The Unexamined Life

Food Foibles - pt. 2

2009-05-13T18:42:00.005-04:00

When I wrote about things people didn't like to eat and other unusual eating habits way back in February 2007 I got a fairly big reaction. (http://popculturesnob.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html) Probably because I wrote about some people I work with. Even though I didn't identify anyone. Apparently people don't really like their eccentricities bandied about (You should really stop talking about them, you know)

We happened to have another discussion about food at work recently during one of our "still free for the time being" monthly staff lunches. Turns out there are many people who don't like food with bones in it- no chicken breasts or legs- or even wings. I'm guessing lamb chops are out too. I think maybe their mother's only made them boneless chicken when they were growing up and they haven't ventured away from that. When I was a child we would eat what we were given or else. Mom liked to add extra bones to many dishes- for "flavor" she said. I still think meatballs don't really need bones, but what do I know. I also found out that many people will not eat seafood at all (maybe shrimp). I think some of them broke out in hives when I talked about how great it is to eat raw oysters and clams picked right out of the sea.

I tried to play down my own food and eating "preferences" when I last wrote about this stuff, but now I think it's time to come clean. I still don't like broccoli and zucchini (useless), but here are a few more:

I only eat during even numbered hours (ie: 12, 2, 6, 10)
I like hoagie rolls with sesame seeds on them but not hamburger buns
I only eat sandwiches on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays (or certain holidays)
When I have a bagel with seeds on it I will cut it in half and put cream cheese on the bottom half and then sprinkle the seeds that fell off on top. Always eat the bottom half first.
If there are more than two items on a plate they should be eaten clockwise- you don't have to eat all of one thing before going on, just take bites in that order.
Hard boiled eggs will ruin any meal
I won't drink any opaque liquids with a meal- sometimes before or after
I will eat pineapple in chunks but not rings
I like salads with nuts, cheese and fruit- but not all three at the same time
The same goes for desserts
I don't like grilled cheese sandwiches cut in half into triangles
No orange cheese either
I like to eat waffles with my hands and plain- no toppings unless there is sausage.
Pancakes can be eaten with a fork unless there is a meat - then they should be rolled up like a sandwich, unless it is Sunday, Thursday or Tuesday.

Who Knew?

2009-05-07T17:52:00.003-04:00

Dom Deluise
Bea Arthur
Irving R. Levine

Somehow Still Alive

Amy Winehouse
The GEICO lizard
American Idol
Leonard Cohen

Too Soon

Danny Gans
Marilyn Chambers
Harry Kalas
Natasha Richardson

Have it your Way

2009-05-06T18:35:00.004-04:00

You may have noticed I stopped posting right before Obama's inauguration. I guess I figured an inspirational blog like mine just wasn't needed anymore. All would now be right with the world - we had done what was necessary to restore our national reputation. Let the healing begin.

Obama has been been very busy in his first, oh I think its been just over 100 days. Most of the stuff he has done has been right on- so much so that it didn't seem necessary to comment. But now there is an issue that is right up my alley and is often referred to in this blog. That's right- we're talking sandwiches.

Obama and the veep -Joe "Amtrak Joe" Biden somehow got out of the White House to have a hamburger. Now of course you know this probably wasn't really a surprise last minute thing. Obama likes to try to escape the "bubble" of the White House sometimes, but I'm sure it takes a lot of planning on the part of the Secret Service and an advance team and the Press office. To go out and mix with the people and have a burger he has to drag along the press corps with TV and still photographers, his whole protection team and various aides. Apparently they stood in line and waited for their burgers just like everyone else- everyone else who arrived in an armoured limo entourage.

I really like that he chose to go out for burgers and what looked like tater tots. I hope he really does like them and this wasn't some kind of calculated "populist" stunt. I do however question the place they chose to go. First of all it was in Arlington, VA. Now Arlington is just over a small bridge from the White House, but wasn't there a neighborhood place he could go to? Did he already go to Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street- is that too cliche? Also, whoever picked the place should have rejected it out of hand because it was called "Ray's Hell Burger" Even though it is a very clever pun, doesn't the President want to stay away from stirring up the religious right crazies by going to a place with the H-E double toothpicks word in its name? Did the napkins have a little Devil on them? Couldn't they have gone to Hamburger Heaven or Hamburger Paradise or Jesus' Hamburgers? Who picked this spot? Wait for the backlash.

I can't fault the President for trying to be a regular guy- but please try not to be too much of a regular guy like that last fella. It's great to have a President who really is the smartest guy in the room. And who likes a good burger. No matter where it's from.

Hail Mary

2009-01-18T12:26:00.002-05:00

From what I hear on the radio and read in the papers I am not the only one who was very frustrated with the Philadelphia Eagles this season. At times during the season many fans wanted to get rid of the coach and quarterback- or one or the other. I wanted to see Andy Reid gone- I'd had enough of his stubborn arrogance. I wanted the team to lose some more games in the crazy hope that ownership would be forced to make some off-season changes. I'd seen too many stupid play calls and enough poor clock management (for God sakes you've been a head coach for 10 years- learn how to handle your timeouts) The Eagles follies of mid-season can be summed up in two words for those in the know- over time (If you're not in the know you're probably not reading this anyway) But I'm not really here to write about all the bad things this year- I want to talk about the miraculous last month or so.

Now I'm not the same crazy, cursing at the TV superstitious Eagles fan I was for so many years. I'm still very bitter- Philadelphia fans may never lose that no matter how many trophies our teams hoist, but Eagles losses don't ruin my week like they once did. Several factors play in to all of this, but a major one is the litany of disappointments this team has visited upon its fans, well for almost 50 years now. Several of these disasters have happened in the game they are about to play in a few hours- the NFC Championship. They have been to four of them so far in the last ten years and they are 1-3. Two of them are remembered as some of the worst losses in team history. But still, fans are very optimistic this time too. No one is really afraid of the Arizona Cardinals no matter who is on the team. In the past we were a dominant team, winning our division and conference. This time we slipped into the playoffs through a very rapidly closing window. A few months ago the Eagle's didn't have a Santa's chance on a cold day at Franklin Field of making the playoffs. Now everyone is again saying: "Why can't us?"

I've been thinking of the end of this season as one big hail Mary pass. That's when the quarterback is so desperate he rears back and lets the ball fly-praying that it will come out well. A team that had a hail Mary's chance of making the post season is now on the verge of becoming legendary. The pass went up against Dallas in the last game of the seaon and has been flying past the Vikings and Giants. We are all now ready to watch and put ourselves on the line again waiting to see where the ball will land.

Why you might think I'm giving you the Finger

2009-01-04T09:53:00.005-05:00

This is the hardest blog entry I've ever had to write-- or maybe I should say the hardest to type. The middle finger on my left hand is in a splint to keep it immobilized after a bizarre injury I suffered on Christmas Eve. In addition to hitting at least two keys at once with my bandaged digit, it also seems to throw off the rest of my typing and its making my spelling even worse. Being that I'm left-handed too it hasn't done much for my handwriting either.

The injury is called "mallet finger" or "mallet deformity" (look away - I'm grotesque)
It happens when the tendon on the top of your finger ruptures and tears away from the bone. The top third of your finger can't support itself so it droops down at an angle- you can't straighten it out. I know what you're thinking, but it doesn't hurt. It didn't even hurt when it initially happened which also seems freaky. Everyone wants to know how it happened, but its kind of boring so I've been trying to come up with a good story. Here are a few ideas- don't be shy, vote for your favorite:

I hurt it in a bar fight when I got hit by a pool cue
Guitar Hero injury
I got hurt reaching into my pocket for my wallet to cover a check
Too much text messaging

None of these is the actual story so don't go trying to figure it out. Now that its all bandaged up I can tell people I had surgery to re-attach it after a workshop injury. I'm sure the story will change weekly.

The other day I went to a hand specialist that was recommended by my regular doctor. They told me I'd have to wear a splint just about 24-7 for about eight weeks. You can take the splint off to wash your hand, but you must keep it absolutely flat- if your finger bends at all you will re-injure it and have to start your two month process all over again. The splint is made out of something called low temperature plastic that can be molded to your finger. It will also melt if it gets near anything too hot, so I've got to wear a bag over it in the shower and avoid having it near hot stuff on the stove- good thing my soup serving days are far behind me. I guess I'll have even more trouble washing dishes now too. I'll get accustomed to having this thing on my finger after a while, but not before it becomes a big pain in the ass. I'm even developing a drinking problem because its so hard to hold a beer or coffee mug.

So If you see me you'll know what's up with my finger and maybe I'll tell you another story about how it happened. And I apologize in advance: I'm not giving you the finger. Probably.

Mission Accomplished

2008-11-09T08:22:00.009-05:00

I think I'll remember turning forty long after I'm old enough to have forgotten almost everything else. The events of the last few weeks will always be linked in my mind, but the one this country and - the world will remember has nothing to do with home runs and parades.

Abby called me Monday night to ask if I would come over to watch the election returns with her. Chip was an official poll watcher on Tuesday and she wasn't sure when he would be coming home. I thought that sounded like fun, first because I could spend some time with my nieces before they went to bed and second, Abby was already extremely confident that Obama would win. I guess she has spent too much time away from Philadelphia to know she shouldn't jinx it by being too optimistic. Of course she spent the 2004 election in Ohio, so she should know not to count her chickens. Here is a hazy timeline of how our night went.

7:00 a.m. Abby wakes up, calls the election for Obama and goes out to canvass her neighborhood.

6:30 p.m. -ish I go to Whole Foods on the way to Abby's to get some deserts and some sparkling cider as a champagne substitute. The Whole foods was packed with eastern liberal Democrats pretending to buy healthy food, but probably just buying cake like I did.

6:45 p.m. - I arrive at Abby's. One year-old niece Hannah is smiling a lot as usual and crawling around like a champ. Four year old Rebecca is practicing writing her letters, hoping she has formed some words. She can definitely write her name and her handwriting is probably already better than mine.

7:00 p.m. ish - Rebecca and I make popcorn in the air popper. We all make sure she doesn't touch anything too hot. Abby goes to take Hannah up to bed. Rebecca and I watch a cartoon about a family of skunks who really seem to like classical music but don't have long tails or French accents. Rebecca likes the popcorn- even with out any butter.

7:15 - Rebecca really likes popcorn. The young girl skunk is learning life lessons.

7:20 - I ask Rebecca if we could save some popcorn for Mommy and Uncle Nernie to eat later. She wants to know what else there is to eat- "Mommy always gives me options" she says. We settle on mini carrots.

7:30 p.m. - Abby comes down stairs, makes sure there have been no major injuries and we switch the TV to the returns. I object to watching MSNBC because I don't like their anchor. I actually went to college with him and I resent the fact that he is so successfull - nothing against his anchor skills which seem just fine.

7:45 ish - I ask Abby if they have a wireless internet connection in their apartment so I could go on line and get even more information than was flowing on the bottom of the TV screen. She looked at me as if I asked if they had indoor plumbing. She goes to get Rebecca ready for bed.

8:00 pm - One of the networks calls Pennsylvania for Obama. I don't remember which one, and I'm sure that would upset them. I am still worried and I still can't believe it yet. I start to look around the web for exit polls and other sites that have called the state. How are they calling everything with Zero percent of the vote in? Abby is not surprised- she calls the race for Obama. I remind her that Kerry looked like a winner too.

8:15 pm - It becomes obvious that everyone is calling Pennsylvania. All I have been hearing over the past month is how important PA is for McCain and how he must win it to survive. None of the commentators brings this up. We now have two laptops going- Abby is filling out her own electoral map- giving Obama just about every battleground state. I find PA exit polls on CNN.com that show that Obama even got some votes in the "Real America" part of the state (formerly called "Alabama")

8:30 - Chip comes in from his day of poll watching. He has actual official credentials. He has to report some vote totals to the campaign. We now have three laptops going. I think they must have a laptop tree out back. Chip is feeling sick and exhausted, so he takes some Nyquil and collapses on the living room floor. I tell Abby that if it gets closer later she shouldn't tell him- it might be bad for his health.

9:00 p.m. (I think) - Big states like Ohio and Florida are also called for Obama. Abby calls the race again. She's doing the electoral math and a McCain win looks impossible. I remind her that John Kerry had the thing won in 2004 too. Ohio is a big one because it is Chips' home state and they lived there together for several years. Abby even set up a group or a foundation or a coalition there to do something after the '04 race. If I tried to explain it I'd get it wrong.

9:15 p.m. - I pose one of those hypothetical situations that sports fans talk about all the time- What about McCain of 2000 vs. Obama of 2008? Abby doesn't seem to want to play. I think it would have been much closer myself.

Some time after 10:00 p.m. - We are confident enough to change the channel to Comedy Central where Stewart and Colbert are holding court. We figure it should be over at 11:00 p.m. when the California polls close. They are being so careful this year. We find out later that even McCain thought it was over about a week ago. Chip goes up to bed.

11:00 pm - Things are moving quickly now: the networks call California as expected and call the race for Obama. I still have trouble believing it- remember I was actually at the World Series clincher and it still took a while to sink in for me. We don't cheer too loud - there are children sleeping. When McCain gives his very gracious concession speech I start to feel OK about things.

Laterish- Abby and I discuss the enormity of the event. Even though it's hard to put it into perspective. I think about my nieces and the fact that Barack Obama will be the first President they remember. Having an African-American President will be the norm for them. Their background is much like his: an African-American father and a white mother. They will grow up knowing, not just hoping, that for them anything is possible.

The one enormous reason Obama's victory was possible was the extreme unpopularity of George W. Bush. And the economy. But mostly Bush. Many times in the last eight years we were all left speechless by the constant stream of one-quarter truths and astounding policies coming out of the White House. None of it made any sense at all to many of us- especially the Iraq war which has cost too many lives on both sides.

First it was sold as part of the war on terror and a quest to stop Saddam from using his weapons of mass destruction. When that didn't pan out it became a fight to turn the Middle East towards Democracy. Certainly everyone would see all that stability they were having in Iraq and want it themselves. Many Americans recognized that our standing in the world was crashing and action was necessary. Millions of new voters have been registered. Many people volunteered and gave money. Debates and infomercials are getting great TV ratings. Election turnout was historically high. Yes, George Bush has certainly inspired plenty of people these last few years, but in the end it turns out the only democracy he has strengthened is our own.

11:30 or so: I hug my sister and light up a cigar as I walk home to watch President-Elect Barack Obama give his victory speech.

Greg's Birthday Week

2008-11-02T10:21:00.010-05:00

As many of you may know, I turned 40 last Saturday October 25, 2008. But of course that has been overshadowed by the damn Phillies and their winning the World Series and all that. Of course it's great that they won, but why this year? They couldn't have picked a less momentous year for me? How about when I turned 17 or 26 or 38- would that have been so hard? Now all that anyone will remember is the victory over some team from Florida (I am four times as old as they are) and the parade and all. Even at my great birthday party last Saturday night they took the attention away from me with one of their most dramatic wins ever in game 3. Even one of my best birthday presents ever was Phillies related. That's right, Dad was able to get us tickets to game 5- that's right game 5 we were there - game 5 and game 5.2. Dad scored tickets at face value through a friend of a friend- no inflated scalper / stub hub tickets for us.

The last and only time the Phils' won the world series I was turning 12. I spent many nights up late listening on the radio and finding it hard to go to sleep afterwards. So when it turned out that game 5 could be a clincher with the Phillies up 3-1 and their ace Cole Hamels on the mound everything looked great for Monday's game. I've written before about sports fans and their superstitions, and they kick into high gear when the games are important. It's bad luck to be overconfident and predict victory or start planning a parade. Of course it also really matters what clothing you wear and where you sit to watch the games. So we obviously did something to anger the gods of baseball before game 5, because it turned into one of the most excruciating and torturous and finally, joyful games in World Series history.

It's often said that at any baseball game you go to you may see something you've never seen before- like a triple play or a perfect game. I had never seen a World Series clinching game before, so that's what I was hoping for. What happened was also unique, but nothing that anyone had anticipated. I went over to the ball park on Monday night with my brother and his brother-in-law, Nigel. We met Dad up at our seats- section 430 third tier in left field. Now I listened to the radio and checked the internet all day to see about the weather, and I didn't hear any big warnings. Maybe it was all false hope, because as soon as we got to the park (maybe about 7:oo pm for an 8:30 start) it started to drizzle and the wind picked up. Semi-miraculously, the rain stopped right at game time, which was good because I wasn't prepared for it and our seats were not under cover. Everything started out great: in the first inning Hamels shut down the Rays and the Phils scored two in the bottom of the inning. The score held for a while, but the rains did not.

It got increasingly wetter and windier as the game went on. The ground crew came out between innings to put down sand or miracle dry dirt or something. We all sat out in that rain for maybe three innings or more- why? because they kept playing. My greatest mistake was having some faith in major league baseball and the powers that be- I kept thinking that they must be checking the weather and that the rain would end any minute. Little did I know that the radar showed a different story. Alex and Nigel and I sat through the rain for what seemed like forever. Nigel is from England, so this was actually not such a bad night to him. Dad was smarter than all of us and went to find a spot undercover. They some how made it through six and a half innings of puddles and wind blown pop-ups before they pulled the tarp over the field.
The Rays tied the game up in the 6th and then they shut it down.

There are all kinds of rules in baseball about what happens when a game gets shortened due to weather, but none of those rules were going to be applied tonight it seemed. Really no one wanted to see the Phillies win the series on a rain soaked technicality, but over the next two days everyone talked about how MLB and commissioner Bud Selig really screwed us on this one.
They had effectively knocked our ace out of the game and gave the Rays an extra at bat in the rain to tie the thing up. Of course over the next two days of what must have been the longest rain delay in major league history Phillies fans worried about what a bad omen this was for us. This time we saw the black clouds forming literally and figuratively.

The wait for Wednesday nights "re-start" was excruciating. Who would pitch? Who would have the momentum now? Does momentum carry over through a 46 hour rain delay? In the end, game 5.2 was everything you could have wanted. We were all back again in our appointed seats seeing the same people filter back in like deja vu all over again. Of course this being a wacky 3 inning game, the home team came up first. The Phils did exactly what they had to do in that first inning, uncharacteristically scoring the go ahead run playing small ball. Unfortunately the Rays came back in the next inning tying the game up on a home run. Still, you could feel the confidence in the crowd that this was our time. We have all been through so much as Philadelphia fans the last 25 years, but this team seemed different- they were never out of it.
The ending of the game is well known, the Phillies scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and held on to take the title. But even though things looked so good for us heading into the ninth inning I'm sure Phillies fans everywhere we worried when Brad Lidge took the mound for that last three outs. Why so worried? Because he was having a perfect season. What, you say that doesn't add up? Lidge had not blown a save all year, the perfect season does not happen in Philadelphia. Lidge made us all nervous by giving up a hit to the first batter. Here we go again.
But it was not to be this time, the gods of baseball were finally smiling upon us. Lidge made it scary, but he closed the deal just like he did every single time this year.

In the moment and still a bit now, its hard for all of this to sink in. World Champions. The greatest birthday present I've ever received. I try to stay away from sentimental cliches as much as possible, but this was truly a week a I will never forget and sharing it with Alex and Dad made it even more special. They are the biggest sports fans I know. We have been through so much together as loyal Philadelphia fans over the years- mostly disappointment. I hope in the future when we are down on our teams we will remember game 5 and smile.

Where I have Been

2008-09-07T17:30:00.000-04:00

What better place to be this time of year - at my house on the Cape. No, of course it's not really my house (see "Gone Fishin'" in the archives for my last trip up there) This time I was able to invite some friends to go up there with me for a few days. Pete met me in Providence on Thursday and we drove out to the Cape. Todd, his wife and baby got out there by Friday night. It had taken several months of planning to get all of us in one place for a long weekend- with work schedules and house rentals intervening. But the extended Labor Day weekend was the perfect time to be up there- and not as crowded as you might think.

I described the house a bit before, but I may not have made clear just how comfortable and well put together it is. It's relaxing just to be there and there is always a nice cross breeze - I didn't miss A /C at all. It's kind of unfair to compare the Cape to the Jersey shore, but we all do it because we've spent time there too. What you notice immediately is that there are trees on the Cape. Try finding a tree outside of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. Trees near the beach - what will they think of next. You also notice that development has been well planned - the houses are much more spread out and they look like they belong (mostly). When you are at the house or the beach or out on the water you can feel like you are in the wilderness, but within ten minutes you can be shopping at a huge supermarket stocked with anything you can think of. Of course there are plenty of nice restaurants too- no big chains on the Cape (at least not in our area) well, except maybe for a few Dunkin' Donuts- this is New England, you know.

I got to spend some more time on the beach this trip. The water is cold at almost any time of year (in the mid 60's when we were there) but it's still a great place to relax and watch the gulls and piping plovers. We walked to Nauset Beach form Dad's house a few times and also got a pass to a "private" beach from our friends Dick and Linda (No, "private beach" doesn't mean nude beach, come on now)

We also spent a lot of time hanging out at the house, cooking and doing jigsaw puzzles. I was more than happy to not fight the traffic and crowds in Provincetown- I don't need any souvenir T-shirts or sea shells or scented candles. It's hard to do any big trips when you have parents of a little kid with you. There are all the naps and feedings and making sure they aren't destroying the house - and the kid is a handfull too. Actually the little one was very good and a constant source of amusement- especially when he tried to eat the furniture- thank God he doesn't have any teeth yet.

We did actually get out for some productive, sporting type outdoor activities, mostly due to Pete. Pete likes to do things on vacation, you know like biking and hiking and swimming. This is most surprising to people who think they know him, because many weeks he doesn't even leave his apartment except to get coffee. One great thing we did was go clamming. Dick and Linda showed us the way. Dick showed me where to buy a clam rake and bucket and Linda showed me how it was done. I am still amazed that there are any clams left anywhere, but we actually found plenty- especially Linda who has the magic touch. With the clams we found and the ones Linda gave us the day before we had them for dinner twice. I guess maybe I was surprised because I haven't actually seen too many fish up at the Cape- I knew there must be some seafood up there somewhere.

I'd have to say that besides the grill running out of propane mid-sear (I still say charcoal is the way to go) that every thing was close to idyllic. Good friends, good food, good weather, beer, wine, gin, a great cigar for me sitting out on the deck watching the stars come out. What more could you want- besides staying longer next time?

What I'd like my pod to Do

2008-05-10T10:48:00.005-04:00

Sometimes I think my I pod is smarter, almost intuitive, than it really is. Sometimes I will put my larger capacity I pod on full shuffle- meaning it can randomly pick from any of the 2962 tracks and it will some how pick two in a row from the same artist or even the same album. The other morning a sequence started out with a Radiohead song, then The Who covering the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time" (I didn't know I even had this one) and then it played U2 covering "Creep"-a Radiohead song! If this is totally random than it is amazing. According to my mathematician friend Pete the odds that any one song will follow another are the same and I only notice these patterns when they are obvious- most of the time there are no connections.

But I want more than this- I want my Ipod to be able to make obscure connections and be able to play songs that go perfectly together and even suit the mood that I'm in. Maybe it could play a set of songs from bands who have had members die? What if my Ipod knew what the weather was like outside and could automatically tailor songs to that - songs that mention rain on a stormy day or The Beach Boys and summer songs for a perfect July day. How about it knows my pulse and plays high energy stuff when it senses I'm working out? Maybe some mellow songs later at night when I'm trying to get to sleep. I'd like it to download the albums from my favorite artists automatically (and let me return the album if it was a stinker) It should also make suggestions and actually play new stuff I might like based on what I already have.

Some of these things should be totally possible - maybe if I changed the settings on my pod correctly they would happen right now. If you are worried about your Ipod learning too much about you - don't worry it's really nothing next to what your cell phone and your television already know.

New Yorker Cartoon Written Just for my Blog

2008-05-10T10:32:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Mom (who actually reads the articles in the New Yorker too)
for pointing this one out

More About Ships

2008-04-27T13:37:00.003-04:00

As I was just saying, I like ships. I happened to have another opportunity the other day to be on a ship and see a documentary about a ship at the same time. PBS has a new documentary starting tonight called Carrier and they hosted a preview of the first hour on the Battleship New Jersey (US Navy - Retired) over in Camden. The New Jersey has been sitting over there for over ten years now, but I never really thought of going. But since Mom had free tickets and I wanted to see the doc it was a perfect opportunity.

The first thing that you notice about the ship is its' huge guns- they dominate almost everything else on board. They are kind of intimidating all by themselves, but imagine them firing shells up to 23 miles away every thirty seconds. We just had a few minutes to check out the ship - going below deck we got to check out the crew's quarters- basically a big room filled with very small bunks (or racks) stacked on top of each other. The bed part lifts up and there is storage underneath- but not much storage- good thing everyone on board wears the same thing everyday. Another thing that struck me right away was that a good portion of the deck was made of wood. Just long wooden planks not even painted at present. The New Jersey was built back in the 1930's, but it was in use up through the 1990's you'd have thought they would have changed that over the years.

We got to watch the film in a big tent they had erected on the fan tail of the ship- that's near the "stern" or the "back" of the ship for you non nautical types. I love shows about ships like this- I've seen several about building different ships and subs and some about the behind the scenes life on an aircraft carrier. But this one is different- firstly its about ten hours long (they shot 1600 hours of footage over six months on the USS Nimitz) and they concentrate more on personalities than on the equipment and the mission. There are over 5000 people on an aircraft carrier- some cruise ships actually carry this many now too. The filmmakers have done a great job of picking some very interesting and honest people to follow. This is a very behind the scenes look at things- you'll be surprised what the Navy allowed them to shoot. Most of the people they follow are enlisted men, from what I saw there isn't too much Navy PR talk from officers. They also let the crew's natural humor come out- I guess living in cramped quarters doing the same thing every day for 6 months makes you funny.

Check it out over the next week on your local PBS stations- my TIVO will be busy making sure I don't miss it.

On Vacation

2008-04-13T13:05:00.004-04:00

Yes, I've been away, literally and figuratively, both from Philadelphia and the Blog world. I haven't had a vacation in quite a long time- several years by one count. Now I can hear you say hey Greg what about the many trips you have chronicled even in this blog - camping and Cape Cod and up-state New York. Well those were all short excursions or family vacations and as much as I like my parents, my brother and sister and their spouses, my nieces, my aunts and uncles and cousins, my cousins kids and my cousins kids friends, I wanted to take a different kind of vacation.

I decided about two months ago that I wanted to take some sort of trip and much of my time since then has been taken up by planning and going on said trip. Now do you wonder why I don't go on vacation much? It involves so many choices and factors. I was going to go alone- which is quite all right with me as I usually agree with myself about what I would like to do. But, I guess I am not very spontaneous, so every little detail of the planning phase becomes a big thing. Let's skip over most of all that, lets just say I spent a lot of time on the internet and quizzing friends and family about good trips and then I decided to do something that I had done before and most of them haven't. I went on a cruise.

Yes, yes, cruises are very stereotyped as being for "the newlywed, overfed or almost dead" and some of these things are true of course (but only one of them for me) The bottom line is I wanted a relaxing trip to a beach somewhere and I love ships. I decided to go to some new places most of which I had no huge desire to see- figuring that I would spend all my time relaxing on a nice beach. I should have followed my instincts because in both of the major ports I visited - Nassau in the Bahamas and Key West, Florida I spent way too much time walking around getting the feel of the place. Often on a cruise you will only have about 6-8 hours in port so if you want to to nothing you better get to it quickly.

I love just exploring the ships too. They are basically Las Vegas style resort hotels (with a casino) fit into a ship. Much of the time on board there is no indication you are on a boat or that you are moving. I like to watch the water roll by and see the land disappear over the horizon, but if you didn't care about that stuff the operation of the ship can be almost invisible. There are always a few swimming pools and many bars and restaurants from fancy to buffet style.

Of course there are also entertainments and activities much of it aimed squarely at the wholesome middle American family types that cruises seem to bring out. Probably the most annoying thing about planned activities on cruises is that they are too planned and intense. If there is a party on deck with a cool reggae band or maybe a DJ (and of course a buffet) then there has to also be an ice carving demonstration and an assistant cruise director type yelling into a microphone almost constantly MAKING DAMN SURE that you are having a great time. They don't let the parties go with the flow- even if they are going well- they will be the life of the party or else.

Probably the best part of each day was dinner in the dining room. Not just because the food was surprisingly good and the wine was good and reasonable. The cruise line usually sets you up with people to eat with and if you like them its great and if you don't like them you try to change tables. I have always been lucky. Last time I was on a cruise I met two women from small town Indiana, who I found out quickly had both been married to the same man. One presently and one formerly. They were friends and they left hubby at home and went away together. One of them was a cattle rancher. This time I met a young couple from Minnesota and another solo traveler - a guy from Atlanta taking a break from school. They were all very friendly and we stayed at dinner at least two hours each night talking about the days activities, wine, school, crime in our cities and why our assistant waiter didn't smile much.

The portions of food weren't overwhelming as you might think. It was closer to what you would get in a fancier restaurant or a catered party. I remember the scallop risotto was especially good- I could have eaten a bigger plate of that. Most of the food was good and some ambitious, but they obviously cared about what they were doing. There were always many choices if you just wanted regular food too. It was all very civilized. Rest up and clean up from the days' activities, maybe have a before dinner drink then go to the late seating at 8:30 pm. After dinner there were always many things to do into the wee hours- especially if you wanted to hear an assistant cruise director yell at you.

PS- Glad to be back. I'm sure I'll have some more cruise stories soon- G.

Why Newspapers are Dying

2008-02-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

It has been all over the news for the past several years about the death of newspapers. They actually mean that revenues are down and the corporate giants that own the papers are worried that they don't continue to make more money every year. Newspapers still make a very nice profit, but I think the quality may be going downhill because they have to try to do more with less.

For instance, a few weeks ago there was a front page article in the Wall Street Journal about how people like to chew ice. Front page. Wall Street fricking Journal. I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fools day. With economies all 0ver the world ready to melt down (pun intended) and a very important Presidential election going on the Journal decided it needed to get on top of this ice trend. Turns out that many people love to chew ice as a snack and they sometimes go into fast food restaurants just to get a cup of ice or two. This is not flavored ice like a Sno-Cone, or what we in Philadelphia for some reason call Water Ice, just the plain stuff. Connoisseurs pay very close attention to the "chewability" of the ice, we're not talking about those big cubes here but "Nuggets" or "Pearls" and shaved ice.

The burger chain Sonic is well known for their ice. Maybe chewers know this because they read it in a forum on the ice chewing web site (I haven't checked out the site- I'm a bit afraid- I hear they have recipes). Apparently one Sonic store in Texas (part of the southern US "Chew Belt") sold 13 - ten pound bags of ice in ONE WEEK last month. That would be a gross profit of nearly $20.00! Wow! Maybe the economy can be saved from recession after all.

Of course there is a big market for home ice machines too. Country music star Vince Gill got a big "Scotsman" ice machine for Christmas from his wife Amy Grant. Vince is a long time ice chewer - he hates to go on tour in Europe because they are so stingy with their ice. No Sonic franchises in Europe yet, huh?

Obviously I found this article very entertaining, but I didn't know the Journal was supposed to be so funny. Maybe next week they'll have a whole batch of Ben Bernanke walks into a bar jokes. This all seems more like USA Today material- a chart about per capita ice consumption with some spiffy graphics. Fun fact: Compulsive ice eating is called "Pagophagia"

Green Movement Blues

2008-02-03T13:37:00.002-05:00

Damn - there goes my New Year's resolution about writing in my blog at least two times a week. Maybe starting right now. January was a very busy month, both at work (tax time) and family (birthdays and such).

But today I can only write about one thing- it is Superbowl Sunday of course. You may recall back in September when I wrote about the start of the football season (The "Green" Movement) I said, as Eagles fans, we might need some cheering up this season. Boy, have I ever been more correct? This was one of the worst sports seasons I can remember. Not because there were so many heartbreaking losses and stupid mistakes (there were) but because I truly lost my passion for the team. People who have watched football with me will tell you that my personality usually changes a bit during games. I am one of those scream and curse at the TV trash talking kind of fan. I scare pets and children and generally get very worked up. All this is not unusual among Eagles fans, in fact, as crazy as I can get, I am not close to crazy, beer swilling, tailgating, no shirt wearing in December fans. It's just that I'm usually more level-headed and I don't curse and throw things too much. Some people don't even know I'm a fan. I can tell you that during most seasons my mood is definitely tied to how the Eagles do. If they lost I wouldn't want to watch any of the post-game coverage or listen to the sports radio station- for several days. A win would mean a good week- I couldn't get enough game coverage , food would taste better and all would be well with the world- until the next Sunday. It all felt very personal, and I know that many sports fans have the same feelings.

This year was different for me and I'm not sure when it happened. The first game was discouraging, but not devastating yet. Maybe it was their first win when they scored 56 points against Detroit and gave us hope. Maybe it was the Bears game when they let them march down the field 97 yards to the winning score. Maybe it was getting humiliated at home 38-17 by the hated Cowboys. I'm not sure, but somewhere in there I stopped caring and started to think- "You know this just isn't a good team and it would be better for them to lose" Not so they would get a good draft pick, but because maybe the coaches would learn from a sub-par year and make some real changes. For that reason I became much more conflicted, I wasn't living and dying with every play, I even fell asleep during a few games (oh yes- I still watched all the games) It is very hard for me to admit that I wish they would have lost a few more games- the .500 record they ended with just makes the season seem almost acceptable. Hopefully next year I'll be back to my "normal" almost manic football frenzy. For now I'll watch the Super Bowl and wonder if Patriots fans are worried that their teams' only loss will be in the most important game. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that this year- I'd hate to root for an undefeated team- too much pressure.

Sandwich Crisis

2007-12-31T13:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been away. I wanted to respect the writers strike, but then I remembered I'm already not making any money for writing this blog, so who cares. I have a few things to catch you up on- including a trip to NYC to meet another new baby, the demoralizing Eagles season and the results of my gift list. But first something more important:

I have been let down. Betrayed by one of my favorite things from one of my favorite places. Two things actually went wrong on Christmas eve this year. I had X-mas Eve open for the first time in a few years and I was going to check out one of those Jewish singles parties that are so popular- no, not the "Matzoh Ball" (but I love that name.) First I planned to have a nice lunch on my extra day off. I was going to try out the sandwich that the Today show called the best in the U.S. - the BLT Cheesesteak at Vesuvio's, just a few blocks from my house. Of coure they were closed - it being a Monday afternoon and a quasi-holiday. Not a big deal, I went a short distance to one of my favorite sandwich places- one that I think is usually a challenger for the best sandwiches anywhere- that's right - usually. I won't mention their name here because I can't be 100% positive they made me sick, and also I'm a bit afraid they would have me killed. Of course the sandwich wasn't bad when I was eating it- everything was great as usual: a perfect dance of bread, meat, cheese, peppers, oil and vinegar. As I digested the sandwich after lunch that's when I started to notice something wrong. I had an upset stomach- and not just a little acid reflux or low grumble. I tried to ignore it, but it kept coming back, and all I could taste was the hoagie and the biggest clue I was sick- I wasn't getting hungry again. It wasn't until early evening that everything became clear. I can't remember having food poisoning before- I've certainly been ill my share, but I had more flu-like symptoms then. I'll spare you the details of what happened, but you can ask anyone in my family about it as I told them about it in detail over Christmas dinner the next night. Suffice it to say that everything came out OK.

In the aftermath, I haven't had a hoagie since. A few sandwiches here and there, but nothing too ambitious. Next Christmas Eve I'm sticking to the traditional Chinese food.

Return of Greg's Gift Guide

2007-11-28T13:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you who missed my first gift guide a few years ago here are the basics:

This is not one of those "this is what you should buy for others" recommendation lists - this is what you should by for me - the gifts for Greg guide. Also, I'll accept gifts for almost any occasion- I don't limit myself to Hanukkah this time of year- I will also accept other gifts: belated birthday, Christmas, Arbor day, Graduation, Thursday.

Books

Then We came to the End - Joshua Ferris - This is one I keep hearing about. It's a comic novel about a company at the end of the dot.com bubble. Lots of firings and layoffs - hilarious.

Beer (Eyewitness companion guide 2007) - Maybe one of the last works by renowned expert Michael Jackson who went to the great pub in the sky this year. Looks like a great book for beer snobs like me.

The Looming Tower - Lawrence Wright - This is the book that has become the "book" on Al-queda and the terrorist attacks. Wright has become a go to expert and even wrote a screenplay to a scarily prescient film about terrorism back in 1998 called "The Siege"

The Nasty Bits - Anthony Bourdain - One of the coolest guys on TV and a good writer about travel and food. this is a collection of his short writings from a few years ago.

Clothing & Housewares

Almost anything "no-iron" as long as it's 100% cotton- or silk, or cashmere I guess. I wear this stuff to work all the time.

Nice new belt - black. Cool buckle if you can find one, but remember I'm not a cowboy. But check out this too: http://store.dogfish.com/item/Belt-Buckle_Bottle-Opener/742/Belt-Buckle_Bottle-Opener/31/index.htm

Blue Cable knit sweater - I'd just like to have one. Cotton is fine, with global warming wool isn't usually necessary any more.

Goodgrips can opener (not electric) - really, I've never had a good one

Mixing bowl set- the kind with the little metal handles on the side

Electric Kettle - I still want one of these. Good for tea and alternative coffee preparations, but also for boiling water for pasta. Bodum and Chefs Choice make good ones.

Good chef's knife - the one I have is still great, but another wouldn't hurt (no pun intended)

Pepper mill - one of the kinds that you can use one handed. This comes up all the time when I have schmutz on one hand.

Nice new cookie sheet

Toaster oven - right now I just have a two-slice toaster and its just not practical.

High thread count sheets / flannel sheets - I'm talking at least 600 thread count here, not 200 like my sister thinks is enough. Plaid flannel sheets would be cool.

Stuff I really Want

Trunk for my Scooter - The old one fell off a few years ago when I was riding. No one was injured.

Guitar Hero for the Nintendo Wii - Really, no kidding- this looks very cool. I sold my guitar on EBay a few years ago and this could replace it.

Powered sub-woofer for my home theater system- Because I want to feel the bass. I got a new DVD player with digital-optical outputs and the sound needs an upgrade. It doesn't need to be a big one, my condo is small. My neighbors thank you.

Tiger Woods Golf for the Wii - 2007 or 2008 version is OK I think. I don't know why I like golf games considering I've never played a round.

Gadget to convert records and tapes to mp3's - I've got a ton of "old media" which I could transfer to my computer (ie: Grateful Dead bootlegs, Mahler symphony box sets) Check this out: http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/mp3/85fb/

Flat panel HDTV set - You can pick the size and brand- I trust you.

This should give you a good start on buying things for me. If I see you I may have a few more ideas of things I forgot, or you may find something you know I would like- that's all just fine. Oh, yeah, and if you have any ideas for things you might want let me know. Thanks!

More about Babies

2007-11-03T17:42:00.000-04:00

Since I've already broken my unofficial rule on writing about kids many times, well, here goes. As many of my loyal readers already know, my sister Abby and her husband Chip welcomed their second baby two weeks ago Sunday, just a few days after her due date. Everyone is doing great, thanks. I'm going to take a small bit of credit for the baby being delivered when it was: I called my sister Saturday evening to see what the hold up was and I reminded her that she only had a few more days to be sure the kid was born as a Libra (like her big sister Rebecca) and not a Scorpio (like her Uncles). Mission accomplished. Abby did a good job too.

They named the baby Hannah Molly. Hannah because they liked the name I guess and Molly because it was our grandmothers' name (Of course she was always called Mona because she already had a cousin Molly who was in her class at school. They were probably the only two Molly's in Canada and there they were in one school) It's been pointed out that "H A N N A H" is also a palindrome which may be another reason they like the name- symmetry being important. As we walked her to the hospital big sister Rebecca cleverly dubbed her "Hannah Banana", before even meeting her and seeing if that nickname was appropriate. It's one of those stories she'll remember for the rest of her life because we'll keep telling it.

It was actually very exciting to go to the hospital Sunday morning to meet my new niece. Grandma and I got to watch the baby through the window of the nursery, just like you've seen on TV so many times. They keep it very bright in there- wouldn't the babies enjoy something nicer than fluorescent lights? Maybe that's why they keep their eyes closed for most of their first hours on earth. I have to admit that holding a few-hours-old baby was pretty amazing. She was nice and warm - must have been all the lights.

For the first several weeks of their lives babies do pretty much what we all would do if we could get away with it: eat, sleep and poop. What more do you really need? Everyone is also fascinated by you doing nothing too, that must be nice.

And since everyone always asks:

Sunday, October 21 at 7:42am atPennsylvania Hospital
8 pounds
20 3/4 inches

Proud Uncle Nernie

Escape from the Suburbs

2007-10-09T17:28:00.000-04:00

I have linked to my friend Todd's blog several times over the past year or two. He often "muses" about his life in the Philadelphia suburbs and his everyday "Extreme" commute to New York. He has been asked, of course, why not get a job down here in Philadelphia, or even New Jersey? Well he tried, but he works for the government and apparently- they don't have any jobs here.

So the inevitable happened a few weeks ago: Todd and his wife actually moved back to New York City. We all thought they were crazy of course and we told Todd this every time he's brought it up over the last year (they move slowly, literally and figuratively). Who moves back to NY? Don't they know all the trendy New York people are moving to Philadelphia? Todd insists that New York is now incredibly safe. He keeps quoting crime statistics to us:

"There were more crimes in my front yard in Narberth than in New York this whole year"

"Did you know that New York is now safer than Disney World?"

"You can walk anywhere anytime of night and you won't get mugged- people actually come up to you and give you money."

I don't know about all that- Todd tends to exaggerate.

Of course they have to get accustomed to New York prices again as they have only gone up. Todd and his wife are both only lawyers, so you know they can't afford a nice place. They can't even buy a Condo, let alone a house. They still have to rent-- apparently it's very common up there. Their monthly rent for a small apartment in a building with only a part-time doorman is about ten times more than one of my mortgage payments. That isn't an exaggeration. Everyone up in New York has to be tipped all the time too: Super at your new building- $100.00 so he actually lets you move in; Former criminals who will maybe paint the apartment like you asked $75.00; Part-time Doorman- $50.00 at least so he doesn't kick you in the groin too hard every time you come in the building (more at Christmas).

Everyone in New York always tells you how their place is near the park. "Really its near Central Park?" you ask "Yes, only fifteen blocks away- you know those short NY blocks" Or it's not near Central Park but Park X- and Park X is really much nicer and only ten blocks away.

I'm sure Todd and wife will re-adjust to New York City with no problems. I mean living in New York is just like riding a bike, once you know how it's ....Oh sorry, your bike just got stolen.

Tood's Blog: WWW.Alcibiades.blogspot.com

Pete Vs. Chuck

2007-09-27T20:37:00.000-04:00

By now you may have seen or heard about a new TV show this fall called "Chuck" It is one of the two new shows this season about a kind of geeky guy who works in a "big box" store and suddenly finds himeself in extraordinary circumstances. I've actually seen a preview of "Chuck" thanks to TIVO, and its a pretty good show, but the most interesting thing about it is that it may be about my friend Pete.

Pete called me about a month ago because he had seen a promo for "Chuck" and he noticed that title character works for the "Nerd Herd" at the local "Buy More" store as a computer guru. Also his last name is Bartowski. Pete is a bit more high level, he's a software consultant, but also a computer guru for his friends and family- and his last name is Bartkowski. Yes, just a one letter difference. Pete was sure that somehow his identity had been stolen for a major network program. I actually did some research (usually quite against my policy) and checked out the creators / writers of the series. Maybe they went to highschool or college with Pete or worked in a company with him- nothing seemed to add up.

After seeing the show I saw even more paralells. Both Pete and Chuck are both of above average height and they both have shorter sidekicks who have goatees! The only real big difference is that in the premeir Chuck gets mixed up in international espionage with both the CIA and the NSA. It's a big day for Pete if he can get up by noon to go out and get coffee. Of course Chuck is told to keep his spy vs. spy activity away from his friends and family. All this got me to thinking- what if Pete really is a secret agent? He works as a "consultant" and no one really understands what he does. He quite regularly has to go on trips to "Dallas" for work. Why would a computer guy have to go anywhere? Can't they send all their work over the net? He goes on vacation to places like Viet Nam- for a month! Of course if you asked him he would deny it or laugh it off, "Oh yeah, I'm a spy...." But that is exactly what you would expect him to say. I say if "Chuck" gets cancelled its because they're a little too close to the truth.

The "Green" Movement

2007-09-10T13:36:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, this isn't a critique of environmentalists or a scarefest about global warming. I refer of course to the two different Green movements that were featured in Philadelphia yesterday. One was the "Green Festival" on South Street for the second year in a row. There were four blocks of booths pushing products, ideas and agendas. The hemp people were there, the recycling advocates and solar energy guys and of course the "back to the farm" people and dudes selling reggae hats and suspect veggie wraps. It felt like the parking lot outside a Grateful Dead concert (except no one was selling baloons full of Nitrous) Most of my family was wandering around too- it was in our neighborhood after all. We are generally into recycling and caring about the environment and stuff. I mostly do things that are also economical as well for the earth- things that are "economological" I've never owned a big, gas guzzling car- or any car for that matter. My scooter gets about 70 miles to the gallon. I even got a couple of those cloth tote bags to carry groceries- I was going to the Superfresh and I knew I couldn't walk through that crowd with horrible plastic bags. Plastic bags were good a few years ago, now you can only use them when you walk your dog.

Among the crowd were also a few representatives of the other Green movement- I speak of course of Philadelphia Eagles fans on the occasion of opening day of a new NFL season. Most of them were probably bewildered by the whole hippie dippy scene as they hurried into the supermarket to pick up some last minute chips and dip. I'm stereotyping of course, many people are members of both movements. But if I had to choose between the two Green movements I'd stop recycling immediately and buy a huge SUV and then sit down to watch some football. I was home in plenty of time to see the Eagles game, but now I almost wish I had stayed at the festival. As you have probably hear by now the Birds lost to Green Bay at Lambeau Field and the way they did it was excruciating. They probably should have won the game easily, but they kept making unforgivable mistakes- both coaches and players. Many fans sitting there watching things go wrong in a game often think: "What could I have done differently to change the outcome?" I know its a crazy idea, but we're a superstitious lot- if we weren't wearing the right jersey or sitting in the correct chair we think maybe we we're the cause of the TWO muffed punts (muffed punts, that's what they're called, sorry) It's called magical thinking- I'm sure I've mentioned it before in connection with football.

What struck me later in thinking about the two "Green" movements is how skewed most of our logic is about both of them. We think that our wardrobe or furniture choices can effect a football game- in another city, but we don't believe that doing a few small things for the earth can help at all. "I'm just one person, what can I do.....?" is something you hear all the time. If you change a few habits, take a few less trips in the car, recycle your plastic bags and eat more locally produced food you can make a difference. Just by setting a good example for others good ideas can be spread. It'll make you feel better to do something good for the world. And judging form the Eagles' first game- we're all going to need some cheering up.

National Payroll Week

2007-09-06T20:45:00.001-04:00

Yes, it's National Payroll Week again- September 3 - 7. Sorry to tell you about it on the next to last day, but I just found out myself. I know, it doesn't leave much time for you to plan your office Payroll celebration and dress up as your favorite payroll professionals. Of course Payroll professional is just one of my jobs - my boss sent out an e-mail today telling everyone in the office to thank me for doing such a great job since (most) of them get paid accurately and on time (usually). The sarcasm is mine, my boss was more complimentary. Several people made a point of sending an e-mail or thanking me as I wandered around the office this afternoon- the rest of them may not get paid next week. Payroll actually can be interesting. Besides the obvious fun of knowing everyone's salary, there are also dependent care deductions, city wage taxes, 403b contributions, FICA and various STD's. Don't get excited, STD means "short term disabiliy" They can be from many things, from regular injuries to having a baby. Yes, under the FMLA (that's the Family and medical leave act you Philistines) having a baby is a short term disabilty for the father too. Don't mess with me on the FMLA- I learned about that one the hard way- although I wasn't injured.
Don't worry if you missed National Payroll week, I am also an Accounts Payable professional and a Notary public so you can thank me for that when it is appropriate. Oh and next year for National Payroll week I'd prefer if you just forget about thanking me and give me a small percentage of your salary.

Summer Update

2007-08-25T13:26:00.001-04:00

Sorry for not writing in a while - I've been watching High School Musical 2 for a week straight now. Before that I was on vacation, my first whole week off in over a year I think. We went back to the same house up in the finger lakes region of NY (see this classic entry for details on what its like: http://popculturesnob.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html) It was about the same this year, but it was hotter- temperatures were in the mid-nineties "up at the lake" and there was no breeze and no air conditioning. Not a good combination in a house with fourteen other people. We still found plenty to do, including going over to Watkins Glen State park and climbing up the gorge. There are 800 steps to the top, but it wasn't really that hard.

Watkins Glen is famous for their Nascar racetrack (famous to me because the Grateful Dead played there back in the day) Of course there are many stores and restaurants with Nascar themes and souvenirs. They had nearly everything racing related with the numbers and logos of every driver dead or alive. Except the one thing I wanted: a nascar key ring with a bottle opener on it. What is a more perfect thing for the Nascar fan? You'll never forget your bottle opener because you always have the keys to your pickup truck with you.

The other major event on vacation was my family's obsession with the new Harry Potter book. I usually wait a year or so after the Potter books come out to buy the paperback, and I'm usually a book behind. This time I knew I had to get it quickly before somebody spilled the beans to me about the ending- especially since I was going to be on vacation with five kids under thirteen. There were five or six copies of the "Deathly Hallows" around the house (and even a few of book five and six) All of us were in different stages of reading, so we had a rule that no one could discuss the book openly. I tore through it in a few days. One cousin claims to have read it in eight hours the day it came out. I'm not going to give up anything big about the book, but if you don't want to know skip the next couple of sentences. Many people were speculating about whether Harry or one of his best friends would die in the book. If you really thought this would happen you haven't been reading the series very closely. It is not a tragic hero story where all your best friends sacrifice their lives- it is about the triumph of good over evil with many sacrifices along the way- but nothing that small children wouldn't be able to handle.

Of course the other huge pop culture event of the summer was the Simpons Movie which was made even better by going on vacation with a bunch of my younger cousins. I was very eager to like the movie and I truly did. If you are a Simsons fan you should love it. I didn't want a movie that was totally different than the TV show. Many critics seemed to want something radical (there was even talk years ago about a "live-action" Simpsons movie- maybe Jason Alexander as Homer? Abigail Breslin as Lisa?) I've got to mention another kid-friendly movie I saw recently, because I was very pleasantly surprised. Mom had free tickets and she asked me to go see a preview of "Mr. Bean's Holiday" Now I know Mr. Bean, but not well - I have only seen bits and pieces of his shtick from his TV show. Maybe we were in just the right mood or maybe it was the crowded preview audience, but the movie was hilarious. Rowan Atkinson is a joy to watch. This is a G-rated movie, but I could see it being popular with college students (they may want to add pot and / or beer though). There is even a very funny critique of the independent film movement and the Cannes film festival in particular. I'm rooting for this movie to do well.

There has been more this summer- for an account of my first trip to a Rennaisance fair check out Todd's blog alcibiades.blogspot.com/2007/08/it-was-opening-day-at-pennsylvania.html
If you want to hear about the singles party I went to or how my friend Pete may have had his identity stolen for an upcoming Fall TV series stay tuned.

Traffic

2007-07-15T10:11:00.000-04:00

You may have heard the story about two local brothers who were gored while running with the bulls in Pamplona. They were portrayed as slightly heroic, but I can't help but think they are slightly moronic. Who would go running with the bulls on Friday the 13th? How did they figure that was going to turn out well?

Being out in city traffic is harrowing enough these days without adding even more dangerous angry animals to the mix. Last week there was a cover story in the Philadelphia weekly about traffic from the perspective of car drivers, walkers and bicyclists. They left out scooters and motorcycles for some reason, but we also have different problems and complaints. I have a unique perspective on all of this because I drive a scooter, I walk, I bike and I sometimes drive around the city and I like to complain. I always notice that I am annoyed about what one group is doing when I am in the other group. When I ride my scooter I am shocked at how many chances bike riders take- they run red lights and go the wrong way down streets- some of the new messenger bikes don't even have brakes (I am not kidding). I notice this more on my scooter because a collision with a bicycle could be very serious for me- obviously for them too, but I'm more concerned about me because I'm actually signaling and stopping at lights. Its not like a bike hitting you when you're in a car and they bounce off your hood and you can get out all concerned and help them pick up their wheels and pedals from the street. A scooter v. bike accident could be very serious and I've been very lucky so far. Please wear helmets bike people- you are very vulnerable cause many of you take wild risks and many cars don't like you. I always hated it when I was riding a bike and a nervous driver would creep along behind me, deathly afraid of passing me and then sometimes honking- just speed up and get out of my way, dammit.

Get out of my way is probably the active phrase whether I am on foot, pedaling, driving or scooting. If I am walking I am annoyed at cars not letting me cross the street when I have a light because they have to turn. Why are they in such a hurry? They will probably get where they're going faster than me anyway- just calm down and let me walk. Also, please don't hit me on my scooter or on foot because you are talking on your cell phone while driving. Some people may be good enough drivers to talk on a phone and drive at the same time, but you're not one of them. Yes, I'm talking to you.

Of course when I'm actually driving a car (more on this soon) I hate when pedestrians walk across the street too slowly for my taste- or when they cross against the light and just wander out into the street as if no one could be coming. Of course I also hate cars and delivery vehicles double parked taking up one lane like they own the street. You are slowing down traffic people- don't sit there in your car waiting -streets are for driving-benches are for sitting. Oh, and when I'm on the highway anyone going slower than me is an idiot and anyone going faster than me is a maniac.

All Together Now

2007-07-09T19:25:00.001-04:00

So it has finally happened, the exciting news I've been mentioning for a while: my niece Rebecca is now a Philadelphia resident. My niece's mother and father moved here too, which is good. We were trying to figure it out the other day, how long has it been since the three Horn children have all lived in the same city? If you don't count a few summers during college then it was 1984 - probably about September '84 when older brother Alex went off to school. That's nearly 23 years ago- now that makes me feel old. Since 1984 Abby has lived in New York city, New Haven, Washington DC, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Cleveland (I'm sure she'll let me know a few places I forgot) So, as you can see we are very lucky to have her here. Alex and I have been back in Philadelphia for a while, so that's not so momentous.

Abby, Chip and Rebecca haven't quite totally moved into their new apartment yet. Some of their furniture is in limbo somewhere and they still have some business to take care of in Cleveland (they have a nice house to sell, if you're interested) It will take a few months for them to get into the rhythm and routine of Philadelphia. Abby will be rediscovering things she forgot about and noticing all the changes. Chip has a whole new city to explore and coffeehouses to discover. It will take a while to get used to having them around all the time now, in the past it has been a two or three times a year event.

My parents are probably the most excited to have all their children back together, back to the nest of Philadelphia. OK, so that's pushing it a bit. Of course they like to have us here, but they are most excited about having their grandchild around and they are anxiously awaiting a few more of them. People keep telling me that I'll probably be asked to babysit for my niece, personally I think it will be a while before her Grandparents get tired of the job.

One of the first things I told my sister do when she came back was to check out one of my favorite hoagie spots, Sarcones. It happens to be a few blocks from her new place. She got a turkey hoagie with spinach, peppers, and sharp provolone- I think that's the "Uncle Louie" She had planned to save some for her husband, but she ended up almost finishing it herself! Now that's my sister- getting back to her sandwich roots. It goes to show, you can take the girl out of Philadelphia.....

Gone Fishin'

2007-06-30T09:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been a while I've been waiting on line for an Iphone. No, actually I was in Cape Cod for a week on my first vacation in quite a while. My father and his wife Susan purchased a house up on the Cape several months ago. It is our first ever official family vacation house that we own and not rent so it's very exciting. They have been working very hard to get it fixed up - new furniture, art on the walls, upgraded the bathrooms and fully stocked it. I've just been annoying people by referring to "My house on the Cape..." It's a great thing to drop into conversation- try it sometime- "The funniest thing happened when I was up at my house on the Cape last week..."
See? Isn't that cool? Go ahead and say it even if you don't actually own a house - I don't.

I was invited to come up a few weeks ago though. Dad and Susan were spending a few weeks up at the house before renting it out for parts of the popular summer season. I was going up for the last week to check it out, hang out with my Dad and drive back to Philadelphia with him.
The Cape is a bit hard to get to from Philadelphia if you don't want to spend seven hours in a car. That time can be extended quite a bit if you happen to run into traffic near New York, or Hartford, or Providence. I avoided this by taking a plane to Providence (Southwest Airlines - $29.00 one-way) and renting a car. The drive out to the Cape on a Tuesday morning only took a few hours (and went through a great town named "Sandwich" which somehow I didn't stop in)
I found the house with only one wrong turn.

If you think of Cape Cod as shaped like a man flexing a bicep then the house is "mid Cape"- kind of near the bend in the elbow- in a town called East Orleans. Cape Cod is kind of like the Jersey shore except the Cape has better weather, less people, more trees, flowers and wildlife and no casinos. Dad and Susan's house is beautiful- lushly landscaped and shingled just like a Cape house should be. Inside it's more modern- plenty of light and space and a great outdoor deck. There is not an ocean or bay view, as Dad pointed out on the Cape "A million dollar view is not just an expression...."

My first night up there Dad and I went to a Cape Cod League baseball game. It's a very famous Summer league where college players come to get more experience. The game was right in town- not at the high school field but the middle school field. Also, there were no stands- just a hillside to spread out a blanket or plop down a couple of chairs. The best think about the game was the small town feel about the whole operation. They were selling concessions at the top of the hill and guys were wandering around selling raffle tickets and taking donations ("Win an autographed baseball!) The baseball itself wasn't so great - our hometown Orleans Cardinals did not look great- but its early in the season. Dad and I had a great time making fun of the players and questioning the managers moves (ie: trying to steal home with two outs and your #4 hitter up? In the 1st inning) The other great thing about the game? Parking: Free Admission: Free.

I think the main reason Dad loves the Cape is the fishing. He has been a serious fisherman for close to forty years now. He and my brother have all kinds of equipment and go after all kinds of fish, fresh and saltwater varieties. They mostly "catch and release" leaving the fish to be caught again. Quite a few years ago it became clear that I didn't have the patience for fishing, mainly because you could spend many hours doing it and not catch anything or even see any fish. Then you can discuss what was wrong- did you have the wrong fly or lure? We're the fish not here or not hungry? I believe it was all of these things this time.

We went out with Dad's long time fishing buddy Dick and his wife Linda three or four times to different spots over three days, but there was nothing happening. We did see scant evidence of some fish, but nobody was even able to hook one the any time we went out. No "ones that got away" this time. Every place we went was even more beautiful then the next, so the effort was not totally in vain. I was told that we couldn't get to the really good fishing spot along the beach because some birds were nesting there and couldn't be disturbed. The state takes this bird conservation stuff very seriously- this upsets the fisherman, because they just want to annoy the fish, not the birds. Dick and Linda did dig up some clams and we acquired some lobsters from a guy in a boat who we met clandestinely on a bay beach, so we didn't go without seafood.

I'm looking forward to many vacations up on the Cape, sitting on the beach, not catching fish, taking pictures of lighthouses - and next time I'm definitely stopping in Sandwich.

Nice Kitties....

2007-05-29T20:57:00.000-04:00

I warned my friend that she would end up in my blog if she asked me to feed her cats, but she didn't listen. Oh well. She reads my blog and knows that I don't have cats and don't enjoy being "responsible" for "anything". Actually it was two cats belonging to my friend B. and her fiance G. (not their real initials). I knew they must have been desperate to ask me for help.

G. showed me around their large two story apartment and introduced me to the cats. I don't remember their names so lets call them black & white cat and grey & white cat. I learned where their food was and how to refill their kitty water fountain. The water fountain was actually really cool - it's a large dome attached to a bowl and the water is constantly circulated. Most cats I have known would have overturned and destroyed this device in minutes but these cats actually used it.

I only had to go by once a day to feed the cats and pick up the mail. It's a small building so the mail is all left in a pile by the front door. I didn't really want to go through all of it, so I just took all of it up to the apartment - they could sort it out later. One thing you should know about these cats is that they shed more hair than most cats have. Think about the most cat hair you have seen on a sofa and then triple it and you would be close. Now I understand why B. said it wouldn't be a good idea to bring the cats to my place. She had said that they would jump up on the furniture and that black & white cat was in her "rebellious teenage phase".

These cats didn't seem to want anything to do with me. They didn't run down stairs to eat when I came in, in fact I never saw them eat at all. They seemed to be afraid of me- I tried to be nice and kneel down to pet them. I guess I didn't spend enough time over there hanging out for them to want to come and sit in my lap. These cats were being cautious and aloof like I had never seen. Usually when you feed a cat for a while they become your best friend immediately.
Grey & white cat was a little friendlier- he follwed me around a little but he was probably just keeping an eye on me for his owners. I figured they just didn't like me because I am not asian, like B. and G. Yes, these were unfriendly, racist cats.

One day I had trouble finding black & white cat but I wanted to be sure she was ok, so I called her and went upstairs looking all over. Finally she appeared from behind some boxes in the upstaris hall way. I may have awoken her from the looks of it. When I went to say hi she acted like she didn't know me. She did the little kitty batting with the paw move- I went to try to pet her to show her I was friendly, but it was too late- she got me on the hand. My reflexes aren't what they once were. At least I wasn't scratched on the face- but what kind of thanks is that for feeding and watering these cats all week? And cleaning out the kitty litter? All I did was try to be nice to these cats and they treated me like an intruder.

I still went back to feed the cats the few days that were left after the incident. Grey and white cat seemed a bit friendlier maybe, but cat who scratched me avoided me as much as possible. Maybe she thought I would want to get revenge.

Everything turned out just fine in the end. I really didn't mind feeding the cats at all. I like to be able to help out friends in need. Unlike the cats, B and G were very appreciative and took me out for a nice lunch to thank me for my effort. I'm actually not so bad at taking care of animals - I don't know why more people don't ask me to do it.

A Perfect night for Bobble Heads

2007-05-21T20:19:00.000-04:00

So I get a call last week - Wednesday morning to be exact - from my Aunt Terry- and she has a mission for me should I choose to accept it. You see there is a Phillies game that night and she wants me to go. No, not go with her, she wants to buy me a ticket so I can go and get her a prized National league MVP Ryan Howard bobble head doll.

Now this is a little bit of a strange request coming from anyone, but, well you have to know my Aunt. She is one of the most sensible people I know. A mother of two twenty-something young women, a great cook and a respected Chemistry professor at a highly regarded local College. She can tell you the atomic weight of Cesium off the top of her head for god sakes. She actually keeps her growing bobble head collection at work. I know she already has a Ryan Howard bobble head doll in her collection because I went to a game with her last year to get it. But, somehow she still needed another. I'm not sure where the idea for her collection started, but some of us think it's from her husband who has a world class collection of metal buildings and newspapers.

I agreed to go even though rain was threatening and there was no one around to go with me. This would be my mission alone. I couldn't say no to my Aunt, she rarely if ever asks me a favor. (It's for this same reason that I'm feeding my friends' cats this week- can you believe someone who reads this blog would ask me to take care of animals again?- More on this soon)
Of course the rain started to pick up as I made my way to the ball park. I was almost hoping they would cancel the game and I could go home. Ryan Howard himself wasn't even playing- he was on injured reserve. The game was going to start late everything was going to be wet and it was going to be cold- but hey, maybe the Phillies would win. The chance of that is about 50/50 this year.

There were still rumbles of thunder as I walked around the very crowded councourse at the park. It was still raining so hard that all of the 40,000 plus who had come out to get bobbleheads were all taking cover in the same spot. Of course the roving vendors saw this and decided to sell where the people were- they were walking around yelling above the din, selling their bad beer. I had to get a sandwich of course, this being a ballgame. Most of the lines were pretty long and out in the rain, so I went for something easy. It still should have been good, mind you- I got a "Schmitter" which is a chesse steak on a kaiser roll with salami and 1000 Island type dressing on it. I had eaten one here before and thought maybe I had been unlucky, but again, it was a pretty spare- wich with dry chewy meat and too much dressing. I'm sure its better at the bar where it originated.

The actual game started an hour and a half late. I made my way to my seat up in left field mostly just to take a rest- I had been walking among the sweaty crowd for an hour clutching Terry's precious bobblehead. Of course I had considered going home with the doll and forgetting about the game. But I wanted to see the young Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels pitch and being a superstitious sports fan I knew that if I left something incredible would happen and I would never forgive myself for missing it. The crowd was spotty, but still pretty big for such an cold dark night. However, they were very responsive when Hamels struck out the side in the first inning. Hamels throws mostly changeups and curveballs, he's got a slow fastball, only around 90 mph. The Phils scored five runs in the first two innings, but that wasn't so interesting. Young Hamels continued to dominate striking guys out, allowing no walks and not even allowing the ball out of the infield for the first three innings. The crowd started to notice what was happening and was coming alive and cheering every pitch. If you're a baseball fan you know the rules, not balls and strikes and infield flies but superstitions. Many fans believe that if a pitcher is dominating and tossing a no-hitter or a perfect game you can't mention it because you will jinx it. I believe that's called magical thinking. The players on the bench avoid him- won't say a word to him. The guys broadcasting the game don't mention it either. Everyone knew what we had going here was a perfect game, but no one was talking about it. There was growing excitement with every batter and high fives with each nice play in the field.

Three innings, four innings, batter after batter went down. I have never seen a perfect game or even a no hitter. The way this night started out nothing could be better than one of my most memorable sporting events ever. Well, it didn't happen. After six perfect innings (two-thirds of a game) Hamels gave up a walk and then a homerun to the next guy. There goes the perfect game, the no-hitter and even the shut out just like that. Oh well. I'm still glad I stayed and Terry got her bobble head doll. Just so you know when I tell this story in the future Cole will pitch a perfect game. After a while I'll forget what really happened - please don't remind me, it makes for a much better ending.

Walking and Talking

2007-04-23T19:22:00.000-04:00

Kind of ironic that taking a writing class has actually slowed me down from writing- at least on my blog. The class ended a few weeks ago and I still have a few things I wrote which I will post in the near future (maybe). I am not in the habit of wrting longer pieces with "editing" and "facts" involved. Of course I took it more seriously because it was for a class even though it wasn't for a grade- we all still want praise from our teachers and fellow students.

Last weekend my niece Rebecca was in town. My nieces' mother (formerly called my sister Abby) brought her to town from Cleveland for several days. Of course Rebecca is one of the few children I will write about in my blog which is usually quite child free. If you remember from last Summer I've been trying to get her to call me "Nernie" like her mother did when she was little. When I saw her in January she said it a few times, but now she really knows it. My nieces' mother must have coached her well because now she refers to me as "Unca Nernie". Rebecca is past two and a half now. It's really interesting to see her making connections and talking in full sentences. Sometimes if I can't understand what she is saying I'll ask her to repeat it and then I'll look to her mother to translate.

"Oh, she wants you to read her a story" or
"She said she has a Dora the Explorer potty seat" My sister is fluent in two-year old of course.

I have little doubt that little Rebecca will be smarter than me any day now. I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the cutest most well behaved baby ever.

There was another thing that came up a few weeks ago that I need to tell you about because it involves sandwiches. My Mother (my neices' Grandmother) told me that when she visited Cleveland she kept saying a certain phrase to Rebecca when they were eating:

"MMmmmm Toasty....."

So of course I say "You know that's form a commercial, right?" Actually Mom did know about Quizznos and had even been to one - probably against her will. She then went on to claim that I had taught her the phrase- becuase I had been saying it a lot. I must protest. Maybe "mmmmm Donuts" or "mmmmm Beer" like Homer Simpson, but I don't repeat the slogan of a national sandwich chain even if they do have some good sandwiches. I do happen to like the commercial when the little character they have eats the logo- but I don't run around parroting their slogan. So we're still not really sure where Mom picked up that phrase. Reminds me of the time when we couldn't remember where we got the phrase "That's crazy Talk". Both Mom and I were saying that. I think we determined it was a Jon Stewart catchphrase for a while. Hey Mom how bout' this: "Mmmmm..That's crazy toasty..."

The Book on Mary

2007-03-26T08:20:00.000-04:00

My senior year in college I had a good friend who I didn't care to speak to before then.

I had only known Mary Dillon her by her politics and reputation. She was active in the college Republicans and the president of the pro-life group on campus - not a very popular position at our school. She ran for Student Association president junior year and I wouldn’t vote for her. She didn’t win.

I became friends with Mary Dillon (we always called each other by both names- I’m not sure why) the next year when she came to work at the campus TV station where I was program director. She had been a guest on our McLaughlin Group type show in the past and now she wanted to be a news reporter.

I’m sure in the beginning I was still a bit wary of her. I saw her as a prude, a Reagan era conservative. Somehow I thought that these things mattered to our life on campus. I’m sure Mary Dillon accepted me right away. That’s just the kind of person she was- kind and open, funny and hardworking. I soon found out that she wasn’t a stuck-up ideologue I had imagined but actually more fun than most people I knew in school. She was up for almost anything: a basketball game, dinner, a party. She would always have one more drink with me at the local bar if we thought a party had ended too early.

During one of those drinks I told her that I hadn’t voted for her. I don’t remember the discussion exactly, but I know she must have been a bit hurt. Of course she didn’t hold it against me. My image of her had changed so totally from a kind of scary “other” with views I found laughable or dangerous (Star Wars?, trickle down economics?) into one of my most trusted friends.

Of course I saw immediately what a great student leader she would have been. Much better than the fraternity brother who won election mostly on, well…being a fraternity brother. Mary Dillon’s political ideas would not have affected our campus too much - she wouldn’t have had the power or desire to say, remove the funding from the pro-choice group on campus. I was not alone in seeing campus politics like national politics. We didn’t want the best person for the job, but the person we agreed with the most.

I can’t help thinking of Mary Dillon and morals together. Both the kind she held and the kind she taught me. I don't mean to say she changed my mind on any topics - nor did she try to. She taught me to change how I viewed people – not politics. The real lesson here was to go a bit deeper, beyond the simple caricature you have in your head. In college they were teaching us how to become independent, questioning thinkers. From Mary Dillon I learned not to judge a book by its’ cover.

First Assignment

2007-03-17T13:47:00.000-04:00

I started taking a writing class last week at Penn. Yes, I know, all of you are saying "its about time" So this is our first assignment- we were given the first line and a format to follow. Apparently I'm usually a bit too long winded, so I had to cut out a lot of good jokes. But this story actually did happen. Kind of like this:

This really bad thing happened to my car. Actually, it wouldn't have been that bad- except that it was my mothers' car. She was always very worried that something would happen to it when she lent it out. Something did.

There was a friendly rivalry at the time between me and my brother Alex: whoever helped Mom with a houshold task or computer problem was deemed, for a few days, the "good son". Of course we put up with it because we love our mother, and we wanted to borrow her car.

Mom's green Mazda was nothing fancy. It had a funny smell and was rarely cleaned. My Mom was in the restaurant business and was constantly hauling food around. There were many stains of indeterminate origin. Sometimes you would find an errant carrot underneath a seat. But a free car is a free car.

Almost every time I asked to borrow her car Mom would tell me about what Alex did wrong the last time he took it.

"You know he changed my radio from NPR to that awful sports station" she'd say.

"So I guess he's not the good son this week?" I would say, putting in a plug for myself.

He should have known that it's part of the code when you borrow anybody's car- especially someone who will always remember what you did wrong. One time after a particularly egregious offense by my brother (I think he brought it back empty) I decided I would do something extra special to secure the "good son" title for all time.

I went to the store and bought all manner of Windex, special "auto wipes" of course heavy-duty auto Febreeze. The first step was removing the bigger debris and then vacuuming. Somehow the car had acquired a layer of dirt. Not your average dirt, but ground in detergent commercial style dirt. The fabric cleaner and some other deodorizers helped to almost get rid of the menu of food smells that had been left behind. I worked hard, but it felt good because Mom would be happy.

I drove around my neighborhood looking for a parking spot and thinking of all the points I would earn. I live in Queen Village which is a very nice neighborhood on the very outside edge of South Philly. In most parts of South Philly there are no laws- not when it comes to parking. A lawn chair put out in your spot will save it. In some places you can park in the middle of the street - right where the median should be. Everyone just knows all this.

Queen Village is a bit different. There are notoriously too few spots and the ticket givers aren't afraid to venture there. When I found a legal spot I could actually get the car into I was surprised. Maybe I was giddy from the smell of all the cleaning products. I’m still not sure. I somehow didn't see the sign post that ripped off the drivers side mirror. Very bad. This was something you couldn't fix with heavy duty epoxy and tape, believe me I tried.

Right away I had lost all my "good son" points. No matter how shiny the car was it didn't matter. The replacement mirror was a completely different color than the rest of the car- always a reminder to me about what I had done.

Mom doesn't worry about her car anymore. She sold it. I walk to the grocery store. And I still help her with her computer.

Not for me, Thanks

2007-02-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

There are certain foods I like and eat often (sandwiches), some I like certain forms and types of, say sushi or tofu - and others I just can't stand - broccoli, tuna fish salad, zucchini. I can usually avoid them and they don't bother me too much. I'll often pick olives out of things I don't like, but they don't ruin a dish for me. I started thinking about all this last week when I had a conversation with people I work with about what they won't eat. Actually it was more about the ways they won't eat things. I can say I don't have any of these little eccentricities.

One woman didn't like to have jelly, or any other condiment for that matter touching the bread itself. Apparently if the jelly is in between peanut butter or the mustard is on the meat and not soaking into the bread this is OK. Another guy could not tolerate pickles in any way. If he gets a pickle garnishing a Cheeseburger platter he says the pickle "taints" all the food on the plate. I just move it out of the way and ignore it or give it to someone else. (I actually like sliced pickles on a hamburger, but not the pickle spear type- is that weird?) One woman I work with is legendary for not eating anything green- I'm sure this includes all manner of green vegetables, but I'm not sure if it extends to green hard candies or M&M's. What does she say to her grandkids when they don't want to eat their peas? I guess she doesn't cook them in the first place. I think someone else mentioned a problem with peas too, now that I think of it.

When we were growing up my brother insisted on eating his spagetti and meatballs separately. It was meatballs first then - clean off the plate and eat the spagetti plain. He has become more sophisticated in his old age, but he still eats tunafish salad all the time. Several other people in my extended family have a thing about nuts and raisins in deserts. They are relatively OK by themselves I think, but not in a pie or a cake. One uncle actually passed this concept down to his daughter. Another friend doesn't like food with "endoskeleton" as he puts it. Lobster and "exoskeleton" seafood are acceptable. He'll still eat it I think, but he won't like it- too much work I guess.

I hear that many people- otherwise normal, healthy adults- don't like certain foods touching
each other on their plates. Perhaps their mothers made them some bad combinations in the past. There is a character on TV who only eats white food. Then there is the young woman I've heard of who is afraid of mustard. Not just on her sandwich, but on the table at a restaurant too. Its like garlic to a vampire with her. Baseball games must be hell.

This year so far

2007-02-06T20:26:00.000-05:00

This is the start of what has a chance of becoming a semi-regular feature here on the blog.
I tend to write about things of great importance in the world in general so I sometimes forget to tell you all about big things happening in my world of family friends and work.

It feels like the Holidays were ages ago, damn January is a long month. My Mom had a big birthday in January- I won't tell you how old she is, but she is eligible for Social Security now.
We had a small dinner party for her at Alex and Missy's house. Lots of good food and many people who had also been at her 40th and 50th birthday parties. We (the kids) got Mom an electronic picture frame- the kind you can load up with a bunch of JPEGS that cycle along in a slide show. The better to show off more pictures of her grandchild. Speaking of Rebecca, the really big news lately and definitely Mom's best birthday present was the news that Rebecca will be moving to Philadelphia this summer! She will also bring along her mother Abby and father Chip. It will be great to have all of them living here. I don't think all the siblings have lived in the same city at once for about 15 years. I hope they can find a nice house near me with a garage where I can park my scooter.

In other news, a long time fan of the blog told me some very happy, but not very surprising news. Not surprising because I ask her everytime I see her- "When are you getting engaged?"
Well she finally did. She is fairly private so I'll just go with her usual e-mail name- congratulations to "A" (and her fiance "F"). I worked with both of them in the past and I'm very happy that they've found each other.

More news of a family nature- long time friends of mine (I don't want to call them "old" friends because to me they are still both 22) had a second child- this time a girl. Heidi, Joni and little brother Julius welcomed new baby Josefina on February 6th. Maybe they'll move back to Philadelphia too. Joni - send me a cigar.

My Dad and his wife also had birthdays this past month, but we didn't have big celebrations this year. Dad says he wants a big celebration for his 70th, so we have a few years to plan it. Maybe with Abby moving to town now we will let her do all the work.

Phoning it In

2007-01-29T17:49:00.000-05:00

No, not me, I'm referring to the "Media" and entertainment business at large. Lately I've been noticing they are reporting some extemely obvious stories. Most of the time news really is news and entertainment at least tries to be interesting. Here are some absolutely real recent examples:

On NPR, a story about how cats like to kill birds. Yes, and...?? Of course they had a bunch of people complaining that the bird population is suffering and all this brutality is unconscionable. I had to check my calendar to see if it was April Fools day. There had to be something more important or interesting to report on - even on NPR. They probably got a thousand e-mails from angry Cat people too, it serves them right.
On CBS News' Sunday Morning program a cover story on how scientists have discovered that walking is good for you. No really, even better than we thought- no its really good, you should be walking now. Sunday Morning is one of my all time favorite shows because they will cover Arts & Culture unlike any other network show. My Dad got me into the habit of watching it over 20 years ago. (For the record- my Dad has always said that walking is good for you) It is one of the few Sunday shows that doesn't have talking heads yelling at each other. I don't know what story they left out to report this dog bites man stuff.
On the History Channels' Modern Marvels recently: The Wheel. I swear to God. I didn't actually watch it, even I have some standards. First of all, yes, the wheel is marvelous, but certainly not modern. In fact its probably one of our oldest inventions- they came up with it sometime right after "sticks" and "fire". And no one really knows who came up with it and when? You can only estimate. What did they talk about, our amazing modern wheels? How round they are and how they aren't made out of wood or stone? How about that revolution in wheels - rubber. I'm going to have to ask Tivo to tape this for me the next time it comes on.

High Culture Controversy of the year

2007-01-02T18:20:00.000-05:00

I have breathed the rarified air of the cultural elite of Philadelphia. I worked for the Orchestra for four years, so I know what a special world it is. Of course almost everyone I worked with and several subscribers I knew we obsessed with the behind the scenes news of the Orchestra. The Inquirer reported on the Orchestra like it was a sports team. They had two writers who wrote about little else. I always thought it was interesting, but then I worked there. I could never figure out why (or if) so many other people were interested. I'm sure most people would have enjoyed another story about "American Idol" much more.

I have been reminded of these Orchestra stories over the last few months when I heard the wall to wall coverage of the "Gross Clinic" controversy. The "Gross Clinic" (for you uninformed out-of-towners) is a painting by famed Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins. The controversy happened when the paintings owner announced they were going to sell the work to a museum in Arkansas being built by an heir to the Walmart fortune. The sellers, Thomas Jefferson University, gave the "Arts Community" in town an oppportunity to meet the selling price of $63.8 MILLION dollars and keep the painting here.

There was an immediate outcry among the cognoscenti: How could this happen to us, how could Jefferson do this to Philadelphia? There were newspaper stories, TV news coverage and hours and hours on NPR devoted to the story. There was an immediate effort to raise money to keep the painting here, but it looked bleak as there was only a few months to come up with some major cash. People actually talked about this story all over the place. Friends, relatives and co-workers mentioned it constantly.

Every one was very upset that this masterwork by one of America's all time great artists might not be here anymore. The funny thing to me, what I hardly ever heard mentioned by anyone, was that the vast majority of Philadelphians had never heard of Thomas Eakins much less knew about this painting. This painting wasn't in a major museum. Not even in a minor one. It was kept in a locked basement gallery in a non-descript University building. If anyone in the public knew it was there they would have to make an appointment and wait for a security guard to unlock a door to get into the gallery. I didn't know it was there- and I know who Thomas Eakins was - we even attended the same high school (over 100 years apart). Eakins' paintings are very familiar to me - especially his "famous" rowing paintings. I even remember another of his "Clinic" paintings depicting medical procedures of the time - the "Agnew Clinic" Tourists don't come into town looking to see the "Gross Clinic" I wish that they did. I can guarantee that there would be a much greater outcry among tourists and locals if they went and tried to sell the infamous "Rocky" statue now standing by the Art Museum.

If you are planning a trip to Philadelphia soon, don't worry, you can still see the "Rocky" statue and maybe- if there is time - you can go into the Art Museum and see the "Gross Clinic". A whole bunch of rich people and organizations saved the painting from going to Arkansas. Now many, many more generations of Philadelphians can go on ignoring it. Me, I plan to go see it very soon. Now that I know it's famous.

We wish you a Merry Lead Poisoning

2006-12-11T22:30:00.000-05:00

I ended a post exactly a year ago today with the words "Now, let me tell you what I think of Christmas trees........ " I actually put in all those dots too - but I never really got back to the subject. I had been writing about my office "Holiday" party and I wanted to assure everybody that even though I am Jewish, I am not offended by Christmas.

Now about the trees - I like to entertain my friends every year with a (usually) drunken rant about how dangerous X-mas trees are. It's mostly tongue in cheek of course, you know - "Oh lets put a dead dry tree in the house and put cheap lights on it! That should be safe!! Then we can weigh it down with breakable glass ornaments and let the kids and pets play around it. Yeaaa!!"

One of the fun things about working around a bunch of scientist types is that fascinating and disturbing facts often come up in conversation. That is how I found out how Christmas trees can give you lead poisoning. This is a real scientific study so pay attention. It turns out that many of the popular artificial x-mas trees are made of poly-vinyl chloride plastic (or "PVC" - you may have seen its' work in pipes). In the past there was lead used in the molds in which the "trees" were formed. Many of the finished products were dripping with trace levels of toxic lead along with the tinsel. More fun for the kids- don't worry about eating paint anymore kids - but watch out for that tree. The scientist at work who told me about this even tested his artificial tree for lead (does that come before the caroling and after hanging the stockings by the chimney with care?)

I always thought the big danger of Christmas trees was fire, but now I'm not so sure. The "Mythbusters" on Discovery Channel recently did a show about x-mas trees causing fires, but it turns out that no matter how many lights you put on a tree it will not catch fire unless there is a spark from, lets say, a bad plug or cable. Then it will go up like an old blimp. There are many x-mas tree fires every year, so lets be careful out there. You don't even want to know what will happen if your lead covered plastic tree catches on fire. Merry Christmas!

Now, let me tell you about how anti-oxidents may keep you from spontaneously combusting...

Really?

2006-11-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

People who I thought were Dead already

Leonard Cohen- I've thought he's been dead since the 70's when my Mom listened to him all the time. Aren't you supposed to be dead when they do a bunch of tribute albums of your songs?
Fyvush Finkle - He's been playing old guys for a long time
Evel Knievel - Again, thought he was dead in the '70's
Syd Barret - Rock snobs know he was an original member of Pink Floyd. When people always said he "left the band" I figured he had died. Turns out he just died a few weeks ago.
Milton Freidman - Just died the other day. He lived long enough to to see if his theories panned out.
Jerry Blavat

Still here

Lou Reed - In 1966 he wrote "....Heroin - will be the death of me" and he's still alive? What is he doing wrong? Or right?
David Crosby
Fidel Castro - Has outlived about ten U.S. Presidents. He has proven that Cigar smoking must be good for you
Salman Rushdie

Why?

Johnny Carson deceased; Ed McMahon still alive

John Lennon and George Harrison gone; Ringo still here

Frank Sinatra dead; Englebert humperdink - still playing Vegas

Perils of Global Warming

2006-11-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

I've had a theory (well maybe you would just call it an observation) that involves when it really starts to get cold in the Fall. I've noticed that there is always a cold snap right at Halloween- cold enough so your mom would make you wear a jacket over your costume when you went out Trick or Treating. This would, of course, totally ruin the costume you had been working on for months.

"Mom!! Spiderman wouldn't wear a jacket"
"He would if his mother told him to.."
"Awww, Mom"

I've been telling people this "theory" over the last few weeks when the subject of the weather comes up. And you know how often that is. This year I was proven wrong as kids here in Philadelphia could have gone out in shorts for Halloween. It was a beautiful night - probably still in the 60's in prime candy collecting time.

Now its a few weeks later and we're still having highs in the 60's and 70's. All the rain we've been having should have been snow - or at least some freezing rain or sleet. It hasn't even got below freezing even at night. I've hardly had to use my new heat pump dammit. Thanksgiving is a week away and nobody even realizes it because of the weather. It just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving. Well, maybe Thanksgiving in California, but here back east we like to freeze our asses off watching football and running home to a big blaze in the fireplace. This year it'll probably be nice enough to have dinner in the backyard. Maybe by Chrsitmas....

Pushing Forty

2006-10-28T11:36:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's how one of my supposed friends put it when the subject of my birthday came up a few weeks ago. I don't like to think of it that way- I prefer to say I am entering my late thirties. My birthday was last week - October 25 for future reference for those of you who forgot. And you know who you are. A few of my good friends were out of town so they can be forgiven. In fact I find the best birthday strategy is stretching it out as long as you can. If you have a party that'll probably be it - but if you're clever you can have three or four dinners and lunches in the week surrounding your birthday. People are nice to you all week- like its your own private Holiday season. (One of my birthday dinners was covered in Todd's Blog - www.alcibiades.blogspot.com) I was also treated to a great Paul Simon concert with my Aunt Terry and cousin Emily. He sounds great and he's pushing 70. Dad and Susan took me, Alex and Missy out to a great Cuban restaurant on my actual birthday. Mom was good for a dinner before she left on her cruise. She says she still owes me a gift too- and who am I to say no.

My brother Alex has a big birthday coming up - thats right four-oh. Or leaving his extreme late thirties as he might want me to put it. Turning Forty probably won't bother Alex too much - he's already lost most of his hair so that's not something he's worried about. There will be a party for him, but I think he is also milking this one appropriately. He has already been at two of MY three birthday dinners (so far). I don't know if I'll be able to get the gift he probably really wants - Sorry, I just don't think the Flyers are going to win the Cup this year. And of course the Super Bowl is probably out of the question too. Maybe I'll get him something with a Trout on it as usual.

So don't forget Alex's birthday November 10th. If you already forgot mine, don't worry I am probably free for lunch or dinner this week. Maybe you could treat me to a nice sandwich.
I will also accept beer and cash.

Bad Ads

2006-10-21T15:45:00.000-04:00

I was very excited a few weeks ago to see an article about a local radio station that was actually helping its advertisers to get the most for their ad budgets. They asked the listeners to take a web survey on which ads on the station they actually liked and why. I love this idea, because I generally hate advertising (thus TIVO and NPR are two of my favorite things). Nothing is worse than hearing the same ads again and again and again- yes this mostly happens on the radio. There are some ads that actually make me change the station- and vow never to use the product hawked. This is bad for the station and the advertiser- so bad advertising hurts everybody.

I remember one particular ad that was a dial turner- I think it was for a company selling awnings for your backyard. It was one of those spots where they pretended that people were having a conversation about their product and explaining it to us. One of the people kept interrupting the other by whining "Tell them about the discount, Harry" or some other name - depending on which version it was. Yes, an annoying ad with several variations- thinking we wanted to have someone whine at us. Also they always advertised the discount, so why run out and buy it if there was always a discount.

There's another ad that's getting into the same category just because its been running for soooo long. Its even for a company (Accountemps) I actualy worked for- they helped me get my current job. Still they have been running the same series of ads for at least a year and a half. They generally feature a super-temp named "Bob" who can walk in and save a company and even get other people in trouble because he outshines them. If I was in charge of hiring people I wouldn't want this guy show me up. Please, I don't care how well these ads are working - do something else, like yesterday.

GEICO has been running a bunch of ads over the last few years and generally they are doing very well. They have the cockney lizard who I guess is supposed to appeal to the ironic hipsters- talking about pie and chips and other Britishisms. I don't need new car insurance and I don't care how witty their lizard is. They also have (sometimes) funny ads where "stars" help real people tell their stories (I'm not even sure this is the same company) In either case why do I care if my Insurance company is cool, hip and funny- I just want the best price and service. These things aren't really talked about.

Probably my most hated ads as a category are for "Lite" beer. I'm probably a bigger beer snob than I am a sandwich snob, so I am quite annoyed when I see these ads where people go to great lengths to get their favorite lite beer. They usually are stealing it too - from their roommate or neighbor- what kind of message is this. Drink bad beer and commit petty theft? These ads generally don't say anything about how the beer tastes- not even versus other lite beers. They are just creating a "brand" identity. Why would I choose a beer based on a funny commercial and not taste?

Do these bad ads stay on the air because they work- or because they work well enough? A good ad can become iconic and a cultural milepost. Who knows how many more cars would be sold by certain dealerships if they did something other than YELL at us.

Advertisers - stop being so lazy and come up with something good that doesn't insult most of us. Oh, and I have plenty of room on my blog for banner and animated pop-up ads, just drop me an e-mail.

Schadenfreude

2006-10-09T17:27:00.000-04:00

I wanted the title of this entry to sound smart because what I'm really going to write about is Sports. Of course "Schadenfreude" is a German word meaning "taking pleasure in the misfortune of others" As a Philadelphia sports fan I am very well versed on the subject. Our teams have a legendary history of letting us down so we are often left watching as other cities move on to the playoffs year after year. It is then we have to pick our teams to root against. Maybe it was the team that knocked our team out of the race- or a team with an athlete we really hate. Rooting against Kobe Bryant and Scott Rolen has always been easy for us here in Philadelphia. This year's baseball playoffs give me many opportunities. Not only do we have the Mets- who beat up on the whole league and won the division by 75 games, but the other New York team the dreaded Yankees. Now, I always root against the Yankees, one because they are Evil, and two- do you need a two? Actually this year it was more fun to root against them because they had one of the Phillies cast off underachievers on their team. When Bobby Abreu was traded to the Yankees people thought the Phillies had given up - the general manager even said that could be the case. The trade turned out to be great for both sides - the Phillies went on a tear and nearly made the playoffs (big surprise to everyone that they just missed) and Abreu helped the Yankees win their division by even more than they would have without him. He also seemed to make them a lock for the World Series. But not so fast there pal - the Yankees ran into a problem this year on their way to the Series- they kept losing. Yes, my new favorite team the scrappy Detroit Tigers beat them 3 games to 1 and knocked them out in the first round. The Tigers were extremely happy to win and beat the Yanks too - they had a huge clubhouse celebration like they had just won the World Series - and the World Cup- and the Stanley Cup. A bunch of players even ran back on to the field to high five the fans and spray champagne on them. Their celebration was so amazing that I went out the next day and bought a Tigers hat- to show I'm now a fan of a team that cares about their fans and has some enthusiasm for the game. But mostly because they beat the Yankees.

The football team I save my venom for is - well - I've heard it put this way - "I root for the Eagles and who ever is playing the Cowboys" So this weekend was extra special because both were the case. The 'boys and their hated wide receiver "OD" came into town and the Eagles sent them away with a loss - it only took an epic struggle with the outcome in doubt until the literal last minute. Thinking about the game during the week I realized that it's not the Cowboys themselves I hate - or their fans in Dallas really. They're passionate for their team just like we are. I hate the people here in Philadelphia who root for the Cowboys - they have no connection to Texas, no emotional bond with the team - its a fake fandom- and boy are they obnoxious. Almost everybody knows a guy like that at work - he tries to be contrary by rooting for the enemy. Thats who we hate- those traitors among us. We love that they are in pain this week, wondering what went wrong. We've been there.

What I had for Lunch

2006-10-03T17:40:00.000-04:00

So I was browsing through a large coffeehouse/bookstore the other day and - right past a book by Jared the "Subway" guy- I saw a book called "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog" by somebody named Margaret Mason. Now, Ms. Mason's book was filled with pithy ideas about what she thinks you should write about- things such as "Conduct Unecessary Experiments", "Eavesdrop on people in public" , "Take an unusual stand on an Issue" or "Give some insider knowledge about your hometown." Now I'm sure all this could be fine, and if you haven't already thought of most of these gems you should turn in your keyboard. But my main problem is I don't like her telling me that the main subject of my blog is boring. What I had for lunch can be very interesting- especially if it was a sandwich. Now if you had a salad or a container of yogurt I don't really care, but a sandwich, at least a good one is worth a thousand words. What kind of bread was it? Was there meat? Cheese? Vegetables and condiments? Did you have anything on the side? There are hundreds of things to write about.

I think she should have named her book "No One Cares what your Cat/Dog/Kid did today...."
Actually, I think I've written about all those things - and they weren't even my pets or kids. Maybe that makes it more interesting, hmm. Anyway, today for lunch I had a nice salmon filet with a soy glaze and rice pilaf with wheat berries, plus some very nice Pomegranite Soda and a slice of Apple Torte for dessert. My favorite part of the meal was that it was free.

Cousin Maria

2006-09-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

No she’s not my cousin. She’s not even my friend's cousin. She’s my friends wife’s cousin. Up until a few weeks ago I wasn’t even sure she truly existed. Now the legend has been made real.

Cousin Maria has been a topic of discussion among my crowd of friends for quite a while now. I felt like I’ve known her forever- she’s one of those people that your friends and co-workers talk about all the time but you never meet. Maybe they came to pick them up but stayed in the car, or they just left when you got there. Todd often invites me and our friend Pete to his family events and we’ve met most of his wife’s extended family- many times. There are Cousin Donna, Cousin Threesa (alleged sisters to Maria) sisters Cathy and Margaret and of course other assorted parents, aunts, uncles and kids. But never Cousin Maria.

We only heard about the glories of Cousin Maria and how she was the “leader” of the cousins. Maria always has something going on and is the center of whatever that is. If Maria wants there to be a party – there will be a party and it will be a good one (I’ve heard) Many family plans get co-ordinated through Maria. Todd mentioned her so much over the last five years but she was always conveniently absent when ever we were around. One time she sent her husband over to a party but she couldn't come. Hmm. Pete and I decided that Maria was just a figment of Todd’s imagination. Maria said this, Maria did this, Maria is down the shore, Maria lives down this street- sure Todd – anything you say. Other mutual friends had even claimed to have met her- we still thought it was a set up masterminded by Todd.

Finally a few weeks ago I had occasion to meet Cousin Maria (I'm not sure she has a last name - its always been Cousin Maria) Todd made a point of introducing me. I told her I was glad she really existed. She was glad too. She also told me that when Todd first started dating her cousin they didn't believe he existed. She never brought him around and they thought his name sounded fake.

Well now I know Cousin Maria is no fake. She is as charming and outgoing as I had been led to believe. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to hang out with her again sometime soon. Oh, and Pete needs to meet her too- he doesn't trust me.

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy

2006-09-09T21:33:00.000-04:00

Yes! I am finally back from my late summer hiatus. I hope you have enjoyed the "Best Of" blogs that have been running in the last few weeks. You haven't seen them? Just check the archives- you can always re-visit your favorites from the last year. Remember the one about how Geno's doesn't have good sandwiches? Ah yes, another popular favorite was the one in the oval office when George the second was appointing "Judgalito"? I love that one.

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Anyway I have some late summer updates since I've been away:

First, of course, Tom Cruise had a baby with Katie Holmes. At least that's what they want us to think. Its possible that aliens brought the baby from outer space- maybe somewhere out there by planet Pluto. Wait, what's that you say? Well I still think its a planet too, but the whole deal did confuse the President:

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Interior- Oval Office - Day

Georgie: Hey Boltey can we get some one over at Disney on the phone?

Josh Bolten: (Invisible chief of staff) Sure Sir, did you want to get their CEO for your Arts advisory board?

Georgie: My what now? No, Boltey I want to find out about what happened with Mickey's dog.

Boltey: Mickey, Sir?

Georgie: Yeah you know Mickey Mouse- the one with the ears (puts his hands up by his ears)
You know the hat I have for cabinet meetings?

Boltey: Yes, but what about him sir?

Georgie: They went and killed off his dog- Plew-toe and I want to know why. You shouldn't go and kill off a mans dog like that.

Boltey: Oh, no Sir I think you're mistaken.

Georgie: No, I heard it all day yesterday- 'Plew-toe is no more' 'Goodbye to Pluto' and other such stuff.

Boltey: No, Sir they were talking about the Planet- the astronomers decided it wasn't really a planet.

Georgie: So the dog's OK?

Boltey: Its a cartoon, Sir.

Georgie: Is it still a dog or did they decide it wasn't a dog anymore?

Boltey: Yes, Sir and Goofy too.

Georgie: Goofy? Isn't he the new Federal Reserve guy?

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I must give a special shout out to one of my favorite shows "24" - they actually won an emmy for best drama series. I think they really deserve it - they may have their flaws, but they are consistenly better than most Hollywood films you see. I'm also glad for Kiefer "Jack" Sutherland, but I think the emmy should have gone to Hugh Laurie for "House"- or at least he should have been nominated. And again proving their good taste and fact that the emmy's really aren't a popularity contest- "American Idol" - still has no emmys!

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It's the end of the Summer and who is at the top of the Billboard album charts? That's right Bob Dylan. Wait, is it Summer 2006 or 1966? I can't wait for that next Beatles album.

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Summer is now officially over now that the NFL has started for real. The first weekend was a perfect one from an Eagles' fan perspective- Eagles win and Cowboys lose. Giants too.

Uncle Nernie on Vacation

2006-08-16T13:05:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a whole week of vacation for about two years. That doesn't mean I've been working that whole time, but a paid week away from the job is a distant memory. So I was pretty excited last week to pack up and leave sweaty Philadelphia for the cool of upstate New York.

My mom and her three siblings have arranged to take a summer vacation together for the last six or seven years or so. Of course their various children and grandchildren are also included. We have had houses in the Poconos, the Jersey shore and one other time in New York state. The very nice thing about all this is the "parents" pay for the house rental and most of the food. Not everyone stays the whole week and some years people don't make it at all, but every cousin and or spouses have made it at least once.

We were in a new house in a new spot this year - Lake Keuka in the New York Finger Lakes region. My smart sister Abby suggested that we go there after she triangulated distances and found out the region was almost equally distant from most of our homes. Of course I think she was mostly trying to cut down their driving time with a not quite two year old child. That's right, the main reason to go on vacation for me was to realx and get to hang out with my only neice - Rebecca (awww). Her Mom and Dad obliged by bringing her along. In my unbiased opinion I've got to say that she is probably the cutest, smartest most well behaved 22-month old ever. She is talking much more that the last time I saw her. She now likes to say "Hi" alot-that and "Yes" as well as the old favorite "Mommy". Right now she will say yes to almost everything-

"Rebecca, do you want to go outside?" "Yes"

"Rebecca do you want to go inside?" "Yes"

"Rebecca do you have a poopy diaper?" "Yes"

I'm pretty sure that by next summer she may be saying "NO!" to everything, so I tried to enjoy her positivity as much as possible. My main stated goal for the week was to get Rebecca to learn my name - no not "Greg" - that's pretty hard. I am sentimental so I wanted her to learn the nickname her mother Abby called me when she was little - Nernie. Yes, as in Nernie and Bert from Sesame Street. Apparently Abby couldn't say "Greg" either at first so Nernie was born. I tried every day to get her to repeat after me, but alas I couldn't get even a "Nern" out of her. Remember this is a very smart child- she can put her shoes on by herself- but I couldn't get her to reply. By the end of the week I was hoping for even maybe an "UnKa" or "Unk" or something. So I had to resort to the game of asking her "Rebecca - where's Nernie?" Then she would point to me so I guess we're halfway there. Maybe by Thanksgiving she'll be able to put it together- you know she is very smart - she can put on her shoes by herself.

Oh yeah, we also swam a lot, went hiking, kayaking and exploring. There was also much eating and drinking - some of it at the regions' many wineries. Somehow the children in the house managed to not hurt themselves critically or break any important objects. So overall it was a pretty good vacation. So until next time- as my niece might say - "Bye!"

Greg Vs. Water

2006-07-27T12:48:00.000-04:00

Water and I generally get along very well. I've always been a pretty good swimmer and I take a shower almost everyday whether I need it or not. I drink lots of water too, of course most of it is in the form of coffee or beer. Thats why I can't figure out why water has been out to get me lately.

First, I suppose, is the water in the form of humidity this Summer. I don't do well with humidity and I've been known to sweat in very well air conditioned buildings. Perhaps I'm working too hard. Its felt like our Summer has been replaced with the Summer from Florida or swampy Washington, D.C. The temperature only goes down to about 75 at night and there haven't been many breezes, except during the massive thunderstorms.

So of course in the midst of all this heat what is the worst thing that could happen to me? That's right - the air conditioning in my condo goes out. But its not really that simple. A few weeks ago I noticed some water near the bathroom door on the tiles and carpet. I immediatly accused my friend Pete of being responsible somehow becuase I couldn't figure out where it came from (The theme for this entry was his idea by the way) Within a few days lots of water ws dripping from the top of the door frame and I investigated the problem via the access panel in the ceiling above. The Air conditioner air handler is up there and it seems fine, but I found a pipe off to the side that is leaking- mostly becuase it is open on the end and not attached to anything. I look around to see if it has detached from some where but I couldn't see anything. The pipe keeps filling up with water and dipping down into the wall and soaking my carpet. I was able to stop the drip for a little while by siphoning off some of the water and angling the pipe up to stem the tide. This seemed to work for a little while, but when I came back from Harrisburg (See previous entry) the problem was obviously back. The carpet was wet again and the house smelled like cat pee.

When I finally get the plumbing and A/C guy to come check out the problem he is a bit perplexed. Why is there an open pipe here? It makes no sense? I kind of figured that but it was nice to have it confirmed. We knew it was a "condensate drain" - because Air conditioners sweat even more than I do, but my A/C had been off - where was this torrent of condensate coming from? The plumber thought it was from my upstairs neighbors' unit. This is not even my pipe that has been raining on me for a week. To stop the leak he did the sensible thing and capped off the pipe. Leak stopped. A/C back on again. But of course when I told my Dad the architecht what the plumber had done he knew that the water had to go somewhere and within a few hours the leak had been "transferred" up to my neighbors' condo. Of course it was her leak to beign with but I still felt bad for her.

The plumber did come back to fix my neighbors' problem. A few times in fact. These guys are getting very tired of coming to this building. Not two days after everything is "fixed" and the carpet is almost dry (thank you wet / dry vac) I come home to find I have no air conditioning.
I hope against hope that it isn't a big problem. I let it run for a while and adjust the thermostat- but the room temperature stays at 81. I went up to the roof to check the heat pump unit- its running but not doing anything. Fortunately I was going away for the weekend to go camping so it would have to wait till next week to find out what was up now.

Of course camping is great -being out in nature and the fresh air and cooking stuff over a fire- but its also sort of the Murphy's Law of vacations - anything that can go wrong will. Our first night was fine - we cooked and drank our prohibited beer. Saturday morning we got in the car to go check out Hickory Run State Park's big attraction- the boulder field. Apparently the boulders were left there by an unthinking glacier probably a long time ago. But it sounds kind of cool and its more exciting than another field of grass so off we went. As soon as we stopped in the parking lot by the field the skies opened up as if on cue. It was one of those rains you get in the movies - as if someone had just flipped a switch. Pete and I did manage to get out of the car to check out the rocks, which actually were kind of interesting in the mist and pouring rain. Perhaps needless to say we got hit by a few more torrential down pours on Saturday causing us to cut and run, our camping experiment only lasting one night. So it was back to the relative comfort of my city apartment- not as wet but still a bit steamy. It would still be almost two weeks before my air was working again.

Tripping

2006-07-15T10:04:00.000-04:00

I have been in the finance and accounting related field for almost ten years now. I have had the types of jobs which keep me chained to my desk, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger reconciliation. It hasn't given me any good opportunities to go on all those fun business trips I get to see everyone else take. The Finance department is usually like the "parents" of an organization- we give the money and stay at home waving when everyone else goes off to, well, to not sit at their desks.

In my current job our people go all over fundraising, attending Chemical conferences and interviewing people for oral histories. They usually get to go to good places like Chicago, Florida, San Francisco and even Martha's Vineyard. Of course when I was with the Philadelphia Orchestra my co-workers literally travelled all over the globe. I could never convince them that they should send a finance person with them to handle expenses (I was mostly joking, but then again the expenses would always come back tied in elaborate knots- I really could have helped) I would usually get a nice gift from one of the exotic locations they visited- including a replica of that statue in Brussels that pees into the fountain- yes it even does pee (Thanks A.)

When my Boss suggested that I go to a certain Payroll Seminar I figured, why don't I actually go? I've found that Bosses like it when you do things they ask you to. I figured I'd be able to go to the seminar here in Philadelphia, probably at some airport hotel. When I checked it out I found the seminar wasn't coming to town until next year some time and I had to know about Payroll now-considering I've been doing it for a year already. Checking the locations for the upcoming seminars and knowing my bosses, the Controller and the CFO, wouldn't want me to spend too much money, I determined that I would get to take my first "real" business trip to beautiful Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In July.

Of course the conference wasn't at some big hotel in happening downtown Harrisburg (actual slogan- "We're near Hershey Park!") no it was at some non-descript hotel off of a suburban highway exit. I took Amtrak to Harrisburg (only $19.00 one way) so I had to take a cab to the hotel (almost as much as the train). I've never really stayed in a fancy hotel, so I wasn't all that upset with the accomodations. The room was fine, it was quiet and there was even a pool. There was a Irish Pub type restaurant attached to the hotel that actually had an unuusally good beer list for a pub in a hotel off a highway exit. They had a few kinds of Troeggs, a few Victory beers - including Hop Devil and even Lindemanns Framboise all on tap. The only problem really was that I was there monday and tuesday nights and the place was dead.

There was a mall a few parking lots over on the highway so I decided to go explore the mall for dinner, knowing that I would be stuck in the hotel for most of the next few days. There were many exciting dining options over there - I don't get to go to chain restaurants too much here in the city so I was excited to get to eat at Denny's and the Outback SteakHouse. There was also a place called "Panera" there that I have heard Todd rave about, but that looked too French. There was also a Christian bookstore in the mall - quite a difference from where I grew up where we have gay and lesbian bookstores and Harry's Occult Shop.

The seminar itself was quite informative. I now know all about "Exempt" vs. "non-Exempt" employees, Federal Fair Labor standards and de minimus gifts. They also tried to sell us some books at the seminar which cost three times as much as the seminar itself- how many accounting types would buy a book that is such a poor value?? I really found out that the payroll that I do is quite easy most of the time and I'm pretty lucky.

We were let go a bit early the first day and I had a chance to go to check out one of the local attractions. I knew about it because there was a highway billboard for it outside my hotel window- World Famous Bass Pro Shop Outdoor Outlet. Don't be fooled - this isn't just a fishing store. It's a huge space filled with every kind of outdoor gear you could want from the sea to the mountains. Lots of camping equipment for my upcoming trip - I even got a lamp that will attach to my hat (they had several kinds). Of course this being nearly central Pennsylvania they also had huge displays of guns and NASCAR gear- you don't see that stuff in Philadelphia. This is definitely the Alabama part of Pennsylvania.

This was the most exciting part of my trip. That and waiting for taxis for at least 30 minutes each time. I think our lawmakers there in the Capitol of the Commonwealth should take that pay raise they had to give back and get a few more cabs on the street. I don't think it would cause gridlock.

Raining cats and dogs

2006-07-03T09:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long delay between posts but I've been busy as you'll see:

So, we've got a nice four day holiday weekend. What are you doing? Fireworks? Barbecues? Going downa shore? Me I was working. No, not at my real job- a harder one. I somehow got stuck feeding and walking my brother and sister in law's dog and two cats. Now Alex and Missy are clever enough to not only go on vacation for four days and get someone else to take care of their pets, but also have the pets stay in someone else's house the whole time. They are in the process of selling their house so the cats already live at my mom's. My mom, who claims to be allergic to cats, although we had them for over twenty years growing up.

So instead of bringing the cats back to their house and letting me take care of the animals there - they decided to bring the dog to mom's house. Why have your house get defecated on when it can be someone elses? They did offer to let me stay in their house with the dog the whole weekend- like their house was some kind of palace with a pool, a hot tub and a home theater system. They don't even have central Air. I actually like my place- its not a vacation for me to go live a few blocks away. So I got the directions about what to feed and when to walk and how to give the cat his pill. Yes, I'm a pharmacist and nurse too.

Now the cats- Bart and Lisa (yes very clever - ha ha) - are really not a problem. They usually use their litter box and are very pleasant. Except for Bart when you have to give him his pill. Apparently Bart needs a pill so he doesn't pee all over the house even more than usual. Alex showed me how to give him his pill by wrestling him onto his back, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, prying open his mouth with your finger and then dropping the pill down his throat. Fun, right? If you're lucky you won't get scratched up too bad.

The dog, Mogul, is a different story. He an amiable sort, very old now - something like a hundred in people years and three hundred in dog years. He's skinny, got a bit of a grey beard and a weird hump on one shoulder. When you're walking around with him people ask questions like "Are you sure he's all right? " and "What kind of dog did he used to be?" He is not the kind of dog you can use to pick up chicks. Unfortunately he's way past the "Aww, cute" stage. Mogul doesn't walk very fast and he has trouble climbing steps. His most unusual habit however, is the walking poop and pee. Yes, he kind of squats a little and then moves along as he lets it go. You have to follow him down the block with the plastic bags instead of just picking up a nice little pile. When he pees he'll stop for a second to water a tree, but then continue to pee as he walks away - often hitting himself. Poor guy. Maybe he needs doggy diapers. We made a few trips to the very nice local dog park. Once we went over with a special guest Todd's dog (who is not named Tippy
http://http://popculturesnob.blogspot.com/2005/08/cry-havoc-and-let-slip-war-over-dog.html
Now Todd's dog is almost a year old and is full of energy. He will run and fetch a ball for you all day long. Sometimes he will even bring it back! You throw a ball for Mogul and he will kind of watch it and say "Hey- nice throw- what do you want me to do about it?"

Of course Mogul is also afraid of thunderstorms and Fireworks. What did we have July 4th weekend? That's right - both - sometimes on the same night. I went over about 10:30 on Sunday night to walk the dog but he was no where to be found. He is always right there waiting by the door, ready to pee. I didn't see him anywhere on the first floor and this worried me because, as I mentioned - he doesn't climb stairs too well. So of course I did the natural thing and asked the cats where Mogul was. I was sure they would show me I was hoping he was OK because I didn't want to be blamed for losing a whole dog. I ran up to the second floor and called for him and looked under the beds. Just then I heard a slow clippity-clop coming down the stairs from the third floor. Somehow this dog made it all the way upstairs to hide from the thunderstorm. Of course he was only getting closer to the noise he was afraid of, but, well you know.

At least all the pets (and me) made it through the weekend. Anybody have a bunch of plastic bags you aren't using? I seem to be running out.

English in South Philly?

2006-06-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

I know you have all been waiting for me to comment on one of the biggest controversies to hit Philadelphia since the Stamp Act, especially since it concerns the unofficial theme of this blog.
The city is justly famous for its sandwiches and they have put us on the map again - but not in a good way. Of course I'm referring to the Geno's Steaks / Joey Vento / speak English or else controversy. First and most importantly - Geno's cheesesteaks aren't' very good- last time I had one will be the last time I have one - if you know what I mean. Kind of gristly meat - and not enough of it! I'm sure all this publicity has been good for business, but not much repeat business I'll bet.

The issue - which has been blown out of all proportion in the media all over the country - involves a sign that Vento put up in his store window proclaiming that this is America and when ordering you should speak English. This in south Philly where you can easily order a steak by saying: "One Whiz wit" and be totally understood. I only see one real English word there. Most of the time people down there don't talk much English to start with. If you're wondering many people down in south Philly really do sound like Rocky - "Yo Adriaaan, shut up while the igggles game is on - you know what I'm talkin' bout? Cook up some sozzich for me and Ant-ny when youre at it." This is a place where you can see bumper stickers that say - "You toucha my Car I breaka your face" and signs in stores that say "Shoplifters will be beaten with Baseball bats" and "Your tips are appreciated"

The "media" got involved with the story because it reinforced the stereotype of Philadelphia as being a working class, unsophisticated, backwater, unlike New York City where there is no racism or xenophobia and the sports fans are very well behaved. Of course Joey Vento didn't help his case by actually speaking to anyone who would ask. I actually first heard about the "controversy" on the sports radio station WIP. Now they look for controversy in anything- especially the morning guy Angelo Cataldi. Angelo is the type who asks every woman who comes on the show what size her breasts are and then comments about them incessantly. Now when he and his crew interviewed Vento at the beginning of all this even they thought he was a little "politically incorrect" He just kept digging himself a bigger hole. He explained that he didn't refuse service to anyone who didn't speak English, but he was really trying to be a humanitarian by letting them know that they should really learn to speak it because his grandparents didn't speak it and it held them back and he loves all the people but he really thinks if youre gonna live here you oughta speak like the rest of us. Instead of apologizing and letting it go he started to become some kind of advocate for right wing English only types. When they start talking about gay marriage and immigrants stealing our jobs and not speaking English you know the right wing is on the defensive (oh yeah don't forget about the Death Tax).
I really hope this whole thing calms down soon - for god sakes the local NPR station did a whole hour on it last week - complete with people from the ACLU. Its so crazy that the only voice of reason I've heard on the issue is - yes that's right- Mayor Street. He of the infamous "the brothers and sisters are running the city" quote and the FBI bugged office. He only commented that we have more important issues in this city and maybe city council doesn't have time to discuss sandwiches so much. Yes, they should leave that to me. If you want a really good cheesesteak go down to John's Roast Pork. Its really just a little shack kind of between the Target and Snyder plaza down near Delaware Avenue- don't let the name fool you - this is the real thing. If you want something different they've got an amazing meatloaf sandwich at the Royal Tavern on Passyunk (Pash-unk) Avenue (Aven-yeh), but I'm still waiting for them to bring back the brisket sandwich they used to make. Mangia!

The Critics Code

2006-06-03T19:42:00.000-04:00

I went last weekend to see the "The DaVinci Code" or as we call it here in south Philly "Duh DuhVinci Code." Movie critics generally had a problem with the film and most gave it bad to medium reviews. Almost as if they were angry and wanted it to fail. Perhaps it was a backlash from the huge popularity of the book and its low literary standing. I'm sure book critics didn't rave about the book when it first came out- it's not a book for critics- it's actually one for people who want a genuine page-turner to read, not to pretend you read. I'm sure they discussed how they were going to trash it in their secret critic meetings before they had even seen it. It would have had to been a incredibly brilliant film to live up to its hype, but I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as several critics claimed. It's a two and a half hour film that didn't make me fall asleep on a Saturday afternoon. I say that's pretty good.

There were many things in the film that critics usually love. For one it was mostly set in France and had subtitles- mon dieu - this is usually enough for a great review from any American critic. It also had a good performance by an old school classy, gay, British actor - Ian McKellen- also another ingredient for smashing reviews. It also had a plot that you couldn't follow if you didn't already know it- critics love films that make no sense and leave you with a million questions at the end? They can feel smart and pretend they understood it (ie: 2001: A Space Odyssey.) I guess because so many people read the book they couldn't pretend they understood it more than we did. And the biggest thing - the film trashes the Catholic Church- everyone knows that critics, as journalists, are part of the big liberal left Hollywood machine that is out to destroy everything good about America like illegal wiretapping and pedophile priests. Somehow they didn't take the bait and anger the church by giving The DaVinci Code great reviews. Maybe Ron Howard should have added a few lovelorn gay cowboys- subtitled in French, of course.

Wireless Couch Blogger

2006-05-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

That's right! It's now possible for me to blog from my couch. I don't have to walk all the way into the other room (maybe twenty steps) and leave the TV. I set up a wireless network in my condo so I guess next I'll have to open up a coffee house in here- things don't always happen in order. Using a borrowed laptop and my new technical capabilities I'm able to surf anywhere in my apartment and my TIVO has become even more powerful. TIVO now wirelessly hooks up to the internet to download schedules and I can actually look at pictures from my computer -in the next room- on my TV. I can also listen to my music stored on my computer -a few yards away- on my TV in the living room! Of course I already had to manually move all the music from the cabinet in the living room to the computer in the first place - so now I can listen to my music where it originally was.

Are you confused? Well I can understand that. The computer people don't make this wireless stuff so easy to figure out. If you haven't already set up a wireless network before, it is a surprisingly difficult task. Almost everyone I know got a few calls last weekend begging for help and advice (Human helpdesk Pete carried most of that load) If you are not familiar with IP addresses and Subnet firewalls and WEP (?) security encoding you probably have an easier time staying "wired" (Of course wireless internet still needs lots of wires- go figure). So after the initial set-up of the router I go to hook up TIVO which is usually easy. TVIO is one of the few products that actually works and almost sets itself up. TIVO is so smart that it immediately told me that the Wireless USB adapter (only one wire) I purchased does not work with TIVO. This really cracked up computer guy Pete. He had never heard of such a thing. It turns out that my new TIVO box needs a VERY specific kind of "adapter"- Its kind of the wireless receiver thingy. I downloaded a list from the internet that gave extremely detailed instructions on which thingy I could buy. I ran out Saturday evening and checked three stores but none of them had any that matched all of the model numbers and serial numbers that TIVO recommends. The one I finally found- the next day - all the way out at Franklin Mills - was a thingy made by - TIVO. Why not just tell us that in the first place?

Everything is up and running OK now, but I couldn't finish this blog on my laptop on the couch, something kept crashing the computer. So I'm finishing it here at work. But I'm going to rush home and read all the posted comments - in the kitchen - on my internet ready Toaster oven.

What (Not) to Wear

2006-05-15T12:18:00.000-04:00

Its a sure sign that you're getting old when you don't like what all the "kids" are wearing. As many of my friends know the last few years I have been ranting about the trend of women intentionally letting their bra straps show. You know - like wearing a bra with a "spaghetti" strap "top". It just looks low class. I guess that is on the wane now, but I have a different problem now.

I have been riding a Scooter for about three years now and a bike for most of my life. I always wear a helmet (unless I give it to my passenger- and that hasn't been a lot). The law in PA was changed a few years ago and it is now legal to ride a scooter or motorcycle without a helmet. I really didn't know the motorcycle riders lobby was so powerfull to get such a law passed. Maybe they could work on Universal Healthcare too, because now they're really going to need it. Almost anyone who has ridden a motorcycle for any length of time will be happy you tell you about a horrible accident they had. (I've been extremly lucky- and moderately carefull) Most of them would be dead without a helmet. Most motorcycle / scooter crashes happen when a car doesn't see you or is distracted. I don't trust the "cagers" enough to leave my fate up to them as they talk on their cell phones and smoke a cigarette and eat while driving. So I wear a helmet - I wouldn't think not to. Pete and I were sitting last friday night having a beer at the Society Hill Hotel at 3rd & Chestnut. Its a great place to people watch and we also must have counted at least seven scooters go by (many Kymco's like mine) - only one person was wearing a helmet.
Hey listen - if you're riding a scooter you're probably not too much of a badass- even I realize that. Scooter riders don't have the same rep as Motorcyclists. You can look cool wearing a helmet- you are supposed to be hip and trendy - not stupid.

Helmets look especially good with sunglasses - but not the kind I've been seeing women wear latlely. Yes, here it comes my new pet peeve. Philadelphia is always a few years behind the fashion trends, so it is only in the last few months that I have been seeing women wear those ridiculous oversized bug eyed sunglasses. I remember seeing pictures of Nicole Richie wearing them a lot a few years ago. Please don't copy Nicole Richies' fashion sense. What does she do anyway - she's famous for being ex-friends with that other girl who never did anything and for being the daughter of a guy who used to sing. So those big sunglasses have got to go. It is one of the few fashion trends I can remember that doesn't look good on anyone (like all clothing in the decade of the 1970's). Women of Philadelphia and elsewhere - resist the temptation to be trendy and get some sunglasses that truly look good on you. And make sure your bra straps aren't showing.

My Vote on Idol

2006-05-06T17:55:00.000-04:00

Since the address of this blog is "Pop Culture Snob" I have been remiss in my inattention to probably the biggest Pop culture phenomenons of our time. I don't think it needs more publicity, but don't worry I come to bury it not to praise it my friends.

I hate American Idol. No I haven't really watched it, but promise me, my disdain goes very deep. I'm not going to give it a chance and see if it grows on me. I've never been poked in the eye either but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it. What I hate is how it dominates the media world. It has become so popular that other TV shows have to report daily on what is happening on "Idol". I like to watch the local Fox affiliate morning show sometimes because its done locally and they have a cute traffic girl- but I change the channel immediatley when they "tease" that coming up are "Surprising results from last nights Idol" or "We have a preview of tonights American Idol - boy that Paula sure is crazy." All they are doing is a commercial for their own network's show.

I was dismayed the other day when the Philadelphia Inquirer announced in a huge font, in a colored box , not just above the fold - but above the title - "PARIS VOTED OFF 'IDOL'" To make matters worse the line underneath read "As expected, 17 year-old is sent packing" So not only do they print "news" about a TV show in a very prominent place , they admit it wasn't so surprising. Here's the huge news of the morning - just as we expected. (Oh - and apparently Paris is not Paris Hilton or her former boyfriend named Paris- now THAT would have been news).

Of course I also figure that many radio stations are jam packed with "songs" by former idol winners and runners up, plus morning banter among the DJ's about what Simon said about so and so last night. Of course I don't listen to those stations so I don't know. There are live tours of stars from American Idol too - in case two to three hours a week isn't enough.

I guess my main reason for hating Idol is the music. They sing bad versions of both new and old schlocky pop songs in the most annoying ways possible. Sometimes I catch clips of it if I can't change the channel fast enough. The women all try to sound like Mariah Carey or Celine Dion and they men sound like a bad impersonation of a Las Vegas lounge singer. Thank god American Idol is there to find this "talent" or we would have a devastating lack of mediocre pop stars.

I love TV - probably too much- and I can usually find something redeeming in most popular trends and hit TV shows. I liked Survivor in the beginning and I still like other top rated shows like Desperate Housewives and LOST - hell I even like some Britney Spears' songs, but Idol gets me very upset. I'm trying very hard to ignore it but I still can't- I'm sure things will only get louder as the season comes to an end and the winner is crowned. We can only hope for some real news - like say the Vice President being indicted for murder- to push the Idol news a bit further from the spotlight.

Half Day

2006-04-25T17:56:00.000-04:00

Today is my half birthday. That's right halfway through my personal calendar year. Thirty-seven and a half. Six months till my birthday. What, you mean you don't celebrate half birthdays? They are big in my family - we even sometimes remember to make a phone call or send an e-mail. Just one of the many things that makes my family slightly weird.

My sister Abby (half birthday Jan 23) and my mom (half birthday July 16) are the best at remembering. OK, actually they are the only ones who would remember. We can even make each other feel guilty for forgetting. I apologized to my sister for forgetting my neices' half birthday exactly a month ago (18 months!! thats 1.5 regular years). I talked to my brother today and reminded him that his half is coming up (May 11).

I think more people should start to celebrate the half year mark. Do you really need a big excuse for a halfway-decent party or buying a partially appreciated gift? If you ask my Dad (July 18) he'll tell you a funny story about half a birthday cake (unfortunately for his actual birthday).

Hu's on the Ball?

2006-04-20T19:58:00.000-04:00

(Note: You should probably read this one out loud or get someone else to read it with you)

Last night at the White House President Bush and his new Chief-of-Staff Josh Bolten are going over up coming events.

W: Hey Boltey, whats goin on. You gettin' settled in?

Boltey: Yes Sir, but it is extremely busy this week.

W: Yeah- Don't we got that Chinese President coming tomorrow, what's his name?

Boltey: Hu.

W: You know, the Chinese fella we got coming for lunch.

Boltey: Yes, Sir that's right and the ceremony in the Rose Garden.

W: Who's going to be there?

Boltey: Well, I should hope so Sir, its all in his honor!

W: Who?

Boltey: That's right sir.

W: I've never been right so much and still not known what I'm talkin about.

Boltey: Yes sir.

W: (Thinking out loud) So we sit down to lunch and the Chinese President gets up to make a toast - it'll be who?

Boltey: That's right, Sir but it'll probably be short because he doesn't speak much Engllish.

W: Who?

Boltey: Yes, sir.

W: (Frustrated) OK, so is the Chinese Premier coming too?

Boltey: Wen?

W: On Friday right they told me friday?

Boltey: Of course sir - Wen is Friday.

W: Well they didn't move it Boltey, its still right after Thursday.

Boltey: Yes, that's right sir.

W: Now are we having lunch with the Premier fella too?

Boltey: Wen

W: Well, I assume its lunch time- don't you know the schedule?

Boltey: Of course sir. You're right.

W: I am?

Boltey: Of course.

W: (Thinking again) OK - so we sit down to lunch on Friday whenever it is and the Premier is to my right, who is there?

Boltey: No, Sir Hu is on Thursday.

W: That's what I'm asking.

Boltey: What's that, Sir.

W: (Very frustrated) Darn it All I want to know is, who is the Premier?

Boltey: No Sir he's the President - he's coming tomorow.

A week without Sandwiches?

2006-04-16T12:24:00.000-04:00

Passover is this week. It is one of the most important holidays on the Jewish Calendar because it celebrates our deliverance from Egypt where we probably built the pyramids and invented mathematics. I have gone to the same Seder every year for as long as I can remember. Aunt Terry makes all of the food and leads the Seder too. The rest of us just listen to the running "commentary" of the "Elders" around the table. Uncle Bruce (not my uncle - but that's his name) always has a few fresh one-liners to interject.

Of course one of my favorite things in the Seder is when we get to eat a sandwich of Matzah and fresh horseradish (not kidding). It is called a "Hillel Sandwich" in honor of the sage scholar Hillel who invented it and also formed Jewish groups at many universities around the world. The Haggadah went as far as claiming that Hillel and not the Earl of Sandwich was the real inventor of the Sandwich. Maybe he's not properly credited with the invention because he used such poor bread. Everyone knows that bread is very important to a good sandwich. Of course Matzah is "unleavened" bread- "unleavened" meaing tasteless and dry. Matzah is jealous of Saltines because they are so tasty. During the eight days of Passover Matzah is the only bread that observant Jews eat. There are many restrictions during Passover (basically nothing that leavens or puffs up -or could puff up when you cook it) But not eating bread is easily the hardest. You just can't make a good corned beef sandwich on Matzah. People do the old stand-by PB & J, but its kind of like those weird orange crackers you get in the vending machines - only less tasty.

So of course you see where I'm going with this - the holiday that apparently helped to invent the Sandwich is also its greatest enemy. The ironies abound. How do you create something so great and then forbid it for the next eight days? And don't get me started on the no cheese and meat together thing - that does nothing for a sandwich either. How can I follow a religion that bans sandwiches for eight days? Ok, so I really don't follow it - I have "kept the Passover" before, but now I am too weak. I keep looking for loopholes - is pita bread OK? - that's kind of flat, how about a tortilla? Even a pancake isn't flat enough on Passover- and pigs in a blanket are definitely out.

Very Upset

2006-03-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, like just about everyone else I have been mathematically eliminated from my NCAA pool this year. I have actually heard of George Mason and I've even been to their arena, but who thought they would make it past the first half of the first game?? Certainly none of the so-called experts who told me that Kansas was a good pick. I work with a guy who went to Kansas - I told him they have a new slogan - "Rock, chalk, we suck" (Sorry- you have to be a big sports fan to get that one) I did OK in the first few rounds and I was in my usual place near the top of the standings - then things started to go wrong. Just ask Duke, Uconn, Memphis and Villanova- oh and also Gonzaga and Tennesee. It turns out that the probable winner of our pool this year is one of our long time players who picks teams by voo doo or weather or color charts. We're still waiting to see for sure. Once in a while one of the "Nut Jobs" will stumble into a few good picks but they are usually well out of it by Final Four time.

Even worse than being out of the pool is being without my TIVO. I know, you are asking, how can you possibly survive? Have you missed episodes of Oprah? Have you been trying to pause and fast-foward things in vain? If television is like a drug than TIVO is like Crack. It will change your habits and get you addicted- half hours seem like 25 minutes- hours seem more like fifty minutes. I have even had to watch a few commercials over the last few days- apparently Wendy's has a new Chicken sandwich that is VERY spicy. My TIVO got fried when I was doing some home improvement work and had to turn off a circuit breaker. I was putting in a new bathroom fan, just a project to spend some time before the games started last Saturday. Little did I know that this little chore would lead to me having to replace a major appliance and have to watch the basketball games totally live. Usually I can start the games late and zap the commercials and the five time outs and twelve foul shots in the last two minutes of a game.

So of course I needed to buy a new TIVO and I discovered a good deal on TIVO's own web site. (My new one has a much larger capacity too- I can save entire seasons of shows I'll never watch again!!) TIVO is for impatient people like me who want to watch what they want when they want it and not have to wait through any ads- people who want to watch one thing and record another. So how long does it take them to ship the damn thing out? Four to Six "business" days for delivery? You've got to be kidding me- Am I supposed to watch the Final four at regular person speed? TIVO you've got to know your customers better.

Perfect Storm

2006-03-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

As most of you know I'm a very big NFL fan. But that is usually limited to my own team and when they don't do well, well its no fun. As much as I love football my favorite sports event of the year started today at 12:30. Of course its more than a sports event now, its more of a cultural phenomenon the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament - or March Madness - as they won't let you call it unless you pay them. Millions of people fill out office pools and try to guess the winner of every game. The second day of this years tournament happens to be tomorrow- Friday, March 17th St. Patricks Day. Now the first Friday of the tournament is always a big night out- nothing to do the next day but watch more games so the bars are packed and the mood is convivial. Adding St Patricks Day to this is a party (or a fight) waiting to happen. The Tournament is always about this time of year but I can't remember St. Patricks Day being so perfectly planned before. I predict a lot of losing pool players crying in their green beer. I also predict a lot of green vomit - but that's a little later.

For several years now I've been in a pool run by a guy I went to college with. Tom and his wife Denise get everyone they know from every school they ever attended and every job they ever had and then they get the relatives of those people to play too. They are VERY big basketball fans and their enthusiasm is infectious even showing through their e-mails. A bunch of us always went to the home basketball games back in college at American U. (Motto: Still not in the Tournament) Tom was generally a calm, fairly quiet guy but he was crazy at the games - we would try to sit behind the opponents bench and yell horrible stuff at the coaches and players (poor Lefty Drisell) I even remember a few times when players would acutually look up to see who was yelling at them. Playing the pool is one of the few times I am in touch with some old friends from AU. Its our once a year on-line reunion and fight for basketball supremacy. Some people are extremely serious about their picks and some use a system like "Which team has the prettier Uniform" or "Which school has the better Weather?" - Tom calls these the "nut job pickers" I'm kind of in between the two types. I'm part research and part guessing. One year I used what I called the "Weighted hat method" I know you want an explanation of that, but it was pretty complicated so forget it. The Hat beat many real people that year.

The tournament brings out many passions for and against different teams and coaches especially. Denise hates the slick loooking coaches with the perfect hair. She likes the short players and ones with good nicknames. Almost everyone hates Duke but half of them pick them to win every year anyway. Duke is like the Yankees of college basketball - you would like them to lose in the most painful way possible - unless it messes up your pool.

Betting on every game makes you care about Tennesee Vs Winthrop or Xavier Vs Gonzaga. You can see how people become degenerate gamblers with action like this - its very compelling and frustrating at the same time. You forget the teams you bet on that win by one point and remember the upset pick you had that almost pulled it off. Its a made for TV spectacle and CBS knows what they're doing. They bounce you back and forth to the good games - almost never pissing me off. Most of the games seem to go right down to the wire. Drama of the highest magnitude. The NBA pales in comparison. I've got to go check the scores now. Tom and Denise - don't forget to feed your kids this year.

E-Mail from WOW on vacation

2006-03-13T17:57:00.000-05:00

If you thought my blog took the style "Stream of Unconsciousness" maybe this will explain where that sensibility comes from. My Mom's e-mails have always been very entertaining (WOW is MOM upside down and backwards if you haven't figured that out) She writes as if she's talking to you on the phone or scribbling a note for you on the kitchen counter. This has been compounded on her recent vacation by an unfamiliar keyboard with lots of new punctuation marks and a very limited smattering of Spanglish.

if this old equipment is my only problem than so be it----the blasted beloved dash is in the wrong place, a different place, a mexican place so i am always typing a`instead of a ---- but i´``

ll figure it out---

so far so good---travelling was fine--no bumps and when i realized that i didn´t have to go to customs in huston and not until leaon iwas thrilled but was a bit worried about them confiscating

my necessary granola supply----customs in mexico was a breeze----

the house is great---barbara would like more ammentities but i am happy--we each have our own bathrooms and there is even an other one!!!!!i have only a single bed and barb has a king but there are

cot like couches and sofas--4--big living room, kitchen and solarium----my room jhas heavy doos that open to a lovely vine covered balcony for veiwing not titting and barbs has a narrow balony---thire is a big roof but no nothing so we may buy some beach chairs

this key bo ard is fun--ooops-- we took a hair raising ride in the giant suv yesterday--yoiks--the winedy hills---

i want to walk more and check out the lay of the lan today---more later---oh i passed my time on my plane rides doing sudoko--i worked on only 2 pussles for the full 5 or so hours--yoiks---sat next to a man in a turban who reeked jof garlic--you know my nose, but he was very plesant and liked puzzles---he had a magazine called mental floss for brainics not novice puzzlers like me---love, mom'wow'jill

the mexican keyboard is different i still can`t figure out how to use the back slach, the --- is in a different place and i can´t use the ``at`` symbol---i may go to an internet cafe to write some more journal stuff and ask them----but i do have a ñññññ ÑÑÑÑÑÑ isn´`t that cute???

again i must say that things are going better than i expected---we even got to watch the academy awards---we went to a neat restaurant that has a sort of theartre upstairs, so it was an oscars party--yeah for´`crash`and wallace and gromit`---i had just seen the newirths dvd when they visited---i want my cheese gromit!!!!!

is there any national local or international new i should know about¿¿¿¿¿¿

and this is the upside down !!!!¿¿¿¿¿¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ it is not a iiiiii little I iiiii¡¡¡¡¡

aye aye aye

did you hear that the horn---carters are coming in april for an early seder¿¿¿¿ so happy---love, wow

and here is another thingÑÑÑÑÑññññññ but no back slach or ``at``

the àt`is on the q Q key but i don`t know how to access it---silly jilly

ps are you going to the dinner at your job for the book and cook¿¿¿remind terry about it---

If you know my Mom you can hear her voice in her e-mails. If you don't - she's really not crazy - I promise. Maybe just a little spelling impaired. Anyway WOW, good to hear from you.

Notarized for your Protection

2006-03-02T16:20:00.000-05:00

(Note- Sorry it's been so long since I wrote. I've been spending a lot of time watching curling on TV. I wish I was joking)

I have recently become an official Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Notary Public. Which is kind of a redundant thing to say because there are no "un-official" Notary Publics- that would defeat the purpose. And what is the purpose? Well, its kind of like being a lawyer except that you only need three hours of instruction, not three years. But you can do official stuff to documents like affidavits and affirmations and protests and oaths. In general the job is to make sure the people signing a particular document are who they claim to be. That's about it. You check the document, witness the signature, stamp it with your rubber stamp and then sign it. You may be wondering about the traditional symbol of the Notary Public - the embossing seal. Well actually by Pennsylvania law as of July 1, 2003 the seal is no longer required on any document. But some people still want a seal because they think it looks more official. Of course its fun too, so I had to get one.

Getting a Notary commission wasn't a longtime dream of mine and I don't think I'll make much money from it, it was simply a job requirement. In the past when they asked me to do something at work I'd take it under consideration, but I usually decided what they wanted me to do didn't interest me. I was happy to do this though. I guess its nice to be the Notary in the office- although its been like three weeks and I haven't had to stamp anything yet.

The whole"commissioning" process is quite complex and can cost about $300.00 - I guess that's what they do to keep everyone from doing it. The best way is to go through an organization like the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries (PAN). They run education seminars and help with all the paperwork. It is actually a very new requirement, but you need to take at least a three hour education seminar before you may even apply to become a Notary. There's no test- basically you just have to show up and stay awake but the staying awake part is probably optional. Of course you want to pay attention because you don't want to make any mistakes on an important document. That's what the "Bonding" and "Errors and omissions" insurance is about. After the seminar your send in your application and your proof of "education" to the state Senator from your district. They are supposed to review it, sign it and send it back to you. I didn't know how long this would take, but my Senator is Vince Fumo and he's all about "constituent service" so it literally took a few days - even through the mail. After that you send the completed application back to PAN and they forward it to the Commonwealth for more checking. Notaries can not have too much of a criminal record- of course lawyers have no such requirement. After quite a while you get your "Notice to Appointee" and a blank "Bond" form. You must send this form to PAN and they will "execute your bond". Being bonded protects your customers from your mistakes. Its basically insurance for your customers- you need to get other insurance to protect you in case someone makes a claim against your Bond. As with most things the whole process is just an excuse to sell more insurance (title insurance anyone??) After your bond has been completed you will take it and the "Notice of Appointment" to the recorder of deeds in your county to be sworn in. Still with me here? After you are sworn you must pay the recorder of deeds for the privilege of being sworn and them "recording" or writing down your commission. This costs $70.50. Yes $70.50- who knows what they do with that extra .50 cents. So I go up to the window- this whole process at City Hall is way too easy so far- and there are signs everywhere - "No Personal Checks Accepted" Of course no cards either. Now hold on a minute- I've just been confirmed and bonded by the state and sworn in by the county and become authorized to confirm peoples' identities, but they can't take my personal check? What do I have to do to get them to trust me? They actually have an ATM machine right outside the office there in City Hall so it wasn't that bad. So after you fork over the cash you've got to go to the "Prothonotary" to have your signature "recorded". No I had never heard of a Prothonotary before either. Its just another crazy government office working behind the scenes to protect our right to bureaucracy. You actually sign one of those electronic pads like when you check out at Target. Then you are done and official. Somehow the Prothonotary doesn't charge anything for "recording" your signature.

So I'm ready to go and waiting for my first "Notarial Act". Of course if any of my friends needs something Notarized - don't worry -it'll be just $5.00 per signature. If you're a family member make that $10.00

Thought you'd like to know...

2006-02-16T19:02:00.000-05:00

The other day my Mom told me about a lecture she went to at a museum. Mom goes to lots of talks and lectures and readings. She probably heard about it on NPR or through her vast social network of people who go to gallery openings and parties at Architects offices. Anyway it was about food and it was at the Atwater Kent museum- one of our childhood favorites- so it was a natural for her.

The main speaker was renowned food historian and cookbook editor Andrew Smith who had recently uncovered and republished a cookbook from the Centennial Exposition here in Philadelphia in 1876. The National Cookery Book is a treasure trove of recipe's from our distant past- apparently we were really into oysters back then. Also speaking was Fritz Blank (its spelled "Blank" but its pronounced "Blaahnk" as in the French manner because he's a chef) local resturanteur and cookbook collector. Apparently he has about 10,000 cookbooks- he likes to recreate dinners from centuries ago but with fresher food. The question came up during the discussion of what was the quintessential American Food- a great question considering the academic and culinary expertise on hand. While the food historian had to think it over for a second Chef Fritz knew immediately: Sandwiches.

Oh the Humanity

2006-02-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

I've only been back to see the Philadelphia Orchestra once this season (see my Nov. 1 post at http://popculturesnob.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_popculturesnob_archive.html) but the prospect of seeing a top soloist and a top conductor together made it easy for me to ask for tickets. Thanks to A. for getting me tix to one of the hottest concerts of the year - Simon Rattle conducting the orchestra in Mozarts' last piano concerto with Alfred Brendel at piano. I'm not sure why Brendel's name sticks in my mind as a great soloist. I've never seen him before and I don't think I have any recordings of him- I guess its just on reputation alone. Rattle I have seen before and he deserves his reputation as one of the top conductors in the world.

Before the concert I was lucky enough to get to see a bunch of my favorite former co-workers. I stopped backstage to see Julie in her little office. She makes sure the guest artists are ready and accounted for. This is much harder than it sounds. It takes quite a bit of planning to make sure some of these people get from their hotels a few blocks away to the stage every night.
I also ran into Ally (she always put up with me hanging out in her office a lot) and as an extra bonus BOTH Rebeccas (one of whom is also an alumni- she now Executive director of the Philadelphia Singers). We had a few minutes to talk and reminisce but we were soon following the crowd into the hall.

They were running a few minutes behind so I had some time to look through the program. It always pissed me off that I was the last person listed on the staff listing on the program way back when. I don't know if there was anything to it- Accounting was last and I was last in Accounting, even though I had been there twice as long as most of them. Now the staff list is filled with unfamiliar names and is bound to change even more soon. The thing that upset me this time was a picture in the section of the program where the orchestra congratulates itself for the great stuff it does. A few Summers ago I took part in a day some of us spent in Camden helping on a Habitat for Humanity project. We worked very hard (a group of Staff and musicians- maybe eight of us) and helped to clean a back yard of old tires, weeds and lots of other fun trash. It was one of the most satisfying days I spent at the POA- I really felt like we accomplished something. I knew they were partly doing it to get publicity - we had a camera crew following us at one point- but we were also "giving back the community" and so forth. At the end of a very hot and sweaty day they took a group picture of us huddled masses- I grabbed a hammer as a prop to make it look like we had actually done some building. Now I don't care that I looked hot and sweaty and I don't care that I was shown doing something good for once. What I didn't like was that I looked really fat. I know I sound like a girl when I say that, but everyone else looks pretty good and I'm there at the edge of the picture like a big lump. Of course I'm not smiling either - I've never been to good at that in pictures. I suppose I'm being a bit self conscious, but I hated seeing myself there in that program for thousands to see. Couldn't they have used a different shot? I don't even work for them anymore and they are still using bad pictures of me for publicity? Of course no one asked me or warned me it was going to be used. One of the Rebeccas happens to be in charge of communication type stuff for the orchestra so I asked her about it at the intermission. Well, actually I threatened to sue.
"That's happened before" she said. Of course it has - when you print pictures like that without telling people. I don't know if I would be due any damages - that's not for me to say- I guess I just hate that I look so big. Couldn't I have been standing behind someone to hide? No, I was right out front and this camera must have added 30 pounds. At least they don't mention my name. But can't they leave me alone now that I've left behind their employ? Will this picture stay in the Program all year? Is it up on the website? Stay tuned.

Oh yeah. The Mozart was wonderful. Brendel, who is pushing 80, was very elegant and confident with the piece which was pure Mozart. The thirty minute piece floated along making me feel like I was back in 18th century Vienna. Of course Rattle was in complete controll - getting especially great performances from the oboes. Really - it almost made me forget about that damn picture.

The XL Game

2006-02-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

(Note - This post mysteriously disappeared for a few days after being posted. Thanks to several astute readers for pointing this out. I'm sure the same NFL conspiracy that let the Steelers win the SB is responsible for removing it. So read it now before its gone again - G)

Everyone who isn't hiding in a cave with Osama Bin Laden knows what the "Big Game" is this weekend. Super Bowl XL- with the double meaning of forty in roman numerals and extra-large. Of course the bowl has been been extra large for quite a while now. It is a defacto national holiday. The TV ratings and pre and post game analysis of it will dwarf that of the presidents' State of the Union address this last week. The NFL doesn't even like most people to call it the Super Bowl because they sell the name and there is an offical everything of the game. That's why you hear ads (and blogs) refering coyly to "the big game Sunday." As in "Get a big screen TV and have it delivered for the Big Game Sunday." Would it really hurt the revenue of the NFL to let people mention the SB with out fear of reprisal?

I haven't been all that excited about the XL game this year. Of course it could be because my team was in it last year and couldn't even make the playoffs this time. I always try to avoid all the pre-game hype that goes on for two weeks. Although I love all the media covering the story of how many people are there to cover the game. It seems that the biggest story in the run up to this SB is still Donovan McNabb and Terrel Owens. Somehow TO has managed to keep his mouth shut this time and let McNabb set fire to himself. Maybe this will finally stop all those Campbell soup commercials with Donovans' mother and all his fellow injured teammates who stopped playing ball two months ago.

I guess the true reason I'm not all that hyped up is that I don't hate either of the teams. The Eagles don't have a long and bitter history against either team, I don't hate either of the coaches, there aren't any players who I want to see injured. If the Cowboys or the Raiders were in the game my choice would be easy- the other guys. I will root for the Steelers since they are a Pennsylvania team and they seem like nice guys- I don't love that one guy's hair, but he is a great player. I won't be upset if either team loses or wins. I don't have any bets on the game. I do feel its my duty as an American and a football fan to watch the game and hope for a classic contest. I also felt it was my duty as an American to not watch a second of the State of the Union address. In any case please enjoy the giant sporting contest Sunday at 6:30 on ABC.

Another clue that life is not fair

2006-01-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

Back in College when I was getting a degree in Communications (which I guess I only use to write this blog) I was very involved with the student run on-campus TV station. We only went by closed circuit cable to the dorms, but we took it very seriously. Many people vollunteered countless hours to make a variety of News and entertainment programming. I usually worked on the entertainment side- I co-created and produced a cooking show, worked on the entertainment magazine show and helped to get our "Roommate Game Show" on national college television (it could actually be a very funny show- I wish I had tapes of it)

I became program director of the station at the end of my Junior year- meaning I was in charge of the entertainment side of things. The news director at the time was a very ambitious sophomore who had anchored our weekly newscast that year. His name isn't important he's famous enough now already. He was central casting anchor - very tall with blow dryed anchor hair and cliche anchor voice- emphasizing all the right words. I had been around the news at the station for three years already and had seen some very good and some very, very bad anchors. This kid was a natural and so naturally I hated him. He had all the arrogance and aggressiveness you would expect- he was mature beyond his years - he also looked older. During the summer he was able to get a job at a station in his Arizona hometown. I had an internship thst summer at channel 6 - he had an actual on-air reporting job - he was about 19. I didn't like the fact that he was a bit conservative in his politics (I seem to remember) and in another great anchor tradition he was not that bright. I'm sure he did OK in school, but he was obviously much more serious and focused on the News on A-TV (yes that's what it was called). We had run ins a few times about equipment and editing time which was always scarce. Unfortunately the News usually took precedent and I lost. One time I helped him out by doing camera work for him on Capitol Hill - he was doing stringer work for that station in Arizona. I don't know if they could use the interview I shot- maybe there was a technical problem.

During my senior year I got a great opportunity to work on the news side- although not under the auspices of Anchor hair. We worked with a national college network and I had produced things for them in the past so they asked me to produce college "newsbriefs" - several colleges around the country were doing them- they were news of general interest to college students. We would try to keep the stories in our part of the country (Washington DC). I handpicked the anchor for the job which paid actual money- a great rarity at A-TV. I knew right away I could only do them with Allison Fisher. She was another anchor / reporter who had worked on both entertainment and news shows. I was always impressed with her professionalism and poise and she was also very nice- the opposite of Anchor Hair (Although she did have good hair) We split the writing chores for the briefs and would go into the studio before the news on Sunday nights to tape the breifs. Allison was very reliable and took any small direction I might have. I remember helping her learn to use the teleprompter - a new device to her - its harder than you think. I always thought that Allison had a great shot to make it in TV news if she chose to. In addition to her obvious talent and intelligence she was also an African-American woman which in the news business at the time was not really a handicap and maybe even an advantage. I could always imagine Allison as a trusted anchor on a local newscast somewhere and then who knows what else?

Of course after college I lost touch with both Allison and Anchor Hair. I figured they were both working in TV somewhere. I did keep in touch with some other people from the station but information was usually hard to come by (we did have another Alumni, Craig Stevens, who is still an anchor on a Fox station in Miami, as far as I know)

The next time I saw Anchor Hair was on god damnned network TV - it must have been about ten years later and he was doing one of those stupid spots where the anchor holds on when a hurricane tries to blow him away. Already on network news and not out of his twenties yet. I think he also had a show on MSNBC and he is now a network white house correspondent. I still have trouble watching him - I wonder if his producer has to write all his scripts and has to feed him questions. Why can't somebody I like be sucessfull? Somebody who would get me a job. He was even on "The Colbert Report" recently - that's what made me think of him again. Anchor Hair could become a network anchor and one of the most famous people I have ever been acquainted with - but I can't be that happy for him. I guess nice guys don't get to do that job.

The next time I saw Allison's name was in the Alumni bulletin- not for some great new position she had attained or a marriage, or a new baby- it was just a note in the "In Memoriam" section. Allison ahd died the previous Spring. I didn't want to believe it and I tried to find information about what had happened - I was pretty sure it was the Allison I knew by the class year. I finally found out through the grapevine that Allison had died of breast cancer- I think she was about twenty-eight. Her parents formed a foundation in her memory and I went to a fundraiser for their scholarship fund a few years ago. A bunch of people from the TV station were there and we all had that same respect and great expectations for Allison. We also talked about Anchor Hair. Everyone knew he had worked hard for what he had achieved, but that didn't mean we thought he was a great guy. And I think we all still wish we could be tuning in to the network news tonight to see Allison instead.

Obviously

2006-01-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

Recent headlines about actual deaths from "Bird Flu" haven't caused any mass hysteria over here in the USA. Maybe its because we are so easily distracted by shiny objects and the recent four hour premeire of the best TV show on the air "24" (OH my god - terrorists!!)

But the other reason is just so right out there that no one will mention it. I haven't heard it referred to by John Stewart or David Letterman (I don't watch Leno) or on NPR. Come on people Bird flu breaks out in Turkey? When you think about it -it seems obvious. Why were we so worried about these Asian countries? What about this country named after a bird (don't challenge me on facts- as far as I know Turkey is Turkey) Why they must have Turkeys running around like sacred cows in India. Hopefully they have it under control and it won't spread right now. I think newscasters (real and fake) are afraid to mention it because they might have trouble stifiling a snicker and a guffaw and witty repartee with their perky co-anchor.

"Well, Syndee how about that Avian flu - in Turkey - I mean, who would have guessed, you know??"

"You're right Bob, although the country may or may not be named after the bird they have been one of the first countries to be hit by......"

Watch out "Turkemenistan" and Bird in Hand, PA and Lady Bird Johnson and Big bird and can you believe they are trying to make Chloe into some kind of a sex symbol on 24?? I mean she is cute in an interesting kind of way, but she won't make the guys tune in and I don't think Jean Smart as the first lady is going to be able to make up for it.

The Score

2006-01-08T09:32:00.000-05:00

Of course the real spirit of the holiday season is about being with family and acknowledging long ago miracles that still inspire us. But we all know its really about what gifts we get- especially when in comes to shallow people like me who put their gift list on their blog. So now as a public service for the few of you who did not get me anything on the list (and you know who you are) here is what I did and did not get (yet).

My sister Abby, who is the pretty, smart and efficient one, got me three of the 11 items on my list and she didn't let her husband give me his old I-pod speakers so he could get new ones. Tally: Star Wars DVD, Hodgman and Feinstein books.

My Dad fell for the idea that the electric toothbrush would be a practical gift and he actually got me that. Way to take a hint, Dad. It has improved my brushing exponentially I'm sure. I hope my Dental Hygenist will be pleased- but I'll bet they'll still tell me to floss more. Dad and Susan also got me a shirt from LL Bean- it can be worn both casually and to work. Now the impractical thing they got me was also one of the coolest- a traveling cigar humidor and three good cigars. The humidor is a black plastic that looks like it would block gunshots. I'll be able to bring back cigars from even the most dangerous countries. Tally (2 of 11 - running total 5 of eleven)

Alex and Melissa had to be more creative and not follow instructions. They actually did give me a corduroy shirt that is a great color for me (kind of a dijon mustard) and it did come in an LL Bean box, but I don't know if its an LL Bean shirt. Our family is notorius for saving old boxes just for this purpose. They also got me the "Black Book" a bestseller about Pick-up-Artists and their methods and lives. I'm not sure why they gave me this- why I could have written it. Tally (1 (maybe) of 11 running total 6 of eleven)

Now Mom is notorious for creative gifts. We can almost always expect a wealth of items from the dollar store mixed in with our bigger gifts. This year: crayons, chap stick, a tambourine and some clay. Also this year a cookbook written by a friend and former co-worker who went on to work for Martha Stewart- very nice. But so far - nothing from the "list". The last thing she gave me to open was an electric keyboard "survival kit"- a box with earphones, a power adapter and learing software. What is this? Do I go buy my own keyboard now? One of the gifts I predicted no one would get me??
"Just go look under my coat" Mom said motioning over to the rack. There it was - a way cool Yamaha Electronic piano just like I wanted. But just calling it a piano would be selling it way short because it can play almost any instrument you can name. Also drums and sound effects. I felt just like a kid on Christmas afternoon / first night of Hannukah. Total tally Seven of eleven items on my list (about 63% if you're wondering)

Still availible to purchase - The Eagles Encyclopedia, The Harry Potter half blood prince book, and an I-pod speaker system. I already bought my self the Wilco CD (yes - it is great) Now about that X-Box - maybe if you just let me borrow yours for a while I'll get bored with it and I won't need one anymore. Come on just for a few weeks.

Oh, I also gave some nice gifts too- most of which probably won't be returned. (Sorry Abby -yours are on the way).

Another Tradition

2006-01-03T17:43:00.000-05:00

The age old question of what Jews do on Christmas often seems to come up. X-mas is hard to ignore - as I've written here a few times. There is one of those true cliches about how Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas eve - used to be they were the only restaurants open. Saturday Night Live did one of their few funny pieces of the year a few weeks ago - it was a cartoon video called "Christmas for the Jews" It was a 60's pop sounding thing sung, appropriately enough, by Ronnie Spector. All the Jews were out on the street strolling, driving the streets with no traffic and building snow men in the shape of the cast of Seinfeld.

For about the last thirty years on Christmas day it has been our tradition to go to the movies. Nowadays this is a very popular thing to do, but I'm telling you years ago it was pretty empty. We started in 1978 with Superman.
I remember one year Mom, Alex and Abby came down to DC when I was living there after college. We went to see Bugsy that year and who was in the audience but the legendary Jack Valenti of the MPAA. No one else knew who he was but I thought it was cool. He was very tan. I think Chicago was an x-mas movie one year. Last year we saw The Aviator which I liked a lot - especially Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn. In the last ten years we have seen The Royal Tennenbaums, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Shakespeare in Love (I think). A pretty good list of films considering we usually have five or six people trying to come to a consensus to pick a film each year. Often Aunt Terry and cousins Emily and Elizabeth also come along.

This year Mom made a sacrifice and let us go see a film she had already seen- Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash bio with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. We were all glad she did too, because it ws one of my favorite Christmas movies ever. Phoenix and Witherspoon were every bit as good as we had heard. They both made you believe that Johnny and June fell in love despite all the obstacles. The way Joaquin looked at Reese you could see that Johnny would have died without June - probably literally. Most actors don't get close to that emotion- although its not hard to imagine falling in love with Reese- I think I may have. It also had the added attraction of great music, including a bunch of Cash songs I didn't know. If you're thinking he's pure country you're wrong- he's really a great mix of country, blues and Rock and Roll. The actors did all their own singing too, a big leap that they made effortlessly. I always wonder how many of the stories in these bio films are true - did Johnny's lead guitarist Luther Perkins really make up the solo in "Folsom Prison Blues" right on the spot? Did June really.....well I don't want to give away the ending if you don't already know it. Go see the movie. Especially if you like good music.

Coming very soon: The Gift List Results

Feast of the Seven.....

2005-12-26T12:39:00.000-05:00

This year on Christmas Eve we had the traditional feast of the two pizza's, three Jews, one Druid (not really) one seven year-old, one puppy and one puppy incident. The incident happened between the puppy and the seven year-old - but I'll leave it up to you to figure out who peed on who.

Usually I celebrate x-mas eve over at my Dad's house with his wife and her mother. It's always great food and wine and lots of presents plus the family heirloom red crystal glasses come out for their yearly visit. This year they switched the celebration to Christmas day because we had a bigger crowd. When I made it known I was free I was able to get an invitation to go with my friend Todd on a pilgrimage to spend Christmas eve with his family over in the wilds of South Jersey. We packed up Todd's puppy (who is not named Tippy)
and headed over to Jersey. On the way over we stopped for a few last minute gifts including a bottle of wine at one of South Jersey's ubiquitous liqour marts (Starbucks has nothing on the liqour stores over there).

I always love going to see Todd's family because I've known most of them my entire life. His father Ray, step-mother Judy, sister Reina and her daughter Brittany- I almost feel like another member of the family. There is the easy back and forth and gentle kidding and vicious insults (not really) that you expect from good old friends. Todd loves to joke that you never know what there will be to eat when we go over there. I have never actually gone hungry there- but they don't shove food in your face like I'm used to in the Jewish tradition. There was plenty to eat and drink this time - my enjoyment only complicated by the lingering effects of my root canal a few days ago. (My temporary filling came out - but I was able to get some good advice on what to do from Reina who is a dental assistant- actual quote when I showed her my mouth - "Ewwww, grosss!")

The other two Jews there were Ray and Judy's good friends Mark and Elaine who I've met several times. At one point Mark jokingly (I think) wondered if we were going sing "Happy Birthday" considering what we were actually celebrating. Reina says we don't have to because they already did it in church that day- along with a cake and a candle. All of us immediately disbelieved
her, thinking she was trying to pull one over on us Jews and non-believing heathens and fake druids. When Judy backed her up we actually did believe it -
you have to believe Judy because she actually does go to church regularly and even teaches religion. I had never heard of this happening in church, but why not- the cake must be better than those crackers they usually serve.

The evening ended shortly after the incident with the puppy and the seven-year-old ("Really - he never does this anymore, he's very well trained"). We packed up the dog and Todd's gifts and headed out into the Jersey night looking for the all night drugstore. I needed to get something to fill in the new hole in my tooth. Ewwwww gross!

The New Tom Sawyer

2005-12-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

I know you're thinking - where has he been? No words of wisdom lately? Too stressed out by the Winter Holidays to write? Well, actually I've been chopping wood. Yes really. Last Saturday my brother Alex, his neighbor Chris and I went out to the suburbs and worked all day to turn a bunch of former trees into (mostly) usable fire logs.

I noticed the piles of wood the first time I was out in Elkins Park at Julies' house (She's my sister-in-Laws' sister). That was almost a year ago and I've been wanting to cut it up ever since. I don't particularly need a lot of wood - I don't have too many fires and I really don't have a great place to keep a bunch of wood, but it just seemed like it would be so much fun to make a bunch of logs into smaller logs. It became a major operation wherein my brother and I had to rent a gas powered "Log Splitter" and then a truck to tow it and to haul all the wood. I ended up putting everything on my credit card ( I'll be reimbursed for most of it). My brother was helping even though he doesn't have a fire place- he's just being a nice guy. Yes, I do mean my brother Alex. I guess he liked the idea of using a manly machine like a log splitter too. Julie's husband Nigel came out to help us as well- and probably to make sure we didn't do any more damage than necessary to his property.

A log splitter is a fairly simple machine - and that's good because none of us had ever used one before. Its basically an I- beam with a pneumatic cylinder attached on top and attached to the cylinder is a fairly sharp steel wedge. You power it up - its kind of loud, but not chain saw loud- you place the wood on one side of the beam and then you pull the handle and the wedge s l o w l y makes it way over and splits it in half. I thought it was going to be something faster like a log guillotine kind of thing. This thing wasn't all that dangerous. We hardly needed the extra eye protection we got. It was kind of fun though- for like the first two hours. Then it go monotonous. We just kept splitting the logs down to a fireplace size. Some of the logs were so big we could split them into 8-10 firelogs. A lot of nice wood too, some Cherry I'm told, some pine maybe- I think some birch. It really smelled great- kind of like a Christmas tree lot.

We got into a rhythm of lifting, splitting and re-splitting and then tossing and stacking the logs. We even made Nigel sing the Monty Python Lumberjack song- he's English so it sounded very authentic. He seemed to know the lyrics pretty well.

We ended up with more than enough wood for everybody. Probably a few cords worth at least. Everyone always likes to talk about cords of fire wood but no one is really sure what a cord is. For all I know I should be spelling it with a "K". Alex says a cord is two piles of logs stacked four feet high and twelve feet long and they usually sell you a "face cord" of fire wood which is just one stack, not two. Anyway, we didn't weigh or measure anything and I'm not sure at all how much wood we got, but I do know I missed my regular Saturday nap and I have a pile of logs I should probably move from my front hallway. So if you need a few logs, don't hesitate to ask. I cut it myself.

December Party

2005-12-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

I am not offended by Christmas. Just thought I'd get that out there. Some of the music I can do with out - both popular and Classical xmas music is way overplayed. I hear there are two radio stations here in Philadelphia that start playing ONLY xmas music at about Thanksgiving. Shouldn't that be a part of the UN ban on torture?

It is a holiday celebrated by more than 80% of the US population whether they are religious Christians or not. It is generally a lot of fun and very important for the world economy.

A few years ago a much noticed trend emerged that many non-xmas celebrators were apparently upset by Christmas. So now we have "Holiday" parties at work. And people worry if a decorative wreath or Christmas ornaments will hurt someones' feelings. I never remember Jewish friends or relatives complaining about Christmas and what you call the annual party at the office, but somehow it all got mixed up in the political correctness movement. I was offended when an aunt of mine converted to Judaism and stopped making her amazing Egg Nog at the "Annual" party. She is of course now a much more observant Jew than I am.

We had a Holiday party at my workplace the other evening and it was one of the best I've ever been to. There was a cocktail reception with hors d'oeuvres, a very nice sit-down dinner and then dancing. It was at a local Hotel which has of course decked its' halls in Holiday lights and verdant evergreens. It looked great and I don't think that anyone minded that there weren't fake menorahs too. I'm pretty sure the DJ was Jewish, because I think I've heard him at every Wedding and Bar-Mitzvah I've ever been to. I was surprised about how many of the staff got up to dance immediately. Sometimes people are shy to get up to dance, especially at work. I know I am. I didn't dance until the last song of the night when a coworker dragged me out to the floor. Well, she really didn't have to drag me I was more than happy to get out there - especially since she knew how to dance and could make me look good.

Being a traditional "December Office Party" there was some drinking, and dancing with other peoples' wives/husbands/girlfriends and boyfriends -but I don't think anyone went really overboard. That might have made for a better blog post, though. I had a great time talking to co-workers about stuff besides expense reports and invoices. I was hopping from table to table- talking with a variety of co-workers and their spouses / significant others. Even though I'm pretty new most people know me because I do the payroll and Accounts payable (and my office is near the mailboxes). I hope there are many more chances to go out with my co-workers- no matter what the occasion is or what we say it is- I don't need much of an excuse.

Now, let me tell you what I think of Christmas trees........

One Up

2005-12-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

I am a sucker for traditions, especially at Thanksgiving. My High School,The original Central High, has been playing football on Thanksgivng since the 1880's. I've been to a few of those games, but none recently. We have had about the same Thanksgiving dinner with about the same people for about 20 years now. The best thing about it - besides the food always being great - is that both sides of my divorced family are able to come together. My Dad, his wife, his sister, cousins from that side and my Mom, her sister and cousins from their side. In the last few years we have had to expand to two tables - although it isn't just kids at the second one - really no kids at all as most of us are in our 30's now.

All of us "kids" have another tradition we started around ten years ago- the "Cousins" dinner. I don't know if we've ever figured out how long its been exactly. Maybe one of the cousins with a better memory can figure it out. It started because of a lasagne, but it has become one of our favorite traditions and one created by our generation. Lasagne? Oh yeah. One year Alex wanted to add a lasagne to Thanksgiving dinner in the Italian American tradition. Not because we are Italian, but because he likes it better than turkey. Dad, in his wisdom, refused to add it to our menu thinking another big dish would detract from our already bounteous fare. So we decided to have dinner at my apartment or Alex's every year on friday after Thanksgiving and only invite the "kids". We actualy vary the menu every year- we've only had lasagne once or twice. Most of our parents don't feel left out- I'm sure they are happy to not have to plan and pay for another big meal. I'm sure they eat left-overs. Of course over the years we have added spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends and two "real" children (although they haven't actually made it to the dinner yet I'm sure they will). The one constant is probably that every year Alex and I have an arguement about what to make and how much. We have never gone hungry, so I guess we're doing OK.

This year Abby added another tradition onto the cousins dinner that I wish I had thought of. Being a new parent she has been getting into shooting and editing video of her daughter Rebecca - who I always refer to as my neice. So anyway, after making a video about my neice's first year she decided she would document our cousins dinner and ask each of us the same three questions every year (at least I think the questions will be about the same) All of the questions are designed to make us talk a little about what we have done in the past year and what we are thankful for of course. I think it will be fascinating to see the changes in all of us over the years and I wish we had started it ten years ago. It will be a work in progress and continuously growing- just like all new kids -and traditions.

Greg's Gift Ideas

2005-11-28T17:21:00.000-05:00

No this isn't a list of things I recommend you buy for your loved ones, friends and co-workers- its stuff I recommend you buy for me. Yes it's that time of year again. Christmas and Hannukah. I do get to celebrate both due to my extended family. This year Chanukah starts on the day after Christmas so its even more combined- ChristmasaKah or HanukaMas, if you will. Some people ask why I celebrate Christmas when I grew up with only Hannhucha. Well, any holiday where people want to make me a great dinner and give me gifts is OK with me. Kwanzaa also starts the day after Xmas this year if you want to give me something for that. Thanks to Todd for this great idea.

1. Eagles Encyclopedia - By Ray Didinger and some other guy. A compendium of the team's history going all the way back. Has the added advantage of not including this year!

2. WILCO Live in Chicago Kicking Television (CD) - I saw Wilco on tour last summer (Thanks for reminding me Alicia). They were incredible and really expanded on their songs live. Certain songs I never quite liked on the Ghost is Born CD are now favorites after hearing them live. Jeff Tweedy is actually funny and personable too- go figure.

3. An electric toothbrush - These have always seemed kind of cool to me. I think my Dad mentioned he has a brand he loves- so maybe this is a suggestion for him. He'll like it cause its a practical gift.

4. Next Man Up - By John Feinstein This is a book about a season Feinstein spent behind the scenes with the Baltimore Ravens. He had access to everything- locker room, coaches meetings. I find this kind of stuff fascinating and I want to see just how crazy Brian Billick really is.

5. Stuff from LL Bean - Can hardly go wrong there. Of course I love no iron shirts with buttondown collars, but a nice plaid or corduroy shirt would be nice too. Something to wear when I get to go camping (hint, hint)

6. Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith (DVD Widescreen edition) -
I love Star Wars and I have all the other DVD's so I must complete the collection. It's an epic story that you can understand without reading four other books on the subject. Just what the Popculture snob ordered.

7. Areas of my Expertise - By John Hodgman I saw this on the Daily Show and it sounds great. Kind of a history book / trivia book / almanac that liberally mixes fact with fiction. More fake history in the wake of America: The Book last year.

8. One of those cool speaker systems for my Ipod. Really - they're not all that expensive. Why I saw one at this web site http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/mp3/7d27 that is both cool and reasonable. I'm sure its available at other sites too.

9. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I have not read this one yet so don't tell me anyting about it dammit. I usually wait and get the paperback, but I've read all the other books and I'm impatient.

Stuff no one will get for me:

10. A Piano - Just one of those electronic ones with all the sounds and instruments, not a baby grand or anything (I don't have the room) I'd like to learn to play - a chance I had when I was about 12- although I don't think my hands have gotten much bigger since then.

11. Xbox 360 - What gift list would be complete without it this year? I'd like to have the Madden NFL 2006 game to go with it because its the only way you'll get to see Donovan McNabb throwing TD's to TO this year (or ever again). Come on...all my friends have them- actually they have lesser systems - thats why I need this one. Isn't that what Christmasakuh is all about?

Car Accidents

2005-11-21T17:51:00.000-05:00

The old saying is true, as most old sayings are. “It was like a horrible car accident, but I couldn’t look away” Everyone knows that’s why traffic back ups take so long to clear – the worse the accident the slower everyone goes by to see what’s happening. God forbid something is on fire. Its going to be a very long wait. This year a few of my former favorites on TV have become proverbial accidents.

The Eagles have been setting themselves on fire for at least a month- probably all the way back to training camp. They have made very few right decisions on the field or off. The loss to Dallas last Monday was as depressing and frustrating as any I can remember. Much worse than the whipping Dallas gave them earlier in the year. A loss like that can effect the whole season. The players can’t really forget it no matter what they say. With the Eagles just about eliminated from the playoffs and their two best offensive players (McNabb and Owens) out for the year what more is there to watch? By now we can almost root for them to get a good draft pick. But I’m sure I’ll be there watching them right up till the end of the season. I don’t know why – I guess I feel it’s my duty as a fan to watch them when they are bad so I can enjoy them when they are good. I suppose if I had something better to do during a game now I can just “Tivo” it and watch it later. Now the games become just an excuse to drink a few beers and have a few sandwiches. Not the nervous, edge of your seat thrill rides and dominant performances we have been treated to over the last few years.

Saturday Night Live has become another TIVO standard because long sections of it must be fast fowarded. Now I know the shows' death has been predicted dozens of times and it has always pulled through. This time I don’t know if its worth it. Maybe you have to be tired and up late on Saturday night to enjoy it. Just about nothing on the show works anymore and some of it is just painful. Weekend Update has usually been a high point of the show even in down years. This year they are being demolished by The Daily Show on a regular basis. Their political jokes seem trite and less intelligent (and less funny) than John Stewart & co. come up with everyday. I really like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler - I just wish they could do better.

The skits are often very repetitive. How about the one where friends go to a funeral and they all die one by one day after day on the way home from the previous day’s funeral? This was worst than most real funerals I’ve been to. They also have some new repetitive characters that have not quite reached "Church Lady" status yet. I'll bet you haven't heard talk around the water cooler about "The couple that should be Divorced" or "The Falconer" Just pathetic. It makes you want them to bring back the "makin' the copies guy"

I haven't liked the musical guests lately either- but as I get older I'm sure that will always be the case. They book the hot new bands with actual albums out - not the 30 year old bands I like.

I think they still do a good job with the commercial parodies. These are filmed in advance and I'll bet they have more time to write and rehearse them and it really shows. They should have some more animation from Rob Smigel too, if he will lower himself to their level again.

I actually really like the women on the show lately. Saturday Nights' breakout stars have almost all been men, but I think the most talented performers now are the women. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch- they are now the heart of the show. All sexy in their own ways too- even after having babies.

I'll probably keep watching the Eagles and Saturday Night Live out of habit and my fascination with what could go wrong next. I guess with both of them I'll have to wait for next season for something fun to watch.

Bands you don't remember

2005-11-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Pete called me up after work to tell me about a band he and Jen were going to see. Now this is unusual to begin with as none of us goes to see bands too much. My last two concerts: The Philadelphia Orchestra and Wilco (not on the same bill). Pete knows the drummer in the band - the younger brother of a college friend. They sounded like a lot of fun - very Pop oriented and melodic Rock n' Roll with FOUR "girl" singers- called "Tralala" The concert was at the First Unitarian Church at 22nd & Chestnut. I've been reading about this venue for years - its actually in an upstairs room at the church. They book very obscure indie bands and usually have all ages shows. There is no alcohol served of course (gods' house you know) and the room is nortoriously packed and sweaty.

I met Pete and Jen on the steps of the church and (I kid you not) they offered me a bottle in a bag which they claimed was a "40". I declined to have any and I think it was really iced tea and they were trying to look cool. Pete was aghast that most of the very young crowd waiting around to get in was drinking coffee of all things. I reminded him that most of the kids were under 21 - probably mostly highschoolers. Anyway I hear most of those kids skip the alcohol and go for Red Bull and X. It turns out that there had been some sort of booking conflict and the bands wouldn't be playing in the small hot, room, but in the main sanctuary - yes a literal church of Rock n' Roll. Actually this was probably better for me, being an old geezer in the crowd. It wasn't too hot in there and we had very comfortable seats in the pews. Not so great for dancing though and that was too bad because Tralala is very dance friendly. They played very catchy tunes with great vocal harmonies from the Girl singers. Unfortunately you couldn't make out most of the words because of the music mix in the unforgiving acoustics of the church. Rock n' Roll is not church music. The sound difficulties didn't hurt the show too much - every song was fun and the band obviously has a good time. Apparently they're used to playing clubs and drinking (a lot) during their sets. That I have to see.

The whole time listening to the band I couldn't help but compare them to a favorite band of mine from the late 80's early 90's Voice of the Beehive.
They also had female singers, a male backing band and a definite pop, melodic feel. They also had great lyrics - much sharper than most pop music. Stuff about drowning your sorrows in alcohol, bad boyfriends and break-ups.

".....That's why I sometimes sit alone at parties /
That's why I drink so I'll be who they think I am /
But don't say nothing, don't talk to no one
i'm not what they believe and if they
find out they will leave..."

"I say Nothing" from Let it Bee

Voice of the Beehive had a minor hit in about 1991 called Monsters and Angels. A nice song but of course not their best. They were introduced to me by a woman I worked with in DC. Jenny was the cool girl who you could always call with a nagging music question. This was pre-internet so you couldn't look everything up so easily. I would sometimes call her up just to annoy her and ask if it was Journey or Foreigner that sang "Double Vision" She would yell at me for putting the song in her head all afternoon. I still remember her hatred of the catchy 80's tune What I like about You by the Romantics. I guess it was overplayed.

After the very enjoyable but short set (there were two other bands we were going to skip) I went with Pete and Jen to meet his drummer friend.
Pete said he ran a record store also, so I was confident he would be impressed that I knew a band that was obviously a great influence on their music.
Me: "Your sound really reminds me of Voice of the Beehive - I mean right down to the vocal harmonies..."
Drummer: "Who are they? Voice of the What?"

Who are they? You might as well be a tribute band for them. You could do most of their songs in your set and no one could tell the difference. So I told him a little about the band. I hope he checks them out- I'll bet he doesn't though. I'd like to see "Tralala" again though- I hope they come back to town soon.

It turns out that no one else remembers Voice of the Beehive either. Nobody I've mentioned this to has had any memory of them. I swear they were great. I had to go home and listen to their CD's again to convince myself I wasn't making it up. Of course their best stuff is from 1988- that's a whole teenager ago. OK now does any one remember the Cult? Heavy metal band had a few good albums back when I was in college??

Bring him back

2005-11-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

During a time like this I feel sorry for people who aren't into sports. What do they pay attention to in their free time? The sports scene is the only true drama left in the world. Maybe politics, but politics and politicians these days are very depressing and discouraging. On the other hand you never know what's going to happen in a game. Take the Eagles Vs. San Diego a few weeks ago- they win on a blocked field goal that bounces directly into a players hands and is returned for a touchdown. Never seen that before. Its never happened to the Eagles.

Now all this stuff with TO is following the script you pretty much expected, but I wish the outcome had been different. Sure TO is a jerk and probably a bit of a sociopath, but no one doubts his ability on the field and that is what counts to me. It's not a moral victory for me if we got rid of a bad seed and didn't have to pay him any more money. I just want the team to win - I want to be happy on Mondays not wondering what went wrong. TO was extremely exciting to watch and even his off-field crap was amusing in an "I can't believe what he just said" kind of way. Bottom line is that they have a better chance of winning more games and being a better sports / entertainment product with TO out there. I also have a sneaking feeling that if the team would really lose significant money by letting him go it wouldn't have happened. They have already sold all their tickets. The TV money is already in the bank. They might sell a few less TO jerseys, but that shouldn't come to a huge amount. The funny thing is the team has most of the fans thinking that they are brave and correct and "doing the right thing for team chemistry" How about really doing the right thing and doing everything possible to win games?

Oh, and by the way, Eagles and #81 are such a big story in this town that a Phillies pitcher was arrested for attempted murder yesterday but that has been pushed to the back pages. I'd tell you his name but I can't remember- I'm using all my mental energy on the Eagles' soap opera.

Supremo Court-a-Rama

2005-11-03T18:28:00.000-05:00

I have a few theories about why George Bush nominated Samuel A. Alito for the Supreme Court Monday. You could listen to the regular pundits who would tell you that he is pandering to the religious right in his party whoose only real issue is to move the Supreme Court to the far right and make us into some kind of Theocracy.

I don't believe all that - I think he made a mistake and he thought he was nominating Judge Lawrence ITO. I can just hear him saying:
"I really liked him back when he was on that OJ T.V. program. Why did that ever go off the air?" He couldn't get another woman on the court so he was going for the first Japanese American. "I like his judicial-ary philososophy and I like his neat beard" he reportedly told Karl Rove.

The other "real" reason Alito was nominated is just so obvious I hate to point it out. Everyone knows Bush loves nicknames (Scooter?) - what about his now infamous "You're doin' a great job Brownie" to former FEMA director Mike Brown in the middle of the Katrina fiasco. Alito already has a cool nickname given to him by the lefty-press "Scalito" for his following of Justice Scalia's philosophy (only a bit nuttier). But I think Bush was already coming up with more nickname ideas even as he was announcing the nomination. My money goes on either "Judgalito" (like some kind of mexican soda) or the more informal "Samalito". Either one is kind of close to his name but sufficiently folksy for a regular guy Justice. You've got to do something to soften his image when apparently his plan is to move the country to the right of Saudi Arabia.

Alumni association

2005-11-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

Last night I went back to see a Philadelphia Orchestra concert for only the second time since I left their employ. Of course I got free tickets, and the Halloween concert is usually fun even if it is light-weight musically. Really the main reason to go was for the meeting of the Orchestra Staff Alumni association-not that we planned it – it just turned out that way.

Melissa Lohmann called me Sunday night (during the Eagles – Broncos game which I was more than happy to miss) to ask if I wanted to go to the concert. She was in town to go to the wedding of another Alum, Rebecca. Rebecca is another one of those women who I wished there could have been more between us. I have a long list, but I did have a particularly strong crush on Rebecca. I probably became friendly with Melissa because I was always over near their desks trying to talk to Rebecca. Melissa was usually more willing to talk to me and almost always in a good mood.

Melissa left the orchestra and moved back out to California about two years ago. She always seemed like a California girl to me anyway so it made sense. She is a pretty blonde who is usually described as “really nice, a total sweetheart” - In her case it’s actually true. I even asked her once if she go sick of people saying how nice she is all the time (of course not).

I would go any where with Melissa, but she sealed the deal when she mentioned that Sarah Friedman was also coming. Yes, Sarah is yet another Orchestra Staff Almumna. She is still in the Orchestra game- doing fundraising for the Delaware Symphony. Sarah and Melissa are direct opposites in many ways. Sarah is not usually described as nice, but she really is. I promise. She is very direct and usually quite assertive. Her maturity has always impressed me considering she isn't even twenty-eight yet. I like both of them, and of course they are friends despite their differences.

I didn't wear a costume when I went to meet Sarah, Melissa and her friend Kate at the concert. I usually like to come up with some sort of costume ( the Orchestra members and much of the audience all get dressed up) but this time I figured I was going to be with three beautiful fascinating women- I wanted everyone to recognize me.

I ran into Sarah first so we had a while to chat while waiting for the others. Of course there were many Orchestra staffers around, some who I didn't particularly need to see, but most of them were happy to see me and very happy that I had a good new job. I got to see a few more of the women I always "flirted" with as I made my rounds of the office way back when.

Sarah and I also ran into another more recent alumna as we waited. I had hoped I would see her there last night because Halloween was always one of her favorite concerts. She was cleverly incognito wearing a gypsy veil as to hide from the staffers she didn't want to see. I won't blow her cover. She was doing the right thing for a former staff member and planning to sneak into the concert. Badass.

Melissa and Kate showed up just in time for us to make it in for the start of the concert. I won't go into too much detail about the concert although it was quite good. It was hosted by the third (?) straight year by Carlotta Tendant a very hairy and funny local transvestite. It turns out that next year the Orchestra will not do a Halloween show, but will turn over the date to their new partners the Philly Pops. So it was the end of an era and the Orchestra played beautifully despite all the distractions. Many of the pieces they played were a part of their basic "scary" repetoire, including Mussorgsky "Night on Bald Mountain" and the Suite from Stravinsky's Firebird. Sarah and I both noticed how well all the pieces featured the full orchestra, not just the famous violins.

The meeting of the Alumni association ended after the concert over at COPA Too over a pitcher of Margaritas. We reminisced about the old days and what we are up to today. Just the easy conversation of old friends getting together after a year or two.

Going to a concert, getting lost in the music and having a drink with my friends were always my favorite things about working at the Orchestra. Thankfully I still have those things without the frustration of actually having to work there.

With apologies to David Letterman...

2005-10-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

Top Five Bourse Food Court Stores or Dog Breeds that sound Dirty but really aren't:

5. Labradoodle
4. Fresh Sushi
3. Tiajuana Taco
2. Cockapoo
1. Lix

Turning Thirty-seven is scary

2005-10-27T17:50:00.000-04:00

I wish I could tell you what happened on my birthday the other night but I don’t remember. HA HA – I love that joke. Just kidding of course, we had a rollicking good time with an unusually large group. Plans are often fluid and changing – at least when some of my friends are involved ( and you know who you are). The plan was to meet at Jack’s Firehouse out on Fairmount and then go to the Haunted House at the Eastern State Penitentiary across the street. The time was supposed to be 7 pm, but that got pushed back a bit (see previous sentence). That really didn’t bother us too much because Pete and I had already been to a bar before Jacks' and we were into our second beer there when Jen and Todd showed up (Jen was right on time- she’d want me to mention that). Todd’s wife “L” and their friend Megan showed up a bit later – but that apparently was Todd’s fault.

We did make it over to the Haunted Prison about 8:30 or so. It was a cold, windy, rainy dark night and that gave the prison quite an ominous look and feel to it but it was also scary for other reasons:
1. We had to sign a legal waiver before entering
2. Lots of Under-employed actors acting as guards and goons
3. Much of the electrical work was not up to code.
4. Many low hanging pipes you could bump your head on
5. They were selling funnel cake

And of, course the scariest thing was that it was almost 9 pm and we hadn’t had dinner yet. We ended up going over to Rembrandts, another Prison area restaurant that has been there forever. My Dad and his wife Susan sometimes like to hang out there – at least they used to. We had a very nice meal that did not involve any sandwiches (Todd and Pete were very concerned that this would upset me- as I hadn’t had a sandwich for lunch either). But the food was quite nice and we all got what we ordered despite the fact that it seemed to be our waitresses’ first day. But she was forgetful in a charming way so it wasn’t bad. At the end of the night we had the traditional Birthday Tiramisu with a with a candle in it and we all shared desert. I want to thank all my friends for the great time I had on my birthday and and for not letting me pay for anything. I owe you even more than I already did.

Thirty-something

2005-10-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

So it's my birthday tomorrow. Yes, I'll be thirty-seven years old (at least I think - lets see 2005 minus 1968 , carry the one, cross out the zero's - ok )
I really do forget how old I am sometimes- but I usually make myself older- if I'm going to be forgetfull I should at least do it to my advantage.
I guess I'm entering my late-thirties now with forty around the corner. Another year doesn't bother me too much - I generally don't feel or act that old. Some would say I don't act my age. I guess I'm showing some signs of "maturity." I don't tend to stay out late or drink too much anymore, but I'm not against it. And of course there's my very advanced hair line. I sometimes pretend not to like birthdays, but it's mostly an act. What could be so wrong with people taking you out to dinner and buying you gifts for no real reason but that you survived the past year.
Of course, the last year of my life hasn't been the most fun, but I've made it through and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that crap. Actually this birthday I can also celebrate having a good full time job again. I was officially hired as a regular employee after working almost two months at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Good money and good benefits, my own office. I can't complain.

I have plans for lunch and dinner on my birthday tomorrow, thanks to my Mom and my great friends, but I'm free most of the week - if people want to take me to lunch or something I probably wouldn't turn it down. Really even just a beer. Oh and I'd really like that new Depeche Mode CD or the new Liz Phair.......

PS: Todd would want me to mention that October 25 is also St. Crispins' day - the occasion of a battle that only Todd has heard about. Something about the English and the French at Agincourt. I always thought Shakespeare made it up but apparently its real.

"...But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Henry V Act 4, sc. 3

Tivo-envy??

2005-10-19T20:43:00.000-04:00

No Tivo-envy is not the condition of wishing you could have Tivo but aren't wealthy or technologically savvy enough to get it. First of all, I made Tivo-envy up and I'm not sure that's what it should be called- it may not be not catchy enough. Actually I'm not even sure if someone else has thought up this concept- but if you have Tivo you will know what I mean. If you don't have Tivo you should get it (I don't watch commerials anymore - when someone asks me "did you see that commercial where......" I can say, no - I didn't. Are the Whassup guys still on the air? I do miss them.

OK so you're watching a show that Tivo has taped (Tivo'ed?) for you. Tivo automatically changes the channel to the correct one for your program. But you always see the last few seconds of the program on the previous channel as the channel slowly changes. Some times this few seconds looks really interesting and you wish that Tivo had stayed on that channel so you could see what happens next. Say Tivo changes in the middle of an action sequence climax or at the punchline of a joke - or - and this is the worst that could happen for the males out there- there is female nudity happening or about to happen and Tivo changes to record something you didn't even want! That is a nightmare. That's the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. I'm thinking of calling it Tivo-gret, as in you regret that you didn't get to see the show on the last channel. What if it changes just when Montel is going to confront the cheating transgendered stripper with diabetes? I suppose it's like that other phenomenon that happens with ESPN when you are watching it to see the score of a specific game. They have the scores crawling along the bottom of the screen and it seems to be going deadly slow. They are telling you who the pitchers were and who got a hit and what the manager had for dinner, but they aren't getting to your score. Then, when your score has to be next and even starts to pop up on the screen and they cut to commercial and stop the crawl dammit. And of course when they come back from commercial they don't pick up where they left off, they start again with NASCAR and golf results. They never do get to your score. I don't have a word for that either but I'll think of one. ESPNvy maybe?

Sub / Urban Saturday

2005-10-16T16:35:00.000-04:00

I had a very unusual Saturday morning, one that allowed me to see my city from a different point of view. Todd called me Friday night and asked me if I wanted to go on a mural tour Saturday morning. If you don't know Philadelphia is the mural capital of the known world and there are over 2500 of them spread throughout the city in good neighborhoods and bad (mostly bad) Todd is crazy for the murals and has pictures of them on his alternate photo blog. http://www.alcibiadesphoto.blogspot.com

Anyway, he had an extra ticket because his wife Laura couldn't make it due to the fact that they now have a dog (which is not named Tippy) but which needs contsant attention. I can't substitute for Laura in most cases, I know I couldn't keep up with the Diet Coke consumption, but I thought I could keep Todd amused on a mural tour and lunch. Oh yeah - did I mention free lunch at the White Dog Cafe?

Of course, to go on a city mural tour you need to go out to the suburbs, so Todd and Laura picked me up at about 8:00 am to take me out to Radnor. It was only the start of one of their crazy marathon Saturdays which are apparently required in the suburbs. The tour was planned by "Mainline School Night" which is kind of like Temple Center City for the burbs. We went out to their headquarters in a great Victorian house in the midddle of a nice park. It was mostly a dog park, and since it was the first nice day in over a week the place was packed with pooches.

On the way out to Radnor we stopped in Wynnewood to have breakfast (free breakfast!) in a really cool spot I'd never been to before. Its a Pharmacy in a non-descript strip mall but when you walk inside its like being transformed back to the 1950's (I'm just guessing here - I've never been to the 1950's). There is a lunch counter up front with a bunch of stools and an ancient soda fountain and milk shake machine. The menus were dog eared and carried an ad on the front for the "Perfume and Cosmetic" department (Which I could see from my seat). There were also faded poster ads lining the wall for generic things like "Burgers" and "Fries". Some one could start a chain of those nostalgia restaurants with all the kitsch in here, but they are absolutely without pretense or irony - they must like the place the way it is- they haven't tried to make it look old - it just is. Food was good too, but it wouldn't matter.

When we get on the bus for the tour it is pretty obvious that Todd and I are about 20 years younger than most of the other people. I certainly didn't care - nothing like a big bus of nice main line ladies. I'm sure I've seen most of them at the Orchestra too. It did bring back memories of the infamous "Engelbert Humperdinck" incident of 1998 in Las Vegas, but that's a whole other blog. We made our way into the city by a way that Todd said was wrong. Todd was as upset as the rest of the 70 year olds at the route the driver took (and he was late too). We picked up our tour guide - a nice young man who is an art student at PAFA. Most of the murals we saw were in Mantua, which is a neighborhood in West Philadelphia next to Powelton Village and University City. Mantua is still one of the poorest areas in town and it was certainly surreal to be in a bus filled with older main line residents touring this mostly black neighborhood with many abandoned crumbling row houses and few stores. There are spots of amazing beauty, renewal and hope however - in large part due to the murals. The murals are usually next to a vacant lot where a wall is visible. Many of these lots are now park like- very well maintained with nice green lawns and even some benches. Kepping these lots clean is no easy task. They become dumping grounds for all manner of garbage -always a lot of car tires for some reason. The murals are usually done with neighborhood input, so many of the subjects are African American themed in this area. They cover subjects like heroes and Icons, reading, drugs, respect for elders. They are uniformly colorful -I guess murals always are- no need for much subtlety here.

We even got off the bus to look at a few of the murals - remarkably this didn't take too long. I felt a bit weird touring around and invading these neighborhoods like a bunch of sociologists making a study of the inhabitants- but nobody seemed to mind. I suppose they are used to people coming to check out the murals and it was too nice a Saturday morning to be annoyed at anything. The guide explained how some of the murals are created with "parachute" type cloth that is painted in a studio - sometimes by computer - and then pasted up to the wall in sections like a big puzzle. You certainly couldn't tell just by looking.

There are obviously many problems in these neighborhoods that murals won't solve- but having a true work of art instead of a grafiti filled wall and a nice green park instead of a garbage dump is at least a start.

We finished off the tour with a great lunch at the West Philly landmark the "White Dog Cafe" - one of the most pleasant and certainly the most politically aware places in the city. We had a great lunch and then Todd was off to catch a train to continue with his next big suburban saturday adventure. Like most of the other people on the tour I was headed home - I needed a nap.

Weak link in the chain stores

2005-10-10T19:23:00.000-04:00

I have lived a few blocks away from South Street for about 12 years. Of course I've been hanging out there even longer - I remember when they almost built an I-95 off ramp there in the 70's. I remember Grendels' Lair and Paper Moon and when the TLA was a movie theater (Saturday Matinees were great). Unlike most people I didn't care when chain stores started to move in. They probably saved the street. Can you imagine South St. with out Tower Records now? I even like the Starbucks (there is one at 9th now too, but I like the one at 4th) It was one of my favorite hangs when I was more unemployed. I would rather have a good chain store or restaurant than another jewelry / sneaker / cell phone store. There are still plenty of one of a kind places down there that survive and thrive. Copa, Ishkibibles, South St. Souvlaki, tattoo and piercing places and used record stores - all of them do very well. I was very surprised the other day to see that one of the major chains was shutting its South St. store and I can't figure it out. Come on, McDonalds is closing? It's actually a really cool McDonald's with a huge jungle mural on the side wall - it actually even fits in down there. This is a big tourist area that attracts a lot of kids and other of these obese fast food addicts we're always hearing about. How bad a businessperson do you have to be to fail at running a McDonalds franchise here? You should be printing money. All those kids in the long white t-shirts down there with a few bucks to spend - where the hell else are they going? I liked having the McDonalds there - you will be shocked to find out that I went there every once in a while - good sandwiches. Also, I am horrified that the 'Subway' store across the street is still open. There should be no Subway stores in Philadelphia where official hoagies can be had on almost every block. Jared and his awful commercials can go to hell. I'm wondering what will go in McDonalds' spot - may be just another fast food place. I really wouldn't mind a Wendy's.

Folk music post numbers 5 & 17

2005-09-29T17:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, another post about Folk music, and Bob Dylan in particular. If you've been watching the Martin Scorcese PBS documentary over the last few days you could probably guess that he wouldn't like being called a folk singer or a protest singer or a rock singer or (later) a gospel singer. He has always been constantly changing. He seems to delight in confusing people about where he grew up, what his music is about and what he truly believes. That is his fun- and he knows that you don't stay popular for most of 45 years if you don't change it up.

I enjoyed the documentary very much. There weren't any huge revelations, just lots of little moments. I am very familiar with Dylan's music and story- I've read lots of books (his autobio included of course)
but I was still fascinated because Scorcese had access to so much amazing footage I had never seen before - especially the stuff of the infamous Newport Festival in '65 and the '66 English tour. I loved the footage of him playing "Mr. Tambourine Man" at a Folk festival workshop - like you were witnessing the birth of a classic. Seeing Suzie Rotolo interviewed was also cool- an album cover come to life (Suze is the girl clinging onto Bob on the "Freewheelin'" cover -for you uninitiated in Dylanania .

Dylan has been a legend in his own time since he was twenty-four. His iconic status is unquestioned. I know a lot of people don't like him, or more likely, don't like his voice. I feel sorry for them, but I don't really care - its not one of those things you can explain to someone. I've seen Dylan twice in my life and I don't think I'll ever go see him again. I'm afraid to lose the memory of the last time I saw him. Through the wonders of the internet I can tell you the exact date of the show and the songs he did. It was at the TLA here in Philadelphia, a small converted movie theater that only holds a few hundred people- a much different experience than seeing him among 100 thousand at JFK for Live Aid.
Bob was touring with the Grateful Dead that Summer and doing some side gigs at small places on "off" nights. Jessica, a friend of mine at the time, got the tickets and knew that I would never forgive her if she didn't take me. I'll always remember her for that (and the fact she would never give me a real shot at being her boyfriend - or whatever) It was June 22, 1995. I remember that I didn't know the first song and considering Dylan has written hundreds that was bound to happen that night. I was just hoping he played a few I knew. I did know the second song because I had heard the Dead play it many times- "It takes a lot to laugh it Takes a train to Cry" (There was a section in the Doc where someone talks about Bob re-writing this song during lunch one day). Then the third song- and I found out why he is still a legend. Dylan and his great band tore into "All Along the Watchtower". Spine tingling time. Really. This is a song made legendary by two guys. Dylan seemed to be bowing to Jimi by doing it more in his style than his own. I felt like I was witnessing history and I understood his presence and power. The next song I didn't know but it has become a favorite- "Shelter from the Storm" I had to go out and get a copy of it after the concert. The next song was my personal wish for the night and I thought it was a long shot that he would play it-
"Positively 4th Street". Some of you may know it is one of his most bitter songs and one of the best break-up songs ever. I guess I like his honesty in the lyrics - and you can sing along.

"You've got a lot of nerve / to say you are my friend /
When I was down you just stood there grinning"

"When you see me on the streets / You always act surprised /
You say 'How are you? Good luck'- but you don't mean it"

"I wish that for just one time you could walk inside my shoes /
You'd know what a drag it is to see you"

(All of those lyrics are from memory - now you know what I use my brain for)

Even more great songs came next including an acousitc "Mr Tambourine Man" and "Masters of War". I was in awe hearing these songs that meant so much to me even though many of them are older than I am. Of course I am a child of the '60's, but I spent them in diapers not at concerts and protests. The encore was "I Shall Be Released" , "My Back Pages" (I was so much older then - I'm younger than that now) and then "Like a Rolling Stone" This guy could just keep bringing out iconic songs all night. He was in great voice that night - in an era when his concerts were very hit and miss. Of course he has even put out a few great albums and won a few Grammy awards since that concert ten years ago. And his legend grows. No reason for me to go to see him again however- I've seen the Dylan I want to remember.

A Mighty Storm

2005-09-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

As we all have heard by now another killer storm is in the Gulf of Mexico ready to destroy more former beachfront property. This one is headed towards Texas and Galveston in particular. This got me to thinking about folk music. Let me be the first to tell you about the big one that hit Galveston in 1900. It didn't have a name - it was too big and scary (Actually they just didn't name storms back then- but it was big)
Along with many train wrecks, mining disasters and senseless murders, the 1900 storm spawned a great folk song. It is so old that no one is sure who wrote it - its just noted as "Traditional". Tom Rush made it famous I gather, but Nanci Griffith made it famous to me. It's on her second album of folk songs "Other Voices, Too". If you don't know Nanci Griffith go out and buy her entire catalog immediately. Anyway think of this when you watch the inevitable scenes unfold over the next few days and don't say you weren't warned:

Wasn't that a Mighty Storm

Wasn't that a mighty storm

Wasn't that a mighty storm in the morning, well

Wasn't that a mighty storm

That blew all the people all away

You know the year of 1900

Children, many years ago

Death came howling on the ocean

Death calls, you got to go

Now Galveston had a seawall

To keep the water down,

and aHigh tide from the ocean

Spread the water over the town

You know the trumpets give them warning

You'd better leave this place

Now, no one thought of leaving'

til death stared them in the face

And the trains they all were loaded

The people were all leaving town

The trestle gave way to the water

And the trains they went on down

Rain it was a' falling

Thunder began to roll

Lightning flashed like hell fire

The wind began to blow

Death the cruel master

When the wind began to blow

Rode in on a team of horses

I cried, "Death, won't you let me go".

Hey, now trees fell on the island

And the houses give away

Some they strained and drowned

Some died in most every way

And the sea began to rolling

And the ships they could not stand

And I heard a captain crying

"God save a drowning man".

Death your hands are clammy

You got them on my knee

You come and took my mother

Won't you come back after me

And the flood it took my neighbor

Took my brother too

I thought I heard my father calling

And I watched my mother go

You know the year of 1900

Children, many years ago

Death came howling on the ocean

Death calls, you got to go

Tipping Karma

2005-09-20T21:00:00.000-04:00

I worked a catering party for the first time in a few months on Saturday night. Things tend to slow down in late summer as far as large catered parties go, but now the schedule is full again. Now that I'm working 9-5 I can't do as much, but thats OK. Catering work was a godsend when I started back in May. I needed the cash and I just needed to be working again. I like the work because everyone generally does their job, you finish what you have to and you go home- or out for a beer. It is hard work though, very physical, sometimes uncomfortabe conditions - in my case I sweat a bit too much. But the people I work with are nice and the money is pretty good. You get paid by the hour and sometimes at the end of the night you get an extra tip thrown in - maybe $25.00 to walk away with.

I didn't know that Saturday's party at the Philadelphia visitors center was a wedding. I figured it might be a corporate reception or some event having to do with "Constitution Day". A wedding means a long night and it was still humid out and I was tending bar in a tuxedo- outside- on the patio overlooking the Liberty bell and Independence Hall. Apparently the guests were going to be big drinkers, because we had five bartenders - three inside and two outside. So the guests start to arrive and we have a full bar -plenty of beer, wine and liquor with all kinds of mixers. It starts out relatively slow and a few of the guests offer us cash tips. Now when I'm catering I usually refuse tips from the guests - "everything is already taken care of tonight" I might say. But usually, its not a problem- people don't tip at parties like this. Most of the time the host wouldn't like it and at business parties the guests are cheap freeloaders. But tonight was different. People were insisting that we take tips. A couple bucks folded up here, a five a ten or a twenty there. It was kind of exciting. I never would have expected it, and it made me a bit nervous of what my bosses would say if they knew we were raking it in - would we have to split it among everyone?? My pockets were literally stuffed with cash. It was a hard drinking crowd. Lots of everything. I could gather most of them came from Port Richmond and Northern Liberties area of the city. Just regular folk who tip their bartenders no matter what. I thought maybe it was some kind of sociological study - rich people would never tip at a fancy party like this. I know from long experience. In all the parties I've done I might have been handed a few tips here and there. Saturday when I counted at the end of the night I had close to $200.00 (my god!) Me and my co- bartender played it cool and kept our money in our pockets. We evened out the money at the end of the night - and we gave some to the two guys who helped us out all night. It was a great unexpected bonus - I made more in tips than I'll make in salary - that has never happened to me catering before. I really need the money right now too. My bills keep stacking up even though I'm working full time. Damn economy.

We were most of the way through the party when we found out why fortune was smiling on us as never before. It turns out that the groom owns a bar in Northern Liberties, so most of the guests were waitresses and bartenders and managers themselves. Everyone knows they tip better than anyone. I guess all my years of hanging out in bars (and tipping pretty well) has finally paid off.

Fall TV and the suspension of disbelief

2005-09-17T12:24:00.000-04:00

Let me first say that I obviously watch too much TV. I have TIVO now so that I can tape things while watching things I already recorded. And I can watch them faster because I can skip the commercials. I don't have patience for commercials. I like when the new season starts because you can check the new stuff and see if it will become a new obsession. Can you believe that "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" are just a year old?
With all the cable channels and diversification these days, the new shows sometimes start (and end) during the Summer - a new second season (Shows I like such as "The Closer" and "Monk" are in this category.) But of course most of the good shows start up again in September and October.

One new show I've started to watch is "Prison Break". Now, I kind of like this show because its a mystery and its action and sort of a puzzle in the "DaVinci Code" kind of way. The basic plot is the brother of a Death-row inmate gets incarcerated too so he can break his brother out. This is a show where you have to take it with a large amount of salt. There are so many cliches and cop-outs on this show- I hope they don't start to annoy me and take away from the clever ideas. First of all, there don't seem to be many black people in this prison. Now its pretty much a reality that Blacks make up a huge proportion of our prison population. Their conviction rate is much higher and their chance of getting the death penalty is ten times higher (Our death row guy here is a white guy - who of course was set up in a vast government conspiracy). I suppose its political correctness that they don't want to stereotype the cons by race, but in this show all of the major players (save one hispanic guy) are white. The two brothers, white, the mobster inmate who is the leader of the prisoners and part of the escape plan, white, the inevitable evil assistant warden, white, the warden of course, white. Why not a bit more racial diversity here? A few other things that stretch credibility have also come up. The Death row inmate is allowed to be on a work squad with other inmates where he gets chances to talk to his brother. I can't believe that Death row inmates would be allowed among the general population and allowed a job to pass the time less than a month before their execution? Wouldn't that just be dangerous for everybody?? Another thing that the "authorities" just figured out is that these two guys are brothers. They have different last names, so that apparently fooled everyone. Wouldn't they have known about the family history of a high profile death row inmate?? (he allegedly "killed" the vice presidents' brother- what?) Maybe I can believe that out government can make an oversight like that. I could go on, but actually I still watch this show even though it is so far-fetched. Maybe I do watch too much. I'm trying to cut down. At least now I don't watch commercials.

Here we go....

2005-09-13T18:04:00.000-04:00

So the Eagles season starts tonight. If they are mediocre or even bad this year I will have a terrible Fall. If they are good I will be content but a bit nervous. I've never been the kind of fan who thinks "my team is the best". I'm not going to brag too much when they win and I will ignore it when they lose. I won't watch TV or listen to the radio to dissect what went wrong. In my case misery does not love company.

Some of my attitudes are just part of being a Philadelphia sports fan. There have been books written about our psychology, our penchant for bad behavior and our sad plight. We have four pro teams and no Championship since 1983. That's 22 years and around 88 separate seasons without a title. I don't consider myself a typical rowdy Philly sports fan (I don't even like to say Philly- it sounds low class). I have been in attendance at several of the major events of bad behavior in Philadelphia sports history - but I wasn't really part of the problem (more on that another time).

Now just watching the ESPN pre-game show - which I usually skip- I find out before the game officially starts that Eagles defensive stallwart Jeremiah Trotter has been ejected for a "fight" during pregame warm-ups. I was maybe expecting a Hockey game to break out. It was really just a shoving match and I don't even think Trotter threw a punch. Anyway its a bad omen. At least he will just be out for one game. Now its nail biting time.

PS: Yes, they lost. And it was hard because they were in it the whole way.
Sometimes blow-outs are easier. I was discussing Trotters' supposed "fight" with my boss this morning. I told her that I didn't really think he was fighting- he just looked like he was in it - he didn't even throw a punch. but it didn't matter- he was out anyway. Wisely, she came back with "You know I've never been accused of "looking" like I was fighting"
Sometimes wrong place wrong time. Wrong way to start the year.

The Danger of Blogging

2005-09-07T18:50:00.000-04:00

So much has already been said and written about Hurricane Katrina that we are now getting the story behind the story. In the New York Times the other day I noticed a story about a blogger, a self described "weather nerd" who had predicted the Katrina disaster and tried to warn New Orleans days ahead of time. I haven't read his blog but according to the Times it was eerie how he kept making exactly the right predictions about events as they went on. His blog was widely quoted and "linked" to by other blogs. It was the top "linked to non-news blog" as reported by people who follow this kind of thing. He was getting about 25,000 hits a day and being quoted by uber blogs like Slate.Com and Instapundit.com. He was obviously being interviewed and getting his 15 minutes of fame. But if you made it to the end of the Times story you'd have found out that he probably regrets the whole thing and he's probably sleeping on the couch. From the Times 9/5/06:

Correction:

Sept. 6, 2005, Tuesday:An article in Business Day about Brendon Loy, the Notre Dame student who was one of the earliest to sound the alarm about the potential threat to New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina, misstated the name of Mr. Loy's dog. It is Robbie, not Becky (which is his fiancée's name).

Leave it to the New York Times to bury the lead.

What'l ya have Hon?

2005-09-03T17:45:00.000-04:00

We had a very Philadelphia experience the other night and I suppose that was the point. Todd has been planning a meeting for his high-powered government lawyer colleagues here in town. Since he hasn't really lived here for most of the last 13 years he has asked for recommendations of places to take them. He wanted a traditional South Philly Italian place for a big dinner one night and I immediately thought of Villa di Roma. It is one of the few restaurants actually on ninth street in the famous Italian market and a sentimental favorite in my family for years.

Now Todd is scrupulously honest (esp. for a lawyer), so he wouldn't just take my suggestion- he had to try out the restaurant himself because he knew everyone at his meeting would ask him "Have you been there before?" So Todd, Pete, Jen and I arranged to meet for dinner there last Thursday night. I took it upon myself to invite three more people- my brother Alex, his wife Melissa and my Mother. Now I suppose most guys don't go out of their way to invite their mother to a dinner with friends, but in this case my friends know my Mom is much cooler and hipper and more entertaining than I am. She has been trying to have Todd and Pete come over for dinner for a while anyway.

Villa di Roma has not changed much in the 25 or so years we've been going there. It is basically two small dining rooms and the bar which is always crowded with people waiting to get into the dining rooms. It's like it came out of central casting for a traditional "red sauce" Italian American restaurant. Older waitresses with hairdoos from the 1960's, the menu up on a board on the wall, carafes of cheap Chianti served in water glasses and plenty of brocolli rabe and 'scarole on the side.

Todd had not seen my Mom or Alex in a long time and he had never met Melissa either. So it was kind of a reunion- considering Mom and Alex and I have all known Todd his entire life. The conversation flowed to many different subjects: New Orleans, China, Burning man festival, September 11, football, airport stories and of course -sandwiches.

I told you sandwiches would come up frequently. Todd must have mentioned that it would be tough to make a sandwich with the food on the menu here. I just showed him the great loaf of fresh bread the waitress has just put down in front of me. My mom, hearing this and having read my previous post about the Tomato and mozzarella sandwich said she thought it was a joke that I liked sandwiches so much (her comment about Sandwich Post #1 - "Why didn't you tell them I bought you the mozzarella?) Todd and Pete assured her it is true. So my brother in a completely unplanned outburst says "Well they are almost the perfect food" I think this comment may have earned him a rolling of the eyes from Melissa. Todd mentioned how his friend Elaine wrote a rhapsodic comment on my blog about the Mozz and Tomato sandwich. Alex said that Todd would be a sandwich convert if he had one of his masterful tuna melts. I said that Todd is anti-sandwich because it is food for the working man on the go- not stopping to eat a fancy lunch and he wouldn't understand up in his ivory tower lawyers' office. This all led to a discussion of the relative merits of "Pat's Steaks" and whether Todd should be allowed to take his boss there during their upcoming visit. We also discussed some favorite sandwich places that aren't there anymore like Charlies' Water Wheel (free meatballs and "condiments") and Stan's (King of "Stanwiches"). My brother has very strong sandwich opinions too and we almost came to blows about the relative greatness of The White House in Atlantic City (I was there last Sunday). In the midst of all this Mom was telling Jen the recipe (in great detail) for the Veggie Wedge sandwich she made for fifteen years or so at her store in Reading Terminal. Of course we forgot the smoked mozzerella cheese - I always thought it was too strong anyway.

The food we were actually eating was good too and we all had a great time catching up. I think everyone understands why Alex and I like food that you can eat with our hands when they saw Mom picking at her entree with her fingers. I guess she had trouble finding her fork because it was right beside her plate. It's just something that runs in the family I suppose, forks just get in our way.

Modern football fan's dilemma

2005-09-01T20:45:00.000-04:00

My favorite part of the year is the fall. The crisp weather, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday (and - new this year - my neice Rebecca's birthday) -but most of all Fall means football. Monday September 12 it starts for us. Eagles Vs. Falcons- Monday night football. Every week a new game, some amazing play you can't believe you just saw. Nothing on TV gets me as excited, nervous and sometimes angry. I sometimes have to be restrained and I usually disturb the neighbors with yelling and obscenities- and it gets worse if the Eagles are losing. Losing can really ruin the entire week. Thank god they don't do too much of that these days.

So Sunday afternoons in Fall are sacred. I am much more religious about football than I am about Judaism. It is one thing that I share with my father and brother. Alex and I are even kind of Superstitious when it comes to the Eagles. Last year we refused to go to our Dad's house to watch the NFC championship game because his house was 0-3 in that game in the last three years. Of course we made the mistake of going back there for the Super Bowl, but we don't talk about that.

So here's the problem. I have to go to a wedding. Well not really a wedding, really a commitment ceremony - my first one. My cousin Erica is getting hitched to her girlfriend Mayra on a Sunday in the Fall at 1 pm in the afternoon. Right at the start of a football game. Now, let me say right off that I strongly support gay marriage. If gay couples can adopt and raise children then why can't they get married? I also think it would stimulate the economy. Who would throw bigger weddings and go on better honeymoons than gay couples? Right now I think it is just a convenient divisive political issue used to mobilize the Christian Right and eventually it will be totally legal.

The only problem I have with gay marriage right now is that two women planning a wedding on a Sunday in the Fall did not take the Eagles schedule into account. That would have never happened if there was real guy involved in the planning- even if his only contribution was to check the football schedule. Now it is early in the football season, and I do love my cousin (she is just a second cousin), but I could miss the entire game, dammit. Is this a sneak a radio into the ceremony situtaion? Will there be a TV somewhere at the reception (I doubt it). I guess I'll go anyway. I kind of already said I would. I mean its not like its a playoff game.

Cry havoc and let slip the war over the dog....

2005-08-28T20:50:00.000-04:00

I met Todd and Pete for lunch on Saturday over at Taqueria Veracruzana on Washington Avenue. To me its just like the food you get in any Taco stand in Zihuatenejo (except they have walls- most restaurants I have been to in Mexico are open to the air on at least one or two sides) The food is cheap, fresh and plentiful. You won't find any of those horrible "crunchy" taco shells here- just fresh tortillas. We haven't all hung out together lately because of various Summer vacations and other obligations (them, not me)

When we get to spend some time together our conversations tend to flow back and forth between small details we remember from 25 years ago to what went on last week. We usually end up with a few recurring themes and this time around Pete and I decided to settle on berating Todd about the name he and Laura have tenatively chosen for their new dog which hasn't arrived yet (he has a picture of it on his Blog, I think its a Snickerdoodle or a cockerbull or something)

Any way, he proudly announces that they are going to name the poor thing after a relatively obscure political slogan from 1848 or so- "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" and so the dog would probably be called "Tippy". What? First of all, "Tippy" makes me immediately think of Tippy's Taco house. Tippy's was around the corner from where me and Todd both grew up (its still there on Pine st. - now just called "Taco House") He claims not to remember the place.
Second, What? A political slogan?? "Tippecanoe and Tyler too?"
They have no personal connection to William Henry Harrison or John Tyler. Harrison (Tippecanoe) is most famous for killing lots of Indians and then dying of pneumonia after forgetting his hat at his inaugural. Actually the most interesting thing about him was that he was the Whig candidate. I think "Whig" would be a better name for a dog than "Tippy"
We think that all the other dogs in Lower Merion will beat their dog up if they call it that. They might as well call the dog "Kick Me". I think the best bet is to wait and see what the pup's personality is and then name accordingly. Or they could it name it after something or someplace that means something to them.

As usual we also talked about Todd's wife's cousins and which ones of them we believe actually exist and which are figments of his imagination.
But less on that later. We also bought socks, went bowling, drank wine at Pete's house and then went to N. 3rd for dinner with Petes girlfriend Jen. Very good beer there at N. 3rd - DogFishHead 90 minute IPA on tap! A very good company out of Delaware.

But it was mostly about the poor dog.

One year

2005-08-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one year since I "parted company" with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I guess I still dwell a bit on all the events of our separation - it is very much like a relationship when you lose a job after four years. Todd said a few weeks ago that he was going to smack me whenever I mentioned the Orchestra (a rare physical threat from Todd).

The Soap Opera that is every workplace is magnified there by the strong personalities and high profile of every major decision. Almost everything is breathlessly covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer as if they were as important as the Eagles. I still have a few friends there of course, but they are quickly dwindling as the latest "staff re-organization" plans sweep through. They attract very intelligent people to their staff and then proceed to not treat them with the loyalty and respect they deserve. Being a life-long Philadelphian and now a Classical music fan I do care about what happens with the Orchestra as an institution. I hope the relatively new management there doesn't get too caught up in politics, but that seems unlikely. The latest thing is putting PA state Senator and Philadelphia power broker Vince Fumo on the board of directors. I've been thinking of finding out if I can get one of the "ghost" jobs he'll probably set up on the staff.

I actually started a new job yesterday- exactly one year after leaving the Orchestra staff. It has the possibility of going "Temp to perm" and seems like it might be a good fit. It's another non-profit, a foundation that studies the history and impact of Chemistry on industry and society (I think). It's only been a day, so I'll see how it goes. So far there has been no mention of umbrellas and the bathrooms are very nice.

Sandwich post #1

2005-08-23T01:50:00.000-04:00

As promised in my dedication I'll probably be writing about sandwiches as they are my favorite food. My friends always joke that I will only eat sandwiches (or Hoagies, wraps, gyros) -its really pretty close to the truth - and nothing goes better with a good beer - which is another favorite thing.

Sandwiches are a wide and exhaustive subject, but today I'm going to concentrate on a particular classic that is really only just right about this time of year. The key here is the tomatoes that you can get in late summer around Philadelphia. The Jersey tomatoes are one of the only truly great things about having them as our neighbor. I usually don't eat tomatoes in a salad or bother with fresh tomatoes in a homemade sauce- you can do just as well with canned - I promise. But for a brief while you can eat a nice jersey tomato with red onion and good balsamic vinegar and be very content. So after rhapsodizing about a New Jersey tomato, I'm going to admit that I ended up getting a Pennsylvania tomato for my sandwich. Of course it was a "farm raised" Lancaster County Amish tomato from Reading Terminal. I only got one and it cost about $1.50. These tomatoes actually have a taste - they aren't just red and pulpy like what you can buy during the rest of the year. The other ingredients, also from the terminal, a ball of good fresh mozzerella a bunch of basil and a few mini baguettes with just enough crust.

Of course it's incredibly easy to put together after you hunt down the ingredients - just layer every thing onto the roll with some very good olive oil. This is one sandwich that doesn't need to be overstuffed. Don't overdo the basil because it can be overwhelming. The bread, as any sandwich afficianado knows, is very important. It can't be squishy here - this sandwich on a hot dog roll would be blasphemous. When everything comes together you can't believe that you made something so good. But the real truth is that you just went shopping at the right time of year.

Umbrella Corporation

2005-08-21T19:30:00.000-04:00

I've been working Temp jobs since May while I still figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I have done this in the past, and in fact my last two permanent jobs started out as Temp. The last couple of weeks I've been working at an umbrella company. Now when I mentioned this to a friend the other day she thought I meant "Umbrella Corporation" as in ..."We are a multinational concern that manages financial planning and document processing services companies for the banking industry.."
No, here I'm talking about those things people always leave behind on the subway, that you can find for sale for a few bucks on the street. I won't tell you the exact name of the company, but if you mispronounced it just a little it would sound something like "Shabby Umbrellas"

It's basically a big warehouse in a not so good area in Philadelphia with a one room office and a bathroom that is at about gas station level of cleanlieness. I've never worked in a supply chain / manufacturing type business before and its kind of strange. I'm still doing clerical and accounting work - its very basic stuff - but I'm seeing how one little business works. The first thing I noticed is how many hands these umbrellas have to go through before they get to the consumer. The niche that "Shabby" has carved out is in imprinted umbrellas - yes, like the ones for your favorite PBS / NPR station, highschool or cable channel. So first of all most of the umbrellas are imported from China (on the slow boat, apparently). I would think there are a few freight companies involved here in getting the product into the warehouse. Then if someone wants imprinted umbrellas they might talk to an ad agency or one of the numerous companies that sell imprinted crap to businesses. That company calls "Shabby" to make arrangements for the style, color and logo wanted. Then the umbrellas are shipped over to local printing company to actually do the work and shipped back. After being checked and repackaged they are shipped out again- maybe to the ultimate point of sale, or maybe to another midddle man. So basically "Shabby" exists to hold the umbrellas and move them through the printing process. The bottom line is - I think I'd like to be in the shipping business.

It's also the first time I've worked somewhere where there are no women - no old payroll ladies, no young secretaries, no bosses wife. As far as I'm concerned that makes it a boring place. Despite the fact that I'm learning a ton about umbrellas. You got your folding umbrellas (at least three) different sizes, then your stick umbrellas which come in metal, wood and fiberglass and then you got your vented and your folding vented in all kinds of colors. They know their umbrellas and they know what is in sotck in the warehouse. The guy sitting next to me will get a call about a certain umbrella and just call over to the boss across the room

"Hey Charley, we got two hundred and fifty MA-6T's in Royal Blue and Purple?"

"No problem - and tell 'em we got those WS-100's they were lookin for the other day too..."

So at least I've been keeping busy and learning how another corner of the world works. When you think about it almost every house has at least one umbrella and they are cheap enough that people don't care too much when they lose one and will just go and buy another one when they break. I've even bought a few nice ones when I was working there. I got them wholesale, I think.

Drama in Gaza

2005-08-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

Being an American Jew (at least culturally and by birth- if not religiously) I am used to people assuming that I have something to do with Israel and I should answer for what ever they do. I've never been there, (I hear its nice) and I certainly don't always agree with their policies. I am glad that the US supports them most of the time, although it has caused us quite a bit of grief. They are a "stable" democracy type thing in a part of the world that probably could use more.

Even though I'm not a rabid Zionist, the pictures this week of settlers being removed from the Gaza strip have been very difficult to watch. Thankfully there haven't been many reported deaths (with some exceptions). I know I can sympathize with these settlers a little bit more because I am a Jew. I care a bit more about the Israeli Army having to raid a Synagogue than I would about our troops raiding a Mosque somewhere (take your pick). I wish Israel did not have to give up this land they fought wars over in the past. I wish they could keep all their land and get a bit more. It would be kind of like us having to give back Texas to Mexico (maybe not a bad idea). When ever I want to end an argument about Israel and the Palestinian problem- all I do is get into my fake indignant mode and say "But God gave that land to us...."

Dedication

2005-08-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

I've got to dedicate my first post to my life-long (so far) friend- Todd. He constantly tells me to read his blog if I want more details on a trip he took or what happened over the weekend (Check out his blogs at www.alcibiades.blogspot.com) He kept telling me that I should try one too, and since I am under-employed and I like to write, why not.

In many ways I am the Anti-Todd. He is employed, married, responsible, well travelled and motivated. Of course we've been friends all of our thirty-six or so years, so we have to have something in common (beer?).
My style is a bit different than his, so it may not be very long before I am saying a little too much here. I'm sure I'll be writing about food, movies, TV, music, stuff that annoys me and maybe about my career - if I ever get one.