Check it out, tell me what you think. I am going to have guest bloggers and it's going to be commentary on various issues such as: social, political, business, media, sports, religion... basically anything and everything. Just a little more carefully thought out then just posting a YouTube video and saying, "haha that is so funny." If you want to be a guest blogger at "The Grass is Always Greener", let me know: jrozenblat {at} gmail {dot} com.
"Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals."
Marriage proposal prank
A guy pranks his friend at Yankee Stadium by putting up a fake marriage proposal up on the big screen. Part of an ongoing prank war by those College Humor writers. It’s going to be tough to one-up this one! Check it out here.
This is one of my favorite sports sequences of all time. It's the NHL Finals... captain vs. captain, lightning (Paul Kariya) vs. thunder (Scott Stevens). The dramatics of sports takes over. Kariya comes back after taking what was probably the best (clean) hit of all time, only to score a game winner on a smoking howitzer (see definition below).
Howitzer
A very fast slap shot.
That is clearly the worst case of charging I have ever seen. As a reference point, here is the definition of such penalty:
Charging
RIP Dishonest Male Perspective... Welcome Honest Male Perspective. Congrats to Scoot and friends on their new creation.
*WARNING*
There is a heavy appreciation for all Boston sports on this otherwise very classy blog.
A start-up company based in London called Ad-Air has come up with a new way to turn innocent and unassuming airline passengers into potential consumers. The "first global aerial advertising network" will consist of giant, billboard-like ads that are visible from a passenger's window as they approach the runway.
They have already secured approval to set up sites at over a dozen airports, including Heathrow, LAX, Charles de Gaulle (Paris), Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) and Haneda in Tokyo. Ad-Air is looking to create a network of roughly 30 airports. Advertisers pay over $100k/month for a site, with some of the busier airports eventually fetching up to over $160k/month.
I personally don't find this creative at all. Finding different places to cram this shit down people's throats is not innovative, nor is it effective. Maybe the duty-free stores will be the first ones to try this out...
The best idea for any form of outdoor advertising I have heard was about 10 years ago when my dad told me about 2 guys from Harvard developing technology to place advertising in the subway tunnels. A series of illuminated still frames placed on the walls inside the tunnel would create the effect of an actual commercial during your subway ride i.e. an athlete drinking a bottle of Gatorade.
You can read the whole article here on NYTimes.com.
I am speechless... part of the reason why I will not be moving back to South Florida anytime soon.
What an amazing show, and what an amazing venue Hammerstein is. This is only the second time I saw the Beastie Boys live (which is totally unacceptable in my book), but it was so memorable that it will resonate in my mind forever. I have to say that I didn't miss Mix Master Mike (real name Michael Schwartz) as much as I thought I would... the former Skratch Pikl is an all-time favorite of mine and is known for his live performances, but the band was on point and on fiyah all night long.
Money Mark on the keys also makes a HUGE difference.
I feel like I have been posting too many YouTube vids on here lately, but that is mainly because the immense amount of amazing shit on there. I present to you, Yoga Booty!
This could be the most "No shit, Sherlock!" statement ever, but I am starting to see a serious correlation between me being too damn busy to post and the amount of visits I am getting to "The Engine." Well, I apologize... again. I will commit to you at least 2 posts a day. This is a guarantee on the same level as Babe Ruth's called shots, Joe Namath's Super Bowl victory guarantee in 1969, and Mark Messier's lock in Game 6 of the '94 Easter Conference Finals against the NJ Devils.
I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but needed some motivation. That motivation came in the form of long-time buddy, Jay Levy... he ran the NYCity Half Marathon this past Sunday. He has been asking me to train with him for a while now, and I have been lazy about it. Not anymore. It's go time.
Training officially started yesterday with a 3+ mile run through Greenpoint (there are a lot of hot Polish women in Greenpoint, damn). This is going to be my new weekday running route. I am going to try for 3-4 runs during the week, probably at night since it's so damn hot in the mornings. Saturdays is a 5-7 mile run in Central Park and tennis on Sundays with Spliff.
More details to come...
A man drives to a gas station and has his tank filled up. The gas pumper spots two penguins sitting in the back seat of the car.
He asks the driver, "What's up with the penguins in the back seat?"
The man in the car says "I found them. I asked myself what to do with them, but I haven't had a clue."
The clerk ponders a bit then says, "You should take them to the zoo."
"Hey, that's a good idea," says the man in the car and drives away.
The next day the man with the car is back at the same gas station. The clerk sees the penguins are still in the back seat of the car.
"Hey, they're still here! I thought you were going to take them to the zoo."
"Oh, I did," says the driver, "And we had a swell time. Today I am taking them to the beach."
Steve Ballmer is insane... but he is also the 31st richest person in the world so he can do this type of stuff.
There was also this crazy episode, which led to this.
Definitely worth checking out, just make sure you know someone there because the line was long and the drinks aren't cheap. Here is their site.
Nothing to say really except my thoughts are with everyone who lost a loved one in this terrible accident. On a side note, the exact same thing that happened in Minneapolis yesterday is a re-occurring nightmare of mine since I was a little kid. Weird.
Lil Wayne has grown up a lot since the early days of Cash Money Millionaires. There was a long period of time that I could not stand to hear him rap because he always sounded so damn ignorant. Maybe it was when he started to mess around with Dipset... or maybe when he started to wear Bape. Whatever it was, he truly is "The Best Rapper Alive." Ya dig?
All you need for proof of this bold statement is to listen to his lyrical prowess on his newest mixtape, Da Drought 3. Each song on this album is just 1 long simile and metaphor. He says stuff that is strays on the line of retarded and genius, but normally tends to lean more towards the latter. One of the many highlights from Drought is the "We Takin' Over (Remix)" (just reading these lyrics doesn't nearly do it the justice it deserves, so you can listen to it here).
Recently MTV2 had a panel to vote the top 10 rappers out right now.
Here is the list:
10-Jim Jones
9- Common
8- 50 Cent
7- Jay-Z
6- Young Jeezy
5- Kanye West
4- Andre 3000
3- Game
2- T.I.
1- Lil Wayne
I only agree with 4 of the picks, especially #1... Lil Wayne. Common, Jay-Z and Game should definitely be up there. But come on... no Nas, Black Thought, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharaoh Monch... even Saigon for fuck's sake. There are so many other MCs that deserve to be on that list over. Young Jeezy???? Jim Jones???? Are you kidding me? So depressing.
"Work It Out" - The Third Hand
The vid features Bill Shannon who was born with a degenerative hip condition. His legs cannot carry his own weight and so he has lived a life on crutches. He has developed a new way of moving through life on his skateboard and the crutches. Though this may look like a recreational hobby or a debilitation, it is simply how Bill maneuvers throughout the day. In time to Rjd2's song "Work It Out" we follow Bill as he makes his way around. At the slow start, Bill is descending the courthouse steps in downtown Brooklyn. It's difficult, but he makes it down and the rest you'll just have to watch to understand. Rjd2 plays several extras which you can try to spot as well. The video, directed by Joey Garfield, is one continuous single shot for the length of the song.
"The Horror" - Deadringer
"1976" - Since We Last Spoke (AWESOME VIDEO)
Watch the clip here. Makes some great points, especially when he compares the US-Soviet nuclear standoff (and eventual treaty) to the current situation with Iran. Netanyahu says that the Soviets prioritized survival over ideology, whereas the Iranian government (or just Ahmadinejad) doesn't see things that way. I always liked Netanyahu for being a straight-shooter.
Lately I have been relying on different forms of media for my news. For a while, it was strictly NYTimes.com in the mornings, then Daily Show and Colbert Report at night for commentary on what went down that day.
I have been a fan of VICE for a while... probably since my trip to LA with Evan, Jose and G-Money 6 years ago. The VICE Guide to Travel is a must have in your DVD collection. I am now a huge fan of their VBS.tv ***WARNING*** Do not visit this site w/o being ready to spend a few hours buried in entertaining content i.e. tons of music videos, documentaries (the Sudan doc is intense), etc.
At the Take Back America 2007 conference in DC last month, I was exposed to Max Blumenthal's work for the first time (check his blog here). He goes to different events around the country and tries to blend in with the audience. He always manages to get kicked out at some point when he barks up the wrong tree, but it all leads to great, insightful footage. Check out his newest adventure at the Christians United for Israel's annual Washington-Israel Summit.
The reason I mention VICE and Max Blumenthal in the same post is that they both manage to go places and meet people and do things that I always wanted to know more about, but will never have the chance to experience myself. So this is a thank you to both VICE and Max.
An 83-year old woman decided that she'd seen and done everything, and the time had come to depart from this world.
After considering various methods of doing away with herself, she came to the conclusion that the quickest and surest method would be to shoot herself through the heart. The trouble was, she wasn't certain about exactly where her heart was, so she phoned her doctor and asked him. He told her that her heart was located two inches below her left nipple.
So she shot herself in the left kneecap.
Talks have officially started with Uri from Evolvist. If you are a .com startup in the NY area and are interested in hearing more about it, please email me jrozenblat@gmail.com.
Very funny, but more importantly very true.
The Hand-Job Protest Song - Watch more free videos
On the topic of her not using lotion to do the job, a wise man once said "It's like fries without the ketchup."
Read all about it here.
This is just not a good excuse to explain why it's ok for these Hitler-themed establishments to pop up across Asia: "There are just 5,500 Jews in all of India."
If you don't "get" this cartoon, don't bother asking. This was actually the only way that I could explain to my grandmother that the career path I chose has the potential to be more lucrative than slaving through med/law school. I have all the respect in the world for anyone who has the patience and determination to go through so much schooling... especially those wanting to become doctors and actually help people out.
But you know what? Read this article, and tell me that these guys aren't the envy of their lawyer and doctor friends.
And remember kids- if you are starting a company, try to solve a problem or fulfill a need. Don't just come out with some shit that nobody wants or needs... you're making everyone else look bad.
I'm sure you've seen those damn Windorphins all over the place. I had no idea what they were at first, but last week I finally found out that they are part of a ploy by eBay to annoy the shit out of everyone. They (eBay) put a lot of effort into building out this whole campaign, which was to say the least, a worthy attempt to create some kind of a buzz. The only "cool" thing about this is that you can create your own Windorphin... did I say cool? I meant "complete freakin waste of time and brain cells." They kind of look like happy, animated hemorrhoids.
Few things scare me more than a large group of ginger kids. That's why when NYC-based Improv Everywhere decided to pull off their latest stunt to protest Wendy's racist logo, I decided to stay indoors that day. A group of over 50 firecrotches got together to protest this? I personally think they should have focused their efforts on this instead.
According to their website, "Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 60 missions involving hundreds of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City."
Oh man I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it...
Bloons
