Introduce yourself to a complete stranger. I think I will go meet the guy selling hot dogs on Sycamore street. I ll tell you his name and how is day is going later on a study break. Post your experience on the CtD wall…

Again, you never know who ll meet..

Crush the Day…

D Le

“Hello. My name is Jason Laine. Today I am going to follow a life-long dream and take the intial steps to starting my own gym.  I want to thank D. Le for his inspiration and advice as I begin my life’s work.”

Good luck on your new life adventure.  You will be faced with many obstacles as you embark on this journey.  There will be financial decisions, HR decisions along with a whole host of people trying to do as many push ups as you can do.  However, as you prepare for your presentation tonight, just think of the old creepy man who told you how big your forearms were and think of the SUV screaming obscenities at you on Vine and remember you can CRUSH their skull with a spinning back fist!

End your presentation with…”Thank you for your time and thank you for this opportunity.  I just wanted to remind you that I would take a P90X dvd set and beat Tony senseless with it.  Also, one last thing, if you cross me, I have an Asian friend, that will toe lock everyone in this city, one at a time, starting with your 2nd cousins! Merci Beaucoup!

Follow your dreams my friend, you will inspire many to Crush all things in their sight!

CtD

D. Le

You may know my friend Dan Mecher as the musical genius, glee club trained rock star of the Turnbull AC’s.  He earned the name Rocker Dan by competing in “high kick” contest, ability to rock out on the guitar, sing like a bat out of hell (no relation to Meatloaf),  cool hair and ability to consume a lot of hot sake and sushi then sing while burping raw fish and soy sauce.  I recently took away his title and issued him a new one, “Rocking Chair Dan”!  This happened when he decided to take a picture of Tom Brady into a salon to show how he wanted have his hair look.  But this last Saturday brought back a glimmer of hope of Dan’s resurrection!  Dan was fist pumping WAY before it became cool on the Jersey Shore.  FIST PUMPING he was, to the sounds of one of his favorite bands, The Sundresses!  See the video below, thats him in the shadows right in front me on the left.  By the way!  The Sundresses CRUSH THE DAY and STAGE that NIGHT!

Happy Birthday Dan!  Crush the Day!   Love D Le

So this is for everyone I neglect as friends, if you want to hang out with me, you have a few choices, move to OTR or memorize my day cause it goes like this.

1) You can randomly show up at Bellevue Urban Active in the AM and look for the guy who is about to pass out on the treadmill or is screaming as loud as he can while lifting weights with the 1999 Elder Track Shirt, “Citius, Altius, Fortius”  you fools!

2) Your next best bet is to Go to Iris Book Cafe on Main St.  In preparations for my finals, thats the spot where I call on the spirits of the five fighting animals and  eat the pages of my casebook in order to Crush the finals!  Today’s iced tea was especially delicious.  Study breaks starts at noon when I decide what to CRUSH!  But before then, one pit stop.

3) I attempted to pack all my belongs and put them into my friend’s van to move over the weekend.  When I went to start the car, it didnt work.  So basically there is a van sitting on Broadway filled with all my belongings in OTR.  So the good news is, it gave me an excuse to go shopping at Atomic #10.  I bought three shirts and love each in its own special way.

4) Lunch CRUSH was at MIXX today.  Lets just say, the was ok, but I could of ate the actual $11 dollar bills and been more full.  I got the half roll, sesame crab salad and a extra rice and ginger.  Lunchie time at MIXX = not so crowded.  Also, two ladies were kind of enough to steal my seat when I got up to move my Metromix.

5) After lunch, I was still hungry so head back to 404 reading, suit 204 where Duy hooked up some Lang Thang style chicken, with rice! Life saver!  Went to school to look at my old final from last semester to find out I got barely half the multiple choice correct! D Le rocking the multiple choice !

Lang Thang Style SON!

6) If you come to Iris from 4-10PM, come to back, 2nd table on the right next to the window!  10PM = closing time AKA D Le has to pass 3 bars to get home.  So naturally, after a long day, I stop for a drink.  Tonite’s location…NEONS.  I love it!  It will be my new hang out, especially since it is only two blocks away from me.  I made some new WHITE friends, who live across the street from me.  Also, Kristen grew up on the Westside of town!

Kristen and Chris on Main

CONCLUSION! If you want to Crush a Day with DAVE, be my neighbor!  More to come on Atomic Number 10 & Neons!

Since I moved into Over the Rhine in the winter, Mama and Papa Le had not the chance to experience the love of OTR!  Since today’s weather was magnificent I decided to invite D Le & Crush the Day’s biggest critics out for a day in the city.  Quick background! My parents love me, there is no doubt about that, however, they try their hardest to act like they support my life choices I can usually the see the grimace on their face.  I was determined to make OTR believers out of them.

I think they the last time my parents went down to Findlay Market was in the early 80’s to pick up rice from Saigon Market and some greens from the veggie vendors.  Papa Le actually drove and braved the crazy “city driving & parking”.  You ll be glad to know they made it, and also commented on how easy convenient and nice the parking lots were.  I showed them the future home of the 1st Vietnamese bistro in Findlay, Pho Lang Thang.  The nice maintenance man even let us in so we could take a little grand tour of the 1000 sq.ft floor space.  I have given up on getting my parent approval a little bit back, but today I was extremely nervous!  I have done a lot things without their blessing and most things that I do usually grant a verbal “You are crazy!”, but I wanted more then anything, just this one time,  for some positive words.  And…. They loved it! Papa Le already pictured his spot where he could drink his coffee and dream of his past days in the Saigon cafes.  Needless to say, it was a relief to hear both my parents express their positive words.  Hence! If Mama and Papa Le can visualize it, EVERYONE will LOVE IT!

So the rest of the day was just icing on the cake.  Papa Le and I ate a gyro and Mama Le a crepe.

We leave Findlay Market and make our way to the center of the city.  I drove them by the Taft Art Museum, then through entertainment district, moved on to the Gateway and finally to our final destination, my new place, North Main.  I was extremely happy there were no panhandlers there to greet us or should I say I am glad no one startled Mama Le as to extract a dragon throat punch from her.  I showed where I was going to be living, they didnt like the steps but they liked the loft.  First word from my mom was me to clean, I m glad it wasn’t What the F are you thinking!

Next stop! Iris Book Cafe.  We had a brief wrap up in the Iris courtyard which they loved also.  They finally could see my little study spot, 2nd table on the right in the back.  As we were sipping on some tea, Mama Le finally noticed another tatoo I got, and she didnt yell at me.  I was untouchable today.  My parents are starting to be included in the Crush the Day lifestyle!  As Ice Cube said, “I didnt even have to pull out my AK, today was a good day!

Well, with Mama and Pape Le’s support, I should have no problem Crush the Day!

D. Le

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_170186.asp

There is a story told about an old prospector ambling into a cowboy town with his pack mule when suddenly the swinging doors at the saloon burst open and a gun-slinging dandy stumbled out to cry, “Hey, old man! Do you know how to dance?” A jeering crowd quickly gathered as the old miner replied, “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”

Well, that young, drunken cowboy then fired both of his shiny pistols towards the ground at the old man’s feet. With the flying bullets kicking up dust, the prospector danced a mighty jig indeed. The crowd loved it and, when the cowboy’s guns finally clicked empty, he spun them just so, jauntily tipped his hat to his gleeful followers, and turned to step back into the saloon.

But as he did, the gaiety suddenly stopped because the cowboy and the crowd alike could clearly hear both big hammers being pulled back on a 12-gauge, double-barreled shotgun that had been in a scabbard on that old smelly mule. As the red-faced cowboy gulped and gingerly turned back to face the old prospector, he was asked the question, “Sonny boy, have you ever kissed the south end of a north-bound mule?”

Indulge me for a moment, but all those people who have laughed and pointed at Toyota’s torment in the past few weeks are getting ready to echo what that cowboy had to tell the prospector: “No sir, but I’ve always wanted to.”

You see, there have been two important events that have already occurred this week if you’ve been following the story of how the world’s largest automotive manufacturer has been ridiculed and debased after recalling 8.5 million automobiles due to a variety of acceleration, transmission and floor mat issues.

First, General Motors just recalled 1.3 million cars on Monday for steering problems. What? You didn’t see that? Where were the TV cameras? Where were the righteous who demanded that, no, the American president of Toyota (Jim Lentz) wasn’t good enough, that our “pound of flesh” must come from the “big man” himself – Akio Toyoda – so that he could be publicly humiliated last week? Don’t dare think the government is going to slap GM after last year’s bail-out.

Secondly, on Monday Toyota announced it will now sell any new car or truck to a qualified buyer by providing that person with a five-year, zero-interest loan. Further, Toyota will change the oil and offer complete maintenance for free for the first two years. And, yes, on top of that there will be rebates up to $3,000 on certain models. That’s strong.

Listen, gunslinger, General Motors doesn’t have bullets like that. Toyota’s third-quarter earnings last year were $1.7 billion, exactly the same amount lost during the third quarter of 2008. The company also just sold 2.07 million vehicles from October to December so, with the recall embarrassment, now there is a firm-jawed resolve to make the overblown travesty “the mother of all recalls.”

Right now Toyota is processing 50,000 recalled vehicles a day, somewhat easily, too, I might add. To do so, their dealers are loaning cars while repairs are being made, paying rental fees and even taxi receipts. The simple fact is that never in the history of the auto industry has there been such an intense response. General Motors, on the other hand, will not offer a similar assistance program to the 1.3 million owners in this latest recall because, quite frankly, it doesn’t have the clout nor the “want to” that Toyota does right now.

Listen to this – J.D. Power has just announced the best luxury car in the world right now is a Lexus, the premium brand of Toyota that just dominated four of J.D. Power’s five main categories. This week Consumer Reports, not a government agency but one of the most respected quality-assurance sources in our country, returned eight different Toyota models to its “recommended” list. Go ahead, look it up. While you’re at it, buy the Consumer Reports’ car annual; you’ll see for yourself Toyota is a tight No. 3 overall while GM and Chrysler are solidly “dead last.”

What our jeering Congress members actually did last week while ridiculing Toyota was to make the company more determined, more results-driven and, yes, even a bit angry. Those that mock Toyota as “Japanese” are too stupid to realize today there are 175,000 Americans who are paid each day by the auto manufacturer. My goodness, look how many plants they have built in the United States in the last 10 years while American manufacturers have been stagnant.

Those who laugh and point have not yet been to Blue Springs, Miss., a sleepy town in the northeast part of the state. Toyota has just spent $300 million building a new plant in that poverty-riddled area that will soon employ 2,000 job-starved people. Toyota also pledged $50 million to “better educate” potential workers in Mississippi, but had to delay the plant’s opening because of a lagging market and (gulp) the hysteria resulting from the recent recall, which is expected to cost the company $2 billion.

Has this country gone completely crazy? Instead of slapping Toyota around and forcing Mr. Toyoda to bow before a sadly-arrogant Congressional committee, we should instead have gracefully allowed the largest manufacturer in the world to clean up its own mess in the same way we have afforded other car companies to handle their own recalls for years.

What’s that? The other companies? Automotive recalls protect consumers when, in truth, very few actual cases are ever found. But what you need to know is that, in the last 20 years, there have been 569 recalls of Toyota vehicles. At the same time, there have been 3,498 recalls of General Motors vehicles. Yes, there have also been 2,691 Ford recalls and 2,419 Chrysler recalls, too. Do those numbers tell you anything, particularly if you are a fortune-teller?

So now America – our Congress and all of us they call constituents – must “behold the mule.” You see, all Toyota has to do is wait. General Motors doesn’t have “the bullets” to play in a high-stakes card game that offers zero-percent financing, free maintenance, rental cars and taxis, and – most importantly – has its “hold cards” the best-made vehicles with the highest reliability and safety ratings in the whole world.

Just in case you weren’t listening as Aiko Toyoda bowed before Congress last week, you should have heard both big hammers being pulled back. You mark this down; those men in Congress, the ones who took the UAW contributions and strutted about like proud little roosters, should have fallen for the ploy, but, far worse, they should have never laughed.

“Sonny boy, have you ever kissed the south end of a north-bound mule?”

royexum@aol.com

Crush the Day!

D Le

And if you are the girl in the picture, I think you are pretty.  A little about me, I cant break dance, use glow sticks, spin records, or have a Honda but I can eat really spicey foods and do about 17 push-ups in row!  SOOOO!!! HOLLA at your BOY!  email me at david.le@crushtheday.com, friend me on facebook, send a pigeon!  OH…if you have a boyfriend, just respond with a “Thanks for the compliment, in a relationship.”  I think getting shot at is so 2004. 

Crush the Day!

D Le

This post is a little bit lighter then the last two, it’s a bit sunny today and the orange juice taste especially delicious!

Karl Rabedar CRUSHED the DAY and his FORTUNE, on purpose!  To summarize…Karl grew up poor, thought money would make him happy, worked hard for money, made a lot of money, bought a mansion, feels like slave, not so happy, giving away all money, moving to wooden cabin, find true happiness!  HOMEBOY , YO AZZZ BE CRAZY!!!!  CRAZY CRUSHIN that IS!  

One of the most common conversations I have with people when discussing dream jobs and career usually start with…”I would love to do…” and usually ends with…”BUT, it doesnt pay enough money.”  Well apparently millions werent enough for Karl

All I know is, I hope Karl is right, because I have about 12 packs of Mi Mama (ramen noodles) and limited time till the funds run out! 

Well Karl! YOU DEFINATELY CRUSHED the DAY and your bank ACCOUNTS!   Click here for more details.

NOTE: After listening to this song and doing a little more research on what “rubberbands” actually symbolize, I realize that it doesnt have to do much with Karl, but I just like the song, so enjoy!)

CRUSH the DAY! and CRUSH the person who puts on songs that have nothing to do with the topic!

D Le

Crazy Papa Le

I have to apolgize for my last post/tirade regarding those three brave security gaurds in Seattle.  It was not their fault they were born with a soul, spine or nuts.  I realize that was not such a constructive post,  so I have decided to post one of Papa Le’s self defense lessons.  I always thought my dad was a bit crazy.  The “fighting” lessons that I saw on the tv that fathers gave their sons usually included an old pair of dusty leather boxing gloves pulled out of the attic when little Johnny came home with a black eye from a bully.  My father was quite proactive, he took the intiative to start his teachings of life lessons early on, hence the nightmares from age 5-12.  There were no boxing gloves, he didnt have punch his hand nor did he teach me how to slip, bob and weave, that was left to the gyms he sent me to.  To this day, I vividly remember one particular lesson that I feel could of helped that girl in Seattle.

When I was about 6 or 7, Papa Le took me outside for a self defense lesson.  By this time, I already knew the basic punch, kick, knee, headbutt combo so I was a  pretty confident little Vietnamese boy roaming the streets of Price Hill.  But today’s lesson was to handle multiple attackers, also referred to as getting “jumped”.  Papa Le immediately shut down my idea of being able to do rapid spin kicks and knocking everyone out, he said I was too fat and would lose my breath.  Hmm…looking back, I agree.  So here is Papa Le’s lesson. 

There are two scenerio’s.  The first scenerio is when you are caught off gaurd.  In this case, the situation usually starts off with someone yappin their mouth at you.  So on a hot sunny day, Papa Le grabbed his belt buckle ripped off his belt like f n Zorro drawing his sword.  In one fluid motion, switched hands and slung the belt to wrap around his hand leaving roughly 8 inches of slack with the buckle now at the end.  HOLY SHEETO!!!! I thought.  The rational is that you have now extended your reach by 8 inches, you can keep a belt moving rapidly by swinging, you generate more force with the extension, the buckle hurts like a son of a bitch, you protect you hands from breaking when punching someone in the skull and lastly, if needed you wrap around the one guy’s neck you get a hold of.  I told you he was CRAZY!  Pape Le side note was that, while the yapping is going on, look for rocks, sharp objects etc.  I would now add escape routes to that list, but apparently he rather me get my ass kicked then run.

The second scenerio is very similar to the girl in Seattle who got beat up.  This is when you actually have time to prepare, for example, if someone is waiting for you after school, or outside the mall, or in a subway station.  This is where times have changed.  Back in the day, everyone wore tube socks, so this lesson will have to be updated.  Papa Le’s lesson was to take off both of your tube socks and place one into the other.  This is to strengthen the sock.  Then the first choice would be to fill the sock with a brick or jagged rock.  On the westside of Cincinnati, there were plenty of broken side walk and curbs you could pull from.  Once you fill the sock with some hard object, you tie it off, that is to keep the objects at the bottom of the sock.  The brick sock now can be used as a swing weapon like the belt or just hold it in your hand.  Papa Le’s side notes, were to zip up your jacket to your neck or take it completely off and stuff into your book bag.  Wear nothing around your neck like a scarf etc and remember to tie your shoes tightly.

Ideally this would be done in combo with the belt.  In that case, belt in your weak hand and brick in your strong hand.  The strategy is to not get distracted by the guy yapping his mouth, cause he is not the one that is going to hit you.  It is the guy behind him or the guy on the side of you.  The first guy you get a hold of, you smash his face with the brick, preferably the nose to make his eyes water so he cant see, then  hold on to him and put him between you and the other guys.  Take as many cheap shots as you can at the guy you got a hold of  cause when you let him go you dont him to be able to get back up. From there, hopefully someone breaks it up (dont count it though seeing the Observe and report policy) then continue to do the belt and brick combo!  The last part of this will have to be in a different post.

So there I was, 6 years old, slamming a brick against a tree to practice hitting something without smashing my fingers.  I will for sure teach this exact same lesson to my kids if I have any.  If you think it is helpful, you should do the same.  If not, its still I funny story about Papa Le.  Also, I rather have a little blood on my hands then getting stomped out by 8 pairs of Nikes.

The NEXT lesson from Papa Le is the “I m CRAZY” defense! To be continued

Crush the Day and the NOSE of the 1st attacker!

D Le