AJ's Online Journal

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This is kinda funny? Well I'll tell you what's not funny. Killing strippers! Strippers are people too. Naked people who maybe willing to pleasure you for a price negotiated behind the curtain of a VIP room. Besides there's no need to kill them because most of them are already dead inside.
-Peter Griffin

Stars in their multitude

I was watching Eddie Murphy's "Raw" the other night and remembering how funny he actually was. That has to be one of the top 5 stand-up routines of all times. Don't worry... I'm not going to make you do a top 5 again. I spent the evening reflecting and wondering what exactly happened to the brilliance that used to be Eddie Murphy. Don't get me wrong he still does a few funny things. Shrek comes to mind in recent history, but he's definitely not as dominant and definitely not as money as he once was. But I don't blame him. Doesn't it seem that all youthful greats just fade out? And not just in comedy but music as well. Pretty much anything that requires the artist to be close to the pulse of the people. I think when you get older, more financially secure, get married, and have kids your lifeline to Joe public is severed. You no longer know what people find funny or what music will be the next big thing. I think this is why Madonna has been on top for so long. She was a life long party girl that was always in the scene and never lost contact. That is until she had a baby... now things appear to be fading out. Which reminds me of something, did anyone see Jerry Seinfeld's documentary "Comedian"? Here's a 50 year old guy just coming off a huge successful TV run and could easily pull a Johnny Carson and disappear, but doesn't. What does he do? He hits the lowly stand-up comic circuit and tries to work up a new routine. Going back to his roots and the things that made him want to be a comedian to start with. I think this is a very admirable thing to do. It's definitely a way to keep that connection to the American public. I think until more of our favorite comedians and musicians follow his example we will continue to see them just disappear into oblivion. Which finally brings me to my main question, "Is it better to go out on top or just fade away?" You tell me...

The East India Club

So last night was spent hobnobbing with Ivy League Alumni at a very prestigious Gentleman's Club. Sounds like something I would enjoy doesn't it? Well, honestly it wasn't that bad. As soon as I was able to blur out the sea of guys with blue blazers and red power ties it was much easier to swallow. It was reminiscent of a high school debate tournament... minus the pile of brief cases. I'm sure my ability to blur that out was in conjunction with the amount of wine I consumed. It seemed that I had a waiter over each shoulder. Now I know how women feel in a bar. Only I wasn't expected to put out. Or was I? Every time I would take a drink someone was filling it up again. I can't exactly say how much wine I drank, but I had in the neighborhood of 355 refills. I did feel a little out of place, though. Everyone would walk around and look at your name tag to see what school you went to. Since I didn't attend an Ivy League School mine just said "me not smart". I don't know how many times I said, "Leave me alone. I'm with the Penn graduate". I talked to one guy who was a year younger than me who graduated Harvard Medical, decided he didn't want to be a Doctor, so he went to Oxford and got his Law degree. It must really suck not knowing what to be. "Should I be a Doctor or a Lawyer? Geez life sucks!" I guess all things considered it wasn't a bad evening. I mean how often do I get to wear a suit? And this brings up an odd question, "If you buy a suit on your birthday does it make it your birthday suit?" I mean I would hate to think that I went out last night in just my birthday suit. Hmmmm.... very curious. :) Anyhoo, that was my evening and so now I leave you with a photo I recently took of St. Pauls here in London. Enjoy!

Old School Top 5

Matt had the idea of doing a top five of past era's so I am here to post mine. Plus by doing this I don't have to write a whole lot, though, it did take a few minutes to dig up the pictures. So, heres my list if you are at all interested...

At #1 Audrey Hepburn(1961)- Between Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady this super thin actress was one of the most beautiful women that graced the silver screen.

At #2 Shirley Jones (1956)- During the musical Carousel she looked her best, but her voice in Music Man and Oklahoma was enough to win me over.

At #3 Carrie Fisher (1977)- Now I know some people would say 1981 when Return of the Jedi came out but not me. I know Princess Lea in that Jabba slave outfit was hot and all, but I always had a thing for the bun type hair-do.

At #4 Olivia Newton-John (1978)- I know I have a trend of musical actress's going here, but Grease was the word and Sandy was hot!

At #5 Sally Field (1977)- Smokey and the Bandit had it all... a black Trans Am, a cool Burt Reynolds, fast car chases, and a young hot Sally Field.

So, there ya go.... objective complete. Once again it was fun and I'm very interested in seeing everyone elses list. I know Nikki wants Sir Anthony Hopkins but I'm interested in knowing what exact year? So think on that....I'm outta here!

Holiday at Uncle Will's

So, this past weekend Julie and I rented a car and headed to Stratford Upon Avon for a little R&R. This was actually the first time that I drove over here. And just so ya know... I didn't crash and kill myself or anything. I know you were probably wondering. :) The hard part wasn't the fact that you sat on the right side of the car, or that you drove on the wrong side of the road, or even the fact that you had to shift with your left hand, it was those damn English roundabouts! You know like in the movie Vacation where they get stuck going around and around, "Look kids... Big Ben... Parliament!" Well, they are that freakin' confusing! You get on and it's VERY unclear where exactly you should get off. It's like driving into a major intersection, getting out of your car, spinning yourself in circles really fast, getting back in your car, and driving in the first direction you can find. Luckily I never went around more than twice, but it took me 2 days of driving to get comfortable with them. But I must say I drove pretty darn well. But anyway, we spent Saturday visiting Shakespeare's house, his burial site, and just walking around. That night we went to see The Royal Shakespeare company perform "Beauty and the Beast". And no it wasn't Disney! It was a very unique performance. It had a very old school story telling format, complete with a Greek Chorus. It was actually a very good production. The next day we got up and drove to historic Warwick. Say that ten times in a row. :) Warwick has this really cool medieval castle that we went and explored. It was built somewhere around 1350 making it's like... old and stuff. On the way back to London we stopped at a Super Walmart!! How odd is that? Since the British like to think that they are completely "unique" they call it ASDA. Just a little Wal-Mart trivia for ya. ;) But anyhoo, the weekend was fun, but glad to be over. Like after all great road trips I came home and crashed. I hope everyone had a good weekend or Valentines Day... however you wish to look at it? Here's some pictures Julie and I shot... enjoy! Talk to you soon....

Me getting ready to drive and Shakepeare's burial place.

Julie at Shakespeare's house.

Historic Warwick castle.

Top 5

Ok, yesterday Matt borrowed a little chapter from Friends by posting his top 5 celebrities that if he was ever married ...still be allowed to have sex with. Ya know if they wanted to and all... I'm not promoting rape here! Ya can't just make a list and then go out and do it. Or can you? :p In any case, always in good humor, I decided to follow with my own list. Now I chose not to pick anyone on Matt's list just because... ya know.... it's not healthy competing who gets to be with Christina Aguilera because, ya know, that would be all bad and stuff. So without any more babble here they are....

1. Jewell- Anyone that has known me for the past 5 years knows that I have always had a thing for her. I guess I have always liked stringy blondes and the fact that she lived in a Van down by the uhh ocean makes her even more special. Plus her songs....her voice... thats all I have to say.

2. Kristin Davis- This is another that has been on my list for a while. I can't explain why... I just think she's a beautiful, girl next door, cute kinda girl I guess. Plus she reminds me of a girl I had a huge crush on growing up. That's probably it as well...

3. Portia De Rossi- Yet another that has been on my list for a while. I promise the next two are completely new. All I can say.... she's hot! And she's an Aussie! If Matt gets Nicole... then this is a damn good back up.

4. Claire Forlani- She is new to the list. I recently saw her in Boys and Girls and thought she was really hot. The light eyes and dark hair... always a plus.

5. Elisha Cuthbert- In the show 24 she sparkles as much as she does in her photos. She didn't make Matt's list and she barely made mine. I usually count off for completely unnatural blondes, but I made an exception in this case.

And that is my top 5!! I do reserve the right to change, edit, remove, add new people at least once a year. Of course this is all out of good fun... and I'm sure these ladies would be overwhelmed with joy to know they made my list. I guess I'll just keep this to myself... well myself and everyone else that reads this. If you are at all curious about Matt's list... go check for yourself. Oh and I will be on holiday in Statford this weekend so no bloggin' until Monday.

Guess what?

So, somewhere between my last topic and a conversation I had with Matt a month ago I decided to try and go back to school. Ok, shocking, I know. Especially after being banned from all higher educational institutions in the state of Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. But come on... who considers Missouri a state anyways? But as usual I digress... so I found a really cool MA Film program at the London Film School. A 2 year program that enables you to make a film every quarter and during the second year you work in a 35mm format! Oddly enough its a not for profit school so all of your tuition goes to equipment and film stock. I am pretty excited about it. I hope I can not only get in, but manage to get even MORE Stafford loans to pay for it. The great thing about that is if I borrow more money I don't have to pay back what I already owe. Its a weird sort of economical system that I don't really understand, but if it keeps those damn MOHELA people off my back I'm excited. So, I go on a tour of the school on Thursday and figure out everything I need to get accepted. Anyhoo, thats my big excitement for today. So I will now leave you with this excerpt from The Family Guy.
Meg(To Death)- How about kill everyone prettier than me?
Death- Ehhh, that would leave just England.

Talent vs. Uniqueness?

This weekend was designated “Art weekend” in A.J. world. I went to seven galleries and two museums over 2 days. Needless to say I am a bit over cultured for a few weeks. I did, however, come across a really cool Philp Guston show at the Royal Academy. A wonderful retrospective show of the artist’s life work. It was actually the first time I had ever seen some of his early work. Being able to see his artistic progression through life brought an interesting question to mind. What is more important, talent or uniqueness? Guston started out mimicking the other great artists of his time. As seen below he painted a very Picasso like painting at the age of seventeen. Early on he exhibited a very strong talent for detail and imagery. A very strong style with a very realistic view of subject matter. This, in my opinion, is when he showed the greatest of talent. In his 30’s he broke away from this style and joined the impressionist movement. For the next decade or so he stayed true to this movement, but because he felt he wasn’t doing anything unique he broke away once again and created his own “style”. A uniqueness that included a cartoonish stylized art that expressed his own views of the world and everything around him(as seen below). Now I know all of the great “Art Critics” would hang me for this, but I think he did achieve his own voice in the world of art, but had to sacrifice his own true talent to do so. Now don’t get me wrong, I think his later works were great in their own measure, but at too great of a cost. I guess there are a lot of very talented artists out there and to climb the ladder of the art world you need to stand out. But at what cost? And is it truly worth it? I guess I am sort of going through the same thing with my photography. I’m very bored with it because it isn’t anything truly unique. Now do you sacrifice what you are good at to achieve something more unique or do you just plug away and hope someone notices you for what you are? I guess you could pose this question for almost anything. I think it’s a very interesting question though. As in most cases, I can see both sides so please tell me what you feel are more important, talent or uniqueness?

Philip Guston

Hold'Em Poker

I have been preparing for our annual Vegas trip this week by practicing what everyone goes to Vegas to do..... lose some money! This years designated game for me is Texas Hold'em poker. I'm very excited to actually sit down at a table with friends, have a drink, and hopefully win some money! I know that probably won't happen, but just to prepare myself I'm reading, "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones. So far I'm just learning about hand odds and such. Ya know... math and stuff. This part isn't fun, but I have been going online to practice and I have noticed a little difference in my playing. I guess the hard part for me is the fact that gambling is fun, and to win you have to teach yourself to not play so much. A good hand is only as good as your position in the table, the number of players involved in that hand, and how much money is in the pot. It breaks down what hands to play and not play in VERY specific circumstances. A lot to learn actually, but still fun! I'm actually playing online as I write this. Another thing about this game... you fold a lot if you want to win. My old roommate Seva just got back from Vegas and he said he folded 62 straight times at one point. He still managed to win 100 bucks though. Thats a very good thing about this game... you can play for a long time on very little money. Thats the key.... little money. Anyhoo, Vegas on my birthday looks to be very cool. I guess I will keep practicing... as I would suggest my fellow Vegas goers to do! I will drag you to the Mirage poker room at least once! From what I know... they have the cheapest poker table on the strip. So if you haven't played Hold'em before I would suggest playing.... it's fun! Play for free at pokerroom.com and I'm not even a spokesman. :)

Mmmmmm Vodka...

So very sorry for not writing this past weekend. It was Julie's birthday so we had a weekend full of festivities. Friday I made her dinner. Yes, I realize I am the one who wanted praise for actually cooking an omelet a few months ago, but I actually cooked the whole freakin' meal! We had steak with this portobello-stilton cheese sauce, green beans with bacon and onions, candied yams (because I like 'em), and for desert... creme brulee. Actually it was very tasty.... if I do say so myself... and well, I do! :) Saturday we went and had lunch at this very posh restaurant called, The Ivy. That too was very tasty. Saturday night we had a martini party with about 20 of Julies friends. We went through 6 bottles of Vodka! Assuming everyone had equal amounts, which we didn't, but that would be about 11 shots of vodka each! Julie passed out about midnight. I managed to defy my age by staying up to the end (3:30am). To be honest I wasn't even that drunk! I felt like a champ! Though, crawling out of bed the next day at 1:00pm to go eat Dim Sum with friends was VERY difficult. ;) Sunday night was the Super Bowl with Chili and beer. Mmmmmmmmm beeer. The game didn't come on TV until 11:00pm our time so it was a late night.... again. Whatta game though! Monday was more recuperating and today I managed to finish updating my web page. Go check it out...if you haven't already. Anyhoo, that should get ya caught up... I'm off to grab dinner. Talk at ya later, yo!

And whats the big deal? Like you haven't seen a breast before?