Reality TV

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.

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.

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...

Springsteen

I just scored Bruce Springsteen tickets for July 28 AND July 31. How excited am I???

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.

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?

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!