Let's get Baked!

A couple of weeks ago, Heidi and I planned a day to Coney Island. Then we heard it was supposed to rain so we decided that we still wanted to go to Brooklyn, so we went to Ikea. I wanted to look at picture frames, but mostly I just wanted the meatballs. As we sat there shoveling it in, Heidi had a brilliant idea. "Let's see if we can find Baked." Baked is a bakery that we read about in this article and then a place opened around the corner from my office that carries some of their products and, of course, we became fans. Since I had no idea where anything in Red Hook is or when I'd ever go there, I never really thought I'd get to visit this place. But, sitting there in Ikea, we were on a mission and found out that it's just a few blocks away.

I was literally drooling the second we walked in. I was not able to limit myself to just a cupcake. Yes, they are best known for their sweet and salty cake, which is incredible. Since I tried that before, I settled on this cake, the malted milk ball cake. It was Delicious! This place is worth the trip!

The Boss (again)

I didn't think I was going to be able to go see Bruce and the band again this tour, and I really wanted to because they are leaving for Europe and who knows when they will be back. I casually mentioned that I wanted to go to a co-worker and she told me she had some connection and could get me tickets for Saturday night's show! yeah! We got to sit in the press box.

It was another fantastic show. Ever since I saw him at the beginning of May, I've been listening to him obsessively, mostly "The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle." This album came out in 1973 and it was the last album of his that I ever bought (except for new releases, of course). Something about it has been speaking to me lately, though, and then he played 4/7 of that album on Saturday night. If you look at the proposed set list, he was supposed to play "I'm on fire" but apparently changed it for "Incident on 57th St." I love both, but since I've been singing "Good night, it's all right, Jane. Meet me tomorrow night on lover's lane," ever since, I guess I approve of the switch.

Here's the set list:

Badlands
Spirit In The Night
Outlaw Pete
Something In The Night
Out In The Street
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Good Lovin'
Cover Me *
The E Street Shuffle *
Thunder Road *
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Incident on 57th Street
Kingdom Of Days
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run

Hard Times
Kitty's Back
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Glory Days
Mony Mony

(*requests)

The set started out strong ("Badlands" & "Spirits in the Night"), but ended weak ("Glory Days" & "Mony Mony.") I may be one of the few people that think this, but "Glory Days" is a stupid song and absolutely my least favorite. "Mony Mony" is a song I heard waaaaaaay too many times at BYU and subsequent church dances. But a great night, nonetheless.

And the best news of all is that he announced he's coming back in September/October so it's not my last time seeing him after all!

The Office quote of the week -- season finale

After several weeks of struggling to find one good quote, now that the season is over, I think I'm going to phase this one out. I think that next year, I will just post a quote if something appeals to me. I will also be open for nominations, so please email them to me if you have one.
I still find this show immensely funny, but there just aren't good one-liners anymore. For example, the one I chose for this week:

Michael: "Probably shouldn't have mentioned Buffalo."
Holly: (shrugs) "Hindsight."
Michael: "Should have had hindsight."

The other one in the running was from Angela to Kevin during the volleyball game: "Now it's 7-6 or is that too much accounting for you?"

One's not a one-liner, and the other was just okay.

I thought it was a great episode, though, and was so disappointed that Michael didn't make his move on Holly. I guess it's probably best to wait until she doesn't have a boyfriend, but I just hope those two crazy kids make it work someday!
Also, the other HR guy and Toby talking about "hilarious" things. I loved that!

30 Rock, on the other hand....

30 Rock quote of the week -- season finale

Pretty much everything Liz Lemon said in her "Dealbreaker!" bits had me rolling on the floor. For example:

"He's gay. Classic case of fruit blindness."

"S that D. Shut it down. Dealbreaker."

"There's no such thing as bi-sexual. That's something they made up in the 90's to sell hair products."

Obviously, the real highlight of the show was the event to find a kidney. It's not surprising that they came up with that since they've done similar things on SNL while Tina Fey was the head writer for the show. Elvis Costello and Clay Aiken in a fight. Sheryl Crow & the Maroon 5 guy pretending to be European to throw Jenna off. Michael McDonald singing instead of just Jenna pretending to be Michael McDonald. And... uh... two out of three BEASTIE BOYS!! How awesome was that?? (but how bad was Mike D's hair?)

Great season!

This sums up all of my feelings on the matter

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
The Pageant of the Christ
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

... especially anything having to do with D.Trump, the most annoying person on the planet. I will never understand why anyone cares what that idiot has to say about ANYTHING.

30 Rock quote of the week -- 5/7

Jack says, "You know what family means to me? Resentment, guilt, anger, Easter egg hunts that turn into knife fights. Why would I want more family in my life?"

How great is it that Alan Alda played his father? I loved that Jack was trying to find out what his ethnic/religious background is and it's inconclusive... until Alan Alda says something in Yiddish and Jack's face just falls. (one of my most favorite words -- farkakte) and did you know that Alan Alda lives in NJ? it's true!

The Office quote of the week -- 5/7

Michael spends a good portion of this episode trying to lure people down into his closet, which he's turned into the disco cafe. Someone comes down and asks for his signature, and he responds, "This is a no-work zone. Respect the lei." and he points to a Hawaiian lei hanging inexplicably from a shower head.

That's it. Nothing else really struck me, other than their crazy dancing.

30 Rock quote of the week -- 4/30

How I love when Jack's mom is in town! She is hilarious. I have one quote about her, and I'll put that one first.

Jack is talking about telling off Paul, Colleen's boyfriend, by proxy for his father who ran off. "I'm finally going to stand up for Colleen. The small part of her that is still human deserves it."

Also, this bit between Jack and Liz...
Liz: "Do you treat me any different because I'm a woman?"
Jack, very matter of factly: "I pay you a little less, yes."

The Office quote of the week -- 4/30

Thanks, Sally, for the reminder that I am way behind on my quotes. I guess it's a good thing when you can say you are too busy to watch TV. Or, in my case, to watch TV and take notes on your favorite parts.

The first ep. is "Casual Friday," when Michael had to choose who to give the salesperson job to -- Pam or Ryan. In discussing the decision making process, he says, "I have a very difficult decision to make. It's like last week, I was in the video store. Do I rent The Devil Wears Prada again, or do I finally get around to seeing Sophie's Choice. It's what you would call a classic difficult decision."

Close call

Last week, Heidi came in to work and casually asked, "Do you watch 'The City?'" I responded that I do. She said, "Oh, I was just in Joe and they are filming an episode there, so I had to sign some release."

WHAT??

You never saw someone grab their pocketbook and run so fast in your life. I raced outside and ran around the corner, but it was too late. I just saw a bunch of official looking people on their phones and getting into mini-vans. I casually walked around the corner, and then walked back, and on the way back I saw this minor person. She's so minor, I'm not 100% it was actually her, but it was someone that's been on the show.

I came back to the office and pulled up "The City" website, but Heidi couldn't tell from the photos who was there. Apparently, she thinks they all look the same. But when that episode airs, be sure to watch for Heidi in line buying coffee (she's wearing a red rain coat).

What was I going to do if I had seen them filming? Probably nothing. Well, not nothing. Joe does sell donuts.

The Boss 09

I went to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Monday night in Long Island. He's coming to NJ at the end of the month and tickets sold out before I even knew they were on sale, so I've been checking Craigs List and the only tickets posted are from brokers. I decided to go ahead and get tickets to LI, which were a little easier to find, and if I can find some for the Meadowlands, I'm going again. If not, at least I saw him during this tour. I posted something about going to see him again on facebook, and I got a response that I'm a crazy groupie. But four times in my life does not seem very crazy to me, especially when I've been a fan since the 80's.


Anyway, here's the setlist.

Badlands
No Surrender
Outlaw Pete
She's The One
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Ghost Of Tom Joad
Raise Your Hand
Expressway To Your Heart (by the Soul Survivors) *
For You *
Rendezvous*
Night*
Waiting On A Sunny Day
Promised Land
The Wrestler
Kingdom Of Days
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run


***Encore***

Hard Times
Jungleland
Land Of Hope And Dreams
American Land
Dancin' In The Dark
Rosalita

(* these were the requests of the night)

Highlights for me: Jungleland, The Wrestler, For You, Rosalita, Born to Run, The Rising.
Although he played 27 songs, I only got to experience 24 because I was in line for the bathroom for three of them. No I didn't go three times, that's how long the line was! I was pissed! He did not do my favorite song, "Thunder Road" or Jill's favorite, "Racing in the Street," but I'm crossing my fingers for May 23rd.

Kathy and I got tickets behind the stage, which I was a little disappointed about. But the show was really just fine from back there. During "American Land," we started walking towards the car and then we heard "Dancing in the Dark," so we went back in. Now we were in the front of the stage, but we felt much further away and I realized that I liked our other place much better. Although we did have a view of his back for a lot of the show, he also comes to the back of the stage quite often for a beverage or to stick his head in a bucket of water (seriously), to talk to the band and the roadies, to sort through the piles of posters with song requests, etc.
All around, a fabulous night, and I look forward to more evenings with the E Street Band in the future.

Sonya and Esther NYC Immersion tour

After I went to Seattle, Esther flew out here to visit her sister in Pennsylvania. She left baby Leah in PA with her sister and took the train to meet Paul here in NYC. They only had about 24 hours to enjoy all of our favorite things NYC. Esther and I made a list of all the things we thought Paul should experience and we started with lunch at Cafe Habana and the corn!

On the way I pointed out John Mayer's apartment, which usually comes after Rice to Riches on the tour, but I had to go back to work so they went without me.

Since I don't have a picture of them at Rice to Riches, but do have one of us the last time Esther came here with her friends and we did much the same tour, I'll just post that one.

Next they went to the LES Tenement Museum, which is connected to some of our favorite things -- talking about apartments and getting a peek inside people's lives. The other thing I love is their museum shop. I love museum shops in general, but this one is great because most things are NYC related.

For dinner we met at our favorite mac and cheese place, Eatery. Then since they didn't have time to come up to my neighborhood, I told them they should see In The Heights. Although this meant they didn't get to experience the empanadas and fresh mango you can buy on the streets, they did get to see the people singing and dancing in the street because that's how we do it in the Heights. Because they had to rush to the show, I went to Amy's Bread without them for our favorite cupcake.

The next morning, we met for breakfast at Norma's then went up to Central Park for a quick look around. Esther and I usually make fun of the tourists in the pedicabs, but Paul wanted to try it out. We decided that since we didn't have time to walk through the park, it would be worth it. But then we couldn't enjoy it because we felt so guilty having this skinny guy pulling us around after all the stuff we'd eaten in two days.

Another thing that was awesome was that we got pretty lucky with star sightings. Before meeting up with them, I saw Gelman from Regis and Kelly, but who cares?? Then I saw Mel from "Flight of the Conchords" and "The Daily Show." Paul saw Meredith Viera while he wandered on his own for a few hours before getting into the hotel (he also tried a Magnolia cupcake and was disappointed). Esther and Paul saw The Dead coming out of The Ed Sullivan Theater and after dinner I saw Anthony Michael Hall (random, right?) At Norma's we saw some sports guy that Paul likes, so that was a winner. I recognized him, but thought he was just from some VH1 show, like "Best Week Ever" or "I Love the 80's." When I came home and told Leolani, and as someone that likes both sports and silly VH1 shows, she confirmed that I was right. Since then, I've seen Little Steven again and in the same spot! and Jimmy Fallon, who looked like he was petrified that someone was going to recognize him.