Keep Smiling!: September 2005

Damn You My Space

Simpsons Quote generator aside, I found these things browsing people's my space profiles. Do you think any of these are keepers?

You have a dominant kiss- you take
charge and make
sure your partner can feel it! Done artfully,
it
can be very satisfactory if he/she is into
you playing the dominant
role MEORW!

What kind of kiss are you?
brought to you by
Quizilla

WHO WANTS SOME?

Comics

Does anyone want to go to this convention with me this weekend? It's like $20 a person.

Recently, I've just been declining auditions out of sheer fear...

So the audition didn't go well.

I know I should keep my head up, but I just didn't get called back. Of course, the troop I auditioned for said that not getting called back does not mean you don't make it, it just means that they want a "second look" at another actor. There was about 40 people there, some good, some bad, some didn't know what it means to improv. Some didn't speak too good English. Some people were a bit old, but god bless them for coming out. It makes me feel good that you can still keep your dreams now matter your age.

I think I'm going to get rejected because I told them that I couldn't make their Wednesday practices due to bragging to children. Shisse, I should've lied. Auditioning a tough racket!

I also think I'm not going to make it because I was just bad. See, in improv it's imperative that you always say, "yes." For instance, if I say, "Hey Charlie, I've brought your favorite beer." And then you say, "My name's not Charlie, and I hate beer," then you just negated me. And now, to make the entire scene work, everything I say has to be wrong, or I have to completely drop the character I started with and start over. At first, this can be funny, after all you're "competing" for the audience's affection. But you're not suppose to compete to make your partner look bad. It builds distrust. Other people won't want to perform with you, because they won't want to look like an ass all the time. You have to be "giving", because you're really just playing make-believe in front of an audience. And if you don't play fairly, then what's the point in playing with you at all?

But see, that's not what really gets me. I pride myself in being able to steer the scene by playing the (mostly) straight-man. To use sports terms, I want to be the "point guard" or "quarterback;" someone who's able to go with the flow, and then if someone is lost or starts negating, I can ground the scene. I feel that way only because when I started improvising, I made a lot of mistakes. I still do. I would make obvious references to other comedians or tv shows--showing my own lack of creativity-- or I would do something completely zany that really didn't fit in with the scene, even if I wasn't negating. Then when I realized the goal is play and focus in on the other actors. It's okay to do a little give and take with the audiences attention. BUT, too often people make these corny jokes that have a "laugh here please," quality to it, which makes the audience groan.

Well, at least I learned. And at least I got over my fear and went to another audition. Auditioning a tough racket!

Ninja...vanish!

A new version of Ninja Gaiden came out. It's supposed to be a remake of the one from last year, plus new difficulty levels, weapons, and some new missions. Should I get it if I couldn't beat the one from last year? Supposedly there's an easier difficulty level, but it's still a hard game. I just had to give up on it because it was way too hard. But everyone says it's great. Decisions, decisions.

Or, should I just get Nba Live 2006?

Wish me luck

Got improv auditions tomorrow. Hope I make it. I will be part of one of the "house teams". Crosses fingers...

Sigh, I need to stop using Myspace...

Here we go again:

R	Rare
A	Appreciative
S	Stunning
H	Hilarious
E	Easy
E	Exquisite
D	Dirty

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

So...

Someone once told me that I would less depressed and more successful if I would change my inner-dialogue (the voice in your head) from "I suck, I'm stupid," to, "I CAN do this."

Well, I did some thinking. What if I changed my dialogue to any one of these quotes:

"I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!"

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman"

"You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'."

"And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?"

"English - Who needs that? I'm never going to England!"

"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!"

and finally:

"I think Mr. Smithers picked me for my motivational skills. Everyone always says they have to work twice as hard when I'm around!"

Two more for the road:

"Marge I swear, I never thought that you would find out."

"I hope I didn't brain my damage!"

An intersting forward

...my uncle sent me. Check it out. Warning, there are some salty language here.

They Do Make Conservatives at Harvard

One person in my company asked if they "make" conservatives where I went to school. Sure thing I told him. Here's one right here. Thanks for the tip Carl. Warning, this website is gross!!!!

Soccer Fans Scare Me

Especially if they're willing to do this:

Fake plane emergency lets Gambians see match
Reuters

LIMA, Peru -- A plane carrying Gambian soccer fans to Peru made an unauthorized detour and faked a fuel emergency to land in time for the West African nation's game in a world youth tournament, officials said on Wednesday.

The Rum Air plane carrying 289 fans bypassed immigration formalities in Lima by landing in the northern city of Piura about two hours before the African youth champions kicked off against Qatar in the World Under-17 Championship on Tuesday.

The apparent emergency sparked a red alert in the coastal city with fire fighters and police racing to the airport and hospitals were told to prepare for an emergency.

"They faked an emergency to land in Piura. They were coming from Brazil and the should have landed in Lima first," Ramon Caminate, a tournament organiser in Piura, told Reuters.

Piura newspaper El Tiempo quoted one fan as saying Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh had chartered the plane.

Long Tambong Tamba, apparently a government official travelling on board, told reporters: "The president gave me the responsibility to lead the team (of fans) here."

A spokeswoman for CORPAC, the state body that runs Peru's airports, said the Tri-Star L1011 plane with 12 crew on board had raised the alarm, saying it did not have enough fuel to fly to Lima and would have to land in Piura instead.

CORPAC said it would issue a statement later on the incident. It was not immediately clear what penalties the airline could face.

Caminate said residents were astonished to see such a large plane. Piura's little airport is for domestic routes only and all international flights to Peru go to Lima.

Immigration officials checked documents in Piura and the fans went straight to the stadium to see their team beat Qatar 3-1 and qualify for the quarter-finals.

Some fans wore just tunics and trunks in the national colours of red, blue and green stripes separated by white bands, and had their faces painted.

The fans later took over five hotels in the small city while the plane was impounded at the airport.

Local prosecutor Carolina Neyra told reporters the stop in Piura was not authorised.

The final of the 16-nation tournament is on October 2 in Lima.

Too early?...

...To do a joke about what Bush was really doing during Hurricane Katrina?

The People's Show

Smackdown!'s been moved to Fridays. Anyone want to watch it with me this week? (Girlfriend's out of town...I think.)

Haven't quite figure out what my wrestling "gimmick" will be just yet...

I Don't Mean to be a jerk

I wrote this post yesterday. Then thought again about posting it since I don't want to be a jerk. Now I'm just lazy to come up with a new post. Peace. - The Editor

This is a response to Angry Bostonian's great post on the Daily Show. Although I don't agree with him per se, I do think he has a point. Many people don't know what Daily Show is, is it a comedy show like Conan? Is it a place for biting commentary like Scarborough Country (that's a joke folks)? Or is it something in between? Well, I think it's both. It's not a show like Conan's, but I think it's a show that's just plain funny -- most of the time. It's not a show to watch expecting the same jokes you would hear on a late night show. The humor is more, "Did you read two papers this morning and watch CSPAN? What the hell is going on here?" Apparently this is how the current format and sensibility took off, with the writers talking about all the cable news channels they watch and papers they read so they can spoof them at night. I think it's joke about the media and about real world events.

I feel Conan, the best of the late night hosts, is more about Hollywood and entertainment. Heck, he's great when he makes fun of comedy especially when people don't laugh when they "should". I hate to make a swipe at a fellow Crimson, but Conan for me isn't the same Conan 4 years ago. Unlike Jon Stewart, who you have some valid points on, Conan makes the same jokes as the other late-night hosts. While he might understand comedy -- as opposed to say, Carson Daly-- I had a friend who wrote for Conan/NBC. He would tell me of the frustration of writing the same Lindsay Lohan-this or Clay Aiken-that. Conan, while funny, has lost a lot of his edge in material, and makes it more about himself ("I'm too tall" or "I'm so geeky), than about the guest. He also is more formulaic, most of his skits contain reoccurring characters and jokes or what not.

It may be that there are more standards and practices for a network show than for a cable program, but Stewart's jokes are bit more "edgy" and more satirical. I also think since they ground themselves in mostly current day events, the Daily Show can get away with reoccurring skits and sketches without having them seem refreshed.

It will be interesting to see how TDS changes if a Democrat came to office. But, I believe they were just as hard-hitting during the Clinton administration, but they hadn't hit their creative peak so we don't remember it that much.

But anyone who's been watching TDS for a while now will remember that it's always been a great place for political commentary. And I guess that's why I like it so much. Comedy, in particular satire, is about making daring choices that often draws blood. Questions that poke and prod. Remember when Chris Rock staged a come-back years ago as their first "political" consultant, when he went to one of the conventions and asked people ridiculous questions? Usually they all revolved around race, but it was amazing to how poignant and absurdly funny he is.

Heck, let's get right down to it. I guess if I were to ever make it on a show, I would probably end up on TDS. Although, I wouldn't throw an offer from Conan out the window..."

Laughing...laughing from the grave

Who said the above quote, what context did they saying it in, and when did they say it?

Why do geeks always have these silly polls like, who would win: Daredevil or Batman? C'mon! The only person who would beat Batman is a pre-death Superman. Another poll I saw online was: "So, what's your opinion on breasts? Are they supple mounds of endless fun or something to be avoided, even feared? VOTE NOW!" I voted "feared."

Great day at the job. Basically, all but 3 of my cold calls to people ended in tears - mine.

I'm in negotiation to go to "Library School," or at least as an informational interview. You can ask for more details, but I'll just say, "I'm in negotation to apply to 'library school.'"

This is a great website. Especially this comic. I love Batman.

I have to admit

Coolest Ever!

I'll let you soak that picture in.

- I think that Prince is the coolest.

Am I that big a fan? Sigh, yes I am. Make it quick...::zip!::

I still get the chills watching Purple Rain.

Best movie ever!
Yeah, it's cheesy, but man when he hits those chords at the outro solo to "Let's Go Crazy"... Who's better at guitar? You may like Tom Morello (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), but there's no one who can match Prince's guitar playing in his time.

Except for this man:

And possibly this man:

Then we can talk Morello. (Let the hate mail fly. But you do know I like TM, right? C'mon he's a black dude who went to my alma mater and played with Dave Matthews!)

Cool pic though! I like his style!

- I was going to write a rant on how these guys broke up. But they've released a new album which we all should buy and go see...In Living Colour! (Cheap pun, I know.)

Black Rockers Rule!

- Now that I removed my x-box and tv from my room, I go to this website for fun: http://www.guitarshredshow.com/

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD

Money Shot!

Okay

5 new posts today. I hope that tides you over for a while. I even put a new picture in an older entry. See if you can find it. TREASURE HUNT!

Edit:
Hooray for Jomilkman for finding the picture! You win a chance to come over for a cheeseburger and play an hour of xbox.

Now, I'm going to add one more picture, but put it in the archives. See if you can find this:

Edit:
Wow. Somms wrecks shite up and finds the pictures. I'll leave it up to the rest of y'all to see if you can find it. But congrats to Somms and JoMilkman for finding the pictures first.

The Picture Episode II: Attack of the Scones

Med School Prom. Notice how I'm always winking. It's because I have a droopy-eye. But I think it's cool. The opposite of the Rock's "People's Eyebrow", I have the "Citizen's Eye Droop".

Whenever we're together, one of us always wears purple. We don't plan it, but I swear it seems like we alternate.

Yep. She likes her Chocolate men alright! (Notice how both of our hands are on her backside.)

Great dinner with some great friends. Wait, is John GQ-posing for the camera?

Only nerds would come to a wedding, sing karaoke, but use a palm-pilot to get the lyrics. Only nerds.

Sigh (The Picture Episode)

Isn't she beautiful? The one in purple, I mean.

I was actually drinking Ginger-Ale. Yet, on the screen it looks like something else. However, guess "who's two-sheets to the wind?" HINT: His shirt's un-tucked and he's walking away. It's amazing that you can tell, even in this still-photograph, that's he's been walking in circles.

I DON'T need to explain the sheer awesome-ness of this pictures. I'll be the next great superstar, just you wait.

Can't figure out which songs goes best with this picture. It's either "Lean Back" or Oasis's "So, Sally can wait. But don't look back in anger, I heard you say."

First joint-family dinner. No one got hurt (thankfully), and we may have been invited back to do this again...

My Friend's Wedding

I've had the pleasure of being apart of 3 weddings this summer. What a privilege! The latest one was in Vermont. Believe it or not, Vermont is BEAUTIFUL this time of year. The foliage was jade-green, and the scenery from the mountain range asthmatically breathtaking. We stayed in a lodge on top of a large mountain, in a time-share type of condo. Behind the gazebo was the trail where the groom proposed to the bride. (Speaking of the gazebo, it must've been to the west, since the sun was in my eye the entire time; I need to see the official video to find out what happens.) And it was small, many of the college blockmates could not make it, but that gave the ceremony this intimate feel.

Let me post two pictures of some of the people at the wedding. I'm not going to post pictures of the bride, who was wearing a gorgeous red dress, unless she wants me to.

I will however, put up a recent picture with three of the couples who were at the wedding. Guess which couples are married.

What's mad funny about this wedding is that like everyone was in a mixed-race relationship. Even the older people. If only Dick Cheney could see us now. Or then. Whatever.

So that makes 3 close friends are married. This means, my GF and I have a pretty good idea of what would work for our wedding. It gives us a chance to spend some quality time with each other and friends and relive our college days.

Which means more pressure on me. I know, I know, it's about time, but folks I just don't know what to do. I have so many decisions ahead, I don't know what to do. I get paralyzed when I have to make more than 1 decisions; I'm always afraid that I'll make the wrong one. Do I apply to grad school first? Do I finish losing weight? Do I just go ahead and propose? Do I need to change jobs where I can be closer, or in the same industry as her? Am I even old enough to get married, since almost everyone who got married is 25? Will she still even like me in 5 years? How much is a ring? Where can I buy one? What if I can't afford that much, no matter how much I save?

To you, I'm sure these are dumb questions. I need someone to create a schedule for me and the force me to stick with that schedule, because I'm just filled with uncertainty about the future, I don't want to make the wrong move.

I'm guessing I'm thinking too much about the choices I have to make. I should just go out there and make them. But, then again, agorophobia can be extremely comfortable.

My Friend Who Has No Limits

So

A friend from college emails me this week. It was great hearing from him. This guy's amazing, not just because he was a fellow policy-wonk, BUT he also ran two marathons on consecutive weekends, and is a monster iron-man triathlete. Although, I think he's retired at the young age of 24. Still, you have to admire people who first seeks to find their limits, then pushes pass them. Not like me, no sir! I've been running pretty consistently this past month, and I still can't jog faster than people who can walk. It's sad.

What else is new? Well, I went to a wonderful wedding that deserves it's own blog entry. And Bragging to Children recently was accepted to Improv Boston's "Hump Night", which means we have 4 consecutive shows in the month of December on Wednesday (the Hump of the week day). Hooray comedy! And two of my skits made it to the show. Hooray Comedy! I just hope you laugh.

In other news, my girlfriend found the stash y'all. Yep, caught sticky-handed. But it's not the drug-stash, I'm not cool enough to do drugs, it's the, um, "video" stash. Right on my desktop too! It was kinda embarrassing, but also funny trying to explain what a "milf" was (basically, anyone over 21, so now the GF's calling her self a milf. She's yet to figure out the acronym. AND DON'T YOU TELL HER!)

But don't cry for me. I have back-up and back-ups to the back-up. And I can just re-find the treasure if it so pleases me (AND YOU KNOW IT DOES!).

Welcome Back

Afro and Snoop are back in town.

Afro, as many of you who have been following his blog know, if not check it out here, spent many months travelling around the world and uranus.

Afro showing us his Dance Dance Revolution skillz.

Snoop, well, Snoop's just Snoop, and we're happy to have him back. Well I am. You're not, but I am.

Does John Roberts look like Rowdy Roddy Piper?

(and who's better Rowdy Roddy Piper or Ric Flair? I say Flair.)

Seven Steps For A Good Night's Sleep

From Parade Magazine:

1) Keep a regular sleep/wake schedule. Particulary for waking. Irregular hours can throw off the internal biological clock. Like that's going to happen!

2) Be-light wise: Within 5 minutes of waking, expose yourself to bright light, either by going outdoor or using a light for 30 minutes. Avoid excess light before bedtime. I think I'll just stay in bed.

3) Set aside time to clear your mind. Several hours beore bedtime, list worries or chores for the next day. Also develop a relaxation ritual--meditation or soothing music--to end each day. I have my own ritual.

4) Avoid stimulants. Nicotine, coffee or colas late in the day will keep you awake at night. There goes my ritual.

5) Don't drink alcohol. Rather than helping you slep, it leads to awakenings and worsens sleep apnea. I don't drink, and I still have these problems. Maybe I should drink some cola.

6) Don't exercise or eat heavily before bed. Both rev up the body. But exercising in the late afternoon or early evening dispels tensions, making falling asleep easier. My ritual revs me up too.

7) Avoid naps. The may perk up your daytime energy, but naps undermine your nighttime rest. Bull sh--!

One more, than I'm done for the night...

I promise. Even though this tragedy is making my eyes sting.

Remember in Robotech where the city of Macross was destroyed multiple times by alien invasion, earth fighting the aliens, and then again when the sdf made the hyper-jump to deep space and macross was kept in a bubble right with it? Yep, you do, and you see the same parallels.

WHAT??? WHAT??? WHAT???

Did I just hear that right? Someone on CNN is reporting that the Pentagon and the administration and Cheney are saying that people are too sympathetic to the victims, and not sympathetic towards the challenges the government faces. They argue that people are using this as an excuse to criticize the administration. But the CNN commentator Aaron Brown just said that most CNN viewers believe that if the president's name was "Clinton", then they would ask even tougher questions of that administration. Wow.

Well, good for Aaron Brown for editoralizing that it's very difficult to feel sorry for bureaucrats and easier to feel sympathy for the victims. And then with a shake of his head, he mutters, "I wonder why Cheney would say such a thing."

I know why, but I don't want to get into a shouting match with a man who would look down on me, even though he couldn't finish Yale. Stoopid yalie!

Argh

I'm also VERY pissed off that there's a cd called "Country's Got Heart" that steals pop, r&b, and adult contemporary and changes it. Alright, I get it. Country music has emotion. It's very popular right now. Fine.

And Joe Scarborough is even crying about the storm. Wow. This is going to be a tough few years for New Orleans.

My Heart is broken

I am so sad watching this State of Emergency down in Lousiana and Mississippi. It's amazing. I have to admit, I never though tragedy on this scale, pure anarchy, would reach America's storm. Amazinly, this is worse than 911, an entire city has been leveled. It's going to be very bad when people wake up to realize that most of the people displaced were poor and black.

It's starting already. I've never seen this amount of compassion for anything that deals with poor people from the media and America. Now, the tide's changing, and I hope people will rise up and really help these folks down there. Just think that this could have happened to any city on the Gulf Coast. Think of all the other calamaties that could face some of our poorer cities. I'm also angry listening to how ineffective Bush's comments were, but I amazed at the bipartisan critique of his lack in leadership. Take Giuliani during 911, and how frank and honest he was about the tragedy. Where Bush says, "this is a temporary disruption," Giuliani, when faced with a similiar calamity said, "we don't know all that is happening, but this is a grave tragedy. we will pull through it, but it's going to be tough." It made you feel comforted to know that there was a leader who realized how real the tragedy does. Now, we have a leader who wants to focus more on his rational for Iraq than helping his first concern, these poor American citizens. I guess it makes sense because there is a lack in the National Guard forces who would help with some of the aid in New Orleans.

It's also sad because it shows what happens when poeple have nothing. How desperate folks can get when they are left with nothing, and some drastic event comes and just wipes everything away. I hate that when people talk of "distributing risks" (remember, I'm in Insurance, so we talk about risk all the time), proponents of an "Ownership Society" often mention that there is nothing in life a human being can't get herself out of if she applies grit and hard work. Well, unfortunately for their reality, for a society to exist, it can't be made of individuals, but a collection of people looking out for their own interests as well as the best interests of everyone else. With amount of lives, jobs and property that was lossed in New Orleans alone, I don't see how people can get their lives back together without help from other people, particularly those more fortunate than them.

Well enough of this. I'm going to donate some money to them. Here's a list of charities I picked off from the New York Times.

God Bless

Relief Organizations:

Charity Navigator: charitynavigator.org
Information on various charities and ways to donate to the relief effort.

Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW or www.redcross.org

AmeriCares:americares.org

RoommateClick.com - Site offering a service for the New Orleans homeless, free of charge.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation(BRAF): 877.387.6126 or braf.org

Episcopal Relief & Development: 1-800-334-7626 or www.er-d.org

United Methodist Committee on Relief: 1-800-554-8583 or gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/hurricanes/2005

Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or www.salvationarmyusa.org

Catholic Charities: 1-800-919-9338 or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

FEMA Charity tips: www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: www.nvoad.org

Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: www.la-spca.org

Operation Blessing: 1-800-436-6348 or www.ob.org

America's Second Harvest: 1-800-344-8070 or www.secondharvest.org

Adventist Community Services: 1-800-381-7171 or www.adventist.communityservices.org

Christian Disaster Response: 1-941-956-5183 or 1-941-551-9554 or www.cdresponse.org/cdrhome.html

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee: 1-800-848-5818 or www.crwrc.org

Church World Service: 1-800-297-1516 or www.churchworldservice.org

Convoy of Hope: 1-417-823-8998 or www.convoyofhope.org

Lutheran Disaster Response: 1-800-638-3522 or www.elca.org/disaster

Mennonite Disaster Service: 1-717-859-2210 or www.mds.mennonite.net

Nazarene Disaster Response: 1-888-256-5886 or www.nazarenedisasterresponse.org

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: 1-800-872-3283 or www.pcusa.org/pda

Southern Baptist Convention - Disaster Relief: 1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440 or www.namb.net

Can You Dig It?....SUCKA!

I need a good catchphrase, like all great wrestlers do.

So the couple was doing it yesterday again. At least I think they were. All it takes is one loud, "YES!" and the "gulp! gulp! gulp!" sound of someone being, um, "moved" so much that they can't really make coherrent words. I came up with a funny skit for improv where I was thinking, "what if there's this man who's bragging to everyone about hearing his neighbor have loud sex, when it turns out he's actually having a heart attack, or a coronary, or a heart murmur." Or maybe cancer. Haven't figured out the punchline yet.

Had an mri to see if that would do something for my migraines. That's all I'm going to say. Actually no it's not. I realized how much of a claustophobe I am. I mean, my mind was freaking out. uh, but i'm better. i have comics.

my new roommate seems to be pretty chill so far.

that's it from me. what's happening with you? I think Afro is in town now from out of town. Wonder what he's up to?

Keep Smiling!

Thursday, September 29, 2005