New York Icons / Random Notes 11.21.10

1)  New York Icons

Howard Stern is running out of time in his current contract with Sirius Radio.  Last week, he did two amazing interviews with Jay-Z and Billy Joel.  Great radio.  The interviews were sincere, candid, and compelling.  Both Jay-Z and Billy answered Howard's questions openly and thoroughly, and answered questions about their creative process.  Jay-Z is promoting a book, and the interview served its purpose as I'd love to read the book now.  The Billy Joel session made me realize just how talented Billy Joel is, regardless of whether or not his music is your cup of tea.  (I'd say the same about Jay-Z, except I already realized how talented he is.)

Overall, I reflected on the fact that these three figures were so compelling, as all three truly are New York icons.  All three were born and raised in New York.  All three are icons for our generation (maybe Billy Joel a little earlier than us), and all three have built their legacies on their own terms.  None of the three are conventional, and none of the three sound like people we'd heard before them.  They are all influential and have rich careers that have lasted years.  All three still work and reside in New York primarily.  To me, they are three people that are unquestionably different facets of New York People, who did it their way.

2)  Derek Jeter

Recently, our own blogger Moon was on Facebook lamenting the treatment of Derek Jeter by the New York Yankees.  Moon feels like Derek Jeter is a New York icon as well, and the Yankees are doing him a disservice by not treating him as such.  Has Derek Jeter earned a substantial contract extension that might be a "thank you" of sorts for being the face of the franchise for so long?

3)  Randomness...

(a)  Blake Griffin absolutely shit on the Knicks last night, even though the Knicks won.  These highlights rank up there with the athletic dunks of Dwight Howard, Shawn Kemp, etc...  He is worth the hype and we can probably give him Rookie of the Year right now.  Some manly shit from a guy with an un-manly first name.

(b)  Your own WCF is laying down the groundwork to go back to school for a Ph.D.  I do not want to reveal the details yet (superstitious, until it all works out), but stay tuned.

(c)  Would any of your Teaneckites consider raising your family and settling in Teaneck?  All of us seem pretty attached to Teaneck... why did most of us move to other places?  Thanksgiving makes me think about how all of us attempt to reunite even as we have entered our 30s... and therefore that the allure of meeting up in our hometown still pulls at all of us... and I am bummed out that my knee keeps me from participating in the annual Toilet Bowl football game.

Random Stuff 5.2.2010

Random thoughts on a random Sunday morning...

1) So much for my big predictions about Denver coming out of the West in the NBA Playoffs. What does this tell me?

- I guess a coach can make a big difference in the NBA, and
- I don't see how anybody can stop L.A. from coming out of the West.

So who am I rooting for now? I hope Cleveland wins. It's hard to dislike LeBron. But, even more than wanting Cleveland to win, there are two teams I am actively rooting against: L.A. and Orlando. I hate the smugness of L.A. (particularly Kobe and Phil Jackson) and I hate the bitchiness of Vince Carter and Dwight Howard.


2) I love my new MacBook. I wish I made the switch years ago.


3) Eminem's song "Kim" (from the Marshall Mathers LP) is downright frightening.

I remember once being under the influence of some chemicals in college (I believe it was the same chemicals that make Mario big) and listening to the Beatles "Revolution 9" from the White Album ("Number nine... number nine...) all the way through and getting slightly freaked out.

What other songs are "scary" or have ever scared you, sober or not? I can't think of any others offhand.


4) When George W. Bush II was our president from 2000 - 2008 and he got on TV, I hated him so much that he caused such a visceral reaction in me that I literally couldn't stay in the room. If I did, I would either mock him or yell things like "FUCK YOU!!!" at the screen, to the point where my wife would say "Would you shut up? I just want to hear what he's saying. I hate him too. Just stop!" but I couldn't control myself because I couldn't look at his stupid fucking face anymore.

I haven't had that kind of reaction since to anything on TV until I tried to watch American Idol again. I watched the first couple of seasons and got tired with the dragged out, formulaic idiocy of it. I tried again this season and just found myself yelling at the screen, particularly when Randy Jackson would be on. I would just yell "YO YO YO YO YO YO YO DOG CHECK THIS OUT YO YO YO YO YO DOG DOG DOG AIGHT AIGHT DOG DOG" in anger until my wife would once again tell me to shut up so she could at least give the show a chance.


5) I wish there was some food I loved, and attacked with such zest and passion, as my cockatiels do with millet spray. It's weird. Millet spray seems so bland and yet they love it more than any other fresh food, cereal, and everything else we've given them.

Random Notes 3.28.09

- Earth Hour is today. It's in the papers today and was promoted by the Environmental Club at my school. There are several crucial environmental issues that we, as a global community, must start addressing now. So, therefore, I think this a nice symbolic idea.

However, why don't we shoot a little higher, like maybe not use unnecessary power for an hour every day? Or three times a week? Or, just don't use it unless it's necessary? Something that will actually make a difference? People are amazing. We do things like Earth Hour to "raise awareness" and then there's no follow-up. Why isn't recycling mandatory? Remember Earth Day starting when we were in high school?

And, remember the Kyoto Protocol that George Bush wiped his ass with? (Yes, I understand that he didn't want to sign something that China could ignore, effectively increasing their economic strength, but, isn't that a little... immature? Shortsighted?) Well, in a few months, there's this. I hope we come through this time. I know everybody's (rightly) worried about the economy... but think about how disastrous economic issues could become if, say, one day a few years from now New York City is 4 feet below sea level [or, insert health-related-concern-which-is-a-result-of-human-actions-on-the-environment here].

(By the way, I don't actually really know much about the environment or about the politics behind it. This is just a rant, expressing that George W. Bush and Co. certainly had the public appearance of not caring much about environmental issues, and whether this is true or not, we need to both change perception of environmental issues, and obviously actually do something about them!)

Anyway...


- The Harlem Globetrotters' theme song, Sweet Georgia Brown, has become a favorite of our cockatiels. I need to figure out how to shoot a video of them going crazy whistling back to the whistling song and post it on YouTube. That's my next project (that is, once I get posting regularly here down.)


- I've been into March Madness, but didn't fill out a bracket this year. The story lines that have kept me going are that Villanova is doing well and is local, and I love watching Blake Griffin (he'll be an NBA all-star within 5 years, barring injury). The tourney certainly does lose some excitement if one does not have money riding on who wins. However, having not filled out a bracket this year, I realized something (and this is not mock everybody who has one done - if my work had one going I would have done it): How do people actually place so much stock in their picks? How many co-workers or friends have you heard discussing brackets and say things along the lines of, "You know, I actually like Mississippi State over South Carolina in an upset. They're tough." It sounds pretentious and there's no way that anybody who lives in New Jersey has seen most of the schools in the tournament play more than once, if at all. I've done it myself, every year. I realize later that I'm just regurgitating sound bits I've seen on Sportscenter, either consciously or subconsciously, which is whatever everybody probably does - or just reads blogs somewhere to obtain their opinions.

This is not to be a killjoy. March Madness is one of the best annual sports spectacles we have in our country, if not the best. I just think people should just be like "Why did I pick this #13 over this #4? Fuck it, I wanted an upset and I know that (school in #13 position) was on ESPN a few times this year. Plus, my girlfriend's cousin goes there" rather than try to justify it with some manufactured knowledge of either school.

That being said, it's dope that Obama filled out a bracket.


- Check out Bob Dylan's discography. He put out 8 dope albums in his first 5 years! Well, his debut Bob Dylan was ok... but the next 7 are amazing through John Wesley Harding. Artists these days aren't as prolific. So did the Beatles - Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, White Album, and Abbey Road are were released in like a four year span. Artists seemed to go on hot runs in the past - I also think of Led Zeppelin's early years (Led Zep I - 1969 through Led Zep IV - 1971) and Stevie Wonder's run of amazing music which was five great albums from 1972's Music of My Mind through 1976's double album Songs in the Key of Life. Is music just too commercial these days, and designed solely to make money? Do record companies not want to oversaturate the market with music from one artist, or of one genre? There must be great musicians these days (and there are) who I'm sure wouldn't mind releasing album after album in a few months time.

Random Notes 9.15.08

So, where was I? Ah yes, babbling about random shit.

- I took my first sick day of the year. I've been on this medication that's making me cough all night. I'm going to switch medications. I was too tired to function today, after being too tired to function all last week. Although, I suppose I'll have to get used to this should I have kids someday.

- I was posting yesterday about which web sites I find myself visiting with regularity. I started thinking about which TV shows I watch with regularity. If I'm home, I usually find myself watching Sportscenter in the morning and then reruns of the Simpsons and Seinfeld in the evening (most of which I've seen already). I also regularly watch poker on the Game Show Network on Monday nights and The Soup every Saturday morning. In stretches recently, I found myself getting into (and then losing interest in) Lost and this awful show. I'd never watched Law and Order and for some reason was morbidly curious to watch this (spinoff?) train wreck of a show. Needless to say, Ice-T and co. have acting skills that make Bob Saget look like Laurence Olivier. Why do I watch such CRAP? There's not much else on TV. Is it just the medium? Freaks and Geeks was a flash of brilliance in a dark, dark talentless world. Yet, everytime some old Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is on, I'll watch, zombie-like, until some cast member shamelessly sings to promote their singing careers, get disgusted with myself, and then watch it again the next time it's on. Am I just occasionally attracted to crap TV, or is most of programmed TV "crap TV"?

- I find myself missing Joe Grossberg's blog and find myself struggling to understand the Twitter concept that he's moved to. Maybe I'm like Side Bar as far as not being able to comfortably adjust to new technology or something. Anyway, Joey is always on the cutting edge, and made the suggestion (which I am grateful for, because I love Facebook so far) that I should invest my time in Facebook instead of Myspace because Myspace "is for kids and retards these days". Regarding his blogging and writing, how can you not feel nostalgic for his brand of wit, with lines like this that state that his buddy "spouted trivia like Peter North spouted ejaculate - profusely and widely"? I still don't understand what happened to your blog being hacked, but come back Joey, you are missed.

- A poker question: When could you ever fold pocket aces pre-flop in poker? ("Never" is my response.) Well, my brother pointed out that there is one scenario - like if you are in a tournament, it's early, and you have pocket aces and six or seven clowns or so go all-in with reasonable hands, you are probably an underdog to win the pot. Sure, you are favored vs. any one of them heads up, but you are an underdog "versus the field". And, why risk going all-in when you are not a favorite, when you should be able to outplay them later on? An interesting point. Here's a site that can figure out odds in hands, for up to five people.

Random Notes 9.14.2008

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Random Notes 4/20/08

- Regarding today's date... I haven't done a 4/20 in years. I think the last time was just around the end of college... about 8.5 years ago. I miss it sometimes, but not enough to start again. Maybe I'll do a 10-year reunion celebration.


- Living in South Jersey, I've been going to Atlantic City for poker action more and more often as time has gone on. I like to find tournaments when I go. There are about 10 casinos that have poker, however. So, in my Favorites on Internet Explorer, I had a list of each casino's poker page that I could compile when I would decide to do down. I'd been doing this for months. However, recently, I realized that I could simplify my life and just go to Google and search for "Atlantic City Poker Tournaments". I quickly found something that had everything in one place (here's the link, if you're interested).

The point? Always search on Google first before you do anything else. I knew this, but just didn't think to do it.


- I used to spend time as a kid at a friend's house in Teaneck who lives on Brinkerhoff Road. Her family used to do something which I regarded as extremely quirky - they would always leave their computer's power on, even when they weren't using the computer. They would just turn the monitor off. I would question my friend and her parents about this. Their response was that it was "bad" for the computer to start up too much, and thus this was prolonging the life of their computer.

I don't know if they're right or not, but I will say that it would be convenient to not have to wait the 5 minutes or so for the computer to get started, booted, etc... each time I need to quickly do something. I've found myself leaving the power on even when I'm running out for a couple of hours.


- Finally, sports injuries really freak me out. I'm not that squeamish in general, but I can't watch injuries without being disgusted. I suppose that's natural. Anyway, if you have more balls than me, go to this link, watch some of the videos, and tell me what you think. I can't do it.

Random Notes 3/7/08

- Apparently Gnarls Barkley is coming out with a new album. Jerry's recent post about a band called Arcade Fire got me thinking about how much I loved Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere album from a couple of years ago, and how much I was hoping they'd do something else. Can't wait to hear it.

- Regarding the NBA: The Lakers are freakin great nowadays. The Pau Gasol trade is the biggest steal since we visited Provincetown and Gold walked out with two Koosh balls. I think they'll win the title this year - either them or the Spurs. Conversely, the Suns giving up Shawn Marion for Shaq was one of the most poorly thought out, counterproductive, nonsensical moves I can imagine. The Suns, if they do make the playoffs, will get bounced out early. I think the Nets made out well in the Jason Kidd trade, and I don't think Dallas will be that much better, if better at all, with Kidd.

- I think that guys grow beards, in general, for one of these reasons: 1) They are insecure about the way their features look; 2) They think they look more masculine and are insecure about that; 3) They think they look more intelligent / sophisticated; 4) They are getting fat in the face and think they look thinner; 5) apathy about shaving... umm... there are probably several more. Anyway, I've grown one. Like, I haven't shaved in weeks. I have a photo I just took on my webcam but realized I can't post, due to the anonymity thing. So, I was wondering why I've grown one then. I'd love to say for me it's strictly #5 from my list, but in reality psychoanalysis would probably reveal that it's mostly #4 for me, with a some #3 and #5 thrown in. It's definitely not #1 or #2 (I'm a good lookin' nigga... income comin' in... my shit it set.) I've endured several Knocked Up-style beard jokes so far. Maybe I shouldn't shave until the Knicks fire Isiah.

- I fractured the fingertip of my right index finger playing basketball three weeks ago. Nothing was displaced / dislocated on my finger, but it's been annoying and I've had to wear this gay splint on the fingertip. It's really bizarre that the bone in the fingertip broke but the rest of the finger is intact.

- And finally, hasn't George Carlin started to resemble Walt Clyde's father, for those of you that know him?

Random Notes Sat 11/3/07

- My obsession with Desktop Tower Defense has not abated. I got a new high score - 7252 - but when I attempted to post it to the ChuckJerry leader board (which has two members: myself and ChuckJerry) the website froze and it was lost. Ahh well, that score will be the Snuffleupagus to my Big Bird. By the way, did anybody know he had a first name? Aloysius?


- I have found myself quickly biting the style of the boys over at Where's Luke with posting a picture in each post and attempting a funny comment. I caught myself about to post a random photo of Snuffleupagus. I will refrain, for now.


- I'm really torn about buying NBA League Pass this year. It's been awesome to get home and be able to flip on any random NBA game. However, I don't know if I'm home often enough now to warrant it. The price is not that much when you consider all the games you get...


- I'm currently reading a book entitled "What's the Matter with Kansas?" I get bored with political discussions, but this book is very interesting.


- Is there any better time to read than on the shitter?


- ING Direct has been paying off well since we started to save there. Also incredibly easy and convenient.


- Six of us have started a Fantasy NBA league again this year. "I try to get out... and they keep PULLING me back in."


- And finally, Check out this list of "coolest blogs of 2005", and especially you NYC people, check out the first link about "Things Overheard in NYC". Obviously, there's no way to verify if these things are real or not, but entertaining nonetheless.