In order to remove the stigma that the candidate is “too old”, John Stewart has made a list of suggested words McCain should not be using any more, including:
contraption
dagnabbit
whipper-snapper
negro league
daguerreotype
And words that are older than he is:
telegraph
fossil
sarsaparilla
Some additional words I think should be added to this list:
dotard
flummoxed
hobnob
revelry
merrymaking
turnip
varmint
yore
maverick
Monday on my lunch break, I had the fan permanently focused in my direction, sitting on the couch watching the dvr replay of Countdown from last Friday. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a gray flash under the closet door. I quickly open the closet and out scurry a small mouse darting for the fridge across the kitchen. Shit we have a mouse.
The night of the party, Olly had told me he had a mouse and when I picked up my equipment one of my boxes was open and would have been accessible to a mouse to hide in. Great I’ve acquired Olly’s guest, or so I thought.
I remember having mice come in to the house from the local fields near our house and remembering how dad took care of em: snap traps with a spread of peanut butter. Still at “work” I blocked of the access to the apt from the fridge with glue traps for bugs. Later that evening I met E at Ace and she encouraged me to buy the glue traps because she had though they were more humane (according to Peta they apparently are not).
I bought four trays of death, placing them around the fridge, office and near the front door and then waited. It was a few days before I saw the mouse pop out again, only to avoid my traps and snap tosses of Tupperware to snag the rodent.
Thursday after work, I was wrapping up the day and ready to head out to happy hour when I heard a rustlin’ by the fridge… A mouse had been snared in the trap and with one foot out of the trap was trying to wiggle free. Sweet!
Friday, however, was not so sweet. E spied another one and we resolved that one was not a fluke, we have an infestation and it’s based behind the fridge. I hadn’t known if that was the only source so we put out the traps again and on Sunday we had the battle royal.
Today, again, Mickey scurried to the closet but it would soon be his last adventure from the dusty domain of our fridge. We quickly created a rodeo ring around the French door opening with the only exit giving access through a glue trap run. Extracting all the shoes, bags and winter gear we forced the second one through the hall of death and caught him in his tracks. This one two didn’t ’scream’ as I was told and I’m sure it struggled for a few days in the trash bin as two glue traps clasped it to it’s death. The trapped mice problem was superficial and I resolved this begrudgingly by extracting all our house appliances. With steal wool in one hand and a fat tube of cock in the others, I filled all the holes and secured our status as rodent free.
I can now rest easy with my bedroom door open to the A/C and frequent breeze.
Just a quick shot out to the woman for her birthday this month. I took her to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in the Four Seasons over the weekend and it was by far one of my top restaurant I’ve been to in the city. JR focusing on French with Japanese influences. We had the 6 course tasting and each was more unique and exquisite than the last.
By the time of writing this, this restaurant is voted the best in NYC by the user community at Yelp.
I’ve seen many a laser show in my day and have even booked the guys at UV99 for one of our last blow outs but this news is crazy and unique to the idiots running the lasers at this out door festival in Russia - revelers were subjected to intense laser burns when they were refracted down to eye level.
MOSCOW (Reuters story here) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.
Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.
Attendees at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival in Kirzhach, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Moscow, began seeking medical help days after the show, complaining of eye and vision problems, health officials told Reuters.
“They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible,” Kommersant quoted a treating ophthalmologist as saying.
Attendees said heavy rains forced organisers to erect massive tents for the all-night dance party, and lasers that normally illuminate upwards into the sky were instead partially refracted into the ravers’ eyes.
“I immediately had a spot like when you stare into the sun,” rave-attendee Dmitry told Kommersant.
“After three days I decided to go to the hospital. They examined me, asked if I had been at Open Air, and then put me straight in the hospital. I didn’t even get to go home and get my stuff,” he said
Now this is getting ridiculous. The absurdity is far reaching including, diluting desalinated seawater from Hawaii (at $33.50 for a two-ounce bottle, what type of cheap water do they add to dilute it) and Bling H2O is marketing a “luxury” brand of water that costs over a million dollars of what you get from the tap ($40 for 750 milliliters, with special-edition bottles going for $480). Read the rest of Shankar Vedantam’s report in the Washington Post.
I’ll stick to New Yorks finest for now…
NYC is the most populous city in the united states, with more people in closer proximity than in any other city. This living situation begets the reduction of personal space in public places - subways, sidewalks, department stores, and nightlife spots.
I spend the majority of my public hours shoulder to shoulder with new yorkers, citizens and any number of foreigners walking to the store for toothpaste, deodorant and my evenings dinner - all in plane site for those that I bump or pass by. I run in the park or along the waterfront sweating with the rest of the nyers trying to stay fit and shed some of the city’s stress. I spend Sunday afternoons with my friends at my local pub with the NFL package watching all the games at once well because they have more room than my living room and better access to food and beer.
This life is common for New York and something I seriously debated getting used to when looking at moving. I truly loved the flexibility of surrounding myself with people when I wanted and having the space to avoid them when I didn’t. However, in my 4+ years I, like the New Yorkers before me, have gotten used to living my private life publicly in the same manner.
We take ownership of life on the street as our own. This is our block, this butcher is my guy, that’s my Italian spot, I get my mozzarella from Joe’s, and this is my pub like as if this is my couch in my living room. When locals and even celebrities enter our home they become part of the scenery, part of the atmosphere and just party of the whole experience of being in NY. This is my time and Jay-z is here enjoying dinner at my spot, not the other way around.
In my time in NY I run into celebrities more here than anywhere I’ve lived and part of that is the closeness of everyone but also we all share the same environments you’re bound to have dinner next to Demi Moore and Ashton, crossing the same street under the same umbrella as Rosario Dawson, accidentally running over Giada De Laurentiis coming out of her hotel or having coffee with Famke Janssen at your local shop.
With celebrity sightings NYers may look twice because there is a moment of recognition; they process why the face is recognized, realize it is not someone you actually know, and move on. We’re inundated with their faces and people all the time.
Really though the last thing I need is one more person fawning over ME and taking my picture. Get a life, celebrities. Seriously.
Just after the match, I checked out Get Smart with Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and The Rock … uh I mean Dwayne Johnson. I never watched Mel Brooks’s spy comedy spoof Get Smart, I was even born then but besides, the only 60’s agent/spy show I was a fan of as a kid was The Man from U.N.K.L.E.. Not knowing the movie, I was entertained by Steve’s comedy delivery, although underused (I was told that the original Maxwell Smart character was more inept than capable as Steve portray’s his character). Unfortunately like most all of Hollywood’s bullshit blockbuster movies, Peter Segal’s version added the “guy gets the girl” cliché at the end and I was equally annoyed by Anne Hathaway’s presence, character and acting on the screen (over used - judging by the promo poster, you can tell whom the studios are pushing as the headliner). The miscast of the movie is James Caan as a president modeled on the frat boy styled George W. Bush.
While in the theater, I got a text from the Law that she had acquired free tickets to Carnegie Hall (thank you Riza!). Not knowing the show, I still wanted at least an opportunity to check this historic place out. Built entirely of masonry (without a steel frame) in 1891 and named after Andrew Carnegie, it is one of the most famous venues in the US for classical and popular music. Sunday’s showing was a Distinguished Concerts International New York performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Vesperae Solennes de Confessore” (K. 339) and guest conductor, Hank Dahlman.
Not that any of this rings a bell to the uninformed, me included, however, I still enjoy a good live show (yes even that Brooks n Dunn one in high school) in a respected forum and this particular one didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately because I was already at the movies, I had to run home, get out of the summer flip-flops and boardshorts to get a little more “respectable” for the Carnegie crowd (unfortunately the fat-assed midwesterners we sat behind had no concept of respect while chatting throughout the concert - and tourists wonder why NYers hate them). We didn’t get back until Intermission but the last half that we did catch was auditory entertainment. Notably the Soprano, Kristen Plumley had an excellent voice for her unexpectedly small frame. The acoustics for Carnegie are excellent and the Italian renaissance decor with vivid red velvet seating create a fantastic venue for such events. I look forward to the next opportunity to catch Foo Fighters, um I mean another classical music event here again.
Braving hurricane style flash storms, I headed up to Hell’s Kitchen for the Euro 2008 final at Lansdowne Road. Starting up at 2:30 we all had a full Irish breakfast (I usually pass on the congealed pigs blood aka black pudding but the rest is great hangover food) and after a few pints we switched to a beertower of stella when the first kick was tapped.
This year it was an exciting tournament. I watched many of the group stages with the French the surprise losers and Croatia and Turkey the surprise winners through the quarterfinals. The Spanish swept through their group and after a shoot out with Italy in the quarterfinals, they didn’t have any trouble taking out Russia again. Germany on the other hand were tournament favorites, even through they lost to Croatia and just taking out Portugal in the quarterfinals. Even though Turkey had several players hurt or on suspension, Germany struggled to close them out until the end.
The final was set. Germany, the tourny favorites vs. Spain, the team of superstars, but could they come together as a team. Not being part of Europe, I selected Portugal and Spain early on. The English aren’t fans of the Germans, to say the
With several Spaniards draped in their country’s flag and pogoing through the bar, there was a great energy for the match and as Torres scored the first goal, the bar erupted with cheers and stiff fists in the air. The match was tense as the Germans picked up their play, as they usually do in the second half and it was a great final match as +3 minutes after official time, the horn was blown and Spain won their 2nd ever Euro 2008.
So much for Enrique Iglesias’ “Can You Hear Me” as a motivating song for the Euro 2008:
Full Vid/Music
It’s my impression that chemicals, plants and liquids have been consumed for centuries to break down communication barriers and improve social interactions. Why do people go to bars? So the latest news that a hormone, Oxytocin released during childbirth or after an orgasm has been tested and is being extended to improve social recognition and bonding, reduce anxiety, and improve maternal behaviors is not new news. This research has been on going for years but has sparked renewed interest from a story out of the UK that states Oxytocin “cures” shyness. Well to be fair this doesn’t cure shyness, it just improved a sense of familiarity and bonding between people which may lead to reduce anxiety when speaking with new people.
It’s being called the “trust drug” or the “love drug” for it’s role in social attachments and a behavior of enduing human trust or bonding among other humans. This may be natures natural drug to increase motherly behavior between mothers and their children, or between mating humans because oxytocin has been detected in elevated levels in the bloodstream during orgasm, childbirth and breast-feeding. [ABC]
This “love drug” is not a new concept and in the 70s and through to today, one other substance was tied to bonding: MDMA or Ecstasy. Some studies have linked the use of Ecstacy to the production of Oxytocin in humans which has caused the welcomed effect of bonding and loving thy neighbors during its use (from the Journal of Neuroscience). This effect was a primary reason Ecstasy was prescribed during in psychology sessions and during couples therapy. Of course it was the psychedelic side effects of the drug that lead to it’s persecution and subsequent illegal stature.
Of course all good things seem to come under the eyes of the FDA when they aren’t able to get their own money from the usage so even Oxytocin usage has been recently scrutinized. Shyness is not a disease but more of a social behavior which takes more than drugs to “get over”. Therapy is probably a better solution to overcoming the anxiety from being social, but I’m sure a little Oxytocin floating in the air could certainly elevate the mood (bars pay attention!).
Thank you for challenging us to think, and helping us realize what bullshit truly is.
A Message by George Carlin:
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.
Remember, to say, ‘I love you’ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
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