1942-2007...

Um, what's one step up from rated XXX?

Yesterday I watched a good movie called "Short Bus". It's a kind of "dated" "hip&cool" film that is about a sex club and a group of "hip&cool" New Yorker regulars of said club who experience self-actualization, self loathing, self doubt, and self-neglect through SEX-and sex only. Nothing is even remotely close to love that ANY of these characters are feeling.The film almost stresses the point that there is NOooo lovemaking going on. Period.
I quite enjoyed the film, because the actors convinced me that they, and their situations/dilemmas were "real".
Now, this is in no way a recommendation to run right out there and rent this movie. It's not for everyone.
You have to be in a seriously liberal and open minded place to view it. If you ARE in that place, then you will witness a film with-
Great Dialogue

Great Actors

Good Story

EXPLICIT SEX
(but you become more aware of why its necessary as the film progresses, and you learn how each act mirrors each character's desperation)

EXPLICIT SEX
(ALL IMAGINABLE COMBINATIONS left me pretty uncomfortable, which I'm positive was director John Cameron Mitchell's intent- but I understand that those scenes were integral to the story, and how each character views themselves and their lives.)

AND EXPLICIT SEX
(BEWARE, oh faint of heart!)

This film blindsided me. It provoked thoughts, and evoked some feelings and emotions that I didn't like, but that's the beauty of film to me. If a film is acted or directed so well that it can intentionally instill feelings or emotions within you- good or bad, then man, that's a great film to me.
Mission accomplished on the part of the filmmakers.
So, if you can be VERY open minded, (seriously, this movie is VERY VERY EXPLICIT)
give the film a try, and see how it makes you feel at the end.
PEACE.

Crazy karateman resists arrest...

...

Just checkin' in...

Not much time to write today...
It's 10:01, the boy has just been put down for a quick nap, and I still have to get ready to be at work by noon.
First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER DEF JEFF! (We're getting OLD bruh)
On to the post.

All is right with the world.
After a bit of a setback at the salon, we were able to rectify it with a new addition to the team. She is bubbly, committed to professionalism, and pretty computer literate.
Whew!
Big shout out goes to Nicole for helping maintain the salon during this time...

The boy experienced his first Comfest. See this page for an idea of just what comfest is, if you are'nt quite sure. (And if you live under a rock here in columbus) He also got to see the Doo Dah parade. He was mildly impressed by both...
I had a birthday on the second, and I will NOT tell how old I am.
(Let's just say that I am coasting down the hill of my 30's and into the next decade. Sigh...)
HAPPY BELATED FOURTH OF JULY!!!
We did not make the fireworks displays in town this year for fear that the boy would be traumatized by the loud ass bangs and booms...
This is a BIG disappointment to me because I LOVE FIREWORKS.
I DID'NT EVEN HAVE MY "POST CLINTONVILLE FIREWORK DISPLAY FIREWORKS DISPLAY...
Ah well, there's always next year.
I found some cool summertime chillout conducing podcasts...
Check out:
Caribbean Chill Podcast from Paradise
The JuJu Orchestra Podcast
Mashed Potato
and Radio Bamboo...
Burn 'em, and play 'em at your next backyard BBQ.
Well, I gotta iron some clothes, and get the boy ready to take to Grandma's house, so I am signing out...
PEACE.

Sorry... (Again)

Sorry for the bold faced lie.
I apologize to you, oh mighty blog for not scribing words onto your electric pages the night of the 21st as I promised earlier that day.
I still have little time to write, so I'm gonna cheat and post a few pics of the boy.
PEACE till I have time to write again...

If I could just stop the progression of time, I'd be cool...

Geez. It would seem my fingers have forgotten how to punch the keys on this board thus bringing life to all my random thoughts...
Much has occurred since the 5th of june friends.
I celebrated my FIRST Father's day.
The boy is VERY near the crawling stage.
Festival Latino was fun.
There are not enough sands in the hourglass.
My relationship with my "roommate" is developing into something a little more than what it's been these past few months.
I found a boatload of new sites.
Dungen, Interpol, Clientele, and The Bees all have new Cds out, or due to arrive this summer,
and alas, Little Brother's (formerly Stache's) will close it's doors for good in the coming week.
I unfortunately don't have time to scribe right now, but promise to do so this evening upon my return from work.
PEACE till then!

I REALLY Hope I Don't Miss The Boy's First Time Crawling...

I know it's gonna be soon...
There are a couple of smooch pics thrown in for good measure.
PEACE.

The Kid Is A Catholic...

Sunday's baptism went well. A few folks from our families showed, and wished us well. The boy is unflappable. He didn't let out nary a whimper when the cold water was poured on his head. My wife said she'd never seen ANY kids keep from bawling when they got hit with the Holy water.
The boy was COOL though.
Afterward, some folks met back at our house for some grub, and the boy continued to be in his usual relaxed state.
It was a GREAT day, and my reservations about the ceremony were a bit grandiose I must say.
(Even though I DID have to confirm my affiliation to a way of thinking that I do not, and probably will not be affiliated with. Essentially, I had to LIE for the second time in my life to a priest. The first lie was when I made a promise that birth control was not to be an option. But if ya wanna get married in a Catholic Church, you gotta make the promise not to utilize contraception.)
Oh yeah, the Priest made us sing "AMAZING GRACE" .

...

Whatever.
PEACE.

Sarah Silverman Blasts Paris Hilton Live

Classic!
Just what the spoiled brat deserves...
Check out Sarah Silverman's comedy acts NOW!!!
She is EXTREMELY politically incorrect, and funny as HELL.
Do it NOW!

Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go-oooo!!!

When I was but a wee lad I would watch a cartoon which hailed from Japan. It featured a young race car mechanic who, despite his father's initial disapproval became the most Awesomely Awesome race car driver. This show had it all. The kid's younger brother had a pet monkey, his girlfriend was named (get this) Trixie (who could fly a helicopter), a masked arch nemesis named simply Racer X, who turned out to be-
Almost ruined the secret...
And a plethora of desperate race car drivers, thugs, and run of the mill baddies who more often than not met their makers due to horrible racing accidents.
That cartoon was called "Speed Racer", (Mach Go Go Go in Japan) and it is being made into a live action movie. The movie is bound to SUCK, because Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci will head up the cast as Speed and Trixie, while Matthew Fox will play X. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon round up the cast as Speed's dad "Pops", and mother "Mom Racer"
Anyway, the main reason I loved the show so much was because of the Mach 5.
Speed Racer's sweet ass ride.
It is definitely one of my favorite tv/film cars, only to follow Drag-u-la, Grampa's Casket(!?!) Hot Rod from the Munsters, and James Bond's Aston Martin DB5
The car had all sorts of crazy gadgets that would get Speed out of sticky situations. It even had a robot homing pidgeon for God's sake!
They seemed to have followed the specs to the letter from the cartoon Mach 5, and man is that car beautiful.
It's a shame that in order to see it, I'll have to shell out about 10 smackers to see it in the theater. I'ts ALSO a shame that I don't plan to shell out the dough for a film that will only destroy all the fond memories I have of the series.
Ah well, it will eventually make it to the library, and I'll just put the tv on mute, and fast forward thru all the stinky bits.
At least I'll get to see the Real Mach 5 in action.
PEACE.

Objectification Objection

It would seem that somebody in my neighborhood had a big problem with 99.7's billboard. Someone painted "women aren't objects" across the front I guess to protest it's obvious depiction of female breasts as objects. I would also guess that the individual protesting this billboard feels that women as a Whole should be revered, and not just their chests.
Let me just throw something out here.
At what point was the woman objectified?
Was it when the billboard was posted?
Was it when she modeled for the poster?
Or was it when she had her chest surgically swollen?
I mean, what is the purpose of getting a boob job anyway?
There are lots of reasons, but the most popular seems to be to improve, or change one's self or perceived image.
In my book, breast enhancement is the epitome of objectification.
According to our screwed up society, women with bigger breasts are considered sexier. We tend to make up other names to replace SEX OBJECT-like, "Kitten" or "Pot", but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Who cares about the woman's intellectual merits, bring on the big ones.
Who cares what color your eyes are?
You have eyes?
There's even an old joke about the perfect woman being headless.
Before I go further, I COULD be wrong about the whole surgical enhancement thing. The model COULD have naturally bulbous, almost perfectly circular breasts.
Nature COULD have provided the model with TOTALLY unnatural looking knockers.
(Sorry ladies-I just couldn't resist saying "knockers")
Doubtful as it may be, those circumstances COULD be the case.
But, the model placed her breasts on display.
It's gonna be a hard sell convincing me that she had no clue that her image would be used for something other than showing off the "girls".
And that, dear friends is why I agree with the protester in that, women are NOT objects, and shouldn't be considered so (unless it is their desire to be) but I disagree with the context in which the protester protested. I don't feel the woman is being objectified SOLELY by 99.7 f.m. I feel SHE ultimately was instrumental in her objectification BEFORE she ended up on that billboard.
Let me know what you ladies think.
PEACE.

NYC Breakerz Vs Rock Steady Crew (When Hip-Hop was a MOVEMENT)

Brings back memories of high school b-boy competitions at USA skating rink...
Those were the days before Hip-Hop was saturated with (negative) image conscious wanna-be hustlers, gangsters, stick up men, and dealers.
Ah, the golden age of Hip-Hop

PEACE.

Can't Wait To See These Guys!

The debonaire Matt and his beautiful wife Jess will be gracing us with their presence very soon. (FRIDAY)
Huzzah!

Son, You Make The Call...

on Sunday, June 3rd my son is going to be Baptized.
I really don't know what to expect. I have only witnessed what? Two Baptisms. I know there is a "class" that the wife and I have to attend, but I have no clue as to what is to transpire. My wife's uncle is a Catholic Priest, and he will be performing the ritual. He's the same guy that married us, so I guess having a padre around can be quite handy.
I wonder if having a priest in your back pocket grants you a free spot on the Heaven Express?
I sure hope so.
Although I don't believe in all the fantastic miracles contained within the Bible, I do believe that the logical occurrences described actual events.
I guess I consider the Bible a history book.
I don't believe that Christianity is the one true faith, and that all others are doomed to the Pit.
I can't bring myself to believe that Ghandi is in Hell because he was not a Christian.
Bearing that in mind, my dilemma is this.
How valid, or effective can the boy's Baptism be if he is raised to believe/understand that NO individual who lives a respectful and righteous life should suffer simply because they don't adhere to a SPECIFIC group of morals?
The beliefs we plan to instill in the boy will contradict some of the beliefs we will PROMISE the Church that we will instill in him.
Why do the baptism then?
Well, I think that initiating some of the teachings of Chrisianity will help provide the basic understanding of right and wrong, and positivity projection.
I Completely disagree with most of the past and present actions and ideas carried out and/or enforced by organized religious groups, but I realize that religion creates HOPE, and sets standards for acceptable behavior toward our fellow man. A morality reminder nudge if you will.
I don't know.
Lord knows I have a bit of a problem with organized religion, but it's not fair to bombard my kid with my hangups in regard to religion's less desireable aspects.
All we can do is try and provide the boy with enough information so that he can form his own opinions about which (if any) religion/faith is right for him.
PEACE.

C'mon Chris Bradley, Predict Us Some Rain!

So a few days ago, I noticed this billboard about a block away from my house. The lovely wife and I were walking the dogs, and I happened to see a giant pair of...
(insert crude nickname for breasts here)
Now, because falsies don't tend to raise my eyebrows, I noted that for a fake pair they were pretty ok, and that the punchline was pretty funny.
Cool. I was done with it.
But then-
a few days later,
(today)
while looking up funny billboard post sites, I happened upon this billboard that changes due to PRECIPITATION(!)
(Or for you neanderthals that are just reading this post for the boobies- RAIN)
If the billboard in my hood is anything like the ones in germany, I think there are gonna be a lot of people watching the forecast a Hell of a lot more intently.
Including me.
Yeah, yeah ladies.
I know I'm a PIG just like all the rest of the guys...
PEACE.

Just photo of two of my favorite people
(I guess we caught the boy unaware)

Still Here...

Lots of stuff has gone on since my last writing, like:
The lovely wife's first mother's day
My brother came to visit
Ms. Rohr if you're nasty's birthday celebration
FINALLY getting to work in the yard (Photos will be posted as the summer progresses)
The boy laughing uncontrollably when I sing mariachi songs to him
The mother-in-law (cue the thunder, and ominous piano "dun-dun-dunnnnn!") had to have a knee replaced-
man do I feel for her
work is great
and I am in a state of perpetual motion.
As the week progresses, I will scribe about intimacy (not that kind) building excercises, what is to be an ongoing report on the billboards in my neighborhood and all around the city, what it takes to bring the idea of a website into fruition, shaving (or lack thereof), the next recipient of the "Thanks for being so gosh darn groovy" award, and my thoughts on the act of baptizing a kid.

So, stay tuned, I have a lot of crap on my mind, and not a lot of time to say it...

PEACE.

Swimming With The Sharks...

SHAMELESS.
PEACE.

Crazy Whirlwind pt. 2

So,where was I?
Ah yeah, I left you hanging with #'s 5,6,7 & 8 to go.
On to it then.
5. As was alluded to in Crazy Whirlwind pt. 1, the wife and I have devolved into the "roommates" area of our relationship.
We are both guilty of allowing this to happen, and I wont bore you with divulging who is the perpetrator of specific actions which helped contribute to our relatonship becoming what it seems to be today.
We come and go, grunting the most basic greetings to each other.
"Man" and "Dude" are used as terms of endearment.
Kisses abruptly end due to assumptions of other intentions.
And the biggest problem...
WE DON'T TALK TO EACH OTHER.
There are various other factors involved, but the biggest reason for our disruption of wedded bliss is once again-
The T.V.
For me, T.V. has got to be the most addictive of stimuli out there.
On a nightly basis, we come home, eat, (really fast) take care of whatever the sprout needs, and commence to watching television. It's gotten so bad that when we feed the boy on the couch in the t.v. room, (can you believe there's a room dedicated to an appliance?) his eyes avert to the idiot box, and he then becomes distracted. As a result of the distraction, he stops eating.

Is television more important than eating to some?

As I said, there are other factors that can be blamed for our problem, and I have been contemplating various solutions to our problem. After reviewing various strategies I've narrowed the list down to three which will help us become the HOT&HEAVY couple we used to be. Okay, maybe not hot&heavy, but I know for a fact that we were well beyond luke warm.

One of the solutions to our problem may be finding some excercises/games/books that require us to work as a team, and prompts us to rely on one another to find a solution.

Another solution could be for us to GO OUT. We could do dinner, or a movie, or just visiting friends for the evening.

But most importantly, we need to just turn the t.v. OFF! I have condmned the evil powers of television many times before, and will probably do so at least a thousandfold more.
I honestly think that if the t.v. stays off, and we allow ourselves just three t.v. shows a week when in the company of each other, then we'll have more time to do interesting things, and interact with one another.
We succeeded in keeping the television off this evening, and we were able to converse like we actually LIKE each other. (That was sarcasm. We DO like, and even LOVE each other immensely, it's just that we've become too comfortable sitting within the crackly haze of the t.v.
So, I think we're gonna try and keep the tube turned off.
Wish us luck in getting rid of our pesky roommates.

6. I went to the old job last monday, and took the boy with me. It was nice to see the old gang. The receptionist's desk had a new rug beneath it, (the last one was done for a while ago) the floor mural had beenrefreshed, and the break room was painted. Before the entire room was just white. Now there are browns, and rusty orange colors all over the place.
It looked pretty nice.
I was more than pleased to see the Canuck whose blog she and her husband contribute to which you can check out by just clicking Jaqui&Ryan's midwest adventure located in the Links section to the right of this post. I've always considered the Canuck a smart cookie, and I miss conversing with her about books, and movies.
I got to see Minty, who was unfortunately busy with clients, and so I really did'nt get to chew the fat with her. It was really good seeing her though. Oh well, next time dear Minty. Next time.
I got to see Ms. Rohr if you're Nasty, who is doing pretty well. I'm sad to say that we have'nt hung like I thought we would after leaving. She and I have been busy with "life" and time offers us very small windows of opportunity. That sucks, because I LOVE being engulfed within the positive, selfless, nurturing energy that she exudes. Ms. Rohr has the uncanny ability to make those around her so comfortable that any and all defenses are unconciously lowered within the span of moments.
But who I wanted to see most was Wisconsin. I kid you not- even though we grew up separated by several hundreds of miles apart, I would swear that snippets of our lives were one in the same. It seemed we had the same influences, quirky habits, interactions wiith others, musical tastes, dark senses of humor, and heavily protected/guarded feelings and insecurities.
Just speaking with her for moments at a time made me feel a bit less like the odd man out.
Sorry I missed ya' buddy.
We'll see you soon for those pictures of the boy.

7. Look up Vegas Vic's Tiki Lounge for all your surf, exotica, crime, & swinging musical needs. Mmmm. Retro musical goodness.
Also check out Bunch of Betty's podcast/blog. It's a neat blog/podcast that features female musicians of damn near every genre of music. You can also download ALL of the music you hear on her podcast legally, and in most cases, for free! Check it out.

8. This Cinco De Mayo found us drinking margaritas and watching the Mexican/Latin television show SABADO GIGANTE! with Jeffro and Rachel Jam. Boy oh boy I love me some Sabado. It has it all. Over the top mexican progamming, clothing which sometimes leaves little to the imagination, cheesy leading men, Silly sketch comedy, artificially bouyant blonde wanna be's, and women who look like women are SUPPOSED to look. (No bony chicks)
The show is sort of a rip off of some popular shows on t.v., like The Price is Right, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, and Saturday Night Live, with a little Benny Hill thrown in for good measure.
GOD I love that show, and I try to make time for it every saturday. It's on the Univision channel, and even though I can only make out a few words/expressions, I can't stop watching the show.
Fortunately, our guests seemed to enjoy the show as much as we did.
Well, I have run out of steam and things to say, and the boy is ready for his midnight snack, so I'm gonna sign out.
PEACE.

Choo-chooo! Chuckle-chuckle-chuckle-chuckle. Choo-choooo!

I just heard the 10:00 train go past, (We live about a mile away from the rail) and the conductor always has to blow a warning when approaching the spot where cars can cross the tracks. So he blew his horn. Normally, this is nothing too exciting- there are more times that I Don't notice it's lazy, drawn out blare than I do. But tonight, the horn got my attention.
During the train's approach, the sly conductor honked "shave and a haircut".
Pretty funny.
Ahhh, it's the small things that make life so grand.
Wonder who else 'round here heard it and chuckled like I did?
PEACE.