Friday, March 30, 2012

soooo...

i might play a lot of trivia. back in the day, it was 3-4 times a week. i hosted a trivia up in brooklyn (much love, bar reis!) usually 1-2 times a week down here in the atl. so i've decided to post the questions that our team missed, so you too can enjoy trivia.

last night was our very traditional matador trivia. this is the one that i almost never miss. we had our old team back, me, beasley, the hasher, and dr. p. and here are the questions we missed.


1. Name the Ranch owned by the Cartwright Family in televisions Bonanza.

2. halftime- Name 4 of the last five #1 sitcoms that were also the #1 Show of the entire season.

3. What revolutionary hero was the leader of the Green Mountain Boys?

4. In Morse Code, what consonant is symbolized with a single dash?

5. Final- put the following 1980's events in order from earliest to latest:
-IBM PC is introduced
-PanAm Lockerbie bombing
-PG-13 movie rating is introduced
-Wrestlemania I



i will post the answers in the comments after a few days.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

looks like it'll be fun

chick from parks and rec and dude from the league. i'll give it a go.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

this radicchio is eff-ing ridicul-o

not to get political on ya, but

this was an interesting excerpt from reagan's journal.


"Although at the time I felt I could more effectively get my ideas of a collective philosophy accomplished as a Republican more so than a Democrat, I realize now that the Republican Party was indeed the party of purely individual rights, not the Democrats. When I worked as the president of the Screen Actors Guild I understood the need for people to stick together for the greater good to get their goals accomplished. I admired other great presidents of the past such as Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower who knew that in order for the nation to thrive, we must all thrive. I am also saddened that the Republican party of today thinks I wanted God in the White House and to rule the nation. That is not true at all, after I was nearly assassinated I wanted God more in my own personal life. I acknowledged that I was to be here for a reason and serve him and my nation together, but they always stayed separate in my mind just as in the Constitution. The Republican party today merely just uses God as a means to get votes, and I don’t believe Jesus would want to be used as a marketing tool. I regret my decision to become Republican and if I had to do it all over again I would have remained in the Democratic party and ran on their ticket. They seem to instill the core values I believe in, such as a collective philosophy. I thought for a while the Democrats left me, because we used to agree on so much, it turns out that I did indeed leave them, and I would do anything to take it all back. Now as I sit here as an old man, I can only imagine, “what if…”

a little science-y

a little science-y, but pretty damn awesome. ocean current that look like a van gogh painting.


this thing is real, and i want one

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

i dont cry

i never cry. ever. if you don't cry during this, you absolutely have no heart.

great freestyle

man is smooth like butter

awesome illusion

i didnt want to embed this cause its a little disconcerting. but stare at the center of the image for about 30 seconds then look away.



Wednesday, March 21, 2012

lady gaga acapella version of born this way

the end of an hbo special about lady gaga concert special. shes back in the dressing room with her back up singers. never really thought she had a good voice, cause it's always so over produced. then i saw this little gem. amazing. take a gander.

silly little boy

watch what happens to tiny asian dude who's trying to act all tough to a cop on st. paddy's day in chicago. most of the time i usually think that cops use a little too much violence than necessary, but this is mostly hilarious.



i like the part when the crowd goes nuts when the cops starts giving him the business.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

dammit this movie looks fucking awesome

and im mos def going to see this in imax 3d. believe it, son!

st. paddy's day shenanigans

so on st paddy's day, myself, beasley, and mr fantastic (self proclaimed) went to hottie hawgs bbq celebration.



10am - 5pm. all you can eat bbq and all you can drink for $20. "what the fuck?!" you say. that's right. twenty-fucking-dollars. action jackson bailed last minute, as did several other folks, and they should be sorry for several reasons.

1. $20 all you can eat and drink...this should really be all the needs to be said.

2. its is THE best brisket i've had in atlanta (fox bros, fat matts, community, etc.. can all go fuck themselves, this place is da shit)

3. come on, man! $20 all you can eat and drink?!?!


so we all arrived at a little before 11am. and there was no one there. i thought maybe the place wasn't open. after some cajoling, we went inside. we were indeed the first people there, but that ended up being a good thing. we got to sit down with the owner, kyle, who is ridiculously awesome. he sat with us at the bar, chatted with us, checked up on us throughout the day. one of the best business owners ive ever met.

as fortune would have it, they had a breakfast bar. bacon, 2 different sausages, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, cereal, oatmeal, and a made to order omelet station (thanks randy, you the man!) more stuff that i can't even remember. and all this shit BEFORE the bbq. A-MAH-ZING!

also, they had these little bad boys:


green bloody marys


mr. fantastic and beasley partook, i started my morning off with an irish car bomb. here we are at the bar with the own of the establishment, kyle.


so what came next was a hazy blur of meat, music, beer, and great-fucking-times. 6 hours of it. i would have to say, probably the best st. paddy's day i've ever had.

oh! and my new best buddy, daddy d, came out to play:



here are the rest of my blurry ass pictures:

mr. fantastic enjoying the outdoor music and a tasty adult beverage



our very lovely lady servers, mercy and christy



some good ole fashsioned rock and roll, in it for the chicks (the bass player was killer, even though he was kinda a mouth breather)



bbq brisket slider


they also had a bbq pork slider, brisket shepards pie, and some other stuff that i honestly can't remember. it was ALL fan-fucking-tastic.

see yall here, next year!

Friday, March 16, 2012

fucking amazing video

of the last space shuttle launch, from cameras mounted on board the booster rockets.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

interesting little read about china and teabaggers/libertarians

this is from a forum post at democratic underground:


here's the link CLICK but i copy/pasta the article below.


-------------------------

Ex-Pat living in China

I am writing a series about living in China as I have been here for over four years now. I just bought myself a German Shepherd puppy and am relaxed into a rather nice life here.

But this edition to my exploits is NOT for you anti-American scum at DU (and I add myself to that list). This is for the true blood, patriotic, motherhood and apple pie, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstrap, where's Obama's birth certificate Teabagger and Freeper crowd. . .the ones who love America but hate Americans.

This is for you, my level-headed friends. I found the perfect place for you to live where you can enjoy all your Ayn Randian ideas.

Here is my sales pitch to you:

An Open Letter to the Tea Party and American Conservatives

Imagine, if you will, a country where there is:

No Obamacare
No Obama
The Fair Tax is the law of the land
The Income Tax code is simple and the forms are easy to fill out
The IRS is as toothless as a plate of Jello
There is a complete Laissez Faire free market
No Labor Unions
No Government involvement in Business, Health Care, Labor matters or pretty much anything else except national security.

Do you like what you see? If you do, then maybe you should leave the Socialist USA and head to the Tea Party Heaven – Communist China.

No Obamacare

Yep – no Government mandated or sponsored health insurance here in China. In fact, the health insurance industry itself is pretty useless. In China, when you need health care you go to the hospital. A doctor checks you out, gives you a list of medicines, supplies and procedures you will need and you take that list to the hospital cashier. There you simply hand over cash – to pre-pay for all your medical expense. No such thing as an “assignment of Benefits” here. You pay for it all – up front. You then take the receipt back to the doctor who then actually treats you. If you admitted to the hospital you repeat this process the next day, and every day until you are discharged. If you don’t have the cash, you don’t get health care – it’s that simple. If you die, you die. Your next of kin will have to pay your medical bills if they want your body though.

No Obama

He’s not President here.

The Fair Tax is the law of the land

The Chinese Government’s principal source of revenue is the Value Added Tax – or the “Fair Tax” as it is called in the USA. It is a National Sales Tax that is added to the price of goods as they are manufactured.. You don’t see it, you don’t even see it – it is part of the retail price you pay. After all, we only protest about taxes we see – Income Taxes, Property Taxes, Retail Sales Taxes, Payroll Taxes. If it’s simply a part of the price of what we are buying we don’t see it – but we pay it anyway.

The Income Tax code is simple and the forms are easy to fill out

The Chinese income tax is so simple there ARE no forms to fill out. Wages are paid monthly and taxes are assessed on your monthly wages and are withheld by your employer. No deductions, no credits, no exclusions, no carry-forwards, no recordkeeping. No forms to fill out – ever.

The IRS is as toothless as a plate of Jello

I asked a Chinese CPA about the tax costs of operating a business in China. He asked me how much tax I wanted to pay. I answered “none”. He said “OK, done.” I asked if the government ever audited a company’s books to see if they are paying the correct amount of tax. He asked me “what’s an audit?”

There is a complete Laissez Faire free market

No price controls here. Very few laws regulate business or the market.

No Labor Unions

You read right – in the Worker’s Socialist Paradise there are no labor unions, because Chinese workers never had it so good. They have a minimum wage law, but no Workers Compensation Laws, no Unemployment tax or Unemployment benefits. There is a Social Security tax but (see the toothless IRS section) contributing to it is voluntary and unenforced, so it is seldom done.

No Government involvement in Business, Health Care, Labor matters or pretty much anything else except national security.

These stories you heard about how the Government runs every facet of your life in China are pure fiction. The government has little to do with people’s everyday lives, and there is only interaction with the government during some extraordinary event, like a birth, death, marriage, move from one place to another, or ask for some government benefit like a passport – but that is no different than the USA, isn’t it? As far as labor matters are concerned, once again, the government doesn’t get involved. What you and your employer agree to is fine. If the boss decides not to pay you one month, your options are quit, sue him (and lose your job) or suck it up and hope you get paid next month. No Department of labor to run to like in the USA.

So, my Conservative, Libertarian and Tea Bag friends – the next time you want to complain about the Socialism of the USA just remember – you are free to leave and you will find Communist China much more to your philosophical liking.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

gu's bistro dimsum

myself, beasley, action jackson, teacher mccloud, and the dictator all went to gu's bistro to have the famed dimsum. they do not usually have it there. ONLY if someone makes a reservation for 10 or more, will they start it up. then there's a mad scramble for the rest of the spots inside. action, always on the ball about this stuff, got us in. also, it was more like 13 courses of tapas as opposed to the cart style. but that's neither here nor there. the results!

my first indication of how good this place was going to be...waaaaaaay too many white people.
2.5/5 stars.
a few great items, lots of mediocre ones, and some really bad ones
there are still no good dimsum places in atlanta.
the search continues.

pics of all the food:
beef jerky - not too bad, good way to start off the meal



tofu skin with sesame oil - spicy but light



congi w/ red bean (something else, maybe grapes) - eh



pork fried dumpling - one of the best, great pork flavor and the dumpling was crispy on the outside and warm and doughy on the inside



Sweet rice pudding with bean-nut center - a lot of the dimsum had the same bean-nut paste in it. it was okay, but the rice was ridiculously sticky, which made it hard to eat



dandan noodles - easily my favorite of the meal. homemade thick noodles, which got mixed with this spicy, oily, garlicy stuff at the bottom of the bowl. fan-fucking-tastic



beef eggroll - wrapper was done perfect, insides were good, not great


spicy beef...stuff - it had the consistency of gravy with some beef and other stuff thrown in. as unappetizing as it looked, it totally made up for in flavor.



luke warm ball in sweet rice broth - wow, this was gross. ive never had a testicle in my mouth (as far as you know), but i imagine this is what it would feel like. the thing was, it looked like a cold dish. so when i put the rice thing in my mouth it was slimy and warm and totally unappetizing. ugh. worst of the lot.


beef chow noodles - little spicy and good. good texture as well



hot and sour wonton soup - 2nd best out of them all. noodley-spicy party in my mouth.



sweet flour cake with nuts - not sure the chinese are known for their desserts. this is one of the reasons why.

ugh...

like i need to worry about cheetah robots along with a zombie apocalypse.

Monday, March 5, 2012

atlanta - making white flight look pretty!

here's a link (clicky) to series of really nice-looking maps that datapointed made to visualize the 2000-2010 us census data released this year.

"The bluer an area, the more people it gained. The redder an area, the more it lost. in the series of maps across america you'll see urban centers surrounded by a blossom of red, ringed by a halo of blue. It's the classic "flight to the suburbs" playing out. But one interesting development is the core of cobalt at the heart of these cities where downtown addresses have become in-demand again."

below is atlanta, im happy to state that i'm helping do my part to make itp (inside the perimeter aka the cool kids) blue again.

Friday, March 2, 2012

wow. balls of diamond-plated titanium.

i remember catching this on tv a while back. apparently moonlight buttress is hard with ropes. half way up he's standing on a 6 inch ledge, having an anxiety attack, not knowing if he can make it up OR back down, just being stuck there in the middle. whew.