Shadow Shot Sunday - Sept 27 2009

Fire Island Lighthouse - New York

Never Forget

God Bless America

SkyWatch Friday - July 10 2009

God's fireworks takes a bow so that we may enjoy America's fireworks

--- July 4th 2009 - Jones Beach, NY ---

The TicketMaster random Roulette Wheel technique

And so the saga continues ...

10am SHARP at TicketMaster.com ... tix to a show that I really want to attend go onsale ........ it makes no difference who the act might be, its the same roulette game for any given show

For the first 10 minutes all junk is popping up, lots of section 104's, then 103's, then 102's ... ut oh, this thing is getting worse and worse and going further back than where it started ... a bad sign ... But kept at it, spinning the wheel time and time again ... floor section 3, then 6, then back to 127-126 or thereabouts .. don't want anything less than center arena so nixed all of 'em .. it ain't looking too good right now, oh well ....

Suddenly another spin of the wheel drops a section 232 on my screen .... hmmmmm ... getting better but still way too high upstairs ... nixed that one ... More spins and its back to 102, 103, 127 again, with an occasional floor 6 or 4 popping up in the meantime ... it is now approx 10:20am or so, time is running out .... UGGHHHHH !

More spins of the roulette wheel ........

Then a 121 shows up ... almost perfect location, a bit high but not too bad, so grabbed a pair in 121 :)

Satisfied that I'm now *in* with good seats, kept on spinning the wheel just for amusement to see where it might go .... good move ..... a few more spins and its back to the back, 102-104-127 with the occasional floor 1-3-4-6 thrown in for good measure ... another eye popping 121 set, and a few opposite 109's ... tried for a single seat and 110 and 120 pop up

Then an amazing thing happened ... next spin (for a pair) pulls up section 8, row 21 ... thats FRONT CENTER ORCHESTRA folks !!!

Needless to say, GRABBED that pair immediately! (of course after checking that my eyes weren't deceiving and that they were in fact 21st row center)

Now I gots 2 sets of 2 tix, both in prime locations ... I'm happy, Life is Good :)

Cheers,
MM

Dark Side of the Wizard of Oz
---------------------------------------------------------

OK, I’d been reading and hearing about this thing for several decades now, but never actually tried it out myself to see if there was any veracity to it or if it was just simply the psychotic musings of some stoned out, LSD flashback, post-60’s hippy who happened to turn the sound off on their TV watching “Wizard of Oz” while listening to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”.

Apparently the theory goes that if one starts viewing “Wizard of Oz” at the same time as starting “Dark Side of the Moon”, they seem to be in sync with each other … DSOTM providing a dynamic ’soundtrack’ to the visual action in WOZ ………

Well, some schmuck actually synchronized them on audio/video and uploaded the series to YouTube :)

So now we get our answer … view at your own peril …. /laughs


Dark Side of the Oz - part one

Dark Side of the Oz - part two

Dark Side of the Oz - part three

Dark Side of the Oz - part four

Dark Side of the Oz - part five

Dark Side of the Oz - part six

Dark Side of the Oz - part seven


I found some of these mostly amusing, especially starting at the 3rd clip, when Dorothy is running away from the approaching tornado, and at the 6th clip when Dorothy is at the yellow brick crossroads and meets the scarecrow ... It really does seem to be synchronized somewhat :)

If anything, ya get to hear the magnificent Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, as well as viewing the first half of an equally magnificent Wizard of Oz movie … what could be better than that?

Enjoy,
MM

Islanders Over and Out .....



5 games they lasted! WHOH!

Well, at least they made the playoffs and all were fairly close games, and I got my T-Shirt :) What more could a long suffering Islander fan ask for?


MM

My T-Shirt (and wallpaper) For This Week Only - - -

..... for the next week, that is ... until the Buffalo Sabres rip my Islanders limb from limb in 3 straight games ... but until then:

Lets GO ISLANDERS !!!

MM

Howsy Ya's!

Long time, no bologing ... but not to fear, brave readers, for today TT&T moves on ... moves on to more T's and T's then ya's ever known to hope for. Yep, the T is back, and if it isn't back then it's sideways or diagonal or whatever ....

Got an email recently in the spirit of "You Might Be A Redneck" of sorts, only it was about Long Islanders, and while I don't know much about rednecks, I do know plenty about Long Island. Here below I share some of the points of the email (in blue) with my responses (in black)


LONG ISLAND


You live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world, but you almost never go there.

Not true! I go there at *least* twice a year! I even carry a MetroCard (expired) to prove it!


When you're away from Long Island , you love it and when you're there, you don't.

Must be a Freudian thing ......


You think if you're not from Long Island or NYC, you're not really from New York .

Is there any other place?


You know the exact point at which Queens turns into Nassau simply on intuition.


I had a pre-perception that you were gonna say that ...


You don't go to Manhattan , you go to "The City".


Isn't that the whole idea?


You never realize you have an accent till you leave.

Wot're ya tawkin abot, accent? I ain't got nose 'accent', it's YOU'SE whose gots da accent!


Everything north of the Bronx is "upstate." New Jersey sucks.

Thats the first rational thing thats been stated in this questionaire.


At some point in your life you've gone clamming.

Clams? Only on the half-shell, or pryed open and eaten raw ... then I get sick, peuk 'em all out, and go back to eat some more ...


Either your parents or your grandparents lived in the city.

Yep.


You'd pay $11.50 for a movie.

Why? When beloved Cablevision can charge $100/month to view the same crap movies only months after their release?


You don't live in Long Island . You live ON Long Island .

Semantic Gymnastics, blah blah blah ......


Your distant future might involve the state of Florida .

I'd heard that they got some nasty type grass to mow in Florida, so thick that ya need a machete to cut thru the damn stuff ...


You can correctly pronounce places like Ronkonkoma , Hauppauge, Wantagh , Mineola , Islandia, Massapequa .

Dat's EASY! Ron-kon-ko-ma, Haw-paw-g, Wan-taw, Min-e-ola, I-land-e-a, Mass-a-pee-qua. But you left off Quogue and Smithtown, two of the more difficult to pronounce towns in Long Island, not to mention Riverhead which is also a toughie to pronounce, as well as Oceanside ...... sheesh!


You know the location of 6 malls and a dozen McDonalds and 36 7-11's.

It's a dirty lie! I only know the location of 22 7-11's!


You never, ever want to "change at Jamaica..."

Perish the thought!


You've tried to find the Amityville Horror house.

Been there, done that. /shrug


No, you don't want mustard on that burger!!

YIKES!


You can't understand why a diner would ever close.

What for? Did they run out of eggs and pancakes?


You've had a seagull crap on your car.

Yeah, and if I ever catch the bird that did it then I'm a gonna .....


You have or someone you know has fallen asleep on the LIRR and ended up in one of these three places; Babylon , Port Washington or Hicksville .

Well, there's always Artie's Taxi if that happens ...


You went to an elementary school that promoted dodge ball as the number 1 game among children 7-13.

Funny how it never became a National Sport, ehhh?


You know White Castle is terrible for you and the food sucks but you periodically "Get the Crave".

Then regettably throw up, and come back for more the next time


You want the Yankees to stay in the Bronx , but would probably go to more games if they moved to Manhattan .

Whoh! Don't mess wit da Yankees!


You think that somehow, the Jets and Giants still play in New York .

Well, I never gave high intelligence quotient marks to football fans anyways


You've missed that "Drunk Train", the 2:42 out of Penn and had the dreaded wait until 5:30 .

That was YOU sprawled out on the floor by track 17?

You or someone you know has owned an animal that came from North Shore Animal League.

Some of the *best* pets :) I recommend North Shore Animal League wholeheartedly :)


Quick! Who's your county Executive? Don't know do you?!

Ummmmm, some Democrat, if I recall correctly .....


You've never taken an MTA bus.

What for?


The Long Island Expressway isn't really as bad as everybody thinks.

Yes it is. However, compared to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Cross-Bronx Expressway, the LIE is a cakewalk .......


You don't associate Fire Island with gay men.

Huh?


You know which parts of the Godfather were filmed on Long Island .

I've taken an oath of Omerta not to say


You've paid a $10 cover charge to get in to a bar, but got nothing for it.

Yep. All the chicks rejected me, must've been the white 3-piece disco suit I was wearing at the time


You miss wiffle ball and running through sprinklers.

Ahhhh, the good ol' days :)


You think Islip MacArthur airport is cute and you enjoy watching it grow up.

Huh? Didn't know that it was still a child


Billy Joel said it best, "either you date a rich girl from The North Shore, or a cool girl from the South Shore ".

Done both :)


You don't really see the big deal about the Hamptons , unless you got smashed at the Bordy Barn.

Big deal, who cares.


When people ask "where are you from?" you answer Long Guy Land and automatically assume everyone in the world knows that answer means New York .

It doesn't?


You've always liked Billy Joel and you own several of his "records."

da BEST ... EVER !


The Belt Parkway sucks! You've been stuck in a traffic jam for more than 2 hours (without moving).

Another truism. Likewise its feeder vein, the Southern State Parkway, which has a traffic jam anytime day or night, 24/7


Your parents took you to All American, Nathan's or Carvel (on the way home from the beach).

Tom Carvel. May he rest in peace, a great man :)


Regular gas - $3.29 and you still pay it!!!

What'm I supposed to do, walk ?


You hate paying tolls.

To fund the MTA so that they can keep subway fares at $2, which is a bargain? While subway riders whine and scream whenever the city proposes an increase? Yep, you bet I hate bridge and tunnel tolls.


You don't have to go far to see your family.

Just upstairs.


You remember Grumman.

Long Island wouldn't be Long Island without Grumman, or Fairchild for that matter. Some great aviation work occured on Long Island in the last century, from Lindburgh's trans-Atlantic departure at Roosevelt Field (which is now a Mall), to the construction of the LEM module landing on the moon, Long Island has a rich heritage in aviation history.


You've gotten drunk on the bleachers of some high school.

No, it was prolly from smoking dope

You know the color of the water at Jones Beach is not BLUE!

However, the water is still salty


You were upset when all the Roy Rogers turned into Wendy's and Arby's closed for good.

Those BASTARDS! Arby's deluxe Roast Beef sandwich was the BEST! I miss Jack-In-The-Box tacos too :(


You can spout off all the LIRR stops between Penn Station and Ronkonkoma .

Hmmmmmm, lemme try: Woodside, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, Hillside yards, New Hyde Park, Mineola, Carle Place, Westbury, Hicksville, Bethpage, Farmingdale, Wyandanch, Deer Park, Brentwood, Central Islip, Ronkonkoma ....... prolly missed a few as I'm usually catching some ZZZZZ's on the train and not paying attention


Paying $35 for a haircut doesn't sound so crazy.

It's insane.


You think the people from Brooklyn are "da wunz dat tawk wit a accent."

Whadda ya mean by dat?


You went sledding in the sumps. You've partied on a golf course in the middle of the night.

Ahhh yes, the wonderful Sumps and Golf Courses :)


You knew of Massapequa before the Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco nightmare.

I'm still embarrassed to even acknowledge any of that happened here


You think going to Queens is a hike.

Huh?


The first time you heard the term "Long Island Iced Tea" you were somewhere else and you laughed.

Ignorance is bliss, ehhh ? :)


When you live somewhere else and are astounded to see that people actually stop at yellow lights.

Actually I'm astounded when a NY'er stops for a RED light!


When you just sort of presume that wherever you live, you'll be able to find good delis, good pizza, and good bagels.

A dumb assumption, I know. The BEST pizza can be found at some little hole in the wall on some sidestreet where the baker is just off the boat from Italy and can't even speak English that well. You say: "Gimme a slice" and he dutifully slides one into the oven ... 3 minutes later there it is on a paper plate, a delectible masterpiece :) Can't beat NY pizza, just can't.


You can name at least three bands that came from Long Island .

I can name at least 4 ... does this disqualify me?


When you walk in the city and you see two men holding hands...it becomes normal to you.

No it doesn't


No word ends in an ER, just an AH.

Waddah yah mean?


You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Long Island

I have no friends from Long Island ... except you, of course :)

---

Empire State Building Parachute Jump Attempt a No Go


Despite elaborate preparation and success in getting his equipment thru building security and up to the 86th floor observatory, a parachutist yesterday had his stunt foiled moments before taking a plunge down to 34th street by quick acting security personnel and cops.

J. Ray Corliss IV had scaled the high inwardly curved safety fence in what witness' described as 'a single bound' and was ready to go when a burly security guard reached thru the fence and clamped his arms around one of the jumpers ankles, holding it tightly against the fence and preventing Corliss from completing his stunt.
Would-Be Empire State Jumper Foiled

It wouldn't be the first time that a daredevil had attempted such a stunt on a NYC skyscraper, but in this post 9/11 city ... sadly ... such feats no longer capture the imagination like they used to.

Although two past ones readily come to mind .......

The first occurred in 1974, when the (then) new World Trade Center towers were still getting their finishing touches. Tightrope walker, Philippe Petit, serreptitiously strung a cable between the two towers and walked/danced between them .... to the delight of the gathering crowds below, and even amusing some of the cops who were called in to "save this guy from killing himself".

The second occurred 3 years later, when 'human-fly' George Willig climbed the sheer vertical of the south tower from street level up to the very top! An experienced rock-climber, Willig utilized a special clamp which he designed himself ... tested and refined it on the tower in the dark of night during 'trial runs' ... before going for the big time climb on the morning of May 26 1977.

Unfortunately in this post 9/11 world, such stunts as Petit's and Willig's could probably never happen again, although Corliss came pretty darned close yesterday ... but back then in the 70's it brought a kinda whimsical wonderment and delight to a city (and Nation) which at the time was in the throes of being percieved as 'in decline', 'crime ridden', and 'ungovernable' .... Messers Petit and Willig changed all that perception (at least for a NY minute or two) with their respective daring acts :)

Here is a great link to some pictures of Petit's high-flying act and how he done it (!), as well as his own words on the Twin Tower's destruction



And of course I couldn't leave out the very first NYC skyscraper daredevil stunt ever captured on film!!! ....

Here's to the crazed free souls who chase a dream and make it happen ... brightening our dreary day-to-day lives and putting a smile on our faces :)

Cheers ta Ya Daredevils .........


MM

Bolog'ing In The 18th Century

What is it that makes a good bolog? I dunno. Perhaps it may be the addionton of crisp iceburg lettuce, tomatoe, swiss cheeis pet, and mustatrd (spicy brown - golden yellow - or sharp Dijon). Surly some red onion slipces and whole wheat breat play a big part too ... but I digress ...



In the annuals of history, nowadays is the first time in today that the everyday peplole can spread their bolog recipies to all four cornters of the Earth .. even those who continue to insist against all odds that hte Earth is almjost round !!!

This would not have occured had not Benjamin Franklin flew that 'kite-with-the-key-in-the-snowstorm' thingie ("Jolt on a Rope" ?), and hence invented electorialicity, althought ol' Benj never got electoriated much to anything (they're prolly still out there counting chads!)

Additionally, Benj invented a seris of printed bolog's during the mid-to-late-early-mid 1700's, and then went on to invent a way for prople to read them via the then unheard of development of bi-focus lenses ... allowing even the casual reader to multitask while keeping an eye on the kids at the same time.

So's in a nutsheel, lest's put 2 + 2 together and we find that not only did Benjamin Franklin invent these three important technical advances in bolologing, but that he aslo (as we all fondly remember him by) helpt spur a revolution in allowing those bologer's to florist in a free society.





We have much to be thankful for from this great American!

OK, here we are doing the blogging thingie .. with no net to catch ya if ya fall. A real tightrope highwire act, ehh ?

In a quick nutshell, this bolog will be all about misspeelings and other mindless nonesense in a lame attempt to amuse and perhaps ejucate somewheat about worldly or extratextual matters which have absolutely no use in reality based applications. So sit back and engoy .......

Fro now, have fun with the Test Pattern: