Soon to be a New Yorker...

With only a week or so before I move out of the greatest state in the world, I still have some things to complain about that pertain to absolutely nothing. First off is something I noticed last week when I was watching tv. Not so much tv, though television definitely applies, but movies need to stop making sequels. While flipping through the menu I noticed an abundance of sequels all on at the same time and none of them could possibly be any good. Speed 2, Men in Black II, Teen Wolf Too, World's Scariest Police Chases: 2 and Cheetah Girls 2. Seriously? I mean...seriously. Come on. Everyone knows that Speed 2 might be the worst movie ever, but why on earth did they make another teen wolf. Really, the story of a teen who turns into a warewolf while playing on a team sport wasn't sufficient enough to be summed up in one movie. Did they really need to make the original teen's cousin play the exact same role. How can it be the movies are so ridiculously unoriginal. I watch Entourage and I know there are a ton of good ideas floating around that people need to make. As much as I love bad movies, they need to start making some original bad movies. For example, I loved "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," more than anyone really should, but I can't help but feel like they should have taken that money and spent it on something that no one has ever seen the likes of before. They make movies to make sequels and it is starting to get old. Anyways, my point is that the only one that seemed mildly cool to watch was the police one but I got so mad at life that I just turned the tv off.

Last week was another one of those weeks where all I did was move furniture around and get really angry about it. It was pretty sweet. Anyways there's this guy who was working for us for the week named John. He was a little bit older maybe in his 40's or so and was very quiet and always workied his ass off doing the worst jobs ever and not complaining once. If it were me I would have been bitching up and down (actually we were doing the same jobs and I was in fact complaining.) Anyways all week John didn't say much and was always ready to tackle the most unbearable jobs without a complaint. John was helpng me and some other guys out one day when we had to get rid of a lot of old furniture. We had all this crappy bedroom furniture that we needed to take from the third floor down to the dumpster. I decided the quickest way to do that would be to toss everything off of the balcony and watch it fly 30 feet down and break into a zillion pieces. Now I figured John would have had some wisdomagainst said act seeing how he was much older, however, the one thing I learned last week is that no matter how old you are, guys love to break shit. I have never seen someone get so much pleasure out of breaking old dressers and desks and I have been doing it for a couple years now. After about two dressers or so he turned to me and said "This is the most fun I have ever had on changeover." Anyways it's good to know that 20 years from now, not only will I still enjoy breaking things like a little boy, but I will enjoy it much more than I could ever imagine.

***UPDATE***

As I am now in the midst of moving and currently without cable or wireless, there has only been intermittent internet connectivity. Earlier I had stated that they don't make any original movies and everything is a sad prequel to a certain god-awful sequel which I will undoubtedly stand in line for opening night with pathetic anxiousness. Anyways, I take it all back. It;s not that they don't make those movies, it's just that here in mid-Michigan we only get hollywood movies like "Tokyo Drift." Well I just came back from "The Illusionist," starring Edward Norton (my boy) and Paul Giamatti (also my boy). The movie was awesome. It was the most original movie I had seen in a long time. The story line was original, the lighting, the film stock, everything about the movie was original. Obviously one could argue that if you boil the plot down it's not very original but you could say that about anything ever made. Anyways, it renewed my faith in movies, and also got me even more excited about moving to a city where these movies open and are showed as many times as summer blockbusters.

Here's what was said about The Illusionist:

[Gene Seymour in Newsday: "There's something mildly intimidating about the craftsmanship put into The Illusionist. Each groove in the story is so finely curved, each scene so immaculately rendered and polished within an inch of its life that you almost forget that magic is consequential to the storytelling. But the high gloss doesn't intrude on the narrative cunning -- or, for that matter, the foxy grandeur of the performances." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post: "This is the kind of thoughtful, poetic, lush and old-fashioned (in the best sense of the word) film that rarely gets made anymore -- one that immerses us in a bygone world for a couple of hours."]

Anyways, this will be my second to last blog here in Michigan. I'll blog again early next week and pay a fond farewell to Mi. As always, get your feet off the ground and reach for the stars. Go big or go home. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever. Carpe diem bitches.

i'm out

-M, p & z

oh ps - Danity Kane's cd is awesome. If you aren't a snob and enjoy mindless pop that makes you wanna dance courtesy of my boy Diddy, pick it up. It's definitely worth burning off someone to listen to before you go out. Also the new Christina cd is very good, that girl can sing.

Nothing Worse than Moving...Unless it's to NYC

I hate moving. Actually, me and moving get along like Harry Potter and Voldemort. I hated moving into my last apartment which was on the first floor and had an outside entry so all I had to do was walk from the car to the door. My apartment in NYC is in Manhattan, a place where traffic runs rampant. I have seen it a zillion times in movies: cars packed bumper to bumper trying to wedge their way into a lane; George Costanza made it seem like the worst thing in the entire world as he would recount his adventures in parking. Parking alone was the premise of many a Seinfeld episode. So naturally I was thinking that this would be the worst move ever. I had pictured myself carrying my belongings block after block, or double parking in the street and getting towed. So after spending all day Monday packing my belongings (or at least half of them since a Lexus SUV doesn't seem to have much more cubic feet of storage than my compact WRX) without so much as an inch to spare, I drove up to NYC on Tuesday (it only takes about 10 and a half hours or so - not too bad) wondering how on earth I would be able to get everything out. Well worry not, because for all of the drama and glorification of the nightmare driving and parking situation in Midtown Manhattan, I got into the city withoiut any traffic to speak of whatsoever and not only that I got a parking spot in front of my apartment. I dont mean on the same street, I mean directly in front of my door, and aside from the pain in the ass that emptying a ridiculously packed car is, the move went as smooth as one could expect. The only snag was when I tried to get into the apartment and couldn't figure out how to unlock the door and since my roommate was in Ann Arbor at the time I had panic visions of me staying in a hotel waiting for someone to let me into the apartment. I called my roommate though and found out you had to push as you turned the key, the doorknob wasn't even part of the equation.

Anyways after a few days of wondering the city (visiting all 5 H&M locations) and checking out my school and plotting where I could eat lunch in SoHo I returned to Michigan, the Great Lakes State. Here are a few of the good and the bad with NYC.

I can count the bad on one hand and they were all things that I was prepared to deal with before the move: I'm pretty much broke so that's not fun, no grass as far as the eye can see, the parks are about as big as my yard was last year and people swear like it's the job. I don't mean a lot either, they swear as though their life depends on it. It gets very old to see people swearing at eachother like 8 year olds, that's why I stopped watching the Real World (ooooo buuuurn). Alcohol is not cheap, their "specials" are what I would refer to in Lansing as "expensive."

The good things: You can still find awesome deals on food and things. There is a Little India with a resturaunt tha is very good called "Curry in a Hurry." Coffee is actually cheaper in the city than here in Lansing. There is a Whole Foods 4 blocks from my apt. I live across from a police station so I'm not too worried about crime. The subway is very easy to use (though not as cheap as I would have thought - $2 per/ride unless you buy a monthly pass), It is never too late at night to do anything. Anyways, I could list a zillion things but I will wait until I find some really cool things and then let you know. Anyways a few more weeks here in Lansing and then back to NYC for good. Here are some pics or the apt...

This is my corner (20th and 8th Ave.) That floor above the resuraunt is my apt.














Here's the living room (the ceiling is almost 20 feet high)

















Kitchen is Bitchin...

















My room...















Yes, I do have a fire escape. This is the view...















Anyways, I know the apt is redonkulous. I will blog again soon. As always, get your feet off the ground and reach for the stars. Go big or go home. Pain heals, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever.

I'm out

-M, p&z

oh ps - Talladega Nights was hiliarious. Best line - "You better shutup you little potlicker or i'll stick you in a microwave."