Tik Tok parody

Last year I posted a video I first saw on WGB in my entry, The gays love their close-ups.  Well the adorable guy who writhed on the sand lip synching to the catchy Backstreet Boy's tune, "I want it that way" has quite a few videos on his Youtube profile as it turns out. You can see the full list here - Linsbrothers.

In the video below, Ben Lins teams up with his buddy, Jimmy Culotta, in a Tik Tok parody.  The pop song is annoying in that once you hear it you can not seem to get it out of your head for the rest of the day, but it is still fun to watch.

Stepping out of the closet and 'back from that ledge'

Earlier today I heard the song Jumper by Third Eye Blind and it brought me back to when I first moved to Boston from Atlanta. At the time, I was still closeted and trying to come to terms with my sexuality. Having the benefit of hindsight, I can see now that I was sort of a ticking time bomb. No wonder I always related to the chorus of the song. 

Wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend
You could cut ties with all the lies that you've been living in
And if you do not want to see me again
I would understand, I would understand

How strange is it that lyrics written by another and meant for someone else can become so intensely personal? I can remember feeling like the chorus was an existential conversation I was having with myself. When I heard the song today, many memories (both happy and sad) flooded back, and I thought I'd write about it before the feeling of de ja vu faded.   

Full lyrics on elyrics.net
About Third Eye Blind

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. local time, Earth Hour will once again cascade around the globe.  Last year, 80 million Americans and 318 U.S. cities officially voted for action with their light switch, joining iconic landmarks from around the world that went dark for Earth Hour. 

Entertaining Mr. Sloane

Tonight I'm off to see my first show of the year, Entertaining Mr. Sloane at the Boston Center for the Arts. The play was written by the English playwright Joe Orton back in 1964. 

About the show:
The charming, enigmatic Mr. Sloane arrives to rent a room from Kath, a lonely, delusional landlady, in the junkyard house she shares with her declining father. A handsome opportunist, Sloane quickly ingratiates himself, entering into seductions offered by both Kath, and her estranged brother Ed, who soon employs Sloane as his driver.  Sloane's past misdeeds and dueling affections within the family soon collide, leading to a desperate act that proves the limit of his charms, and reveals the ruthless and cunning strategies that Sloane's 'victims' will engage in to preserve their unique arrangement.

Should be interesting and I'm hoping it will prove to distract me from the work which has dominated my attention now for too long.  I hope you have a nice weekend filled with pleasant distractions too.

Acne Drug Keeps HIV Dormant

Not sure how new this news is, but I had not heard about a breakthrough in AIDS research which found that a common acne drug first used in the 1970s can keep HIV dormant.  I first read about this in Brenton's popular blog, Aussielicious this morning.  And after a bit of searching on Google, I found that this study was actively being discussed back in 2008 at the XVII International AIDS Conference.

As Brenton says in his blog, any advancement that can help prevent the spread of or help improve the quality of life of those impacted by this virus is good news. If you'd like to learn more there is a brief (1 minute) video of Dr. Janice Clements explaining what the acne drug minocycline does to the virus here.

Words to live by, "You need pro caulk"

I'll be the first to admit that my sense of humor is not appreciated by everyone, but this mini-infomercial stopped me dead in my tracks when I heard it last year and it had the same effect when I heard it earlier tonight.  Do the makers of "Pro-Caulk" realize what they are saying?   Check out the video. I was almost in tears listening to the enthusiastic voice practically shout "You need Pro-Caulk!" 

Just in case you think this is a farce, you can visit the official "Caulk" site as I like to refer to it by linking here. No worries unlike many "caulk" sites on the web this is totally safe to view from work. It might even inject some much needed humor into your day.

How television networks should really market themselves

Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wrote an interestingly funny article back in November that I forgot to post until today.  In his article, Matthew writes, what if the networks and cable channels promoted themselves as they really are? He surmised that their names, slogans, and mission descriptions might look something like this. I've chosen a couple of my favorites.

NBC =  SDTV: Self-Destructive TV
We dig ourselves deeper into the hole!
At SDTV, we don’t fool around when it comes to ruining our network. By placing our future in the hands of personalities such as Howie Mandel, Donald Trump, and Jay Leno, we pretty much guarantee our own failure.

Bravo = GLBTv
For Grace and her favorite Will
Need some fabulous fashion advice? Want a lesson in trendy lingo? We know absolutely everything about clothes, real estate, and hair. Plus, we have Kathy Griffin. Let us be your gay best friend.

Fox News = Fox “News’’
Who cares if it’s true?
In our shop, we believe that too much value is placed on facts. We’d rather just go after anything that moves in that unbalanced, unfair, democratic, liberal, commie kind of way. You know what we mean. If you like screeds, we’ll be there for you.

You can read the full article here.

No news here - I'm progressive

It has been awhile since I've posted a quiz, but I saw this on a blog I read called Iced Tea & Sarcasm, and I thought I'd share it as well. I suppose for those who know me and my philosophical leanings, this is not surprising. I'll be frank and say I'm not exactly sure how 'scientific' this is, but I've always enjoyed these sort of things and thought I'd share it.  It took me less than 5 minutes to complete the questions. Take the online poll if you like by linking here.

No shock that my focus on issues pertaining to social justice and human rights seem to not only skew my political ideology but also put me out of sync with most of my fellow Americans.  It is frustrating because I always feel like I'm either considered naive or some sort of lunatic.

ABC pilot filming in South End: Boston's Finest

An ABC pilot show called Boston's Finest is shooting scenes outside of my neighborhood cafe, The South End Buttery.  The catering trucks currently line Washington Street and the corner of Shawmut Ave and Union Park are blocked off.  The inside of the Buttery has been turned into a sort of holding pen for many of the extras and some of the wardrobe.  While I was ordering my lunch I did happen to see New England native,Treat Williams, walk by, which was sort of cool.  I was told that the filming for the pilot concludes today so I will be able to get my lunch and afternoon coffee without competing for space with all the extras who were essentially just sitting still and taking up space.

Am I the only one who thinks this is funny?

Personalized medicine

If you can get smarter by surrounding yourself with really intelligent people, then my IQ jumped a few points today.  Yesterday evening a few well respected doctors flew into Boston to attend a meeting my team hosted today to talk about a new and interesting area in medicine referred to as Personalized Medicine.  If people have heard the term before, they are most likely inclined to think of medical/testing products that can be purchased at a pharmacy (i.e. pregnancy tests). But P.M. is so much more. A popular definition is medicine that incorporates genetic profiles for the prevention, detection, and treatment of disease by taking into account a person's unique genetic profile. 

These 'thought leaders' shared stories about what they are seeing and their insights were extremely interesting. While some of the stories sounded a bit like something more suited for a science fiction movie the reality is that this is more real than fiction.  How our government and governments around the world react (either encouraging more development through investment or discouraging it by creating impediments) is yet to be seen.  The Human Genome project which started in 1990 and mapped the genetic make-up of humans has helped unlock significant opportunities for defining new treatments (medical, nutritional and behavioral) for keeping a person healthier longer. This international public/private scientific research project is what I mean by governments 'encouraging more development'.

Imagine being able to customize preventitive strategies so women with a genetic predisposition to develop breast cancer can have mamograms more frequently than the general public so they can increase their chance of an early detection? Imagine an individual likely to suffer from Diabetes Type II being 'prescribed' work out sessions with a trainer and sessions with a nutritionist to avoid this chronic disease, which now afflicts an estimated 20 million Americans? These are just some of the opportunities that exist as advances in personalized medicine are realized - pretty cool.

A limerick in honor of St. Patrick's day

Lim’ricks are the naughtiest prose
Dirty rhymes we love to compose
Men from Nantucket
Shouting, “Go $uck it!”
Are fun to write I suppose

If you have a Limerick you'd like to share, I'd enjoy hearing it.  Feel free to e-mail me or leave it in the comments section. Oh yeah, and Happy St. Patrick's day - it's practically a holy day of obligation here in Boston.

Frisky mannequins

I think I'd enjoy working at that store.

Working on working out

This evening I was perusing one of my favorite blogs WGB (Mom you wouldn't like it) and there was a post about this being his 4th day working out and dieting; no doubt to get into shape before the warmer weather gets here. It made me realize the last time I referenced my work outs was in late January in my Resolutions Revisited post.

I'm quite pleased to say that I've been fairly disciplined going to the gym and meeting with my trainer, Stu, twice a week. Tonight I lifted 85lb dumb bells (the heaviest I've done to date) for single arm rows. Since I had no idea what this back exercise was prior to working out with Stu, I've included a photograph..

I've not been quite as good about going to the gym when I don't have a standing apppointment with Stu, but I'm working on getting better and plan to try and get in a cardio work out 1-2 days a week.  I'll keep you posted.  If you're also struggling to make time for your work out let me know - misery enjoys company.

Anyone else feel like this?

Coloring by Sergio Mazon