Loverboy Was On To Something...
Today felt like it was Thursday...but it's only Tuesday...
Remember that song "Everybody's Working For The Weekend"? I never really understood the significance of it until adulthood... I don't know too many people who would keep their jobs if they were to win the lottery or suddenly get a lot of money somehow. Imagine the feeling you get when you wake up on Saturday morning ~ knowing that the day is pretty much yours to do whatever you want ~ every day. Yup. That'd be pretty cool. I was feeling not-so-bad last night, watching "Prison Break"...then there was a news flash about a woman who won $27 Million. I suddenly felt this weird sinking feeling in my gut that might have been envy. Sure people will say stuff like: "Money isn't everything"...but they're usually not rich...It's just a means of justifying our circumstances...Like that whole "motion of the ocean" "magic you make with it" crap.
My main squeeze Lasagna and I would spend a lot more quality time together...
I certainly wouldn't be as stressed about stuff...
I'm not sure what point is really...I'm looking forward to Saturday night's UFC event and the inner peace that comes from watching grown men beat each other into submission or unconsciousness.
**********
I recently read Janice Dickinson's autobiography for some reason and I found it pretty interesting that she blamed her molester dad for all her failures. (He allegedly molested her sister, but not her)...But when she was successful, it was her way of proving that "rat bastard" wrong. He always told her that she'd never amount to anything...because she didn't succumb to his creepy advances...(She also admits to sort of contributing to his death by not telling the doctors what meds he required when he was admitted into the hospital...but that's another story)...
Remember "On the Waterfront" (1954)? That great exchange between Brando's character, Terry Malloy, and his brother...
Charlie: Look, kid, I - how much you weigh, son? When you weighed one hundred and sixty-eight pounds you were beautiful. You coulda been another Billy Conn, and that skunk we got you for a manager, he brought you along too fast.
Terry: It wasn't him, Charlie, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charlie, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
Charlie: Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charlie.
It's cool when you can actually pinpoint the exact incident that results in your failure...I'm still trying to figure out where it all went wrong for me...
Stay Tuned...
This message has been brought to you by the fine folks at Marlboro.
You deserve the refreshing taste of Marlboro.
Go ahead. You've earned it.
Click on Charlie to see video of him smoking.
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.
Your Pal,
Zambo.
I'd like to say that no animals were harmed in the making
of the above video, but I fear that's not entirely true.
posted by Zambo at 11:07 PM
8 Comments:
Zambo,
I was going to post some of the following on my own blog, but I decided to post them in your comments section, where they will receive a much wider readership. (Ba-dump TSSSSSSS!) (Isn't that called a rim-something?)
Anyhoo...
I had an activity with my students the other day. It was meant to be a warmup. I asked them, "Imagine you won $10 million dollars. What would be your short-term and long-term plans?" It is a telling insight into the Japanese personality (and the degree of brain-washing here) that none of my students said that they would quit school or NOT get a job. 90% of them couldn't think of anything to do with the money except "invest it" or "buy stocks". Jeezus Christ. Talk about a complete non-starter of a lesson. So anyway, now I'm starting to think that there is something wrong with me where, instead of focusing on reality and working for a living, I am obsessed with winning the lottery and somehow escaping my financial woes that way. Argh.
Next point - r.e. blaming other people for our problems: I realized something rather interesting the other day. I was always a skinny little kid, up until about age 7 or 8 when I started eating ravenously for some reason. It was then that I acquired my current beer-belly (although back then it was a cookie-belly). Everyone (myself included) links this event to me having my tonsils out around this time. Stunningly, no-one (myself included) ever noticed that my parents got divorced around this time, too. Now, I'm not trying to put the blame for my obesity on my parents but ... oh wait, yes I am. I think I learned at an early age to associate food with comfort and acceptance, especially since my father was such a stern disciplinarian who always got angry at my brother and me if we didn't clean off our plates, and often forced us to stay at the dinner table until we were finished. On the other hand, he was never the sort of person to say, "Don't overeat, you two! It's not healthy!" He was old-school and was always urging us to eat more. So amazing that I never linked those facts together before...
I have always tried to pretend that my parents' divorce didn't really affect me, but I am sure that it has contributed to some of my emotional imbalances and general lack of self-confidence coupled with a crippling perfectionism and fear of failure. Hmmmm. I think I need some counselling... perhaps I need a "life coach". Preferably somebody rich and considerably younger than me who has no personal problems of their own...
Keep it up, monkey man.
You read Janice Dickinson's autobiography? Yak! She didn't sucuumb to her creepy father's advances? Well, I guess that means her sister wanted it? WTF? May I repeat WTF?
Anyway, if I won the lottery, I wouldn't quit work either. I kind of like having a purpose. I rather like my job too. The first thing I would do is pay off my student loans. I'd invest, of course. And buy the 'rents a van that they can load my mom's wheelchair in. Then I'd go shopping.
Now that I'm dreaming about the lottery, how am I supposed to focus on working?! Yak!
Hey Buddy.
I believe the term you were looking for is rim shot (Tony Soprano style)...But as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has demonstrated, yelling "Rim job!" can be quite funny too.
I hope that all is well in that strange land...The kids in your class are still relatively young, so life hasn't kicked them in the nuts yet. But even when we were their age, we had a good idea of what to do with $10 Million...
Hypothetically speaking, would you rather raise kids there or here?
I guess I'd better get back to whatever the hell I was doing here though...
Take Care, Gobbles.
Your Pal,
Zambo.
Hi S*.
I had my comment to Gobble opened for so long that you snuck one in there.
I think my choice of words in describing Janice Dickinson's molester dad may have been misconstrued. I in no way meant that her sister "wanted it"...but I think the point that Janice was making was that her sister (a child at the time)obediently did whatever her dad told her to do; whereas Janice was able to question it, even as a young girl. Saying that he told her that she would never amount to anything because she didn't succumb to his creepy advances is a lot different than saying her sister wanted to be molested by her dad...If it came across that I believe that her sister "wanted it", I don't.
Like most celebrity autobiographies, I was left disappointed with this one too...She seemed more interesting before I knew as much about her...and before "The Surreal Life" revealed her many personality flaws...
I hope things are going better.
Take care.
Your Pal,
Zambo.
I got what you were saying, Zam (can I call you Zam?). It's all about semantics. Using the word "succumb" put the onus on her sister, not the father. I would have preferred she's phrased it in a way that showed the father exerted his power over her, not the sister giving in, in a sense. By Janice saying she didn't "succumb" it almost implies that she was stronger than her sister.
But this is an extrememly touchy subject for many, so I'll drop it.
And thanks, I am feeling a bit better.
Who's Lasagna?
Hey,
Hypothetically speaking, I think I would rather raise kids in Canada. Japan has a lot going for it: kids develop a stronger moral and social sense here, I think. They grow up being polite, and everybody puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of education. But the downsides are just too scary - kids are forced to become comformists, not to question their place in society, to obediently respect their seniors regardless of how much of an ass that senior might be; tons of kids here commit suicide for various reasons and I wouldn't want to risk subjecting my kids to those pressures. It's easy for me to say that I would raise my kids differently, but in the end, never having grown up in Japan, I wouldn't really understand what they might be going through so I might not be able to help them as well as I would like.
But it's an interesting problem. I often think about what I would do if I met and married a Japanese woman... *big IF* ...
Hi Again, S*.
You can call me Zam if you'd like.
Lasagna is my mate.
She's cute, smart and kind...and as hokey as it may sound, she makes me want to be a better man...(Like Jack Nicholson's character said about Helen Hunt's character in "As Good As It Gets"...but Lasagna's not a soulless hag like Helen Hunt).
Your Pal,'
Zambo (or Zam)...
It happened again...I was watching "Lost" and left my comment window open for a while...Gobbles snuck a comment in there while I wasn't looking...They showed what happened to the survivors of the plane's tail section. It was pretty good. Now that we're up to speed, they can get things moving along...I sure hope the payoff is worth the journey...
Anyway, Hi again Gobbles.
Your comment got me thinking about something printed on a pool-related item that I was inflating in the summer: "Warning: Use Only Under Competent Supervision"...Not so long ago, it would have said "Adult Supervision"...I guess that's the way it is these days...I wonder if we'll ever get to a point where people's right to have kids will be governed in a "Brave New World" kind of way...Couples would have to fill out paperwork and there would be a series of interviews, evaluations and a waiting period...I imagine some people would object, stating that their rights were being violated...etc., etc.
What if you married a Japanese lady and moved to Spain or Switzerland? Japan sorta scares me...
Take Care, buddy.
Your Pal,
Zambo.
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