7.25.2008

Download this album now.



http://bit.ly/girl_talk

via Matt via Omar

5.10.2008

Why Obama Should be the Democratic Nominee

"There is one final reason why Mr Obama is almost there. More than any other candidate this year, he has articulated an idea of a nobler America."

Great article from the Economist on why Barack Obama should be the Democratic nominee.

Their point, of Obama's ideal of a "nobler America" is so true. Obama really embraces the spirit of a better, changing America. Hillary and McCain are more of the same, and carry far too much baggage. Obama is exactly what America needs.

5.09.2008

A Joke from John

1:05 PM John: heres a funny joke
Two guys are walking down a dark alley when a mugger approaches them
and demands their money. They both grudgingly pull out their wallets
and begin taking out their cash. Just then, one guy turns to the
other, hands him a bill, and says, "Hey, here's that $20 I owe you."
1:06 PM me: hahaha
i gotta share that one...

1:10 PM i literally just got the same reaction from everyone i sent it to
Matt: hahahaha
nice
Nick: hahahahaha
nice
Patrick: nice
Kati: HAHA
i'd just run away

1:11 PM me: and then there's Omar

Omar: i don't get it
1:11 PM why would the guy do that to his friend if he knew he'd get mugged?
that's pretty insensitive
1:12 PM me: everyone else i sent that joke to laughed
you have to be difficult, don't you?
1:13 PM Omar: a peanut was walking down a dark alley, when all of a sudden, he was assaulted

Oh, Omar...

UPDATE:
Daniel: speaking of which, don't you still owe me $112?
me: yup.
i'm waiting 'til we talk a walk through the Bronx or something.

And in other news... TGIF

5.08.2008

Latest News on Burma Disaster and How You Can Help

I got this email the other day about the cyclone in Burma from my friend Patrick who has considerable experience in the area; I'm sharing it here to help spread the word and let you know what you can do to help...

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get in touch with everyone about the cyclone in Burma. A number of you have called or emailed me to ask what you can do to help. I have been reading reports from inside Burma constantly over the past few days and I have been in touch with aid workers. There is a lot the popular press has not picked up on yet. I am going to give you all a quick news update and then let you know what you can do to help.

First of all, the scope of the disaster is horrific. The latest report I read is that the death toll will be over 100,000. Over at least a million people are homeless and 24 million people (nearly half of Burma's population is estimated to be affected). The disaster is certainly on par with the Tsunami of 2004 and the wreckage is likely worse than after Katrina. The reason you are not seeing the scope of the wreckage is because the junta is not allowing journalists into the country.

The junta's response has been absurd: they have only accepted aid so far from their "friends" and they are preventing UN team members from entering the country by refusing to give visas to aid workers. Aid from the U.S. and Britain is sitting off the coast of Burma, but the generals have refused it. It is only in Burma that the military government would prevent aid workers from cleaning up the worst storm in Asia since 1991.

Furthermore, people I know from inside Burma said that the government did not warn the people about the cyclone, even though Indian government meteorologists told the junta about the storm two days prior to its arrival. And the junta is still planning on having their "referendum" this weekend to put a stamp on military rule. Imagine New Orleans having mayoral elections a week after Katrina. Ridiculous.

But there are some things that you can do to help. The most important thing on the ground is the need for clean drinking water. There is an excellent organization that is on the ground providing water tablets and purifiers called Thirst Aid. I can personally verify that this is an excellent organization and all donations will go directly to people on the ground. The organization is run by two awesome Americans that have full access to Burma (they already have visas). They have worked inside Burma for a number of years and they have a well-established network to get out fresh drinking water. Here is a link to their donation page (click on the "donation" tag in the top left corner): http://ttocirrod-foundation.org/Thanks.html

All donations go to their bank account in the US and are accessible in Bangkok, where they withdraw the money and take it to Burma. I strongly urge you to make a donation. There are going to be over 20 million people without access to clean drinking water and people need help NOW. There are already alarming reports about diseases and water shortages (the price of water has quadrupled over the past few days and many cannot get any clean water).

Secondly, we are making an effort at US Campaign for Burma to force the Burmese junta to allow aid into the country without conditions. We are setting up an email campaign to put pressure on Ban Ki-Moon to take action at the UN. To send him an email, please click on the following link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24494

It would be great if you all could take make a donation and send an email. It would mean a lot to me. It is the little we can do for a people whose government refuses to provide them with aid.

If you would like to figure out other ways to take action, you can sign up for the US Campaign for Burma alerts at: http://uscampaignforburma.org/

I am going to be posting updates on my blog. I will be updating it daily with reports and news I am gathering at: http://www.cycleforschools.com/blog/blog.html

If you all would like other updated news coverage, check out these sites:

http://www.irrawaddy.org/
http://mizzima.com/
http://uscampaignforburma.org/

I cannot explain how frustrated I am personally. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are running out of water, food, and medicine and the junta will not allow the international community to help. I appreciate all of your support and please keep the people of Burma in your hearts and minds.

Also, please feel free to forward this on to anyone you know to spread awareness about Thirst Aid.

Yours Truly,
Patrick


--
Patrick Cook-Deegan
US Campaign for Burma
Northeast Regional Student Coordinator
www.uscampaignforburma.org

2.28.2008

President Bush warming up for the comedy circuit in '09?

The World Champion Boston Red Sox went to the White House and met with our (joke of a) President...

"I'm sorry... Manny Ramirez, isn't here." Bush said, "I guess his grandmother died again."

"And how about Jonathan Papelbon? ...Thanks for wearing pants."

ESPN wouldn't let me embed it here, but this is the video...

I think Bush fancies himself a real comedian... I've certainly been laughing at him for a few years.

2.14.2008

"i totally thought you were a girl. no big deal."

apparently, i need to be more explicit on Craigslist when contacting people about apartments, because i've been mistaken for a girl... three times.

2.11.2008

Pondering the Semiotics of Hipster Beards

good post by the San Franciscoist.

and some crazy sh*t going down as reported by the Shanghaiist.

Don't F* with Hackers

A teenage hacker brought down a multi-million dollar company, Media Defender, whose job is to prevent internet piracy. The kid agreed to an interview as long as his identity is kept secret and...

"He also pulls out a well-creased sheet of paper bearing my name, the first five digits of my Social Security number, a few pictures of me, and addresses going back 10 years. "I had to check," he says."

Pretty impressive. He's probably knows I'm writing this right now...

More on the piracy article.

2.09.2008

A Very Special Message from the NYC Chamber of Commerce

This video has been really helpful for me in my recent move to NYC...

FreeRice.com



Multiple choice vocab quiz. Every word you get right donates rice through the UN. C'mon... your vocabulary needs some work anyway... do you even know what a 'numismatis' is! I do.

(OK... I guessed on that one.)

2.08.2008

Fast Food Ads vs. Reality

So glad I don't eat this crap...

Check out Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality for some startling comparisons of the pics we see on TV, and the "food" that's actually served.

Especially note Arby's "Beef 'n' Cheddar" - I don't know which pic is worse.



And this is KFC's Famous Bowl or as comedian Patton Oswalt puts it, "a failure pile in a sadness bowl." See video below... hysterical.

2.07.2008

Don't Make Shaq Upset...

"I'm very upset," he said Thursday at his introduction news conference. "You just don't really want to get me upset. When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things -- like win championships."
- from ESPN.

2.01.2008

GOP Senator Tries to Beat a Dead Horse... to Death

It would be an Eagles fan/idiot Republican from one of my least favorite states that would make a further issue out of the Patriots' Spygate incident. I guess lately the hot topic is "sports integrity," so let's jump on the bandwagon. Listen to this moron...

"I don't think you have to have a law broken to have a legitimate interest by the Congress on the integrity of the game ... What if there was something on the tapes we might want to be subpoenaed, for example? You can't destroy it. That would be obstruction of justice," Specter said to The Times.

1. If there's no law broken, then leave it the f* alone. Solve serious issues - the war, health-care, education - that is what the Senate does, right?

2. What could he possibly imagine to be on the tapes? I recently threw out some old VHS tapes of my high school sports teams - anything you might want to subpoena there?

3. Obstruction of justice? Are you f*ing kidding me? Ow... my brain hurts.

The NFL has even explained themselves already...

"...the reason for destroying them was 'so that our clubs would know they no longer exist and cannot be used by anyone.'"

The NFL took care of this months ago; too bad the news takes this long to get to Pennsylvania.

1.30.2008

Vampire Weekend

new favorite music. big thanks to 'Meatballs Anonymous' for the album.

soak it up now, because it looks like we'll be hearing plenty of these guys...

In late 2008, after Vampire Weekend has guested on Saturday Night Live, sold out the Theater at Madison Square Garden for nine consecutive nights, and licensed songs for commercials for every product in Apple's lineup, Zach Braff discovers a hip, new underground band called "Vampire Weekend." He adds them to the soundtrack for his new movie, a coming-of-age story about Zach Braff sleeping with whichever currently popular 22-year-old actress is the hottest. He explains in the CD's liner notes: "Their songs sound like Graceland by Paul Simon, another artist with which I am newly familiar." - prediction by stereogum.com


1.11.2008

...

Matt:
:)
<3
:)

that's me loving you.

me: ew.

Sent at 11:22 AM on Friday

cons



also check out "grateful." and "unsigned band."