Friday, July 28, 2006

Running On Empty

  Posted by Picasa

If you are looking for some good music for those relaxing days at the beach, for backyard bbq's, cruising in the car, or chillin' at home, I highly recommend Jackson Browne.

Jackson Browne has been around since the 70's and he has scored some big hits like "Doctor My Eyes", "Running on Empty", "The Pretender", and "Stay." But it is his less famous songs that tell the real story. What Springsteen and Billy Joel are to the East Coast, Jackson Browne and Tom Petty are to the West Coast. Like Springsteen, Jackson Browne tells a story in each song. He talks about love, the struggles of every day life, and things we can all relate to. Although maybe not as poetic as "The Boss", Jackson's voice is a bit more soothing and melodic.

If you are anywhere near a music store this weekend, pick up his Greatest Hits to get yourself familiar with his work, you'll be glad you did!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Thursday Randomness

  Posted by Picasa

Did Lance Bass of N'SYNC really need to "come out" and tell us he was gay? Wasn't this pretty obvious? That's like Ike Turner holding a press conference that he did indeed beat Tina or O.J. admitting he killed his wife and Ron Goldman. No shit Sherlock.

You know what annoys me a bit? Songs that don't mention the title of the song in the lyrics, or maybe just mention it once. Why? I heard "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam today. A song I enjoyed back in the early 90's. What the fuck does Yellow Ledbetter have to do with the song lyrics? "Summer Highland Falls" by Billy Joel is another one. A great song, but "Summer Highland Falls" is never mentioned or even referred to.

It is amazing what odds and ends in the house can do for you. I totally ghetto rigged my living room a/c. The a/c was way small for the width of the window and it did not have the flap extenders to fill the space on both sides of the a/c. So, I pushed it to one side, stuck a clipboard in there and packing taped the shit out of it. It is quite stylish. This decor just may show up on one of these home makover shows and catch on nationwide.

How do you throw out a garbage can out? How does the garbageman known you want to get rid of it? Do you leave a note?

They should have a small refrigerated compartment in the trunk of all cars to put your cold stuff in after food shopping until you get home, especially on hot summer days.

Why do dogs smell each others asses upon meeting? Imagine someone new in the office starting, you get introduced and instead of shaking her hand, you sniff her ass. Actually Sugar V would love that.

Never get drunk on a Monday Night. You are in for a long week if you do. Take it from me! "One drink" led to 5 at the house, then 4 more and 2 shots at "The Inn" across the street. Oh boy. Bad C-Mac.

Ann Coulter said Bill Clinton is a homosexual. WHAT???? That man has had more FEMALE ass than a toilet seat in the ladies room at Macy's during a one day sale extravaganza.

The solution to this whole Hezbollah crisis, get those fuckers cable television. One glimpse of Jessica Simpson shaking her ass, a couple of on demand porn flicks, and a few "Real World" episodes and these crazy mother fuckers would love westernization and be too occupied to hate anyone. Let's pipe that shit right into Southern Lebanon. Crisis over!

Have a great Thursday! :)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Working Class Hero

John Lennon once wrote “A working class hero is something to be” and I couldn’t agree more. I grew up in a family of hard working people. My grandfather was a painter and worked until the year he died which was his 76th. My grandmother worked until she was in her early 70’s, my dad until he was 65, and my mom always worked and still does, sometimes 2 jobs. My parents worked nights, weekends, and whatever it took to make money so they could give us what we needed. My parents did not work desk jobs, they were on their feet all day doing physical labor. I always admired their work ethic.

Every time I turn on the TV these days, there is a message that honors “men and women in uniform.” Trust me, I respect our soldiers for their dedication and service, but I think men and women in the armed forces, police and firemen/women seem to get all the attention as “heroes” and society overlooks many of the other professions that keep our country and society functioning. Sure, these folks put their lives on the line, but like any other job, it is something they chose to do.

Go to any bar in any town, they have specials for police, fireman, armed forces personnel, but nothing for anyone else. It makes me mad. There are all kinds of heroes that should be honored. How about the single moms out there that are busting their asses working 2 and 3 jobs to raise their kids? How about the garbage men that pick up our nasty-ass trash at the curb twice a week? I don’t see a garbage man night at the local pub, yet if it wasn’t for them, rats would be biting us all in the ass as we walked out our front doors. I work as a buyer for a technology company, how about buyer night at the local strip club? Free lap dances, free drinks, and free chicken at KFC afterwards all because I am a buyer.

Many of you are addicted to that morning coffee. How about honoring the local Dunkin Donuts worker who is up at 4am brewing your coffee so you can “function” at your job? We seem to overlook all of these people and make certain professions seem more important. How about teachers? Teachers in the inner cities are grossly underpaid, yet show up each day trying so hard to make a difference in the lives of our children, the future of this country, yet we rarely honor them. I’d much rather honor a person with a book in their hand than one with a rifle in theirs. Maybe it is just me.

Since 9/11/01, I think our attention and “respect” for those three professions has increased, but I think it has gotten a bit out of hand. 3,000 other people perished that day too, yet the media focuses on the police and fire personnel more than the average Joe that was sitting at his desk that morning that never saw the attack coming. I feel worse for those people than I do anyone else. They weren’t trained, did not have gear, they were just sitting ducks.

Sure, let’s honor our police, fire, and military units, but let us not forget the millions of people that get up each day that do the jobs that don’t get the attention or respect that they deserve. John Lennon was right, “A working class hero is something to be.”

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Monday Morning Match Game

Good Morning! What a beautiful "Sunshine Day" here in the NYC/Metro area. It was tough leaving the beach this morning and heading to the office. It was a cloudy/rainy weekend, but the sun came out about 5pm last night and the town came alive. I went walking to pick up dinner around 8:30 last night and the town was bustling with people trying to take in the few hours of nice weather we had this weekend.

After a very tough July, I made a promise to myself last night that August will be a month to remember. I am going to party like I am going to the chair and enjoy every waking moment that is left this summer. Recent events have prohibited me from really savoring the summer, but I can assure you that August will be one for the ages.

Ok, let's have some fun. I am going to list a bunch of things that I may or may not have done this weekend, you guys tell me what I actually did, and what is made up...here goes:

Watched a bunch of Brady Bunch episodes.
Ran 12 miles.
Cooked Sunday breakfast for my friends and dogs.
A strange girl came up to me and told me her life story in 20 minutes.
Bought a new air conditioner.
Talked with a friend I had not talked to since January.
Went to the movies and ate a bucket of popcorn and threw up.
Got drunk and danced on my roof.
Made a new friend in the neighborhood.
Took Bruce to the dog park.
Took 3 naps this weekend.
Slept until 1pm on Sunday.

Ok, there are 12 items listed, 7 I did, 5 are made up! Enjoy your Monday!

Friday, July 21, 2006

The Price Is Wrooooong Bitch!

  Posted by Picasa

I was flipping around the dial (can I still say the dial?) when I came across "The Price Is Right" on Gameshow Network. Talk about a bunch of trailer park dwelling, no teeth having, welfare collecting, government cheese grilling, son of a bitches. Where do they find these misfits?

When they have to spin that big ass wheel to get into the showcase showdown, it is a fuckin' riot. You either have the 400lb bitch who spins that fucker so hard that it looks like the wheel is going to fly off and kill half the audience. It's either that or the frail wimpy pussy of a guy that can't even spin the fucker. They make him spin again because it didn't make it around a full revolution, how embarrassing.

What's even more pathetic is when they bid. They bid on say a toaster oven. People come up with wild numbers like $500. Then the last fucko will have to top it by a buck and say $501. Pathetic.

After the least stupid of the bunch moves on to the actual game after the bidding, they play these games made for a person with an IQ of about 25, yet these idiots still get it wrong:

Bob Barker: Tell us what costs more, the 20 pack of Duracell "D" batteries or a box of Rice A Roni

Trailer Park Fuck: UUUUUUUUH Bob, that's a tough one. I have to go with the Rice A Roni.

Asswipe.

It is a sorry state of affairs on that show.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Brewing Up Some Memories

  Posted by Picasa

Today while at work, I had to go on EBAY to look for an old printer for parts for my company. In my travels on EBAY, I came across a picture of an old perculator coffee pot and it instantly brought me back in time.

From the time I was about 5 until I was about 15, my brother, my sister and I would go to our grandparent's house every Saturday Morning without fail. My parents were in the retail industry and had to work on Saturdays. Each Saturday, our parents would drop us off REALLY early at my grandparent's house. Certain times of the year it would still be dark outside, that's how early!

Upon our arrival, my grandparents would be up waiting for us. Every Saturday we had the same breakfast, toasted bagels with cream cheese, orange juice, and my grandparents would have their coffee. My Grandmother would plug in the perculator and it had this distinctive sound. The smell of the fresh brewed coffee filled the entire house. Only a slight hint of the bagel aroma toasting in the oven would challenge that coffee aroma. While breakfast was cooking, me and my siblings would sneak into the living room and where there was always a huge glass candy dish overflowing with candy. We would try to take the top off and take candy out of it without Grandma hearing it. I know that she knew we were in that candy at 7am, but she never said a word.

At breakfast, we would all sit in the same seats weekly. My grandfather to my right, then my brother, then my grandma, then my sister. It was a circular, white marble table with white wrought iron chairs with white cushiony seats. My grandparents would have the radio on each week which was built into the wall directly behind where I sat. It was an in-house intercom/radio system. At the time, we did not appreciate what they played, big band music, jazz, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc. We would always beg, and my grandma would finally give in and let us put on "our" station after breakfast.

Breakfast was followed by a Saturday Morning filled with cartoon watching. My Grandpa loved watching The Smurfs, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and all the great cartoons from back in the day. While we did that, my grandma would clean up the kitchen, start cooking for later that day, and make it a great day for all of us.

After cartoons, I would head out in the yard with my Grandpa while my brother and sister stayed in with Grandma. My Grandpa always had a "project" to do outside and I would always help him out.

By afternoon, my Grandpa and I would drop my Grandma, my brother and my sister off at the supermarket where my parents worked when my Mom's shift was over, where they would do the weekkly food shopping. My Grandpa and I would then go shopping at the mall for tools, toys, or head back to the house where we would just chat about when he was a kid and things like that.

It's amazing how a picture of a coffee pot could bring back so many memories.

Monday, July 17, 2006

The Dog Days of Summer

  Posted by Picasa

Well, I have not posted a picture of my Brucie in a while, so I thought I would start the week off right. Brucie was panting and warm all weekend, bowls of ice water and "Frosty Paws" cooled him down. Here he is complete with his new bandana he got after a couple of hours at the new doggie spa that opened up around the block. Bruce was treated to a fancy bath, a manicure/pedicure, and a doggie massage. When I left him there for his day, I could hear him barking and howling almost the whole walk home. He was delighted to see me when I returned to pick him up.

The weekend was a pretty good one. HOT! I was at the beach most of the day Sunday. The day started off with a seagull flying overhead and taking a crap all over my right shoulder. They say that is good luck...we'll see! At least my friends got a laugh out of me running for the ocean to wash it off. It was the first time I was "in" the ocean all year. Sixty degree water isn't exactly my thing, but under the circumstances.........

Needless to say, my Irish features kicked in and I am sunburned! Hopefully by Wednesday, the sting will be gone.

We are in the middle of a heatwave....I'll be down the block on the beach each night this week! I wish they allowed dogs on there....Bruce would love it.

Hope your weekend was great!

Friday, July 14, 2006

Gay Court

  Posted by Picasa

My days at work are beyond busy and stressful. For the past 6 weeks or so, I have not been myself. I get into work about 7am and I don't leave until about 6 and there is still work to do.

To pass the day and bring a few laughs to the office, we started "Gay Court." Tom, Christina, Costas, or I yell out "GAY COURT IS IN SESSION!!!!" The person who yells out that gay court is in session names something then we vote on whether it is gay or not. We then yell out "This gay court session is adjourned!"

Ok, here are some topics we voted on, you tell me in your comments whether it is gay or not gay.....

A guy drinking vodka and cranberry juice. (I say not at all gay)
A guy wearing a beach necklace. (I say not gay, nice try Tiny A and Sugar V)
A guy wearing a pink shirt. (I say very gay)
Calling in and voting for an American Idol Contestant (I say VERY gay)
A guy shaving his body hair (I say not at all gay)
A guy going for a manicure/pedicure weekly (I say get the cock out of your ass)
A man who owns a poodle (Flaming)
Tight straight legged jeans (Very Gay!)
A man who loves the movie "Jerry MaGuire" (a dick in your ass "completes you")
A guy with a nickname of Sugar V (flaming)

Ok, that was fun...lets see your votes and throw some gay court cases my way!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

An Old Familiar Voice

  Posted by Picasa

Here on July 12th another birthday will pass, and so will another MLB All-Star Game. The All Star game falls either ON my birthday or the day before or after it each year. The All-Star game was a big deal for me and my friends when I was a little C-Mac. I remember watching Reggie Jackson, Andre Dawson, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Dave Parker, and dozens of other players take part in the mid-summer classic each year back in the late 70's and 80's.

My dad often told stories of gathering around the radio as a child to listen to big games or big events. In 1952 he heard "the shot heard 'round the world" on a crisp October Day back when "The Giants won the pennant, the Giants won the pennant." Today at work, I heard radio commercials for tonight's All-Star game to be shown on FOX. Joe Buck, an announcer for FOX did the commercial. I couldn't help but think of his call of the 1996 Yankees World Championship, or his call when McGwire broke Maris' record back in '98. Certain radio or TV voices bring me back in time just like a song does.

Everytime I hear Vin Scully's voice I think of October 25th, 1986 when "The ball gets by Buckner, here comes Knight and the Mets win the ballgame!!!!" It's hard not to associate these voices with these events.

Most of the time on my drive to and from work, I listen to my cd's. But some days, I will put on sports radio and listen to some familiar voices like Michael Kay, or Mike and the Mad Dog. They almost make you feel like you are with someone in the car because you've listened to them for so long.

When Peter Jennings passed away, it was like losing a 6th family member. After all, he was in our home growing up with us each night after dinner. That voice brings back memories of so many happy events, yet such tragic events that took place in the world as well.

When I was a kid, before my teenage years when I was allowed to have a TV in my room, I had this Mickey Mouse radio that my Grandpa gave me. Each night, I would sneak it in my bed, turn it up just enough to hear Phil Rizzuto and Bill White announce the Yankees game. Once in a while, I'd get caught and the radio would be taken away for a night because they did not want me staying up late on a school night. Oh the memories.

On days like this, when I am dazed and confused about life and decisions I have made, it is nice to turn to a familiar voice...a constant if you will, that will be there for me to give me some sense of normality.

What "voice" is most familiar to you, that takes you back in time?

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

No Title Today

  Posted by Picasa

Tomorrow is July 12th. My brother and I will both be a year older. They say a year older means a year wiser. I am not so sure about that this year. It was an interesting year, filled with many great memories, ones I will cherish for the rest of my life. I know this isn't a Blind Melon song, but I just had to put that bumble bee picture up on here today. I hope it brings a smile.

I think the words to this Duran Duran song are quite fitting right now.

Came in from a rainy Thursday
On the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly

I turned on the lights, the TV
And the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you

What has happened to it all?
Crazy, some are saying
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Passion or coincidence
Once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now pride's gone out the window
Cross the rooftops
Run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart

What is happening to me?
Crazy, some'd say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
Ooh, here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrow

And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Friday, July 07, 2006

Off Limits?

  Posted by Picasa

Ok, are there places where "checking out" members of the opposite sex, even discreetly, is just wrong? I say no. If an attractive woman passes through my field of vision, I should be able to have either an impure thought, or be able to acknowledge in my own mind that the person is attractive.

Last night Linda and I were at a funeral (wake/viewing, whatever you call it) at a funeral home. The father of an acquaintance of ours passed away Sunday, so we went and paid our respects last night. After we signed the "guest book" and offered our condolences to the family, we sat amongst other people we knew and many we did not know. There were about 100 people seated and about 100 more on line to get in. Linda and I started small talking and she asked me if I knew a particular girl that was seated near us chatting. I said no, I did not know her and I asked why. Linda said because she is gorgeous or something along those lines, and I agreed with her, the girl was very pretty. After Linda mentioned that, I noticed that the room was FILLED with very attractive women. It was then that I asked Linda if it was socially acceptable for us to be finding people attractive at a funeral. That got me thinking......

So, if I am in a church and a good looking woman comes in, am I supposed to completely block it out of my mind? A cemetary? What places are considered wrong to think about members of the opposite, or in the Sugar V's case, same sex? Something to ponder.......

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Garnishes

  Posted by Picasa

I never understood the purpose of a garnish. You don't eat it, it is just supposed to make your food seem more appetizing. You find most garnishes at restaurants that are more "pricey" which I don't quite get. The food at fancier restaurants is usually good and does not need something to make it more appealing. Perhaps Burger King or McDonald's should try a garnish.....

Look at this picture. I had a grilled cheese and fries today and they felt the need to garnish it with pineapple and tomato which was impaled on a toothpick. Why? I was going to eat the sandwich regardless. To me, it is just a waste of fruit and veggies. This particular establishment could cut costs dramatically by cutting out the extra fruit and veggie expense for their garnishes. Right?

Why do they only give you a lemon slice if you order a diet coke? Maybe regular coke drinkers would like a lemon slice as well.....fuckos.

The other night I had some of Tiny A's homemade key lime pie. It was delicious and I inhaled the first slice. She asked if I wanted more and I said of course! She went in the kitchen where I followed, and she proceeded to cut me another slice, she put whipped cream on it, then she was actually cutting a lime slice to garnish it with. I had to laugh, one because she is so cute, but mostly because I was going to inhale that second piece without even noticing that garnish......

What's your take on garnishes?