Harry Potter , WNYX NewsRadio , "Hunting" for the good stuff

So we have celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s 205^th birthday, celebrated Valentine’s Day over the weekend, good ol’ President’s Day to extend things into Monday…but now the work week begins again. But is that really enough “relaxation” time? While hanging back this weekend I found that my favorite online salesperson, Keene/FX, has some interesting items besides the Stained & Hand-painted Harry Potter steamer trunks! There are also some very grimy-looking, padlocked LOTR Troll Trunks perfect for ANY Hobbit or LOTR fan out there. A moss-covered treasure chest to pack away “my preciouussss”…or just some books and DVDs, it’s whatever.

Some “known affiliates” that I have come to find some equally cool products are JobstCo (for the hunter in you) and ChooChoo8MitMit. While the current product counts are low on their ETSY sites I did find that the overall quality of the products is high…which for me is what I am looking for –quality not quantity. No point in having a crapload of movies if they all suck. For the hunters that go to JobstCo there are extensive hunting vinyl decal designs, and while there is currently only one on display a quick query from the shop owner revealed that many, many more original designs will be available in the very near future. On a side note, I was informed that the shop owner has quite the musical talent, so might just want to pick some of his tunes while you’re there or ask him other places they are available!(Update: JobstCo has quite the catalog of vinyl designs these days, as well as beard oils)

ChooChoo8MitMit is very much lacking in the product area at this date. However, the product is not a cheap piece of cardboard. It is a quadfold actual board for board games (as one would hope for the price) and it holds up well as I have WNYX the game as does one of my siblings(and they have kids!)! It is definitely a MUST HAVE for all NewsRadio fans, very fun to play with your friends and get a little trashcan basketball going on everytime you hit the Poker Night square…it can definitely get competitive! I recall the first game I played earlier this year; it was with one of my sisters, her husband, and two of my nieces. My nieces have a pretty short attention span so after about 15 minutes the 10 year old quit and played video games…20 minutes later the 12 year old quits and plays on her dad’s phone. It makes me wonder how they get through instructions in P.E. and then games! So needless to say that caused a small bump, but after we fixed it, things got going. One of the big portions of the games involves Trivia, which can be very bad for those who know nothing about NewsRadio…especially if you have changed the rules to add different penalties! My brother-in-law was beginning to run low on money and beginning to realize things were not good for him…until someone landed on the “Poker Night” square. This involved a sort of gambling aspect in the game, as well as paper basketball…the money in the middle of the board started piling up and it was down to just the my sister and her husband, as things got more and more competitive the air of tension in the room was palpable…I swear I saw a tumbleweed roll on by. We had made things so crazy, it was down to the 15^th shot! ………and of course she makes it in, he shoots…it looks like it’s going in…BAM shot blocked by the 6 year old!! Nobody ever saw it coming.

Dumb Apple

To those of you who saw the Dumb Starbucks "atrocity" (hilarious), I would like to suggest the next campaign to be Dumb Apple! 

Needless to say...I'm not their biggest fan. In fact, I'm more of an Android man (insert robot joke here). So in the time-honored tradition of Dumb Starbucks "selling" dumb coffee, and dumb mocha frappaccinos...Dumb Apple would sell dumb Air, dumb Apples, and have a dumb Genius help you out when iTunes screws you out of all your music. But that's just all in good fun...and I don't think "they" at Dumb Apple could afford just give away dumb iPads.

But i digress... along the lines of Android stuff, one of my favorite producers Keene/FX has some cool free Apps out on the Play Store! Especially fans of Newsradio should be excited to find Newsradio PLUS the WNYX SoundBoard currently featuring Bill McNeil. I have recently found that a Jimmy James supplement is to follow. Now those of you who think that soundboards are passe, just give it a try! It has provided many an uplifting moment...also it's FREE! So WAKE UP PEOPLE! and check it out, because don't you want to be the guy in the room whose phone blurts out at the most inopportune time "old man congress needs a swift kick in the ass!" via the vocal stylings of the late Phil Hartman? I know I do.

Fan Art is BACK!!! (and so is the weekend)

So it’s the weekend!

For any fans of products by KEENE/FX, such as the Harry Potter Steamer Trunks, and the Golden Snitch Window Splats, today is a great day!  In this time-honored tradition of detailed fan-art I’ve come across something WNYX NewsRadio fans will be intrigued to see. Drum roll please……WNYX the Game! In stunning real life! Playing on all aspects of every season, players of WNYX the Game get a chance to play as one of eight characters—excluding Mr. James, whose visage marks each of the brightly colored dollar bills. 

While at first glance the sum of the parts of this game take on a Monopoly-esque appearance, a run through the instructions however gives the players (from 2 to 8) the enjoyment of recreating some of the goofier episodes. Whereas many board games leave you sitting in the same location the entire time, while playing WNYX the Game you will find yourself playing a bit of "Trashcan basketball”, quizzing your friends, and building an empire Jimmy James himself would be envious of. So for all you NewsRadio fans, or board game enthusiasts, I highly recommend! So bust out your yellow coffee mugs, pour a cup Chock full o’ flavor, and good fortune happy lucky bigtime for you and family!!

Game can be purchased at these links:

WNYX the Game (Etsy)
WNYX the Game & more (Amazon)

 

New Years Resolutions??

So as this New Year is upon us and nearly the first month is over, one of the “resolutions” I have resolved is that if I am to have a Blog I will actually write in it! I know…crazy right? But why not give it a shot… I may just be one single guy with tons of nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, and limitless creativity (I know super modest, right, hahah), but spending a few every week ain’t that hard.

So many, many months ago you were informed of “crazy neighbors” with emotional issues. Well, it seems that location just had it out for me…

This story begins the day after my thirtieth birthday. Almost 3 months ago now, I had begun preparations for moving earlier that week. Boxes had been packed; floors cleaned; and old mattresses taken to the dump. A bed was made on the floor out of heavy blankets, just something short-term for a couple weeks rest. On my birthday, I went to the local bar and had a beer…kept the evening relaxed and unexciting as the next morning would undoubtedly bring many frustrating emails and ringing phones. I drank the beer, and went home and slept. All that next day was progressively worse. By the early afternoon, my head was swimming. Since I was working from home, I simply laid down on my make-shift bed and fixed my eyes on my laptop screen. I could feel my eyelids flapping back and forth in slow motion as I fell asleep.

They say that in high-stress situations, your nervous system releases a flood of hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol to rouse the body for action. They say that in this time while your heart is pounding faster and your muscles tighten, while your breath has quickened…that your senses are sharpened. Well that day after my thirtieth birthday, that afternoon after I had passed out on a few blankets on my wood floor, something happened. I awakened, as if I had only just fallen asleep, but to dark. And to the horrific screaming of an alarm. I rolled off of the blankets and staggered towards the sound as quickly as possibly not quite sure what I was slipping on. As I entered the bathroom from where the painful noise emanated no light turned on, I was immediately hit in the face with cascades of water spraying from the fire alarm sprinkler system. I ran to the North facing glass wall as I saw flashing lights, but something was wrong. All I could think was to stick my hands in the air to block the never-ending flow of water. Finally, firefighter busted through the door, one after another. I blindly and barefooted, staggered through my continually flooding apartment as broken glass began floating throughout, unknown to me. Yelling for some tools, I went to my toolbox and brought them to the fireman-now-mechanic who had busted the sprinkler off the wall hoping the others would manually shut it off.  As the water flow ceased, I quietly chuckled as I looked around and noticed that I had been looking for a reason to get rid of some things, flooded with dirty water and broken pieces of glass seemed to make the choices for me. I grabbed a bright orange “Wet Floor” cone that I just happened to have in my closet, set it out my front door, and left.