Scrubs

I assume alot and maybe you do too. Nurses wear those different colored 'scrubs'. Some have designs or colors, many are blue or green and seem to be made of cotton and kinda baggy like pajamas. I figured they got the term 'Scrubs' because that was what you changed into right before surgery and you scrubbed the crap out of your hands and arms like they always do on TV.

Philadelphia is home to many many large hospitals, and alot of the nurses who staff those facilities live in my neighborhood. You see these people at littleleague games, wrestling matches, Diners, and Barbeques wearing their scrubs. They wear them into food stores, on the train, and out in front of the building for a smoke.

I understand it's a uniform like everybody else has, but I thought the idea was to change into them just at the hospital so that you reduce the pathogens going into and coming out of that medical environment.

I'm not a germ freak so I'm not bothered by it other than the realization that I had the complete wrong impression about this. Did they used to do that, or did I get that idea from TV? Sounds to me like a good idea if they did do it.

Wing Bowl 13

She thinks I'm Ben Afleck
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

I dont think I posted, how the Wing Bowl went. It was pretty freaking insane. Oh, yeah, Wing Kong did really well eating 66 Wings in the first round and just missing the Second round. Here's a shot of me with a 'Wingette' which is French for 'Stripper'. They were the girls who brought the wings to the contestants. This particular Wingette happened to win the Wingette competetion...I'm guessing because she is very good at serving wings?!?!?


Wing Kong's Homepage

Dork with an Ipod

I bought one of these ishuffle things after scorning those around me that have had them. Their pompous smiles as they nod their heads to unknown music on the train make me crazy. Now I too place the iconic white earbuds in my head. It's only the size of a pack of gum, and weighs less. The controls are simple...very simple.

I love the stupid thing and it has quickly become a permanent fixture with me. Like my watch, my pda, and my wallet, i gotta have it with me. It's so easy to use, and the itunes software is written so well, that I cant help built gush guiltily about my purchase.

The sound quality is excellant, but the earphones slip out too much when I'm walking. I'm researching earphones with that metal band over your head. They sell an armband that will afix it to your arm so it wont get in the way when I lift ot jog. Despite marketing it as a random MP3 player, that is only a feature. It plays your music in the order you designate in your song list. I have the bottom rung version that still has an impressive 512MB of space. Typically it holds about 115 songs or so, which is 3x the music I need each day. Another nice thing is that after you turn it off it will pick up exactly where you left off, mid-song. This opens the door to 'books on tape'....another thing to obsess about.....

I'm already developing playlists for different moods, and downloading music every chance I get. My kids are trying to swindle it out of me but I gnash my teeth at them. They will have to scrounge their own $99 together for this purchase. I want them to invest their own dough so they will respect it and take care of it.

I'm a tech guy, and I have used a MAC for 15 years but have a PC as well. I dont however buy all of the BS that comes out of the Apple PR machine. The ishuffle however, it an elegant simple product, and finally at a resonable price. It's a gateway drug for a more robust ipod, and ipods are gateway drugs for Mac Computers. Apple is finally getting their shit together and will have some stability and Market Share for years to come.

"Today I was called a Retard, by a Retard"

was what she said when I turned out the light. I laughed for a full minute, and never found out why.

"The World is My Toilet!"

was the pronouncement my 8 year old makes at the table during our Valentines Diner. He is immediatley shot with one of those old school roll cap guns that my wife had bought all of them with their candies. Bits of burnt red paper fell onto their plates as a fullscale three way shoot-out errupts between my boys. They are laughing histerically and firing as fast as they can. Sparks and smoke fly out of the tops of the cheap plastic guns. I note that they hold the guns palm down like they do in the 'Gansta' Movies & Videos.

I look up from my Chinese Food and give a no-hearted
"knock it off..."
I'm laughing as hard as they are

Golden Dragon has a smoky flavor to their LoMein so when it mixes in the air with the gunpowder it becomes very interesting.

I can remember a thousand moments smelling burnt gunpowder. Endless hot days, taping a rock onto an unrolled strip of caps, making buildings out of popsicle sticks and bring them down with firecrackers, firing my Dad's .22 rifle up at the farm.

I hope that someday a million years from now they will smell gunpowder again and think back to this moment. Maybe they'll order some LoMein for Dinner that night too.

All that you love will be carried away.

This is the title of a short story by Stephen King. The story is about a traveling salesman sitting in a hotel room about to kill himself. The story wasnt bad, but I found the title to be profound

Some of my compulsions

This entry is inspired by an article on the following blog
You Are A Cog.: Compulsion, Part One

I dont think my compulsions are as interesting as Birdy's, but maybe somebody will get a laugh. I'm not even sure if all these are compulsions...some are just quirks.

* If we are leaving the house as a family, I have to be the last one out the door. Even though these people go in and out of the house all day when I'm gone, when we leave together, I'm afraid they may forget to fully close the backdoor, and the dogs will get into the backyard and bark at the neighbors the whole time we are gone. If someone leaves is still in the house, I'll go back in and make sure the back is fully shut and then wait until they get into the car.

* I cant swallow pills. I've never been able to this. Even the tiniest of pills I cant swallow. I can try to sneak it into food, or swallow water really fast, but my mind wont let it go down. I used to spend 20 minutes trying to swallow a pill and it would completely dissolve and I would be stressed. Sometime in High School I decided I would chew all my pills from now on, and I've been completely happy ever since. The irony for people that know me is that I dont really chew my food. I kinda take a bite and throw it back.

In college I used to test drugs for a pharmaceutical company. They would give me a pill, a coated pill, and a caplet...all of the same medicine, and then test my blood and urine every hour to see how fast my body absorbed each of them. I would pretend to swallow the pill and then chew it when I the nurse walked away. I probably completely skewed their study!

I can tell whats in most over the counter drugs by the taste now. Ibuprophen and Tylenol are tolerable Dont ever chew tetracycline, it's the worst tasting thing on the planet. I actually like the taste of Aspirin.

* I love the smell of gasoline

* I crack my neck every 10 minutes or so. I know exactly when I started too. I was in Mrs Jahn's math class in 7th grade (sometime in January 1984) and I twisted my neck and it cracked and felt really good....I kept trying to recrack it and havent stopped since.

I'm sure I have a few more that are glaring but I cant think of them just yet....

Get ready for more Red States.....

Yahoo News Storya>

Friday Night Star

Friday Night Star
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

This was taken during halftime at a Faculty Student Middle School Basketball Game. It's a poor district in South Jersey and most of the kids come from a single parent home. The 8th Grade goes on a trip to NYC every year, but all of the $160 has to be fundraised because most of the families cant swing it.
Her name was drawn out of a hat and she was told she'll get $50 for her trip from the principals poket if she could make a 3-Pointer, much further than a foul shot.

She was like every 14 year old girl ever, embarrassed to have her name called, and excited to maybe win alot of money. She had that big adolescant nose that didnt fit her face yet, braces, and too much eye makeup.

She started crying before she even was given the ball. You could see her push that ball with everything she had just to make it far enough....tears still running down her face, and the crowd completely silent.....

She freakin made it in....

Chewing Ritilin, Drinking Coffee

Lucky to have Lucky

Lucky
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

This is my 3 legged dog Lucky. We got him 2 years ago as a rescue. His name was originally "Buddy" but I liked the lowbrow irony of a 3 legged dog named "Lucky" He didnt seem to mind the name change and took to our family very quickly. I like him so much I'm thinking of lopping off a leg of my other dog and giving it to him.

The lady at the shelter didnt know a whole bunch of his history but their was talk of him being thrown out of a window and never taken to the hospital after his leg was broken. He's very protective of his remaining limbs and wont let anyone cut his toe-nails.

The reality is that he's damaged goods, not in his body but in his head because of his former family. I've figured out a few thing about them.
* They kept him in the basement. In 2 years Lucky has never gone into my basement even to look. I've put the other dog down there when there was company, but if you value your fingers you never force Lucky to do anything.

* The man of the house used to abuse him and the kids. Despite how well I get along with him, anytime I hug the kids he gets very uncomfortable and nervous. If anyone else approaches the kids when I'm not in the room, he will get between them and bite them.

* He used to be kicked. If I move my foot too fast when I'm near him, he'll yelp.

* He just doesnt like some people. We have a friend who is an animal lover and nice lady. The first time she walked in our house, Lucky showed his teeth and growled at her. Did the same thing for her youngest son....they must smell alike. Although he tolerates them being around, he still doesnt like them.

Through some research I'm guessing that he's a Chinook. It's a type of sled dog. In the winter he cant be outside enough. When it's snowing he loves to sit in it and watch the sky as the snow falls. 5 minutes after you let him in, he wants to go out again.

He's missing his front passenger side leg, and you'd think he'd have a hard time getting around, but he can run faster than my Chesapeke, and pulls harder on the chain than him too. His 3 remaining legs are extremely muscular and he can jump up on our high bed with ease.

Despite his overprotectiveness of this kids, he's probably the best dog I ever had. He's very sweet and loving to the family and is fairly bright. If you talk directly to him he will grumble back to you like he's trying to say something...it's a hoot!

The land of our fathers

The land of our fathers
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

This is from a trip my brother and I made to the farm my family had lived on for 200 years in Upstate New York. My great great great parents settled this land and worked the fields. Shale left over from the Glaciers keeps popping out of the ground making it difficult to farm.

My grandmother lived a town over and met my grandfather at a local swimming hole one hot day.

They are buried nearby with the rest of my ancestry. The orignial farmhouse is still there and is now the kitchen of a much bigger house that has been added to over the last 2 centuries.

My Father and his brothers would come up here every summer to stay with his Grandparents and work.

I hadnt been there for 20 years so we made a trip up last summer. We both felt like it would be the last time we ever saw the place and tried to take in as much as we possibly could.

My Uncle owns it now, and he's a complete drunken asshole, so maybe when he's dead I'll go again....but that could be a very long time...

Everybody Loves Satan

Jenna Loves Satan!(and Daddy!)
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

Bushy Loves Satan Too!!!
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

The most interesting person I've met in awhile

There's a guy at work that I completely missjudged. He's only a year out of college but is by far the best programmer I've ever met. He's waaay fast and very good at finding the simpliest solution. Most of the developers here have been working since he was born, yet he seems to have a natural instinct on how things work. I've never heard him say 'No' to a single request by anyone, he's soft spoken, polite and clean...plain looking

Now none of that is interesting, I know...I thought the same thing. Bright Kid, big deal. in the last few months I also have found out....

Twice a week he attends a special Karate class that specializes in sword fighting. They use heavy wooden sword and sometimes steel poles and practice beating the hell out of each other wearing minimal padded armor. He's completely black and blue under his shirt and tie.....ala Fight Club

He's also a photographer for a large porno website, and does CRAZY photoshoots in his basement on the weekends. Most recently doing one that had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle theme.

He's teaching himself Mandarin Chinese for some unknown reason.

Does anyone know what happened to Fiona Apple?

I have Tidal, and that other one with the 4 paragraph title. I still enjoy listening to them, but I dont think she's even alive anymore. Remember how much press she got as this prodigy who wrote her own songs and music and bla blah blah? She was pretty good...is she retired now at the age of 18?

rediculous

rediculous
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

do you BELIEVE this guy? My cousin is dying in the sand in Iraq and he doesnt feel a lick of guilt over the lies he has told to get there. Haliburton is having a multi-billion dollar boost in proffits though...go figure.....

The Wing Kong Press Release

LOCAL MAN EARNS A BERTH IN WING BOWL

Drexel Hill resident Wing Kong (real name Micah Collins) is competing in renowned chicken wing eating contest in front of 20,000+ at Wachovia Center-- and millions of listeners on WIP-AM

WHAT: Drexel Hill resident Wing Kong (real name Micah Collins) will
represent his Delaware County community on an unusual stage -- 610WIP's
13th Annual Wing Bowl, which will be held n Friday, Feb. 4 at the Wachovia Center. Wing Kong has taken a brash approach to the event -- "I want other eaters to be on notice that the footsteps they hear are mine.

QUALIFYING STUNT: Wing Kong qualified on Dec. 9 by eating 2.5LBS of
Liverwurst in 7 minutes on live radio. The eating stunt earned Wing Kong a berth in the 25-person competition -- one of the premier competitive eating events in the county.

ADDITIONAL FACTS:

The 6-foot, 3-inch Wing Kong decided to qualify for Wing Bowl at the
suggestion of his work colleague and trainer, Andy Kaufmann of Hunterdon Valley. "One time on a lunch break I bet him that he couldn't eat a Large Pizza, he ate the pizza, and then ate my cheese steak and fries too," Kaufmann said. "I knew then that this guy had talent so I called up the radio station and told them I had a guy that could out eat anybody. I told them I had 'Wing Kong'."

Asked how one would go about training for such a unique event, Wing Kong replied that he relies on his experience as an Offensive Tackle for Wesley College in Delaware, "I've been pushing the limits all of my life," Wing Kong said. "I learned on the gridiron that you show up every day, and work as hard as you can to become the best. It is the desires and passions of the mind that force the body to reach it's potential. I intend to give this event my all, I was born for
this. God made me to eat wings"

As for where he has been training, Wing Kong practices at Wingers 814 East Lancaster Ave., Villanova, which is one of his sponsors. “I take this event very seriously. I train daily like any high level competitor would. A regular office worker couldn’t run a 26 mile marathon without extensive training, it could kill them. That same person shouldn’t try to eat 160 wings either.”

At home, Wing Kong's alter ego Micah Collins is described by his wife as "a sweet guy, and a wonderful Father to our 2 children, but when he is inspired, he is tenacious and unwavering. I don't ever think I've seen him this polarized and focused."

His feelings on the legitimacy of competitive eating as a sport: “The best sports have always been based on the primal foundations of humanity and society. Football is a simulation of warring tribes. Ball games utilize our developed hunting skills to hit moving targets. Competitive eating is an exhibition of our greatest primal drive, the need to eat.”

WING BOWL BACKGROUND (from 610wip.com)

WIP's Wing Bowl 13 will be held on Friday, February 4th at The Wachovia
Center! Grand Prize is a 2005 Suzuki Verona, valued at over $17,000,
courtesy of Matt Blatt Suzuki in Vineland, NJ.

Wing Bowl 1 aired on January 29, 1993 from the lobby of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Center City, Philadelphia.

About 150 people showed up to Wing Bowl I, and there were only two
contestants.

The Wing Bowl 11 (2003) champion was Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, who became the only Wing Bowl Champion to win four times!

The Wing Bowl 12 (2004) champion was the 99 lb. Sonya "The Black Widow"
Thomas, who ate a record 167 wings, beating four time Champion "El
Wingador"!

Since its inception in 1993, media coverage of Wing Bowl has grown to the point where every one of the major Philadelphia television stations has been at the event. The ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates all aired live reports from the event during their morning news. Features on the event have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News as well as a host of newspapers in the surrounding counties. The event has been featured on ESPN and the syndicated television shows Reel TV and the Montel Williams Show. Segments on Wing Bowl have appeared on TV newscasts in cities throughout the country. Several Wing Bowl contestants, including "El Wingador" even competed in Fox's " Glutton Bowl in the spring of 2002.

Former Philadelphia Mayor and current Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has attended and presented the winner with a "Liberty Bell" trophy at Wing Bowls II, III, IV and VI. Other dignitaries who have made appearances at Wing Bowl include former heavyweight boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb, Former 76ers President Pat Croce, Philles Manager Larry Bowa, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and more! Plus, Major League baseball umpire, Eric Gregg has been the "Commissioner" of Wing Bowl since its second year.

ATTENTION:
Wing Kong will be appearing at “Wingers” chicken wings located on 814 East Lancaster Ave., Villanova (610) 919-4338 on Friday January 21 at 4:30pm

Wing Kong is also available for demonstrations of his wing eating or training techniques. Please contact Micah Collins.

It's looking kind of Bloggy

I'm completely amazed with the Flickr site. I love going to "Everyones" and watching the images roll by. I wait for one I really like, and then click on it. I check some of what they have and then I click on their 'Favorites' It's rarely the same type of photos that THEY take! Then I click on the best photo in favorites and go to that persons site. I jump site like that until I find one without favorites...then I go back to "Everyones" to catch another wave. It's a great way to blow 20 minutes while you're waiting for someone to get back to you!

It wont be long now.....

It wont be long now.....
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

Everybody in this town is getting amped up for the Eagles/Falcons game....EVERYBODY!!!

More on Wing Kong

Wing Kong Logo
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

So the event is getting near and it's baffling how much work I've put into this silly project. The logo was some work, the press photo, writing the press release was quite abit, and I still have to alter the artwork for silkscreening, find a silkscreener, and rip the voicetrack off of "Welcome to the Jungle" and replace it with Gorilla Screams. We had a meeting on Sat nite and one guy is almost finished with the float. It's a 10 foot tall "Liberty One" (the big skyscaper in Philly) He even designed it to house a quarter keg on the inside so we can drink during the event in the Wachovia Center. We're supposed to get there at around 3am to start setting up. At that time we'll be assigned 2 'Wingettes' which are basically strippers who want to win a vacation to some island. The winner of the Wing Bowl wins a new Suzuki Car that they say is worth $17K. My guess is that you could get $9K for it if you were lucky, but hey...I mean...free car!!!

We've also got 2-3 chix in our enteurage on top of that. The remaining 6 or 7 guys either worked on it or is a sponsor. I'm almost scared for Wing Kong, in an excited kiind of way, 25,000 people will be screaming and yelling and throwing full beer cans in his general direction....who can resist Wing Kong?

Eagles & Colts, Yin & Yang Gone Wong

I'm happy that the Eagles had a good game against the Vikings yesterday. The national media has been discounting them for losing the last 2 games but fails to point out that they weren't playing any starters. The local Philly papers have been frying Andy Reid and second guessing him for sitting the starters....they would have been just as crazy if they had played them. Finally this town can settle down and brace for the big letdown next week. Personally I feel they will beat the Falcons, but then lose to the AFC champion. People around here are really burned about going to the NFC Championships for 3 years and continually losing, lots of talk of a Philly Curse.

Depressing to watch that Colts/Pats game. It's amazing that you can take one of the best offenses EVER, but they have one team they are paralyzed against. The Colts are all about speed, and the Air...you can only count on those things indoors. Make the ground mushy and your superfast receivers slow down to the same speed as the Corners. Blow Snow in your face and you have trouble getting the ball out a distance. The Pats completely took away the long ball, and then covered the line so they couldnt run. All Manning had was the short game in the middle to Stokley and Clark, and they were dropping passes left and right. I'm sad to say that unless they can clinch homefield advantage for the entire playoffs, the Colts will never get to the Super Bowl........
:(

Freaky Cool Tattoo

Tatoo #2
Originally uploaded by Dylan.

I found this in this guys blog. He says:

I never planned to tell anybody what it was or why I have it. Some people reconinzed where the text is from so I have been compromising and agreeing to talk about that one part.

Yes, it it is a will. A psychiatrist in the 1920s wrote it right before killing himself.
The tattoo reads "Car the Helen or Ray. Needs and tune up. Money to Max and Sylvia. Furniture to George plus $137 I owe him." it goes from wrist to wrist

The Birth of Wing Kong

critch_cycle
Originally uploaded by steakbellie.

This is my buddy 'Wing Kong'. He's one of the 25 contestants to be in Philly's 13th 'Wing Bowl' I took and cleaned the photo and then created and added the logo to his shirt. 25,000 people will show up to watch!!!!

I'm writing a press release now, and we have a group of guys that have been calling WIP for weeks now, talking about 'Wing Kong' Hopefully we can create some buzz before Feb 4th!

Unbelievable!

So I'm out for 25 minutes today....mostly walking in the misnamed Rittenhouse Square. I spotted no Blind people but I think thats becasue it's actually a huge circle and would be difficult for them to navigate without hitting a heavy bench.

On 18th, just half a block south of Market, I saw TWO blind people but on opposite sides of the street. Both were headed North, and were dead even like they were racing. Both Men in their 40's with sticks...one with a girl assisting....no potted plants....

The Brown Cog

You Are A Cog.: Cogs

Here's a link to an interesting article written by Birdy. It's in 4 parts so far so be sure to follow up. There is a big shitty cog at my company named David, but we'll call him 'Dave' for anononimity sake. He's a sales guy here, and fits the stereotype perfectly. I hated him almost as soon as I met him. (My first day I walked in my office and found him stealing the printer from my setup)

Dave's a big sweaty white guy from Texas. He's got a beard and a bad haircut that he slicks back to cover his bald spot. Dave likes to learn technical words and then use them incorrectly when he's trying to get the IT guys to do his work. He's bigger than most people here and likes to try to intimidate the guys who speak English as a second language....apparently he's better than them?

Machines dont run well with cogs made out of tightly packed turds. My gears are cut sharp and spin fast...they dont need to be mucked up with his shit. I wish a wooden Sabot upon him......