Searching the ABC's

Just before we take off for Europe I thought I'd dispense an idea I've been rattling around my head. On my many hours spent mulling around the internet searching for just about anything throughout the day that has caught my attention. Then going back through my search bar I realized that the bizarre and mundane continue to pile over. I figured if for some ungodly reason you folk are bored and need something to look at, there is bound to be at least one thing here:

A - Amigurumi
Japanese art form of making cute little dolls out of fiber. Like this adorable thing:
Much more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amigurumikingdom/

B - Bikram Yoga
Take 90 minutes in a 105 degrees fahrenheit room doing yoga taught by something resembling a spin instructor. Certainly not my favorite form of yoga, but it was a good challenge.
Started by this creepy looking guy in LA.


C - Charlotte Gainsborough
A singer actress who was recently seen in Michele Gondry's "The Science of Sleep." She also has a great voice as you can hear in the song "The Songs That We Sing" which is a must have download.

D - Def Jam
Yeah, yeah, yeah as in Def Jam records. Anyone follow the recent story about founder Russell Simmons censoring the bullshit out of music to bring back some true hip hop. Hip hop hooray! (Cue your eyes rolling)

E - Electric Catfish
Ryan aka Electric Catfish made us tilt our heads and wonder "What the hell is going on?" He is also featured in our We Create video and has gotten some great comments by our viewers. He has a website here: http://www.theelectriccatfish.com/ where you can find all the artistic nuances of our friend the Catfish.

F - Foccacia Nutritional Info
I love a good foccacia like any good Italian boy, but to be honest it rocks out a hardcore 250 calories for almost every slice. Now this is of course if you get it fresh from some place like Caputos and it is the only way to eat it. In the end, its all worth it.

G - Giant Taco
I wanted to send a picture of a giant taco to my guy, Brian to let him know we were having taco's for dinner, unfortunately all I could find was this:H - HD Code T-Shirts
So for those of you who aren't in the geekery a scandale happened in the past weeks where a code that would allow people to rip HD DVD's was released on social bookmarking sites like digg, reddit, delicious and others. I love things that snub big corporations by freeing information, but then people started marketing it back to us by selling the code on a T-shirt. I nearly bought one, but I guess cultural hegemony will have to continue without my participation.

I - Illinois State Police, lets just say sometimes we run into the wrong side of the law and some times the wrong side of the law runs into us. $75 later Im a free man and I can get on a plane without a warrant for my arrest!

J - Jane Restaurant in Bucktown
If your a Chicago native make sure to hit this place up at least once on the weekend for brunch. Get there early and make sure you get a window seat, you'll know what when you get it. Apparently it can make Brits fall in love with our city.

K - Kurt Vonnegut Quotes
If you've never read one of his books, do so in homage to how incredible a personality as well as an author he was. My current favorite book is and remains

"Sirens of Titan," but this quote isnt so bad either, "Human being will be happier not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie, but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia."

L - Lil Kim Before & After
Alright, so like any good gay I find myself watching a fragment of reality television. My guy and I were hooked on "Whose Going to be the Next Doll" for the Pussycat Dolls. I think only to see if at some point Lil Kim's nose would grow back. I think they gave her the Clockwork Orange treatment in the slammer or they locked her in with Michael Jackson for a while.
M - Matthew Barney
About three years ago my Humanities Professor a lovely lady names Ms. Reuland introduced me to a character called Mathew Barney. Henceforth all bets at normalcy were off. If you can get your hands on some of his Cremaster Cycle (only one DVD for sale, not worth the purchase TRUST ME) get it, most likely it will only play in some tiny indie theater as a cult classic years from now. How can you refuse a guy who makes images like this:

N - New BP Commercial Song
I guess a better letter 'N' could have been chosen. I love hearing that "Say hey, make the day a little better." But it turns out this is just stock music, produced only for commercials, not for purchase. I guess this is for the better since all I can think about are babies driving cards to gas stations whenever I hear it, kind of a creepy image, no?

O - Oriental School of Medicine
I believe it is actually called the Pacific Oriental School of Medicine, but nonetheless they do a shite load of great work there. I'll be attending a de-stressing acupuncture session for the first time this upcoming Friday. Details to follow. A good friend of ours recently got her degree there and will begin practicing post-clinic. For those who'd like more info you can check out this site: http://www.naturalhealers.com/schools/pcomil/

P - Prosper
My guy found this one. Want to find a way to help some people out cause you have too much money and do not know what to do with it? I didn't think so. But this is a very interesting site: www.prosper.com it allows you to invest in people and small groups for various projects including debt relief, building a business, starting an adventure, financing a car, etc. You become the loan agency. Not a bad deal if you do your proper research. I healthier alternative to this is kiva.org where you do the same thing, but instead you are sponsoring people and small groups in developing and under-developed nations.


Q - Quote from movie "Network"
Let's just say, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." If you have not seen this 1976 masterpiece you need to get on it. One of the most relevant and vital films to date in my book and I think we should all take a big lesson from one Howard Biehl.


R - Rick Steves
Whatever happened to the good 'ol retiree who travels the world and writes books giving advice to others on their own journeys. He reminds me of Goble's Uncle Travelling Matt. Any way's, we definitely spent some time wandering around his site prior to making plans and we recommend you do to if your taking off for overseas, underseas, around seas or wherever it is you people travel to: www.ricksteves.com

S - Sushi
Ahh yes, I've finally found a good reason to leave the house from work during the day to get food that is not terrifyingly fatty, greasy, and comes with a 'sell your soul' mark-up. Instead Im riddling my body with high doses of mercury as I begin consuming vast proportion of Sushi on weekly basis. What can I say, when they know me by my name and give me free Kamikaze's Im suckered into coming back. Word to the wise, sushi adds up fast, rolls are different then sushi, green tea and miso soup smell the same at some places, and dont eat it if something seems wrong! (most important rule)

T - Transient Meteorological Event
Does this sound rather vague? I thought it was to. I also though that it was something that only existed in the dialogue of an X-files episode until wikipedia told me otherwise. So if the sky turns black and yellow rain starts falling, or if the everything seems to go black and white while big lights blink in the sky, or if the Aurora Borealis starts swooning through your window, you may be witness to one of the many odd bizarre strange weird and freaky Transient Events. Rarely documented for public knowledge, but if you dig around the net you can find some pretty interesting stuff.

U - Nada, check back next month.

V - V for Vendetta
Im not going to talk about the movie, Im going to talk about the graphic novel. Not even that, but the author, Alan Moore. BUY HIS WORK NOW! From Hell, Watchmen, Swamp Thing (okay, so maybe that one was a slip up) but a guy who lays in a tub of mud and seaweed to get in touch with the character must be doing some good writing. Just look at him, read his work or he'll go crazy on you. He kinda looks like Manson with a lion's mane huh?


W - Walt Whitman
If you dont have a little of Whitman in your repertoire I would reconsider how much a fan or early homosexual authors you really are. Before "Leaves of Grass" was this:

Once I pass'd through a populous city imprinting my brain for future use with its shows, architecture, customs, tradition,
Yet now of all that city I remember only a man I casualy met there who detained me for love of me,
Day by day and night by night we were together — all else has long been forgotten by me,
I remember I saw only that man who passionately clung to me,
Again we wander, we love, we separate again,
Again he holds me by the hand, I must not go,
I see him close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.
(Once I Pass'd Through A Populous City)

If you cannot fall in love with a man for speaking that way of love then start tinkering around with your heart, it might not be working.

X - Nothing here either. Woops!

Y - Yoga Retreats
In investigation a vacation for my boss I found that some of these retreats are fairly inexpensive bizarre trips to super spirituality. If you need some instant enlightenment and have some vacation time coming forget Vegas, go to this retreat in Hawaii, where you sty in the jungle in a tree house off volcanic shores, doing nothing all day but yoga, meditation, eating some super yummy native foods, talking with strangers, and feeling good about life in general. Even if its only for a weekend, it sounds like heaven to me. www.yogaoasis.com. This is the view from your living room four stories up.

Z - Last letter lost out. No 'z' here.