Public Displays of Affection

For most of my TV watching years I have been a die hard fan of NBC. I think it started with shows like Mad About You. As lame as it is, I always dreamed that one day I'd be like Paul Buchman living in New York City with my dog, Murray. (If Jake hadn't already been named Jake, guess what I would've picked.) There are so many other classics to enjoy like Friends and Frasier, Scrubs, The Office, ER, 30 Rock, Law & Order, etc. But, despite these great shows NBC has had trouble in recent years. Often I've watched the amazing new programming get ripped from the airwaves without warning, as was the case with the Black Donnelly's. Well, today the GE operated network redeemed themselves by sending me a gift, an offering of peace. In a padded manilla folder crammed in my tiny mailbox I found a collection of Pins. Yes, pins. This is why I love NBC. I received 15 free pins in the mail today, all spoofing political pins, all advertising wonderful NBC shows. With slogans like "Get a clue: Vote SVU" and "Vote SNL" I'm both entertained and reminded to watch TV. Or how about "Baldwin Fay All the Way!" or the simplistic "Conan is our Man!" Even better, I'll be the coolest kid in New York once I attach these creative displays of fandom to my man purse. Awesome. Dorky, but awesome. I love you NBC! "Believe in Steve!"

This is the entire collection that arrived in my mailbox!

High School

So I know I've been wasting my blogs lately, but I thought many of you may enjoy sharing in these memories. I threw together a playlist to put on while at work filled with some of the most memorable music from 1994-1998, otherwise known as high school. If anyone thinks there are more songs that belong on this list, please let me know. I'm sure I've missed many.

"Luke, I am your father..."

This is awesome!!!

http://flickr.com/photos/doctorbeef/sets/72157603716342376/

Who stole my Corolla?!!!

I've seriously have had the worst week ever. Following ASSSCAT, there was construction on the one line, so I didn't make it home until almost 1am, completely blowing my 3am wake up time. Luckily, despite sleeping through my alarm, I woke up on my own in a panick at about 4am. I got dressed quickly and ran out of my apartment and down the block only to find that my car was gone. My car is a piece of shit, so I knew it wasn't stolen, and I had parked legally, so the only explanation was the thousand dollars or so in overdue parking tickets. Damn them. When I looked online I found that my car had been towed only 8 minutes before I had headed outside to find it. Anyhow, I had to find my way all over the Bronx on a wild goose chase trying to find my car and pay my tickets. This morning I finally found my car, but the evil woman at the counter wouldn't accept my debit card because it only had one of my two middle initials. Needless to say, after involving my financial institution, legal council, and the NYC Department of Investigations I finally got my car back this afternoon and am ready to finish my week off right.



Lesson to learn from this story: cars and NYC don't mix.

That's Disgusting

Over the past few months I've really begun to feel completely at home here in New York. I'm building routines and growing accustomed to all of the things that set me off after my initial move here. And, knock on wood, I haven't gotten a parking ticket in months!

You know you're becoming a New Yorker when: My dog and I were heading out for our morning walk and found the elevator filled with the building maintenance and police officers wearing large plastic gas masks. One of the officers began to make small talk, asking me if I knew the gentleman who lived in 6A. (I had heard the rumors already from other neighbors that the guy in 6A was a schizophrenic and a diabetic and had died and started rotting in his apartment, so I wasn't shocked to see all of the commotion in the elevator.) I told the officer that I didn't really know anyone in the building by their apartment number and that I'd have to see him to know for sure. (I wasn't actually asking to see him, but apparently that's how the officer understandably took my statement.) "You wouldn't want to see him." He said firmly. It was momentarily silent until I finally asked the question that had popped into my mind. "How many rooms is 6A?" I quickly realized that is was the most inappropriate question at the moment and proceeded to change the subject. Besides, with plans for school I really can't afford to upgrade right now.

Open Invitation

Initially, after moving to New York, I told my friends I'd only be gone for 2 or 3 years. Unfortunatly, as many of my friends know, I can't make a decision and stick with it to save my life, which is why you rarely find me planning ahead. After just 10 months, I decided one year in NYC was enough and planned my return to Detroit. Then, things began to change again. School in New York became an option, as well as friends and a life here. I soon decided that after my return to Detroit I would move back to New York after a year to begin a new career and finish my degree. Well, yesterday I renewed the lease on my Bronx apartment for one more year, ensuring that I'm not giong anywhere anytime soon, and I'm honestly very happy with my decision. Still, I love and miss everyone back home very much, so in the words of the great Benjamin Franklin, "We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Seriously, Benjamin Franklin said that and honestly he couldn't be more right. So I say come hang with me in New York or surely we will all hang separately... and none of us wants that. Anytime you feel the desire to waste some vaca time on a trip to NYC and have the added bonus of a free place to crash and a kick ass tour guide (that would be me), you're welcome to visit, as long as you don't mind a couch or an airbed for accomodations.

Asscat

Last night, my brother Jeff and I attended a free improv show down at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. This is only the second show I've attended, but from what I understand the usual comedians involved are fresh faces, with an additional guest comedian or two. The guest will be a touring stand up comedian or SNL alumni. Last night had a plethera of guests. Leading the troupe was Amy Poehler of SNL, also a cofounder of the Upright Citizens Brigade. The 'Special Guest' was Doug Benson, who is probably most recognizable for his attempts at humor on VH1s I Love The... series. Also in attendance (in addition to the usual faces) was Jack McBrayer, better known as Kenneth the NBC Page on the best show on TV, 30 Rock. John Lutz of 30 Rock and SNL was also present. Speaking of SNL, they threw in Horatio Sans and Seth Meyers, who were both hysterical. It's been 12 hours and my face still hurts (insert joke here) from laughing so much. Anyhow, good times. If you're ever in town on a Sunday night, I highly recommend you swing by. It's a free show, so show up early to get in line.

Garfield and more....

I've got a new favorite blog I think everyone should check out. It's called 'Garfield minus Garfield' and it features the classic Jim Davis comic strip with one minor adjustment, no Garfield. Strangely enough, when you remove Garfield from the mix, it makes Jon look increasingly insane. This new comic is dark and sometimes earily depressing. The person responsible for this latest adaptation is unnamed, but sums up his (or her) work in the following paragraph: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb." -Awesome. This is why the internet rocks.

While we are discussing Garfield, you might want to tune into youtube.com for a series of great Garfield inspired videos. Every video features a live action version of a Garfield comic strip, followed by a cheesy laugh track and most are followed by a music video of some sort. It's one of the worst, yet funniest things I've seen on the internet to date. You can see all 28 by going to http://youtube.com/user/lasagnacat. If not, at least enjoy the sample below, it's one of my favorites.

Vomit on the 1 train.

We had a great night, jumping from bar to bar throughout the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This visit from Joe was too short. It was a classic 'Joe' night. We've had a lot of memorable nights, with countless stories to go along with them, but this one was up there on the list, next to Eric Thill's graduation party of course, and New Years Eve at my house senior year. It's awesome to know that ten years later we're still able to party like we were in high school. It wasn't the most responsible of nights, which was also good. If I were responsible I would've been at home resting or doing work of some sort, but instead, I was out on the town enjoying a variety of bands, bars, and beers. A three hour trek home is two and a half hours longer than it should be, but there was no way I could've known the difference. Still, this was easily one of my favorite nights in NYC so far.

Days off are fun.

I started the afternoon by heading down to Times Square to see Cloverfield. I intended on seeing this last week, but didn't have the opportunity until today. I loved this movie. Despite the obvious side effects of poor acting and motion sickness, this film blew my mind. Producer J.J. Abrams can't lose. I only hope he doesn't push his charm too far, similar to what writer/director M. Night Shamalan did, over saturating pop culture with his unique style. There is so much more to the story of Cloverfield that J. J. Abrams and his crew intentionally withheld from the audience, like the significant direct connection between the lead character, Rob, and the monster itself. Or the involvemend of the mysterious Tagruato Corp. and it's overly peppy subsidary Slusho Beverages. Anyway, if anyone wants to share theories on Cloverfield, I'm up for it. If you want to explore more Cloverfield conspiracies, here's the official site to explore.
After the movie, as I walked towards the 1 line subway station to head towards home, a guy in a 'worldwide pants' jacket approached me and offered me a seat for a taping of David Letterman. Having nothing else to do but laundry, I chose to accept. It was also a great show. I have no clean underwear, but I think I made the right choice. The experience was interesting. Watching all of that goes into a show like that each night was fascinating. The guests were alright, and I enjoyed the musical performance by the Redwalls. It all ended too quickly however. As quickly as I had been swept in off the street I was being booted back out.
After a quick stop for some New York pizza, I headed back home to relax. More fun days like this and I may have to consider staying longer.

Visit me in New York, or virtual New York at least.

I've got an odd new hobbie...

MTV has launched a new social networking site like myspace or facebook. It's nowhere near as complex or thorough as its competitors, but it has a few small advantages. Most importantly, much of it is intertwined with the virtual, 3D verion of the Manhattan neighborhood known as the Lower East Side. So you create a 3D version of you and go virtual bar hopping, meeting different people from all around the world as you go. The best part is that they've only developed about 3 blocks worth so far, and it happens to be my favorite three blocks. It includes most of my regular bars and venues such as the Cake-Shop, Katz Deli, and Pianos. Unfortunatly, the Motor City Bar is about 1/2 block outside of the developers limit. Hopefully that'll be open to explore soon. Either way, now everyone out there can explore all of the places I'm loving in NYC. It's pretty accurate too, so rest assured that if you learn your way around the virtual Lower East Side, you'll know you're way around when you come to visit. Each venue has it's own video soundtrack programmed to play randomly on the stage in the venue with eventual plans to broadcast live shows. Scary, but kinda cool.

This is a screenshot of my avatar hanging out in front of my favorite spot, the Cakeshop. Be sure to check out the venue in the basement if you get in. The record store in the back is pretty good too, unfortunatly you can't do much with it.

Check it out at www.vles.com. See you there.

This is a fun one...

For those of you who haven't kept up on my blogs, life in New York has been a roller coaster to say the least. Work is crazy one minute and fantastic the next, and my often recurring homesickness doesn't make things much better. Well, this past week has topped it off. After working a 16 hour day last Friday, I made the all too common mistake of leaving my dome light on in my car. Being in New York, I didn't see or use my car again until the following Monday, when of course I found it dead. So, after paying a towing company $40 to shock my mode of transportation to life again, I decided to add some oil. After completing this task I closed my hood, or so I thought, and headed for work. 10 minutes later as I pressed the gas pedal down while cruising on the scenic Sawmill River Parkway my hood made the suprising choice to open, violently. It cracked my windshield pretty badly, broke both side panels on the front end of my car, dented the roof, and the hood itself is wrinkled like a piece of paper. Will my crappy car insurance cover this incident? In the words of many New Yorkers, "Forget about it!" So there goes any fun I was going to have this winter. The good news is that noone was hurt during the incident, which could've been much worse. As it turns out, the latch that hooks onto the hood and holds it in place is in desperate need of some grease. Now I know. Lesson learned. See the pictures below and learn your lesson too.