Where are they now?

This picture speaks volumes, and after looking at it, what more is there to say?

RIP Kirby Puckett

This morning when I arrived at work for my usual pre-work bullshit ritual, I was greeted by some very sad news on the MSN homepage. Former Major League baseball player, Kirby Puckett passed away at the young age of 45.

For some reason, this really saddened me.

I instantly remembered the 1980's, growing up, and watching baseball on TV. Kirby Puckett was on the Minnesota Twins, and always had a smile on his face. Whenever the camera would zoom in on him, be it waiting to catch a ball, running into an outfield fence, or hitting a homerun, he always played the game with a smile on his face.

When glaucoma forced Puckett to retire at the age of 37, the baseball world was saddended by his departure. Now, a few short years later, we are saddened once again by his death.

The good news is that Puckett opened the door for many kids out there to take up the game he loved so much. He also will be remembered for being a gamer's gamer, and a true baseball legend. Now in the Hall of Fame, Puckett will live on in the hearts and minds of baseball fans everywhere.

RIP Kirby. I hope wherever you are, you have a baseball in your hand and a smile on your face.

Being a gentleman has gone out of style

I work in a large office building in the middle of the Flatiron District. The building has many workers, and few working elevators. Most of the time, if you are trying to exit the building during 'peak' hours, you can expect a bit of a wait, or you could choose to take the stairs. Since I work on the 7th floor, and I have asthma, I usually choose to wait.

This afternoon, I got on a rather crowded elevator that was filled with four women, three guys, and myself. Because it was rather full, I ended up standing close to the door.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, the door opened, and I did what I always do in an elevator. I stepped aside, reached my arm out, and prompted the ladies to exit. One of the guys obviously did not learn this was normal behavior for a man, to do, and took the invitation to plow past the women, and me and exit the elevator first.

The first girl out, our turned to me, shook her head, and said 'I guess chivalry is dead'. One of the other ladies in the elevator then finished her sentence by saying rather loudly - 'not for some people'. I then allowed the ladies to shuffle past me, as they said thank you, and I felt neither vindicated nor proud...just a little sad, for how little clues some men have.

You see, the little things in life go a long way. Holding doors for women, waiting to eat until your cook sits down at the table, saying 'please' and 'thank you' and allowing women out of elevators first. All things I was taught when I was very young...all things that ave seemingly been forgotten.

Guys - being a gentleman has NOT gone out of style. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Try to be a little more polite, more of a gentleman, and you will see the result.

Pay it forward, take a stand...be a nice guy. It's worth it. Trust me.

I Love UglyDolls

The other day, Wifey and I were walking by one of the best stores ever, Forbidden Planet, when we encountered a window full of UglyDolls. There were giant ones, medium sized ones and little tiny ones all looking so happy, hanging out in the window.

I could see Wifey really wanted one, so I popped into the store and bought her and UglyDog. The UglyDog is the cutest thing ever. He's this little tiny doll with one eye and a little tail. Wifey seems to love her UglyDog a lot.

I absolutely love all of the UglyDolls and am in need of getting each and every one of them. Even the cats love cuddling with them!

Rolling Around In His Grave

Let me preface this blog by stating the fact that I am a HUGE fan of the late, great Johnny Cash. I have been a fan of his since I was a kid. Ever since the man in black's death a couple of years ago, it seems his fan base has drastically increased. In fact, it has probably grown to it's largest number ever, with the release of the terrific movie, 'Walk the Line", this past year.

Needless to say, you knew it was only going to be a matter of time, till somebody used Mr. Cash's name in vain. Unfortunately, that time has come. This past Friday evening, Wifey got me tickets to see the Broadway musical based on the music of Johnny Cash called 'Ring of Fire'. We went along with our friends Jenn and Althea with an eager eye and baited breath, hoping the musical would be as good as the film.

However, upon first unbelievably aweful note from the song 'Hurt', it was obvious how bad this musical was. Led by an overweight, shoulder-padded, William Shatner lookalike, this musical rapidly went from bad to horrific. With each laughable performance, you could sense Johnny Cash rolling over in his grave.

The play reached it's worse near the end of the second act, when 'The Man Comes Around' was literally destroyed. I mean come on, it is a song about the Apocalypse and utter death. To have a laughable, William Shatner doing 'Mr. Tambourine Man'-esque version was just plain abomination. As a ginormous Cash fan, I was utterly embarassed. By the end of the show I was completely flabbergasted.

Needless to say - the show is currently in previews. DO NOT waste your money. Simply. keep your fingers crossed that it closes quietly, with little fanfase, and anything else to cloud the memory of a true musical legend.

If you're in the need for hearing any of Johnny Cash's music, simply go out and buy yourself a cd, or a copy of 'Walk the Line'...and skip this ridiculous piece of Broadway drivel.

Just Like A Pill...

On my way to work this morning, my ipod was being really nice. He was playing lots of stuff I hadn't heard in a long time. He even snuck in Marty Casey's version of 'Wish You Were Here' from Rockstar INXS. That made me smile.

I got REALLY happy when directly after, the song 'Just Like A Pill' by Pink came on. Instantly, I began bopping down the street. I don't know...there's something incredibly fun about Pink's music that I really like.

I can't help it. Call me cheesy, I don't care. The song put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Well done Mr. Ipod, and well done Ms. Pink Hart.

Is Goofy a Dog?

Last night, over Valentine's Day dinner at Artisanal, wifey and I had a rather vigorous discussion over a long debated question - is Goofy a dog?

I raised several key points that I had picked up through the years, all relating to the fact that Goofy simply can not be a dog. Wifey refuted every single point, and then went as far as to call her brother and mom to validate her theory that he was in fact a dog.

Today, I did some research on the internet. Being a person who always admits when he is wrong, I wanted to post a public apology to my wife. All sources point to the fact that Goofy is in fact a dog.

Check out this piece, borrowed from http://disneyshorts.toonzone.net/characters/goofy.html

To answer the question that gets asked the most; Goofy is a dog.

Or rather, a dawg. he originally made his debut in "Mickey's Revue" as Dippy Dawg. However, in Disney's world there was always a curious mix of the anthropomorphic characters (such as Mickey, Donald and Goofy) and the non-anthropomorphic animals (such as Pluto, Butch or Figaro.) The latter had to stay within the confines of their animal characteristics. That both Pluto and Goofy remained dogs, yet each had their own drastically differing personalities, demonstrates the dichotomy of this situation.

If anything served to define Goofy in the beginning, it was his laugh, provided by former circus clown Pinto Colvig. Although his character evolved nicely as he developed into the Goof, he was in danger of fading away as the 1940's arrived and Donald Duck's star rose into ascendancy. Luckily, the perfect role was found for him as the affable everyman in a series of "how-to" shorts. Most of these revolved around sports themes, which was capitalized in the 1980's as the "Sport Goofy" concept. In the fifties, he even enjoyed a brief stint as a family man, a role that was revived for the more current "Goof Troop" series.

Goofy's voice was provided by Pinto Colvig in the classic shorts, by Hal Smith in "Mickey's Christmas Carol", and Tony Pope in "Sport Goofy in Soccermania." His current voice is provided by Bill Farmer.

So there you go, one of the age long mysteries is solved. Goofy is in fact a dog. I now admit it. Who ever said I wouldn't eat my words.

Top 8

thank heavens blogger doesn't have the ridiculous 'top 8' feature that myspace has. over the last few weeks, i've discovered how truly ridiculous this 'top 8' thing has become. apparently people are basing friendships and their quality on how high you might be in people's 'Top 8's.

To me, I know who my friends are, whether I'm in their 'Top 8' or not. Furthermore, I have several friends who don't even know what a 'Top 8' is.

Needless to say, one of the reasons I moved my blog over to this site was so that I didn't have to worry about people monitoring me, and my 'Top 8' and also so I could speak freely and openly about all the random thoughts in my head.

That said loyal readers, know that you're all in my Top 8, and that if I'm not in yours, I can really care less.