ramblings

National "Seven Squared" Day Was Yesterday – How Did You Spend It?

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Yesterday’s date was 7/27 or 7-2-7, which looks to me a lot like 7-x-7, or seven squared, so I have decided to name July 27th “Seven Squared” Day. Legislation is currently pending. The only problem with my day was that I was behind a Client firewall all day, then at school with a dead laptop in the evening and then out and about for dinner and drinks with friends at night so I didn’t have a chance to post on my very own day. Yes, “boo” to me.
However, I can say that my site hit an all-time high in terms of traffic yesterday though so “yay” to me as well. In honor of this new annual day which honor’s my blog, I have decided to try and get healthy again, as I fell off the wagon from the regimen I laid out for myself in my “Return to 19” post, so that I’m around in the future to keep posting. We’ll see how long I stay with it this time.
Switching gears, I recently read up on Balzac and found two great quotes of his that seem to be very relevant today:

  1. “Behind every great fortune there is a crime”
  2. “There is nothing left for literature but mockery in a world that has collapsed,” from the preface to La Peau de Chagrin.

For those, like me until a day ago, who do not know the facts about the famous French author with the naughty name, I can tell you that he was an ” observer of society, morals and human psychology who continues to appeal to readers today. His novels have always remained in print. His vivid realism and his encyclopedic gifts as a recorder of his age outweigh the sketchiness and inconsistent quality of some of his works. Enough of them are recognized as masterpieces, to rank him as the Charles Dickens of France.”
Now, think about the world today and the news you read on a daily basis and re-read the quotes, especially the last one. Maybe that is why the magic has disappeared for me, because the magic has turned into a mockery. What do you think?

ramblings

30 Facts About Chuck Norris

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When I was out in Cali at the beginning of July, my friends and I were sitting around the Q grilling, chatting and laughing. I said, “You know what’s funny, those Chuck Norris facts” which fell totally flat – no one knew what the hell I was talking about which was shocking – I know this list is “old” in Net years and figured one out of the five at least would be familiar with them. So, I mentioned the one Chuck Norris fact I know by heart – “Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.” – and my friends just lost it. I then went inside, jumped on a computer and found the full list of 30 facts about Chuck Norris, a list that will blow your friggin mind. I tried to read them all but couldn’t get past the first 10 because I was laughing so hard. We then decided that these facts are way too powerful to be read at once and we would read them only in increments of five. I waited a day for 10 – 15 and it took forever to get through those five facts. Then, at a later date when my friend Steve took over at 15, he could only get through three of them because he was laughing so hard. At one point, he was holding onto a railing in order to stand. You have been warned. So now, without further ado, here are 30 Facts About Chuck Norris (with number one still my favorite):
1. Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
2. Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn’t stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.
3. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
4. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
5. Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK’s head exploded out of sheer amazement.
6. Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.
7. Chuck Norris’s girlfriend once asked him how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. He then shouted, “HOW DARE YOU RHYME IN THE PRESENCE OF CHUCK NORRIS!” and ripped out her throat. Holding his girlfriend’s bloody throat in his hand he bellowed, “Don’t f*ck with Chuck!” Two years and five months later he realized the irony of this statement and laughed so hard that anyone within a hundred mile radius of the blast went deaf.
8. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
9. Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of “beard”. Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus’ obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick-related deaths.
10. To prove it isn’t that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.
After the jump, read the next 20 if you dare.
Via Everyone
11. There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Chuck Norris.
12. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.
13. Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother’s womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.
14. Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse… horses are hung like Chuck Norris
15. Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
16. Chuck Norris won ‘Jumanji’ without ever saying the word. He simply beat the living sh*t out of everything that was thrown at him, and the game forfeited.
17. Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying “booya”.
18. Chuck Norris doesnt shave; he kicks himself in the face. The only thing that can cut Chuck Norris is Chuck Norris.
19. Chuck Norris died ten years ago, but the Grim Reaper can’t get up the courage to tell him.
20. Chuck Norris appeared in the “Street Fighter II” video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this “glitch,” Norris replied, “That’s no glitch.”
21. When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He also always makes it to Oregon before you.
22. When Chuck Norris’s wife burned the turkey one Thanksgiving, Chuck said, “Don’t worry about it honey,” and went into his backyard. He came back five minutes later with a live turkey, ate it whole, and when he threw it up a few seconds later it was fully cooked and came with cranberry sauce. When his wife asked him how he had done it, he gave her a roundhouse kick to the face and said, “Never question Chuck Norris.”
23. Before each filming of Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris is injected with five times the lethal dose of elephant tranquilzer. This is, of course, to limit his strength and mobility, in an attempt to lower the fatality rate of the actors he fights.
24. Chuck Norris once tried to sue Burger King after they refused to put razor wire in his Whopper Jr., insisting that that actually is “his” way.
25. Chuck Norris frequently signs up for beginner karate classes, just so he can “accidentally” beat the shit out of little kids.
26. Chuck Norris once went to a frat party, and proceeded to roundhouse every popped collar in sight. He then drank three kegs and shit on their floor, just because he’s Chuck Norris.
27. Those aren’t credits that roll after Walker Texas Ranger, it is actually a list of people that Chuck Norris round house kicked in the face that day.
28. One of the greatest cover-ups of the last century was the fact that Hitler did not commit suicide in his bunker, but was in fact tea-bagged to death by Chuck Norris.
29. After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more “humane”.
30. Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a stillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.

ramblings

The Ultimate Thing Costume

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A few weeks back, I received an email with the subject line “awesome costume.” This email simply contained a link to a site which detailed in steps how someone went about creating a fantastic Thing costume For those that don’t know, he is one member of the Fantastic Four. I’ve been meaning to post it and now, sitting in a boring BUS 9100 class, I found the time. Enjoy!
Via Neu

ramblings

Mr. T Has Given Up The Gold

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Yes, you read that headline correctly fool. Mr. T has given up his gold for good after witnessing the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. In his own words, ”As a spiritual man, I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again because I spent a lot of time with the less fortunate.” Amen to that brother. I pity the “sorry celebrities” that don’t follow his lead.
After the jump, feel free to read the full story.
Via Jessie
Mr. T Sheds Gold After Katrina Destruction
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:08 p.m. ET on July 14, 2006
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Mr. T has given himself a makeover. The former television action star shed the piles of gold chains that were his signature look after witnessing the destruction from Hurricane Katrina.
”As a spiritual man, I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again because I spent a lot of time with the less fortunate,” the actor said Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s summer meeting.
”I saw some, I call it `sorry celebrities.’ They’ll go down there and hook up with the people to take a photo-op. I said, `How disgusting.’ If you’re not going to go down there with a check and a hammer and a nail to help the people, don’t go down there.”
Mr. T, whose real name is Lawrence Tero, stars in ”I Pity the Fool” debuting in October on TV Land. He dispenses advice to viewers who are struggling with life’s problems.
The former star of ”The A-Team” said he’s about more than his rough-and-tough image.
”Yes, I am qualified to beat people up. But I am pretty intelligent,” he said. ”That’s what throws people off. If you’ve been through something, that gives you an authority that you can speak on certain things. That’s why people relate to me. I pull no punches.”

ramblings

LIRR Goes New School and I Hate It

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Recently, I took a LIRR train out to visit my mom and was appauled to see that the “big board” train schedule sign has changed from the “old school” rotating sign to a new electronic model. I for one absolutely hate this change. Something major has been lost in the update and its not just the “tick-tick-tick” sound of the sign changing to denote a new train/track update. This modification constitutes a major break from the past and I don’t like it one bit. Not everything needs to be updated because it can be. I cannot believe that after weeks of research, I cannot find a single article about when this “big board” sign changed. For shame MTA and NY for not noticing, or if you noticed, for not deeming it worthy enough to write about.

music

On Getting Old

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This is what it is like to be and feel old. It is to wake up each day and to feel that everything good has passed, at least in terms of an apex, at least in terms of appreciation of said apex. Nothing produced today, no art, no music, no films, etc can equal the impact of what was produced in the past. That which was produced in the past was produced at a time when I lived – that means to say that what I am appreciating occurred in the recent past, or at least the past that constitutes my life time, with compensation duly added for the time when I was alive yet had no comprehension of events occuring, mostly limited and focused to my childhood pre-five years old, although certain fugue like states later in life caused on purpose or by accident also qualify. I am listening to Metallica’s Master of Puppets right now and wish, oh so badly wished that I saw them in concert when they were in their prime.
But wait, I think I did. I think that during Woodstock one could consider them in their prime. If that is the case, then I saw them and crowd suffered to them, for when Master of Puppets came on I went up. I wound up kicking a dude from Texas in the face on my way down which would not have been so bad if he wasn’t the same person I had not only been hanging with for the past few hours but the same individual who was plying me with alcohol during the entire time. He was hooking me up and I kicked him in the face. He didn’t mind though – we both laughed and drank more. So I lived through it but didn’t live through itl, because that was one isolated instance, that was one show and an abnormal show at that, a show which helped shape the course of my life, something that opened me up though still limited me, something where I learned what I could control and what I could not, a show that set me up for all the rest that has transpired.
And the guitar soars as I type, the sound rising like the lines on my face, so beautifully hard, climbing towards the top of a cliff that will only make you dive, as a huge stone stab falls crushingly onto you, as if in slow motion the walls of a room closing menacingly without a human cyborg relations bot to rescue you. Chris Campenelli sang this to me with a crazy look in his eyes. I am realizing that every person is so deep, that the wells of the thoughts, even empty thoughts are deep, are perverse, are layered, are ready to multiply at a moment’s notice and only need the spark to cause it to flow. And the music dances onward, upward, swirling around in the melody maelstrom, cue the drums, smash smash smash smash smash

ramblings

Sing Baby Sing!

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Okay, this clip of Shane karaoking almost broke my ears but it also really made me smile, in a painfully funny way. Be prepared.

Via Jessie

ramblings

Dance Baby Dance!

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Watching this YouTube “Evolution of Dance” clip is a fantastic way to get a smile on your face. It’s 6 minutes long and totally worth it – damn this white boy can move!

Via Chris

ramblings

I've Got Nothing I Tell You – Nothing!

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David Copperfield was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday night but “despite being possessed of a large amount of cash, the illusionist showed nothing but empty pockets to armed gunmen who targeted him and two female companions Sunday night in West Palm Beach, Florida, police said.”
What would have been even better is if he made the robbers disappear a la the Statue of Liberty. You can’t make this stuff up. You just can’t…

ramblings

Chevy Tahoe: Die Hippies Die!

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Chevy recently ran a promotion with “The Apprentice” where people got to make their “own” Tahoe commercial by piecing together video clips of the Tahoe provided by GM and adding their own copy to that new montage. While there were a lot of the expected anti-SUV pro-environment entries, the one titled “Die Hippies Die” is obviously the very funny exception. Enjoy.
Via John “Mr. DEE-troit” Thornton