Natural Deodorant: The Best Way to not get Armpit Cancer

I was alerted to the harmful affects that most commercial deodorants have when listening to the Howard Stern radio show a couple years ago. He was saying how it caused cancer so naturally the hypochondriac that I am got nervous and switched deodorants. The cancer causing/alzheimer causing ingredient is called Aluminum Chlorohydrate (Click for the bad news on this ingredient)

The deodorants that have this active ingredient cause my armpits to rash up and burn. I needed to switch to a deodorant that didn't have this ingredient but at the same time didn't make my arms pits get all itchy.

I began my search at Target one day to find an all natural deodorant. I found the Ricola smelling deodorant Herbal Clear. The first time I laid this product on I instantly thought wow my arm pits are going to smell like Swiss Cough Drops. I was actually pretty excited but to my dismay Herbal Clear worked for like 1 hour and I began to smell. When I began to sweat......damnnnnnn my freakin armpits smelled like a medium Italian submarine sandwich with extra olive oil and vinegar.

I needed to find another natural deodorant so again I entered America's favorite red store Target. I found Naturally Fresh. This stuff has no smell at all and to boot it has a pink breast cancer ribbon sticker on it. So not only will I not get armpit cancer but I won't get breast cancer!
Plain and simple it doesn't work for longer than an hour or so. When you start to really sweat you smell like a junior high school dance in the summer time.

I heard about the Crystal Stick when looking at deodorants in Target. This guy began talking to me about natural deodorants and how they have this one deodorant called Crystal Stick at Long's Drug Store that actually works. I went to Long's and got the Crystal Stick! It's kind of different because you need to run the deodorant under water to get it wet then apply it. Guess what this stuff actually works! It's amazing! It doesn't have any smell but it works like a Honda Civic on a sunny day! Read the Crystal Stick's story!

If Crystal Stick would like to sponsor me I would be willing to be the official spokesperson for them. I know this product actually works cause I use it. I don't get any rashes and my armpits smell like clean skin all day long even if I work out! what! what! what?!

Save your sexy body from cancer and use Crystal Stick!
(maybe that should be their slogan)

gso

Julian Pie Company vs. Mom's Pie House

Good pies are hard to find! Unless your mom, grandmother or some other random female member of your family bakes one. Obviously not every female that makes a pie bakes a good one a lot of them are mediocre or plain boring like my blog.

I went to Julian, CA this weekend. It's located in the Cuyamaca mountains just an hour east of San Diego. It's an old gold rush town that is known for its apples. There's really not a whole lot to do there except relax, eat pie, look at trees, apple pick & have sex.

Emily and I went to Julian to get away from the fast paced life of San Diego so we could live the small town life for a day. We knew we wanted to do two things: Pick apples and buy apple pie! We only did one of those: Buy Apple Pie!

We walked up and down main street and stopped in all the places that made and sold apple pies.
Two of the shops caught our attention: Julian Pie Company & Mom's Pie House
Julian Pie Company caught our attention because there was a line that began to go out of the door and the smell was divine. When we walked by Mom's Pie House, oh my goodness the smell of fresh apples, sugar & cinnamon took hold of my nose and brought it on a ride around the world of sweetness.

We got a Dutch Apple Crumb Pie from Julian Pie Company and a Boysenberry Apple Crumb Pie from Mom's Pie House. First off let me say I thought the Boysenberry Apple pie from Mom's was a little better than the pie from Julian Pie Company. Emily disagreed with me and found the Dutch Apple pie from Julian Pie Company to taste a little better. Maybe it's because I bought the Boysenberry pie and she bough the Dutch Apple?!?! Either way both pies were very tasty. They are two of the best pies I've ever tasted and I've tasted a lot of pie!!!

Julian is a great getaway from the San Diego city life. The drive up the mountain is beautiful with its burnt to a crisp trees, lakes, alive and well pine trees, wild life & motor homed white trash families watching TV outside on their 20' RCA televisions. It's definitely a place a family or young adults can enjoy themselves and relax for a good time!

View the Pie photos!

gso

The Da Vinci Code

This movie has so many twists and turns I got lost. I didn't know what the hell was going on?!?! One Minute two of the characters are friends then they're not then they are again?!?! Does that even make sense. I know you're probably saying one of these two things:
"Gregg you only went to high school and 1 year of community college you're not smart enough to be able to figure The Da Vinci Code" or "Gregg you really should've read the book because the movie sucks!"

There is this albino character in the movie named Silas and it seems that he has these almost super human powers and no one in the movie can stop him except this crippled guy with a cane. Does that make sense? I guess the crippled guy stopped him with the element of a surprise attack. Tom Hanks as usual played his role of a Harvard Professor/Code Breaker to perfection. You've got to give it up for Hanks as one of the best actors of our generation maybe even better than a young Chevy Chase!!!

I'll have to agree that the movie is average to above average at best. There is a lot of religious imagery and quoting text in the bible. It's not to religious of a movie. You won't get sick to your stomach and not want to go to church this Sunday. The whole movie questions the story of the beginnings of Christianity. To the point that it would shake up Christianity forever.

It's awfully long 149 minutes to be exact!
Should you see it?
Yes if you like to question Christianity! If you like Tom Hanks! If you like long movies! If you like paying $10 to see a movie!

Why shouldn't you see it? It's above average at best! The things that happen in the movie are kind of cheesy! You don't like being ripped off by paying $10 to see average movies! You hate Tom Hanks!

I give it 6 out of 10 stars!

Gregg

American Idol

It amazes me how a show of talentless people who are doing glorified karaoke are the #1 show in America. If you go to any karaoke bar in America there are always a handful of people that can sing pretty good. American Idol contestants sing these cheesy ass songs and then while they are singing they sometimes all start dancing together. I feel embarrassed for them just watching.

Sure people are going to say they like watching the very first few episode when they show the people that really suck at singing. It seems those people are just an act now and purposely try to sing as bad as they can so they can show up on TV.

The real contestants that get picked for the show can't write a song to save their lives. The songs that they sing for the show are out of date, lame & heard way too many times before.

So what is the obsession with talentless young adults that sing karaoke? I honestly don't know?!?!
Maybe it's the talent in front of the karaoke stars Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell or host Ryan Seacrest?

Simon is the bitter judge who dislikes everyone's performance no matter how good it was "that was absolutely terrible".

Randy is the judge who tells the contestants how it is the real judge "dog blah blah blah dog",

Paula is the judge that's afraid to tell the contestants how bad they actually were. Instead of saying you sucked she'll say "Clay you're a beautiful person"

Ryan Seacrest the metrosexual who everyone thinks is gay makes fun of Simon or Randy with his "witty banter". (I can't think of anything funny he says sorry"

In conclusion I guess American Idol contestants are as untalented as coffeehouse performers. The only difference is coffeehouse performers think they are talented cause they can write a 5 minute song that drowns out in the background that no one is listening too.

Gregg

Nintendo DS Lite

The Nintendo DS Lite is a high-powered handheld video game system in a sleek folding design – loaded with features for a unique gaming experience. The color screens are now even brighter – and the lower touch screen provides a totally new way of playing and controlling games. Use the built-in wireless mode to share games, chat or even play multiplayer games on-line via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Play impressive 3-D rendered Nintendo DS games – and play all your favorite Game Boy® Advance games in single player mode. Click here for more DS Lite photos

This is my new want/need of the moment. It's one of the most sexy things I've seen since Kathy Ireland circa 1992 when she graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

It has some of the craziest mingeniousnius games in a long time. New Super Mario Bros., Brain Age, Nintendogs...you can't handle playing that many crazy ingenius games at once!!!

Basically I want one of these attractive toys so I can keep my gamer skills up to par since their are a lack of good Xbox 360 games at the moment.

So come June 11 go down to your favorite gaming store and buy one! I know I'm going to try to!

Gregg

Goin to Vegas...

Sunday May 21, 2006 marked 100 days of dating one another for Emily & I. We decided to use days as milestones rather than months. So to celebrate being with Emmy for 100 days I surprised her with 2 tickets to Las Vegas to go see Dashboard Confessional & Ben Lee on July 14 @ The Hard Rock Cafe.

I've never been to Las Vegas before so I'm pretty excited to get away from San Diego for the weekend for some gambling, concert viewing and hotel sleeping! I love casinos but the casinos in California are so small, boring & all the way up mountain sides.

I was searching for hotels for that weekend and but they are mad expensive! $150 for some 2 star hotel. Damn in Massachusetts a $150 would get you into a Holiday Inn with a indoor pool and free continental breakfast.

Anyone know of any good/cheap hotels in Vegas? Or of any good sites to find deals besides orbitz, expedia, travelocity...

The Gambler,

Gregg O'Connell

My Mom Found My Website!

AHHHH what horror! My mom found my website because my aunts directed it to her which they were shown by their kids.
I woke up this morning from a nice night of sleep with the rain hitting the roof and my fan making its pleasant fan sound to find an email in my gmail account from my mom saying that she found my website. I was in shock and I began crying and contemplated suicide for like 7 or 8 seconds but I decided it wasn't the right time to kill myself :P. My mom doesn't understand that my website is my way to be creative and get release. She's afraid I'm gay because I like to joke around that I am. Maaaaaaaaaa don't worry I'm not gay I'm just merely pretending because it makes the girls laugh, the straight guys cringe and the gay boys fall in love with me. I didn't want my mom to find my website cause I knew she wouldn't fully understand it and I knew should be disgusted haha. It's all in good fun and romance though!

The lesson to this story is don't tell your friends, family or parents about your website if you have one because you never know how they'll take it! I know my mom is going to get upset that I wrote an entry entitled "My mom found my website" but I just needed to get this out because otherwise I'd go mad like a gay guy on a cruise with all straight people!

Contains (0) Zero grams of Trans Fat,

Gregg

P.S.
A BIG congrats to my friend Sesman who had a baby girl on Sunday Morning Shyanne Emalie Smith born 6lbs 12oz!

Mom is back in Massachusetts

The week that I spent with my mom is over. We did so much in just a week. We went to Disneyland, Sea World, Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo, Coronado, Old Town, expensive dinner, Mexican dinner, burgers, and more! Having my mom visit made me realize how much I miss seeing my brother and his family, my sister and her family & my dad. It sucks cause I'm not there to spend Christmas with them, birthdays or Yom Kippur.

Anyway you add it up life is short so spend any time you can with your family. My mom did so much for me in such little time. She cleaned by house, bought me necessities for my house, food, gas, etc...
I need my mom around more of the time!

If this blog doesn't make any sense blame it on the rain!

thank you mom for everything.

love,
gregg

Dead Homies (Video)

If you liked the Reservoir Dogs then you'll probably love this! If you love action figures doing things with music behind it with cheap website plugs thrown in then you'll love this video!
Screw it just freakin watch the damn video! what what what!

Download the Video!


or Stream it below

Wild Animal Park & San Diego Zoo

I must admit I am pretty tired of these amusement parks. I've gone to 4 in 4 days. I've never seen more overpriced concession stand food and weird animals in my life.

Saturday: Wild Animal Park
We started this day off a little later than the other 2 days before this because we were waiting for Emily to get off of her training job. We arrived at the park at about Noon. The sun was beating down so it was pretty hot compared to where I live by the ocean. Most of the animals here have wide open spaces to go and do whatever they want. The park is 1,800 acres so they have quite bit of space to pooh, eat and play. It's sad to see some of the most visited dangerous animals like the Lions & Gorillas. They are in these tiny little spots where the people are very close to the animals. When we were by the Gorilla exhibit it said they don't like being stared at so a lot of the time they were putting their backs to the audience.

The lions are in a little bit bigger of a spot than the Gorillas but not much. The lions were pressed up against the glass looking into space while people snapped photos and looked on in amazement at how close they were to the "King of the Jungle"

We also took the train ride around the park and that was really cool. We could see herds of animals running in an almost natural habitat. There were giraffes, deer like animals, rhinos, etc...These animals have acres and acres of land to do what they may.

View the Wild Animal Park Photos

Sunday: San Diego Zoo
This morning started off with a freeze! There was no hot water in my house until late afternoon so we got to the zoo pretty late. Immediately upon arriving at the zoo we took the bus tour around the park. That took 45 minutes and showed about 70% of the park. The places the animals stay in here are way smaller than the Wild Animal Park's exhibits. I know its a zoo and its supposed to be smaller but its still pretty sad.

If you like birds this place has a lot of them. From African ones to American ones. Lots of deer like animals. The elephants I guess are very smart. They have the IQ of a kid in Kindergarten. The elephant kept doing little tricks for treats for the trainer.

View the San Diego Zoo Photos

Overall both parks are pretty cool. They aren't that expensive either especially if you have AAA. AAA saves you 20% on the total cost of the tickets.

love,
gso

Disneyland & Sea World

Thursday: Sea World
It's been a busy end of the week so far with even more to come! Thursday my mom, Erica & I all went to Sea World in San Diego for the day. We got there right when the park opened at 10:00 am. There actually was quite a bit of people there already. I went to Sea World before with my cousin and his friend Brian when they visited last summer. So I had already seen basically everything. The only things I didn't see were most of the shows last time. This time we saw the dolphin show, Shamu Show, Pets Rule show & I think that's it. It was a good time and I got sunburn on a cloudy day - awesome huh!

Checkout the Sea World photos!

Friday: Disneyland
We woke up at 5:30 am and left the house at 7:00 am. My mom and I picked up Emily on the way to Disneyland. Disneyland doesn't open until 9:00 am so we wanted to make sure we got their early so we could hopefully beat all the traffic on the highway and the traffic at the park. Emily said it took 2 hours to get their so I was like "ok cool we will leave at 7:00 am and get there at 9:00 am. Well first off a big shout out goes to the "Car Pool Lane" without you I would've got stuck in traffic and maybe wouldn't have got to Disney on time. Well I also want to blame the Car Pool Lane too because we arrived at Disney in 1 hour so we got there at 8:00 am. AHHHH an hour before the park opens. So to kill some time we went to get gas at Chevron
for $3.35/gallon. Then we headed over to the ATM so Emmy could get some loot. Then Burger King so get some Hot coffee. We then went back to Disneyland and parked for $10.
If you haven't been to Disneyland/Disneyworld you must go its so cool! I went to Disneyworld when I was 10 so I don't remember too much about it but Disneyland is really cool. Just walking through the towns they've created gives off such an atmosphere that it makes you forget you're in California and makes you feel like you're in this safe, fun, delicious place where everything tastes nice and everything smells wonderful. The safe pretty Disney music plays throughout the park to keep the atmosphere going even when you're in between the towns.

Checkout the Disneyland Photos!

Out of the 2 places I've gone so far Disney is way freakin' better than Sea World. It's a little more expensive but it's well worth the extra money.

I will be going to The Wild Animal Park and San Diego Zoo to finish out my tour de parks this weekend. Don't fret because I will have more photos of my adventures!

I miss you all,
gso

541 Days: Gregg Finally See's His Mom (Video)

This is an epic moment that hasn't happened in 541 days and it's been caught on video! It's almost a reality show of sorts because all of the moments in the video are "real" and "true". Watch me as I give commentary of what is going on before I see my mom. Watch the emotionally high scene of my mom and I embracing as we wrap our arms around one another never to let go again (I'm actually still holding my mom as I write things, amazing huh!)

If you can't handle sad beautiful things then turn your head when you watch this video because you will cry (maybe)!

Download the Video!

or

Stream the Video Below

541 Days!

I last saw my mom on November 15, 2004 which was 541 days ago or 1 year 5 months 25 days or

• 46,742,400 seconds
• 779,040 minutes
• 12,984 hours
• 77 weeks (rounded down)

The point is it's been a very long time! The drought ends today! My mom arrives in San Diego tonight at 8:18pm.

I wonder if she'll cry when she see's me? I wonder if I'll cry when I see her? I know I'll be happy to finally see her. It doesn't really seem like I haven't seen her in that long. I talk to her on the phone 1-2 times a week and I'm pretty caught up in what is going on in her life. She sends me photos of any family parties and such. So the presence of technology definitely gives me the sense of being in my moms daily life even though I am 3,000 miles away.

I'll keep you posted on how everything goes because I know you all are just dieing to know how it turns out! I'm going to try and record the whole airport scene between me and my mom. A kind of reality show greggoconnell.com edition. How awesome would it be if I started crying?!?!?! That would be priceless on video!

gso

How to Sing and Play Guitar (Video)

By just watching and listening to the incredible Gregory Shane perform his scientifically safe indie pop hits you will learn the art of performing live. Gregory Shane performs his greatest hits and newest gems in just under 46 minutes of pure bliss. Listen to his witty banter, improvised lyrics & watch his shaking indie rawk leg.

I do it all for you and best of all its FREE! So stream my newest "How To" video by clicking on the play button below! Now go out there and be the best rawk star you can be!

The Rock Church in San Diego

I haven't been to church in like 43 years or something so as you can see its been a long time. I told my friend Stephanie a while back that I would attend church with her since she is super religious and I always tease her about it. Well she held me to my word and I finally attended church with her this evening.

We went to her church "The Rock Church" it's like this new age kind of Christian church. Almost Everyone that attended is like in their 20's. The Pastor is a former San Diego Charger, recovering drug addict yadda yadda yadda named Miles McPherson. He talks in slang & he uses modern culture references for his stories.

The crowd seems totally buy into the fact that everything in life happens because of God. That God can fix anything. My friend went as far as to say that while in Africa someone that had AIDS was instantly cured after praying for God to cure them. Now to me this sounds ludicrous and totally out there. I think things just happen because they happen. Does everything that always happens have to be because God wanted it that way? I dunno it just seems like a lot of "Santa Clause" talk to me.

So would I go to church again? Not unless it was to someone's wedding or funeral. I really have a tough time buying into the whole "miracle" thing. There's a lot of positive thinking and believing going on there and that's definitely a good thing.

gso

Gregory Shane Rawks Hot Java

"and yeah yeah Gregg is good! yeah yeah Gregg is great! and yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah what if Gregg was one of us?" That was the song that was going around the audience at Hot Java in Carmel Mountain (San Diego) as Gregory Shane came with ammo and rifled everyone in the house down with his amazing talent and witty nature.

It was fun show for me to play cause for once there was more than just 3 people I knew in the audience. There were like over 10! Damn I sure know a lot of people here in San Diego. Even though my friends/co-workers probably didn't like my songs they still stayed for the full hour of my set and clapped like robotic monkeys on command.

So a big thanks to everyone that went to my show and paid attention to a star in the making. Sure I'm 26 but I'm a young 26! So stardom is obviously right around the corner. I'm ready to be on some Verizon Wireless commercials or be the next Carl's Jr. Model with my semi naked body all over some Ford Mustang

Below you will find a photoset of the night - enjoy it to the fullest!

View the photoset

gso

Herbie Happy Birthday

My dog Herbie turns 5 years old on May 5. He has been with me basically since day one of me moving out of my moms house and on my own. I got him at 8 weeks old. He was the only available puppy left. When I called the breeder I was actually looking for black or salt & pepper mini schnauzers. She only had one white one and I really didn't want a white one but I was like hmmm ok I'll come check him out.

I got to the breeders house and there was the mom, Herbie & a black mini-schnauzer puppy that was already spoken for. Herbie was crazy he was chasing the other puppy all over the yard, rolling on the ground and just acting like a mad man. When the breeder finally put the other puppy away Herbie went to his mom and his mom was very protective of Herbie and didn't want us picking him up. I instantly knew I wanted him after watching him play and then picking him up and seeing how freaking cute he was. He was only like 3 lbs when I got him (he's now 23 lbs). On the ride home he was whining but I kept patting him and he eventually fell asleep in my arms. Puppies have this weird "Puppy Breath" smell, it's very distinctive and he totally had it for like 6 months haha. He would whine in his kennel when I would go to sleep at night so I would get up and let him out and pat him until he fell asleep. I eventually let him sleep outside of his kennel even though he would have accidents every night.

Herbie is the best thing so far that has happened in my adult life. He's always happy to see me. He's always ready to play or eat even if I wake him up from a dead sleep. He's learned so many things since I've had him: from sitting, to no begging for food, to speaking (howling) and much more. Life without Herbie would be completely different than what it is now. I'm glad he is my responsibility and that I have to take care of him because everything I have to do for him is nothing compared to what he gives me. Just having around me puts me at ease when I am stressed out or when I'm bored. I look forward to coming home from a night out and having him jump on me in excitement because he hasn't seen me in a few hours. Hell he even gets super excited when I'm gone for 15 minutes. I don't think he has any idea of time haha.

Photos of Herbie

So Happy Birthday Herbie! I hope you're with me for many many more!

Love your Dad,

Gregg

How to Brush Your Teeth

Are your teeth yellow? Does your breath smell? Then watch this video. Your teeth will be cleaner than ever! Your breath will smell like vanilla mint and you won't get the dreaded gingivitis!

Download the Video!


or stream the video below

Big Love

Have you seen HBO's risque new show Big Love? It's about a polygamous who lives in Utah and how his family deals with the polygamous lifestyle and other family issues. The star of the show is Bill Paxton as some of you might know he was Chet in the 1980's movie "Weird Science" It's a pretty big turnaround for him but he plays the polygamous role so well!

This show is such an up and down rollercoaster ride of show. Its sexy, its stressful, it's believable, it's crazy, it's sad, it's happy and it's just whatever they throw at you. It's a show that whatever you're feeling before you watch the show will change to whatever happens in "Big Love". It's one of the most emotionally draining shows I've ever watched and I've watched a lot of draining shows (i.e. Three's Company, Love Boat, Love Connection, Price is Right, etc).

Big Love shows you how stressful & maddening it would be to have 3 wives. Sure it would be fun sleeping with 3 women but think of dealing with 3 PMS cycles, 3 hormones, 3 whiners, 3 of everything you can think of! I'd go crazy! It's tough to deal with just woman at a time. Woman demand a lot and to times that by 3 would give me an anxiety attack everyday. (Girls before you post a comment: I already know I'm needy and I demand a lot of attention so relax)

In conclusion if you don't already have HBO or haven't seen the show then you should really order HBO for "Big Love" ("The Sorpranos" also kicks some wicked ass) or at least download these it off of a torrent site!

May Polygamy Be with You & Your Family!

gso