SB: Shona-isms

1. Friends not Foes.
2. Variety is indeed, the spice of life.
3. Life should be a musical.  Prime example, Elf. I’m in a store and I’M SINGING!
4. 4 year olds are sadists.  I’m all about babes but if I got one of them, I’m gonna do my best to lease it out for a year until it grows out of the evil phase.  I advise you to do the same
5. Samwise Gamgee is the true hero of Lord of the Rings.  He is not in love with Frodo, he is just THE best friend in all the land.
6. Produce is a very scary thing.
7. Hand written letters are a forgotten art form.
8. On a happy note, Muppets.  Jim Henson you are a genius.  There’s nothing the muppets can’t do! Take Manhattan,  Treasure Island, manamanoh! So much joy!    MANAMANOH
9. Email and facebook on a phone is stupid.  If you get your email and facebook on your phone then what’s the point of having a computer?  To make spreadsheets and word documents? Bitch please.
10.  If you find glitter on your face, it means you are happy.

JG: Aidan's Monsters

So, I am currently buying a picture of Gill Man.  Not only is he my favorite character in the 80's classic The Monster Squad, but it is in support of possibly the coolest charity I've heard of (and I read about it first on Barstool of all places).  The charity, Aidan's Monsters, is to support Aidan, a 5-year old boy recently diagnosed with leukemia.  Below is a little more about him:

         "Aidan is no ordinary 5 year old boy, in fact he is quite extraordinary. What sets him apart from most kids is his love for all things scary. He loves monsters, clowns, drawing, and dressing up. He does not wait for Halloween to roll around to have an excuse to wear a costume. And you better believe while in costume he will break character for nothing.

             Another thing that makes Aidan different than most children is that on September 13, 2010 he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).  He was strong and pulled through his first round of chemo all while teasing his nurses and vistors. Although this was a small victory Aidan, unfortunately, must go through 2 to 3 more years of chemo treatments and everything that goes along with that."

After considerations to sell the house due to staggering medical bills, the family decided to start selling some of Aidan's absolutely fantastic drawings of monsters to help offset the impact of the costs.  The art is not only for a great cause, its all awesome as well.  

So far, he is reportedly doing well.  Though, just two weeks ago he was diagnosed with a Staph infection that is postponing his chemo for a month.  The charity is also thriving, gaining lots of popularity and significantly improving the family's situation.

Prints are 8.5x11 and are an absolute steal at just $12.00 American dollars.  I'm going to get Gill Man, but there's some pretty sweet ones, like this Mr. Potato Head.

Check out these links:  
Learn About Aidan
Buy The Monsters!!

MM: The Sing-A-Long Man

This weekend some TSTLNers and I traveled to our nation's capital to explore the Georgetown nightlife with our dear friend GTP and to check out the Stewart/Colbert rally.  I don't have time to recap, but I thought I'd share this video of an inspiring DC Metro bonding experience.  As people packed themselves into the Metro cars, sacrificing their personal bubble all to have their sanity and/or fear restored, Stairs blogger JF fulfilled one of his life-long dreams and became known to all in the Metro car as "Sing-a-Long Man."

Not pictured in video: Man who whipped out a harmonica to accompany the beautiful singing.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!
Peace out,
Meag



PS. Just one of many awesome signs at the rally:

Kanye West Has Lost His Fucking Mind, And I Love Every Second Of It

Soooooo Kanye "I'm A Crazy Person" West decided to make a 30-minute movie called Runaway in order to promote his new single Runaway (the movie features new Kanye West songs, including the single Runaway).  I decided to document my experience...

Runaway: An “As I Watch It” Description

Open on Kanye running.  Cut to Kanye in an expensive car, speeding through the woods.  Kanye rapping in the background of course.  With only a few deer as witnesses, shit goes down.  Fire everywhere, the car destroyed.  The news thinks a comet has hit the earth, but in front of his car Kanye finds a beautiful winged-woman lying in front of his car.  Clad in only the wings on her back and the trace amounts of feathers that wrap around to cover her naughtiest of parts, she awakes in Kanye’s apartment.  She sees the news, which is explaining its theory.  The TV is shut off, and Kanye has his first line: “First Rule In This World Baby, Don’t Pay Attention to Anything You See on the News.”

Boom.  More music.  More images of explosions.  The winged outer space woman, who has two yellow, extra long fingernails on each hand, begins crawling around Kanye’s backyard, which features a rabbit, a sheep, and one of the deer from earlier.  Inside, she does some sort of erotic dance.  Kanye takes her to see fireworks.  A marching band plays, but we don’t hear them over Rihanna.  She laughs.  There appears to be a giant blow-up Michael Jackson head in the center of the marching band.

Back home.  Silence.  She is very intrigued by an ornate mug.

More Kanye music.  Cut to a long white dinner table in a large, otherwise empty warehouse.  Everyone at dinner wears a nice white suit or dress, except of course for the unnamed woman from outer space with wings – though she does appear to have her hair done nicer and a brand new golden headpiece.  She smells her soup, then picks up what looks like a bejeweled loaf of bread.

FUCKING EXCELLENT.

A woman just served water, then got silent, and the man next to Kanye looks at him and says, “Your Girlfriend is really beautiful.”

Kanye: “Thank You.”

Man: “Do You Know She’s A Bird?”   (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Kanye: “Nah I Never Noticed That.” (NOO FUCKING WAY!!!!!!!)

Man: “I mean, like, is a monkey in a zoo?”

END. Yes. Holy Shit. Yes. Great Fucking Dialogue. This is fucking CHAOS!

Kanye walks to a random piano and hits a few keys.  About twenty ballerinas run into the room. Back to Music.  Plays that song that goes “Let’s Have a toast for the douche bags…” and they dance to it.  The winged woman… err… bird watched intently in the background.  Everyone toasts but her.  It’s been a few minutes since I’ve seen any explosions – have they gone away from that?  Line of note in the song: “24/7, 365, Pussy stays on my mind.”  Lots of ballerina close-ups.  Dragging on a lot, this is probably their big break.  The Shins ballet idea was definitely ripped from Kanye.  Oh my goodness who wants to get this on a big screen and have a viewing party??  It’s just one ballerina now, having a pretty long and intense solo.  Kanye gives a half-bow with his hand over his heart.  Everyone seems pleased as the ballerinas run out.

Back to dinner.  NO WAY.  They serve a giant turkey RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!!! Her wings, now fully extended for the first time, are revealed to be fucking huge and begin to flutter.  She backs up and starts crying and doing some weird bird scream thing as more Kanye music starts.  Side Note: she now has long fingernails on all her fingers. 

Cut to explosions – Phew, I was getting nervous.  She is depressed and sitting next to the sheep.  Cut to clouds.

Bird-Woman: “Can I ask you a question?  All the statues that we see, where do you think they came from?”

Kanye: “I think that artists carved them years and years ago.”

Bird-Woman: “No. They Are Phoenix Turned To Stone.”

Kanye: (laughs) “Baby…

Bird-Woman: (interrupts) “They are phoenix turned to stone.  Do you know what I hate most about your world? Anything that is different you try to change.  Try to tear it down.  You rip the wings off the phoenix and they turn to stone.  And if I don’t burn, I will turn to stone.”

Kanye: “What do you mean burn?” (Kanye’s voice honestly sounds like a 3-year-old’s)

Bird: “If I don’t burn I can’t go back to my world.”

Kanye: “But I don’t want you to go back to your world.  I want you to stay here with me.”  (Is this shit ripped out of a kids movie or something? Peter Pan, don't leave Neverland?)

Bird: “I have to go back.”

Kanye: No. I’ll Never Let You Burn.

END CONVERSATION.  WOODS by Bon Iver starts playing as they kiss for the first time. Fantastic! Great segue!

Cut to the bird-woman riding him, though Kanye is still in a full suit.  Only 6 and a half more minutes of this masterpiece.  Cut to another explosion (I guess he came?). 

Overhead shot of backyard pans to show Kanye waking up on his sidewalk in a blue suit and slipper shoes.  He goes into a dead sprint into the woods.  Cut to explosion where bird-woman arises as a Phoenix!!!!! Cut back to Kanye’s sprint from the movie’s opening.  It’s still the song where he samples Woods.  She is flying above the woods.  Now she is wearing a golden chest piece over her breasts.  Shit is going down.  This is a fucking must-watch for everyone.  What looks like a comet is soaring straight up in the air, but we all know it’s her, the unnamed bird woman from a different world, the phoenix.

The End.

FUCK.  I wanted that shit to last forever.  I was cheated of the last three minutes because I wasn’t anticipating the credits.  Rookie mistake I guess.  I do recommend listening to the ridiculous thing that plays during the credits.

Anyways, here's the movie... Do Enjoy...

Ps. Does anyone remember this?

DK: Vonnegut

Thanks to (http://www.robertlpeters.com/news/?paged=5)

JG: Bars in Baltimore.

Sooooo, someone had to do this, and since I’m better at procrastinating than all of you, here goes…

Since I arrived in the Charm City, I realized it was a place that could be very fun (the day I hit 21).  I’ve longed to explore the city that a bench once described as ‘The Most Beautiful City in the World’.  This is our last year here, and my first as a legal drinker.  As much as I want to see everything I can, I also want to drink in as many places I can.  I have finally drank in Powerplant, but at the end of the day it truly perturbs me that I’ve already been inside Favorite’s Pub approximately six times, so lets start moving.  Here’s to exploration (and alcoholism).

Canton:

Looney’s:

It looks like a hole-in-the-wall, but apparently its pretty big and fun. 

******My goal is to explore Canton this Friday, as I hear its great and any time I’ve been down there I’ve noted my desire to drink there.  My plan is to get dinner and drinks at Mama’s (cool little seafood place next door)  or Portside Tavern and then venture here and a few of the other bars.  Hopefully all will join – expect mass texts soon.******

Portside Tavern:

No idea on price, but supposed to be a good time.

Fell’s Point:

Max’s Taphouse:

Now, I’ve wanted to go here since freshman year, but generally assumed I would not be allowed in.  This will probably get a bit pricy, but the food menu is reasonable and they have happy hour specials during the week.  Plus, it’s basically my beer heaven.  Hell, it even has an A rating on the always-snooty Beer Advocate site.

Let’s go to the numbers: 3 bars in 1, 102 (yes, 102) beers on tap at any time, and a selection of approximately 1200 bottles from around the world.

Word.

J.A. Murphy’s:

Happy Hour Mon-Fri, 4-7p.m. = $1 shots of anything in the bar. 

Slainte:

Apparently, this is THE place for day drinking (and soccer (and rugby)(is it acceptable to put ( ) within ( )?).  Since we don’t live in Europe, there are basically soccer games played all day every day.  This place shows them all (and some rugby) live, and ensures that you can always go and have a pint with some Pat Taylor-types (the common nomenclature is hooligans).

Cat’s Eye Pub:

Old school, music every night, supposed to be a great place to drink a beer.

Federal Hill:

The Abbey Burger Bistro:

Got voted the best burger in Baltimore… What else is there to say?  Oh, there’s beer too.  And apparently they’re big into Arsenal Futbol.

Random:

Hamilton Tavern:  This seems more up me & DK’s alley – it’s not supposed to get too wild and apparently has a bangin’ without the G burger. (Hamilton)

Pratt Street Ale House:

Passed it and it looked cool.  Apparently has 27 TVs and brews its own brew.

The Laughing Pint: This is a dive bar, apparently with some solid food and microbrews.  This is meant solely for those who love Jerry’s Famous Tavern.  There is no TV, but there is pool, board games, shuffleboard, and I’m pretty sure ping pong (yes!).  The goal here is conversation, folks (calling all Jacob’s Lofters?). (near Canton)

Brewer’s Art:

Not sure where this is, but Shauna tells me I would like it, so I must go soon.

Random Events/Good Excuses to Day Drink

Oct. 2-3: Fells Point Fun Festival (Free)

(lots of shopping and a beer garden with live music)

Oct. 7-17: Baltimore Beer Week

(Random events at random bars for eleven random days)

Oct. 9: Octoberfest ($20)

(I think this is the day of Craig’s Bi-Annual Fest anyways, but just fattening up the list)

Sunday Oct. 17: 2010 Baltimore Beer Festival ($35)

All Saturdays & Sundays Through Oct. 24:

The Maryland Renaissance Festival

Ok, so this is about outside Baltimore (just outside Annapolis), but this sounds awesome, so let me know if anyone’s seriously interested.  Tickets are $18.  Check out their link… http://www.rennfest.com/index.php

A Brief Background of our Show:
The Maryland Renaissance Festival has become the region's premier outdoor event and the second largest Renaissance Festival in the country. Since the Festival's first season as a ramshackle village in 1977, the event has matured into a large theme show with more than 1,300 participants and 280,000 guests per season.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival employs more than 600 people during each season, working in entertainment and customer service. Eighty-five acres of parking space handle an average of 14,700 customers daily. The English Tudor village is 25 acres of woods and field that transport patrons to an era of chivalry, bawdiness, and good fun. There are more than 130 craft shops displaying many wares handmade by the village artisans. Forty-two food outlets provide a feast of foods rarely seen at other festivals. Each season, more than half a million beverages are served at the Festival's eight soft drink stands, five beer stands, and five taverns.

More than a single business, the Festival attracts thousands of tourists and tour groups to the region. The Festival has twice been recognized by the American Bus Association as one of the 100 best events in North America. United States Department of Commerce figures show that special events generate $2.40 in the local economy for each $1.00 spent at the show. An exit poll reveals an extremely satisfied customer base with 99.6% saying they will return the following year.

The Maryland Renaissance Festival, more than a fun event of entertainment, food, crafts, and attractions, is a success that has exhibited continued growth without compromising customer satisfaction.

That's all for now... see you at high school drunk.

SB: The Adventures of Smeagol

This is Smeagol at the Chinese Grauhman's Theatre

This is Smeogal at the In and Out burger eating a burger animal style.  Yeah he's a carnivore.

This is Smeagol and I in front the treacherous Mount Doom!! EEEEK!

This is Smeagol in San Francisco with a foggy view of Alcatraz in the distance.

This is Smeagol in a fabulous lagoon in Rarotonga Cook Islands!  

This is Smeagol on the Hobbiton set in Matamata New Zealand!

This is Smeagol in Beverly Hills.  Classy fellow.

This is Smeagol getting in touch with some art.  He's an intellectual.