WORDS WITH FRIENDS 2

Remember "Scrabble?"

​This is the same thing. Except you can play it with a crapload of people all over the world at the same time.

You can play it with people you don't know as well as those you do, did and will. And you can play it "at will" when you have time to look at the board and think.

And those of you who are cheating, I know who you are! :)

And yes, I'm late to the game ... by a coupla years. But I like it because it harkens back to the days when you'd sit around a gameboard with your little letter holders (a rotating board if you had the really cool edition) and play a game ... and talk.

You can do that with this version, too ... you can press a button and swear at your opponent, etc. Only issue: you can only play a game with one person. So to get around that, you play about 10 games at a time with 10 different people.

What do those computer and cellphone people have in store for us in their evil minds next? Being able to go outside and do stuff? Well, I guess that's what those bluetooth things are for. Hmmm.

Comments welcome and will not be published unless requested by commenter or I like it ... email addresses will not be published (and I'll even change your name if you say something REALLY embarrassing).

WORDS WITH FRIENDS 1

3.9.2014
O.B.W.W.F Today
(Overcome By Words With Friends)

"Words with Friends"

It's "Scrabble." And it's one of those things that I've been ignoring largely due to the negative affect of "Farmville" some years ago. But a recent visit home to Pennsylvania (specifically "Aunt Jo") got me hooked."

"What?!" exclaimed the resident young person inhabiting my couch, "You're just now getting around to finding out about this?!"

Whatever.

Banned from Facebook!

2.9.2014

Okay, so It's actually the 3rd of Sept., but I've been setting up (okay, wrestling with) this "venue" for me to vent since Facebook likes to "ban" me when I say things that they don't like ... no kidding ... we'll have coffee and talk.

The Facebook Police will ban you if someone sends in a complaint about something you posted ... a picture you posted ... a comment you made on one of THEIR posts that offended you, etc. Thus far, I've been banned twice ... and I never got an explanation.

Whatever. I've been meaning to start this thing; "do a blog" and have made a half dozen unsuccessful attempts at it. But you don't want to hear about that ... long boring stories about failures, blasie, blasie, blah.

Today's post has already been posted, actually. It's in regard to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which I was very proud to be involved in. So for today's post (I'm going to try and post daily) I'm going to cop out and use that. (Please navigate to the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge" link wherever it is on your PC page or cellphone-version page of this thing.

​​Peace. - JM(M) -

2nd post, undated Sept. 2004

Okay. Day two. Mostly spent setting this sucker up.

The whole idea behind this thing is for both of us.

I need a place to put the stuff I write where I won't lose it. I do that a lot. Write. Sometimes it's good and I want to refer back to it, but I forgot where I put / saved it. So if you like to read (especially stuff from a non-traditional-thinking doofus,
great. I like to write and that makes us compatible.

Welcome!

I have decided to NOT provide a space for "comments" in the normal sense. In my past (read: failed) attempts to get one of these blog-thingers up and going, I was literally over-f'ing-whelmed with bots.

These "bots" were little "comment-leaving-bastards" and, whether I had a filtering device set up to separate readers (read: people) from the bullshit comments (read: bots) there were still SO MANY of them that it just became too much work to sit down and puke my guts onto my computer. I had to "sort out all the crap" so the machine wouldn't blow up. Actually, it wouldn't "blow up," but the computer people hosting my blog would keep sending me e-mails saying "Hey! You have comments! Go check 'em out!" ... and that affected by blood pressure and well ... yeah, "blow up" applies.

Today's efforts, as I said, have been on set up so that I can sit down and just puke whatever I want onto this thing. And you are certainly welcome to read it.

As I said, however, I am not going to have your standard "comments" feature. I will, however put a "feedback" page. That feedback will be "just for meeeeeeeee." If you wish to cuss me out or express your opinion, I will endure same (by reading your e-mail) ... and I make you this promise: ask/tell me to "REPOST THIS" and I will. I'm going to make a "Prize Winning Feedback" page (already have 1 winner ... Batgirl sent me a nice note) and on that page I will reprint all feedback, negative, positive or perverted (well, not *too* perverted) if the "comment-leaver" asks for their comment to be re-posted. One catch: if you wanna talk smack, leave your name so that can be posted, too. And your e-mail would help, so I can cuss back at you.

None of this "anonymous" crap. I will not publish your email, but I'd sure as hell enjoy the crap out of a private (or public) "debate."

I have always said: "No, I'm not *always* right; I'm just right until you can convince me otherwise." At least I think I said that ... did somebody else say that?

"Johnny Americano"

"Wey! Gianni Americano!"
   Experimental move of a post from The Book of Face ...
   Originally posted to FB on 17 May, 2014, 3:13am
   From the original MyLifeandTimes.Org blog, dated 1 Sep, 2004, 1:47am

   Then reposted *here* on 17 August, 2017, 21:07

   ... and now reposted *again* after being stolen in April of 2021 and recovered in Jan of 2023
 (now my head hurts ...)

Not long after I arrived and moved into my apartment, the neighbor kids dubbed me "Johnny Americano" or, more likely, "Gianni" Americano. They'd wave and yell "Wey! Gianni Americano!" as I came and went. I liked it. 

I was "Johnny Americano."

And I would often hear people singing a particular song all the time - or parts of it - (when I was around) that I called "Americano." It had a toe-tappy kinda catchy rhythm and tune but, all I could make out of the words -- since I didn't understand Italian -- was something about "I wanna be an Americano," and something about "Baseball, and Whiskey and Soda."

​*Then* ... when I found out that Sophia Loren, my 1st childhood "celebrity crush" (who am I kidding, I still love this woman and she's almost 80 as I write this) sang this song in one of her movies, I *really* liked the song. ​​

Then I found out that there was an original version by a guy named 'Renato Carosone' called "Tu vuò fà l'americano" or "You Want to Be American."

... but I still liked Sophia's version. This one was pretty good, though.

2012 UPDATE ... surfing around Youtube, I found a version done by one of my favorite musicians and his band at a concert of theirs recorded, of all places, in Japan.

** ANOTHER UPDATE! ** The annoying dance version which, for some reason the creators had requested to be locked up for quite a while and "for YouTube only" is now available to share! It's slightly annoying, but the video is kinda cool ... if you can stand it ...

As I said, most people find this rearranged pop-dance version, well ... annoying (ask my wife).  But my history with this song and my step-hometown of Casale di Principe kinda bound me to it.

And Sophia still reigned ... So there you have it ... a brief musical history of "Gianni Americano" ...