April 7 WORDLE

I had a long day. I worked for 16 hours. Every job I had today blew up in my face. Nothing but aggravation from the start of the day. I couldn't get off early to go to the Chicago White Sox home opener. I had to give away my ticket to Nick so it didn't go to waste. I missed the first episode of my favorite show, Rescue Me. So I didn't have time to update this blog. So besides me bitching about my day, all I can offer is a website that doesn't do much except generate a "wordcloud", try this website, WORDLE. Here's today's blog as a WORDLE.

April 6 My Italian Grandmother

This is my Italian Grandmother, Maria, obviously long before she became a grandmother. The reason she is on my mind today is because my cousin, DeDe found her name on an unclaimed property website for the State of Maryland. After searching the site and downloading a form which required that I describe the property that no one in my family knew anything about it. I e-mailed the State of Maryland. I got a quick reply advising me to call Mr. Smith because he handles safe deposit boxes. I call Mr. Smith who told me that the state received personal belongings from a state hospital for the mentally ill that belonged to a Mary Hynes. The state sold that property in 1991 at auction for $55. Since my grandmother was never in that hospital, it must be someone else. But at least it got me thinking about my grandmother. Sometimes we forget about those that have passed on but she is remembered every time I have Italian food. So three or four times a week I think about her.

April 5 Palm Sunday

While out on an emergency call today for a hit pump, I passed a Baptist Church on the South Side of Chicago. The crowd was African -American and dressed to the nines. Most of the worshipers were carry palm fronds. Now at this point I have to admit something that may be painfully obvious to you, I do not know much about religion. I was baptized Catholic. That's the extent of my religious training. Unless listening to the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack so many times that I can sing every song counts as religious training. Back to my story, so it dawns on me that today must be Palm Sunday. Ok, what is the significance of Palm Sunday. I have no idea. It isn't mentioned in any of the songs in JCS. So when I got home I googled Palm Sunday. Here's what I found on a site called Christian Resources:

In fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 62:11 & Zechariah 9:9), Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds lined the street shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Psalm 118:25-26) They placed palm branches and robes in front of Jesus. This was particularly disturbing to the religious leaders who were jealous of Jesus. They demanded that Jesus silence the crowd, but he responded that even if the crowd were silent, the stones would cry out. The events of the next week would forever change the world. Jesus entered Jerusalem and the crowd welcomed him as a king. By the end of the week they were demanding his death. His followers abandoned him in fear. None of his close followers had really understood the events of Palm Sunday and Holy Week until after Jesus returned. They had all expected Jesus to be an earthly king, but God had given them something so much better - an open door into a Kingdom that would never end.

So now I know about Palm Sunday. It turns out that certain events were in JCS because there is a line when Jesus sings "If every tongue was still the noise would still continue, the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing". So I did know something about Palm Sunday. It occurred to me, that nothing changes over time in this world. The power brokers were afraid of how powerful Jesus had become so they turned the crowd against him and the sheep like followers believe the leaders crap and turn against the man trying to help free them from oppression. Is their really any hope this will ever change? For those waiting for Jesus to return, trust me, he's in no hurry to try again.

April 4 My Name Is Prince and I Am Funky

Actually my name isn't Prince and I am not funky.(see April 3 picture for example) But I am a big fan of the strange but extremely talented artist sometimes known as Prince. He is arguably one of the best musicians of the past 30 years. I think he is an amazing songwriter and guitar player. Stop rolling your eyes, I am not a Prince sycophant. I'll admit he has released some crap over the years and his concerts are frustratingly inconsistent. But when he is on his game, nobody is better. Sexy love songs, just plain sexy songs, funk, soul, guitar jams, pure pop songs, he can and has done them all to perfection. I listened to Prince's new CD today. He released a 3 CD set, LotusFlower and MPLSOUND are his discs. There is a third disc from his new protégé, Bria Valente. (I haven't played it yet). The Prince discs sound good. On a quick listen there are a few good jams, but this isn't a review of his new discs. It is about his proclamation on one of the songs that "I can't stand nobody cussing now that I'm clean". WHAT!!!! This from the man who wrote the following lyrics:

And U said - "I'm just a virgin and I'm on my way 2 be wed
But U're such a hunk so full of spunk, I'll give U..."
Head till U're burnin' up
Head till U get enough
Head till U're love is red
Head - love U till U're dead

In my daddy's car
It's U I really wanna drive

U let all my friends come over and eat
And U were so strange
U didn't have the decency 2 change the sheets

Do me, baby, like U never done before
Ooh, give it 2 me 'til I just can't take no more

If your man ain't no good
Come on over 2 my neighborhood
We can jump in the sack and I'll jack U off

Girl, U got an ass like I never seen, ow!
And the ride...
I say the ride is so smooth, U must be a limousine

I guess I must be dumb cuz U had a pocket full of horses
Trojan and some of them used

I guess I should've closed my eyes when U drove me 2 the place
Where your horses run free
Cuz I felt a little ill when I saw all the pictures
Of the jockeys that were there before me

I knew a girl named Nikki, I guess U could say she was a sex fiend
I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine

Your face is jammin', your body's heck-a-slammin'
If your love is good, let's get 2 rammin' ... now

If I was your girlfriend, would U tell me?
Would U let me see U naked then?
Would U let me give U a bath?
Would U let me tickle U so hard U'd laugh and laugh
And would U, would U let me kiss U there
U know, down there where it counts
I'll do it so good, I swear I'll drink every ounce

Scope this, I was just thinkin'
U + me, what a ride
If u was thinkin' the same
We could continue outside (Gett off)
Lay your pretty body against a parkin' meter
Strip your dress down
Like I was strippin' a Peter Paul's Almond Joy
Lemme show u baby I'm a talented boy

Gett off - 23 positions in a 1 night stand
Gett off - I'll only call u after if u say I can

Gett off - let a woman be a woman and a man be a man
Gett off - I u want 2 baby here I am (Here I am)

The syncopated rhymes are at their peak
When you jumped on my D.I.C.K.

Come here baby, yeah
U sexy motherfucker
Come here baby, yeah
U sexy motherfucker

She was pure, every ounce
I was sure when her titties bounced
Every way she's a winner
Turn a gay preacher 2 a sinner
No one U want your mama meet
She's a peach

She can make U shoot your ego all over her sheets
All is hers in love and war, my little Scarlet Pussy

Fuck so pretty, U and me

Erotic City come alive
We could fuck until the dawn
Makin' love 'til cherry's gone
Erotic City, can't U see?
Fuck so pretty, U and me

Pussy got bank in her pockets
Before she got dick in her drawers
If brother didn't have good and plenty of his own
In love Pussy never did fall

I just wanna holler, scream, and shout
When U let your fingers do the walkin' in and out and all about

So excuse me, Mr. Clean Prince. It was lyrics like these that made me a fan. Sorry you decided it was wrong to write these songs, but I still love them. Does that make me less of a fan? Who knows. But the new songs do sound good. I would say this is good Prince and worth buying, even if you have to get it from Target. I could goof on Hypocrite Prince for conspiring with a big corporation but that's another blog all together and I have to go to bed.

April 3 Fish & Chips

It was hardly an exciting day. I did finish a week of training for the Gilbarco Passport computer. It is used at gas stations to control the pumps and sell merchandise in the store. I am now certified to install & repair it. So to celebrate this momentous occasion in my life, we went to a local Irish bar, Shannons Landing. I had fish & chips and washed them down with a Harps Lager. Afterwards we had ice cream at Gayetys. That my friends was my exciting night until I got paged out at 10:30pm. I took Oslo on the call with me. I tied him to the bumper (after I got there, not on the way) and he just chilled while I worked. We got back around 3am and he must have been as tired as me because he didn't wake up until my pager went off at 10:30am. Jesus this is boring to me and I lived it. That is all for today.

April 2 Someone You Should Know

muckraker - an individual who seeks to expose or reveal the real or apparent corruption of businesses or governments to the public.
I do not feel sorry for the demise of our countries newspapers. They have let us down over the past 20 years. The reading public has to accept some blame. Americans got lazy. They didn't want to read about real news. They wanted to read about Paris, Britney, Brad and whoever else was a hot topic for 15 minutes. Newspapers gave Americans what they craved. Meanwhile, our government and big corporations destroyed our country. And we let it happen while sitting on our couches watching reality TV. About 100 years ago, big corporations with the help of our government were attempting to ruin our country. But the newspaper writers known as muckrakers reported their misdeeds on a daily basis until the public outcry brought about changes that improved the lives of all Americans. I've been reading Matt Taibbi's articles for the past 7 years. He is definitely a muckraker. His latest article for Rolling Stone is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how America's economy fell apart. Please read this article, it names the motherless humps responsible for fucking us without so much as a hug or a kiss. Here's an article from 1999 that predicts what will happen when the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was about to be gutted by Clinton and the Republican Congress. Maybe if we had more people writing like this or more people actually paying attention, things would be different. If you truly love your country, then start paying attention. This is not a test. The revolution starts now...

April 1 How I Envisioned It

Since I started this blog, I've had trouble deciding what creative direction I should take it. If you've been reading this blog, you've probably noticed. I've read a lot of blogs, especially ones written about New York City. It seems to me there are proportionately more artistic people in that city than any other in the country. Just an observation on my part. When I first thought of doing this blog, I envisioned it being like "My NYC In Color" . Today has a "Being Alone" article I really enjoyed. I know whenever I'm in NYC that I get recharged by the energy I feel walking the streets. It really is like no place else I've ever visited. So what exactly gives the city it's energy. Maybe it is the people that decide to call NYC home.
You can be yourself in New York City. Only the tourists stare, real New Yorkers have seen it all and could care less about how you look. Maybe it is the diversity of the city. I read somewhere that Queens County which is really the borough of Queens is the most diverse county in the US. It has more nationalities represented there than anywhere on Earth. When NYC was trying to get the 2012 Olympics there were ads on the subway that said "If New York gets the Olympics, everyone will have home field advantage."

I love the old buildings. The history of each building can be incredible. We took a tour of an old tenement through the Tenement Museum. We were told that over 7000 people lived in that building during the 70 years it was for rent. That one building alone has an incredible number of stories in it. Even though the city has lost many old buildings over the years, the downtown area still has the highest concentration of them. The Fulton Street Fish Market maybe be gone, but the old warehouses across the street still have businesses related to the fish market. If you look in the window, you can see the Brooklyn Bridge reflected in it.
But when something is taken away, this city always finds something to replace it. A group of food artisans is trying to get the city to make the old Fulton St. Fish Market into a green or locally produced food market. I read about the group and decided to help their cause by stopping by a one day event they held to show the city that the market could be viable. Each baker, cheese artisan, butcher, fisherman has to work their booth. We sampled truly great tasting food and talked to some amazing people that day. If you have only shopped at your local supermarket, find a green market in your area. Your dinners will never be the same.
So maybe NYC is great because of the food. The dirty water hot dogs the vendors sell may be a local joke. But the trip to the bottom of Brooklyn is worth it just to eat at Coney Island's Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs.
All these pictures were taken last summer. We just walked around the city each day. No real plans. Take the subway, get off somewhere and walk the streets. No matter where you go, you find something interesting, something good to eat and something to buy. There are street vendors everywhere. Sure some sell crap, but in a city full of artists, you can find something unique.
Even though corporate and chain stores are taking over the city, we still find "Old School" places like Economy Candy on the Lower East Side.
Now some of you may be saying "this looks like a place I would visit except for one thing, it's full of New Yorkers." Of course New Yorkers have a certain reputation for rudeness. It is unfounded. It is just that New Yorkers love to give their opinions and they do not sugar coat them. You call it rude, I call it honesty. When you are done talking with a New Yorker, you will not have to guess what he meant by that. Here's an example.
I love this city for all these reasons and more. But the biggest reason is probably for the memories. I still visit a lot of the places my German Grandfather took me as a child. Coney Island, Times Square, the Empire State Building, Rockaway Beach, Central Park, the Bronx Zoo, Battery Park, the Staten Island Ferry, Chinatown and Little Italy. Of course some places no longer exist like Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Rockaway Playland and the Twin Towers. My favorite place might be the stoop of his apartment. On our last visit, the landlord had put a fence around the stoop to keep people off of it.
Hey FUCK HIM. I'm a New Yorker too!