Modern Day Tarzan

The US is full of interesting characters in far-out places, and Florida is no exception. I spent a few days in the Florida Keys two years ago and came across all sorts... and that was just in town. I could only imagine the types of people I'd have found had I ventured into the Everglades or the more backcountry parts of Key West.

Well I didn't need to, because I found them on Joost yesterday. Manny Puig is a shark-riding, alligator-levitating, bear-teasing, cobra-taunting, bad-ass SOB. And no one would know about him, except that several years ago he happened to find an equally insane cameraman who goes underwater and into the bushes with him, filming every crazy adventure.

Seriously, The Shark Man makes The Crocodile Hunter look like a cartoon.

Watch Joost Spain Edition, Featuring The Clubber's Guide to Londres

My apologies for a long lull in posting. Life has been hectic of late, as I've just moved back to Barcelona from Boston, with a stopover in NYC for meetings and the Police concert. My life has been consumed with packing my bags and airlines subsequently losing them, as well as too many farewell drinks and last nights in town.

I felt it fitting that I post about something closer to my current shores, and the Ministry of Sound channel caught my eye once again as I was sitting in Madrid waiting out an excruciating layover. (Lost bags AND a missed flight. Bingo!) Thank goodness for airport wifi and Joost.

I spent Sunday morning in the airport lounge feeling as groggy as if I'd just stepped out of an all-night dance-athon so the idea of a DJ-guided tour through London seemed a propos. Dave Pearce provides a pretty sweet little guide to some of his favorite places to eat, drink, shop, and boogie in London. I'll have to watch it again when I'm actually coherent enough to remember the suggestions and locations. Check it out.

Happy Halloween

As someone who has a frighteningly overactive imagination, I always avoided horror movies growing up. Even the slightest glance at a creepy image was (and continues to be) enough to whip up hundreds of hours worth of hiding under the covers and leaping rather than stepping out of my bed so the monster underneath couldn't grab my ankle. I can hear a strange noise and turn it into a whole miniseries of terror.

And yet, sometimes I can't help myself. I remember one night in particular, watching The Beyond with my old roommate Preston. While he laughed at the bad music (fair enough) and horrible dubbing, I sat on the couch, scrunched in a ball, hunched down so no one could jump up behind me and strangle me with piano wire, my thumbs plugging my ears while my fingers covered my eyes. And still, I managed to see the whole movie...

So I figured the airport would be a safe place to watch some creepy stuff. There are lots of people around, plenty of bright light, it must be safe, right? Until everyone starts turning into zombies.... Okay, bad idea. I'll still freak myself out.

Anyway, pull this one up if you have a minute and you want a thrill. Ku ku! Happy Halloween!

PS - There's plenty more freaky goodness where that came from.

Superficial friends

I'm mildly obsessed with young Hollywoodites who can't seem to keep themselves out of trouble. Okay, mildly obsessed is a definite understatement. I can't stop myself from reading all those awesome trashy gossip mags whenever I'm at the airport, the supermarket, the gym, the drugstore... ahhh so good! I just can't get enough.

You see, for two years I lived in Spain, where the only celebrity I recognized in the Spanish rags was Penelope Cruz. Fortunately, she was dating Matthew McConaughey, so that helped. Now she's with Javier Bardem (which, I have to say, is just SO COOL) so all the Spanish gossip mags will be back to "all e-spanish, all the time."

But I digress. The point is that today I found this great little animated show called Superficial Friends, "starring" Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie and the Olsen Twins. In this particular episode, the Superficial Friends take on the Simpson sisters. If you appreciate these fine specimens of femininity, or rather if you appreciate seeing them make fools of themselves, then you'll probably get a kick out of this. I know I did.

Pinhead, meet Pinface

There was always that weird kid in school. You know, the one that would stick pins through the skin on his fingertips or who could shoot milk out his nose. The really smelly one. And the one who you could dare to do anything. Like wear his tightie-whities OUTSIDE his pants. And there was always one who would put weird stuff on his face. Just for fun.

And now, he's on tv, putting clothespins on his face. Don't worry, he didn't turn cool or get hot chicks. Now he's just a weird adult doing strange things. And believe it or not, there is actually a Guinness world record-holder for "most pins clipped on face." He's from Sweden. And in this clip, the challenge is on. Bring on the weird guy from Stroke-On-Trent! (It's not his fault he's weird - you would be too if you were a place with "stroke" in the name.)

And guess who wins???

Duh, you think I'm gonna tell you? That would spoil the nail-biting, pin-clipping fun. Go find out for yourself.

America's Favorite Pastime on Joost

So it's October here in Boston, which means the leaves are changing, the temperatures are dropping, and the boys of summer are into playoff season. It seems I left San Diego just in time for my Padres to stumble and fall flat on their faces, so it's pretty nice to be in a town where the teams are winning and the fan support is huge.

Last night I went to a local watering hole with some friends to catch part of game 2 between the Indians and the Red Sox, with a poor Frenchman in tow. (Hey, he's a good sport and anyway what good is coming to Boston during playoff season if you don't really go for the full experience?) We stayed until the 7th inning - when the game was tied at 6 - because it was late and we were tired and another beer wasn't really going to do us any good. So when I woke up this morning and wanted to know if the local boys had done good, I learned online that the 6-6 tie had turned into a 13-7 loss... and I managed to catch all the horrid details here.

PS - Think baseball is slow? If you start the show at this point, you can see all you need to see of last night's game at high speed with a nice little musical remix to tie it all together.

New Young Pony Club

I'm not sure what exactly is my favorite part about this.

Is it the music, which starts with a drum beat reminiscent of the opening beats to Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" and then continues with synth and bass that could make me writhe around on the floor and dance spastically in my living room?

Is it the lyrics, which are borderline nasty and oh-so-good?

Is it the accent of the lead singer who, despite being from London does an awesome New Yawk drawl?

Or is it the video itself, a candy creation of color explosion that makes me simultaneously want to gorge myself on sugar but also feel revolted by human-size desserts?

Anyway, who cares? It rocks! And that's about as deep and thoughtful as I need to get!