Friday, December 25, 2009
Happy Christmas to all of the Friends The Bushido! Cheers!
I know many of you would have expected The Pogues & Kirsty McColl performing "Fairytale of New York"but I found this performance by Coldplay which I thought was great-due to the sing-along by the crowd!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
cluster f part 1.jpg
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Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday Funnies: I Heart Local Commercials-Salt Lake Community College-Haircuts For Mormons
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Modus-Opera-Andi, Costco Kiosks and a Beautiful Song "Nessun Dorma" by Luciano Pavarotti
Never really my "modus Opera-andi" but if you remember (way back to the '02) at the end of the movie "The Sum of All Fears"(links to IMDb) the beautiful melody playing in the arms dealer's home right before he gets the blade and the song playing as the Neo-Nazi extremist Jaguar driver continues his bad habit is the song "Nessun Dorma-(Tourandot)" by the recently deceased Luciano Pavarotti.
Ironic because the title translates to "None Shall Sleep" and all of the bad guys were about to take a dirt nap, but I digress; I haven't heard this song until last night when it was playing in Costco on their little "Thanks-X-Mas_oween" kiosk but they unfortunately were not selling the Opera Collection Cd and didn't list the names or titles of song tracks. Just for fun try this experiment: Ask a handful of Costco employees or Sam's Club associates (whatever your big box of choice is) to name that Opera singer. I'll bet "usted oirá nada más que grillos"-sorry "mi Italiano es mierda". Luckily, a lovely lady stopped and said that is Pavarotti and after a little playing on E-Music, I found it. Also, if you need to have a "control" for your experiment ask them to name the very next song when it cuts over to the Rocking Halloween album, yahtzee! It's the Monster Mash!
FYI: it helps to know how to spell P-A-V-A-R-O-T-T-I.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Red Dragon Adds 130 Billionaires (Tues, 13)
Far be it from the Bushido to promote Communism or the Socialists' movements in Europe and South America but if there is one thing that the headlines point to as a barometer of potential success in countries emerging as "market giants" (see B.R.I.C.) are the systems each have in regards to education and health care-gratis. Granted their systems have their flaws of "long lines and government ran health-care and education stemming from meritorious and for every billionaire there are countless ditch-diggers but alas, it is possible that we, Americans, could learn something from this equal playing field..
We live in the richest country in the world yet we invest little in our future continuation of this power. The class-struggles in this country have become deafing, television and the political pandering by our own elected officials have little or no respect for the process and simply divide our country into red and blue states-the new segregation. If we recall your classics and think back to the fall of Rome: there's one brazen similarity between Rome and the United States-which is the leaders quit looking out for the good of the people (read; the country) and only pursued their own fame and fortune..
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Friday, October 02, 2009
Friday Funnies: Jesus is Watching You Steal!
Monday, September 07, 2009
chick_fil_a.jpg
Oddly enough, in the sea of Clemson orange, South Carolina garnet and Citadel blue there are numerous young ladies wearing Cincinnati Bengals' QB Carson Palmer's jersey; and I thought after slipping into my USC Trojans tee that I would be the only person representing the mighty Trojans!
Final thought: Where are all those Steelers fans that came out of the wood-work around the last SuperBowl?
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
R.I.P. Teddy Kennedy!
For all of those who ever wore a Ted-Sox jersey in Kelly Green, loved the Kennedys and the hope that Camelot would one day give us, bid a farewell to our friend on the Hill, Senator Ted Kennedy. Many of us thought that one day young Teddy would pick up the torch of his family's legacy, but unfortunately a reckless evening would end his chances to occupy the oval office. The luck of the Irish as they say is the ability to keep a stiff upper lip even when faced with trying times: for the Kennedys, their family would be tried by tragic loss in the family as Joe would die in the War, Jack was shot in Texas, and Bobby met the same fate in California. Ted Kennedy didn't become president but he helped change the world as an advocate for the poor, fighting as an advocate for the people of Massachusetts and when it came to stepping forward as a cosmopolitan member of society (at-large) Kennedy returned to his family's native land of Ireland as he held both the olive branches of peace and the hands of Gerry and Ian as they brokered peace on the Emerald Island. RIP Teddy! To remember Teddy, I thought we would let him say it in his own words, those he spoke as a tribute to his brother Robert F. Kennedy-courtesy of the JFK Library
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
St. Patrick's Cathedral
New York City
June 8, 1968
On behalf of Mrs. Robert Kennedy, her children and the parents and sisters of Robert Kennedy, I want to express what we feel to those who mourn with us today in this Cathedral and around the world. We loved him as a brother and father and son. From his parents, and from his older brothers and sisters - Joe, Kathleen and Jack - he received inspiration which he passed on to all of us. He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He was always by our side.
Love is not an easy feeling to put into words. Nor is loyalty, or trust or joy. But he was all of these. He loved life completely and lived it intensely.
A few years back, Robert Kennedy wrote some words about his own father and they expressed the way we in his family feel about him. He said of what his father meant to him: "What it really all adds up to is love - not love as it is described with such facility in popular magazines, but the kind of love that is affection and respect, order, encouragement, and support. Our awareness of this was an incalculable source of strength, and because real love is something unselfish and involves sacrifice and giving, we could not help but profit from it.
"Beneath it all, he has tried to engender a social conscience. There were wrongs which needed attention. There were people who were poor and who needed help. And we have a responsibility to them and to this country. Through no virtues and accomplishments of our own, we have been fortunate enough to be born in the United States under the most comfortable conditions. We, therefore, have a responsibility to others who are less well off."
This is what Robert Kennedy was given. What he leaves us is what he said, what he did and what he stood for. A speech he made to the young people of South Africa on their Day of Affirmation in 1966 sums it up the best, and I would read it now:
"There is a discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; and millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich; and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere.
"These are differing evils, but they are common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility toward the sufferings of our fellows.
"But we can perhaps remember - even if only for a tirne - that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek - as we do - nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.
"Surely this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.
"Our answer is to rely on youth - not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress. It is a revolutionary world we live in; and this generation at home and around the world, has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived.
"Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the thirty-two-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal.
"These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.
"For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves, on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that effort.
"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.
"Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
This is the way he lived. My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.
As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Uni-ball 207 Pen Prevents Check Fraud-Demonstration Video
I guess it was a couple of years ago when I first started buying these pens (Uniball 207-I prefer the Signo gel 207 Retractable Roller Ball Pen with a Micro tip) and the main reason was that I had read these pens prevent check-fraud. I never really followed up on the specifics of the how’s and the why’s, I just knew there was some special pigment in the ink which prevented check-fraud.
Alas, I have now seen the demo (thanks to Jenny for sending it to me) of how this pen actually prevents check-fraud: crooks dip the top portion of your check in acetone (a paint thinner found at any art supply or hardware store) for close to 3-minutes, removing the “date”, “To” and most importantly the amount which you had written on the check. If you used a normal pen (that has a dye based ink) everything the crook wants to remove will be gone in about three and half minutes. However, if you used the Uni-ball 207, which has special pigments that adhere to the page your original information will remain intact. If you are local, need more info or would like to purchase some of these pens call the Bushido’s supply guy and friend Ben @ Collins Office Supply (843) 554-4404; he’ll take care of you.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Feed Your iPod: Jamie Foxx "Blame It"
Just found out tonight that the Beav has never heard the song "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx. All I got to say is man you need some more MTV or VH1 "Jump Start" in your life brother. You've got no excuse not to have heard this one but I guess you can blame it on the ah-ah-ah-alcohol.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Kicking It @ Bamboo With The Birthday Girl!
I had heard mixed reviews about the (relatively) new Japanese restaurant Bamboo (Garden) in Mt. Pleasant but the Bushido will give the Bamboo-Crew my blessing. We had a blast celebrating another milestone for the JABROS and friends.
As the faites would have it, we lucked out and got a great server (Alex) a sweet spot-the U-shaped couch with a giant marble table/fountain and excellent sushi for quite reasonable prices with drinks I doubt our tab will be more than 50 bucks for Sweets and I. That being said, if you are thirsty for one of those Ju-Ju Beers, you are going to be out of luck because our server said someone is killing them-let's not point fingers.
Well, I have to go-Sweets is calling me out for being a "crack-head with my crack-berry". Happy birthday MABROS.
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Seriously? Dead stopped on I-26
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Either Spoleto Is In Full Gear...
In all seriousness go to Marion Square and check out the amazing art displayed by participating artists.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday's WTF? WTF Won't Anyone Obey The Traffic Laws?
I honestly hate to single out this "county-mountie" but he just had the misfortune of being in front of me this morning and not pulling up to the big white stripe on the blacktop-see photo-after I beeped my horn twice, waiting a few moments and then beeped again (twice). Had he done so, then I would have been able to use the turn lane but instead he just parked his cruiser right there in the middle of the lane-oblivious to what was going on in the world; and to think, I could have not been eight minutes late to work if he would have just pulled up just short of two feet. Then again, these hopeful thoughts are all for naught as once the light turned green the deputy decided to turn right anyway and I was caught by the West Ashley bridge (malfunctioning?) for 45-minutes as we had to let a sailboat get out into the harbor.
A Growing Trend
Charlestonians have often lamented about tourists needing to "go back to Ohio"-heck they even started a web-site-because the growing sentiment is that tourists cause traffic problems. I don't buy it; a majority of the "yahoos" I see causing T-total cluster-f's have South Carolina tags on the back of their cars and either a Clemson sticker or (sadly) a Citadel sticker somewhere on the window or bumper. Which while I am on topic, wtf wouldn't you know to merge into the right lane on the down ramp (heading towards town) by the round Holiday Inn (especially if you went to school here for 4 years)? I hate to generalize Citadel grads and their driving ability but after years of making this trek at least once a day, five days a week, for quite a few years now, I can say about eighty percent of the time, there's a Citadel sticker on the back of the car who ends up stuck in the 10 feet of caution area awaiting to merge.
Make the Connection
There's also a lot of hub-bub and hand-wringing (read: opposition) about the proposed (more than a decade ago-see big mound at the end of the James Island Connector across the street from Harris Teeter) extension of 526, which would finally connect the City with the surrounding greater-Charleston Metro area. I say make the connection. Anyone who travels Savannah Highway will tell you that it is a nightmare: stop and go traffic due to bad timing on the traffic lights, drivers won't travel 45 mph near the auto mile (the speed limit doesn't lower to 35 until you hit Ashley River Baptist Church) and all of this cow-herding of cars bottle-necks to a bridge that may or may not be standing upright allowing a sailboat to travel beneath. Simple economics say that if there is one sailboat leaving port (not spending any more money) and about a hundred cars waiting to get Downtown to make money or spend money then the cars should take precedent.
Sorry for the rant but this is my first post using the Blackberry and I have a sh_crap ton of time on my hands.
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Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday Samurai: I Can't Wait...The New Harris Teeter, Pigs In A Blanket & Big Box (Home Depot & Lowes) Staying Open An Hour Later
I was in the Pig the other night about 10 minutes before closing time (like 9 pm) and I asked the manager if the Pig was going to start staying open later to compete with the new Teeter. He replied, "Oh gosh no, in fact, I wish we could go back to closing at 7 pm." Seriously?
Leave it to Beaver or just leave Beaver
I can understand the gentleman's desire to hearken back to the old days when we all ate dinner together at 6:30 pm and the grocery closed early because most folks only made a trip to the "sto" once a week. But let's get with the times people, we work late, jam our schedules full of errands and appointments ad nauseum. And let's face it, convenience stores these days just are not that convenient.
Just recently, Home Depot decided to open an hour earlier and stay open an hour later. How friggin awesome is that? Countless times, I have broken something (whilst trying to repair something else) or been mid-way into a project when I realized I needed something-that I could only find-from HD or Lowes (not the 24-hour Super Wal-Mart) and then looked at the clock only to realize I had fifteen minutes before they closed. Not anymore baby! (FYI: Lowes decided to match their cross-street competition and match Home Depot's hours). I even filled out my first receipt-questionairre exclaiming how I loved the later hours @ Home Depot and wished they would advertise this new change so more people would take advantage of their new closing time.
For those great deciders who changed the hours @ Lowes & Home Depot-Bravo! To the Big Whigs @ the Teeter who decided to provide the folks here this side of the Ashley a new store-Bravo indeed Sirs.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Rachel Alexandra Wins The Blackberry Preakness Stakes!
Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.
Rachel Alexandra just became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes in 80 years (since Nellie Morse won in 1924) with Derby winner Calvin Borel finishing the mile and three-sixteenth track in 1:55.08. A 9-5 favorite, Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks two-weeks ago the Friday race (for locals) before the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
I took the Derby winner Mine that Bird to win because with 6-1 odds (which aren't great by any means) but are better than the 9-5 odds Rachel Alexandra had. Also, I thought that perhaps Bird's jockey-Mike Smith would get it done today. And like they say, if you have a "hunch, bet a bunch" and since today is the 7th Annual Birdfest Bluegrass Festival, I thought why not stick with the Derby winner. Well, it looks like another year without a Triple-Crown winner unless jockey Calvin Borel wins in three weeks at the Belmont Stakes-but then again, that doesn't count since he's not a horse.
For the full story go to NBC Sports.com
The Bushido's Blackberry 134th Preakness Stakes Picks!
I am sticking with the winner of the Derby, Mine that Bird to win, the super filly Rachel Alexandra and Musketman to place 3rd. Post time is less than 5 minutes away. Photo courtesy of Gainesway Farm)
I know Calvin Burrell is riding The Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra but Mike Smith is riding the Derby winner Mine that Bird, Smith is a great jockey and his girlfriend (a fine jockey herself) won with Mine that Bird in Canada as a two-year old. (Mine that Bird was a Champion-Juvenile in Canada.)
Last minute bets (unless you live in South Carolina) can be placed here @ tvg.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Kate Winslet Channels Catherine Deneuve For Vanity Fair As The Belle de Jour!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day..You Mothers-Justin Timberlake & Andy Sandberg in "Motherlover"
Friday, May 01, 2009
Remembering Ricky Henderson-May 1st ,1991
On this date in 1991, Ricky Henderson (aka: The Man of Steal) passed the all-time base stealer Lou Brock stealing third base in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees for his 938 stolen bases. Born Ricky Nelson Henley in Chicago, Illinois, Henderson was named after the singer Rickey Nelson. His surname was changed after the passing of his father and the family moved to Oakland and his mother remarried. (Photo courtesy of TRB.com)
Henderson's talent of stealing bases was smiled upon by the baseball gods when Ricky was drafted (in the fourth round in 1976) by the Oakland A's: under skipper Billy Martin's unique approach to the game known as "Billy Ball" Henderson was given the green light to run and with Dwayne Murphy (a true fast-ball hitter) batting behind Ricky, pitchers had to throw Murphy the curve ball a perfect pitch to run on allowed Ricky to pass Brock's single-season record of 118 stolen bases in a season (Henderson would go on to steal 130 bases that season-a record he still holds).
Headed to Cooperstown
When Sabermetrics (Society for American Baseball Research) inventor Bill James was asked if Henderson was worthy of the Hall of Fame, James replied, "If you could split him in two, you would have two Hall of Fame pitchers." James is right not only did Henderson break Babe Ruth's record of 2,062 walks (ending with a career 2,190 base-on-balls) a record he held until passed by Barry Bonds, Ricky also passed Ty Cobbs record of 2,246 runs scored (with a career 2,295 runs) and holds the all-time stolen base record of 1,406 stolen bases. Trivia: In teammate Tony Gwynn's last game with the A's, Ricky had a lead-off home run, this game became the first and only time two players with over 3,000 hits have played in the same game.
Ricky Henderson will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009.
Feed Your iPod: Better Than Ezra's "Porcelain"
Sunday, April 26, 2009
R.I.P. Bea Arthur
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Another Cooper River Bridge Run, err...Bridge Walk Behind Down!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Happy Birthday Danica Patrick!
27 years ago, the belle of Beloit (Wisconsin) came racing out the womb and flashed the world that million-dollar smile that now adorns magazine covers ranging from racing rags to US Weekly to Sports Illustrated as seen here in this photo by Marlena Bielinska.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Top 5 Super Bowl 43 Commercials: #5 Coke Zero's (Mean) Troy Polamalu, "Here Kid" Commercial
Top 5 Super Bowl 43 Commercials: #4 Bud Light's Budget Cuts Commercials
Top 5 Super Bowl 43 Commercials: #3 E*Trade's Baby Golfer!
Top 5 Super Bowl 43 Commercials: #2 Doritos' Snow Globe Commercial
Top 5 Super Bowl 43 Commercials: #1 PETA's Banned Commercial
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday's WTF? WTF Do I Have This Song Stuck In My Head?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
24-Redemption (Prequel for Season 7)
Jack is Back!
Jack Bauer returns tonight at 8 pm (EST) on the season premier of '24'. If you caught the prequel or refresher for this season, it looks to be quite promising, with all of the governmental conspiracies stocked in prior episodes (seasons).
Friday, January 09, 2009
Do You Have a Black-Belt in Shopping, Then You May Just Need This Phone
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy