Friday, January 30, 2009

SINGING Animal of the Week.

Eva may remember how much work I didn't do due to this video (do due...ha).

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Miss You Already

Chicago's Finest Inspire Confidence Again




Last Saturday, a 14 year old kid walked into a south side police station wearing a cop uniform he had purchased at a police supply store. He signed out a radio and ticket book before being dispatched with a partner on patrol. His holster was empty his police star missing, and his "partner" failed to notice that he was underage (14!?) It was 5 hours before they discoverd that he was not actually a cop. WTF?

The Story

Monday, January 26, 2009

Birthdates

Happy Birthday, Deme!


Walking the gritty well-coordinated streets of San Francisco

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p.s. And a very Happy Post-Dated Birthday to EKM, too!


Blago Gone Wild!

Blago takes it to the people in an all out media blitz this morning, comparing himself to Ghandi, Mandella, and MLK on national television.

Friday, January 23, 2009

A very obvs choice for this week's talking animal.

The bird's partner has the timing and presence of my foot lotion. And she could use a value meal or seven. BUT the bird has it pretty wired. The whispering part will give me nightmares, however.

Talking Parrot - The most amazing bloopers are here

Amy's Goddaughter



Amy Winehouse is starting a record label to release the debut album by her 13-yr-old goddaughter. I really like this video, particularly the low budge Union Jack backdrop, Amy's outfit, and her surprisingly competent guitar playing.

The girl can sing too. And it's also the only Alicia Keys song that doesn't make me immediately change the radio station.

Sleevefaces



Here's a bunch more.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Good Morning, Mr. President


Taken in the Oval Office on the evening of January 20th. A letter from George W. Bush to President Obama waits to be opened.
I would really like a poster-sized print of this ...

Friday, January 16, 2009




I'm sure you've all read the details of the astonishing Hudson River Landing yesterday. The passenger interviews are chilling to me. Its not often that you get passenger accounts from something like this, as there are rarely survivors when a plane drops out of the sky minutes after take-off. I keep putting myself on that plane and trying to imagine what that must of have been like to hear the words "Brace for Impact" and then be standing on the plane's wings just minutes later in the middle of the Hudson. Unbelievable. I want that pilot on my team.

Takin' Us Into the Weekend



I LOVE this song so much it hurts when it's over.

PS I will be playing this at the next Uke Cabaret (should have done it for Aquatica)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Conceptual Bro



I am different from cool people: I HATE Animal Collective.

Since people who like music that I like also love AC, I have given their stuff numerous chances to click, including the supposed "pop" masterpiece Merriweather Post Pavillion. I am convinced it's a scam. Fortunately, my misgivings have been beautifully articulated at the always-hilarious blog Hipster Runoff. Not sure if anyone will care enough to read most of this, but if so, enjoy.

Infected

So I was driving to a meeting in Deerfield this morning (yes, my life is that gay) and while navigating in the driving snow, I enjoyed the offerings of the FM radio dial. It's important to note that I have always been a devotee of the free airwaves - it's how I've honed my skills as a premiere Name the Tuner. But something weird happened today.

Usually, I keep my fingers resting lightly on the dial, flitting between stations, keeping an eager ear tuned for something special and ready at an instant to roll away from anything vile. This time, while scanning the airwaves, I came across the familiar warblings of Huey Lewis and the News - Working for a Living. Though my head told me to move along, my fingers would not respond. I was strangely drawn to this song and could not tear myself away. "I'm takin' what they're givin', cause I'm workin' for a livin'." I was memorized. Huey grabbed me and would not let go.

What are your favorite Huey Lewis lyrics? Please share. In the meantime, I give you:

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

7 Footers Need Love Too


(He's the one in back)

From today's NY Post:


GUY DRIVER: EDDY CURRY PUT MOVES ON ME

Knicks center Eddy Curry was slapped with a shocking sex-harassment suit Monday by his former driver, who claims the 6-foot-11 hoopster tried to solicit gay sex from him.

The stunning court papers claim Curry, a married father of three, repeatedly approached chauffeur David Kuchinsky "in the nude," allegedly telling him, "Look at me, Dave, look" and "Come and touch it, Dave."

Curry also made Kuchinsky perform "humiliating tasks outside the scope of his employment, such as cleaning up and removing dirty towels [Curry had ejaculated into] so that his wife would not see them," the Manhattan federal court suit says.

Kuchinsky, who is straight and Jewish, also alleges racial discrimination, saying that Curry hurled slurs at him including "f---ing Jew," "cracker," "white slave," "white devil" and "grandmaster of the KKK."

The sex allegations hark back to the bad old days of Isiah Thomas running the team, when the team's VP of marketing, Anucha Browne Sanders, filed a 2006 sexual harassment suit claiming the general manager made advances toward her and even said he "loved" her. He also allegedly called her "ho" and "bitch."

She also complained the team was allowed to become a sleazy old-boys club, in which Stephon Marbury had sex with a female intern in an SUV. In the end, Sanders was awarded $11.6 million in punitive damages and the Knicks settled with her.

And in a disturbing episode reminiscent of some of the evidence in the manslaughter case against former Nets star Jayson Williams, Kuchinsky further claims in his suit that Curry pointed a "fully loaded" gun at him on at least two separate occasions to keep him from complaining about his treatment.

"Look, I have one in the chamber," Curry allegedly said.

Kuchinsky, who worked for Curry from October 2005 through October 2008, says he was initially hired as an around-the-clock chauffeur for Curry and his family at their Burr Ridge, Ill., mansion.

But shortly after starting work, he soon found his duties fell well outside his job description and "progressively became Curry's "house-boy,'" his suit says. He is seeking $98,000 plus compensatory damages from the injured Knick, whose contract pays him $9.4 million this year.

Kuchinsky says he is owed $68,000 in unpaid wages, as well as $25,000 in expenses for which Curry never repaid him.

"Instead of paying him, they discriminated against him, figuring that it would keep him there," said Kuchinsky's lawyer, Matthew Blit. "Imagine going into your boss's office ... and he stands up and drops his pants and he asks you take care of him. Those actions are unacceptable whether it's in a corporate office or a private home."

Curry, who has played just 2 minutes, 38 seconds this season because of knee injuries, declined to comment late Monday in New Orleans, where he was expected to sit out the Knicks' game against the Hornets.

His lawyer, Kelly Saindon, denied all of Kuchinsky's allegations, calling them "absolutely untrue," and saying he began making a series of claims for unpaid wages several months ago, upping the ante each time.

Saindon said Curry took a chance on hiring Kuchinsky despite a criminal record that includes a three-year prison sentence for a 1992 burglary in New Jersey. He also got three years' probation in a 2004 resisting-arrest case in the Garden State, records show.

"It's shocking that Eddy opened his home to a convicted felon out of prison, and gave him a job when he couldn't find a job, and this is what comes out of it," she said. "The entire thing is preposterous."

Kuchinsky's lawyer conceded his client's "troubled past," but said that was all behind him.

Monday, January 12, 2009

At least one person loves Gwen Stefani's solo stuff.

Or hates it. I can't tell. I also can't tell if I'm disturbed or charmed.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Pictures of Lily?


I saw this billboard on my way down to a Charter School site visit on the far south side this past Friday and became convinced that the young model is none other than Howard and Laura's Lily. So much so that I pulled off the road in a very precarious spot to snap this pic. I know that I must be mistaken, but I mean, really, H&L, has Lily embarked on a modeling career or what?

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Weather Question

Simo,

Meteorologically speaking ... is the name of this blog coming back to haunt / bury us?



also, ipod randomly also chose this song today.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Hostility Used Appropriately



It's like Eva had a secret blog all along.

Celebrity Mix Alert



QD and I found ourselves watching one of the Pink Panther Movies this weekend, and it struck me that Comissioner Charles Charles Drefus plays very heavily in Jon Stein's Celebrity Mix (as does Bart Simpson).

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I'm So Serious

I Know What I Want For My Birthday!



This is why I read Kanye's blog.

Is this a song?

Flashing Lights by Kanye

The video is really weird and I kind of like it, but I'm not totally convinced this is technically a song. It's more like a mood or music that might be featured during an autopsy on CIA Miami.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Local News / Bad for Business

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0106091vail1.html

And A Limey Shall Lead Them



An Experiment in Provocation
Stealing Gaza
By BRIAN ENO

It’s a tragedy that the Israelis – a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression – are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked “Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it’s the Palestinians”. By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they’ve forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians – with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers – and themselves – with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world – they sacrifice all credibility.

The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it. While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements. While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States. And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending.

Gaza is now an experiment in provocation. Stuff one and a half million people into a tiny space, stifle their access to water, electricity, food and medical treatment, destroy their livelihoods, and humiliate them regularly…and, surprise, surprise – they turn hostile. Now why would you want to make that experiment?

Because the hostility you provoke is the whole point. Now ‘under attack’ you can cast yourself as the victim, and call out the helicopter gunships and the F16 attack fighters and the heavy tanks and the guided missiles, and destroy yet more of the pathetic remains of infrastructure that the Palestinian state still has left. And then you can point to it as a hopeless case, unfit to govern itself, a terrorist state, a state with which you couldn’t possibly reach an accommodation.

And then you can carry on with business as usual, quietly stealing their homeland.

Brian Eno - "On Some Faraway Beach"

Breaking News

I think Clay Aiken might be gay.

I hope his parents were super tolerant or he could turn out all fucked up.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Enough Already

The band that made my favorite record last year also played my favorite show last year, and during said show may have singlehandedly revived the ironic cover. You be the judge:



When I got home, I said to Eva: "They played a great version of this cheesy old song, you know it goes like this (hums a fraction of the verse)".

She said: "Oh sure, you mean The Outfield?"

Proving again that my wife is the GREATEST NAME THAT TUNE CONTESTANT OF ALL TIME.