On top of the world!

I've travelled around a lot of the world, but I've never been west of Philadelphia... Until now. I'm currently sitting atop a mountain in Colorado witnessing one of Life's many beauties.

I'm also trying to snowboard, not well, but... Well... A video will be up when I get back that explains my learning experience.

But for now I will leave you with some beautiful views.










- JP aka StereoTyKe aka J-Pill

Things I Found in Colorado part 1

Lol catz


- JP aka StereoTyKe aka J-Pill

From the armpit of America

I am currently sitting in Newark airport. There are a few things wrong with this: I'm in New Jersey, I'm surrounded by body doubles for the cast of the Jersey Shore, and I'm about to fly. I have a severe dislike of all the above.

Ironically, I like travelling: meeting new people, seeing new things, and experiencing all life has to offer. Life is an adventure, and although I fear many things, I believe nothing should deter you from feeding your curiosity. But that's just my opinion...



- JP aka StereoTyKe aka J-Pill

It's a Star Wars Chrismas

I am sick. I am cold. And I love it. Why? Because it is Christmas Eve!!! And do you know what that means?

Star Wars Marathon!




- JP aka StereoTyKe aka J-Pill

Snow Frisbee

Today, I spent 2 hours out on a snow filled field playing frisbee. Yes... sounds insane, but REALLY fun. Think of it less as an athletic activity and pretty much as a glorified snow day, but with a frisbee.

Snowballs careening towards a flying disc, bodies flying through the air or sliding on the snow, people tackling each other into the ground.

It's a wonderful time of year! I love the winter

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Kwanzaa! In a matter of days, you will probably be innundated with familial bliss, or hell depending on how you look at it. Regardless, don't you agree the holidays are a wonderful time?


- JP aka StereoTyKe aka J-Pill

Do You Realize?

I'm one of the most healthy people alive... surprisingly enough, like Michael Jackson (no not child molestation, not cool) my joints and bones are achy maybe even borderline arthritic but my overall health is great (Side note: If you're curious where I heard this look up on USA Today, the Michael Jackson autopsy results). I've had optimal everything from cholesterol to blood pressure to weight, however yesterday I had a bit of a scare. Everything was like it should be, super optimal, until I got to the last line... Triglycerides: ABOVE NORMAL. I'm thinking, what the hell is a Triglyceride? Turns out it's one of the factors linked to heart disease and stroke. Hunh? How? What? Who? When? Then I remembered I had Wendy's that day... DUH! Of course I'm going to be high on saturated fats!
It was an interesting scare and to be honest I'm still a little freaked out because I've never had a blip on my health screens ever which is nice considering I'm a hypochondriac when it comes to my insides. But events like this help you realize little things which unfortunately become those annoying PSA's, but that's beside the point. Sure my metabolism is great and my health is impeccably right but you gotta work for it. They say obesity is a disease, I say laziness is a disease. And don't get me wrong, I'm very capable of being lazy, but the way I figure is that lazy is nice sometimes but if you're lazy all the time you miss out on a lot of things.

Re-Introduction

I'm not a religious person, but I say everything works out. I'm not
even an optimist, but I refuse to mire in self-pity. I classify myself
as a realist, but people call me a cranky grandpa. I'm neither cocky
nor confident. I'm assured of my words because people are always
searching for answers to questions as basic as 2+2 or as complex as
love. But I'm not a fan of preaching, I'm no pastor and there is so
much to talk about. I love sharing my insights but I know there are
issues out there you want to talk about. In order to quell my
concerns, I'm hoping you all could comment on this post with suggestions. Make this more a discussion

To You...

This post is a very personal reflection with which hopefully you can connect.

Last month, a friend of mine passed away in a tragic accident. I remember being at work and receiving the news, not via phone call, but by text message... and Facebook... I had known her since we were 6 years old, and now, at the young age of 22, she was gone. For the record, we were just friends, always there for each other whenever we needed an ear. We had gone our separate ways in the beginning of high school, but over the years, we had kept in touch. We were supposed to have coffee earlier this summer, but I didn't wake up in time. I've never regretted anything more in my entire life.

I couldn't function, I didn't accomplish anything that day, I was paralyzed. Until then I had never cried over someone's death. I could never truly relate, I never really understood, until then. I finally understood that emptiness, that hollow feeling. For the next few days, I kept moving, purely out of the strength of my own will. I went to work, saw friends, lived my life, but with that empty hollow consuming me. I'm ok now... but it still feels weird. To be honest, when I pass her name in my address book I can't even bring myself to delete her number from my phone. But it's getting easier, every day, a little easier.

I'm not going to say something uplifting like "live your life to the fullest" or "love like you've never loved before," because that doesn't help anyone, it's just a band-aid phrase. What I will say is that all your pains, be it mental or emotional, get easier over time, but ONLY if you allow it. Take your time to grieve, I know I did, but you can't let the pain take over your life, because letting that paralysis consume you is equivalent to dying. No one (sane) would want you to stop your life because of them. Life doesn't stop for one person, but it will always accept you back.

So Ambitious

How many times have you heard or experienced a story about some
interaction with the opposite sex that went HORRIBLY wrong? We all get
a good laugh but subconsciously it makes dating seem that much more
terrifying. On top of that our culture is such that people don't date
anymore, they "hook up." Now don't get me wrong, I love having
options, but the reality is, these choices have given us more fear
than security. It seems like everyone is taking chances but they're
really avoiding it. No one wants to take that chance because they
believe there is something better out there and don't want to miss it.
Others who say they just aren't looking for a relationship is playing
the I want to experience it all card, which is fine, but really is
just living in their fear because they've never been able to find a
stable relationship.
The reason for all these observations is to get to this point: for
years people have been saying there are plenty of fish in the sea...
Boy are they dead wrong. The reality is that this "sea" is much more
like a pool, because: half of the sea isn't your type, half of that
don't see you as their type, half of that are married or in a
relationship, half of that is downright crazy and you don't want to
deal with, half of that pool you can't even speak to, and so on and so
forth until you find yourself with a tank of about two dozen or so
fish. It sounds depressing because well... It is. But you're never
going to find out who is in that tank if you don't make those
connections, and that's the real prize. You learn both about yourself
and about other people, until you reach that point. You can't be
afraid because every step brings you one step closer...

Already Home

In the last few months since my last post, my life has been through a
whirlwind of change. I've been blessed with employment and friendship
but experienced the misfortune of loss and longing. And, although I
would like to change certain things, I'm grateful for the lessons and
experiences. I'm ready to share...

I had been searching for direction for this blog for a long time, but
with a clearer perspective, I've discovered I was already there.

New Posts

I'm re-evaluating things and how it will be presented, and hopefully
more fun

The Facts of Life

I've been lazy with my postings...
Ironically, there have been a lot of things worth posting about in the last few days but today I want you to say: "Fuck the world."

We are all selfish beings, regardless of how you perceive yourself. And to prove the rule you have the few exceptions, I know you know a few, personally the only one that comes to mind is Mother Theresa because lets be honest, the earth friendly hippy will do anything to push their agenda on the world, not allowing or understanding the other side.

Now there's nothing wrong with being selfish, I mean it's a natural form of self-preservation. But in today's connected world, you can't afford to be 100% selfish. Life is a series of compromises between friends, family members, co-workers, colleagues, etc. It's a continual tug-of-war between desires, but which ones should be sacrificed for the common good.

The issue here isn't about how to eliminate selfishness, because lets be honest, that's impossible, and if you say you're unselfish, well you're a terrible liar; The issue here is how to compromise. Spend some time with yourself and think about your priorities and reflect upon what you hold dearest to your heart. Personally, I know I want to bboy for a long time, I want a job that won't tie me down for long hours and allows me to be creative and analytic, and I want to have people around me who are intelligent, have no problem acting like children once in a while, and share my relaxed outlook on life. What do you want? If you can't answer those questions, you're making your life more difficult on yourself and the people in your life.

The Link

It's not about what you know, it's about who you know. Ironically, the latter seems to be the harder of the two. Knowledge is simple, you read a book, you go to class, you can do these things with your spare time, keeping up with people involves a much more invested use of your time. But most people just can't face the fact that they need to put forth the effort to make these relationships work.
These individuals believe that at some point if people want to find them then they will go to them, but all that's really saying is that they're afraid of denial, rejection, and getting hurt. It's one thing if you're putting forth all the effort and the other isn't, because then at that point you're being a fuckin' moron and enslaving yourself to the other person's will, but if you're too lazy, afraid, or whatever to even put yourself out there, you miss out on the majority of life's interesting moment, and being a coward.
In the sad connection to Barbara Streisand, people need people, regardless of what you/they say. Make an effort, make a connection, make your life interesting, because at the end of the day, a life devoid of friends, family, or people in your life is not a life at all.

Shaq Daddy vs. Korean DMZ

After beating the crap out of Jose Canseco, the Korean MMA fighter is getting a lot of flak from SHAQ! Yes... I'm not kidding, the Big Shaq Daddy is calling out 7'2 330lbs Hong Man Choi to an MMA fight... wtf? For comparison Shaq is 7'1 330lbs so this could be interesting. But personally I'm wondering this: HOW THE FUCK IS THERE A 7'3 KOREAN MAN WHO WEIGHS 330lbs???? This isn't China! We don't genetically alter our babies!

New York Mirage

When it was announced that parts of Herald Square and Times Square would be blocked off to create a kind of humongous sidewalk for tourists and New Yorkers alike to wander and enjoy, I thought it would be a cool idea. Maybe give it a new feeling, something more like Parisian sidewalks with the people sitting in little tables enjoying lunch. I wrote an article when this was first announced and if you recall I was very very excited about it... but I was so wrong...

I took a walk in this so called "improvement" and I was completely appalled at the area's uselessness. It's one thing if you have cafes like the one in Bryant Park or Herald Square but if its Times Square, it's really really pointless. On top of that, the "improvement" only causes more traffic in areas where traffic is already a HUGE problem. What is wrong with all the New York Democrats... sigh...

C'mon... Give Credit... part 2

From my prior post you now know I'm a huge Nintendo fan. Just to frame just how big my mother played Super Mario Bros on the NES while I was in the womb and then I popped out and started playing Tetris... go figure. So when it comes to electronics I'm a pretty loyal guy, which makes this next part kind of ironic.

When it came to computers I was a fan of Dell and the Windows Operating System. So when Apple swooped in with their IPods and Macbooks, I put up a serious fight. My mom bought me an IPod for my birthday and I almost forced her to return it, but then I came to my senses and decided to stop being so hard-headed. The IPod was my introduction to the Apple Experience. Similar to Nintendo's new strategy, Apple focused on simplicity, and I thought it was BEAUTIFUL. Sure you can't manipulate things to the high degree like on Windows but for the common man, Apple is the answer. As an engineer you have to understand, I search for, I thrive on, I desire constant improvement, and Apple gave me that wish.

So what? Apple has such stringent copyright and patent laws that they won't let ANYONE use their operating system. So in examining their products you have to see simply their influence. I mean look at Vista. It may have been a complete fuckin' failure... and that's being kind, but there were serious elements of Apple's Leopard or even Tiger operating system present. Then look at the IPhone. Yes it's overpriced and a piece of consumer obsession, but look at what's come about since it's inception. Phones have gone off the wall with features, extras, and possibilities. Blackberry responded with the Blackberry Storm and Palm responded with the recent Palm Pre. Phones are now coming with e-mail capability, web browsing, music capability, and on top of that all wireless carriers are allowing these companies free reign to create and innovate. That's how it should be, companies inventing freely without any limitations.

And at the end of the day the IPhone and the Wii have done the simple task of opening up the world to innovation. And these articles are simply filling the need to acknowledge what these two inventions have given to the world. Props!

C'mon... Give Credit... part 1

This past week was the E3 Conference. Now for those of you who had actual friends growing up and don't know what this is lemme explain. E3 is an annual conference for video game developers to present their upcoming inventions, ideas, games, etc. This particular E3 saw huge focus on motion sensitivity primarily with Microsoft and Sony trying to counter the HUGE popularity of Nintendo's Wii and rightfully so. As of March 2009 the Wii had sold over 50 Million consoles worldwide as opposed to the Xbox 360 and PS3 who have sold the same amount combined. Also remember the Xbox 360 was released a year in advance. But now comes the revolution!

Project Natal:



PS3 Wand:



So these are the two iterations of the motion sensitive controllers that will be released by Microsoft and Sony respectively. I'd just like to point out two things in this article. First Project Natal although exciting is experiencing the same kind of hype as the PS2 EyeToy did back when it was first announced, and we all remember how horribly that experiment turned out. But I think that this has serious potential but also a HUGE potential for failure. As for the PS3 Wand, lets be honest... it looks like a fuckin Wiimote. Sure it supposedly moves 1 to 1 with the wand but at the end of the day Nintendo is doing exactly the same but a year prior, Sony fail.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm very excited about these two companies catching on to the bandwagon. They're pretty much admitting that they fucked up and that Nintendo is the supreme genius of the video game world. Now they're left playing catch up to claim or "reclaim" the new fan base that Nintedo has created known as the "casual gamer." The other great thing about this is maybe now the typical gamer might not be known as a fat pimple faced Dungeons and Dragon nerd who is anti-social and awkward. Here's hoping... Maybe now I can go around proudly with my video game talents?

Football for Good

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

As most of us know, Steve Nash is not only an MVP caliber NBA basketball star, but a summertime NYC football (soccer for the Americans) baller. So it comes to no surprise he's actually doing some football related charity work.

The Football for Good campaign is a partnership between the Steve Nash Foundation and Athletes for Africa to help develop good, ethical world-class youth football academies around Africa as well as “champion of human rights and child protection, and a committed global advocate for African players, families and their communities.” A $5 USD donation earns you a chance to fly to New York and participate in the “Chinatown Showdown” which features world-class football players and basketball players alike in a friendly game. All the information can be seen at Football-For-Good.com.

The Lumberjack Calleth...

I don't understand when or why plaid became a fashion trend. Plaid is associated with lumberjacks and all of a sudden you see plaid as the in design for streetwear and preppy fashion alike... go figure. I can't lie, I own a pair of plaid shorts and they're comfortable as hell, but really WTF? I don't understand how fashion conscious people can wear them.... especially once they make plaid HATS to go with the plaid SHORTS.

Full Force vs. Rivers

Richie doing it up against Rivers, SICK BATTLE

Gamberz vs. TG Breakers

Gamblerz at the Cyon Bboy Championships, they lost sadly but props to them

F*ck Off!

There is nothing funnier than honesty, it's also the best way to lose friends... oh well

Where's the Love?

New York Times today ran a story about the prevalence of hugging, and how it has become such a normal greeting that those who do not participate are considered weird. WTF? How stupid are these people? You don't hug thus you are considered weird? I think at this point everyone is becoming too desensitized to the value of human interaction. First off, We take for granted face to face contact mostly because of the prevalence of cell phones and personal computers. Secondly, look at this generation of kids most of them are exposed to things we weren't exposed to until our mid to late teens! I mean this is the generation that made sexting a topic of national discussion. So of course they would think hugging should be as prevalent as breathing.

On another note, I'm not saying we need to stop all this behavior because all this type of exposure/behavior doesn't lead to sexual deviance. Take Europe for example, they're very open with sexuality and they aren't sexual deviants. However they are very protected when it comes to personal affairs, meaning they value the quality of the company they keep. But really, this is just another case of non-conformity making other people "uncomfortable." My last words are simply that "weird" is not necessarily bad, "weird" can be interesting and fun. Do what is comfortable for you, not for someone else. What's "normal" most of the time is really really lame, I mean look around...

New York Paradise?

I am a citizen of the world, I'm unable to call one place home but there is one thing I can be certain, and that's the fact that I was born a New Yorker. New York is known for its grittiness and it's shall we say personality. People yelling and hustling everywhere, noise disseminating from every corner, window, and person, tourists looking aimlessly into the sky, and of course cab drivers wrecking havoc on the New York city streets. If you lose any of these elements, it just doesn't feel like New York. Having Times Square devoid of cars, is definitely one of those elements. Although, I like the european element of the idea.

Who Can Roast the Most 9

Who Can Roast the Most 9 Trailer, learn a thing or two...

North Korea... Lol

North Korea really has come a long way...

The End

I graduated on Wednesday.

There's nothing scarier than leaving something with which you've grown comfortable to something unknown. It's bittersweet to end a chapter of your life story, but nevertheless exciting as you face your fears in hope of conquering the unknown.

At the end of this chapter, you find a sort of reconciliation of everything that has happened in the past. Old friends brought together for one last hurrah, New friends establishing the final roots, and past deeds and adventures recounted with much laughter. It's been a long 4 years of fun, anger, sadness, and excitement. Some people are still angry with me, while others still have no beef with me. All I can say is that I have no regrets, and that's how it should be. Life should never be lived with regrets. I may have only experienced a quarter of my life, but I know that life is terrible knowing that you should/could/want to have done something differently.

People say college was the best time of their lives, and so far in the context of the short chapters of my life, I agree. But I hope that's not the case for the rest of my life. Life is the same, just played in different contexts. I hope to remember that and appreciate everything that comes my way the same as I have the last few years.

My last thoughts are thank yous: Thank you to my family who has believed in me and my abilities, to my friends for keeping me sane/insane, to the few teachers with whom I had a relationship I've learned more from you thank you'll ever know, and to the people I have yet to meet be prepared it's gonna be one hell of a show.

Social Un-Norms

So last night, after a night of drinking, a couple of my friends and I sat down for a late night snack and started talking about the general social norms of dating.

The focus of our discussion was primarily about dating people 5 years out of your age grouping, and the problem we had was that we couldn't really verbalize what was weird or wrong about it. There's a point where saying it's just weird is juvenile and if the person really does care for the person, then you can't really use superficial reasons as a legitimate reason, which makes us sadly realize that there's so much superficiality in this discussion, but when it came to the root of it we started looking at why this never actually occurs. The first few reasons had to do with superficial reasons, but otherwise we discussed common interests since most of the time 5 years is the border of sharing common interests with a person, and practicality, normally someone 5 years older than you is looking for different things like marriage, a family, etc. whereas you are looking to start your life. But the root of the issue stemmed from the age old fact of dating, if they're happy with each other, and are able to overcome these differences then at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. We all want to fit in, but stepping outside of the box isn't a terrible idea.

So apparently one of my friends is in the library at 3am contemplating a purell bath to avoid time going back to his room... Interesting

Breakonomics 2009

Having had such a successful showing at Breaks U, we decided to take our show on the road and try out our stuff at Breakonomics. Everyone that knows me, knows that I have a odd love-hate relationship with Boston (mostly because of my girlfriend). So this kinda ties in with that relationship. But instead of ranting about my hatred towards Massachusetts, I'll talk about the entire trip.

Day 1: We're leaving Columbia around 11AM and as we were leaving, all hell broke loose, fire engines everywhere, people on the street, smoke everywhere. Turns out we left right before Nussbaum and Community burned down, thank god! We thought the apocalypse had hit and we were avoiding the center of the Nuclear War. We stop by my house, and my mother being the very maternal and sometimes caring person she is scrounges up a serious breakfast for everyone, thank you mother. The drive up itself wasn't all exciting, lots of cocks thrown at a sleeping Kid Bowser. We're staying at my girlfriend's parent's place so we drop our stuff there and then proceed to a mini-session so that we can go over things for the competition. But that most exciting part of this day for us was going to the Kid David class. Kid David honestly was one of the most genuinely nice person I've ever met. He bonded with all of us over the fact that we came all the way from New York, I think he liked our style. So day was over and we just went back and slept.

Day 2: We get to the competition and we're one of the first people to go. Our first round was against BU, not to be cruel of anything but we roasted them.

Columbia vs. Boston University

So the format of the competition was supposed to be: First Rounds of all the various competitions, then 2nd Rounds, then Quarters, Semis and Finals. We reach the end of all the first rounds, when they suddenly decide to skip our next round. We're thinking WTF? so we go up and ask. Since only 10 crews had signed up for the Collegiate Battle, they were gonna wait until everything else had reached the semis to do the next round. Not a terrible idea right? WRONG! They had us waiting for 5 hours after our first battle for the next round, our muscles felt like stretched out rubber bands. Our semi-final battle was against Cornell 2 which had a fun match-up between Kid Bowser and his high-school friend Yoshi (HAHAHAHA I JUST REALIZED THIS!!) The promoter decided that only 2 rounds total in this battle, so only 2 people would battle. This was in the interest of time... which will come up as a theme again.

Columbia vs. Cornell 2

The result was that we advanced on a technicality. You weren't allowed to do routines so Cornell 2 was disqualified, but Popsicle had the balls to tell them that they would've advanced has they not done the routine. Which made me wonder, how did we lose? No offense to Cornell and I might be biased but I kept watching the video and I could not figure it out. Yoshi's round was dope but his partners couldn't have been better than Kid Bowser's round... Either way we're in the finals, we're told that this happens RIGHT THEN! so we go back to back. And again, in the interest of time, no routines or commandos, BUT it's a two round battle, so everyone can go twice, WTF? Unfair in my opinion because 2 rounds w/ or w/out routines doesn't make a difference. But we're going up against Cornell 1 (Cornell put in 3 teams)

Columbia vs. Cornell 1

This one was close, but we lost outright. Battle was badly set up but we just didn't hold it down. So we left Massachusetts empty handed, but non-battle wise it was a really really fun trip. And from this trip, we all received some very good words of advice: Hot Water is ULTIMATE!

Why Massachusetts Sucks... Part 2

This trip has only further convinced me that Massachusetts sucks, however it's sucking has left me with a clean record and no speeding ticket to pay so I gets some points for that.

Conveniently the court house is located right next to the police station... go figure. The court room is a small room no bigger than my dorm with some fat white dude, a Massachusetts State Trooper, and the largest group of idiots I've ever met. Now let me describe some of the deficiencies,

1) Idiot Who Won't Quit: I entered the room as this guy was pleading his case, so initially I didn't really know what this case was about. I'm sitting there and this guy is making a compelling argument, his car couldn't accelerate that fast, he didn't pass these lights, etc. etc. Then the judge goes well son you know that drag racing carries an automatic fine.... WTF? How dumb are you? You're fighting a DRAG RACING charge? There is no gray area when it comes to drag racing, you're either caught, or you're not caught. If you're caught, you're screwed, if you're not well then you can continue in your thrilling existence.

2) Screwed Over Idiot: So this lady is facing a speeding ticket, and talks about she had just come out of a stop sign, and that with her car, she couldn't have accelerated to that high a speed in a short amount of time. I think the judge pitied her because the evidence was thin at best and he lowered her ticket to the minimum $100 fine. The lady wanted to protest this, but Massachusetts only does speeding ticket court hearings on TUESDAY, and ONLY on TUESDAY. So being a normal working citizen, the lady couldn't attend so she was forced to pay the fine.

3) The Idiot Trooper: This one guy got pulled over for a busted tail light, open and shut right? Well after the ticket, the guy checked the light, saw it was working, took it to a mechanic the next morning, and got a verification it was working. The judge couldn't do anything, the guy was innocent of all charges. The question here is: How do you mistake seeing a busted tail light at NIGHT? Isn't that the easiest time to see a busted tail light? Apparently, Massachusetts State Troopers are potentially blind.

So now my case. The judge made me take the oath. I was getting ready to argue my side of the story, when the State Trooper goes, "I don't have any citation." I'm thinking, YES! I can just say my side of the story then the Judge lets me go free! Nope, the judge pretty much just said the State fucked up, you are free of all charge. HUZZAH!!! Thank you stupid Massachusetts system!

The only really interesting thing here was that, in the 30-45 min I had been waiting, I hadn't seen ANYONE else take an oath, so I thought that was kinda funny. I was still laughing about the situation as I was leaving and then it hit me! I had walked up to the desk w/ my hands in my pockets, and it was a few days after the Binghamton Shooting. I think the judge thought I had a gun in my pocket and was gonna kill him! Which makes me say...how ignorant do you have to be to think that?

Massachusetts Fail

Sorry to all that I haven't been posting, I've been busy with a whole lot of things but that means I have a lot to rant about so starting tomorrow you should see more posts!

Comes back to bite....

I want to get this out of the way, I HATE MASSACHUSETTS, but my girlfriend is cool...

So last summer on my way to the Beantown Breakdown (10 Year Anniversary coming up in June 2009) I was pulled over for a speeding violation by a Mass State Trooper. Now for those of you politically inclined folks regardless of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat you must agree that the Massachusetts legal system and all political legislation in Massachusetts is TERRIBLE. So since they're so terrible they nickel and dime you in any way possible so they like to pull over out-of-state drivers since unlike the great state of New York or Connecticut, they don't allow any petition by mail. Thus no one from out-of-state would go petition thus they make money. Now this guy pretty much pushes me into a ticket worth $200 so now I'm going to dispute the bullshit charges because 1) The trooper was the cause of most if not all of the charges and 2) I hate being nickel and dimed.

Alien Ness' 5 Things He Hates in Bboyin'

This is good, insights into the bboy world... very true on many parts


Alien Ness's TOP 5 THINGS HE HATES IN BREAKIN from Mane One on Vimeo.

Word to the wise

Word to the wise: Life is never anything to take too seriously, enjoy it. Nothing is ever worth losing your sanity over.

Richie's Demo Reel

Rich's Demo Reel from Diego Garcia on Vimeo.

Richie from Full Force/SuperCr3w, it's a sick demo-reel

Breaks U: The Aftermath

Columbia University... and Breakdancing??? WTF? or FTW? When you think of breaking it's a huge rarity to find good breakdancers at high level institutions not because of intelligence level but mostly because good breakdancers put a lot of time and effort into their craft, where as "smart people" spend more time in the library, which on a side note brings into question just how "smart" they are....

So for the last month, YS, Lil' Eagle, and Myself have been training for this event which essentially puts all the schools against each other. Kid Bowser woulda joined us but he made a promise to do his Philips Exeter thing at the event. But anyways, we paired up w/ two alums, Seoul Sonyk and Bounce, and we went in thinking ok lets just have fun and do whatever, since we thought most schools probably had better teams like NYU, MIT, Cornell, etc cuz they all had reps.

We get there... and I'm not gonna lie... it was kinda sad...

Let me go through my thought process for each school I saw:
Harvard: Mad noobage, aparently just started the club so I can't fault them
MIT: They had two squads, I think squad 2 was better than squad 1 funny enough
NYU: They held it down, thought there woulda been more Florox people since NYU is invaded by Florox but to my surprise, none what so ever...
BMCC: Pretty much the actual Foot Clan Crew mixed w/ Gravity... go figure
LaGuardia: Another way of saying Supreme Beings... sigh I wish I went to a high school like that...
UMass-Amhearst: They came out strong, not too much flava but they were smooth, very surprising
Johns Hopkins: Um... yeah...
Carnegie Mellon: Now here's a school w/ some talent, even had a girl who could smoke any of the guys on her team, like WOW

Anyways, back to us, we get pit against Farmingdale/Brooklyn Law which is pretty much all our friends: Lilfoot, Chem, and Yuki so it was a fun battle, I think one of the best ones of the first round

Breaks U: Exhibition Round
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ_lKk-UDP0

Now we're sitting tight because they're only going to take the top 8 crews out of 32, so I'm watching these crews thinking we're just on the fringe of not making it... and we're all praying.

And then... WE GOT IN!!! We were HYPE to the point where we said we were just gonna go all out on the next battle, which in retrospect was probably a bad idea, but it was more fun that way.

Breaks U: Quarter-Final Round
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gyRTWiTng

We mad it through but we did so terribly in the Semi-Finals, I kinda just don't want to post the footage. It's also because we faced Laguardia aka Supreme Beings so... yeah... I mean we held our own but they were just better.

So overall a very good jam, can't believe how far we made it, so now it's back to the lab.

Sorry

Sorry all, haven't had much time to rant or think about things, I've been keeping busy with various activities, I promise when things cool down I'll have a chance to put all my thoughts online, until don't be like me and be patient.

Intellectual Pursuits

I've been a student at one of the most prestigious universities in the world for the last 4 years. Currently, I am writing this blog in one of my classes solely because I'm reminded of something that greatly bothers me about the education system, intellectuals. As we progress from infants to adults, we are educated by a number of different teachers: math, english, social studies, gym, etc. While they all specialize in different subjects, the major difference between them is the declining ability to teach. It's ironic that as we get older we meet individuals who are less and less qualified to teach. It's not because the difficulty of the subject matter but more because people have become more disenchanted with teaching especially at the collegiate level. Typical teachers are intellectuals who wish to pursue research however they are required to teach in order to accomplish said goal. Intelligence and knowledge is a gift that should be distributed to everyone but these upitty intellectuals don't seem to really want to pass on the knowledge. They're too focused on themselves and their pursuits. Where is the joy? Where is the excitement? The best kinds of classes are the ones in which the professor seems genuinely excited about their subject, but most of the time it just feels like they're repeating what we could have read in a textbook or sparknote. I have a terrible sample size of teachers since I am an engineer, but on that note, these snobs are the reason science and math are lacking in most education systems. For god's sake, I learned more from Bill Nye the Science Guy than these PhD's with multiple published papers. If anyone is actually learning something from these phoneys they need to go out into the world and learn something real and be excited for the real world not the library.

The Bboy Spot

So for those of you not in the Bboy community, there was a bit of drama in one the of major bboy centers and two big purveyors of information in the bboy community split.
For those of you in the Bboy community, Mex and Erwin split and are at semi-war, or at least that's what I see

So from this comes a new site, courtesy of Mex One called the Bboy Spot, and I must say, although the forum is a bit lacking, it's acceptable considering it started about 2 months ago. But the web-store is much better than I ever expected. They have some seriously fresh gear for good prices, so support your friendly bboy community.

The Bboy Spot

The True Nature of Friendship

The dictionary defines a friend as a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard, a person who gives assistance, and a person who is on good terms with another. While this P-C definition is passable as a standard definition of friend the all encompassing definition of a friend is one who accepts you for who you are and what you do and wishes to be a part of your life regardless. I've gone through my share of issues in the face of this definition: people who don't understand, people who use with a purpose, people who just don't care.
The sad truth about friendship is that most of us don't know how to be a real friend. Everyone is so caught up in their own world they forget the plain and simple needs of friendship: caring for that common bond. For the last few months, I disappeared off of everyone's radar, I've run into people asking me where I've been for the last few months. From this, you may think me a hypocrite. However, caring for a common bond does not entail constant interaction with the person with whom you share that bond. You may think I was lazy and uncaring for not reaching out to my friends but at the same time they didn't reach out to me. This is the real problem of friendship to which we have to pay attention. Figure out what you want out of your friendship and ensure your friendship is working on a level playing field.

MTV Special on Breakdancing

So apparently, MTV wants to get in on the hip hop movement... again... they're doing a special on "the 5 Pillars of Hip Hop" and some New York heads are catchin' some shine with this interview. Shout out to D-Nice, Ra-Ra, Ru, and Connie Rock in this video

MTV Sucka Free Special

The Smartest Dumb People

My part-time job takes me to many exotic places, Butler Library, Seeley Mudd Bulding, and my personal favorite the School of International Politics building. I've never been surrounded by so many intellectuals in my entire life. However you must wonder how smart they must really be when they have problems LOGGING OUT OF A COMPUTER TERMINAL. How is it that the entire school is full of individuals who are supposedly the brightest in their fields, but can't deal with the simple problems of a computer. I thought natural selection was supposed to weed out the best and the brightest? I know most people are computer retarded but this goes beyond retardation. Here are a few examples.

Now the simple rules of the computer lab are that you have to log on and log off a computer with your username and password. I've gotten complaints that people can't print their things because they can't find their user name on a print quota, however Einstein kinda just sat a logged on computer. Now this is funny for two reasons: 1) you know you have to log on but you avoid that step anyways and 2) what moron leaves a computer logged on with their username? do you know how much crap I could do if I got onto that computer? My other all time favorite complaint is "the computer froze it's not working" so you walk to the computer move the mouse, click anything, and POOF, OMG THE COMPUTER IS WORKING...

On the non computer front, my job supplies hole punchers and staplers so that these fine individuals can have their printed materials all ready. We typically go through about a dozen of these a day for one reason, some moron walks up to the stapler or hole puncher with a 30 page thesis on ethics or global warming, and tries to stuff it in and staple it! WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU THINKING? If the damn thing doesn't go into the stapler or hole puncher, why the f**k would it actually work? There should be an immediate bell going off in your head saying, THIS S**T IS NOT GOING TO WORK!!

Now if you can't get your wireless working or you can't figure out some of the subtleties of Microsoft Office like notes and tabs and things, that's understandable however these people need to stop procreating for the sake of all mankind.

New Season for the Faithful

It may be only February but it's only 24 hours until the first spring training game of the Major League Baseball Season. Some call it a mundane sport where you spend more time sitting around than actually playing, others call it America's Past-time. To all the doubters I say f**k you, you're hypocrites, you probably watch football instead (Although if we're talking about soccer then I'll have to cede my point).
There is a certain aura and mystique about this game, especially for us faithful, that never seems to disappoint, even when the chips are down. I spent most of last season saying my farewells to the only baseball home I've ever known, and even after missing the playoffs the season never felt like a real disappointment. Yet, this season is different, I've never begun a season more conflicted in my entire life: the new baseball stadium, ARod on steroids, and the new free agent acquisitions. And while I want to just rant, my friend, the Connecticut Yankee: http://actyankee.blogspot.com, says it much better. But just quickly, baseball stadium costs too damn much... just like every other New York stadium, ARod needs to stop bullshitting and just fess up to whatever he really did, and it's good short-term planning but I'm worried long-term for our farm system. In all seriousness, I'm just looking forward to long summer days following the boys in blue.

Everyone's a little bit Racist!

We all have our pre-conceived notions about other races: Asians are good at video games and math, Black people are hoodlums who can dance really well, White people love Wayne Brady and schmooze on their yachts, and Latinos are great lovers and very sexual. It's not a matter of being racist, because all stereotypes have some grain of truth, but a division that propagates racism and stereotypes.

When you look at your group of friends are they primarily the same ethnicity or a different ethnicity? When I say group of friends, I mean the people who know you the best, the people you always hang out with on a friday night, not your acquaintances. I'm almost guaranteeing that for at least 50% of you are going to say same ethnicity. I'm not saying that being friends with them is wrong, it's completely understandable to befriend people with common interests and backgrounds as yourself. However, it's interesting to note that decades after Brown vs. Board of Education was supposed to end segregation and racial ignorance we're actually self-segregating.

Look around you, how many times do you see a group of mixed ethnicities, how many times do you see a mixed race couple? Perhaps it's racism, perhaps it's ignorance, perhaps it's personal preference. Personally, I think everyone is a little bit closed minded. There isn't any solution to this because it might not really be a problem to begin with, so all I can say is open your mind a little, and take in something different for a change.

YNot

YNot is a beat killing machine, appreciate the beauty of his dance, and if you don't... well you probably can't dance so you're already handicapped, it's okay

Freestyle Session 10

Gamblerz Crew at FSS10, the event just got sponsored by Gatorade so watch out!

Nostalgia

Most of us hold very fond memories of our childhood, there are the cartoons: Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, Global GUTS, Legends of the Hidden Temple (Note: Nickelodeon ruled... what happened????), the toys: GI Joe, Barbie, Cabbage Patch Kids, the outings: Yankees games with the family, Lakers games with the grandparents, but for us lucky few we made a life long friend: Nintendo. For the unlucky few, don't front, you knew someone with a nintendo who you befriended just so you could go over and play. For you nay-sayers there are a lot of rainy days you need something to do, forget reading, you're missing out... Because thankfully, someone has heard our cries: Street Fighter 4 is finally here.


I've spent a good portion of the last 12 hours mashing out hadoukens and dragon punches and I must say I've been having massive flashbacks. I highly suggest you go out and get the game yourself, otherwise do what you did back in the day, go mooch... and mooch you shall!

SPLAT!

I like these... they remind me of a bootleg high version of the puma oversprays but still nice none-the-less. They're Nike Dunk High Premium Splatter if anyone is interested, I would get them... but I'm kinda short on cash, and I'm not about to go rob someone

Stressbusting

Right about now, s**t is probably hitting the fan. Colleges are hitting the point where work has picked up and midterms are starting while employees are feeling the weight of the depression (yes, depression, not recession). But now is not the time to start complaining about the difficulties of life. It's always good to vent, but lately it's become a nationwide habit to the point where it's not just venting, it's just straight out whining. Before I continue, I'd like to say I completely sympathize with everyone seeing as I'm jobless and although I'm only taking 3 classes I feel like I'm burdened with more than I've ever had to deal with before. 

That being said, I'm say this with a sympathetic heart, SHUT THE F**K UP. Yes, life is hard: there's too much work, you have problems with your significant other, you can't dance, or you have problems getting it up. Although all you feel like doing is sitting around and bitching about your problems, with the exception for the potential erectile problem, continuously talking about it won't get it done. The irony in the situation is that the solution is very apparent, however we are in a continuous struggle with the solution. We are all afraid to deal with our issues, however we have to make the "hard" (and I say hard because it's purely a psychological convolution) choice to deal with the situation at hand. Thomas Jefferson once said, "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." So make your luck, handle your business, stop avoiding life just because there are problems.

OMG....Shoes

If there's a Comic-Con there is definitely other conventions out there, maybe a little under the radar, but just as important. For me... seeing as I've purchased 2 pairs of sneakers in less than 2 weeks, I'm headed here

Go With the Flow

I've lived a very short life; I'm not very religious, and I only semi-believe in fate so when I tell you the following things I'm speaking from experience, not a belief. Kevin Smith, the writer/director of the movie Dogma, was completely correct when he was criticizing religion: Chris Rock as the 13th Disciple Rufus said, "I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should be malleable and progressive."

I'm an asshole, mostly because of the fact that I'm very honest and am prone to moments of rage rants. However as most will verify, I am actually very sweet at the core; I mean only well in the things I do and say and in the spirit of Kevin Smith's movie here are a few "ideas" on life that might make your day better.

"Treat others the way you want to be treated": yes the general theme of these ideas are really simple and "obvious" concepts, but how many times have you really followed this idea? Sure other people may treat you like dirt, but who cares? It really doesn't mean you have to be a dick at the end of the day. Of course, if they try to step, well... you have my blessing to throw down and f**k him up. Kindness creates a strange type of bond that shows through when you are most in need, and no I'm not saying take advantage of someone's kindness, don't be a moron.

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need" and "things work out": So I've stolen this from the Rolling Stones hopefully I won't get sued but if that happens anyone know a good lawyer? We all dream, however most of the time our dreams don't come true. I'm not saying abandon those dreams, I'm merely saying become aware of the path your life decisions take you. If something doesn't work out, something else will pop up guaranteed. For example, in this current state, you may not find that great I-Banking job but is that the career path you really want? or is it something that's been spoon-fed to you by everyone around you? Take the opportunity to look around, find another path, as scary as it may be, perhaps it's just what you need to get your life going.

I'm not saying everyone should follow these ideas, it's just something to ponder over maybe see if it can help your current situation. I'll leave this post by saying: don't accept anything less than being happy.

OOOHHH!! Bruce's S**t!!

EDIT: I just fixed the link, some people can't watch WMV format so I linked it to Youtube instead, and added a photo of that night, fun stuff...

EDIT 2: HOLY CRAP I AM IN THE CREDITS... I am currently stunned from excitement

Some of you that read this already know I'm deep into the break-dance scene, well for those of you that knew me around early December, you probably got a chance to meet some of dopest bboys ever and believe it or not... they're Korean... oh yes... you know who I'm talking bout...

My dude, YS, had his Pop, Zesty, and Noodle of the Gamblerz Crew from Korea come stay at his place and they threw down. This was easily one 

of the most fun weekends I've ever spent sessioning, partying, and just going wild. But I'm gonna save that story for another time. 

The crew has just released a new trailer and it is SICK!! I have watched this at least a dozen times in the past 2 hours. So do yourself a favor and step away from America's Best Dance Crew and see some serious talent. 

Trailer

p.s. Although I dislike ADBC for the most part I still have mad respect for the crews on the show

Museum Of Sex

Before I start, f**k off I'm not a pervert... not in this sense anyways...

Believe it or not on the quiet corner of 27th and 5th lies the Museum of Sex. Now for all you horny bastards out there, if you really need to get your rocks off looking at all things sex this is your place. For the informed person, if you want a more informative and "cultured" look at the world of Sex this is your place.

I've been to the museum twice already and its really just an interesting place. There are three exhibits all are subject to change but they haven't in the two times I've been there. The first is an exhibit dedicated to the sexual escapades of animals. Although very informative, I was more interested in the paper-mache figures of animals having sex. We've got deer humping each other, monkeys making lesbian love, and dolphins having sex in water (think having sex in a pool while swimming... yeah try that next time you're in the pool, kinda crazy). I'm no artist, but you've gotta appreciate such attention to detail.

The second is an exhibit on... well they say "moving picture," but you and I know it as porn. Personally, while its nice learning about porn the best part of this exhibit is a video on "erotic massage," I think every couple should see that film... guarantee it'll help your relationship. And if you are in a relationship yes I am saying that your sex life is probably boring... don't worry it happens to the best of us.

The last exhibit is the history of anything and everything sex: sex education, erotic magazines, erotic post cards, BDSM, sex toys, etc. This exhibit actually freaked me out, mostly because the thought of people using the sex dolls is really creepy, but on the other hand it was really funny thinking the motorized sex toy could also double as a blender...

If you haven't been yet, its worth the trip. I mean I've been with both friend and girlfriend, it was fun on both counts. But just to note, you are not allowed to touch, lick, or mount any of the exhibits, they have that on signs there believe it or not

Third Wheel and Sushi Damo

I've been a big fan of Zagat and the Michelin Guide, but to be perfectly honest other than those two everything else is kind of lacking in real ratings. There's Google Ratings, Yelp, Menu Pages, but nothing that really gives an honest look at restaurants, just the 0-5 stars. This is where I come in, I figure why not fill in the blank.

So here's the format. I will be rating each restaurant on four scales each from 0-10: Decor/Atmosphere, Service, Food, and Affordability. What I mean by affordability is whether the meal was worth the money I paid, so if I paid 2.50 for a Gray's Papaya Hot Dog Combo, I'd rate if 2 hot dogs and a drink were worth 2.50 (just to tell you that's a 10). But anyways on to the story:

Friday I visited the 28th Street Flower Wholesaler with my friend, Mimic and his girlfriend. I've know Mimic since my second year at Columbia, he's one of the most reliable people I know but very goofy and not much of a liar. That being said, we were supposed to go purchase flowers for our respective girlfriends but his girlfriend decided to skip work that day and tag along. Luckily his girlfriend is very gullible and somehow believed his lie, however this made his surprise a bit difficult. Now since this isn't the subject of the post, I'll just say that the surprise worked out... kinda and we ended up spending the whole day with me being the third wheel. Around 4PM, we realized we hadn't eaten all day and since the two of them ABSOLUTELY LOVE sushi, they wanted to go to Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill. However, if you've ever tried to find the place its damn near impossible because its actually in a Hotel, I hate trendy restaurants...

We ended up going to a restaurant half a block away called Sushi Damo on 58th Street between 8th and 9th. We tried to look up information about the place i.e. ratings or reviews and we couldn't find any because we were using my IPhone but mostly because I really didn't want to get sushi. It's really easy to be an asshole...

Upon first look, the restaurant follows the vein of most Columbus Avenue joints; glass pane windows allowing passers-by a look into the diners and their meal. The decor was simple with the traditional Japanese style architecture however without anything overbearing like a large golden dragon or Buddha. Mimic's girlfriend remarked it was a bit to simple at times but personally the only problem was that the restaurant was darkly lit, just like every trendy New York restaurant. Decor: 8/10

The service was impeccable. I've rarely seen more attentive or polite waiters in my entire life. The minute anyone's water glass was even close to empty, it was filled; the food came out perfectly one after another, not a minute spent waiting for the next part of the meal; and the waiter was alway checking on the progress or status of our meal. It could have not been a better serviced meal (no pun intended...) Service: 10/10

Being with two sushi fanatics, the restaurant had a lot of expectations to live up to. The sushi platter was your typical sushi platter with all the amenities, however the sushi itself was far from typical. Most Japanese restaurants try to cheat you out of sushi by providing more rice than actual sushi, Sushi Damo actually gave you more sushi than rice! (Now I understand the more cultured or wealthy individuals may have already experienced this; first off, bite me... and secondly, this is a blog from the perspective of a broke college student... so again piss off) For the non-sushi eaters (because I know there are a lot of you out there), Sushi Damo is chock full of variety. We ordered two traditional Japanese entrees: the Pork Katsu and the Shrimp Tempura Udon. First, they came out with your choice of the typical miso soup or salad with ginger sauce, both excellent in their own right.

The miso soup, although a tad bit salty, was a perfect amount of miso and seaweed in a small enough portion to prepare the diner for their meal. On the other hand, the sole place you can truly critique salad in my opinion is the dressing which in this case was a perfect amount, making the salad nice and tangy. The Pork Katsu was two breaded pork cutlets with both a mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce. The cutlet was remarkably fried just enough to be crispy but not burnt and was not fatty at all. Accompanied by the mayonnaise and tonkatsu sauce, this was easily one of the best Pork Katsu I've ever eaten. While I did not order the Shrimp Tempura, the small taste I received was more than enough to make a solid impression. The shrimp had a nice tangy taste that complimented the fried tempura batter which was further complimented by the perfect udon broth. It was a nice surprise to see a Japanese restaurant that provided a perfect variety of both sushi and traditional Japanese cuisine. Food: 9.67/10

Now upon first entering the restaurant, I was under the impression that for three people our meal would be devastating to the health of my wallet. However, once the damage was done the meal only cost us $130 with a cocktail and tax and tip! Yes, $130 is a lot of money but you have to remember we're in Columbus Circle right across the street from the Time Warner Building, rent there is about $3500 for a 1.5 bedroom apartment (this is verified). Affordability: 8/10

In total this restaurant received a 35.67, which from this rating is one of the restaurant elite. Mind you I am not a sushi fanatic and am going purely on the word of my sushi obsessed friends, and I can only really speak on the traditional Japanese dishes. I would suggest this place as a nice date restaurant and casual group dining place, however if money is not much of a worry this is a great restaurant period.

Merry Un-Holiday

In the spirit of privacy, I've decided to give all my friends code names because the fact that I'm being open doesn't mean all my friends want to, plus its kind of fun giving them names based on their defining characteristics.

The past weekend being Valentine's Day, you gotta do all the prep, the fluff, and the mushy. Personally, its a bulls**t holiday made up by Hallmark, florists, and chocolatiers to make mad money on the fact that either single people want to get some/find someone or couples feel an overwhelming need to show their affection. My problem with this is that if you need a gimmick to get some, you've got more problems than just being single and if you need a holiday to show your affection to someone, you don't deserve that relationship or the person you're with.

My friend, The Black Mountie, best described the holiday as not V-day but B-day, the B standing for another word for a female dog. Hell even my girlfriend, however much she enjoys the holiday, thinks this holiday is an ode to commercialism. Thank you capitalism... This being said I did participate in the "holiday" because I love my girlfriend and she does have a soft spot for this holiday. Plus, I do these kind of romantic gestures anyways so it was pretty much like most other weekend, just magnified in mushiness.

There are a few things to note from this past weekend, however seeing as this is only the second post of the blog I'll start out slow.

You're always aware of how niched New York City is when you're walking around. There's the tourist spots: Times Square, Empire State Building, the cultural neighborhoods: Little Italy, Chinatown, Korea-town , the interest spots: Garment District, Meatpacking District, and others. For Valentine's Day, the place to be is 28 and 6th, the Florist's Haven. There, you will find the 28th Street Flower Wholesaler, a tightly run shop with flowers sold at a very reasonable prices, a rarity especially for Valentine's Day. Even on the day before Valentine's Day, they were willing and able to create an arrangement of roses and calla lilies for less than $100! Now there will be some of you that say the flowers are outrageously priced because you've seen the $9.99 for a dozen roses at the Korean Deli around the corner, but those are the dinky tiny dull roses; these are the full on grown folk dark red roses. For reference, I've seen a dozen of these kinds of roses priced at $40-50. So if you're looking to be grown and show that you've put some effort, this is the place to go for any occasion, otherwise support your local Korean Deli! and no that doesn't mean you're supporting the guys who rob them every week...

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

Some call it imitating, some call it biting, some call it posing, some call it being trendy...

I'm just bored...

either way this post goes out to everyone else with a blog who made it seem like a good idea to put my thoughts for everyone to read...