Lots ‘n lots o’ stuff

It’s been a little while since I did a big update and this seems as good a time as any. There’s been a ton of stuff I’ve wanted to blog about, but with everything happening it’s fallen to the wayside. So for the moment at least I’m going to ignore the goings on around me in the world to catch people up to date on what’s new with me…

dance Matt dance… aka Capoeira

For quite a while Jenny, Jo, Tina & Abby have taken Belly Dancing lessons. And they’ve gotten pretty good (heck they even taught Tony a thing or two about hip shaking). The cool thing is that not only did the girls get to learn all these funky moves, but its also great exercise! And that’s all cool. But there was nothing for us guys who wanted to dance our ways into shape without risking our masculinity. I mean I could have tried to get into belly dancing. But as stated in previous blogs, I’m already well in touch with my feminine side. No need for the help of veils & skirts.

Well I’ve finally found a solution: Capoeira. It’s an African/Brazilian Martial Art/Dance. The cool thing is we have a great teacher here in Rochester. The class is intense and laid back at the same time. Best of all it’s covered under my YMCA membership. Last night was the first class I attended. It was one hell of a work out. We were moving for over an hour without any breaks. And this wasn’t mamby pamby movement. We’re talking kicks, spins, and major knee bends all set to boomin’ Brazilian music. After about 45 minutes I even began to think that I had rhythm… at least a bit.

But there was something else that made it different. Not only were there a large number of women in the class, but that they all were hotties! This is a new thing for me when it comes to a martial art. This is not to say that women don’t practice martial arts (they do). And that’s also not to say that the women who practice martial arts aren’t easy on the eyes (a lot are). But I’m not used to having more women then men in the class. As I mentioned before Capoeira is considered a dance form as well as a martial art. That’s because the Brazilian Slaves who developed it needed to hide what they were practicing. So they disguised it as a dance (a pretty common thing with martial arts, actually). Stephan, the instructor, is pretty well known in the dance community. So a number of dance majors from schools like Brockport take the class. These girls (and guys too) were in incredible shape (far better than me). It’s a little intimidating, but I’ll suffer through it :-).

The class does have one downside right now: my legs are killing me. It was a killer workout and even after taking steps to prevent stiffness I’m really feeling yesterdays workout. But I’m going to keep with it. One day I might even be like the guys in the Capoeira video on

this page.

big willy style

Will Weaton of ST:TNG (that’s Star Trek: The Next Generation… he was the kid) has a blog. And I say more power to him. This guy, at one time, was one of the most hated people on the Net (people, it’s not his fault that his part on the show was written as the know-it-all kid). Now he’s online, pubishing his life.

Personally his site fascinates me. Not necessarily in a good way… more like a car crash way. I just can’t look away. Wil has of late perused sketch comedy as a outlet for his talents. He peppers a lot of his comic stylings into his blog. The results often come out… well… creepy. Take this passage, talking about his experience as a guest at a recent Star Trek Convention:

You know the cool thing? There are these fans who came over from Germany,

and some of them are girls, and they are HOT. And they tell me, in broken

English, how much they love me. Oh yeah, tell me some more baby. Tell daddy

how you love him.

Is it me or is hearing any celebrity (or kinda celebrity), or anyone, refer to themselves as “daddy” a little offsetting? In any case, I give Wil credit. He lays his soul pretty bare on the blog. More so than most, including myself, of us do. I wonder if that is a result of his brush with rabid fans. Trekkies have been known to be some of the most fanatical and invasive people on the planet (see the movie Trekkies for more on that). After living under that type of scrutiny I imagine that your views on privacy change. In any case, give his blog a look. You can find it here (I just wish he’d avoid referring to himself with terms like “Big Wil”…).

$#%@! Lotus Notes!!!!

Ok my original plan was to share some pictures from this past weekend in Toronto. But Lotus Notes decided to kill them. Grrrrr! I wouldn’t use the darn system if the Man didn’t force me to. *sigh*

Toronto was great, and much needed. Over two and a half days we saw 12 films! Here’s the quick run down:

• Who is Clement Tout
• Privacay
• Okie Noodling
• Fiasco
• Eat
• The American Astronaut
• Magonia
• Nosforatu (w/full orchestral accomaniment)
• Ichi The Killer
• Treed Murphy
• Hellhouse
• The Bunker

More on this will be coming very soon…

There’s no cute title and no attempt at humor; just a profound feeling of helplessness. And the knowledge that no mater what, life will always go on and move forward. For the moment, all we can do is support each other. We don’t know what the days ahead hold. But we, as a nation, as a people, and as a world have had many defining moments like these through thes years. We have shouldered seemingly insurmountable weights before and only grown stronger. I know that this time will be no different.

The innocence of three generations was shattered today. It’s clearly a new age, and that brings many events, both joyful and terrible. We have to be prepared for both. I can’t claim responsibility for the following words. But at times like this they’ve served as a reminder to me of the bigger picture.

There are moments in your life that make you, that set the course of who you’re gonna be. Sometimes they’re little, subtle moments, sometimes they’re not. Bottom line is, even if you see em coming, you’re not ready for the big moments. Nobody asked for their life to change, but it does. So what are we? Helpless puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come, you can’t help that, it’s what you do afterwards that counts. That’s when you find out who you really are.”

Give to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. And if you can donate blood (I wish I could but I need to wait another month). I pray all of your friends and love ones are safe.

Birthday Bash Part 1 – Dinner.

Last night Tina, Jenny, Abby, Aaron, Chuck and Kenn all helped me celebrate my birthday in style… Mini Golf Style! The night began at a local fast/greasy food establishment called Schaellers. Actually, let me back the train up just a bit for a little background first. My birthday was Monday, but that day was spent driving back from Long Island O.D.ing on Henry Rollins’ Spoken Word discs (that’s a subject for another blog). Thursday was chosen because it was the only day for the next few weeks we were all available. When asked if I had any requests I simply said, “Surprise me…”

So the night started at Schaellers. Most of us opted to try the Trash Plate. What’s a trash plate you ask? <time for a side track…> Here in Rochester, there is this thing known as The Garbage Plate (pictured here). Make that a “legendary thing”. I refer to it as a “Thing” because “Food” doesn’t quite cover it. The Garbage Plate, worshiped as a minor deity by countless fraternity members and college students in the Rochester area, comes in many configurations. The most popular is the “Cheeseburger Plate” featuring:

• a base of macaroni salad and home fries (baked beans or french fries can be substituted)
• 2 grade “Z” beef cheeseburgers on top of that
• 2 slices of bread on top of that
• finally a liberal topping of the “Hot Sauce”. …Ok, I need to side track here in the midst of a side track. For those of you outside of the Western NY area Hot Suace isn’t what you assume it to be (Tabasco or Red Hot). This stuff ain’t even remotely close, in fact, it really isn’t spicy hot at all. A better name would be “Magical Mystery Meat Sauce.” The Rochester Hot Sauce is basically a gravy of sorts; an unidentified ground meat with some spices and a whole lot of grease (I’m told that this is a variation on a Greek Meat Sauce).

Basically the components combine, like Voltron’s Lions, to form a pile of grease on a paper plate (sometimes blazing grease on the grill). According, to this researcher, there is at least 93 grams of fat in one serving (note: that he doesn’t factor in the Hot Sauce, which easily tips the scales past the big One-Oh-Oh). When you finish one of these suckers your paper plate can be used as a makeshift window thanks to the grease’s translucent effects. So why would anyone eat this you ask? Youth and Alcohol (lots of Alcohol) I respond. Nick Tahoe’s, the restaurant that created the Garbage Plate, is a right of passage for Teens and College Students here in Rochester. It’s become so popular that many greasy spoons around town, like Schaellers, have created their own versions. This process involves throwing the same stuff on a plate, then using a thesaurus to find word/phrase to substitute for garbage (trash, rubbish, any N*Sync album, Kenn’s Mini golf game…). Combine, shake, and *presto* a Trash Plate.</end side track>

After our dinner (and our arteries recovered), out came the cake. During this time I learned three things:

• from Tina: apparently the birthday person gets another wish when they cut the first peice of cake. I suddenly felt cheated out of 26 wishes.
• from Aaron: “gouge” can be used as a slang replacement for information. Everyone around the table found this rather sketchy. Perhaps he had gotten some bad “gouge”

Check out my haul! What great friends!

After the cake came, of course, the presents. Abby gave me a bag of awesome relaxation aids! Body Massagers & heat pads, facial masks and exfoliates, chocolate, and a copy of YM! featuring the cast of American Pie 2 and Allyson… (hmm maybe that last one was a poor choice to mention as a relaxation aid). Very cool, very useful (though didn’t really help in the let’s make Matt feel more manly category). Tina & Chuck gave me this Awesome Chinese Bowl, a sushi mat and some “Blue Balls Natural Soap” (I swear that was the name). The Soap smells really good and kicked off the theme of blue spherical objects for the rest of the night (and this has nothing to do with my current relationship situation!). I tried see if the Balls’ Soap Company had a website but gave up search after I got the results back from typing “Blue Balls Soap” into google (*shudder*). The last gift included a cool Wok Cookbook, 2 sets of good chopsticks, and some beautiful serving/soy dishes from Aaron and Jenny (I love to cook, and I already started to plan an Asian themed community meal). The photo to the above right doesn’t really do justice to any of the gifts, but it gives you an idea. After that we departed for the evening’s activity.

coming soon, part 2: Mini Golf

You’re older than you ever were and now you’re even older, and now you’re even older, and now you’re even older…

I haven’t been on the ball on updates. This past weekend I returned to my family’s home on Long Island for an all too short bit of vacation. I got back to Rochester and fell into a bit of a funk that I am only now recovering from. I also celebrated my birthday. I was born way back on September 3, 1974 (Labor Day… I’ve always had quite the sense of timing). So this past Monday I turned 27. Which is a kinda eerie year. What I mean is that a number of pop culture figures checked out at age 27 including Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain. Not that I’m planning on going anywhere, but it does cause you to stop for a moment and think.

Ok, done thinking, kodak friends are taking me out for a belated birthday celebration. I promise better blogs are on the way.

>thanks di for the title correction<