The political correctness of the holidays makes me feel strange..

I wanted to write a post saying "Happy Hannukah!" but that's not for the non-jews. I then wanted to write a post saying "Merry Christmas!" but that's not for the non-christians. Then I thought about Kwanzaa but that's not for the non-kwanzaa people. Then I thought about "Happy Holidays!" but that just sounds way too noncommittal. Screw it. Be happy. From woodpancakes.

¿en que puedo servirle?

for all the french speakers out there, the title means "how may i help you?"

but no, this entry is not about waiters or people in clothing shops. instead, it's about this wonderful new invention called the internet. see, you can find almost anything on the internet. personally, i'm a huge fan of youtube. can't get enough of watching any collegehumor or any other funny videos, let alone the mixed up mashed up songs put together by musical producers. wish i could do that. anyways, today i realized how much the internet actually helps me, let alone the world. it can give you directions or possibilities to almost anything. you can download "free" music, then send it to your friend, causing them to send it to other friends and ultimately populating one song throughout a community, maybe even a county, maybe a state, etcetera etcetera. another great use of the internet (for me) is tabs. i'm a music junkie. like it's my "high off of life shit." so if i want to figure a song out, i simply look up the tab on google, click, read, play, sing, cover (contradictory to my last entry...hmm), screw ladies, get money. Google. man, whoever came up with that site must be wiping his tuchus with benjis right now.

cover or remix it?

the other day i was driving to school with my friend in her car, and she put on a CD. (note to self: make mix cd's for when you drive, keeps your hands on the wheel and off the radio...helpful tip for anybody). one of the songs she put on was an alternative band's cover of "I Wanna Love You" by Akon and Snoop dee-oh-double-g. at first, i was alright with it, but then the sound of the lead singer singing the lyrics of this dirty RnB/rap mix just didn't work out for me. SO! to all alternative bands out there that are thinking of covering rap songs, just don't. let other rappers remix the songs or even do a remix yourself, but don't cover it. it doesn't always turn out that well. i mean, if it sounds good do it but if it doesn't...save yourself the trouble. this has been a public service announcement.

November!

First of all, JEEZ I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IN A WHILE. Ok, now that's out of the way! Phew! Next, November. It's here. We're actually more than halfway through it, but that's beside the point. The point is, November is such a great month. Not only because my Birthday is in it, (Although that is still pretty kick-ass) but because for me it brings out the best of Autumn, right before Winter sweeps in and we lose all the natural beauty of the trees and flowers and ground for 4 months. So get out there and enjoy it while you can. If you live in the Northeast like me, it'll be gone before you know it. And one more thing: my thing I wish I had thought of for the week! PAR-FREAKING-KOUR. It's the absolute (to use a word from my friend Clarke) STEEZIEST thing ever invented. People freaking jump off buildings. Don't believe me? Still a skeptic? Want to try it? Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c

My friends and I mess around parkour style at school, and we have plenty of bruises and sprains to show for it. But it's totally worth it. I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT!

little bit of insight

so i was making conversation with my cousin today about wether or not he should come back to camp this year, and he said some of the reasons i mentioned weren't good enough. then i pulled out some "cookie cutter" shit

"then don't. do what you want, what will make you happy. it's not always about what's right for everyone else, it's about what's right for you"

yeah, i guess it's pretty cheesy, but it does define most people's lives, myself included. it's not always supposed to be about what people want to hear or what they want you to do, it should be about what you want and what you need.

there's my insight, live with it.

dao it up

yanks: all in due time

bout time we brought it back to new york.

as most of you know, the New York Yankees have won their 27 World Series championship. this time, without steroids. go a-rod! i've noticed a few things during this world series run:

1. i have never seen more status changes on facebook that i've seen. it goes from some quirky song lyric to: "yankees" "lets do this c.c.!" or more recently, "i'd let matsui have his way with me. go yanks!"

2. more and more shows have been canceled for these baseball games. what that means for me: no house, no glee, no family guy or cleveland show. fox better come back strong after this

3. "who's your daddy" is now my new favorite phrase

on another note, it's time to get readers into eclypse. consisting of 5 guys age ranging from sophmore in high school to freshman in college, eclypse is a band who has performed at the apollo theater twice on amateur night and won. both times. they are more of a rap-rock group, with their two lead "vocalists," Triple J and L.E.D., not to mention their singer, Jamie. on that note: Triple J is going to release a mixtape soon, perfectly entitled "In Due Time." this will be available over various websites, but for more information on the mixtape and on the band eclpyse, please go here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163320062191&ref=ss

*if you do not have a facebook, please go check out the band eclypse on www.myspace.com/thebandeclypse and check out L.E.D. at www.myspace.com/ledeclypse*

and again, thanks. GO YANKS

november

so welcome to november. in most americans' minds, november is a time for fall, family, and f***ing tests. as I am writing this blog post, i am currently looking outside my window, admiring all of the colors on the trees. more importantly, i'm watching the two squirrels and a cat fight on the patio over something that appears to be dead. anyways! thanksgiving is on it's way. not sure how many days, but all that really matters is that my family (and harry!) is coming down for that weekend. alllll 25 of us around one big table splitting the turkey and arguing about the stupidest of things. should be memorable, not to mention it's my baby cousin's first thanksgiving :). and finally, f***ing tests. it's the end of the first quarter of freshman year, so far, so good. over the next week, i'm expecting 3 more tests in 3 of my worst subjects: math, science, and spanish. so, since i am in need of help, does anyone know anything about angle postulates, cells, and food words in spanish? thanks for your help, hope your november is going as well as mine.

hey, thanks!

Yesterday, a friend of mine who i've known since this summer brought up this blog in conversation. She said she still reads it from time to time and enjoys the opinions Harry and i share (most of the time, at least). So this post goes out to all those dedicated readers out there, and to them i just wanna say, hey, thanks for reading.

new youtube vid!

Hey guys and gals, it's Harry! Just put up a brand spankin new youtube video, and hoped you guys would give it a little look-see. It's a review of Where The Wild Things Are, with a lil bit of trademark comedy mixed in! Maybe this will be my first video to pass 500 views... speaking of which, check out my other videos while you're there! They're wooorth it....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WTRCvN5yf0

don't talk to strangers...unless they have candy.

my mom always used to say "never talk to strangers, no matter who they are." being the little kid at the time, that meant "don't talk to anyone who your mom knows or say that they've known you since you were that big and need to pinch your cheeks." etcetera, etcetera. but just the other day, i found this website called omegle.com. (well, my friend found it and told me about it, same thing.) basically, what the site is is a chat box consisting of you and a stranger, literally named stranger on the box. you can talk about whatever you like: life, liberty, pursuit of happyness, asl (age, sex, location) etcetera, etcetera. it's actually a really fun site, considering you get to mess with random strangers. for instance, just type the word NINJAS and see how they response. go ahead, talk to strangers. they may or may not have candy.

oh, and shoutout right here:

SKATERNS, whaddup!

love this site, and the subsequent sites that I've found

So on a recommendation from a friend, I decided to try out this site called stumbleupon, (www.stumbleupon.com) and I officially love it. The idea behind the site is that it asks you to give it a few guidelines of things you're interested in, like music or movies or comedy. After that, it will take you to a random web page, based on your guidelines. If you like it, you can bookmark it, and if you don't, you just press a button and it takes you right to a different page. I absolutely love this system because I've found some very cool pages so far, and the randomness adds a bit of excitement to browsing. But there's one page I found that I can't get enough of. It's called aurgasm.us, and strange name aside, it's an awesome site. It's dedicated to highlighting indie music that you may not have heard of, and there's plenty of cool finds and free downloads available. As a huge alternative music fan, this is a great site for me, and I've been obsessing over it for about the last half hour now. Definitely worth checking out.

I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT!

This is late and I'm really sorry, got swamped last week! You dedicated blogreaders (all 6 of you) must be growling with mock anger by this point... But anyways, the thing I wish I had thought of definitely has to be the sweet lyrics of the 4th most popular folk duo in New Zealand-Flight Of The Conchords. I've been a huge fan ever since I heard Hip Hopapotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (a legendarily awesome song) and just this week they finally released their second full album. It is wonderful, and definitely worth checking out, on itunes. If you want to watch the show, it's an HBO show. I think there are a few episodes streamed on the HBO web site. Also worth checking out. Here's an example of their sweet lyrics, from the song I mentioned earlier but am too lazy too spell again:

"yeah .. uh huh.. yeah.. yeah
They call me the rhymenocerous
Not because I'm fat
Not because I've got birds on my back
Because I'm horny, I'm horny
When I'm on the mic
I'm like global warming
You can't ignore me
In the bedroom I'm the gentleman
The ladies come before me
Check your yellow pages I'm a registered rhymenaecologist
Now I'm passing over the mic to the hiphop-potamus
My rhymes are so potent that in this small segment
I made all of the ladies in the first two rows pregnant
Yeah that's right, sometimes my lyrics are sexist
But you lovely bitches and hoes should know
I'm trying to correct this"

sheer awesomeness.

flashback week

Alright, so. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were recalling any previous inside jokes / songs / etc we had with eachother. Man, did we have a lot. THEREFORE! I, being a stupid teenager with no purpose in my life yet, am declaring the week of October 11-18 to be FLASHBACK WEEK. During this week, you should recall any good memories (or bad) with friends (or enemies) and look back on your experiences. This should be somewhat life changing. Or not. Enjoy your week! Happy Colombus Day! [though he didn't really discover anything...]

I wish I had thought of that... part dos!

That's right! It's something that didn't just last a week and fizzle out! This makes this officially the longest running idea I've had in about 6 years, so I'm proud of myself. Anyways, the thing that I wish I had thought of this week is from one of my favorite comedy groups of all time, collegehumor.com (who if things go well, I might be in a video for! Cross those fingahs!) Anyways, this is one of the best things I have ever seen. Just freaking genius. And yes, there are expletives involved, so be careful. Here's the link: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1914134 . Enjoy!

Harry's hopefully accurate postseason predictions!

So, after watching the Twins play an incredible game to make their way to the playoffs, (Anyone else love that catch-put out at home double play by the tigers to save the game in the 10th?) I'm ready to make my predictions on how the playoffs are gonna unfold. Here we go:

ALDS
Twins 1-3 Yankees-the twins lose the first two games from a combination of tired-out players and a New York hometown crowd. EDIT: still looking alright here! Nailed down the first two games.

Redsox 3-2 Angels- Redsox continue their postseason success with an upset victory over a strong Angels team.
EDIT: Got my butt kicked in this match up, but at least I got the winner right! Oh wait...

NLDS
Rockies 3-1 Phillies-The Phillies prevailed in a very week East, but the Rockies are battle-tested and title hungry.
EDIT: 1-1 so it's hard to tell at the moment, but im technically not wrong yet!

Cards 2-3 Dodgers- The dodgers lose two to strong Card's pitching, but put it away in a tough series.
EDIT: Boy, I missed the boat on this one too. Got the winner right on this one though!
ALCS
Yankees 4-2 Redsox- The Yankees take advantage of home-field, and bring their late-season Sox success into the postseason

NLCS
Dodgers 4-3 Rockies- A tough rockies team fights hard, but can't overcome their division rival.

WORLD SERIES
Yankees 4-3 Dodgers- The yankees return after a nine year drought to take out the Dodgers in a close battle.

Those are my guesses. Take em or leave em. What do you guys think?

google/october

so, today my dad decided to google me. not too bad, the first two sites have to do with my bar mitzvah and my charity project which are pretty good things in my opinion, and most of the rest have to do with people who are named like me but are NOT me. psh, freaking impostors...but it made me realize, you can find basically anything on the internet, including me. which can be a bit of a problem in the future, like applying for a job or getting into colleges. be wise, readers, and think before you post...

welcome to october.

congratulations to those freshman who have officially made it through the first month-ish of high school. it's tough, i know. but it could be worse. to others, hey, you got through school. big woop, finish the year.

as most of us know, october is notorious for halloween. when halloween comes to mind, originally i thought of costumes and candy and trick or treating and yada yada. now, i'm thinking egging and t.p.ing houses, all the bad things the kids do in my little town. damned if i do em, damned if i don't. who knows this year?

oh, and today i learned how to say epic fail in spanish: fracaso épico. stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

My Must-Read recommendation of the week!

I love these "Of the week" things, it's such a catchy ending to a title! Anyways, my must read recommendation of the week is the webcomic "Dr. Mcninja." Written and drawn by the incredible Chris Hastings, Dr. Mcninja is a hilarious blend of wit, medical prowess, and of course rollicking ninja action. A true must read. Check it out http://drmcninja.com/mcdonalds.html .This is the first page of the first comic series, other series are under the "Archives" Section on the top of the screen. Enjoy!

I wish I had thought of that!

After seeing hwoodo's "I wish i had thought of that" blog, it had me saying

I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT!

Thing I wish I had thought of Of The Week!

We all has those moments where we see/hear/learn of something that is really awesome, and think "AH! I wish I could have thought of that!" So I figured I might as well catalog one of these things every week. This week's thing I wish I had thought of was this amazing rap verse from none other than Kanye West in the song "I Poke Her Face" or "Make Her Say" by Kid Cudi. All Taylor Swift disses aside, this guy is DAMN TALENTED:

"I Got Seniority, With The Sorority
So, That Explains Why I Love College
Getting Brain In The Library Cuz I Love Knowledge
When You Used Your Medulla Oblongata
And Give Me Scoliosis Until I Comatose'st
And Do While I'm Sleep, Yeah A Lil Osmosis
And That's My Commandment, You Ain't Gotta Ask Moses
More Champagne, More Toasts'st
More Damn Planes, More Coasts'st
And Fuck The Bus, The Benz Is Parked Like Rosa(osa)"

I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT!

my least favorite part of high school so far?

The homework. Speaking of which...

love lockdown for the single ladies. coincidence?

For those of you who didn't watch the MTV Video Music Awards on 9/13, here's a basic overview:

- Russell Brand went completely and totally hay-wire on his sexual jokes and referances

- Lady Gaga had a pretty peculiar performance of "Paparazzi," ending in a bloody, hanging mess. I wasn't quite sure if I should've laughed, cried, or thrown up.

- Other performances, like Green Day, Muse, Beyoncé and my personal favorite, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, KILLED their songs (and dance, for the single ladies).

- Wale and UCB were the go-to guys when things got awkward. They got a LOT of playing time.

But the big news that everyone is talking about is Taylor Swift's "acceptance" speech of her Moon Man. Again, for those who didn't watch, Taylor Swift's video for "You Belong With Me" won for Best Female Video, over Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." Taylor, not expecting to win, was completely flabbergasted (yes, flabbergasted), and ran up on stage and began to give her acceptance speech. Suddenly, Kanye West decided to come up on stage and say a few words of his own. Something along the lines of, "Now Taylor, Imma give you your time, but Beyoncé had one of the greatest videos of all time." He said he would give her time to speak, but right after that the two were asked to go off stage in preparation for the next award. WHAT THE HELL, 'YE?! Do you not have ANY respect for someone who works their BUTT off and is only SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE? Let alone a COUNTRY singer? Beyoncé tried to save your sorry face by giving Taylor her time to talk after B won in the Best Pop Video category, but I don't think that was enough to get America to forgive you, maybe even people around the world. Now, I've heard a few excuses from people: "Jay-Z told him to do that" "He was drunk" "He was high." No, he had bad judgement! Michael Jackson (rest in peace) would be ashamed. Actually, nah. I'm not going to think how the King would feel; it's his judgements. So, Kanye, what did we learn? Never talk out of turn, you crazy fool.

blueprint this!

As we all probably know, Jay-Z's new album, The Blueprint 3, just dropped. I had been listening to it continually for a few days though, through rhapsody.com. Genius idea for a website, props to that creator. After hearing a few songs, I bought the album the day it dropped, and now I feel like hip hop has been saved. Think about it: Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak was autotune central. Weezy started incorporating in his guitar more and more and basically almost became a rock artist, not to mention his verses on songs like Down by Jay Sean (or whatever his name is) were completely tampered with to have the autotune sound. And when T-Pain and some other company whose name escapes me at the time made the I Am T-Pain app for the iPhone, it was giving people the power to do what hip hop is doing! Rapping was turning into singing, into R & B, into NOT what it should've been, in my opinion. Then in walks Hova, droppin D.O.A., sayin that's enough. Run This Town shows his authority, and The Blueprint 3 has become the defibrilator for hip hop. (All due respect, there are some other rappers like Jeezy and Nas and even Ash Roth who stay away from that autoshit, props to them.) It's good to see things back to normal. Oh, and who wouldn't want an Empire State of Mind?

freshmeat, day 2.

Here's a little F Y Infomación:

Some things that I say may get blown out of proportion.

Thanks, and have a nice day.

freshmeat.

For the past 3 years or so, me and my grade of friends have adapted to this thing called "middle school." Now, there are a few aspects to this "school" thing. Work, Friendships, and the Miscelanious category of everything else (sports, plays, etc.). Through 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, the work has gotten progressivly harder, friendships have taken their twists and turns to strengthen or weaken, and the other stuff has changed, not like it matters. Then comes the big "moving up." (i like to use "quotes;" should've put that in the first entry) Since 5th grade, we have been taught to be ready from going from the cream of the crop to the littlest bunch. Here's where it gets scary. As of 8:30 tomorrow morning, I am going to be what people like to call freshmeat. Durogatory term, I know. But think about it. When entering, say, 1st or 2nd grade, did you endure any bullying from any 4th or 5th graders? When you were a 6th grader, did the 8th graders pick you up and throw you in the trash can? Didn't think so. Now, i know some of you may be rolling your eyes at me, saying, "This is bullsh**. That type of stuff only happens in movies, never in real life." I'm droning on this point just as a prepare-for-the-worst, hope-for-the-best sort of thing. Having no older siblings, I'm scared out of my 14 year old mind for high school. A couple of tips I've gotten from people include these:

1. STAY OUT OF UPPERCLASSMEN'S WAY

2. Don't do anything stupid to draw attention to yourself.

3. There is no pool, nor is there a fourth floor. However, there is a stairway to nowhere.

4. Don't overbook yourself with clubs and such.

5. Ned's De-Classified School Survival Guide is sometimes partially right.

So to all entering freshmeat, I say, good luck. You better have a copy of that guide.

a beginning, part II

As woody summed it up the best, us two are a dynamic duo ready to speak our minds on just about anything through this website. From pop culture to whatever happens in Science class on the fourth day of school (not that i'm saying anything will happen, but just a thought...), we're here to rant on it. Your thoughts may disagree, and if so, feel free to comment about it. But before this really kicks off, a couple of ground rules should be set:

1. There may be times (hopefully very few) that we may blog with explicit content. Please ignore it, don't report it.

2. We never mean to offend anyone on purpose.

3. It's still in the twilight.

4. Camp referances will be understood mostly by camp people.

5. My spelling SUCKS.

6. woody's posts will usually be more intelligent than mine, and finally,

7. Enjoy this.

My dad once told me, "Everyone can see everything on the internet, so watch what you write." We plan to, but prepare yourself for one hell of a blog.

a beginning

There are a lot of things to be learned at a 4 week sleepaway camp hidden away in the Berkshires. One of the key things is how to make new, amazing friends. I like to think that Pancakes and I fall under this category. We've been going to camp together for a long time now, and we've bonded through midnight fudge runs, freestyle rap sessions, plaque making, and many other experiences together. Now as a tandem writing crew, we hope to pass on the other lessons we've learned from camp: how to laugh, how to have fun, and also how to live your life to the fullest. And of course, because we want people that don't go to camp to read this too, we'll also write about our views on current events, celebrity news, and other fun mainstream stuff like that. We hope we can entertain you, make you laugh, and maybe even teach you a few things along the way. Enjoy.