Arthur, Willie and Dudley

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been immersed in Colorwar at camp. Ketchup vs. Mustard.

Tomorrow's the final day and despite a lead of 110+ point, we ketchupians can't get complacent! I hope to give the full rundown later in the week.

I received this site earlier in the week. Yeah, it's a little morbid but that's right up Pete's alley.

Who knew Dudley Moore was buried in Scotch Plains? I realized he was living in Plainfield...and yeah, who in their right mind would want to be buried in Plainfield, right?

I miss Arthur Bach. "You're my best friend, Hobson!"

And if you like Will Ferrell, here's a perfect site for you.

Proud to be from Joisey

As a life-long Jerseyite....or Jerseyan....or Jerseyer....or whatever you call it, I have come to the realization that there are some things every native of the Garden State should do in their lifetime...

1) Visit Six Flags and ride a roller coaster. Yeah, it's not Disney World but it's the closest thing we've got to it. Plus, we all should attend once, because we don't need Bugs Bunny developing an inferiority complex. Look what happened to Elmer Fudd, people.

2) Attend a Bruce Springsteen concert. I'm not a fan of Mr. Springteen (especially when I found out he wasn't Jewish and I had to start playing up the "Hey, Ed Koch is Jewish guys! And he's cool, right?" and don't particularlly like most of his music (yes, I know.....rip me), but when a ticket was made available to me by Reako, I couldn't pass it up. The show was entertaining, and I don't remember yawning once. I did see Paul O'Neill (uniform number 21) two sections over from me dancing to his music. And no, he wasn't practicing his batting swing in the audience.

3) Use the restrooms/Drop a Batch at each campus at Rutgers, the State University of Nw Jersey. (No wait....that's on my Things Rutgers Students Should Do During Their Lifetime List. Nevermind.)

4) Walk any boardwalk at the Jersey Shore late at night. There are few things more comical than the disasters that come out late at night down the shore. For optimum disaster, go to the Seaside boardwalk to see Mustangs and various other sports automobiles complete with black lights underneath and sound systems so loud that even people in China go deaf. Wondering what a "wifebeater" is? Head to Temptations. Whoops! Wrong link. Try this one.

5) Bet on a horserace at the Meadowlands. Extra points for doing it while donning a varsity jacket. Seems like that or chewing on a HUGE cigar are prerequisites for making a wager at that place anyway.

6) Order breakfast at midnight at a diner. I still can't believe diners haven't turned into a nation-wide phenomenon. There are Greeks in Arizona, right?

7) Travel to all parts of the Parkway and Turnpike. It's the only way to see the state.

Which brings me to the final key thing on the list.

8) Drop $100 at a casino in AC. It's taken me 30 mins to accomplish this feat. There are some times when I stare for like 5 mins. at the elaborate lighting for some of the casinos and think to myself, "I paid for all that."

And last but not least...

Attend a Bon Jovi concert.

Well, I got that last one out of the way Saturday evening. My boss took about 19 of us to his box at Giants Stadium for the show. While I am not a huge fan of the fifth favorite band on Mr. Sandman's list, they did put on a good show.

At first, I wasn't exactly elated when Jonathan Bon Jovi told the crowd that he planned on rockin' until Sunday morning, but the guy was very energetic throughout. Unlike the Counting Crows concert which I attended earlier in the week where Adam Duritz turned many of his harder tunes into ballads (stench), Bon Jovi pretty much stuck to his tunes. Even in the disgustingly humid weather, the guys hung out there for 3 1/2 hours. I was quite impressed.

Overall, a good time was had by all.

Filth Flarn Filth!

I'll never forget the day I learned about the world of Kevin Smith.

It was a rainy day in Silvers Apartments at Rutgers the State University of New Jersey. And since we were stranded on Busch, which was pretty much the Rutgers administration's way of throwing its students on Alcatraz but with more of an Asian touch, we could have done two things. Study (HA!) or watch movies -- VHS movies (yes, I'm THAT old).

My three roommates had just returned from the video store with the movie "Clerks" in hand. I was a bit confused and not exactly fired up about seeing this movie. After all, they had just rented a movie just a few weeks prior called Angus because our friend Dave read that the movie was about kids and football. Who cares that the movie had NO other redeeming qualities....I remember it had a picture of a fat kid who looked as though he's trying to choose what part of a Shoney's deluxe buffet to partake in first.

We ALL loved Clerks. It was shocking and had many of NJ references. Plus, we could relate to the absurity in the movie. We also enjoyed the fact that "Jay" could have been the twin brother of our friend Roger. The two enjoyed a good smoke, had deep, scratchy voices and pretty much would mount anything that moved. Unlike Jay, Roger has changed since then.

He doesn't smoke as much anymore.

When I heard Clerks 2 was coming out, I was VERY excited. I wasn't really thrilled with the trailer -- a topic that Joe Pendleton has discussed in his blog dated July 11th. The Sandman and I ventured to a local multiplex to see it last evening. The movie was disgusting, completely inappropriate, and highly obscene.

I LOVED it! It was much better than the first and while he did swing and miss with some of his jokes, the ones that were successful were hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a movie theater in a long time.

I won't give anything away, but make sure you stay past ALL the the credits to see the bizarre thing that Mr. Smith does for his fans. Those on My Space will especially enjoy it. Especially, the porch monkeys. The WHITE porch monkeys.

In other news, the absence of Sam in softball this morning put me in a position to pick teams. It was my chance to be Joe Torre. Unfortunately, I looked more like Dallas Green. I threw 3 scoreless innings on the mound and appeared to be destined for the Sunday Morning Jew Softball Hall of Fame....but a few fat tosses to the middle of the order changed all of that. After 8 runs in 7 innings, I now have a career ERA of 10.29. We lost the game 12-11.

Oh well. At least I can still pitch for the Royals.

The true test comes this week with the first ever camp staff softball game. After 3 years of practice, I finally have a chance to show my talents. Too bad much of these "talents" involve me cracking jokes much of the game. Because popping up to the catcher isn't exactly the talent that is going to get me lifted on the shoulders of my teammates this Thursday.

Counting Crows on Wednesday....I'll try to give a full report later in the week.

(I apologize for the lack of images.....seems like blogger.com isn't accepting them now)

Short post today because I find myself required to watch today's World Cup game between Italy and France. It's the most watched event in the world (unless we're counting Baywatch).

I am pulling for Italy. Not because enjoy the cavatelli and broccoli from the local Gerraro's
pizza shop" or that I am Italian (I have about as much Italian blood in me as the owner of the local Fuk Yu Suk Me Chinese Food restaurant), but it's more that I am anti-French. There's nothing worse than giving stuck up people something more to brag about.

We'll say Italy 2, France 0.

Italy....all the way baby! (That was for Mr. Henn)

I did get sent this link yesterday. I don't know if I am more fired up that they have Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy", Rick James busting out with "Superfreak" or the kick ass pic of Mr. T at the top. Who knew Carl Lewis had a music video?

A really BAD one at that.

Since Mr. T is smiling, I can tell this wasn't taken after B.A. Baracus was drugged prior to getting on a plane.

Dave Chappelle returns tonight Bitches!

When I heard the state was having a shutdown, I figured, "Who cares?"

This crap isn't really going to effect me anyway, right? After all, the people in Trenton could use a few days off from corrupting us citizens, stealing funds from the state treasury, and having homosexual, extramarital affairs.

Then, it hit me. I walked into my local convenience store to cash in 4 winning scratch off tickets. After waiting in line for 10 minutes behind two men who were conversing in some Hindu dialect, I handed my tickets to the man behind the counter.

"You no can get money, " he told me. "Only buy ticket."

According to my understanding, that means that I wasn't able to collect my winnings....however, he was more than eager to sell me more tickets.

I was pretty upset that I wouldn't be strolling out the door with my $8 in winnings...especially since I had already purchased a sandwich for $8 next door and didn't have my wallet on me. Once again, politicans are screwing the country.

Such is my luck.

I did see the National Education Association is working to reform No Child Left Behind (NCLB). To many of you, that doesn't seem like much or the reform is a cop out by the country's teachers, who are too lazy to instruct the youth of America. For those who aren't aware what NCLB means in a nutshell it's a piece of legislation that links test results to federal aid. It's supposed to hold schools accountable for their students' performance through Adequate Yearly Progress (a series of steps that show the school is making strides toward being proficient on state assessments).

On paper, it makes sense. In the real world, it's not the case. The standards apply to ALL students, including special education students -- some who can't even read effectively or are 3-4 grade levels behind their peers. Basically, some students don't move as rapidly as other in the curriculum and the assessment is way too advanced for them. Plus, the law requires special education teachers are required to be "highly qualified" by taking a standardized test in their respective subjects. It is possible for a special education teacher to teach 5-6 different subjects in one school day. Most people are strong in 1-2 subjects but having mastery across the board at a secondary or high school level is a challenge.

The problems don't ends there....the federal government hasn't fully funded the program and parental support for many students is severely lacking. To add to the confusion, the tests that Texas gives might be easier than the ones in Northeastern states. Not everyone has the same curriculum. As someone who was a lifelong Republican and praised the work of one Alex P. Keaton, this piece of legislation has made me consider a switch.

Just another reason why Dubya is screwing up the country. Which brings me to this long but humorous link. Enjoy the First Lady refusing to shake Mr. Colbert's hand at the end.

If you get a chance, check out Mr. Sandman's list of the top 108 bands of all time. He's linked on the side of this page. While he has several noteworthy omissions, it's still an amazing piece of work.

I'll be posting my top 108 batch droppings of all time later in the month. Yes, the time when I did the deed while the plumber was working in my basement will make the cut. I never heard a man shout out so many expletives in my life.

Happy 4th to all!