Travels with Grumpus

From Overheard in New York.

“I don’t know how to respond to this,” says Grumpus.

Grumpus bought this t-shirt one afternoon last May at Barney’s co-op in Soho. This was when we were in New York for Mona’s wedding, and this particular afternoon we spent with Rickey, eating ice cream and buying comic books. Rickey quickly pronouced the place a pick-up joint after observing a guy cradling a rat-dog with no apparent intention of buying anything.

This t-shirt is by Rogue’s Gallery and features a monogram RG silkscreen on the chest pocket and an anchor silkscreen behind.

I’m not sure if it’s still t-shirt weather in New York, but it’s still a perfectly pleasant 27 degrees Celsius in Hong Kong. I will be posting Grumpus’ t-shirts of the day for months to come.

From the NY Times’ review of “The Last Kiss”:

Mr. Braff’s panicky passivity is its own kind of magnetism, I guess. His wobbly chin and startled eyes might be taken for evidence of sweetness, and he is certainly a credible incarnation of the kind of mopey, wet-noodle hipster lately ubiquitous in independent movies, unsigned rock bands and certain Brooklyn neighborhoods. But the challenge of conveying both Michael’s weakness and his decency — the qualities that lead him astray and those that make him worthy of forgiveness — seems entirely beyond him.

Mr Braff arouses a visceral reaction in me - I’d like to punch him in the face. I get the same feeling when I see Jake Gyllenhaal bat his eyes, or hear John Mayer cute his way through “Yeh bahdeez a wahndehland”. Once upon a time I felt the same way about Adrian Brody, purely on the basis of his pained expression in “The Piano” trailers and hangdog look in the Zegna ads. Then I saw him in King Kong and all was forgiven.

Zach Braff is unlikely to redeem himself in like manner. Ugh. Excuse me while I go punch something. Thanks to Grumpus for the quote.

The one that started it all.

During my long hiatus from TWG, Grumpus sent me lots of fun stuff, gently encouraging me to pleeeeeeeaaaaaase post something, anything, soon. Here’s a whole bunch of that fun stuff, some timelier than others.

If you’ve been priced out of the Middle Earth real estate market, you may want to look into buying property in Oregon.

Join the Navy! ‘Coz joining the Army’s just stupid.

“PETA is one of the most annoying and useless organizations in the world. Many thanks to the Singapore government.”

The Vader sessions.

Grumpus and I just finished House Season 2. Here are the salient plot and character development points:

1. Cameron gets skinnier and more annoying, almost catches a deadly disease from a patient, gets high and jumps Chase.

2. His dad’s off-camera death blindsides Chase who subsequently misdiagnoses a patient, leading to her death. He also allows a 9-year old terminally ill girl to steal a kiss from him.

3. Foreman catches a deadly disease from a patient, gets a lobotomy, and momentarily gets humility. Before this crisis, reveals a greater degree of assholic-ness than we knew he had in him.

4. Wilson divorces his 3rd wife, continues to get jerked around by House, continues to flirt with random female hospital staff, and sleeps with a terminally ill patient.

5. House the Jackass is on full display. House the Stud meanwhile emerges from hiding when he sleeps with Stacy and, later on, flirts with Cuddy in his strange, misanthropic way. House the Good Guy bubbles up from time to time, as does Learning A Little More About Himself Every Day House

Sorry for the long absence, my loyal readers. It has been repeatedly brought to my attention that I haven’t posted a single entertaining tidbit since the end of last month. Unfortunately, gainful employment has seriously cut into my goofing-off time and since I haven’t yet mastered the fine art of time management, my creative output has suffered terribly.

Anyway, shortly after my last t-shirt of the day post, Mom and Dad came to visit, on a stopover from New York to Manila. Dad looked great, all things considered, and both parental units actually looked better for having spent three months alone together in a small apartment in Park Slope. There’s much to be said for simplifying one’s life, most especially now that the spawn are all growed up and mostly moved away.

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