skinbeatergreg skinbeatergreg Stories from The Big City as told by a daytime suit and a nighttime drummer. Articles
In Memoriam
2008-06-07 17:34:00 Jim McKay (September 24, 1921 ? June 7, 2008)As one of the generation who had TV as my nanny, the voice of Jim McKay takes me way back. Back to before we had a color TV. Back to when there were 3 networks, PBS and community TV that we weren't allowed to watch. Back to when my dad would have "us kids" get up and change the channel. Back when my Sainted Mother would exhort us not to sit too close or we'd get "the cancer", then watch as my dad would stand directly in front of the TV and drop trou to tuck in his shirt. "Your parent's weren't glassblowers", my mother would say. I still haven't figured that one out yet.That was back when the news was read by Cronkite and network standards required even sportscasters to be eloquent. Back when the written and spoken word had meaning and writers and broadcasters still had value.Back when McKay stepped from his sportscaster role in to that of a journalist and he and his producer Roone Arledge became the primary source of the world'... More About: In Memoriam
Advice for the Weekend: Hers
2008-06-07 14:55:00 This is an AMAZING piece I wandered onto the other night and had to repost it here. As a guy (Atypical, but a guy nonetheless--I have the bits, ladies...sorry!) I have heard women say the cruelest things about themselves. Things that if someone else said to them I would demand an apology; things that if another guy said to me I would be obliged to kick his ass. I can't even begin to count the number of times I have heard SO MANY women berate and denigrate themselves to the point that they are rendered completely dysfunctional and sit around eating pints of Hagen-Daz and watching Judith Light made-for-TV movies on Oxygen all day long.I have heard beautiful women call themselves ugly. I have heard thin women call themselves fat. I have heard smart women call themselves stupid. I have seen women wearing the most expensive couture imaginable say they hate their outfit. I have had women in my office literally talk themselves right out of what was rightfully theirs because they are pushi... More About: Advice , Weekend
Dap!
2008-06-06 01:06:00 Barack and Michelle Obama's 'fist bump of hope' shows them silly in loveBY LARRY MCSHANE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER "It captures what I love about my wife, which is that there is a reverence about her and a sense that for all the hoopla that I'm her husband and sometimes we'll do silly things. That quote is too much! The man is SILKY SMOOTH! Betcha he got some last nite!
MOOOOOOO!
2008-06-06 00:51:00 At my weekly rehearsal with The Living Dead Ends, our guitarist kicked off a rousing rendition of "Ladies Room" which I immediately jumped on and proceeded to tear through like gift under the KISS-mas tree! (BaDum*CHING*)We sweated through that oldie (the studio must have been 1000 degrees--no wonder it's called "Sweatshop") a couple of times and really had a blast. We decided to add that cover to the set list as a "just in case" tune. In case of fire...In case of globalthermonuclear war...I don't have any idea. The discussion then turned to the chorus of the song, whereupon my lack of a certain percussive accessory was duly noted.Give a listen here and at 00:53 you'll hear what I'm talking about...The cowbell. Why did it have to be the cowbell? I find the cowbell irritating, intrusive and unmusical. It's not even a real instrument. It's old school GPS for farm animals!I did some research and found out it was first used musically in 1794 by a drunk swiss dairy farmer who mi...
Hold Your Horses!
2008-06-05 00:20:00 Sarah Jessica Parker 'SEX' Premiere Dress Debacle(via OMG)NEW YORK, NY -- When the "Sex and The City" movie made its New York City premiere last week, Sarah Jessica Parker stunned fans in a floor length Nina Ricci strapless number.The elegant gown, with a gold sash, was full of crinkly silver metallics that draped to the floor, and it was a one-of-a-kind gown Parker's on-screen character Carrie Bradshaw would have approved of, except for one little thing - the dress had already been worn several times.Parker told the New York Times she was disappointed to learn that her Nina Ricci gown had previously been worn by Lauren Santo Domingo to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala on May 5. And before that, the gown was worn by Lindsay Lohan in Harper's Bazaar magazine this past March.Nina Ricci's camp offered no comment on the dress debacle, but Parker made her feelings known in the paper."My affection for the dress hasn't changed," Parker told the newspaper. "But... More About: Horses , Hold
Test Tickles
2008-06-04 01:14:00 I hate taking tests. Especially personality tests. Especially computer email spam myspace type of test. I hate those alomst as much as "surveys" or those "40 things about me" posts. But I ran across a test on a cheekyricegirl's site and so far every single person I have coaxed into taking it has raved about the accuracy of this little test.I was drawn to it by my friends personality: The Bitch-Slap.Intriguing, no?So move over Myers-Briggs, here is the Personality Defect Test . In order to be accurate you must be honest about your answers, even if they don't make you feel so good about yourself. Since I've always said I put the funk in dysfunction, I rosined up my mouse and set to work.And I have to again reiterate one more time again the uncanny accuracy of this test. Once you've taken it and if you can stand yourself afterwards, feel free to share your results. Here I am:You are the Class Clown. You are 14% Rational, 71% Extroverted, 100% Brutal, and 100% Arrogant.You are ex...
Have Guitar, Will Travel
2008-06-03 01:18:00 In Memoriam: Bo Diddley (December 30, 1928-June 2, 2008)Musician Bo Diddley has died at the age of 79Via BBC.comPage last updated at 16:20 GMT, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:20 UKThe Grammy-winning singer-guitarist died of heart failure in Florida, his spokeswoman said. He had suffered a heart attack in August 2007, three months after suffering a stroke which affected his ability to speak. He rose to fame in 1955 when he topped the R&B charts with Bo Diddley. His other hits include Who Do You Love, Before You Accuse Me, and Mona. The legendary singer and performer was known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat. His so-called "Bo Diddley beat" influenced rockers from Buddy Holly, to Bruce Springsteen and U2. -----------------And another master has moved on and the hole in the soul of the universe just got a little wider. Bo was nicknamed "The Originator" for developing his unique beat. The beat came about as the leftovers after Bo butchered the Gene Autry song "I've g... More About: Travel , Guitar
Truth Told!
2008-06-02 05:20:00 'Drummers Are Natural Intellectuals'By Gary ClelandDaily TelegraphDrummers are better known for their beats than their brain power, but research has suggested that they might actually be natural intellectuals.Scientists who asked volunteers to keep time with a drumstick before taking intelligence tests discovered that those with the best sense of rhythm also scored highest in the mental assessments.Prof Frederic Ullen, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, concluded that there was a link between intelligence, good timing and the part of the brain used for problem-solving.He said: "The rhythmic accuracy in brain activity that is observed when a person maintains a steady beat is also important to the problem-solving capacities measured with the intelligence tests."It's about damn time the world is waking up to what drummers have known all along: We am smarter mostly.Now I won't have to listen to godawful jokes like these: What's the best way to confuse a drummer? Put a pie... More About: Truth , Told
(Lots of) Sex in the City
2008-05-30 00:56:00 Well, this weekend is the much anticipated opening of the Sex in the City movie. Although I am a fan from waaaaay back and enjoy the zany misadventures of everyones favorite urban-copulating foursome, I will be waiting until next weekend to see it. All the publicity, hype, and stupid puns ("Get carried away"? puh-leeeze!) along with the bus tours and gaggles of squealing middle-aged women (who should know better, by the way) has just about worn away my last nerve.SJP looking very Norma DesmondAnd there is no end in sight. Apparently there is a large contingent of women who are planning on seeing SATC as part of a larger group. This is in keeping with the SATC tradition of the "viewing party" wherein like-minded fans would hit a fave bar and watch the show while sipping on pink cosmos. I find this phenomenon of female gregariousness quite interesting, as most guys are Lone Wolves and abhor groups due to the potential for a Cock Block or, even worse, the dreaded Sausage Fest! There is... More About: Sex in the City , In the City
Here We Go Again...
2008-05-26 18:20:00 I hate these military holidays. Almost as much as I hate the anglo-centric ones. The military becomes even more of a political football and all the wretched politicians who voted for and continue to fund the illegal occupation of Iraq pin an american flag to their lapels and stand in front of statuary, battlefields, bunting, and military bases with as many maimed and infirm soldiers they can prop up in the background and deliver hollow and empty speeches to an indifferent and impotent populace...OK...Stop...I promised myself I wouldn't get my blood pressure up over all of this in 2008. It's an election year! Hope for peace once again lurches to the surface of my consciousness like a heavy, peanut-laden turd in a brown-water toilet bowl. Here's to hoping it doesn't get flushed away... So I thought instead I would re-post the first of my "Thanks but No Thanks" series that has engendered more discussion/hate emails than anything else I've posted (WTF is up with Texans, anyway? Why...
Thanks, but No Thanks, part 4
2008-05-26 18:00:00 Bush pays tribute to troops on Memorial Day By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer ARLINGTON, Va. - President Bush paid tribute Monday to America's fighting men and women who died in battle, saying national leaders must have "the courage and character to follow their lead" in preserving peace and freedom.Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. Bush. If you want to "pay tribute", the price as of May 26, 2008 is currently 4,080 US men and women--but you need to act fast, the price continues to go up every single day. And oh, by the way, your credit around here is no good!If the leaders of this nation want to "pay tribute", the price is far less: 162,000 one-way, non-stop airline tickets from Baghdad to JFK, with the PFCs sitting in first class. More About: Part
Destined for Greatness vol 4: B-O-L-O-G-N-A Edition
2008-05-25 07:08:00 With the exception of the subject line, every other word in this ad is spelled wrong. This band doesn't need a drummer. It needs spellcheck. Despiratly!------------------------------ --rock band needs drummer (Upper West Side)our rock band despiratly needs a drumer we are posibly recoording next weekend (may 18th) and i (rythem guitarest) am in the nyc area and our recoding studeo is in westchestr give me and e-mail if intested ASAP. and only email me if your gonna e-mail me back becaus i dont need my box fulls of junk mail. we play emo/scene/hardcore music and basicly we're awsome......Location: NY it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests Compensation: no pay I wish my lawn were emo...Then it would cut itself! More About: Edition
A Call to Arms???
2008-05-24 01:48:00 BRANDON, South Dakota (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton said Friday that she regretted comments that evoked the June 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy as part of her explanation for why she was staying in the presidential race late into the primary season.Earlier Friday afternoon, she told the editorial board of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said.Unbelievable. She may as well put a hit out on Obama. And her explanation just makes her look even worse. According to her statement, it would seem that Ms. Clinton is following the historical example of the 1968 California primary and is sticking around as a contender this late in the game just in case history repeats itself and Senator Obama finds himself walking through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel.I'm no... More About: Tube , Arms , Call
Imagination for Sale
2008-05-24 01:09:00 I apologize for being so scarce with the postings recently. The company I whore for has announced that they will be selling my division and I have been kept busy discussing the future with my 70 direct reports.It's been hard to stay motivated and focused. My pal AbbaGirl (*hugs*) is dealing with the same feelings post-bar exam. It's nice there is a kindred spirit out there. Things have settled down a bit, so I shall endeavor to persevere and post more frequently.Thanks for your patience. I love you all. More About: For Sale , Sale , Imagination
Living on a Prayer
2008-05-23 16:26:00 Some anonymous donor just cut a check for $20 million dollars and saved St. Brigid's Church from being destroyed to make way for more plastic bullshit condos or another NYU dorm in the East Village!The dioscese headed up by Edward Cardinal Egan didn't do much to help. The 160 year old building hit his shitlist in 2001 due to rising costs, falling attendance, and crumbling conditions. The archdiocese argued it was too dilapidated to save. Church supporters led by attorney Marisa Marinelli were able to stave off demolition with a series of (expensive) legal challenges.So as usually happens where larger institutions fail to help humanity, the people succeeded!It makes me wonder if some real estate developers didn't put a little something extra in the collection plate to keep His Excellency in line...The church is over on Ave B and was slated for demolition even after a huge grassroots efforts by the community and historic preservationists to stop the wrecking ball. The cornersto... More About: Living , Prayer , The Man , Living On A Prayer
Musical Interlude: Mother's Day Edition
2008-05-11 23:40:00 Happy Mother's Day...Love you Mom! More About: Musical , Edition
Happy Birthday, Izabela!
2008-05-11 12:38:00 Izzy's Birthday bash tonite at Parkside Lounge was incredible! I was racing the sun back to my apartment...The sun won! It was an alllll nighter in the best sense of the word!The music at Parkside Lounge kicked serious NYC Rock & Roll ass! Great sets by Charm School, with my friend Joff on bass, and The Black Angels. Great bands! You should check them out. Charm School's last album was produced by Joey Ramones' brother, and Tina on VOX is amazing!Impromptu guest vocals included Johnny Black, Didi Delicious, and Bobby Steele. And of course the ever FABulous Izabela doing her own cover of "Wild Thing"...After many drinks and much conversation I served as host for an afterhours foray into the depths of the East Village. And I am an excellent foray host, I must say!Extremely good times with extremely good friends! Love to you all! More About: Happy , Happy Birthday
Nightbirds...The One Who Sing At Night
2008-05-10 20:18:00 Night of a Thousand Stevies 18 (RIP Dean Johnson) was FABulous! For the uninitiated, here's an article on last year's NOTS17 in NEXTmagazine. Just now stirring from my cocoon. Nothing really to write, just basking in the glow! Have a birthday party to go to tonite...No rest for the wicked, it would seem!I'll try to post some pics later. Until then, here is The Hohos' performance (along with a bunch of stills) from NOTS 17. More About: Night , Sing
Thanks, but No Thanks, Part 3
2008-05-10 08:28:00 And the hits just keep on comin'...If there was any doubt after my last post about how the current "leadership" truly feels about the men and women it sends into combat and harms way, check out the latest way in which they treat returning troops:Pentagon to alter troop cremation proceduresI'm sure those funeral homes are the lowest bid contractors. Probably subsidiaries of Halliburton, who most recently has murdered U.S. troops by electrifying their showers (story here).Well, I guess if you really dig into it, cremating a dead american soldier's remains in the same oven in which one would incinerate the family dog has its place in the annals of ironic military lore:The marines' motto Semper Fidelis comes from the Latin root "fidus" meaning faithful. It's where the legal concept of fiduciary comes from: For example, an agent has a fiduciary obligation to his client--by law it must place the client's interest above its own. That happens to be one of the basic principles of lead... More About: Part , Part 3
Thanks, But No Thanks Part 2
2008-04-29 00:35:00 Good video and narration shot by one pissed off dad. He makes a good point: It's bad enough we send our kids off to fight in arduous conditions over precipitous terrain, but to have them come home and live in conditions just as arduous and just as precipitous it reflects poorly on the leadership of this country, both civilian and military. In the past 5 years, the US has taken a superbly trained, well disciplined fighting force and ruined it. After starting an unnecessary war and engaging in an illegal occupation on the cheap for the past 5 years with inadequate troop levels, a dearth of needed logistics, crappy gear, cowboy contractors and over deployed troops, is it really any wonder that their barracks are shitty?That is just called the status quo.And this at a time when military spending is at record amounts. I wonder where all that money is going? We're not spending it in Iraq...We're not spending it here at home...Hmm...I wonder...The military has become america's toilet p... More About: Part
New York's Finest...Murders
2008-04-26 20:44:00 In Memoriam: Sean Bell, May 18 1983?November 25 2006This is what 50 bullets look like. That is how many come in a standard box of 9mm ammuntion and that's how many were fired when the NYPD murdered Sean Bell. Touch them. Count them. Make a gun with your pointy finger and squeeze the imaginary trigger 50 times. See how much time it takes to fire 50 rounds. Feel how much effort it takes your finger to fire them off. Then ask yourself if using that force against an unarmed man is excessive. Sean Bell was killed by one of the first 5 rounds that entered his body. And the three cops on the scene stood there mutilating his corpse by continuing to fire 45 more bullets into him. Ask yourself if that is excessive.They continued to shoot into his car, reloaded, then continued to fire instead of effecting his apprehension and calling an ambulance for help. Ask yourself if that is excessive.Then take Sean Bell's name and add it to this list and ask yourself if that is excessive:Am... More About: Finest
Enough to make an Indian cry
2008-04-25 07:28:00 EarthDay08 is being brought to you by...POLLUTERS!I saw this poster on the subway today. See the sponsor's logos at the bottom? A new definition of "unmitigated gall" has just been written! Check out the sponsors links below and see how they've been preparing for this special event to honor Mother Earth:Consolidated EdisonMetropolitan Transportation AuthorityToyotaDoncha just love free enterprise? World peace through global consumerism! It's been around since we were kids: Everybody SING... More About: Indian , Make
In Memoriam
2008-04-24 09:07:00 Johnny Thunders July 15, 1952 - April 23, 1991 More About: In Memoriam
Second Place is First Loser
2008-04-17 03:51:00 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.--The Declaration of IndependenceI am an american, and americans are winners. The US is a country of winners. We are #1 at everything we do, or we don't do it. We hate to lose, especially when it is a close game. We're the underdogs. We pull it out in the end. A country built on rebellion. On revolution. On pioneering. On rugged indi... More About: Place , Loser
Craigslist Ad: Rimjob
2008-04-14 18:24:00 One of my favorite things to do when stuck on the phone listening to an endless, boring, wheelspinning conference call at work is to surf around on Craigslist . Here is one ad that I found rather compelling. No response to my earnest reply yet...MUSTANG 4 LUG FR500 & PONYS FOR SALE - $1 (Tomball) ----------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Reply to: sale-590608257@craigslist.org I have a set of FR500 for a fox body mustang and I'm not sure what they go for? So I guess I'll take $200.00 I also have what I was told are ponys $100.00 I need this stuff out of my bedroom, I kicked out my boyfriend after he got me and my mom drunk and had sex with us both. And now both of us are pregnant! We know who the babys daddy is. make this stuff go... or if you are looking for a girlfriend I may give them to you if we hook up. Pam Location: tomball it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interestsPostingID: 590888944
Won't Get Fooled Again
2008-04-13 03:57:00 At the American Idol Gives Back 2008 performance, Sheila E. uncharacteristically gets all Keith Moon with her cymbal!Check out her timbale solo @1:45:Moon "The Loon" on cymbals:
In Memoriam: Hisashi "Sash" Tanaka
2008-04-12 20:39:00 "We only live once (as far as we know), enjoy it while you're in it. Band chemistries also live only once but even shorter. Cherish them while you have it.""Sash" remembered in better days:"Pipebomb" Kaos From Order More About: In Memoriam
Beauty Pageant Dropout
2008-04-12 16:52:00 I've never been one of the millions of americans who get their rocks off to beauty pageants. As an adult american male, I have a keen appreciation for the female form but even a licentious lecherous dude like me sees these contests as commercial, exploitative and typically devoid of minority and LGBT representation. They represent the best of what the US has to offer the world: forcefeeding us with corporate, white, bland, plastic one-size-fits-all ideas of what is beautiful, acceptable and status-quo. Sort of like our current foreign policy, only with fake boobs and highlights!As a kid my earliest memories of pageants were of my Sainted Mother singing, "There she is...MISS AMERICA" with that Bert Parks baritone at the top of her lungs every Saturday morning as my hungover sister groped her way down the stairs and stumbled to the table for breakfast.Later I remember seeing my mother (a gorgeous Native American woman who would have done an amazing job representing her racist home st... More About: Beauty , Pageant
New York's Finest...Bank Robbers?
More articles from this author:2008-04-12 00:49:00 Although not as violent as other NYPD officer misconduct I have posted about in the past, this incident is yet another example of a serious breach of the public's trust and a flagrant disregard for his oath to uphold the law and preserve the public's safety.Rookie cop from the rompin' stompin' NYPD Transit Division holds up a Pennsylvania bank. Story here. His MySpace page has been deleted, but you can check out the uber-douchebag photos in the gallery of the NY Daily News article.Apparently Torres figured he could use his cop training, flash his "get out of jail free" badge and the PA cops would show him some professional courtesy, him being a fellow member of the Thin Blue Line and all, and let him tool on back to NYC, gun and money in tow.At least the PA cops know how to do their job!This robbery also has the distinction of being the only time a Toyota Scion has been used as a getaway car! PUNCH IT, TORRES! More About: Bank , Robbers , Finest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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