shhh!

From the "sometimes it's better to let sleeping (in heaven or otherwise) dogs lie" files, ladies and gentleman... Stephon Marbury:

Stephon Marbury Defends Michael Vick, Calls Dogfighting a Sport
August 22, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury defended Michael Vick, calling dogfighting a sport and comparing it to hunting.

Marbury spoke Monday about the federal dogfighting conspiracy charges against Vick while promoting his basketball shoe in Albany, N.Y.

"I think it's tough," Marbury said, according to Albany TV station Capital News 9. "I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It's just behind closed doors."

On Monday, Vick said through a lawyer that he will plead guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. He also faces possible prosecution in Virginia.

"I think it's tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down," Marbury said. "I think he's one of the superb athletes, and he's a good human being. I just think that he fell into a bad situation."

Just a tip to Stephon... if you want to keep peddling your own low-priced kicks (which is actually quite a noble endeavor), maybe it would be a good idea to steer clear of supporting a "sport" that results in electrocuting, beating, and hanging dogs, not to mention watching them tear each other to pieces.

the surest sign that kids are liars

This AP article only proves one thing... today's youth are not at all honest when taking surveys:

Poll: Family ties key to youth happiness

So you're between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs, a little rock 'n' roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys.

Turns out the real answer is quite different. Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey — more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 — conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America's young people.

Next survey -- what types of food do you find most tasty? Celery and carrot sticks, get ready for the shocking responses!

my favorite things...

As seen through the eyes of my camera phone:

My iPod Shuffle



When I first bought this thing back in LA, I thought it would be the perfect thing to use when I went running. Super small and lightweight, with a built in clip so you didn't need to have any pockets to hold it, what more could you ask from a running companion? I forgot one glaring hole in this purchase decision -- I don't like to run. I tried to get into it, but I used the shuffle for running, oh, about zero times. I remember telling a friend of mine it was perhaps one of the dumbest impulse purchases I've ever made in my life.

Well, no longer! Now the iPod Shuffle is my trusty companion nearly every day of my life. It's perfect for drowning out the city traffic noise, and making a mundane subway journey enjoyable. The fact that it can slide into my pocket along with my earbuds means that I can take it literally anywhere... even on a night out on the town.

My Magazines



I subscribe to a lot of magazines. I mean a lot. More than any one person should. This photo only shows a sampling of what I subscribe to. There's about 3 or 4 more not pictured. Again, I'm not kidding. I think magazines appeal to the ADD in me. I can't seem to focus long enough to read an entire book, so magazines provide just the right amount of reading material to hold my withering attention span. I also enjoy reading about a diverse set of random topics, ranging from finance, to pop culture, to start-up businesses, to fitness, to music, to hot actresses named Jessica (Alba or Biel, either will do).

Prior to NYC I'd be lucky to slog through half of my stack per month, but with the time spent on subways and just tooling around the parks to take advantage of being outside, I am actually powering through my magazines with renewed vigor. Yes, I just used the word vigor.

My Gold Adidas Sneaks



These babies are on their last legs and I'm really bummed about it. Purchased from the DSW in Pasadena, these cloth outer soled gold trimmed sneaks have been my constant companion for the past two and a half years. Light enough to stick in a suitcase, comfy enough to walk the streets of NYC, rugged enough to take outdoor hikes in Hawaii, yet stylish enough to get me into the trendiest clubs, I'm going to miss this kicks when I have to part with them. Sigh.

Jaywalking



Oddly, this is one of my favourite things about New York City. I like it so much, that I spelled the word favorite like I was Hugh Grant. A culture built around walking means never having to wait for the light to change. Why let a little thing like a bright red hand stop you when there's no traffic to be seen? Hell, why let a little thing like a bright red hand stop you when there *IS* traffic to be seen? Just take a quick glance, look to see that it's at least clear enough to get you across the street with only a glancing blow from a side mirror, and off you go.

My Blue Threadless T-Shirt with All the Animal Silhouettes On It



There's just something about the sheer simplicity of this shirt that I love. The shirt features the alphabet from A-Z with an animal associated with each letter. My favorite is "N" for norwhal (a whale with a horn, for those who aren't in the know). The bright royal Dodger Blue coloration doesn't hurt. But the Dodgers plummeting out of first and into 4th place in the NL West in the span of two weeks? Yeah, that hurts. Stupid Dodgers.

Vegas, baby... Vegas!



I just happened to have this picture of Vegas on my phone from testing a new feature that I'm building out at work. I also happen to love Vegas. For, oh, about 48 hours max. Any more than that, and Vegas becomes one of my most hated places in the world. If you've never been there, just trust me on this one. Get in. Get out. Don't stay too long. Remember that movie, Gremlins, where those cute little mogwai turn into menacing gremlins if you feed them after midnight? Um, yeah. Same idea.

Hooray for camera phones!

catching z's

I can't sleep. Actually this is untrue. I *could* sleep, but for some reason I seem to find a ton of things to do late into the night that preclude me from doing so. It's like my mind kicks into another gear after midnight and I find a million little things to ponder.

Some might call me a night owl. I think this understates the case, as the night owl by definition is purely nocturnal. No, my job demands that I be dayturnal as well, which basically sucks, since sleep is the sacrificial lamb in this case. And strangely for someone who loves sleep as much as I do, I don't seem to get enough of it.

Perhaps it is because the wise rapper Nas once said, "sleep is the cousin of death." If Nas is correct, gravitating towards things which inevitably lead towards the end of our existence would indeed be a silly choice. However, upon further research, I now believe that sleep is merely the great step-uncle of death. And really, how often do you actually see your great step-uncle? Maybe once ever at a family reunion? And even at that point, he's probably too busy playing mah-jong with all the other old people, and thus would never come close to interacting with you.

So what's my point here? None. Except I think this 3:40am blog post only illustrates one fact. I really need to go to sleep. Like really badly. Good night.

waking up in the city that never sleeps

Ok, I admit. It's been a loooooong time since I've written anything. But I really do have a good excuse this time. I moved clear across the country to New York and have been preoccupied with fixing up and selling my house in Pasadena, quiting my old job, starting a new job in NYC, finding a new apartment, learning how to get around the city, figure out the subway system, poke around for decent spots to eat, and basically meeting a whole new social network. So other than that, I guess I've just been twiddling my thumbs.

What brought me to the east coast, you ask? Well, two main reasons. A great job opportunity at an up and coming mobile services company, as well as the realization that if ever there was a time to try living in NYC, now would be it. If I let one or two more years go by, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't drop everything to make the move. And what's the worst that could happen? Even if I hated it, I could make my way back to California without too much trouble. So I bit the bullet and sold my worldly possessions (well in the process of trying to sell them, anyway) and headed East.

I remember when I started telling people I was moving out here. The common response was, "what, New York? You? Seriously?" And while I'd like to call my friends jerks for being skeptical, I really can't blame them. Why would a guy who hated walking, isn't fond of crowds, loves the beach, and has a bitter fear of cold winter days, choose NYC as a target destination? On paper, this made about as much sense as creating a reality show around the former lead singer of Poison. But if Bret Michaels can pose as the rock and roll version of the Bachelor, surely I could adjust to life in the Big Apple.

And you know what? NYC has been a blast. I've met a lot of new people, gotten to experience a whole new way of life, and overall am very happy I made the move. Keep in mind, the muggy summer heat hasn't really decended upon me yet. And I have yet to make it through a winter. So let's not be too hasty and call it a fairy tale ending. For now, I'm just glad to report that I'm a New Yorker, and so far, I'm loving it.

Take that, skeptical friends!

poor miss usa

In last night's Miss Universe pageant, our very own Miss USA, Rachel Smith, had a night to remember. Oh, it's not like she won or anything. She came in 4th runner up, which in itself is really not all that memorable.

But she did fall on her ass in front of the world on live TV, so that was notable. And she was constantly booed throughout the night by the Mexico City crowd, who reports say were voicing their opposition to illegal imigration laws in the US (although I like to think they booed her because she would not shut up about her time in the Oprah leadership camp). So all in all, despite losing, Rachel Smith will be talked about and remembered. At least until tomorrow, at which point we'll immediately forget her.

odd video of the day

Wow. Japanese cartoon land is a wonderous place. I mean any place where confetti rains on you every time you go number two must be pretty awesome, right?



If anyone actually speaks Japanese, can you confirm that the subtitle translations are accurate?

when you need to see baby animals and hot babes

I have a module that was defaulted on the new My Yahoo! homepage I set up that shows me the most emailed photos of the day. And the thing I've noticed over time is that there are only two types of photos that ever appear in here. Cute animals and hot babes. Nothing in between.

I wonder which ones are most emailed by women and which ones are most emailed by men. Hmmm...

See for yourself:
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/gallery/1756

an interesting ad for wendy's

Hey boys and girls, it's David Hasselhoff enjoying a Wendy's hamburger. Looks fun, where can I get one?

(not so) shocking news of the day...

Today's (not so) shocking news item comes from the Christian Science Monitor:

Key US Army Ranks Begin To Thin
By Gordon Lubold, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Thousands more mid-level enlisted soldiers are leaving the Army than in each of the past two years, forcing the service to increase its use of pay-to-stay programs and find other ways to keep GIs in the fold.

This truly is (not so) shocking, isn't it? People leaving the Army in droves? Any it's really hard to incent them to stay?

What reason could they have for leaving? I mean, it's not like we're entrenched in a meaningless war over questionable motives, leaving the country we invaded even more divided and unstable than when we arrived, with the President refusing to create an exit plan simply out of ego and hubris, right? What's that? We ARE entrenched in that exact scenario?

Wow. What a baffling problem for the Army. I really can't think of any reason why they can't get soldiers to stick around. Not a one...