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On Tuesday night I saw "Crash." This was a very well-done ensemble piece about racial conflicts in Los Angeles. Parts of it were funny in a "Pulp Fiction" kind of way - i.e. the argument between Ludacris and his friend over what they should do about the 'Chinaman' they just ran over, reminded me of the argument between Travolta and Jackson about what they should do about the guy whose head they accidentally blew off in the backseat of their car. Other parts of the film were heartfelt, such as the tender scenes between the locksmith and his daughter. Many other fine actors had bit parts and Matt Dillon excelled as a racist LAPD officer. "Crash" might not be in the theaters for much longer so be sure to see it either now or when it comes out on DVD.

Then last night I watched "In Good Company" which I also enjoyed. Topher Grace plays a 26 year old ad exec who takes over Dennis Quaid's job and then starts seeing his daughter. I was glad that Grace played the role with humanity and compassion. He wasn't cliched as being arrogant or entitled (as Ben Affleck had played that kind of role countless times before). Rather he was nervous to be entering the new job, unsure with what he wanted to do his life and was longing for friendship and companionship - a far more relatable role.

Click here to see a hilarious animated image of me and a few other bloggers, courtesy of the very talented Wes. A few months ago, Wes drew a few other bloggers but noticing that his images included Caren, Sarah and Sydney, I said to him "Oh you only draw female bloggers?" So now Wes has added images of myself, T.A.B., Chris and Dave to the mix. No doubt, the couch behind me is an allusion to my freak-out over my furniture deliveries. Very observant, Wes!

I had a very good weekend that included seeing "Batman Begins" and going to John and Spencer's BBQ in Astoria. Then on Sunday I returned to Queens for the second day in a row! No, it wasn't to see Billy Graham, it was to count trees for the ongoing Tree Census. Last week I met someone who had signed up to volunteer for the census and what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than exploring the streets of Woodside? And this is no simple count of "One tree, two trees, ah ah ah." There was a long form with multiple questions that had to be answered about each tree, such as what kind it is, what it's diameter is, are there any obstructions, is the soil level, etc. And we met lots of Woodside locals who were probably wondering why we were lingering in front of their property.

On the television front, I discovered a show on "The N" called "Degrassi : The Next Generation." Years ago I watched and loved the original "Degrassi Junior High" and "Degrassi High" on PBS. One of the characters was Spike, a pregnant teenager. Now her daughter is attending Degrassi and the show is centered around her and her circle of friends. And many of the original Degrassi actors reprieve their roles including Spike, Snake, Caitlin and Joey Jeremiah. Anyway there was a weekend long marathon of episodes and I was transfixed.

I have had enough of Karl Rove and the Republican's efforts to demonize liberals.

The final straw came in comments Rove gave the other day during a speech in Manhattan : "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Bullshit. When 9/11 happened liberals and conservatives were united in their desire to come together as a nation and destroy Al Qaeda. Liberals supported the war in Afghanistan and understood that the primary target in the war on terror was Osama Bin Laden. It is Bush Administration who forgot about this. They're the ones who diverted the resources in capturing Osama to embark on their long-planned Iraq project. They're the ones who have still failed in capturing Osama. As long as he remains a free man and as long as Al Qaeda remains a viable threat, their so called 'war on terror' has been a failure. Yet despite their poor planning, it is the liberals who are demonized for raising objections to their policies.

You know what, Rove? Go screw yourself.

So I have a new hairstyle. Nothing that required actually going to a barber or a stylist. Nope, a simple hairbrush and some water did the trick. Rather than the part on the left side of my head, I'm going for a more even look with a slight split down the center. I was getting bored and like this change.

I've had a string of many consecutive poor Netflix rentals. This is because I've been renting new releases and most of what Hollywood is producing these days is utter crap. (Why or why did I rent Meet the Fockers?) So I'm going to undertake a new project. The American Film Institute Top 100 List, that they put together in 1998. I've already seen half of them but want to see the other half and catch up on those that I haven't seen in a while. And it wouldn't be a true countdown unless I could watch them in reverse order from 100-1. So coming my way thanks to Netflix... #100 Yankee Doodle Dandy and #99 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Since the Mets suck and the TV shows are in reruns, I've gotta find something to watch!

Yesterday was a great day. In the morning I learned of a highly beneficial financial transaction that will help me out alot. Then in the afternoon I was offered a seat in the Parks Dept. luxury box for opening night of the Brooklyn Cyclones. There was a free buffet dinner for all the VIPs including hot dogs, chicken, pasta, fried calamari and plenty of beer, wine and soda. But the best part was that sitting right next to me in the adjacent box, were Omar Minaya (Mets general manager) and Jeff Wilpon (son of Mets owner Fred Wilpon). I tried to overhear their conversation and get some good Mets gossip but alas was not able to decipher much. I did notice that they had a TV on in their box and were closely following the Mets game in Philadelphia. Fortunately, both the Mets and Cyclones won last night... a good day for the organization.

As for the game, the Cyclones defeated the Staten Island Yankees by a score of 10-7. You can already see the influence of Cyclone manager Mookie Wilson as the team was very aggressive on the basepaths. They made seven steal attempts and were successful in five of them. As with any minor league game, there were plenty of fielding errors, but at least there were also lots of hits and homers to make it interesting.

Weekend Update :

On Saturday I attended the Mayor's Cricket Cup. Except the Mayor couldn't attend so it was more like the Borough Park Commissioner's Cricket Cup. And oy was it a big cup. I've tried to get into cricket but despite reading up on the rules of the game and despite watching a game played for two hours, I still had no idea what was going on. What I do know is that I ate as much free Caribbean food as I could stomach.

On Sunday it was a Fathers Day celebration with the family! My brother drove up from D.C. to surprise my dad who didn't know he'd be coming. We were in cahoots for a few days beforehand, making the surprise arrangements. So a nice time was had.

Now you'll have to excuse me but I'm off to Wimbledon. (I wish...)

I'll write about my weekend tomorrow but for now I just wanted to post a few pictures that I grabbed from Esther's blog. It's a few funny shots that were taken at her party on Thursday.

I don't know what I'm looking at but I like this profile shot of me.

"Dude, I didn't MEAN to hit on her!"

Sarah enjoys her Twizzlers way too much while I look constipated.

Happy Birthday to Esther. A great time was had at her party last night in the Upper West Side. One thing is for sure. This week, I have had WAY too many Coronas. On second thought, nah, you can never have too many. Good thing I have even more in the fridge.

It's special event season at the Parks. Today I was in Red Hook prepping for next week's big pool opening event. Tomorrow I have to attend a big cricket tournament in Spring Creek. And then there's an upcoming party for the Tree Census volunteers at the Prospect Park Zoo. Lots of fun things to do.

In honor of Katie Holmes' engagement to Tom Cruise, I will watch "First Daughter" tonight on DVD.

Last night I went to my boss's house for a summer BBQ in honor of three people - one of whom became engaged, one of whom was promoted and one of whom has recovered from some serious injuries. It was a blast to hang out with some people from the Manhattan office who I don't usually get to see as much.

Upon returning to my apartment building, I slid a note under the door of the girl I met during our 10 minute power outage. It read "Hi! Nice meeting you last night during our mini-blackout. Since we're both new to the building it might be fun to hang out sometime and compare notes!" And then I mentioned my apt. number and phone number. I ran the note by one of my female co-workers and she assured me that it was very sweet and appropriate so hopefully I'll get some kind of response. Even if nothing happens between us, it would be cool to have a friend who lives in the building.

Tonight it's off to the Upper West Side for another party. Busy busy!

I haven't blogged in a few days because it's been too hot, I've been too swamped and I wanted my housewarming pictures to be the lead post for a while. But now it's time to engage in various random bits of blogging.

Half of my apartment building lost power last night at around 10:00 for about ten minutes. At first I freaked out, thinking that it was just my apartment. I thought this because I looked out my window and saw lots of other apartments with the lights still on. So I grabbed my flashlight and went up to the super's apt. where his wife told me that it was half the building and he was working on it. Sure enough everything came back on ten minutes later. While waiting, I met a girl who seemed to be around my age who just moved into the building and lives exactly three floors above me. I also met an older man who was yelling "This happens every year!"

Prior to my mini-blackout I watched "The Phantom of the Opera." Bad. Really bad. I mean, I knew it was going to be bad but I had to see just how bad for myself. Pretty pretty bad.
Oh and since the Mets have been losing, I haven't felt inspired to update my Mets blog. So much for that.

My housewarming party is over and done and I had a great time. Although considering the heat we've been having, it was more like a housecooling party. Special thanks to everyone who attended. Your presence really meant a lot to me. To those who couldn't make it, I hope to entertain you at my place real soon. I certainly have plenty of leftover alcohol! A plethora of pictures are provided below...

Marty, Portia, Eryn, Amanda and Rob - parkies and friends/spouses of parkies

Ben, Jeremy, Daryl and Lauren

Me, Jill and Jill's friend whose name I forget. (sorry!)

Caren going through the contents of my bookshelf.

Brad, Rachel, John and Sarah

Sarah trying to down a 40.

Val and Jon reading my high school yearbook.

Parks Dept Representing : Marty, Jeff and Kerry

Ben and Tracey

Brad and Jess making funny facial expressions.

John and Daryl doing their Johnny Carson impressions as Ben, Tracey, Eryn and Amanda look on.

One year from now I will be in Toronto. No, not for good. Just on vacation which I'm already planning for June, 2006 to coincide with a friend's wedding. Having been to Montreal and Quebec City numerous times, but never Toronto, I'm getting excited. Hopefully the Blue Jays will have some home games while I'm there. Has any of my readers been to Toronto and have any suggestions on other things to do / places to go?

Kiss your Olympic dreams goodbye, people. Yesterday could not have been a good day for the mayor or his deputy. First the IOC released their report, indicating Paris and London as the frontrunners and criticizing New York’s bid for the uncertainty surrounding a stadium. Then the Public Authorities Control Board outright rejected the West Side Stadium, likely killing NYC’s chances of landing the Olympics.

For a long time, I’d been watching the stadium battle with a great deal of indifference. The pros? Economic development is a good thing, the MTA could use the funds, it would be nice to get the Jets out of New Jersey and back in New York, and a West Side Stadium would hurt Cablevision and MSG (who I can’t stand.) The cons? It would remove the focus from lower Manhattan which desperately needs the economic development, it’s too much public money that could be better spent on schools, transportation, mass transit and parks, and I didn’t want the Olympics to come here anyway. Plus, anytime that a public official tells you that a sports arena will "pay for itself", they’re greatly exaggerating. So all in all, I’m pleased that the stadium was rejected but not as ecstatic as some others may be.

The funniest reason to be opposed to the stadium is provided in Daryl’s blog entry. Namely – a dislike of sports. I enjoy sports very much and don’t share this view but I think its an accurate representation over why so many people resist stadium projects. I just wish they’d come out and say so!

More apartment improvements. A floor rug that I ordered for my bedroom finally arrived. It's blue and nicely matches my mini-blinds and bedspread. Then I bought a 6-foot folding table that I can use for parties and anything else that may come up that would require a table. I also bought a TV stand for the bedroom - which means that I can use the other piece of furniture that used to hold my TV as a night-table. No more keeping my clock-radio on the floor. And due to the heat, last night was the first night that I used my air conditioning. So things continue to come together.

I watched the Tony Awards last night but without enthusiasm. Instead, I focused my attention on assembling the TV stand. Still, I heard what was going on and can't say that I was surprised with any of the winners. I actually haven't seen any of this years shows so will hopefully catch up this summer.

But the worst part of the weekend was on Saturday morning when I slipped and fell down HARD on my tailbone. Ouch. It didn't seem to leave any visible bruise but I can still feel it when I walk. That didn't stop me though from going into Manhattan on Saturday night for a date and for a friend's "Twenty-Tenth" birthday party. Let me tell you, when the weather is as nice as it's been, it's a pleasure to admire the fine looking women and their summer ensembles that they are wearing.

TGIF. It's been a short four-day work week with my mind still in vacation mode. The wedding in New Hampshire was fantastic. Flew up in a tiny plane that had a 35-person capacity. Going up, only 13 people were on board so the stewardess asked us to change our seats around so the plane would be more balanced. Yeah, that was interesting. An hour later I was there to meet up with Briar, Bartow, Lisa and Alvin. And the 48-hour party began, culminating in a game of mini-golf on Monday.

Remember, next weekend is my housewarming party! Still have to go shopping for it...

Vassar's Reunion weekend is taking place this weekend. I was thinking about the good time I had at mine last year and was reviewing my June 2004 archives where I wrote a long recap about it.

Reminder - check out my Mets blog!