Month: April 2009

The First 100 Days of Swine Flu

Posted by – April 29, 2009

Did I use that title for SEO reasons? Why the hell not. :-)

It seems like I can’t get away from the two topics this blog post title refers to but I have to admit, there is nothing wrong with fodder for more SNL sketches, more South Park episodes, and most importantly, something for me to sarcasticly make light of because it consumes the information/controversial/drama-thirsty American social/pop culture. Anytime news like that rolls like a big boulder over cnn.com, I can’t help but attribute a bunch of over the top humor to it, which most of the time reminds everyone that I’m permanently a 13 year old trapped inside this carb-happy 34 year old body of mine.

0205pigs_narrowweb__300x3650The Swine. The Flu.

On Facebook I recommended…errrr…asked if people thought it was too early to run a t-shirt print simply stating, “I have the Swine Flu AND I love bacon.” 80% of the people liked and/or commented on the post that read it. The other 20% gave me some shit about me making a joke out of something that was killing people. Funny thing is that for every 1 person that dies from Swine Flu, 100+ people die from the ‘regular’ household flu. So WTF? To those gettin’ extra emo about it, I’m on board 100% with your empathy but please remember that when people joke nowadays, in this case about the Swine Flu, no one is laughing at someone else’s misery, we aren’t making light of their mortality and worse, their fate in the fact that they happen to catch it and die from it.

It’s just jokes…at no one’s expense really more at the expense of the news and media for over-inflating it. We are all battling things like this in the world together. I firmly believe that the key to the survival of humanity is their ability to find humor in the catastrophes that surround us. ‘Tis the only way.

Obama’s First 100

Oh let the sweet media frenzy latch onto some other goofball idea to attach the consumer’s hungry emotions to.

44140130_10389138001_0206dv-pol-100-days-sj-plusFirst off, I’d like to say that I’m EXTREMELY pleased with Obama’s efforts, philosophies, cool-headedness and follow through. Given the shit he is expected to ‘fix’, I’d say he’s been pretty productive so far. So I guess this quick point I’m gonna blarf about (barfing/blogging), is more aimed at the ‘marketing’ of the First 100 Days.

I’m just waiting for the commemorative plate (thanks Don), the key chains, the logos, the flamethrower (thanks Fong), the doll, the skateboard, the commemorative First 100 Days jockstrap and tube top set…..you laugh and have a smirk on your face right now but there’s probably some backwoods jackass producing it somewhere.

Please, everyone in the media, I love how America is so celebratory about everything to the point of thinking we need to have an annual national holiday ‘celebrating’ stuff as trivial as the peanut butter sandwich, BUT, stop pushing it like he’s the second coming of Christ, the Alpha and Omega, Allah, Buddha himself. You know why? Because he’s just a dude…….You know what Obama did on his 100th day in office? He worked. Then on 101st day, he skipped the First 100 Days Sears photo shoot and he worked some more…and that’s what he’s going to do every day until he’s not president anymore….head down..working.

Done.

Photos From “The Mint” In San Francisco

Posted by – April 7, 2009

Ok…I’m really freakin’ late in posting these photos…I got to go to a private party for Wolfgang’s Vault in San Francisco, CA. WV is basically this amazing archive of music industry schtuff from vinyl to tapes to old rock posters for old shows dating back decades. Some really amazing stuff….down UNDER the party on the bottom floor is this old set of bank vaults that are really amazing. The hallway just went on for days. A lot of the old doors were still in tact.

It was interesting too because I started walking down the stairs and it just felt ‘heavy’ down there…I think just from all the history and all the human activity that had been down there over the years. There were some really amazing rooms down there. Anyway…enough of my blabbing. I’ll post some photos from the shoot below and then a link to the full set on Flickr….it was a fun place for sure. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Click here to see the full set on Flickr

Sometimes Social Media Feels Like This

Posted by – April 7, 2009

A good friend of mine in Tucson sent me this….it definitely is indicative of what my role at my current company feels like..websites organizing data from other websites that feed more data into other websites that aggregate and store more data…..blah….nutzo…anyway..enjoy below…

bookmark-website-bookmark

Give Obama a Break Already

Posted by – April 4, 2009

obamaThis is has been bothering me for awhile now. Everytime I turn around I hear or see news clips and feedback from the general public (yes even democrats) bitching and whining that they are frustrated with the fact that Obama is not working fast enough. I have a couple things to say about this…

First of all, must I remind those that I speak of, the incredible dinosaur-size pile of shit that he was handed when he was sworn into office?

The Economy: The U.S. economy not only has not been this bad in decades, but worse, is that most of it is the final burst and fallout of decades of corporate corruption that has made itself the backbone of how this country manages it’s own financial culture. I can’t blame the republicans for this either….it transcends political parties whether you want to admit it or not….Obama’s administration not only now has to be bear the burden of his own country’s economy, but that of the world. So give the guy a fucking break. I know hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost, I know families are poor and struggling, lifestyles are changed forever for ‘innocent’ people that never deserved to be shit on by insurance companies and banks. As a single father of 3 sons, I feel it too, not as bad as some, and not as little as others. We are all in that boat together. Remember (I try and remind myself of this as well) that people raise their kids in places in the world where dead bodies are lying around while their children play ball and have fun anyway, where a loaf of bread needs to last a family of 10 an entire week….The rippling effects of what are going on right now are so much bigger than Obama. Consider ourselves lucky that this shit didn’t all fall down after McCain was sworn into office, or more scary – while Bush had another two years as president.

Terrorism: While I do believe that Bush was a complete moron and not fit to run even a doughnut shop, the issues that exist from terrorism also are a reflection of greed and decades of corruption and cultural extremism and dysfunction, not just with the U.S. but with the world and each country’s own radical fundamentalist bullshit artists. We get mad at Obama for stepping up some troops in Pakistan and Afghanistan but at least he’s focusing our soldiers on this issue in a geographical location that matters and is a real source on this issue instead of the mind fuck distraction that even Colin Powell helped to skew with the Iraq war.

Conclusion: The world is a fucked up place that can only be fixed with unity from every person in every country across the globe and an exorbitant amount of patience for the man who has been voted in to help make a positive contribution for humanity. His attitude is on point. He can’t fix the world and surely can’t fix the U.S. over night after decades of unethical infrastructure establishment, but he can get it started and he needs a positive attitude from Democrats and Republicans alike…. Democrats – Quit your bitching and pull up your boot straps and get ready to work harder than you ever have before. Republicans – Stop disagreeing with new ideas because of your religious ideologies and just for the sake of it because you are in a different party. God created humanity so if you believe in God, started thinking in terms of One People and all that He created. Cherish it and do what you can to be a team player so we can all get through this together.

And to the media….if you don’t have something positive to say right now, STFU.

Sorry about all my expletives….my passion ensues.

Thanks.

The Gallows Curse Industry Folk at SXSW 2009

Posted by – April 4, 2009

My boss recently went to check out SXSW 2009 in Austin, TX on business. He got to see so many great bands like The Bronx, The Riverboat Gamblers, Metallica, and more. He got this great clip of the vocalist from The Gallows bitching out people at Emo’s in Austin for being too mellow. I love The Gallows a lot and this clip is classic. He forgot that he’s not playing a real show with hardcore kids in attendance so couldn’t quite put 2 and 2 together to figure out it’s all media, music industry peeps, etc….pissed him off, he let them know….I love it.