Potential vs. Reality.
A father was trying to explain to his teenage son the difference between potential and reality. Having difficulty he came upon a brilliant thought.
He called over his 18 year old daughter and asked, "Honey, I'm trying to explain something to your brother. For argument sake, would you have sex with Zac Efron for $50,000?"
"Duh!" exclaimed the daughter, "That's a no-brainer--of course I would!"
"Thanks dear, that will be all."
The son was quite puzzled by this, but the father assured him that his point would be made.
"Excuse me, dear," dad called to his wife, "I"m trying to clarify a point to your son. Just so he can understand something, I need you to answer honestly. Would you have sex with George Clooney for $50,000?"
"Hmm..." thought the boy's mother. "I don't want to upset you dear, but in order to be fair, that's quite a sum of money, and I can't say that the thought of sex with George Clooney is exactly a turnoff. Please don't be mad, but my honest answer is, Yes."
"Thank you. I"m not mad at all. I appreciate your honesty. That will be all."
When the father and son were alone, the son admitted to his dad, "I'm not sure I really understand."
"You see," said the father, "Potentially, we're sitting on $100,000, but in reality, we're living with a couple of whores."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
MSG with Tom Marshall
"Who the heck is Tom Marshall?" you may ask. Tom is the singer/songwriter responsible for many of the lyrics behind about 100 Phish songs. "Why do I care?" would be a likely follow-up question.
Well, I had the pleasure of sitting right next to Tom during the opening set of the Thursday, December 3rd Phish show at Madison Square Garden. In fact, before I even recognized who he was, Tom was kind enough to inform me that I was 'squatting" in his seat and would have to move. It was my friend, Jeremy, who was kind enough to point out that it was in fact the Tom Marshall next to whom I was now sitting.
I took the liberty of telling the history of how I met my wife. On July, 16th, 1999, I met my wife on the lawn of the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Surely enough, it was at a Phish show. I took the liberty of telling Tom how at that very show, the band called him onto the stage to sing as they backed him in their cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."
"That was me!" exclaimed Tom.
"I know," I replied, "I was there!"
Super nice guy. Tom was just as interested as my group as to what songs the band would play that night, and he was really into the show. A family man, he was there with his wife and 2 children. In fact, one of my highlights of the night, as we debated between songs what the band would play next, I was tickled to hear Tom say that he hoped they would not play "Time Turns Elastic," a newer composition that much of the fan base has not supported to this point.
As my good friend Jeff texted to me from the show, Time Turns elastic was a chance for him to use the bathroom, grab a soda, and check the out of town sports scores, all while returning to his seat on time to catch the end of the song.
Alas, Tom Marshall and his family disappeared during the set break and did not return. Despite my telling several would be squatters that they could not stay next to us in our section, that in fact they were in "the Marshall Family seats," a 2nd set with the Marshalls was not to be. Of course, Jeremy took a quality photo of me sitting in Tom's seat during set break. Unfortunately, we never took an actual picture of Tom himself...
Oh well!
Well, I had the pleasure of sitting right next to Tom during the opening set of the Thursday, December 3rd Phish show at Madison Square Garden. In fact, before I even recognized who he was, Tom was kind enough to inform me that I was 'squatting" in his seat and would have to move. It was my friend, Jeremy, who was kind enough to point out that it was in fact the Tom Marshall next to whom I was now sitting.
I took the liberty of telling the history of how I met my wife. On July, 16th, 1999, I met my wife on the lawn of the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Surely enough, it was at a Phish show. I took the liberty of telling Tom how at that very show, the band called him onto the stage to sing as they backed him in their cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."
"That was me!" exclaimed Tom.
"I know," I replied, "I was there!"
Super nice guy. Tom was just as interested as my group as to what songs the band would play that night, and he was really into the show. A family man, he was there with his wife and 2 children. In fact, one of my highlights of the night, as we debated between songs what the band would play next, I was tickled to hear Tom say that he hoped they would not play "Time Turns Elastic," a newer composition that much of the fan base has not supported to this point.
As my good friend Jeff texted to me from the show, Time Turns elastic was a chance for him to use the bathroom, grab a soda, and check the out of town sports scores, all while returning to his seat on time to catch the end of the song.
Alas, Tom Marshall and his family disappeared during the set break and did not return. Despite my telling several would be squatters that they could not stay next to us in our section, that in fact they were in "the Marshall Family seats," a 2nd set with the Marshalls was not to be. Of course, Jeremy took a quality photo of me sitting in Tom's seat during set break. Unfortunately, we never took an actual picture of Tom himself...
Oh well!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Disappointing Phish Show
Went to see Phish in Philadelphia on Wed November 25th. Left from north Jersey about 3:30, and the traffic was murderous. This was to be expected traveling on one of our nation's most densely traversed roadways on what is notoriously the heaviest travel day of the year--Thanksgiving Eve.
I didn't mind the journey. The delays were expected; I had the day off from work, and a long weekend ahead of me. Not only that, but I had my wife in the car with me--alone time and adult conversation has become the exception rather than the norm, both with full time jobs and a 2 year old child to raise.
Surely a longer than expected drive to see my favorite rock and roll band would prove a fruitful experience!
Unfortunately, it just was not to be. The show had potential, and its energetic moments, but overall, was uneven. Just as they would build up the momentum, they would somehow find a way to break stride, leaving this fan underwhelmed.
Perhaps my travels took more of a toll on me than I care to admit. Perhaps I'm getting older and don't quite have the energy of my youth. However, having listened to a couple of other shows from Fall Tour 2009, I can't help but feel a little gypped.
Good thing I have a three night run at MSG this week, which is sure to turn my frown upside down!
I didn't mind the journey. The delays were expected; I had the day off from work, and a long weekend ahead of me. Not only that, but I had my wife in the car with me--alone time and adult conversation has become the exception rather than the norm, both with full time jobs and a 2 year old child to raise.
Surely a longer than expected drive to see my favorite rock and roll band would prove a fruitful experience!
Unfortunately, it just was not to be. The show had potential, and its energetic moments, but overall, was uneven. Just as they would build up the momentum, they would somehow find a way to break stride, leaving this fan underwhelmed.
Perhaps my travels took more of a toll on me than I care to admit. Perhaps I'm getting older and don't quite have the energy of my youth. However, having listened to a couple of other shows from Fall Tour 2009, I can't help but feel a little gypped.
Good thing I have a three night run at MSG this week, which is sure to turn my frown upside down!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
I simply haven't kept up with this site, and I was racking my brain to figure out why...
I have ideas all of the time, and I certainly have more than my share of random ideas, thoughts, and impertinent brain strokes. I realized that my ideas rarely come when I'm sitting by my computer.
I may start applying my idea I had for my business towards my blog, but I don't know if I want to put that kind of effort into it. When I first started my business, I found that I could rarely sleep, undisturbed, through the night. The powerful thoughts of my subconscious mind would jog me awake in the middle of the night. At first, I suffered from insomnia, as my mind raced a mile a minute, sending me into near panic attacks from the thoughts that overwhelmed me. I would have such clear and insightful thoughts as to how to manage my life and business that would only occur to me in a sleep cycle. The ideas and thoughts would come to me so clearly, but I would lose them if I fell back to sleep. The fact that I would wake up in the morning, knowing I had forgotten the significant and useful ideas that had occurred to me in the middle of the night eventually lead to my insomnia. I began to panic that my thoughts and ideas that would be so useful and insightful to me would be lost. I was reminded of the Phish song, "Sleep:"
I can't describe the feeling when
I'm in my bed asleep and then
I wake up with a vision blurred
And all my efforts are detered
To reconstruct this image lost
There're certain things my mind must do
and even though they're very few
The image glistens like a gem
Repairing is not one of them
So I'm awake though in my mind
The image that's so unrefined
is calling to me from the deep
and tempting me to fall asleep
However, unlike the song, the fact that I would constantly forget my solid thoughts and ideas began to keep me awake to the point that the exhaustion began to bog me down. So, I came up with a brilliant idea. I decided to keep a notebook on my nightstand. When I woke up in the middle of the night with my thoughts and ideas, I would jot them down in the book. Not only were my thoughts and ideas captured on paper, but the peace of mind established in knowing this allowed me to fall peacefully back to sleep.
Come the morning, I could review my notes and implement them.
Unlike the Seinfeld episode where Jerry writes an illegible note that's of little use to him:
Jerry: Excuse me, Tor. May I ask you a question? You have intuitive abilities. You're in touch with a lot of this cosmic kind of things... I have this note I can't read. I was wondering if...
Tor: (Takes the note, laughing upon reading) Oh, yes-yes... Cleveland 117, San Antonio 109."
My notes were not jumbled nonsense, but quite useful. Supplies that needed to be ordered, phone calls to be made, appointments to be scheduled, etc.
So, I suppose the point of my pointlessness is that if I start to write down my random thoughts as they occur to me, I'd have more to blog for my loyal followers--who only exist in my own mind anyway... :-)
I have ideas all of the time, and I certainly have more than my share of random ideas, thoughts, and impertinent brain strokes. I realized that my ideas rarely come when I'm sitting by my computer.
I may start applying my idea I had for my business towards my blog, but I don't know if I want to put that kind of effort into it. When I first started my business, I found that I could rarely sleep, undisturbed, through the night. The powerful thoughts of my subconscious mind would jog me awake in the middle of the night. At first, I suffered from insomnia, as my mind raced a mile a minute, sending me into near panic attacks from the thoughts that overwhelmed me. I would have such clear and insightful thoughts as to how to manage my life and business that would only occur to me in a sleep cycle. The ideas and thoughts would come to me so clearly, but I would lose them if I fell back to sleep. The fact that I would wake up in the morning, knowing I had forgotten the significant and useful ideas that had occurred to me in the middle of the night eventually lead to my insomnia. I began to panic that my thoughts and ideas that would be so useful and insightful to me would be lost. I was reminded of the Phish song, "Sleep:"
I can't describe the feeling when
I'm in my bed asleep and then
I wake up with a vision blurred
And all my efforts are detered
To reconstruct this image lost
There're certain things my mind must do
and even though they're very few
The image glistens like a gem
Repairing is not one of them
So I'm awake though in my mind
The image that's so unrefined
is calling to me from the deep
and tempting me to fall asleep
However, unlike the song, the fact that I would constantly forget my solid thoughts and ideas began to keep me awake to the point that the exhaustion began to bog me down. So, I came up with a brilliant idea. I decided to keep a notebook on my nightstand. When I woke up in the middle of the night with my thoughts and ideas, I would jot them down in the book. Not only were my thoughts and ideas captured on paper, but the peace of mind established in knowing this allowed me to fall peacefully back to sleep.
Come the morning, I could review my notes and implement them.
Unlike the Seinfeld episode where Jerry writes an illegible note that's of little use to him:
Jerry: Excuse me, Tor. May I ask you a question? You have intuitive abilities. You're in touch with a lot of this cosmic kind of things... I have this note I can't read. I was wondering if...
Tor: (Takes the note, laughing upon reading) Oh, yes-yes... Cleveland 117, San Antonio 109."
My notes were not jumbled nonsense, but quite useful. Supplies that needed to be ordered, phone calls to be made, appointments to be scheduled, etc.
So, I suppose the point of my pointlessness is that if I start to write down my random thoughts as they occur to me, I'd have more to blog for my loyal followers--who only exist in my own mind anyway... :-)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Who would you rather have lunch with?
J. K. Simmons
Richard Simmons
Gene Simmons
Personally, I'd go with J. K. Simmons.
All 3 are independently wealthy, and I'm sure quite interesting people, though I'd have to pick J.K. for a few reasons.
1. Richard is most likely to make you feel guilty about what you ate.
2. Richard is most likely to show up in those all-too revealing short shorts that leave far too little to the imagination.
3. Gene is the front man for Kiss, makers of the Kiss Kasket and other such collectables all sold for ridiculous profit. Hence this makes my think that Gene might be cheap and least likely to pick up the tab.
4. Richard has that annoying grating voice that might make conversation unbearable.
5. Gene may do something with his outrageous tongue, like drop it in the bread bowl or something.
J.K. has a nice voice, and aside from playing a raping white supremist on OZ, seems like a pretty chill guy.
Yeah, if I had to make this choice, I'd go with J.K.
Richard Simmons
Gene Simmons
Personally, I'd go with J. K. Simmons.
All 3 are independently wealthy, and I'm sure quite interesting people, though I'd have to pick J.K. for a few reasons.
1. Richard is most likely to make you feel guilty about what you ate.
2. Richard is most likely to show up in those all-too revealing short shorts that leave far too little to the imagination.
3. Gene is the front man for Kiss, makers of the Kiss Kasket and other such collectables all sold for ridiculous profit. Hence this makes my think that Gene might be cheap and least likely to pick up the tab.
4. Richard has that annoying grating voice that might make conversation unbearable.
5. Gene may do something with his outrageous tongue, like drop it in the bread bowl or something.
J.K. has a nice voice, and aside from playing a raping white supremist on OZ, seems like a pretty chill guy.
Yeah, if I had to make this choice, I'd go with J.K.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Don't bother with RadioShack
Best site on the internet for cables/wires/etc?
monoprice.com
Seems to cheap to be real, but I assure you, it is. Need an HDMI cable, but don't feel like spending $50 at Best Buy? Why not get one from monoprice for less than $10?
Just a helpful tip...
monoprice.com
Seems to cheap to be real, but I assure you, it is. Need an HDMI cable, but don't feel like spending $50 at Best Buy? Why not get one from monoprice for less than $10?
Just a helpful tip...
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A trip to Atlantic City
Went to AC this weekend to see the Disco Biscuits at the House of Blues at the Showboat. Stayed at the Trump Marina.
The best quote I heard at about 4 AM in the lobby of our hotel: "There's more people in the bathroom at the Borgota than there are in the Casino here."
While I did wind up winning about $100 in some low stakes BJ playing for about an hour (it was the 4-5 AM slot post-show, and I'd been up since 7AM), I was disappointed that Trump Marina didn't have a poker room, as I was down for some hold-em.
Trump Marina is one run-down establishment. The parking garage is under construction. The outside pool/recreation area features crumbling concrete, rusted metal, and fenced-off dilapidated areas.
I hit the breakfast buffet a shade before closing just before 11:30 AM. Maybe I should have been sleeping, but with a business and a 2 year old, I just can't sleep till noon anymore. I digress... The host was very nice. Told me to grab a plate, as they would be clearing up soon. The waitress brought me some coffee and OJ, then told me to relax and take my time--enjoy myself. No more than 15 seconds after did she announce last call for the buffet. So much for relaxing... In about 1 minute the entire buffet was cleared away. Probably the most efficient display at the hotel for the brief duration of my stay.
Still had a better stay than the last time I went to see the biscuits in AC. Post show at that trip, one girl ripped my shirt in half, while her friend threw a cocktail in my face. Believe it or not, it wasn't my fault!
The best quote I heard at about 4 AM in the lobby of our hotel: "There's more people in the bathroom at the Borgota than there are in the Casino here."
While I did wind up winning about $100 in some low stakes BJ playing for about an hour (it was the 4-5 AM slot post-show, and I'd been up since 7AM), I was disappointed that Trump Marina didn't have a poker room, as I was down for some hold-em.
Trump Marina is one run-down establishment. The parking garage is under construction. The outside pool/recreation area features crumbling concrete, rusted metal, and fenced-off dilapidated areas.
I hit the breakfast buffet a shade before closing just before 11:30 AM. Maybe I should have been sleeping, but with a business and a 2 year old, I just can't sleep till noon anymore. I digress... The host was very nice. Told me to grab a plate, as they would be clearing up soon. The waitress brought me some coffee and OJ, then told me to relax and take my time--enjoy myself. No more than 15 seconds after did she announce last call for the buffet. So much for relaxing... In about 1 minute the entire buffet was cleared away. Probably the most efficient display at the hotel for the brief duration of my stay.
Still had a better stay than the last time I went to see the biscuits in AC. Post show at that trip, one girl ripped my shirt in half, while her friend threw a cocktail in my face. Believe it or not, it wasn't my fault!
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