Mrshafrir.com

In retrospect, I was pretty lucky growing up. My mom didn't let us have soda in the house, we definitely didn't eat sugar cereals, and, in general, my mom was pretty adamant about making things from scratch.

I pity the poor child who is eating these for breakfast. Or I suppose that in the most unhealthy of households, you could technically eat this for dessert as well. In other words, the rest of the world has nothing to worry about -- America will always be the fattest country out there.

Thanks to Bairam for the link!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Rolling Stones played "Start Me Up" last night at The Meadowlands, which, incidentally, was in a Microsoft advertising campaign in the 90's.

Coincidentally, there's a post about TheLadders.com (and me), on Heather Hamilton's Microsoft blog today.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I love the NBA. It's Faaaaantastic. (sorry).

But if there's one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, it's the guaranteed contracts and the salary cap ramifications of signing players to long term deals.

For example, how the hell are the Celtics on the hook for $5.33 MILLION this year for VIN BAKER?

How is this even possible? He was suspended by the Celtics for his alcoholism, spent time in rehab, and is now TWO teams removed from his time with the Celtics (first the Knicks, now the Clippers). And he counts for more than $5,000,000 against the Celtics cap this year?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Big shout-out to CMike for coming up with a free ticket AND a ride to tomorrow night's Kanye West/Rolling Stones show at The Meadowlands.

I've never seen the Stones, but rumor has it they're a decent live band :-)...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In general, I'm pretty bad at gambling on sports. This certainly extends to NFL Survivor Pools -- a game where everyone chooses one team a week that they think will win. Just win baby; you don't even have to beat the spread. The only catch is that once you choose a team, say New England, you can't pick them again. Lose and your out.

My record in these is abysmal. In the five years I've participated in a pool like this, I've lost by week 2. That's right. I am incapable of choosing two different teams to win for two weeks in a row to open the season.

This year though things were going to be different. I felt confident. I even picked a partner -- Mahoney -- who was clear-headed to my pig-headed.

We started strong. New England edged Buffalo in week 1 before Baltimore crushed Oakland in week 2.

Our conversations leading into this week pretty much went like this:

Mahoney: I think we should take Philly [against San Francisco]. In fact, I've never been so confident of something in my life.
Me: I hate Philly. I think we should take Buffalo.
Mahoney: Buffalo? Are you nuts?
Me: Ummmm...

Well, we took Buffalo. And Buffalo took us out.

Mahoney, I'm sorry!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fresh Pepper, you will be missed. I look forward to your book.

By the way, if any of you blush easy, you should just take my word that Fresh Pepper is hilarious.

Japan entries coming right up...just waiting for the massive pile of work to magically do itself and for the jetlag to set in, crush my soul, and then leave.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 06:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm off to Japan!!!

See you in 10 days.

I know many of you are sad about this break.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are few people in this world capable of living life to the fullest like my friend Ski2Sun (of Adventures in Getting Ready fame).

So when I read about the Big Pig Gig at Daisy May's BBQ, I knew there was one person, and one person only, to reach out to.

A quick background -- the Big Pig Gig is a feast designed for 12-15 people, complete with (duh) a roasted pig (head on), and a bunch of sides. As you can see from the blog post I linked to, they just cart out the entire pig and you go to town. Oh, and it costs $400.

Here's how it's described (for those of you too lazy to click the link):

The pig's cheeks were lusciously fatty, the loin meaty and the ribs, so perfect, smoky and so good to chew on. So good in fact, that we couldn't help but gnaw on it until the last drippy drop of meat juice had been sucked out.

Ski2Sun was, as I expected, very excited about the prospect of the Big Pig Gig. In fact, his first response was "You think we can find 12-15 willing parties or you want to just try to do it me and you?"

Two hours later, I get this email: "I have 12 people. We will make a reservation when you get back."

Ski2Sun, I salute you and whatever it is that makes you tick.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In anticipation of my upcoming jaunt to Japan, I've taken a few moments to try and learn as much about Japanese culture as possible. In reality, I will embarrass myself and commit multiple faux paus (is that plural), all while trying to not come off as the Ugly American.

So last night I thought it would be good to try and watch Lost in Translation to pick up some pointers on what life may be like in Japan.

I only got through the first five minutes -- the thought of Giovanni Ribisi actually going to bed with a starlet like Scarlet Johansson was enough to make me turn the channel -- but two scenes stick out:

1) When Bill Murray first meets his welcoming party at his hotel, they all hand him their business card. Apparently, this is de rigeur in Japan.

2) The scene where Murray rides the elevator down in the morning -- he towers over all the (Japanese) men. According to my mom, "you'll be the tallest man in Tokyo". Can't wait. If they play basketball on 8 foot hoops over there, I'll be Yao Ming.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

See, this is what you get when you buy tickets in April for an outdoor concert tonight.

Ben Harper, let's get your act together and get this thing moved to Roseland or Hammerstein, where they have cool things...like a roof.

According to Pollstar, both are open...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Continuing with the Random Crap You Can Find on YouTube theme, here's a pretty sweet clip of a guy doing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on, yes, the ukulele.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)