Quote

"Inessential insanities are a brittle amalgamation of ambition, aggression and pre-adolescent anxiety--garbage that should have been dumped long ago.  Essential insanities are those impulses one instinctively senses are virtuous and correct, even though peers may regard them as coo-coo.  Inessential insanities get one in trouble with oneself.  Essential insanities get one in trouble with others.  It's always preferable to be in trouble in others.  In fact, it may be essential."  Tom Robbins

Joyful Jingles

Rap Influences

Even though Rap isn't my cup of tea, I do not agree w/ Jimmy Kimmel when he asks "what does Karl Malone call rap?"  In deference to Gil Scott-Heron, who is acknowledged as the godfather of rap and an equally influential figure behind hip-hop, I wonder where this Mickey Hart rant originated or was influenced.  I had heard Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" growing up as well as other of his vocal over music rants, but you have to wonder about the inspiration behind this "Fire on the Mountain" vocal over music gem.  Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPpb-dbagLU

Here's the link to "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8

Ryan Braun and the Fed-Ex Defense

At this point it is easy to admit that steroids have forever changed the history of baseball.  Whether you like the Yankees or Red Sox, your team has players that used and abused steroids.

Yesterday Ryan Braun won an appeal that he tested positive for banned substances.  His defense was that someone at Federal Express tampered with a package that contained his blood sample.  He said that the tracking of the package revealed that it was 'missing' for a prolonged period of time....AND IT WORKED!  

Are you F-inging kidding me?  This is going to open the floodgates for ridiculous excuses when a player tests positive.  Any faith I had in major league baseball or the players union cleaning up their steroid problem has been crushed.  Not only was Braun the NL MVP, but made it to the NLCS and was only a couple of wins from the world series.

As I listened to his press conference his guilt seemed obvious.  Not only was his explanation bullshit, but his voice was nervous and quivering.

Hey MLB,  just let all the players do as many PEDs as they want and make a pre and post steroid era  record book.  It is clear that players these days are going to use drugs and win outrageous appeals so why not just let them.  The worst part about it is that the real losers in this situation are the clean Players with honesty and integrity.  Players who respect legends like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Jackie Robinson; and wouldn't crap all over the record books with tainted statistics.

Taste the Linsanity!

Thank You Ben & Jerry's

Academy Playing right into the hands of "The Dictator"

I am a big fan of Sasha Baron Cohen and his crazy characters. His new film, "The Dictator," features a general who controls a fictional middle eastern country.

Cohen has been promoting his movie by aggravating the oscar organizers. After notifying the academy that he plans to attend the awards ceremony in character they revoked his tickets. They said in a release they didn't want "Cohen using the oscars as a way to promote his new movie." Isn't that the purpose of the oscars? I thought that when someone wins, they literally promote their future films by saying "...and starring academy award winner Halle Berry."

I know the academy wants better ratings. Cohan will produce higher ratings and more interested viewers. I look forward to the academy changing their minds and watching Cohen pull some hysterical stunt!

Youtube of The Dictator's reaction to being banned

The #1 Gyro Place in New York is...

Christos Gyro! I am so happy for my friend and neighbor Christo's Gyro. They have been named the #1 gyro joint in all of New York City! If you have never experienced Christo's and live in the Bronx, I highly recommend them. Great gyros, tasty burgers, delicious hummus, and mouth watering baklava.

Congrats Christo!!!!

In Loving Memory of Karen Kranichfeld

My mother Karen was an amazing person. She was intelligent, generous, friendly, and one-of-a-kind.

She worked with the elderly at the Osborn Nursing Home in Rye, NY. When she wasn't busy with work or family, she was volunteering at her church's homeless mens shelter and alter guild. Tutoring and teaching piano were also very important to her. One girl she tutored, Latoya, is like my older sister. I'm looking forward to seeing her tonight for the first time in a while.

Unfortunately, Karen was stricken with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia) in 2002. She fought the disease valiantly, going through years of harsh chemotherapy and even trying some experimental drugs.

She passed away on March 24th, 2010. In memory of my mother, I decided that some of this years Chowder Cup money would go to fighting Leukemia. I made a donation to Leukemia research at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Sloan Kettering saved my life and they are making remarkable strides against cancer everyday. I also made another donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I think about my mother every single day. Her energy and love are still rippling across the universe. Although I am infinitely sad she is gone I think of her smile, her energy, and her generosity and my sadness turns to joy. Joy from being lucky enough to have spent so much time with the greatest person I have ever known.

I love you mom.

Recipe: simple sauteed spinach

Sauteed Spinach

I found this recipe on line a few years ago. I made it many times and it is easy, nutritious, and delicious.

Ingredients:

16-20 oz. spinach leaves
1 lemon
2 cloves fresh crushed garlic
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Pour olive oil into large frying pan and heat it on very high. Once the oil is very hot add spinach and stir quickly. Spinach will cook and wilt very fast. after 2 minutes add crushed garlic, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. Lower the heat to medium low and add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. let cook another minute or so.

Enjoy!!

Train your Brain

Article submitted by Hank Kranichfeld

Some great pointers on increasing mental fortitude.

Sittin' on the dock of the Bay

I'm going to continue to post some of the greatest songs of all time. Enjoy



OTIS!!!!!

Who's Got my Wooly Mammoth?

this article was sent to me by my father, Hank Kranichfeld. It discusses how scientists are using technology to regenerate species of plants that have been extinct for nearly 30,000 years. At the end they mention that China and Russia are in an arms race to find and make wooly mammoth.

USA TODAY

Hooray for Ray!!

Congrats to Ray Lane...She is one smart cookie!

"Type the letters in the box....."

so this morning I was looking for a chicken recipe to post to the blog. I found the one I was looking for on food.com, shortly before running into a familiar problem.

I was directed to sign up for an account on ffood.com, and started the process. After going through the normal series of simple questions I ran into my old nemesis; The security Image! I understand the point of those annoying words. Websites don't want robo-spammers posting all over their respective websites. But seriously it is not possible for me. When I get to the security it says "security image," and nothing more. At least most sites now make an attempt to have an audio cue available, even if they are still impossible to understand.

I guess to me it is a cyber insult to a blind person. Just as a person in a wheelchair would feel angry and disrespected upon reaching a restaurant with reservations without wheelchair accessibility. I wonder why more websites aren't accessible to the blind community. I hope my email will make them change their sign up process. To all you web designers out there:: a disgruntled blind man might be attempting to sign up for your site with no solution in sight!

food.com is the Judge Reinhold of websites....

"No shirt, No shoes....""

Music at its Best

My whole life I have been an avid music fan. I remember coming down to open Christmas presents and my parents would have Bob Dylan records playing on the stereo.

Of all the music I have ever heard, one of my favorite shows was The Last Waltz. It was a concert that featured The Band, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and of course, the Staples Singers. The whole show was recorded and made into a fantastic documentary by Martin Scorcese.

To me the film represents an assimilation of musical styles and culture. The show features music from genres such as rock, jazz, blues, folk, and traditional. The following link will bring you to a video of the song "The Weight," which is my favorite part of my favorite show ever!

LUCKY CLOVERS!

One lost gem from the early 90's is the Ben Stiller Show. It didn't last a whole season, but here is a great clip from the show.

LUCKY CLOVERS!

and here is the real One video as a reference!!!

Need Motivation? Meet Linsanity!

LINSANITY: Motivation........... for All

So today i decided I needed to get back in shape. I took a nice walk with Tam up to Manhattan College, and when I reached my building I took the stairs up to my apartment.
I sat at my computer to check emails and found an article about Jeremy Lin sent to me from Hank Kranichfeld. I went from feeling tired, to feeling motivated from a great story of hard work and determination!

article:

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/oncampus/?p=417

Innerspace a reality 25 years later?

One of my favorite movies of all time is Innerspace. The 1987 film featured Martin Short, Dennis Quaid, and Meg Ryan. The basic premise of the sci-fi/comedy was that a spaceship type vessel could be shrunk and then injected into a human body. From there it could research organs and cells, and help fight diseases such as cancer. or infections
Flash forward to today and I read the following article about nano robots fighting cancer:

http://technorati.com/technology/article/dna-nanorobots-have-successfully-been-used/

More and more I am seeing many science fiction ideas/themes becoming reality. I think curing cancer or HIV is something that will be figured out in my lifetime. I am excited and eager to see the medical advances coming in the next few years.