Wasting time with Jet

...Now reduced to 48 hours and waiting...

You cannot imagine...

Being 9 years old, waking up by a wet washcloth to the face, taking short-cuts in washing up in the bathroom, not even eating breakfast, but come 7:30am on channel 11 WPIX New York, there was no where else in the apartment I'd be but the living room glued to the television.

If you would have told me, that by the time I was 31 going on 32...that there would be a Live-Action Transformers Movie, I'd laugh in your face for hours.

It could never happen...

Shouldn't have...

Not in a million years...

But it has happened.

And years from now, when I'm old, feeble and senile...I'll still be able to remember one thing...

That for the first time...Hollywood made the impossible happen.

I have jus purchased my ticket for the 2:20AM screening of "Transformers" on Monday night (Tuesday Morning, actually), July 2nd, 2007.

Yes, 2:20 in the morning...AFTER MIDNIGHT, yes...

I mean, WHY the hell be THE EXACT first bunch of people to see it at 8pm that evening...?

Do you have ANY idea how insane that crowd is going to be?

Forget Ninja Turtles...

Or Harry Potter...

...Or even Spider-Man...

THIS IS TRANSFORMERS!!!!!

This is bigger than friggin STAR WARS, man!!!!

Showtimes for Transformers start July 2nd at 8pm, and will run ALL NIGHT!

When I selected July 3rd (for the helluva it!)...the first showtime that popped up was 5:15am, that's FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!!...GEEEEZZZUSSS!!! ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME!?!?!?

And I almost thought about it, too..."hmmm 5am, sure, no one else should be up..."

But then I said, why settle for that?!?!?

So I went back a day and noticed the schedule...

INSANE. By 2:20am The crazies should have subsided a bit...I Hope!

But let's got back to the 9 year old boy in front of the TV...

For me, Transformers was what Pokemon is (or was) to 7 or 8 year old boy a few years back.

The toys, the cartoon, the comic book...it was the most influential thing in my life at the time.

It taught you about Good and Evil...

Every kid, black, white, hispanic...WORSHIPED Optimus Prime.

He was the most respected male role-model next to your dad...

Everyone in the world knows...HE WAS THE TRUCK.

He was the leader of the AUTOBOTS, the good guys...

And on the other side...MEGATRON, the ultimate evil.

The only symbol that could justify the leader of the DECEPTICONS is that of HATRED, of WAR, of STRIFE...is that of a GUN.

He's no Darth Vader, but he's pretty damn close...

Episode after episode, I watched...memorized and even acted out episodes to classmates while waiting outside the school for classes to start.

It got me into reading...

Transformers was the first Comic Book tittle I started collected, way before I got into X-men, Spider-Man, Spawn, and all the others...

Issue #27 which introduced the Giant Decepticon City, Trypticon (In his only appearance of the comic book series) is actually framed in a picture frame, waiting to be hung up somewhere where it can be remembered one day.

The cartoon, the comic, now...the toys.

When it came to toys, I had to use my imagination more usual rather than playing with physical toys, but one of the two only Transformer toys I had was "Mirage", the Race Car, and of course Optimus Prime, himself. The whole drama with the toys is that I wanted the truck to bad to the point of actually crying for it as a Christmas Present in 1985, so MOM finally got it and one of his legs broke off (Those toys were NOT built to last!), but the worst part was the summer of '86 when "The Movie" (Animated, of course...) came out and the big guy, well...ya'll know...I'm not gonna get into it.

You couldn't imagine how pissed MOM was when the "New" season started the fall that year with all those new characters...

Man, if I still had those two now...even Optimus with the broken leg would be worth some money!

This movie...is something I never really thought I would see...and it tells me that, if they can bring to life a fantasy that I watched as a boy...almost anything can happen, and that inspires me to keep trying to put my dream together...

So one day I could actually see "Call Numbers" the Movie.

someday.

we'll see.

Come, this first week of July...something...something unbelievable just might happen.

Stole this from the coolest reason to move to Minnesota


Lets go!!!

A - Attached or Single?
Y'kidding right?...I'll be single even after George Clooney gets married! (Which he swears will never happen!)

B - Best Friend:
*Sigh*, Taking applications...I only demand that you're not married or have kids and you don't leave town.

C- Cake or Pie:
Hmmmm, I'm such a picky person...plain ol' Yellow Cake for me...

D- Drink of Choice:
Tropicana Orange Twister, Grape-Lemonade Kool-Aid

E - Essential Item:
MP3 Player.

F - Favorite Color:
Green

G - Gummi Bears or Worms?
Worms are gross, Gimme Gummi Bears...so I can BITE their heads off!!

H - Hometown:
NEW JACK CITY, baby...

I - Indulgence:
Pizza

J - January or February?
both, January for the playoffs, February for the Super Bowl

K - Kids:
Hell to the Nah...

L - Life is incomplete without:
Happyness (Yeah, I spelled it with a "y", see the movie damnit!)

M - Marriage Date:
August 16th, 1993 (No Comment)

N - Number of Siblings:
Uno, 'less you count Step, then Dos

O - Oranges or Apples?
Both

P - Phobias/Fears:
Cars, dying alone

Q - Favorite Quote:
"I'm getting too old for this shit!"

R - Reasons to smile:
Baby-Girl got promoted to 4th Grade (Even though she spells School "Scool" and Down "Dow"...God Almighty, help this child!)

S - Season:
Fall and Winter

T- Tag Three:
KimmyK (to bring her back from her absence!!!), AC, annnnnnd cuz I know he'd hate to do it, (LOL!), the Firestarter5!

U - Unknown Fact About Me:
If I tol'ja It wouldn't be Unknown anymore, wouldn't it?

V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals?
Don't eat enough Vegetables to qualify and I eat fish so...hey, you figure it out!

W - Worst Habit:
Letting my nails grow to Wolverine Proportions, I do this thing that drives MOM nuts, when there's no more Kool-Aid, I put the empty pitcher on top of her Dishwashing Gloves...It pisses her off to no end...

X - X-rays or Ultrasounds?
One Ultrasound recently, not a comfortable experience...

Y - Your Favorite Foods:
French Fries, Peanut Butter, Pizza...ya'll know the routine

Z- Zodiac:
Libra, the Scales of Indifference

I love this song, I hear it every day on my mp3 player

It's so uplifting, it makes you almost believe music can make you fly...

Ashcroft himself thou, looks hauntingly scary in this video.

The pale white skin, that long neck and girly red lips...dye his hair green he looks like The Joker!

Anyhoo...I jus read that he's reuniting with his former bandmates for a new The Verne album and tour later this year...The Verne (when they got along) were know for their smash hit "Bittersweet Symphony" (Which I also listen almost everyday...)

Something about him and walking...in the video for "Bittersweet"...he rudely walks down a street non-stop bumping people in his path...although this one, he apologizes after bumping into someone in the kitchen, guess he's getting mellow in his old age...

Damn, I never should have seen that movie...

My mind's playing tricks on me, now.

I'm seeing shit at the corner of my eye...

This afternoon, my radio woke me up to "We only just begun" by the carpenters and I started screaming and fell outta my bed!

For a second I thought I was actually IN that damn room!

I need to calm down...I may NEVER stay in a hotel room alone ever again...

That was from the movie "Turbulence" BTW...

I was jus browsing "Overheard in New York" and there was a section a quotes from Airline staff that had me in stitches...This is further proof that pilots be Drunk as hell when they fly...

Jet-Propelled Wednesday One-Liners

Pilot: We're on our way to New York where the weather is cold and icy, just like my prom date back in high school.

--Jet Blue flight 114 from Ft. Lauderdale to JFK

Flight attendant announcing boarding call: If you have given up your seat on this flight, please do not board the plane.

--LaGuardia

United Airlines employee on PA: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to use the last-one-on-is-a-rotten-egg method of boarding here.

--LaGuardia

Overheard by: Hour-and-a-Half Delayed

Pilot, as the seatbelt sign goes off: All rise.

--Airtran flight from Atlanta to LaGuardia

Overheard by: Debbie Kate

Stewardess: Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention I would very much appreciate it. My parents paid thousands of dollars to put me through college for a theater arts and communications degree, and since this is the only time the airline ever puts a microphone in my hand, I'm sure they would really appreciate it, too.

--United flight from LaGuardia to Chicago

Overheard by: Ellen

Airline representative: Paging La... La-gua-ti-ne Pu-ra-na-ma-te? Paging... Eh, I know I messed that one up. If your name rhymes with the one I just said or it sounds at all like yours, please come to the desk.

--LaGuardia

Overheard by: Delayed

Pilot: Why, hello, everyone! This is your captain, Bud Howard, and your copilot, Harvey the Rabbit. The FCC or FCA... Some fancy organization told me to tell you that I have to show you a very low-budget and entertaining movie on how to act on a United flight. Basically, if you've been around the past 50 years you know how to put on a seatbelt. You can't be jumpin' up and down like a jimmy-cricket, and the sooner you watch it the sooner I can push this big mother. Lastly, my young Jedi here says he'll fly us so I'm going to take a little nap while our copilot does everything. Relax. Anyone doesn't know what I said, find the nearest southerner and ask for a translation.

--LaGuardia



"Jumping around like a Jimmy-Cricket..."???

"...the sooner I can push this big mother."????

"...my young Jedi here...."????



LOL, my god, man...WTF do these people be ON!?!?!? And where can I get some?

If I heard anything that crazy on a plane, I'd get the hell off!

Oh.

My.

God...

"1408" IS THE MOST, SHOCKING...SCARY...MIND-FUCK of a movie since "The Sixth Sense" and it even BLOWS THAT away!

This movie kicks so much ass it has shit-stains on it's Timberlands!

It's so good, I will SO buy the OFFICIAL DVD the Day it comes out!

It's something about John Cusack, man...and I thought he couldn't top "Identity", oh god this movie was so good.

In a nut shell, my man challenges the urban legend of this supernatural hotel room (He sorta does this for a living, or did till his poor lil' girl died.), once in the room...hell breaks loose, ghosts, weird shit outta the wood work!

The challenge is to say in the room for longer than an hour, no one has never lasted that long...

This has one hellua twist, and an ending that just, just...damn...it's just so freaking great.

Not for the faint of heart...and for those brave, prepare to have your brain turned upside down after you think you've figured everything out (They set you up for that...)

I wouldn't call this the best movie of the year, but it is a VERY unique film that will stay in your head...if you have the balls to see it!!!

Damn, am I tired.

I finally saw "Rise of the Silver Surfer" at a 12:45am screening after work tonight.

The movie kicks Spider-Man 3's ass and is just as wacky and funny as Pirates 3 without the epic 3 hour running time. Still it could have been a bit longer...

There was a rumored sub-plot about the army girl Johnny falls for (or vice versa) was going to be Gah-Lak-Tus (Geez what a corny adaption of his original name!) replacement herald after the Surfer's betryal...she was gonna get fire powers too and become NOVA...eh, I guess that would have been too weird to swallow for the non-comic book fans in the audience.

Having similar elements of the first one, the movie really didn't take itself too seriously (compared to other comic book franchises) when it came to the freaky foursome...Their down-to-earth goofiness was very refreshing, but leaning a bit close to almost "American Pie"-like sexual humor. (Johnny's joke to Ben about sex for one, or even Mr. Fantastic's bachelor party!)

What had me in stitches was Stan Lee's cameo...possibly his best, yet!

The action was good, the surfer has gotta be the best CGI character since Golem and they gave him the perfect voice (Morpheus! aka Laurence Fishburne)

The joke at the end about Venice collapsing can only mean one obvious villain for part 3...The MOLE MAN!!!...YEAH! Someone get Danny DeVito on line 1!!! Or better yet, Verne Troyer aka Mini-me!...He'd be a cool Mole Man (if taken seriously...I guess...alright stick with DeVito!)

And the extra scene after the end credits opens the door for a Silver Surfer movie, too...thou, who would be the villain for that picture?

I wanna see "1408" next, I hear it's scary as hell...it damn well better be...

See you around, true believers!!!!

Hey...

Yeah, I know I haven't posted in awhile, what can I say? Nothing's happening.

I go to work, work the weekends, and Monday and Tuesday fly by like a blur...

"Gas, Brake, Honk...Gas, Break, Honk...Honk, Honk, Punch!...Gas, Gas, Gas"

Work's okay, but I've been having near-misses with the production. It seems like when we're almost out of work, a new case comes with 20-something boxes. But between 3 shifts and weekends, everything's being done at a quick pace. The first moment things dry up, Imma try to bounce, I need something STABLE!, this is good, but I'm STILL not promised tomorrow...

The only other thing I'm obsessing my time on is this Mix CD project.

I've been reliving the last 9 years through my music selection from back then.

As a poor black boy, recuperating his life back in 1998, I stumbled upon a fellow hip-hop head from Philly who went by the name of Eric Vanderslice (That has got to be the coolest last name I've ever heard!). He was just another crazy-ass country white boy who happened to know hip-hop from back to front. He respected the underground, and had a massive collection of rarities and b-sides, PLUS he had the equipment to make his OWN cd's (This being back at the dawn of the digital age of CD Burners and all that good stuff...).

We clicked right away and he asked me a favor in return for services rendered. He loved NYC Radio. But he lived too far to receive our beloved HOT-97. So he asked me if I could tape a couple of weekly underground shows that air on Sunday nights. In return he sent me upcoming and import albums that never made it to the stores. An early cut of Inspectah Deck's "Uncontrollable Substance" and female rapper Charli Baltimore's never-released first album "Cold as Ice".

After a while into the deal, I demanded more (His exclusives were running dry and I was providing blanks and postage!), I started asking him to make my "Train Tapes" (Tapes I listen to while riding the train...) into CD's

I had to get special 74 Minute Cassette Blanks because a CD couldn't be 2 hours (Which were my 120 minute blanks) and he made one a month. Each CD was like a time capsule to what was going on in the world, like listening to singles collection of a decade and remembering what you where doing when that song was on the radio.

Eric made my first CD in july, the tracklist was as follows...

Vanderslice Compliation I (July '99)

Created June '99

Tracklist:

1. Paint your Face (Lord Have Mercy)
2. Outro (La the Darkman from GZA Album)
3. Rec Room (Inspectah Deck)
4. Beneath The Surface (Genius and Killah Priest)
5. 1112 (Genius, Masta Killah, Killah Priest, and Njeri)
6. Stringplay (Genius and Method Man)
7. Mic Trippin (Genius)
8. Grand Prix (Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Street)
9. Show and Prove (Inspectah Deck)
10. Movers and Shakers (Inspectah Deck)
11. Lovin' You (Inspectah Deck and LA the Darkman)
12. Nightshift (Inspectah Deck)
13. Femme Fatal (Inspectah Deck)
14. Brooklyn Hardrock (Thirstin Howl III)*
15. Spit Fighters (Thirstin Howl III and Master Fu)*
16. Tight (Rah Digga)
17. Stand Up (Charli Baltimore and Ghostface Killa)


It was pretty much a test run to see how it would sound, naturally most of it contains tracks from the exclusive Deck LP, a few tracks from the latest GZA CD that was out at the time...

I dunno WHAT I was thinking with those Thirstin Howl III songs!

As time went by and my situation improved, I finally brought a Stereo Component CD-Burner for 289.00 (Which is like 500 dollars current-time!), it was around May 2000 (Yeah, I remember spreading my whole damn tax return on it!, LOL!)

So to cristen the machine and mark my independence, my first ever homemade Mix CD was...

Usagi's “Freedom!! Got my own shit, now Dog!!” Mix CD June 2000

Created June, 2000

Tracklist:

1. Best of Me (Remix) (Mya f/ Jay-Z)
2. Maccabean Revolt (Killah Priest)
3. Curtains (Rah Digga)
4. Dance Tonight (Lucy Pearl)
5. Case of The Ex (Mya)
6. Woke up in the Morning (Carl Thomas)
7. Laughing at You (Big Pun and Tony Sunshine)
8. Trippin’ (Lucy Pearl)
9. So Cool (Rah Digga and Carl Thomas)
10. I Wish (Carl Thomas)
11. View from Masada (Killah Priest)
12. Ride and Shake (Mya)
13. Without You (Lucy Pearl)
14. Emotional (Carl Thomas)
15. Mic-nificent (Canibus)
16. Hard Times (Killah Priest)
17. Man in my Life (Mya)
18. La La (Lucy Pearl)


A lot of Killa Priest, Lucy Pearl and Carl Thomas at the time, Mya's 2nd album was also floating out there at the time...life was going well...

Then when I got my own place, another CD marked the occasion...

Usagi's “Freedom 2!!! Out on my Own” Mix CD June 2001

Created June, 2001

Tracklist:

1. My Shit on the Radio (Nelly Futaldo)
2. Baby Girl (Nelly Futaldo)
3. I’m like a Bird (Nelly Futaldo)
4. Movin’ On (Mya)
5. Deep Inside (Mary J. Blige)
6. Problems (AZ)
7. How I’m Livin’ (AZ)
8. Music (Eric Sermon & Marvin Gaye)
9. Wooden Horse (Craig Mack)
10. (GangStarr)
11. What I’m here For (GangStarr)
12. Make ‘em Pay (GangStarr f/ Krumb Snatcher)
13. M.A.F.I.A. Land (Lil Kim)
14. Bittersweet Symphony (The Verne)
15. Someday (Sugar Ray)
16. Make an ode to the Broken Hearted (Sugar Ray)
17. Play Dead (Bjork)
18. Take on Me (A-ha)


I first got into Nelly Furtado, dabbed in some Sugar Ray, GangStarr was slamming at the time, you get the picture.

Going through the CD's I remember the exact moments that changed my life. Tracking down MOBY's music after looking for the song at the end of "HEAT", Obtaining Bjork's entire library just in time for "Dancer in the Dark"'s release, then going deeper, listening to the likes of Orbital, Underworld, Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers...

I have over 300 songs on a 2GB chip and I'm only HALFway done and plenty of space...

I am restraining myself to listen to the damn thing during the day at work, but I waiting till it's completion...it's going to be awesome!

In other news, the online dating scene has some activity...once again from a bit of a far range...

I've made friends via AdultFriendFinder and WildMatch in Baltimore, up in Westchester at Dobbs Ferry and down in PA at Willow Grove.

Willow Grove seems the be the most serious prospect so far...to the point I'm almost considering a trip for the 4th of July...MAYBE!

With my Schedule I have a 3-day mini-vacation in the works (The 4th lands on a Wednesday and I have Mondays and Tuesdays off!), MOM is trying make plans to go to dayton but she doesn't want to do an 18 hour bus ride nor fly...

The only nearby Amtrak station is in Hamilton County in Cincinnati and it only arrives in the wee hours of the morning!

Aside from seeing that friend in Willow Grove, I might wanna try to see JOE in Jacksonville...I miss the damn knucklehead.

So, that's it for now...I would think of some other stuff to do for this blog, but don't know if it would be worth the effort...

I'll just keep hanging in there!

Peace!

I got a house, but I need new furniture,
Why spend mine when I could spend yours?

Damn, that Rihanna is crazy. I can't get her album outta my head. I may actually have to BUY an original copy jus to show my appreciation and give my support.

Other than music and reading, life's been kinda boring as of late.

I'm trying to see what the hell I can do on a monday or tuesday now that I have them off...

My loneliness has gotten the best of me, yet again.

I rejoined AdultFriendFinder for 6 months

I've Relapsed.

And to top it off, I also joined this Casual Sex site called Fuckmeandleave.com

Nice, right?

I turn on all my IM's DESPERATE for some inane conversation...

IRENE'S Birthday is coming up soon.

I should really pick up my cell and just call her sometime...

I'm just goin' nuts...

I'm planning a BIG project for a SD Memory Card with all my Mix CD's from the past, it's going to be insane!!! 8 years of music all on 1 chip!

I might see "Rise of the Silver Surfer" if there's a 12:30 or 12:45 show after work in Times Square tomorrow night...

*sigh*

I dunno, I'm jus falling apart here, to quote Joan Wilder in "Jewel of the Nile"

"But then when the going gets tough, the tough...I don't know what the tough do, I don't know what the pirates do,or what anybody does....*Sobbing*"

I've been at this crappy job 2 weeks, now...been taken various routes home to see which one is the easiest to live through.

Waiting on a deserted train platform with nothin' but the rats to keep you company sucks!

However being surrounded by couples and party animals, drunks, druggies, skateboarders and psychopaths that just like to stare at you...ain't exactly great either.

It's like everywhere I go, everyone's living a fuckin' better life than me...

The Puerto Rican Day parade was today...and I'm right smack in the eye of the storm working east of 5th avenue in the 40's

Luckily, I managed to BARELY get thru the day at work.

I'm moving up in the world, they decided to teach me how to QC (Quality Check) someone else's work...ONLY because the current scanning was up to date (Already they running outta work for me!!!!!)

QC is cool if the person scanned everything good...if there any screw ups, the QC'er's gotta fix 'em. IT IS SO Boring, thou...staring at the screen...I was fighting the urge to slip into a coma

and I've been doing good recently in the sleeping department...

No Robert Goulet coming around messing my computer here!

Today was different, I almost felt like saying "If there no scanning work, can I just go home?", but I toughed it out.

And on the trip home, I took the cross town bus and got off at 6th Avenue.

I checked my bus schedule and the last 2 buses of the night swing by after midnight to take me home.

The last few days it absolutely FLIES up Riverside and breezes through uptown to the heights in no time!

But it looks like Sunday's the off night. My bus never showed.

I walked up to Times Square at around 12:45, still surprised the area with still bustling with life.

On a weekday, the 1 Train Platform at Times Square was so crowded, you'd think a concert was going to break out...

Tonight was different, it was actually vacant...but eventually people started to come around.

I saw a young couple walking by, the fella was holding a paper with a name drawn in some type of calligraphy...

"Yeah," I thought.

"That's how it starts...Paying some art-school dropout and having her standing still...just so she can say "That doesn't look like ME!", that's 10 dollars wasted, the mood has soured and all you can do is sulk at each other while you take her home...

Have fun, Lovers!!!...Nyaaaaa

*sigh*

I hate being alone...

After a long, torturous wait, the 2 train arrived, with MORE people getting off to wait for the 1...Finally the 1 train came and I got on.

It was around 1:30am now, and I was nodding off, I missed my stop and had to get off and wait some more to get back...

I finally get home at 2am more worst than weary, I got 2 days to myself now...I wish I could think of something to do with them...

HOW COOL IS THIS New Google "Street View"!?!!?!?!

I was looking at this week's episode of VH1's "Best Week Ever" and they did a segment on all the uproar over this thing...

I had to see for myself...

and I thought Google Earth was cool...ha ha!

Street View gives you a "view" of the actual "street"!

Not real time, thou (Damn, THAT would be so freaky...Big Brother!!!!), but still, seeing your neighborhood through your computer screen is awesome!!!

Now, maybe people out in the rural areas are complaining about Peeping Toms and catching people in awkward moments...but hey...this is the city...jus TRY to get a camera 6 stories high and get into MY window!

I don't care WHAT they say...this is cool, the pics seem to be taken months ago, so it's no biggie! Just use it as a navigational tool, ya whining babies!

To my readers...Lemme get a glimpse of ya'll hoods, you don't need to give me the exact address, just a street and the zip...

Holla!

How cool is that song?

I remember "Pon de Replay" came out and I was wondering "Who is this chick?", then the second album dropped and "S.O.S." was playing in all these cheerleader movies, but then she strayed away with that "Unfaithful" piano slow jam...but now Rihanna's back and album 3 sounds real good!

She was even on the Today Show this morning...

Is it me, thou...or does she sound like Nelly Furtado on this song?

Speaking of Nelly, I had to sell my ticket to her concert at MSG thursday...I found someone who worked near the UN and sold it for 60 dollars. (Which came in handy with this itty bitty check!)

I've been finally catching up to my music I've been downloading...

Rihanna, Carl Thomas, Lumidee, and Kimberly Locke.

I've been falling in love with Kimberly watching "Celebrity Fit-Club" on VH1 and I actually have a copy of her 1st album, "One Love", but this 2nd album, "Based on a True Story"...ehhhhh...

If it wasn't for R.Kelly, I think Carl Thomas would be one of the best "Soul Crooners" from Chicago. His latest album, "So Much Better" O.D.'s his "Baby, I'm sorry" flow he's known for. This album almost makes you feel guilty you a man! Either that or it's so damn depressing it makes you wanna slit your wrist! All right, you done her wrong, she won't take you back...MOVE ON!, Geez!

So, the 2 I'm pumping have been Rihanna and Lumidee...lotta people probably forgot Lumi with her "I'll Never Leave (Uh Oh...)" song, but she apparently got skillz, even for rhyming!

She could be the Puerto Rican answer to Lauryn Hill!

There's a track she did with Wyclef sampling the Whistle Song used in "Kill Bill vol. 1"

Rihanna has some good follow-up singles on her album..."Don't stop the Music", "Shut up and Drive", and a duet with Ne-Yo, "I hate that I Love You".

In other news...

Coming home from the clinic yesterday, I noticed an advancement in the neighborhood that I knew MOM was gonna be ecstatic about. So when I got home, I called her job and told her what the doctor told me, that everything was cool, for the moment...

"Child, you'll never guess what popped on 173rd street and St. Nicholas..." I said.

"What?"

"A Popeye's Chicken!, we done finally come home!"

A Popeye's in The Heights was like a Disney Store in Harlem (notice that it ain't there no more, LOL!)

MOM screamed in my ear on the phone! I could already hear her mouth watering...

"I THOUGHT I saw something on that corner!"

"Well, it's open, MOM...thought you would know!" I said, and then I finished the call.

Fast forward to last night...

I'm coming home from work on the bus. I finished "Hundred Dollar Baby", the ending was pretty damn depressing (guess Spenser can't win them all every time...), then I start listening to Carl Thomas again on my MP3 player, THAT didn't help...

at around 12:45am...It started POURING! Raining REAL hard...the raindrops were pelting the roof of the bus! Luckily I had brought my umbrella with me, but it was only a short shower!

I carried this damn thing with me all this time and I was lucky enough to be on the bus when I needed it!

A lotta people got soaked thou, it jus happened outta nowhere!

So, I get home around 1:05am, the pavement's wet, but it stopped raining...

I get home and open up the fridge for a drink, and what did I see inside? A box of leftover chicken from Popeye's!

My God, she didn't waste ANY time! She probably ran over there as soon as she came over the GWB (She works in Fort Lee, takes the bus over and back...)

It is her one weakness, that damn chicken...it would be the equivalent of them opening a Pizza Hut up here for me...

Oooh, jus the thought!

Well, she's never gonna lose any weight now...

Well this week I found out 2 things...

1 This job don't pay much

and

2 I'm okay with the 3rd Ball thing...However...

I got my check Thursday...I got paid for 21 hours (Considering I started on a Wednesday...). For some dumb-ass reason I expected a full 5 day check since I worked Saturday and Sunday (I can thank CHASE for that stupid reasoning...)

This job, at this pay...IS...SO...BENEATH ME!!!

I was working 27 hours at 13 bucks an hour taking home at least 650 every 2 weeks easy with Bank of New York!

Now, I work 40(!), getting paid for 35(!!) at NINE DOLLARS a friggin' hour...

I'll barely have 300 after taxes!!! Probably 280...285!

This is CHUMP CHANGE!

And all I hear in my head now is mom's nagging voice saying "You shoulda stay at CHASE!"

BULLSHIT!, I'm still glad I left those cock-suckers!...working my ass 12 hours a day opening envelopes...my name is NOT KUNTA KINTE!

Still, if I jus stayed with Bank of New York till I got let go, Unemployment would have cut me a better check than this...

MOM said she'd give me a break for my half of the rent for June, but come July, I gotta cough-up 400 again.

God, this sucks.

The agency is just getting their cut...I do my 500 hours, get hired perm, my rate will got up to 10 a hour (with 35 hours, thou, THAT still ain't much...)

I went through all this carp in '98 with DeBari...

Looks like I'm reliving history again.

Back then, though my rate shot up after I got hired. I was so good, I took on a promotion. Referred TREVOR and OMAR when they came back down after graduating upstate...thing went cool, I was at an all-time high.

But like every rollercoster, there was a shift in power, and I fell from grace, then the ride was over...and they closed shop.

Hopefully THAT won't happen again....

This...Really...Sucks.

And that's only HALF the story...

I went back to the men's clinic to see the results of ultrasound-sonogram-thingy and after a LONG wait, the doctor confirmed that it is a syst with "the jewels"

The good news is...it's not benign, cancerous, or obstructing anything. So basically, it's just an extra bump and nothing has to done to it.

The bad news is...they found something else.

A varicose vein.

A varicose vein is usually found in the knees and joints of the leg, the vein gets swollen and restricts the blood flowing in the right direction. When blood flows smoothly your body temp stays at the usual 98.6, but with some backlash, the point of the infraction gets warmer. That's why it feels like their legs are on fire when they get these things.

When a Varicose Vein happens a lil' north, it's called a Varicocele.

Now here's where it gets serious.

"The Boys" dangle down away from the body because they need to be cool. Anybody trying to have a baby these days may know all this crap by heart...with things warmer than usual, certain "Factors" might be affected.

Nothing Performance-wise, thank god...but when it comes to Shooting the Eight Ball in the Side Pocket...it might be a bit more of a trick.

Geez...

This really, really, REALLY, sucks...

Like I even WANTED kids anyway...

This type of thing might be earth-shattering to any other guy, may even make them less of a man...

But I'm not taking it like that...YET.

I'm just glad they don't have to cut me open and take anything out!

THAT was NOT going to happen regardless...Unless it was cancer.

So, after that the doc went on about trying to exercise and, yadda, yadda, yadda...and scheduled ANOTHER follow-up visit 6 months from now...GOD! They jus don't leave you alone!

So there it is in a nutshell...

All this extra crap I know now, THANKS to...ugh! I don't wanna talk about HER.

What I need to do now, is GET LAID...blow this measly little check off for some Ill Na Na...

That'll make me feel better...

Fortunately, I have spying one with my trained eye for some time, now...

With StumbleUpon, you can find the most craziest pictures in the world!

And so I present to you some reasonable gems with the appropriate captions

And if I offend the 4-9 viewers that read this blog, my intention was only to throw some humor in the beginning of yet a long week...


Keeping with the "My Perfect Home" Idea (With the Special Mailbox last week...) I have also found the Light Switch that will decorate my wall...



Now last week, KimmyK posted that her little girl Abbie's doing better in Algebra and is about to become a cheerleader! Moving on to that next step in life that is "Freshman Year", KimmyK decides to buy her a lil something to handle those touchy-feely High School boys...





Who says there's no subliminal messages in the Film Industry these days?!?!?




Calvin and Hobbes Naughty Snow Sculpture # 1



"Dude, Not...Good!"



"They're Coming for ME!!!!"



I don't know WHAT Ladyred was thinking when she first met KimmyK, but it all went downhill from here!



Calvin and Hobbes Naughty Snow Sculpture # 2

And finally, my favorite...



"That's the last time I answer a Personal Ad on Craigslist!!!"



Toodles!

Okay, here we go!

I've been finding so many crazy pics with StumbleUpon, I wanted to do a funny post.

Then, I thought...it MIGHT be too offensive and decided to keep 'em to myself.

ANYhoo...as promised here are the final "Q&A" Answers in the less-than-successful segment that was "Ask Jet"

KimmyK is the Neil Armstrong of my Readers (The First...) and she has the utmost respect and admiration I can ever give a person whom I have yet to meet so far...

Her questions were hard to come by (Like pulling teeth!) but she was able to conjure up a few after her first initial question...

"My best memory of my Grandfather..."

I'm not sure I told this story in a previous post...the one of the Dueling Cameras.

Me and Granddaddy both had cameras (I think it was X-Mas Morning and one was a gift?) and we were facing each other sitting on both ends of a semi-circle couch.

I came up with this crazy idea to see what would happen if 2 cameras (with flashes) pointed at each other took a picture at the same time. (I thought the flashes would cancel each other out making for a big white waste of film...LOL!)

So, I tell him point and lets shoot at the same time...

We center each other for the pic and I say "1, 2,...3...GO!"

Neither of us clicks.

I know him too well, he wanted to see if I would click first...

So I mocking laugh, "Ha, Ha, okay...let's do it for real, okay?"

He says "okay" and I count again...

"1...2...3...GO!"

STILL nothing happens...

Now, we're still pointing the cameras at each other...but I got impatient and lowered mine and said, "Granddaddy, c'mon..."

and *POOF*

He TOOK my picture!

The look of surprise on my face must have been priceless, because I had NEVER in my life ever saw him laugh so HARD!

So, as he guffawed at me, I brought up and centered my camera and took a picture of him!

It was one of the rarest pictures anybody had of the usually stoic and serious man.

I've had the picture blown up since, and it always was a fixture in my old place in the bronx.

Mom has a smaller picture in a frame on our bookcase.

*sigh* I miss him the most every Father's Day...which why I make sure MOM takes us to pay our respects at the cemetery every year.

Okay, let's not get all misty-eyed now, LATER on, KimmyK added a few more questions and here they are...

1. Have you ever been a victim of crime living in NYC?
Yes, I mentioned being Mugged for a Video Game in the past, it's the only crime I've been a victim of, it was very tramatic to me (although the event itself was hardly as bad as it COULD have been...), the sheer thought of you owning something and have it taken away against your will...that feeling...is like a kick to the stomach...it hurts a lot...and it stays with you.

My sister taunted me for weeks after it happen (which made the memory even LESS pleasant) and I have promised myself to NEVER let myself fall victim like that ever again...even if it means losing control...


*Shudders*...Ooooh, getting a bit "Batman-ish" there...Let's move on.


2. What's your favorite snack?

Snack?...hmmm....That's a tough one...See, I eat snacks as meals (which is bad, I know) so I have no idea what I consider a snack between the snacks?...My best guess would be Cheez-It'z...Between the Cheerios, the Peanut Butter Sandwiches and the either Pizza or French Fries for dinner...(That's breakfast, Lunch and Dinner I jus Described...) I get by on Cheez-It's...Just the plain, not the White Cheddar, or Hot & Spicy abominations, or those dumb BIG ones, or even those silly stix...jus plain small Cheese Crackers with the hole in the middle. That's how I snack...

(I'm sure my eating habits are gonna raise some issues and questions....)

3. Racism...you think it's getting better or worse or unchanged? I ask this because my friend experiences stuff all the time here in Ohio. Drives me nuts.

When I think of Racism, I think of Chris Rock's famous question: "Which are the most racist? Black People or White People?"...answer? "Black People...Why?, Because we hate Black People, TOO!"

and it's true.

Everyone on my Mother's side of the family, MOM, Auntee, My Granddaddy, Their Aunts and Uncles...almost everyone I KNOW...as far back as the early 1900's (Can't go further back than that because no one talks!) has rarely (maybe once or twice) had any racial problems with White People, why? Because we're light-skinned. And as we got older, we got lighter! My friends thought I had a white grandfather when he was alive...all the early black & white pictures he's a shade dark, but by the time he was 70, he was REAL light. Granddaddy was able to get a job in the Transit Authority, probably cause of his complexion, he did 30 years as a Track Worker, got rich playing the OTB and took his two daughters from Sugar Hill (A black neighborhood back then...) to where the Jews lived in Washington Heights (Before the dominicans took over...) based on the fairness of his skin. White people knew by our features who we really was...but because it didn't stand out...it never really became an issue.

MOM always told me stories about how she testes fate sometime drinking at the "White" Water Fountain and riding in the front of the bus...to me those stories sound like Fairy Tales because it has taken a lot time believe how far we have come so far...

My mom traveled all around Europe when she was very young (18, 19, 23...) and she would encounter these Creole Speaking Caribbeans or "Blue-Black" Africans and wouldn't even consider her one of their own...and it was sickening!

My Grandmother, SHE was darker, but even she could pass occasionally, it was said that HER mother (My great-grandmother) was an orphan, born in St. Thomas but raised in the south. With St. Thomas, there were possible british settlers there that had their way with the women, so who knows?

It's been a mystery our heritage for so long, with such scandals and skeletons hiding in the closets. I'd like to think I'd figure it out in my lifetime, but I'm afraid as time moves forward, a piece of the past disappears, to be lost forever.

From what I hear, Ohio is a bit of a land mine field (Good places, and bad places). I remember hearing the stories of Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb when he moved out of Chicago to the some small town in Ohio...I even have family that live near Centerville, Montgomery County so I still believe Racism is still out there...

I wouldn't really see it as unchanged...but it's not as worst as it was in the 80's...I only see it thought other people thou.

I remember an incident in kindergarten, where someone stole my winter coat. The teacher tried to call my house and when no one answered, they noticed it was only a few blocks away and just sent me home...thinking only my long sleeves would be enough! As insane as that sounds, It was Albany, it was the 80's and I guess nobody didn't care about 5 year old children back then...

A stranger found me collapsed and frozen nearly to death and took me to the police station. They call my house hours later and mom picked me up and then the police AND mom confronted the school.

The teacher was suspended, she was also BLACK. MOM told me she couldn't believe how someone could treat "one of their own" like that, but someone that teacher thought I was some rich white kid (with an afro?) who could afford to get a lil sniffle and had another coat waiting for him at home. After awhile you jus dismiss those certain types as "Sellouts" or "Uncle Toms" but what happens where common, regular folk expel you, too? When you get to the point where you have to PROVE your Blackness? What is up with that?

Then on the other side, the white people come condescending towards you...

They think "Oh, it's a black person, but he's not THAT black, so I can act comfortable around him..."

and ACT so Comfortable that it becomes UNcomfortable for both of us...

"Will I be accepted dating a WHITE woman?"...NO!

"But am I dark enough to date BLACK woman?"...Also NO!

so where does that leave me?

In the middle...and that's how I feel about Racism.

We're there...but we're not THERE, yet.

Sooner or later, Black People of ALL kinds will be accepted and hopefully all of us then can start getting along with the White People and everyone else...

Because White People are a bit divided too, (Irish, Jews, Anglos, Caucasians, Italians, yadda, yadda, yadda...), but ya'll seem to handle it better than we do.

*Whew* that was a mouthful...now the last question.

4. Stranded on a deserted island..you get to have one person, one book and one food. What goes with you?

Oooh, I love these questions!

Okay, the book would have to be "Q Squared", a Star Trek: Next Generation novel by Peter David that I could enjoy reading over and over...

For the person, it would have to be a woman (for OBVIOUS reasons) but, someone still strong enough to survive and be famous enough to be rescued so, I'll go with Tennis Star Venus Williams...yeah, her sister Serena is more popular, sexier and all that, but she's a Libra jus like me (her b-day is one day before mine!), we'd drive each other crazy. Besides, Venus is the older sister, and I have thing for those beads (Ggggrow!).

Food's no contest, if I'm gonna be anywhere with limited resources I'm gonna need Potatoes...it'll be the only way I'll survive...I might eat fish if I have to, but I'll NEED potatoes, mashed, boiled, don't care, it's gotta be the spud!

Well that's all for today kiddies...in other brief news...

I've been online on my Meebo.com IM all day and only had a light convo with Red...where's everyone else!!!?!?!?

and,

It's been damn near a week and I'm only up to 23% on this damn "Full Scale" Torrent!!! I'm going nuts here!?!?!?!

Peace!

Hey!

Think you can tell the difference between a Fall Out Boy song and a Green Day song?

Think you can tell the difference between Evanescence and My Chemical Romance?

Think that trained ear of yours can tell between Enya and Sarah McLachlan?

Well, mine can't...because all dat White Boy Music sound the same to me...I'm jus' Kiddin'!

Anyhoo...there's this cool site I've StumbleUpon of that tests your music know how!

It's called iLike (sorta like in the Apple "i-Trend...iBook, iPhone, iTV, yadda, yadda, yadda..."

They play a tune, and you have a multiple choice of 4 answers...Answer quick you get more points!...take your time and...ah, you get the picture.

They keep track of your score and they have Ranks...so far imma "Music Junkie"

Check it out, see if you don't get hooked!

"Hey, It's not Casual Friday!....*BOOM*!"


BTW, FIRE5...you gotta see this great clip someone put together of "Halo vs. Metroid" (Master Chief vs. Samus Aran), It's Awesome! I wish I could embed it here...

http://loot-ninja.com/2007/04/18/master-chief-vs-samus/

Second day and I'm ACTUALLY scanning! On my own, HA!

Still, the crap I'm scanning is a headache. Some crap from Phizer about Lipitor. Charts, statistics, advertisements, brochures, form letters, nothing simple. What's worst, I gotta keep everything as is: Re-Staple, re-fold keep everything how the client sent it to us. It's handcuffing me from jus scanning everything quickly, but whatda gonna do?

Once it was prover I can hang on my own, my supervisor called me over...

"Les...is that short for "Lester"? she asked.

"No, ma'am...it's short for "Leslie", it's a family name."

"Well, aren't you a respectful one?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"You don't need to call me "Ma'am...makes me feel old."

"Yes Sir."

She frowned, "You don't need to call me "Sir"...Call me "Nicole"

"That's Informal, If you like, I can call you, Boss."

"I can see I'm gonna work hard to take that stick outta your butt!"

"How 'bout "Doc"?...I'm a real fan of the "Back to the Future" movies.

She shook her head.

"Early looks into your work from yesterday show you know what you're doing...and that's good."

I beamed a light of happiness at the compliment.

"We need people on Thursdays, Fridays and the Weekends", she started.

"And since Monday was a holiday and Tuesday you weren't here, THOSE will be your two days off."

"Shit." I Immediately thought, he Nelly Furtaldo concert at MSG is next Wednesday!...I'll have to sell my ticket!

"Ahem, No problem." I replied aloud.

"Good to have you aboard, you may go back to work."

I nodded, "Sure thing, Chief" and then left before she could dismiss the title.

Working both Saturday and Sunday was a bummer, but having Monday and Tuesday was cool.

I'm still getting the hang of things, I'm so afraid of missing something or doing something wrong, but I'll get there...I'll get there.

I like coming home at night again. I'm reading more on the train.

I picked up, yet another Spencer mystery to stay with his current ones..."Hundred Dollar Baby".

June's here so I'll be doing Laundry like no tomorrow soon (I do it every 3 months, Underwear, socks and Bedsheets, remember?)

In my excitement of working again, I forgot to answer KimmyK's "Ask Jet" questions, this coming Monday on my first day off I'll finally post that.

Expect some new links soon, courtesy of StumbleUpon...

It's making Internet Surfing a blast!

Peace!