The King of Funny Faces

Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

2012-01-25T14:34:00.000-08:00

About the Documentary

Watch the Full Documentary

Watch Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune on PBS. See more from American Masters.

Life is Like a Cigarette

2012-01-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Smoke it to the Butt

Humorous phases of funny faces

2012-01-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

I googled "of funny faces" and this is what I found. Neat!

The Brothers of Funny Faces

2012-01-01T13:02:00.001-08:00

December 22, 2011

The False Allegation Epidemic

2011-12-12T12:08:00.001-08:00

Good Video

Sandusky Scandal Continues to Grow

2011-11-15T22:33:00.001-08:00

cross-posted here

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was raped when I was 6. I didn’t tell anyone until I was 21. The reason my life fell apart after that was not because I was raped 15 years in the past. It was because either no one believed me, or they adamantly interfered with my ability to do anything about it. I was not able to claim my own power back until ten years later, but guess what? The statute of limitations on sexual assault on a child is 5 years after the victim’s eighteenth birthday.

I really don’t hate the pedophile who raped me. Sorry if that offends somebody. That’s how I honestly feel. I do have intense hatred for those who interfered with my expressed desire to get justice.

I couldn’t do it on my own. I was 21, sure, technically an adult: but I was terrified. Terrified! I had Asperger’s Syndrome. I was still being mentally abused by several people. My father had just been diagnosed with terminal Parkinson’s Disease which killed him. It was fucking chaos. If somebody, anybody else, who had any kind of authority in the institutions that I appealed to for help in those days had stood up and even just listened to me, really listened to me. The world would be a better place.

The world is the world. It is what it is. We have to accept it no matter what or we will kill ourselves. But it would be better if things changed the way Jimmy Williams in the above video and many other people this past week have been calling for.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces

PS - Thank you Goldie Taylor

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #14

2011-09-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Awful Normal

This was very therapeutic for me to watch.

Streaming on Netflix now.

9/11/11

2011-09-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

I was with my father 10 years ago today. I was getting ready for work upstairs when I saw the towers begin to fall. I ran down crazily to tell him "The twin towers are collapsing." He couldn't believe it until I turned on the TV and there they were. He told me to go to work. I worked in Secaucus, New Jersey, just across the river. My shift started at 11 am. Many of my co-workers watched the second plane hit from their window. I never made it to work, though. The roads were closed. I went to a Blood Bank to see if I could donate blood, but the line was already 40 or 50 people long, so I decided just to go to a car dealership and get some work that needed to be done on my car since I had the day off. I sat in the waiting room watching the news by myself for a long time.

A few weeks later, I remember walking in on my dad. He was crying terribly. I learned that he had just read a story in a magazine or something about a little girl who was never going to see "daddy's funny faces" again. I mentioned this as part of his story at my father's memorial service. It is the origin of the phrase "The King of Funny Faces".

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #13

2011-09-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just posted this review on Netflix. Hopefully, it will be posted soon.

Move over Mongol. Red Hill is officially now my favorite movie of ALL TIME! Jimmy Conway is one of the most iconic characters in all of film. He's scary as hell like Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, but without the quirky haircut and the one liners. The plot is pretty much the exact opposite of High Noon. It's every bit as iconic. The whole thing is bloody perfect. It's glorious. I'm definitely going to buy the DVD and I want to buy a copy for all my friends. I just might do that for somebody I know who's having a birthday next month. Never mind the bollocks in some of the other reviews. Watch this movie. You won't regret it.

The head of the APA got paid.

2011-08-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from Wired magazine:

I recently asked a former president of the APA how he used the DSM in his daily work. He told me his secretary had just asked him for a diagnosis on a patient he’d been seeing for a couple of months so that she could bill the insurance company. “I hadn’t really formulated it,” he told me. He consulted the DSM-IV and concluded that the patient had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“Did it change the way you treated her?” I asked, noting that he’d worked with her for quite a while without naming what she had.

“No.”

“So what would you say was the value of the diagnosis?”

“I got paid.”

Easy Rider

2011-07-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Who sent ya?

They Make Good Films These Days

2011-06-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Just Not In Hollywood

Example #13: Flame and Citron

They Make Good Films These Days

2011-06-22T21:26:00.001-07:00

Just Not In Hollywood

Example #12: The Square

They Make Good Films These Days

2011-06-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

Just Not In Hollywood

Example #11: Animal Kingdom

Family Law is a Very Difficult Area to Legislate

2011-06-17T17:34:00.001-07:00

Dr. Phil - Woman Reluctantly Admits She Lied About DV

2011-05-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Men Don't Tell

2011-04-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Song of the Day - Billie Jean

2011-03-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

A lie becomes the truth...

Concept of the Day - Mindblindness

2011-03-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

Mind-blindness can be described as an inability to develop an awareness of what is in the mind of another human. It is not necessarily caused by an inability to imagine an answer, but is often due to not being able to gather enough information to work out which of the many possible answers is correct. Mind-blindness is the opposite of empathy. Simon Baron-Cohen was the first person to use the term 'mind-blindness' to help understand some of the problems encountered by people with autism or Asperger syndrome or other developmental disorders. Generally speaking, the "Mind-blindness" Theory asserts that children with these conditions are delayed in developing a theory of mind, which normally allows developing children to put themselves "into someone else's shoes, to imagine their thoughts and feelings."^[1] Thus, autistic children often cannot conceptualize, understand, or predict emotional states in other people.^[2]

More at Wikipedia

Quote of the Day

2011-03-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

‎"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt for investigation."
-Herbert Spencer

Song of St. Paddy's Day - 2011

2011-03-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

RIP Rodney Morrison

2011-03-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

Song of the Day - "Joy" - Lucinda Williams

2011-03-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Fallacy of the Day - Poisoning the Well

2011-02-24T21:17:00.001-08:00

Poisoning the Well

This sort of "reasoning" involves trying to discredit what a person might later claim by presenting unfavorable information (be it true or false) about the person. This "argument" has the following form:

Unfavorable information (be it true or false) about person A is presented.
Therefore any claims person A makes will be false.

This sort of "reasoning" is obviously fallacious. The person making such an attack is hoping that the unfavorable information will bias listeners against the person in question and hence that they will reject any claims he might make. However, merely presenting unfavorable information about a person (even if it is true) hardly counts as evidence against the claims he/she might make. This is especially clear when Poisoning the Well is looked at as a form of ad Homimem in which the attack is made prior to the person even making the claim or claims. The following example clearly shows that this sort of "reasoning" is quite poor.

More at Nizkor

Son Grateful

2011-01-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

click to read

The First King Would Have Been 65 Today!

2011-01-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

The first King of Funny Faces was born January 16, 1946.

Nobody deserved a happy retirement more than he did!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Song of the Day - January 16, 2011

2011-01-16T13:05:00.001-08:00

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #10

2011-01-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

His name is Khan.
He is not a terrorist.
He is the Post-9/11 Forrest Gump.

He's also an Aspie.

Terror Directed at Everyone

2011-01-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

"Evil is the process of a simulacrum of truth. And in its essence, under a name of its invention, it is terror directed at everyone." -Alain Badiou

The Death of Marat

2011-01-14T08:18:00.001-08:00

One Year Ago Today the King of Funny Faces Got a Tattoo

It's a thin, one inch, teardrop shaped black stab wound under my right collarbone.

It looks like the wound in "Death of Marat" by David.

Enjoy the rest of this program about the French painter:

BBC's The Power of Art - David p4

BBC's The Power of Art - David p5

BBC's The Power of Art - David p6

Story of My Life

2011-01-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

Story Of My Life by Social Distortion

More Social Distortion music on iLike

Danger always strikes when everything seems fine.

2011-01-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourselves.

Remember the 6 Percent!

2011-01-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Bullies are Not Welcome In New Jersey

2011-01-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

Christie Signs Tougher Law on Bullying in Schools
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: January 6, 2011

New Jersey on Thursday enacted the nation’s toughest law against bullying and harassment in schools, three and a half months after the suicide of a Rutgers University student drew national attention to the issue.

The law spells out a long list of requirements, including the appointment of specific people in each school and district to run antibullying programs; the investigation of any episodes starting within a day after they occur; and training for teachers, administrators and school board members. Superintendents must make public reports twice a year detailing any episodes in each school, and each school will receive a letter grade to be posted on its Web site.

The law, which goes into effect at the start of the next school year, lists harassment, intimidation or bullying as grounds for suspension or even expulsion from school. It applies to public schools, and portions of it apply to public colleges.

...

“Other states have bits and pieces of what this New Jersey law has, but none of them is as broad, getting to this level of detail, and requiring them, step by step, to do the right thing for students,” said Sarah Warbelow, state legislative director at the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights group. Many states, she said, do not even offer the protections of the 2002 New Jersey law, which made it a crime to bully or harass on the basis of race, sex, sexual and gender identity or disability.

More...

Protect The Territory of Funny Faces!

2011-01-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

Pete Postlethwaite is Dead, Mon!

2011-01-03T19:26:00.001-08:00

STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE!

2011-01-02T19:38:00.001-08:00

STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE! STORY OF MY LIFE!

Story Of My Life by Social Distortion

More Social Distortion music on iLike

Judgment at Nuremberg Verdict

2011-01-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Spoiler Warning - don't watch if you don't want to know the end of the movie

Quote of the Day

2011-01-01T13:41:00.001-08:00

"A family can act as gangsters, offering each other mutual protection against each other's violence. It is a reciprocal terrorism, with the offer of protection-security against the violence that each threatens the other with, and is threatened by, if anyone steps out of line."
-R.D. Laing, The Politics of Experience.
New York: Random House, Inc., 1967. p89

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #9

2010-12-29T15:27:00.001-08:00

Example #9: Mother

Outsanding Film! Awesome! Bravo!

STAND UP w/ Pete Dominick - 12/27/2010

2010-12-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is very exciting, but I felt completely rattle brained for over an hour after this phone call. Pete cut me off unexpectedly. I was startled, and a little disappointed. I understood right away, it's nothing personal; but instinctively it felt like a punch in the gut. Like my friend who works in Hollywood says, nobody is ever completely happy with their performance. Just gotta do it, and move on to the next thing.

I am so glad I was able to hear the replay, and record it on my new digital voice recorder. It was a pretty good call and Pete was a true gentleman, as always. He is a real breath of fresh air. Most of the political talk show hosts that in America for the past 20 years are just plain jerks.

Listen on my Myspace music player here:

Find more artists like King of Funny Faces (MUSIC) at Myspace Music

standupwithpetedominick.com
www.grasp.org
www.aspennj.org

They Make Good Films These Days

2010-12-24T11:57:00.000-08:00

Just Not In Hollywood

Example #8: The Secret In Their Eyes

A Great Combination of Several Genres, this film has it all: Mystery, Romance, Political Intrigue
It doesn't get much better than this.

Happy Birthday Grandma Anderson!

2010-12-22T03:30:00.000-08:00

The First Queen of Funny Faces was Born in Montana on December 22, 1917!

"Marion Anderson (1917-2001) was an amazing woman, full of grace and she laughed at all my jokes. I think she was the first person to recognize I was remotely funny. G"

-Geraldine Laybourne

Media Executive

Nickelodeon/Oxygen Media

Word of the Day - December 19, 2010

2010-12-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

nos·trum [nos-truhm] –noun
1. a medicine sold with false or exaggerated claims and with no demonstrable value; quack medicine.
2. a scheme, theory, device, etc., esp. one to remedy social or political ills; panacea.
3. a medicine made by the person who recommends it.
4. a patent medicine.

Example

The Dissociated Evil Impulse

2010-12-19T01:14:00.000-08:00

My friend Ken made this:

"It has always been recognized that if you split Being down the middle, if you insist on grabbing this without that, if you cling to the good without the bad, denying the one for the other, what happens is that the dissociated evil impulses, now evil in a double sense, returns to permeate and possess the good and turn it into itself."
-R.D. Laing

Quote of the Day

2010-12-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

"Under the pretext of not accepting Evil, we end up making believe that we have, if not the Good, at least the best possible state of affairs—even if this best is not so great. The refrain of "human rights" is nothing other than the ideology of modern liberal capitalism: We won't massacre you, we won't torture you in caves, so keep quiet and worship the golden calf. As for those who don't want to worship it, or who don't believe in our superiority, there's always the American army and its European minions to make them be quiet."
-Alain Badiou

Song of the Day - December 18, 2010

2010-12-18T07:38:00.001-08:00

Where Ya Gonna Run To?

2010-12-18T00:19:00.000-08:00

Innocent Prisoner

2010-12-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

“An innocent prisoner will become more angry by the hour due to the injustice suffered. He will shout and rage. A guilty prisoner becomes more calm and quiet...or he cries. He knows he's there for a reason. The best way to establish guilt or innocence is non-stop interrogation.”
Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler

"An unjust law is no law at all." -St. Augustine

Story Of My Life by Social Distortion

More Social Distortion music on iLike

Story of My Life

2010-12-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbFc3TuuNN8

Story Of My Life by Social Distortion

Where I've Been

2010-12-13T20:59:00.001-08:00

Sentimentality

2010-12-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

“Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel; the wet eyes of the sentimentalist betray his aversion to experience, his fear of life, his arid heart; and it is always, therefore, the signal of secret and violent inhumanity, the mask of cruelty.”
James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

For example:

Nothing's Wrong

2010-12-13T03:16:00.000-08:00

Ever since I set my Pandora to play the Arch Enemy channel, I have begun to notice that the messages coming from Death Metal are not all Satanic and Cannibalistic anymore. A lot of my new favorites are just awesome and powerful without resorting to the macabre or the sick. I like this.

Roger Ebert Reviewed My Video

2010-12-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

"There's a lot of love in that video."

- Roger Ebert - The King of All Film Critics - December 10, 2010 8:49 PM (look in the comments section of his blog post)

King of Funny Faces Open Mic Performance - 12/9/2010

2010-12-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

With or Without You

To Be Or Not To Be

House of the Rising Sun

The Studio of Long Valley has an Open Mic the Second Thursday of Every Month
Organizedy by Tri-County Music and Arts
Tri-County Music and Arts is a Non-Profit Corporation that was created to promote and advance the Musical and Performing Arts in the Northwest New Jersey Counties of Morris, Warren and Hunterdon.
http://www.tricma.org

A Case to End All Cases

2010-12-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

Fallacy of the Day - Burden of Proof

2010-12-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

Includes: Appeal to Ignorance ("Ad Ignorantiam")

Description of Burden of Proof

Burden of Proof is a fallacy in which the burden of proof is placed on the wrong side. Another version occurs when a lack of evidence for side A is taken to be evidence for side B in cases in which the burden of proof actually rests on side B. A common name for this is an Appeal to Ignorance. This sort of reasoning typically has the following form:

Claim X is presented by side A and the burden of proof actually rests on side B.
Side B claims that X is false because there is no proof for X.

In many situations, one side has the burden of proof resting on it. This side is obligated to provide evidence for its position. The claim of the other side, the one that does not bear the burden of proof, is assumed to be true unless proven otherwise. The difficulty in such cases is determining which side, if any, the burden of proof rests on. In many cases, settling this issue can be a matter of significant debate. In some cases the burden of proof is set by the situation. For example, in American law a person is assumed to be innocent until proven guilty (hence the burden of proof is on the prosecution). As another example, in debate the burden of proof is placed on the affirmative team. As a final example, in most cases the burden of proof rests on those who claim something exists (such as Bigfoot, psychic powers, universals, and sense data).

More at Nizkor Project

The Aspie Community Question

2010-12-01T21:24:00.001-08:00

‎"The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it's the gay community, because it is the community which is most easily mistreated." -Bayard Rustin, 1986

"The Aspie community is even more easily mistreated." - Erik Anderson, 2010

They Still Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #7

2010-11-30T00:12:00.000-08:00

Example #7: Cropsey

I don't know what is scarier: the images of the mental patients from inside Lakewood State School, the idea that somebody must be responsible for the disappearance of seven children between 1972 and 1987, or the way all the police and family members look like they are lying twenty years later.

A Mix Fit For A King

2010-11-28T00:52:00.001-08:00

For those few historic occasions when relaxing on the throne is actually possible.

Know Your Rights

2010-11-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

A cease and desist (also called C & D) is an order or request to halt an activity (cease) and not to take it up again later (desist); or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization. A cease-and-desist is rarely used as such outside U.S.^{[citation needed]}

In the U.S. the term is used in two different contexts. A cease-and-desist order can be issued by a judge or government authority, and has a well-defined legal meaning. In contrast, a cease-and-desist letter can be sent by anyone, although typically they are drafted by a lawyer.

The Fearless, The Brave, The Talented, The Funny

2010-11-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Guy Daniel Francis, aka "The Tourette's Karaoke Guy" thinks that I am special! The YouTube sensation has added The King of Funny Faces to his very first list of notable YouTube friends.

He calls us The Fearless, The Brave, The Talented, The Funny

Other Members of this Fine List Are:

The Destructor Bros.

AS/TS Freestyle

SHERBETHEAD

and

THE SUBMARINE4SUBMARINE CENTRE

It is an honor and a pleasure to be a member of this list.

And in case you were wondering who is this Tourette's Karaoke Guy I speak of, you are going to enjoy this video:

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T14:54:00.000-08:00

Open Mic Performance - 11/18/2010 - VIDEO

2010-11-23T20:45:00.000-08:00

Arts off Main - Hackettstown - November 18, 2010

Rubber Duckie, you're the one!

2010-11-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

You make wartime so much fun!

Quakt!

Special thanks: Laura Mulvey

Today Was a Very Long Day

2010-11-19T18:05:00.001-08:00

New Jersey: Look Before You Laugh

2010-11-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

I got teased by a Mixed Martial Artist from Manchester UK yesterday. Why did I get teased by this guy? I got teased because I'm from New Jersey and The Jersey Shore has given my entire state a bad name. It doesn't matter that I live in the mountains. It doesn't matter that I have only been to the shore on rare occasions. It doesn't matter that I'm not Italian. It doesn't matter that I don't even have cable and I have never watched that program. Ha Ha! "You're from New Jersey!" That's what I hear. I heard it yesterday and I've heard it before.

I did some research today and guess what I found out.

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is from Staten Island.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is from Chile.
Jenni "Jwoww" Farley is from Upstate New York.
DJ Pauly D is from Providence, RI.

I'm actually from New Jersey. Leave me alone about those clowns.

New Jersey: Look Before You Laugh

War & Peace - Volume II, Part II, Chapter 25, Again

2010-11-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

War is not being nice to each other, it's the vilest thing in human life, and we ought to understand that and not play at war. It's a terrible necessity, and we should be strict about it and take it seriously. It comes down to this: no more lying, war means war and it's not a plaything....

And what is war, what is necessary for success on the battlefield, what is the moral basis of a military society? The aim of war is murder, the weapons of war are spying, treachery and the fostering of further treachery, the destruction of people, looting their property and stealing from them to keep the army on the road, falsehood and deceit, which go by the name of clever tactical ploys, and the moral basis of the military class is the curtailment of freedom through discipline, linked with idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery and drunkenness. And in spite of that, its' still the highest class, universally respected.¹

¹ Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. London: Penguin Books, 2005. p861 First published 1865.

War & Peace - Volume III, Part II, Chapter 25

2010-11-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

Prince Andrey glanced across at Timokhin, who was staring at his commanding officer in alarm and bemusement. In contrast to his commanding officer in alarm and bemusement. In contrast to his former silence and reserve, Prince Andrey now seemed to be all worked up. He seemed unable to stop himself blurting out every thought that came into his head.

'A battle is won by the side that is absolutely determined to win. Why did we lose the battle of Austerlitz? Our casualties were about the same as those of the French, but we had told ourselves earl in the day that the battle was lost, so it was lost. And we said that because then we had nothing to fight for. We wanted to get off the battlefield as fast as we could. "All is lost! Let's run away!" And run we did. If we had waited till evening before saying that, God knows what might have happened.

'But we shan't be saying that tomorrow. You talk about our position. The left flank's weak, and the right flank's too spread out," he went on. 'It's all nonsense. Irrelevant. So what is in store for us tomorrow? A hundred million contingent factors, and they'll all be determined by what happens on the day - who's run away and who's going to run away, us or them, who gets killed, one man or another. But what's going on right now is just fooling about. The point is this: those people who took you round the positions don't help things along, they just get in the way. They're completely absorbed in their own petty interests.'

'At a time like this?' said Pierre, full of reproach.

'Yes. At a time like this,' repeated Prince Andrey.'They think this is a good time to get one over on a rival and win themselves another cross or ribbon. The way I see it, tomorrow looks like this: a hundred thousand Russians and a hundred thousand Frenchmen have come together to fight, and the fact is these two hundred thousand me will fight, and the side that fights hardest and spares itself least will come out on top. And if you like, I'll tell you something else: whatever happens, however much the top brass messes things up, we shall win tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever happens, we are going to win!'¹

"I wouldn't mess with that website." -Hanshi Duessel

¹Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. London: Penguin Books, 2005. p858-859 First published 1865.

Something Inside So Strong

2010-11-15T22:40:00.000-08:00

"I wouldn't mess with that website." -Hanshi William H. Duessel

Sinéad O'Connor Mix

2010-11-15T20:49:00.001-08:00

New Jersey needs people to stay, fight

2010-11-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

Letter to the Editor - Express-Times Newspaper

An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to “get out of New Jersey” the other day. That phrase comes up a lot (usually preceded by “dirty jerzy,” corruption, property taxes, “the Soprano state,” etc.) and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?

I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don’t know anything else.

I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating, but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state.

How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonment is not a solution.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: “A man who hasn’t found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live.”

If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I’m crazy, but so was Dr. King.

ERIK B. ANDERSON
Independence Township

This letter is being discussed on HackettstownLife.com.

Geography Minor

2010-11-14T18:53:00.001-08:00

When I was a Geography Minor at West Chester University, I used to love looking at historical maps. Now I love looking at this video. I wish it would have a date ticker or something, though.

Veteran's Day Open Mic in Long Valley - 11/11/10

2010-11-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!

Artist: Erik B. Anderson (The King of Funny Faces)
Songs: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)
Make it Rain (Tom Waits)
Date: 11/11/2010 (Veteran's Day)
Venue: The Studio of Long Valley

The Double Dare Story - 1/11/1987

2010-11-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

My father grew up with Geraldine Bond Laybourne, who was the President/CEO of Nickelodeon Television in the 1980's. When I was eleven years old and my brother was eight, she sent us tickets to see a taping of Double Dare. Somehow, my mother got us a day off of school and she drove us down to Philadelphia to see this:

I shouted out "Harvey!" at the top of my lungs. This picture doesn't capture it, but he was annoyed! Harvey was the announcer of the show, very much beloved by me and by many kids of my generation.

And here is the host of the show, Marc Summers. Years later, he was in the news talking about having OCD, and I often wondered if this story had something to do with it. Did it make him worse? Was he trying to repress this memory as much I had tried to? I don't know. But Marc Summers was the host of Double Dare, one of the biggest kids game shows of all time.

It was a kid's dream come true! Before the big obstacle course event at the end of one of the episodes (we saw four being taped), Marc goes into the audience and talks to some of the excited kids in the audience. He picked me! I was so excited!

But then things got ugly...

Of all the questions that the host of the most popular kids game show in America could ask me, he asked me if I had a boyfriend. He slipped. He made a mistake. But the damage was done...

I was a weird kid in the 80's. These were the days of "Nerds" and "Geeks" and "Dweebs" and John Landis movies. I was teased more than most, I fear. Of all the questions in the world he could ask me, why did he ask me if I had a boyfriend? I asked myself that question many times over the years. And I never really talked to anyone about being on everyone's favorite show, at least not until several years had separated me from the pain and humiliation.

I'm not homophobic now. I wasn't homophobic then. This has nothing to do with homophobia. I was just pissed that Marc Summers gave all of the 'popular kids' in school a reason to tease me. Yeah, it had a lot to do with pride and ego, but hey...I was eleven years old. Forgive me, please.

Well that's another amazing story from the life of the current King of Funny Faces.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey, USA
Established 1782

UPDATE:

We Will Rise (Live)

2010-11-10T00:39:00.000-08:00

Where does the King sign up to join Angela Gossow's army?

On Madness

2010-11-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Act 5, Scene 1

HAMLET
How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the
card, or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord,
Horatio, these three years I have taken a note of
it; the age is grown so picked that the toe of the
peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he
gaffs his kibe. How long hast thou been a
grave-maker?

First Clown
Of all the days i' the year, I came to't that day
that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.

HAMLET
How long is that since?

First Clown
Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that: it
was the very day that young Hamlet was born; he that
is mad, and sent into England.

HAMLET
Ay, marry, why was he sent into England?
First Clown
Why, because he was mad: he shall recover his wits
there; or, if he do not, it's no great matter there.

HAMLET
Why?

First Clown
'Twill, a not be seen in him there; there the men
are as mad as he.

HAMLET
How came he mad?

First Clown
Very strangely, they say.

HAMLET
How strangely?

First Clown
Faith, e'en with losing his wits.

HAMLET
Upon what ground?

First Clown
Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton here, man
and boy, thirty years.

HAMLET
How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he rot?

First Clown
I' faith, if he be not rotten before he die--as we
have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce
hold the laying in--he will last you some eight year
or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year.

HAMLET
Why he more than another?

First Clown
Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, that
he will keep out water a great while; and your water
is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body.
Here's a skull now; this skull has lain in the earth
three and twenty years.

HAMLET
Whose was it?

Hamlet and Horatio are wandering in a churchyard where they meet some clowns digging graves. The clown Hamlet speaks to in this section does not know he is speaking to the Prince of Denmark. The bold six word sentence below explains so much about why Hamlet is considered mad.

Hamlet is considered mad because he has faith, even though he is losing his wits. Faith is the most threatening thing to those with illegitimate power. Faith gives Hamlet the ability to speak truth to power, no matter how offensive it is.

Check out HAMLET_HULK talk to TEAPARTYHULK and SARAHPALINHULK on Twitter today. What shall become of it all?

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Gracias a la Vida

2010-11-09T02:47:00.001-08:00

Hamlet Hulk on Twitter and Facebook

2010-11-08T03:01:00.000-08:00

There are many Hulks on Twitter. FEMINIST HULK! LitCrit Hulk! Therapist Hulk! Xdressing Hulk! Drunk Hulk! REAL HULK! Celebrity HULK! And now there is HAMLET HULK!

Hamlet Hulk

Promote Your Page Too
'tis a consumation devoutly to be SMASHED!

Follow Hamlet Hulk! Twitter.com/Hamlet_Hulk!

I'm Being Stalked

2010-11-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

A poster on the Aspie Paradise forum was stalking me today. He was following me from thread to thread, harassing me mercilessly. As a result of my complaints, he was permanently and finally banned from that forum. He had been temporarily banned several times before, but because of my complaints he got banned permanently. He is a very, very angry Scotsman who enjoys harassing Aspies, posting long rants about seeing hot girls at the Scottish train station and about how there is something wrong with the entire world because it won't let him have sex with every woman he wants.

His user name was Remission on Aspie Paradise. I don't know much else about him, but I do know that a YouTube user from the United Kingdom named Illegalsmirf posted comments on my Youtube page calling me a crybaby and another one under my video telling me I'm a crybaby and that I should kill myself.

The King of Funny Faces has several other accounts on other Social Networking sites. I am not able to monitor all of them all at once. If any of my friends see any suspicious comments in the next few days, please direct my attention to them so that they can be dealt with properly. I know he's in another country, but this man, whatever his name, is a very dangerous person.

Thank you for reading this message.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson

Independence Township, New Jersey

Established 1782

Published Again - Nov. 7, 2010

2010-11-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Read the letter at the DailyRecord.com.

Man wants to stay and fight for New Jersey

Letters to the Editor
Daily Record - November 7, 2010

An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to "get out of New Jersey" the other day. That phrase comes up a lot and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?

I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don't know anything else.

I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating; but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state. How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonement is not a solution.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: "A man who hasn't found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live."

If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I'm crazy. But so was King.

Erik B. Anderson

Nuh Badda Badda Mi

2010-11-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

a yuh fadda fault! nuh badda mi!

mi tink shi dun

Fallacy of the Day

2010-11-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern:

Person A has position X.
Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
Person B attacks position Y.
Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.

This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position simply does not constitute an attack on the position itself. One might as well expect an attack on a poor drawing of a person to hurt the person.

More at the Nizkor Project

What Doesn't Belong to Me - Sinead O'Connor Live

2010-11-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Gas Explosion in Manchester

2010-11-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

A close friend of mine lost her house in this.

Congressman Garrett is "More Appropriate Than Thou"

2010-11-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Update: Garrett debate canceled amid security concerns

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY OCTOBER 28, 2010, 2:16 PM

BY HERB JACKSON - THE BERGEN RECORD - STAFF WRITER

A scheduled debate today featuring Rep. Scott Garrett was abruptly cancelled by a Warren County radio station last night because of what the news director said were "security concerns."

Joyce Estey, news director for WRNJ, would not provide details about what happened, but she said station management decided to cancel the debate.

A spokesman for Garrett, R-Wantage, would not respond to a call and email for comment, but his office has had run-ins in the past with Mark Quick, an independent candidate in the race who was scheduled to participate.

Quick, a mason and landscaper from Frelinghuysen Township in Warren County, has been a vocal critic of Garrett. He has complained he cannot grow his business because competitors can hire illegal aliens with impunity.

Read more about what not to say when running for Congress (ex. "I'm the biggest...threat he's ever faced.")

this is a cover song I plan on doing at the next open mic

2010-11-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm working on 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago next. I'd like to see Sinead try that one.

Song of the Day - 11-3-2010 - Sign of the Southern Cross

2010-11-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

ASPIENESS!!! PLEASE READ!

2010-11-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Many of those with Asperger's syndrome have a number of positive characteristics, including integrity, intelligence, endurance, and freedom from prejudice.

Trustworthy and Reliable

Most people with Asperger’s are dependable and loyal. They don’t play games or force others to live up to demanding social expectations. Aspies have no hidden agendas and no interest in harming others or taking advantage of their weaknesses. They are not inclined to lie to, steal from, or attack the reputations of those around them. Aspies are not likely to be bullies, con artists, or social manipulators, and girls with Asperger’s syndrome are less inclined to be fickle or bitchy than their neurotypical counterparts. While some people with Asperger's may lash out when provoked, they are unlikely to launch unprovoked attacks, verbal or otherwise.

Aspies like to spend time alone and are perfectly capable of entertaining themselves. While most like to have friends, their need for social contact is not usually as strong as that of ordinary people. Because they are not motivated by an intense social drive to spend time with anybody who happens to be available, they can be selective, choosing honest, genuine, dependable people who share their interests.

Free of Prejudice
Aspies are very accepting of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of others. Most don’t discriminate against anyone based on race, gender, age, or any other surface criteria, but instead judge people based on their behaviour. They don't usually recognize hierarchies, and so are unlikely to accord someone superior status simply because that person is wealthy or has attained a high position in an organization.
Those with Asperger’s can listen to people’s problems and provide a fresh perspective, offering pure assessments based on the the information provided, untainted by the judgments that people often make regarding one another's social position or social skills. Others can relax and be themselves around an Aspie without fearing social censure.

High Integrity

Aspies will not go along with the crowd if they know that something is wrong. Most stick to their positions, even in the face of intense social pressure, and their values aren't shaped by financial, social, or political influences.

Most Aspies have a good work ethic and pay attention to detail. Conscientious, reliable, and honest, many Aspies make very good employees if able to control their pace and work within either a solitary or socially supportive environment. Aspies are persistent, and when they set their minds to something or make a promise, they can usually be trusted to follow through.

Intelligent and Talented
Those with Asperger’s syndrome often have above-average intelligence, and many have one or more highly developed talents.

Enthusiasm and a propensity for obsessive research ensure that Aspies develop a broad and deep base of knowledge in subjects of interest. They loathe small talk and trivialities, preferring instead to talk about significant things that will enhance their knowledge base.

Because they have exceptional memories, those with Asperger’s can bring up a variety of interesting facts (though some of these facts will only be interesting to the Aspies themselves), as well as recalling fine details that others miss. They also bring a highly original perspective to problem solving, and their acute sensitivity may support creative talents as well.

* * *
If you're an Aspie, please join this Yahoo Group:

Click to join GRASP_Global

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T10:55:00.001-07:00

Know Your Rights

2010-10-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

NEW JERSEY STATE CONSTITUTION 1947 (UPDATED THROUGH AMENDMENTS ADOPTED IN NOVEMBER, 2008)

A Constitution agreed upon by the delegates of the people of New Jersey, in Convention, begun at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick, on the twelfth day of June, and continued to the tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-seven.

We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

ARTICLE I

RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES

1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

More...

Story of My Life - 10/28/10

2010-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Story Of My Life by Social Distortion

More Social Distortion music on iLike

Concept of the Day - Covert Incest

2010-10-27T13:45:00.001-07:00

The term covert incest (also known as emotional incest or psychic incest) is used by some mental health professionals to describe a relationship between parents and children that is sexualized and expects a child to fulfill adult emotional roles, though without actual incest. Proponents of the concept describe the relationships as harmful and one-sided, and similar to a relationship between adult sexual partners, but without the type of physical contact, that would be considered as child sexual abuse, and describe its effects as similar to, though less severe than, that of actual incest.

More at Wikipedia...

Quote of the Day - War & Peace

2010-10-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

Volume III, Part II, Chapter 17

"As the enemy closed in on Moscow the attitude of the inhabitants to their situation, far from becoming all serious-minded, actually became more frivolous, as always happens with people who can see a terrible danger bearing down on them. At the first approach of danger two voices always speak out with equal force in a man's heart: one tells him very sensibly to consider the exact extent of the danger and any means of avoiding it; the other says even more sensibly that it's too wearisome and agonizing to contemplate the danger, since it is not in a man's power to anticipate future events and avoid the general run of things, so you might as well turn away from the nastiness until it hits you, and dwell on things that are pleasant. Left to himself a man will usually listen to the first voice; out in society he listens to the second one. This is what was now happening to the good people of Moscow. It was years since there had been so much fun in the city." ¹

¹Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. Penguin Classics: London, 1868-9/2005.

One Strong Man in the Skylands

2010-10-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

There is One Strong Man in the Skylands.

"I wouldn't mess with that website."

-Master William Duessel, 9th Degree Black Best

Highest Isshin-Ryu Black in the USA,

Oxford, NJ - October 12, 2008

Viva la France!

2010-10-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

"The majority of the guns fired on the British at Saratoga were French. Four years later, when the British set down their muskets at Yorktown, they surrendered to forces that were nearly equal parts French and American, all of them fed and clothed and paid by France, and protected by de Grasse's fleet. Without French funds the Revolution would have collapsed; by a conservative estimate, America's independence cost Franch more than 1.3 billion livres, the equivalent of $13 billion today."
-Stacy Schiff

And how do Republican lawmakers repay them?

Song of the Day - 10/23/10

2010-10-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

As sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share, now, what's mine

Talking to the Wall and Calling It Poetry

2010-10-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

You asked me a question
and then you told me
I didn't answer it.
But, you interrupted
me
before I could finish
to tell me that I didn’t finish.

Song of the Day

2010-10-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

No Myth @ Yahoo! Video

Song of the Day

2010-10-19T14:12:00.001-07:00

Pop is U2's most underrated album.