It's my birthday month! May 31, 2006 HaPPy HumPday!! It is so hot outside. I loooove the summertime!! Cool off and take the US Hollywood Hot Bodies Poll New York State's highest court will begin hearing a case Wednesday on whether the city can issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Tomorrow, the state's Court of Appeals begins hearing arguments in four cases out of a dozen same-sex couples that have been locked in a legal battle for two years. The court could rule in favor of legalizing same-sex marriages in New York City. If that happens, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he'll allow the city to perform same-sex marriages and then he and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will bring the idea to the State Legislature to eventually create a law allowing all New Yorkers to marry. Invisible Ink to Catch Theives... The NYPD has launched a program to mark iPods, cell phones, Blackberries and other portable electronic devices that are often stolen on subway trains and platforms. The devices are marked with ink that can only be seen with infrared light. With the marking, police are immediately able to determine whether the item has been stolen, then get it back to its owner. And in case thieves are able to erase the ink, police are recording serial numbers as well. Special Thanks... to malibu who is uploading my website while I try to figure out a new way to get around this firewall at the office. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 30, 2006 Memorial Day Weekend Trip to Vancouver and Seattle The weekend trip was great. Congratulations go out to Chris and Heather who got married up in Vancouver on Friday night. I didn't really get to see much of the great city to the north but what I did see of it was really amazing. Downtown Vancouver is set in a valley which is surrounded by mountains. To the west you can see the Pacific ocean and to the east you see more mountains. There was a perpetual cover of clouds and a slight mist to the air. I could see the light so it wasn't depressing and "overcast" but a different light entirely. The sun didn't completely set until about 10pm and came up the following morning at 4am. After the wedding we drove back to Seattle where we had a BBQ with our host Arno and his friend (our new friend) - who was celebrating his birthday - Dave. We left the following day and yesterday I had the day to hang out at home, put in the air conditioner because it's so damn hot here and visit with friends. Hope you had a great weekend! This weekend... Cape Cod !!! U.S. Is Sending Reserve Troops to Iraq's West "The movement of a brigade to help quell attacks in the volatile Anbar Province comes as officials have raised doubts about possible troop reductions. The top American commander in Iraq has decided to move reserve troops now deployed in Kuwait into the volatile western Iraq Province to help quell a rise in insurgent attacks there, two American officials said Monday." [nytimes] Celebrity This Past Weekend: Jake Gyllenhaal was seen giving flowers to Natalie Portman in another attempt to prove he isn't gay to the world. Keep tryin' Jakie. Pitt and Jolie have baby daughter in Namibia, Africa. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt's first picture will be worth $3 million, with the proceeds being given to children's charity Unicef and other projects in Africa. The beach by the hotel where the couple have been staying - in the village of Langstrand - has been surrounded with large green barriers, while bodyguards and undercover police officers are patrolling the area. Gwen Stefani and her husband of three years, rocker Gavin Rossdale, welcomed their first child together on Friday Ò a 7 1/2 lb. baby boy named Kingston James McGregor Rossdale. Ben Affleck was rushed to an E.R. of a a Boston-area hospital for a migraine headache. Voices keep growing louder to complain that Oprah Winfrey turns a deaf ear to rappers on her show. Ludacris, 50 Cent and now, Ice Cube claim Oprah doesn't like hip-hop. "She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?" says Ice Cube. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 25, 2006 New podcast posted!... A new episode of Live From the WB has been posted. Episode 013: Gettin' Lucky We talk about Hair, Squibb, and Sam's back! I hope it brings you laughs and laughs and laughs... flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 24, 2006 Happy Hump Day!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Happy Birthday to me!!! ... I won't post again until next Monday or Tuesday. That's my present to myself. No more work... ughhhh... *wink* flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 23, 2006 Autopsy results obtained by CNN show a retarded man was shot in the back when he was killed by New Orleans police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I had no idea that saying "retarded" was politically correct for news outlets like CNN... McGreevey's Memoir Details Gay Trysts James McGreevey once resorted to anonymous homosexual trysts at highway rest stops, according to recently released excerpts from his memoir being released later this year. The former New Jersey governor quit and came out as a "gay american" in August of 2004. "I knew I would have to lie for the rest of my life -- and I knew I was capable of it," McGreevey wrote. "The knowledge gave me a feeling of terrible power." I think the coverage of this new memoir is all wrong. McGreevey's choice to visit highway rest stops, knowing he could get caught, makes me think that there is something else going on in that head of his besides being gay. Wouldn't it have been easier to find someone he could trust? I'm confused... politics are confusing. Eight-Year-Old Boy Faces Charges In School Bus Death Police are questioning a 8-year-old boy in the death of 8-year-old Amber Sadiq. Investigators say the boy tampered with a school bus' emergency brake, and the bus rolled over Amber, killing her. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 22, 2006 AIDS WALK! WE DID IT! Our Live From the WB team raised over $6,000! You will be able to download the podcast of the AIDS walk live in a couple weeks. It was quite a lot of fun! Birthday Week! Yesterday was the official start of my birthday week. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the way I celebrate my birthday, here are a few of the basic ground rules. There is to be no stressing of my physical appearance by myself or others. This includes but is not limited to: types of clothing, hairstyles, increasing size of gut & bloodshot eyes. Exercise is encouraged but not mandatory. All travel is taken at a leisurely pace. Punctuality is not necessary. ("You're late." "Well it's my birthday week...") All acts of kindness are considered, "on hold". No holding open doors, picking up dropped items, giving change to bums... etc. Lunches may (and probably will) include a beer. No buyers remorse when purchasing my own birthday gifts. (cologne, magazines, dvds, cameras, iPod, new music) I'm not allowed to not accept a gift. ("Oh I couldn't!") All of my opinions are allowed even if they are completely off base and it's totally obvious I have no idea what I'm talking about. ("The Yankees are the most amazing baseball team in the entire universe!") I leave on Thursday for Seattle and from there I'm driving up the coast to Vancouver for a wedding. I always knew I was lucky to be born close to Memorial Day. Fate of Horse Has the Nation On Edge of Seat ... Hm. A horse breaks his ankle and he gets front page news. A U.S.-led coalition aircraft kills about 80 "suspected Taliban militants" in a night airstrike in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 16 civilians, but that gets pushed to the side. How's that horse?! It's my understanding that once a horse breaks a part of it's leg, it dies. Horses are very particular about their legs, they really can't live without them like humans can. Airstrike! flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 18, 2006 New podcast posted!... A new episode of Live From the WB has been posted. Episode 012: On Broadway We talk about corporate, pigs and cockade. I hope it brings you laughs and laughs and laughs... flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 17, 2006 HaPPy HumPday! Restaurant Review: Perry Street Located on the West Side Highway aka the Henry Hudson, is Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant (his eighth in New York) named Perry Street. Opened in 2005 it is located just 6 floors below his own personal residence. Along with (in New York) Jean Georges, Nougatine, JoJo, Mercer Kitchen, Vong, 66 and Spice Market, Perry Street represents the height of dining experience. Thanks to Erik - who decided it would be a great place for me to have my early birthday dinner - I was able to sample a bit of the high life on a Tuesday night. We started with cocktails. I had the "signature" ginger margarita and Erik had the thyme vodka lemonade. The lemonade was much smoother and the margarita was something I think I've made before when I ran out of sour mix. We followed the cocktails with a nice Pinot Grigo (the name escapes me but I thought it tasted like grapefruit after that ginger margarita) and two appetizers. Erik had the buffalo mozzarella with mango and I went with the crab dumplings. Both appetizers where a mix of flavors that exploded in our mouths and prepared our palettes for the entrees. It being my "birthday dinner", I ordered the lobster with a thick creme sauce (like a hollandaise but lighter) and frisee. Erik had the tenderloin with spinach and jalapeno. Both were amazing... and very filling. The dishes were so rich that we had to sit back and enjoy the experience more than once. After our entrees we went to a glass of champagne and desserts which included a not-so-great chocolate pudding for Erik and a banana, bitter caramel (tasted burnt) and creme dessert for myself. The desserts were mediocre and left us a little disappointed. Overall, I'd give Perry Street an 8.5. I thought I saw Harrison Ford but it wasn't him. It was a great dinner and I was happy to be eating out with a friend. Like they say, it's not the place you hang out in, it's the company you hang out with. Thanks Erik for a very memorable birthday dinner. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 16, 2006 I missed a day because I'm retarded... Councilman Wants NYC To Be 51st State City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) said he is "deadly serious" about making New York City the 51st state. Woman Killed In Brooklyn Apartment A Brooklyn woman was found dead Sunday inside her apartment, police said. The woman's boyfriend discovered her partially nude body tied up with extension cords, police said. She was 26. HBO documentary could trigger stress disorder The Army surgeon general is warning that the HBO documentary "Baghdad ER" is so graphic that military personnel watching it could experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Frat boy claims innocence Monday, minutes before turning himself in to authorities, the clean-cut athlete stood up and loudly proclaimed that he and the rest of his teammates were innocent of allegations he labeled "fantastic lies." "I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come," said the 23-year-old economics major from Bethesda, Md. Evans, an economics major who graduated Sunday, came to Duke from the Landon School, a prep school in suburban Washington, where he also played football and hockey and led the lacrosse team to a three-year record of 56-2. He's obviously innocent. His father, a lawyer, and his mother, a lobbyist in Washington D.C., swear he is. At least he's got his looks... he's got really cute lips... flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 12, 2006 It's Friday! I got a new camera! Celebrate! This is Ted, my favorite Camo Piegon. You can see more pics here. Thanks for the help Vicki! and here's a picture of the camera. This is what it's all about... Don't you just love fun toys? You start out playing with G.I. Joe and Transformers and then you find yourself purchasing these types of things. My last camera was stolen in Miami... Indiana Jones 4 Oh yes fans. It's coming to a theater near you. George Lucas says the script is finally done and the film will "probably" start shooting next year. "We're working on it, we're working on it," Lucas added. "We've been working on it for 10 years. I think it'll be a great film, but it's completely different. It's still got a lot of action, and it's still very funny. I think it works like crazy." Um... so I'm thinking 2012? Have a fantastic weekend! flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 11, 2006 New podcast posted!... A new episode of Live From the WB has been posted. Episode 011: Where Is...? We talk about Virgin Mary, 2 bans and Time Warner! I hope it brings you laughs and laughs and laughs... This happened yesterday but it's hilarious! A russian model fell out of a fany tour bus on the highway. She went to use the bathroom, she was in there for awhile, and she took the WRONG DOOR out... and fell on the highway. If you can give me the link, I'd be happy to post it. Hilarious! Band manager gets 4 years for nightclub fire deaths A band manager who started a nightclub fire that killed 100 people in February 2003 was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison with a further 11 years suspended. "The greatest sentence that can be imposed upon you, has been imposed upon you by yourself," Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan Jr. told Daniel Biechele, who admitted 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Carrie Bradshaw and Berger's relationship remind me of something... are you watching the Sex in the City reruns too? flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 10, 2006 Happy Humpday! I'm updating before going to work when I can. I hope you have a great hump day! The podcast is a day late. We'll get that up ASAP! One Million New Yorkers Could Face Biggest Rent Hike In Years... The Rent Guidelines Board has approved a proposal that could have rent stabilized tenants facing the highest rent increases in several years, despite protests from tenants at Mondayˆs hearing. The board has agreed to consider a 3 percent to 6.5 percent jump for one year leases and a 5 percent to 8.5 percent hikes for two-year lease. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 9, 2006 So sorry for the bad updating. I'm starting something new and I've been out of town a lot... (poor me!) I'll try to update daily still but the timing might be different than you are used to... flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 8, 2006 Lillian Gertrud Asplund the last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died, a funeral home said Sunday. She was 99. Police say a drunken man shot and killed 3-year-old Tajmere Clark, and injured three others, inside a Brooklyn apartment Sunday. flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 5, 2006 Cinco de Mayo! Cinqo de Mayo commemorates the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862. I celebrate by drinking massive amounts of Coronas, Rum and Tequilla. Then I try to do a hat dance, sing in Spanish and speak Spanish to all my friends. Olé! Nicole Richie, whose drastic weight loss spawned speculation that she has an eating disorder, acknowledges she is "too thin" and is getting treatment to add pounds, in an interview in Vanity Fair. "I know I'm too thin right now, so I wouldn't want any young girl looking at me and saying, 'That's what I want to look like,' " the 24-year-old "Simple Life" star tells the magazine in its June issue, on newsstands Tuesday. [source] flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 4, 2006 flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home May 3, 2006 Happy Humpday! I'm back but I'm still technically on vacation... I'll try to give you the best headlines of the day while I'm slacking off at home... New podcast posted!... A new episode of Live From the WB has been posted. Episode 010: Double Digits We talk about in 10 & 10, our Wonder Twins powers and Metal! I hope it brings you laughs and laughs and laughs... Warehouse Fire Continues Burning in Brooklyn "A fire that roared through a network of abandoned, historic warehouses on the Brooklyn waterfront on Tuesday continued burning today, with nearly 100 firefighters remaining on the scene to pump water on the smoking and smoldering remnants." When I landed from Miami I saw this fire burning out of control and now I can smell it from my apartment. [nytimes] flickr - my fotolog    back to top - home the contents of this website are intended for entertainment purposes only. i do not assume responsibility for linked content, i just probably find it interesting. if you have a comment or would like to voice an opinion, please write to toby at tobyspinks.com.

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