Tonight!

Tuesday Night Trivia

The Baggot Inn
West 3rd Street between Sullivan and Thompson

7:30

Be there!

I'm hosting

Gung Hay Fat Choy. That's Happy New Year in Chinese. I learned it in Pre-Kindergarten when we celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year by making a big dragon costume and walking up and down the halls of the school in it. These days, my celebrating the Chinese New Year usually just consists of eating Chinese food. Which come to think of it is not very different from the rest of the year. But last night while eating Chinese, I opened my fortune cookie and got the funniest fortune ever. It said "The weather is pleasant."

Also over the weekend, I got new running sneakers! They are Asics 1100s. I looked at the 2100s (the newest model) but they did not have any in my size. I am a 10 and a half and for running shoes, they say to go a half size higher. Unfortunately they had 10 and a halfs and 11 and a halfs in the 2100s - no 11s. So I got the 1100s instead which is a slightly older model but they seem to be perfectly suitable.

My review of "The New World" - slooooow and plodding.

Last night's episode of "Lost" was terrible. Just terrible. As are any episodes that center around Charlie. The next time the writers are looking for a character to kill off, I gladly volunteer Charlie.

Characters on "Lost" who I like
Sayid
Hurley
Locke
Jin
Sun
Mr. Eko
Walt
Walt's dog

Characters on "Lost" who I hate
Charlie
Ana Lucia
Jack

Falling in between the like & hate categories are Sawyer, Kate, Claire and Michael.

I've mentioned a couple of times before on this blog how much I enjoy "How I Met Your Mother." But the last couple of episodes have been amazing.

The show centers around Ted (Josh Radnor) a single guy in his late 20s who is looking to find someone who he can have a relationship with. He lives with his college friends Marshall (Jason Segal) and Lilly (Alyson Hannigan) who are engaged. Ted meets and falls for Robin (Cobie Smulders) who doesn't want to date him because he is looking for something more serious than she currently is. And then there is Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) who as the wise-cracking friend always has the best lines.

The first of this two-part episode was titled "The Wedding." Some friends of Ted were getting married and Ted thought that he RSVPd for him and a guest to attend, hoping that he'd have a girlfriend by the time that the wedding came along. Since he remained single (and since Robin had just broken up with a guy she was seeing) he asked her if she wanted to go and she enthusiastically said yes. (Turns out that Ted didn't actually RSVP for a guest - his subconscious penchant to remain single led him to only check himself off) But he was ultimately allowed to bring Robin anyway, only for her to get a call from work asking her to anchor the night's local newscast. Ted encouraged her to do it and he wound up going stag. Sitting alone at the wedding, mired in depression, he thought that it was his lot in life to remain single. Until he locked eyes with a cute girl sitting a few tables away. End episode.

The second part aired on Monday night and was titled "Drumroll Please." Ted and the cute girl (Victoria) are now talking and agreed that the worst part of meeting someone at a wedding was the disappointment that usually followed shortly after it was over. So to create a perfect evening of memories they decided not to exchange last names or phone numbers and just to enjoy each other's company for one night only. They also decide not to kiss but to instead experience the drumroll - the moment of anticipation before a kiss where your lips get as close as possible to touching without actually doing so. Robin, done with her newscast, decides to show up at the wedding and surprise Ted only to see the two of them in the midst of their drumroll. This causes her to realize her own feelings for Ted and inspires a bathroom cry. The next day, Ted realizes that for all their talk about not being in touch, he absolutely has to see this girl again. Despite her feelings for Ted, Robin sees that he now wants this new girl and she helps him to find her. He tracks Victoria down as she baked the wedding cake and upon entering her bakery, she sees him and says "Oh, thank god!" They kiss, end credits.

Maybe I'm a sappy romantic but this is some good stuff.

In yesterday's comments, Gabe linked to the "Top 10 Uses for Vassar Squirrels", as published in 1996 by the now-defunct Vassar Daily.

It reminded me of another Top 10 list that they published in 1995. Originally it aired as one of David Letterman's Top 10 lists in 1991 and I've always enjoyed it. For obvious reasons...

Top 10 Ways the World Would Be Different If Everyone Was Named Phil

10. Almost impossible to get personal license plate "PHIL."

9. Ben & Jerry's ice cream now called Phil & Phil's.

8. Expectant parents could be heard saying "Phil if it's a boy and Phil if it's a girl."

7. When caller to Donahue show said "Phil?" everyone in audience would reply "Yes?"

6. 007 fans look forward to classic line, "Bond. Phil Bond."

5. Instead of screaming, "Watch where you're going, you stupid bastard!" New Yorkers would scream, "Watch where you're going, Phil, you stupid bastard!"

4. Some woman named Phil would keep breaking into my house.

3. Teenage pranksters would call airport and have them page "Phil Hertz."

2. Wouldn't have to look in TV Guide to see who's on the "Tonight Show."

1. Most popular Beatle? Phil.

This picture was on Vassar College's web page this morning as it is the first day of their second semester. I just had to post the image here. Those who remember a campus overrun with squirrels will doubly appreciate it.

January 20th. Inauguration Day. I remember that on this day last year, I was very upset and doing everything I could to ignore Bush's second inauguration. I had wanted so badly to see John Kerry sworn into office on that day. How different would things be in this country if that had happened? For that matter, how different would this country be had Al Gore rightfully been elected in 2000? Would Gore have been re-elected in '04? How would he have pursued the War on Terror? The Iraq War would have been non-existant under a Gore Administration but to what extent would the campaign against Al Qaeda be successful?

Yesterday, Osama Bin Laden released another one of his "Greatest Hits" videotapes. Another reminder that he is still at large, and although Al Qaeda has been weakened, the fact that he is still alive and broadcasting has to represent the single most catastrophic failure of the Bush Administration. I wish that Kerry pushed that point during the campaign last year. Sure, he touched on it, but it didn't really resonate. And now Kerry wants another opportunity in 2008. Sorry John, we got our hopes up for you in '04 and you let us down.

The upside is that Bush really only has a year and a half left. Sure, he technically has three years but once the summer of 2007 comes along, all attention will be on the new crop of presidential candidates and Bush will officially be a lameduck. In the meantime, be careful what you say on the phone... they're liable to be spying on you!!!

So how about this weather? For two hours this morning, I lay in bed listening to the pounding sounds of the wind. It was very tempting to stay there and build a fortress with my blankets. Bad weather + good book that I'm reading (Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America") + several TV shows stored on my TiVo = day off? Not to be. Having been off for the MLK holiday on Monday and having a doctors appointment scheduled for tomorrow, I trudged my way in through the rain and the wind. After all, there's stuff to be done!

The first four hours of "24" were as exhilarating as any. David Palmer - assassinated! Michelle Dessler - blown up! Tony Almeida - fucked up! And then there was the hostage crisis at the airport. So exciting. Best part is that Jack Bauer has reached the point where he's no longer taking any crap. Or in his words.. "The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you."

And the Golden Globes were on Monday. Glad to see "Brokeback Mountain" do so well. It's probably now the frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Hopefully it will change the attitude of some of the homophobes out there. Other well deserved winners included "Lost" and Steve Carrell as Best TV Comedy Actor for "The Office."

The Anonymous Blogger has tagged me to fill out a meme. How exciting!

Four jobs you have had in your life:
Computer Center Help Desk Guy (a disaster)
Assistant to Politicians
Government Bureaucrat
Syndicate Crime Boss

Four movies you could watch over and over:
The Frisco Kid
The Godfather
The Outsiders
The Goonies
(As you can see, I like movies with the word "the" in it)

Four places you've lived:
Brooklyn, NY
Poughkeepsie, NY
(... yeah that's about it!)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Lost
24
How I Met Your Mother
Everybody Hates Chris
(I could keep on going here)

Four places you've been on vacation:
Southern California
Montreal / Quebec City
Atlanta
Cooperstown - Baseball Hall of Fame!

Four of your favorite foods:
Matzah Ball Soup
Hot Dogs
Rainbow Cookies
Root Beer
(eating the above four at the same sitting would constitute the perfect meal)

Four sites I visit daily:
GMail
CNN.com
My blog
Too many other blogs to mention

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
Elyssa
Jess
Lara
Jennie

As movie award season approaches and all of the critics have released their year-end Top 10 lists, I thought that I would do so myself. There are a few movies that I haven't seen yet that, based on critical acclaim, might warrant a ranking such as Munich, Walk the Line and A History of Violence. But based on the movies that I have seen this year, here is my Top 10!

1- Good Night, and Good Luck
2- Brokeback Mountain
3- King Kong
4- Crash
5- March of the Penguins
6- The Wedding Crashers
7- Mad Hot Ballroom
8- Sin City
9- Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
10- Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Eclectic selection, no? Other movies that I enjoyed that didn't quite make the cut were Fever Pitch, Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Cinderella Man, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Rent.

One year ago, I mentioned on this blog that Fran Fergusson, the President of Vassar College, had announced her retirement. Fran had been President since 1986 and was there while I was a student from 1995 to 1999. This morning, I received an e-mail from the Board of Trustees, declaring that they unanimously selected a new person. Although the college is 145 years old, this new appointee will only be the tenth president in the school's history.

Dear Members of the Vassar Community,

It is our pleasure to announce that on Saturday, January 7, the Board of Trustees of Vassar College unanimously elected Catharine Bond (Cappy) Hill as the tenth president of Vassar College, beginning July 1, 2006.

Currently the Provost and John J. Gibson Professor of Economics at Williams College, Cappy Hill is a noted economist whose work focuses on higher education affordability and access, as well as economic development and reform in Africa.

The election of Cappy is the culmination of an extensive, nine-month national search to find the successor to President Frances Fergusson, who last year announced she would step down as Vassar’s president at the end of the 2005 – 2006 academic year. Cappy was the unanimous selection of the fourteen-member search committee, which reviewed more than 200 candidates.

A 1976 summa cum laude graduate of Williams College, Cappy also went on to earn a B.A. and M.A. from Brasenose College, Oxford University, with First Class Honours in politics, philosophy and economics, and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. A member of the Williams economics faculty since 1985, she has held the position of provost at Williams, where she has major financial and academic responsibilities, since July 1999. The depth and breadth of Cappy’s portfolio as provost make her one of the most highly qualified senior academic administrators in the country.

To learn more about the tenth President of Vassar College, we invite you to visit our 10th President website.

We know you will join us in enthusiastically welcoming Cappy and her family to the Vassar community.

23-0. The Giants lost yesterday by a score of 23-0. Pathetic! But a great time was had yesterday at the Riviera Cafe in spite of the game. Still, it would be nice to go there one time and see the home team win for a change!

This weekend was an all-around poor weekend for the young quarterbacks of the NFL. First there is Eli Manning of the Giants who did nada, zip, zilch, zero yesterday. Then there is Carson Palmer of the Bengals - who tore his ACL on his very first playoff pass and had to miss the rest of the game. Then there is Chris Simms of the Bucs. He is the son of Phil Simms - former QB for the Giants. Young Chris actually played pretty well but his team lost anyway. So who's left? There's the Colts - best team on paper and sentimental favorite since the head coach just lost his son. There's the Patriots - who are the two-time defending champions. And there is the Bears - who I'd root for just so I can say in SNL style, "Da Bears!"

I rented on Netflix, "The Outsiders : The Complete Novel." Basically, Francis Ford Coppola shot the entire S.E. Hinton book when he originally made the film but he left lots on the cutting room floor. In this DVD release, he puts everything back into the movie and there is an all new beginning and end. Although for people like me who read the book 15 times as a kid, the new material was all very familiar. He also adds plenty of 1950s-era music to the soundtrack, a nice compliment to the main title track - Stevie Wonder's "Stay Gold."

I'll close with Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" - as Ponyboy recites to Johnny in the movie...

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

And then there's Dallas Winston's classic line right before the rumble...

We're gonna do it for Johnny, man. We'll do it for Johnny!!!

A recap of the first week of 2006.

Sunday, January 1 : Mary Purcell, the longest serving employee in New York City government, and the Parks Department in particular, passes away. Mary began with Parks on June 26, 1944. She served in the agency for 61 years before passing away at the age of 79.

Monday, January 2 : Thirteen miners are trapped underground in an explosion in West Virginia.

Tuesday, January 3 : It is discovered that 12 of the miners have died, although this news did not reach the families until Wednesday, January 4.

Wednesday, January 4 : Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, suffers a devastating stroke. With heavy bleeding in his brain, doctors admit that his outlook is grim.

Thursday, January 5 : It is revealed that the one coal miner who survived, is suffering from brain damage. Ariel Sharon's condition worsens.

Friday, January 6 : Irving Domenech, Parks Dept. Supervisor for Districts 5 and 16 in Brooklyn, passes away after complications from an illness.

So yeah, quite a way to ring in a new year. I say we scratch this week and start the new year this weekend instead.

Last night's Rose Bowl between Texas and USC has got to have been the most exciting college football game that I'd ever seen. And I don't watch that many college football games. Although I was originally rooting for USC, it was impossible to not be impressed with Texas's comeback. But where was the defense on either side? I guess defense is in short supply in the college game as each team passed and rushed with ease. Or maybe that was just a testament to how good Vince Young, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush are.

Football fever continues this weekend as the Giants have their first playoff game on Sunday. If interested, come on down to the Riviera Sports Bar in the West Village and join me and a few other friends in the fun. Beer! Chicken wings! And if it's anything like last year, there will be free party favors - like refrigerator magnets and beer-holding gloves!

And now I bring you an abbreviated version of "Good News / Bad News"

Jon Stewart has been selected to host this year's Oscars. Good news!

The Second Avenue Deli has temporarily closed due to a rent dispute. Bad news!

Tragedy in West Virginia. The accident involving the miners resulted in 12 deaths, with only one survivor. This is very sad, made worse by the false hope given to their families.

At 11:45 last night, word got out...somehow...that 12 miners survived. This led to jubilant celebrations by their families. The story was picked up by all the TV stations. It also was carried by the daily newspapers, as they were just going to press at that time. For example, the headline in today's Daily News is "Miracle in West Virginia : ALIVE! : 12 miners rescued after almost 2 days trapped underground - one found dead." Upon opening the paper, we find that our fellow blogger Derek Rose was on assignment in West Virginia and wrote the lead article. We can't blame Derek or any of his colleagues in the press for this snafu because they were reporting what everyone, including the governor of West Virginia, thought was true. The only question is, what was the source? How did this information get out in the first place? How did this rumor spread and why did it take three hours until it was corrected? The most telling line in Derek's article was "Details of the rescue were sketchy last night."

At 2:30 A.M., the families were told "Oops. Disregard that rumor that your loved ones survived. They didn't." For the newspapers, it was too late to retract their stories. But for the families, the anguish and devastation was far more severe.

Brooklyn gets screwed again. I'm talking about the backroom political theater that is the selection of the Speaker of the City Council. Despite being the most populous borough, and despite having the largest delegation of City Council members, once again a Brooklyn person will not be elected speaker. In this case, Park Slope Councilman Bill de Blasio was unable to get the requisite amount of votes to defeat Chelsea Councilwoman Christine Quinn. It is a shame because one would hope that all of the Brooklyn councilpeople would band together to elect one of their own. This never happens though. Feuds, fights, jealousies and rivalries always get in the way. Sorry, Bill.

Yesterday, I saw "Brokeback Mountain." It was exceptionally well done with strong performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyellenhal. It will definetely rank up there in my top ten movies of 2005. Early in the movie, the two lead characters complain that they are sick of eating beans. So instead they start eating each other. But before they descended into a tragic spiral of forbidden love, all those scenes of them cooking beans by the campfire made me hungry and I went home and made myself a nice batch of baked beans last night. Mmm.

So this is 2006, eh? Seems to me to be no different than 2005. And yes, I am making a conscious effort to incorporate "eh?" into my vocabulary. All in anticipation of my vacation to Canada in June. Gotta assimilate myself with the locals.

Love it when holidays fall out on Sundays - meaning that I get the Monday afterward off. So I am off to the movies today which will be a thousand times more than what I did yesterday, which was... absolutely nothing! Does anyone actually ever do things on New Years Day? I did venture out to my bagel store around the corner and they were saying that they were going to have to close early because only two people bothered to come in for work.

I conclude with a thought on what I think should go back into fashion. Bowler hats. Come on, who doesn't look good in a bowler hat? If I lived in a different time period, I would be psyched about walking around all day in a black bowler. Fortunately at the party I attended on Saturday night, they were giving out plastic bowlers to the attendees. Given a choice of pink, orange or yellow, I chose yellow and wound up looking like The Man in the Yellow Hat from "Curious George."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!