The Age of Sincerity

The Berlin Wall A few years ago I was in Berlin with my...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:12:58 -0500

The Berlin Wall

A few years ago I was in Berlin with my boyfriend and we took this really fascinating tour of the city, particularly focusing on the history of the wall from its origins to the fall. There wasn’t really a mention of Ronald Reagan.

But the story of the fall is amazing. If you don’t know it, read up. It is incredible to realize how a few small miscommunications helped along the images of the fall as we know them.

Time to Readjust

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:43:09 -0500

Now that baseball is over (and I’m so lucky to have had it end the way I wanted) it’s time for my brain to shift gears towards football. I’ve been watching since the beginning of the season but was so pre-occupied with baseball that I found myself saying “Yankees” in my head when I was watching the Giants.

Baseball and Football are just very different in terms of the experience of watching them and it’s as if I actually have to have some kind of shift in my brain to become fully immersed in the latter.

Baseball is like a Quentin Tarantino film: multiple levels of tension, taking longer than most people think it should, and really happy about being referential to the point where it’s almost unnecessary (foxtrax anyone?) but if you love it, then you LOVE IT.

Football is like an action movie: fun, loud, full of amazing camera angles and shots of absurd physical strength, and it requires less of a commitment to follow.

See, I love both Inglourious Basterds and Die Hard, I’m just in a different mood when I watch them.

The other day I saw a Black Lab/Dachsund mix on the street. It...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:17:00 -0500

The other day I saw a Black Lab/Dachsund mix on the street.

It was so cute I got distracted and almost vomited from shock.

I found this picture via google. It’s not the actual dog I saw. The one I saw was even cuter if you can imagine that. Sweet Jeez, that dog was amazing.

I haven’t seen a pair of ficticious nipples this...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:46:35 -0500

I haven’t seen a pair of ficticious nipples this off-putting since Howard the Duck.

Who needs/wants this?

purns: Watch this interview with Jony Ive. This guy is the...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:22:36 -0500

purns:

Watch this interview with Jony Ive. This guy is the best. Would that everyone cared as much about making great things.

The man himself basically explains what I love about Apple products. The thing Microsoft doesn’t seem to get is that it just seems careless to me when there are so many little messes, loose ends, and just illogical things going on. I know they’re all stoked about Windows 7, but all I can think when I hear about it is “yeah, so what took them so long.”

OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO SAMMY SOSA?!?!?!?!?!?!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:00:59 -0500

OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO SAMMY SOSA?!?!?!?!?!?!

Finally!!!

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:34:57 -0500

I SAW JAY-Z AND ALICIA KEYES PERFORM “EMPIRE STATE OF MIND” LIVE FOR FREE!!!!!!

HOORAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

True Story from a Parade a while back I was at the Yankees...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:27:00 -0500

True Story from a Parade a while back

I was at the Yankees Parade with some friends. We were towards the end of the route, which was cool because it meant all the floats had to stop and sit in front of us as they waited to be turned into the holding area.

We were able to yell to particular players and they would turn and wave and kind of pose for your pictures while they stayed put.

In addition to the Yankees there are extra floats, like random famous New Yorkers and people whose music was used during the season, stuff like that. There are also big floats and double-decker buses filled with staff.

One of those buses was stopped in front of us. My friends and I saw a few kids that were just a few years younger than us up there. There wasn’t anything on the bus letting us know why these people were in the parade. Being the smug NY kids we were we started to wonder aloud what we would have to do to be in the parade.

I yelled up to one of the kids “Hey, why are you in the parade?”

“Huh? Whaddya mean?” he replied.

“Why do you get to be in the parade. Do you know someone. Are you the best little league team in NY or something? Why are you on that bus?”

“Oh,” he replied as he got a little sheepish. “Well, um, Roger Clemens is my dad.”

My friends and I burst into laughter. “Fair enough” I yelled back. “Tell him we say ‘Hi’.”

The kid thought it was funny too and waved at us as the bus started moving again.

More than anything I loved that his response was of mild embarrassment.

The Core Four

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:13:17 -0500

The Core Four

"[We have the] greatest fans in the world,I can’t say enough about them. They’ve been..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:05:23 -0500

““[We have the] greatest fans in the world,I can’t say enough about them. They’ve been here since Day 1. People were always talking about our new stadium, ‘Would it be the same?’ Well, we got the same fans.””

- Our Captain Derek Jeter

This is the song they play when A-Rod walks to the...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:56:15 -0500

This is the song they play when A-Rod walks to the batter’s box.

The chorus is so fitting, it’s crazy.

To answer your questions...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:42:30 -0500

happyhour:

The girl who said that “baseball was invented by Burger King” is a coworker of my roommate, Baldy (they’re working on The Green Hornet directed by Michel Gondry, starring Seth Rogen; it sounds disastrous but that’s another post). They had just gotten off work and were going to a party together and then she was to crash on our couch. Hey lady! You’re welcome for the hospitality!

And I didn’t say anything mean because, well, what’s the point of that? Although I would have much liked to hear what you would’ve said, Ohler.

In her defense, she did apologize and admitted she had a knack for making people hate her immediately. I assured her that I did not hate her but I informed her that she definitely said the wrong thing.

That story made me so mad! See what you want to do is say something that doesn’t exactly sound mean but that makes her feel very very bad about herself in all those ways she already feels bad when she has a bad day. This is why I avoid saying anything mean in jest, because I can get SO mean. Years of living with insecure teenagers and artists has made it easy for me to hone in on the thing that people secretly hate about themselves.

Remember when CC had to bat in Philly?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:48:06 -0500

He’s so big. Didn’t he look like Hagrid standing in the batter’s box?

CC only played half a season in the national league so it’s hard to find a picture. But he is so much bigger than the people around him. And they’re all pro-athletes. Bananas!

Nick Swisher: Stupid Haircut, Awesome Guy Seriously, this is...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:41:16 -0500

Nick Swisher: Stupid Haircut, Awesome Guy

Seriously, this is what Swisher looked like during pretty much every game this year.

Even in all his in-stadium videos for announcements and things like that, he was always smiling and giggling. Not like Jimmy Fallon cracking on SNL, but more like “You guys, can you believe we get to do this for a living? It’s awesome.”

Mr. Centaur or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:58:00 -0500

Mr. Centaur or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love A-Rod

I wasn’t happy when the Yankees got A-Rod. I even found it a little embarrassing. Everyone already thinks we spend too much money, but to take the best player in baseball, a gold-glove winning short stop, and make him play third was a move that even some of us Yankee fans felt was a bit much.

A-Rod has now played with the Yankees longer than he played with any other baseball team. And a weird thing happened. He became human.

My mental tag-line to this post season was:
Postseason 2009: The Quest to Make Alex Rodriguez a Real Boy

And it happened. It’s hard to tell if you didn’t watch the Yanks all year, but these were fun guys to watch. Where as the last few years since 2001 seemed to lack cohesion and at times felt like a bunch of hired guns that couldn’t quite gel (with poor Derek, the definition of teammate standing there wondering where all the hard working players went, but always politely never saying that to the media) this years group of guys showed up to have fun and play hard.

They played every game like they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. They seemed to treat every part of being in the majors as a special treat. It’s a great attitude to see from any team, especially the team everyone would expect it from the least.

And it got through to A-Rod. Maybe it was that he didn’t feel like it was all on his shoulders for once, or maybe it was having all the guys support him through the steroid scandal, or maybe it was just Nick Swisher and his stupid haircut and infectious personality, but A-Rod played and reacted like a human being that was proud of what they were all doing and not just proud of himself.

We’re really proud that he did it with us in New York.

For Parade Goers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:25:00 -0500

I’ll be getting there between 5am-6am to get a good spot. If anyone wants to meet up, call or text me.

I’l be in the same spot I was in ‘96, ‘98, ‘99, and ‘00.

"Derek told me to be ready for the most incredible parade you’ve ever seen in your life. To..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:24:08 -0500

““Derek told me to be ready for the most incredible parade you’ve ever seen in your life. To celebrate with the fans of New York, this is unbelievable. What a great city.””

- Mark Teixeria - I’m a big fan of second-hand compliments so it’s nice to hear Derek enjoys it as much as we do.

This one is for the uninformed who tried to talk smack.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:17:52 -0500

This one is for the uninformed who tried to talk smack.

One week away. One night only. Overnight layover get together at...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:10:04 -0500

One week away. One night only. Overnight layover get together at The Cat and Fiddle.

I arrive Wednesday morning at LAX and I’ll be Metro-ing myself up to Hollywood.

Does anyone have a couch I can crash on? I had a couple of friends offer but they are way far from Hollywood or have cats, and while cats are cute, I’m so allergic I wouldn’t be able to breathe within a half hour.

And if anyone has Thursday afternoon free, I could use a ride to Burbank Airport around 2:30pm.

And then I’m off to Vegas for my brother’s wedding. Hooray!

Obama inspires black men to step up

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:01:10 -0500

Obama inspires black men to step up:

The link above takes you a pretty interesting short article at CNN.com

You should read it. I can tell you that I see this happening first hand in Harlem too.

It’s one of those intangibles that is so necessary.