What Are You Dressing As?

What are you dressing as for Halloween? Here's a custome that you'll most likely see at the Halloween Parade in the Village on Monday

Happy Halloween!

Hungover

The hangover has officially set in. Last night involved a company happy hour in honor of someone's recent marriage and another's promotion. Afterward I met up with friends at Saloon. And that's when things got ugly. Upon arriving the JagerBombs started. Followed by a Jack and Coke that was very light on the coke. The bartender, a co-worker of my friends, had a heavy hand which was fine at the time but now...ouch! At some point we did a shot of tomato juice with something in it. What was in it? No idea. I fucking hate tomato juice. Even when i'm not drinking it makes me want to vomit. Include vodka or any other alcohol and it still does nothing for me.

I did the shot not knowing it was tomato juice. As soon as I drank it I went straight to the bathroom to ward off vomiting. Splashed water on my face for about 10 minutes. Hit the ATM because i needed a cab to get home. Then I went back to the bar and grabbed my coat and bags then exited stage right. Some how I got a cab, kept myself from vomiting, over tipped the cab driver and made it home. All by 11:30.

Some how I've faired better than Paul. The verdict is still out on whether he slept or not. According to Leslie she thinks he hasn't. His IMs this morning were classic. Good times to wake me out of my coma as I sat at my desk. We'll definitely have to do it again soon.

Paul, did you sleep last night?

Too Funny Not to Post

Here's an email I received from Paul. Pretty damn funny if you ask me. I've adjusted the email to look readable on this site. Sorry paul but the picture i found is too big for the blog to handle...

-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:********]
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 9:50 AM
To: ******
Subject: ugh

Brad,

It would be difficult for me to be any more miserable right now, I feel like the worst person ever. First, let me start by saying that I am truly truly sorry, and I hate myself for hurting you. Of all the people in the whole entire world, you were honestly the last person that I would ever want to wrong in any way. There is no excuse at all for anything that happened, so I won't even try other than to say all of us had WAY too much to drink, and I did a stupid thing. I can handle you being pissed at me, I absolutely deserve it, I can even handle the ugly words that were exchanged between us, what I can't handle is thinking that you see me as a different person. It is weird, I feel like I just went through a horrible break up or something. The world looked funny yesterday, I couldn't crack a smile if you paid me, there are songs I can't listen to, and I just ! feel beyond crushed. I don't know if you meant everything you said to me, and I am hoping that you didn't. I know that I was wrong on many levels, but I am also hoping that this is something that we can deal with.

I know it sounds totally crazy and stupid, but you have come to play such a significant role in my life, I can't imagine my days without you. It is totally strange and weird to say that, and you could say that my behavior didn't reflect that, and you would be correct. I hate feeling like you hate me, and I hate feeling like all of your friends think I am a terrible person, because I am not. I know there is nothing I can say or do to take back what happened, but I just want you to know that fighting with you was just about the worst thing I could have ever imagined. It was right up there with one of the ugliest nights of my life, and I would give anything in the world to rewind and fix it.

I am not sure if you will respond to this, part of me thinks that you won't. If not today, then maybe some other time. Also, thanks for getting my stuff together, although I think my sunglasses are still at your house, if you could keep your eyes peeled for them that would be great. I can't even focus or work today, I can't eat, I seriously feel like it was an ugly break up, and I am hoping against hopes that it was not that and you are not done with me. Please don't cut me off, I really don't think I can handle that.

I am so sorry.
Elizabeth

BRAD'S RESPONSE:

Dear Elizabeth,

Thank you for your concern. I'll be sure to file it away under "L" for "Long-winded diatribes from drunken wh0res I couldn't care less about".

You did a stupid thing huh? No...doing long division and forgetting to carry the one is "a stupid thing"; Mixing in a red sock with a load of whites is "a stupid thing"; Bl0wing some guy in a bathroom for 45 minutes while I sit at the bar wondering if you're taking so long because you ate too much bran that morning isn't as much a "Stupid thing" as it is grounds for permanent removal from my social calendar.

To be honest, I'm not sure if it was more amusing that you went and degraded yourself in a public toilet not once but twice in a 2 hour span, or that you seemed to think that by saying "Well, I didn't F0ck him" somehow gave you a clean slate.

So forgive me if I couldn't care less if the world "looked funny" to you yesterday. Since your world revolves around blow dryers, golden retrievers, Prada Bags and Jelly Beans, I'm sure it must have been most unsettling to actually have to consider someone else's feelings for 24 hours straight. The good news for you is that my friends don't think you're a terrible person, they just think you're the average run of the mill cuum-guzzling blond who commands about as much respect as your average child p0rn collector. I could be wrong but, it's pretty hard to respect some B&T chick who comes out to spend the night at my place even though she's seeing someone else in New jersey and winds up tongue-bathing the ta1nt of anyone who decides 30 minutes of droning commentary on Colin Farrell's new haircut is worth putting up with for a hand j0b in the men's room. The good thing about being a guy is that when I eventually bump into the young lad who f1nger-blasted you on top of a towel dispenser last saturday, we'll have a shot and laugh our heads off about the time it happened.


By the way, for the amount of time you claim to spend in spin class you really must be doing something wrong to sport the thunder thighs you do. Watching you parade around my bedroom in a thong was a little like watching sea lions mate. Thought you might like to know.

PS. I BCC'd about 100 people on this email.

Talk to you never,
Brad

24 Ways Women are Like Fish...

As stated by Doogie Howser's new character.

TWENTY-FOUR WAYS IN WHICH WOMEN ARE LIKE FISH
1. Both attracted to shiny objects
2. More fun to catch while drinking
3. Neither travel well
4. There's others in the sea and/or bar
5. Three words: catch and release
6. Both travel in protective groups

7. Small bladders
8. The deeper you go, the scarier they get
9. Their weight largely determines their value
10. [EDITED: My lawyer has requested that I remove this one from the blog… hint: crabs!]
11. They get all ornery if you try to grab their tail
12. Bears will eat either of them

13. They’re cold blooded.
14. Sometimes I likes 'em wild, sometimes I likes 'em farm-raised
15. You must document great catches or no one will believe you -- video preferred
16. Easier to reel in if you let them wear themselves out first
17. Seen the movie Splash? Case closed
18. Neither can operate a vehicle
19. They both eat things
20. The harder they shake their tail, the farther they'll go in life
21. Scales are important to each of them
22. They never have to buy drinks
23. Umm… Eggs? Duh
24. Can hook either with a great line

NYSC's New Ad

New York Sports Club just sent me an email. Apparently they know its time for me to go on a diet. They found this picture of me and superimposed this ladies head on it.

Ok I get the hint I'll stop just donating money to your gym and I'll show up...sometime in the remainder of 2005.

No Sunday Night Football

With no sunday night football tonight I've resorted to watching High School Football. Middletown South versus Wall. When I was in high school we played Wall so at least I know the two Jersey schools playing right now or at least know where one of them is located. But thanks to Hurricane Wilam the Miami game was moved to friday...or at least I think that was the sunday night game.

This is what my sunday night is like. No NFL but the world series does start in 7 minutes. This is rough...

Podcasting from online marketer's point of view

Last week I downloaded my first podcasts. Not bad topics either: ESPN and BusinessWeek The Blog Elite. The blogs were basically webcasts put into just a simple audio format. Great for listening while on the bus or subway. But when I think about it from an online marketing standpoint, where's the value? You can see how many times it was downloaded, yes but that doesn't guarantee that its heard.

Sponsors generally receive a 15 second spot in the beginning of the podcast and a 15 second spot during or after that podcast.

I downloaded but didn't listen to the sponsors message. I had to replay it 2 or 3 times to really understand what was being said. In both podcasts the sponsor was Sun Microsystems. By sponsoring the ESPN podcast was their message lost with me the sports fan audience? In the BusinessWeek podcast the sponsor would have it the point but that's not a guarantee either.

Where's the value in sponsoring a podcast? Why would an agency or client want to sponsor a podcast? I think that its a passing fad. Its something that may be going away before most people even download 12 podcasts. The theory of a podcast is good, sponsoring that's where the question lies. Do I think those marketing dollars could be used for something more measurable online? Yes because that's the beauty of online advertising, its measurable. Up to the very minute measurable in most cases.

My degree isn't in marketing. I don't have an MBA in marketing but what I do have is the knowledge of a consumer. I think I've been doing this long enough to figure out what is a smart use of marketing money and what is a bad use.

Have you downloaded a podcast? If so did you ever pay attention to the ad in the beginning or at the end/ Is it something that would encourage you to go out and purchase a product? Is it something that builds your awareness?

Zathura

Following up to my Apprentice post. They are creating a float to promote Zathura during a parade down 5th Avenue in NYC. Jennifer M. keeps mispronouncing the name of the movie. A problem which I foresee having her FIRED by THE DONALD.

The float that the guys created looks cool. Its got a good concept. The float that the girls created kicks ass but there's an overlying (underlying?) problem. The girls have made this huge float with a lot moving parts. Parts that are being moved manually but they aren't taking into consideration how its going to work when its actually moving. Favuer just made a similar point. But here's the link to the movie. Check it out because so far it looks pretty good.

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/zathura/splash/

More details to come but would you go see it?

Staring Down the Barrell of 30

110 days until 30! 30! I know you're just as shocked as I am...I can't believe i'm getting that old! Well after a drunken argument with Melissa who wants to do something special for my 30th I revealed something that I've been researching on my own. Life Insurance and Disability Insurance. Why?

I'm looking into these things because I'm getting old. Its reality. Some day I'll have a family who I'll need to provide for. A wife and kids who are going to need things in case something ever happens. Let's be realistic for a minute, not many males on the Carew side have lived past 60. The Bavoso side, that's a different story. Pop is going to be 89 in a month. 89! How great is that!

Like I said though, I need to be realistic. I do a lot of traveling. On and off planes. Traveling through NYC. Things are risky. Traveling is risky. Would I trade it in for anything? Hell no! But sometimes you need to make sure you're doing what you can to prepare for the future. While I haven't taken out a policy, I am being prepared. Smart.

Have you ever considered life insurance in your 20s?

The Apprentice

Its season 3 of The Apprentice. I'm hooked. Season after season I watch. Even now with Martha's Apprentice, I'm watching. As I blog, I'm watching the new episode of Donald's Apprentice. The original. The ladies team just took Randel from the men. That's HUGE! Why? Josh just made a great point as to why taking Randel from the men is a big deal "he knows our processes, our weaknesses."

They are now working creating a promotion for a new John Favuere film...not sure if that is how you spell his name.

Time to watch. More to come.

Do you watch The Apprentice? If not what do you watch?

Blog Traffic

September 29th was the date that the tracking feature was added to this blog. In almost a month there have been 68 visits to this blog. How many of those are from me? Not as many as you would think, the reason I go is yes to see how much traffic this is generating. By knowing how much traffic is coming to the blog I know that its being read. Whether its being read by my Mom, friends or random people who post comments to the blog promoting some stupid product they think you would want to read.

To me 68 visits, minus my 12 visits, is a success. Someone has found something to read. Do i need to blog more? Not necessarily. I only blog when i feel i need to. When there is something on my mind or something that just needs to be said.

When you do the math that's 56 visits in just under a month. That means that you've found something interesting so I'm going to post more and more. But as readers of the blog are you being short-changed? Is there something you, my valued reader, would like to read on this blog? Something that you would like to appear? Post a comment, let me know what it is. Until then I'll just keep writing about nothing.

The Blogs I've Read Since Getting Home from Work

There's small war going on in the blogosphere. It all started with Stephanie Klein's Greek Tragedy. Her story was posted in the Sunday NY Times over there summer. After reading the article and her blog I was hooked on blogging...that's how I got my start.

Since then I've found other blogs through her's which have lead to more and more blogs which are and aren't related to hers. There are parodies of her blog like Tale of Two Sisters written by two college students, I think...i've read so much stuff lately that they are all blending into one another. For whatever the real reason is, the bloggers of Tale of Two Sisters have stopped blogging on that site and stopped their parody of SK. But when you look at the comments section of their final post "STFU" the battle is just beginning.

Followers/Fans of SK are attacking the Sisters while others have come to their defense then they've been attacked as well. (I'm not doing the story justice but I just cracked open a pint of Ben & Jerry's Magic Brownie and all the details are being washed away with every spoonful.) From there people have been labeled stalkers, others have posted under anonymous emails or blogs protecting Klien. People like Chris London have been attacked and labeled as a stalker. There's a history between London and Klein but with all of the comments being posted I'm lost on the details. (Half-way through the pint of Magic Brownie, this thing doesn't stand a chance.)

From there I've gone to other blogs such as Sex & Moxie and Mimi in NYC. Both sites offer different perspective on the blogosphere. Sex & Moxie is...well...just as you would assume based on the name. It has a sex appeal to it. Mimi's story is the story about a journalist working in a strip club to pass the time. She's done a lot of traveling, enter the counter illegal and writes about more than just working in a strip club. Its not as sexually graphic as Moxie...but its still something to read.

why post all of this information? Well it was really prompted by the arguing on the Sisters site. I think I spent about an hour reading the final posting and all the comments. That argument has been going on for 9 days. NINE! People get a life and stop posting so many comments.

My blog won't get picked up in any Google searches so I'm not too concerned with pissing these other bloggers off. Plus its not like I called them out on anything, dissed them or told them to GFY. I'm just posting this because its on my mind.

What other blogs do I read? Well the main ones are my friends' blogs. Those are listed along the right hand side of my site. Its something to kill the time and kind of stay up on what my friends and other bloggers are doing. Check them out. You'll learn what people are eating for lunch, what is going on in the life of Frantic Antics and what other people are doing.

What blogs do you read? Give me something else to read when I'm not at work, watching TV, blogging or reading one of the new books I bought.

P.S. The Ben & Jerry's didn't last more than 10 minutes. 1 Pint down! Maybe time to go out and buy another. Shit its raining again...i'm not going anywhere.

Scooter Here!

OK its game 2 of the National League Championship Series and that annoying Scooter clip is running. For those who don't know who Scooter is, its this computer generated graphic of a baseball used to instruct viewers what certain pitches are when the announcer refer to them. If you don't know what a 12 to 6 curve ball is do you really think that this stupid feature during the game is going to make that big of a difference in your baseball experience? Half the time people who are watching a game don't even realize its a 12 to 6 curve ball. Its a freaking curve ball who cares!

As a baseball fan I'd rather listen to the announcers drum on about how the Molina brothers are the best story in baseball right now. Or anything other than Scooter. We should start a petition to get rid of Scooter! Anyone with me?

Your thoughts?

White Trash Moment

Its one of those Saturdays where its been raining since I woke at 7 am. Unable to fall back asleep I spent the morning playing Madden 2005 until about 11:30 am. Since then I've been sitting around the apartment watching college football. Now its 4:50 and I've cracked open my second beer. Here's where the white trash moment has come to my attention.

The Yankee game has been canceled. Beer number 2 is sitting on the coffee table and I am still in the same clothes since I woke up. Hair is still in the form of bed head because I've shifted from one end of the couch to the other. But what has really made this a white trash moment is that in sitting here I realized that the wife-beater I am wearing either shrunk or is now too small for my gut. I feel like one of those guys you see in a "re-enactment" from Cops. Fat dude sitting around in his wife-beater waiting for something to happen to him so he can catch his break. Ok Cops wasn't the best metaphor but its the closest I could thing of.

Does seeing myself in that lifgt encourage me to get up and run, bike or do some form of exercise? Yeah it gets my mind working but it doesn't get me off of the couch. I mean the most work I've done today is empty the dishwasher. Plus I think Noah just floated by on his Ark because its been raining since Friday morning.

What am I going to do? I'm going to sit here and watch more football, eat Doritos and wait until its time to go to bed. Its my weekend of leisure so why not. Plus Melissa is at home so its not like I'm ruining any of our plans for the weekend. Besides, its a 3 day weekend and I'm allowed to loaf around for a few days. Its what I do best.

Ok another episode of M*A*S*H is about to come on.