Amphibians Are People, Too

Since my original purchase of Teddy the fire-bellied toad, his habitat and neighbors have gone through many changes. After Ramona, his unwilling wife-to-be, and Zoinks 2, his fire-bellied newt neighbor, ran-off* (but probably not to be together), Teddy got a little down. Zoinks did as well, and my two goldfish aren't really great comforters. I hit upon the perfect solution; buy a 20-Long gallon tank and pimp it out. Enter Tammy, Teddy's new paramour, Sir Isaac Newton, Zoinks new fire-bellied newt compadre, and a cadre of tiger barbs. Now everyone's happy!









*It's not even funny how many amphibians are roaming around my apartment. If you're ever over and see a newt or toad, chances are it's mine. Thanks.

Spring Fling

This year, I decided to start my garden indoors and much earlier than last year. Turns out, seed germination works better when you can water the soil and the seeds aren't being eaten by birds or dug up by feral devil cats or squirrels. GERMINATION!

Toys

These are toys.

Dunny Series 5 by Reach guards my Lady Sovereign Ring and a motley crew of pirates

Bosco, from Kozik's Chumps, has been sentenced to be dwarfed by Erick Scarecrow's Muraida

Adult Swim x Kid Robot Assy McGee moons Bosco

Building the Better Concert

The other day, Dynamo and I braved a cold NYC winter and a late weeknight start time to go see J-Live in concert at the Mercury Lounge. It was one of the best decisions of the year; the concert was unbelievable. Usually at rap shows, I'm completely unimpressed by the opening act and the performers come out hours late. The sole show I've attended that started punctually was The Roots at Radio City Music Hall, which is an incredible venue.

Mercury Lounge is on the exact opposite of the size spectrum, which was good because I was right next to the stage, but bad cause some white kids who must've forgotten to shower or use deodorant that week kept knocking into me. Concentrating hard on Rabbi Darkside and the rest of 3rd Party's lyrics, I managed not to punch them. The trio, like J-Live, are all educators in the public school system; Farbeon is actually Rabbi's principal, while Hired Gun works at a different school. They all put it down hard, with intelligent lyrics and dope rhymes. The highlight for me was when J jumped off the stage and started rapping right next to me. He's been one of my favorite rappers since 2002, when I first heard "Satisfied," but I'd never seen him in concert. I also loved how Oddy Gato came back onstage along with a couple MCs from the audience to freelance with 3rd Party while J-Live spun. After the show, I copped all the albums I could, got "Always Will Be" signed and added more free stuff to my Jask shirt. "Building The Better Bomb," Rabbi Darkside's first album, has been on steady blast since then. If you like intelligent, yet catchy, hip-hop, you need to buy this.

For a much better and more cohesive review, check out Human Dynamo's page. Blurry cell phone photos, too!

Who Watches the Watchmen?

People with three hours on their hands who don't like Tyler Perry, that's who. I went in with some trepidation, since a lot of people said the movie sucked and was too slow, but I realized they're all 14 and think every movie should be like X-Men fights Pokemon. I had also thought what made Watchmen as a comic revolutionary and exciting in the late '70s had become old hat by now, but I was wrong. The message is still strong, and Rorschach is still completely bad ass. I wouldn't say the movie was fantastic, but it was a lot better than I was told. The special effects weren't cheesy, the fight scenes, though few, were good, with plenty of broken bones, and as an added bonus, Malin Ackerman, star of the disappointingly titled "Heavy Petting," gets all kinds of nekkid. I'm just saying. If you want to see professional reviews and hear how much Zach Snyder sucks, use your internet to search for things.

In other movie news, "The Wackness" is really great. How can a movie with Ben Kingsley and Method Man not be though? My only complaint is that they didn't have the big MEF in the movie more; I loved his not-so-good Jamaican accent and his lines about "The What" with him and Biggie going to be the next hot song. James Cash and I wonder if the only reason "The Wackness" was set in 1994 was so they could rip on Giuliani and play Biggie and Wu Tang.