We are the World 25

25 Years ago, Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, and the late great Michael Jackson composed an emotional, heartwarming song entitled "We Are The World."
With their tremendously collaborative influence in the music industry, this powerhouse music trio brought together the biggest names in music into one studio, where they recorded this incredibly uplifting song. The profits of the recording went to help victims of starvation and povery in Africa. The recording included, among others, the likes of: Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Huey Lewis, Janet and Michael Jackson, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Cindy Lauper, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Dionne Warwick, and Smokey Robinson. Here is the original recording, 25 years ago:



A few weeks ago, the world emotionally trembled after hearing of the terrible disaster in the physical trembles of Haiti's earthquake. Jones and Richie felt that it was only appropriate to once again bring together the greatest singers of our time to record a new, modern version of their classic song. This time the proceeds would go towards the Haiti Relief Fund. This year's artists included among others: Justin Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Levine of Maroon 5 fame, Fergie, Barbara Streisand, Celine Dion, Will.I.Am, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Nicole Sherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Pink!, the incomparable and legendary Tony Bennet, Kanye West, Akon, Usher, Wyclef Jean (a Haiti native himself), Randy Jackson, Josh Groban, Jennifer Nettles, Mary J. Blige, Enrique Iglesias, Iyaz, Toni Braxton, Busta Rhymes, Katherine McPhee, Harry Connick Jr., Jordin Sparks, Rob Thomas, Jason Mraz, T-Pain, Carlos Santana, the Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus:



Now, here are my comments:
There is no doubt that the original was better in terms of star power. In my eyes, te original had the top tier of music's best in it's time. This years arguably, included the mid-card to upper mid-card talent in the world today. Where is Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Dave Matthews, Shakira, Jay-Z, or Beyonce? I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about that, but I think that in comparison the star power was far greater in the original. Bob Dylan!!! Bruce!!! Ray Charles!!! Paul Simon!!! Michael Jackson!!! It doesn't get any bigger than that! I do have to say that I liked the remix, and I even liked the rap part of the song as it gave space for the members of the rap genre to show off what their best at. It was nice to see that all of these stars sang so emotionally for such a great cause. The obvious predicatable part of this year's recording was the inclusion of Michael Jackson's original recording. Was this necessary? I don't think so. This wasn't just a re-recording of a great song. It was a tribute to Haiti. This was not the time to have a Michael Jackson tribute. We've seen enough of those. Wyclef Jean's solos, while extremely annoying, were still appropriate due to his strong ties to Haiti.

Oscar Nominations are in!!!

Well, the day is finally here! I made sure to get up early enough to daven at a earlier minyan so that I could catch the Live announcements of the Oscar Nominations at 8:30 this morning. Let's go through each category and discuss:

Best Picture

Nominees: "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air," "Up," "District 9," "An Education," "Precious," "Inglorious Basterds," "A Serious Man," "The Blind Side," "Avatar."

I've only seen 7 out of 10 of these pictures, but will hopefully watch "A Serious Man," "District 9," and "An Education," by the week's end. However, I don't think it will change my mind. I have always said that The Hurt Locker was the greatest film of the year. The only real competition I see is Avatar. But regarding Avatar, when you get past the cool effects and creatures, the story itself leaves alot to be desired. The Hurt Locker is a thrilling, intense, captivating window into the lives and jobs of a Bomb Squad in Iraq. It was incredible. See it. The big surprise in this category was the inclusion of The Blind Side. The movie was good, but was not better than any other "feel good movie" like Remember the Titans, or The Great Debaters. Altough enjoyable, it was the same movie you've seen 100 times before. I also felt that Basterds didnt live up to the greatness of past Tarantino films, although Christoph Waltz's performance saved the movie, but more on the later. Precious was an acting powerhouse, but won't beat out Avatar or Locker. Let me just say a few words about this new 10 nominee business. It is ridiculous. It completely devalues the nomination. Sure it's amazing that UP has become the second ever animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture, but it would have been alot more impressive had it been nominated in a 5 nominee category, much like Beauty and the Beast managed to do in 1992. Please Academy, switch back to the old.

Final Prediction: I wouldn't be surprised if The Hurt Locker pulled out a big win on the big night.

Best Actor

Nominees: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart," George Clooney, "Up in the Air," Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker," Colin Firth, "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman, "Invictus."

See, this is why a 5 nominee category is amazing. Even with only 5 spots, Renner managed to pull a surprising, but incredible nomination. A virtual uknown, Renner should be super proud to be included in a categoruy that included huge names like "Clooney," and "Freeman." I am super excited for Renner. He put on a great performance. I've only otherwise seen Clooney and Freeman's performance. I hate George Clooney. I think he has no range. He is the same in every movie he is in. I think Freeman was awful in Invictus, and his terrible accent in the movie really made me upset. I haven't seen Crazy Heart, but it just looks like last year's "The Wrestler," with a guitarist in place of the wrestler. It doesn't look special, but I can't honestly say until I see it.

Final Prediction: Bridges has won every major award, so I expect him to take it, but I am crossing my fingers for an upset by Renner.

Stay tuned for my opinions on the other categories...

Did You Know...?

...that you can cut somebody off on the road or recklessly drive around them as long as you wave?

We knew. Now you do, too.

'Arbeit Macht Frei' Sign Stolen

Looks like some hoodlums stole the (in)famous sign by the entrance to Auschwitz. Click here for the link.

Shmolympics

This is from a website that could be described as a parody of "The Onion". It's basically the jewish version and it's called "The Knish". This is a pretty funny article:

http://www.theknish.com/articles/eyes-world-israel-32nd-shmolympics-begin/

Do You Remember...? Cereal Box Prizes

I love eating cereal. But something really pisses me off nowadays. What happened to the prizes that come inside the cereal boxes??? The greatest part of the cereal box experience was lost! I remember my mom getting so mad at me for just opening a new box so that I could stick my hand into the bag of sticky Sugar Crisp, just to retrieve the Sugar Bear Pog and add it to my collection. The cereal companies finally got smart and placed the prizes on the outside of the plastic bag, not buried deep within the cereal. Remember those color changing spoons that came in the Trix and Fruity Pebbles boxes? Now if you want to get a prize from a cereal box you have to collect 30 paper tokens from 30 different boxes to finally get your Cuckoo Cocoa Puff alarm clock! Boy, this recession has really hit us hard. And can you please make the games on the back of the boxes a little more challenging for us 20 year olds who still eat cereal on a regular basis? I can count how many Cap'n Crunch pieces are hidden on the back of the box before I pour my milk. And don't make me go into the inside of my box to find out that I lost the contest to win a Cinnamon Toast Crunch sweepstakes. Just print it on the front of the box and kill my dreams straight away. Eating cereal just isn't as exciting anymore. Stay tuned to my article on cereal varieties and characters coming soon.

Do you remember...?

Now, I'm no longer in high school, so to me this is a good Do You Remember...? article. Do you remember actually having to use looseleaf binders in elementary and high school? Perhaps the greatest invention ever were the paper reinforcements. What genius! Except, of course, when you didn't quite match up the sticker with your rip, and then when you try pulling the sticker off, the rip tears even more. But one day, someone decided to be more of a genius and sell paper with laminated holes on the side. And this whole discussion just reminds me of those annoying kids who when asked to borrow a piece of paper would respond "Borrow a piece of paper? What are you gonna do? Return it?"I hated that kid (ok, I admit, that was sometimes me).

Old Names

My grandfather's names are Sheldon and Stanley. Who thought it was possible to have two grandfathers with the best old man names ever. Now, according to the Social Security official website, Stanley is the 568th most common name of the 2000's, and Sheldon is the 776th most popular. These names are listed behind names like Orion, Ezequiel, Deshawn, and Gilberto! I was just wondering whether my grandparents were really called Sheldon and Stanley as kids? If someone named a kid Sheldon today, it would be social suicide. That could would be the wedgie king of the world! Do you know kids or grandparents with funny names? Email us at SubbyBub@gmail.com.

Cool World Record

This kid, at only 9 years old, holds the Guinness World Record for balancing the most spoons on his face. Do you have a crazy talent that you would like to share with the world? Email us at SubbyBub@gmail.com and share them with us!

Cool Lake found on Google Earth

This picture was found by searching around the globe on Google Earth. It is a man made lake shaped like, well...a Man!

Crazy things people do:

Welcome to our new feature: Crazy things people do. I was amazed when I saw this video of the National "Anvil Shooting" Champion. I never knew that anvils existed outside a road runner cartoon, but I was proven wrong:

Did you know...

...that the name of the classic game "Tetris" originates from the word or prefix "tetra" [tettares in Greek is four]. The illusion to the number 4 has to do with the amount of boxes all of the shapes have. They're all compilations of 4 boxes in different shapes. Look at the picture and you'll see.

Little bit of a Tetris theme going on here on the shmopper.

We knew. Now you do, too.

 

Do You Remember...? Sleepovers

Yeaaaaa. Sleepovers, baby!

Taking a different bus home, being with a whole new group of kids on the bus, new driver. 

At some point in time though, it's no longer a "sleepover". The question "hey- you wanna have a sleepover tonight?" transforms into "you can stay by me tonight" or something of that sort. 

Accidentally on purpose

So if someone intentionally crashes their car into someone else's car, is it still referred to as an "accident"?

Do You Remember...? Old School Game Systems

Wow! The Old School Game Boy system! The first of its kind! This thing was absolutely massive! You needed to buy a case just to carry this thing around! It's crazy to think that we had handheld game systems that couldn't even fit in our pocket. How many fights occurred between brothers everywhere over who claims possession of the Game Boy for that hour? The graphics were absolutely horrendous. But, I always say, as old as those games were, they are still the best, and are timeless. Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Kirby's Dreamland, Wario, Paperboy, and Ninja Turtles. I can still spend hours playing those games, and they were still more challenging than the more graphic, more advance games on the modern day systems. And what was the deal with blowing on the cartridges when they didn't work? How is it possible that every kid everywhere instinctively knew that blowing was the solution to fix the games? And nothing was worse than seeing that small red power light start dimming while you were on a long car ride with your family. Don't die on my now BOY, I really don't want to be stuck listening to Uncle Moishy tapes in the car. And just for fun...a picture of a Game Gear! Ah...Classic Sonic!

Doesn't get better than this

This is an actual mugshot. Just click the link above

No. 2 to whom?

Just took a test yesterday and almost panicked because i didn't have a Number 2 pencil. That got me thinking- is there a Number 1 or Number 3 pencil out there i don't know about? I want it.

A dialogue to die for

The following conversation actually took place between a guy working at Starbucks (a barista), and an asian woman trying to place an order:

Barista: How may I help you today?

Asian: One green tea frappuccino

Barista: Would you like anything to eat with that?

Asian: No

Barista: okay, so that's one green tea frappuccino

Asian: Right

Barista (calls out to other barista): One green tea frappuccino

Asian: Right!

Barista (talking to asian again): Right, a green tea frappuccino

Asian: Right

Barista: OK, so we have one green tea frappuccino

Asian: Right!

Barista: Right, a green tea frappuccino

Asian: Right! 

Barista: Right, one green tea frappuccino!

Asian: RIGHT!

Barista: Am i not understanding you correctly? Just to make sure your order's correct- One green tea frappuccino, right?

Asian: Yes!

Barista: OK, good. One green tea frappuccino.

Asian: RIGHT!!!!

Barista: Right, a green tea frappuccino

Asian: RIGHTTTTT!!!!

Barista: Ok, ma'am. 

LeBron

107-106. I guess the boy didn't get his vitamins. You saw it here first.

Did You Know...?

...that "macchiato" of 'caramel macchiato' means "mark". The caramel macchiato is made differently from other espresso beverages at Starbucks. Whereas a latte is made by putting steamed milk on top of the espresso shots, a caramel macchiato is filled with the heated milk and foam after which the shots are poured on top of the foam, "marking" it with a brown spot created by the espresso. 

You can also get a regular 'espresso macchiato' 

We knew. Now you do, too.

Did You Know...?

A very special friend pointed out something very cool to me. Next time you eat a York Peppermint Patty, put it next to your ear, and break it apart. It makes the most unbelieveable sound. Also, save all your reciepts, you never know when you'll need them.

We knew. Now you do, too.

Swine Flu No More?

I just have one question- what happened to the swine flu? 

Website Idea

Wouldnt it be crazy if there was a website called "FirstDate.com" that announced when people were going on first dates. Maybe we would plant people to take pictures of first dates, and post them on the site!

Angry NBA players

This one needs to be accredited to one of our dear friends, P:

You ever notice how in every sport other than basketball, a player is joyful and ecstatic after doing something to help his team? Hockey players hug each other radiantly; baseball players slap hands and fist pump jubilantly; football players jump into each other (and presumably smile under their helmets). Not so is the case with basketball players. They get furious and rave ferociously. Kevin Garnett can't stop dropping F-bombs. He smacked Rajon Rondo in the head after he exploded to the rim one game. Lebron James looks as if he's going to eat a little baby. Kobe Bryant looks like he's going to implode. Paul Pierce might kill somebody every time he hits a big three-pointer. 

Anyway- that's why we love the NBA. Where amazing (emotional response) happens. 

Do You Remember...? Tamagotchi

Isn't it amazing how incredibly bored we must have been as kids to be amazed and obsessed with something like the Tamagotchi? The Tamagotchi was a small handheld electronic device which involved taking care of an "electronic pet!" ??? Have you seen a Playstation 3 or an X-Box 360? Kids these days are shooting up Nazis in World War 2 games, with incredible bloody graphics, and we were obsessed with cleaning electronic poop off of a tiny black and white screen! We would wake up in the middle of the night because we heard our Tamogotchi beeping and it was time to take it out a play catch with it! What were we thinking?

One controversy over Tamagotchi digital pets involved children taking them to school because certain Tamagotchi versions could starve or die in less than half a day from lack of care. Worry over potential ownership disputes, class disruptions, and general distraction from schoolwork has led many schools to ban the product. Wow, alot has changed since we were kids.

The Exaggerator

Today we're gonna talk about that one person everybody knows that can't help but exaggerate everything he says to the nth degree. Everybody knows at least one exaggerator. This is the guy that when he speaks you are constantly thinking in your head "that never happened" or "i gotta verify what he just said with someone else". There are certain rules that go alone with having a conversation with this guy. For example: every time he mentions anything of numerical significance, you have to slash the number by at least 50 percent. If he says "I sat in traffic for 2 hours today" then you know it's really one hour. If he says he won 50 bucks in a poker game, in actuality he only went up 25. When he says he's a "die-hard Yankees fan" you know that he probably can't even name 2 pitchers in the rotation.
We've got to step up to the plate and call out their bluffs people! For way too long have we sat back and listened (albeit half-consciously) to bogus monologue. What attempts have you made to salvage society from this type of person? Man up! Become an arbitrator and inflict justice on this earth!

Did you know...

...that Michael Jordan actually wore a number other than 23 and 45 at one time in his career? I'm not even talking about #9 he wore for Team USA. That's right- here's a fun tidbit of useless knowledge: MIchael Jordan, for one game, actually wore the number 12 while playing for the Chicago Bulls.

We knew. Now you do, too.

Jimmy Fallon Plays a Clip of Jewish Jets Player...

Did you know...

[This one goes back a while. Kudos goes out to some people as well as there were several who have contributed.]
...that there is actually only ONE adventure in Six Flags Great Adventure. That's right- it's not Great AdventureS as so many people mistakingly believe. Here are several other common things which are erroneously given an extra "s" at the end:

Sabra Pizza- It's not the 'pizza of Sabra'. It's just one Sabra...and yes, we're sure.
Silver Spring, Maryland- That's right- there's just one silver spring in the entire Maryland!
Lander College for Men- Not the college of a man named Lander.

Anyway, there are some more out there and we'd love to hear from you.

We knew. Now you do, too.

Crazy Shots!

Just for Fun!!!

Do You Remember...? Classic Nickelodeon

I can't even begin to tell you how many times the conversation of "Old Nickelodeon Shows" comes up with me and some friends. There is no doubt that TV today doesn't live up to what it was when we were kids. I remember being so jealous of the kids that were chosen to be contestants on game shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, Double Dare (I would have done anything to be slimed), What Would You Do, and Nick Arcade. Salute Your Shorts, Are You Afrain of the Dark, Clarissa Explains it all, Pete and Pete...all childhood classics. The one show I never liked was All That. This was basically a Saturday Night Live for kids, but was not funny at all (sort of what SNL is now). I don't get how the writers wrote that show thinking that it was even remotely funny. And the same goes for such horrible shows that are on now like Hannah Montana, Drake and Josh, and Zoey 101. Nothing was better than watching a 2 hour block of Nicktoons including Doug, Rugrats, Ahh! Real Monsters, and Rocco's Modern Life. Ahhh those were the days. Here are some memories:

Random Thought...

Isn't incredible how much ink was used trying to comment, critique, and explain the words of the Haggaddah? I would venture to say that it is the text that has the most commentary written about it in history!

Did you know...

...that hillbillies and hicks drink so much beer at NASCAR events that after the nearby convenience stores are sold out of beer and the delivery trucks come to restock, they sell it directly from the truck due to such a high demand. Saw it myself one time at Texas Motor Speedway. 

This brings me to a subsequent topic related to NASCAR. It's no wonder its the most popular sport in America. Yes, all of the following comes from south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but there are enough of them to support the sport (?) to put it at the top of the rankings. It's not about watching the cars go around at 160 MPH at all. The event actually starts upto 2 weeks prior to the actual race. Camping out and getting hammered for 14 days is the main part of the whole bout. In fact, quite a number of people don't even get to witness the actual race because they got locked up for doing something really stupid while being really drunk in the 2 weeks leading upto it. Next time you hit up the dirty south stop by with a camera...it's worth it!

We knew. Now you do, too. 

Pesach Thought #2 - Kadesh

The Haggadah Kimotzei Shalal Rav quotes from Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach that normally during the year, we are so careful to make sure to eat right after Kiddush and not have any type of Hekseik between the Kiddush and the eating. Yet on the Leil HaSeder, there is such a large Hefseik between Kiddush and eating? We are Marbeh BiSipur Yitzias Mitzraim in between? Why isn’t this a problem? Rav Shlomo Zalman explains that the whole point of the night is to be “Mikadeish HaLayla”, to sanctify the night. Everything that we do during the Seder is in order to give Kedusha to Leil Pesach. Therefore, the Haggadah isn’t a Hekseif from Kiddush, because we view it as part of the same long process of giving Kedusha to the night. This is an important idea to keep in mind and stress to everyone at the table; that we are not merely telling over a story or having a good time, rather we are being Mikadeish the night, and therefore it is incumbent upon us all to fill the night with as much Kedusha as possible.

The original Ron Artest (click here)

Turns out Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell beat Artest's 'Malice In The Palace'. There just wasn't ESPN around back then to blow it out of proportion.
Enjoy!

L I double R: where to sit?

Here's my situation on the train the other day:
It was no surprise that my car would be relatively full as it was rush hour / peak time. Having just made it onto the train as the dings were going off and the door began to slide, I was not expecting to get a comfortable seat if even any at all. I noticed some vacant spots scattered around the car but was feeling very vulnerable. The seats were only 'In-betweens' whereby a 3 seat bench was occupied at both ends, and 'up-against-the-wall-next-to-a-sleeping-fat-guy' where by I'd be smudged up against the wall next to a fat guy.
Now at first glance the answer seems simple: wake up the sleeping fat guy, generate a mean stare-down from him, have him get up in a very grumpy manner, slide up against the wall with bag in hand (as this guy expects that since you actually had the audacity to wake him up and make him stand, he'll be getting more room than you because 1. he was there first 2. you woke him up) and take up as little room as possible. [Worrying about having to wake him up for a second time is another possible scenario. It stinks when you have to switch at Jamaica and he's going all the way to Ronkonkoma even though nobody lives in Ronkonkoma.]
On the other hand, it's kind of tempting to sit in between 2 people. The question is whether the 'urinal-rule' comes into effect or not. There is an unofficial rule of proper etiquette when there are 2 guys occupying the ends of a 3 set urinal. The rule is YOU CAN'T STEP UP TO THE MIDDLE ONE IF THERE ARE NO DIVIDERS. Now do we apply the same logic to the scenario at hand? On one hand the reasoning is not the same as the urinal rule. On the other hand- this can be an almost 30 minute endeavor depending on the destination(s) of all 3 guys. 30 seconds and 30 minutes can stimulate different emotions.

Anyway, in case you're wondering what I did that day I'll tell you: I stood for 25 minutes. Next time I'll be prepared though.

LIdoubleRed

Old Tv Shows! - Fox Kids Lineup Edition

Friday was the best day when we were in elementary school. It was the one day that we were able to watch the afternoon cartoons that our gentile friends got to see every day. I remember coming off the bus and turning on the TV to catch the Friday Afternoon Fox Kids lineup with my brother. One show that sticks out more than the rest is the classic cartoon: Bobby's World. Bobby's world was about the daily life of young Bobby Generic and his very overactive imagination on how he sees the world. The show introduced to us to Uncle Ted, who had a knack for giving great noogies. The show also included Bobby's mother, who sounds alot like Governer Sarah Palin.

Fox Kids also gave Taz his very own show called Tazmania which featured a whole new slew of characters. The show wasn't that great, and was very short lived, but when I watch these videos, it reminds me so much of my childhood.

There was the old Spiderman cartoon, Beetlejuice, and one of the greatest cartoons of all time: Batman, the Animated Series. Enjoy the Memories!

Pesach Thought #1

Throughout the week, we will try to provide our readers with some thoughts on the upcoming Holiday of Pesach. We hope you enjoy:

Next Tuesday night, we will all gather with our families in our homes to perform the Mitzvah of Bedikas Chametz. After we search, we put what we found aside, and burn it the next day together with the feather and spoon that we used to collect the Chametz. R' Mirsky in his Hegyonei Halacha Haggadah suggests that one should also burn the candle with which he searched his house for Chametz. Why is this necessary? Did the candle touch the Chametz? R' Mirsky quotes the Belzer Rebbe who explained that the candle was used to look for something negative. The rise of the yeast in Chametz represents haughtiness, and negative Middos that one may carry. the candle is symbolic of an attitude of always looking and searching for the negative attitudes of an individual. Such an attitude must be completely destroyed from this world. We can never tolerate such an outlook on life. Let us take this lesson of the Belzer Rebbe to learn to always look for the good in people, in our homes and communities.

The Facebook Hagaddah (click here)

This is actually kind of funny...enjoy!

Do You Remember...? Power Rangers Wannabes

Power Rangers. Is there any show that better represents our childhood? They're Mighty, they're Morphin, and they are Super Awesome. We all spent Shabbos afternoons fighting over who would be the Red Ranger in our imaginary Power Ranger battles in the backyard (that was of course before Tommy, the Green Ranger, came along). We emulated our colorful heroes (Subby's mom didn't let him and his brother watch the show because one time his brother kicked his mom in the shin while pretending to be the blue ranger). Now, its one thing for children to want to be the Power Rangers, but it isnt ok when there are too many Power Ranger Wannabe shows on television. Some of these shows didn't make any sense. I would like to discuss the premise behind some of these terrible mock-ups.

(1) VR Troopers - The show focused on three teenagers, Ryan, Kaitlin, and J.B. One day, Ryan's search for his long-lost father led him and his friends to discovering a strange labaratory. Inside, a digitized head of Dr. Horatio Hart, a friend of Ryan's father, explained that he had created new virtual reality technology. "VR" is a secret dimension which includes mutants and monsters bent on destroying both worlds. The main ruler of these creatures is a creature known as Grimlord, who, unbeknownst to anyone on Earth, has a human identity as the Millionaire Karl Ziktor. It is up to the three teenagers to save both worlds from destruction. Ok, what in the world is going on? This show doesn't make any sense? These kids just stumble upon a virtual reality lab? Seriously, what in the world is going on? Someone explain this to me.

(2) Big Bad Beetleborgs - Three typical average kids, Drew, Jo, and Roland, enter the supposedly haunted Hillhurst Mansion, after accepting a dare from some snobby rich friends. The teens bump into a haunted organ, and it releases a phantasm named Flabber, who looks a lot like Jay Leno. In return for saving him, he grants them one wish, and they wish to be comic book superheroes, the Big Bad BeetleBorgs. However, this also leads to the release of the Beetleborgs arch enemies, the Magnavores, led by the evil Vexor, who would summon monsters from the comics to fight the Borgs. Again, what the heck? Why would they choose to be superheroes? They had any wish they wanted! What is the deal with teenagers saving the world?

(3) Superhuman Samurai Cyber Squad - High School student Sam Collins leads a band, and programs video games. Nerd Alert! During a recording session, Sam is zapped by a power surge and dissapears. Are you serious? He reappears a moment later with something attached to his wrist. Nex time he is zapped, he turns into one of his cyber creations: Servo. He travels into the computer to fight computer viruses. Nuff' Said.

Did you know...

...that you can customize your settings on g-chat to allow you to text someone's phone directly? Simply put the cursor on top of the name from the chat list you'd like to text and click the 'videos and more' icon. A dropdown menu should appear with a tab reading 'Send SMS'. Click it and enter the person's phone number in the empty field. Save it in the database and you can text from your computer to someone's phone any time. You can also switch right back to g-chat or aim with the click of a mouse.

We knew. Now you do, too.

Do You Remember...? Central Avenue

In this issue of Do You Remember, I'd like to discuss some old memories of Central Avenue when we were young. The face of "The Avenue" has changed greatly since we were in elementary school. For example, do you remember when Ruthies used to be Baskin Robbins? Do you remember Burger Nosh? My good friend, who was in the Israeli Army, claims that Burger Nosh closed down because he found a pebble in one of his chicken nuggets. There seem to be two locations on Central Avenue that used to have a curse, but were recently broken. Dave's Pizza went through many changes until we were fortunate to have our favorite raspy Israeli Pizza owner grace us on Central Avenue. At one point, it was Talia's (they had an incredible cheese sauce on their fries), and was then Pizza Cave, and until Dave came along, no one was able to hold ground. The other cursed location was the present Off The Grill location. At one point it was Anise, Loris, and then Hapinah. One of my saddest memories was when KB Toys was turned into Washington Mutual Bank! How about Oh Goodie? The predecessor to the now very succesful Oh Nuts. And perhaps one of the best, underrated restaurtants, the Dairy Revue (which was originally located where Jerusalem Mini Mart is now, and then moved to the Dougies/Carlos and Gabbys location). Commerce Bank used to be Pearl Carpet. Borders was Waldenbooks (I love the Irish acents). Tea for Two was Abigael's, and then the Cedar Club. Remember the cheese sticks in Pizza Professor? And the cinnamon and sugar sticks with the custard sauce.
How about Karl's? Stride Rite? The drive-thru supermarket on the corner of prospect and West Broadway?

Nassau County [bad] News (click here for article)

We weren't sure whether or not to put this one up but we think it's important to know that we can never be too careful. This may have been something expected to happen in Harlem or Jamaica but not as much somewhere so close to Woodmere and Lawrence. But as it turns out- it did. 

Our hearts go out to the family and friends...

Sesame Street Recollections...

Welcome to our newest feature: Sesame Street Recollections. Sesame Street holds a very special place in my heart. My mother always tells me that I learned to read and write by watching countless hours of Sesame Street as a child. While Sesame Street was primarily made to educate children in a fun way, the creators decided they needed to add content that would also cater to those parents who watched the show with their children. There are so many pop-culture references in the show that children don't get, but when you get older, you realize how brilliant Jim Henson and his staff were. Besides these references, there is an endless amount of great memories, songs, characters, and moments that were provided to us by this groundbreaking program. In this feature, we will discuss some of those timeless memories, and dissect the content of Sesame Street:

For now, we will discuss one of the most peculiar, and mysterious characters on Sesame Street: Snuffy. Born Aloysius Snuffleupagus, Snuffy, as he is better known, is one of the largest muppets in Sesame Street's history. In the beginning of the show's tenure, Snuffy was only seen by Big Bird. The other characters on the show teased Big Bird, because they didn't believe that Snuffy existed. On November 18, 1985, the adults finally met Snuffy, and they were all embarrassed of teasing Big Bird for all those years. Burn! In Your Face Bob and Gordon! Snuffy remains a prominent character on Sesame Street to this day. What makes Snuffy most mysterious, is that no one is quite sure what type of creature he is. Muppet characters are usually either animals (like Kermit, or Miss Piggy), Monsters (Elmo, Telly, Herry), "Humans" (Ernie, Bert, Scooter), or Aliens (The Yip-Yips). It is very rare to find a character that doesn't have a defined species (Gonzo is the only other that comes to mind, but I think he is a Whatever, and in Muppets in Space, his species comes to earth). Snuffy is a strange character. It looks like perhaps Snuffy's ancestors began as offspring of an Elephant and a Wookie like Chewbacca. He is not a mammoth, because he doesnt have tusks. His eyes are incredibly large. If anyone has an ideas, please share them with us.

1961-62 NBA Season

Let's travel back in time a few decades, shall we? The NBA season was not 82 games yet but it was at 80, up 1 from a year prior. How a league with only 9 teams managed to play 80 games is interesting enough; that the Knicks were in 4th place in the East with a record of 29-51 is unfathomable unless I told you that there were only 4 teams in the entire Eastern Conference. Now you know. Hershey, Pennsylvania was not famous for Hershey Park and its rides yet, but there was an even awesomer event that made Hershey famous. I'm talking about Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a single game. [Let's take a quick detour here and talk about that game. Something quite ironical happened during that game. Normally, a team facing defeat in the final minutes will play 'hurry-up offense' driving the length of the court and putting up a shot as quickly as possible, and then foul the other team right away in order to stop the clock and hopefully give up only 1 point (if not none) as opposed to 2 or 3. This was not the case against New York that night. The same way there is somewhat of a gameplan for a losing team in the final minutes is there a gameplan for the team that's up: keep the clock running as long as possible / kill time. The exact opposite happened that evening. The Knicks, out of fear of embarrassment that they would give up a buck to Wilt, actually tried killing time themselves despite having a large deficit with time running out. On the other hand, Philly (Warriors) wanted to get the ball to Wilt as quickly as possible allowing him to score, after which they would subsequently foul the Knicks in order to stop the clock so as to give Wilt more time to score a 100. I found that very interesting...now back to the topic at hand.] That same season, the Celtics-Lakers Rivalry was in full swing as Beantown beat the Lakers 4 games to 3 in the championship giving the Celtics their 4th straight championship. Russell was named MVP that season. This was also the year that the "Big O" averaged a triple-double THE ENTIRE SEASON. [Bill Simmons doesn't find it as impressive as everyone makes it out to sound but I still think it's THE ultimate sports record.]

Now these are all amazing feats which are pretty well known in the sports world. There is one ridiculous stat from that season though that I want to put out on the table. It may be less known but I still think it's just as ridiculous. According to Basketball-Reference's stat sheet, Wilt Chamberlain averaged about 50 points a game to go along with 25 rebounds a game. WAIT- I haven't even gotten to the Big Shmopper yet. You ready?....He averaged 48 AND A HALF minutes per game when a game is only 48 minutes in total! I looked at the numbers and did some math and it's actually true! I'm ending all of my sentences now with exclamation points and I can't even stop myself! Wow! [We'll delve into the exclamation point some other time (and its overuse by girls in text messages).] Basically what I'm saying here is that The Stilt played a whole 30 seconds on top of the standard 48-minutes allocated. Did he play that many overtimes that season? Did they add 15 seconds before and after the game just for him to take some extra layups? Maybe that's how he scored 100 points in a single game- who knows?

My point is that I want everybody to know this stat as well as the Trip-Dub by the Big O, the 50-25 season Wilt had, and the famous 100-point marathon run by him.

Maybe I'm making too big of a deal but I had to share it with someone.

Random Short Thought #2

Wouldn't it be cool if instead of elevators going up and down, the building went up and down?

Birchas HaChammah

We are all hearing about Birchas Hachammah, a rare event that only occurs once every 28 years. What exaclty is Birchas Hachammah? Where are its sources in ther Torah, and what do we need to know about it Halachically?

The Gemarah in Brachos discusses different Brachos that one makes when he experiences different things. A Baraisah is quoted that discusses one such Bracha which is made when one sees the Sun in its Tekufah. Abaye explains that the Gemarah means that when the Sun is in the same position it was in at Maaseh Bereishis, it is back in its originial Tekufah. This happens once every 28 years (contrary to popular belief, it isn't true that Birchas Hachammah fell out on Erev Pesach only 3 times in history before this year).

The Yerushalmi has a very different take on the Baraisah in Brachos. The Yerushalmi understands the Gemarah to mean that if one sees the sun for the first time in a while, he should make the Bracha of Oseh Ma'aseh Bereishis. In other words, if it is very cloudy for s given amount of time, and then the sun comes out, a Bracha should be said upon seeing the sun. One Girsa says it is enough to not see the sun for 3 days in order to say the Bracha, while another Girsa says the time is 30 days. (Many Acharonim explain that the reason behind the time of 3 days is that it took 3 days before the sun was created). Both the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch pasken like Abaye in the Talmud Bavli, and this is how we are noheig.

When does one say Birchas Hachammah? The Rambam (Hilchos Tefilah 10:18) states that one should say it "BaBoker," "in the morning." The Magen Avraham understands this to be referring to the first 3 hours of the day. The Noda B'Yehuda disagrees with the Magen Avraham, and states that the Rambam wasn't necessarily saying it must be done in the morning, rather the Rambam meant to say that one should do it as soon as he can: Zerizin Makdimin L'Mitzvos. However, the Rambam would admit that it would be ok to say Birchas Hachammah even until Chatzos. The Mishnah Berurah records this Machlokes, but leaves it hanging.

What should one do if it is cloudy outside? Some Brachos were instituted to be said when one goes through an experience, or performs an action, while other Brachos were instituted on an event. Does one need to see the sun in order to say Birchas Hachammah, or can one say it since it is atleast shining in other parts of the world? The Panim Meiros believes that one need not see the sun in order to say the Bracha. The Chasam Sofer writes that in 1785, his first Birchas Hachammah, he was being meshamesh his Rebbe, Rav Nosson Adler, and they were waiting for the sun to come out to say Birchas Hachammah. It was a cloudy day, but once R' Adler saw the outline of the sun, he said the Bracha. The Chasam Sofer writes that he learned frmo his Rebbe not to say the Bracha until one sees it himself. Some Poskim mantain that if it is cloudy, one can say Birchas Hachammah without the Shem Malchus.

Thought: What occurs more often, Birchas Hachammah or a Blue Moon?

Do You Remember...? Grandpa's Magical Toys (click to see Movie)

"Good Morning, Good Morning, and How Do You Do? Good Morning, Good Morning, I'm Fine How Are You?"

There are so many great movies that remind us of our childhood, but none better than Grandpa's Magical Toys. This movie is nothing less than a classic! I think if we made a secret favorite movie list, Grandpa's Magical Toys would be in our top 5. Who can forget classic characters like Punchinello, the Pretty Little Dutch Girl, Laddie and Lassie, the Muffin Man, The Sailor, and Cuckoo? And who wasn't deathly terrified of the large cookie Jar?

If you think about it, Grandpa's Magical Toys is the predecessor to another classic film: Toy Story. Leave it to the wonderful people at Wee Sing to come up with the idea of toys coming alive first. Have you ever thought that maybe our toys do come to life when we're not in our rooms? We'll really never know.

This movie introduced us to so many classic songs like "Farmer in the Dell," "A Sailor went to Sea Sea Sea," "Hambone," and of course, "Say Say Ol' Playmate." Let's all admit that none of us ever knew the actual words to that last song, so for all of your help:

Say Say Ol' Playmate, Come Out and Sing with me,

And Bring your Dollies Three, Climb up my Apple Tree,

Slide Down my Rain Barrel, Slide down my Cellar Door,

And we'll be jolly friend's, forever more!

What are your favorite GMT characters and moments? Please share with us!

Do You Remember...? Pogs!

Welcome to our new feature entitled: Do You Remember...? In this post we will reminisce about things from our childhood.

This week's memory: POGS!!! HAHA POGS!! Perhaps the silliest fad of all time. Small collectible cardboard discs! We used to go crazy about these things! Do you remember...those pog tubes? Do you remember the Slammers? There were heavy metal discs that were used to flip the cardboard pogs over. I also recall there being lighter platic slammers. Were there actually rules to the game? Was it a game at all? If you flipped over your friends pogs, you get to keep them? What was the deal with the poison pogs? We'd love to hear your memories as well...

Next time on Do You Remember...Grandpa's Magical Toys!

Random Short Thought #1

Wouldn't it be funny if instead of names, we all had noises for names? Like "Erp" or "Spfft." But then, I guess thats what names are. Just noises. Especially Chinese names like "Wong," or "Lee." How Long is a Chinese Name.