Pakistan Needs Help
On my new found spiritual journey to understand myself and the cosmos, there’s a notion of healing that I learned. In order to heal certain parts of your body you need to bring awareness to that part. That means you need to meditate on the pain, feel it, bring attention to it. Just like everything in life, what you resist, persists.
The same is true for our planet. There’s parts of our planet that demand awareness because that awareness is what will help it heal. In case you haven’t heard, there have been floods ravaging the country of Pakistan leaving a lot of people stranded and in need of food, water, and aid. I can shoot numbers at you but numbers don’t tell a story. I know how easy it is in American culture to hear devastating news about some other part of the world and then just go about our day as if nothing happened. I know because I do this also, I’m not trying to be all high and mighty. I’m just writing this to bring whatever awareness I can to the situation and hope that others might spread the word. I don’t want to guilt trip anyone into doing anything. There’s nothing worse then doing something out of guilt. If you’re going to give, give from where it matters.
Tonic.com has a great article on the different ways you can help Pakistan’s flood victims. Click here to check that out.
Also, Bjork’s new single is available (I’m not really a fan of Bjork but I’m a fan or artists supporting causes) on iTunes and all the proceeds go to Pakistan relief. That’s another simple way of just helping and raising awareness at the same time. Click here to check out her single on iTunes.
Also, here’s Angelina Jolie, who’s also raising awareness for Pakistan:
Reasons to Celebrate
I’m on some kind of strange path. I’m probably calling it strange because of self-image issues and I really think that others might think it’s strange but for me, it feels right. In fact, it’s perfection. Saturday night I was standing in a club, having a drink, surrounded by loud noises (apparently, music), people getting drunk, people bumping into each-other, people making out, people trying to pick up other people. Basically, it was your typical club scene. While I was enjoying my time with my friends there was a weird feeling inside me that I just couldn’t seem to shake. It was only until the next morning I realized what it was. I was celebrating without really having reason to celebrate. Although, in reality, I was out for a friend’s birthday, I was also out every other Friday and Saturday. This Saturday, despite celebrating my friend’s birthday, felt no different. It was just another night to stay up late, drinking, having fleeting conversations with the people around me then off to eat some greasy meal and home to bed. The whole thing lacked fulfillment.
My first reaction was to think that something was wrong with me. That I may be growing to become anti-social but, in reality, it’s the opposite. I love socializing, meeting new people, and learning about them. I just want to change my way of meeting people. The last time I had an amazing, fulfilling time when I was out was after I made the first live appearance with Nonna Maria at a comedy show. My friends and I went out, wearing our Nonna Maria shirts, and the whole night was just basically a celebration of what we created. We weren’t going out to go out and to wait for something to celebrate. We HAD something to celebrate, we HAD something to reward ourselves with. Nothing else really mattered. The state of the whole club scene (especially on the main, as I wrote about once) has changed. A crooked look to someone looking for a fight can lead down a stupidly negative path. There was a time when the main was fun and great for meeting new people. Now it’s rare NOT to see a fight on a night out.
Before I get off topic, here’s what I’m saying, and, I’m really saying this for myself. I’m going to try to change what “going out” means to me. I’ve become conscious to the fact that “going out” doesn’t fulfill me as it once did and that I’d most likely prefer getting together with friends and being productive (or if not, making gay jokes via Goldeneye 64). I’d rather get down to making more desires and dreams come true. There’s at least 6 movies in me I’ve been dying to write, why not sit down and write them? Why not make experiences for myself that lead to feelings of fulfillment? Why not GIVE myself a reason a celebrate? Not just when I’m out but when I’m walking down the street, when I’m at work, when I’m in a meeting, when I’m with my girlfriend, when I’m with my friends, when I’m watching television or playing video games, when I’m watching stupid videos on the internet, or when I’m making stupid videos for the internet. My best experiences and nights out were nights where I had left my house already feeling fulfilled, ready for a night of relaxation and having fun with friends instead of going out to look for those things.
We’re all different and we all feel fulfillment different ways and sometimes that changes and we must become conscious of that change. Once we start to listen to ourselves and adapt and become more and more conscious of what we must do, it gets easier to see life’s Karmaic path. So I’m going to stop going out for a while in order to focus on more personal endeavors. Obviously, there’ll be the exception here and there but my main focus will start to be creating something that’ll live on way past my lifetime here on earth. The beauty is that this isn’t a lonely endeavor, I get to create something with the people I love and the people willing to create. I get to truly give myself a reason to celebrate everything in my life.
Read MoreTL;DR
Stop looking for something to celebrate and MAKE something to celebrate.
The Goddess of Luck Shines on Men of Action
Well, it’s September. The days are getting shorter, Halloween costumes are already being sold at the the pharmacy (I shit you not), and the kids are going back to school to learn useless history dates and how to be good employees. It’s time to sit down and assess the season ahead. Fall’s pretty damn cool and it looks like the hot weather is holding up so there’s no reason to go get all depressed (unless you start thinking of global warming, melting ice caps, earthquakes, and volcanoes). I, for one, had an awesome summer. I had a couple of goals of mine come true, mainly doing a live comedy show in front of an audience. I always wanted to try my hand at comedy and I guess the lesson is that you just need to WANT it and the universe will do the rest. I get a lot of flak for my “universe” talk, mainly from people who don’t believe in creating their own reality (which is fine). I get a lot of people telling me how I’m “lucky” or how I have a “horse shoe up my ass.” I, for one, don’t believe I’m lucky. I just don’t wait for things to happen. I take control, I take action, I DO. That’s it, the big secret: DO.
Another awesome dream that came true is that I always wanted to do something with Nadia G of Bitchin’ Kitchen fame and that happened during Montreal’s Italian Week and came in the form of a pizza judging contest (hopefully I’ll have the video soon).
Photo by Eva Blue
Basically, we got to sit and eat pizzas from Montreal’s Little Italy’s restaurants. I also got to do it with some awesome people! There was Elvio Galasso, a chef and teacher of Italian cooking at a world renowned school in Montreal and a super awesome guy to boot. Marco Calliari, a talented musician who’s bring Italian music to a new level and, more importantly, to a younger generation. Franco Taddeo, a hilarious Italian comedian, it was an honor to even be at the same table with him. And finally, the awesome Nadia G. I’ve been following Nadia G’s story for the longest time, even before there was a mention of Bitchin’ Kitchen being a show on Food Network. The most amazing thing is her passion for her show and product. For example, not many people know this, the Bitchin’ Kitchen cookbook was completely designed by Nadia G herself. Bitchin’ Kitchen’s her labor of love and that’s the 2nd secret, people love other people who love what they do. There’s no two ways about it. Fall in love with life, fall in love with what you do and you’ll be able to reciprocate love like no other. What’s that thing the Beatles said, “the love you get is equal to the love you give?”
Now I’m at a point where I’m basically timing the moment I get an idea to the moment it manifests in my material life. I’m noticing the more I do what I feel I need to do, the faster my desires manifest. I had an interesting conversation a while ago on the subject of Jesus and his abilities to make miracles (I’m not going to turn this into a full on religious discussion, so don’t run away). I think we’re all capable of creating miracles, the only thing that probably separates us from Jesus is our perception of time. If you were to take any one of your goals that actually came true and remove the “time” aspect, you’d see it really is a miracle. For example, last year I really wanted a new car. I didn’t want to buy or pay for one. Yes, I wanted it FREE (hey, they’re my desires and anyone who told me to think “realistically” I categorize as someone who just likes to justify negative though). So, there I was, wanting a car out of nothing when suddenly I ran into Nissan’s Cube’s contest and a month or so later, I was the winner of a brand new car. I didn’t have to pay a dime. I had my desire manifest. Now, pretend time didn’t exist. Basically, what you get is nothing short of a miracle. Here’s another thing before you start thinking that I think I’m Jesus and I’m all high and mighty and I’ll turn water to wine – everyone is capable of this. All you need is belief.
Oh yeah, and also, THIS happened:
SICK!!!
Read MoreTL;DR version
Make like Jesus and make miracles, fool!
YES. You CAN have fun in Laval.
Bored? Nothing to do? Want to try something different? Well, why don’t you just drive down to Laval **queue sound of record coming to a scratching halt**
Laval? What the hell is there to do in Laval?
It turns out that there’s TONS to do in Laval.
But first, a little bit of history. For those who don’t know who or what Laval is, well, it’s the island north of the island of Montreal and it’s named after François de Montmorency-Laval, who was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Quebec. Now, a little bit of personal history: I moved to Laval about 5 years ago with my parents. I was born and raised in Montreal in the municipality of St.Leonard. Yes, I’m a St.Leonard boy and I’ll always be a St.Leonard boy. However, times changed and my parents decided to move to Laval and, being Italian, I go where my parents go cause I still live with them (yes, I moved out but now I’m back living with my parents for the moment).
My first impressions of Laval mainly consisted of how quiet everything was. I was used to the constant noise of St.Leonard and sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to see swarms of police cars racing up and down my street. The sudden silence was definitely the biggest change for me. Oh yeah, and also, animals. Yes, animals. There’s animals EVERYWHERE in Laval. Cool ones too. Before moving to Laval I never thought it possible that I could almost run over a fox with my car. Marmots were now a terror to my dad’s garden, rabbits ate my dad’s lettuce, I almost ran over a snake with my bicycle (a SNAKE!), and raccoons and skunks will make plenty of appearances. Laval is pretty damn wild. Also, I learned a little about their gangsta signs so if you’re ever in Laval, make sure to pull one of these:
Memorize this gangsta sign and I promise you’ll make friends in no time. Try it at a Laval depanneaur (convenience store) and you might even get free cigarettes. (DISCLAIMER: The author of this post releases himself of all liabilities including injury, death, or ridicule that may sustained through use of the “L-A-V-A-L” ‘gangsta’ sign).
So, this is what happened: Tourisme Laval sent me an “Adventure” package of the more adventurous things you can do in Laval. Seeing as I like to proclaim myself as a blogger I decided to put on my “I’m going to review this on my blog” hat and attend these “adventurous” places to see if Laval is really worth the 10 minute drive on the 15 (or the 25, depending where you’re coming from).
Let’s get started.
Tourisme Laval sent me a neat little package in the mail with 3 V.I.P. passes to the more “adventurous” things to do in Laval. The V.I.P. passes were nicely printed and designed and personalized with my name on them. They also sent a nice letter detailing the promotion.
What’s awesome is that it’s the first time my “online influence” has actually prompted people to send me free stuff to check out and review online. NOTE: I encourage this activity!
The only qualm I had was that everything was in French. Wait. Wait. Wait. Now, hold on! Before we start getting angry and pointing fingers and claiming I’m just another “Anglo” who’s always complaining – I’m not. I just figured since they’re trying to promote tourism, you’d want to promote it in as many languages as possible. English would be the obvious choice since you can tap into Quebec Anglophones and the rest of English speaking Canada (not to mention the U.S.). So, I wasn’t sure who they were trying to target. Unless they thought I spoke French and sent me a French package but upon later review of they Facebook Page I saw that everything was in French. I really hope they make everything bilingual not because I want to bitch about everything being in French but because I honestly think it’ll get more people to come check out Laval and actually stimulate more tourism. In the end, that’s the goal, right?
In the package, I got 3 V.I.P. passes for me and someone else to go check out SkyVenture, Action 500 Paintball, and Action 500 Karting. Three things I was actually planning to check out myself before I got this package in the mail – so, needless to say, I was excited.
FIRST STOP
SkyVenture
I called to book a flight at SkyVenture for me and my girlfriend, Melissa. I spoke with Melanie on the phone who was very pleasant and gave me pre-flight instructions (basically what I needed to wear and to make sure I wasn’t pregnant). Upon getting to SkyVenture we were greeted by the friendly staff in a lobby that, probably not coincidentally, resembled an airport check-in counter. We pretty much signed our lives away and then were ready for flight.
Before the flight you meet your instructor for a 15 minute briefing on how the wind tunnel works. Our instructor, Bruno, was an awesome dude. He instructed us on hand signals and body positions and what to expect when we’re in the wind tunnel. Basically, the signals are simple enough but don’t be surprised to forget them all once you’re in the tunnel. The tunnel itself is something to marvel. It’s about 50 feet high from the injection point and can apparently generate winds of 350 km/h. According to their website, 8 trained skydivers can practice in the tunnel at once. It really is impressive. In fact, I don’t know how we’re just so nonchalant about something so awesome. Before entering the tunnel, there were some instructors doing some insane maneuvers. Basically flying up and down and making the whole thing look so damn easy. Not being a fan of heights, I was nervous about the whole deal. My instructor also mentioned that on my last minute of being in the tunnel, he was going to take me to the top of the 50 foot tunnel, floating on nothing but air. I was hella nervous. Basically, you’re in the tunnel for 1 minute at a time (it’s based on the free-fall of skydiving, from when you jump out of plane to when you pull your chute it basically takes 60 seconds). Melissa and I were both slated to have 4 minutes of “flight.” Once you enter the tunnel, your first instinct is to push yourself against the wind, which basically causes you to topple around and lose control. What you really need to do is relax, or as Bruno put it, “think of it like a hammock, just let go.” It’s amazing because subtle movements cause such drastic changes in your position. Therefore, when you relax, you gain more control of your flight. I’m posting the video of our flight so you can get a basic idea of what it’s like, you don’t have to watch the full video but I suggest fast forwarding to the last minute or so where the instructors take control of the wind tunnel and do all kinds of amazing tricks. Seriously impressive to watch.
When all was done, I wanted to do it again. I foresee myself going back and even doing the unimaginable, skydiving. At the end they gave us a DVD of our session which makes for an awesome souvenir. SkyVenture was an awesome experience, Melissa and I had a blast, Bruno was awesome, the staff was awesome. I’m glad that it’s not just a curiosity anymore.
NEXT STOP
Action 500 Paintball and Karting
JAMES!
After SkyVenture I met up with my good friend James and we made our way to Action 500 paintball. On a Tuesday night, we were practically the only two in the venue. However, here’s a quick story, this was my second time here with my VIP Tourisme Laval pass. The first time turned out to be a more awkward experience. Here’s the jist: I figured since I had free passes that I should put a group together and go. Some friends and I showed up on a Saturday night to go karting and it turns out the runs are more expensive on Saturdays. Rounded off it’s basically $47 for a 20 minute run with a 5 minute break in between – which is steep in comparison to other karting places in Montreal. We asked if it was possible to do a straight 20 minute (without the break) but Action 500 didn’t want to comply so, basically, we left. It was a crappy experience but last night’s experience turned it around. James and I did paintball first and it was basically one-on-one. We each had 200 paintballs to shoot at each other which meant a lot of hits – and PAIN. Those f*ckers hurt. The paintball arena was quite small. Having played outdoor paintball before I was used to vast forests, players spread far apart, and running long distances. In this arena it was James and I and it already felt a little crowded. The props and objects you hid behind were all inflatable objects, which kind’ve made the whole experience a little flimsy. The goggles fogged very easily and removing them to clean them in the arena is prohibited and dangerous (apparently if you get a paintball in the eye it has enough pressure to make the other eye pop out, true story!). However, the paintball at Action 500 does the trick for anybody who just wants to play a quick game of paintball without the hassle of organizing a large group or committing to a full day activity.
After paintball, despite being sweaty, dirty, and full of paint, we went karting (James asked if we could do both paintball and karting at the same time but the staff said no. They also said it wasn’t the first time someone asked that question). Karting was, well, karting. It was fun but would probably be preferable to do in a bigger group. Here’s the funny thing. Seeing as it wasn’t busy, we were able to do the full 20 minute run with no break in between. I’m guessing the malleability of the staff is based on how busy the place is. The staff at Action 500 is friendly but can be quite intimidating (especially when they’re holding a paintball gun with a sniper scope and laser while telling you the rules of the game). James and I had a blast… if only James wasn’t an imaginary friend I just made up (kidding!! sheesh!).
The verdict: Laval is pretty fun. SkyVenture is a must!! Action 500′s a good way to pass the time but I suggest going during the week to get the cheaper prices. Once again, thanks Tourisme Laval for making me discover Laval for, really, the first time. Really, if you’re looking for something ‘different’ to do, I’d say Laval’s a pretty good place to start. Sure, there’s nightclubs but there’s also more adventurous stuff like SkyVenture and apparently they’re opening up a surfing simulator too. You know, Laval, I was wrong about you, you ARE fun.
UPDATE: I can’t believe I forgot to mention this: special thanks to Karima-Catherine for making this fun day possible!!
Read MoreTL;DR Version
Laval’s fun. SkyVenture is a must, get the DVD. Action 500 is cool, go on a week night.
The NEW TheZimp The dot The com
Firstly, yes, that is a rooster riding a great white shark strapped to a rocket engine! A testament of things to come on the new designed and newly rediscovered and newly resurrected The Zimp! Trust me, it’s been in the back of my mind for a while to start up this website again but I can’t jump back into something without making it drastic. Seriously. I redesign my websites ever couple of months. It’s actually more detrimental than anything else cause I start using that as an excuse (“I can’t write a new blog post, I need to redesign my website first.”). Pretty stupid eh? Well, what’s life but making excuses for putting off the things we really want to do? Well, it gets to the point where you can SEE these excuses and barge past them like Walmart shoppers on Black Friday (remember, in order to destroy Walmart, you must destroy the heart of Walmart – located in the electronic section.).
But Anthony, I care so much for what is going on in your life, please, will you feed my need to know what you’re up to? Sure, Mr.Ego. No problem!! Well, things seem to have EXPLODED based on how many Facebook messages and Text messages I get proclaiming, “What? now that you’re famous you can’t talk to me?” Oh no, wait, that’s not me, that’s Megan Fox… when I visualize myself being her at night before I go to bed. Seriously, though, things have been up and around and forward, not backwards, and always twirling, TWIRLING, for freedom! If you know me, you know that I have a creation called Nonna Maria. If you don’t know Nonna Maria, she’s a cute puppet that represents Italo-American grandmothers as they go about adapting to the new digital world. Well, Nonna Maria has proven to be a hit locally and internationally and I’ve (along with my friends who help me) have been busy making appearances at events and meeting our fans. It’s honestly been a fun summer full of discovery, uncertainty, and just plain madness. I figure I’m onto something when I’m allowed to walk down St.Laurent boulevard wearing a Zorro mask and carrying Nonna Maria without getting arrested. It’s a blast. Hours pass like minutes. Most importantly is that laughs and the happiness it generates in people. Not just children, but women and men who are grandparents themselves. We’ve had old ladies come up to us and recite Nonna Maria lines better than we can recite them. It’s exciting, it’s fun, and most importantly it makes people happy and it makes them reminisce. I am nothing but grateful for those who have supported us, from the fans to the people who took a chance and made us be part of live shows and just have fun. We’re not stopping though. We’ve got big things planned and they excite me to no end.
photo by Eva Blue
I’ve got some awesome stuff planned for this site as well as contests, events, and just my plain ramblings. It’s my site, and I’m going to be as sincere and authentic with it as possible. I invite you to join the discussion, comment, send me e-mails, naked pictures of you, whatever you want! Again, the most important thing is to have fun. Cause, seriously, fuck everything else. So, let’s start off with a question: What are you passionate about (be honest)?
Read MoreNonna Maria Rompere le Scatole
New Nonna Maria video!! Enjoy!!
In other news, I’m redesigning this site cause I always do that when I’m fed up with the way something looks. It’s also a cheap excuse for me not to update it for now. Stupid, eh?
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