and others. I was completely turned off...stopped listening to the radio, stopped watching MTV for the most part. I wanted nothing to do with mainstream hip-hop. I found wonderful underground music after this...and this was one of the first albums I bought...outstanding piece of work. Both lyricists are hungry and relatively early in their careers, and that combination makes for a great album. If you are a hip-hop fan (and don't like most of what you hear on the radio) it's something you should at least hear.

Album: Silent Alarm (Bloc Party)
Genre: Indie Rock(i think)
Released: 2005
Standout Songs: Like Eating Glass, Banquet
My take: I can't give a full synopsis as I just recently started listening to this...but I like it. It's rock music, but it's not cheesy or overblown in any sense, at least to me. Something I can actually listen to from end to end. I can't explain my affinity for British indie rock music, but this is a good album, just wish I had stumbled upon it sooner.

Album: The Black Album (Jay-Z)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Released: 2003
Standout Songs: What More Can I Say, Threat, PSA
My take: What more can possibly be said about Jay-Z? This isn't his most recent album, however its probably a much better effort. This was the album he went into his "retirement" with and it seemed at the time a good way to go out. Obviously a different person from his first offering in 1996 (Reasonable Doubt), but still just as if not more talented lyrically. The album hits some snags (namely anytime he works with Pharrell of the Neptunes), but it's still solid, and for some reason I find myself listening to it currently.

Album: Corinne Bailey Rae (Corinne Bailey Rae)
Genre: Soul/Jazz/R&B
Released: 2006
Standout Songs: Like A Star, Enchantment
My take: I must have some soft spot for British musicians...or maybe its just soul/jazz music. Whatever it is I happened upon this album last year after watching Vh1 Soul late one evening, and I'm still listening to it. Not sure if its for everyone, but she has a good voice, and her songs are very pleasant. Great to listen to when trying to relax.

Urban Human Stranger Rodeo

Just watch..

Wall Street Brawl...

..I'm sure this has made the rounds already, but it was definitely the funniest thing I read yesterday.


GIANTS' REVENGE ON BRAWL ST.
MARA'S SON TACKLES MOCKING EAGLE FAN

It seems the son of deceased New York Giants owner Wellington Mara, did not take kindly to some good natured mocking after his team lost over the weekend.

"The son of the legendary late Giants owner Wellington Mara tackled and choked a fellow broker on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday after the man mocked the team, sources said."

The best part is what actually was the mocking action. Never has a more untalented person (Jim Jones of the Diplomats, a rap group) become so famous and popular.

I guess I can only sum this up with one word...BALLLLLLLLLLLINNN!!

(I hate myself for typing that)

Saturday night sissy fights...

As one of the last actual fans of the NBA (check around I'm telling you there's not many of us) I feel obligated to say something about the fight that occurred this weekend between the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks.

Most people remember the "Malice at the Palace" or whatever they want to call it from a few years ago. The Detroit vs Indiana fight...Ron Artest-gate...whatever. I could understand some of the issues with that incident. I agree, you can't attack the fans, no matter what they do to you, there's no real justification. I also don't think fans should be allowed to throw shit at people in any sporting event...unless its Barry Bonds, I'm all for throwing shit at him. Because I know if anyone ever threw something at me while I was doing my job, all hell would break loose in my office.

However, there is no relation with that fight, and the one that happened last saturday. If for some reason you don't know what I'm talking about watch here:



shockingly the NBA took down all the good videos of this..if you need a better version go to espn.com

My question, and it's been brought up by numerous other people in the past few days, is why is this fight such news. No fans were hurt or attacked at all. One might have gotten tumbled on, but that was quickly fixed. So what's the big deal. From my viewpoint I saw one really hard foul, a small shoving match, a 45 second wrestling match, and one of the sissiest punches I've seen in a long time. That's national news now? Fights like this occur in other sports much more often than in the NBA, and there was a point in the NBA when incidents such as this would occur and it made zero headlines. I've seen a clip where Kevin McHale literally clotheslined Kurt Rambis on the court, and he wasn't even thrown out of the game. Why now does a sissy slap punch make headline news and get the player suspended for 15 games. What did I miss?

Also, Carmelo Anthony, I understand you have been under some scrutiny in recent years with some off the court issues. However, if you are going to "take it back to b-more" and really fight, please please don't half ass it. And definitely don't back pedal like your mom yelled at you to come inside for dinner. That's all I ask.

Hello...

...for the two of you out there who still check this...remember me? I could apologize and talk about how I'm going to do better at this, but theres no point. I don't know whats going to happen with the future of this blog. So just one day at a time.

It has a been a trying few weeks, especially with a lot of the negative feedback I'm getting (or was getting) at my job. I went into crisis mode trying to find a job as quickly as possible...but I'm still here for the time being. It all culminated this past weekend as I got the news that my godmother had passed away. I'm not going to sit here and sing the praises of my godmother to you. I knew her, and I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this did not. However, for as long as I've known my mother I've known her. There's a long drawn out story of how our families met, but thats irrelevant...and I'm not exactly sure what my point is for writing this either. All I know is she was important to me, and now she's no longer around. Had be one of the hardest things I've ever done, carrying the casket of my 48 year old godmother into a church on Monday. I'd have given anything to not being doing that.

She knew me better than any non family member...shit, to be honest, she knew me better than most of my extended family. I spent 21 of the last 24 Thanksgiving holidays of my life with her and her family. There were family vacations together, trips to the poconos, random summer visits, and numerous more. The memories are priceless, and the bonds are just as strong as blood. Enough rambling...this post doesn't really make any sense, but if I was going to start writing again I had to start with what is taking up all the space in my mind.

R.I.P.
Antoinette Papincak
Nov. 18, 1958 - Dec. 15, 2006

My kind of work...

Yeah I haven't been updating...blah.

If you do remember one of my more recent posts, it had to with dissatisfaction at my current place of employment. I heard about this idea from Jarrett last night, and looked up the article this morning. Sounds great to me.

The Best Bet at Best Buy

"The company is experimenting with the results-oriented work environment, or ROWE, which allows employees to work when and where they like, just so long as long as they get their assignments done."

..if only Minneapolis didn't suck...