American Express is running an ad campaign that is centered around Andy Roddick losing his mojo. They ask where Andy's mojo is and how can he get it back. How this will persuade anyone to sign up for an American Express card eludes me. But last night at the U.S. Open, Andy Roddick lost his first-round match and is now out of the tournament. I guess he really did lose his mojo and now the supposedly comedic ads look utterly ridiculous. Go Madison Avenue geniuses!

Trivia was fun last night. My visual round featured identifying ten celebrities celebrating birthdays yesterday. (Including the aforementioned Roddick who no doubt had a terrible birthday) I also did the current events round and one of my questions was "What two TV networks are televising the US Open tennis tournament?" The correct answer is USA and CBS. But one person, claiming to work at NBC, was adament that NBC is televising it. Um, no. I called a well informed source who consulted their TV listings and confirmed that is indeed CBS. Perhaps this NBC employee was confused because they televise the US Open GOLF tournament.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is unspeakable. It was a challenge to come up with ten current events questions that weren't about this tragedy. My thoughts go out to all those affected.

Photos from the U.S. Open!

Aren't the new blue courts pretty?


Now THIS looks like a fun job! Updating the draws.


What a view! I should take photos for postcards or something.


Daniela Hantuchova has very long legs...


Ivo Karlovic serves the ball 135 mph!!!


But does the rabbi approve of the prices?!?

Hit two birthday parties on Saturday night. The first was Jay's. Here's the annual picture we take every year doing the nVo salute...



Then it was off to the East Village to wish a happy birthday to Dave...



I'd like to point out that at neither bar where these parties were held was I able to get a Corona, or a Rolling Rock, or a Sam Adams, or a Heineken. But good times were had nonetheless!

Part of Sunday was spent bowling with Brad and Daryl. And then it was a quality night of HBO viewing - Sopranos rerun, Rome and Entourage.

My thoughts go out to everyone who lives in or near New Orleans. This hurricane sounds like it's going to be bad. Real bad.

Off to the U.S. Open to watch hours of live tennis!

It may be a cliche to say Thank God It's Friday, but I don't care. The end of the work week brings special satisfaction because I am taking a four-day weekend. The highlight of it will be on Monday when I attend the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows Park. (They painted the tennis courts blue. Blue!) And then on Tuesday night I will be co-hosting Tuesday Night Trivia at the Baggot Inn. Come one, come all.

So... how about that Dwight Gooden. Oy. I cringe when I think about how I used to idolize and cheer for that guy. Darryl Strawberry too. They were my two favorites from the 1986 Mets team. Now when people ask me who my favorite was, I have to lie and say Gary Carter. Because Gooden and Strawberry have become shameful figures. Drunks, drug abusers and now each has been a fugitive from the law. In case you haven't heard, Gooden's case was especially sad. He was pulled over for driving erratically, gave the cop his drivers licence, and only after he was asked to step out of his car, did he zoom off leaving the cop holding his licence. Three or four days later he finally turned himself in to the police.

But on the bright side, the 2005 Mets have been playing very well. A decisive four game sweep of Arizona with stellar performances from the kids - Reyes, Wright, Diaz, Castro and Jacobs. And Pedro Martinez has been as dominant as Gooden used to be back in 1985. Now they're only one and a half games out of the wild card lead! Which will make it even more exciting before they eventually blow it.

I have this knack for remembering significant dates. So I certainly remember the significance of Thursday, August 25th. It was exactly this day, ten years ago, that I moved into Vassar College to begin my freshman year. On August 25, 1995, my parents and I arrived on campus bright and early. We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express on Route 9, so we would be ready to begin the move-in process at 8 am. Lots of heavy duty labor was expected. Who knew that there would be a bunch of upperclassmen (known as Bandana people) waiting in the parking lot to help move us in? Who were these people grabbing my possessions? Thieves? No, just a helping hand. I remember the rest of the day very significantly. Meeting my student fellow, meeting my roommate, getting everything in order, saying goodbye to my folks.

And ten years later, on August 25, 2005, the new Class of 2009 is moving into Vassar today as well. Here's hoping that their busy day is a memorable one!

Last night I hung out at KGB Bar with fellow communists and communist sympathizers. Well, not exactly. It used to be a communist hangout, back in the day when it was cool to be a communist. You know - before they were the "bad guys." Now its a bar and host venue of a reading series with lots of cool hammers & sicles and pictures of Lenin on the walls. And the walls are painted red with red curtains. Come to think of it, I should have ordered something with vodka in it.

Anyway, the reason I was there was to see my friend Jess do a live reading! She was fantastic as she introduced the overflowing crowd to her very own nicemodernist movement. Her reading was part of a program organized by author Ned Vizzini. There was one other reader on the bill who I was particularly interested in seeing : Christopher X. Brodeur.

Who is Christopher Brodeur and what happened during his 'reading' last night? I could explain but Jeremy did a fine job summarizing it on his own blog. So I've taken the liberty of pasting Jeremy's summary below for all to enjoy.

The event at KGB Bar tonight was a reading hosted by YA author and general man-about-town Ned Vizzini. Jess expounded upon her nascent theory of nicemodernism, and a few other writers read, including one Nick Antosca and Ned himself. But winner of the One of These Things Is Not Like The Other Award of the evening was rebellious but honest-to-goodness New York City mayoral candidate Christopher X. Brodeur.

He didn’t so much read as spout and spew. He seemed to be going for the anything-for-a-laugh approach of highlighting his disgust with the current political system, lambasting Giuliani, the cops, Rikers Island, and "Lord Bloomberg," then mixing it up with some silly "political" song titles and song lyrics – without the music. I wish I could remember half of what he said, but he was more about the delivery than the content.

Eventually, though, he devolved into a dubious comparison of how Rosa Parks was the ONLY black person who didn’t sit in the back of the bus and how NO Jews spoke out when they were being lined up to die in Nazi Germany… And before he could even get to his point (something about fighting for your rights), which turned out to be pretty paltry in comparison to things like the civil rights movement and the Holocaust, audience members started challenging him, yelling out to him that Rosa Parks was hardly alone in standing up to segregation and that no, there were many Jews who resisted during WWII and that whatever he was about to say couldn’t possibly be as important as those two historical moments.

And they were basically right, because he finally launched into how the MTA is maintaining a dangerous subway system because of all the dead ends and locked doors in the underground stations, and … and … aren’t all those stations going to be a death trap in the event of a dirty bomb attack, and … and … But someone suggested that the bomb would likely kill before anyone could find any exit, blocked or otherwise, and CXB and some buddy of his in the audience begged to differ.

Ned finally realized it was time to say goodbye to His Honor, Mayor Brodeur, to save him from himself and the audience’s wrath, and later, summed it up by saying something to the effect of: "Did you feel that tension in the room a moment ago? There are people who pay good money to feel the way you just did."

A closely placed source – at least two degrees of separation from the horse’s mouth – had told me that Brodeur was planning on moving to L.A., which would probably put a crimp on his plans to be a mayor on this coast. I didn’t stick around to ask him if it was true.

Hope I didn't depress anyone too much yesterday with my blog posting of "You're going to die! And so is everyone you know!" Switching moods, I thought I'd talk about my favorite section of the newspaper. Not the sports section. Not the political news. Not the film reviews. The comic strips! I may not be a fan of comic books, but I do enjoy opening the Daily News each day and turning straight to the four pages of comic strips.

With that, I present my Top 10 comic strips, as appear each day in the Daily News :

1) "Peanuts" : Despite Charles Schultz's death in 2000, the News continues running classic Peanuts strips. The antics of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang are timeless and hilarious. And keep your eyes open for Snoopy's brothers, Andy and Olaf.

2) "For Better or Worse" : One can read this strip over the years and watch the growth and development of a realistic family. The Pattersons age, mature, get married, have kids and experience life. It's realistic yet still maintains elements of surprise.

3) "Boondocks" : This has surpassed "Doonesbery" as the best liberal commentary comic strip out there. Huey rarely pulls any punches and his old fashioned grandfather and thug wannabee brother are great foils.

4) "Dilbert" : A must read for anyone who has worked in an office. No doubt, the film "Office Space" and the TV show "The Office" were influenced by hapless Dilbert, lazy Wally, angry Alice and the incompetent pointy-haired boss.

5) "Curtis" : A refreshingly positive depiction of an urban African American family. Curtis is mischievous but has a good heart. Will he ever realize that Chutney is better for him than Michelle? Not likely.

6) "Out of the Gene Pool" : A single mother raises a child while experiencing online dating. A fat slob father goes everywhere in a dirty undershirt. A minor league ballplayer juices himself with steroids while dating a pop singer. A loudmouth woman splits her time working at a fast food restaurant and writing a newspaper advice column. Eclectic? You bet. And hilarious.

7) "Blondie" : So it may be old fashioned and repetitive, but damn those sandwiches look good. And now that Dagwood and Blondie are having an anniversary party, the strip is filled with cameos of characters from other comic strips. So for the next few weeks, it is a must read.

8) "Girls and Sports" : Single guys, on the prowl, looking to pick up women. Sounds like some blogs you may read? This new strip does a good job in illuminating how awful the pickup scene can be.

9) "Zits" : Jeremy is a lazy 16-year old who thinks his father is old fashioned and wishes his mom would stop nagging him. But he's a good kid and it's easy to empathize.

10) "Mutts" : A very simple strip about two cats living the easy life of lying around all day. Or as they would say, "Yesh!"

Other good strips that didn't make the cut : "Beetle Bailey", "Cathy", "Doonesbery"

Strips that have had their time pass : "Family Circus", "Gasoline Alley"

Strip I would never like to see again : "State of the Union"

I watched the series finale of "Six Feet Under" last night. Over the last five years, I watched a few episodes here and there but never really got into it. Still, I heard that the finale was supposed to be amazing, so I decided to check it out. All I can say is that it was heavy stuff and it makes one ponder the reality and inevitability of death.

Our culture is surrounded by death but at the same time, is desensitized to it. We go to the movies where people are hacked up by slashers, or shot by gunmen, or trapped inside exploding buildings. Yet we shrug the loss off and continue eating our popcorn - after all, it's not real. When we are confronted with death in real life, whether the loss is personal as in a death in the family or widespread as in 9/11, it is very difficult to cope and to understand. Rarely do films and television depict death in a raw, emotional manner. "Six Feet Under" was successful in that regard.

Each episode in the series began with the death of a certain character. After dramatizing the person's passing, the screen goes white and a graphic appears of the person's name and the years of their birth and death. Last night was different as the episode began with the BIRTH of a character and at the end of the episode, we witnessed the fate of every main character in the series. As 22-year old Claire was driving away from home, to her new life in New York City, we witnessed the passing of time in the Fisher family's future. The death of all major characters were shown with white screens and graphics confirming the eventual years of their passings. The montage ends with Claire herself, passing away in her bed at the age of 102.

This was a very difficult montage to watch. Even if one isn't emotionally invested in these particular characters, it illuminates a truth that we don't want to think about. Namely - during our lifetimes, we will experience the death of everyone who we care about. The only way around this is if we ourselves should pass away first. Each scenario is highly depressing, yet inevitable. But if we are to cope with losses when they actually do happen, we need to accept this truth and not be afraid.

Circle of Life... or something like that.

I have returned from blogging exile! We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Last night I was among those in attendance at the Democratic Candidates Mayoral Debate. It was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in the new Time Warner building - the same location where I saw Robert McNamara give a speech last November. Televised live on NY1, it was moderated by Dominic Carter - my favorite political reporter.

There was drama from the beginning with the question being : Would Anthony Weiner be able to make it? At 5:00 yesterday morning, Weiner checked himself into the emergency room and was diagnosed with a kidney stone. I've been told that this is one of the most painful conditions that a person can be afflicted with. Despite this setback, Weiner not only came to the debate, he excelled!

For much of the debate, it seemed that the candidates were playing it safe - sticking to their talking points, and not attacking each other. Rather, their criticisms were levied towards Mayor Bloomberg. However, the debate got interesting when Dominic Carter started "The Lightening Round" - he asked questions that could only be answered with a "yes" or "no"

From the lightening round, we learned that Ferrer and Miller are Yankees fans, and Weiner and Fields are Mets fans. Ferrer and Weiner said that they would take the subway to work while Miller and Fields said they would not.

Gifford Miller wouldn't comment on sending his kids to public or private school, trying to dodge the question with an "I don't know." Of course it's his right to explore all options for his children, but it doesn't seem right that the person whose campaign is about improving the public schools, won't commit to sending his own there. Miller became downright defensive about it - poor debating form. On the other end of the spectrum, Weiner said that he would definetely send his children to public schools but that he needs to "find a wife first."

But I noticed something interesting. Ferrer, Fields and Miller all said that Bloomberg was a better mayor than Giuliani. Weiner was the only one who said that Giuliani was the better mayor. But then they asked if they felt the city was better off today than it was 4 years ago. Ferrer and Fields said no. Huh? If they think that Bloomberg is the better mayor, then shouldn't the city be better off? An interesting contradiction. Likewise, Miller and Weiner both said that the city was indeed better off. Consistent from Miller but what about Weiner? If he thought that Rudy was the better mayor, then why is the city better off today? Food for thought.

Anyway it was a fun night of political theater.

Check out the Quiz below and see how YOU rank!

Your Political Profile

Overall: 30% Conservative, 70% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

I had a great time last night at the 79th Street Boat Basin Cafe. It was a goodbye party for Spencer, a Parks photographer, who is leaving the agency. Although a little on the warm side, it was a comfortable night to eat and socialize outdoors. There was a good turnout of Brooklyn and Manhattan people and the time flew by quickly. Hopefully I'll continue to see Spencer though at one of his frequent Astoria BBQs!

When I got home I turned on the sports highlights and witnessed a horrible outfield collision between Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran. They were diving for a ball and collided into each other with their heads. Ouch. Cameron was stretchered off the field and has a broken nose, cheekbones and a concussion. This is actually a relief as it could have been a lot worse. Let's hope this isn't a sign that the Mets season will go downhill now.

I'm going to White Castle tonight. Don't try to stop me!

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback on yesterday's blog post. If there's one thing that everyone can agree on... it's that people are morons.

Did you hear about Jeanine Pirro's announcement yesterday that she's running for the US Senate against Hillary Clinton? She's reading her speech and then stops cold for 32 seconds. Standing frozen, utterly silent for 32 seconds. Do you realize how long 32 seconds can be in that kind of situation? Finally she asks, "Where's Page 10?" Yeah, Jeanine, you're so not ready for the big time. Hillary is going to smoke you.

I watched "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" on DVD last night (again). This movie is hilarious. Now I have an unnatural craving for White Castle and I went online to scout out the locations. Turns out there's one not too far from my apartment - it's in Brooklyn on 4th Avenue and 31st Street. All I have to do is take the R for a couple of stops and I'll be there. Mmm...

Funny line from "Harold and Kumar" - the guys meet up with their neighbors who had just finished watching Katie Holmes' nude scenes in "The Gift" :
Kumar : "So how were Katie Holmes' tits?"
Goldstein : "You know the Holocaust?"
Kumar : "Yeah."
Goldstein : "This was the opposite."

Yesterday an 18-year old kid fell out of the upper deck in Yankee Stadium and landed on the netting that is there to protect fans from foul balls. What a horrible accident, right? Nope. The jackass didn't fall - he jumped. Which leads me to today's post... People are morons.

What kind of idiot jumps from the upper deck of a stadium on a friend's dare? An all too common one it seems. People nowadays just aren't thinking and common sense is in rare supply. What's to blame, poor parenting? An educational system that teaches standardized tests but not much else? Religion that would insist that we're taught that the Bible is just as scientifically valid as evolution? Decision making that would make one think that Bush would be a better president than John Kerry? I mourn the decline of intelligence.

Same thing is true for manners, as exemplified by the rotten behavior people demonstrate in movie theaters and other public places. I watched Bill Maher last night on HBO and he decried reality television for giving people an outlet to demonstrate how cruel, mean and manipulative they can be. He then talked about our brave men and women fighting overseas. They're supposedly "fighting for our freedom" but whose freedom? These idiots?

So come on people. Use your brains. Improve your manners. Take the high road. Or just go away.

I awoke this morning to witness on TV the good news of the space shuttle Discovery returning to Earth safely.

The same cannot be said of Monday morning when I was awoken to the news of Peter Jennings' passing. As soon as my radio alarm went off, it announced the news and tears welled up in my eyes. Jennings was one of a kind - a phenomenal reporter and anchorman. I distinctly remember his coverage of the first Gulf War. I didn't have cable and chose ABC as my round-the-clock outlet for news largely due to Jennings' style and skill. I also remember a Saturday morning special where he spoke with children about the war while standing on a large map of the Middle East. Then I remember Jennings' coverage of the millennium. I was at a party that night but, thinking that something newsworthy might happen (Y2K and all), I set my VCR to tape ABC from 9 pm to 3 am. I still have the tape as it shows Jennings progress through the night - from a suit - to a tuxedo at midnight - to a sweater at 2 am. He will be missed. With his passing, the retirement of Tom Brokaw and the forced retirement of Dan Rather, it's the end of an era.

Jennings' life was claimed by lung cancer - just like that of the other great newsman, Edward R. Murrow. Even though Jennings stopped smoking 20 years ago, it still got him. So to those who smoke, I'm begging you, please stop.

What did I do this weekend? I went to my 10 Year High School Reunion!

Well, it wasn't exactly an official reunion, in the sense that the school didn't organize it. Instead, all credit goes to Ed, a classmate of ours who lives in Florida. He really wanted to see everyone and took the initiative in putting something together. So he reserved a Manhattan bar and spread the word through e-mail. I was on the fence about whether to go, concerned that the turnout would be very light. But then I figured... what the hell. Lauren (one of the few people from H.S. who I'm still in touch with) and I made a plan on dropping by with the option of ditching if it was lame. Well it wasn't lame! Turnout (while not huge) was still large enough to lend toward an enjoyable time. I reconnected with several people and let's hope that it renews some friendships.

Some of the people who I saw included...

Stacie - who told me that she had been reading this blog for quite sometime! One would say she's been 'lurking' around...

Dan - who is now bald with a goatee! Obviously, in H.S. he was not bald nor did he have said goatee.

Gina - who was the smartest person in our class, went to Harvard and is now lawyering it up. No surprise there!

Shiran - who I didn't recognize until he told me his name at which point I yelled "Holy shit, Shiran!"

Jane - who chastized me throughout the night for rejecting her Friendster request a few months ago.

Arthur - the senior class president who went on to West Point (for a bit)

Ah, high school reunions. Good times.

Poor Lee Mazzilli. For those who don't know, Lee Mazzilli used to play for the New York Mets in the late 70s / early 80s. They brought him back as part of their 1986 championship team. Then after coaching the Yankees for a few years, he landed his first managing gig with the Baltimore Orioles. Despite a great start where the Orioles were in first place, they collapsed in July and are now well out of the pennant race. I guess the Orioles thought they had to do something about it so they fired Lee Mazzilli.

I feel bad for him because I remember meeting him many many years ago. He was signing autographs at a local bank during the middle of a weekday. My friend's mom came to our elementary school and pulled me and my friend out of school during the lunch period so we could go to the bank and meet Mazzilli. He signed free booklets that listed every trade the Mets had ever made and then posed for a picture with us. When we got back to school, we told the rest of the kids in our class that we had just met Lee Mazzilli. None of them believed us, they thought we were making it up.

Oh and did I mention that Mazzilli originally grew up in Sheepshead Bay, the same neighborhood I grew up in? So I hope Mazzilli gets back onto his feet and lands another managing job in the near future.

Rafael Palmeiro is an idiot. In March he empathically stated, during a Congressional hearing while under oath, "I NEVER took steroids." Now he tests positive for taking... steroids. Does he own up and apologize? No. He amends his statement to read, "I never INTENTIONALLY took steroids." Right, because he just happened to slip and fall on a needle. But this wasn't just any steroid that can be found in many medications. Word leaked out that it's one of the most serious kind of steroids out there, akin to what Ben Johnson took in the 1988 Olympics. So does Palmeiro own up and apologize? No! His agent instead blasts Major League Baseball for leaking what kind of steroid it was. Like I said, Rafael Palmeiro is an idiot and if he thought his 500 home runs and 3000 hits assured him a spot in the Hall of Fame, I think he can now forget it.

It was over 90 degrees today and it's supposed to be this hot for the rest of the week as well. Last week was the same story. As was the week before that. I hate summer heatwaves because I feel like a parched dog, sticking its tongue out in a desperate attempt to keep cool. At least my water dish keeps getting replenished. (OK, it's not a dish so much as it's a bottle) Gotta stay hydrated!

How did bowling go? Of the three of us, I came in third in each of the games that we bowled! But, during one frame, after I got nine pins down the MC said that he'd give me a free coupon for one hour of bowling if I picked up the spare. With the pressure on, I succeeded! So now I have a free coupon for up to six people that is good from Sunday through Thursday night until the end of August. If anyone wants to come, let me know!

The U.S. Open of Competitive Eating was won, to no surprise, by Kobayashi. He's a human vacuum when it comes to food as none of the other competitors were able to get close to him. After consuming cheese fries in the first round, spaghetti in the second round, chopped salad in the quarterfinals and potato skins in the semifinals, he ate an entire appetizer sampler in the finals. Watching it made me hungry. Also, one of the eaters was a young guy named Chris Coble. The name sounded familiar so I looked in my college yearbook and sure enough, there was a Chris Coble in my graduating year. He looked similar so it was probably him. Chris actually did pretty well. He almost upset Eric "Badlands" Booker in the first round but the Bookerman beat him by a matter of ounces.