Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Florida Primary Results

So the world knows now that McCain won in Florida and Romney came in second. And yes Hillary came in first in a state that gives her no delegates. I'm currently feeling Obama.

However the big news is Giuliani, my former boss. He staked it all on Florida and came up looking like a dumbass as he is currently fighting off Huckabee for 3rd. I for one, as a former NYC police officer, couldn't be happier. This is what happens Rudy when you wage a mayoral campaign, senate campaign and then presidential campaign on the fact that you lowered crime in NYC. In reality, it was the police that lowered crime, and Rudy thanked them by giving them double zero's as retro-raises. And it's not just the cops, this man is a uniter in that he brings loathing from both sides of the NYC public safety community.

Karma is a bitch, Rudy. Now please McCain, don't take him as your running mate.

And if you missed the State of the Union, my good friend Waka will gladly break it down right here:

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

It's late

First, RIP Heath Ledger. Sorry to spoil it for those who didn't know, but he was apparently found in his home with sleeping pills nearby, which while police have said might not be an overdose, did not deter this bastion of journalistic integrity from opining differently.

Here's an example of their creativity. Though my favorite was when the busted the alledged Al Qaeda cell in Western New York and the headlines read, "Osama's Buffalo Wing."

Finally allow me to say that I started watching the 4th Season of The Wire. I know, I'm a season late. But I've come up with a new word.

Televorgasm

It's what happens in my pants after watching an episode of this show. It's so damn good. Please. For the love of all things holy, find this show and watch it if you haven't already. Goddamn I love it.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Under the category of general whoring

Ahem...

So yours truly is a guest on a podcast. This all happened as a result of my dear friend Amanda who is one of the smartest, coolest, sexiest kindest people I know. She works part-time with these two people Peter Villa and Lindsey Neill. Anyway, these guys decided apparently to do a podcast with no basic subject or theme.

And what do you do with an hour with no restrictions? You apparently invite me to blather on for almost 50 minutes about everything and nothing in particular. Hearing my voice recorded still makes me cringe a little bit.

Peter and Lindsey are awesome people. And for the guys reading this, she's single and very attractive. If you want to meet her, I'll need $5 and proof you have your shots. Sorry ladies, Peter is married and sadly does not have his shots.

If you care to occupy your time with some funny stories and my awful voice, then click here.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

The follow-up

So, it's Sunday and I've found time to blog for a little bit. I think I'll go back to the beginning.

This is the Seattle skyline from the ferry to Bainbridge Island that Emily and I took. You can't see the needle, but it's to the left. Had some good times. Went to the Sci-Fi Museum and the Experience Music Project which are co-located and both owned by Paul Allen, who is silly rich. They used the Zune as their music player in both museums, which was the first time I had seen one, which explains the popularity of the IPod. We drank beer at this place, after getting a car to take us up there and back which was a few bucks but worth it so we could get our drink on and not have to worry. Good beer. And fun was had by both of us.

Flew back on the red-eye through an awful storm and then took a nap and then drove up to Maine. So here's what happened. Driving in heavy snow on 295, going the speed limit which had been reduced down to 45, and the car begins turning left. I try to get out of the spin by turning the wheel right. (Note: You're supposed to turn into the skid, but what with the oncoming traffic I wasn't sure if that was the wisest.) So sure enough the Explorer comes around to the right, and then I go too right. And now I'm sliding out of control and about to broadside the snowbank on the right side of the road.

This song starts playing in my head.

Seriously, I was really like "I guess we'll just see how this turns out. "

So I hit the snowbank, huge amount of snow kicks up and I'm slowing down. I think to myself this isn't that bad, and as if God had an awesome sense of humor, the Ford goes over onto the driver's side. And the driver's window breaks and snow floods into the cabin. That was probably the only time in the 7-second event I was really scared. I was thinking about that older couple every year somewhere that go off the road and aren't found and need to survive by drinking frozen snow and eating Lorna Doones. Except I think all I had were Altoids. And then the car was on it's roof, and then the passenger side, and then somehow the wheels again.

So I come to rest about 45 feet from 295, perpendicular to it. The engine is running, my hands are clenched in some sort of death grip on the wheel, there's snow all over my lap, and some awful Maroon 5 song is blaring, in some way mocking the seriousness of what just happened. I get out via the passenger door, call 911 and have no idea where I am. I use my Garmin to tell the dispatcher where I am. And the rest is basically history....well they come, the car is totaled, the Maine Emergency Management Agency totally looked out and were amazing. I did teach the class I was supposed to the next day, because what else was I supposed to do.

Funny last thing: When your car rolls completely, it's amazing the crap that squirts out of whatever hiding place it's been in for the last 5 years. I found 2 EZ-Pass transponders. Both active. So that means my car has three active transponders. God knows how much I've been paying for tolls these past years. The MassPike should send me a Thank You card. Seriously.

I'm going car shopping and have some stories. But that's for another post soon.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Holy crap...

Okay, so this is going to be quick as I'm really tired. I was in Seattle with my friend Emily this past weekend and took the red-eye back on Monday morning. Have some great photos.

Driving up to Maine to teach a class in my 98 Ford Explorer in a pretty nasty storm last night. And lost control of the car. (Well, I'm typing this and not dead, so it wasn't too bad) But I ended up going off the interstate, and rolling the car completely so that it landed back on it's wheels again. Some minor cuts from the broken window, but nothing serious.

Finished the class in Maine today and got rides back. I have some incredible friends I know and work with who drove me up and back from the accident to the class and then home. One pal loaned me his car for a few days while I get it sorted out. My brother offered me his car, which I might take him up on as a friend of mine in Poughkeepsie might need me this weekend.

I was talking to a friend tonight who said I have a guardian angel out there, as last night could have gone 1,000 different ways and all of them far worse. It might be our friend Erin Schlather, she suggested. And I like that idea very much.

I'll have photos and play-by-play soon. I'm just too damn tired.

Thanks Erin.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

NH Primary Day

My good friend Ben is writing for the online political journal Politico, and happens to be in NH today covering the primary. If you're interested, which if you have a pulse you should be, then swing by and follow his coverage. N.B. He's covering the Dems and 08 race. There's another guy on the site named Jonathan Martin that's covering the Republicans.

Rock the Vote

Wired and unhappy

So I own a MacBook Pro laptop and have for almost 2 years. When I bought it, I bought AppleCare which is the extended warranty of 3 years as opposed to 1. However this guy thought it was like a car warranty, ah no. You have to activate it. Which was all well and good until I lost the box that the code came in.

Fast forward almost two years and I'm cleaning my bedroom. I found the box, and a bloody glove and Amelia Earhart. And currently my computer is making noise. Sounds like a fan problem. It actually sounds like Leopard. Not the new operating system, but as if there's an actual leopard stuck in my laptop. No bueno. So I call to activate my AppleCare and the lady is perplexed as to why I'm doing this almost two years late. I tell her she doesn't know me. So it gets resolved and I take it to the Apple Store and meet with a genius who takes it from me and promises to get it back in 5-7 days.

5-7 Days? I need this thing. It sits on my lap and acts as my second brain. Like when I'm watching TV and I think "What else has that guy been in?" Boom, he was in Leprechaun 4. Or I want to do some e-mails before bed, well now I'm tethered to my desktop. A computer I'll add that I bought about 5 years ago when I was drunk one night. I woke up with a hangover and saw my wallet near the computer, which is never a good sign. And then got an e-mail from Dell congratulating me on my purchase. At least it wasn't Russian hookers.

So I'll be blogging a little light this week. And then I'm off to Seattle for a long weekend with a friend. Wha hoo. Coffee, flying fish, and microbrews.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

The New Year's First Post

Happy 2008 to my handful of faithful readers. I spent the evening playing Wii and eating chinese food with my favorite gun for hire at his swanky digs in Boston. We screened two films this evening on his giant TV. They were the GrindHouse series directed by Robert Rodriguez and Tarrantino. Basically two separate films with similar casts, shot similarly and then screened in theaters together.

The first one, Planet Terror was good. I do love me some Rose McGowan, especially when she has a machine gun as a prosthesis. And Bruce Willis spoke like 9 words, but they were manly words. Asides from that, it was general zombie mayhem with a little Toxic Avenger thrown in for good measure.

The second, Death Proof, was about a guy who kills girls with his car. This was the Tarrantino film and was much slower to get started and then got really fast, really quickly. Good stuff. Vanessa Ferlito was excellent and sounded straight out of Brooklyn which made me smile.

Verdict: Check these films out. And do watch them together for the effect. And the fake preview before Planet Terror is actually becoming a movie.