Walking Wounded

Farewell!

2006-10-02T16:24:00.000-05:00

From now on Walking Wounded will be no more. Thank you all for your input and for reading what I had to say. It was real. To continue with me on my journey, head on over here to see my new blog!

SYS

An End of Things As Well As A New Beginning.

2006-09-19T03:26:00.000-05:00

Life has been brimming continually as summer has now all but gone completely. I have found time here and there to think about people, places and things. Basically, I have done some pre-Fall cleaning of sorts for the soul. And you'd be amazed of what I found and conclusions I made.

In the beginning of Walking Wounded, which will approach its two-year anniversary very soon, my life was very much suffering from a type of blunt trauma if you will. I was hit with a seemingly unseen punch on top of a hit I had seen coming for some time in advance. I think of the "anchor" punch Ali brought upon Liston - spectators had a hard time seeing a punch thrown at all. But the result made history nonetheless. It would not be until after footage of the epic match-up was examined that Ali indeed hit Liston with a punch he did not see coming, leaving the bigger, stronger Liston on the canvas. This is an excellent example of hindsight almost always being 20/20.

I guess you could say that in my own special way I have been Liston. I got hit with a punch I did not see coming, fell for a bit, got up and eventually looked back at the tape to see exactly what happened. Yep, I got knocked out, that's not in doubt. But what did I learn from this experience? Plenty!

Walking Wounded has served as a place for me to share the whimsical as well as crucial parts of my life in order for me to deal with where I came up short and deal with the ever eminent fear of loss. The loss of a loved one AND the loss of a lover. Two unique events that were connected in a deep, dim and murky way. As the understanding of those events was shaping itself, I felt encouraged to share other parts of my life that were more or less benign and unobtrusive. Not only did this prevent me from sinking into a depressive abyss of emotional pain, but allowed others who happened by to peak into my life (ME, really) and see what exactly makes me tick. It didn't take long for me to realize that despite being knocked out, I still had a widening attention span for my continuing life and events that shape life. With scraped knees and I got back on the bike and pedaled madly to get the wind blowing through my hair once again. Needless to say, the wind has been blowing now for nearly 18 months and shows no sign of stopping!

So in essense, "Walking Wounded" no longer fits me as a persona or a conceptualization of my present life and well being. I am no longer walking wounded in life but walking taller with a more confident stride and definitely bright-eyed once again towards a world just two years ago would have seemed gloomed and doomed. I have taken part in the bittersweet symphony again as an active player, fleet of foot and ready for what lies around the corner. I find that I am able to read again with retention and have taken a keen interest in politics as of late - something I had become disenfranchised with a decade ago. I'm living in a not-so-new state and city too, mind you. Lincoln, NE has welcomed me with open arms and the people whom I've had the pleasure of meeting throughout this past year have been a great network. Of course, my crew (or should I say my CORE) from back home have always been there and have been an immense comfort for me during the whole transition. The definition of friend is a person who sticks around and is there for you throught thick and thin, good and bad and all moments in between. To Mike I., Mike P., Morgan F., Kenny H., and Mike M. I owe an awful lot!

So without further ado, I am hereby announcing the end of Walking Wounded. This doesn't mean that I am not going to blog anymore, it simply means that I am at the stage where I need to take a whole new direction in my assessment of my life, the world around me and my experiences with people. It's time for a fresh look, a clean(er) slate.

Soon I will announce the new blog with URL as soon as I am finished ironing out the wrinkles a bit. Until then, I want my readers to be well and hope to see you on my new space shortly.

SYS

2006-08-23T20:18:00.000-05:00

Wasn’t it Ken Richardson who said that innovation was the ultimate practical application of the imagination? Two Japanese hikers, one paralyzed from the neck down, made it to within 500 yards of the summit of 13,741ft Breithorn mountain in Switzerland. Normally, this would not be a great story of the power of personal will in overcoming obstacles and achieving goals. But what makes this story special is the team’s use of a robotic exoskeleton. With the aid of the HAL or hybrid assistive limb robotic suit developed by Cyberdyne of Japan (talk about irony) the two-man team was able to make the trek up the mountain “piggy-back” style. With use of the HAL suit, a person normally able to lift 220 lbs on a leg press can lift an amazing 396 lbs. This is an 80% increase if lifting capacity. More on this story can be found here.

Below is a mark-up of the HAL-3 assistive suit.

SYS

Now I've said before...

2006-08-21T04:55:00.000-05:00

...that Technology is like a bitch who really knows how to fuck. Apparently, she's also quite the cock tease. Check this sexy beast out over at Engadget and tell me it doesn't give you a hard-on!

Why do the limeys have to be so fucking lucky???

SYS

Something I've Always Wanted to Know...

2006-08-19T15:56:00.000-05:00

Big Johnny Johnston
People Iced:	Thirty Eight
Car Bombs Planted:	Eight
Favorite Weapon	Curdled Milk
Arms Broken:	Twenty Nine
Eyes Gouged:	Seven
Tongues Cut Off:	Eleven
Biggest Enemy:	Buck-Eyed Bart
Get Your HITMAN Name

Curlded milk, eh?

SYS

Thank heavens for small victories!

2006-08-03T19:55:00.000-05:00

Today could best be summed up by weaving a sweater out of a mass of wild yarn.

I woke this morning knowing that I would have a lot on my plate; running around as well as little fix-it projects to get done so that I don't go completely insane. If you're like me then you'll realize that procrastination is one thing but once too many things start to build up you can feel Mr. Hyde rearing his ugly head! One thing that got me pissed off the night before happened just before I left my apartment for downtown. I go to hit the tab on my throne to flush and SNAP, then nothing. No flush. No rattling. Nada. "Shit," I say to myself as I lift off the porcelain lid to see what the fuck happened. My instincts were correct: the chain broke connecting the flapper to the lever. This is no big deal, just cut of the bad link in the chain and reattach the chain to the flapper and the lever and Voila - just like nothing ever happened. Well, upon closer inspection the chain wasn't a chain at all but a plastic/rubberized strip that looked something like a zip tie. So the thing snapped in half and there was no way to simply reattach it. What a piece of shit! So I ended up calling my property manager's office to send someone to fix it. The dude showed up quick enough and the problem was solved but in the mean time I had two BMs.

Shite.

SYS

Approaching the last weekend of round 1...

2006-08-01T03:23:00.000-05:00

...and I am worn out to say the least! But this isn't a bad thing considering my involvement in the tourney thus far and the fact that the tourney has been a super great time! Being a judge this year is probably a lot harder than it has been in past years because this year has an actual scoring rubric. A pretty detailed one at that. This is an excellent step to being able to quantify what we see and hear a DJ due during a set. It beats just sitting their, listening and then trying to qualitatively decide who was better. The qualitative process alone brings in so much error to the equation. (I'm not even going to go into it here.)

The weekend I had initially wrote I would be judging turned out to be false. Instead, they used me twice on this past Friday and Saturday night to finish out the second-to-last quarter bracket. Last first round bracket will be completed this weekend on August 3rd, 4th and 5th (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights). All of the DJs who have entered thus far are really good. Some have obvious faults which can be attributed to lack of experience playing in front of a croud and lack of experience playing with different equipment. After all, it is easy for us to master our own kit. The trouble is getting other devices that you don't know to put out like your kit does. This is something that can only come from experience and getting around and playing with other DJs. Just talking to them you can pass a lot of knowledge between a group. Also, it doesn't hurt to ask about a certain plateau or "brick wall" you may be facing. In the hunt for a new sound or new trick behind the decks, we often get hunkered down in technique when what we should be doing is allowing ourselves to improv every now and then. Many of of the neatest tricks and turntable wizardry have been discovered through pure accident.

In any case, the losers in the opening rounds I have made it a point to shake their hands and give them definite kudos and head-knods for their efforts. I mean it takes a lot of minerals to get up their and look at three judges staring at you plus hoping everything in your set goes smoothly. It can flat rattle people in that situation.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get a dynamic link of the bracket I created up and running so that all who give a shit can following along with the competition. I may have to do some snooping around in order to solve this problem or I may have to resort to printing, scanning and creating a pdf or slide of some kind. Y'all will know once I get it right - because I will be happier and excited like the crazy person I am!

***

On a less happy note, Biggah-B had a buddy over in Germany die from complications resulting from a seizure. I'm not quite sure of the absolute details, but I do know the person suffered from periodic seizures. I hope to learn more from Biggah-B and the crew as time goes on as I am only slightly experienced with seizure disorders.

My grandmother before she passed used to get seizures when she could no longer walk. She was able to move herself and position herself on a bedside or commode if she was exiting a wheelchair or some other transport device, but shortly afterwords she would have a bout of some sort. It could be just her sitting and twitching a bit or it could be a more animated type of convulsion. Luckily, they would never knock her off balance, meaning she would never fall off the chair, bed or commode. But what she would definitely experience would be a loss of time. Often, when she came out she had no idea what time it was or where she was for brief moments until she was aclimated by familiar voices and surroundings.

If you are interested, click the word "seizure" above or following this link for further information on epilepsy and related disorders.

Biggah-B feel better. I know exactly what you are going through. Time will heal all wounds. My deepest sympathy and regards to your friend's family.

SYS

Breaking News and Errors to Correct

2006-07-20T17:36:00.000-05:00

First off, the link in my last entry to my Bracket for Bricktop's 4th Annual DJ Spin-Off is INCORRECT! Turns out the link is not a dynamic link meaning it does not reflect the new Url created everytime I update the Google Spreadsheet. If the url were dynamic it would auto-update the newest version of the spreasheet for the link. (Side note: I might have to write Google about this because this is a real pain in the arse!)

In the meantime I made a few scans of the spreadsheet as .jpg files for your viewing here:

I had to rescale the bracket to make it more reader friendly but y'all get the drift. Now if this were anything similar to my March Madness Pool Brackets, and we were betting on the winner of the year's Spin-Off, the bracket would automatically update a players score given the correct choices made for the advancing DJs per round. Ah, but the Spin-Off is about the music and not about making money!

Alas, I cannot wait until next March...

Oh and I almost forgot, I will be a guest judge tonight for the continuation of first round competition at the DJ Spin-Off! For those new to the competition I would highly recommend you attend because the music is really good and obviously the Bricktop vibe is second to none in the great city of Lincoln. So for all those who can make it, see you there!

SYS

So far so good!

2006-07-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

But still I like to keep my fingers crossed...

Bricktop's 4th Annual DJ Spin-Off 2006 went off without a hitch, well at least without a MAJOR hitch! It turns out that I am still ironing out the wrinkles working with my newest toy, a high definition camcorder from Sony. As with all Sony equipment they rely on proprietary peripherals and accessories. This fact had slipped my mind when the Geek Squad over at Best Buy sold me the unit and included all of their name brand firewires and batteries. None of them worked with the camera at all and now I was forced to order the firewire cable from Sony which will take about a week to arrive!

Is this a major big deal? No. Because I can still record with the unit and take simultganeous still images. These images are downloadable via USB 2.0 so no problems there. Just have to wait to get the video on my PC for editing. That's the one thorn in my side for me. Because this means my video coverage of this year's DJ Spin-Off will have to wait until at least the second round. Blah! But it's better then nothing.

For those who are interested in brackets you can take a look here to see the current standings as well as take a peek at what Google Spreadsheets looks like. (Bracket was created with Google Spreadsheets. Head on over to Google Labs to learn more.)

More and more I believe what my late Pop used to say...

2006-07-11T02:10:00.000-05:00

"Money truly is the root of all evil."

I could not help but notice this article in USA Today. Obviously, I'm glad this has NOTHING to do whatsoever with a terrorist attack. But I'm still shaken by the fact that this could have happened over the potential surrender of a Brownstone worth some $5 million as conditioned in a divorce settlement. Investigations have not concluded, so new information could develop.

But still, in light of the fact that neither party would have acquired the Brownstone outright (the cash value at time of sale would be split amongst the divorcees), I have to ask the following question. Would blowing up the building really be worth the risk of lives lost of people who were not even involved in the divorce???

Don't get me wrong, I would not want something (home, vehicle, etc.) to be awarded outright to my ex-wife simply because she was divorcing me. In the heat of the moment it might dawn on me to sabotage an asset lost in a settlement. I would be able to palette a lot easier splitting assets in such a way that is fair, even if it did involve their outright sale. Better still, I would most likely want my children to have certain assets for themselves to do so as they wish.

Still it makes me scratch my head. Hopefully, the investigations ongoing will show some conclusion other than the divorce and money. Even if it turns out to be an accident resulting from a gas leak, its still tragic and nerve-racking for citizens of NYC!

SYS

What time of the month is "this???"

2006-07-04T18:13:00.000-05:00

Things that make you go, "WTF???"

Strong Island wants you to see this Jetpak!

2006-07-04T17:00:00.000-05:00

strong_island_dave wants you to see a Jetpak titled:

Fuel Cell Technologies

This is a new venture using the Jeteye utility. Jeteye allows you to basically collect snippets here and there on the web related to a common theme or subject and creat a "jetpack" with the information bundled and ready to be distributed to other members of your contact group. I think this utility has a lot of potential due to the fact that it functions much like a clipboard, but also has the ability to keep track of where (what source) content was obtained. That's pretty cool for research! Wish this existed back when I was in Grad school working on my thesis.

Jeteye is a new way to use and share the web.

Jetpak - a collection of web links, notes, videos or images assembled by anyone about anything. Jetpaks are the ultimate container of your web activity.

Get Jeteye to drag and drop any web content into a Jetpak. It's that simple.

Jeteye Technologies, Inc. • 244 Jackson Street, Suite 200 • San Francisco, CA 94111-1826
Tel: +1 415 946 2112 • Fax: +1 415 834 9185 • www.jeteye.com
(c) 2006 - All rights reserved. Patents pending.

***

Now the above entry looked totally different in the preview window! But that's alright. Once the kinks are worked out, this will kick some major ass!

SYS

Fun with more Google tools!

2006-07-03T20:54:00.000-05:00

Is it me or does it seem that Google is one of a very few technology companies actually coming up with really cool and useful stuff for the web and your PC? Well I would definitely argue that the guys and gals at Google are on to some great things! Just got done setting up this calender through . Works pretty well and can integrate with Gmail which is pretty sweet. Lot's of features I haven't gotten to read about yet but I'm sure you get the idea of what can be done with this API.

SYS

New annoyances...

2006-06-27T17:58:00.000-05:00

Let me just go ahead and lay this one out first in a fast and furious way...

The other day at work, which by the way was the usual Tuesday that I would not really remember in a week, something odd happened. This woman who looked to be about 60 years in age came into the store with a girl who was visually impaired. Now the woman was white and the girl was black, so I figured the child was a student of the woman. The woman had a professional dress about her plus she had some sort of ID tag around her neck that I never got close enough to peek at.

The woman asked about a CD I had playing in the store's in house player which was DJ SPOOKY's newest release:

some of the hottest dub and overall a great compilation of dub hits I have seen in a while! Leave it to That Subliminal Kid to deliver. Now this is nothing odd, because I have developed a recent knack for playing really extreme genres of music in-store and have customers who appear to not be someone interested in music of that genre end up buying the CD. For instance, a grey haired old woman buying a Drum and Bass compilation CD. It is possible to predict but is very hard to imagine grandma digging a little Speedy J with her afternoon Earl Grey.

Then the woman asks if we can help her child find a certain CD, hold the DJ Spooky joint and that she would be back shortly. Back shortly? You mean to tell me you are going to run off and do errands and leave this girl here in the store. Say it ain't so! Well, that's exactly what she did. So Chowday and I have a quick conference and we are in agreement. The old woman is fucked in the head!

Now I'm not sure of the whole situation as far as the relationship between the woman and the visually impaired girl but would it ever occcur to any of you to go ahead and leave your child in a store while you went off to finish up errands. I don't care if you are trying to buy a surprise gift for your child, you can make better arrangements than this! What if something were to happen? I'm not saying a child with decent vision would be any better off technically but having a visual impairement can only make things even more complicated as far as I can imagine. I think people in general need to get their heads out of their asses and take a moment to THINK about what you're going to do before you actually do it.

On a side note, the woman came back to pick up her child. Her child never left the store and was completely fine for the 45 minutes or so the woman was gone.

But it's the priciple of the matter, would you agree?

SYS

HOLY SHIT!!!

2006-06-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

As I watched the match unfold in front of my eyes all I could say was, "Holy Shit!" Ghana with their first win against a European Football Team since 1964 has forced a three-way tie for the top spot in Group E. This opens things up for USA if we can get our shit together a get a win against Italy this afternoon.

Those like myself who watched USA's first match against Czech Republic were greated by the "ugly head" of yet another USA National team overhyped and geared for disappointment in World Cup 2006. But if the team can take this opportunity and collect themselves and play their asses off they just might make things very interesting in Group E. The good thing about today's match-up between USA and Italy is that neither team can advance with a win OR be eliminated by a loss. This eleviates pressure on both sides but there is goal differentials to be concerned with.

Anyway, I'm rambling on now cause I can hardly wait for the match to begin. Good thing I live on the ground floor otherwise this match might make me jump out the window! LOL

SYS

Who said sharing needles was bad?

2006-06-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

Click here to see all the fun you've been missing!

On a more serious note, yesterday was 6/6/06 and guess what? The world did not end! The world is too smart for that. And by the world I am talking about planet "Earth" and not human society. Human society collectively is a naive institution which cannot see further than five minutes in front of their faces. Of course exceptions exist as there are peops I have met in my life that I would consider to be on top of things. My uncle always said that ninety percent of the people in the world are assholes and that you should feel lucky to have known a few of the other ten percent before you take the eternal dirt nap. I feel I am on the right track, yeppers!

One thing about yesterday that was pretty frightening was that I had to spend almost the entire day in traffic court over a ticket I received. Again, not being from around these parts I am learning new shit all the time. But back home, if an officer gave you a ticket, all of the information on said ticket would be accurate. Well, at least this is a theory. Turns out that the copy of the ticket I originally received differed greatly from the version that the officer eventually turned in. After having the City DA show me the modified ticket (clearly edited with a different colored pen and line-throughs) it was clearly quite different than the one I had received. In short, apparently the interesection at which I was pulled over amazingly changed to a different one. So needless to say, this matter will be going to trial, meaning more aggrevation and time spent downtown (and we're not talking the bars, obviously). Let's hope they don't decide to switch up a few charges and try to throw me in jail or something. LOL Not likely but it would still make for an interesting story to write home about...

Another thing that made 6/6/06 seem a bit creepy was the fact that I was contacted. Not by the anti-christ, but close to it: My ex! A not-so-long story I will have to put off diving into because I am feeling too chipper and feelings of disgust and outrage tend to affect the way I mix. I want to get some practice time in before my property manager can technically call the fuzz on me for disturbing the peace. To me the peace refers merely to the residents upstairs who sound like they have been moving furniture every other night since they arrived (we're talking two months ago).

Perhaps, I'm focusing on the wrong peace/piece. Maybe instead of peace I should be focusing on piece a la piece of ass, piece of cake, piece of vinyl. VINYL, yes! Dave you is a smart mofo! Off to mix...

SYS

It's prolly a bad idea...

2006-06-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

...to give two drunk people black mega-Sharpies...

...because a Sharpie fight will surely breakout...

...the victor of which will deem it necessary to mark his or her territory, regardless of whether its your private property...

...not to worry, once the Sharpies are put down, many a brew are consumed...

...just some after-hours at Donners!

SYS

Recovery is now complete.

2006-06-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Before I continue with this post I feel the need to address something that has been bugging me lately. As all of you know, when I started Walking Wounded it was more a labor of love than a necessary daily or weekly chore. I jumped into the world of blogging "head first" and became quickly engrossed in all the avenues therein. Peeking into the lives of others while at the same time people were peeking into my life was a totally awesome thing because I found I had more in common with people in general than I thought I did. But I see lately, the give and take has not been the same.

I find that more often than not I have little or no energy to Blog anymore. Is my life getting dull? Far from it, really. I do find that I am susceptable to other distractions and one of them is MySpace.com. Since openning a MySpace page I have found that everyone in my city has one. So its not like I don't have reason to check my Myspace page more often than Walking Wounded, simply due to the fact that it provides more information about local events in my city. But one thing that Myspace cannot provide is the proper venue to share my deeper thoughts, realizations, observations and other more intimate discourse. That I tend to save for right here, feeling that is people want to they can head here to see what might be bugging me or what I'm currently into as far as politics, economics and the environment. When I have news on a cool local event, its Myspace I head to. When its something deeper or something I feel like sharing with my readers here then I post here.

So why is it I am not posting as much as I usually do. I have a feeling I have not been as dilligent recording some of the funny, freaky, retarded, thought provoking shit that has been occuring lately. That needs to change due to the fact that a lot has been happening that I would deem proper to share, but I have not been sharing. Basically, I'm not keeping up with my end of the deal! I'm a big ol' slacker, ain't I? *wink*

However, since I have recovered from my Birthday/Memorial Day Weekend with my visitors from Long Island, I'd like to catch up on some thigns that happened. And lots of cool shit took place.

First and foremost, the party I threw at Bricktop was a raving success! Yes, I went a little bit over budget but all in all it was a successful night in which we were able to bring Josh The Funky 1 to the city of Lincoln, NE. He played great music and his turntable skills are really tight as hell. He is a decent blend of club DJ and turntablist. I suggest anyone whose into funky house (even if you don't know what funky house is) to get his CD. It's that good!

One thing I wish I had was more pictures but obviously I was partying as though I just turned 31! LOL You can go here to see some pictures of the night. Sadly, I am not in a single one but that's probably due to the fact that I was floating all night making sure VIPs got their drinks and that all those on my guest list got in with no hang-ups. The night was super cool thanks in part to Bricktop and my boys from back home who stepped up to make sure things ran smoothly!

And of course, I have to add these random, candid moments to the official record of what's been going on lately because they have been the craziest shit. First, I'll start with my crew from NY.

You see the first night they stayed at my crib and let's just say things were pretty "tight" with four alpha-males being cramped into my apartment. Now my apartment is not small by any stretch of the imagination BUT it seemed to shrink once everyone got settled in on the first night around 4:30am. The next morning I took some paparazzi-style shots of them checking their eyelids for holes!

For shits and giggles I should have pitched a tent in the living room and told them that's where they'd be sleeping and see their reaction. One good thing was that the two of my crew ended up getting rooms at the Cornhusker Hotel which helped eleviate the crampness once Monkey made his flight into Omaha. Four in my crib was tight but FIVE would have been chaos. Kudos to Method and Merzy all the way!

SYS

The first wave has landed!!!

2006-05-25T04:31:00.000-05:00

Too bad I am too tired to write a formal post but I do have just enough energy to quickly blurt out that Merzy, Methodical and H-Bomb have made it successfully to the great state of Nebraska and the welcoming city of Lincoln. Of course, as is usual for SWA, their flight was delayed heading out of Midway. But really I'm glad they made it out here without too much of a hiccup!

Tomorrow we shall see some sites around the city, visit friendly faces, and generally just wander about. I do have a few last minute things to take care of in preparation for my party on Friday and much happened this week leading into today, but this will have to wait until I am able to not drool over the keyboard in a half-sleep state. Oh well. You'll be hearing from me shortly!

SYS

A week I will not soon forget!

2006-05-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

Such was the theme of my past week. It all started from an out of the blue message I received over at my Myspace page from my ex-fiancee Melissa. Initially, I didn't know who it was through the way I received the contact. I wish the rest of the story was as light-hearted as it began.

I have my cell phone set up to receive message notifications from my Myspace account. This is convenient because the notifications are in the form of text messages which I can easily flip open my phone, read and then get back to what I was doing. The only thing that sucks a bit is that you get notified who sent you the message but not the subject of the message or any of the body contents. So when my phone did its jingle on Monday I looked down and saw that I received a message from "Sweet as Sin." Not recognizing who this was, I immediately dismissed it as a bird I must have met at Bricktop over the weekend.

When I got home I did my usual routine of showering, getting some dinner and starting to unwind before going out. So I hop in front of the computer and log in to Myspace to read my messages looking forward to seeing who "Sweet as Sin" was. Well, needless to say I was shocked to find out that "Sweet as Sin" was none other than my ex-fiancee. Now mind you we have not conversed for nearly six months and now out of the blue she was contacting me, sort of caused the old internal CPU to stutter.

Of course, the reason for her contact was nothing appealing in the least especially since it mentioned nothing about the money she owes me. But to be honest, in the last six months I had really considered it a lost cause and chocked it up to my own stupidity for helping her out after she left me. Possibly I was motivated by guilt (the belief of many of my close friends) or perhaps the airy notion that she would see my kindness as grounds for giving us another try (we were together six years) knowing that I did care for her. But since she went off and had her time in Hawaii in the fall of 2004 with a dude who basically went through her money, the shit she pulled at my buddy Mike's wedding January of 2005 and all of our sporatic phone conversations before I went to Africa, I abondoned those notions. I have no reason to feel guilty regarding anything in our past relationship because for the entire time we were together "I" loved her. One lesson I have learned through all the pain is to keep a close watch of things and read the signals. For six months before moving out of NY she was carrying on a life separate from mine, this is true. The fact that she was able to do it under my nose has been a source of reflection on my part.

So it was bad enough I received this unwanted contact and that it initially (and temporarily thank heaven) acted as lemon juice in a paper cut, but while I was at work I had a very unlikely visitor. Can you guess? My ex-fiancee's MOTHER walks in and, after some brief small talk, begins questioning me about this whole situation. WTF? I thought I had seen everything but this truly boggle both my mind and my buddy Tres who I was working with the morning she came in. Is my ex that unstable that she needs to send "mommy" in to take care of her dirty work? What was the idea behind such a move? I have a feeling more regarding this will be developing unfortunately. So I will of course have plenty to say, do and write about. Well, at least both the Mets and the Yankees are in first place. You can't have anything in life but having that is pretty damn sweet!

SYS

Friends, Romans and Countrymen...

2006-04-30T21:46:00.000-05:00

You know its going to be one of those nights when my man hear already begins closing speeches before we've had our last pints!

I had one of those crazy nights at Bricktop when the vibe is just so chill you can act like a complete ass and everyone else is like, "I'm all in!" This week was "dead week" for the city as all the major colleges are preparing for finals week. Everyone who takes school at least half serious was hybernating with their notes and texts cracking down for the exams this week. But last weekend was a kind of feast before the fast and everyone came out to party hard.

IT'S...

ALL...

ABOUT...

THE...

LOVE!

And striking a pose... LOL

Is there an emcee in the house? Holy shit there is! And quite a talented one at that although I won't hold him to it after sharing some of the old black gold. Oi, the stuff is so choice!

The dance floor looked like something of a block party with sporatic dancing and posing. But the music was slammin' and it more than motivated me to bring the crew out for a little shaking of the arses! As usual I got into the groove and became a shutterbug as I snapped shots in motion. Some came out well and others were just plain stupid. I mean that in a fun, random way.

Sorry dude, there is no escape from my camera's eye! LOL

Wow, looks like Cleveland found someone else who is "number 1" too. Leave it to him to let that person know right away. You can't knock the hussle, eh?

Well...

this is another fine mess you've gotten me into. Damn you black gold. Damn you straight to hell. Well, maybe not right away... yum!

SYS

Read this story and get the message!!!

2006-04-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

This story is true and happened last week to friends of mine back in New York. It hit me rather hard despite no one being seriously injured but also struck me in a way that reminded me just how simple things we overlook everyday have the potential to become big problems. The moral of this story is rather obvious but I felt I needed to bring it to my readers attention because you just never know. This could save someone's life and the lives of their family.

______________________________________________________________________________

On April 18, 2006, at 12:30 am our smoke detectors went off. This happens about every other month, so it’s gotten to where we get up all annoyed not panicked. Sean woke me up and I thought it was my alarm clock and I tried to hit the off button. When we got into the hallway we smelled something weird, it didn’t smell like smoke but it wasn’t right. I checked on Liam since he was crying and Sean went to go downstairs to check the dryer that he turned on before we went to bed at 11 pm. I gave Liam his binky and went to check on Emma. When I pushed her door open, (it wasn’t latched but we keep it closed so the stupid cats don’t wake them up) I could see grayish smoke filling her room. As I entered her room I saw that her humidifier was on fire and flames were starting to come out the top. The humidifier was not on but we had it plugged in. Emma was sitting up in bed not saying anything, just looking like she was in a daze. I yelled at her about two times to get out and she still just sat there. Sean heard me yelling and came running back to her room, I picked Emma up and put her in the hall and told her to go to the living room and I will be right there, I have to get your brother. I got Liam and brought him to the living room. I grabbed the fire extinguisher from the kitchen and went back to Emma’s room but Sean already had the fire out by using Dixie cups of water. The smoke was thick in Emma’s room and it was starting to spread throughout the house so I took the kids out on the front porch.

I called my Dad and asked him to come over to check the wiring and that’s when it hit me. Emma was 6 inches from being caught on fire. Her curtains were about 3 inches from the humidifier; they could have gone on fire easily. If it weren’t for our smoke detectors she would be dead. We were lucky; the smell of the burning plastic is all we have to contend with now. After stripping our bedrooms bare and cleaning everything you can still smell it. Nothing was wrong with the wiring; it was the fault of the humidifier.

I was always one of those people who thought it couldn’t happen to me, especially since I was already in a fire when I was 3 months old, what are the chances of it happening to me again.

If you do not have smoke detectors GET THEM!

If you have smoke detectors CHECK THEM!

If you have never had fire drill with your family, have one. Even though Emma is only 4 she now understands what the smoke detector is, what to do if it goes off and where to met us in the front yard.

Please feel free to pass this on to everyone you know.

Tara Hill

______________________________________________________________________________

Here are some pictures of the burned unit. I know this makes little sense but when I look at this thing it looks so harmless, you know. Not like it could just go up in flames. All appliances have this danger, true, but they are manufacturing them to look more and more like toys. A toy couldn't possibly hurt you. But we all know that is untrue at times as well. In any light, this story freaked me out quite a bit and could have explained some indiscretions I took part in last week. But more on that latter as I try and sort that out.

I am so glad they are okay because not only is Sean a good friend but their children are so cute. I'll have to dig up some photos and post 'em sometime.

SYS

Tie up some loose ends, shall we?

2006-04-10T17:27:00.000-05:00

During a busy week you tend to see many things. They collect in the mind a long with a bunch of thoughts pertaining but really don't add up to anything more than blurps. So this post I dedicate to a string of blurps I've collected.

We used to have a nice and inviting lobby at Homer's until this piece of shit was placed there. Homer's shares a common lobby space with a Big Apple Bagels shop next door. Apparently, the owner gave permission for the placement of the machine in the lobby.

But why the hell does it have to be on OUR side of the lobby. Homer's doesn't claim to be kiddie friendly (although we are friendly to everyone, well, most Homer's employees are) nor did we claim to be into coin-op machines. Just after we decided to cut some of the advertizing from the windows to add some more ambient sunlight into the store *BANG* we have the back of a machine to look at. What a fucking knob job, eh? It's not like anyone would go goo-goo-gah-gah over these plushables.

Speaking of more shit that just makes me scratch my head AND clench my colon, what is up with life-sized cardboard cut outs of celebs? Cool, let me stand next to this bitch and smile and act the fool like I'm actually chillin' out with the dumby. It just doesn't make sense to me. Even for a marketing display, I could figure out about a hundred better ideas than putting a life-sized cardboard cut out of let's say MY ASS to try and sell my shit.

This particular card board cut out was made a little bit more tolerable with some tough-n-cheek humor:

I've pretty much gotten used to having to look at this sight at least once a day when I'm at Homer's but still the thing creeps me out when I'm scanning for shoplifter punks and I get this staring back at me. If only I dug blondes and if only she didn't look so artificial! YES, I realize this is a cardboard cut out and therefore looks artificial. But if you missed my sarcasm then you may need to put down the quaaludes and pay attention because I was spreading the sarcasm like JIF.

This pretty much sums up how we feel about the mid-week hump, so I won't add anything to it.

And on a lighter note, every look at the ghost in the DJ! LOL

SYS

"This is an alarm call...

2006-04-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

...so wake up, wake up now!!!" -Bjork.

A call indeed to all record labels and studios looking to grab that next "voice to launch a thousand ships." PLEASE, please, please do not do what has been done to greater or lesser extent to the following women:

Skye no doubt has a sultry, soulful voice reminiscent of a Badu or Blidge but often the voice is rendered soul-less. Don't get me wrong the music is still great but I would love to hear Skye unplugged.

Imogen Heap's voice is very familiar (and almost a deadpan for Dido in my humble opinion) having appearred on Frou Frou's "Let Go" on the Garden State soundtrack. Great song, great voice. It brings goose bumps to my flesh thinking of what her voice would sound like on stage with just a baby grand backing her. Whoa.

Nina Persson's voice can melt even the hardest of hearts but again I would not call it soulful. I still feel with less studio manipulation her voice would sound just as light and airy, similar to a summer breeze.

I heard this album recently for the first time and I highly recommend it. Still while the instrumentation and singing is solid, once again you can tell that the diva's voice has been overprocessed. I guess the most succinct way to describe what you hear is a voice less organic.

I'll have to think on that one! ;)

SYS

More like a blurb than an actual post...

2006-03-30T02:16:00.000-05:00

Although many are wondering what my problem is that my frequency of posting (and reading my favorite blogs for that matter) has been so piss poor recently. The only thing I can say is that my life has been pretty "full" in recent months. I am, in fact feeling a bit physically girthy as well which means that my social life has been replacing my training life which in turn has dampened my relaxation life. Blogging and surfing the web (in other words reading) was how I used to spend my "down time" when I was physically exhausted but more than intellectually awake. More like intellectually charged, but who am I to say anything I do on my down time is intellectual. Seems pretty hi-brow to me and I hate fuckers like that. Let's just say life used to fit into this nice and neat equilibrium:

Work <=> Play <=> Train <=> Active Relaxation <=> Sleep

Now back to the "full" life...

In recent months, the equilibrium has been more or less a reduction to the bare necessities in order to drive my truck to and from Homer's, keep my apartment neat and tidy and party like it is no one else's business:

Work <=> Play (at Bricktop, after hours, between the sheets) <=> TV (enough to keep up with TiVo and numb the brain for sleep) <=> Sleep

Obviously, the latter equation is not the most efficient one. And that my friends needs to change BIG TIME! I find I have been missing certain things, not just reading blogs and writing this one, but other little side projects that always seemed to keep me close by the old laptop. To get those random thoughts, complaints, discoveries and the holy shit did you hear this-es out on the fly was what made my blog kinda cool to dive into. I still find my blog cool and I imagine what things could have gone into it over the past months, but to be honest my exhaustion would not have done any of them literary justice. More motivation to get rested and back to a schedule that allows me time to actually RELAX and blog.

Yep, it's what this body needs! That and a raven-haired shag about 5'6" whose blood type is something other than J2 and a head filled with something other than chyne smoke. Alas, no worries. I'll figure out that equation as I go along since that going has been so, so good for me! Gotta love this city...

SYS

Yet another reason why I didn't do it.

2006-03-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

The past weekend proved to be a bit of an endurance run for myself as there were thrills, chills and spills and all acts of lunacy in between. Saturday night into Sunday morning had me feeling really tight, achy, hungover, etc. So I chose to spend the day resting on the couch and in bed and making sure I maintained proper fluid intake throughout. Having caught up a bit on domestic duties I figured, "what the fuck" since it had been a long time since I had one of those days to just veg out.

The Oscars had been a topic for discussion earlier in the week for various reasons. Who was going to win what award and would Jon Stewart be a good host were all things up for grabs as we approached the awards show. I try not to read too much into what a lot of media heads predict will happen because ultimately most of these people make me ill.

This year in particular, with the amount of time I spent focusing on OTHER things life presented, I found myself less interested Hollywood films and in the awards show. But with that said, of course I would still react to circumstances which I feel are plain wrong. One of these instances is the award that went to Three 6 Mafia. But don't get me wrong, it's not (entirely) because I can't stand rap. It's more because of the quality work that has been put forth in the past decade that leaves me scratchin' my head and wondering, "why the fuck haven't they thought of this category before???"

You see, being from New York I absolutely adore Hip-hop, the DJ, emcees and groups that use these ingredients to the fullest. Most modern day rap you hear on radio stations and see videos for on MTV are just rap that amounts to crap. Or like the RZA's definition of R&B = Rap and Bullshit!

So speaking of the RZA, here is a hip-hop artist who by leaps and bounds ahead of Three 6 Mafia deserves recognition for his work for movie soundtracks and scores. No, I'm not afraid to say it loud and proud. And if you do not believe me watch Kill Bill Volumes I and II as well as Ghostdog: The Way of the Samursai. Awesome flicks with some awesome writing and awesome musical content!

SYS

It never used to be...

2006-02-26T23:20:00.000-05:00

...but Wednesday is turning out to be my favorite day of the week. According to Mickey Mouse, Wednesday is "anything can happen day." And Wednesdays have been holding up to this let me tell you.

Par for the course on anything can happen day is to head to the Bricktop and listen to my man Chuckles spin house. On this particular night there would be some added bonuses. Not only would Chuckles be spinning but Tres would be performing as well, tagging the whole night. This is always a treat to say the least since Tres and Chuckles pretty much represent the best Deep House music you will hear in Nebraska. Both have unique takes on house music but both bring out the best in each other which adds up to a great aural journey!

For those of you who may not know know, I am a BIG fan of the UFC and Pride fighting organizations. I never miss an event on PPV if I can help it. Well some nasty, devilish rumors turned out to be true as Chuck Liddell who is quite possibly the baddest mofo I have ever seen at light heavyweight was in Lincoln, NE to support the UFC but also a newly acquired pub in downtown just a few doors down from the Bricktop. I simply couldn't pass this opportunity up to meet the man!

Here my friend Jeremiah takes a moment to share a hang ten with the man! Chuck is a hell of a nice guy which was evident from first to last handshake.

Opting for something a little more hard core for my photo with the Iceman, I figured a stare down was in order. That's just how I roll! Talk about two larger than life fellas, eh? I wish I was 6'1" just once. LOL Chuck is nothing like his ring persona would lead most to believe. He's a really nice guy.

My buddy Adam too, here with younger brother, share a moment with Chuck. I can't wait for Chuck's next fight. But in the meantime, these photos, autograph and brief convo with the man will tide me over! LOL

One of the striking things I noticed before leaving leaving the pub was that Chuck was lacking the usual entourage that most celebs sport especially during photo ops. But then again, if the natives of Lincoln were to become rowdy with the Iceman, would an entourage really be necessary? I think not which is why I usually sans the entourage as well. Ha ha!

Heading back to Bricktop, Tres and Chuckles were just beginning to warm up and throw down their first records. The ambient lighting is really unique in Bricktop and I was glad I took this shot of the bar before the lights get shut down for the DJs.

The colors came out really well in this shot. I chose to shut the flash off and rest my camera on the window sill in the DJ booth. Worked quite well. In the back ground you can see my buddies Cleveland and Raj shooting a game of pool.

Quickly, once the music started bumpin', I found myself both literally and figuratively intoxicated! Tres and Chuckles were spinning great tunes and Redbull/pomegranite Vodkas are great drinks. Some time in the booth was necessary to capture some of the vibe from the night, which was massively chill and groovy.

Chuckles changing his pitch up ready to smack some bitches up, proper like!

"Get off your asses and dance, you twats!" Tres can be a truly crass cunt, but when he's not paying attention the nice guy comes out which makes him an utter pisser! Plus the guy can spin hands down.

Chuckles blending some smooth groove. Tres at the ready to drop some grimey funk!

I succeeded at getting Tres pretty drunk but not too drunk to make him trainwreck! Here we share a moment on the floor.

Here I take a break from shooting pool and shaking my arse to chill with my man Russ (DJ Risky) and Kes. And by the way, I am feeling no pain at this point! LOL

Raj and Cleveland try to keep their composure for this pic but simply cannot...

Raj does some of the best Rick James from the Chappelle Show I have ever heard, plus with his accent it is purely insane! I do a great impression of Raj's impression of Rick James and in turn the audience cannot contain themselves! LOL

SYS

A Movie Game!

2006-01-30T19:24:00.000-05:00

I love games and I absolutely adore movies so obviously this would appeal to my mind and the sick way it works.

Basically, it is like a "fill in the blank" game where you add to a list of actors and movies. There is a certain format to follow which will make it a bit more challenging. It will be cool to see how far this list will go, however I think it will be slow going.

I will start off by filling in the first five slots with actors and movies so that you can get the idea of what the format will be. So let's get started then!

________________________________________________________________________
The Movie Game

1. Max Von Sydow starred in Dreamscape with Dennis Quaid who was in... (walking wounded)

2. The Big Easy with Ellen Barkin who was in... (walking wounded)

3. Johnny Handsome with Mickey Rourke who was in... (walking wounded)

4. Sin City with Clive Owen who was in... (walking wounded)

5. Closer with Jude Law who was in... (walking wounded)

***

Hope this list will grow but that is only controlled by participants. So step up and contribute your entry by leaving a comment. If you have to use the web for proper spelling and if you are really stumped don't worry go ahead. But really for more hardcore film fanatics this will be in essence cheating.

SYS

Whoa!

2006-01-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

So a week (plus a few days) has flown right on by! Have I been too lazy lately hence no blogging? Or perhaps life is really boring and I can't bare to type out the boring details for fear other innocent readers will be sucked in to the boring void? No and, a-hem, NO!

Seriously, I have been quite busy settling into a rather regimented routine of work, weights and going out. One thing that makes night life doable for Lincoln is the fact that everything is closed by 1am. If I leave Bricktop by 1am I am literally sitting in my apartment at 1:20am, and showered and in bed by 2am tops. So I find that going out more often during the week has not affected my ability to juggle work and weights. Although, after hours DO kill me somewhat as the next morning I feel like a zombie.

One of the things I have observed since going out so much is that I tend not to blow through my Netflix DVDs so quickly. I used to be able to watch at least 20 DVDs a month with me five-disc plan. Right now I have four discs waiting to be watched with a new one on the way. Maybe I should look into cutting my membership down to the three-disc plan. Sounds like a smart thing to do let's just hope I remember to go to the site to change my account after I finish typing this!

On the music front, I have been catching some great local music acts and DJs down at Bricktop and another venue called Chatterbox. Chatterbox is different than Bricktop in that they allow 18 to enter and 21 to drink. At Bricktop you must be 21 to enter. So younger kids tend to flock to Chatterbox which is good for them but bad for myself since I am into a slightly older crowd. But the music has been really good at both places so I don't mind switching my Thursday nights up every other week.

For any fans of Underworld, you won't want to miss this! Underworld is releasing their first material in two years for download via their own website at UnderworldLive.com. Both new tracks are like 25-30 minutes long and are massive. Definitely check them out. A third is due to be released on their website in late February according to MixMag. I can't believe its been two already since 100 Days Off came out?! Like I said before time flies when lots is happening.

I just don't hope there's another bitter cold spell in store for this area during February. The one previous during November really made everything slow down to a crawl. ;)

SYS

Gary Fisher PHD

2006-01-16T00:37:00.000-05:00

During my brief holiday hiatus my new rig came in and I am pretty excited about it. The PHD is mostly designed for dirt jumping but my main use will be aggressive street riding around town. The bike feels weighty and totally bomb proof and it will surely absorb the abuse that my riding style and body type will dish out. I took it out for an initial test run to try and get used to the steering and the balance of the bike. This will take a few more weeks before I am ready to start launching off drops and down stairs at speed.

The long top tube length and low stand over height are really cool and give me a lot of room in the cockpit. The Rockshox PIKE fork sports U-Turn where I can simply dial in anywhere from 90mm to 120mm of travel.

As far as the initial feel of the bike it resembles something similar to a BMX ride. I may have to swap out the seatpost for a set-back kind so I can have slightly more weight over the rear wheel. To stretch out a bit would be cool as well as having additional clearance when landing.

Both rear dropouts are replaceable and the front wheel has a 20mm thru axle - the bike is definitely solid. I like how the chainstay opposite the deraileur has a stainless steel bashguard. No sense making the frame come in direct contact of anything.

I swapped these meats in for the stock tires. They are Maxxis Hookworms and I like them because there is no sidewall to these tires. The contact surface nearly covers the entire exposed tire (what is not covered by the rim). Taking a few turns sharper than normal made me realize these tires are gonna be sick on street.

Now if only the weather would warm up a bit so I can get some riding time it! :)

SYS

DJ Mattman and Crucial

2006-01-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

DJ Mattman and Crucial recently spun at Bricktop and yet again ripped it up! Click the title above to get a bird's eye view of the duo in action!

SYS

What Crazy Shit!

2006-01-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

So one of the obvious benefits of working at a record store is I get to fix my sweet tooth for ear candy quite often and with stuff I can always preview at the shop before I take it home. Usually, my "taking a chance" purchases end up working out one way or another. But to be able to know whether or not a release is worth buying vs. getting the single track somewhere else is truly helpful.

So today I was at the store and found a release by the BOOM BOOM SATELLITES on the Different Music label. Of course, being the Boom Boom Satellites I wanted the release regardless of an in-store listen but I figured what the hell. Pop the CD into the player and it will not play. Hmm? Prolly nothing serious. I'll just take it home and give it a listen there.

So I get home and immediately pop the CD in my computer deck as I needed to do some work on that music project as well as other chores (shite). The CD will not play. Now I'm wondering what the hell is going on plus my neck is getting warm! So I open the CD and find it to be a CD full of DAT files and a txt file. So I open the txt file and see that there is a phone number for Sterling Records in Manhattan. So I give them a call because I figured I could send in this CD and get the actual album to correct the mistake. After talking to the chick on the other end she said to contact the record label in Britian. Well that bites but at least they have a website so I can email them en lieu of getting them on the horn.

So hopefully this will work itself out and I will be able to get the actual album becasue this group is SLAMMING!!! If anyone can still find it (try checking out GEMM, great source for hard to find or out of print music in many formats) you have to listen to the Boom Boom Satellites remix of Garbage's "Push It." Those who know and love the original will absolutely be BLOWN AWAY by the Boom Boom Satellites version.

...Everybody get up, come on get down with the sickness! ;)

SYS

Aw yeah, baby!

2006-01-09T01:22:00.000-05:00

Back once again is the renegade master
b-boy challenger with the ill behavior...

Yes, indeedy kids I'm back from my brief hiatus from the blogosphere. I didn't go too far but to some I'm out in the MIDDLE of nowhere, true. Although I don't quite see it that way. I enjoyed the holidays to the fullest as well as had some weird things happen to me during the past couple of weeks. But much more on that stuff in the up coming days. Hope your eyes are up for it since there will be some rapid fire additions to Walking Wounded to come. So enjoy. I also wanted to quickly say "hi" to all who have been around my little space a while and to let those who follow this walk of mine know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, yet.

Recently, I was given a fun task for work and figured I would share it with all of you since it is related to the whole "year in review" theme. Most definitely this theme will creep into much of what I discuss in the upcoming days like a slime mold, making surprising ground without leaving much of a footprint in its wake. Honestly, 2005 was a much better year than 2004, not just personally, but especially musically me thinks. (Deep followers will know exactly why 2004 took the flying fuck it did - and it wasn't the music!)

So here is my TOP TEN RECORD RELEASES of 2005 (in no particular order except the #1 slot):

1 - "Playing The Angel" by Depeche Mode
2 - "Push The Button" by The Chemical Brothers
3 - "Demon Days" by Gorillaz
4 - "Mesmerizing The Ultra" by Bassnectar
5 - "Grandmasters" by GZA vs DJ Muggs
6 - "Mezmerize" by System Of A Down
7 - "Osiris: The Official Mixtape" by Ol' Dirty Bastard (RIP)
8 - "Distort Yourself" by Institute
9 - "We Are Monster" by Isolee
10 - "Joyful Rebellion" by K-Os

My list could have easily incorporated 15-20 slots but ten was all that was allowed. These releases I have been recommending to all my customers and reflect broadest palette as well as most innovative. You'll notice the lack of "pop" on this list because pop is basically designed to be such and doesn't necessarily get there on its own merits (more often than not, the lack there of).

This list leaves my mouth watering for more to come in 2006 which is always buzzing as being an epic year! Woohah, got y'all in check...

SYS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2005-12-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

Will be taking the next week off from blogging as I will doing the usual holiday festivities. Hope everyone has a great holiday and best wishes for the New Year!

SYS

Take that, slacker!

2005-12-20T02:33:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am man enough to admit when I am being a royal slacker. But, in a somewhat valid defense, I have only been a slacker with Walking Wounded and not other things in life in general. Sometimes life gets a bit dull and I feel as though I'm in a stage where nothing interesting is going on. To the contrary many interesting things have been going on but I have been either too busy or too damn tired when the time does come to blog. Oh well. I expect to hear flack about this but I can take it.

On a more interesting note Christmas is coming up real soon and while I had a bit of the ol' Christmas noose tightening around my neck last week, this week I have felt a bit more of the cheerful Christmas spirit enter my being. Although, I wish it could cure the common cold as I have been sick as a dog since Friday night.

Friday night was a big event at Bricktop. It was Ricochet's birthday party, so a bunch of awesome DJs within my Lincoln circle were on hand to help make it a night to remember. Boy was it. Usually on a given Friday or Saturday night BT features two DJs that split the hours between 9pm and 1am - basically two two-hour sets. Sometimes the two DJs will split it up an hour-on/hour-off as well. On a few ocassions it is one DJ for the entire four hours which can get a bit tedious especially if it is the run of the mill house DJ.

But for the birthday bash there were five DJs on hand to help keep the floor flowing with dancers. Chuckles as well as Mattman brought in great house sets. One of the things that appeals to my ear is when house becomes a bit more darker and the beat a bit more percussive. Chuckles is the master of the chilled out sound which set things off great for Mattman to turn the beats a bit more "grimey" as I like to call it. Also, Crucial made a guest spot and mixed two records one of them a remix of BT which is probably one of my favorite BT tracks. He dropped it quite nicely!

Ricochet also mixed some dirty breaks into the set which helped get things going for one of my favorites, DJ Blac. Blac spins jungle and DnB and doesn't bring the cheese either. It was just the thing to set me off on a wild rampage of dancing and drinking, which most likely caused me to catch this cold but it was worth it for the sake of the excellent music. At one point in the night, in order to avoid a chicks drink ending up all over the front of my sweater I leap backwards of the stage and landed squarely on my arse. Luckily, my glutes are touch and I was really "loose" from all of the pomegranate red bulls I was imbibing. Didn't hurt one bit not even the next day.

The only ill affects of the night was due in part to perspiring on the hot dance floor and then walking in the low-teens temps to get to my truck. One thing I did do was run home real quick in between after hours and took a shower and changed. The thought of spending another couple of hours mingling with birds being all moist underneath really didn't appeal to me. Once I left my apartment after the superman routine I felt very refreshed but started sneezing and didn't stop all night. When I woke up the next morning I was sick as a dog and couldn't breathe out of my nose. Bullocks!

But dems the breaks... ;)

SYS

You gotta love the hussle...

2005-12-14T02:07:00.000-05:00

I am currently getting paid for my hobby! Yay, I love friend chicken. No seriously, I picked up a part-time job working at a record store to fill in time between bartending and the eventual teaching position. The store is really cool cause even though it is a chain it maintains the "independent" store vibe. Plus, the blokes that work there (like me) know a shit load about music and love to talk shop whenever possible.

Also, helping customers find music and that perfect gift for the holiday season has been remarkably rewarding. Usually, working with John and Jane Q. Public can be like getting your gums scraped at the dentist. But so far it has been pretty cool. Plus, my employee discount has already more than paid for itself since I started. Looks like my vinyl collection will soon return to respectibility. Needless to say, I am very excited.

Now if I can only workout at the gym and perform dead lifts without the other meat heads looking at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears. Where are all the hardcore weightlifters in this city?

SYS

Every now and then we need a reminder...

2005-12-08T02:42:00.000-05:00

...of just how precious and short life really is!

Tonight was a usual Wednesday night. Stopped in at Homer's in the afternoon to see Chuckles and the rest of the crew and talk music. Chuckles of course is a resident DJ Wednesday nights down at Bricktop so I like to go down there to support him, shoot some pool (if you can call it that, LOL) and chatterbox. The night was still brutally cold as has been the trend since turkey day. So as people come on in throughout the night everyone is extra happy to see everyone else I guess because we are all happy that we made it there alive, in one piece and not frozen.

I was chilling with Chuckles in the booth when I saw some friends come on up to the stage. I like it when I run into people that I know and have had a good time with PLUS I like for people to come out and support Chuckles because he is an excellent house DJ whose creativity often gets overlooked on slower nights. Either way I was happy to see the fellas. I took time out from the DJ booth to sit down with them and catch up on the week and whatnot. I noticed one friend was not in a particularly chatty mood. It was made more obvious because normally when he is chatty he is an utter pisser! But he was rather quiet and out of it in general.

On a side note, I have no idea how smokers "stay" smokers in the winter (or any other time a year for that matter) when they have to go outside in the cold to smoke. They must really freeze their asses off and for what, nicotine(?). But as far as I am concerned, let 'em freeze! They'll learn eventually, either the easy way (sans chemo) or the hard way (with chemo). I know this statement may cut like a knife but I have deep rooted feelings on the subject that seem to come to the surface rather often having lost my own Mother to cancer. I'll be the first to admit that while smokers can be very intelligent people, in the long run they are not too bright.

Getting back to my buddy, he went out for a cigarette and that left me with the other guys chilling out. They took the opportunity to tell me that a girl who my buddy had been in an on again/off again relationship with just died on Monday. Needless to say I was a bit stunned. Not much in the way of details was known other than that she was 22 years old and simply went to take a nap and never woke. One had said that the death may have been as a result of some coronary problem. Regardless, I felt bad not only to hear that a person so young passed away, but for my friend as well because he really cared for her!

I apologize for the downward turn this post has taken but there is a positive message. This story should be a remninder to us all that life is precious and often times way too short. We should all enjoy ourselves and the company of the ones we care about each and every day. If you have someone (family member or friend) who you care about and you haven't been in contact with for a stretch, look 'em up and give them a call. Not only will they feel better but you will feel better too. And its the coolest thing to know that you were able to reach out to that special person!

SYS

Things that make me go - "Hmm?"

2005-12-07T05:26:00.000-05:00

"I leap over lies in a single bound
who are you? the black prophet
one day i was struck by knowledge itself
it gave me super-scientifical powers
now i run through the ghetto
battling my arch nemesis Mr. Ignorance
he's been trying to take me out
since the days of my youth
he fears the day will come
i'm hot on his trail
but sometimes he has an army
they always bug me
and give me trouble
mainly Hatred, Jealousy and Envy
they attack me
they think they got me
but i used my super science
and i twist off three
i see sparks over that building
they're shooting at me
so i dip, do a back flip
and hit 'em in the heart
with sharp steel bookmarks
Ignorance hates when i drop it
but no matter what he do...
he can't stop the prophet!"

-The Prophet, Jeru The Damaja.

Those who dig old-school hip-hop already know the name Jeru the Damanja, but in case you don't. Go right now and pick up the LP "The Sun Rises in the East." The album IS that good!

This first verse from [The Prophet] above was pretty much a theme for the day. Being the time of year it is there is a lot of hussle and bussle going on even out here in Lincoln, NE. In general, since I have arrived things have felt a gear or two slower than what I am used to in New York. But it's picking up speed as I see people (despite the snow) driving a little quicker and walking a bit brisker. When I'm downtown, seeing people walk the street reminds me of the lower east side of Manhatten a smidge. Of course, the city's silhouette is different from Manhatten's but the feeling is definitely familiar. When I am back in SW Lincoln, the scene basically reminds me of Long Island but with less traffic. One of the things I was stressing about was whether or not Christmas out here would be white. No worries there! LOL

Not sure if others encounter this (actually, I'm sure others do, but had to say it anyway) so here goes. Now I thought that the Midwest was "the" capitol for proper manners and what not. The people out here are very considerate and approachable, don't get me wrong. But I have noticed now on several ocassions that people do not respond to "bless you" after they sneeze. Let me tell you why this annoys me.

First, not to get off on a tangent, I am not a religious person with regards to my own personal beliefs of life, the universe, etc. Mainly because I feel anyone who relies on religion to teach people morals are basically more than a little naive. I do find the theological aspect of religion as a subject for discussion and critique truly fascinating. But that is another subject. I look at the practice of saying, "bless you" after someone sneezing as an act of proper manners en lieu of an act of religious signifigance. True, saying "bless you" has been something that my Mother and father have reinforced in me throughout my life to the point that it is almost like a reflex. Someone sneezes, I say, "bless you." Simple. But it really rubs me the wrong way when someone doesn't acknowledge the fact that I said, "bless you" - the fact that I was considerate enough to say it, I guess.

If they are not religious people or do not believe in God I can see how saying something like, "God bless you" might be a tad insulting. This is why I say simply, "bless you" so I do not put anybody off. But you would think that even if someone had contrary beliefs that a comment like "bless you" would elicit a "thank you," no? Maybe it's because I am getting older and crabbier that I am becoming overly sensitive to these social faux pas because that's what I consider them. If someone sneezes and I say, "bless you" and they do not respond with either "thank you" or "thanks" I do start to wonder what kind of household they were raised in. I know this might not be the correct conclusion for me to consider, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit it.

So I leave you all with this question:

Is saying to a person "bless you" after they sneeze out of style?

I truly am curious. Oh, by the way, did you know its cold right now in the Midwest! LOL

SYS

Holiday Gift Ideas and Spreading Cheer

2005-12-06T02:05:00.000-05:00

The new accessory for this holiday season? Looks like a winner. Not only can you have ice on the sidewalk, steps, gutters and gold digger's fingers but also right inside your grill too. I believe some models come autographed by Paul Wall. Eat your heart out you crazy cracker...

Personally, I like my grill enameled and white but I'm just too fucking lame I guess. But others like their grills either gas or charcoal, so maybe I'm not that lame or strange, huh? After all, I'm mighty tighty whitey and I'm smugglin' plums! j/k

Speaking of the Holiday Season, where can I find a chick with THIS much Holiday spirit, eh?

Now this is a shining example of how to spread peace on earth and goodwill to men and women for that matter. Nothing like adding a little "jingle" to your strut to help get through the merry doldrums, I say. Think of all the smiles one can put on the faces of boys and girls you meet everyday. Plus, those who celebrate Hanukkah won't feel left out because dreidels can just as easily be incorporated into this very chic holiday look for the office and workplace.

Honestly guys, tell me you wouldn't feel a whole lot better about paying that expensive holiday postage and handling if the chick behind the counter had a pair of these poking through her uniform to greet you? For one thing, I think these should be standard holiday uniform for all bank tellers. Trips to the bank would be way more enjoyable afterall!

Most of my holiday shopping is complete. Fucking-A, buddy. And without stepping into the mall. *Yes* But there are always a few last minute extras that spring up that you know are just "perfect" for that certain friend or loved one. I think I found the perfect shirt for a buddy of mine. Check out the design here and order one for that special simian you know at Rinawear.com.

Just a side note, if you like watching videos of really dumb animals check this out:

Don't steal my bone, bitch!

So for all those trying to get their last items checked off that Christmas list I wish you luck. The weather we have been having here in the heartland has been sheer bollocks! Today I was picking up some items I had on hold at Homer's Music and Video and we got a snow/ice storm that kicked up within minutes with near ZERO visibility. Hell if I was gonna go out a try to navigate the roads back to my crib. So I bounced next door and got myself a tall English breakfast tea and chilled for nearly two hours until the storm subsided. If I were anywhere else, that time hanging around would have been "B"-to the-"O"-to the-"R"-to the-"I"-"N"-"G" boooooooooring. However, I was at a music store. So I was more than occupied. ;)

(going out on a limb)
Enduring Fans: "Eh-yo, Paul! Where the Christmas Party at dis year, yo???"
(/going out on a limb)
Paul Wall: "Right here in my mouth, bitches!!!"

LOL

SYS

Go F@#! Yourself!!!

2005-12-04T18:27:00.000-05:00

We've all been there. Sometimes when you are out and about in the world, taking care of business and tending to your daily routines you encounter screwed up people. Seemingly there only goal is to by any means impede your progress. Most often you try to steer clear of these assholes. But every now and then the "funnel of life" just happens to narrow down to where all roads lead to a jackass or two or three. What to do? Solution seems complicated, eh? Well the simplest solutions tend to be the best, indeed. And this guy knows exactly what you should do next time you cross paths with the hopeless majority out there.

Here are a few solutions I like the most:

What to do when people bust your balls...

What to do with people with cell phones who are being rude...

What police should do to thwart youth criminals...

Why peddlers were great back in the day...

SYS

Yet another reason why it's all whooey!

2005-12-01T18:07:00.000-05:00

A friend passed along to me another online quiz thingy knowing that I am an addict and claiming that the test results were surprisingly accurate. Now I thought for a moment after reading her results and realized, indeed the results were pretty spot on. So what the hell, right?

The test was through this dating site called OKCupid!. Basically, I think all dating sites are, to varying degrees, full of shit. But I figured I would take the quiz for the hell of it and for the laughs. Be warned, however, the quiz has nearly 40 questions so you will need a moment or two to read and fill out the questions. So here are the results I received:

The Boy Next Door
Random Gentle Love Dreamer (RGLDm)

Kind, yearning, playful, you are The Boy Next Door. You're looking for real Love, a lot like girls do. It might not be manly, but it's sweet.

We think the next three years will be very exciting and fruitful ones for you. Your spontaneous, creative side makes you a charming date, and we think you have a horny side just waiting to shine. Or glisten, rather. You enter new relationships unusually hopeful, and the first moments are especially glorious. If you've had some things not work out before, so what.

Your exact opposite:
The 5-Night Stand

Deliberate Brutal Sex Master

On paper, most girls would name the Boy Next Door as their ideal mate. In the real world, however, you're often passed over for more dangerous or masculine men. You're the typical "nice guy:" without just a touch of cockiness, you're doomed with girls. A shoulder to cry on? Okay, sure. But never a penis to hold.

More than any other type, Boys Next Door evolve as they get older. As we said, many find true love, but some fail miserably in the search. These tarnished few grow up to be The Men Next Door, who are creepy as hell, offering backrubs to kids and what not.

ALWAYS AVOID: The Nymph

CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor, The Peach

Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.

I think what makes this more hilarious is that some things the test nailed, honestly. Others were ass-backwards, seriously. Do I prefer habitual, gratifying sex with the same person over a bunch of random, ungratifying sex? Sure! Do I have an inner horny side that's waiting to come out and "glisten?" I'd say anyone who knows me, espcially the birds, knows I'm a total freak in the sack. This is just a well known fact along with my shoe size! Have I been passed over before by more dangerous or more MASCULINE men? WTF? When I stand next to guys I tend to make them look less masculine which might make ME appear more dangerous.

In all fairness, I think this test would have fit me better had it been me at 16 years of age. But at 30, this really misses the mark. Oh well, at least I did get a good laugh! ;)

SYS

Creativity, just a dash...

2005-11-28T02:45:00.000-05:00

So I went through another stage of opening up boxes and "placing" things in their new resting spot around the crib. Of course, I made a mess that will eventually get tidy'd up. But then it ocurred to me that among my present set of furniture a few things are missing or rather needed to round out the look of the place. So I made the first effort to rectify this with the decorating of my entry way. I took a few shots with and without flash to get an idea of what it will look like.

I bought this table and mirror combo at Pier 1 for a steal, plus they threw me a 10% off coupon when I stepped in the door (sweet). I needed something to serve as a first focal point as well as where I could place keys, wallet, etc. when I first get in.

Here's the same shot but sans flash so I could see the light from the Tiffany lamp I purchased at Lincoln Lighting. The lamp originally was more than the mirror and table but I snagged it on sale too. The other items I already owned.

This is an opposite side shot including the matching mirror.

Again, same shot sans flash.

Now the next thing is the wall I was standing against which right now is bare. But that can wait for another idea to surface! LOL

SYS

Quizzes are like Sudoku... Addicting!!!

2005-11-24T20:46:00.000-05:00

I am...

Captain James T. Kirk- You are the paradigm of the
Starfleet Captain. You explore the universe.
You save lives. What's a few small fractures
of protocol when you've saved the galaxy more
times than you can count. Hell, you even
brought peace between the Federations and the
Klingons.

Which Star Trek Captain are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

***

Your Heart Is Pink

In relationships, you like to play innocent - even though you aren't.
Each time you fall in love, it's like falling for the first time.

Your flirting style: Coy

Your lucky first date: Picnic in the park

Your dream lover: Is both caring and dominant

What you bring to relationships: Romance

What Color Heart Do You Have?

***

You Are the Investigator

5

You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.

You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.

Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.

You are open minded. A visionary. You understand the world and may change it.

What number are you?

Thanks Cricket for more avenues of self discovery! ;)

SYS

Happy Gobble-Gobble Everyone!

2005-11-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

For all those traveling today (or this weekend), travel safe!

For all those cookin' their asses off, I hope it doesn't get too hot in the kitchen!

For all those planning on stuffin' their pie holes, don't wear your belts too tight!

And for all those watching the pigskin games, try not to make asses out of yourselves!

LOL

In other words...

Happy Thanksgiving!

SYS

Videos are too much fun

2005-11-23T02:56:00.000-05:00

Was doing some blogging and found these gems over at Google Video:

Beck's test robots for new vodeo

The octopus owns the shark

Technical difficulties with a bra

Japanese love to torture animals on TV game shows

On more of an academic note, I really wish they had electives like these I could have taken when I was getting my master's in Education instead of "Computers for Teachers." Shite. Smelly is a smart cookie! Check these out at BCIT:

MDIA 1112 and MDIA 2112.

And last but not least...

Please, people. Seriously, I'm taking to you all. For the love of all that is sacred and special on this earth. For the love of nature, the world and our way of life as we know it. Can everyone please add Lapsnorkling to their everyday language. It would make the whole world, especially for our children a much safer place, really!

In case you are unfamiliar with the phrase go here.

SYS

Would I call myself a sinner, really?

2005-11-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

In case you are wondering I also have a Myspace blog of sorts that basically directs readers back here. I broke down and opened a Myspace page at the behest of several users who raved about it. So I did, but do not feel the need to maintain two versions of my blog. So all are directed here to get the nitty-gritty on me and what marbles are still rattling around upstairs.

Thanks to one fellow Myspacer, I discovered this questionaire that I thought was really interesting about The Seven Deadly Sins. So I filled it out and the results are below:

WRATH
1. Who did you last get angry with?
I got pissed at my father of all people. Heh.

2. What is your weapon of choice?
1st - The English language. 2nd - My mitts.

3. Would you attack a member of the opposite sex?
Only to preserve my own life if it came to that.

4. How about of the same sex?
Please see answer number 3 above.

5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you?
My ex.

6. What is your pet peeve?
People who are clueless.

7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily?
It depends on how deep the wound really is.

SLOTH
1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you haven't done in a long time?
Take a multi-vitamin and an aspirin. I hate taking pills.

2. What is the latest you've ever woken up?
Around 1:30 in the afternoon, but I felt like I slept the whole day away.

3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but havent?
Hiram in Seattle, WA.

4. What is the last lame excuse you made?
"I just wasn't feeling very well!"

5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through?
Yes, unfortunately its the only sure fire thing to make me fall asleep.

6. When was the last time you got a good workout in?
The day before yesterday at the gym.

7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today?
I don't have an alarm clock.

GLUTTONY
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice?
Red Bulls.

2. Meat eaters: white meat or dark meat?
Both are good just as long as we're talking fish or poultry. Red meat or pork are not my favorites.

3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event?
On my 30th birthday (this past May) I consumed 28 white russians during the course of the night, along with a few other beverages. But my friends know for sure how much I had at my college graduation party. I blacked out during that one.

4. Are You comfortable with your drinking habits?
Four months before my trip to Tanzania, Africa I didn't touch any alcohol which made me feel proud to know I could stop whenever I wanted or needed to. So that's a yes!

6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods?
I like Spicy foods the most. I don't really have too much of a sweet tooth since I was young.

7. Have you ever looked at a small house pet or child and thought, "lunch"?
No, but I've looked at a child's mother and thought, "Yummy!"

LUST
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)?
I run out of fingers and toes.

2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting family)?
Too many, especially when i was shit-faced and feeling silly.

3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation?
No. But just because you weren't caught...

4. Have you had sex?
Boy have I.

5. What is your favorite body part on a person of your gender of choice?
Dead tie: Eyes and Neck.

6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute?
Yes.

7. Have you ever gotten tested for STDs or pregnancy?
Yes.

GREED
1. How many credit cards do you own?
Five. Three are from the same bank, though.

2. What's your guilty pleasure store?
Best Buy or Homer's Music.

3. If you had $1 million, what would you do with it?
Pay the taxes on the million first, then pay off my student loan, pay off any other debts, take a trip to australia, help out any of my family/friends, then invest wisely.

4. Would you rather be rich, or famous?
I'd rather be "wealthy" actually.

5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks?
Yes, my life has always been my greatest source of interest. A job is a job.

6. How many MP3s are on your hard drive?
4 No shit.

PRIDE
1. What one thing have you done that you're most proud of?
I completed my Master's Degree under very trying circumstances.

2. What's one thing you have done that your parents are most proud of?
I was the first in the family to go to college and graduate with a degree, B.S. in Biology.

3. What thing would you like to accomplish later in your life?
I want to be a great Dad to my children.

4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place?
I wouldn't call it "annoyed" but more concerned. I would self-reflect on the reason(s) why I didn't come in first.

5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of?
Hmmm?

6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score?
No, even though I have had the opportunity several times.

7. What did you do today that you're proud of?
Was there for a friend in need.

ENVY
1. What item of your friends would you most want to have for your own?
My friends and I have some really different tastes. I would have to say nothing.

2. Who would you want to go on "Trading Spaces" with?
I don't really like the show.

3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be?
No one.

4. Have you ever been cheated on?
Yes. It sucks.

5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own?
Yes. I wish I didn't have pinchable cheeks, on my face I mean.

6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself?
A milder temper.

7. Finally, what is your favorite Deadly Sin?
Lust, definitely. Some are addicted to food, drugs, gambling, etc. I'm addicted to sexual release!

SYS

The Google'd Life of Strong Island Dave.

2005-11-21T05:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Audra for introducing me to this neat little exploration into the world of Google Images. I think this is the coolest thing. Its interesting how meaningful things in your life manifest in the image catalogue.

The premise: Place the answers to these seven questions sans (without) any punctuation marks into the search field on Google Images and pick your favorite image from the "first" page of results:

1. What town did you grow up?
2. What is your first and last name?
3. What is your favorite food?
4. What is your favorite beverage?
5. What is your favorite scent?
6. What is your favorite song?
7. What are/were your grandmother's names?

Here are my results:

Town Where I Grew Up: Patchogue, NY

Now I believe this man is operating a machine switch used to switch the track lines located atop the observation tower at the Patchogue train station. But there was no additional commentary regarding the photo so I cannot be absolutely sure. Although, my next logical guess was that he was operating an old draw bridge but there aren't any draw bridges in Patchogue.

My First and Last Name: David Marlborough

This is a photo of Lieutenant John J C Irving aboard the HMS Marlborough circa 1920. I picked this photo because I never realized a battleship was named after Marlborough, England. Plus, I have a fondness for vintage photos.

My Favorite Food: Egg Whites

This is pretty self-explanatory. Although, I would love to know where I could find a product like this in Lincoln, NE. I haven't been able to have egg whites since I moved here. Just whole eggs or Egg Beaters. Shite!

My Favorite Beverage: Tea

This is a picture of chinese Green Tea powder. Instead of having the green tea in a bag to steep in hot water, you simply add this powder to hot water and stir. I have had tea powder only once before at a restaurant but I do not think it was green tea powder. I'd like to get ahold of this stuff, though.

My Favorite Scent: Jasmine

This is also self-explanatory since it is a picture of the flower of the same name. Damn it, I went ahead and explained it. Ooops...

My Favorite Song: Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder) by Maxwell

Here he is! The modern day king of cool. Nobody's smoother than this cat! Check out his album Embrya if you don't believe me. But be warned. Please stock up on contraceptives before listening to this record with your main squeeze. 'Cause like Barry White, Maxwell has been responsible for his fair share of conceptions due to his sensual voice, lyrics and grooves!

My Two Grandmother's First Names: Gertrude and Miriam

Miriam

Now my grandmother on my mother's side, Miriam, was a damn attractive woman. I have seen pictures of her when she attended Packer College in NYC back in the '40s. It was no wonder why my grandfather quickly took her off the available list. But I know she didn't look like this Miriam. I have just one word, "Whoa!" I'd like to take her to the candy shop...

Gertrude

Now I believe this is either a picture of a primrose or a climbing rose of the Gertrude variety. I love flowers and think this specimen is beautiful - just like Gertrude was when she was alive!

SYS

Saturday Night in the suburbs!

2005-11-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

For the new readers who don’t know this already, I’m a huge fan of UFC, Bushido and KO fighting organizations. Anytime one of their pay-per-view events is on I almost never miss ‘em. So last night I had a great time watching UFC 56 where both Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre won their matches in clear fashion. This UFC had more blood and knockouts than last one that’s for sure!

On a side note, UFC 56 was sponsored by the new movie Aeon Flux. I checked out the website and was pleased to find Charlize Theron as the star, and btw not looking like some homicidal monster a la Monster. I still watch that movie and cringe when I see her. By all means she is a good actor and she did a good job in the film but my gawd was she hideous. I’m glad to see that she will be back to her ultimately shaggable self in Aeon Flux. That black form fitting outfit caught my attention immediately as well as the porcelain skin underneath. (Check out the photo gallery with the one shot of her in the prone position… yummy!) Besides, I’ve always been turned on by chicks that are beautiful yet tough. You know, someone who could totally grab me by my ears, throw me down, and shag my brains out! Don’t worry ladies I’m still holding interviews… ;)

So I get a call from big Bauer to hang out and do some drinking at this place called the Outpost or the “OP” as locals call it. I figured what the hell since Mattman had already gave the place some props. Bauer is good people. We played beer pong the other weekend and hit it off well, besides kicking other teams’ asses. I got to apologize to him again for knocking the heavy bag off the chain twice. I was beating myself up for not sinking those key shots. But we ended up winning anyway so no harm or foul. I really don’t like messing up other people’s things since I didn’t ask him if I could punch it first. Then I go and knock the thing off the damn chain. I was asking for trouble, but thanks to Raj and Mattman they fixed it with no damage. But punching that bag sure felt good to vent my frustration, although it took some skin off both my knuckles. (Oh well.)

Now the OP is definitely a trashy by Long Island standards at least. But in defense, it is your really local type place and has appeal for some of the rebels who want to still smoke in bars, since it is located outside the city of Lincoln. That said, by the time we got out of that place I had a half-assed headache from the contaminated air. Bauer, Rob and Ryan had competed in the keg bowl race earlier in the night and were seriously drunk. So they helped me catch up by springing for my beers the rest of the night. Apparently a keg bowl race is where a group of four guys has to drink 55 pints of beer between them in under an hour. The fastest team wins something other than a hangover but I forgot what the guys were telling me last night. I had a good time chilling out with those chaps and seeing what the scene is like outside of the city. The scene is a bit rougher around the edges but there are still hot chicks. I am kicking myself for not talking to the one shag who ordered a pitcher of brew next to me at the bar.

I look at her because she has very dark, very pretty eyes. Nice. As my gaze falls lower, I see she is wearing a very thin gold choker around her neck. Sweet. Gaze falling lower still, I see she has on a cute form-fitting suede blazer with a white button up blouse underneath. Cool. I like the look of a short cropped blazer on a chick when she wears a collared blouse. Paired with jeans it just looks too sharp, yo! Then I notice all of the buttons on her blouse are unbuttoned revealing very ample endowments. My place? In No Limit Hold 'Em terms I was all in, baby. This immediately caused my gaze to return to her face in an attempt to read her. Her eyes looking back at me was what I was greeted with. Hey now. She cracked a slight grin below steady eyes which I interpreted as meaning, “Yes, I have great tits. Yes, this outfit displays them well. No, don’t think of opening your mouth because I am not in the mood to hear another line.”

“Fine by me, babe” my eyes spoke back to her. So she paid for her pitcher and returned to her group of friends most of whom were guys anyway. I didn’t feel so bad.

The evening was rounded out by me following Bauer back to his place to have some Scotch and watch a DVD. It turns out that Bauer is into Schwarzenegger as much as I am. So he popped in a Conan DVD and we enjoyed some violence on the screen, Scotch and a few laughs talking about bars, chicks and working out. Once Bauer had passed out, I made my exit because Bauer’s roommates had come back from their night out, so at least they could keep an eye on him.

SYS

To everything there is a season...

2005-11-20T15:53:00.000-05:00

I write this with my warmest thoughts and prayers to my friend who has a lot on his plate at the moment. In times like this it is amazing just how truly powerful the love of family and friends is. It can steady us when we stumble. It can carry us when we haven't the strength to walk tall. In turn, it strengthens each of us so we can all be strong for our loved ones.

To my friend,

I wish you and your family God's speed in this melancholy hour. Even though I am not with you, I am with you always. Be strong. Love ya, buddy!

David

P.S. Do not hesitate to call me for any reason!

I guess Fall is over then? Wonderful...

2005-11-16T01:36:00.000-05:00

You know how the light is different in the morning after it has snowed outside? You can tell it has even before you open the blinds and take a peek. Well, not that I don't like the snow (quite the contrary, actually) but I really wasn't ready for this yet.

This snowfall, while minimal, was at best just a mess. It started out as a mixture of sleet and snow which left slush on the sidewalks (lucky I had some decent boots) and the roads. But after a couple of hours the snow was more like actual flakes but that didn't last very long. Barring the remnants of the white stuff, everything looked like it had rained outside rather than snowed. Bleh. I would rather it snow like hell than be freezing rain and sleeting.

One thing I am thankful for is the remote start I have for my truck. I started my truck about twenty minutes before I was ready to leave and I had hardly any snow/ice to scrape off, plus it was toasty inside. Cool beans, err, you know what I mean! :)

Funny thing is they say it will be back to the fifties later this week. Can't Indian Summer and Winter make up their minds already?

SYS

One of those days...

2005-11-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

Mondays aren't normally on my shit list but today was just too annoying! Not anything too heavy mind you but just enough nonsense to make me feel like this guy:

Charlie not feeling very well...

Before passing out though, I needed to run serious errands.

First up, (I needed to do a bit of grocery shopping, anyway) was to head to another Hyvee location to see if they carry egg whites. Yes, I am still on a mission looking to find egg whites. NOT egg protein (albumen) powders, NOT whole eggs (they are everywhere), NOT Egg Beaters but egg whites. I forget the name of the actual brand I used to buy back home but not only was it convenient to have just whites in a resealable container but measuring out how much to prepare was also easy peezy lemon squeezy! Plus, I hate cracking a whole egg, straining out the whites and throwing away the yolk with the shell. Its a waste of time and the yolk. Once again, my mission came up short. Although, I did receive a hot lead. There is an organic grocery located somewhere on South Street that may have what I am looking for! *fingers crossed*

For those of you unfamiliar with Viper Alarms, this is the two-way fob that comes with my alarm system for my truck. It can do remote start which was a heaven sent this past winter, plus some other bells and whistles besides the arm/disarm functions. Well, the battery door on the back of the unit fell off at sometime during the latter half of last week. I only noticed it missing because instead of the blue door I saw a Duracell logo when I took it out of my pocket. After looking in all of the unusual places an object that small could have fallen into I found nothing. "No big deal," I thought to myself. I'll just go down to an alarm shop and see if they have replacement parts for the fobs. Well, they don't carry replacement parts for the fobs, just replacement fobs at $100 each. SHIT! SHIT! DOUBLE-SHIT!!!

So I bite the bullet and fork over the dough for the new fob. But now I have two perfectly functioning fobs, one sans battery door. On the brighter side, I have the corporate website for Viper Alarms and will contact them to see if they can send me a replacement battery door. Since I have a recent receipt and part number for the fob maybe I will luck out. We'll see.

I get out to my car after the dudes get done programming the new fob to work with my alarm and I hop in the driver's seat. You ever get that feeling when your wallet doesn't feel the same as it always does in your pocket? Well, I got that feeling. I whip out my wallet and see that I, indeed, took back my credit card from the counter person at the alarm shop. Good, Dave. Okay, what then? Well I look at all my cards and see that I no longer have my Citibank ATM card. FREEKIN' LOVELY! Not that I am worried about someone using it (not possible) but I hate it when you have to go through all the bullshit of ordering a new card and then waiting for it to arrive without accessing my account. Lucky for me my memory is still pretty good because I realized that I left it at Bricktop last night. I arrived late for Reynolds spinnin' 80's Night but caught a good portion of his set. As I was leaving the place at closing I was talking with a few friends, couple cute birds and simply headed off to my truck when we said our goodbyes. Not a problem, then. I stop by Bricktop, pick up my card and I'm back on my way.

So my last mission today was to purchase Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 to finish up on some video editing I am doing for footage Sashka took on our trip to Tanzania. So I hop in Best Buy in town, get the software, pay and I'm out the door likity-split! Head home and start to install the software. I get about five minutes into it and I get a prompt that says:

"System does not meet minimum requirements. System needs SDEE2 compliant something-or-another."

TRIPLE SHIT!!! I really am stumped because I run PhotoShop CS2 on this same machine and I can't imagine why it would not support Premiere Elements. Either way, I had been putting off purchasing a desktop PC for my office here so I guess I should get that done. Not that I mind using my laptop, but for more involved tasks I'd rather take advantage of a PC-juiced and my large Viewsonic flatscreen. Just makes some projects easier all around.

So to summarize this Monday, I would say it had many disappointments some of which could see resolutions real soon. I guess I could have worse problems, eh? ;)

SYS

Fun With Google Video

2005-11-12T17:42:00.000-05:00

Brought by popular demand, here is the video from Bricktop featuring "the circle jerks." Music in the background is part of DJ Mattman's excellent set.

SYS

Doesn't seem like a lot...

2005-11-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

My blog is worth $5,080.86.
How much is your blog worth?

Productive day digging for gems!

2005-11-08T17:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Tres and Charles for their patience and expertise. Digging at Homer's is quite nice and productive...

Plus, I got most of these on markdown. You can't knock the hussle, baby! :)

SYS

Midwestern City Nights

2005-11-05T17:23:00.000-05:00

I know what you're thinking. Another night at Bricktop, Dave? Pfff! Those that know me uber-well realize that I am a slave to a few key things. First, great music is what I am all about. Great electronic music is MASSIVE! Second, being able to go to a place where everyone knows your name (cue the Cheers theme here, psyche!) is always cool especially if the people are inviting and the vibe is happening. And third, birds, birds and more BIRDS! They seemed to be out in flocks last night! I knew the night would be awesome the moment I stepped in the door.

And when I did DJ Mattman had just begun his two hour set and he was already bumpin' the early crowd with some hard house staples. Not sure if it was my illuminated smile (thanks to a 1" lime green glow stick) or perhaps the Marc Ecko track jacket I broke out the closet for the night, but I was instantly approached by these two bubbly Bricktoppers.

We chatterboxed about music, their friend's birthday party along with said friend's ample endowments as well as Long Island night life. Seems a Long Island accent is sexy. Who knew? I had my first cocksucker in Lincoln too. (Get your minds out of the gutter, peops. LOL) I'm referring to the drink! Plus, I tried something called a "spicy turkey parts" shot or something along those lines. When I knocked it back it tasted more like Creme de Mint and tabasco sauce. Weird. But still some fun chicks, you shorties rock!

Reynolds was also in attendence and it wasn't even his night to work the bar! For a guy who works as hard as he does (tending bar and spinning '80s night) for Bricktop you'd think the last place he would want to hang out would be here. That just shows you how cool Bricktop is and the loyal patrons it attracts. I said it before and I'll say it again, I've definitely found my new haunt in the downtown!

Matt kicked ass for real! Judging from frequent conversations throughout the night Matt was a bit hard on himself and his performance as a whole. (Dude, if you're reading, you need not be!!!) Tracks were chosen well and there was no low point in your set. Once the floor filled up it STAYED full which is always a good sign. Even some middle-aged ladies who were passing through stayed for a few tracks to shake their asses to the beat, kid! Since meeting him earlier in the week Matt is super cool and is not a music snob like some DJs I've met in the past. Like Reynolds, Chuckles and Alex he has gone out of his way to welcome me to Bricktop and the music scene here in Lincoln.

After closing time at Bricktop (it's still hard getting used to the 1:00 am closings), Matt and I rolled to a kegger after party (yes!) and chilled 'til the wee hours of the morning. I'm bad with names in general but I was introduced to all so many people, lot's of whom were at Bricktop earlier. I never forget faces so all the peops I chatterboxed with will get warm greetings in the future!

Be sure to check back for additional photos AND videos I took of DJ Mattman and DJ Crucial Bricktop session!

SYS

"See dreams the size of which you've never known before..." - Crazy, Seal

2005-11-02T12:59:00.000-05:00

So I hung out at Bricktop's last night. No, not this ornery cunt:

but this Bricktop.

Bricktop back in the day was known as "1427" a high brow club/bar, the place I remembered when visiting Lincoln in the '90s. Today, however, Bricktop is probably THE place in Lincoln to hear quality music every night of the week as resident DJs spin all sorts of styles from Hip Hop (no shit mind you), downtempo, electro, trance and deep house. The dress is casual and the atmosphere is much more laid back and friendly. Needless to say, I think it is safe to say I have found my new "haunt" in downtown Lincoln!

Tuesdays is Hip Hop night so last night was filled with very infectious familiar beats from the not so distant past. AT this moment I forget the DJs name but he played a pretty good set which included Jurassic Park, Pharcyde, NWA, Beasties mostly west coast, which makes sense for this area. To be honest, I have not had an itch to spin in years but last night I was feenin' something major!

You know they have break dancers in Lincoln?? This was news to me too, and luckily I had my Moto RAZR handy to snag a couple of shots (should have had my T7 though, as the picture quality of the Moto's camera is a little sketchy).

Even the shorties worked the floor.

At least the dudes didn't look like some wanna-bes out of an Allure video spinnin' on their lips.

You know the dude who knows the dude who's roomates with these two dudes well the taller dude...

Networking has been going pretty well as I learn about the local scenes, pubs and people "in the know" here in this conservative town. I met a few cool cats through my passion for music that I see budding into something really cool. I know something really cool is gonna happen because I've never had the desire to be this close to the
turntables in a long time. Boy did it feel good again!

Aren't they so pretty you just wanna put your hands all over them? Under normal circumstances I'd be referring to birds. ;)

Hell, I must have chatterboxed with this cat for like four hours over drinks, pizza and infectious grooves. This guy is way cool!

Before I end I have to send a cool shout to Tres for referring me to Bricktop's stellar vibe. Another shout goes to Reynolds the bartender for introducing me around to some of the peops last night and for sharing some pretty decent pizza (probably the best I've had so far).

SYS

Almost forgot...

2005-10-31T18:18:00.000-05:00

I uploaded some Tanzania shots over at Visual Davis. Click this link or hit the Visual Davis button in the sidebar.

SYS

Busy weekend/More Firsts

2005-10-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

I saw my first drag racers!!! Not my first ones ever, just the first time since being in Lincoln. Well at least one of them was trying to drag race. LOL

As I approached these two vehicles at the intersection of Warlick and Old Cheney (not too busy but not too open an intersection either, really) the driver of the Chevy truck was lurching his vehicle forward a foot at the time while revving his engine apparently trying to get the Dodge Magnum driver to drag race. I immediately began to laugh and luckily I had my camera laying on the passenger seat to pop the shot. Come to think of it I should have taken a video but was afraid my batteries would have run out.

The driver of the Magnum looked like a business suit-type content with yacking on his cell phone and wasn't interested in racing at all. But the shit kicker driving the Chevy really wanted to race! Judging from the look of his truck he was probably kicking some shit all through the live long day and rightfully bored as hell. When I pulled up next to him in the turning lane to see what the dude looked like, the guy looked like Grizzly Adams or something, pushing sixty years old, making him nearly twice the age of the Magnum driver. I couldn't stop laughing (couldn't look away either) even when the shit kicker looked over at me. Behind his doo rag and sunglasses I could see his perplexed look wondering what I could be finding so hilarious. I imagined for a moment:

Shit Kicker: "Whadd'ya looking at, boy?"

Moi: "Just anuddah knob behind da wheel, sir." (out here I've got an accent too!)

Shit Kicker: "Whadd'ya mean by knob, man?"

Moi: "You know, like 'daw knob.' Daw knobs aren't too sharp!"

Shit Kicker: "I'm sorry, I don't follow ya!"

Moi: *chuckle* "Yeah, I figgered as much!"

But instead, I looked back at the turning signal to see it was green and I made my left. You gotta have fun sometimes, even if it is at someone else's expense. ;)

SYS

HNT

2005-10-27T22:56:00.000-05:00

So this is my first time playing HNT also known as Half-Nekkid Thursday. So here's my submission:

This came out more blurry than I had anticpated but it was a difficult shot for me to do myself. Can you guess what part of my body this is located? :) And those of you who know me in the flesh don't go being a Mr. Bungle and spill the beans now. *shaking finger* LOL

Happy Half-Nekkid Thursday!

SYS

The Tale of the Ragu!

2005-10-27T20:35:00.000-05:00

First off, I hope everyone likes the new Walking Wounded "concept" as I like to refer to it! I wanted something less flash, less busy, more laid back and would allow the content to draw the eye. Definitely a breath of fresh air for me as I love it. Thanks again, Cricket. U da bomb, yo!

So the story behind the Ragu shot is this. I am a frequent visitor to FlickrLicio.us. I go there more for the photos (what's shot and the quality) and less to oggle the girls. This guy posted a response to one of the photo entries with a link to the accident victim. The guy was a college student and was surfing the web at the library. On the computer screen he had a picture of a girl in a swim suit (cannot recall the exact pic) and the picture of the accident victim. Apparently, the librarian asked him to remove the picture of girl claiming it was offensive to other students in the library. The librarian mentioned nothing about the more graphic picture of the poor victim's guts all over the asphault, mind you! The guy (and I would have to agree with his reaction) was pretty surprised and pissed by the whole thing. I thought it was pretty pathetic that a picture of a girl similar to this one:

would be deemed offensive by anyone. Even if it was a shot of a fully naked chick, how could the human body be offensive? I don't know. Perhaps I'm biased because because I tend to look at things in a more clinical sense at times.

You wanna know something funny? I don't normally dig blondes but this shag looks just too yummy. Thank heaven for loose bra straps, eh? ;)

SYS

Just to let y'all know.

2005-10-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

Walking Wounded will be receiving a facelift!

Tonight on or about about 12pm EST (11pm CST) Walking Wounded will be receiving a facelift thanks to the multi-talented, the vivacious and I might add the wonderfully ample bosom'd Cricket!

Walking Wounded has been an institution for over a year now and I think the time has come to experiment more with the look and feel. Why not, really? Not to worry. You'll still see more of the opinions, observations, complaints, tech talk, music talk, movie talk, nonsensical (?) talk, weird photos, beautiful photos, weird people, beautiful people, weird things, beautiful things you've all come to expect quite surprisingly from a mind as twisted and cunning as mine!

For example, check out this dude who ate too much Ragu:

There is a story behind this picture which I will include in an upcoming post after the facelift. Check out the new look when the clock strikes twelve and the witching hour begins... LOL

SYS

More adventures in corn country...

2005-10-25T18:57:00.000-05:00

Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stab a railroad spike through my freekin' mellon! Do ya?!? Well, my day today wasn't all that bad, really. Although, it began with a couple of real cluster f*cks.

A brief side note: To whomever introduced me to Sudoku (and I forget who at the moment) THANK YOU VERY F*CKING MUCH! Now I am certifiably addicted to these damn number puzzles. I purchased not one but two mini travel sized books of puzzles by "the original inventors of the puzzle." At least that is what Barnes & Noble are marketing them as. I actually did a fast inquiry as to where "Su Doku" originated from and I believe it was invented by a Swedish mathematician. Maybe if someone knows further details they can pass them along to me as I am now totally engrossed in Su Doku. I seem to be ripping through about 5-8 puzzles a night, which is only taking me about an hour to do. After that though I am ready for snoozing as I am drained. But what do I end up dreaming about? SU DOKU! Shit!!!

As I woke today I was alerted to an unwanted visitor in my crib. A damn fly! Double shit!!! This has been the third one I had to hunt down and kill in three days. Those that know me personally know that I am a bt anal retentive when it comes to cleanliness in my place. So the presence of a fly urks me to no end. To be honest, I had enough of flies when I was in Tanzania but since NE is getting frost heavy each night, the little s.o.b.s are trying to come indoors for the winter. Not in my crib they aren't. I think I did locate the possible place where they are entering and I will fix this later this week or call the management office and complain if the job is too big for me to do. I still have to get used to being a renter. Strike one.

After the kill I felt good about myself and decided to shower up and get going on today's first mission: locate a barber shop. Now this is not as easy as it is in NY. NY has barbers all over the place. Men get their haircut at a barber while women, homosexual men and most metrosexual men go to a salons. But in Lincoln this is not the case. I flipped open the yellow pages and looked up "barbers" and the city had a decent amount of listings. So I immediately started calling to get directions and prices. Well it turns out the old bait and switch was on and this City Slicker was on the case. Most of the so-called barber shops I called required an appointment. WTF? An appointment at a barber shop?? Hate to inform you guy or gal (yeah, what a surprise I got when I called a barber and a woman answered the phone) but if you take appointments you are NOT a barber shop - you're a salon! Strike two.

Out of the dozen salon-I mean barber shops I called, I was able to weed out the fakers just by who answered the phone (a receptionist being the dead giveaway). But I didn't just hang-up on the person. I asked a few other questions just to make sure I wasn't leaving any stones unturned. The biggest question I asked was whether or not they used buzzers (or clippers as they may be called, like the Oster). No buzzers!? No buzzers mean only one thing - you're a salon! Strike three. One out. No man on. Bottom of the ninth.

The next question of the utmost importance was price. Now on Long Island we all know how expensive things are. But you can get a haircut at a barber shop for between 8-10 bucks not including additional services like steam facials and hot shaves. For arguments sake, if I wanted to get a cut plus a hot shave I would be covered with just 20 bucks and I might even have change after the tip. Some of these salon-I mean barbers in Lincoln were quoting me nearly 20 bucks for just the cut. They must be figuring in the tip with the price, otherwise no sensible person would break another large bill just for the tip. Double-digit prices for men's hair cuts means only one thing - you're a salon! Strike one.

I get to this one place called "Head's Up" -something or another, so I figured what the hell and dialed. A jovial whatshisname answers the phone and I ask my questions. I found out he does do appointments but takes walk-ins. Cool. He also told me no one was in his shop yet. Even cooler. He also provided direction and I could be there in like ten minutes. The coolest! So off I go. Here's the pitch... batter swings. Line drive to right-center. Man on first. One out. Bottom of the ninth. Looks like the starting of a Yankees rally.

I head down to Head's Up and I was delighted to see that it looked like a barber shop. They even had the barber's pole out in front of the place for all driversby to see. I felt good as I entered the shop. Inside I found whatshisname introduced myself and found that he was the soul owner and operator of the Head's Up Barber Shop. Not bad I think to myself. I re-confirmed that he could take a walk-in and said he had time to "neaten my up." So I must have been in the chair a total of fifteen minutes (seemed even shorter because the dude got right to business and was able to cut AND talk at the same time). He even had a little vaccuum attachment thingy he used to vaccuum all the little hairs off of my forehead, face, ears and neck and shoulders. Give myself a good stare in the mirrors and found he did a great job at neating me up. Next time I get a cut I will be re-styling a bit more and more clipper work will be needed for that. So with everything wrapped up I ask him how much. He replies, "That will only be $16." Come again? "$16 that'll do ya, sir." Here's the pitch... batter swings. Batter hits into a 4-3 double play. Three outs. That ends the ball game. The Yankee loses.

No trim up top, no shave, just the sides and back get clipped. Well, I hand over a c-note feeling as though my pants are being let down to my ankles as I am slowly leaned over. When I hear the money drawer slam shut, I realize whatshisname just achieved penetration. Shite! So as he hands me the four bucks in change back, I imagine it was my tip for a service rendered and quickly make my exit with a polite but stern, "good day." This doesn't make me feel any better but I could deal with it easier. Otherwise, I could have chastized him for ten minutes hopefully to have some sense sink in. But whatshisname was a bit older and all I need to do is be caught up in a barber having a heartache in his shop from an irate customer who happens to be from NY. Nah, not today anyway...

SYS

I actually did dye my hair "sunset" blonde once...

2005-10-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

...but who the hell were they kidding it was orangy NOT blonde!

Thanks to Cricket for the motivation to get back to the roots - on my scalp. Just call me Orange Glow, yo! LOL

I don't have any roots, seriously. I very rarely dye my hair but Maxim's Sunset was pretty cool looking. :)

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.
You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

SYS

I love making my own MP3s...

2005-10-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

But sadly this doesn't leave me with any motivation to go out and seek some MP3s like many of you do. First, being an audiophile of sorts, I find that many cool mp3s I come across were not created too well. This annoys me. When listening to a really cool find that sounds horrible just leaves me sick and frustrated. Second, I hate that people screw around and change the name of songs when creating the mp3 file names. Sometimes a song I know well is either a) totally mislabeled or worse, b) the track is totally not what the file name suggests it is. Could be somebody's crappy Cakewalk version of a mix. It's all monkey balls I tell ya!

Speaking of monkeys, I was cleaning out my mp3 folder and decided to try and track down some of the albums the songs appear on. Not having a whole lot of time to dig in the crates at an indie shop here in Lincoln, I decided to take the lazy way out and head to Best Buy. I didn't really feel like a punk because I was out for CDs - not vinyl. I found FOUR surprisingly good finds amidst the usual horde of popular trash.

1. Space Monkeys vs. Gorillaz: Laika Come Home

2. Dreddy Kruger presents... Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture

3. Depeche Mode... Playing The Angel

4. The Kings of Funk: Compiled by RZA and Keb Darge

I highly recommend these to anyone with musical taste. They are tops!

On a side note, is anybody else feeling Skateboard Pharrell's "Can I Have It Like That" as hard as I am? Can't wait to start hearing it at the dance clubs over here.

Oh yeah, and this is a call to anyone in the know. I am desperately looking for either the track or a mix CD/album that contains the mash-up of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean and Kelis's Milk Shake. Help a brother out, yo! LOL

SYS

So I've Been in Lincoln For a Week...

2005-10-16T19:40:00.000-05:00

...and already I've revisited a few whimsical nuances I had previously forgotten about the Midwest and Lincoln. They have provided me the opportunity to scratch my head all over again and laugh to myself but outloud many times. Here's what few things I have observed since my arrival a week ago.

1. People drive slow. Not as slow as in West Palm Beach, but slow. This is not a big deal at all, really. My first couple of days driving around (familiarizing myself with the necessities) I wasn't looking to do any Mario Andretti impersonations behind the wheel believe me. But on one particular morning I headed out early. I did notice a bunch of Mario Andrettis. I thought for a moment, "Am I back on Long Island?" But then I saw that all the Marios' cars had sorority decals on their rear windows and it all began to make sense. Young girls drive the same in Lincoln, on Long Island and all points in between.

2. There are no delicatessens in Lincoln! I mean real delicatessens, the kind that open at 5am, make a kick ass egg sandwich in the morning and loads of heros all afternoon. There are two so-called delicatessens I have found so far near my crib but they all open up at 11am (wtf?) and none of them make egg sandwiches. Shite. I bet you if I opened up a deli, I would rake up the dough - especially if it were located near the UNL campus. Hey, that's an idea. I will look for delicatessens near the campus next time I am over that way. They must have heard of egg sandwiches out here, right?

3. Hyvee has Snapple Iced Tea!!! It's made from the best stuff on earth. Upon my arrival here I was dying for a cold one - a Snapple iced Tea. I went all over to try and get one. Every Quik-Mart I stopped at to get gas, Russ's Food Market, Super Saver even the book stores. Nothing. Until I was driving back from the Capitol building the other night (can't wait to take night photographs of the building - it truly is the city's monolith) I noticed a Hyvee Food Store. I decided to stop in seeing as it was on the way to my crib and I was still trying to find the best grocery store around where I could find the stuff I usually keep in the house. I was so happy to see cases of Snapple Iced Tea. Now if I could only find decent cold cuts and egg whites. It seems grocery store butcher departments don't carry cold cuts like they do back east. But no doubt I am on the case. They must have Boar's Head around here somewhere. LOL

SYS

First installment of Africa Trip up.

2005-10-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

For all those interested I have begun my Africa Series posts of my trip over at Mobile Davis. Either click the link or hit the Mobile Davis button on the right column. More updates to come as I weed through photos and journal content. Hope you enjoy!

SYS

Back From The Dark Continent!!!

2005-10-04T05:50:00.000-05:00

Well I am back from the dark continent in one piece and with many a tale to tell. Actually, the last 36 hours have been spent on planes or in cities not my own so I am a bit spent. I must still be on Africa time since I fell asleep last night at about 1:00am and woke up today at 5:00am bright-eyed and ready to go. Funny thing is I really have nothing planned so I will be slowly blogging, catching up with emails and phone calls and getting back to the swing of things.

To all those who sent me trippy travel vibes and best wishes while I was away they were just what the doctor ordered. Thank you all so much!

SYS

Leaving for Africa Wednesday Night

2005-09-12T19:19:00.000-05:00

I think I will take this opportunity to say goodbye to my readers, lurkers and random contributers. I will be heading out to Tanzania, Africa to embark on my climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, hike of the Ngorongoro Crater, safaris (including Serengeti) and Zanzibar Island. I will be away for three weeks with limited internet access except for when we are near major cities. I was planning to have a satellite phone with me to audio blog along the way but with the extra equipment and solar energy sources I would have needed it became a budget issue. So I will be equipt light with my camera, laptop, camelback and climbing gear. The more I think about it, I'm better off.

When I have the opportunity I will be blogging remotely to Mobile Davis my official travel blog. Be sure to click the Mobile Davis link periodically to see if I fall off the mountain or not. J/K!

In all likelihood the next time I blog I will be a resident of the great state of Nebraska! I am closing on September 23rd (while in Africa) and its about time, honestly. Once I make it back to New York I will be driving out to Lincoln, NE with my The Cop.

In any event wish me luck! :)

SYS

So that explains it...

2005-09-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?
But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

Thanks alot, dude! LOL

My goodness!

2005-09-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

*

This chick needs some knee pads! :)

SYS

*Photo courtesy of Flickr.licio.us

Rockin' the Long Beach City!

2005-09-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

I love it when there is absolutely NO parking in town...

Sunday night brought more Labor Day Weekend hijinks as Methodical and I headed out to infamous Long Beach to catch up with his cousin Jeff, who has been renting a house there. A block party was mentioned as well as shags so we figured it would make for a good time.

Before I continue, a brief word on Long Beach...

Long Beach, NY was "the" seaside tourist attraction and upscale summer community before there was an Atlantic City, NJ or the Hamptons as we know it. So we're talking a place where grandpa and grandma went to for the summer from NYC to soak up the sun, play shuffle board, swim by day and pressed their luck at the casino, attended black tie parties by night. Basically, Long Beach had its "hayday" during the 50s and 60s. Long Beach has been made famous in many films more notably City By The Sea (starring Robert DeNiro) and The Godfather Part I (starring Al Pacino). During the 80s and 90s Long Beach saw a decline in both tourism and socio-economic appeal and this brought in crime, drugs, prostitution, you name it. Much of the old town "Pier" and boardwalk is a ghost town a la City By The Sea. It is now a place where the upper class and lower class are forced to co-mingle. Honestly, during the winter you wouldn't really want to hang around LBC, although during the summer there is fun to be had as the city fills up with visiting transients creating the scene.

In the last five to ten years Long Beach has been experiencing a quiet upswing spurred by the ridiculously booming real estate market of Long Island. Construction of multi-million dollar vacation homes has not ceased polka-dotting the landscape of predominantly pre-WWII vacation/converted year-round homes. With this recent insurgence of money into the city, the community has remained tight knit and remarkably clique-ish.

Things seem to take on a care free, spur of the moment feel when you are there at night. As soon as we arrived there was a house full of people all getting ready to kick off the evening with shots of Tequila. Yes, even though I have been off the sauce, I did have one shot. It was smooth but it didn't really do anything to loosen me up. I got loosened up once I was around some shags. Jeff had hooked up with a very cute girl earlier in the week and she came out that night to party with a friend from Manhattan. While Jeff's hook up was rather funny, bubbly and engaging, her friend was a real dry fish. Both Methodical and I tried to be a wingman for Jeff but to no avail. Amazingly, I managed about twenty minutes of conversation with them which reduced itself quickly to Jeff's hook up and myself talking while her friend looked around disinterested. Oh well, dose are da breaks! Jeff fell victim to a CBB. Happens to the best of us. LOL

After hitting a block party, then a house party we then set out to Minnesota's to break the monotony a bit. Minnesota's was dead! The only thing going on was a small private party and a bunch of sausage watching the Yankees-Oakland game. So of course, Methodical and I stop and watch the tail end of the game (Yankees won, YES!) and promptly head back to find Jeff. When we arrived at Jeff's crib we saw he was getting ready to "Knights." Not knowing what Kinghts was we were like "sure thing, dude!" Once we got there we realized what the place was.

"Knights" was the City of Long Beach's Knights of Columbus's Hall and Bar. But by the time we showed up there were no old dudes left just other 30-somethings chilling out and enjoying the cheap beer prices. Some a little too much, like these dudes:

Meet John Deere Man (center) and Paul (snuck in on right). These guys are your local LBCers. Blue collar guys make up the majority of the local cliques if you are not party of the trendier rich set. These guys were cool. I couldn't get too much out of John Deere Man because he was full of hops by the time we met, but Paul and I chatterboxed about the Knights of Columbus organization, the bar, Mets farm system and life. Paul was a pitcher in the Mets farm system until he suffered an eye socket injury that ended his career as a ball player. Paul is an actual member of the Knights of Columbus in LBC (as was my late Grandfather) so we had lots to talk about and in common. It was a funny end to the evening as we hung out at Knights and chatterboxed with all sorts of locals.

John Deere Man's catch phrases of the night: "You guys are fags, man! Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa! Shit." "You wanna bud, man?" "Where's Hollywood?!?" Note: Hollywood refers to a person we met that night.

Paul's catch phrase of the evening: "Man, the bank won't give me any more credit!" "I'm in debt up to my eyeballs and LOVIN' it, man!"

Far out, dude. You buying this round? Excellent. ;)

SYS

Who got the jewels?

2005-09-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

I gots tha jewels, playa!

Check it, yo!

SYS

Karl Malone say...

2005-09-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

...No runnin' 'round pool with scissors!

Yesterday, hit The Cop's crib for BBQ, Pool and lounging with the crew. You can check out the some of the highlights of Labor Day Weekend Part 1 at Visual Davis.

SYS

Deadly Intentions

2005-08-31T08:20:00.000-05:00

Above all others, there are a group of organisms that I would not hesitate to whipe off the face of the earth if I had the power. You guessed it, MOSQUITOS. I hate these fuckers! Especially, because they sem to take a particular liking to me. Does my blood taste that good you little bastards?

Monday night I was chillin' at the Cop's crib for a little swimmy-swim and BBQ. I brought a gaggle of chicken thighs (with bone and skin, baby) for him to grill up. One good thing about cutting carbs is that it leaves more room for BBQ veggies and meat/fish/poultry. LOL Seriously, if the chicken is going to be grilled, its okay if the skin is kept on. With the way the Cop likes his BBQ (a little on the well-done side) its awesome! But of course the ecstacy could only last for so long before some unwanted guests made their way into the yard. Even the tiki torches weren't making a dent in these little bastards. I had a Nike dri-fit long sleeve top I was wearing so my arms were fine. As we sat and chatterboxed it was drama. Where's the DEET when you need it.

My calves and ankles were devastated for real...
The flash sort of bleaches them out but you would think I had a case of the measles.

Looks like it was a Chinese Buffet for these bastards!

Apparently, that dark red spot was a bite that I began scratching at while hanging out and didn't realize I was drawing blood on. Damn it!

I apologize for quality fo the shots. These were taken using my new DSC-T7 and I'm still getting used to it.

Here, I tried to show how raised up off the surface they had become. These mosquitos must have been on crank or something.

Same here. Damned flash, I'll figuree it out soon enough.

Luckily, I will have plenty of this in Africa.

SYS

WTF?

2005-08-31T07:50:00.000-05:00

I caught on the news earlier this week that the gas prices were going to hit $3.00/gal this week but I was surprised and shocked to see the Exxon station near my house offering their 87 grade gas at $3.79! $3.79!! For regular!!!

This wasn't the original post I had in mind but since I was struck so I figured I would get it out and off my chest. I know Long Island enjoys %10 higher gas prices than the main land but, for crying out loud, that's a big jump from a projected $3.00 to nearly $4.00. Hmm, looks like the hybrid SUV might be sooner in my future than I planned.

I wonder what prices are in the rest of the nation this morning?

SYS

Now no one can say I have no personality...

2005-08-30T08:23:00.000-05:00

...becauzse I have a Blog Personality! Yay! I wanna go to Hawaii, yay! I wanna go to Hawaii, yay! Yay! j/k (Not about going to Hawaii, though.)

Thanks to everyone's favorite web vixen for clueing my in to this survey. Honey, I can always trust in you for my fix! ;)

Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful

You've got a ton of brain power, and you leverage it into brilliant blog.
Both creative and logical, you come up with amazing ideas and insights.
A total perfectionist, you find yourself revising and rewriting posts a lot of the time.
You blog for yourself - and you don't care how popular (or unpopular) your blog is!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Hmm?

2005-08-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

Now the Chili Peppers were known to "rock out with their cocks out" but who the hell is this freak? A good name for his band might be One-eyed Jack and the Rippers...

SYS

Saturday's Coolest Toy!

2005-08-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

Methodical recently got himself this pretty cool bike. I don't know much about street bikes aside from the basics but its pretty sweet. I guess I have always had the opinion that street bikes were light and "barely there" machines that were more suited to smaller dudes. Not having the safety of a cabin also is a foreign concept to most. This used to be the predominant reason why I was never into them before (never have considered getting one). But my opinion has changed after checking out this bike. It feels very solid and as if there is a lot more than an aluminum can seperating you from the road!

The bike is quite powerful being a 1000cc in such a streamlined package...

I think the dual exhaust is a killer look for bikes like these.

The copper color is aggressive looking too, reminds me of the Eclipse Spider color.

The Man and his Machine.

SYS

Better than being a flavor of the month...

2005-08-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

Tomato is what I taste like.

I taste like nothing, except a tomato. I'm sometimes sweet and sometimes tart; sometimes juicy, sometimes crisp. The roles of a tomato are many and varied. I am an exception to all the rules. What Flavour Are You?

Not bad at all, eh? I've always been told I make one hell of a sauce! ;)

SYS

The waiting game.

2005-08-26T11:13:00.000-05:00

With the closing of my home coming literally any day now, talk about keeping a guy in a constant state of anticipation, eh? But at least I have had a fair deal of running around to do this week to keep me busy and not bored. (Well, not all the time, anyway.)

The client I tutored challenged me to an AIM Fight and totally kicked the virtual crap out of me. :) (To replay the match: set DEEJAYMack vs. GuBbaGoTGaMe17 and witness the utter slaughter!)

Oh, well. I guess I will take it a bit easy today. There's always laundry...

SYS

I Bet You Thought We Had The Worst Gas Prices

2005-08-18T22:18:00.000-05:00

According to this cool article over at CNN Money, the U.S. is no where near the worst country to try and fill the tank of your Escalade up in! And you'd be surprised what the best country to own that Escalade would be. Well, maybe not to own but at least to fill the tank.

Check out the short list of countries and their average prices...

Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12

Venezuela takes the championship for cheapest gas in U.S. dollars!

Make you wonder why it is so cheap there of all places...

SYS

The Heat Has Driven Me Back Indoors.

2005-08-17T15:56:00.000-05:00

I started the day with the best intentions and actually finished some yard clean up, for real. But eventually all things must end. ;)

As I was surfing on the couch, I found a nice little blog/site through FeedDemon. It's called FlickrLicio.us - Babes of Flickr. Apparently, users of Flickr can submit pictures they have taken of models, vintage pin-ups or the girls next door. Many of the shots are quite good (meaning artistic) and some are of course your run of the mill T&A shots.

But still, there is some genuine novelty in relaxing on a summer afternoon and looking at something like this to help you forget the oppressing heat. I've said it before and I'll say it again. A nice heart-shaped fanny makes the world go 'round!

SYS

I Must Be Missing Something Here!

2005-08-17T15:32:00.000-05:00

After hearing a lot of people rave about BitTorrent and downloading torrent files, and catching the crew at Attack of the Show on more than one ocassion mention torrents, I figured I would go ahead, get a client and give it a whirl. I must say I am extremely disappointed! But there is a reason for the season, of course.

Now this morning at about 6am I attempted to download my first torrent file. And at roughly 5pm the client is still sitting there running the download at 0.00% completion. (?) Now I checked to make sure Windows, my firewall or McAfee wasn't blocking the client from completing the download. No blocks. So officially, I don't get it. Not that I am all broken up over it, really. I have more pressing things to worry about but I hate not being able to figure things out.

Anybody have experience with BitTorrent and could enlighten me?

SYS

UPDATE!!!

Turns out that the download finally completed at... 8:30pm!!! I forgot that I had it still running to be honest. Jesus, that is one hell of a download time, ain't it? I thought the whole reason behind compressing the file was that it would be able to download quicker(?). In any event, I got my file and really wasn't all that impressed with it. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right? My original question still stands, however. So hopefully some of my readers know what's up with BitTorrent and can help me out. *wink*

It's Stories Like These That Make Me Feel The World Still Has a Chance...

2005-08-17T12:44:00.000-05:00

Awesome story. And the life of a child was saved.

SMS Saves a Life.

SYS

Scary Shit, Funny Shit, Cool Shit!

2005-08-15T21:27:00.000-05:00

Scary shit. I went to the gym tonight with Methodical and attempted to do our usual total body workout. He goes with me in the evenings, as I go in the morning (part of my split) and do small muscle groups along with cardio. I save the heavy lifting for the night session so we can spot eachother. Well, I was bench pressing and when I got to my third set, sixth rep I felt something weird. It felt like someone was blowing through a straw and the bubbles were popping inside my left shoulder. No pain, just the bubbles. Anyway, it startled me and made me cut my workout short. As I type this I have soreness in the shoulder but I took some anti-inflamatory pills so we'll see what I wake up to (fingers crossed)! Maybe twice a day for so long is too much? But I need a second opinion...

Funny shit. How's this for conversation over drinks: Celia and The Tennis Whore. - Weeds

paraphrase
Tennis Whore - "He's very cute. Funny. Clean-"

Celia - "-married to me!"

TW - "It's not like we're running off. It was just sex. Very hot sex!"

C - "Yeah, but now I have to deal with it. And I hate to deal with things. So what did you do for him?"

break

TW - "You know, he went down on me for days!"

C - "Well, he was always very talented in that department."

TW - "Dean's a good guy."

C - "Shut up! I'm very mad at him."

TW - "Are you going to divorce him?"

C - "Hell no! No way he can support two households. And I'm not living in a townhouse again!"

TW - "That's why I'm never getting married."

C - "No, you'll just fuck the married."

break

C - "You're a big whore!"

TW - "I think it's time for me to leave-"

C - "Oh, sit your flat ass down. Yeah, you're a good listener."

TW - "Thanks!"

C - "Fuck you. Let's get another round!"
/paraphrase

LOL

Cool shit. Thanks to Primate Buddy for turning me on to this nice blog featuring downloadable classic movies. For a film nut like myself this is cool. I'm really into the early film noir - visually, the most striking B&W cinema, in my opinion. And speaking of film nuts. What is it with the contestants on IFC's Film Fanatic? Now I do not consider myself a film fanatic, but these fools on the show are fucking dumbies! Now I do not have an eclectic collection of film related materials or websites or review database, etc. So the usual contestants would have me there - unless I were to develop some of my own. Not impossible. The people on the show miss a lot of questions that should be common knowledge to any mediocre fan of films. Anybody have an opinion on this?

SYS

Allah Muhammad Jihad, Derka Derka!

2005-08-12T06:50:00.000-05:00

Ha, ha! No, no, no. This is not the twentieth hijacker. This is Burger, a member of the crew who is tying the knot tomorrow. Dun, dun, dun. The second one bites the dust! I can't be there for the galla event so I figured I'd pay him a comedic tribute here. Hermo, Monkey and The Cop will be making the trek to Bingo for the festivities. Looks like its gonna be a hot one for a tux.

Good luck, Burger. Stomp that glass on the first try, homeboy! Peace.

SYS

Just a side note!

2005-08-12T06:28:00.000-05:00

Mary McCormack is such a total shag!

SYS

For Cryin' Out Loud!

2005-08-12T05:52:00.000-05:00

I hate when you think you are doing your body a favor and your body responds with a middle finger... sometimes two middle fingers.

I went to bed a bit early last night (around 10:30pm - yeah, early) after passing on a late dinner with Hermo and Monkey. I figured I could use the rest and to be honest the heat has been kicking my ass a bit lately. So how am I rewarded? Eyes wide open at 5am and I haven't been back to sleep yet. So about an hour ago I whipped out my notebook (simmer down, ladies) and decided to surf from bed. It's amazing the shit you end up finding when you are looking for NOTHING. In any event, I found this lovely little ego booster to promote peace on earth and good will to mankind which is so last week's news.

It's called AIM Fight. Basically, you enter your AIM screen name and an opponent's and the site determines a winner. Oh, the drama. The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. It doesn't get any better than this folks...

By the way, I am a push over as an AIM fighter. The irony of real life. So go ahead, feel free to use my screen name to pick on. :)

On a side note: the movies that are on at 5am are really entertaining too, helping me to keep awake. So far, the best lines of the day (and the day is young, mind you) are these:

Rob Reiner: "You're six years old and you just found you got a new bike."
David Spade: "Holy shit, a bike!"
Rob Reiner: "You're six."
David Spade: "Holy crap, a bike!"
Rob Reiner: "You're six!"
David Spade: "Goo-goo, gah-gah, bikey!"
Rob Reiner: "That's too far back."

SYS

Now I Don't Normally Pimp Products...

2005-08-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

...but in this case I will make an exception!

is a fabulous company! Speaking from experience, being a colocation customer can be tedious. The fellas at IronColo make it the most hassle-free experience. Whether your needs are great or small, they really know the best fit for your data environment. The service is top notch, no shit!

Check out this recent article in Yahoo's Financials. If you or anyone else you know with a small business is in need of rock solid co-location and IT services, send them to IronColo. While there they can speak with knowledgable individuals who know more than a thing or two about bringing your business to the next level!

SYS

An open book quiz!

2005-08-08T15:32:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been with me for a while now, you may want to take my Quiz! The quiz is based on myself and tests how well you know me (or don't know me, LOL).

After you take it you can see where you rank amongst my readers who aren't lurkers here. Have fun and learn something you probably could have survived without knowing! ;)

Kudos to Raymi for inspiring me to create the quiz.

SYS

Yard Sale: Midnight Madness, Decent Sales and Sun Bleached Hair!

2005-08-06T23:14:00.000-05:00

A whole week of prep for this weekend's yard sale did make things easier. But the sale got off to a pretty weird start. It actually began on Friday night before the sale.

I decided to go around my neighborhood and post the smaller signs for the yard sale with the arrows pointing the way to my house. I had three strategic placements which would help drivers who entered my neighborhood at the wrong street. The signs were not tremendously big but big enough to be easily read by someone in a moving vehicle. Apparently, the signs were a bit too visible even at night.

Now my neighborhood has changed in certain ways since the days I was raising hell, stomping the pavement and chewing the dirt. One major way in which it has changed is that the streets are filled with cleptomaniacs who lack the mental capacity to steal something of real value. Having said this, this morning's start will make more sense...cause what a real shitty start it was!

My father arrived bright and early at 7:30am to help set up some of the tables and place some of the heavier items. (I had a simple set-up with two major aisles down either side of the driveway with tables in the center displaying smaller bric-a-brac.) The point was I wanted everything set up before kickoff this way I didn't seem as though I didn't have my shit together. Needless to say, it took my dad nearly an hour to absorb enough caffeine to assure he wasn't dead from the neck up. This slowed things up a bit. I'm glad I'm not a slave to coffee.

Later on, as we were finishing setting up, I asked my dad if the sign at the head of my street was easy to see. His reply was, "I didn't even notice a sign." Since I wanted to go to the corner gas station and get more fives and singles, I figured I would examine the sign again and see if it needed to be bigger. Well, guess what? Absolutely no sign was where I had hammered it into the ground the night before! Having made extra signs for the yard and driveway I quickly hammered another sign where the old one was. Just on the off chance I decided to investigate the other signs I installed the night before. 2 out of four were pulled out of the ground. So I replaced them and finally got back to my sale.

Interesting characters showed up this weekend. Many people came on bikes which was really surprising. They basically bought little things they could either put in their backpacks or their pockets but it was all good. I actually sold a bunch of old rakes and assorted tools too. Many larger items are still in the inventory. Basically, stuff I thought would not sell, indeed, sold and many other things I thought would sell quickly I still have. I guess yard sales are funny that way. For the larger furniture pieces left over I have a few options including an estate auction company here in town. They will sell them on consignment, which may take time but at least they are out of the house. One thing I cannot deny is that I made some real loot! ;)

Another added bonus from the last two days was being out in the sun. After several hours exposure the sun has brightened up the color of my hair! My hair is blonder and my skin a bit redder but a few dollars richer too. I really can't complain with that.

SYS

Faces That Could Launch A Thousand Ships...

2005-08-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

...and make me forget my worries for the time being.

I had a great workout tonight! Nothing like throwing the weights around for burning out bad thoughts. So after a nice cool (not cold) shower I decided to think about more positive things - beautiful women. So after some thought, here are my Top Ten women to whom I am attracted and who basically send me to lala-land when I see them. :) Be warned my tastes are a bit different from the usual run of the mill since the one thing I focus on predominantly are the face and eyes. Oh btw, after my list I have also included four bonus women from way back in my youth who undoubtedly influenced my unique taste in women. Well, here goes nothing...

10.
I'm a sucker for red heads, what can I say. Plus, Lauren is not only attractive but adorable at the same time.

9.
Every red-blooded American male remembers Phoebe! Quite easily she borders on that vintage category we will get to later. Even today, Phoebe still has that girl next door look. Speaking of which...

8.
I can't really explain Elisha's appeal easily because I am not generally attracted to blondes, not that I discriminate. But I love her naturally expressive eyes that you can get lost in.

7.
Talk about penetrating eyes! Mia's version of hazel eyes, not that you could tell here, are like cat eyes. When they look at you, you cannot help but look back at them.

6.
What can I say about Sandra? The raven locks, the dark eyes, the skin tone all complete a very appealing package. A Time To Kill was the movie that really got me. Damn, she looked good and still does.

5.
Ah, another red head. I discovered Angie in the movie Jade and have been a fan ever since. I got two syllables, "Yum" and "Mee!"

4.
I became really hooked on HBO's Unscripted where Krista stars as an aspiring actor, going to school and trying to break into the bizz (like the rest of the cast). Problems she faces is that her looks pigeon-hole her into gigs made for air heads. But with a face like hers, I could sit across from her and listen to her unload her troubles all day long.

3.
Natalie has grown into a super hot women. I first saw her in The Professional and she was such a cute little girl. But today, she is stunning!

2.
Ooh la la. Kate brings meaning to the phrase, "getting lost in someone's eyes." Plus she has the most perfect set of lips I have ever seen. As a vampire she can suck me dry (behave fellas, you know what I mean) and as a vampire killer she can stake me anytime.

And finally...

1.
Bjork has the face, the eyes and the voice to put wind in my sails anytime! Seeing her is an experience itself but shutting my eyes and hearing her. Damn, what a beautiful bird. All I wanna do is zooma zoom-zoom-zoom in the boom-boom! ;)

And now for a BONUS. Yay! These four women made me appreciate a good pencil box before I ever knew how to write! Thank you ladies for making afternoons on the sit and spin in front of the TV so much fun. Mwah!

Natalie Wood - I'd give her some splender in the grass!

Kathleen Turner - Body Heat? Nah, forget the fever too cause I'm on fire, baby! Now fix me some Booberry in the BIG bowl.

Sally Field - if there were more nuns like her, Catholic School attendence would sky rocket. Arnold you are a lucky bitch! Fucking politicians.

Jaclyn Smith - arrest me, judo me, interrogate me please! I wanna be good. (I mean bad, bad) I wanna learn, baby!

SYS

States of Alert

2005-08-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

My own states of alert measured from left to right:

I guess right now I am still at stage 1. I'm poised, ready and still thinking intelligently, which is good. But I have to be ready to take things up a notch.* The day is growing warmer and warmer. The air is getting thicker and thicker. So I am in a fabulous mood besides all that is happening.

SYS

*it would really be a trip if I did turn all green! I stay white unless I am in the sun too long.

Let the Chess Match Begin!

2005-08-02T12:43:00.000-05:00

As of this morning, the buyer's attorney is looking to delay the closing for three weeks claiming they need to have a new survey done on the property. Only problem with that is that it doesn't take three weeks to have a survey performed. So it looks like I will have to become a bit of a prick and start being agressive.

I have been on calls all morning and it doesn't seem as though it will end anytime soon. So I decided to take a moment, breathe, and voice some of my angst! Those who have been following, I appreciate you kind words and advice and they are really coming in handy right now. Overall, I am not steaming mad yet which is why I have not begun shopping for a hand gun yet! ;)

SYS

So much for the break from the humidity...

2005-07-30T19:37:00.000-05:00

Today was an absolute steamy mess, granted I was moving some furniture for NEXT weekend's yard sale that was supposed to be THIS weekend's yard sale. Make a long story short, my neighbors across the street held their own yard sale today. Lucky I was up early enough to see them setting up shop before I began setting up my shop! Not a major deal when you think about it because this will give me an extra week of advertising which will help for next weekend sale.

Normally, I would be a bit pissed off but I am trying to remain calmer in my old age. (hardy-har-har) August 1st was supposed to be my closing date, however, I am experiencing delays from the buyer's attorney. This has me aggrevated because I was told by the buyer's attorney that closing would take place between July 1st and August 1st. I was counting on this time frame being firm - according to the contract I think it is. I'm not the type of guy who just goes by the seat of his pants. Needless to say, there are plans being held up in the balance of all this. Just how many and how important I will mention in a future post because it will only upset me too much right now (it's way too hot for that). Those of you who have hung with me this long know about my move to Nebraska and my upcoming trip to Tanzania. So the clock is ticking a bit.

SYS

An ex-patriot, for real?

2005-07-30T16:12:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I'm not the country that I thought I was:

You're Brazil!

You're athletic, charming, and probably a good dancer.
Unfortunately, you don't really mind chopping down the rain forest, and you probably
consider homeless people expendable in certain circumstances. Of course, your
personality is so diverse that it's hard to track down exactly what you're like. You
definitely like Pele, the World Cup, and shouting "gooooal" at the
top of your lungs.
Take
the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

Big fix for the survey addict...

2005-07-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

Ever in search of humorous surveys and quizzes to fill my growing addiction, I was pleasantly surprised to find that cricket scored a major fix of her own. As I was too lazy at 6:30 this morning to seek out my own I figured I would give 'em a try. Besides, Caesar dog cannot be rushed while providing today's poop du jour. Plus, they caught my curiosity immediately because each were very short, unlike others that ask for your entire life story.

So here goes...

Your Power Color Is Lime Green

At Your Highest:

You are adventurous, witty, and a visionary.

At Your Lowest:

You feel misunderstood, like you don't fit in.

In Love:

You have a tough exterior, but can be very dedicated.

How You're Attractive:

Your self-awareness and confidence lights up a room.

Your Eternal Question:

"What else do I need in my life?"

What's Your Power Color?

This actually isn't that far off in the grand scheme of things because I do like the color green. But lime green? Yeah, I guess it is cool...

You Are an Indie Rocker!

You are in it for the love of the music...
And you couldn't care less about being signed by a big label.
You're all about loving and supporting music - not commercial success.
You may not have the fame and glory, but you have complete control of your career.

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

An Indy Rocker? Well, I guess this is as close to the truth as they can get with this one because if I were to make music it would closely resemble Beck or Moby.

Overall, Your Observation Skills Get: B+

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time)
And it takes something big to distract you!

How Observant Are You?

Not too bad but what if you never had venisian blinds in your house growing up? This survey may be too biased toward the interior decorator. Now vertical blinds I would have rocked!

Your Career Type: Investigative

You are precise, scientific, and intellectual.
Your talents lie in understanding and solving math and science problems.

You would make an excellent:

Architect - Biologist - Chemist
Dentist - Electrical Technician - Mathematician
Medical Technician - Meteorologist - Pharmacist
Physician - Surveyor - Veterinarian

The worst career options for your are enterprising careers, like lawyer or real estate agent.

What's Your Ideal Career?

This makes sense since many of these areas I studied back in the day while at Uni. A lawyer or Real Estate Agent wouldn't be good for me because you have to be able to shit out of your mouth under oath, in public and on command and I cannot do that!

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Redhead Spice Trader.

Where You Lived: Greece.

How You Died: Typhoid fever.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

This one just cracked me up! Apparently, teachers bland former lives. For this survey, you have to answer only one question, your profession, and the results are generated from your entry. Below are is the same survey using "pimp" as the profession:

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Forlorn Monk.

Where You Lived: Ireland.

How You Died: In Childbirth.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Damn.

Now this one is truly funny and surprising because I thought I had more things to experience. I'm a real nasty freak...

Your Kissing Purity Score: 23% Pure

For you, it's all kiss and no talk.

You're in a permanent lip lock.

Kissing Purity Test

Well we can dream can't we? ;)

And finally:

You Are 61% American

Most times you are proud to be an American.
Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe
Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home.
You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you!

How American Are You?

I think George Carlin said it best: "It's a wonderful country, but a very disturbing culture at times." Amen.

SYS

Thanks Samurai Jack!

2005-07-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

For cutting the humidity seemingly in half within the last 24 hours! I woke this morning to let Caesar dog out to dump and the air was cooler outside than in my pantry. So I quickly terminated the A/C and opened all the windows to get some fresh air in the place. Luckily today no neighbors are getting their cesspools serviced so fresh air is here to stay.

In between pricing items for my yard sale, I was able to take a few rather short surveys with interesting results. I think I will post them in a seperate post because I have some observations regarding them.

SYS

It's Hot As Hell! And It's Hot As Hell Too!

2005-07-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

Well, if indeed there is a hell I am heading for it according to Dante's Inferno Test brought to my attention by this sheila. Apparently, I'm a Level 2 which means I'm a real randy Mick at that. ;) Check the fly shit, ladies and take notes...

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

SYS

Quite A List I Have Here

2005-07-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

If anyone needs an excuse to devote a half an hour to listing and ranking their life goals then stop by 43 Things and take the time.

I was surprised how many other people want to do some of the more exact (for lack of a better term) things I want to do before I take the dirt nap. Thanks to Cricket for turning me on to this trippy, free and ultimately useful utility!

And, yes Cricket you may take a peek at mine right here. ;)

SYS