... and Your Little Dog Too!

I consider myself to be a liker (not licker) of dogs. Small dogs I like a bit less, but I think it is mostly due to the way owners treat their little dogs like babies. Dress them up, carry them around in a bag, talk to them with baby talk, etc. If you are going to be like that with your dog, buy a cat or make a real baby. I had two canine encounters the other day that got me feeling annoyed.

The first encounter was a tiny little fucker. The owner was yapping away on her cell phone and not paying any attention to the rat size dog at the end of her leash. She also had the rat dog dressed in a pink sweater of some kind. So dumb. As I was passing said dog I closed my phone (it's a flip style). The noise of the closing phone, which is no louder than snapping my fingers, made this dog jump like I had fired a gun next to it. Stupid.

Here is the rat dog in action:





The next offender is mostly the fault of the owner. I go to get my hair cut and the guy in the chair had his fucking dog on his lap.

First of all, I think you should leave your dog at home when you are going for a trim, but if for some reason you can't, the dog can stay on the floor, unless it too wants a trim. I was really hoping Michael (my barber) would "slip" with the clippers just once. Maybe give that dog a nice Mr. T haircut. By the way, not to be outdone by the little rat dog, this dog had accessories too. No pink sweater, but a Burberry (or imitation Burberry) collar and leash.

I could tell Michael didn't really find it very amusing, but he is too professional and nice to say anything. He's all about getting the cut right and all about getting his BIG $9 payment when it is through. Man I wanted to punch that dog owner right in his cleanly trimmed head.

Northern Roots

What's up with the U.S. Olympic team using Roots (a Canadian company) for their official Olympic outfits? This is the third time (Salt Lake City, Athens and Torino). I'm all for global economy and all that, and I like Canada as much as the next guy, but with an event as full of country pride, shouldn't we get some American company to whip up some outfits? I think there are a couple of American designers/manufacturers out there. Before you say it, I know every country wears our crappy Nike stuff, but perhaps they should think about doing otherwise as well.

Maybe I'm just being a dick, but for some reason it irks me a bit.

A Couple of Rock Pix

I went to see a rock show at Webster Hall this past Wednesday. The whole lineup was Zao, DevilDriver, Trivium and In Flames. I really only wanted to see Trivium, but got there a bit early so I caught DevilDriver too. Sometimes a good ol' fashioned rockathon is just what the doctor ordered.

Last time I went to Webster Hall, they didn't seem to be allowing photos. "Only camera phones and disposable cameras" I was told. Seems to me a photo is a photo, so I didn't understand that logic, but I didn't want to get thrown down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk, so I complied. So, this show I didn't bring my camera and it seemed the rules had changed as photos were happening on the regular. Maybe it depends on the band and not the venue, but either way, this time around all I could manage was these three phone-based photos which don't really do the show justice.

Paolo stays left of the light


Matt urges the crowd to chaos


Those horns aren't for Texas

Anywho, just thought I would share. I know the photos are lacking. I'll try to do better next time.

... Or Die Tryin'

While speaking to the press upon his release from the hospital, Harry Whittington expressed that he occasionally wished that the birdshot Vice President Dick Cheney shot him with was an actual bullet or two as it may have jump started his struggling rap career by boosting his street cred and possibly giving him a distinctive slur like his mentor 50 Cent. Whittington said, "Bruises don't last forever, ya know? This isn't like a missing tooth or some nasty scars. I just don't think this is going to give me the long-term appeal this business requires."

Tags For Everyone

So, I have been tagged for the first time in my blogging career by Turf. Tagging seems to be a string a questions that you answer and then throw at others who are then supposed to answer the same questions. Sort of a classy, information revealing chain mail. This tagging seems to be all the rage among the bloggers. I guess I'm a blogger, so I'll follow proper blogger etiquette and play along, even though I'm not so sure I like the whole idea.

Anyway, here we go ... Oh, by the way, Turf is out in Iowa. We don't know each other at all, other than reading the crap we spew online. Look at us! Making friends and learning about each other.

Four jobs I've had:
1. Editor at a wire news service
2. production coordinator at computer graphics/animation company
3. Lifeguard
4. amusement park ride operator

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Old School
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. Three Amigos
4. The Usual Suspects

Four places I've lived:
1. New York, NY (Manhattan)
2. New York, NY (Brooklyn)
3. Poughkeepsie, NY
4. Latham, NY

Four TV shows I love:
1. The Simpsons
2. Arrested Development
3. Good Eats
4. My Name Is Earl

Four highly regarded and recommended TV shows I havenÂ’t seen (much of):
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Lost
3. NCIS
4. all the HBO shows (Deadwood, The Sopranos, etc)

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Thailand
2. Belize
3. Costa Rica
4. Bermuda

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Seared Ahi Tuna Taco with Avocado Salsa
2. Mac & Cheese (homemade, not that boxed business)
3. Hot dogs cooked on a stick over a fire
4. Thanksgiving turkey with fixins

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Yahoo! news
2. craigslist (NY)
3. New York Hack
4. CBS SportsLine

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. in bed
2. sitting by the Hudson River in Poughtown
3. any of the places on my vacation list
4. Floating on a tube in Afton

Four bloggers I am tagging:
1. DDubs (because he needs a kick in the ass to blog something
2. Lozo (because he will turn this into a fiasco)
3. AMS' (I've never even seen AMS blog until today, but I figured every list needs someone from Ireland who listens to Jurassic 5)
4. Toole (only because I know he is too cool to do this)


THE END, or -0- as we like to do at work.

By the way blogging etiquette says those who are tagged are supposed to continue the chain posting madness. Etiquette ... such a pain in the ass.

V.P. Jokes for A.P.

This one's for Andrew P. who wanted a Dick Cheney joke ~

"You can't blame anybody else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend."

Ha! Ha! That is a good one ... no, wait, that isn't funny, but then again, I don't think I am particularly good at telling jokes.

Perhaps it will improve with some visual assistance? Try reading that quote again while looking at this photo, I think it will pass as funny, or at least funny-er:

There's our Vice President! He dodged the Vietnam draft, ran a company with a long history of sketchy behavior, makes funny monkey faces and shoots his friends.

Now, that's funny!

Remastered

So, I guess the top Olympians are being rewarded with compact discs instead of the traditional medals this year?
Sweden's Thobias Fredriksson displays his gold medal after the medal ceremony the Men's Cross Country Team Sprint at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Pragelato Plan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb 14, 2006. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Lil' Pimps

I went upstate this past weekend for some fresh air. In order to stuff some of that crispy, invisible goodness into my lungs, I spent some time strapped to my snowboard at Greek Peak. The snow up there wasn't all that plentiful, but I managed to work with what Mother Nature (and some snow guns) gave me, and had a good time.

During a brief break at the base of the mountain, I see two groups of kids walking along. I am guessing junior high, but my judge of age is pretty awful, so who the hell knows. One group was all guys, the other was guys, and one gal. Apparently, the guys in this group had a mission to pimp her out to the other group, and when the interest wasn't there, they did not tolerate "no" very well:

Kid from Group 1: Hey! You! Kid with the red hat.

Kid from Group 2: Yeah?

Kid from Group 1: This girl wants your phone number.

Kid from Group 2: NO!

Kid from Group 1: She just wants your number.

Kid from Group 2: I said NO!

Other kid from Group 2: Noooooooooo!

Kid from Group 1: Geeez. OK, see ya later gay group.

Wrong For So Many Reasons

You ever see that movie Outbreak? You ever heard of Avian influenza or bird flu as some like to call it? Yeah, well I guess this woman hadn't:

Woman Does 'Mouth-To-Beak' to Save Chicken

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (AP) -- Sometimes a chicken does have lips, just not her own. Marian Morris saved her brother's exotic chicken, Boo Boo, by administering "mouth-to-beak" resuscitation on the fowl after it was found floating face down in the family's pond.

Morris, a retired nurse, said she hadn't had any practice with CPR in years, but that she was interested to see if she "still had it."

"I breathed into its beak, and its dad-gum eyes popped open," Morris said. "I breathed into its beak again, and its eyes popped open again. "I said, 'I think this chicken's alive now. Keep it warm.'"

Morris said she was pleased to find that the bird she saved was an "exotic," and not just an ordinary chicken.

The chicken is called Boo Boo, because she is easily frightened. The family thought Boo Boo was startled and flopped into the pond.

Boo-ya!

Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10

The Black and Gold

As a Steeler fan, I've had a bunch of people asking me my feelings on the big Super Bowl XL. I have to say, I feel pretty good, and let's face it -- even if they lose, I'll still enjoy my pizza, beer and wings.

I pleased and amused, yet slightly alarmed at how popular the Steelers are all of a sudden. Mostly the support seems to come from freaks, but I like having the freaks on my side. Afterall, who doesn't like freaks? Terrible Towel waving freaks ...

Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predicting groundhog, is held up by his handler Bill Deeley while holding a 'Terrible Towel' after the prediction of six more weeks of winter was announced in Punxsutawney, Pa. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006. The towel is used by Pittsburgh Steelers fans to show support for their team who are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 5. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Management of CNX Gas Corp., of South Park, Pa., wave Terrible Towels as CNX Chairman Philip Baxter, third left, rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, during listing ceremonies Tuesday Jan. 31, 2006. NYSE CEO John Thain, second left, joins the celebration. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

U.S. Airways pilot Capt. Bill Shoemaker waves a 'terrible towel' from the flight deck as the Pittsburgh Steelers football team plane arrives at Detroit Metro Airport, Monday, Jan. 30, 2006, in Romulus, Mich. The Steelers play the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 5, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Yours truly, making a specticle of myself at Giants Stadium last year. Steelers vs. Giants, December 18, 2004. (non-AP Photo and game tickets/Michael Toole)

Go Steelers!

Adios Autobus

One of my favorite lunch options in the low-option world of Jersey City is a little something we call The Burger Bus. Well, I went to get my delicious $3 sandwich a week or so ago and I was informed that my favorite snack supplier would be no more. My sandwich guy Willy would be ditching the world of mobile restaurant for a standard issue, bolted to one place kind of situation. So, the Snack Truck would now be a snack place? I guess a restaurant is what you could call it.

Now, I don't mind losing the novelty of a mobile snack spot, but my problem is that the new style is not only anchored in one place, it is also two PATH train stops away. That's not really going to work for me. Damn you Burger Bus! I was briefly intrigued at the notion of trying to convince Willy to sell me the bus so I can begin a new career, but I was concerned about parking and my lack of griddle experience so I didn't follow through.

Anyway, my sorrow is certainly Lozo's joy (Lozo falsely claims that The Burger Bus tried to poison him. I say Lozo is just a bit wimpy in the guts).

Good luck to Willy and perhaps I'll make the trek to the new joint at Journal Square someday.