Bush and Cheney met with the 9-11 panel. Alas, it was in private with no TV coverage and no written transcripts. I would imagine that Bush sat on Cheney’s knee as the VP did his best impression of a ventriloquist. Maybe he even made a talking Bush voice as he drank a glass of water!

We had another Parks event today. It was a groundbreaking at Harry Maze Playground in East Flatbush. The fun part was when our sound system went on fire a half-hour before the event started. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but lots of smoke did emanate from the speakers. So my boss ran to Radio Shack and bought a Karaoke machine which served as our sound system for about a half hour until it went dead in the middle of some guy’s speech. (Kinda appropriate though since the guy was pontificating for way too long) So my boss returned the Karaoke machine as soon as the event was over and is presumably shopping for something else at this moment as we have another event tomorrow for Arbor Day! Yipee.

Last week I predicted Shii Ann’s departure on “Survivor” and she certainly would have been voted out except she won immunity. Barring another miracle, she is certain to go tonight. Then we will be left with Boston Rob, Amber, Rupert, Jenna and Big Tom!

Saw “Wicked” last night. It was great! (Warning – Spoilers Below!)

The musical “Wicked” is quite different from the book “Wicked”. The first act has some slight differences that work well for the stage medium in the sense that it moves the story along more fluidly. For example, it skips over Elphaba’s upbringing and jumps right into her entry to Shiz University. It also has her sister Nessarose beginning school at the same time as Elphaba and Glinda. This way we meet all the main characters at once. The show then focuses on the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda with many duets between the two. Whereas the book had heavy political and metaphorical content, the musical is more driven by the relationships. The many atrocities of the Wizard in the book, are boiled down in the musical to his suppression of animals. In the second act though, the musical veers wildly off the novel and becomes a story unto itself. But it’s a damn good story! We see the origins of the Cowardly Lion (alluded to in the book), the Tin Man (it’s Boq!), and the Scarecrow (it’s Fiyero!). In this regard it does a great job of connecting Gregory Maguire’s world with L. Frank Baum’s world with some surprising twists along the way. Finally, Elphaba’s fate is dramatically satisfying. Whereas her affliction to water is all too real in the book, she plays it up to her advantage in the musical, leading to quite an ending. I just don’t know if I can shake the image of the Wicked Witch and the Scarecrow together.

The performers in "Wicked" were on top of their game. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth are remarkably talented actresses with some amazing pipes! The main reason that I wanted to see "Wicked" was to see both of them perform in the lead roles. They both deserve Best Actress Tony Nominations. Chenoweth might win because she is the bigger name, but Menzel was the heart of the show. And how about Joel Gray? 72-years old and he's still doing his thing. Glad to see his in such great shape. Finally, the Playbill said that the actress who played Madame Morrible used to appear in "The Cosby Show" (one of my favorite late-night cable rerun options). After wondering who she played, I remembered - Rudy's teacher! The one who used to give Kenny a hard time. Between her and Phyilicia Rashad appearing in "A Raisin in the Sun", it's a Cosby takeover of Broadway! Or something like that...

So much work, so little time. This week we have a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday and then two Arbor Day events on Friday. Plus there’s the Coney Island events poster I’m designing and mooring permits that need to go out. It can be overwhelming so I’m taking it slow and focusing on one thing at a time. Meanwhile one of my less-experienced co-workers is on the verge of a breakdown. Ah, rookies.

Tonight I am seeing “Wicked”! Can’t wait. It is a Broadway musical that is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” I read the Gregory Maguire book that it was based on in November and look forward to comparing this adaptation to the original work. A review of the show will be forthcoming.

Can’t blog. Working.

Taking full advantage of my Netflix subscription means ordering every single feature film release under the sun. One case in point was "Cheaper by the Dozen." It made over $100 million at the box office so how could I not check it out? I'd give you a plot synopsis except that there's not much of one. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt want a big family so they have 12 kids. Yes, 12. They also want careers which involve moving the family to a different town. The kids (brats that they are) aren't too happy with this and spend the better part of 90 minutes acting out. I suppose it was supposed to be funny. It's as if the producers said, let's put Steve Martin with a bunch of kids and see the wackiness that will ensue. Wackiness indeed. My next Netflix film to watch is "The Matrix Revolutions." I actually started it last night. I watched a half-hour before my eyelids became very heavy and I turned it off to go to sleep. I'll probably finish the movie at some point today.

Congratulations to Vitali Klitschko, boxing's NEW heavyweight champion of the world. Last night he won the title vacated by Lennox Lewis. In his corner was his younger brother, Wladimir, who has been having his own problems in the ring. If this was wrestling, Wladimir would turn heel on Vitali and demand a title shot, ala the Bret Hart vs Owen Hart wars of 1994.

I've noticed that when Saturdays come around, I never have too much to write. Maybe this is my blog's way of observing the Sabbath.

We always get a nice turnout from the local press at our Parks events. The Daily News ran a story about the Wyckoff House event that I described yesterday. You can read the article here.

Just got back from Coney Island where we met to discuss the annual beach opening ceremony. While there, I took a walk along the boardwalk and admired the four new performance gazebos that were installed. These pavilions are named after the amusement parks of yesterday (Dreamland & Steeplechase) and the amusement parks of today (Astroland and Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park). When we have the ceremony in late May, the big photo-op will be the unveiling of one of the gazebos, as a band plays inside it. In the meantime one of the big projects that I’m working on is designing a Coney Island Events Poster that will be displayed on our 9 boardwalk kiosks.

Jon Stewart was hilarious on The Daily Show the other night. He was making fun of our indecision over who we would be handing Iraqi sovereignty over to on June 30. At his press conference Bush had told a reporter “We’ll get back to you on that.” Stewart’s reply : “Wait! Don’t tell me! I’ll wait up bright and early on June 30th, tip toe down the stairs in my footsie pajamas, and see who will be the new leader of Iraq sitting under the tree. Wait, what if it’s me? Just think, I could be the leader of Iraq! Oh my god, that would be the best June 30th ever!”

On “Survivor”, Shii Ann was marked for elimination last night and the only way she could be saved was if she had won immunity. So, she did! Without the option of voting out Shii Ann, the original Chapera members turned on their own and ejected Alicia who they had earlier indicated was the “least deserving of being an All-Star.”

This morning we had an event at the Wyckoff House. Not only is it the oldest house in New York City, it’s the oldest house in New York State. It was built by Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, a Dutch settler, in 1652 on land that was recently taken from the local Canarsee Indian tribe. Wyckoff’s descendants continued to farm the land until 1901. In the 1960s it was declared a National Historic Landmark. The house exists today as a museum that is owned by the Parks Department. Today’s event was to herald some new improvements that are coming to the grounds. The weather was great, the speeches were short, and the school kids in attendance were very knowledgeable about the site’s history.

Lauren Sullivan, one of my favorite co-workers of all time, told me today that she is leaving Parks. Her husband is a musician in the band Guster and she is forming a non-profit organization that works with musicians to promote environmental issues. I’m happy for her but very sad to see her go. Fortunately she will still be living in Brooklyn and has promised to visit and do lunch.

My “Survivor” prediction is Shii Ann, last of the Mogo Mogos.

I’m getting a raise! Yay! OK, it’s not a big raise, but it’s something. Last night, the Mayor made a deal with the Union for 5% increases. This comes as a slight surprise as there had been no indications that a deal was forthcoming. The Mayor had previously taken a hard stance that there would be no raises without productivity improvements, and no retroactive raises. He backed away on both points. My guess is that he wants peace with the labor unions during his upcoming reelection campaign. His poll numbers have been improving and this might help. (Yes, there are negative parts of the deal. It’s less than the 8% increase given in 2001 and it reduces starting salaries for new hires) But all in all, something is better than nothing and up until this point I had been expecting nothing.

Today is the anniversary of some sad events. It’s 13 years ago today that my Grandpa Murray passed away and it’s 5 years ago today that the Columbine shootings happened. To top that off, it’s Hitler’s birthday! Let’s hope that this 4-20 is more uneventful.

Great weather this week. Spring has finally arrived and the parks are bustling with people. Phones are ringing off the hook, special events are being planned. It should be crazy like this until... oh I’d say October.

Today’s Daily News features The Ten Worst Songs of All Time, as decided by Blender Magazine. They are...
1) “We Built this City” (Starship)
2) “Achy Breaky Heart” (Billy Ray Cyrus)
3) “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (Wang Chung)
4) “Rollin” (Limp Bizkit)
5) “Ice Ice Baby” (Vanilla Ice)
6) “The Heart of Rock & Roll” (Huey Lewis and the News)
7) “Don’t Worry Be Happy” (Bobby McFerrin)
8) “Party All the Time” (Eddie Murphy)
9) “American Life” (Madonna)
10) “Ebony and Ivory” (Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder)

Good luck tomorrow to all of those third-graders taking the exam that will single-handedly determine if they are going to become fourth-graders. I think it's utterly insane that the promotion of a child (a CHILD!) will boil down to their performance on ONE standardized test. Yes, standards need to be established but c'mon! So I'll be rooting for you little kiddies.

My new favorite word is “riff raff”. As in describing those less than desirable elements. Such as... “The bed and breakfast in Park Slope does not have any identifiable signs in order to keep away the riff raff.”

There was this guy on the subway this morning who looked a little bit like my old political science professor, Mr. Born. Especially the face and glasses. Except where Mr. Born had short, thinning hair, this guy had long straggly hair that went down to his shoulders. So he sort of looked like Mr. Born had he gone to Woodstock.

Big “Simpsons” night last night. Skinner and Krabbapel almost got married but she instead wound up having an affair with the Comic Book Guy. Then they reran the classic episode spoofing “Evita.” Then on “24”, Ryan Chappelle got whacked. Meanwhile I taped “The Sopranos” and watched it afterwards. Turns out that the actor who played Chappelle is also on “Sopranos”, as the conflicted priest, Father Phil. Now that his “24” character is dead, he’ll have plenty of extra time to be on “Sopranos.”

So much work to do this week. The busy season is upon us!

I just saw "House of Sand and Fog". What a great movie! Battles for real estate have never been more dramatic. Jennifer Connelly plays a woman who was wrongly evicted from her house, as the county claimed she failed to pay a tax that she didn't even need to pay. But Connelly could have prevented it from happening had she bothered to open her mail! Meanwhile, Ben Kingsley, a former Iranian colonel buys the house at auction and refuses to leave despite learning of Connelly's predicament. I loved the depiction of Kingsley, his wife and his son. Despite his financial stubbornness, it's clear that Kingsley only wants whats best for his family. That makes the devastating events in the last half-hour of the film especially heartbreaking. Go see this movie now!

Just recently got back from a night out in Manhattan. Don't feel like sleeping so I'll blog instead!

I'll add this to my previous post about chemistry. There's nothing you can do about it. It's either there or it's not there. The best approach is not to take it too personally if it isn't happening. For example, I'm confident that I'm a decent looking guy who is a good conversationalist with a witty sense of humor. I can only be myself and, if that's not enough, then it's just not meant to be.

Can't think of anything else to say on the matter seeing as how it is after 2 in the morning! Will blog more tomorrow!

Chemistry. I’ve always hated it in school. Definitely my worst subject. So once I fulfilled my requirements, I did not take any additional courses in it. Now, years later, chemistry has again come back to haunt me in the dating world. There’s nothing more frustrating than going out with someone, thinking it went well, and then being told that they don’t want to pursue anything because they “didn’t feel any chemistry.” Grr. That’s one of the perils of online dating sites like JDate. If two people meet in the real world, then there’s a better chance of establishing mutual sparks before setting up a date. But even if two people establish a good rapport online and on the phone, there’s no guarantees until they first meet in person. Although it can be frustrating, I’m doing my best to stay optimistic and to keep trying!

I guess it pays to watch a TV program before offering a prediction on it. “Survivor” addict that I am, I correctly forecasted Kathy’s departure. But having never watched “The Apprentice”, I chose the wrong guy. Turns out that Bill won, not Kwame. My bad.

Update : Timber!!! A huge 80-year old tree just fell in front of my office building in Prospect Park and caused quite a noise. A combination of its age, health, wind conditions and the fact that its roots failed to sustain it. It's a good thing noone was standing underneath it when it fell!

I also wanted to point out that there is a striking resemblance between Ariel Sharon and Tommy Lasorda.

There’s one more Bush quote from Tuesday night’s press conference that I forgot to mention but is too irresistible not to :

“I wouldn’t be happy if I were occupied either.”

Yes, Mr. President. We sure wouldn’t want you to be occupied. That’s why Cheney does all your work for you.

The rains continue. April showers ain't no cliche.

"The O.C." is such an addictive program. It's so soapy but I can't turn away.

My "Survivor", who gets the boot prediction is Kathy. With Lex gone she should be the next target for the united Chaperas. That's assuming that the Chaperas remain united. I think they will for at least one more vote.

I've never watched "The Apprentice" but, after reading a newspaper article about it, I'm predicting that Trump will hire the black guy.

More fun excerpts from Bush’s press conference last night :

* A reporter asked, “In the last campaign, you were asked a question about the biggest mistake you'd made in your life and you used to like to joke that it was trading Sammy Sosa. You've looked back before 9/11 for what mistakes might have been made. After 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be?” To which, Bush then looked like a deer caught in headlights as he stuttered “Hmmm. I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it... You know, I just — I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet... You know, I hope I don't want to sound like I've made no mistakes. I'm confident I have. I just haven't — you just put me under the spot here and maybe I'm not quick, as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one.” They then cut to a shot of Karl Rove, Condi Rice and Andrew Card who looked mortified. Had they not prepared him for such an expected question? Or had they prepared him and Bush had forgotten what he was supposed to say?

* When asked who we will be transferring sovereignty to in Iraq on June 30, Bush responded “We’ll get back to you on that.”

* I loved when a reporter asked him “Will (Iraq) have been worth it, even if you lose your job because of it?” and then when another reporter asked “If you feel in any way that you’ve failed as a communicator?”

Now we know why Bush does not have too many press conferences.

In other news, congratulations to Barry Bonds for hitting his 661st home run last night and surpassing Willie Mays for 3rd on the all-time home run list.

If anyone is interested in the 19th century plagues that wrecked havoc in Europe, read Sarah's blog. Her recent bout with bronchitis has inspired a litany of commentary on the subjects of consumption, tuberculosis, ague, and many more!

And if anyone is interested in commentaries on today’s dating scene, check out the webpage of The Anonymous Blogger. Be sure to visit the always happening comments section.

Who is this boob currently appearing on all the TV channels? Oh yeah, Bush.
He's currently in the middle of the press conference and at least the press is asking him some hardball questions this time around. Their softball questions at his previous press conference (before the Iraq war) was inexcuseable. When the reporter asked him how his faith served to inspire him I wanted to throw my shoe at the TV. But that was last time. This time, they're challenging him more over his mistakes and Bush is stammering through his talking points. One noteable exchange was when he was asked why he will only appear before the 9-11 commission sitting alongside Cheney. Bush answered that he looks forward to answering the commission's questions. But when pressed why he wouldn't appear by himself, as the commission requested, he only repeated that he looked forward to meeting with them and moved on to the next question. What a dodge! Even the dumbest viewers had to pick up on that one. More commentary on Bush's performance tomorrow when it's all said and done.

Skies are overcast. A mist is falling. I walk through the streets wearing my black trenchcoat, looking like Morpheus and vowing to overthrow the rule of the machines.

How much do I despise George W. Bush? Never mind that he stole the 2000 election. Never mind that he dragged us into the quagmire of Iraq with no exit strategy. Never mind that he blew the Clinton surplus by giving tax breaks to the rich. I despise him because his press conference tonight is going to preempt “24”!!! The guy’s got some nerve.

Improvement in fantasy baseball. I shot up four places in the standings and am now in third place! I’ll refrain from giving a daily commentary on this subject but will certainly mention if I reclaim my first place position.

Premiere Magazine published a list of The Top 100 Movie Characters. The Top 10 are...

1) Vito Corleone “The Godfather”
2) Fred C. Dobbs “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”
3) Scarlett O’Hara “Gone With the Wind”
4) Norman Bates “Psycho”
5) James Bond “Dr. No”
6) Annie Hall “Annie Hall”
7) Indiana Jones “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
8) Ellen Ripley “Alien”
9) Jeff Spicoli “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
10) Gollum “The Lord of the Rings”

Other noteables...

12) Charles Foster Kane “Citizen Kane”
13) Atticus Finch “To Kill a Mockingbird”
14) Randle McMurphy “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
22) Travis Bickle “Taxi Driver”
27) Marge Gunderson “Fargo”
31) Norma Desmond “Sunset Boulevard”
38) Willy Wonka “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”
47) Mrs. Robinson “The Graduate”
59) Lt. Kilgore “Apocalypse Now”
63) Carrie White “Carrie”
75) Dr. Strangelove “Dr. Strangelove”
84) Darth Vader “Star Wars” (should be higher!!!)

What is going on? The baseball season is one week old and my fantasy team has fallen from 1st to 3rd to 5th and now to 7th place!!! At this pace I'll be in last place by Thursday. Grr. Even the real-life Mets are doing better than me.

Congrats to Phil Mickelson. He's the golfer who won the Masters yesterday. I like him because he has the same name as me. And also because he seems like a genuinely nice guy who until yesterday had been the best player to never have won a major tournament. Yay, Phil!

Some guy in Las Vegas bet his life savings on the spin of a wheel! He bet over $100,000 on red. And the winner was...red. So now he has over $200,000. Not a recommended method of investment though. I think I'll stick with my 457 plan and Roth IRAs.

Happy Easter. Not a whole lot going on today. Took my parents out to dinner last night to celebrate my dad's birthday. Then I helped him set up his new DVD player which was a gift from my brother. It was very frustrating to hear incredible distortions in the sound. After wracking my brain over what was wrong, I realized that I had plugged the red cord into the wrong red outlet on the back of the player. You see there were two reds. If they would only come up with a variety of different colors we wouldn't have such problems. All is now well on the technology front.

I also watched two Netflix movies this weekend. The first was "Something's Gotta Give." This was a fun movie, although a half hour too long. You can't go wrong with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. The second movie I watched was "Mona Lisa Smile". I can understand why it got bad reviews since much of it was cliches, but I liked it anyway. It took place at Wellesley College in 1953 and as a Vassar alum, I'd imagine that Vassar was very similar during that time.

I read an article in the newspaper about Anne Hathaway, star of "The Princess Diaries" and "Ella Enchanted." It turns out that she is currently enrolled at Vassar but her movie career has seriously curtailed her advancement towards her degree. She was originally enrolled in the Class of 2004 and, whereas her friends and classmates are currently getting ready to graduate, she has only completed three semesters. I really wonder whether or not she will make the effort to continue.

Fantasy Baseball woes. After two happy days in first place, my team has slipped to 5th. It's all because of my pitching. 10 of my starters have made 14 starts thus far and I only have ONE win from them. I'm counting on them all to rebound with better performances next time.

One year after toppling the statue of Saddam Hussein, Iraq looks messier than ever. Now a hostage situation has developed. Three Japanese civilians are among the hostages and their captors are threatening to burn them alive unless Japan withdraws its troops. Given all of this chaos, I don't see how we can implement a transfer of power by June 30. The situation seems to be getting far worse before it gets better.

Sad news at the New York Aquarium. Their 35-year old beluga whale, Kathy, passed away yesterday. If you click on the link to its article, you'll find a mention of Aquarium spokesperson, Fran Hackett. I work closely with Fran every year when planning events at Coney Island so, although its a sad occassion, its great to see her name in the national news media.

Happy Birthday to my dad!!!

The streets of Brooklyn are utterly deserted today. Must be a combination of no school and the religious holiday.

Lex got served last night on “Survivor”. I’ve gotta say that Lex deserved it, having played the game very poorly. He engineered the demise of those most loyal to him (Colby, Ethan, Jerri) and gambled everything on the assumption that Boston Rob would include him in a Final 4 alliance. Wrong! Rob cut him loose, preferring to stick to an alliance with his original tribe. Lex never should have trusted Rob and now he paid for it.

Did you hear that 19,000 Hasidic Jews rented out Madison Square Garden yesterday for a private showing of the Ringling Bros. Circus? All female performers were excluded, the men and women sat separately in the audience, and kosher cotton candy machines and other kosher food concessions were brought into MSG. Must have been quite a sight.

I wish a Good Friday to all the goyim.

Update : More thoughts on Condi Rice's testimony. After denying any prior knowledge of Al Qaeda attacking within the U.S., the commissioners revealed that President Bush was presented with a memo on August 6, 2001 entitled "Bin Laden determined to attack inside United States." Wow. What was the response by our national security advisor? That it was a historical document, detailing PAST efforts. Um, then shouldn't it have been titled "Bin Laden USED TO BE determined to attack..."? Now all 10 commissioners are urging that this document be declassified. Dr. Rice also was questioned on why they didn't follow through on plans to attack Al Qaeda that were drafted by the Clinton administration. Her response? That there were no such plans, merely several actionable items listed together. Um, isn't that a "plan"?

Update : Condi Rice has finished testifying before the 9-11 commission. As expected she refused to acknowledge that the administration made any mistakes or did anything wrong. I particularly enjoyed the exchange between her and commission member Bob Kerrey. Rice kept insisting that, prior to 9-11, Bush said he was tired of “swatting flies” with Al Qaeda and wanted a greater response. Kerrey asked her “What flies did the administration swat? Give me one example of when you swatted a fly!” That was not terribly surprising since Kerrey is a Democrat. But then James Thompson, the most partisan Republican on the panel, chided Rice for the administration’s failure to attack Al Qaeda after the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. She said that a “tit for tat response” was not appropriate. He then asked her how many of our destroyers Al Qaeda would have had to attack before we would have deemed it appropriate.

All in all, I have to give the 9-11 commission credit. It seems they are genuinely interested in determining what went wrong with our intelligence and the failure of our leaders to act upon known threats. (That includes Clinton. Even though I’m an admitted partisan Democrat, his administration must also be held accountable) It will be very interesting to read the final content of their report.

So I’m currently listening to Condi Rice’s testimony on my walkman. She’s reading her carefully constructed opening statement. It will be interesting to see how she responds to intense questioning by the panel and whether she relies on ambiguous statements like “In my opinion” or “To the best of my recollection.” It will also be interesting to see how long it takes before she tries to decredit Richard Clarke.

“Survivor” is down to nine people, all of which will at least be on the jury. CBS said that the merge will finally happen tonight and Boston Rob is in a position where he has made alliances with all remaining members. The previews indicate that he is going to have to betray one of his alliances. If the others had any sense, they would get wise to Rob’s antics and vote him off. But they haven’t shown much sense thus far.

Despite Steve Traschel’s awful performance last night, I’m still in first place in Fantasy Baseball! My hitters have a combined .380 batting average so far. That makes up for my pitchers 5.something ERA.

Passover Seder, Round Two was held last night in New Jersey. Special thanks to my cousin Pamela for leading the seder. It was really great to see her, her husband Mike and their two children, 2 and a half year old Grace, and 1 and a half year old Matthew. Since they live in San Francisco we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like. Those kids are so cute and intelligent! It was also fun to hang out with my cousins Russell and Lisa. And Uncle Norman is recovering well from the operation he had last month. Now there’s nothing left to do but eat the leftovers.

(Pamela’s Passover tidbit : An orange slice can be put on a seder plate because when women were attempting to be ordained as rabbis, a prominent male rabbi angrily proclaimed “The day women are allowed on the pulpit is the day oranges will be put on seder plates!”. So since women have indeed achieved positions as rabbis, it’s appropriate to add oranges as a nod to their achievements.)

(Russell’s Passover tidbit – if they do a spoof of the movie “Old School”, they should call it “Old Shul”)

How bout dem Mets? I did not see the game last night but I heard that they kicked major ass. A 7-2 win over the Braves with hot performances by Tom Glavine and Kaz Matsui. And even better – my fantasy baseball team, Thugz Inc., is in first place! I don’t know how long that will last so I will gloat as long as I can.

One Passover seder down. One to go. Kudos to mom for making a great dinner last night. It started with the traditional reading of the "New Hagaddah". It's called "New" even though the books we use were published in 1948. The seder began with this funny exchange...

Dad : "We'll begin on Page 3."
Aunt : "Where's Page 3?"
Brother : "It's after Page 2."

50 pages later and after a hearty singing of Dye-anu, we finally ate. The menu featured gefilte fish, matzah ball soup, turkey, baked potatoes, corn, carrot tzimas, haroset, pickles, veggies, matzah, and all the Manischevitz you could drink. Dessert had ring jells, marshmellow twists, fruit slices, and various sugar-free stuff for the diabetics. Round two is tonight in New Jersey.

Front page of the Daily News proclaims that J-Lo's mom won $2.4 million in Las Vegas. Like she needs it!

Some good news is that Ralph Nader failed to make the ballot in Oregon. He had only 700 supporters turn out last night when there was a 1000 person minimum in order to qualify for the ballot. At the same function four years ago, he had 7000 supporters turn out. Maybe people are finally getting it.

No work today because it's Passover! T-minus a few hours until family descends upon Brooklyn for the first night's seder. Stay tuned to this blog for a complete food review.

Today I am officially 26 and a half years old. Does anyone still celebrate half-birthdays?

There was a great episode of "The Sopranos" last night. It focused on Tony's infatuation with Adrianna and how they got into a car accident together at 2 in the morning from swerving off the road to avoid hitting a racoon. Adrianna's fiance Christopher became enraged, thinking that the cause of the accident was oral sex. There was a great montage of mobsters gossiping on the phone, embellishing the story of how it happened. Chris then took the unprecedented step of attempting to assassinate Tony and wound up almost getting whacked himself. Enter Steve Buscemi's character who urged everyone to drop their weapons and think rationally. Buscemi took them to the hospital where Adrianna was treated and got the doctor to tell Chris that she had abrasions on her body from the seatbelt. Hence, she could not have been engaged in any such acts and Chris had to apologize to Tony. The episode ended with Chris, Adrianna, Tony, Tony's wife, Buscemi and Buscemi's mother all going out to dinner in public, encouraging the perception that there is peace. The previews for next weeks episode indicate that its going to be all about Buscemi.

How come nobody told me that today was Daylight Savings Time?!? Boy was I surprised when I woke up this morning, thinking that it was 10:00 but that it was really 11:00!

There's a big rain downpour going on right now. I was caught outside in it earlier and am now drying off.

Saw two Netflix movies yesterday. The first was "The Rundown" with The Rock. It was mindless yet enjoyable. I met The Rock back in 1997 when he was known as Rocky Maivia. Click here to see a picture of me and Rocky. (It's the second one) It's good to see him succeeding now as a big movie star. He's certainly entertaining enough. The second movie I saw was "Intolerable Cruelty". Hated it! It was hyped as a screwball comedy but there was nothing screwy or comedic about it. I can't believe it took four people to write the screenplay to such a piece of dreck. Avoid at all costs!

Not much to report today. Passover is approaching and family seders are being held on Monday night and Tuesday night. Looking forward to matzoh ball soup and those fruit slices coated in sugar.

Three of my friends have birthdays today so happy birthday to Jon Gans, Gabe Anderson and Andrew Chazen!

Yesterday I forgot to make a “Survivor” prediction. The unlucky castaway to get the boot was Jerri the Bitch. OK, maybe she wasn’t as bitchy as she was in Australia three years ago. But she was still pretty damn annoying. With 9 players left, Rob and Amber remain in control as they have seemingly made alliances with everyone.

In other TV news, the shit finally hit the fan on “24”. Or should I say, a biological virus hit the fan. After chasing after the virus all season, it was finally unleashed within a hotel in L.A. People inside the hotel didn’t waste anytime showing symptoms so it looks like there’s going to be quite the casualty count. Unfortunately, Kim was not inside the hotel. And be sure to check out reruns of “South Park” this weekend. The episode was titled “The Passion of the Jew” and is a great satirical look at America’s interest in “The Passion of the Christ.” The episodes main conclusion? That Mel Gibson is insane.

So far so good with “Air America” radio. I’ve been listening to “The O’Franken Factor” for the past two days and it’s pretty good. Franken has a professional radio host co-hosting the show with him because he’s a novice to the genre. But the content has been mostly satisfying. So far they’ve interviewed Bob Kerrey, Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore, and Richard Reich. Al Gore and Ben Stein called in and Bebe Newirth provided the voice of Ann Coulter who, as the skit went, got locked inside of a closet in the Air America studios. Hopefully the station can soon get on the air in the swing states.

I hate to say it but it seems that the Mets are really going to stink this year. They’re losing all of their spring training games, Jose Reyes is out with some mysterious leg ailment, Kaz Matsui is having a lot of trouble adjusting to U.S. pitchers and their starting rotation is still undecided. I’d like to amend my original 4th place prediction. I now say they will come in last. But perhaps its best to enter the season with low expectations so any successes they do have will be a nice surprise.

Today is April Fools Day. That means that I don’t trust the veracity of anything that anyone may say to me today. That includes you!

Last night I had a good time hanging out with Sarah, as well as her cute dog Zoey! We saw “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” at the AMC theater on 42nd Street. I thought the movie was very well done. Jim Carrey proves that he’s a very effective actor when acting in serious, dramatic roles. This has to rank up there with “The Truman Show” as one of his best performances. I also enjoyed how Charlie Kaufman constructed the screenplay and the visual effects were unique as we witnessed the erasure of Carrey’s memory. There’s a subplot with Kristin Dunst’s character that I could have done without but the central drama between Carrey and Kate Winslet is what pulls the film along. I highly recommend this movie!

The Washington Post is reporting that on 9/11/01, Condoleezza Rice was originally scheduled to give a speech on the state of our national security. It was to have focused on long-range missile defenses and would not have mentioned Al Qaeda, Bin Laden or Islamic-extremist terrorism at all. I think this effectively proves that, prior to 9/11, terrorism was not the slightest priority for this administration.

Overheard on public transportation this morning :
Girl : “What are you reading?”
Boy : “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”
Girl : “You’re reading that on your own?”
Boy : “Yeah. What you think I’m retarded?”
Girl : “No. I’ve just think its great that a guy is reading without being forced to. I’ve never seen that before”
Boy : “Nah, this is great stuff. Everyone should read this.”

That exchange put a smile on my face. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of Malcolm X, I’m glad to see that reading isn’t entirely forgotten among urban youths.