Marry Your Baby Daddy Day

Marry Your Baby Daddy Day

this isn't made up

it actually happened

and was covered on the local cable news channel

I can't choose a reaction so I leave it to you:

(sigh) or WTF?!?

Hip-Hop Honors

I just watched the Kane performance from VH-1's little shindig. Save for TI's little contribution, it was pretty hype (yeah, I took the slang back). TI was ok, Common was out of breath - although the windmill at the end saved it, and Black Thought was on point to the point of being priceless. Then Kane came out and did it all including the dance moves. Hot like fiyah.


Did I mention I was in a lobby last week and Common walked in?

The price of late-night online classified scouring

I am currently at work

In the Bronx

I've been here since 8a

Which means I left on the boat by 6:20a

Which means I've been up since roughly 5a

Which means my alarm was going off since 4:30a.

I have a show to do tonight...

Why is it only 2:30p...

E-mail be damned, the first thing

I'm going to do when

I get home tonight

At (very optimistically) 11:30p

Will be to collapse atop whatever is

Currently strewn across my bed

Without even so much as

A cup of pink cashmere.

(gasface)

No, really tell me to stop looking at bikes on Craigslist

While looking around Craigslist.com, I found this: http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/mcy/99690030.html It's basically what I'm looking for, and it's in a price range that, at least in the immediate future, I can afford.

I really need someone to remind me that I'm supposed to be saving money to join SAG/take VO lessons. Oh, yeah. There's also that shool loan thing.

And they really need to be quick, because I'm coming up with some REALLY good rationale focusing on how much sense it makes to buy the bike now that the riding season as over so I have plenty of time to register it and get licensed before Spring.

I SO need 2 or 3 $20K commercials.

Looters?

Am I stupid for wondering where the concern for "looting" in Houston comes from? Is there a sense of desperation that I'm missing?

If theft was going to take place, wouldn't it be at retail businesses?

The fear of those wild, unruly, unpredictable negroes continues.

Guess I'll go loot me a shower so I can go do this play tonight.

(sigh)

payingbillsblows

What is it about engineers

that causes them to be unable to return the copier to its closed position after use? Is there something about copier design that I, a mere mortal, do/can not understand that would make leaving it open advantageous?

All Time High Hits for the O-Fishul

While the primadonnas were collecting their Emmy's last night, the stats for the O-Fishul are in for last week. While not the absolute most hits for a seven day period, there does seem to have been an unusually high number of new IP addresses registering in the counter. The balance between new and returning visitors was only different by one. I like that.

Thank you for making me feel loved.

Now give me money
When I'm in need
Then you'll be a kind of friend indeed

I got a blog viewer
waaayyyy over town
and they good to me, oh yeah.






(what?)

Darn Fine Display

You know, my blog looks really good on this 19 inch LCD at work.

Yes, this blog entry is this first thing I've done since arriving...besides turning on the computer and straightening my tie.

Hmmm... Methinks I'll order some new markers today. Spending other people's money is fun.

Cíao

Construction Engineers are Geniuses

A comment just heard from the top guy in this office to the top guy from a consutling company:

"I'll go home tonight and douche myself in your honor."



wow

I have been working at this construction

company off and on since May, and I have just today found out that there is a Golden Krust Bakery just up the street from the office. Why am I just now finding this out? Why I tell you. Why?

In other Construction temp job news, the temp that comes in on the days I don't is apparently a quite an attractive young woman. Certain members of this generally all-male-but-one office were greatly disappointed when I returned after the first time she came here. I got jealous for a second, then remembered that, not only can I not compete with boobs/booty for the attention of these engineers, I prefer not to: a)compete for their attention (ugh) or b)compete with boobs/booty.
I appreciate the rich culture of boobs/booty and the contribution that boobs/booty has made to our society. If only I could ever manage to decipher the intricacies of the mystifying and complex boobs/booty language...

Entreprenuerial Philanthropy

Little girls on the Upper West Side collected $900 selling Paul Nueman's Own lemonade on the street for people in the Gulf States today.

Over at eBay people are having auctions on behalf of the survivors.

As sorrily as the federal gov't has performed during this, the states, cities and individuals it represents (sic) are proving impressive.

MTA pitches in

Local news outlets are reporting that a caravan of 70 NYC buses (not just the regular buses either - they're the express buses that are basically Greyhound buses that take MetroCards) are headed to New Orleans help get people out. They'll be headed down escorted by NYPD and supported by MTA maintance trucks.


Thank You, NYC.

A Brilliant Idea!!!!

Why doesn't George W. set up the remaining refugees at his ranch on Crawford, TX!

There's plenty of space, sunshine and there's got to be at least one nice, clean freshwater lake on that property (ok, probably five).

Come on, show some more of the good ol' Texas hospitality, prezzy!

While there he can school some of the more morally corrupt with glorious morality...

give-money-not-stuff

Another bloggers take on the best way to help. interesting points. and basically what everything increasingly comes down to:

GIVE MONEY NOT STUFF


i promise i'm going to go over my lines now.

and if i didn't say it before

PEACE

Helping in the networked age

I see many people are posting room/donation/offers to call relatives on Craigslist. I don't really see how that's going to get to the people who can use them, but I guess the one's that got out early might be able to use it.

Somebody mentioned that it was important that the media not just focus on the NO refugees, but hte other places in the Gulf Coast as well. True. And I bet the networks were clamoring for bragging rights to being the first network to focus on the "other" victims.

As much as I preferred CNN's coverage, the "Hurricane Headquarters" thing was corny to say the least.

For this past four years, controllers of American might, claiming to be led by God, have worked to protect us from damage on this scale perpetrated by those who claim to act on behalf of God, and the destruction instead ended up coming from --- God.

I tend to not think of hurricane Katrina as catastrophe. It's a hurricane. They happen. Sun happens. Dirt happens. It's natural process.

What IS a catastrophe, is the woeful job that public officials have done in preparing people for the inevitability of such a powerful hurricane in a urban area and the grindingly slow reaction of our federal government in rendering aid.

I thought that THIS is what FEMA was for?

Well, we've certainly learned a lesson. Yet again, we should thank a poor Black mass for acting as the control in a biological experiment. Our Tuskeegee Experiment forefathers would be proud.

Why the hell was every news channel referring to the first bus that made it to the Astrodome as a "Renegade" Bus. This was a group of people who were told by members of the NOPD to take the bus and make their way to Houston. It was strangely enough, populated by people brown faces. Hmmm....

We learn a lesson in storm preparedness AND we get to revist the topic of "race" in the media? A windfall. A windfall indeed.

(end of indignant sarcasm section)

As more people are moved into organized shelters, the use/need for volunteers seems as though it will increase, so those of us who've felt helpless through this may soon have a chance to do something other than wax endlessly on the internet. (Oh, wait....)

I'm still trying to figure out if my desire to be back in the South right now has more to do with the survivors or me. That I wanted so to go down there when I knew another mouth to feed would would just be piling on has left me feeling selfish more than once. I don't just want to be down there, I want to be down there NOW. When I think about finishing the show in October and going straight down then, I feel like, "what's the point? All the action will already be over,".
I remember a similar sensation when Houston flooded in 2001. I guess it's got something to do with feeling like I should be witnessing this firsthand since these are places I have a connection to.
Did I mention that I'm not contractually obligated to finish this show? I can leave anytime. If only the whole cast/crew was from Louisiana. I'm sure we would've voted to tank it by now.

It just occured to me: where will the Bayou Classic be played now?

Will There Ever Be a Child Named Katrina Again

What to say what to say what to say.....

I was at work today, and took a break on the computer to catch up with what's going on in NO and saw that the worst reared its head after we were told be the media outlets that the city had escaped Monday.

I'm watching the cable coverage now. The only channel I can stomach for more than a few minutes is CNN. This jackass Scarborough in MSNBC, CNBC whichever it is, was showing just how useless he is. He's one of these talking head commentary show knits who wouldn't know journalism if he was run through printing press. He was the first to start talking about the looting, expressing his outrage at the idea that city officials weren't taking the proper stand & disparagingly mentioning that city officials were choosing to concentrate their efforts on saving lives. He made the comment that he couldn't imagine Rudi Giuliani would let it happen. No time like the present to politicize an issue, is it...
So, Fox jumped on the bandwagon of flashing the same videos of people leaving stores carrying cloths and boxes. Strangely enough the stories on these channels all seemed to shift to that at the same time. Ironically, I went to the Times-Picayune website about 30 minutes later and there was already a story up about Gov. Blanco vowing to end the looting and violence featuring a shot of an officer standing outside a store holding a shotgun, appearing to bark orders.
Something I found interesting in that story was this line:

"At one store, hordes of people from all ages, races and walks of life grabbed food and water."

Interesting to me because all I keep seeing is video of Black folk running amok. I guess White people are invisible when carrying stolen goods. The only images I saw that seemed to imply White looting was very pixelated digital video and that spot was focusing on the assertion that the looting was initially people breaking into stores to get food and water.

Part of what has me so taken aback with this is that the VAST majority of faces you see in these images (regardless pf the theme of the accompanying story) from NO are Black. Black people on roofs begging to be picked up. Black people waiting with growing impatience to be bussed to refugee centers...

I can't understand why, if the expectations for the storm was THIS bad, why wasn't more done to get people who didn't have means to leave or places to go get out of the city. At the risk of politicization, I wonder how much more man/machine power would be available for this effort were there not such a military presence in Iraq.

I'm in a play that's opening on the 15th. I'm nowhere near off-book. Frankly, I have no urge to study lines. Everytime I resign myself to the fact that there's nothing I could really do, I start watching again and want get in my truck and go. I just watched the video of the first busload of people to get to the Astrodome.

I thought I was going to have something constructive to say about what happens when the underlying anger in poor people has an opportunity/excuse/reason to manifest itself, but I don't.
I'm trying to figure out what people who are stealing merchandise plan on doing with it. You won't be able to sell it - who with money is still there? There's no point in stealing electronics for personal use - no electricity for what, a month? Jacking ambulances? The line between real close to and way past crazy is real, real thin - especially when hell has broken loose. But BLack people PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ!!! STOP IT!!!!!! Minister Farakhan, get your bassboat and head to Orleans Parish. A Million More warmup is needed in the delta.

Well, it's 12:45. I'm watching Fox Sports now. I may just muster the desire to look at my script.

Oldest Settlement of Freed Slaves in US...

I just found out that the oldest community of freed African slaves in the U. S. is right here on Staten Island.

I would say that I wish I'd known sooner, but I know now.


(and knowing is half the battle....)

why isn't lunatic pronounced with the stress on the second syllable?

(see, strange behavior has long been associated with the moon - particularly when full. "Luna". Get it? You do know "luna" means "moon", right?)

Today's musical paradox

So, I was shirking my line-learning duties just now (as I have been for the past 5 or so hours) and scanning some audio streams. Something wack-ish came on so I clicked on AfroRadio, and on popped Love TKO. Yay.

So, as I swayed and I began to croon (hah!) along to the verse. I came to the realization that this is one of those songs that people will probably never really hear the words to. Oh, the words will be memorized and sung - but the only thing anyone ever really listens to is the molten-granite-smooth beat.

A beat which is, well, directly indicative of sex. It's drawz gettin' music if ever there was.

The words, however, are all about Teddy throwing the big, fat middle digit at love. As fed up as the two-time loser sounds, it seems like luscious nether regions is the farthest thing from his mind. Le proof (from the second verse):

Tried to take control of the love
Love took control of me
'Cause you lose all thoughts, sense of time
And have a change of mind

Takin' the bumps and the bruises
Of all the things of a two-time loser
Tryin' to hold on, faith is gone (<- damn, bruh, don't give up...)
It's just another sad song (<- then again, you know what, you're right. Eff it.)

Not really mood music....

Now listen to this.

Once it gets into the chorus, you'll probably notice your hips begin a small, involuntary swirling motion.

By the time you here "TKO", the pugilistic metaphor makes a quite different inference from that apparently intended by the writer.

Don't play. You know you've wondered on more than one occasion what it would be like to have some nookie that would cause you to blackout for 8 to 10 seconds (male tendencies toward post-coital slumber, notwithstanding).

It's like somebody in charge of the money told Teddy, "OK, man, continue to write all this sad, woeful, the-whole-town-is-laffin'-@-me stuff if you must, but it's time to sell some concert tickets. Make me a banger."

Bang, indeed. Bang.

Bang Bang Bang.

BANG

I'm just sayin'...