There was a time when I would never admit to this, but there are some really great reality shows on. "Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant" is, um, I don't know, the best show ever! Well, not really, but it is pretty great. This week's episode has him returning to Brooklyn. Here are the things I loved about this episode:
He hangs out with his old friends that he grew up with. They are walking down the street and his friend says, "Do you want to say hi to my mom?" Scott says, "Sure." The friend yells, "HEY MA!" and his mom sticks her head out the window of her apartment over a travel agent's storefront. They proceed to have a normal conversation this way.
Next, he's having lunch with a few friends at a local deli. They go in to order a sandwich, and Scott is bothered by the fact that there are sandwiches named after all the famous Italians, but not for him. Especially because he went to this deli every day after school. He asks for a sandwich and they think about it. When he goes to order a sandwich, he asks if they have any whole wheat bread. I guess you can take the boy out of Brooklyn and you really can take Brooklyn out of the boy and put LA into the boy. He almost loses his chance to have a sandwich named after him. Until... he orders his sandwich and asks for all the sandwich makings the Italian way (i.e. prosciutto, mozzarella--without the vowel pronounced at the end).
This is from the previous week, but even more funny. He goes on a double date with his fiance and his friend, who is the most pathetic soul I have witnessed on television. This friend met a woman on jdate, so of course, he writes down all the Yiddish words he can think of on his hand to pepper the conversation. For example, upon meeting the woman, he comments on how nice it is to meet her, then says, "What a mitzvah!" He looks at the menu and says, "Oy vey!" He also says my favorite, "Shpilkes." Not sure exactly what that one means, but I love it nonetheless.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Embarrassed
I was watching some footage of Mitt Romney schmoozing with the crowds on Martin Luther King day. He actually looked at a baby and referred to the baby's "bling bling" and posed for pictures with a group of African American people singing, "Who let the dogs out?" complete with the "woof, woof, woof, woof, woof" at the end. Yes, it's true. I swear. I heard it with my own ears.
Monday, January 28, 2008
State of the Union
Tonight is the final State of the Union address by our current president. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, that means we're still in the tunnel...
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Worst city?
Today, I apparently dropped my wallet in the street and it was returned to me completely intact about five minutes later--hand delivered to my office. For people that think that NYC is an unfriendly or dangerous place, there are always these kinds of examples.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
worst places to live
I was just reading some headlines and came across an article that names the worst cities in which to live. New York was #4 (although I don't know if they are actually in any order) and this is what it says about it:
The high cost of living and dense population of New York City make it seem a daunting place to live. The average price of a Manhattan apartment is $1.3 million. Parking spaces go for the price of McMansions in other cities. And many apartments aren’t that much bigger than parking spaces. Everything seems like a project – even getting a table in a restaurant – in this fast-paced, aggressive, ambitious culture. Rapid high-end real estate development has quashed some of the city’s charm and made living here all but impossible for young creative types.“One of the great things about New York used to be the incredible cross-section of people. You could be rich or poor, but as long as you were willing to work hard and give up some of life’s luxuries, you could live near some of the greatest cultural amenities in the world,” says Andrew Berman, president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Still, New York has done a better job fending off the crushing wave of chain stores that make every place in America feel the same, Berman says. And since so many people continue to want to live in New York City, its real estate market remains surprisingly healthy. Bottom line: New York City is still a land of opportunity – whether you’re seeking fame, fortune, culture, or just want to live in the center of it all. On that score, no other city can compete.
Comments: yes, it's expensive (average price of an apartment is 1.3 million! shocking, and yet, I totally believe it) and it is losing a lot of it's charm because of all the luxury buildings that are going up everywhere. It is sad to me that regular people are being priced out of the city. Despite what this blurb says, there are way too many chain stores here, although I guess it's good that there are less than other cities. But I will say this: in many of the descriptions of other "worst" cities, the reason they are bad are because there are a lot of murders, high infant mortality, illiteracy and (at least in the case of Las Vegas) prostitution. If this is the worst that you can say about New York, that it's really expensive and everyone wants to live here, that's not so bad, right?
The high cost of living and dense population of New York City make it seem a daunting place to live. The average price of a Manhattan apartment is $1.3 million. Parking spaces go for the price of McMansions in other cities. And many apartments aren’t that much bigger than parking spaces. Everything seems like a project – even getting a table in a restaurant – in this fast-paced, aggressive, ambitious culture. Rapid high-end real estate development has quashed some of the city’s charm and made living here all but impossible for young creative types.“One of the great things about New York used to be the incredible cross-section of people. You could be rich or poor, but as long as you were willing to work hard and give up some of life’s luxuries, you could live near some of the greatest cultural amenities in the world,” says Andrew Berman, president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Still, New York has done a better job fending off the crushing wave of chain stores that make every place in America feel the same, Berman says. And since so many people continue to want to live in New York City, its real estate market remains surprisingly healthy. Bottom line: New York City is still a land of opportunity – whether you’re seeking fame, fortune, culture, or just want to live in the center of it all. On that score, no other city can compete.
Comments: yes, it's expensive (average price of an apartment is 1.3 million! shocking, and yet, I totally believe it) and it is losing a lot of it's charm because of all the luxury buildings that are going up everywhere. It is sad to me that regular people are being priced out of the city. Despite what this blurb says, there are way too many chain stores here, although I guess it's good that there are less than other cities. But I will say this: in many of the descriptions of other "worst" cities, the reason they are bad are because there are a lot of murders, high infant mortality, illiteracy and (at least in the case of Las Vegas) prostitution. If this is the worst that you can say about New York, that it's really expensive and everyone wants to live here, that's not so bad, right?
Monday, January 21, 2008
27 Dresses
I went to see this movie today. I anticipated that I would hate this movie, and I was right. Don't ask me why I went anyway. I really can't say. The formula is honestly offensive at this point. The only thing missing from this rom-com was the falling-in-love montage (unless you count the trying-on-dresses montage, which is only slightly less cliche). Besides the fact that I liked it the first time when it was called The Wedding Planner or Picture Perfect (it's sort of a cross between the two). It even had Judy Greer as a sidekick, like she was to J.Lo in Wedding Planner and a million other romantic comedies. To even try to write a movie in which Katherine Heigl is the less attractive older sister that men don't notice is completely ridiculous. And we all know that men that are as cute as James Marsden would never be that persistent, even if he was writing a story about her. You know, on second thought, cuteness has nothing to do with it. I'll go out on a limb and say no man would be that persistent unless he's a stalker. But the most ridiculous part of all is her apartment! A woman that works as an assistant who has her own 1 bedroom apartment in the Village with that much closet space and room for a kitchen table? Puh-leeeeze! And after I have spent the last few days shopping for a dress for my friend's wedding, I also doubt she could find such a cute one for herself in such a short time.
Update: Thank you, Jill, for reminding me about the car! She did say at one point that she had her father's Volvo, so it's possible she was going to pick her sister up in her father's car. But true, most New Yorkers do not have a car. And while I'm at it, most New Yorkers don't take cabs everywhere. Even Mayor Bloomberg rides the train to work every day!
Update: Thank you, Jill, for reminding me about the car! She did say at one point that she had her father's Volvo, so it's possible she was going to pick her sister up in her father's car. But true, most New Yorkers do not have a car. And while I'm at it, most New Yorkers don't take cabs everywhere. Even Mayor Bloomberg rides the train to work every day!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Resolutions
Yes, I am one of those people that made a resolution to lose weight in the new year. However, I make this resolution almost every day of my life. One thing I decided to do was to go to the gym more, which I do pretty regularly, but wanted to try some classes and do something different than what I usually do. I am normally a morning exerciser, mostly because I'm lazy and only want to get ready once a day. To go to classes, however, I had to change that because most classes are in the afternoon/evening. I looked at the list of classes and decided to try a Hip Hop Funk class. I figured it would be challenging, but thought I don't care how I look (especially since all the men at my West Village gym are gay) and all I really care about is getting my heart rate up. So, I go...
I'm waiting outside the room and there is a line forming, waiting for the previous class to end. I ask the woman in front of me in line, "Do you usually come to this class? No? I was just wondering what it was like, if it's hard?" Shoulder shrug. Blank stare. A few minutes later, a man comes and asks, "Is this Russell's class?" I said that I didn't know, it was my first time. He asked the same woman that I asked. Again, shoulder shrug. Blank stare. He said, "Oh, I forgot. New Year's." I was TOTALLY offended. However, 10 minutes into the class, I realized this is MUCH harder than I thought. Not only that, I was not getting any exercise at all because all I was doing was staring, trying to get the moves down. Ten mintues after that, I decided to leave and go back to the tried and true treadmill or whatever else I could do while watching ANTM marathon on VH1.
I got sick a few days after that and haven't been back to the gym for over a week now. Turns out, I am one of those New Year's people after all.
I'm waiting outside the room and there is a line forming, waiting for the previous class to end. I ask the woman in front of me in line, "Do you usually come to this class? No? I was just wondering what it was like, if it's hard?" Shoulder shrug. Blank stare. A few minutes later, a man comes and asks, "Is this Russell's class?" I said that I didn't know, it was my first time. He asked the same woman that I asked. Again, shoulder shrug. Blank stare. He said, "Oh, I forgot. New Year's." I was TOTALLY offended. However, 10 minutes into the class, I realized this is MUCH harder than I thought. Not only that, I was not getting any exercise at all because all I was doing was staring, trying to get the moves down. Ten mintues after that, I decided to leave and go back to the tried and true treadmill or whatever else I could do while watching ANTM marathon on VH1.
I got sick a few days after that and haven't been back to the gym for over a week now. Turns out, I am one of those New Year's people after all.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I heart New Jersey
I don't know what is happening right now in the world of Jessica Simpson. All I know is that people blame her for some football guy performing badly on the field. If there is something more recent, I don't know about it. But apparently John Mayer has recently felt the need to come to her defense. This is an excerpt of what he wrote on his blog:
I have never known anyone to have more pride in their home state and their upbringing in it than Jessica Simpson has in Texas... All witty barbs, blogs, and fashion policing aside, that girl loves Texas more than you know. It's one of her most defining traits as a person.
Needless to say, he has not met me yet!
Update: He has removed this posting from his blog.
I have never known anyone to have more pride in their home state and their upbringing in it than Jessica Simpson has in Texas... All witty barbs, blogs, and fashion policing aside, that girl loves Texas more than you know. It's one of her most defining traits as a person.
Needless to say, he has not met me yet!
Update: He has removed this posting from his blog.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
the joys of commuting
My friend, Jeremy, often posts little annoyances that happen during his commute on his blog, so I thought I'd follow suit.
Yesterday, I was headed towards the subway. My stop is deep in the pit of despair, and one must take an elevator down, down, down to catch the train. We have a choice of three elevators... one is manned by a very sleepy person who gets paid to press his/her choice of two buttons, one unmanned elevator is very slow to close, and one unmanned elevator that is very quick to close. On this particular morning, the quick elevator opened and, usually, I would run to catch it, but there were two people in front of me and I calculated that I would have enough time to catch it without even having to call out "Hold the doors!" When I am literally about 2 steps in front of the elevator doors, the woman, who was the first to arrive, says, "Hurry up, Princess. We are trying to get to work." I just looked at her, thought about saying something back, like, "You're a bigger one!" but decided it wasn't worth it. The man, who was the second to arrive, just had this look on his face, like, "Is she freakin' kidding?" and looked at me with a sympathetic look. When we get downstairs, there is a train there, and she starts running. I, of course, can tell by the sound that it is the uptown train and therefore do not bother to run (see how I calculate every moment of my commute?). She then starts chatting it up with a homeless person. And that's Monday morning.
Yesterday, I was headed towards the subway. My stop is deep in the pit of despair, and one must take an elevator down, down, down to catch the train. We have a choice of three elevators... one is manned by a very sleepy person who gets paid to press his/her choice of two buttons, one unmanned elevator is very slow to close, and one unmanned elevator that is very quick to close. On this particular morning, the quick elevator opened and, usually, I would run to catch it, but there were two people in front of me and I calculated that I would have enough time to catch it without even having to call out "Hold the doors!" When I am literally about 2 steps in front of the elevator doors, the woman, who was the first to arrive, says, "Hurry up, Princess. We are trying to get to work." I just looked at her, thought about saying something back, like, "You're a bigger one!" but decided it wasn't worth it. The man, who was the second to arrive, just had this look on his face, like, "Is she freakin' kidding?" and looked at me with a sympathetic look. When we get downstairs, there is a train there, and she starts running. I, of course, can tell by the sound that it is the uptown train and therefore do not bother to run (see how I calculate every moment of my commute?). She then starts chatting it up with a homeless person. And that's Monday morning.
30 Rock quote of the week (1/10)
I'm only five days late! btw, the week before, there was supposed to be a new episode and my DVR recorded it, only to find out it recorded that stupid choir show with Nick Lachey instead. Did I miss one?
I have been sick for a week now and I have been in a terrible mood the past few days. Everyone and everything bugs me. So I have to admit that this show was awesome (I love the NY Real Estate storyline! I can relate to that story on the real estate level, as well as the desperate woman level), but it's hard to choose a favorite line because I was so grouchy watching it. But... here goes!
Once again, it comes from Jack. (Yes, I realize that I have been favoring these political quotes very heavily lately.)
"Don't waste your time on these social programs that the president is just going to veto. The Founding Fathers never intended for poor people to live into their 40's."
I'll send another shout-out to Esther, who nominated Kenneth, right before the monkey jumps on his back in the form of a cappuccino:
"I don't drink hot liquids of any kind. That's the devil's temperature."
Update: EW picked Esther's favorite quote for their "soundbites" section. yeah! that's a first!
I have been sick for a week now and I have been in a terrible mood the past few days. Everyone and everything bugs me. So I have to admit that this show was awesome (I love the NY Real Estate storyline! I can relate to that story on the real estate level, as well as the desperate woman level), but it's hard to choose a favorite line because I was so grouchy watching it. But... here goes!
Once again, it comes from Jack. (Yes, I realize that I have been favoring these political quotes very heavily lately.)
"Don't waste your time on these social programs that the president is just going to veto. The Founding Fathers never intended for poor people to live into their 40's."
I'll send another shout-out to Esther, who nominated Kenneth, right before the monkey jumps on his back in the form of a cappuccino:
"I don't drink hot liquids of any kind. That's the devil's temperature."
Update: EW picked Esther's favorite quote for their "soundbites" section. yeah! that's a first!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Dilemma
I have been on a health kick in the new year, trying to take off the pounds I put on during the holidays. I've been doing pretty well, going to the gym every day last week. On Saturday, I didn't ever get around to going to the gym, so I decided to go on Sunday. Now that we have church at 1:00 pm, I figured it was an ox in the mire situation. When I got there, I started flipping through the channels on my TV and remembered that there's lots going on in the world of politics at the moment, all of which is discussed ad naseum on the Sunday morning news shows. The time went by so fast, I decided that this is a good use of my treadmill time and I may have to make it a weekly ritual! But, you know, there is the whole "keep the Sabbath day holy" thing to contend with.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Did you notice...
When "Big Love" first came on the air, all the articles I read about it always qualified that the family was NOT Mormon. The other day I was reading the EW 2007 wrap-up and one of the writers picked "Big Love" as one of her Top 10 shows. In the description of the show, she says that Bill Paxton is "playing the Mormon husband to three wives." When did they drop the qualifiers?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Christmas videos
Here is Thomas looking through his stocking and Maureen looking through her "baby bag" and wearing her "baby green."
And here are the two Gibby men with their guitars. Greg is pretty good, playing just since he got his guitar for his birthday in November. Thomas is pretty good, too... well, his plays the music for him. And Maureen is a GREAT dancer! Our grandmother always told us that she was the most popular woman on the dance floor when she and our grandfather would go dancing every weekend. Then she qualified it... he was so good that all the women apparently wanted to dance with our grandfather, so she had to dance with their husbands. Do you think Maureen inherited the dancing genes?
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Last night on my way home from work, I walked past Alec Baldwin walking along 6th Ave. That makes 2007 an eventful star sighting year for me as I saw three of the actors from "30 Rock. " (the other two were Kenneth the Page and Tina Fey, which I already told you in past postings so pay attention!)
The other highlight of the night was the dinner I ate at Dinosaur Barbeque. The dinner was fine, but dessert was the actual highlight. Heidi and I agreed to share a dessert and I wanted the key lime pie but she wanted the apple cobbler. Since I like everything, I agreed to get the cobbler and it was good. but someone else at the table ordered the key lime pie and then said it tasted like chicken and didn't want it. I tasted it and it not only did NOT taste like chicken, it tasted like delicious key lime pie, so I got to polish that off, as well. Perfect!
The other highlight of the night was the dinner I ate at Dinosaur Barbeque. The dinner was fine, but dessert was the actual highlight. Heidi and I agreed to share a dessert and I wanted the key lime pie but she wanted the apple cobbler. Since I like everything, I agreed to get the cobbler and it was good. but someone else at the table ordered the key lime pie and then said it tasted like chicken and didn't want it. I tasted it and it not only did NOT taste like chicken, it tasted like delicious key lime pie, so I got to polish that off, as well. Perfect!
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