Sex and The City tomorrow, holla!
Btw, how come I cannot leave Target without dropping $80?!?! I swear I could buy some gum, TP, and some razors and guess what, $80! Like a moth to a flame..
Saturday, May 31, 2008
ALLERGY-FACE!
Sex and The City tomorrow, holla!
Btw, how come I cannot leave Target without dropping $80?!?! I swear I could buy some gum, TP, and some razors and guess what, $80! Like a moth to a flame..
NEW VIDEO: MADONNA, "GIVE IT 2 ME"
This is the kind of video we've been wanting from Madonna, a highly-stylized, glam video to a kickin' song. Pharrell Williams is in the video and he's just the right amount of quirky.
She's hot for any age, but definitely hot for 50! 50 is the new 30 indeed.
Friday, May 30, 2008
NEW VIDEO: LONG BEACH
Pictures, old and new - all sweet and full of love. The "movie" is set to the Coldplay song, "Kingdom Come".
MOVIE TRAILER: BURN AFTER READING
Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, John Malcovich, Francis McDoormat, and a slew of others. It's a Coen Brothers movie so it's sure to rock.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
I LOVE DAVID ARCHULETA BUT...
He really might be begging for this kind of attention in the coming years, depending on how he does after the Idol stuff wears off.
This lady has to go though, what a hag!
MOVIE TRAILER: HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (RELEASE 10/24/08)
A personal philosophy I love to speak of, have a look at this very funny trailer. Below is the synopsis:
Screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein team to adapt writing duo Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo's best-selling book concerning the ever-widening gap between genders and the misunderstandings that often arise between couples. In the film, a woman who can't seem to get a grip on the men in her life pursues an advice columnist who never quite knew what he wanted in a relationship. Prolific television director Ken Kwapis (Freaks and Geeks and The Office) helms a romantic comedy produced by and starring Drew Barrymore. The ensemble also includes Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, and Ginnifer Goodwin.
APARTMENT THERAPY CLASSIFIEDS
Need some new housewares but need them on the cheap(er)? Check this out.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
2008 SMART CAR FORTWO
Check this video out, it's pretty interesting - I recently went and looked at Smart Cars, and I found them much better than I anticipated. I expected to feel like a total dork sitting one, as though I were in a toy car. However, it didn't feel that way at all and I'll let you know how the test drive is once I go on it at the beginning of June.
Here's a video of an actual test drive/review of the car. I was surprised.
CALIFORNIA OKs SAME-SEX MARRIAGE FOR JUNE 17
Barring a stay of a historic California Supreme Court ruling, same-sex couples will be able to wed in the state beginning June 17, according to a state directive issued Wednesday.
The state said it chose June 17 because the state Supreme Court has until the day before to decide whether to grant a stay of its May 15 ruling legalizing gay marriage.
Gay-rights advocates and some clerks initially thought couples would be able to wed as early as Saturday, June 14. The court's decisions typically take effect 30 days after they are made.
Click here for the rest of the MSNBC article.
AMERICA'S...NEXT...TOP...MODEL...
Miss Tyra Banks looks F-I-E-R-C-E, I don't care what anybody says - she can take a hot pic.
Here she is on the cover of The New York Times Magazine.
MEMORIAL DAY 2008 - LET'S REMEMBER
To the men and women serving in the Armed Forces around the world, THANK YOU.
(Source)
PRE-FAB APARTMENTS IN SEATTLE
Can someone please explain to me what this actually means? I might be dumb, but I don't really get it. All I really understand is that somehow these pre-fab homes will be made, brought in on a crane, and they'll cost less for the average city-dweller.
Click here for the article I'm talking about and in the comments, tell me what the hell this really means. LOL!
GOING GREEN WITHOUT THE ENVY
Here are just a few things you can do to help out:
1. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth - the average person uses 2 gallons of water every time they brush and don't turn it off
2. Use energy-efficient light bulbs - If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
3. Use less paper towels and use dish towels - If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 180-sheet virgin-fiber paper towels with 100-percent recycled paper towels, we could save: 1.4 million trees, 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 526 million gallons of water, and prevent 89,400 pounds of pollution? (http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/GreenTeam/)
Here are a few sites that are helpful:
➢ http://www.environmentaldefense.org/home.cfm
➢ http://www.world.org/weo/environment
➢ http://11thhouraction.com/
➢ http://www.treehugger.com
Suggestions welcome!
DID YOU KNOW?
1. A single piece of spaghetti can be used as a match to light multiple candles? If you don’t have a long match, give this a try!
2. You can use an old tissue box (think Kleenex) to store your old grocery store bags and simply pull out as needed.
3. In 1508 Leonardo da Vinci sketched an idea for the contact lens.
4. If you are concerned about puncturing your cake with candles (not sure why one would be concerned about that), you can use a traditional Lifesaver to secure it in place on top of the dessert. It should be a nice snug fit, and edible too! (source: REAL SIMPLE magazine, 1/2008 issue)
Check this out from www.polder.com:
The cutest little timer for the kitchen! I want one and I don’t even cook! Click here to get it, $14.99 won't break you. Well, um, I don't think it will.
Wii FIT HOME VIDS
I was able to get the Wii Fit last week and so far, we all love it. I haven't done the strength training yet, but I have explored many of the other games, primarily the yoga, balance exercises, and some cardio. Here I am doing the soccer game where you lean into the balls and try to avoid being hit with the shoes and the other ball-like animal thing. Of course, it's your Wii friends that are kicking them at you. Some friends huh?
Below is the video of me doing the Hula Hoop, and it's actually kind of hard! You can do a more advanced version where you rotate your pelvis to the right and then to the left on the next round. Sorry about the motion sickness guys, I just wanted you to have a sense of what Wii Fit is like before you spend the dough. It's important to note, these are just two of the exercises on the game.
*WARNING: I'M HEARING THAT THIS VIDEO MIGHT MAKE YOU SICK, SO IF YOU'RE A PUSSY, DON'T WATCH IT*
SOME VIDEOS FROM THE OCEAN
A filmmaker I'm not, but I'll keep trying! Below is Edna and I trying to find our way back to the cabins, via some trails - fun times.
Below is what I call "crop circles" on the beach. Minus the crops and minus the aliens. But whatever!
Watch Tigz (the greyhound) below run like the wind. Powered by a new kind of fuel called crazy.
NEW MUSIC: CYNDI LAUPER, BRING YA TO THE BRINK
I just bought Cyndi Lauper's new CD and it's pretty amazing, it's definitely geared for the clubs or the gym - it's called Bring Ya to the Brink and I feel a huge sense of responsibility to support her because she has been so supportive of the GLBT community. Click the link above and give her your support.
WELCOME BACK FROM DREAM STATE
Just got back last night from the ocean (Long Beach, WA), and it was a great time - nice and relaxing with good company! The weather was fairly nice for ocean weather. We rode bikes every day and now that I have my toe clips, it makes a huge difference. I think all of the riding might have almost circumvented weight gain, but I am not so sure. The Wii Fit tells me I'm fatter. Oy vey!
Anyway, we took the dogs to the ocean and let them run free, we had dinner with an artist friend that we've developed a relationship with, and we were able to get some art while we were there - the trio of pieces were things she created for us, based on conversations we had with her, our family aspirations, the aesthetics that speak to us, etc. We love them, they're simple yet not, and they're reverse-painted on glass. Here is a pic of those. 
Here is a pic of a simple piece that speaks a lot to me, particularly to how I felt as a little boy but certainly how any childhood could be, forks in the road, which path should one take, which path can someone be steered towards. Excuse my photo of it, but it has the embossed word "IF" below it. It also makes me think of JFK Jr. and how his childhood innocence was taken away.
Each night we played games like 5 Crowns, Milbournes, and I can't remember what else. I won, of course, although some people might argue that! We had drinks, shots of Hot Damn, pizza, sandwiches, everything you can think of.
Above is a pic of a house in the neighborhood that I just love, we actually have a print of it here in our house, something about all of the windows that I just adore.
In the photo above to the left are Edna, Tigz, and Frida - she is the sweetest little dog and is deaf, but she had fun too! There's also a human in the pic too, we shall call him/her "Cary". The pics next to that is of one of the cabins we stayed in - small but sweet.
I'll have more pics to post once I can get "release forms" filled out by our guests. I was told not to post any pics without permission, ha!
Monday, May 26, 2008
ONE MORE
Pizza and movie time, just the two of us and the dogs. Perfection.
LOVE
Love isn't always patient, love isn't always kind. I think that love
is the commitment to trying to always get back to that spot where you
can be both of those things.
RELATIONSHIPS
Funny how things work, just a few hours before you were talking about
how perfect your relationship is...and within hours you are reminded
how it's constant work-in a good way. The swift hand of karma, God,
the Light, whatever comes to put that speed bump in front of you.
Remember.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
shines above. Heavenly.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
GREAT SITE : HOW I SPENT MY STIMULUS
Check this site out, it's quite funny how some people respond. What did I spend mine on? I bought Wii Fit, paid some credit cards, bought some gummy bears, a gallon of milk, and filled my tank...well, half-way. Thanks GWB!
SOMEONE'S BEEN LYIN' ABOUT THE FAT!
If you've ever been in a restaurant where you order the "Skinny Chicken" meal or something along those lines, you might have assumed that you were at least making a better decision right? You probably are, but not nearly as good as you were lead to be believe.
Restaurants are not required to list the nutritional information of food, but if they make it public, it can't be a lie - but it seems like a few of them might have done just that.
Here's an excerpt of the must-read article:
To test the food, Scripps ordered dishes from restaurants in Phoenix, Kansas City, Mo., Tampa, Fla., Detroit, West Palm Beach, Fla., Cleveland, Baltimore and Tulsa, Okla.
Items were packed in coolers and sent to Analytical Labs in Boise, Idaho. Technicians performed nutritional tests, determining the items' caloric and fat contents. They did so by breaking the food down in a simulated digestion process.
The lab separated fat and other molecules, then measured them. After determining the amount of fat, protein and carbohydrates in each meal, the lab was able to calculate the overall number of calories.
The Macaroni Grill sample showed the widest variance from the menu's claims. Its "Pollo Margo Skinny Chicken," which was supposed to have 500 calories, actually had 1,022, according to the testing. The chicken dinner was supposed to have 6 grams of fat. It had 49.
Click here for the rest of the article.
HOLY TORNADO BATMAN!
Check out this tornado that touched down just north of Denver near Fort Collins. Scary stuff.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
EAGLE EYE - MOVIE TRAILER
Check out this awesome trailer for Eagle Eye, starring Shia Labeouf - it comes out in September of this year. I'm intrigued! (I always say that huh?)
AMERICAN IDOL, WHO WILL WIN?
Will it be David Cook or will it be David Archuleta? Some people feel that Cook will win because he's more "radio-ready" and has more of a personality, and some people feel Cook will win because Chris Daughtry did not, and it will be payback in people's minds. In my opinion, Cook made the choices last night that sets up his next move after Idol, rather than just trying to win the night. And as we all know, Archuleta won the night - bigtime. I also think that Idol represents the mainstream and Alt-Rock is still not as mainstream as the cheesy-pop that Archuleta has been singing, with the exception of "Imagine", which is an iconic song.
My prediction: Archuleta for the win, he's just got too good of a voice and that "aww, shucks" thing really hits people the right way.
What is your prediction?
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
BUS BOREDOM
Bless her heart, this one.
ALKI BEACH BLADING ON 5/18/08
With the Seattle skyline as a backdrop...look at the beautiful baby geese.
I'm not sure why I think I can really take great videos while blading, but I sure tried! Check out the young geese, they're sooooo adorable.
Here's another video of the beautiful condos along the beach area at Alki, and the people thinking I'm crazy for trying to shoot video.
Monday, May 19, 2008
SHORT AND SWEET MOVIE REVIEW - 27 DRESSES
Katherine Heigl: Great future in film, I loved her.
James Mardsen: Adorable, very likable in this film.
Story : So-So. Started off fresh with a frenetic pace, then slipped into "romantic-comedy" standard mode, but boringly so.
Recommendation: Watch on a rainy afternoon when depressed, otherwise, skip it.
BYE BYE "SWEET 16" BITCHES!
Check out this new MTV show called Exiled, where they send those "Super Sweet 16" brats out to the middle of nowhere, with people in Africa, India, etc. I love it, sweet revenge for those horrible little brats. This isn't The Simple Life y'all. I would have one suggestion though, the parents should be sent somewhere too, to punish them for allowing such behavior. You can't blame the kids completely!
TAYLOR SWIFT AT THE ACM AWARDS
Click here to see her performing "Should Have Said No" and I gotta tell you, she knocks it out of the park. And it's a country song! Blech.
When a performing artist goes for it, it can really pay off - and this one did.
Weekly Tune Up: Shrinking Light
To view this email as a webpage, click here.
May 4 - 10, 2008
This is the week to root them out.
According to kabbalistic teaching, we are separated from God by a sequence of ten energy fields known as the sefirot (singular, sefirah). Together, arranged in right, left, and central columns, the ten make up what kabbalists call "the Tree of Life." As we increase our spiritual competency by ascending each sefirah, we simultaneously increase our spiritual capacity, giving us the ability to connect with and contain more and more Light. In other words, we are able to draw ever nearer to the Creator.
The Ari reveals when we hold grudges, the sefirot shrink, thereby narrowing our gateway to the Light. We begin to experience a shortage of Light, and we look for substitutes. In fact, the Kabbalists explain this as the source of all forms of addiction. It's our way of trying to get Light, but instead of getting the real thing, we get the sweet 'n' low version. We get a boost of Light that doesn't help grow our desire for more Light; it actually shrinks our desire.
Look at people who are full of grudges, it's like they live in a perpetual black hole. They have no energy. I am sure you have had your periods in life when you were bitter [hopefully they were short.] It's like life loses its luster and charm, and we become filled with, well, nothing. That is why during such times we are so needy. Our real need in life, the Light, isn't being met and we're on a quest to fill the void.
Kabbalah is teaching us to constantly expand our desire. The last thing we want to do is to shrink our vessel by allowing grudges and resentment to block us from attaining the amazing life we can have.
Why would we ever want to hold onto what is so bitter, when we could have what is so sweet?
Spend a couple of minutes every night this week reviewing your day. Look for those grudges you are still carrying around and ask the Light why they are in your movie. Forgive the people you need to forgive and send Light and ask to be forgiven by those whom you have hurt during the day.
By always connecting to the system of mercy, instead of judgment, you can ensure a steady connection to a huge amount of Light.All the best,
Yehuda
72 Name of the Week
PRINTABLE VERSION
TRAVEL TIP
Related to one of my previous posts, I have a little travel tip that I use whenever I go out of town and there's sure to be a long night of having fun. By having fun, I mean drinking. If you know me at all, you know that I'm a total lightweight and will be tipsy after just two drinks. I won't get staggering drunk, that's not really my thing, but in the event I were to get a little bit "forgetful" about where my hotel is, I always come prepared.
See, before I go out, I always take a piece of the hotel stationary (and stationary is using that term very loosely) from the room and stick it in a back pocket. That way, if I need to hail a cab and can't really mutter more than a 'yes' or a 'no", I can just hand the slip of paper to the cab driver and he knows where I need to be dumped off at. Simple? Very. Necessary? Many times! Holla!
See illustration A above for an acceptable form of "stationary".
BOTTOMS UP!
Part of my Dallas tradition with my friend Tom is for us to do a few Jägerbombs - we find that having the Red Bull with the Jägermeister sends us to crazy town on an express if you know what I'm sayin'. I'm not saying they're entirely safe, and I would definitely encourage you to limit it to 1 or 2 in an evening. Having said that, they taste pretty damned good and like I said, it's a nice boost of energy with just a little cracking out - I love it! That got me thinking, maybe other people would like to know what they are, so here you go:
As always, be safe folks - and then have a good time!
WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE TONE DEAF?
What made me think of this? I have no idea, I just did. But I'm sure we've all been around someone (certainly not ourselves right?) that sings with great aplomb but we just cringe when we hear it. The joy of singing is something everyone deserves to experience, some people maybe should just experience it alone. In a soundproof room. Alone. Did I say alone? But here are some interesting facts that I found:
Tone deafness is the lack of relative pitch, the ability to discriminate between musical notes. Being tone deaf is having difficulty or being unable to correctly hear relative differences between notes; however, in common usage, it refers to a person's inability to reproduce them accurately. The latter inability is most often caused by lack of musical training or education and not actual tone deafness.
The ability of relative pitch, as with other musical abilities, appears to be inherent in healthy functional humans. The hearing impairment appears to be genetically influenced, though it can also result from brain damage. While someone who is unable to reproduce pitches because of a lack of musical training would not be considered tone deaf in a medical sense, the term might still be used to describe them casually. Someone who cannot reproduce pitches accurately, because of lack of training or tone deafness, is said to be unable to "carry a tune." Tone deafness affects ability to hear pitch changes produced by a musical instrument and/or the human voice. However, tone deaf people seem to be only disabled when it comes to music, and they can fully interpret the prosody or intonation of human speech. It has been observed that in societies with tonal languages such as Cantonese and Vietnamese, there are almost no tone deaf people; a strong indicator that the ability to reproduce and distinguish between notes may be a learned skill. However, correlation does not imply causation: if Cantonese and Vietnamese people were genetically predisposed toward a greater accurate ability to distinguish between tones, that may have increased the likelihood of developing said tonal language. In fact, a relation between allele frequencies and linguistic typological features has been recently discovered.
Tone deaf people often lack a sense of musical aesthetics, and much like a color blind person would not be apt to appreciate colorful visual art, some tone deaf people cannot appreciate music. Tone deafness is also associated with other musical-specific impairments such as inability to keep time with music (the lack of rhythm), or the inability to remember or even recognize a song. These disabilities can appear separately but some research shows that they are more likely to appear in tone deaf people.
The ability of relative pitch, as with other musical abilities, appears to be inherent in healthy functional humans. The hearing impairment appears to be genetically influenced, though it can also result from brain damage. While someone who is unable to reproduce pitches because of a lack of musical training would not be considered tone deaf in a medical sense, the term might still be used to describe them casually. Someone who cannot reproduce pitches accurately, because of lack of training or tone deafness, is said to be unable to "carry a tune." Tone deafness affects ability to hear pitch changes produced by a musical instrument and/or the human voice. However, tone deaf people seem to be only disabled when it comes to music, and they can fully interpret the prosody or intonation of human speech. It has been observed that in societies with tonal languages such as Cantonese and Vietnamese, there are almost no tone deaf people; a strong indicator that the ability to reproduce and distinguish between notes may be a learned skill. However, correlation does not imply causation: if Cantonese and Vietnamese people were genetically predisposed toward a greater accurate ability to distinguish between tones, that may have increased the likelihood of developing said tonal language. In fact, a relation between allele frequencies and linguistic typological features has been recently discovered.
Tone deaf people often lack a sense of musical aesthetics, and much like a color blind person would not be apt to appreciate colorful visual art, some tone deaf people cannot appreciate music. Tone deafness is also associated with other musical-specific impairments such as inability to keep time with music (the lack of rhythm), or the inability to remember or even recognize a song. These disabilities can appear separately but some research shows that they are more likely to appear in tone deaf people.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
OMG, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES FINALE!
It was amazing, and below is the clip of the final few minutes - you'll see, and you too will be shocked! Three words: Queer As Folk!
MICROSOFT AND YAHOO, TAKE 10
Microsoft and Yahoo are courting each other again, minus the hostility it seems.
Microsoft Corp. is once again trying to team up with Yahoo Inc. to challenge Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc., although at this point the renewed talks haven’t escalated to another attempt to take over Yahoo.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker disclosed the revived discussions Sunday without providing any specifics about the nature of the deal being explored except to say it involved bolstering the companies’ position in the online search and advertising markets.
All I have to say is GO GOOGLE!
OPRAH'S FAVORITE THINGS FOR SUMMER
I watched this other day because it's automatically set up on Tivo, and as with all of "Oprah's Favorite Things", it was pandemonium! I mean, seriously, these women are bat-shit CRAZY and I completely love it. If she said, "You all are getting this plastic bag full of fresh-off-the-plate chicken bones!", they would probably still all blow gaskets! That's what makes it fascinating, scary, and completely enjoyable at the same time. Have a gander.
Clearly, the economy is much much worse than we think.
FLASHBACK: ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRL
I feel like my memory has become unearthed from these videos!
GARDENING AT MY HOUSE
When we moved into the house, I might have mentioned before that we had basically a non-existent garden. So, it was a top priority to get some sort of landscaping and growth going, not only for aesthetic appeal but also because it represents home for me. Anyway, I took some pics yesterday of all of our various growings-on (like that?), so click here for the slideshow of those.
Oh yeah, new grass is coming...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
ADIDAS AND PUMA: A FAMILY AFFAIR
Did you know that the sportswear companies Adidas and Puma, which began in WWII, were founded by brothers Adolf (a.k.a. Adi) and Rudolf Dassler? They co-owned Dassler Brothers, an athletic shoe enterprise before they started feuding. Then Rudolf was forced to serve the German forces in Poland. Not only did this make him angry, but he believed his brother Adi had something to do with why he wound up there. So when the war ended, Rudolf told the Allies that Adi assisted the Nazi war effort. And they basically hated each other from them on.
Rudolf broke off from Dassler and opened his own shoe store called Puma. Adi renamed his store Adidas. The whole town of Herzogenaurach got involved in the feud and sided with one shoe store or the other. Anyway, eventually the brothers realized if they wanted to sell more merchandise than the other, they'd need famous athletes to wear their stuff. This explains why the Olympics are the marketing circus they are these days. If you need a new read for the L-train, Dutch journalist Barbara Smit wrote a book about all this called Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud .
So there you have it, I had no idea about this story - thanks to Joe for bringing it to my attention. As a sneaker-lover, I find it fascinating. For my shoes, my vote has to go for Adidas. Puma's shoes are too flat and Adidas are just the right amount of edgy - sorry gents.
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