she’s not retarded.

June 22, 2007

hell.jpg

i’ll see you there.

last week my friend ana regaled me with a story about some guy she dated who had a speech impediment. now… i LOVE stories that include damaged humans. you know an amputee? i’m spellbound. friends with a stutterer? i’m intrigued. acquainted with a midget? i’ll fucken giggle like a japanese schoolgirl. and while ana’s story was entertaining, the whole tale conjured an anecdote of my own that i would like to share.

like so many of my sketchy recollections, this story takes place in college. my fraternity was scheduled to throw a party with a sorority down the street (which was renowned for its uglies). i’m not sure why – perhaps so that hard up fellows like myself would get some play? seems plausible. whatever the reason, everyone in the house was dreading this night and the few people who did attend were there reluctantly.

when alcohol is your bloodstream it does level the playing field, however. by 11:30 the gaggle of fugly became increasingly more attractive. i even managed to scope out a particularly lovely young lady who it seemed nobody was talking to. i swooped in with a charming little smile and pulled her to the floor for a dance. one dance became four. the girl in the ugly sorority was throwing back cup after cup of our mystery drink the whole time. it seemed like she would be easy pickings.

we finally got to talking when i began to notice something strange. this girl’s body language suggested that she was only mildly tipsy, but when she began to speak it was a whole other story. she spoke like she had been drinking herself blind for hours. actually, it sort of sounded like that old “got milk” commercial…


AWWOOHHNN BWUUURRR!

i tried not to be rude about it, but her inability to speak was becoming annoying. could i really hook up with a girl *this* drunk? i remember thinking “i’m brown – if things with this retarded sounding broad end badly this could easily turn into a court case.” when mush-mouth left to have a quick parlay with her grody friends, i broke down the situation to this kid named “broz.”

he agreed to observe our conversation, and then weigh in with his opinion afterwards. however, when she returned it was all…

CHICK: shaawlly, bwuhh muhh fwends shway i gowwa guh howme.
RICAN: guh?
CHICK: gowwa guh howwmmme. i’mm LEEEABBING.
RICAN: guh howme? but why? your friends are big – BIG – girls. they’ll get home safe.
CHICK: eets ohhwkayy. eyeee-muh gwunna shee yoooh uhgen, uh-kayy?

and she was off – whisked away into the night by a flock of ugly ducklings. i turned to broz – who had been listening intently – and asked him

“so what do you think? is she retarded?”
“no, dumbass. she’s not retarded. YOU’RE retarded. she’s DEAF.”

sign_fu.jpg
wait…what?
(haha)

now it all made sense. the mildly attractive girl in a gargoyle filled sorority. the wild hand gestures made by her friends. the creepy way she kept looking at my mouth. her inability to stay on beat while dancing. and of course…the speech impediment.

i wish i could say this story ends with me hooking up with the deaf girl. i must admit – i’m shallow. when i considered that i would never hear this girl’s voice without thinking of “sloth” from the goonies the attraction vanished. nevertheless… whenever i watch tv with the closed captioning on, whenever somebody in traffic flips me the bird, and whenever i see marlee matlin in a movie… i think back to what might have been.

******

so much for deaf people. on to amputee news…
remember how geeked i was the other day about six flags and roller coaster fun? yeah, good thing i visited the park before this happened in kentucky:

Girl’s Feet Cut Off At Six Flags

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police confirmed that a girl’s feet have been cut off at Six Flags’ Kentucky Kingdom.

Officials said they got the call around 5 p.m. Thursday, and both her feet were detached at the ankle.

According to MetroSafe dispatch supervisors, the girl was riding the Superman Tower of Power, which is 177 feet tall and drops riders at 54 miles per hour. According to Kentucky Kingdom, the girl was injured when the ride malfunctioned.

On scene EMT personnel were on hand to immediately transport the girl to a hospital.

The ride was shut down and will remain so until a full investigation has been completed. link


personality dysfunction.

June 21, 2007

fab.gif

welcome to fabulous & exotic rhode island.

there are a lot of sketchy things afoot with my friends.

comings and goings. breakups and letdowns. addictions, personality dysfunctions, and even a little bit of recreational necrophilia.

just a little bit.

with all the craziness, at least i know there will always be people whose problems entertain me. for example, i have a friend who has a problem with her name. it seems that when anyone does a google search for her name the first few entries are all about her multiple DUIs. how embarrassing. what are the chances the HR geek at some job she wants won’t be running her name through the most popular search engine on the internet?

good luck with that, homie. i dedicate this clip to your misfortune:


you glum or something? huh, glummy?

now you may be thinking “damn, what an asshole. making fun of this chick because she has DUIs?”

i’ll admit – to the outside observer i may be a little cold blooded. however, what you don’t know is that i paid my dues looking out for this chick after that second arrest. more than a little bit of mean spirited humor at her expense is fair game. you see, after the rhode island state police yoinked her license, i agreed to play chauffeur for the summer so that she could get to work on the daily.
pizza_box.jpg
what a nightmare that was. first of all, homegirl drank like a fish (obviously) so she kept me plenty busy designated driving. the first time a drunk chick flings pizza boxes out the window of your moving car at unsuspecting pedestrians? funny as hell. the third time? i was scolding her like i was her daddy.

it was impossible to drive anywhere with her drunk ass (much less a state i had never so much as visited before). screeching and giggling and hollering inaccurate song lyrics? what in the fuck? the level of distraction was so high that i almost killed some kid on the road (“i know what you did last summer” style). seriously.

one rainy night in providence i’m pulling out of a parking spot with yappy-face yammering away sitting shotgun. as i’m imploring her to close her word hole, i hear a buzzing sound getting rapidly closer to the vehicle. before the sight of it could register completely in my brain, some assclown on a motor bike barrels down full speed towards the passenger side of the car. CRACK!

crashed.jpg

something like that…

the kid got lucky because his bike only hit the big ass front tire of the SUV i was driving. and i was extremely lucky to have watched this reprobate get thrown off his bike, float through mid-air about 3-4 inches above the hood of my car …hollering and flailing his arms and legs all the way… and land on the opposite side of my truck in a heap. the kid hopped right up and said “god damn.” i pulled the fuck out of there, no questions asked. of course my friend doesn’t remember this happening, even though she sat next to me through the whole incident.

even without the drunken madness of a close (but insane) friend, it was clear that rhode island was just not the right scene for me. i tried to look for a summer job in town while playing nursemaid to drunky. my first day out a bird shat right on my ear and shoulder. for a smarter man that should have been a good enough sign to leave. i am not that smarter man. instead i decided to hit up newport for a job.

newport.jpg

not THAT newport.

later that same day i dipped over to newport, rhode island looking for bartending work. newport is the swankiest summer getaway for blue blood wasp types all over new england. not 2 blocks away from people on yachts calling each other “prescott,” “bradford,” and “muffy” some little white kids tried to rob me. ME! the big puerto rican from the bronx was the most natural target for them. it was the most hilarious failed robbery attempt ever.

EMINEM #1: you can’t be walking over here, mister. empty out your pockets and we’ll let you go by.
RICAN #0: what? you won’t do shit.
EMINEM #2: do what he said dickhead, this is our block.
RICAN #0: maybe. but you definitely won’t be robbing me. bye. (RICAN #0 walks away disgusted)

the final slight came when i tried to make it to the beach in rhode island. in the boiling sun i sat in saturday traffic, and then looked for a parking spot for 2 hours. finally, i got to the beach…towel in hand, ipod at ears, and upskirt camera locked and loaded. but when i made it to the stairs some cracker ass teenager asks me to see my beach pass. what’s that you say, little cracker? it’s a private beach? i can’t even lay on your fucking SAND?
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then it hit me: i’m a BROWN person. and i’m in RHODE ISLAND.

and that was that. fuck friends with DUIs. i like to look out for my friends, but not so much that i’d put up with all that craziness. so to my homie with the google problem – i feel sorry for ya. i tried to help – i played my part… but you did EARN those DUIs, so you can’t be too mad at them haunting you for years to come. everyone has posted something online they wish they didn’t… and hey – at least i didn’t use your name in this blog, erika.


i bid you adieu.

June 19, 2007

closing

get’em, girl.

i’m a t.v. nerd.
i admit it. i watch way more television than i should. when i moved into my apartment i basically forced my roommates to set up a dvr. at this point watching television without one of those gizmos is truly annoying. commercials on tv? pfft, who would want to sit through those if they didn’t have to? plus, i dont like having to arrange my nightly schedule around whatever show i want to catch that evening.

i have blogs to write. i have mixtapes to put together for my morning commute. i have porn to download, for goodness sake.

clearly i’m a busy man.

but when i’m not killing time by treating myself like an amusement park (sorry for the visual) i watch all sorts of crap on the glowing box. like what, you ask? well why not consider setting these four shows into your dvr queue this summer:

the closer

this is one of my favorite tv shows in general (and had its 3rd season premiere just last night). some people i know aren’t feeling kyra sedgwick as the brilliant police detective, but in my opinion her interrogation scenes alone are worth sitting down and watching. c.i.a. tactics and l.a.p.d. chicanery is fascinating to me. and for an (ahem) older actress kyra isn’t too bad on the eyes, either…

weeds

mary-louise parker is delicious as the drug dealing soccer mom, but at the end of the day its kevin nealon & elizabeth perkins who make this show brilliant. of course, the clip below features none of those people.  regardless, watch the youtube goodness because there are a LOT of good tips broken down for you kiddies out there.

traveler

before 24 jumped the shark it had the same degree of intensity as this show. the main characters are a little hard to get behind, but thats on purpose. the idea of not being able to trust any of the characters on the show makes it particularly fascinating. who the hell do you root for?

hell’s kitchen

reality tv is starting to die a much deserved death. hell’s kitchen is your typical reality show bluster. mean asshole judging bumbling contestants, et cetera. but the food they make is awesome, and since the show is shot in l.a. they highlight a ton of great spots to eat in town. and yeah, gordon ramsay’s tirades ARE kinda funny.

******

today i started my new job.

while i’m excited to be doing something new, i would like to take at least one moment to give a shout to some special people i spent all or part of my last 2 years with. to all my friends on the 21st and 22nd floor of a certain mid-wilshire office building….i bid you adieu. i will truly miss you guys (especially since my new office is SO FUCKING QUIET!). don’t let the man get you down…and get back to work! i’ve got a shitload of stock options riding on the backs of you hooligans.

but seriously? take care of yourselves. i’ll miss you all (yes, even you).

tip up a drink for me.

 


skin is soft like twinkie dough.

June 16, 2007

inkienv0.jpg

thats pretty soft…

this month’s videos are on. enjoy.

outkast & ugk – international players anthem (i choose you)
best hip hop song made this year. hands down.

ghost town dj’s – my boo
i’m so with this sound, j.d….stop messing with janet jackson and bring this style back to the radio.

anti-pop consortium – ghost lawns
you’ll either love this song or hate it. either way the last 2 mc’s (beans and m. sayyid) set the building on fire.


viktor vaughn (aka mf doom) – mr. clean

great video, and more quotable lines than you could ever hope to keep up with.

dead prez – hip hop (live)
their show stealing performance from dave chappelle’s block party.

ghostface killah ft. raekwon & cappadonna – daytona 500
wu-tang + “nautilus” sample + speed racer video. you do the math.


jennifer lopez ft. nas – i’m gonna be alright

yeah, the nas verses are kinda hot but who am i kidding? this vid is pure j-lo eye candy.

styles p ft. pharoahe monch – my life
great song, and i LOVE the line:  “tell mommy i dont go to the church.  tell ack i don’t go to the mosque.  i blow blunts and hold guns, and i’ma be right there when the soldiers are marched.” –styles p.

jadakiss ft. styles p & eve – we gonna make it (remix)

the profanity edits rob this song of a lot of its heat (and the styles-p and eve contribution is “eh”). regardless, you gotta love any song with a sample this hot and an opening line of “FUCK THE FRAIL SHIT.”

lauryn hill & ziggy marley – redemption song
for the love of jah, PLEASE come back, lauryn. please.


for sale: baby shoes.

June 14, 2007

shoes

never worn.

i’m kinda over the myspace thing.

to be honest, i only keep a profile there to promote this blog and to keep in touch with friends who are still regular users. however, today an old friend – glory – posted a bulletin that i liked enough to reproduce here. the premise is as follows:

Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only SIX WORDS.heming
The result was “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Here’s an interesting and challenging activity. Try to compose YOUR story (the story of YOU) in EXACTLY six words (no more, no less). For some, this may be painful. (It’s very hard to tell your whole story in six words.)

Just to see what we come up with, maybe we could do one of those add-on things and copy this bulletin and paste it into a new one with yours. Then post the bulletin as “Six Word Memoir”.

i thought that was interesting. anyway, the post is long so i will only give some shine to the contributions i enjoyed…

Dre: Life’s easy with your eyes shut.
EJ: Many pages turned, very little read.
Colby: A moment of clarity never rendered.
Mike J: I wonder what else I forgot.
Jessica: All this work for one screw.
james: SALE: parachute, used once – small stain
Bagheera: I’m still learning how to breathe.
Sarah: Crazy cat lady seeks true love.
Phillip: Donny, you’re out of your element.
Cho: Hey, where the white women at?!
::Jacki-OH:: Move bitch, get out the way.
Sara: We are the Youth Gone Wild
Robert: Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Start. Quit.
Jennifer: Feel the fear. Do it anyway.
wadelikewater – He died searching for his Chewbacca.
drea – Everything she said involved heartache, fireflies.
stray – work. eat. drink. create. enjoy. (repeat).
GloryAna Banana – Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll.
jayare20k – a high-tech lynching without flinching.

*****

feel free to add one of your own.

or don’t. see if i care.