So I finally figured out why I hate this guy I know. I knew it was much deeper then the little things that he says and does to try and show how "smart" he is. This conclusion of the root of my hatred is rooted in my own personal understanding of ethics. This ethical question is something that I have been battling with for months and I think I am really starting to understand what ethical living is and what ethics in general really are. To bring this all full circle, This guy's ethical code is the opposite of mine. I believe that man's greatest achievement is production. Using our minds to derive a better understanding of what is around us and then turning that into a concrete representation of that ideal. Production is what humans are meant to do. That is why I think we are more then what most people give themselves credit for. When I hear people say that we are just animals like a dog or a cat I disagree. I strongly disagree. I don't know why we are even still called mammals when we are obviously something more then the rest of them. A bird is differentiated because they have wings and feathers and fish because they live in the water. I think humanities ability to use reason and logic to understand the reality around them (reality actually exists outside of our own conciesness, contrary to most of my sociology professors who encourage most sociology majors to come to the conclusion that reality is just in our minds. Fuck that!) sets them apart in the same way. We use tools and make things better. This is what I consider to be ideal human nature. I will admit that I could produce more and work harder. I also think that if I did this I would personally be happier (which is most important) but a byproduct of this would be the betterment of the whole world around me. I hate this guy. I really do. When I think of him the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention and I feel sick to my stomach. He produces nothing. As far as I can tell he has never produced anything. I don't think he even wants to produce anything. He is worse then a socialist who wants to live for everyone else and believes that self-sacrifice is heroic, he doesn't even care for himself. He goes from job to job and sits at a desk and does data entry and administrative things. That wouldn't be so bad, because people need to make a living. What ethical people would do is counter balance this unproductive daily routine with a hobby or as we say in the music business a "side project". An outlet to live according to non-conflicting ethics. This guy doesn't do this. He can watch television for 12 hours a day. Then can surf the net, just "looking" mind you, not adding anything to it, I am assuming mostly porn, for hours on end. His life is totally take, take, take. People want to give. Hold up! I know what you are thinking. Tbone, what is with this "give" thing? How does that tie into an ethical code of selfish living? The give is a by-product of what was produced for selfish reasons. This guy gets a kick out of correcting me when I mis-pronounce a word. And he loves to poke fun at the amount I drink every night. But I think I am a moral person and he is an anti-moral person. He is the means for the ends of human kind. He is a viscous vermin that I see all over my generation. I know no one likes these ethical slingings but I have to get these things off my chest otherwise I drink even more and get into arguments with strangers who wear those che t-shirts. I hate those che t-shirts. I wont go off or anything but I really hate people who wear those che t-shirts!

also, the new elliott smith album is really good if you are in to that kind of faggy acoustic stuff.

Well the holiday weekend is over and it was great! Thanksgiving couldn't have been any better. My bro and sis came down and we had some friends over and made a bunch of yummy food and drank a bunch of yummy beverages. I actually have invented my signature holiday dish. I call it tbone's greenpoint stuffing. I live in greenpoint brooklyn and this is a polish neighborhood. There is just a shit load of polish folks here. I am the only non-polish apartment in my building. I wanted to include the local culture in the meal so I made this greenpoint stuffing. It is a kielbasi sausage and zywiec stuffing. I know my cooking stories are boring and tobias hates them but I will keep this brief. You saute onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and the sausage together and when they start to sweat reduce about half a pint of the polish beer in it by about 3/4. Add this to the toasted bread and add a little chicken or turkey stock and a couple of scrambled eggs. finish this off in the oven and you have tbone's greenpoint stuffing.
this thanksgiving was special because I had little bro and sis and great friends and it was also my birthday. Last Thursday was the greatest gift I have ever received for my birthday. The food and the company created a perfect day. I will violate you all later!

I have been busy but I have a few moments and I have a good lump of goo to get off my chest.

First, I finished my death pool list. It was hard to come up with 20 people and many were just people I hoped would die, but I am happy with it. Here it is, drum roll please!

the pope
jimmy carter
the lead singer of hoobastank
Dick Cheaney
one of the Olsen twins
Ozzy Osbourne
Keith Richards
Mike Tyson
the fat one in Wilson Phillips
Bob Dylan
Wilfred Brimley
Courtney Love
Keith Richards
Britney Spears
Fred durst
Liz Taylor
Micheal Jackson
Pete Townsend
Snoop Dogg
Andy Rooney

What do you think? Was I supposed to reveal my picks? who cares, caniadianturd will figure it out.

I would also like to mention how excited I am for thanksgiving! I am hosting it this year and this is my first time. I am a turkey day virgin. I celebrated thanksgiving last year with friends and I realized that this is the perfect holiday to spend with your close friends. Cooking food and drinking booze is not for families, it is for my alcoholic friends and I. Actually there is going to be some family, but it is my favorite part of my family. Little sis and little bro are coming into town. Andy from Maine and his expensive fancy pants school and Molly from PA/D.C. (she is in PA the middle of the week and D.C. working for the man on the bookends of the week). Also in attendance is going to me my former roommate, and good friend, bow-flex and his live in girlfriend situation who is very nice. And to top off the guest list we are going to have my current roommate. I see him everyday but I am glad he will be there for another one...Day that is...what ever. I have a great menu! I will spare tobias, who hates my cooking stories, and not post the details, but there is a nice mix of asian fusion, classic thanksgiving, and organic garden yummies! I am just so excited! so I hope everyone has a happy turkey day and poster, Keep it real baby, oh yeah, keep it real!

So I am back from my little jaunt down to the nation's capital. It was a good time! I took the china town bus, which was an adventure in itself. There is actually something like six different bus lines that run down to Philly, d.c., and Boston. It is really cheap but a little sketch. You walk up and there is just a bunch of little Chinese ladies yelling "Philadelphia, Philadelphia" or "D.C., D.C." You go up buy a ticket and get on a bus that is carrying who knows what. It was a long trip down but I sat next to this girl who was fun to talk to. I made sure I didn't strike up conversation too early because I knew it was going to be a long trip. Basically the fist half I spent engulfed in "the fountainhead" and the second half I chatted with her. Good times! I was actually staying in Arlington and it was off of the Metro stop called "pentagon city". I was driving my sister nuts because every time I saw a sign that said "pentagon City" I would start singing "take me down to the pentagon city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty" She was happy to get rid of me today. I saw the sites, drank the local beer, and didn't get arrested. That translates to a good trip. So now it is back to the rat race!

Just to let everyone know, I am headed down to the nation's capital this weekend (Washington D.C.) to have a bunch of fun with mum and sis (and hopefully some of sis's friends). I will not be posting. Not that anyone listens to me anyhow.
tbone outskie!

The fact of the matter is that if someone inherits a bunch of money, but is a looter at heart, they will squander that money away. Around the corner from me is a building that has, I am guessing, eight apartments in it. A few years ago this guy inherited it from his father. He moved into an apartment and his buddy moved into an apartment. His buddy is the super and lives there rent free and doesn't do much else. This guy who owns the place is just nuts. He has this dog that he decided can only be spoken to by yelling. He is not mean to the dog he just gives the dog commands very loudly. The dog obeys and all is well but it get a little annoying when I am sitting in my room reading and hear this yelling all day long. About once a week the owner and the super get into a fight in the street. They are friends the rest of the time but some nights they just get into it. At first it was cute but now it is just annoying. At this point I am under the impression that there is one paying renter left in the building. What is the problem with this guy? He is a coke head. He is a classic coke head and doesn't disguise it very well at all. Rent in new York city is very expensive and my neighborhood is getting a bunch of spill over from williamsburg and rents are going up. People are moving in like crazy. There is even really hot chicks that are not polish living within blocks of me! The amount of money this guy could be earning is extrodinary. This building is very similar to mine and I am sure that my landlord, who is a great guy I might add, makes somewhere in the $300,000 range gross yearly. This is with very little work. This would be the same for the guy around the corner if not more. It is a nice building and up-keep compared to gross income is great. The apartment building has become a void and a drain on the local square block economy. Everyone would be better off if the apartments were rented by people. More people buying stuff in the stores, more hot chicks, and more people trying to make there mark in the world here in NYC. Instead it is all going up one dudes nose and his dog runs around without a leash and the apartment goes to waste. I should mention that the girl who changed in front of her window moved out moved out months ago. I remember many summer nights, hanging out on my fire escape, watching her get ready for her Friday night. This guy has ruined everything for everyone. I think I should talk him into signing the building over to me. I would bring back the chicks and I would bring back the contribution to society. Tbone for president in 2008!

It happened again. I saw her. This is the fourth time. It scares the living shit out of me. She is evil.
There is this lady that I see in the subway sometimes begging for money. No big deal, right? WRONG! She is the scariest little old lady in the world. She gives me nightmares! She is about four feet tall and looks like an old woman standing in line for bread in Russia. There is no life in her eyes. Now here is the kicker, she has a voice of a dead, evil, six year old. It is high pitched and kind of nasally. She repeats the same thing over and over again like it is a record skipping. "Please help, I'm hungry" "please help, I'm hungry” over and over again. You here it as you walk up and then as you pass buy. It sends shivers down my spine! I think she is from another planet. I think that planet’s name is “land of the freaky old ladies”.
I don’t spook too easily. There really are only two things that really get me worked up. The old lady that I just spoke about and nutria. Nutria are nasty. They give me serious Willies and my neck hairs are standing at attention with me just thinking about it right now. I don’t know what is worse, the old lady or nutria. I hate them both!

So I saw a great band on Friday. These guys really had some sort of alluring quality about them that I cannot put my finger on. They are a trio out of Boston and are sort of emo-jazz or something. Mary Timony opened up for them and this is the second time that I have seen her. The first time she sucked in my opinion. Friday she had a great drummer. This guy really made her set and let her songs come to life. I am not a big indie-rock guy but she really played well. I suggest checking out both of these outfits. Karate's guitar player is awesome and you can tell that they have been playing together for a while. Very good stuff!

I have a fun game that I want to play. I don't know if this has ever been done before. We are going to have an internet scavenger hunt! I am going to give you a list of things and after you have them all you post the links in the comments section of this very post. I will confirm that they are real and declare a winner. You could also email me at assholewithastory@thegoodflame.com if you want to play it safe. If you can not find all the items on the list but do find some, post what you have. The person who has the most stuff is the winner and you get bonus points if you find everything. I am going to make this one simple because I don't know how this is really going to go. So here is the list:

1. A picture of a baby with nine heads.
2. A web site that is written entirely in an African language besides Arabic or English.
3. A picture of president bush with his thumb up his ass (any finger will actually do).
4. A website for a town with a population under 5000, that mentions the word "turtle".
5. A picture of Tony Blair drinking a can of "moxie".
6. A clip of john Ashcroft singing.
7. Video of colin Powell dancing.
8. web site that is offering a free sample of something no one would ever want.
9. Swans playing poker!
10. An audio clip of the song "ph on the level".

Now get to it kids! Let's see if this will work. I will not be able to participate because I am the judge. There is no time limit but sometime this century would be nice!

I am going to talk about the behavior of some folks when they are confronted with a buffet. I think that buffets create some sort of vortex were rational thought just goes flying out the window. All cognitive ability ceases and primal urges to gorge oneself takes over and is unstoppable until dessert finally arrives. I am going to attempt to translate a person’s code of ethics through the interpretation of them being confronted with displayed food. I am going to concentrate on free buffets that are offered at special events like weddings, conventions, or holiday parties that are put on by companies for their employees. I worked in the restaurant business for many years and I threw many of these banquets and this is were I probably developed my distaste for people in general. I guess that I am exaggerating a little bit about my distaste of people but trying to satisfy people really got to me after a while.
For this discussion, we will say that it is a banquet that is being put on by a company owner for his employees (I will refer to the company owner as a “he” for simplicities sake and in no way infer that women don’t own companies. In Nevada there is some great brothels run by women!). The employer does this every year and it is not a reward for some certain goal that the company had set for itself (i.e. reaching a certain quota consistently or decreasing production costs). Rather it's the yearly party that the boss throws for his employees to demonstrate that, if necessary, the boss can stand to spend a few hours with the workers. Tonight we have a three entrée buffet plus three salads, rolls, and carved prim rib. We also have a cheese display, vegetable display, and a fruit display. At the beginning of the party, the three displays are put out. It will not be for another hour that the main buffet will be open. What do these people who, A. didn’t wear a tie, or own one for that matter, B. would seem to take twice as long to eat the food about to be served because of their lack of teeth, and C. Didn’t seem to really trust the coat check lady with there Budweiser jean jacket, do as soon as they get into the room? They line up at the hors'dourves table. They line up around the room like it is a conga line and stand there waiting to load up a little plate with cheeses they have never heard of and they seem to think that the herb dip for the vegetables is a main dish (“more ranch…we need more ranch buddy” still echoes in my head). They stand in line thinking that someone else is going to eat all the cheese. They sweat and they get worried. They talk about how much they hate their jobs with the employees that are standing around them and if the company can afford a party like this, they should give them all raises.
They see the table set up for the buffet. As the wait staff starts to bring out the food that I spent all day making and then decorating with garnish and TLC (I know I am sappy but I take great pride in my work) You see them look at the food not as the art that it is but a free lunch (they don’t even realize that it is dinner time). As I come out and make a final check on the displays, they start lining up. “Is the buffet open, is the buffet open?” is echoing through the facility. Finally, I set up one of my cooks at the end of the buffet not only to carve the perfect meat, but also to inform me of when things are running low. He has fear in his face. We think to ourselves that these people’s epistemology is not like ours in any way. The cook and I speak a different language aloud but we work together, sweat together, and get raises together. We are a working unit with no charity involved. These people are different. We haven’t even opened yet and they are lined up around the table. I notice a couple of them debating silently to with themselves whether anyone would notice if they ate a butter chip.
When they are released, they load their plates up as high as they can. They ask the servers what things are but slop it onto there plate before they get an answer. Then to the carving station were the young cook delivers two perfectly sliced pieces of medium rare prime rib. When they should be thanking there lucky stars that they get to see the perfectly cooked meat they have nothing to say but “more amigo!” So go off with your pound and a half of prime rib. You don’t want it all, you just want to prove that you can take it. I don’t care; you are not human to me! Some people don’t even eat the plate they loaded up right away. They set it on the table that they marked with there jackets, leaned chairs and some shooing away of possible trespassers (kind of like dogs pissing in the corner) and run back to get another plate. “Get more biscuits and cheese R.J., biscuits and cheese. We need more of that cheese! Get more meat to R.J.!”
Who are these people? Do they always act like such beasts? I saw the looks on these people’s faces as soon as they entered the room. It was a look not of awe at how nice it was, of the food they smelled cooking in the back, or the cute waitresses (well, I am sure they noticed that) but they scanned this free ride for every possible way to exploit it. It is no longer a party to enjoy, but a representation of everything that they are not, and they needed to loot it for everything that it was worth. They were nothing but looters to me and I hated them.
This is my point: The way they treated the buffet is an example of the way they have chosen to live their lives. Instead of creating and expanding, they have chosen to loot and destroy. This is the fundamental problem that people of this thinking face. While they choose to loot and destroy, sucking everything dry because someone else is paying the bill, other people are creating, expanding, and networking to feed these looting beasts. Eventually the looters would have nothing left, but the producers have expanded themselves and society exponentially. This is the only means for the looters survival.
I can contrast this with a short depiction of the same buffet. Let’s say this isn’t a holiday party put on by the boss but rather that same boss hosting a party for the local business owners in the city. We have the same amount of people and exactly the same menu. What do you think the contrasts will be? I can tell you because I have worked hundreds of theses parties as well.
At the bar the first question coming from the guest is not, “what is free?” it is rather “Can I buy you a drink?” (to the fellow guest, not the bartender although we had some cute bartenders in places that I have worked). The first extension of the hand is not to a stack of tiny plates to load up on cheese and fruit, but to a fellow business owner who happens to have a piece of property adjacent to your own that is hindering your ability for expansion. The buffet is opened at the same time and people eat, but they wait until they have finished the conversation with whomever they where talking to. They do not eat nearly as much as the first banquet because the trophy wives do not eat. They have a purpose in their lives that goes beyond consumption. The people in the first stage think only of how much they can consume what is around them, instead of thinking about increasing what is around them. I am able to keep the buffet stocked and ready with no problem because I am not getting agitated by people yelling at me about my lack of horseradish (before I mention that I have some on the buffet, and no, they cannot take the whole bowl of it to their table).
You can see that in the second party everyone wins. The guests are not only happy, but are better off because of the networking and connections that they had made. The restaurant is better off because they have a return costumer and extra gratuity for a great job done by the staff. The person who threw the party is now known throughout the business community. Everyone wins in this situation. There is not one loser. Contrast this to the first party. In the first party, no one wins or grows. Everyone is either worse off or, at best, at the same place they were before the party. The guests get constipated because they stuffed themselves with to much “fancy” cheese. I am pissed off because I hate them, so I drink too much. The host was throwing the party out of necessity in the first place so there was no reason for him to even care how it went in the first place. Moreover, the world is going to have to deal with all of these people in the first banquet in the morning!
In conclusion, it all comes back to the way these people acted and what their code of ethics is. Are they looters who expect things to be handed to them or are they producers who hope they can produce enough for the looters plus some for their own gain? I hope that at this point you know the answer. This shows that you can see it, not only in the way they walk, but also in the way they behave when faced with displayed food. It blows my mind.