Suhail Just Exploded My Head

Consider my last post invalid.

All you have to do is play this one They Might Be Giants song.

ka-boom

New Bar Game - Exploding Ringo's Head

Some people, when they go to bars, like to play more traditional games: shuffleboard, pool, darts, bar brawl*, liar's dice, Frottage!, Is The Roofie In Your Drink Or Mine?.

I like to play a game that I made up called "Explode Ringo's Head." (mostly safe for work)
* I wanted to use this link, but it isn't entirely safe for work.  (And speaking of NSFW, all the links in this are safe for work unless stated otherwise.) 

This game originated at my place when Ringo and I were living together and neither of us worked in the morning.  I would attempt to play the most random song playlist in an effort to get Ringo to react in some way, shape, or form.  The only rule was that each song had to be the "polar opposite" of the previous song.

For example... (and by the way, if you think all of the below links are to the actual songs, well why don't you test out your little theory)

1. Gustav Holst - The Planets: Jupiter
2. Rebecca Black - Friday
3. Eminem - Cleanin' Out My Closet
4. Bonnie Raitt - Let's Give Em Something To Talk About
5. Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff
6. Billy Joel - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
7. The Cure - Why Can't I Be You

Now if you get really ambitious, you can throw some subtlety into your playlist.  For example, instead of going from Deadmau5 to Billy Joel, you could have instead played Huey Lewis's Ray Parker, Jr.'s Ghostbusters to stay with a ghost theme.  Or if you wanted to get REALLY subtle, you would have chosen The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody, as a reference to what this is referencing.


Try this at a bar sometime.  It is fun... and a little bit scary because you might get your ass kicked.  Put about 10-15 songs in the jukebox with this pattern and wait to see how long it takes people to come up to put new music in the jukebox.  Here are two playlists that I've actually done in public...

With Toben on July 4th at Kennedy's:

1. Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
2. Daft Punk - Harder, Better,  Faster, Stronger
3. Charlies Daniels Band - Devil Goes Down To Georgia
4. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
5. Willie Nelson - You Were Always On My Mind
6. Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible
7. Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
8. Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
9. Metallica - Enter Sandman
10. Owl City - Fireflies
11. Radiohead - Paranoid Android

Strangely enough, there was no visible reaction at the bar.  We had failed.

At Kat's birthday back in 2010 at O'Greenberg's:

1. Lady Gaga - I Like It Rough
2. Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused
3. 2Pac - Gangsta Party (DEFINITELY not safe for work)
4. Air Supply - Makin Love Out Of Nothing At All
5. Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
6. Edith Piaf - Hymne a L'amour
7. Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall
8. James Brown - Get On Up
9. Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee
10. Rage Against The Machine - Testify

People came up to the jukebox at #6.  WIN!!


(I am open to suggestions for other links to use in this post.)

The 2% Challenge

In my "new" line of work, I see a lot of different tax returns.  One of the things I look for on a tax return is the amount that someone will deduct as charitable contributions relative to their gross income.  In some cases, people are very generous.  In others, I'm surprised to see how little they give*. 

As I consider my own tax returns, I think of times when my charitable contributions have been low and when they've been higher.  Even when I've tried to be more intentional about my giving, I have not always made contributions at the level that I would like.  So I am setting a goal for myself that I am calling The 2% Challenge.  Or for more dramatic effect...

THE 2% CHALLENGE

My goal for this year, next year, and the foreseeable future is to donate 2% of my gross salary (before taxes) to charitable organizations.  2% is kind of an arbitrary number, but I wanted to pick something that would be ambitious, but achievable.

Like most goals, it is often helpful to have partners to hold each other accountable and to provide encouragement.  I invite anyone to join me by setting a similar goal for themselves!

I understand that the prospect of donating 2% of your gross salary is not feasible for everyone.  Many of you are raising kids, paying off school debt, paying off mortgages, or otherwise may not be able to afford 2%.  But any goal for giving more than you already are is good.  If you would like to set a similar goal (1% of your gross, 2% of your salary after taxes), anything you do is fantastic.  I won't ask for details about your finances, but I can help you figure out a good goal (and talk about tax benefits to giving, too).

And who says giving money is the only way to participate?  You can set a goal of volunteer hours/days and participate that way, too. 

Whether or not you participate, I would love to hear about the organizations that you support and how you got involved with them.  I would like to share these organizations in another blog post in the future and also with anyone who would like to participate in the 2% Challenge if they need suggestions for organizations to give to.

Thanks for reading and for your responses!
Josh


* I also recognize that there are reasons why people may not report all of their charitable giving on their tax returns.  Some people may not get much of a deduction due to the Alternative Minimum Tax.  Others may feel that giving is "tainted" if they get a tax deduction for it.