The Return Of Kevin Butler

The "fictional" VP of Sony PlayStation, Kevin Butler, has returned to where he belongs in a string of upcoming new and hilarious television ads for the PlayStation 3. If you follow me on Facebook, you're already aware of how much I love this guy and his commercials. If you need a refresher course, check out some of his more infamous tv spots here, here, here and here.

Anyway, Kevin's been out of the loop for some time. Apparently he's been moonlighting as president of the carpet company "Economy Flooring" while Sony marketing got its collective act together. But, as is only natural, you cannot keep a good guy down for long. Kevin's back, and he's here to put in no uncertain terms to you casual gaming pansies out there why PlayStation 3 means business this Fall.

Check out the launch of the new "Long Live Play" ad campaign below, and tell me you don't just love this guy's enthusiasm:





Oh GAWD, so many awesome lines in this one. Like:

"It's tougher than a no-scope headshot from a moving troop transport." (haha @ the customer's reaction to that one!)

"I'm not coming back to the gaming industry to sell some watered down, get-grandma-off-the-couch weaksauce."

"Long live the kind of play that turns 'five more minutes' into five more hours."

"I believe in that as much as I believe in my no-look flaming crossbow shot."

LOL!

I so can't wait until the new ads start rolling out, especially with such awesome PlayStation exclusives as Resistance 3, Twisted Metal, and Uncharted 3 being released in the near future. And while I don't think anything can top PlayStation's old slogan "It Only Does Everything," I kinda like the new "Long Live Play" one for bringing back the focus to actual hard-core gameplay that seems to have been missing lately.

Long Live KEVIN BUTLER!!!

The Great NYC Shakeup Of Two-Oh-Eleven!

Because, saying "oh" before the year apparently makes anything sound way more dramatic.

So, I stayed home from work today and figured I'd get up and do the dishes after watching Thundercats (oh what an exciting life I lead on my days off!). Halfway done with the sudsy plates, I was rinsing out some utensils when suddenly I realized I was tipping forward against the sink. Weird, I thought. Then I stopped to listen to a loud banging noise. I looked up and behind me and found the ENTIRE HOUSE swaying back and forth like a sunflower in the breeze. The banging sound was my front door, shut and locked, shuddering within the frame.

Holy crap, are we having an EARTHQUAKE???

I knew it had to be a very minor trembler, if so. Nothing worth even blinking about to my friends out on the West Coast, no doubt. But this was the first time I've ever experienced one. We've had minor quakes before in the region, but always under a 4.0 magnitude and always in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. I know for a fact that I've slept through three such events in my lifetime here in the greater New York City area.

So, yes, this was a big deal for me. For the 4 seconds it took to dissipate, I felt like I was on a large boat gently rocking in a calm harbor. Nothing broke, no dishes went flying across the kitchen, the pets in the nearby apartments were not barking mad. Just a smooth swaying to and fro. For a second I thought perhaps it was the D subway line passing beneath my building. Or perhaps a construction mishap at the building next door where workers on the scaffolding were already packing up for the day. I stuck my head out the window, but no one on the streets below seemed all that perturbed.

Was I the only one who felt it, I thought?

Around 15 minutes later, the major networks cut in with the news. There was indeed a 5.8 quake some 80 miles south of D.C. It was felt as far north as New Hampshire -- maybe even Ontario, Canada if some reports are to be believed. Whoa!

Anyway, we're all fine here. Not even the subways were disrupted. The local news people, of course, made a HUGE deal out of it. Which sucks because it's going to give off the impression that we New Yorkers can get rattled so easily by what was just a teeny, tiny baby quake.

Most of the people I know barely shrugged at what happened. Hell, some of them didn't even feel it. Those who did, like me, were more bemused by the whole event than perturbed. Something big always seems to strike NYC around this time of year. I think it was on or near this very date back in 2003 when we had a huge blackout and I ended up having to walk all the way home from my job in the baking August heat. And, of course, we all know about 9/11. And now this?

I think from now on I'll take the entire latter half of August and part of September off. Might be a plan. What say you all?

We're Experiencing Technical Difficulties . . .

Arrgh! This is so FRUSTRATING!

Seems my main home PC is suffering from some nasty bit of malware that came "from God knows where, infecting [it] with God knows what!" Kudos for anyone who knows what favorite movie of mine that's taken from. Here's a hint:

How do I know my PC's infected? Because suddenly my anti-viral and malicious software removal tools refuse to operate. I get some bullshit message saying that Windows cannot find the file path or whatever, even though I just used these programs not that long ago. I'm also unable to get the latest Windows Update download no matter how many times I try.

Lastly, anytime I try to download anything new to help fix the problem--up to and including online-only runs--I get cock blocked each time by this bullshit denial window.

Like I said -- ARRGH!

Now, in case you didn't know, I run a tight ship on all my computing products. Nothing irks me more than an infected PC, and I go to great pains to ensure that these things don't happen. It's why my machines always last so long. But of course, you can only do so much. And despite your best efforts, something eventually does slips through. In the eight years I've had this same PC, I've had two previous invasions. The first was pretty easy to fix, while the second (around 4 years ago) was hell on wheels to diagnose and eradicate. It took me two weeks before all the dust had cleared and I stood victorious over the smoking corpse of that last trojan.

This one, though, makes that last attack look like the Spanish-American War (to the Americans, naturally). I'm afraid what I'm dealing with here is the Great War itself. Or perhaps the Battle at Helm's Deep? Whatever it is, it looks bad!

I'm going to be busy for a while getting to the bottom of this. It sucks, because I have so much other crap to deal with right now that I need to attend to. Not this. But if I don't nip this in the bud now, there's no telling how much worse it will get.

Wish me luck!

Consequently, I'm also tentatively looking into a new PC. After 8 years, it's damn near time I upgraded. This baby did great to hold out that long with nary a problem, but now it's feeling a little bit long in the tooth. Notwithstanding this latest snafu. I might have to downgrade this PC to a word-processing only machine, but only after I clean her up a bit first.

So, that's what my weekend is shaping up to be already. *sigh* How's yours starting off?

Writing, Reading . . . More Writing

So, it's me again. Taking a quick break from whatever it is I do when I'm not here blogging. Which, as I mentioned yesterday, has been happening a lot lately. And I'm sorry for that, truly I am. But I have indeed been busy . . . idle hands, and all that.

I'm happy to say that I put the finishing touches on a new short story and sent it out into the wild to see if someone will publish it. I expect it'll go through several rounds of rejections before someone bites. Or not. So it could be a very long time before you hear any more news from me on that front.

In the meantime, I decided to dig into my pile of old stories that might have been but were not, and publish one here for all the world to see. If you remember, I did this a few months back when I resurrected "Hatchling" from my rejections pile. Well now I've added a story I wrote even further back before I wrote "Hatchling." This one is called "Off the Grid," and I wrote it back in mid-2008. To read it, you can click on this link to where I have it up as a separate page attached to The Bimillennial Man, or you can access it under the "Current Short Story WIPs" sidebar on the right side of this page. I created this sidebar to showcase various stories I've written over the past four years which were never able to reach publication status for whatever the reason might be (it varies for each story). These stories don't represent my best work, but I thought it would be an interesting exercise to include my "failures" as well as successes on this blog.

So, feel free to read "Off the Grid" if you're of a mind to do so. As with "Hatchling," I provide a brief insight into why I wrote the story and why I think it ultimately failed. You may or may not agree, but if you want to leave a comment on the tale, you'll have to do so at the end of THIS entry. Blogger Pages doesn't allow comments--just the facts, ma'am.

I've also been reading a lot lately, including that latest "Game of Thrones" novel you might have heard about. That sucker's HUGE, though, and I'm just 100 odd pages into it so far. That's barely scratching the surface on this 1,000 page tome! But--oh yes--so far the book is teh AWESOME sauce! Phew, that George R. R. Martin is an amazingly talented writer. Damn him to the seven hells!!!

In other news . . . if you check the upper right corner of the page, you'll notice that my "Current Novel in Progress" counter is back down to zero words. That's because I've decided to go back and rewrite the Castlevania novel from scratch again. Have no fears, I just wanted to take some time off from it for a while and reexamine my approach. Now that I've done so, I plan on getting back into the thick of things within the next few weeks. Maybe even starting this weekend, although don't hold me to that. But whenever I do ramp things up, I'll make the announcement here and then you can hopefully watch that counter GROW!!!

So, that's all the news that's fit to print in Batista land. How's your summer coming along?

Random Thought Of . . . August

Yup, I said AUGUST. Because that's probably how long it will take before you hear from me again, judging by the absence of anything Batista on this blog lately.

Yes, yes, I know I've been a bad blogger. But while I'm not ready to come back to full-steam posting mode yet, I figured I'd let you in on the most recent question to pop into my mind a few minutes ago while I was working out:

Why don't all the major booksellers figure out a way to allow people who have purchased the print version of their products to scan the barcode on their receipt with their smart phones or tablet PCs and download the electronic copy for free?

Really, is that so hard to do for us loyal customers?

I only ask because I have a ton of hardcopy books sitting on my shelves in need of reading, but I no longer carry physical books with me when I leave the house. These days, all my on-the-run reading is done on either my iPhone or iPad. It's terribly useful, especially on my mobile since that's always with me when I leave the house. I only read physical books when I'm curled up in bed at night and have 30 - 45 minutes to spare before Mr. Sandman knocks me over the head and it's lights out.

So, being that I'm a loyal book purchaser from such places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, why can't I just download copies of those self same books on the Kindle and Nook apps, respectively, that are on my portable devices?

I mean, talk about being GREEDY! No wonder the industry's in the crapper.

Thoughts?

For the record . . .

No, I'm not dead. Or without Internet service. Or sequestered away in a top secret jury somewhere in this great big city.

I'm just taking a protracted break from the interwebs for a while, that's all. I can't rightfully say how long it will last. It could end tomorrow, or last until Fall. I don't know.

I am very busy, though. With mostly good things, but busy nonetheless. And I may drop a post or two at random. But for now I'm taking a break. I ask that you please don't forget me in this time away from the blogosphere, and know that I *will* be back eventually.

In the meantime -- have FUN, people! And, if I'm not back before then: Have a great rest of the summer/winter (depending on which half of this Earth you're currently rotating on).

Peace, out.

Back From The Cape

And boy am I not in a blogging mood!

Still . . . I had a wonderful time away, the rental car held up beautifully despite the heavy usage I put it through, and I feel thoroughly well-rested. So much so that I've been on a mini blog hiatus all this time and really am not ready to return just yet.

So this is just a quick note to let you all know that we're safe and sound back home in the Bronx, and that Cape Cod was indeed quite picturesque and a lot of fun to hang around in. Right now I'm preparing for the dreaded return to work tomorrow and a crap load of catching up to do at the office. Grrrrr! When I finally do have the time and energy to return to blogging, you'll definitely know it. :)

In the meantime, hope you have all been well.

And . . . HAPPY FOURTH!!!!

Ongoing Vacation Week -- Now With Pics!

I know I'm not supposed to be blogging on my week off while having so much fun in the sun (thanks, guys, for hammering that point home over and over again), but I did promise some pics from the beach. And, so, here they are!

Of course, as per usual, click on the pics and expand the new window if you want to see larger versions.

I drove a measly 2 minutes to the nearest beach from where we're staying in Brewster, Mass. early Monday morning to find the parking lot looking like this:

But before I could rejoice at my luck, I was greeted by this sign:

Drat! If I wanted to park here, I first needed to make a quick detour to the Town Hall for a parking permit. Guess this beach is popular!

I drove to the center of main street and turned down a long side-alley (thank god for the Google maps app on my iPhone), stood in a surprisingly long line for a Monday morning, and then showed my rental car's registration and my driver's license to the nice clerk at the table. She convinced me to get a week long bumper sticker rather than the daily, and then I was hightailing it back to the beach.

This is the sight which greeted me:

Plenty of space for me! Armed with my beach chair, umbrella, book, and snack cooler, I picked a plum spot clear away from everyone else. Lisa was at her conference all day, so it was just me and George R. R. Martin's A Feast For Crows -- Book 4 in the "Game of Thrones" series. Book 5 is coming out in just a few short weeks, so I wanted to prepare myself in advance.

As I engrossed myself in this thoroughly engrossable tome, the beach started to fill up big time. Before long, I was surrounded by large families and their whelps on all sides. At this point, too, the ice-cream truck man drove up and rang his bell, displaying uncanny timing no doubt honed by years of practice. The kids, of course, swarmed the truck. In ones and twos at first, and then in wave after wave as the call went out far and wide: Ice cream was to be had!

Around this time, too, the tide began going out. I've heard of low tide, of course. And even witnessed it once or twice before. But never had I seen it this drastically visualized. What was once a beautiful azure vista of sea meeting shore was now a muddled brown wasteland of soggy sand, revealed pitfalls, and dozens upon dozens of now exposed mollusks.

Below is a before and after shot for your benefit:

Pretty drastic change, huh? People could now walk from the previous shoreline out half a mile into the bay without getting so much as a pinky toe wet! I was properly amazed!

I spent the rest of the lazy day reading, snacking, and napping -- not in that particular order. It was just what I needed, and reminded me that--although I complain about the sun and heat--sometimes a beach day can perform wonders to replenish one's soul.

Oh, don't you agree?

We Hath Arriveth!

So, looks like the Ford Escape was a better vehicle than I gave it credit for. And, funny, but I actually made it the entire 260 miles without ever needing to fill up. Luckily there's a Mobil station in town, because by the time we did make it to our destination we were *almost* running on fumes.

Anyway, folks, as you might have surmised -- we made it here to the Cape safe and sound. And I have WiFi at the inn where we're staying in Brewster! Thing is, it's clear, sunny, and warm out. And my wife's stuck all day at her conference, leaving me all alone to my own devices.

Do you know what that means?

BEACH DAY!!!

So, yeah, that's where I'll be all day now. At the beach. With the sand. And the waves. And no wi-fi. If I can muster up the energy, I'll try to update this entry with pics at the end of the day. But other than that -- dudes! I'm on vacation!

See you all later!

Stepping Away For A Few Days

Well folks, we're hitting the road today. My wife's got a medical conference to attend up in beautiful Cape Cod, Massachusetts all this week . . . and I get to be a beach bum. Yup, life will be good! We've never been to Cape Cod before, so I'm actually looking forward to getting some sea and sun for a change. I'm not a big fan of the ocean, mind you, but I do in fact like being near the ocean. As long as there is solid land beneath my feet during my experiencing of it, you can give me all the ocean you'd like.

It's about a 260 mile drive from the Bronx to there, so it should take us around 4 and a half hours I think. I should say it's going to take me that long since I'm the one doing all the driving. Must be nice, huh?

I went to pick up the rental car from Avis yesterday and was in a for a shock. See, when I set the reservation a while back, I had specified a compact or sub-compact -- like a Ford Focus or a Chevy Cobalt. But when I got there today, the woman behind the counter said: "Okay, now let me step into the back and see what we have available. You said you wanted a compact, right?

I confirmed, and then she left. I should have known something was up, because she had already tried to get me to upgrade to something larger twice. The reason I wanted a compact or smaller, however, was because there is only two of us -- me and Lisa. And this isn't really a vacation for us, but more like a get out of town for a few days on business and some pleasure trip. Moreover, I didn't want a gas guzzler that was going to devour my wallet at the pump. 260 miles to and the same back is a LOT of fuel to burn, not even including all the local driving we'll be doing while we're there.

So, of course, wouldn't you know I didn't get the car I wanted? What did I get, you ask? Well, take a look for yourself:

Yes, there you go. I was politely informed that the most "compact" car they had in the lot was this Ford Escape SUV. I just looked at the woman for a while and then said: "A what?"

Arrgh! I was soooo mad! This is the exact opposite of what I wanted!

But then, a strange thing happened. I got in the car, fiddled around with all the bells and whistles for a few minutes -- and decided that I loved it! The interior is really quite spacious, and the seats are all leather. Very classy, in fact. And I was reminded that I did in fact learn how to drive in an SUV--a Jeep Grand Cherokee, to be precise--so the size and the height of the car was at once very familiar to me.

Now if I can only wrap my head around the amount of gas I'm going to be paying for when this trip is all said and done. Ouch!

After I left the garage, I drove around up and and down the East Side of Manhattan all afternoon running some errands. I have to say, although the Escape is much heavier on the pedal than the Civics and Priuses I'm used to getting from Zipcar, it ran very smooth. The interior resembles a Range Rover in many respects, and the chassis felt almost as sturdy. So I guess I can say I'm not too upset by the mixup. I'm sure this baby will serve me well on this trip.

So, we're off! I can't promise I'll be doing much blogging when we get there. But then, I said the same thing whenever we went overseas in previous years and still managed to find a way somehow. If the little inn where we're staying has WiFi, then the chances are good you'll hear from me. Heck, you might even get a video blog from the beach if you're lucky!

If not -- I'll see you guys before the 4th.

This is Mork signing out: Nanoo, nanoo!


P.S. -- I just realized this is my 100th blog entry of the year. Yippee!!!

So, New York . . .

Ya did something good for once, did ya? I'm glad, my home state you. And -- phew!

If you don't know, New York just passed a momentous law into effect that will make gay and lesbian marriages legal here. This makes it the 6th and largest state to do so.

I have to say, all the arguing back and forth over the past several weeks was really starting to make my blood boil. I think it's utterly ridiculous to disallow two human beings from marrying. This isn't marriage between a woman and her horse, or a man and his dog, after all. These are PEOPLE, people. Damn!

And, you know what? I don't give two shits what your religion says on the subject. Although I think if some of you go back and read your relevant sacred texts more closely, you'll probably realize that you're more wrong on the subject than you previously thought. But I won't get into that here.

No, I don't care about the religion angle because the law has nothing to do with religion. Read up on your separation of church and state sometime . . . our Founding Fathers explicitly put that part in there. The bible has a nice little comment about giving Caesar his due and what not, too. The point being, let the government handle the legal side of things while the church handles the spiritual side -- and neither the two shall meet!

And, at least for now, New York State has taken a major step in keeping those sides firmly apart. There's more that can and should be done, but that also is a topic for another day. For now, I'm proud and at peace. I'm happy any day justice and equality is to be had, and bigots get to go home to cry in their cups. I also expect that church services all across the land this Sunday will be a particularly lively event, which too makes me cackle with glee.

Ah, such are the amazing times we live in . . .

Game Of Thrones For Dummies, Ep. 10

About a month ago you may recall I posted up this blog entry about a Youtube web series, "Game of Thrones For Dummies," presented by one super fine SF geek, Simone Boyce. Well, I thought that in the spirit of closure I'd embed her latest installment covering the final episode. I'm going to miss these . . . at least until next Spring.





LOL! Girl power indeed! I just love her bit with the plush dragon toy on her shoulder at the beginning. Simone ROCKS!!!

Ep. 10 Reactions: "Fire and Blood"

So this is it, the season finale. I can't believe how fast time has flown! This is such a bittersweet moment for me. I always knew the day would come--and quickly with a 10-episode season at that!--but this is what I've been dreading since April. The day Game of Thrones would come to an end for the year.

The title of this final episode is "Fire and Blood" with good reason. But to speak more on that would give certain things away, so for now I'll keep a lid on it and await to see if HBO can pull off greatness here. You'll be getting my honest reactions as they occur throughout the episode, along with some clarifications and background info gleaned from the books when I deem it necessary.

So, won't you join me as a I settle in for what promises to be a night of television I'll likely won't forget for some time? But before you do, please take a moment to check out my previous episode reactions by clicking their appropriate links below:


Episode 1: "Winter is Coming."
Episode 2: "The Kingsroad."
Episode 3: "Lord Snow."
Episode 4: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things."
Episode 5: "The Wolf and the Lion."
Episode 6: "A Golden Crown."
Episode 7: "You Win or You Die."
Episode 8: "The Pointy End."
Episode 9: "Baelor."


And now, lets us begin . . . the end.*

*(Until season 2 next Spring, that is.)

If You Loved Him As Khal Drogo . . .

Perhaps you'll love Jason Momoa as this summer's Conan: The Barbarian?

Yup, they went and rebooted the Conan film franchise. You knew they would one of these days, though, right? I mean, really nothing is sacred in Hollywood anymore.

But you know what? As much as the fanboys of the original Arnie film from the early 80s are bitching over this . . . I have to say this upcoming version of Conan feels more like the source material to me. Well, hell, let me show you guys the trailer so you can see what I mean:





See, to me, this world looks and feels more like Robert E. Howard's Hyboria than the John Milius movie did. The Conan I know and love always had this Lovecraftian feel to it, which this trailer definitely evokes. And Momoa's take on Conan seems a lot more true to the original pulp stories than Arnie's could ever dream of matching.

Of, course all I've seen so far are trailers and tv spots, so it's quite likely this movie could end up being nothing like REH's Conan and more like the Arnie flick than I realize. But for now I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that the filmmakers were smarter than to try and rip off Milius's movie.

I loved the 80s Conan films, don't get me wrong. But I'm not going to pretend I'm not interested in a new take. Yes, the effects look kinda like SyFy channel budget effects -- but I'm still going to be there in the theaters for this. Yes indeed.

Anyone else there with me?

TV Music Shouldn't Be This Good

I was reminiscing today, as I often do, about my favorite tv shows in recent memory. And, so, of course I eventually came to the Ron Moore remake of Battlestar Galactica, which is in the top three of my favorite sci-fi shows of all time (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Firefly are the other two). But more importantly, I started to ponder on the music from this show -- which is just absolutely PHENOMENAL!

What always tickles me to this day about the music from BSG is just how huge the composer, Bear McCreary, has become since the series first began. It's like I hear him everywhere I go now. He's in high demand, going on to do some very memorable scores for such shows as: Eureka, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Cape, The Walking Dead, Caprica, and Human Target (1st season only).

It seems no matter which show he touches, the music for it becomes instantly memorable. In particular, his expertise seems to be at creating really catchy opening credits themes. Case in point, the opening for the very first season of Human Target. When they switched to a different composer for the second season, I almost stopped watching the show. That's how good the music for the first season was.

Listen to the opening theme here. Now contrast that with the opening theme from the second season here, composed by Tim Jones. Ugh -- what is that shit, right?

Anyway, back to Battlestar Galactica. I'm not going to link to the opening theme (there were two of them), but instead I will focus on the pivotal MASTERPIECE known as track 17 of the Season 2 soundtrack titled: "Prelude to War."

I mean, damn, this was masterful! Especially when the Japanese taiko drums show up halfway through. Yup, you read me right -- mother-effing TAIKO drums! They were Bear's signature touch throughout the show's entire run, but never moreso than in this piece. Curiously enough, I went online and found a vid of Bear playing the piece on piano. He even covers the drums somehow (beginning at the 2:50 mark in the vid). It has to be seen/heard to be believed:





Now, wasn't that just made of pure awesome? This guy is GOOD! The fully orchestrated version of the piece played near the end of episode 10 in season 2, when the Galactica and Pegasus squared off against each other. You can hear that version by clicking here.

Arrrrrgh! I just love this so much!

And, yes, if any of you have not watched Battlestar Galactica, you're missing out BIG TIME!!! I didn't much care for the 80s original back in the day. It was such an obvious Star Wars cash-in back then. But the remade series which began in 2003 and ended a few years back needs to be watched by all sci-fi fans. At least, in my opinion it does.

And Bear McCreary is a big part of that.

Trust Me, You Don't Want To Mess With This

Yet another entry in the Batista commuter saga, NYC subway edition.

So, I get on the crowded 4 train this morning to get to work. As usual, all the ass clowns are standing by the door, even though the interior of the car still has plenty of wiggle room. And per usual, too, no one wants to move out of the way as we all try to board.

So I say "excuse me" to get by this one asshole, but he doesn't move. I say it again, and still nothing. Hey, I just gave this dude my "two warnings, fair game" rule, which means that now I get to shoulder your dumb ass aside with much prejudice. And when I shoulder someone, let's just say it's not pleasant. I've been told it feels like the grill of a Mac truck hitting you dead on.

So this guy decides to get offended and mouth off at me. Right there in front of everyone. I let him spew off a few choice syllables, the whole time not saying anything but giving him my patented STARE OF DOOM! Yes, I was wearing my shades, but the STARE burns through the opaque windows baring the rage of my soul to those fools stupid enough to test me:

This is how I normally look when I ride the subway, by the way. I call it my "subway armor" for reasons to be made clear shortly. I was wearing these exact same shades today, and giving this exact same look. Except, minus the mock turtleneck and leather bomber naturally (the pic was taken back in February). This look is my "fuck off or DIE" look. Most people get the point and know to leave me well the hell alone.

This guy mouthing off this morning did, too. After a few seconds. See, I find that the best way to deal with potential fight scenarios is to simply stare at the person and never say one word. It gets them piping mad at first, sure, but when you keep spouting bullshit and the other person is simply staring you down the entire time, silent as death, pretty soon you start to feel a tad foolish. Maybe even frightened.

I have that effect. If the look isn't enough, my size backs me up. Most people don't want to take on what I bring to a fight. They talk a lot of shit, but when it comes time to put up or shut up, they eventually back down and . . . yup, shut the hell up.

Same with this fool. It was quite funny, actually. He started off all hot and belligerent. Then, as it became obvious that I was plotting to murder him behind those shades without a single word spoken, his sentences trailed off to gibberish, and then nothing. Everyone else in the train was smirking or outright laughing at this imbecile.

He got off at the next station. Wise decision on his part.

Here's the thing: I don't ever start fights. Some people ride the subway just looking for an excuse to get into trouble. I know this. So in situations like the one I just described above, I usually stare at the offender until he wizens up and decides to take his particular brand of bullshit somewhere else. But in the off chance that's not enough, I calmly tell the person to "do something" about it.

What I mean when I say this is: Hey, if you feel so strongly about your convictions, ignorant peon, then put your grievances to action. I'm standing right here; take me on!

The purpose of this is to get the person to throw the first punch. I'll never initiate it myself, because this is how people end up taking a nice overnight trip to the Riker's Island holding facility. Whoever makes the first move in an altercation is ALWAYS the bad guy. But the minute the person throws that first punch, I'm free to open up a can of whup-ass on them. And -- oh trust me, no one wants that!

Once again, proof why it takes a certain type to survive in this zoo we call the Big Apple. I'm only this way because I was born here and had to learn to adapt to survive to adulthood. Especially as a male trying to simply do the right thing and stay out of trouble. My outward appearance is such as to discourage most would-be offenders from even thinking they can take me on. It's a strategy that works far better than you'd think.

So, that was my morning. How was your commute?

Ep. 9 Reactions: "Baelor"

Well, here we are. The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones in what has been a fulfilling season far exceeding expectations. And yet, sadly for those of us who have read the first book, the title of tonight's showing clearly brings home a certain fateful event that will transpire. One which, to this viewer at least, lends me a heavy heart in anticipation of what's about to come.

But as the British say: stiff upper lip, ol' chap!

And so, mentally fortified, I pick up the remote and switch to my trusty Tivo HD box where tonight's episode is already queued up. But before I do, please take a moment to check out my previous episode reactions by clicking their appropriate links below:


Episode 1: "Winter is Coming."
Episode 2: "The Kingsroad."
Episode 3: "Lord Snow."
Episode 4: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things."
Episode 5: "The Wolf and the Lion."
Episode 6: "A Golden Crown."
Episode 7: "You Win or You Die."
Episode 8: "The Pointy End."


And now . . . the show must go on.

NYC Traffic -- Just Par For The Course!

I read this amusing Yahoo news article earlier regarding the do-or-die nature of crossing the streets here in New York City. Amusing because, to a real New Yorker, nothing in the provided video is out of the ordinary for us. In fact, the traffic craziness you see on display in the video is actually quite tame to what I've seen living here all my life.

The college student who created the video for his thesis provides helpful graphical touches to clarify the action going on at the intersection at 28th and Park one busy afternoon. If you would like to read the original Yahoo article that explains the project in more detail, click here.

And below, check out the video for yourself. I would imagine to anyone not from around here, crossing the street in these conditions might seem like a death wish. But I assure you, we New Yorkers barely blink an eye at this -- neither as pedestrians or drivers in this great big city we call home.



3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.


This reminds me of when Lisa and I went to Rome last Summer. Everyone kept warning us about Rome driving, and to hold on for dear life when riding the taxis of that ancient metropolis. But I scoffed at this. As a New Yorker, I assured them, we were more than accustomed to crazy urban driving. And sure enough, when we took a cab from the airport to our hotel in midday Saturday traffic in Rome, I could barely tell the difference between the two cities. It felt like home to me!

Oh, and if you would like to read my account of our Rome trip, check out the blog entry I wrote on it last year. Some of you new to this blog might be reading this for the first time, but a lot of my old time regulars may wish to skip it. The post links to the trip reports of other cities we also visited during our almost 2-week long cruise around the Mediterranean last year. Each report contains pics and vids galore! :)

I love pedestrian cities. It so much more fun to explore a new place on foot than it is by car. Especially if you're the one doing all the driving. This is why I love the old European cities. And, also, why I love New York.

Ep. 8 Reactions: "The Pointy End"

To say I've been waiting quite a while for this one episode is a severe understatement. I'd known that the book series' author, George R. R. Martin, would be writing ep. 8 since the middle of last year. Needless to say, us book fans have been up in a lather to finally catch this climactic turning point in the first novel that this season is based upon.

And now, the time has finally come. I'm literally bouncing in my seat to get this show cued up and ready to go! But before I do, please take a moment to check out my previous episode reactions by clicking their appropriate links below:


Episode 1: "Winter is Coming."
Episode 2: "The Kingsroad."
Episode 3: "Lord Snow."
Episode 4: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things."
Episode 5: "The Wolf and the Lion."
Episode 6: "A Golden Crown."
Episode 7: "You Win or You Die."


And now, let us begin the show!

The Trouble With Comments, Redux

Last week I mentioned in this post how comments have been acting screwy across the board on Blogger lately. Many people, including yours truly, are experiencing problems with Blogger's remote login ID. For this reason I haven't been able to comment on people's blogs as frequently as I'm accustomed to doing of late because I can only do so now from one computer--my home PC, which is permanently signed in at all times.

From all other PCs, my Blogger Google login ID doesn't seem to recognize me anymore. So frustrating! Especially because I almost never leave comments when I'm at home. I usually do them on my mobile smartphone when I'm out and about.

But now it seems some of you are having problems leaving comments on my site, too! And that's totally not acceptable, like, AT ALL!

No Stairway. Denied!

I figured a quick little workaround for this, however. I noticed that the only blogs I can leave comments on are those which have the comments reply form setup as a separate page--and not embedded as a small blank window at the bottom of each blog post like I have it here.

So, starting from today I've switched the settings for all comments on this blog to a separate page form. From now on, you'll have to click on the "Post a Comment" link at the very bottom of the page to be taken to a separate page for leaving feedback. Simple, and not unlike the setup on many other blogs. The difference is that this method seems to solve the login ID problem, at least temporarily.

Again, this is only to assist those of you who have e-mailed me expressing deep regrettable sadness at not being able to leave comments anymore on The Bimillennial Man. Most of you, however, are fine and/or using a different browser like Chrome or Firefox which doesn't seem to be affected.

Yeah, lucky you. Don't rub it in.

In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy your day. It's hotter than Hades' ass crack here in the city today--97 degrees! And it's not even officially summer yet!

I'll also be putting up my Game of Thrones episode 8 reactions very shortly. So keep an eye our for that, would you kindly?

Thankee, sai.