Pictures from the Polar Plunge 2011

 The Group before the Plunge

 Waiting to enter the water.

 Erik sitting on the wall, as I forgot to remind him to bring footwear.

 The Todd and Ashley

The Todd, his nephew and his nephew's friends

 Ashley and I. (Notice, I don't need a shirt because I am covered in soft brown fur and a protective layer of body fat.)

 After the Plunge!

 Ashley and The Todd as The Situation

 The Todd and Pink Hat Girl

 Ashely and I

 Ashley and Erik

 This guy went all out!  Rockstar!

 Other Plungers!  The woman on the right was instrumental in getting beer for out group!

 From Bill, who was a great bartender under trying circumstances!

 Chadwick and his admirers!  They all did the Plunge.

 We took over the pool table and abused it for our own purposes.

 Erik and I being...wacky

 Hunter S. Thompson with a smirk.

The non-smirking photo is now my Facebook picture.

See the guy in the middle (Holding up the shoes)? That's me.  Erik had issues with my camera.

No, seriously.  Erik had issues with my camera and turned it on the video mode, but you get to see how many people there were and my very hairy chest (plus Erik with a Cheshire Cat smile).  Apologies for there not being any sound.

All of the photos from my camera in all their glory are on Picasa.

The Polar Plunge

Ashley, Erik & I before the Plunge.

It did take two hours for my left foot to regain feeling.

More pictures will be available as soon as I get home.

What a great New Year's Day!

As seen in Colonie

"This is not Vietnam. This is bowling. There are rules."

A Plunge Into The Deep

It is not going to be that cold (High of 47) and the water temperature is going to be just above freezing.

I am, as you can tell, looking forward to the Polar Plunge. I hope that everyone has as awesome a day as I have planned!

I will be taking pictures!

Under a blood red sky...

"I want to be with you...be with you...night & day"

It may be trite and cliché but nothing changes on New Year's Day. (and I am trite and cliché and nothing if not a romantic, right?)

Happy New Year to you all and I hope that your day is fabulous.

Wow, it just hit me how stalktastic this song is...like boom box over the head while wearing a trench coat stalkerific. Not as bad as this, but still.

Here is to a stellar New Year!

Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011!

And I will be toasting to it with this...

Be well and be safe!

My Top Five Blog Posts of the Year

(in terms of page views, you can think what you want about the content, I don't really care. Some posts were great, some were ill advised, and some were...well...phoning it in (somewhat literally) but I stand by them all))

1) The Great Beer Walk Beer and walking. Enough said.

2) Your Facebook Comment Could Not Be Submitted Oddly enough, this post generated the most international traffic.

3) The Album Project which had a surprising number of entries.

4) The Best Worst Food Day Ever because I love awful food, even when I love great food too...I just like food.

5) Just Fun which was Ryan and Dorayne's wedding that I was honored to be a part of.

Thank you to everyone who read this, and there are a good number of you, those who comment, and those who provide fodder for my musings, rants, and apologia, I love doing this and thank you for taking some time to care.

Randomness to end the year

I was able to sleep, eventually, last night, but as I feared, I was plagued with odd dreams.

It seemed like on continuous dream but in it my uncle was back in the hospital because someone fed him a nice meal that happened to disagree with him, and as I was talking with my mother and brother, I ate a piece of chocolate with the metal wrapper still on it. I went looking for a place to spit this out, and I ended up in a conference room. After I had cleared my mouth of the refuse, I spied a large monitor on the wall and decided to watch porn on it. After a little bit of time, a group of people walked in and started talking about various people. It turned out that this was a search committee for a job, and I had interacted with the candidates. I recommended "Chantelle" and then had to leave.

As I said, it was odd.

Yesterday, as TEA and I were discussing Narnia, he brought up reincarnation as well as the possibility of preternatural existence. I was at a loss to point out the flaws in his argument and that disturbed me a little. If these are things he wants to believe in, that's okay, but I still have trouble understanding. It did prompt a conversation about karma and such and I was able to use my standard line regarding this. The universe doesn't care.

But...

It did get this song stuck in my head for the rest of the day.



Which isn't a bad song to end one year and start another.

I have made a couple of resolutions for the upcoming year and the one that I am going to share here is that in my home, I will be a dietary vegan, which isn't that hard to do and I will try to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle out of the home. I will make mistakes, and I won't be a zealot but...I just feel better when I am not consuming animal flesh and that is what is about.

And then there is this from someecards.com...

A Reading Suggestion

As I have written about before, I really enjoy the writing of Charles Stross, even as he can be hit and miss sometimes.

Yesterday, I pick up Wireless.

Again, like most of Stross' work, it is hit or miss, but I have to recommend the novella that starts off the book.

Missle Gap (Full Story available) is a great story about the Cold War in the face of larger changes that relate to Fermi's Paradox.

If you are bored, and want a quick read that will make you think a little, the bagatelle is perfect.

A Tale of Two Films

I saw two films in the theater today.

The first one was at the suggestion of TEA and it was The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It wasn't bad, but the Christian allegory that the entire series is hit full force.

Lucy: Will you visit us in our world?
Aslan: Lucy, I am known by a different name in your world. You knew me briefly here so you could know me better in your world.

TEA and I had a conversation about this on the way home, and he asked what Aslan meant. I went on to ask him about the entire series so far. Aslan is killed, sacrificing himself for his people, yet returns briefly to guide his friends/flock, and then returns to his kingdom. When his supporters arrive at his kingdom, he informs them that only the noble of heart can enter and once one has entered, they can never return to the world.

I asked, "TEA, who does this sound like?"

"Superman."

"No, buddy, not a superhero."

"Is it Jesus?"

This evening, FAU, ECS and I saw True Grit. Before that though, we met up at a corporate chain bar/restaurant (that is known for their baby back baby back baby back baby back ribs) for some beer, conversation, and the end of the Pinstripe Bowl.

The film was great. It is easily one of the best films of the year (and FAU and I talked about how it was easy to say that because this was an awful year for films). It was a well done film, but it did not feel like a Coen Brothers film.

At one point during the film, I did look at my friends and stated, "We should get handguns."

It was (not surprisingly, given the directors and the source material) a darkly funny film and well worth the time spent in the theater.

Is it me or...

Is this vaguely terrifying?




The cold dead eyes staring at you while surrounded by a Tron-esque glow.

Creepy!

Disappointed

Once upon a time, I was excited for New Year's Eve, not because I was planning on doing anything special, but because Snooki was going to be in the center of the "Ball" in Times Square.

Why this excited me? I don't know.

I know some people have issues with her, but I feel that she is the apex of a particular branch of evolution that has been going on for tens of years. She is who she is and there isn't anything wrong with that.

So, when going through Gawker to see what I missed, I almost wept when I read that it wasn't going to happen.

Apparently, according to the site Pop Eater, because MTv didn't ask nicely if they could allow Snooki to do this, Mayor Bloomberg has banned her from Times Square. (Or at least that is how the headline reads, the content of the story is different, but...go with the headline, statistically that's what America reads. (and by America, I mean the Fox News crowd)

So, I stand in solidarity with Snooki (like a modern Lech Walesa) and I will refuse to set foot in Times Square on NYE! Sorry, Ryan Seacreast, you won't have me to pander to.

Mike Doughty at The Linda

Just reminding you that Mike Doughty will be at The Linda tonight. You should go. I should go. Hopefully I can convince ECS and FAU to go.

Probably not.

Some of you do not remember Soul Coughing but you should attempt to "reremember" them and to give Doughty a chance.

And I had almost given up on it...

I slept like a normal human being. I went to bed at 11:00 and I slept through to seven. I dreamed pleasant dreams about pleasant things, and apart from being sore from Habitat, I feel great.

After the past two weeks or so, I had given up on normal sleep patterns. I even asked Teacher Dave if he thought I had turned into a old because of the bizarre patterns.

Maybe this is anomalous (as my dataset is far too small to draw any conclusions) but I am hopeful.

Wait...not hopeful...I am just well rested.

Yesterday was tough. Around 1:30, I started getting the chills that I always associate with being overtired. That feeling akin t your body asking you, "Hey men, what do you think you are doing to me?", but I was able to soldier on.

Welcome back sleep, you were missed.

Follow-up on the products I knew nothing about...

A few days ago, I mentioned that there were products being advertised that I knew nothing about.

Now, I am putzing around the house (and I won't go back to sleep, I have learned my lesson after last week) and I saw the commercial for the Pos-T-Vac but this time, I paid attention to the music playing in the background (well, it was what made me concentrate on the commercial in the first place, as I had my focus elsewhere).

Guess what it was, folks?

What clichéd song do you think was being used for this product?

Yep, you guessed it...



"Whatever gets you through the night"

Now, when choosing this song, do you think the commercial director took into account the lyric "You don't need a sword to cut through flowers"?

Just askin' is all.

For the record, I used the Anthology version because I posted the album version a couple of weeks ago and I hate the repetition.

And I am wide awake

Another day, another watching to clock turn to 4 am from the old person side (and not the good alcoholic side).

At least I am not worried about the state of geek culture like Patton Oswalt (whom I love, I really do, but...this? Really, bro?) and how we are turning into a sated commercial culture.  I am happily aware of the irony here, as Oswalt has a reoccurring role on Caprica which is never going to be completed.  Yes, I know how it ends (that's the beauty of a prequel) but the journey is the enjoyable part. For all of Oswalt's complaints about the weak Otaku of new consumer culture, his sin in thinking that it is a cultural movement.

Maybe this is because we are of a similar generation.  FAU and I were talking about how our children are growing up in an on-demand world and we were able to laugh about it.

Oswalt thinks that this is not a laughing matter though.

Maybe the Millennials are weak otaku or sated consumers, and maybe no good art will come out of their generation (I know that the music that they are making for the most part annoys the crap out of me.) but the following generation has an ability for cultural obsession and completeness that scares me with awesomeness.

TEA and his folks will be proud geeks, Patton.  You have nothing to worry about.

Randomness on a Tuesday Night

• I wish that I had an extra $2000 so I could go away this weekend.
• I am not looking forward to doing Habitat tomorrow with the snow and the wind and the cold.
• In some of my plans, I am seeing three films in the next three days.  Two of these films I do want to see, the other one TEA wants to see.  I do wish there was an overlap.
• Another plan has me doing the Polar Plunge on Saturday, which I had been looking forward to, but...I don't know where it stands right now.
• The design for my new tattoo has been presented to a couple of friends.  We all have some issues with it but no one can come up with alternatives to the fundamental issue.  If you would like to see, let me know and I will send it your way.  There are some caveats to this.

It just snuck into my head

Jason Isbell's Chicago Promenade

Thanks, DP. This reminds me of Christmas week from a couple of years ago, and some wonderful memories.

I lost a friend, it felt like five
A man who wouldn't compromise
I'll think of him on New Year's Day
And do the Chicago promenade


Speaking of sensitive indie rock, anyone want to see Mike Doughty at the Linda on Thursday?

I always wondered about that...

College Humor has provided an updated "Summer Nights" that portrays the relationships are they really were.

Think about it, "...did she put up a fight?"

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Via Vulture

Kicks Rock

I would love it if someone missed me this "badly".

(Yes, I know it is completely awful and not a laughing matter, but...I laughed.)
Via someecards.com

The Best Pop Songs of 2010 in Three Minutes

Some of it is in German. Is that correct? I, thankfully, wasn't subjected to this type of pop music all that often

Via Gawker.TV

Here is my chance

A friend of my just texted me, asking what I was doing tonight and where he could find women of well...questionable morality.

Now, I am always up for a night out (and thanks to the knowledge I have gleaned from "The Situation", I know how some women think) but I do not know where to go.

(Honestly, I have been awake for six hours already, I would rather stay in and be in bed at 9, forgoing the whole experiment)

So, where would you go on this search? Any suggestions?

What did I do to deserve this?

Lookie at the e-mail I just got?

One of the "Free Gifts" is a $250 gift card to...where?

You guessed it!

The Olive Garden!

Now, I have eaten in an Olive Garden twice, both were "hey, were are going out to lunch" functions and my voice was shouted down. It's not that the food is bad. It isn't bad. It isn't awful (which is the word I wanted to use, but hyperbole seems...silly. We are talking about Olive Garden.) but it isn't great. It is prepackaged faux Italian food from Orlando and developed by the original food minds at General Mills.

I know people who love Olive Garden. I also know people who think that Pizza Hut/Domino's/Little Caesar's is pizza and the people of Albany, who self select for this poll, believe that Olive Garden is one of the best Italian restaurants in the region, so...maybe I am the one who is mistaken?

No, I am not.

The Greatest Thing Ever

So, on Saturday, I wrote about/complained about some of the random things that my brother and sister got me for Christmas.

I would like to report on two of them.

First of all, I lost forty IQ points reading "Here's the Situation". I am not kidding. Yes, he has great abs, and I am jealous of them. However, he is so much more worse than the douchebag he portrays himself as on Jersey Shore and my favorite part of the book was telling me how to get a share house on one of those overcrowded mid-Atlantic beaches which is my version of...well...Hell. Most public beaches are. I like quiet and remote and, well...private. Yeah, and between telling me how I should vacation and how I should try to pick up the vacuous bimbos that he enjoys.

I told you that I was dumber because of this.

Which may be the reason that I am sharing this...

The Mangroomer is frakin' AWESOME! It is easy to use, works well, and more to the point, it left back clean and clear in under ten minutes and I was able to do it all by myself.

The Situation will be using this as he gets older. (Who am I kidding? He will go to the salon to have to done.)

The Wiki Way

Grubba the hut was played by Gus Grubba who now lives with his wife and children in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gus isn't proud of his role as this sketchy character but enjoys collecting the royalties from playing a famous gastropod. Ironically, one of Gus Grubba's sons collects gastropods. He's really wierd.

This is courtesy of Wikipedia.

Now, I think it is kind of funny, but I e-mailed Mr. Grubba the other day because...well...wouldn't you want to know when crap was being said about you on the internet? (Especially when your thing is Fine Art Photography?)

Awesome shot of the snopocalypse of 2010 from Manhattan

Looking south on Park Ave from 56th street to Grand Central, 11am.

Image and commentary via the Notorious L.U.X.

Like a John Waite Song

Things that I miss…
I was thinking about this on Christmas morning. As a lot of things have changed in my life in the past year, I realized that I missed some of the changes while I loved other changes.

I miss my dog.
I miss my big television.
I miss my old neighborhood and neighbors.
I miss my dad living in the northeast.
I miss having a Starbucks within walking distance.
I miss city sponsored WiFi being available almost everywhere.
I miss not having cable.
I miss my shower and showerhead.
I miss being able to walk everywhere.
I miss my kitchen and having friends who love my food.

And the snowpocalypse is over

And the sun is out...the sky is blue and the landscape is white.

Awesome, no?

Where is the Heat Miser when you need him?

How are you doing this morning, world?

Are you surviving the snowpocalypse? (I will admit that I have been out to play in it twice already because…Hell, it is fun…it also made me miss Curly all the more) I love how it makes the surrounding countryside look though I do feel for my friends who are stuck on the east coast with their *gasp* families until the airports figure everything out.

One of the reasons I have been able to go how and play twice in the snow is because I have been up since 3:00. Not just was I up, but I was wide awake. That clear headed awake that you only expect from fighter pilots.

Why? I have no clue. Though, I was assuming it was a lot closer to 6:30 when I got dressed to enjoy the weather and was surprised when the clock in the living room flashed 3:21 at me.

I do hope that my sleep patterns are able to return to normal…like today.

(As a housekeeping thing, my iPhone is being really weird. Please do not expect an immediate response from me.)

Bald is beautiful

Yesterday, my nephew (who is eight and on occasion, more than a colossal PITA) tried to burn me by making fun of my bald head.

Someone slightly more mature tried something like that last month as well.

I like being bald. More to the point, I like the ritual behind depilatory behavior. I mean, when I have time, I like most aspects of shaving, and with my head, there is little difference. (Well, with the top of my head, I will not use this on my face.)

I wrote about this many years ago on my LiveJournal and to some people, it came across that I was fetishizing shaving, but, it isn't that.

I derive no sexual satisfaction from it, for the record.

I had breakfast on Friday morning with someone who has wonderfully curly hair but she also has to spend a lot of time maintaining it.

With my hair, I have nothing to worry about but wiping a wet rag and then shaking my head until it is dry.

The only thing that I would complain about (and that people with hair do not really understand) is that my head is really cold on the day it is cropped. How cold? It is so cold that I have been known to sleep with a hat on during the summer.

So, here is my suggestion for the New Year...

Love the bald people in your life and appreciate how great their (lack of) hair looks.

Products I Never Knew About

I am watching a downmarket cable channel because they are running a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon and face it, I love Buffy, but there are a lot of bad commercials, including the Jason Alexander ASPCA commercial (which is bad for completely different reasons) and I have learned about a lot of new and interesting products.

1) Pajama Jeans

2) Stem Cell Skin Cream

3) The Love Calculator from Jamster

and my favorite...

4) Pos-T-Vac

Honorable Mention goes to Stelara because one of the warnings is "MAY INCREASE YOUR RISK OF CANCER" because clearer skin is worth cancer.

P.T. Barnum was correct.