Ask Madden

yo yo....in reaction to the youtube debates, wat question would you ask? be it to all candidates, a specific one, or a specific party

yo yo...i watched criss angel on larry king a few days ago.  i am not a fan of his magic, mainly because i don't believe any magic i see on tv, for obvious reasons.  however, after watching his interview i get a very good vibe from him.  he is very engaging, charismatic, but not overly, nice, and seems very genuine.  i also liked how when asked if one of his tricks was real he said "well if it was i'd be in jail." i don't like when magicians play the mystical enigma card when there's no need to.

what up.

big news: people in college are (slowly) starting to call me joefi. it may just be a prague thing, but its pretty scary.

What up.



Me and Jon Roth, hanging out in Prague. Good times.

P.S. Check out my new fiction project

http://killsave.blogspot.com

I got an anonymous person to write the bodyguard part. Feedback appreciated.

I was going to respond to Adam's post with a comment, however for some reason, my work computer doesn't allow commenting. So I shall post instead. All-in-all, it was really a great weekend. Like Adam and Nico, I found the highlights they mentioned to be quite remarkable and often entertaining.

My one complaint is that it would have been a lot of fun to challenge Nico's school friends to a Pop 5 match, however I understand that everyone has much more of a life than me, and this was not a possibility. Oh well. I'm sure we would have won anyway...

I really found, and still do find the whole communal living situation a little awkward, but I suppose I could get used to it eventually. Not in one weekend though.

And to address your comment, Nico, picking a sandwich is a big decision, one that impacts your life for the few moments during which you eat the sandwich, but also for the several hours after. So there.

Also Joefi, please elaborate more on this story idea. As of now I'd just be scared that I wouldn't meet your expectations.

Okay, have to go to lunch.

hat up. berlin was amazing. pictures asap. also glad to hear that the nico trip went well, i'm mad jealous. i really wish i could have been there!!

ok, so, i'm working on a new project, and i need some help, preferably from some frequent posters. i want to start a short story, and see where it goes, but from two different perspectives: one of an assassin, and one of a body guard. i've already written the first assassin segment and i will continue to write from his perspective. i just want one of you, who is interested, to join the project and write as the bodyguard. his/her backstory, characteristics, and skills are entirely up to you. also, we can add new characters if more people want to join, but the idea is to just write in segments, tell some sort of continuous story, and have them intertwine with complete creative freedom and only one rule: the characters can only die in their own narrative. this could be fun. so let me know what you think, and if you want to be involved. this will be a public blog once i get it working. holla back y'all.

whoever decides to write as the bodyguard better commit to writing often. this will be a once a week update at least from the main two characters. anyone else can jump in whenever, but try to fit into the continuity.

yo yo....just returned from Williams College visiting Nico with vincent and nici paggs. good trip all around.   nico's school is nice and he seems to be having a great time. some highlights include, but not limited to:

Leaving work early today to visit Nico at Williams. Adam and Nici will be joining. Jen will not because she's a turd-sandwich (or a giant douche, whichever reference you prefer). Hopefully we'll have all the gossip on Nico's Williams friends when we return. Hooray! I love walking out of meetings for completely non-work related things!

what up

so i am very excited to return to internet access and see an abundance of cent posts... now we just need mark to return, and all of the aforementioned maddeners in the heading will be active once more. glorious.

i just have two things for you all today. one, american pyscho is perhaps the scariest book i have ever read. it's scary on a totally different level. please go read the first thirty pages and tell me you don't agree.

two: it is drawing near; my return. december 14th, at 5:45 pm, i land at newark international airport, and i return forever to the united states of america. there probably won't be a parade, but i do want to see all of your smiling faces that weekend, so maybe a long term plan for mafia on saturday or something? i don't know, i just miss you guys.

and i lied, one more thing: i am all caught up on the office. i am sad that its only a half hour again, but it has lost none of it's original charm for me, despite certain plot points reaching a climax and staying there for the first few episodes (most of you watchers know what i refer to). unfortunetly, i see this as incredibly foreboding, and several comments and reactions have led me to beleive there is trouble ahead. big trouble. all is not well in paradise, and i think a major kink in the whole thing is being foreshadowed. more discussion of this in the holla backs, so don't read unless you don't care about spoilers/are caught up.

oh yeah, and for everyone who was wondering: space cake is definitely NOT the new smazeny syr. but i love techno was awesome.

yo yo...so i watched the departed last nite...its been out for a while so screw u if anything gets spoiled....but i was expecting more of a tricksy ending considering all i heard about the movie was "oh! the ending!"...i was expecting sullivan's gf to play more of a role in the ending, and i wish he would have found out she knew bill, and vice versa....it was a very good movie overall....lots of gun-shots-to-head-with-blood-spraying

So I was perusing Facebook at work and I came across a note someone who is one of my facebook friends (I specify facebook friend for a reason) posted. The note explains the hunger strike going on at Columbia University. Now I am entirely supportive of a person's right to demonstrate against something he thinks is unfair. I don't, however, see the point in a hunger strike.

Let me explain where I'm coming from. Firstly, I don't really see how not eating accomplishes anything. Yes, I understand it's used to get attention; but no, I don't think it should receive the attention it gets. Just think about it: what you have is a person who says is saying "Give us A or else! And we wont eat a thing until you give us A!" Well, this is stupid. I, for one, could care less if you're not eating because you're not getting what you want. In fact, even if I am supportive of your cause, your means of obtaining attention makes me hate you. Hate you to the extent that I would MUCH RATHER see you die or be hospitalized than see you get your way and start eating again.

And this brings me to my second point. If I were the person at the root of the hunger strike, I would simply wait the short while it will take for every single protestor to give in to hunger and declare my victory. In fact, I would mop the floor with you after you ate, proclaiming that OBVIOUSLY you don't even support your cause enough to make it through the strike. I'd like to see anyone purposefully starve himself to death. In fact, I don't think it's possible.

So, for this, I genuinely hope the hunger strikers at Columbia don't get what they want. Not because I don't feel they deserve what they're asking for, but because I feel that their means are inane. Does anyone disagree with me? I'd love to hear other opinions!

(Spark Notes Version: hunger strikes are dumb; you can never win if you hunger strike and you don't deserve to)

NB: The reasons listed on the website for the tactic include "A hunger strike is also a physical symbol of our intellectual and spiritual starvation under the university administration's current policies". Well, jackass, if this is the case then I suppose that means that when you give in to your hunger and eat, you're admitting that your intellectual and spiritual starvation is being sated. Jerk. I hope you're happy.

yo yo....a few thoughts

I am so incredibly bored at work today! This is absolutely ridiculous! I have exhaused the possibility of internet activities that are acceptable in a working environment. I'm so bored I went to the bathroom, peed in a urine cup, and then ran my urine for glucose (I dont have diabetes, it turns out...), cocaine (I don't do cocaine), cannabinoids (no marijuana for me), barbiturates (umm...yeah, none of those either), amphetamines (still no), and steroids (also a big fat negative). Yeah...so that was my day. And it's only 2:30. Eeek!

In response to the recent strike by the film and television writers guild, I sort of feel that their demands are excessive. For one, there is such an economic disparity within the guild (there are members who are writer-producers making millions ever year, and others who are unemployed or sporadically employed...48% of the Writers Guild West is currently unemployed). Now, I understand their wanting to receive larger percentages of movies and television shows that do well, however I feel that if they want that, they should also be willing to take pay cuts when shows or movies they write for SUCK ASS.

Please humor me with the following fantasy in which I control the world: All writers will be paid on a basis of how much I like the movie or show they write for. Simply, if I like it, you can get paid. In fact, if I really like it and think the writing is superb, then you can even get paid extra. See, we both win! I get good television and movies, and you get more money.

The caveat: If you are responsible for sickening drivel, such as that found on Grey's Anatomy, then you are to be tarred, feathered, drawn, and quartered, and perhaps even gored by a hippopotamus, all on live television, to make up for the part of my life you wasted.

Now I for one think this is a perfect solution to this whole problem. And to tie this in with previous conversations, what I would do with my unlimited billions of dollars is purchase a major television network and air controversial material. And that's not to say air material on controversial topics, but rather to not censor anything and have happy shows with the freedom to curse and be naked. See, writers? More personal freedom for you!

yo yo...so i just got back from my first powerlifting meet...it was awesome...i got 2nd place in the jr(20-23yr old) under 181lb deadlift.....i was very happy....i opened with 435, which i knew i could get but i was surprised at how easy it felt...i went to 465 for my next attempt, and the judges double checked with me when i said 465, i guess they felt like the jump was too high....but that went up suprisingly easy too....now ive never pulled that in training, most ive done was a failed 475(although i was standing a few inches above so it was harder)....so at this point i was happy and decided to try 500, which i honestly didnt even think i'd attempt, no less get! i pulled 500 for a fairly easy rep, and i was very happy as i hit a new benchmark, i felt like i could have hit 525, but this just further encourages me and now 600 is my next goal. shout out to mark and vincent for morale support

its a weird feeling, cuz i almost felt like i got too pumped up, i felt like i rushed my setup, well not really rushed, but didnt think as much as i usually do, about certain technique cues....i guess its cuz of the atmoshphere and i guess thats better....it was nice atmosphere tho....i wasnt exactly sure what went on right before my attempts and right after, but i rememebr a loud crowd during, its cool that people cheer for people they dont even know

what up.

fun new game: listen to your top 25 most played and try to remember what period of your life made you listen to each song so many times in a row. Or maybe its a true favorite and you've just played it so many times over the years. i don't know, but its fun. my favorite was when i couldn't stop listening to "the final countdown." its on there, towards the top even.

what was everyone for halloween? i did not dress up, its not a prague thing, but i did go a halloween party where you got in free with a costume, and i got in anyway. i guess i just look goofy enough on a normal basis. what did YOU do?