I'm Sick of Apples

I'm sick of apples. I really am.

So, here's a lil' 101 in 1001 update:

5 & 13. I've eaten an apple and have done 100 push-ups a day since 12.03.2008.
16. I've gone a week straight without. This shouldn't be this this hard.
32. I donated money to Eileen Stein Jacoby Fund.
33. I sent a letter to Karen Opitz.
41. I've been slacking with freerice.com ever since being on break from work. What does that say about what I do at work? To date I've donated 11,000 grains of rice.
73. 2 weeks = 2 songs. Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" and the David Byrne & Brian Eno collaboration "Strange Overtones". Both very nice.

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

78. 2 weeks and 2 more books. First was "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk. He's always weird and this didn't disappoint. Second was a classic, "Catcher In the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. I was intrigued because of the whole John Lennon thing, and I'll admit that I was scared I'd read it and kill someone, but so far that hasn't happened yet. I think I liked it. I wasn't crazy about it, but it was definitely worth my time. Plus, I like when a book's cover makes sense when you're done with it.

I also can't help but share this video. Look past the immature title and give it a chance.


Happy Holidays!

Bye Bye 25

if nothing else, this 101 in 1001 gives me something to do, or at least think about, when i have nothing to do and not much to think about. 1 week has gone by and some progress has been made:

5. & 13. i've done 100 push-ups and eaten an apple a day for a week straight
16. is really hard. i've failed multiple times.
33. sent emails to amy mchugh, sheryl burger, and tom ellis.
41. i've donated 7,000 grains of rice on freerice.com
73. song of the week: parts & labor - "nowheres nigh"
78. read "love is a mixtape" by rob sheffield. i'd recommend it if you really like music. if not, it could become really annoying.

a friend of mine from college, brandon richter, has posted his 101 in 1001. it's a movement!

Dog Eat Dog World

on saturday morning sadie got in a fight with another dog in our apartment complex. this other dog was huge; definitely had some pit bull in him. what happened was barb was leaving to go to yoga and this other dog was in the court yard running around while his owner sat outside their door. the dog saw barb and galloped over in a playful way, and sadie thought he was going to attack barb, so sadie shot out the door and they met head on. i didn't see this, but this is how it was told to me. i was on the computer when i heard barb screaming and dogs growling and barking. everything from there is a blur. i remember running outside and jumping on the other dog and trying to get sadie out of his mouth. i know the other dog was under me between my leg and my hands were around his neck/mouth/head. i just remember barb and the other dog's owner screaming. somehow, and i really don't know how, i let the dog go and his owner was trying to gain control of him and i had sadie in my arms and rushed inside and shut the door to make sure she was ok. the smell was awful. it smelled like dog shit was everywhere. i guess she released her anal sacks (that's a real thing). she was just howling and i was trying to calm her down. eventually she was quiet and i checked for blood, but i couldn't find any; just slobber. i brought her in our room and she went right under the bed and wouldn't come out. eventually barb pulled her out and we took her to the emergency vet. long story short, sadie is ok. she was in shock all day, but seems to have gotten her personality back today. apparently, she inflicted the most damage as the other dog was bleeding from his mouth; she either tore into his gums or bit his tongue. as the saying goes: "it's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog." my doxie is bad ass.

101 in 1001

while surfing the internet one day i found myself on facebook. somehow, i ended up looking at the page of a kid who lived down the hall from me freshman year, but who i haven't spoken with in quite some time. i noticed he had a link to this blog/project he was doing so i checked it out. i was skeptical at first, but after reading about it i thought it to be a rather neat idea. his project, which you can read about here, has existed for a few year's now. it's called "101 in 1,001", or some variation of that. essentially, you compile a list of 101 things you want to accomplish, see, do, etc. over the course of the next 1,001 days (approximately 2.75 years). being a list-lover myself, i decided to create my own version.

i guess i don't expect a great number of you to partake in this, but it'd be cool to be doing this alongside a few friends. tell me if you decide to have a go at it. i can see it being a great motivational tool to finally accomplish some of the little things you keep putting off or the bigger goals you're too nervous to attempt.

My List:

Health & Fitness
1. Attend a yoga class with Barb
2. Complete 3 Marathons (0/3)
3. Complete 1 Triathlon
4. Feel comfortable enough to run with my shirt off at the beach
5. 100 push-ups a day for a month
6. Take a 1-hour tennis lesson
7. Go to the dentist
8. Get under 185 lbs.
9. Remain under 185 lbs.

Appearance
10. Get contacts
11. Get a 2nd tattoo
12. Get an expensive haircut

Personal Challenge
13. Eat an apple a day for a month
14. Access college computer (I forgot my Windows password)
15. Don't use the microwave for a month
16. Don't fart around Barb for a month
17. No diet soda for a month

Around the House
18. Clean random crap out of my parent's house
19. Get dents out of my car
20. Wax car twice a year
21. Back up all music, photos, etc on a separate hard drive
22. Organize all of my digital photos
23. Hang my dart board
24. Frame and hang my world map

Soul, Environment, & Friendship
25. Paint a room for someone
26. Write an email to my freshman year roommate
27. Write a letter to my High School football coach
28. Volunteer 3 separate times for 3 separate causes (0/3)
29. Plant 5 trees (0/5)
30. Send a post card to Auntie Pasto's in Hawaii
31. Do something charitable every Thanksgiving (0/2)
32. Do something charitable every X-Mas (0/3)
33. Write 30 random emails to people I don't talk to that often anymore (0/30)
34. Develop old rolls of film sitting around my parent's
35. Send an (extremely weird, non-sensical) message in a bottle
36. Be a "Dharma Bum" with Shu for 24 hours
37. Take Sadie on 3 doggie dates (0/3)
38. Send a package to Australia
39. Find out how / where to recycle paper and do it
40. Donate blood
41. Donate 100,000 grains of rice on freerice.com
42. Do something worthwhile on Earth Day
43. Donate a garbage bag filled with old clothes
44. Replace all of our light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
45. Mail a secret to PostSecret

Finance
46. Consolidate my Student Loans
47. Sell 5 things on Amazon or eBay (0/5)
48. Use up all of my existing gift cards
49. Figure out my credit score
50. Save up for and buy a Mac

Food
51. Brew my own beer
52. Make sushi at home
53. Go to a Japanese restaurant and order something that isn't sushi
54. Cook 50 different recipes (0/50)
55. Drink at 5 different breweries (0/5)
56. Jar / bottle my own marinade, soup, and salsa (0/3)
57. Maintain an herb garden for an entire summer
58. Enjoy a glass of real spiked egg-nog (bonus: next to a fire!)
59. Have a good experience at an Indian restaurant with Barb

Personal Know-How
60. Learn to drive stick
61. Learn how to tie a tie
62. Re-learn CSS
63. Learn the basics of a popular editing program
64. Add internal hardware to a computer

Music
65. Learn 5 "popular" (read: “recognizable”) songs on the guitar (0/5)
66. Attend a multi-day music festival
67. Have a music review published (online counts)
68. Get a letter published in RollingStone (or at least write 30 letters)
69. Attend 25 concerts / shows (0/25)
70. Photograph 3 different shows (where I don't know the band) (0/3)
71. Geek-out on iTunes #1: (assign Year, Genre, and Album Art to all songs)
72. Geek-out on iTunes #2: Give star-ratings to all of my unrated songs in iTunes
73. Compile a playlist of my favorite song each week for a year
74. Give away or recycle my old iPod

The Arts
75. Visit 5 new museums, galleries, or exhibits (0/5)
76. See 15 "Best Film" Oscar winners (0/15)
77. Re-read the Lord of the Rings
78. Read 30 books by 30 different authors (0/30)

Personal Creativity
79. Re-edit my Australia photos and do something with them
80. Re-vamp my Web Site
81. Submit a t-shirt design to threadless.com
82. Edit the Lindenhurst slideshow that I scanned all of my photos in for
83. Enter a photo contest
84. Create a stop-motion animation short and post online
85. Paint a birdhouse

Adventures & Activities
86. Visit the West Coast
87. Camp 3 times in 3 new places (bonus: once with a group of friends) (0/3)
88. Move out of Bensalem (bonus: move out of the North East)
89. Go on a fishing trip (bonus: with my Dad)
90. Hike 5 new trails (0/5)
91. Go to Canada
92. Go to an archery range
93. Take a stadium tour
94. Photograph 5 sunrises in 5 different places (0/5)
95. Photograph 5 sunsets in 5 different places (0/5)
96. Go wine tasting with Barb
97. Stop at 10 roadside lookouts (0/10)
98. Rent jet-skis / wave-runners with Barb
99. Visit 10 new places in our Philly guide book (0/10)
100. Visit 3 National Parks (0/3)
101. Go on a road trip with Ian & Dave

I pledge to document this list to the best of my ability.

Furthermore, I promise to donate $5 to a non-profit for every item not completed.

McCain in "The Squirmer"

Please take a moment and watch the video below. If you get enjoyment out of watching people freak out inside their head while trying to remain outwardly calm you can't get much better than this.

Why I'm Voting Republican... Psyche!

Halfway to Hell Club / Iron Chic

Last weekend I went home to Long Island. I was fortunate enough to check out some of my friend's bands play for the first time. Below are some shots from the show. Check out Halfway to Hell Club's MySpace page and listen to some tunes... I don't think Iron Chic has one yet.

Halfway to Hell Club

Iron Chic

Tony's Iron Man

There’s this guy I know, Anthony Lombardi. We call him “Tony Lombardi” for short. I met him freshman year of college, and we wound up living together sophomore year… and junior year… and senior year. I couldn’t get rid of the guy! After college we kept in touch via the Internet, and we even saw each other in person every so often.

In line with his competitive trajectory, Tony announced he was going to be competing in an Iron Man this coming August in Louisville, Kentucky. By competing in this race he will honor the memory of his deceased friend, Jared, and raise money for the scholarship fund in his name back in their hometown of Southington, Connecticut.

Since I work in TV, Tony approached me about filming a mini-documentary of sorts detailing his journey to the Iron Man and why he’s doing it. Up for the challenge, I agreed. Together, we approached our alma mater, Marist College, about borrowing a camera for the race and they obliged. They were beyond generous and are letting us borrow a camera, mics, tri-pod, etc. from now until September. An ex-coworker and current friend of mine, Brian Epstein, agreed to handle editing duties.

We’ll be shooting some training footage and interviews throughout the summer, culminating at the race over Labor Day weekend. If I get any great still shots, or something worthwhile comes up, I’ll throw it up on here. If you wish to keep up to speed on Tony’s training you can check out his blog. Wish him luck.

Lara Logan

If you know me, you know I’m a big advocate of The Daily Show. I feel like Jon Stewart’s interviews are generally insightful and thought-provoking, but last night’s episode featured one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen on his show. His guest was Lara Logan, Chief Foreign Correspondent for CBS News. Not only is she strikingly gorgeous with a sexy-as-hell accent, but she’s well-spoken, intelligent, and bad-ass. She’s embedded herself with Navy Seals, had her hotel blown up and survived, said, “What’s up, Mother Fuckers?” on air, and said that if she watched U.S. news she’d “blow her brains out.” Take the time and bask in the glory that is Lara Logan:

Proud to Be an American (?)

Michelle Obama has received a lot of heat for her somewhat negligent comment about being a proud American for the first time. Yes, it was a poor choice of words. She probably didn’t mean for it to come across as anti-American. Whatever her intention, my question is: So what if she hasn’t been 100% proud to be an American? I’m not 100% proud to be an American. Sure, part of me is, but part of me isn’t. Last time I checked, “Pride” was one of the 7 Deadliest Sins. Look up “pride” and you’ll find that most definitions carry a negative connotation. Pride leads to stubbornness and stubbornness leads to loss and defeat.

Synonyms of pride: conceit, egotism, vanity. Antonym: humility.

It seems like most people are quick to say that “American is the greatest country on Earth”. This is nothing more than arrogant, blind Patriotism. I’ve asked people why they feel that we’re the best country, and I haven’t received a good answer. My mom’s response? “Because we’re the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Her answer was a slogan, a bumper sticker.

Yes, we’ve had our moments. Yes, we show signs of greatness. But I also see Tila Tequila on TV and shitheads on Fox News wasting my time talking about “terrorist fist jabs” and “Obama’s Baby Mama Drama”. There's a fucking war going on. I don't want to hear about him wearing or not wearing a lapel pin. He's running for the fucking Presidency and people are questioning his loyalty to this country? It’s cliché, but I shouldn’t be getting my news from the Daily Show or the Colbert Report, but I have to. Our press has no spine.

If we were the greatest country in the world Americans would wear American flag patches on their backpacks when they travel abroad like other countries do, but we don’t. Instead, our backpacks are blank while every single Canadian makes damn sure they have their flag on their backpack to avoid being mistaken as an American citizen.

I’ve had conversations with grown, “normal” adults who says Barack Obama will “paint the White House black”, and that’s actually their first argument against his campaign. At least know the facts, know where your guy stands, and have a legit reason for voting for them. I’ll admit that I have prejudices that I’m not proud of, but I am in no way racist. I am encountering “intelligent” people who “can’t vote for a black man” and it’s blowing my mind. If we were the greatest country on Earth our Middle Class would be educated enough and cultured enough to not make such ignorant comments.

I’m sick of hearing Obama’s not experienced enough; he meets every requirement necessary to be President. I’m sick of hearing about how he’s nothing more than just an eloquent speaker. At this point it’s obvious that our government isn’t run by one man; It’s that one man and the people he surrounds himself with. If he can motivate people, can energize them, and get them to care, than that’s the point. I trust that those around him will guide him, that he’ll listen to the people, and try something new as opposed to following the status quo that has done nothing but tarnish America’s image. Experience? Experience has gotten us nowhere. Our country is in a cluster-fuck and I’m ready to start from scratch.

You can fact-check here and read about the truthiness of anti-Obama rumors here.

Toilet Woes

Know what sucks? When you poop at work, and as you're leaving the bathroom your boss is approaching the bathroom, and unknowingly says to you, "Ah, perfect timing!", and you want to say, "Actually, it's terrible timing", but you don't... and you can't look them in the eye for the rest of the day...

Obama Clinches

Heck Yes.

China Is Scary

This month’s RollingStone featured an article by Naomi Klein entitled “China’s All-Seeing Eye”. In the article, China’s obsession with surveillance technology was discussed, as well as what the U.S. is doing to aid it, and what we’re not doing to stop it. It was a lot to take in, but I feel there was a lot of information worth sharing. Below is my attempt to break it down in a way that’s easy to understand while keeping the facts in check. (Click here for the full article)

Shenzhen – A city in China with a population of 12.4 million people. 30 years ago this city did not exist. The city was built as an experiment, 1 of 4 areas in China where capitalism would be permitted while under the eye of the Communist Party.

Shenzhen makes iPods, laptops, sneakers, televisions, cell phones, jeans, furniture, cars, printers, etc. It has 9 Wal-Marts, and multiple U.S. fast-food chains line the streets.

Huawei is China’s telecom giant. Their research complex is so large that it has its own highway exit and city bus line for its employees.

As the Olympic Games in Beijing grow nearer, Shenzhen is being used as a testing ground for new surveillance equipment. In the last 2 years over 200,000 cameras have been installed, many hidden in lampposts. All of these cameras are on the same network, allowing the government to watch the entire city. In the next 3 years 2 million more cameras will be installed in Shenzhen.
- China’s surveillance camera market generated over $4 billion dollars last year.
- China’s government has ordered that all Internet cafes, restaurants, and entertainment venues install cameras with direct feeds to local police stations.

Golden Shield – China’s all-encompassing security network, with an end-goal of being able to watch its citizens through people-tracking technologies, thus preventing any uprisings before they can gather momentum. This network is made possible, in part, by U.S. companies such as IBM, Honeywell, and General Electric.

Citizens will be monitored on phone calls, be subjected to voice-recognition technology, have their Internet access limited by China’s “Great Firewall”, and have a national ID card with a computer chip storing personal info, as well as a photo, which can be uploaded at police stations. When Golden Shield is complete, there will be a database with information pertaining to all of China’s 1.3 billion citizens.

Golden Shield was recently tested during the riots in Tibet. China was able to limit, and in some cases, completely shut down Internet access. Outgoing calls were blocked, and police were actually able to text message citizens telling them to behave. The police later used surveillance footage from lamppost cameras to make a “highlight” reel of the most violent rioters contrasted with footage of police behaving with level-headed restraint. This propaganda piece was shown repeatedly on national news programs, and a most-wanted list of Tibetan rioters was compiled.

Ministry of Public Security in Beijing – is staging a “10-Million-Faces Test”. Companies in China will compete to see whose software is best able to implement face-recognition technology. The winners will be awarded fat government contracts and guaranteed business for years to come as their software is integrated with other Golden Shield Technology.

L-1 Identity Solutions (their web site is fucking sci-fi, Minority Report, Tom-Cruise-jumping-up-and-down-on-the-couch-crazy!) – Connecticut-based defense contractor. Maker of passports and biometric security systems. Former CIA director, George Tenet, is a board member. Thanks to government contracts, their expected 2011 revenue is over $1 billion.

L-1 has licensed its technology to a Chinese company called Pixel Solutions. Pixel Solutions, with the help of L-1’s software, hopes to be a winner in the 10-Million-Faces Test. This relationship may, or may not, be illegal in the U.S. After Tiananmen Square, the U.S. made it illegal for companies sell “crime control or detection instruments or equipment” to China. Because the U.S. government could not foresee such technology such as face-detection software, the L-1/Pixel Solution relationship has been allowed to exist.

L-1’s presence is China’s emerging surveillance markets is worrying because of what they do in the U.S. L-1 makes passports, takes finger prints of visitors to the U.S., supplies biometric equipment to U.S. soldiers, maintains our State Departments “largest facial-recognition database system”, and producers driver’s licenses in a handful of states.

L-1 is now offering a program called “Fly Clear” that will relieve people from waiting on long lines at the airport. To enroll in the program, one must get their fingerprints taken, their irises scanned, and carry a biometric chip with their personal info.

U.S. Companies Involved in Aiding or bowing down to China:
IBM, Honeywell, and General Electric have sold equipment and technology.

Google has made a special Chinese search engine that filters “sensitive” material.

Cisco has supplied hardware for the “Great Firewall”.

Microsoft has removed politically-charged blogs at Beijing’s request.

Yahoo has relinquished email-account info which led to multiple arrests, including that of a well-known journalist.

Chinese Companies of Note:
FSAN CCTV System makes 400,000 security cameras a year, half of which are exported to cities such as Manhattan and London.

China Security & Surveillance Technology has developed software to alert police when a large group of people have suddenly gathered.

Aebell Electrical Technologies has an English brochure to advertise their security cameras. The brochure features American iconography, including the New York skyline prior to 9/11. They’ll be going public on the Nasdaq by year’s end.

Misc.:
- “The U.S. currently has more people behind bars than China, despite a population less than a quarter of its size.”
- “The global homeland security business is now worth an estimated $200 billion – more than Hollywood and the music industry combined.”
- The Defense Department once tried to implement a plan similar to China’s Golden Shield. It was called “Total Information Awareness”, and a top executive at L-1 has a plan called “Operation Noble Shield.”

It’s amazing that we can stage a war with the intent of bringing democracy to a country, yet there are huge U.S. companies willing to alter their product to meet China’s undemocratic demands. In the U.S. we don’t care about democracy as much as we care about money… or Clay Aiken’s artificial insemination baby... Or how “Sex and the City” did at the box office (it beat “Indiana Jones”).

Australia Withdraws Troops

In what seems like a big deal, but for some reason isn't being covered as such, Australia has officially declared to cease combat operations in Iraq. To symbolize this event, an Australian flag was lowered at a base in southern Iraq. This move makes good on a promise by Australia's new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, that he made during his campaign last year. Good on him for sticking to his word.

I would consider the fact that one of our allies in this war, an entire continent, has declared "enough is enough" to be front page news. However, I only learned about it from a 10 second piece on CNN. I wanted to learn more, so I went to Google News. There was no mention of it under the "World" section. I searched "Australia", and finally an article came up. It was listed third under a story on cricket and an energy company possibly being sold. Not only that, the Associated Press article was only 4 sentences, totalling 77 words. Wow.

For more on the Australian perspective, check out this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Energy Monopoly

It's reassuring when big companies recognize the need to explore alternative energy sources. I recently found out that Parker Brothers / Hasboro has done just that. In August, they'll unveil "Monopoly Here & Now: World Edition". Instead of the "Electric Company" and "Water Works" utility spaces, they'll feature "Wind Energy" and "Solar Energy" in their place.

Even if you believe Global Warming is a farce, what's wrong with treating the environment better? Even if pollution isn't causing global climate change, wouldn't it be nice to power our world and do so in a way that would prevent grey skies and poor air conditions? Why be opposed to alternative sources of energy that have the potential to cost you, the consumer, less? Why be opposed to deleting our dependence on oil, the cause behind almost every international conflict and catalyst of war? Don't deny a good thing just because it might take some time and effort. The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging that there is one, and the people behind Monopoly have done just that.

Memorial Day Weekend

Truck Nuts

Trucks nuts are disgusting. If you own a pair of these I am 100% certain we are not compatible humans on any level. To add insult to injury, you probably really like Nickelback. And Budwesier. And NASCAR. Stop living. Please.

These novelty nuts are not funny. They’re not “shocking”. They serve no purpose aside from letting people know you are a shitty person. If you have kids, and you own a pair of truck nuts, there should be a law allowing the government to take away your children.

There’s only 2 things amusing about truck nuts. One is the fact that people think it’s an OK thing to own. Hell, they’re probably proud to own them, and that’s downright scary. These are the people who voted for George W. Bush. Twice.

Reason number two: The names companies use to advertise the different types of truck nuts they offer. For example: “Black Tuxedo Nuts”, “Blue Balls”, “Fireman Red Nuts”, “Flesh Nuts”, “Juicy Orange Nuts”, “Nuts of Steel”, and “Shiny Brass Balls”. Oh, and you can get them on a key ring too. Thank God (truck nuts might also prove that there is no God).

The only reason Barrack Obama will not become President is because truck nuts exist and there are people who buy them. Global warming will not cease, the war in Iraq will not end, and blind patriotism will lead to our downfall all because of truck nuts. Truck nuts with American flags on them.

Old Men

For some reason, old men make me terribly sad. Old women don’t have this same effect for some reason, but old men break my heart. I’ll get annoyed when I’m driving if someone in front of me is going slow, unless I see it’s an old man. Then I feel embarrassed I could lose my patience with someone like him, someone in his predicament.

One time I was in Tower Records after getting off a shift at Red Lobster. It was a Friday night, and it was after 10 or 11 because they used to be open late. I was in the check-out line and the guy in front of me was very old. He seemed very nice and gentle and even-tempered. He was skinny, maybe frail, with glasses and a red and blue flannel shirt tucked into his slacks. In his hands he was clutching half a dozen cassette tapes. Something about it instantly broke my heart. I could only imagine he was buying this music to relive better times when the love of his life was still around, or when his kids cared more about him than they did now. I feel a pang in my chest every time I think of it.

It also makes me sad when I can tell exactly what an old man looked like when he was younger, when I can see the years melt off of his face and person he was decades ago is revealed. I’m currently working alongside a contractor who’s a very nice older guy, and I can absolutely tell what he looked like as a kid. I see this little Irish boy with red hair and freckles running around covered in mud. Now he’s overweight and weathered by his profession, but I can see that kid in his eyes and something about that just gets to me.

Tokyo Police Club

On Monday April 28th I attended the Tokyo Police Club show at the First Unitarian Church in Philly. I brought my camera. In other words, I endured sweaty elbows, drunk girls trying to crowd surf, and a speaker literally less than a foot away from my right ear (Luckily, I think I'm OK... although I didn't think so when my ear rang for over 4 days). This is what I have to show for it.

(I've been meaning to post these photos for awhile, but I never got around to narrowing down some of the better ones. I finally did)

Tokyo Police Club has a new album out called "Elephant Shell". Clocking in under 30 minutes, the album is a quick shot of goodness. Check out "In A Cave" on their MySpace page.

After reading up on shooting live music, I realize I need a better lens to handle low-light situations. If that freakin' stimulus check ever arrived...

Polar Bear Club

Soon there might be no club. Or cub.

Yesterday, the U.S. government added the polar bear to the endangered species list due to the fact that... well, their home is literally melting into the ocean due to global warming. This is the first time a species has been added to the endangered list due to climate change.

It must be noted: The government is doing nothing to reverse this... they were just kind enough to acknowledge it.

If you like that polar bear graphic, you can get it on a t-shirt at threadless.com.

Philadelphia Marathon

I did it. I officially signed up for my first marathon. I have 192 days to prepare myself to run 26.2 miles. That seems very reasonable, and I'm not scared. I'm actually kind of excited. If it was up to me the race would be sooner. Alas, it is not.

I feel like I could run a marathon this month. That being said, I need to decide if I'm going to train to complete this thing or if I'm going to train to kick ass. I'd rather kick ass, but I also like to drink beer. We'll see how it goes.

My Top 100 Albums

1. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. The Smiths - Louder Than Bombs
4. The Clash - London Calling
5. Weezer - Weezer [Blue Album]
6. The Beatles - Revolver
7. Silent Majority - Life Of A Spectator
8. The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
9. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
10. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
11. Arcade Fire - Funeral
12. Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
13. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
14. Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground
15. Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
16. Green Day - Dookie
17. Brand New - Deja Entendu
18. Coldplay - Parachutes
19. Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
20. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
21. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
22. The Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile
23. Pearl Jam - Ten
24. Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence
25. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
26. The Clash - The Clash [US Version]
27. Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
28. Weezer - Pinkerton
29. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
30. Radiohead - OK Computer
31. Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
32. Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
33. The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
34. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
35. Radiohead - The Bends
36. Pavement - Wowee Zowee
37. Nirvana - Nevermind
38. Morrissey - Vauxhall And I
39. The Beatles - Let It Be… Naked
40. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
41. John Lennon - Imagine
42. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
43. The Cure - Bloodflowers
44. Rancid - And Out Come The Wolves
45. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
46. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
47. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
48. Pavement - Brighten The Corners
49. The Cure - Disintegration
50. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
51. Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
52. The Movielife - This Time Next Year
53. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
54. Straylight Run - Straylight Run
55. The Postal Service - Give Up
56. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
57. Sublime - Sublime
58. Yo La Tengo - Prisoners Of Love
59. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
60. Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
61. Interpol - Antics
62. Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break
63. The Promise Ring - Very Emergency
64. Dashboard Confessional - The Swiss Army Romance
65. The Beatles - Abbey Road
66. Alkaline Trio - From Here to the Infirmary
67. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
68. Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
69. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
70. Radiohead - Kid A
71. Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire
72. The Killers - Hot Fuss
73. Hot Rod Circuit - If It's Cool With You, It's Cool With Me
74. Minus The Bear - Highly Refined Pirates
75. Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute
76. Nada Surf - Let Go
77. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
78. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
79. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
80. Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be
81. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
82. Morrissey - Bona Drag
83. The Anniversary - Designing A Nervous Breakdown
84. Against Me! - New Wave
85. Pearl Jam - Vs.
86. The Pixies - Doolittle
87. Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antartica
88. Fountains Of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
89. Radiohead - Pablo Honey
90. Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
91. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
92. Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
93. Inside - Seven Inches To Wall Drug
94. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
95. The Replacements - Let It Be
96. The Beatles - Magical Mistery Tour
97. The White Stripes - Elephant
98. Eminem - The Eminem Show
99. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
100. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

This list represents my all-time favorite albums. These aren’t the albums I consider to be the most influential or the most popular. This list isn’t meant to be universal. These are albums that I have a personal relationship with. Each album holds a special place in my heart, and can conjure special memories just thinking of the cover art.

In order to come up with this list I spent 1 year and 4 months listening to every album I own. It was a labor of love. I listened to over 16,000 songs on more than 1,100 albums. That’s over 65 gigs of music totaling approximately 42 straight days of run time. I listened to most of it in my car while driving to and from work, but got a decent amount of listening done while in the office, at the gym, or around the house doing chores. While listening to each song I would assign it a “Star Rating” on-the-go, and when I would sync my iPod to my computer it would transfer my ratings to iTunes. Once all of my songs had been assigned stars, I made an Excel sheet that listed the total tracks per album, and the overall star count per album. I divided the total star count by total tracks, multiplied it by 2 (to spread out the results), and added a “1” to bring the final number closer to a “10” rating. Once all of the data was inserted to Excel, I sorted my albums in a descending order according to their rankings. This gave me an objective list to work with (although, this list can still be considered somewhat subjective as the star ratings were based on personal taste). From there I shuffled my list around, trying my best not to play to favorites, and not to make my list as “hip” as possible. I purposely didn’t spend an exorbitant amount of time finalizing the list; I didn’t want to over-think it. Instead, I went with my gut and came up with the final rankings within 24 hours.

I like how I can look at this list and see the trajectory of my musical journey. Just looking at it takes me from elementary school (Green Day, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine), to discovering local music in middle school (Silent Majority, Glassjaw, Inside), to being turned on to the larger “emo” scene (The Get Up Kids, The Promise Ring, Sunny Day Real Estate). I can see my college “gym bands” (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday), and my college “dorm room” bands (the Beatles, the Smiths). I can see the albums that will define my twenties (the Arcade Fire, the Shins) and albums I can’t believe I love as much as I do (Eminem). I see my running shoes, free weights, and the interior of my various cars. I can see my allowance being spent at Looney Tunes, and my tip money being spent at Tower Records. I can see music I have jewel cases for, and music I didn’t pay a cent for. I can I see Long Island, Poughkeepsie, Sydney, Hawaii, Philly, and my friends. Most importantly, not to sound cheesy, I see a musical portrait of who I am. I’m a fucking nerd.

Broad Street Run

On Sunday May 4th I ran my second race ever: The 29th Annual Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. My last race, the Great Aloha Run, was 8.2miles; the Broad Street Run is 10miles. It’s not much of a difference, but it’s enough… especially when I haven’t ran a race in 2 years. I was in a lot better shape in Hawaii, and I hadn’t realized that until I was assessing my training.

That being said, I did much better than I hoped to do. My goal was to come in under 1hr 20min. If I came in 1hr 20-25 I’d be content, and anything over that I’d be disappointed. From mile 1-4.5, my left calf felt like dead weight. I had been dreading this, as this had happened often during my training. I guess I’m getting old. No matter how much or how little I stretched before a practice jog didn’t seem to have much correlation with whether my calf tightened during a practice jog. I stretched the hell out of my legs before the race began, and it happened anyway. I pushed through that pain/annoyance and it seemed to have gone away or disappeared into the back of my consciousness.

Also around this time I reasoned that, based on my stopwatch and some math, I could best my goal and come in under 1hr 15min. This seemed unrealistic before the race, but seemed very real at this point. Even though no one knew of my new goal besides me, I knew I would feel let down, even embarrassed, if I didn’t achieve that time.

After running around City Hall, the only part of the course that wasn’t a straight line, I could feel myself trying harder to maintain my 7:30/mile pace. I hit the 1hr mark at exactly the same moment I hit 8miles. It meant I had to do two 7:30 miles in a row to finish the race if I wanted to reach my goal.

I hit mile 9 at 1hr 8min, and knew I had just screwed myself. I didn’t expect to be able to run a sub 7min mile after clocking in at 8. I pulled it off though thanks to a combination of Strawberry & Banana Power Gel, adrenaline, old school Thursday coming through my headphones, seeing Barb on the sidelines cheering, and having a nice downward slope during the last 1/4 mile in the Navy Yard. I ran my last mile in 6min 48sec to come in at a final time of 1h4 14min 48sec.

How I finished:
Overall: 2,388 out of 19,112
Sex: 1,940 out of 9,821
Division (M 25-29): 364 out of 1,775
Age Grade: 59.3%*


*I would’ve qualified as a “Local Class” if I scored 60%

I also believe that this run could alternately be called the "Put 22,000 White People in the 'Hood and Watch them Flee to the Safey of the Navy " Run.

And as for Global Warming:

It’s real. Our lives will not be the same. It will be the end of an age.

Beepin' at Butts

I really don’t know why people don’t care about how disgusting our surroundings are becoming. Whenever I’m stopped at a red light I look around at the ground and it’s filthy. Beyond filthy. How this stuff gets there I don’t know. I could never throw a Wendy’s cup out of my window when I’m driving, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen something that blatantly criminal done.

However, what I always see is people throwing their cigarette butts out of their window like it’s not a big deal. This infuriates me. It blows my mind that people don’t regard this as littering. That being said, I’ve decided to beep at someone whenever they do this. Since beginning this campaign, I’m very surprised at how often I wind up beeping. I’m also very surprised at how happy this makes me. I feel like such a bastard when I do it and I love it.

It’s awesome to be stopped at a light, see someone chuck their butt onto the ground, and beep my horn. The litterer will look for who beeped thinking it was for a non-existent traffic offense and then realizing, maybe, someone beeped because they threw their cigarette out the window. Even if it makes them think, “Hmm, maybe I’m an asshole” for just a moment then I feel I’ve gained a small victory.

I encourage all of you to become a part of the “Beepin’ at Butts” effort. Please let me know how it goes.

Full Disclosure: I smoked for a year in college, and I don’t dislike someone because they smoke. I understand it’s a personal choice, and it’s hard to quit. That being said, there’s no reason to make this world uglier than it already is. If you don’t care how your car smells from the smoke, the cigarette butt isn’t going to make it that much worse. Throw it out when you get where you’re going.