Panic at the Silent Disco

It isn’t every Saturday that I go out for a night on the town in Brooklyn. I can’t afford that. I’m usually in Manhattan, performing, seeing a show, slinging drinks at a theater, or buying a few items at every grocery store I pass, all of which I also cannot afford. But, mere weeks ago, I was out, about, and downright ready to shout at what I was seeing. Now, here’s a question that I will ask everyone when I eventually own a football team: “Wanna know the kicker?” The people that I was watching, with my mouth agape, wouldn’t have heard me. 

I immediately thought “Something’s off, here.” And I didn’t just say that because it was a dance party, and I heard no music. Like the music was literally off. People were dancing, having fun, grooving, as the kids say, but they were all wearing over the ear headphones. Like futuristic looking headphones with lights. Even the DJ had them on.

My next thought was “Ugh, Brooklyn. Now I’ve seen everything.” And from what I’ve seen, I’m really having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea. Apparently, what I’d stumbled upon was called a Silent Disco, and it’s exactly what it doesn’t sound like. A “communal” experience that doesn’t disturb you’re neighbors. For a big city like New York, that’s hard to find. It’s looks completely ridiculous, because it’s a quiet dance party in a street that parents and kids alike can attend without reservation. Or at least I don’t think think you need a reservation. No, probably not; it’s not a late night dance club.

What I question, though, is this: Are the folks participating more connected or less connected to each other? I mean, on the one hand, you’re next to people and you’re interacting with people, a lot of whom you may not know. Everybody can hear you about as well as in an actual club environment. But on the other hand, you’re separated like crazy from your friends, literally inches from them. I guess you can look up and see their faces, watch their smiles, and look at their eyeballs or something. Is that the same? I don’t think so.

I guess I go to a club (I don’t go to clubs) expecting to be headphone free, girlfriend free, and on my phone with my girlfriend the entire night. You can’t make me put someone else’s headphones on, steal someone else’s girlfriend, and enjoy myself at da club. Ok, maybe you’re just asking about 2 of those 3, but I just can’t bring myself to cooperate. 

This is where our society is right now. If I can’t put headphones on, did it even happen? Mics or it didn’t happen. #genZ Part of me misses the way things were at the club in the old days: no phones, no headphones, and no real ID’s. And part of me wasn’t alive for it. But that’s neither here nor there. Will we ever reconnect, throw these phones away and just talk, headphoneless head to headphoneless head? Probably not.

Anyway, DJ spin that shit. I don’t mean to harp on the young people’s fun. I guess I’m just. getting a little long in the Bluetooth. 

boop boop - DISCONNECTED

Game of Thrones

Like any red blooded American these days, I’ve started watching the show Game of Thrones, which just culminated in a finale so important that folks actually paid for HBO to watch it. So far, I’ve seen so much blood that I think medical school would be a piece of cake. As long as we dissect whole human heads, I’d be good. They love to remove heads on that show. And never, not even once, does anyone say “Wow, that was really on there, wasn’t it?” You know, to cut the tension after just cutting a head off? Remind me to talk to HBO if you see me. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

I’m excited for the classic HBO spinoff and prequel shows that are being developed off of Game of Thrones, such as:

Necks in the City

Last Neck Tonight with Jon Snow

Divorced (Head from Neck)

Big Little Heads Lying There

True Denecktive

Neckworld

The Noose

Gentleman Neck

Unsecure (Heads)

Hard Necks

The Chop

Fraggle Neck

Gored to Death

Slashing

Neckstras

Deadwood

Two Feet Under (A Headless Body)

True Blood

Slice News Tonight

The Heads in the Hall

Not Necksessarily the News

The Neck Of

Sharp Objects

Generation Kill

The Casual Vacancy (on my Neck)

Braingames

Should be a good 2020, and I can’t wait to see where they all go from here. Crazy to think that this show will never really end. Based on fan reviews of the last season, seems like the show stayed pretty true to form and didn’t end well for anyone, especially the audience. Zing! 

That’s my objective here. Take HBO down a peg.

“Come fight me, HBO!”

“Don’t fight me, you’ll cut my head off. No wait, HBO, be reasonable. What?! No, I didn’t ——“

*Charlie’s head rolls across the floor.*

(Whispers) “A boy is truly no one.”

Fade to black.

Stay tuned for the after the blog post recap

Braising the Steaks

This past weekend was a real scorcher for much of the country, with temperatures so hot that you could fry an egg on just about anything. Air conditioner fried eggs are my new favorite fried, morning delicacy, by the way. I spent my early parts of the days this past weekend cooking and cleaning. I only ventured outside later in the day, because as the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, get into the kitchen. 

When I got home on Friday night, I was dealing with my own temperature issues right inside the apartment, something that has affectionately come to be known as “The Great Defrosting of 2019.” The door to the freezer had been left slightly ajar, not much but just enough, to have my freezer act as if it was a very cold refrigerator.

“EGAD! The meat!” I screamed. What you don’t know is that much like a Manhattan millennial or a divorced Dad in a family of six, I subscribed to Butcher Box earlier in the month. That means that I have close to $100 of meat in the freezer. My apartment isn’t a Brazilian Steakhouse; I don’t need that much meat thawed at once! Fogo de ‘shut the freezer door.’ Chao!! But there I was, 12:30 Saturday morning, scrambling to finish thawing defrosting meat and freezing thawed meat. A butcher’s worst nightmare, save for the one where they show up to slice pigs but the pigs are naked except for the fact that they are wearing the butcher’s underwear. 

The two most affected pieces of meat were a fresh pack of chicken and a steak I’d bought at Target about a month ago. So naturally, I cooked both, but first, I cooked the month old steak.

Saturday morning I’d just made bacon; fried it right on my forehead, no less, so I was in the mood for meat. It’s like an aphromeatsiac (patent pending, 2019) and I siphoned off some grease to save for later in the week cooking.  What remained was, even by Olivia Newton John’s standards, a lot of grease, so I just heated it up and fried the steak. 

Drumroll please......... that was the best steak I’d ever made. I don’t even know what I did. It came out cooked on the outside and slightly raw on the inside, the way I felt and looked anytime I got close to a window. I honestly don’t know; I pressed it into the sizzling oil, which technically is bad; I kept touching it and flipping it, sometimes barehanded, and I tasted it while it cooked. But, despite all of my prodding and trodding, it remained steak, through and through. I removed it from the oil, but not from the heat, as everything was hot because of global warming, and I tented the meat like I was camping in the woods. I had everything to gain and nothing to lose, the exact opposite of camping in the woods. 

I had steak for dayzz. No, actually, I ate it over a few days. I had to savor the flavor of the steak. The microwave cooked it, but nevertheless, it resisted. And by that, I mean it became a lot tougher and chewier from being cooked by a microwave. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I can cook a steak well, and even on the hottest day of the year, I can still bring the heat in the kitchen. 

*No steaks were braised in the writing of this post.*

How Did This Get...

Hello. I’m alive! I’ve been busy, cranking out so many podcast episodes and new shows that your ears will bleed from just me talking about them. Check now, I’ll wait. With the success of How Did This Get Made about movies and How Did This Get Played about video games, I thought that I’d detail some of these recent podcasts that I’ve started:

My new podcast about how to cook fish is called How Did This Get Filleted.

My new podcast about dead vampires that I come across every week is called How Did This Get Slayed.

My new podcast about all of the times that I’ve been discouraged is called How Did I Get Dismayed.

My new podcast about all of the string and thread that has unraveled on my clothing is called How Did This Get Frayed.

My new podcast about all of the different ways that I’ve received money is called How Did I Get Paid.

My new podcast about safe pets to have that won’t reproduce is called How Did This Get Spayed.

My new podcast about all of the FAFSA forms that I submitted every year for college is called How Did This Get Aid.

My new podcast about me setting up my state quarter collection and hanging it on the wall is called How Did This Get Displayed.

My new podcast about me getting beaten every time that I play Nintendo video games is called How Did I Get Melee-d.

My new podcast about all of the dead roaches and bugs that I find all over my apartment is called How Did This Get Sprayed.

Give them a listen, see how you feel, and for the love of God, someone call Earwolf. We’ve got a literal gold mine here. I’m hoping someone knows them. I ask God every night. Hear that and more on my final new podcast How Did This Get Prayed.

I’ve Been Framed

As you may or may not know, the two sports that I participated in growing up were non-contact ones (not counting MathCounts or the Academic Team, which had a lot more shoving than you’d think). This was partly by choice and partly because you can’t get left out of a team of one, can you? Wait! Can you? Me? Where am I going?

As soon as I realized that I didn’t have to play soccer, the every-kid sport, I was thrilled to be able to remove the embarrassing shirts and shoes that I had on, and hop right on into even more embarrassing shirts and shoes as a bowler, or a golfer for that matter. See, I figured that instead of watching shins shatter, I’d rather watch pins splatter (whole post written around this line right here!!). It’s those precision sports that you only need one person to work on that I gravitated towards. Less name calling from my parents. Go figure!

Taking up bowling wasn’t the popular decision, by any means. My high school didn’t even have a team, and little interest to start one was floated around. Soccer we had, and my brother played for them, besting other schools with his “tricky moves,” (their words, not mine) which is also the name of his autobiography.

I was a morning person back then, a thing that I’ve lost my affinity for nowadays, eager to be at a bowing alley on a Saturday at 8:30 am, bowling in a league of over 30 teams. Parents sat in coffee-fueled slumps, while their children knocked over one pin every frame. With bumpers. It must’ve been such a drag. A couple of 80 pounders throwing 8-pounders down an oiled lane. But, I eventually excelled at it, getting my average up to 180 without even trying and being able to lift a 12-pound ball. Then, just like that, with a snap of my fingers, I stopped bowling when I went to college and then to New York City.

Cut to today. It’s been 3 years since my bowling ball was dusted by Thanos (it actually did split in half, to where 50% was left, which is an inevitability, or so I’m told) and I found my self itching to see if bowling still existed. So when the opportunity to bowl for about 6 weeks on a Better Off Bowling team popped up out of the Bantam Realm, I said “Take my money!” I jumped at it to retain a sense of normalcy. I bought a bowling ball on LetGo, then bought a regular, non-broken bowling ball from the only pro shop in New York, and headed to Frames Bowling Alley, literally in the alley behind Port Authority, the optimal place to bowl and smoke a bowl. I said what a lot of homeless folks say when they go behind Port Authority: I’m home.

Here’s the kicker; Frames uses no oil. They haveoil, cause they served me French Fries, but they don’t drop any on the lanes. That’s not good for me because I’m a hooker. Wait, let me rephrase that. My balls get a lot of action. Shit! Hold on. I roll a curve so strong that teachers hate it. I learned it from an oiled lane. One with Spider or Shark or Spider Shark as the oil pattern. I used to stick two fingers in, tuck my pinky back, and twist at the end (talking about bowling here, folks, get your mind out of the gutter). That kind of spin is hard to control, and impossible to manage when the ball won’t slide. The only entity that could handle this much abrupt spinning is the White House. It’s a rip-it-and-watch-it-grip-it scenario. I’ve never seen anything grip wood so hard since my days as a hooker.

I just can’t seem to find my spot. I’ve moved all the way over to the leftmost board. I’m standing so far left that I’m voting for Bernie Sanders in the next election. Nothing is helping. I’m untucking the pinky in an effort to control this twelve pound STORMborn dragon glass bowling ball. But, so far, nothing is helping.

I’ll get the hang of it as soon as this league ends, I’m sure. But, for now, I’m doing two games a week for an hour and a half on Sundays, just enough to get the ball rolling.

Holey Moley

Woah! Hole-y moley! I just got back from (you’ll never guess where)… that black hole they discovered four weeks ago. Don’t ask me how, but I went to check out the rent prices, cause I’m always looking for a deal. Well, let me tell you, prices were astronomical. Actually, it was a literal timeshare, and I don’t have the mental capacity for any spiels or schlemiels right now. Just deals, baby!

So, my only logical question now is, what else have I missed in the last four weeks?

• Game of Thrones returned to tell us that winter is coming. Judging by how much snowy weather I’ve seen on the show, I think a meteorologist would say it’s already here. It doesn’t take all of the remaining characters to tell us that. Shut up, Bran!

• The Mueller Report was released, and we found out that President Trump is [Redacted], although we can’t say [Redacted] anymore, so now we have to call him mentally challenged.

• The unofficial stoner holiday of 420 coincided with the official Jewish holiday of Passover. I tried to infuse the two, by celebrating PuffPuffPassover #grassover420 with dank, bitter herb, a lot of thought provoking questions, and a whole lot of Matzoh to munch on.

• Significant, spoiler heavy parts of The Avengers: Endgame were leaked online prior to the movie’s release. I watched the footage, and it was just 10 minutes of Thanos watching beat poetry, snapping, and the poet disappearing. Boring!!

• Joe Biden has announced his bid for presidency, stating that he’s very touched by the support he’s received. “Now you know how we feel,” said every woman he’s ever met. “I hope it smells your hair,” they chanted collectively.

March’s Madness

People must think I’m both funny and crazy, because I’ve been walking around with a tick lately. Cute little fella, six legs, blood sucking pouches, and... Nah, I’m kidding. The tick I have is more of the medical/physical kind, where for some strange reason, I will randomly yell “Busted,” at friends and passerbys on the street.

“Can you develop Tourette’s from the stress of watching March Madness?” is what I would’ve typed into Google if I knew how to research anything or cared. Hell, I should remember the answer; it was my thesis in college. “Busted!” The stress I’m feeling watching these games is compounding nicely with my general everyday stress, and the two of them are screwing like rabbits. When I put money down on this tournament, one whole Jackson, I said “I’m getting this back two fold, just like last year.” I was wrong. “Busted!” I’m not getting it back, which couldn’t have come at a worse time, since Thanos gave his infinity gauntlet to the IRS and they’ve snapped half my bank account away. “Move over Spider-Man, I don’t feel too good either, Mr. Stark.” “Dusted!”

I think a lot of people are feeling this way, and there’s no amount of second chance bracketology that can heal these deep NCAA wounds. Turns out, watching the tournament wasn’t a foolproof recipe for making my teams win. “Busted!” Who knew? I guess it’s bigger than me, on some level. Well, until this whole stress induced nightmare is over, I bid you all safe tidings. Rest up, destress, and leave sports betting to the professionals, a.k.a. degenerate gamblers. “BUSTED!”

Avenge the Busted! (or Dusted, whichever you prefer!)

Hiatus? I Hate This. Here’s Some Pages.

Wow! Been a minute, huh? I hate to not post regularly on here. This is my roots, my bread and butter, my money maker (currently makes me no money). I started here and I’m not going anywhere, I’m just taking power naps because I have to wake up so early everyday. Which reminds me; about a month ago I tried being an artist and did morning pages on the subway. I wrote on a notepad while folks dropped money in my hat. Quietest showtime ever, I was told. And what came from it was about one and a half pages of stream of consciousness bullshit. That’s the point, I think.

“To get out the bullshit, or not get out the bullshit. That is the question.” - Hamlet

Anyway, lets see what’s usable from these pages. My vote is for nothing being usable, but don’t go by me. I always bet against myself so that I can simultaneously win and lose. I know, I know. I’m weird. Here are the page(s):

“Hello! This is my first attempt at writing morning pages. Going pretty well so far, I think. Whoops, I’m stuck! Jk, it’s very easy. It’s early on in the process and the day. They should call these the late night early morning pages because I don’t enjoy waking up at 2 am to write. I like to wake up at 2 am to pee and then go back to sleep. As I write this I’m late for work on the train, a theme with me these days. I’m writing long hand, i.e. no computer, and it’s bumpy, but I’m pretty good at it. Positivity is key with this kind of stuff.

The temptation to reach for my phone or something else to do is hard, but I’m resisting it. This is brand new for me and everyone talks about it being such a good idea so figured why not start now. Three long hand pages will be a lot to do so I won’t require it. I’ll get as far as I can on the train and that’ll be it. This will free me up for sketch editing later on tonight while I bartend. Wow, is the temptation to stop this and pull my phone out really strong. Like really strong. Fuck! Let me cry it out!

My headphones are already broken. Apple needs to get their shit figured out or else they won’t stay in business. Nah, I guess they’ll be fine.

The train is stopped at 7th Ave for longer than I’d like. Man, I gotta stop being late to work. It’s just a matter of waking up earlier. Or going to bed earlier. Or both. But I stayed up to make food and record a podcast. That’s  important stuff. I use the word stuff a lot. Is that professional? Doesn’t feel like it. 

Boy, this makes me fidgety now. There’s a mentally unwell person on the train who keeps yelling. By now, the train gets so crowded that it’s standing room only, everyday. I’m trying to put together a new sketch show of my old sketches, but I need to edit them first to make them more coherent/cohesive. So I’ll do that tonight.

Everything has to line up trainwise for me to make it today. Let’s not sit in the station too long. I gotta catch that F. If I can get on one at 8:00 am, there’s a slim chance I can make it to work on time. The guys phone brightness next to me is cranked all the way up to full it seems. Necessary? I don’t think so. But maybe it helps him. Why do I judge? I shouldn’t.

Almost grabbed for my phone again. Nice try, me! But I stopped it before I did. What will the phone do? This is really fidgety. I’m anxious writing all of this. Three pages long hand is maybe a goal to work towards, not something to be perfected on try #1.

I looked at my phone for the first time. Ugh. But it was falling out of my pocket, so maybe I had a good reason to touch it. Look at me try to justify it. So sad. I’mma stop now.”

Valentine's Schmalentine's

Ah, Valentine's Day, or as it's more commonly know in America: Little Jewelry Boxing Day. Is there more of a commercial holiday than Valentine's Day? I mean, excluding New Year's, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day? I don't think so.

But what about flipping it on it's head, flowers be damned? Flowers Be Damned is actually the title of my gardening self care book, coming out late never. What about saying no to society, staying in with a bottle of wine, and just having a nice time with someone you care about? Is that not enough? When will these questions end?

Now. I've been single, cold, and wet for Valentine's Day more times than I've been with someone, and it seems weird to me to all of sudden listen to society. Society doesn't know me! Now sure, society generally knows "what's up!" But, I mean, for my sanity and yours, can we not? Whoops, I asked a question again. What I mean to say is I'm not going to blindly buy a single rose and some chocolate, even though I do love eating roses and putting chocolate in water. Because really, a plant is just a commitment between two people to watch something die together. And I'm not gonna do anything blindly because this isn't freaking Birdbox.

Then. It's the thought that counts. I’ve had countless thoughts that haven’t added up to squat. So fooey to your idea there, society. I call fake news. Valentine’s Day is kind of like fake news, in that President Trump never celebrates it. I don’t actually know if he does or doesn’t, but Melania doesn’t seem like th affectionate type when dealing with him. Nevertheless, thought only counts in horseshoes (am I getting that saying correct?). 

So. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s ok to end up like Jack at the end of the Titanic: Single, cold, wet, and roseless. Don’t be discouraged. It’ll happen one day, trust me, or my name isn’t Cupid (tears off mask and clothes, unleashes bouquet of arrows, and shoots everyone).

And This is What’s Leftover (Belated from After Thanksgiving)

Oh boy! This week, I’m going do a list, cause I haven’t done one in a while and it’ll be funny (probably).

Thanksgiving came and went, and this is what’s leftover:

- one loose fitting glove (check your pockets, folks)

- one PS3 controller that GameStop wouldn’t take for trade-in value before I bought a PS4 on Black Friday

- a turkey leg and half a container of stuffing

- many yet-to-be-used Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons (they never expire!)

-  a couple disposable razors to substitute for my good one that I forget constantly

- an unpunched, discounted NJ Transit ticket from the express train floor

Just that stuff for now. I’ll find more as I do a deep clean of the house. See ya!