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November 30, 2005

"Your skills with the ladies need some work," which is news to my girlfriend

How good is your game with the women? I clicked a banner ad to find out: I'm "below average," scoring a 58 of 100. "Your skills with the ladies need some work!" the website claims.

So I asked the girlfriend to take the test. I figured that since she's both female and attractive, she would know what "works" for men to pick-up attractive females. Were the test's scoring mechanism not broken when she took the test, I think she would have done even worse than I did. When we read through the answer key, her general reaction was, "I wouldn't do any of these" or "that's ridiculous."

The problem with the test's answers is that the advice seems to assume that all women--or at least all beautiful women--are the same. Sure, there are some things that men do that are universally ineffective, from the pathetic ("what's your sign?") to the abusive (stalking her). But why not tell men to listen to her, figure out how she wants to be courted, and do it? Maybe it's because there's no recipe for this and hence it's no way of selling cheesy, overpriced advice books.

(Try this link for the test, but don't blame me if it won't score, and beware that the test owner will spam you.)

Posted by adrianjo at 01:04 PM

November 29, 2005

Economists can be funny

Columbia's annual Follies program is fast approaching. Last year, there was a video produced that has since become famous around the world. It stars the school's dean, who has received emails from as far away as Japan's Finance Minister discussing his role. Seriously, have you ever seen an economist so funny? And where did they find all these hot women in the video?

Posted by adrianjo at 04:31 PM

November 26, 2005

Update on Copterline crash

The only helicopter I've ever taken is shown below. It crashed into the Baltic Sea on its usual Tallinn-Helsinki run on August 10, killing all 14 souls aboard. The cause was determined this month to be a problem with the part that translates the pilot's directions into mechanical changes. More here. Blog entries start here.

Posted by adrianjo at 12:05 AM

November 25, 2005

Room at the inn?

I am looking for recommendations of hotels/inns in Ireland (Republic and Northern) for Christmas break. Also, if you'll be in Bruxelles, London, or Amsterdam in January, do drop me a line.

Posted by adrianjo at 12:21 PM

November 23, 2005

Harlem is on TV

The USPS's holiday commercial was filmed on 123d St in Harlem last month. I doubt anyone would guess that it's Harlem--I wouldn't have known if I hadn't walked across the set when they were filming. The producers selected a fairly nice set of brownstones with a scummy apartment building at the end of the row, though the apartment building conveniently shows only the fire escapes. If anyone has an adcritic.com password, please send it along so I can download a copy of the spot.

Posted by adrianjo at 03:31 PM

November 21, 2005

Law and order, and the lack thereof

The City Crime Rankings are out, and there are some interesting findings:

It's interesting to note how many of the "most dangerous" cities are run by Democrats, like New Orleans's incompetent and overwhelmed Roy Nagin or Gary's Scott King. New York City, by contrast, has had 12 years of Republican governance and has gone from one of America's most dangerous cities to one of its safest. No wonder Republicans are trusted more than Democrats on law and order.

Posted by adrianjo at 10:35 AM

November 20, 2005

This Happy Valley isn't a Hong Kong racetrack

I dragged TH down to Happy Valley last night. Cousin Tara took one look at the club's website and said, "what did you have to do to convince her to go there?" Some pics are below, and there are more at a promoter's website.

The club is a tribute to '70s and '80s discos that apparently were quite popular in New York. Hence the ultra-short white-ringed shorts worn by the cocktail waitresses that make Hooters girls' outfits look downright modest. I'm not sure the connection with the giant legs above the bar, except that the club's name has nothing to do with Penn State or the famous racetrack in Hong Kong.

I guess it's a good thing we didn't stay too late. Not only is there the photo below, but last time I was in this club, it was called Social Club and I puked out the back window of the cab on the way home. I even blogged about it.



Posted by adrianjo at 09:41 PM

November 19, 2005

Find me on myspace

FWIW, I have set-up a profile on myspace.com for people who use that site. After running my address book through the site's search engine, it's apparent that not many people use it. You can also find me on Friendster, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Posted by adrianjo at 01:19 PM

Rivalry week begins

Today is the Harvard-Yale football game. As remarked by C.M. Burns, Yale class of 1904: "I don't know why Harvard even bothers to show-up. They barely even won!"

As for Penn, it wasn't their year, and Columbia has yet to win a league game. Alas, it might be a year to root for Notre Dame and Northwestern.

Posted by adrianjo at 11:00 AM

November 17, 2005

A first time for everything

An old friend from high school, a fellow now known as The Rev. Daniel Aabye Rodriguez-Schlorff, is running for Illinois Treasurer in the Green Party. I have never voted for a Democrat, nor a Green Party member, in a general election. Next year, however, I might have to make an exception. Here are Schlorff's blog and campaign website.

Posted by adrianjo at 11:04 PM

November 11, 2005

What would Confucius say?

This guy who glued himself to a toilet seat is becoming as annoying as the Wendy's finger-in-the-chili person.

Posted by adrianjo at 11:10 AM

November 10, 2005

"Fellas, it's been good to know 'ya"

Today is Edmund Fitzgerald Day, the 30th anniversary of the most famous Great Lakes maritime tragedy. A 726-foot bulk freighter carrying twice her weight in iron ore sank in a November storm on Lake Superior just 17 miles from a safe harbor. All 29 aboard were killed.

The Great Lakes usually look calm and flat, but they are lined up and down by various shipwrecks. Consider these weather-related disasters;

I remember as a kid monitoring a nautical radio on Mackinac Island, Michigan. We listend and posted information on the boats as they gave positions during the Chicago-Mackinac race. A storm swept over the northern section of Lake Michigan and Wave Dancer, a pleasure yacht, sent an SOS when she lost her mast in the storm. Lucky for her, the Coast Guard had a cutter nearby that responded and nobody was injured. The lakes can be dangerous. Meanwhile, a fellow was knocked over when he was struck by lightning standing near our monitoring station on the island. Mackinac Island has about 6 motor vehicles in total, and one transported the unlucky fellow to medical attention.

It's worth running a search on iTunes for Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Posted by adrianjo at 04:02 PM

November 09, 2005

Pass the Courvoisier

A paparazzo managed to snap this spy-camera photo of TH and I at exactly the time that she grabs my hand and says, "put down that Courvoisier; you've had enough to drink." Notice the big frown on my face:

Posted by adrianjo at 01:16 PM

Last night in New York

The filming of Law & Order SVU on 122nd St yesterday was not particularly noteworthy, at least in terms of the buffet. The actors and staff, who numbered more than 40, got a couple pots of coffee, some cookies, and some chopped strawberries on a rolling cart. I was expecting more, especially given the Ferarri and Porsche that some nitwits from the production left parked on the streets of Harlem. Most of the filming at St. Martin's church happened at night, so no pics:(

It was also election night, where Bloomy trounced Freddy. Freddy's "two New Yorks" theme never gained traction, and overall it was a disastrous campaign for the Democrat. The NY Times has an unusually good wrap-up. Particularly noteworthy:

The Democratic defeat called into question the party's bedrock strategy of seeking to unite a multiracial coalition behind its mayoral nominee, which the Ferrer team attempted to achieve with dozens of endorsements from black and Hispanic leaders, a strategy that propelled the last Democratic mayoral victory when David N. Dinkins was elected in 1989.

Democrats also believed, apparently incorrectly, that Mr. Ferrer's Puerto Rican roots would largely guarantee huge support from Hispanics, a fast-growing part of the electorate. "The first time the Democratic Party has ever nominated a Latino for mayor, he not only did not get strong support from other parts of the 'liberal coalition' - blacks and white liberals - he was also unable to generate much fervor among Latinos," said John H. Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Posted by adrianjo at 12:30 PM

November 07, 2005

Come see Law & Order SVU tomorrow

New York City is home to a fair number of film shoots. Fortunately, before they take over your neighborhood, they have to put up signs identifying the production. Anyone who wants to watch Law & Order SVU shoot, come to 122nd St in front of my house tomorrow.

The size of the shoots is really astonishing. There are typically anywhere from 10 to 30 vehicles, ranging from star trailers to generator trucks. The canteen is also very prominent, often with signs pointing towards the buffet. I have no idea why filming a show is such a production--neighborhood guys like Maysles do a good job with just a camera. Maybe tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the Law & Order people and all the stuff it takes to film a simple TV show.

Posted by adrianjo at 11:54 PM

November 06, 2005

The great French ghetto fire: 10 nights and still burning strong

If it weren't for Nicholas Sarkozy, France's Interior Minister, the cheese-eating surrender monkeys in Paris would have capitulated to France's Muslim militant insurgency roughly 9 days ago. Now in their 10th day, the riots continue to spread. As a supporter of Sarkozy, I especially appreciated this:

For the young men of Le Blanc-Mesnil and hundreds in other impoverished suburbs, one man represents all they find abhorrent in the French government: Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been considered the country's leading contender in the 2007 presidential elections. Last month, he recommended waging a "war without mercy" against criminals and other troublemakers in the poor areas.

What's especially interesting is that Sarkozy seems to be France's current best hope--and the best political hope for the rioting Muslims. There are a variety of reasons for this that I won't get into now. Suffice it to say that after all the America-bashing that came from Sarkozy's political opponents, it's interesting that the rioting youths seem to have some admiration for America:

"We don't have the American dream here," said Rezzoug, as he surveyed the clusters of young men. "We don't even have the French dream here."

via the Washington Post.

Posted by adrianjo at 12:23 AM

November 03, 2005

This guy's got a problem with pot

Never take a seat without checking it first.

Posted by adrianjo at 03:48 PM

November 02, 2005

France leads the way

With Paris's St. Denis inner-suburb erupting in riots started by Muslim youths, one wonders if France will finally stop hectoring the US about how to run our policy towards Muslim nations.

Posted by adrianjo at 05:11 PM

If someone is planning to kill my kid, I'd like to know

A lot of hay has been made over how Sam Alito, the Supreme Court nominee, voted to uphold a Pennsylvania law requring wives to inform their husbands before an abortion. (The rest of the court disagreed and struck down the law.) Somehow Alito's opinion is seen as an infringement on a woman's right to choose.

I'm generally pro-choice (as a libertarian), but if my unborn kid is about to be aborted, I think I should at least be informed, even if I don't have a say in whether Junior is murdered. The only problem with the law is that it did not go far enough to provide men some influence in whether or not his child is killed. (Perhaps fathers' rights are difficult to establish in practice, but the idea sounds good in theory.)

Of course, the real aim of the Pennsylvania law was to force adulterers who were too stupid to use condoms and the Pill to come clean. In the sense that the law encourages people to be faithful on their commitments, it is also desireable. If married individuals want society to provide benefits because they choose to marry, they ought to at least be faithful on the commitments they made.

UPDATE: The NY Times has an unusually fair and balanced look at Alito's abortion and marriage decisions.

Posted by adrianjo at 12:33 PM

November 01, 2005

Airing dirty laundry

My scary ghetto laundromat on Fifth Avenue has been booted out by the landlord... maybe it has something to do with gentrification or something, so I guess it's indirectly partially sorta my fault, or whatever.

I fear I may have to buy one of those old lady push-carts to haul my laundry up to 129th St, since 7 blocks or about 0.4 miles is too far to carry a month's worth of clothes. Here is a message on the subject from another guy who lives in the house:

Yes, I just discovered the loss of our laundry. However, I found a new place at Lenox and 129th. I rode the bus looking for a place and discovered this place. It is on the east side of Lenox and is brand new. Open 24/7, it is bright and very clean although a little more expensive. You can walk there. They'll let you drink a bud as long as it is in a paper bag.

The real question: do they let patrons smoke bud?

Posted by adrianjo at 11:33 AM