a common theme

a friend pointed out that there are even better pictures of ugly dogs here.

that includes munchkin:



does anyone remember the movie critters? i think this is the real thing.

bong hits 4 jesus

i'm not sure what to say about this story.

other than i feel like he should have spelled hits with a z. bong hitz 4 jesus. it just flooows, ya know?

important news!

click here for the big story of the week!



it's the world's ugliest dog.

check out the competition!

do you love bruce springsteen as much as i do?

then you'll love this. or maybe you won't. genius or insanity? you decide:

the opera.

first of all, i just want to point out that i balls out love opera.

it felt so good to sit on the cool grass, watching bats dart through the dusk, surrounded by friends and listening to incredible music. we organized a big crew and sat together giggling, struggling to contain our laughter and getting glares from old people in beach chairs.

but i mean, what do they expect? most of us couldn't understand a word. i wish the met had organized some sort of supertitles. i don't speak french so i really had no idea what was going on. when the tympani came in and the organ went dum-DUM-dum, then i knew the devil was about to sing. that's about it. the main character's name was marguerita, and they kept singing her name annunciated loudly and carefully, which made it sound like MAR-GAR-IIIII-TAAA. which just made me thirsty for a margarita.

non-musical highlight no. 1: meeting a super-hot and super-smart girl.

non-musical highlight no. 2: watching a day-old blackberry drop headfirst into a container of hummus.

oh, here's a great little story. as we were leaving the park, we hailed a yellow cab and this park slope couple ran up with kid in tow yelling, no wait! that's ours, we called him! [what? you don't call a yellow cab.] wait, we have a baby! they said to the driver. he asked us, well, where are you going? cobble hill and then into manhattan, we said. he asked the couple the same question. their answer: just around the corner, a couple blocks away. sorry, the driver said. i've got to take the longer fare. what? no. we have a baby! frustrated huffing etc. we drive away.

just because you have a baby doesn't mean you can poach our cab. back off, yuppies.

not blogging

today instead of blogging i am riding my bike to prospect park, working on my tan and watching free opera.

just thought y'all should know.

the best video game ever

so i've been thinking about buying a nintendo wii for a while now. i'm tempted but heading into a beautiful summer the last thing i need is a habit that keeps me indoors.

now i have a new motivator -- i just have to wait until they perfect this video game system. the game itself looks awfully boring, but man, those controllers are awesome!

an eternal mystery

whenever i head into the office (which is more and more rare these days), i take the 4 train from borough hall. it's easy and quick and gets me to within a couple blocks of red hot after a transfer to the 6.

but it also totally fucks with my head.

i swear, the train tracks under the borough hall station defy the laws of physics.

the 4 train to manhattan should travel north out of the station. but according to every piece of my internal logic, that damned train is heading south!

here's the deal.

i walk down joralemon st, heading just about due east.

i curse yet another starbucks as i walk down the subway stairs. at the bottom of the stairs, i turn left and head north towards the gates.

i turn right (east) and walk through the turnstile.

i make a left and head north. i walk to the stairs that lead to the manhattan-bound platform.

i turn right (east again) and walk down the stairs.

at the bottom of the stairs, i turn right to face the train platform. i am now facing southeast. the train comes from my left, heading southwest. right? but manhattan is to the north!

i've always been proud of my sense of direction. if i hadn't been with my family in europe at age 16, they'd probably still be lost somewhere in romania.

but seriously, i think if i don't figure this out i'm going to go crazy. hopefully not this crazy!

pity this busy monster,manunkind,

i'd say that i lean towards a compassionate existence, trying to understand the evil in the world without resorting to hatred or viciousness.

but here's something i don't understand:

why am i so incredibly satisfied that paris hilton is going back to jail?

one cnn anchor summed it up:

“It’s the kind of day where we’ll always have Paris.”

ouch.

am i shocked? no. am i dismayed? yes.

somehow i missed this story in last week's ny post:

Atlanta-based punk pop band Cartel has agreed to be caged in a 40-by-40- foot Fiberglas "bubble" planted at the tip of Pier 54 on the Hudson, where they will write, record and promote their sophomore record in 20 days.

according to the band's myspace page (where five MILLION people have listened to this so called "punk pop" garbage) they'll be exiting the bubble for a special engagement at... wait for it...

the iowa state fair.

ouch. i thought you were only supposed to play state fairs when your career was in decline.

but i guess if they're recording an album in a bubble, the decline started a long time ago...

two videos about baseball

okay, i usually don't put baseball stuff up here, but the mets blog is sort of defunct (as are the mets against the phillies so far -- damn you jimmy rollins). so here's a couple videos. first, here's a great clip of a manager for the mississippi braves arguing a call.

unfortunately, there's no way to hear what he's saying. if you're curious what the umpire and manager say to each other during these fights, watch the best arguer of all time -- the great earl weaver.

another american travesty

"The liberation movement is simply thrilled with the news! This is a triumph for grassroots civic action."

of course, this quote must be referring to the failure to effectively prosecute two foreign nationals imprisoned at guantanamo bay. right?

NO.

it's about paris fucking hilton, who's free after only five days in jail. freed due to a private medical matter.

there is no justice in america.

pictures!

so i went sailing yesterday. racing even! we finished last. but on such a beautiful day, who cares?

Sailing

hilarious!

speaking of sailing, here's a great time waster.

http://www.yachtrock.com/

sailing!

i am not going to work today. instead i am going sailing. hells yeah.

what i did yesterday instead of blogging

hey there. i miss you, blog. but sometimes you have to get outside. yesterday i spent nine disgusting hours overhauling my patio with the help of my sister and her friend molly. you see, my sister is moving to portland on monday [BOOOO!] and we're having a little going away bbq/dance party to send her off right. so the patio has to look its best. and it really does.

dammit, the pictures i took are sideways. but i have to go to work and i really want to show you.

my day thus far

sorry, dear readers, for the lack of postings this week. it's been a crazy one. i'm behind the bar five nights this week, plus things are picking up at red hot, plus it's my last friday with moxie. so let's work out that equation:

bar 10 hrs monday
+
bar 12 hrs tuesday
+
red hot 8 hrs wednesday
+
bar 10 hrs thursday
+
moxie 8 hrs friday
+
bar 10 hrs saturday
+
bar 12 hrs sunday
+
bar 10 hrs monday

um, is that an 80 hour work week? i don't know whether i can count monday twice.

and i wonder why i'm feeling strung out and exhausted. don't get me wrong, i love my bar and it's a great time of the year to work. this is just a long stretch.

to get to my original point, that being a detailed review of my day -- what else are blogs for?...

after closing the bar last night at 4 am, i came home and was surprised to find my housemates not only awake but quite active, cleaning the house even. for you see, dear readers, my beautiful apartment is being using as a location for a movie!

so i woke up at 9:30 to a production crew arriving at my house, complete with annoying yippy white dog and idiotic starlets. i tried to sleep in, which was not happening. eventually i was presented with the life-affirming experience of walking out of my room bleary, tired and unready for the morning, dressed only in a towel and blind, confronted with cameras and a dog named harpo and a dozen people in my kitchen.

i hate the movies.

songs of enchantment

from the last page of the book i just finished -- songs of enchantment by ben okri:

the girl began, singing:

how does love create immortality?

and the others replied:

love creates mystery.

and mystery creates thought.

thought creates action.

and action creates a life.

the essence of your life is your gospel.

and your gospel is your light.

your light is your immortality.

and so love creates immortality.

spanish pictures

click on the picture below to see my pictures!

adventures in spain

why to watch your children carefully