Kids Today

I don't pay much attention to the radio these days, and I'm not too hip on what the kids are listening to. Here's a link to a song about rainwear that's pretty popular.

Seriously?

This is British singer Lauren Rose's techno spin of Hava Nagila. This must be from the same people who thought giving Brittany Spear's mother a book deal was a good idea.

Motion Granted

I just learned that my motion for leave to appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, was granted. They only accept about 5% of the cases looking to appeal, and it freaking rules that we won.

The case is Sum v. Tishman Speyers. Sum was a cleaning lady in a union who was sexually harassed at work and ultimately fired, after she complained. We brought the lawsuit in state court, and the company moved to compel arbitration, saying that under the union's collective bargaining agreement ("CBA"), she had waived her right to a jury. The court granted the motion, since the existing state law says these agreements are enforceable.

The problem is that the federal courts, and almost every court in the country, hold that these CBA jury waivers are NOT enforceable. We appealed to the mid-level court, the First Department, asking the court to essentially reverse itself and bring the law of New York State in line with the rest of the country. We lost, in a very short opinion.

Our victory today permits us to appeal to the highest court in the state, to see if we can get New York in line with the rest of the country. I'll keep you posted. This rocks.

What I Learned From Blacking Out At Our Annual Holiday Party

• RULE #1: When, at 12:30 am, after a night of drinking beer, then wine, then gin & tonics, it is NOT a good idea to switch to rum & cokes. 12:30 should be your turn around time.


• Should you fail to adhere to this RULE #1, be prepared to clean up rum & coke colored vomit in the morning.


• Should you delegate cleaning up said vomit to your wife, be prepared to offer her jewelry to compensate her.


• Waking up and not remembering how you got there is as fun as it sounds.


• Don't have a bagel and orange juice after you just threw up. Not a good idea.


• Leave the chip bowl on the coffee table overnight, so that it will be right near the sofa the next morning, just in case. Be prepared to buy Nilda a new chip bowl.


• Its better to throw up ginger ale or Sprite than to throw up nothing at all.


• It might make sense to think that you've got a virus, but its more likely that you're just really hungover, or have alcohol poisoning.
• Lord of the Rings is an amazing trilogy.


• Have the saltines & chicken soup. Nilda is right.


• Yes, you are actually dying.


• Julie is my sister and I love her.


• I am advised that I still can't take down cousin Bill.

Bad Ass Bears

Here's what random youtube browsing found:



Here's a great one of bear fight (wouldn't let me embed). Check out how the one bear craps himself. Fo' real!

What Have I Done This Year

As the New Year approaches, I thought I'd reflect on what's happened this year. So far, I:

• Got married.
• Went to Spain with Nilda.
• Made partner.
• Joined a wine of the month club.
• Worked out regularly and even did pilates in preparation for the wedding.
• Went from the best shape of my life to the worst shape of my life.
• Re-did the bedroom, including painting and getting new furniture.
• Bought a laptop.
• Watched my nieces keep getting bigger.
• Bought Guitar Hero III.
• Had an awesome bachelor party.
• Started a blog.

Overall, a pretty good year.

Cloverfield Monster

Here's the first glimpse of the monster in Cloverfield, the NY monster movie from the guy who made Lost, with the head of the Statue of Liberty getting thrown around.



Still only completing 80% of One on Guitar Hero III. I'll keep you posted.

Here's a link to the full trailer for Cloverfield, totally post-9/11. While we're at it, here's one for the new Batman movie, too.

Excuse Me

Please don't call Steve Martin a "comic genius." Otherwise, we'll have to start calling Huey Lewis a "music legend." Did you see Housesitter?

Guitar Hero Hero

It's amazing how some college kid playing Guitar Hero III with his loser friends watching can totally change my perception of what is possible for mankind.

http://www.break.com/index/1-guy-beats-hardest-guitar-hero-level.html

Ballet Thoughts

Here's some of what I was thinking on Friday night when I took Nilda to the American Ballet Theater at the City Center (the tickets were for her birthday):

1. How do I know its started if there's no talking?
2. I don't get it.
3. Yeah, she's the hottest.
4. If he's not gay, I'll bet he gets laid a lot.
5. Do you think these guys go out dancing at clubs for fun?
6. Someone actually sat down and thought about this?
7. I wonder how much they get paid for this.
8. Oh, its sort of like the circus.
9. Man, there are a lot of old people here.
10. Hey, that's Mo Rocca!
11. What did I miss?
12. I should have brought more candy.
13. I am so playing Guitar Hero III when I get home.
14. Happy birthday, Nilda.

Best Arm Wrestling Movies of All Time

1. Over the Top
1. Over the Top
1. Over the Top

Whats Happening, Doobie?

Check it out 3:30. Oh, Rerun...

Last Night

So I saw the Shins last night at Terminal 5 (used to be Exit). I had not heard them much before that and no one could tell me who they sound like. You'll be pleased to know that I, yes I, have figured out who they sound like. Their a combination of Modest Mouse, the Strokes and Radiohead (they even played a Floyd cover). The crowd was post-college professionals and everyone was looking to see where the weed smell was coming from, so they could find something to help ease their pain from glaucoma.

To the lady on the subway platform this morning

Thank you for blasting "I Will Always Love You" on your earphones so loud that everyone around you could hear it. It was truly a delight to hear the lovely - and inspiring - shrill voice of Whitney Houston at 7:30 in the morning. I look forward to possibly hearing some Celine Dion on the way home.

More On The Road

The legend is that Jack Keroauc wrote "On the Road" in a three-week, benzedrine-filled marathon writing session in 1951, recounting his travels back and forth across the country. The truth is that Keroauc had decided to write "On the Road" years before he even went on the road, and had worked on multiple variations and settings for years before the three week session that produced the scroll, which later became "On the Road," fueled almost entirely by coffee.

While "On the Road" is in many ways a love letter to the mentality of Keroauc’s friend Neal Cassidy, the writing of the book itself is also a tribute to Cassidy’s writing style. Before writing the scroll, Kerouac was fascinated by a letter that Cassidy wrote over a marathon of three days, and emulated that method in writing the scroll. While "On the Road" recounts Keroauc following Cassidy’s travels across the country, it was Kerouac following Cassidy’s writing style that similarly led to "On the Road."

Goodbye Flower

Tail Ripped Off

Here's an amazing video of a comet being hit by a wave from solar eruption, ripping off the tail of the comet. More details on apotd.

Aliens In America

After reading a great review in the NY Times, I made a point of watching "Aliens In America" on CW last night, about a loser in high school whose parents bring in an exchange student from Pakistan to be his friend. What makes the show so interesting and real is the blatant racism coming from the chacters. The mother, having expected a white European, wants to return him, a teacher asks which of the students don't like the "terrorist," and the kids at school call him "Fudge-Pakistan." Almost as good as the Steve Urkell Show.

High School Singers With Too Much Free Time

The Video from the Ipod Commercial

Tell Me You Love Me

Can we all just agree that the character of the husband in couple trying to have a baby is supposed to be Nate from Six Feet Under? He's got the same attitude and the actor even looks like him. Nice going, HBdOuchebag.

Don't Forget To Vote Today

Yes, I know that your opinion doesn't matter and that your voice can't be heard, thats not the point. The point is that the public at least appear to remain engaged in the process, so that the government can retain at least a shred of accountability. It used to be about getting people "our age" to vote, but I grew out of that.

What I Learned From Painting the Bedroom

• Presidente beer is amazing
• Wallpaper is horrible, horrible stuff to remove.
• If I do something wrong, its ultimately Nilda's fault.
• Constantly sliding your bare feet on the floor to paint the floorboards will give you a blister.
• I haven't purchased an actual cd in years.
• Recovering the Satellites is a pretty good Counting Crows album.
• Nilda hates Mates of State, and I still don't know why.
• I still prefer my old crappy cds to radio commercials.
• Lavender is not blue. Or manly.
• Bounty paper towels are definitely the way to go.
• Reaching for the crown molding is much easier than bending for the floorboards.
• I will never paint a room in this apartment again. Ya.

I Ate Bad This Weekend

Friday lunch - Quiznos beef dip
Friday dinner - pizza
Saturday breakfast - eggs, sausage, hash browns
Saturday dinner - Brazilian churascarria
Sunday lunch - Taco Bell
Sunday dinner - chinese food

Yes, the wedding is over.

Resolutions

I'm not allowed to go to www.nintendo8.com today. Its part of the surge to get more work done. At least it helped me break free of my crippling spider solitare addiction.

Intendo

This website lets you play most of the original Nintendo games online. I highly recommend Dr. Mario, 1943 and Tecmo-Bowl.

Open Letter to the Asshole Who Just Called Me at Work

There's no "Nitten" here, douche bag. What kind of a name is "Nitten," anyway? And did you really think that asking for "my girl" would clarify the situtation? Check your fingers when you dial, dickwad.

Love,
Brian

On the Road Again

Its not incorrect to say that Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" in a blistering three weeks in April 1951, on one scroll of paper. Closer to the truth is that Kerouac's scroll turned into "On the Road" after considerable work by editors and Kerouac himself, adding commas and changing names, changing it from a history into literature. In honor of the 50th anniversary of "On the Road," they've finally published the original scroll. Guess what Brian just bought.

Rove Resigning

No one believes that Rove is actually resigning to spend time with his "college age" son, or that the Chief of Staff is making him leave. At first, I thought he was leaving because he knows there's going to be a huge issue of Congress' subpoenaing of him. But his being in office or not would not impact the subpoena, so that can't be it.

Now I think that Rove is leaving because he wants to work on a campaign and needs time to distance himself from the White House. Either he's too young to retire and wants to stay in the game, or he still believes that he can create a Republican party that will rule for 50 years. Either way, we haven't heard the last of Rove.

Why Nilda wants to go to Africa

Keroauc Awareness Month

This is the 50th Anniversary of the release of "On the Road." The NY Times released its review of the book from September 5, 1957, heralding it as "an authentic work of art" and "a major novel." (Anyone who reads the Times knows how much of a compliment that is). It is considered the most famous review in history. "On the Road" should be required reading basd on its cultural significance, but it meant everything to me when I was 20.

Just Say No

I saw this VH1 special about drugs that freaked me out. Worst of all were these pictures showing how meth destroyed their bodies. The most dramatic case was Theresa Baxter, who looked relatively normal in her mug shot from 2002, after an arrest for identify theft and fraud, to her mug shot 2.5 years later, where, at just 42, she lost 40 pounds, lost all but 2 teeth, has terrible wrinkles and a cyst on her cheek. She says she cannot stand to look in the mirror. Meth is bad shit.

Physicists v. Mathematicians

I'm reading this great book the Uncertainty Principle. Physicists and mathematicians have had a rivalry, going as far back as Einsten. Mathematicians say that physicists don't and can't do the hard equations, while phycisists think that mathematicians deal strictly with meaningless theory and don't contribute. There was actually a nerd rumble back when Bohr first proposed his theory of the atom. There were protractors and compasses everywhere. It was awful.

Fun With Nilda

Is the following line from "The Dark Crystal" or "Dune"?

- Damn the spice!
- Skeksies want to make peace Gelfings.
- Essence! Drink her essence!
- And how can this be? For he is the Kwiztaz Haderach!
- Fight, Kyra, fight!
- Usul no longer needs the Weirding Module.

Brian as a Contestant on Top Chef

"It's cornflake chicken, Chef."

Most Important TV Shows

These are just some of the television programs that, to me, changed the medium, altered the way the public perceived television, or set the bar for a specific genre:

Ed Sullivan
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
The Real World
Seinfeld/Friends
MASH
The Sopranos
Diff'rent Strokes
Cheers
Dragnet
Saturday Night Live
Sesame Street
60 Minutes
The Simpsons
Star Trek

Can you tell that I'm into "most important" lists right now?

Business Time

Here's a video of stand up from the guys from Flight of the Conchord. The show's just all right, but the songs are hilarious. Shout out to Andrew for the idea to check them out on youtube. Sorry I had to kick your ass tonight. Do you think I like to hit you?

No People

Here's a really interesting article on what would happen to the Manhattan if all the people suddenly vanished. Without pumps to remove the water, the subways would flood within two days (Manhattan has 13 natural springs and was covered in rivers when initially settled). Within a few decades. The buildings and subways, after being subjected to the freezing and thawing process, would all collapse within a few years, and vegetation would push out all the concrete. Long story short, New York would return to mature forest within 50 years.

Most Important Bands

In no particular order:

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis
3. Madonna
4. The Rolling Stones
5. New Kids On The Block
6. Buddy Holly
7. Run DMC
8. Bob Dylan
9. Nirvana
10. Dr. Dre
11. The Grateful Dead
12. Black Sabbath
13. Lynnrd Skynnrd

Darthmatic Chipmunk!!

Comic Book Movies

According to the NY Times, Marvel comic books is self-producing two movies to be released in summer 2008: Iron Man staring Robert Downey, Jr. & Gwenyth Paltrow and The Incredible Hulk staring Ed Norton & Liv Tyler.

What does all this mean? I have GOT to buy Guitar Hero II.

Triumph at the Tony's

Sopranos Theory

Greg the intern tells me that his "friend" works at HBO and was told that the ending Tony's death and - get this - that Tony died the same way as his father. Janice, in season 2, described her father's death at a restaurant. The family was all sitting the same way as when Johnny Boy Soprano was killed, and Janice walked in to see him killed.

As a faithful Sopranos watcher, I'm not sure I buy this. First of all, wikipidea, the world's most trusted new source, says that Tony's father died of emphasyma, not that he was killed. Also, I have no recollection of Janice describing her father's death, and wouldn't it be odd that Tony would not talk about his father's murder that happened right in front of him, especially since Tony followed in his chosen field?

It doesn't make sense. Still, its a great theory. Thanks, Greg. Thanks.

Sue Your Pants Off

There's a story in today's NYTimes about a judge in DC who is suing his dry cleaners for $67.3 million dollars after they lost a pair of his pants that he gave them, to make the waist bigger. Apparently, he claims that based on their signs saying "same day service" and "satisfation guaranteed," he's entitled to $18,000 per day for each day he's been withheld use of the pants. At trial, he cried as he described when the owners of the laundromat, Asian immigrants who work 70 hours per week, tried to pass off cheaper pants as the missing pair.

Is this country great, or what?

A Good Maxwell House Wife

What Nilda Should Be:



Why does she keep hitting me?

From A Reliable Source

Why was I not informed about Bruce Lee?

Julie's Question

My sister sent me a question asking if it was ok for a company she knows to require its female employees to wear a heel of at least 1-2 inches at trade shows. She says the women are all young and "take care of themselves." She said that the company has on line of clothing and when they display that line, the presenters have to wear spiked high black boots that the company bought them for them at $450 a pop. She asks, "is it against the law to force them to wear specific shoes?"

I responded:

The short answer is, no. An employer is allowed to have a dress code. If the dress code is revealing in nature, then it depends on whether it goes to the core of the employment. For example, Hooters can make its employees wear revealing clothing becuase its part of the job, but Goldman Sacks would not be permitted to require the same uniform.

So, can this guy make his female employees wear high heel shoes? Probably. But it sounds to me like this is just one piece of evidence in a claim against the company for age discrimination. If an employer makes employment decisions based not on qualifications but, rather on youth, then that's age discrimination and is against the law. Sure he can have good looking presenters at his show, but he can't make decisions about how a person will perform based on factors that have nothing to do with performance. He certainly would not be allowed to say he wants only white employees, or that an employee could be fired if she becomes pregnant. First, you need to establish that there's been some kind of injury to a particular employee, such as a termination, and then establish that the adverse employment action was taken as a result of discrimination.

***

This was more information then she needed to know. Thanks, Jul!

Good music

Every now and then, there's one album that I can't get enough of, and that I can't get out of my head. I then become engrossed with the band and can't stop listening to them. Until, of course, I get bored of them. Its a cyclical thing. Here's a few bands that are worth checking out:

Mates of State: I first saw this husband/wife duo when they opened for Cake years ago. The wife, who was pregnant with their first child at the time, plays keyboards while he plays drums. They sing nonsensical but insightful lyrics in sweeping melodies that make you forget there's no bass or guitar. They're spectacular and I highly recommend them. Check out their albums in this order: Team Boo, Our Constant Concern, My Solo Project, Bring It Back.

Matt Pond PA: This is a full on band from Long Island that has great, strong chord structures and a well-utilized violin. I had heard of them because they're on the same label as Mates of State, but I didn't get into them until Matt gave me Several Arrows Later, a remarkable album.

Phish: Of course, but they are remarkably good. The release of Colorado '88, a tape of a show made long before they were well known or successful, shows how gifted and unique the band really is. They're actual musicians, rather than rock stars, and you have to respect how they made it on their own terms, and ended it on their own terms, as well. When I'm into Phish, I can't listen to anything else, even if I want to. But when I'm sick of them, every song is boring. I'm sick of them right now, but that will change in a few months, I'm sure.

The Reason to Blog

Last night, I told Nilda about my posting on the uncertainty principle. She said to me, "Are all of your posts going to be boring?" Thanks, sweetheart. You're so wonderful.

This got me thinking about the purpose of blog. Some are like online diaries (Jon Berger), some are strictly informative (Andrew), while others go for more of an audience participation angle (Bill). To me, a blog, at best, is a diary of whats interesting to the writer at the moment, and nothing more. But I still can't figure out the reason why anybody would want to keep a blog.

The Uncertainty Principle

Knowledge is finite. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle says, among other things, that by learning about one object, we cloud our knowledge of another. For example, if we want to know the position and momentum of an object, figuring one out will make our ability to determine the other less accurate. (Once I learn how to insert a hyperlink, like Bill and Andrew, I'll do that. Until then, here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle).

The principle also states that by looking an object, we change it. If you want to see where an atom is located, you shine a flashlight on it. But the light will excite the atom and make it move around, so you can't get an accurate reading. (This would also with with a coffee mug, but you'd need a lot of light to make a discernable difference in the coffee mug). Instead of merely saying that all we need are better instruments, the principle stands for the idea that we can never know everything. There is a limit to knowledge.

This idea was controversial when it came out. Einstein, while agreeing to its basic assumptions, did not accept it, famously stating, "I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with the universe." Bohr, a scientist who favored the idea, responded, "Einstein, don't tell God what to do." The principle is now greatly accepted.

How does this scientific principle impact your daily life? It doesn't. How often are you going to need to know exactly where an atom is? But as a theory, as an idea in the evolution of human thought, its groundbreaking. Only by accepting what we cannot know can we truly understand what we can know.

Memorial Day

A great war-related organization is the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org), which focuses on helping disabled veterans in their return to civilian life. More than anything, the influx of these soldiers back into America is going to nbe the most-lasting impact the Iraq War will have.

Alberto Gonzalez

Looking to find a way to explain away the Democratic victory in 2006, Karl Rove wanted to claim that "voter fraud" was an issue. To fabricate such a claim, Rove wanted the Justice Department to prosecute various Democrats. When certain prosecutors refused to bring bogus prosecutions, the White House fired them. This broke the cardinal rule against politicizing thje justice department and, thankfully, Congress and the press haven't let it go. Gonzalez is now taking the fall for it, but like every decision with this administration, this issue stems from Rove.

I couldn't sleep and I'm watching Bill Mahr. Who let Ben Affleck speak?

Stealing from Andrew

And yes, I know this is the same format Andrew uses for his blog, but its the best one and he's got the same cufflinks I got so he can suck it.

First entry

I don't understand why anybody would want to write a blog. Doesn't make any sense and reminds me too much of Doogie Howser. (Pause as I sit back and think, followed by a slight chuckle). I have to get back to work, these motions are killing me.