Signs of "Flip-Flopping" in the Coalition of the Willing

Prime Minister Tony Blair of the UK, President Bush's staunchest supporter on the Iraq War, has just delivered an apology to the British people for getting Britain involved in the War with faulty information, but did not express regret for removing Saddam Hussein.

President Bush, in the meantime, has yet to apologize to the American people for getting us involved with the same misinformation.

Most people thought Tony Blair would NEVER apologize for what happened in Iraq. However, faltering public opinion, and an increase in hostilities in the region led Blair to regret getting the UK involved in such a political quagmire.

I applaud Blair for finally giving his mea culpa, though I don't know if that would be enough to save him in time for elections next May...

As for Bush...there's November...


New York Times article detailing the apology

Signs of the Real World...

As I speak, close to about 1,000 students are lining up outside the Schine Student Center here at SU to audition for MTV's "the Real World."

"I have a test today, but this is an opportunity for me to be on TV! You can't pass this up!" said this one girl who preferred to remain anononymous for this quote, though she wouldn't mind showing her ass on TV for millions nationwide.

I feel that considering all the shit I go through in my life, I would be a perfect candidate for the "Real World."

Yet, I shall not "audition." Why? It's quite simple actually. I don't have time to be "on" the Real World, because I'm already living in the "Real World."

Besides, there's no reason for EVERYONE to know just how much of a nut I can be...;-)

Latte Jokes...

For those of ya'll that remember about how much I used to bitch and moan about working at Starbucks (or the 'Fucks, as I so lovingly call it), the latest revelation might come as a complete surprise to you...

I actually ENJOY and LOOK FORWARD to working there now.

Sure, there are the L.I.B's that drop in all the time, or the ridiculous lack of space that angers all the baristas at the SU Starbucks, and the occasional argument with the one or two "bar-hogs" that try to spend their whole shift making drinks and taking the fun out of the job by screaming at people trying to help them out. Nonetheless, the big draw about my working there is the fact that I enjoy the crazy antics that my co-workers and I engage in while on shift. The better part of us have been there working at that location for over a year, and despite being away from the store for an extended period of time, I discovered that when I came back, I had suddenly become one of store's core personalities. With a lot of new faces at the store this year, I was officially replaced as the "newbie" among the partners. Now, I'm the one telling the Starbucks "horror" stories, and giving tips to new hires. Hell, I even see eye to eye with the new manager that took over while I was in London. It's great stuff.

And the best part is...no more waking up at 5:30 in the fucking morning!!! :-D

So, being a partner at Starbucks, there are certain aspects of the job that make you...well..."crazy." As a result, there are plenty of inside jokes that go on within the confines of the Big Green. So...without further ado...

"Heh heh...she ordered a "CAC."

"Damn, I have been cast away to Crap Land, er, uh, I mean 'Frap Land,'"

I'm like French Roast...I'm 'bold and nutty'."

[Writes a "X" on someone's hand] "You're now 'decaf'."

"This has turned into a 'Venti-sized' problem."


Customer: "You know, I'm on a diet. I've cut out all the fast-food and high-calorie junk. Can you believe that a Big Mac has 500 calories?"

Barista: "What can we start you with?"

Customer: "Hi, yes, can I have a Grande Strawberries and Cream Frappucino?" [600 calories]



Customer: "I would like to get a Latte at 230 degrees, please."

Barista: "Did you want a beverage or a new addition to the 'Rubbermaid' line of products?"



"It's like getting hit in the face with a bat and then a nice soothing ice pack afterwards." [offical coffee tasting description by yours truly for Colombia Narino Supremo]



Customer: What's with the mermaid in the Starbucks logo? Are you playing off of Moby Dick or something?

Barista: Man, don't believe that corporate mumbo-jumbo. I'll tell you why the mermaid is in the logo...you see that Frap mix over there? Well, Howard Schultz has a whole team of them mermaids making that stuff, kinda like Willy Wonka had the Umpah Loompahs doing their thing. He saved them all from Walt Disney and Tom Hanks.

Michael Moore Hits Up SU

As part of Syracuse University's Comedy Symposium program, (designed to bring about a wide variety of speakers to campus to get us thinking and laughing) the infamous producer and director of "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11", Michael Moore paid a visit to a sold-out Carrier Dome (10,000 tickets were allotted, and were all gone within three days...only 1/4 of the Dome was used for the event.). Originally scheduled to come in mid-October, Moore bumped up his timetable to make room on his election touring schedule for Universities in swing states, and SU, in turn, was able to move the event to a larger venue to support the anticipated demand.

When he came on stage, he was a bit shocked at the sheer number of people who turned out...

"I've never done something like this inside of a football Dome before...SYRACUSE!!!"






For the next three hours, Moore delivered a complete blasting of the Bush Administration and highlighted its failures, and criticized both the Republican and Democratic parties for what he deemed, "their complete BS." Though achingly funny much of the way, Moore's rhetoric resonated profoundly among the audience when he stressed the need for college students to vote. Honestly, much of the speech was a rehash of facts we've seen or heard before, but nonetheless, it's great hearing them come from someone who has a natural knack of making politics comedic. Some highlights of his speech included jabs at the Republican Party for being on point with putting their agenda forward. ("They're [Republicans] are up at the crack of dawn trying to figure out 'which minority group we're going to keep from getting married today.' ") He also looked at the whole ambivalence of many Democrats for voting for Kerry. "Look, the important thing is beating Bush. Let's get him [Kerry] in office. Once he's there, then we beat the shit out of him!" He even gave us new mantras to live by during the next few months. "Bush and Kerry both suck, soooo...let's vote for John Kerry!" "Pick crack, pick crotch, pick nose, pick Kerry." He even compared Dubya to Ferris Bueller. "He's the guy that gets away with everything, while his sister that looks at him from a distance in sheer jealousy are Democrats. They're plain losers."


On the agenda for Michael Moore...

By far, the funniest moment of the night came when Moore was making fun of the Bush campaign's ads against Kerry, and determined that it was time that they take the next step and just destroy him politically. He showed a political ad that he felt should get a role in the Bush re-election campaign...

"They say that you're judged by the company you keep. Senator Kerry is close friends with Max Cleland, a soldier who fought alongside with John Kerry. During his time in Vietnam, Cleland lost an arm and both his legs. But, he still has his left arm. If he REALLY loved this country, shouldn't he have given up his last limb to save it? He's no hero. And neither is Kerry. Vote for Bush."

Classic shit, indeed.

Moore criticized Kerry for not telling voters, in his opinion, the things that would make people want to vote for him, and challenged him to come right at Bush and ask him the most fundamental question that needs to be made..."Where's Osama?"

Towards the end, Moore began taking questions from the audience, which were asked prior to the event via notecards. Some asked him why the nation was polarized the way it is. Others asked him different variations of why he's un-American and un-patriotic, allegations that have been thrown his way by the Republican party. Hell, they even asked him if he ever considered plastic surgery for his weight. Interesting stuff, right there.

Of course, the event did not go without some controversy. There were a select few on campus that were opposed to Michael Moore showing up, and they protested alongside the Dome, trying to get their view across that speaking against the Bush Administration is tantamount to treason. A bunch of local conservatives joined in, as well, as threw in their own two-cents. Of course, none of them had ever seen a Michael Moore documentary, but yet, they were opposed to the concept of his latest work being shown simply because of what they heard from conservatives within media.



A bunch of College Republicans and Townie Conservatives got together to protest Moore's presence at SU.



John Kerry supporters counter Conservative rumblings by grouping together to shout, "No More Bush!"



As Moore said, these Republicans get out early to stop Liberal agendas




Lookie here, more propaganda, courtesy of your local neighborhood Conservative.



These "patriots" even went as far as showing a good ol' fashioned lynching of what was supposed to be Michael Moore.


All in all, this was a great event. It was fun, funny, and a great opportunity that I'm happy I took advantage of.

Chika-Bow-Wow...

The other day, I doing a presentation in one of my Comm classes, when my professor did something that went far and beyond "putting me on the spot"

"Hey, Ray, I hope that's something in your pocket and not something else."

Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift-off.

I've always heard of stories like this from pubescent adolescent boys who cringe in fear over being seen "erect," but it's always been a regurgitated horror story; not an actual event.

Some of you may wonder why I was trying to do a presentation THINKING I could get away with a woody, while others may ask the more obvious question of why I had a woody in the first place. One question at a time, please. To answer the first one, basically, in a nutshell, I really didn't notice. I was just so focused on my presentation that I completely zoned out the fact that blood was rushing down that area faster than I could say "break the buns." As for the second one, well, maybe it was because of the fact that there were so many girls in the class with shorter than normal skirts on, or maybe because my dick wanted to say, "Hi." I have no fucking clue. Sometimes, these things just happen.

So how did I react?

"Nah, it's not something in my pocket." (sly, perverted smile)

I thought it would be over then. But, my professor just doesn't know when to let shit go.

"So, who's the lucky person you've got in mind at this particular moment?"

I was thrown right into a rhetorical trap. How the hell do I respond to that? Quickly, I figured it was time to make someone else's face beet red...shit, I wasn't going to be the only one embarassed in the class.

"Well, there is that lovely lady over there with her wonderful attire to lust over..." (sly, perverted smile)

And the girl, who was laughing so hard only moments earlier, sank lower in her chair, beet red, with a smile on her face, and her hands covering her mouth.

I let the comment linger a bit, and then, I went on with my presentation. I didn't confront the teacher afterward, but he did tell me it was "great." As for the girl, well, we spoke, and after it was all said and done, I got the digits. It's not too often you can get an "A and a phone number" at the same time.

Talk about being a "Happy Latino." :-)

And a Very Happy Birthday Goes Out to....

Michelle!!! Happy B'day, you bitch!!! :-) (You're glowing!)

Now that you're 21, I'm going to abuse the liquor priviledges until I get legal myself...:-)

Expect a beatdown real soon...;-)




Now matter how old she is, Michelle will always be a doof...:-)

9/11 = Played Out

This morning, when I woke up, I headed for my living room to plop down on the couch and enjoy the new digital cable package I got, courtesy of Time Warner, when I switched to News 10 (the NY1 of Central New York). I wasn't paying too much attention to it for a bit, given that I was busy fiddling with the big ass fucking monstrosity of a remote I got for it, until a news package came on about the local 9/11 ceremonies that went on yesterday. Basically, the report focused in on the complete drop in attendance from last year, and carried a tone that pretty much chastised people for not "remembering" 9/11. Some old fogies were quoted as saying that "as usual, people don't care, and when they don't care, things like 9/11 can happen again." In a nutshell, we're not doing our duty as Americans when we don't attend and reflect on the events of 9/11...

...And to that, I say, "fuck you." Some of ya'll might think I'm being an insensitive prick for saying that, considering the tremendous loss of life on that horrible day three years ago, but let's be honest. We've been remembering 9/11 every day since it happened, and thanks to our politicians in Washington who love to turn that event into a sapless political tool, we've been bombarded with references to that day for over 1,000 days straight. I can't remember a single day where I did NOT think about 9/11 thanks to the topic being harped on.

So, when these people are telling me to remember 9/11, to them I respond with, "I have, you fucking prick. Every day. The important thing to do is not to "remember" what happened, but to learn from it. And you know what I learned? The things we do internationally will affect us here at home in a big way. How about taking a look at what we're doing to attract negative attention as opposed to getting all riled about about a faceless enemy or ideology?

"Lest we forget..."

Oh Yeah, I’m Here For School…

In the so-called “real world,” when people think of Labor Day Weekend, people think of it as just a nice, three-day weekend to relax and chill out, enjoying one of the last few weekends left with summer weather. But here in Cuse, Labor Day weekend equals a four-day party extravaganza, and certainly, this past weekend was no fucking exception. From Friday night, up until Monday, it was non-stop siesta time and people were more than willing to get their freak on. See, you got five groups of people when it comes to weekends like this; of course, you got the freshmen who are dying to get their first taste of college campus life, and then you got the others who are more than willing to take advantage of the aforementioned freshmen’s inexperience. (y’know, before they know better and gain the infamous “Freshman 15”). Further still, you got those upper classmen who SWEAR that they were the shit a few years ago when they really weren’t, and are trying to reclaim their past by going to parties and declaring that their “back” when they never even arrived in the first place. There’s also those people who go to parties just for the sake of going, and stand on the walls bitching about how “nothing’s changed” and if “you’ve been to one party, you’ve been to them all.” (they’re usually dating someone) And finally, you got the people who’ll fuck anything that walks. (usually members of the Greek system) If you find that you don’t fit any of these descriptions, chances are, you’re one of those people that would spend a weekend like this one going home or something completely productive, like doing homework, or cockblocking the shit out of people. (y’know, the wack people)

You can take a wild guess which group I’m a part of…I’m certainly not cockblocking…may I repeat that the freshmen this year are…wow…

So yeah, this past weekend I hit up a party every night. All in all, they were all pretty cool, except of course, for the one that got broken up by the Syracuse Police Department. (Never fucking mind that while they were too busy worrying about underage drinking, a whole shitload of people got robbed and stabbed n shit. Alas, that’s Syracuse) While the music wasn’t exactly pumping at all these parties, courtesy of my meng, DJ Push’n’Play, nonetheless, I made the most of the situation and just had fun. It’s an interesting feeling being a senior at these parties; you walk in, and everyone knows you, so you gotta spend ten minutes making your rounds, giving people pounds and kisses on the cheek. And then you have to strategically walk around avoiding the people you don’t like or would rather not talk to, lest you be drawn into the infamous fake convo, or an all-out brawl. Throughout this entire weekend, the feeling was slowly beginning to sink in that I’ll never have this kind of experience ever again after this year, giving me all the more reason to want to end it on a high note. The way I look at it, those people who spend their time bitching about how all parties are the same can kiss my ass, because they’ll be the same ones a few years from now complaining about how they miss living the college life, and secretly wish they appreciated the time they had while they were still there. Shit, I’m living it up now! Fuck leaving it till later.

More along the “people I don’t like” topic…this weekend I had an “Oh, Shit,” moment. At one of the fiestas, I was all hyped n shit to dance with everyone I possibly could. So, I would grab one girl, and then when the song was over, I would grab another. I really didn’t care who it was, and it also didn’t matter considering it was so dark that I really couldn’t see who I was dancing with. However, me and this one girl grabbed each other, and right before we started dancing, we both took a good look at one another, realized we didn’t like each other, and both let go at the same time, saying, “oh, shit.” And just like that, we moved on. It was classic stuff, right there.

Sunday afternoon, we had the opportunity to enjoy SU’s first annual “Juice Jam” event, which is basically an outdoor concert/festival thrown by the University. Along with some rock bands I really didn’t pay attention to (not because I wasn’t feeling them, but rather because I was too hyped in trying to meet other people), rap acts De La Soul and Method Man came through and represented. All in all, I had a blast. At some points, I was upset that despite the fact that the event was sold out, by the time Method Man came on stage, more than ¾’s of the people bounced. I guess it had more to do with the fact that the wrong people went to the event more than anything else. (AKA: Mostly lazy Long Island brats who can’t take an outdoor concert atmosphere) Despite the drop in attendance, Meth ripped it. Shit was hot.


Method Man ripping shit at Juice Jam



Triumphant after kicking SpED's ass

I actually did do something productive this weekend…I did a community service activity. LUCHA and Lambda Sigma Upsilon did a joint outreach initiative at a local elementary school in Syracuse, where we painted their playground to make it, well, “playable” again. And, we did it all exhausted from a previous night of partying. Some of us had hangovers n all, but nonetheless, we showed up, doing our thing. It was a great little way of “giving back” to our community. Thanks to LUCHA, I think I’ll be involved with a lot of these little community service events. It was great stuff, indeed. I even showed this little kid how to bat in stickball. :-) When he signs that big league contract in the future, he better give my ass a cut of that moola! “Yeah, I taught him everything he knows!” :-)



Getting on with the painting during community service



Even the kid did some work for his community...

So yeah, this weekend was freaking great…and tiring…I felt like I had just worked the entire time…partying is rough, man…it’s a hard job, this “having fun” business. I needed this whole week to recover…who the fuck cares about classes? It’s all about the partying!

…Well, for this past weekend, at least. It’s time to get serious and get back to school. :-)

Crush of the Month (September)

A few weeks ago, Olympic fever had taken hold across the country. All over, you heard all kinds of people talking about Michael Phelps and his quest to win 8 gold medals, the USA Basketball teams woes, and the controversy surrounding Paul Hamm's All-Around Gymnastics Gold Medal. However, in my book, if there was anything that was keeping me glued to the television, it was Women's Beach Volleyball...

And it certainly wasn't the sport that was getting me hyped...

It was the cheerleaders. Good lord, I was enthralled . Representative of the Canary Islands (I'm so happy to be able to claim that I went there. :-) ), these girls did their thing, hyping up the crowd, shaking their shit, and dropping down and getting their eagle on.

Much to the satisfaction of a very happy yours truly.

So to celebrate their, ahem, "accomplishments." I am hearby honoring the Olympic Beach Volleyball Cheerleading Squad with the first ever Daily Musings Crush of the Month award.

Congrats girls! :-)

Wow...these girls are redefining the stroll...



That Olympic mascot doesn't really realize how lucky he is...



That's it...the girl in the front is going to have my kids...

Props from iTMS...

I think it's cool how Marc Broussard earned top billing this week in iTunes' "Single of the Week," soon after I shouted him out...good shit, indeed...

So check it out...it's freeeee....:-D

Moving On In…

As Zulay, Justine, and myself settled into our new place this past week, among the many things that we questioned, there was one topic I kept on revisiting over and over again in my head every single time I opened up the door to the apartment, or tried to close the door to my room…

“…Who was the stupid fuck who designed the doors to this house!?”

Yes, people…welcome to the antics that have become a staple in my life since I embarked for London…

As I relish the breeze that is entering from my window, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that the only reason why it’s open is because I shoved a hammer underneath it to keep it open. Or how neither of us can really close our doors because some carpenter forgot his measurements and made the doors too big to close properly. We can’t forget the fact that up until an “emergency” run to Target, we didn’t have anything to sit on in the house outside of a surprisingly decent sofa provided to us by our landlord. (How were we supposed to do homework in our rooms without chairs to sit at our desks?) There’s also the whole “washer and dryer” thing downstairs, where, although we do have a washing machine and a dryer in the basement of our house, we have to wait for the right time of the day to go in and have some sort of fighting chance against the 800 species of spiders lurking underneath.

But the best thing, by far, is the fact that Justine and Zulay have vents coming from their rooms that are large enough for anyone located in the living room to be able to see and hear what’s going on from inside. We were actually forced to test whether or not we could hear one another from the living room if we were breaking buns with another person. The test went a little something like this…

“Aight, go in your room….good…now, sing the Greek Alphabet…”

“Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta…”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

Because, you know, during the heat of the moment, instead of screaming your name, or “God,” they’ll instead be shouting the Greek Alphabet.

Yesterday, we were cooking some pasta for dinner, which, y’know, ain’t exactly groundbreaking. Of course, leave it up to my luck for the shit to turn into something quite different. Just from boiling water, one by one, our smoke alarms went off, sending a piercing shrill noise into our ear drums, and causing us to run around like headless chickens searching for the sources of our problems. It didn’t help that, being new to the place ‘n’ all, we had no idea where the alarms were located. So, by the time we found one and deactivated it, another one screamed for attention…

“HOW MANY FUCKING ALARMS DO WE HAVE!!!”

It was steam, folks. Not a single trace of smoke. At least we’ll be real safe when an actual fire breaks out…if we don’t break them first…

…When I tell people from SU where I live, they all say, “DAMN! You out there!” The truth is that I live closer to campus than I did when I lived at South Campus. If I ever had to walk from South to Main campus, it would take roughly 45 minutes to an hour to get there, whereas the walk from my current place to Main campus is 15-20 minutes. The difference, however, is the fact that there were a whole lot more buses heading to South than there are to my place now, therefore forcing us to walk everywhere. Thus far, it’s really not that bad, but it certainly does take a lot of getting used to…it’s going to be interesting seeing how that walk is going to go when the brunt of winter hits the Cuse.

…I still haven’t fully moved in yet. The majority of my stuff is still sitting in Morgan’s place, waiting for me to get together some form of transport to get my stuff from Point A to Point B. I can’t wait to have my stuff together in one place for the first time since I left for London. All my books, pots and pans, bedding stuff, and room amenities are in those boxes. The sooner I can get them, the better off I’ll be.

I officially get internet next week, along with digital cable, on 9/11, of all days. Currently, however, I’m taking advantage of a stray wireless internet signal to handle my day to day communications. (Sharing is caring. :-D ) Before that “ah ha” moment when we found internet signals, all three of us were dying without the internet. We felt so disconnected from the world. It’s sickening. I’ve gotten so used to the internet, that I’m actually DEPENDENT on it…that’s freaking scary. At least I can remember the time when the internet wasn’t around…but what’s going to happen to those kids that grew up knowing nothing else but life with the internet? What’s going to happen when they encounter a situation when they won’t have internet service for two weeks? It’ll prolly be something done on the next generation’s version of “Fear Factor…”

So, little by little, despite some of the quirks, we’re getting adjusted to living in the house. Soon enough, we’ll be doing just fine, living in our decked out apartment anyone would want to chill in…barring, of course, that they don’t boil water…J

The Top 10 Most-Played Songs of August 2004

Damn, it feels like I just freaking did this list of songs only yesterday for last month’s edition…geez…

It only goes to show you that time is flying on by, and sure enough, I’m back in Cuse before I could even realize it. So once again, here are the tunes that made up the last whole month I spent away from SU…

10. “Walnut Tree” by Keane, off the “Somewhere Only We Know” LP (new)

9. “Todo El Mundo” performed by Aguakate, off of the “De Otro Galaxia” album (new)

8. “Web” by the Roots, off of the “Tipping Point” album (new)

7. “Blame It On Me,” by Maria Mena, off of her “Another Phase” album (new)

6. “Rocksteady” by Marc Broussard, off of the “Carencro” album (new)

5. “Slow Motion” by Juvenile and Soulja Slim, off of the “Juve the Great” album (new)

4. “Float On” by Modest Mouse, off of the “Good News for People Who Love Bad News,” album (new)

3. “Pobre Diabla” by Don Omar, off of the “El Cangri.com” album (last month, #8)

2. “Can You Trust Them,” by the Film, off of their album, “The Gift” (new)

1. “Such Great Heights” by the Postal Service, off of their album, “Give Up” (new)


I think I might be wrong on this one, but for the first time since I started keeping track, an indie track tops the playlist for the month. Postal Service is this cool sounding electronipop band combining lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Gibbard, with electronica guru Jimmy Tamborello. The result is this chill sound that you can vibe with wherever you go, particularly if you’re on the move all the time, like in NYC, or something. The song, “Such Great Heights” is like one of those tracks that seems as if it were meant for an iPod…

…The best part about that song is that it’s free, if you head to http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/bands_page.php?id=412. Just scroll down, and look to your left to find the link to download a free version of “Such Great Heights” as well as “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” to get a feel of what this collabo sounds like. It doesn’t hurt to try. J

I remember hearing the “Can You Trust Them,” track in London while watching this car commercial…the tune got stuck in my head, and I searched all over looking for it, until finally, I found it, as well as the name of the band. I guess in my whole nostalgia kick for London, I began listening to this track a lot more during my travels…so there ya go on that one.

One of the awesome things I got to experience while working at Billboard was the chance to see up and coming artists do their thing, live, in a private performance for the staff of VNU Media. During my stay, I was able to see recording artist Marc Broussard (think of John Mayer, with a little less on the “old love” stuff, and more on vocals) perform, and even got to chat him up for all of 30 seconds. It was pretty cool having that chance to see an artist like that do their thing in the flesh. (He delivered a rousing acoustic rendition of his song, “Home” for us…it certainly got Anna talking…J ) I also got his entire album, “Carencro” for free, thanks to that infamous “free CD” stack at BB. The song, “Rocksteady” is a feel-good song about getting ready to party…which is pretty relevant to me, considering I’m all about partying nowadays.

So, that’s the list. I hope I’ve given some an impulse to go and try something new. Holla at the kid if you have any songs you feel deserve attention…remember, music should be shared among everyone…

Of course, we can’t STEAL it…(ahem, officially, that is…)

I Have a Question...

Since when does the amount of money a guy has in their bank account determine whether or not they're a "real" man?

I guess for some people, having "money" negates a lot of things, including serious allegations of rape...