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Cutbacks

I just closed both my Facebook and MySpace accounts. Why? Why not. I’ve barely been logging into both places. And I really don’t have anything to promote. My blog now lives here, even if it never gets read. Still have a YouTube channel and a Flickr account. So the social networking experience is over for me. Two less things to check out on the web. Phew.

Celebrities (Name Droppings)

I was having a conversation with a girl about how common it is to run into celebrities in New York City as opposed to Los Angeles. Having lived in and around NYC for a while, I’ve complied some run-ins:

Leo DiCaprio (at Bowery Bar, Spy, and Moomba), Lenny Kravitz (at Yaffa Cafe & a book release party), Helena Christensen (Bowery Bar), Prince (Spy), Jay Kay (Spy), Debbie Harry (at Image Productions), Chris Stein (Image Productions), Henry Rollins (on the street), John Malkovich (at Lucky Strike), Matt Dillon (at Max Fish), Cathleen Keener (at a film screening), Marisa Tomei (at a party), Ethan Hawke (at Chromavision), Sante D’Orazio (Chromavision), Mark Seliger (book release party), Marilyn Manson (Spy & on the street), Twiggy Ramirez (on the street), Steven Dorff (Spy), Rick Rubin (Spy), David Lee Roth (Spy), John Popper (Wax), Steven Tyler (at Lucky’s Juice Joint), Lou Reed (Lucky’s Juice Joint, at the same time as Steven Tyler, but they were not together, thought they did speak to one another), GG Allin (at Tin Pan Alley Studios), Sean Penn (film screening), Hal Holbrook (film screening), Evan Dando (at a Nancy Boy show), Stevie Wonder (at Manny’s Music), Paul Shaffer (Manny’s Music), Bill Clinton (at Bryant Park), Liv Tyler (Yaffa), Yoko Ono (at Teatown Video), Bob Balaban (Teatown Video), Scott Rosenberg (Bowery Bar), Andy Summers (Image Productions), Paris Hilton (Bowery Bar, Spy, & Wax), Nicki Hilton (Spy & Wax), Maury Povich (in a doctor’s office), Walter Kronkite (Teatown Video), Puff Daddy (Moomba), Oliver Stone (Moomba), Dan Lauria (in an elevator), Marsha Resnick (at Singularity), Emile Hirsch (film screening), Sam Fogarino (at The Lampost in Jersey City), Tom Cruise (on the street), Jeremy Davies (at a party), David Letterman (at a party), Ratboy (at Venus Records), Ben & Mike Kotch (at an audition), Kate Peirson (at a party), Joey Ramone (at Coney Island High), Jesse Malin (Coney Island High), Bono (Sine), Kristy Hume (Bowery Bar), Donovan Leitch (Bowery Bar & on the street), Tim Robbins (at a party), Catherine Hickland (Singularity), Marsha Gay Harding (film screening), Scarlett Johansson (Teatown Video)

The Passion of the Corporation

Don’t you just love the way the corporate world has hijacked the word passion? Passion used to connotation love, lust, sex, art, music, literature and the like. Now is seems to mean, “having a good work ethic.” If I hear another financial company/software company/phone company use the word passion to describe what they do, I’m gonna vomit! They are completely taking the power out of the word. Passion has lost its mojo. Had it stolen. Right from its rich tradition; a rich tradition of love and art. Passion: may she regain the esoteric vitality of her youth.

Brooklyn cyclone

A Tree Falls In Brooklyn

Jitterbug

Hey!

Have you heard of the Jitterbug cellphone? It’s a cellphone designed for the elderly. It’s simple and only works as a phone; no camera, texting, surfing, email, etc. They have a one-touch, three-button speed-dial model shown here:

These things are proving to be even more popular than the iPhone! Celebrities, politicians, agencies, and others are all rushing to have their very own one-touch custom Jitterbug made just for them. In a SynFlux scoop, we’ve been able to snag a few pics of some of these Jitterbugs that have been shipped. Check ‘em out:

Makes you want you’re very own!

Clever video

This video is clever.

The Lou-kins Diet

Lose 15 pounds in 5 weeks like me!

BREAKFAST:
2 to 4 pieces Lindt 85% cocoa chocolate
Large black iced coffee
Whole-wheat bagel with butter (optional)
1 cup fruit salad (optional)

LUNCH (optional, try to skip 2 to 3 times weekly)
V8
Grilled chicken on whole-wheat with lettuce, tomato, honey-mustard

SNACK:
Sugarless Red Bull
Mister Softee vanilla sugar-cone with peanuts

DINNER:
Chinese delivery: small spare ribs, large wonton soup, small mixed vegetables
-or-
Italian delivery: large chef’s salad with olive oil
(share 5-10% of above with dog)

MIDNIGHT SNACK:
Melatonin

Drink about 1.5 liters of water a day

EXERCISE:
Work 6 to 7 days a week
Walk dog
Chase dog around backyard
Wrestle dog on sofa
Use stairs for trips less than 4 flights
Run at top speed to FedEx 2 to 3 times weekly
Throw scripts, tapes, and phones at producer 2 to 3 times monthly

Music

If music saved your soul, your soul was never really lost.

NYC Street Walking Rules

In the effort to keep things civil on the streets and sidewalks of New York City, pedestrians please follow these rules:

1. When waiting to cross the street, stand on the sidewalk, not in the street. If you have ever driven a vehicle in NYC, you know how asinine and dangerous this behavior is.

2. “Curb your dog” means have your dog pee/shit at the curb in the street, not on the sidewalk.

3. No flip-flops. No exceptions.

4. If you are male and over 35 years old, skateboard use is prohibited.

5. Briskly and single file.

6. Those odd yellow beeping metal boxes attached to the base of some lampposts are to help blind people navigate and cross the street. They are not IED’s, don’t call 911. Trust me on this.

7. Sidewalk cafes on major avenues are to be avoided at all cost. Unless you feel diesel fumes and soot enhance a meal.

8. When asked, always stop to give directions. Make them up if you have to.

9. In the summertime at most major intersections and subway stops there is a Mister Softee truck. Avoid temptation; use sparingly.

10. If it’s flashing, you best be dashing!

11. Cellphone up, elbow down.

12. If ear to cellphone, then eyes on the sidewalk. Looking at the sky while doing the walk-n-talk is strictly prohibited.

13. No singing aloud or air guitaring during iPod use.

14. If you’re gonna spontaneously bust rhymes while in a crowd, try to keep it PG-13.

15. Always stop for “mango, mango”.

16. The up-traffic taxi hailer retains right of first refusal.

17. Confirm a clear line of sight before flicking your cigarette butt to the curb.

18. Blow cigarette smoke downward, not over your shoulder.

19. No wheeled luggage or backpacks unless the item weighs over 25lbs.

20. Females, if you expose your cleavage and/or navel, you forfeit the right to give dirty looks to all the males who will ogle you.

21. If it is pouring rain and you are using an oversize golf umbrella, consider the buddy system.

22. Park benches and church steps are the turf of the homeless; be respectful.

23. The space between parked cars is the proper place to pee, shit, and/or vomit.

24. Only purchase a regular Starbucks coffee if a coffee cart street vendor is not available.

25. People pushing wheelchairs retain the right of way over people pushing strollers.

26. Despite the annoyance, pamphleteering is a Fifth Amendment right.

That’s all I got for now, more may come.

Other Good Mergers

Microsoft & Yahoo!??? Well then consider . . .

Eastman Kodak + Seagate Technology

Berkshire Hathaway + The Blackstone Group

IBM + RIM

HP + LG

3M + TI

FedEx + JetBlue

Accenture + Infosys

Boeing + Caterpillar

Best Buy + Ikea

Halliburton + Textron

ExxonMobil + TimeWarner

Google + Wal-Mart

Starbucks + Philip Morris

Xerox + Kleenex

Pfizer + Whole Foods, Inc.

Apple, Inc. + Orange Amps

McDonald’s + Dow Chemicals

Smith & Wesson + Toys “R” Us

Vortex

Ever feel like you are caught in the vortex of your own gravity? As if you cannot get out of the way of yourself? Like you are going to run yourself over? As if the candle can only burn at both ends if it is to give off any light at all? Like you only feel alive on the verge of a breakdown? As if there is no such thing as truth but only perception? Like time speeds up and slows down at intervals opposite your energy level? As if all the songs are playing at once? Like when you smell the roses they leave you in the dust? As though dreams are more real than memories? Like everyone is the center of their own parallel universe? As if your soul has reached critical mass? Like you can actually perceive the speed of light? As is your own gravity creates a vortex that does not lead to your center?

My New Least Favorite Expression

“It is what it is”.

Because, so often, it is what we make it to be. But we say “it is what it is” as a minor exageration, a minor cop out, to shirk the work and give up too soon/easily. Not that the saying doesn’t have it’s place, since, for example, the weather “is what it is”; we have no control over it. But so many other things we do have some degree of control over, yet we blow them off with an “it is what it is” to avoid doing the heavy lifting of real life.

It’s just way too post-WWII French existential for my taste. I mean, has mankind wound up there again?

Favorite new(ish) expression . . . “Throw it out on the sidewalk and see if the cat licks it up.”

Hipsters

The more a person sports a look, the more likely they are to judge you on looks alone. So I have noticed!

Cool vs Hip

It’s good to be cool. It’s not good to be hip. Hip is an insult. Cool is a compliment. Hip is trendy, not trendsetting. Cool is ahead of time and trend. Hip is of the moment; the one that’s soon to pass. Cool is timeless. Johnny Depp is cool. Ethan Hawke is hip. Punk is cool. Emo is hip. Cool is intrinsic. Hip is extrinsic. Cool doesn’t know it’s cool. Hip tries too hard, and is aware of every move it makes. Hip stares in the mirror. Cool avoids mirrors. Hip gets confused with Cool, and vice-versa; but Cool knows the difference. Hip has attitude. Cool has fortitude. Hip buys ripped jeans. Cool wears out jeans. Cool is what you are. Hip is what you think you should be.

St. Patrick’s Day!

SynFlux Top Five Alternate Names For St. Patrick’s Day:

#5: National Bring Your Booze To Work Day

#4: St. Bushmill’s Day

#3: It’s Easy Being Green Day

#2: Soon To Be A Friend Of Bill Wilson’s Day

. . . and finally . . .

#1: The Mother Of All Hangover’s Eve

Whiskers

The Big List

I decided to make a list of all the people that have influenced me as a person. People who’ve helped shape my personality, make me think the way I do, act the way I do. Opened my mind or closed it. All those kind of things. No matter how large or small the effect may have been. I decided to not include family, as clearly my Mother, Father, & Sister have more influence than anyone else. I also decided to break the list in two, for people I know or have known or met, and for people I’ve never met. So while having breakfast (in the early afternoon) at the local diner, I inked out this list on the paper placemat:

People I Know or Have Known or Met: Christian Barone, Steve Utaski, Steve Corsano, Michael Cullinan, Colin Throm, Russel Thomas Raymond, Stephanie White, David Campbell, Leslie Davis, William Resk (Billy Rock), Kelly Pearsall, Mark Magnini, Steve Neulight, Tom Rigatti, Matt Kilburn, Steve Mott, Jon Fordham, Yoko Ono, Marty Abrahams, Anthony Vito Susco, Ralph Galli, Scott Reisberg, Marlen Hecht, Mala Perna, Tom Perna, Mary-Sue Connolly, Tavis Paine Riker, Chuck D, Sharon Middendorf, Michelle DiLeo, Jean Marie Cooper, Mark Pengelski, Jeff Taylor Knudson, Jeff Schetzel, William Renn, David Pena, Boomer Esiason, Valleria Ramundo Orlando, Renee Forbes, Michael Mandrachia, John “Jay” Kostrowski, Ellen Broudy, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Paul Smith, Liz Moore, Marc Leckington, Paul Goodman, Andy Summers, the photography professor at Hofstra who’s name I forget and will never remember (sorry), Helena Christensen, Orlando Reyes, K. Stuebben, Puff Daddy, Brenda Buck, M. R. Kremberg, Jerry (from Jersey city, can’t remeber last name, sorry), Rick Rubin, Steve Puchalski, David Lee Roth, Dave Vandervetner, Abbey Katz, Bob Mould, Jason (from Albany, can’t remember last name, sorry), LJ Long, Leo DiCaprio, Vince Grant, Chris Grant, Ken Sirulnick, Tom Slattery, Wayne Jaffe

People I’ve Never Met: Elvis Costello, Paul Westerberg, John Lennon, Ansel Adams, Tim O’Brien, Joyce Carol Oates, George Orwell, Joseph Heller, Mike Ness, Tim Armstrong, Lance Armstrong, Lars Frederiksen, John R. Lott Jr., John Fante, Les Plesko, Jane Brody, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Ramone, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Scorsese, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stephen Speilberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Wagner, Johann Strauss Jr., Flea, The Marx Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Robert Johnson, Thom Yorke, Bjorn Borg, Arron Sorkin, Jeff LeMond, Peter Gabriel, John F. Kennedy Jr., William Clinton, Albert Einstein, Thomas L. Friedman, Bret Easton Ellis, Ralph Nader, Bob Woodward, Charlie Rose, Errol Morris, Kurt Vonnegut, Bill Moyers

This list may evolve, although it may not since I like it as a one-off, spur of the moment, stream-of-conscious effort. I think I hit everyone.

This list is meant to show respect and thanks to those on it.

Urinals

Why don’t residential homes have urinals in the bathrooms? They’re more convenient, for males. They would eliminate the whole “you left the seat up” issue. And they use less water than standard toilettes. Urinals save water and relationships at the same time! What else does that?

Clients & Truth

I’d like to debunk the phrase “The client is always right.” First off, if the client was always right, they would have the knowledge & skills themselves to do the task they need performed, and not hire an outside service provider to do it. Smart clients know that they do not know everything and are not always right and hire service providers for their expertise and actually value that expertise. Blowing smoke up a client’s ass with misinformation to make them feel always right is not a service worth selling or buying.