Anyone who has lived in Deal, New Jersey that does not practice the Jewish religion has likely been in awe at one point or another at the local and summer communities. This is a large Jewish community that is - by and large - very devoted to their faith and to the strengthening of their community as a whole. Many of us non-Jewish folks who live in town have become friendly with the locals (to some degree), but we all know that they treat us a little bit differently than they treat those who are members of their own faith - and we’re all pretty cool with that.

A few years ago, one of us non-Jewish folks found a book called Postville that shed a LOT of light on many of the business and religious traditions that we see everyday in Deal. Actually, the retired woman who found this book used to be one of my co-workers in an office that was owned by a gay, Italian, Jewish guy who just fascinated by the locals. And, believe it or not, she directed me to a recent New York Times Magazine article about the community!

The folks over at the New York Times Magazine put together a GREAT article on the larger Syrian Jewish community that owns a good portion of town and operates between here and Brooklyn, NY. The article is a great look at some of the big players in the community and how the community views themselves in comparison to the rest of the Jewish religion.

This is really a great, educational article and I encourage everyone to take a read of it when you get a chance.

Earlier today I was flipping around the computer and I accidentally hit the wrong button on the keyboard. Whatever I did, my AIM buddy list popped open and went to my “offline” buddies. What a disaster this was! Have any of you ever looked at your buddy lists to see how many unnecessary names you have on it? I did - and it was ridiculous!

I started today with some 291 buddies on my list and as of this posting, I’m down to 155. Not only do I have doubles and triples of AIM names for the same person, but as I was going through the list I was deleting names that I KNEW were no longer in use!

So…if you all get a chance you should go ahead and gut that buddy list of yours. I only talk to about 5 or 6 people over IM anyway, so what’s the friggin use of having hundreds of people on the list, right? What? So I can stalk them and see what their away messages are? Weak.

All told, I expect that I’ll drop a few dozen more names and call it a day!

Though I’m a big fan of the PlayStation 2, no one can deny that the PlayStation 3 is turning out to be an abysmal failure of a system. Now, now, before you get your panties in a bunch please understand that I’m fully aware of the system’s prowess. It’s a big, bold, kick-ass gaming machine. The problems with this machine, though, are pretty deep.

The news out today was that Sony will offer a lower-end model of the PS3 in time for the holidays, obviously in the hopes that it will attract more purchases during the crucial holiday season. The catch? The low-end model is NOT backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 games!

Ugh…did someone at Sony really approve this deal? Someone fire that guy. Now!

As it stands, Sony is expecting gamers to shell out $400 for this “low-end” system. Bear in mind that both Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s XBox 360 are much less expensive (though the XBox 360 does come in one model that is higher than $400). The Wii cannot compete with Sony’s PS3 engine - that’s a given. But Sony cannot compete with the Wii’s “fun factor” and anyone who has played both system can tell you this (anyone who plays as a fan of gaming, not an uber-dork who is concerned about high-def graphics over poor game play).

So not only do you have to shell out more money for a static playing experience, but now you can’t play your piles and piles of PS2 games! What a crock! For the PS2 owner…where is the incentive to get the new, “low-end” system? I certainly don’t see it.

You want to top off the cake? How about the fact that PS3 games are pretty damn expensive?

This machine, whose driving purpose was to push the high definition Blu-Ray DVD format into as many American homes as possible, is turning out to be a disaster. Someone needs to fix the problem and quick. Even if it means losing millions and millions of MORE dollars…

Good grief! Have you read about the staph infection scare that is sweeping across the nation’s elementary and middle schools? Oh my God! How crazy is this thing?

The big headline a few days ago was how staph infections kill more people each year than the AIDS virus. And folks, if that’s not scary then I don’t know what is. Of course, there are those who believe that the AIDS “epidemic” is confined to the African continent (and the stats are mostly true to support that since AIDS deaths are going down in America), but it looks like we have a brand new (old?) epidemic to start being concerned about.

What strikes me about the staph infection scare is that most staph infections can be warded off by proper hygiene. As the CNN article linked above states:

Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the CDC, says these infections are not new. “It’s important to appreciate that many of these infections are the same infections moms have been dealing with for decades. They’re very preventable,” she says.

“If you see a skin infection that looks like the redness is getting bigger or if it’s associated with a lot of swelling around the wound or if the individual has a fever, those are reasons to definitely seek doctor’s attention. But most of the time these are things that can be treated with the same kind of common sense approach that is we’ve been using for years.”

So for those of you with children and those of you who are regularly in these school settings - be careful! Use your wits (we’re all smart folks in this country) and be sure to keep an eye out for any warning signs. Other news reports have emphasized how keeping one’s hands clean is a great way to prevent staph infections, too.

The other day I was up in the Roxbury area so I stopped in at The Vitamin Shoppe that my younger brother works at to replenish my supply of “Ultimate Man” multivitamins. I like the Ultimate Man, No Iron blend because it is essentially the same mixture as GNC’s Mega Men multivitamins except it costs between $8 and $15 less per 180-count bottle (depending on the sale at the time)! I began taking these “high-powered” multi-vitamins a few years ago after my doctor said that he wanted to see me on something stronger than Centrum. Anyway, I digress…

The Vitamin Shoppe was running a promotion where you got a free, 30-count bottle of Cytolean for every 180-count bottle of Ultimate Man that you bought. Since I buy my vitamins two bottles at a time, I got two free bottles of this Cytolean stuff. The Cytolean bottle says that it is a, “Maximum Duration Adipose Reducing Agent,” which I think means that it tries to burn fat for you. Another one of the on-bottle advertisements is, “Profound sense of well-being & mental focus.” Well, folks, since I have these two free bottles, I decided to give this stuff a try to see what the effects would be on me.

I should preface this review by stating that I don’t really take anything to enhance or skew my train of thought. I take the multivitamin each morning and I take some Excedrin Migraine whenever I get a headache. On occasion I will take some Excedrin PM to help me sleep. I don’t really drink that much any more and I’ve never done any drugs, so any time I’m taking something that has the ability to alter my state of mind, it’s pretty noticeable.

This Cytolean stuff definitely altered my state of mind! When I was taking it, I found that I was more active and less sluggish. I also found that my appetite was diminished and I was able to focus more on whatever project I had in front of me. Every now and again I found myself yelling at the television while I was watching Rutgers and the Giants play over the weekend (which is very unlike me to do). It’s also worth commenting that I was not jittery or in a frantic state of mind when I used the Cytolean; these are common side effects of energy/stimulant pills. Though I did get a little light-headed from time to time, but nothing more than usual.

Many years ago when I was in high school, I took Stacker 2 just to see what the effect would be and if it would actually help me lose weight. I distinctly remember sweating a lot with the Stacker 2 and being in an excitable state of mind while the pills were pumping through me. I didn’t like that. I also remember crashing after taking Stacker. I didn’t get any of those effects from Cytolean. Well, yeah, I was sweating when I took it the other day, but that’s because it was nearly 90 degrees in New Jersey…in October!

So I would recommend Cytolean for anyone who is looking for a clear, clean boost to their mental and physical facilities. I had no hangover effect after the pills wore off nor did I crash and burn at the end of the day. I can’t comment on the “fat burning” ability of the product as I’ve only had it a couple of times. All in all, though, it was a pretty nice feeling and something that I’ll probably use again!

The folks over at MSNBC.com put up a “Candidate’s Matrix” which is pretty interesting. If you were wondering how the candidates feel about specific issues, this matrix may help you out a little bit.

Now, I haven’t looked through this matrix so I am unsure if all of the candidates’ positions are properly represented. Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I know (exactly) how all of the candidates feel about the various issues! MSNBC is usually regarded as the bastard stepson in the cable news world, but I would think that in order to change that stereotype they are putting out a better product these days.

I’m not sure - I don’t really watch MSNBC (except “To Catch a Predator” - the morons on that show are insane!).

Seth Rogen has done it again - he brought humor back to Saturday Night Live! If you haven’t seen it, you have to check out his impersonation of Rowlf from the Muppets. Andy Samberg helps out with an impression of the Swedish Chef (complete with “Schmorgadsborg” comments). Absolutely hilarious! Well, at least I got a kick out of it!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Enjoy!

This is, by far, one of the most ignorant posts that I’ve ever put up on this blog, but screw it! Oh, and for the rest of this post try to put aside the knowledge that I truly believe just about all professional sports are fixed…

The catastrophic meltdown of the New York Mets, the crappy two-game losing streak that the New York Giants started the season on, and the destruction of the Rutgers football “phenomenon” in the last two weeks are perfect examples of why I don’t invest too much time in professional sports. Sure, I’m a casual Yankees fan, but watching my friends who are Mets fans hang their heads in anguish is something that I just hate to see. I understand that it’s all in fun and that fans are just fans and not the guys on the field, but the way the Mets completely fell apart really took its toll on their dedicated fan base.

How can you wait all off-season then get amped up for all of the regular season to watch it all slip away in a matter of a few games? At that point, you’ve pretty much wasted all of your thoughts and mental capacity for the team in the off-season, your effort sweating it out at the stadium in the summer, and your free time during the season watching the games when you could have been out with friends, working harder in school, or doing something financially productive.

I know there are those who would read such an assessment and think me a fool. But before you spit your forked tongues, don’t take me for an idiot. I understand the bonding that takes place with friends and family at the ballpark and around the television. I understand the thrill of the chase from the fan’s perspective and the even greater thrill of achieving previously unachievable goals. I get all of that and I love that just as much as the next guy. I was bouncing off the walls last season when Rutgers was racking up victories. It was awesome! And I don’t regret spending the time, thoughts, or effort to be a part of that Rutgers phenomenon from last season.

But let’s do something very unintelligent for a minute and use hindsight as 20/20. The truth is that a lot of people waste countless hours of personal time and potential productive time by getting themselves over-engrossed in a team. You know these people - the ones who yell at the television in an empty apartment (I’ve been guilty of this); the ones who attend their teams’ games when there are only three thousand people in a 77,000 person stadium; the people who know every last fact about every last person associated with the team from the front office down to the water boy.

When you watch a team that you’ve invested so much of yourself in completely blow it, you feel disappointment on so many levels. The Giants give me this feeling seemingly every football season lately! And this is why I’ve invested less and less of my personal time in the Giants. Why invest time in a program when it’s losing? I’m not saying that you should completely stop liking the team, but I AM saying that this concept that a true fan is with a team through thick and thin should be reserved for a small minority of fans who have nothing else in their lives.

I lumped Rutgers in at the beginning of this post because of their two recent losses. However, they really are a different story than the Mets and the Giants since they’re at the collegiate level. For a long time now I’ve enjoyed college sports much more than professional sports since the dynamic really can change every few years.

Anyway, there’s my ignorant post. Deal with it!

Over at TBLWrestling.com, there is a new Major Impact section that’s been added. This is essentially a column that talks about the “major impact” from each week’s TNA Impact! television program on Spike TV.

In case you were looking for some commentary on the first 2-Hour edition of TNA Impact! on Spike TV, feel free to head over to read the Major Impact Review. Or, for a similar yet different perspective, take a read of TBLWrestling.com’s Webmaster’s blog that has an anonymous open letter to the company. It’s an interesting read!

TBLWrestling.com is another Usable Web Solutions website that does a great deal of promotion for our web development company. Eddie T does a great job running the site and I thank him for his continued service!

Eli Manning just didn’t have a good game today. That said, he still managed to bring the team to victory. I don’t know…yeah, it’s nice to get a check mark in the “W” column, but there’s something hollow in a victory where your Quarterback stinks up the field.

I generally can’t stand the television commentators on major league sports broadcasts, but when they said that Eli looked like his bad old self today, they were dead on the money. Here’s hoping that he stops that shit and gets his ass back in gear. He’s got the potential - he just needs to reach it every game day. Every game day!