Forget a Tom Tom...you just need a Bill Bill

You don't need a GPS if you have Bill Amarosa with you. Bill is one of my friends who recently set the world record for riding the entire NYC Subway system on a single fare. He made the Guinness Book of World Records with a time of 24 hours, 54 minutes, 3 seconds.

I kid you not, if you are ever lost in NYC and need to get somewhere Bill can tell you the best route off the top of his head. I actually had to test his knowledge once when my wife called me lost in NYC.

I called Bill and had to ask how to get from where she was to the Bergen stop in Brooklyn. In two seconds he was able to give me the stops and trains that she needed to take. If you want to learn more about his World Record challenge click here.

For those that don't want to read more about Bill then feel free to enjoy the below video of a Midget Michael Jackson impersonator dancing at a Subway stop in NYC. Next time you're embarrassed to get up and dance at a wedding think of the balls this guy has to dance in front of everyone.

You can also click here to link to The Furthest Point blog to find out some of the challeges that Bill might have had to face along the way to setting his record.

Memorial Day

Since this week was Memorial Day I figured I'd talk about a Patriotic new way in which I feel we should honor our National Anthem.

It is very disappointing these days when watching people at a sporting event during the singing of the National Anthem. Only a handful of mainly older people stand up, take off their hats, and place their right hand over their heart. This is how it should be done to honor what our country and the National Anthem stands for.

For the majority of people they may or may not stand, some don't even take off their hats, and most even if standing and taking off their hats don't put their right hand over their heart.

Since I don't want to sound like a bitter old man and I do understand times have changed I figured I'd come up with a compromise to start to get more people honoring our National Anthem. The next time you hear the National Anthem I suggest you show your respect as represented below...

I guarantee that this will at least get more men to stand up and honor our National Anthem.

On a more serious note I do love the country that I live in, I appreciate all those currently fighting for our freedom, and I appreciate all those that have given their lives to defending our country.

Three of my grandparents served in WWII and my father served in Vietnam. Lets take time this week to remember those that are no longer here that served or may have even lost their lives while serving.

Don't worry...this will be about as serious as I will get in my blog. I still prefer writing about topics like Triple Nipples.

Triple Nipple

For those that were at Hampton Beach this weekend you'll know why I was inspired to learn more about Triple Nipples. For those that weren't there I played a Triple Nipple song on the guitar. It turned into hours of drunken enjoyment and sing alongs.

Since I could not get the stupid song out of my head for two days I decided that I needed to know more about Triple Nipples if I was going to continue to sing a song about it.

After searching on the Internet I found a few things:

-1 in 18 people have a Triple Nipple. I send my blog updates to more than 18 people so that means someone reading this right now has one...fess up.

-There is an actual beer called Triple Nipple. Not really but still a creative beer logo.

-There is a joke website dedicated to Triple Nipples. The website is: http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~wenz/mainpage.html


In all my research the only thing that would be better than seeing a Triple Nipple would be a Triple Boob...

For anyone reading this that has a Triple Nipple please feel free to add a comment or picture.

Indiana Jones: Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

I ended up being one of those geeks that went to the new Indiana Jones movie at 12:15am last night. I was going into it expecting to be disappointed and knowing that this would probably be my least favorite out of all of the movies. Even with those expectations I still never dreamed of how I would really feel...it was awful.

For those that might still want to see this movie I won't give anything away. Some of the things that were fine were:

- Harrison Ford's age: Obviously everyone kept talking about how old he is and would look and act. Obviously he does look older in the movie but he was still able to pull it off. He played an older Indiana and it seemed to fit OK. Seeing him in recent interviews talking and moving around you would think that he should have a walker but in the movie he was a bit better than I expected.

- Indiana Jones' Outfit: Always cool. Also one of the main reasons that I stopped wearing jeans to school and started wearing pants like him after seeing Raiders of The Lost Ark. To this day I'm still trying to find a hat that fits like his...still looking.

- John Williams' Score: How can you not like the music...brings back memories...

I'll give you my thoughts on what the different title choices for the movie should have been which will give you hints into why I felt the movie was so bad.

Indiana Jones:

• "Kingdom Of The Gofers From Caddyshack"
• "How To Swing With Monkeys"
• "Raiders Of The Lost E.T."
• "Temple Of The Crazy Men Leaping Out Of Cave Walls"
• "How To Survive A Nuclear Explosion"

This is a G...This is a D...This is a C

Little did I know that by showing my friend's younger brother these three chords on the guitar that some day he'd have a band that sells out shows, has over 4 CD's, and just created their first video.

The name of the band is Barefoot Truth.

Check out their first video above called Reelin'. Even if it's not your type of music send along to others that might like their music. I've linked their website as well which shows upcoming concert dates, etc.

If you have trouble linking their website is: http://www.barefoottruth.com/.

Student Council

This is a continuation from a post on The Furthest Point blog. It talks about an upcoming Oliver Stone movie called "W".


Does Elizabeth Banks really look like Laura Bush?


I can confidently say, "No". Why can I say "No" without any question or doubt...well I went to high school with her. While I'm not sure how she'll do acting as Laura Bush I do know that she has experience in politics.

Elizabeth (Liz) and I were on the Pittsfield High School Student Council. She was two years older than I was and was always vetoing my attempts to improve our school.

She never liked my suggestions for White T-Shirt Cheerleader Car Washes, a Pancake Breakfast for Guidance Councilors, or a Battle of the Bands concert in which the lead singer attempts to light himself on fire during a pep rally (this actually happened).

So while I'm not so sure how this movie will do at least they chose an actor that has a background in politics. Her real name is Elizabeth (Liz) Mitchell but this name was already taken by another actress. She had to use her mother's maiden name of Banks. For those of you that are J.J. Abrams, Lost, geeks then you'll be able to figure out who has the name Elizabeth Mitchell.

Important Links

In an effort to be a nice guy I figured I'd direct everyone to my Important Links (see links on the right of my blog). You can also click on the title headings to take you there.

26 Street Studio:

One of my friends has started a photography business. Check out some of the pictures of the Boston area, NYC, and Philly. Order something on line now...now...now.

The Flipp Side:

The same friend that started 26 Street Studio will take you on his personal journeys through life. You'll be able to tell quickly that he has a strange fetish for Mickey Mouse.

12 Bars of Christmas:

Most of you will probably see a picture of yourself. You won't remember having the picture taken but it should help you remember the great time that you had. Don't forget...1st Saturday of every year. See you Dec. 6th.

The Furthest Point:

A thought provoking blog started by my brother-in-law. If Brett Michael's were to describe his blog he'd use the words "awesome" and "totally rocks". That is how good this blog is. We're in a blog war for more hits so please only check this blog once a month.

Zeitgeist - The Movie

I ended up listening to a radio show that was talking about conspiracy theories. I'm not one that really cares about them but they kept pushing an on line movie to watch. Pretty interesting.

I would like to dig in more and investigate the claims they make but if you just took this at it's face value as fact then you probably won't be able to sleep for another 3 weeks.

It's an actual movie about 2 hours long but I was hooked into watching. Starts off with religion, then into 9/11, and then ends with the Federal Reserve Bank. I've attached the link below to view the movie.

I do have to warn you that after watching the movie, within 4 minutes and 36 seconds, two government officials will be knocking on your door giving you a cavity search...don't worry...they were very gentle with me. The clip I attached above is a good preview of the movie. If you find interesting you can watch the entire movie. See link below.

Link to entire movie: http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Number 32

For those that aren't familiar with others that share the same B-Day as myself, here are two people that definitely stand out in their contributions to history.

Karl Marx- great German philosopher. The importance of his dialectical method and of his theories goes far beyond their immense political influence; many scholars consider him a great economic theoretician and the founder of economic history and sociology.

Tina Yothers- actor on Family Ties. The importance of her acting method and of her pre-pubescent theories goes far beyond their immense 80's cultural influence; many critics consider her a great thespian and large part of 80's history and sociology.

Who had a larger impact on the world? I'll let you decide...

Instead of focusing on the fact that I'm getting old (gray hair, receding hair line, 2 1/2 and 7 month old girls, etc.) I'd rather have others enjoy what life is all about.

The above is an example of things that make me happy in life. People watching is one of the greatest activities that you can ever do in life. Watching white people dance to Baby's Got Back at a white trash Cinco De Mayo party is like a fart...it is always funny.

The Best of What's Around

As the first post to my blog I figured I'd start off by addressing the title of my blog. On second thought, if you don't know why I chose this title than you probably don't know me that well.

For those that don't know off the top of your head take a few moments to figure it out. If within an hour you cannot figure out please stop reading this since I'm not that deep of a person.

All those that were able to figure out why I chose this title lets continue with the blog and make The Best of What's Around...

(Picture that last sentence as an intro to some cheesy reality show that I'm hosting with overly dramatic music playing in the background, the camera is overhead and cuts away quickly as I spin in a circle, and then immediately cuts to a commercial.)