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Tralfaz



Last Updated: 3/24/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 45
Sign: Pisces

City: FORT LEE/NYC
State: New Jersey
Country: US
Signup Date: 1/23/2006

Blog Archive
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 

Category: News and Politics
Let's get this straight, shall we?

The economic crisis we are in did NOT occur overnight. It took years of mismanagement on the part of the financial institutes, stupidity on the part of the people who thought they could live far beyond their means, and deregulation by the Republican-run government.

So no, folks, we can't be surprised that in the first 50 days in office, President Obama hasn't reversed the situation.

The media needs to stop looking at every good day in the markets as a sign of recovery, and every bad day (or series of them) as a sign that the economy is collapsing yet again. The recovery will be a long, slow process.

Also, if John McCain and his fellow Republicans TRULY believe that letting a few big banks fail will somehow stimulate the economy and restore the population's faith in the markets -- and yes, they're actually saying this -- I've got two words for them: Lehman Brothers.

Bank failures are NOT a good thing. Bank failures do NOT instill confidence in the markets. To even imply that either of these are good things is among the more ridiculous things ever uttered by the Republican party... and that's truly saying something.

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For those who don't know, I've joined both facebook and twitter. You can find me on twitter by searching for howrudeareyou . If you want to find me on facebook, drop me a private message either here or on twitter and I'll give you the info.
 
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Today on howrudeareyou, Nina is guest-blogging on prostitots. And if you've had an encounter with rudeness of late, come over and fill out a citation on the site. Trust me, venting is a good thing. (Don't worry about photos, I'll pull one to go with your entry!)
Saturday, February 14, 2009 

Category: Travel and Places
While I spend the weekend having adventures I hope to share with all of you on Monday (yes, there will be pictures, with luck!)... including my singing debut at Don't Tell Mama's (where I'll be doing the gay-boy classic, "There Are Worse Things I Could Do"), I offer up this look at bad behavior at the House of Mouse, including a most shocking tale involving poop. Cause who doesn't love a shocking tale about poop? Click here for details.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
First, let's just get this out of the way:

In the greatest debate to rip apart our country since "tastes great vs. less filling", I most definitely fall on the side of the vocal minority who believe that Bella belongs with Jacob, not Edward.

If you don't know what the heck that means, stop reading now. Head over to How Rude Are You and pass a little time by filing a citation (I appreciate every one I get right now, as I'm getting the site off and running... thanks, kids). But if you do, well, I have no doubt 95 percent of you disagree.

But one thing I haven't heard much debate about is whether the Twilight novels -- much loved by teens and, in many cases, their moms -- are actually suitable for the young readers who are devouring them like a vampire chows down on an open vein.

Currently, I'm half-way through the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, and while I've enjoyed the books more than I ever could have imagined, I also can't help but focus on the wildly inappropriate messages the series sends to teens.

If you haven't read them and intend to, please stop reading now, because there are big spoilers ahead.

Ready? Because I'm serious. Major spoilers.

Okay, here we go. Last chance.

First, there's Bella's rather all-consuming, unhealthy relationship with Edward. Let's face it. The guy is a brooding, quick-to-anger loner. The kind of guy you'd half expect to be plotting a school shooting. Bella spends a whole lot of her time worrying that what she's said has angered her precious Edward. (Maybe Rihanna should have spent more time doing that where Chris Brown is concerned.) When Edward leaves her and the gloomy town they live in, Bella basically becomes suicidal, which eventually brings him running back.

Okay, so far we've got an abusive relationship and a girl who's willing to kill herself in order to get the attention of the object of her obsession.

Good guy Jacob is the best friend she SHOULD love (and don't give me crap about this, Edward fans, cause she even admits it in book three!) but can't see in a romantic sense because of her obsession with Edward, which causes her to lie to her friends and family and isolate herself from everyone but him and his kin.

Did I mention she runs off and marries the guy and is pregnant by 18?

Now, let's think about all the swooning little fangirls out there who want to find their own Edward. They start eyeing the school bad boy... sure that like Bella, they can change his ways.

Do you see where I'm going here?

So parents, if you have young teenage daughter who want to read this series, it might be wise to pick them up first and make sure you're aware you approve of the message the series is sending. As I said, I'm loving the books... but I'm also a... well, a lot older than Bella.

And a Jacob fan. I'm just sayin'.
Thursday, February 05, 2009 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Before we get to today's thoughts -- which involve penis enlargements, lesbians and afrocentric white people (talk about a teaser!) -- a bit of an update/announcement.


During my recent absence, I was working on a little project that I'm kinda excited to share with all of you. It's a site called how rude are you? that is sort of my attempt to combat the uncivility that's determined to take over our world... but in a fun, light-hearted way. It features articles related to bad behavior (such as the 10 rudest tv characters and the worst person of the week (the first honoree being scuzzy hairball Rod Blagojevich. But the thing I think y'all are going to like the most is the "Citation" section, where people go to vent about rude behavior they encounter every day. If someone cuts you off in traffic or blows smoke in your face, you can head over to the site and file a "Citation" regarding their Cime Against Civility. Sure, it doesn't actually result in their arrest, but it gets things off your chest... and, in seeing others ticked off about similar things, lets you see you're not alone.


I hope you'll visit. I hope you'll vent. And any pimpage you might offer up would be most appreciated, as always.


I hope it's something you'll all enjoy as much as I do.


That said, I'm NOT -- I repeat, NOT -- one of those people who creates their own site and then leaves the space known as My. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) My new toy is really very specific in dealing with one area, and that is rudeness. Which means I still have the Space known as My to talk about the other things I'm interested in or ticked off by.


Like today's topic, Nip/Tuck.


I get that this show's bread and butter is pushing the envelope in an effort to shock the audience. Ever since it became a pop-culture sensation thanks to the outlandishly bizarre Carver storyline, it's worked hard to top itself. That's a necessary evil on television... once you've decided to go the "shock and awe" route, you have to find bigger, better and badder ways to get people's jaws to drop. Otherwise, they're gonna seek their thrills elsewhere.


But this season, it's all shock and no heart, something they at least attempted to have in the past. The latest twist, in which lifelong lesbian Liz has become a slave to the infamous penis of Dr. Cristian Troy, has pushed me to the very edge of just giving this show up entirely.


What started as an interesting story -- manwhore Cristian developing the wildly emasculating breast cancer and then suffering the "indignity" of having his pefect body scarred by a mastectomy -- then took a nasty turn when his frienemy, Liz, began caring for him... only to wind up being... well, what happened next depends on who you talk to.


The pair began spending a lot of time together and, late one night, Cristian rolled over and began humping away at Liz, who assumed he was asleep. The pair had sex, and the next day, she admitted to having one of the few orgasms of her life. This was bad enough. But then, in a story that sent a wildly negative message to and about gay people everywhere, Liz basically became his devoted companion and lover. She learned how to give head. She gave up dowdy clothes for a complete makeover. The none-too-subtle message? "Hey, if you're gay, it just means you haven't found the right partner of the opposite sex yet" or, as straight men have joked about lesbians for years, "all she really needs is a good, hard..."


Yeah, um, that ain't how it works, kids.


It would be one thing if Liz were now or had ever been portrayed as bisexual or questioning her sexuality, but that's not the case.


As if this weren't enough, last night's episode revolved around 18-year-old genius/surgeon Raj, a new addition to the plastic surgery staff, being asked by his father to perform a penile enlargement.


On his father.


Yeah, okay. We get it. "Ohhh... this show is so cutting edge and controversial and filled with shocks at every turn!"


Maybe. But where's the heart? For a show that spent its early years teaching -- often in a rather blatant manner -- that beauty is only skin deep, Nip/Tuck has become one of the most shallow offerings on television.
 
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 

Category: Life
Two simple pictures should explain my recent absence.
 


 


 

So what's up with you these days?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 

Category: Romance and Relationships

Those friends of yours who declared that there are no nice guys out there were wrong. That's the good news. Unfortunately, the ones who said "All the good ones are taken" were right.

Need proof?

Meet Brooklyn's own Jake Bronstein.

Jake spends his days writing funny, sweet love notes. Just the kind of thing that would really help perk a person up on a bad day, maybe even give them a little bounce in their step. Because who doesn't love getting an unexpected love letter, right?

Not that these are entirely unexpected. And not that the sometimes sappy sentiments are exactly sincere.

See, Jake and his girlfriend -- oh, did I mention her? -- spend their evenings writing love letters... to strangers.

It's all part of his effort to cheer people up during these dark, difficult days. As he explained in this morning's New York Post, "People get very depressed during this time of year, and it's nice for them to get a little shot of love from a stranger."

Thanks to an ad he placed on his blog, the 30-year-old has received over 1,000 requests from people out there who just want someone to reach out and, well, touch them, in one way or another.

It's sweet, but it's also, in a way, kind of sad.

I can't help thinking that as much as I'd love to receive a love letter, the notion of getting one from a stranger -- one with a girlfriend, no less -- doesn't exactly fill my heart to overflowing.

Make no mistake... I think what Bronstein and his girlfriend are doing is wonderfully generous and completely in the spirit of the season. But I can't help feeling a little sorry for all those people out there... not the ones who probably e-mailed the scribe on a lark, but the truly lonely ones who find themselves needing to ask a complete stranger for a love letter.

Somewhere in this house, I have a box filled with keepsakes from the past. And among those are letters I received from a guy who may or may not have been "the one." I received them years ago, and have read them more times than I'd care to admit. When I'm feeling lonely or down or just... just want to be reminded of the excitement I felt when one of his hand-written letters would arrive, filled with flowerly words and sappy sentiments, I open that box and allow myself to get lost, if only for a few minutes, in the land of what briefly was, what might have been and what I suspect will never be again.

It's sad to me to think of someone doing that with a letter penned by the well-intentioned Bronstein. I hate to think of people out there so bereft of human connections that they don't have people in their lives who can give them a much-needed boost when they're down. They don't have OMC's or Puck's or Nina's or Tyler's or Eric's, as I do. 

And they don't have a letter they keep tucked away somewhere, written by a person who, for however brief a time, made their heart skip a beat with the simple act of putting pen to paper and filling them with the kind of real, honest-to-God emotions that don't come along every day.

The kind so special that... well, we put them in a box and save them for a rainy day.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 

Category: Friends

He is a white guy who likes dark meat.


She is a black chick who likes white boys.



He tries so hard not to be a tramp.



She used to be a cage dancer (read: tramp).



He thinks he's a black guy.



She giggles like a white girl



He traded Atlanta for the bright lights of the Big Apple.



She traded the bright lights of the Big Apple for the suburbs of Atlanta.



Both of them have questionable taste. I mean, neither watches ONE TREE HILL. On the other hand, each has a soft spot for me… which kinda balances everything out, right?



By now, you probably know that I'm talking about Nina and Tyler.



Seeing as everyone on the planet subscribes to Nina, you no doubt know that she tends to write about anything and everything. I mean anything. And everything. If she poops in her hand, it's a blog. If she chokes on a public hair while, um, pleasuring her husband, there's another blog. The wife, mom of two and student posts so many blogs a week that I recently came to the conclusion she has obviously learned to type with her boobs. She just unleashes those bad boys, leans over the keyboard and bounces 'em around while using her hands to do other things. Recently, she launched a very exciting new project which you can check out  here.



Tyler, on the other hand, blogs less frequently… but when he does, it's an E-ticket ride. Like Nina, you're gonna get a whole lot of personal details from this boy. Like the guy who wanted to be punched in the balls. Or the time he sent a wildly obscene text-message to his grandma.. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Tyler is probably the best writer I've ever encountered in the Space known as My. Notice I didn't say "blogger." I said writer. He will make you laugh, cry and cringe… usually all in the same piece. If you don't subscribe to this guy, you're truly missing out. Let's put it this way: OMC doesn't read my blogs, but he looks forward to each of Tyler's new pieces.


 


And who can blame him? I mean, have you seen Tyler dance in the subway after having had a cocktail or ten?


 


No?


Oh, let me fix that.


 




Wednesday, November 26, 2008 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
I ain't proud.

Let's just make that clear right from the get-go. Because I'm not.

But Jesus Christ on a Cracker, I'm enjoying my current guity pleasure.

Currently, I'm in season two of The Show Whose Name Shall Not Be Uttered (for fear of inspiring derisive giggles) and I defy anyone to NOT enjoy this scene.



Oh, fine. Go ahead and judge me.
Monday, November 24, 2008 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Khalood Bojanowski of Washington Township, Michigan, is living in fear.

She wants the local police, at taxpayer expense, to protect her on the night of December 16, which is when she fears her words will come back to haunt her.

And it's all Ryan Seacrest's fault.

See, Bojanowski and her son, Jojo, will be featured in the premiere episode of the Seacrest-produced reality series "Momma's Boys" in which over-protective mothers "help" their sons find love. When asked about the type of woman she would -- and would not -- approve of, Bojanowski made her feelings known.

 

"I cannot have a black one," she said to the cameras. "I can't have an asian one. I can't have a fat-butt one."

More importantly, she wants her son to stay far, far away from any girls with a Jewish background. "Nooo! No Jewish  girls! No way, no way! I cannot stand them! I'm sorry, but I can't handle them. It has to be a white girl."

In a later episode, she declares, "I swear, I'm ready to kill someone!" after spying Jojo in a liplock with a black woman.

Local police claim to have gotten a call from not only the woman, who is concerned how neighbors will react to her blatant racism, but a "concerned" producer.

Of course, if the producer were that concerned, he could simply edit out the footage rather than turn it into a publicity-garnering "news" story.

And if Mrs. Bojanowski is worried about her words... well, perhaps she should have thought twice before saying them in front of a camera.

As a blogger, I put a lot of words out there into the universe... and I do so willingly, with the understanding that I am responsible for those words. Mrs. Bojanowski needs to realize that she, too, has to own up to the hateful words -- and the very real anger they might stir up -- that she opted to share, all for the sake of 15 minutes of Reality TV fame. Perhaps the words represent her genuine feelings. Perhaps she spoke them in a misguided attempt to make herself a more interesting "character" for the show.

But no matter the circumstance, she is not a victim... and should not be treated like one. Not by viewers, not by the police and not by anyone else. Instead, she needs to be treated as the owner -- proud or otherwise -- of both the words and the consequences they bring about.

 

Saturday, November 22, 2008 

Category: News and Politics
The SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE skit practically writes itself.

After pardoning a turkey as some heads of state do at this time of year, Sarah Palin granted an interview with a reporter... while directly behind her, a less fortunate fowl met his maker. "You need a little bit of levity in this job," she says as some very unfunny business is unfolding behind her. "We'll probalby invite criticism for even doing this too, but this was fun!"




Where is this woman's support staff (or at least a friend who can follow her around and offer up little tidbits of advice like, oh, I don't know, "Um, Sarah, maybe we should move this interview away from the turkey-beheading machine.")? I would say "heads are gonna roll", but... um, at least one already did.