07/13/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) There goes that no-team-has-ever-won-the-World-Cup-after-losing-the-first-game statistic. Congratulations to Spain, your 2010 FIFA World Cup champions! Me thinks that the team and the country should owe a big debt of gratitute to Paul the (Psychic) Octopus. May he enjoy the rest of his retirement. Here’s to hoping that he doesn’t end up on my dinner plate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/11/paul-the-octopus-makes-tw_n_640575.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/12/paul-the-octopus-retiring_n_642803.html

2) I love dips. Guacamole, salsa, artichoke and spinach, cheese, sour cream and bacon bits, etc. – almost all of them that exist! So hearing about these food poisoning findings kind of suck.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38207083/ns/health-food_safety?gt1=43001

3) Gus Johnson is the man. He is an example of how I want to call a sports game when I get a play-by-play job – real, heartfelt, and flat-out bonkers. To find out that he is calling the action in Madden 2011 is gonna make me want to buy that game, because of calls like these:

- Crazy NFL touchdown play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneiEg7rm20

- Describing the speed of a running back scoring a touchdown.

- NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament comeback.

4) I really gotta catch up on Craig Ferguson. Its rants like these that make me come back for more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuv2na2ECdA

5) I don’t condone cyber bullying. People who commit it should be arrested and charged with a crime similar to assault, since physical bullying would probably result in the same charge. So for Facebook having a “Panic” button (only for the United Kingdom) for people to use can be seen as a small step to cease the activity, because too many people have died over cyber bullying.
http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/video/default.aspx?vid=75bdfddd-1ebe-4d91-bc90-4a3e89b09b8a%26tab=Family%20%26%20Parenting%26ap=nbc_local

Side Note: In the last 10 seconds, you can tell the guy in the video has his mind in the gutter lol.

6) Damn Fedor. So long for that 10-year unbeaten streak. (P.S.: Fight announced by Gus Johnson as well. Dude is all over the sports place!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCbFPM6yQtc

6.5) This skit done by Eddie Murphy in regards to the summertime and ice cream deserves to be mentioned again.

Good job Sports Illustrated for jumping the gun.

http://halfbakersdozen.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/worldcup.jpg

07/05/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) Of the four teams left in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, here are my predictions:
- Netherlands vs. Uruguay -> NETHERLANDS
- Spain vs. Germany -> SPAIN

Final: Netherlands vs. Spain -> SPAIN (though I am leery of World Cup statistic that no team has ever won the Cup when they lost their first game of the tournament -> Spain lost to Switzerland)

2) As a current owner of an old-school flip phone with no QWERTY-capable keyboard or touch screen and limited internet access, I am torn between choosing a BlackBerry, an iPhone, or an HTC touch-screen phone. After reading this article about how the new iPhone has been having many dropped calls via THE WAY YOU HOLD THE PHONE, and the fact that it’s not supported by Verizon or Sprint, the iPhone will probably be crossed off my list of future phones I own. ‘Cause really, the device is meant to be a phone. If I can’t make a proper call, then the iPhone can go suck it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/technology/25apple.html?th&emc=th

3) This article caught my eye mainly from its title: “Manhattan Birth Certificate, Brooklyn Address.” Kind of a boring article, but it hit me on a personal level, because my mother did the same thing as these Brooklyn mothers. For being a Queens resident all my life, I was technically born in a Manhattan hospital as well – Beth Israel Medical Center to be exact. (I didn’t even find this out until I actually viewed/studied my birth certificate when applying for a job permit ten years ago.) Not sure why my mother made this decision.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/nyregion/26hospitals.html?th&emc=th

4) As great as a viral video this is, I’m kinda shocked that this won a Creative Arts Emmy Awards for outstanding orginal music and lyrics. Looks like more people need to start f***ing Matt Damon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLG3S5WzHig

5) Mike McGlone, the man who does the introductions to the Geico car insurance commercials, is a cool dude. He shopped at the bookstore I work at several months back for some nonfiction book. Yet, as I helped him, I didn’t realize his true identity, since he didn’t use the deep gruffy voice that he does on the commercial. Very down-to-earth demeanor. Bummed that I found out who he really was a minute after he left.

What’s the point? This set up:
- Mike McGlone = cool guy
- Mike McGlone + Geico commercials = funny stuff
- Mike McGlone + Geico commercials + Andrés Cantor (crazy Spanish futbol announcer that goes GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL) = Well, you judge for yourself.

6) Colombia really loves the World Cup. Even if their team isn’t in it.
http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Colombians-make-World-Cup-trophy-out-of-cocaine?urn=sow%2C253411

6.5) Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin fight at UFC 116 – HOLY CRAP! WHAT A FIGHT! Props to Lesnar for surviving the beatdown he got in the first round.
http://www.mmatko.com/brock-lesnar-vs-shane-carwin-fight-video-ufc-116-heavyweight-championship/

06/24/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) I’m really starting to like the United States’s chances in making a deep run in the World Cup – possibly as far as the semifinals. They just need to do a better job of finishing in the offensive end. Too many missed chances that I saw over the past week that made me scream out every curse word imaginable.

2) Skimmed through the July 2010 GQ Magazine issue. No, not for the Taylor Lautner pictorial you weirdos. The Dev Patel spread with him in sharp suits is giving me the urge to go shopping for some new blazers. Gotta find stores that’s selling them with a crazy sale.

3) Through 11 games, I’m 5-6 in my Fantasy Baseball league. 10th place. Not happy. =(

4) Though I’m a New York Mets fan, I am definitely rooting for the Boston Red Sox, under special circumstances:
- I’m only rooting for them when they play at home.
- They must score 10 or more runs.
- Rooting only through August 31, 2010.

Why? ‘Cause 100 registrants will win 10,000 TrueBlue points from JetBlue Airways. Translation: a free round-trip ticket to anywhere they fly. Let’s Go Red Sox! (super-fast-car-commerical Disclaimer speed: until August 31, 2010)
https://trueblue.jetblue.com/web/trueblue/redsox/?intcmp=HPHero3Eng_RedSoxTBSweeps

5) Once again, I got questioned about my age when playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker in Atlantic CIty recently. (My common, yet repetitive explanation is that I look 15, but sound like I’m 30.) This time it was by a female dealer, who seemed too young to even be working in a casino. Sensed she was also hitting on me. Didn’t think much of it until she immediately dealt me pocket Aces. Damn right I gave her a nice tip after I won that pot.

6) I didn’t know Fall Out Boy is on an indefinite hiatus. Translation: probably broken up. A shame. Love their music. Especially this song “Pavlove”, from their last album Folie à Deux. Still dumbfounded that this was a bonus track, and only available through the Limited Edition version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYGdXC465ww

6.5) Kayaking in Central Park was awesome! On to the Hudson River!

06/16/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) Jeez. What the hell is up the Seattle Police Department’s ass?! I read that they take jaywalking seriously out there. Yet, you get punched in the face for it, too?! At least I know what to look out for in two months. =T

2) Nike continues to make awesome commercials/shorts. Their take on the 2010 World Cup is phenomenal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

3) Kinda mad at myself for missing this event.
http://newmindspace.com/ledlightsaber.php

4) Not too mad that I missed this event. Though it would have made for a lot of interesting pictures from my camera.
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/75558/world-naked-bike-ride-photos-new-york-city

5) Quote of the Week #1: “Ooh, I’ve got sex in the brain tonight. I’d rather have it on my penis, but I’ll take it on the brain.”
- Craig Ferguson – March 12, 2010

6) Quote of the Week #2: “Yo! We on a stoop, but we ain’t STOOPID!”
- Emily Turner – June 15, 2010

6.5) Mentioned it this past week, but not on this blog. Foo Fighters. “Come Alive.” Enjoy!

06/06/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) I’ve just noticed that I’ve been using the Sign Language equivalent of “Hello!” to greet many people for the past 2+ years. Chalk that one up my weird tendency to hand-motioning.

2) The news of the lead bassist of Slipknot passing away brought me back to a kick-ass song from back in the day – a song that you’ll bang your head to. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1zCN0YhW1s

3) Funny that the New York Mets afternoon game from Wednesday, April 29th, 2010 had a caption entitled: “Play Hooky Today at Citi Field as Mets Go For Ninth Win of Homestand”

Mind you, this was sent at 7:02am, leaving plenty of time to call out of work or skip school.

It’s ironic that this is an organization that promoted a program in the local community entitled: “School is Amazing” – where, and I quote: “reinforces the benefits of education and attendance and provides middle school students the opportunity to express what they most enjoy about school.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/nym/community/programs.jsp

Now provided, I’m an adult and middle school does not pertain to me (except for my brain’s progress). Yet, the essence of the message is this:

GET YO” ASS OUT OF WORK/SKOOL AND COME SEE US TRY TO WIN A BASEBALL GAME!

Way to be, Mets organization. Way to be.

Why am I still a fan? I. Don’t. Know.

4) The World Cup is in five days! I still think of this song with anything associated with the World Cup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJaEVmbzXSA

5) Hearing about Didier Drogba’s broken arm injury is a major blow to the Ivory Coast’s chances in the World Cup. I hope he comes back at some point. For a man who’s done a lot to help end most of the violence in his country, I would want to see how he plays at the World Cup level.

6) Hehe… Furry Wall.

6.5) Lord, can you make me 100% healthy? You’ve put me on my ass for the last ten days. Just get the constant fatigue out of my system and we good. Thanks.

05/16/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) I think that the Power Rangers ring/text message tone is awesome! The one that goes “Dee dee da da dee dee.”

2) I’m about 50-60 pages into reading Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Not bad so far…

3) This boy must be mackin’ it up in his school/city/state after this performance. And he better send a big “Thank You” card to Lady Gaga.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EouY0YYbJSs

4) My take on LeBron James’s impending free agency is that he will be staying with the Cleveland Cavaliers, mainly to complete some unfinished business of winning a championship for the city of Cleveland. Him not winning the title this year should be a blessing to the city of Cleveland, not the other way around.

5) Jason Mraz. “Geek In The Pink.” Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdryssUmlpE

6) JetBlue Airways. You are awesome.

6.5) New Orleans, Louisiana. You are one crazy town. You’ll be seeing me again.

05/08/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) May 4th was Star Wars Day?! Now them Facebook statuses make sense. May the Fourth be with you… *shaking my head*…

2) I placed in 17th place (out of 30 people) in my first No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City earlier in the week. Though I lost $80 (the entry fee), I had a blast.

I’ll have more to say about this soon, as I will probably be producing a spin-off blog, specifically dedicated to the Texas Hold ‘Em adventures that I go through. So stay tuned for that if you’re a fan of the game.

3) And thanks to my recent business trip, I was able to befriend a security guard at Harrah’s Resort.

Oh, scratch that. Not just a security guard, but THE head security guard at Harrah’s Resort, appropriately nicknamed “The Chief.”

Ladies and gentlemen, looks like we can get into a wee-bit more trouble at that casino/hotel. =D

4) Pretty Girls. Performed by Wale, featuring UCB. Something about this song just makes my body move.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYxvoLd-s-w

5) Will Ferrell as a minor league pitcher in a real minor league baseball game. Enough said.

6) Hehe… Boobquake…

6.5) I’ve said it before, but I’ll mention it again as part of a blog post:

Congratulations to newlyweds Jesus Bracamonte and Mehruba Anwar Bracamonte! May your lives be filled with happiness, joy, and Peruvian-Bengali bunnies!

04/22/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) “haha wifey? exploring the us? I shall call you alan columbus”
- This is the text message that gave me the idea for the temporary name change.

2) There aren’t a lot of ways to spook/scare me. However, silently sliding next to my seat on a train, wearing a vibrant red coat will partially do the trick.

3) Philadelphia looks like a nice place to visit next. Just got to remember not to wear any New York Mets apparel.

4) Now this is how baseball teams should kill time during a rain delay! I personally like the Shake Weight bit.
http://fauowlaccess.com/video/107/fau-and-wku-present-rain-delay-theatre.aspx

5) Guest Thought – brought to you by Cesar A.:

- “and this is one of the reasons why i want to delete FB”
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=386443877426&ref=mf

6) I got a wedding to attend in three days, and I don’t have an outfit set. =S

UPDATE : I got a wedding to attend in three days, and I got 86. 456489116841318651216157424165413% of my wardrobe set.

6.5) I know I’ve said this enough already, but I’ll say it again.

Tessa. Thank you. Hope there will be a Triple Crown Championship race this year at the Belmont.

04/14/2010 Edition of the 1/2 Baker’s Dozen!

1) Guess I need to start up on my music playlist for a last-minute 5K walk/run on Saturday. No doubt Disturbed’s “Down With the Sickness” will be on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsobsr8nF7w

2) Congratulations to whoever got a free round-trip airline ticket from JetBlue in Boston this past Monday. I will admit that either bringing a birthday greeting/card, a photo of ten standard office supplies, or a flag from one of JetBlue’s 34 Boston destinations was kind of difficult and ridiculous.

Glad I only had to wear something blue and bring something airplane related in order to get my ticket.

3) Guest Thought #1 – brought to you by my buddy Christopher Z.:

- “Clash of the Titans sucked in 3D! The story was good, but you can tell that the movie was not shot in true 3D – meaning the usage of 3D cameras. It looks like they just put in the effects when editing the film, resulting in the images not popping out of the screen. Not going to pay for another 3D movie unless it is shot with true 3D cameras!”

“The trailer to Step Up 3D had better 3D quality than the movie!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQeaAg62_xY

4) Guest Thought #2 – brought to you by Natesha F.’s status from earlier this morning:

- “Courtesy of Shanay Morris: Whatever u give a woman, she will make greater. Give her sperm, she will give u a baby. Give her a house, she will give u a home. Give her groceries, she will give u a meal. Give her a smile n she will give u her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what she is given. So if u give her crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit…..post on ur wall if u agree.”

5) So jealous of San Francisco right now. Free zip lining across the sky sounds awesome! They need to bring this to New York City ASAP.
http://www.urbandaddy.com/sfo/leisure/9450/Urban_Zipline_Zip_Lining_Along_the_Embarcadero_San_Francisco_SFO_Event

6) My iPod does not want to play any songs from Ciara’s Fantasy Ride album for some reason. I need my fix for “Love, Sex, Magic.” Mainly ’cause of Justin Timberlake making an appearance.

6.5) Ready to try some New England Clam Chowder from New England soon.