It's MIMIC Time Baby!!!

Alright folks, I know what you're all thinking:  "It's Monday, and thank God because I need some MIMIC's!!!!!!!"  Actually, probably not at all, and by probably I mean definitely, but still, mikechop has gotta truck on and continue to strive for blawshome status.  Or, as the wise Bettly has said on many an occasion: "Onward, and upward!!!!"

The first Mimic might seem a little random at first, but don't be scared and go ahead and give it a chance.  It can pretty much be summed up in one little hyphenated word:  Mimi-siku.

How glorious was that clip right thurr??  I mean, other than the fact that he was so scantily clad that it was kinda awkward at times (especially when he's sitting on top of the Statue of Liberty), it really is a great throwback to a terrible movie (what???).  Plus, "Mimi-siku" is so fun to say.  Just try it a few times and tell me it's not catchy and amazing.  I double dog dare you.

Mimic numero deux is comin at ya courtesy of one Jeffrey Vander-krizzle.  I say courtesy of the big man because he was the one responsible for yoinking the January 22 issue of RollingStone magazine from 30 Rock that contained the article I ended up reading and now posting for you all to feast your eyes on.  A link to the article by Sabrina Rubin Erdely is here.

The article chronicles the story surrounding a Hammonton, New Jersey High School student (Jason Eickmeyer) and his relationship with one of the school's Gym teachers (26-year-old Traci Tapp).  It began when he was just 15, continued throughout his time in high school, and by his own admission, really messed him up.

Erdely points out how this story is representative of a greater trend that we are increasingly seeing in the news and police blotters:

"In the span of a single week last year, three female teachers were arrested for sleeping with male students - and that was just in Tampa, Florida... Those arrests stole the spotlight from married English teacher Jennifer Mally, 26, who that same week pleaded guilty in Arizona for her affair with a 16-year-old, often conducted in the back of her Nissan Xterra.  Two months earlier, Rebecca Bogard, a 27-year-old science teacher in Mississippi, allegedly seduced a 15-year-old in her Jaquar with plates that read GRRRRR... Scadalous as those cases were, they were followed by more arrests - notably that of Julie Pritchett, 34, a teacher in Alabama accused of seducing eight members of the high school baseball team."

On a quick sidenote, how fitting is it that it was in an Xterra and that the license plate read grrrrr????  Also, EIGHT players??!!?!?!?!

Mimic number 3 is all thanks to Wolfy, who sent along this hilarious LOST video.  If you are a fan of the show, you will love it.  If you've never seen the show, then you're an idiot.

Watching this video with the guy's repeated desperate calls to his friend ("Dude, was that a dinosaur?!?!?!  What is it?!?!  Four seasons later you don't know?!?"  "What's in the hatch?!"  "They took Walt!?!?" and on and on) was absolutely classic and reminiscent of my LOST viewing experiences.  While becoming slightly more exasperated each time, his friend tries to remain patient, echoing, "Just watch."  There was really nothing quite like annoying the hell out of Wolfy as Phil and I trucked through 3 seasons of LOST with him and asked him most/all of these same questions.  "They've GOTTA be in purgatory!!!!"  Great find there Wolfy.

Mimic number 4 is the song "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers.  I know you're probably thinking that doesn't make sense, but listen to it 2 or 10 times and you'll start to feel me on this one.  You can also watch the awesome Nike commercial with this song here.

You know what, now that I'm taking it there, Mimic number 4 is going to be expanded to include a playlist consisting solely of the following songs on repeat, until you lose your mind (just like me):

1.  "All These Things That I've Done"  -  The Killers

2.  "Long Division"  -  Death Cab For Cutie

3.  The theme song from LOST, aka "Life and Death" as heard here: LOST theme

4.  "Trust Me"  -  The Fray

5.  The theme from the movie Dragonheart, as heard here

and finally...

6.  "All Your Base Are Belong To Us"

Ok get after it. Live it, love it, chop it.  Cheers.

Monday's Insane Most Interesting Chops

I'm hoping to start a few weekly topics here on "Whatever You Like."  So, with that in mind, I'm going to go ahead and kick it off with a little subject entitled: "Monday's Insane Most Interesting Chops," or "Mimic's" for short.  In my opinion, it's pretty self-explanatory, but just in case you're not following me, it will include random tidbits I come across or that are sent to me that I deem worthy of viewing by all my loyal followers (or by my not-so-loyal followers... you know who you are).

The first Mimic came to me via email from Moms.  It deals with an experiment conducted by Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten in which he explores how one's environment changes people's perception of quality.  More specifically, "he enlisted renowned violinist Joshua Bell, a winner of the Avery Fisher Prize for outstanding achievement in classical music who regularly undertakes over 200 international engagements a year, to spend part of a morning playing incognito at the entrance to a Washington Metro station during a morning rush hour."

I bet you're thinking, "Wow, that's a pretty interesting idea!  I wonder what happened..."  Well, that's why this is my first Mimic ever!  

Well I'll tell you what happened.  Joshua Bell played six classical pieces for about 45 minutes on his 1713 Stradivarius violin (which only cost him a mere $3.5 million...), earning $32.17 from 27 of the 1,097 people who passed by.  Seven people stopped to listen.  One of them recognized Mr. Bell.

Now, sad as this may be, I'll admit that my first reaction after reading this story was, "Whoa!  $32.17 in only 45 minutes is pretty damn good for a street performer!"  I guess this speaks to my current economic situation.  However, I will say that part of my amazement was that, even though he is one of the best violinists in the world, when I began reading about this experiment I originally thought he probably wouldn't earn much of anything.  When I'm on my way to work I usually have my headphones on, and I'll admit that I don't usually enjoy the garbage that most subway "musicians" have blaring from their speakers.  Add to that the fact that probably 25-50% of the time it's a touch-and-go situation and I don't have time to dilly dally and soak up the ambience of the subway and its musicians, regardless of how good or bad they might be.  How sad is it that I would most likely pass up or barely pause to watch a great performer if it meant I was going to be late for an NBC studio tour???  Geeeeeeez....  I mean, that is just downright wrong, in addition to being sad.

So, to conclude this Mimic, I think the important thing to think about is this:  What's really important in life?  Being 10 minutes late to another day at the office, or enjoying something beautiful that you might not get another chance to see and appreciate?  Obviously there's a balance here as there is with anything in life, but I hope that in the future I don't get too caught up in my own daily troubles, worries and work to appreciate the little things in life.

The second Mimic was sent along to me from Patches, and while I have no idea if it's true, I found it hilarious and at least worthy of a quick read.  It's an Amazon book review of the book "The Promise."  I don't want to ruin the surprise, so check it out here.

How great is that??  And the comments are priceless...

"Does every copy of the book come with a free 'xxxx'?"

"Every book you get in prison does."

Alright, I realize these Mimics might have been a little lacking, but don't worry, there's nowhere to go but up.  I'm just setting myself up for success by making your giving you low expectations for each weekly Mimic post.  Cheers everybody.

Gettin' Back on that Horse

Alright, if you read my blog, you've probably noticed that it has sucked lately.  It's hard not to suck when you don't write anything.  Well, with this post I'm triumphantly announcing "I'm Back" to the blogging world, just like Jordan did to the NBA back in the day.  Now all I need to do is win a few titles to bring some serious legitimacy to this announcement...

And besides, I've written out a list of New Year's Resolutions (which I've actually never done before), and writing on my blog more is one of them.  (Check.)  So I guess in addition to being quite cathartic, this post is also helping me achieve a goal.  Wooooo!!!!

I had today off, so instead of it being a "case of the Monday's" it was a "case of the sleep in and then walk around New York's."

I took this opportunity to go explore Chinatown.  Except for one minor detail... I didn't actually end up doing that.  Funny how plans can change suddenly--When I got off the train at the City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge stop I decided I wanted to take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Although extremely touristy and fairly cliche (I don't know how to make my computer make that little symbol above the 'e', so get over it), this was a worthwhile journey.  I enjoyed walking along with the cold air in my face, hood up and music on (although not quite the same as having the top down and screaming out money in the bank, I still probably looked pretty sweet).  The view of the city wasn't spectacular, but it was still pretty cool since I was there as the sun was going down, so I got to see most of the buildings light up and fireworks go off in the night sky.*

Lots of other stuff has happened since my last post, so here are a few events worth taking note of:

1.  I was lucky enough to get home for a few days at Christmas and see my family and some great friends.  Although it was way too short of a trip (having to travel back to New York on Christmas Day kinda sucked), it was still really fun and awesome to see everyone.

2.  Going hand in hand with this, we had an HC Swim Reunion that was pretty well attended at George's house (Josh, I can't believe you blew us off!  Sh'mon now.).  It was amazing to see Skyler, Dave, Jarred, Ryan, Paul, Bobo, Stephan, J.D., Katie, Patty-O, Jeff, Nili and not George and to catch up with everybody and see what they're all up to.  It was especially cool to see Mr. Ryan Johnson and Mr. Jarred Caldwell, as it had been extremely long since we last hung out and Ryan now lives in Cambodia.

3.  I guess going hand in hand with #'s 1 and 2, I went to Molly's Debutante Ball while home.  As much as I don't want any guys to ever look at her I must say she looked lovely and we had a blast dancing like idiots.

4.  2008 Ended.

5.  2009 Began.

6.  MC Leezy and DJ Steez Choppa spit mad rhymes on multiple occasions and it was blawshome.  "3C, 6A, 8H!!!"  "You can en-vy me!! I work at N-B-C!!!"

7.  Saw Seven Pounds.  3/5 stars

8.  Saw Marley and Me.  3.5/5 stars

9.  Saw The Wrestler.  4.5/5 stars

10.  Saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  4/5 stars  "Seven..."

11.  I received a mini chopper (Choppaaaa 4!!!!!!) for Christmas and flew it around my apartment!!!

12.  I finished my first assignment.  Woot!  (Corp Comm I miss thee!  Except I don't miss getting up at 4:30 in the AM.)

13.  I got denied from my first assignments.  The Agency and Morning Joe, I will try again next time.

14.  I gave one of the best tours of my Page career on December 31, despite nearly blowing chunks in makeup.

Welp, that's all I can think of for now, although I know I'm leaving some stuff out.  I've been debating writing reviews for all those movies, but I've been jaded on the blogging...  But who knows now, maybe I will post those in the near future.  Keep yo eyes peeled and yo ear to the grindstone!  Cheers.

*  There were no fireworks.  I just put that in to see if anyone was reading/to jazz it up a little.