here and there

it's the last day of june and i'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend. i'm debating whether or not i should bother with the fireworks this year.
my neighbor's dog has a brain tumor and i keep getting these headaches...probably unrelated, but the hypochondriac in me is concerned.
if i hear pink floyd on the radio again i'm going to lose my mind!
a little back story - everytime i turn on the radio (for the last 4 months) a floyd song is playing. i don't like them. i guess (and i'm dating myself here, but so what) it's because i've heard the same songs for 25 mother-effin' years! yeah, you can try & do the math but your head may explode. i know mine would. anyway, i even went so far as to BUY dark side of the moon just to see if it would stop. nope. maybe THAT'S what's causing all my headaches. hmmm... anyhow, enjoy yourselves over the weekend and remember to bar-b-que something. here's some stuff i found noodling around:

the latest edition to the National Museum of the American Indian is not a ceremonial mask or even a kachina doll, but Felipe Rose’s gold record from 1978 – Y.M.C.A.
by yes, the village people. Rose, the son of a member of the Lakota-Sioux tribe,
was, of course, the Indian in the group. He donated the award to the museum on his 51st birthday.


have you heard about this scam? apparently a gazillion people showed up at an apartment that they thought they’d sublet only to find out that someone already sublet the place! 18 people actually, and they all gave “Rita”, the subletting scammer, over $2,800. EACH. damn.


check the schedule – i bet you’ll find someone you’d like to hear... i’d like to see Vienna Teng – she’s got a killer voice – and Stefon Harris & Blackout he plays the vibraphone like nobody’s business... all at Madison Square Park – free and outside – rain or shine.


KKK tries a recruitment drive in...Massachusetts?! some local residents of Somerset and Dighton woke up to find slipped into their morning paper a flyer proclaiming: “Good News! The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is organizing in Massachusetts!”


if you live in (or near) Marietta, Georgia, you should check the Marietta/Cobb Art Museum for a terrific exhibition called Wind Blown: American Motorcycle Fine Art. it features Billy Lane (my favorite builder) and the late Indian Larry’s bike in addition to paintings and photos of all kinds. wish i could go, but Georgia? too damn far.

this had me almost choking on my raspberry snapple
gangsta gadgets they're called and you've gotta see 'em to believe...!
check out the 'Ba-Donka-Donk Mouse'

a rock and a hard place

you were coming to see me
riding west, with the sun
in your eyes
most likely smiling, unmindful
of the bugs flying into your mouth at 75mph
(you never liked those full-faced helmets, did you?)
i waited, but you didn’t show
disappointed, i went to bed
when the phone woke me at quarter to 2
johnny was saying something about
an accident
but all i could hear was a loud buzzing
in my ear, so i slammed the phone down
and made myself small under the comforter
the doorbell rang sometime later – i don’t remember when –
time became elastic
and i ran and hid in the closet, knees to chest, trembling
a key turned in the front door
and i burst out of my hiding place
but it was only johnny, saying it wasn’t a dream
later, i had to force myself to say
‘it’s him’
and sign the necessary papers
in triplicate
(no,
no,
NO)
back home,
(is where my heart was)
they drugged me to sleep like a good little sheep
and this is what i saw –

me running, running
it getting closer
looking over my shoulder
it reaches a hand out to grab me,
but luckily it falls off
hitting the sidewalk with a dull meaty thwap –
it’s hot, fetid breath on my neck
i run faster, but i’m winded
(so much for going to the gym 2x a week)
i risk another quick peek
and just then one of it’s eyes pops out
and hits me
right in the back of the head
i’ve stopped now, too busy wheezing to care
and just as i become resigned to my fate,
the melting monstrosity morphs
into the Archangel Gabriel
and beckons me onward, into a cave.
it’s dark at first, but an impeccable light
radiates outward from the Angel -
and that’s when i first notice writing on the rocky walls;
at first i thought it was an ancient story
but after a moment, i realized
it was MY story –
my parents - toasting, fighting, ugly
my children - walking, talking, beautiful
i turn towards Gabriel, but he’s no longer there
you are standing in his place
i thought i would faint, but you reached me first
and said
‘i was on my way to give you this’
then you held me for a long while, shoulders shaking
as you said goodbye

when i woke up there were tears sliding down my back
as well as running down my face
and i was clutching a sparkly, purple painted rock


not a good week - dreams (all bad) and no sleep
i can't even pull the covers over my head and pretend
that i'm invisible anymore...

oh, also some news

starting off with a very convenient reason for me never to get another cat - my son wants one pretty badly and i DO NOT. there's this bit of information making its way around BBC online. seems that a certain parasite that domestic cats carry, and can can transmit to their owners, toxoplasma gondii, can alter one's personality over time. read the whole article here

Purple Haze, Acapulco Gold and Rasta. yep we know what these are, but i bet you didn't know that they're also candy lolliops that are on the market right now. its detractors call it "dope candy" because it's made with hemp oil, and they're trying to get this legal product off the market.

my take on Batman Begins

with my expectations on the non-existent side, i went and saw Batman Begins.
let me just say first off that i’m a huuuge batman fan – of the comics, anyway.
the preceding movies, while vaguely entertaining, did nothing to satisfy my desire
for a true to (written) character batman. dark, brooding, emotionally conflicted –
all of those things, yes, but without being campy or over the top about it. written like he is in Dark Knight, or Year One. so i’ve always been disappointed with the efforts of the ones that came before. even tim burton’s version. so when i heard about this one, i was admittedly, skeptical. and then i found out that one of my LEAST favorite actors, Christian Bale, was to play the lead – i was undeniably under whelmed. Michael Caine, Liam Neeson – both good - Katie Holmes i didn’t even know until Tom Cruise jumped off of Oprah’s couch declaring his love for her and it made the news – (having never seen one complete oprah hour) christopher nolan sounded OK to me – i liked both Memento and Insomnia, so alright there.

the theater was packed, the energy was good and then the curtain opened.
from the get go i was impressed – with the cinematography, the mood, and yes, even Christian Bale. and as rich said, he was born to play Batman.
the first hour was just great cinema. after bruce became batman i had a few issues.
the biggest of course were the unnecessary romance scenes. i hate that directors, producers and screenwriters feel it necessary to add these scenes to insure female
movie attendance. most of the females i know would prefer them to be if not completely, than most significantly, eliminated. Gotham was gorgeous in both its
heyday and its decrepitude. very creepy. oh, and speaking of creepy –
the Scarecrow. need i say more?!


there were a couple of scenes i didn’t understand. the chase that led batman to the roof of the parking garage for instance. why? if the batmobile was so agile and quick, why couldn’t he ever lose those pesky (un-supercharged) cops?? and why did katie holmes, AFTER getting the antidote see the scarecrow on horseback? and the appearance and re-appearance of that same little boy made me wonder if the powers that be weren’t thinking of a potential Robin...


well, enough from me - just go see it, because it was ever so worth it.

formula 1 fiasco

i never thought i'd say this, but i'm SO glad i didn't go to Indianapolis for the Grand Prix.
here's the thing - turns out that the drivers using Michelin tires didn't race. WHAT?!
yep, that's what i said. the president of Michelin declared the final turn (without a proposed chicane) unsafe to take on those tires after the high speed accident that ralph schumacher had on friday. all weekend long (unbeknownst to the multitude of fans) the teams were arguing with Michelin and Tony George (he owns the track) about putting up a chicane to slow down the drivers coming into that particular turn. no deal was struck and the teams on Michelins (all but 3 teams!!) drove the parade lap and then pulled into the garages. the fans were freaking out - they spent a bazillion dollars on 3 day ticket packages - not to mention plane, train, and automobile fares and accomodations as well. to see 6 cars race!! schumacher (the hated) took the win (?) while fans booed him over the finish line - even those who LIKE him apparently. i saw plenty of booing fans wearing ferrari/schumacher t-shirts.
i'm unsure of the ultimate fall-out, but you can be sure there will be some. maybe even the venue's cancellation...

20 years? but I'M only 20 (or so)

today is my son's 20th birthday
toDAY is my son's 20th birthday
today is my SON'S 20th birthday
today is my son's 20th birthday

jesus.
it's a good thing i started early, i guess, or i'd be mad old by now.

on the lighter side...

customs officials thought something was fishy when they heard flapping coming from underneath a woman's skirt. said one official "You don't see these kinds of alleged concealments every day." 51 fish, in a designer apron were being (allegedly) smuggled into australia from singapore. all of the fish were put down due to the risk posed to native fish if released - all before their species was even determined.

talk about dedication - Thomas L.'Taz' Stefanelli, employee of the year for Hungry Howie's pizza shop, was shot in the thigh during an altercation with an armed robber, then went on to deliver 4 more pizzas!

the ad says 'marriage died before husband did' an ohio woman is looking to sell her (soon to be) ex's metal casket. anyone in columbus, ohio interested, she's only asking 980 bucks...

this and that

so. the beastie boys.
james newton's law suit has been thrown out. apparently, 3 notes aren't enough to constitute copy right infringement. (thanks, christina)

i don't want to seem like a light weight, but this heat is KILLING me. no AC at home - i've got 79 fans going all at once though (hello enormous electric bill)
thankfully, the workplace is centrally air conditioned...

i need a vacation.
and i actually want to GO somewhere this time, dammit!

killer jellyfish of australia. these guys aren't the passive, floating, non-threatening types we've all heard of. NO. these dangerous things will hunt you down -at 2 knots per hour, and kill you in one, that's 1, minute flat!!


i want this to be my next ride... well, a girl can dream, right?


also, i'm surprised that no one commented on the masturbation article i linked to the other day.
my poems and ramblings, i understand, but a whole article on masturbation? huh

you can drink and get stupid in scotland, but not get high and get stupid, i guess

too stoned to study in scotland
According to the most recent statistics, nearly 400 under-16s in Scotland were officially classified as drug addicts - nearly double the figure of 1999. The Headteachers' (no, i did NOT make that up!) Association of Scotland (HAS) has also warned of a growing "cannabis epidemic" in the nation's schools and has voiced its
unhappiness with the government's decision to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug

mike 'just fighting to pay the bills' tyson says he's retiring at age 39, after an embarrassing tko loss to kevin mcbride. mikey says 'he's not an animal anymore and that he does not want to disgrace the sport.' no irony whatsoever in his words or their meaning.
now THAT is some funny stuff right there!

qualifying took place yesterday afternoon in montreal for the canadian grand prix - and I should BE there, but that's a whole 'nother topic of discussion better left un-discussed. anyhow, surprisingly enough, jensen button, racing for BAR, took pole position away from both fernando alonso and the hated (in my case, anyway) michael schumacher. the track is on Île Notre Dame, right on the St Laurence river, one of the prettiest places ever.
*big sigh* oh well, there's always next year...


late edit...
alonso threw away the lead (and the points) early in the race
giving kimi raikkonen the 10 points he needed to close the gap
between them for the championship. next stop on the F1 schedule: indianapolis

insert witty title here

there's nothing much to tell
i made fried chicken
i finished one of my books
oh, and i have writer's block

again.

**************************

I am the human unraveling thing
I peel layers and cast them off like some kind of animal act
It’s ugly
The human navel orange
I like things that are ugly
They tell me everything
An addiction to truth will leave you in a pile on the floor
Make you sick of yourself
Rip yourself apart
Walk until it falls away
Seek darkness until you see blinding light
Know that there are too many cowards in the world
They speak the loudest

this is just a snippet of a henry rollins
diatribe - which just happens to correspond
to the way i'm feeling at the present time
take it for what it is...

****************************************************

ok - i found some stuff that should be mentioned:

the first is an exhibition at Cook Fine Art:
women by women in photography
it's an exhibition that features women from the late 19th century to the present, including Tina Modotti, Francesca Woodman, Cindy Sherman, and Mary Ellen Mark. Mary Ellen Mark is one of my all time favorite photographers - her series on runaway children in Seattle was made into a film called StreetWise. she's spent a lot of time in India and her portrayl of the brothels, and of all things, the circuses, are among my favorite photos. go see them all.

and this was in the paper yesterday -
at the paramont theater, in peekskill, (yes, that's in NY)
they're hosting a 4 day hip-hop symposium which includes film screenings, a photo exhibit (martha cooper's fantastic pictures from her book The Hip Hop Files), a panel discussion called “Hip-Hop Arts & Activism: What's the Connection?” and Will Power will be performing his one-man show (which debuted in NYC in 2003) called 'Flow'.
here's the link to the theater: paramount center

read this article - it's about masturbation
get underground dot com

oh, and speaking of masturbation,
i read today that Viagra can cause blindness in some cases.
does that constitute irony?


ok, that's it for me. (really)
goodnight.

one day the news will be all good, but not today

so take a guess at how big our deficit is now - go on, guess
whelp, if you guessed 666 billion dollars
(does that number seem...familiar to anyone?) you'd be correct.
and we've borrowed money from EVERYbody - china, russia, and india.
INDIA! read this:
it's all take, take, take with U.S.

the continuing 'evaluation' of the genocide (no debate needed,IMO)
in darfur. only the women go out into dangerous wooded areas to
collect firewood now because the men who have gone out in the past have
been killed. why do the women go? because they 'only' get raped,
not killed...
policy of rape and this one from the scotsman online paper
at least SOMEone's investigating this

i haven't read anything other than this on the subject of a vaccine for
marburg and ebola - it's been 100% effective with monkeys and that surely
bodes well for people. i remember reading the hot zone and it keeping me up
way into the early hours - scary shit right there.
this is from the new york times:
ebola vaccine

0 to 60 in 2 seconds and i didn't even have my coffee!

ok. so. this really made me angry and i'm not sure
if it's a worthy enough reason to be this pissed off,
OR if maybe, perhaps, i'm wound a little too tightly today
but whichever, here goes:
i was standing in line at dunkin donuts earlier and since
we weren't moving very quickly, i looked at the guy
in front of me and noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt
that said 'heroes are made in america' i can't exactly explain
WHY this made me irrationally upset - almost to the point of
spinning him around and shaking some sense into him, but i
rather prudently restrained myself, got my iced coffee and
got the hell out of there. do people really believe that shit?
are they such zealot 'patriots' that they think america is the
only place that exists? i mean, i understand the definition of
ethnocentricity, but this just takes it waaaay too far, i think.

also, i read this article on the 'new' way
we're going to be fighting the war on drugs
just say no
someone's (finally?) come to the conclusion that instead of
busting the nickel and dimers, they should go straight to the
source - is this a new revelation?


and i read this in the ny times today -
only 78,000 jobs added
the article went on to say that unemployment was down to it's
lowest percentage since 9/2001. what it failed to mention was the reason
this was the case. and that would be that most people who have been on
unemployment for the last 6 months or so have used all the extensions
afforded to them and are now SOL.

let's see what's in the news

A rabidly conservative site has put together a top ten list
of the most harmful books of the last two centuries.
Not surprising, reading it makes for some entertainment. Not only do they go out of their way to pick every influential book that they have never read, they often completely screw up the descriptions and even titles of the books.


file under 'hilarious headlines'
Turner: CNN Focuses Too Much on Perverts

ted turner says:

"I would like to see us to return to a little more international coverage on the domestic feed and a little more environmental coverage, and, maybe, maybe a little less of the pervert of the day. I mean, there's a lot of perversion around, I know that, but is it really news? I mean, some of it is. I guess you've got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion at the lead of every half-hour."


from spiegel:
Russia's President Putinocchio
watch his nose grow

*************************************************************************


Emmett Till - body exhumed yesterday


and go outside and look at some art for a change, will ya?

a few quick things

1) this is a link to a new york post article that features
comments contributed by oscar bermeo
and bonafide rojas
they're featuring at today's BX1 - bronx artist festival
check it out here:
BX1

2) thanks joey (from Straight Bangin' ) for the link - check his stuff
out - he covers it all - music, news, sports - you name it AND it's
all smart and well written - funny too...