THE HILARY & OBAMA REALITY SHOW

The race for the democratic nomination, with all of it’s fighting, heated dialog, crazy accusations and media coverage is like a reality show. In fact, it is a reality show because lets face it, it’s as real as it gets.

Definitely not lacking in drama, the two stars of the show have beat each other to a pulp, uncovered each others warts and brought out an avalanche of voters for the primary. They have spurred 30 million democrats to get involved and cast their vote like a political version of American Idol or better yet, dancing with the stars, the way both candidates have tried to nimbly dance around some of their issues.

Who needs NFL’s Jason Taylor doing the Rumba when you have potential candidates for the presidency of the United States of America performing various shuffles, jumps and spins. Hilary Clinton, in particular has done a series of spins that flowed seamlessly into the wiggly worm whenever she was pressed into a corner.

It was reality show magic to watch Obama’s nifty “Rev. Wright Watusi”, though his “Guns & Religion Robot” was definitely must-see TV. Hilary’s “Bosnian Back-Track” was quite clumsy, which is why she received such a low score. Her dance partner, Bill, was also a sore spot, missing his cues and going left when she went right.

Unfortunately, like all reality shows, SOMEBODY IS GOING HOME, yet unlike other reality shows, the loser in this show is resigned to staying put and not let the camera roll while she walks into the sunset; or the rented limo. It’s the emotional and climatic element of reality TV that is owed to the public. It’s the emotional pay-off for the viewers, like when the guy gets the girl in the movies. People want to empathize with the losing contestants of reality shows, while others want to rub the defeat in the loser’s face and since Hilary has come off as the villain, it’s surely tons of folks looking forward to doing the latter. It’s time for Hilary to pack her things, hug her friends, supporters and staff, and shed some made for TV tears, because I deserve the pay-off damn it!

And if she simply refuses to leave, we can always have the Sandman from Amateur Night At The Apollo officially remove her from the stage!

PLAYING WITH THE SCRUBS

Thats a particular statement that describes dealing with your life. It’s playing with the sharks or conquering the snails. It’s for sure, a measure of a man. The ability to rise above the normal and make a mark. If your name is Mark, then I would imagine its twice as nice.

I’ve never played with the scrubs. Nobody actually thinks that they are a scrub, so maybe I did. Maybe I was actually the scrub and just didn’t know it.

But regardless, let’s start this. It’s a daily operation, staying off of the scrubs court both literally and actually. I suggest for the change of season, that we all get on our point in our own particular way and high beam the scrub life. That’s unless you’re a true scrub, which is rare!

And vote for Barama (Duh!)

REMEMBER THE TIMES: MICHAEL JACKSON in MOTOWN 25

Sometimes we forget the greatness of people when they’ve been so weird and have a lengthy separation from their greatness. It’s a shame to look at Michael Jackson’s descent from the biggest superstar in the world, into the train wreck that most of the world, especially young teenagers, remember about him.

Here’s his performance on MOTOWN 25 with his brothers. It’s really magical!

EVERY MORNING, ITS SOME BRAND NEW S*%$

So I start my morning off with a phone call from my mother, asking if I had heard the latest Brouhaha regarding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I didn’t. I did, kind of; but “kind of” didn’t permit me to have a conversation about it. I gleaned from the headlines that Rev. Wright had uttered yet another batch of bites that were graciously deciphered by big faces on TV screens with the content of his character being called into question.

My initial thought was to simply believe the press, but I was birthed in a cultural womb with an embryonic soundtrack that screamed “don’t believe the hype”, courtesy of Chuck or Mr. D if you will. As an American, I felt that my civic duty was to hear the man out, again, and see if his fanaticism and “boombastic” delivery veered into un-American territory. What I heard was truth, delivered in a way that is very unnominable ( i think i made that word up!) in regards to Senator Obama’s campaign to become president.

Rev. Wright would seem to have a penchant for untimely utterances and speeches that don’t dissect elegantly, if only I would believe that the nature of a sound-bite is imbued with negative and positive qualities. When in fact, a sound bite is nothing but what it is made to be, neither positive or negative, simply made and ascribed a characteristic.

In the light of day stands opposition to truth. In the light of day stands comfort with darkness. Reverand Wright and Senator Obama are both fingers on the same righteous hand of truth and though the Senator is the forefinger, the Reverend is the thumb. The thumb gets a lot accomplished in the spirit of righteousness, day-in and day-out, positively affecting people’s lives on a very personal level.

And though his remarks may be untimely and perhaps a pothole in the Senator’s road to the White House, Reverend Wright’s voice should not be muffled, even at the risk of preempting history. The moment is too big and the injustices too grievous to silence righteousness. Rev. Wright has a strong voice that speaks the truth, even if that truth is inconvent.

YELLOW CAB & CREDIT CARDS

Two great things that should go great together, but has turned out to be a marriage made in hell. There’s a few things that you should know about using your credit/debit card in a yellow taxi in New York City.

In the general attitude and acceptance category, know that some drivers will not take too kindly to you paying with a card. It’s not that they have an aversion to plastic with magnetic strips on the back, but it’s simple economics: They don’t get paid right away when a customer uses a card. They’ve worked on cash fares and tips for so long, that it’s gonna take some time to break them in and have them join us in the 21st century.

It must have been the same way when cocktail waitresses and bartenders first switched over to accepting plastic. I’m sure a surly cocktail waitress dumped a beer on a customers head when she realized her after work drug binge was effectively shut down since her huge party of 20 was paying with plastic.

There’s been reports of cab drivers refusing to take plastic, which is breaking the rules of the TLC. Talking on a cellphone, even if it’s hands free is also breaking the rules and subject to fines. Smelling like baked zoo dirt should also be punishable by fines, if not mandatory bathing, but unfortunately it is not. The TLC has been employing the equivalent of secret shoppers since January in an effort to weed out the bad seeds:

That Cabbie Is A Cad

Two, you should also remember that the charge on your debit card doesn’t come up for several days. It doesn’t even get put on hold so for those that never balance their checkbook and have a weekend of heavy cab action, watch out, because come Wednesday or Thursday, mysterious (they’re not, it just seems mysterious in the moment) charges will appear on your account. If you did several trips, you could be looking at $100, especially if you live in Brooklyn.

So be careful and always get a receipt from the driver when you pay with a card, because the machine doesn’t issue them and if you leave anything in there, you can call 311 and they can contact the cabbie. Then again, if the cab driver was against you paying with a credit card and a small argument ensued, the chances of you getting back your lost item is quite small

MICROPHONE DOGGER, WHEN I’M IN THE ARCADE I PLAY FROGGER

You know how dangerous and goofy it is to cross from Broadway to 5th Avenue around 23rd street in Manhattan, how it’s so many different lanes that you’re playing a dangerous game of Frogger?

Well soon you can forget about all of that life and death business just to go from the Toy Building to Madison Square Park, because the city has plans to do a full-on overhaul of that area, which will simplify the crossing and reclaim blacktop areas for pedestrians and cyclists.

Madison Square Pedestrian Project

They’re going to landscape and create some public space with seating as well, i guess like that strange little public space on 9th avenue, between The Dinner on one side and The Apple Store on the other side of 14th Street

Though it’s something unsettling about sitting there, even in the day time. I guess I always envision an elderly white haired lady, mowing into the public space with her car and making everything go “splat”, people included.

When they simplify the crossing, the migration to Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack can continue unfettered, like lemmings to a calorie and cholesterol heaven. With the Madison Square crossing still resembling Frogger, the lines for the Shake Shack still look like this:

So imagine when the crossing becomes civilized! You Can always log onto the Shake Shack website and peer at their line-cam to gauge if the line is too long for you or not, though that won’t work unless you’re in close proximity to Shake Shack to begin with. I’m looking at the line right now and it’s only 5 people in line, so high tail it over there if you read this in the next 5 minutes.

Shake Shack Live Cam

Though it seems the Madison Square public space won’t be ready til the end of summer/beginning of fall (like that really means anything anymore in this global warming world), I plan on doing a round of playful dates and utilize the cooler public spaces in the city, including the Meatpacking public space…..especially since I can run in and charge my iphone at the apple store (note: the battery on the iphone sucks baby eggs)

They’re supposed to begin the work in June so be mindful of the traffic jams in that area for the whole summer

HOORAY FOR SAFE CROSSINGS!

WESLEY SNIPES GETS 3 YEARS IN PRISON

It’s crazy that they gave Wesley Snipes three years in prison for his tax evasion convictions. He beat the major charges and was found guilty of misdemeanors, so the judge gave him the maximum sentence for all three charges….1 year in jail per charge. That’s usually probation!

That’s harsh. He’ll be held away from the general population anyway because of his celebrity status, but damn. I guess he ain’t pay taxes on none of that Blade money!

ATLANTA BEATS BOSTON

The Eastern Conference in the NBA has been the weaker conference all year…..for the last few years actually, but I thought that the two top teams in the East could have been the two best teams in the league.

But noooooooo, suddenly, the Pistons and the Celtics are showing their vulnerability to young and athletic teams in the 76ers and Hawks respectively. Boston looked real tight in the last minutes of the 4th quarter, like the expectations of them having the best record in the NBA and being forecast to play for the championship had suddenly got reeeaaaal heavy!

I thought that Atlanta was selling wolf tickets, but they showed that they can back it up with all of that young talent, mixed with composure! Good series’ though.

NYC CONSTRUCTION SITES…….DEADLIER THAN A POT OF BOTULISM

It has been far too many construction site accidents in NYC and the crane crash tragedy that killed seven people and wounded others on 51st street in Manhattan was just the most recent in a rash of deadly mishaps.

Check out a video of that March 15th, 2008 accident that puts the damage in perspective: (its from youtube by a poster named Thebeatmasta)

from youtube.com posted with vodpod

In the “what else can happen” category, some people had their apartments ransacked after they evacuated the building since the crane crash caused it significant damage:
Crane Loot

Mayor Bloomberg started a commission a few years back to investigate and deal with the safety issue at construction sites. Its been 12 construction related deaths so far this year and from 2006-2007, the number was as high as 29. For most of the decade, a large percentage of the deaths were occurring in the outer boroughs and the victims were usually undocumented, non-english speaking, illegal immigrants. I wonder if the increase in accidents in Manhattan, in monied areas such as 51st street & 2nd Avenue (its not CPW West, but its also not East Brooklyn) and at high profile buildings such as the Trump Soho and Goldman Sachs building in lower Manhattan has has led to an increase in public outcry. Its nothing like an accident injuring an Italian or French visitor to put the fear of god (or lost tourism) into city hall and get folks motivated.

The mayor getting tough with the development community is causing friction! How NY is that, where a bunch of deaths don’t phase the development community. This is from an article in the NY Sun written BEFORE the latest crane crash on March 15th!

NY Sun

This year, their have been 12 deaths from construction accidents. in the year 2006-2007, there was 29 construction accident deaths. To put that in perspective, their were

20 Deaths building the Brooklyn Bridge
8 Deaths building the World Trade Center
5 Deaths building the empire state building

Thats a few more deaths to build 3 of the most Iconic NYC structures, than has occurred in a year of building crappy condos, co-ops and hotels. A building supervisor filing a false report is crazy, but par for the course in NYC. The developer of the building where the crane fell from was building a 43 story structure, even though he was supposed to build a 33 story building. Besides the pure nerve of ignoring the planning and zoning commissions and other groups that oversee development, did they think that an extra 10 stories to their building would go unnoticed. Maybe they hoped for cloudy weather for the rest of time. Things fall through the cracks everyday in every way: Kids staying with criminally abusive parents, egregious health violations in restaurants, lead paint in people’s apartments, Governors kinky sex habits and electrified potholes are all in and out of the headlines, replaced at times with real news and at other times by frivolous celebrity reporting.

But the next time that you’re painting the town red, make sure you keep an eye out above because The line “The sky is falling” is no longer just a line from a childhood tale.

Social Networking Wars // Current TV

Funny stuff! I got it from Dilia on my Facebook page earlier today.

from current.com posted with vodpod