Saddam Hussein and Coca-Cola, perfect together.

"After a rough day on trial...I like to unwind with a refreshing beverage."


(Rue Defacquez, Brussels, Belgium)

My first fan(e-)mail

It still counts that it was from a friend and colleague (doesn't it?)

It's in the details

"Funny how the tiniest thing can make people feel different about you."


(source: www.tolerance.org)

Random ramblings

I fell today. Flat on my face; bags of groceries strewn at my head. I tripped on a "christmas carpet" that was mislaid in the galleries of the shopping area near to my apartment. An elderly woman rushed to me to ask in earnest, "ça va? ça fait mal?" (are you okay? are you in pain?) It was clear by my spastic-acrobatics it looked like I took a terrible spill, but I was fine.
As I walked away from the small crowd that had formed, I went into hysterics, and, I was jealous of them. What they had seen HAD TO HAVE BEEN funny - it was a prat fall that I could not have planned better. While I don't enjoy the vision of someone who gets hurt, when people fall accidentally, it is usually funny.

Merry Trishmas

The holidays can be a strange time for people...

"Suicide jumper"

(Quicktime 7 is required.)

My Bollywood film

>click here<

We will never forget you

Christopher Crosby Farley (Feb 15, 1964 - Dec 17, 1997)

Stern goes Sirius

Howard Stern Fans Enjoy Last Day of Free Speech
NEW YORK (AP) -- The free ride for Howard Stern fans ends Friday.

Stern, a New York radio fixture for 20 years and host of a syndicated show for 12 million daily listeners, bid farewell to his fans with a final show on terrestrial radio. On Jan. 9, Stern makes his move to satellite radio -- where his once-free speech will cost listeners $12.95 a month.

'King of All Media' moving to satellite radio January 9.

Raging Fred

Hanna-Barbera would be proud...

Today in history

In 1952 fashion photographer George Jorgenson has a Danish surgeon remove his various naughty bits, in the world's first sex-change operation. George emerges in New York as cabaret actress Christine Jorgenson. More about M/r/s Jorgenson on Wikipedia...



April Ashley, Britain's "most celebrated transsexual" also has quite the story to tell...

My TV crush...

...Wentworth Miller.
While it might just be an inside joke, his nickname is 'Stinky', how cute.

I haven't been this gone since the days of Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street. Those were also the days when people liked Fox.

Enter "MICHAEL SCOFIELD"of PRISON BREAK:

PRISON BREAK is also from Fox, but in this one instance I can make an exception - that's very shallow of me, I know; so sue me! (Ironically, if they find out how I got the episodes they just might!!)

Shots from the show...

Santabasco

Like our jingoistic, fascist, global image isn't bad enough

Stanley "Tookie" Williams executed

SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON - Stanley "Tookie" Williams was executed by lethal injection early this morning, ending an emotionally charged campaign to spare the co-founder of the notorious Crips street gang. Read more

As an ex pat I am compelled to express that if you did not grow up in the country where you now reside (and especially if your family had ties - loose or knotted - with the SS party), you should not be permitted to hold a political position (with the power to execute people) in your new country of residence - and I don't care WHO you are married to!

Interpretation, by the wildly talented and keen Mr. Fish



Want to see what high-profile and important missions that Ahhhnahhhld was involved in only a few years ago? CLICK HERE
(NOTE: if any of the movies have been 'disabled' send me an email, I have them.)

And what are we becoming as Americans? Wreckless-consuming-numbed-vapid-zombies
Mr. Winter's awe-inspiring [insert sarcastic snigger here] quote about his oh-so-very-very-interesting quest:
"Starbucks has been accommodating, and has treated me with fairness and respect."
Yeah, I'm suuurrrre Starbucks holds him with such esteem - at $5 a pop for average coffee they do.

Finally, to top off on my morning spew, I hate Starbucks too - be sure to scroll down and read the tax professor's explanation.

Endnote:

No more @BoratDOTkz

The authorities in Kazakhstan, angered by a British comedian's satirical portrayal of a boorish, sexist and racist Kazakh television reporter, have pulled the plug on his alter ego's Web site.

Dooz/Dooz

Today is 346th day of the year, and it is MY BIRTHDAY.
I can hardly believe I am sweet 16 (again!)

OTHER (remarkable) people born today are:

FRANK SINATRA (1915)
Singer, “New York, New York”

ED KOCH (1924)
Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989

EDVARD MUNCH (1863)
Painter, “The Scream”

EDWARD G. ROBINSON (1893)
Actor, famous quote: "So, champ…"

ROBERT NORTON NOYCE (1927)
Inventor of the Integrated Circuit - the technology that would eventually become the microchip; “Mayor of Silicon Valley”; founder of Intel.

A short-list of left-handed Sagittarians are:

JIMI HENDRIX: "Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens."

MARK TWAIN (SAMUEL L. CLEMENS): "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."

WINSTON CHURCHILL: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

PATRICIA KELLY PASSARELLI: "'No' is a complete sentence."

December 12th in history:
In 1968 Tallulah Bankhead (my all time favorite actress) went to that Silver Screen in the sky.
"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."


In 1980 "Whip It" earns Devo a gold record. It is the first distinction of its kind for any song about masturbation.


And finally, this is a shameless and vanity-driven plug, but I still get nice comments about the little Flash invitation I made for my party in 2003...

Antidote to subject line "random"

Prologue: This post has an insider message, while it is also a cautionary tale. My intention is that a certain person will read this and gain insight into a recent correspondence that he received.

To properly depict this anecdote, two movie references are necessary. The first, SIDEWAYS, a remarkable film and personal favorite, is full of identifiable life lessons to which most of us would normally heed - most of us. At a specific point in the protagonist's character arc we watched him perform an act that caused his friend to poignantly ask: “Miles, did you drink and dial?” Presumably after witnessing Miles's excruciating reply, the impression should be “I will never do that (again.)” Statistically, many of us drink alcohol-laced beverages and while doing so we are generally able to imbibe wisely. However, not all of us remain wise when the fermentation hits the ‘judgment center’ of our brain.

Aside from drinking, cosmological forces can affect brain activity, even of tea-totalers. Therefore I have extrapolated a hypothesis (STILL to be confirmed by NASA) that in the early hours of December 11, 2005, the planets shifted their formation into the outline of a martini glass. While this sudden change probably affected many of us, drunk or sober, three women (myself included) were direct victims. As an additional insight into this widespread effect, two of them reside on the European side of the Atlantic Ocean, and the other on the New York City side. Each of them suffering from movie morals amnesia, and an acute but temporary galaxy-liver-brain malfunction. Their judgment centers went haywire by yearning (a.k.a. libidinous thoughts) and illicit and compromising imagery of their objects of desire (a.k.a. certain men.)

The second film reference, from a blockbuster I didn’t particularly care for in itself, although I am a fan of Sally Field. The character she played got to hawk kernels of wisdom such as the analogy between life and chocolates (personally prophetic now that I live in Belgium: Home of the Praline) but more applicably the reference ‘stupid is as stupid does.’ Boom - no need for further explanation.

Due to the abnormally bright daylight on Sunday afternoon (probably caused by another cosmological disturbance I should further investigate), coupled with an iodine-induced hangover, I didn’t dig for the specific background (a.k.a. lame excuses) for my friends’ collective phenomena of stupidity. Forthrightly however, I disclose mine: it was my birthday weekend. On Monday, December 12, 2005, (a.k.a. tomorrow) I add another notch to my ‘belt of life’. Categorically this is an excuse, but not a terribly pathetic one and fairly plausible to explain my faux pas.
(NOTE TO CERTAIN READER: excuse the French, the term means: an offense against social convention; an indiscreet speech or action.)

What’s more amusing (?!) is that the 3 women chose 3 different methods:

ONE: black current cosmopolitans and an out of state cell phone call;

TWO: white wine and a text message to London;

ME: (Lat. 52 N/Long. 22 E; a.k.a. Brussels, Belgium)
Far too much single-malt scotch whiskey – which my partially-Gaelic blood should have absorbed along with a fine cut of veal, 1.5 litres spring water, AND a brief-ish nap. Wrong.
As I sought to quell my insidiously parched condition, the white apple glowing from my desk was irresistible. Sometimes called an act of God, I managed sit upright long enough to write and send an email to someone residing in Lat. 41N/Long. 74W (a.k.a. NYC.) It was a pleasant relay if a tad incoherent but it seals my fate as a ‘drink-&-dial’ perpetrator, which is what has compelled me to disclose this anecdote.

Epilogue: At least I was keen enough to delete the last line: a link to an mp3 of 'You Light Up My Life'. That would have been not only soopah-stoopid, but irretrievably so, especially because, that song really sucks.
Besides, that music reference might have easily been meant for the fine makers of Islay whiskey.

Trishter Saturday Night

"Um, while everyone takes a break, sipping wine or whatever, to gear up for yet uhhh-nuhhh-ther fuuuuunnn set of Karaoke...
"So have you ever noticed that the words 'alone' and 'cologne' rhyme? What? No, there's nothing wrong with that German city, um, oh, forget it."



The unofficial Brussels comedy moment (from someone's living room) is brought to you by :

Michigan's Finest - Buttheads

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. - A police officer has been charged with using a Taser on his partner during an argument over whether they should stop for a soft drink.

Ronald Dupuis, 32, was charged Wednesday with assault and could face up to three months in jail if convicted. The six-year veteran was fired after the incident.

Dupuis and partner Prema Graham began arguing after Dupuis demanded she stop their car at a store so he could buy a soft drink, according to a police report.

The two then struggled over the steering wheel, and Dupuis hit her leg with his department-issued Taser, the report said. She was not seriously hurt.

Hamtramck police union lawyer Eugene Bolanowski said he expected Dupuis to hire a private lawyer.

Hamtramck is a city of 23,000 surrounded by Detroit.

(AP)

Bizarre illustration goes way back

25 years ago today...

... a psycho decided that his victim should be John Lennon.

We will never forget you, John.

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

© John Winston Ono Lennon, (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980)



(src: www.merseyworld.com)

A Warming Message from "Dubya" Ferrell

Very funny video...
Go...

But this is not very funny...
Pakistan's government is to remove a poem from a school textbook after it emerged the first letters of each line spelt out "President George W Bush". And, coincidence or no, the title of the poem is "The Leader"...

Brussels nightclub meets inferno (without disco music)

This place, Jeux D'Hiver (Winter Games) was notorious for its snobbery and xenophobic exclusivity; a Francophone-Bourgeoisie only night spot. It was a unqiuely located meeting place, nestled in La Bois de la Cambre, a wooded parc adjacent to the forest (Foret de Soignes). It had a large outdoor terrasse, restaurant and several rooms with bars and DJ booths. It even had a rotating dancefloor, circa the days of bellbottoms and platform shoes. In fact, the decor was still representative of that era.

When I arrived in Brussels, I was involved with a Belgian of this sort and so I was permitted entry. I was probably one of only a handful of Americans who has ever passed through its doors.

Within a year, I left that world, and re-entered the single life and the new world of ex patria; I have only returned a few times, the latter being last month. Nothing had changed: the unforgiving, stonefaced doormen, the shoving and glaring silver-spooned boys and girls, and most of the all the horrible DJs. But Jeux D'Hiver was an institution of the Brussels BCBG (bon cul, bon gambes = nice ass, nice legs) subculture. The few times I returned were amusing to mill about its caracturesque mileu.

The piece about the fire in Le Soir, the french language newspaper in Belgium, noted that the fire was caused by arson. I wonder personally if this institution hadn't become just a money pit for its owners. And perhaps it's cynical of me to think this but the place was closed the night of the blaze, noone was injured, which of course is a relief, and the fire fighters found 3 containers of inflammable materials. The blaze took nearly 5 hours to extinguish

How will the droves of those who were not permitted to enter will react when they learn they are bending their elbows at others clubs beside former regulars of "Jeudi Verre" - a play on words because the pronounciations are similar, but this nickname means Thursday 'glass' or drink.

Presumably it's the end of an era for these folks.



src: www.lesoir.be

My best friend's son

Anthony Joseph Boyd, son of Jennifer Lynn Coia and Martin Joseph Boyd has inherited his mother's debauched penchant and his father's German and commanding behavior:



(that's my foot and I SWEAR - social services can give me a polygraph test - that I did not instigate this incident. Note bene: babies have sharp teeth - ouch!)

fore-OH-fore!

The baseline "have one if you got one" has temporarily been changed to "you can't have one, 'cause I don't got one (a functioning website.)

www.haveaday.com has been struck by a server 'bug' and needs an overhaul but in the meantime, I published some old stuff if you are curious...

In the news:
Bush finally accepts climate change

It’s my blog...

... and I’ll brag if I want to!

While I still haven’t downloaded the pics from my visit home for Thanksgiving, there are a few moments that I did not photograph; some good times centered around some amazing people:

FRI, 11/18
Dined at Matsuri in The Martime Hotel with my new pal Robert (Brinkmann) and his friend, Stephen (Tobolowski). I met them because an of inquiry I made about their film STEPHEN TOBOLOWSKY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, which was screening at the Big Apple Film Festival that weekend. There's more background to this story which I will write about soon.

SAT, 11/19
Danced until dawn with friends Laurence B. of Furious Soul Records and DJ Pippi. Pippi did a sublime set at Cielo on Little West 12th Street.

SAT, 11/26
Went to see an old friend perform his cutting-edge wit at Gotham Comedy Club, afterward we went for drinks in the Lower East Side.

(C’mon, I just HAD to post these highlights, even at the risk of being a shameless, name-dropper.)

Ms. Right?

11 years ago today...

... the world watched a modern day witch hunt come to a head - excuse the pun.

Heidi Fleiss, the "Hollywood Madam," was convicted of three counts of felony pandering.

Was she convicted because she had harmed the elderly or children or the environment (excessively)? Was it because she robbed thousands of people of their pension funds, insurance benefits or education grants? Nope, the system decided her crimes were even worse!

But all she did was provide prostitutes to Hollywood celebrities; among them are rumored to be Jack Nicholson, David Hasselhoff (don't tell the Germans!), and John Ritter (never mispeak about the deceased.) Her prostitution business was top notch and catered to the rich and famous who not only enjoyed the 'feloniousness' of her business but their secrets were kept safe.

If you comb the news sources it seems there are several unconvicted felons who differ from Heidi politically, morally and anatomically.

IMHO She is the quintessential business savy and profound grasp of supply and demand. And even after doing time, she survived (just like Martha did.)

The US government...

... has a new website: http://www.ready.gov
(If you are so curious, copy and paste the text into your browser; I can't be bothered to waste the 20 seconds coding the link.)

The thing is that the pictures from the site are very ambiguous they could mean anything! Here are some feasible interpretations:


(src: currently unknown)