Saturday, October 28, 2006


It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Yesterday, ABC aired the animated classic, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It was the 40th straight year the show has appeared on network television, but watching it last night I realized that in today's safety proof, think of the children world, it could never be made today.

In the first scene, you have 5 year old Linus struggling to carry a pumpkin up the stairs. Then you have 6 year old Lucy wander around unsupervised with a butcher's knife in order to carve the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. Nevermind the psychological torture she inflicts on poor Charlie Brown... from planting seeds of doubt about whether he was really invited to Violet's Halloween party to fooling him yet again by pulling the football out from under him.

And, no kids' production company would dare show that scene for fear of instilling replicable behavior in the child viewer. And of course, with the necessity of selling programming internationally, there is entirely too much text on the screen. How on earth could they sell this show to Spain today, with Linus' letter to the Great Pumpkin scrolling across the screen? It couldn't be done. No too mention, the idea of letting a couple of five year olds spend the night in the pumpkin patch together? Not gonna happen. But, thankfully, it could and did happen forty years ago and we can still enjoy the saccharine-free goodness today.
Obviously, I couldn't bring myself to blog after the Mets defeat in the NLCS.

Riddle me this... after Endy Chavez makes a play for the ages in the outfield in the top of the inning and you get men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the bottom half of the inning, how do you not score? At that moment I knew they were not going to win the game. And then Beltran (who I still really like) stares at strike 3 with bases loaded, bottom of the 9th in a Game 7? That's the type of dream every kid has, and never does that play end with a called strike 3.

Bah!

As our Brooklyn Dodgers forebears said, "Wait'll next year..."

Next year they won't have their #1 and #2 pitchers watching in street clothes... Next year David Wright and Jose Reyes will be another year older and another year smarter and won't be scared by the specter of the post season... Next year, we won't let it go to a game 7, as we'll win early and be able to rest up. Though, not as much as the Tigers rested, cause it didn't really help them much, now did it?

And so, congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals. They were the best team in the post season, when it counted.

But, bah!

And it's not too late to be excited about 2007, is it?

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Onward to the NLCS...

There's just something about this team. They never give up. You never get the feeling that the game is lost. And, if you do for some unfathomable reason think that the Mets have lost; they will find a way to make you eat those words. And I wouldn't have it any other way. From Reyes and Wright to the two Carloses and everyone else, you know they believe they're going to win... and so you do too.

But, what I loved most about Game 3 was that it was won behind the bats of Dodger cast-offs Paul LoDuca and Shawn (my fellow landesman) Green.

The second sweetest words... The Detroit Tigers have eliminated the New York Yankees. The sweetest words... The Mets WIN!!! HOLY CRAP, we're going to the NLCS!!!!!!

Sunday, September 10, 2006


I's been 5 Years...

I wrote this last year for another blog, and I realize the last two posts are sort of political in tone, but I will get back to writing about television. Or, will start writing about television.

I didn't plan on having this be so long, and so I apologize if it is too long, but once I started writing, I started remembering and couldn't stop. Also, I apologize for the general rambling nature of this, but the memories kind of comes out in gushes.

In the fall of 2001, I lived on the Upper East Side and worked in SoHo, so taking the 6 train was part of my daily routine. I got a late start to work that day, and I remember seeing small groups of people talking on street corners as I made my way to the subway. I thought it was just people talking about the primary elections, so I didn't really pay attention. I also had my Walkman on, so I was in my own little world. I probably got on one of the last trains that was going downtown. It wasn't until I got off at the Spring Street station that I noticed something was seriously amiss. My office was on Broadway and Spring and as I got closer to Broadway I noticed throngs of people walking uptown with what appeared to be clay on their faces. As I turned the corner to walk into my office, I ran into a co-worker who told me that I just missed seeing her dog and husband. Obviously confused I asked why and she told me that they were told to evacuate their apartment (they lived in Tribeca). She then told me that two planes had flown into the World Trade Center. For a half a second, I didn't actually believe her, but then the weird street scenes I had witnessed made sense.

We went to our office, and instead of going to my cubicle, I went to the first office with a television set. I worked in television, so every office had a TV set, but for some reason the office was pretty much split between the VP's office I was in and the conference room in an office on the other side of the room. I just sat down and started watching. I didn't get up for probably close to an hour and a half. Then I thought that I should get in touch with my family. So, I went down to my cubicle and tried to call my parents. I couldn't get a line. I thought to check my e-mail and saw several e-mails from family and friends trying to get in touch with me. I checked in on my boss whose sister worked in the WTC. He somehow got in touch with her via phone and learned she was walking uptown via Broadway. I e-mailed my family letting them know I was okay. And then was drawn back to the television set in the other room. We saw one tower fall. And then later, saw the second one fall. I don't remember much of that day except hoping that somehow the towers had been evacuated. I tried to do the math in my head in terms of whether enough time had passed before the towers collapsed. I gave up when I realized that the loss of life that occurred just by the towers slamming into several floors of the buildings automatically made the casualty rate high. I sat there with about five other office-mates until my boss came in and told us that our building had been evacuated an hour before, only no one decided to tell us. We only found out when his sister tried to get up to see him and was told by security that she couldn't come in. She called her brother to let him know. Meanwhile I checked my e-mail again and found several messages from my sister that instead of going home, I should go straight to her apartment. An executive came around and told us that we had to get out, but made sure that people had someplace to go, cause it was obviously going to be difficult for the people who lived in Jersey or Connecticut to out of the city.

It was around 12:30 when I finally left. I walked with two friends of mine, both of whom were going to the Upper East Side, while I was only going as high as 18th Street. And, to say that the walk uptown was surreal was an understatement. The northbound view was clear and sunny, while the southern view was like something out of a disaster movie. The sky was grey and sooty. And the people. They just kept coming and coming and coming. Some with scrapes and bruises. Some bleeding. Some shocked. Others just dazed. I would classify myself as dazed. There were fire engines and ambulances and police cars streaming down the street. Store owners were handing out water to whoever passed by. We passed a couple of clinics where doctors and nurses were waiting outside to see if they could be of any help to passers-by. One nurse tried to get one of my friends to stop and sit down because she looked really pale. There was just an outpouring of support that made one glad to be a New Yorker. And to this day, whenever anyone says that they could never live in New York because the people are too mean, I just remember that day and realize they don't know New York at all.

Once we got past 14th street, it was like another world. There was no traffic, save for the occasional emergency vehicle and the people walking uptown had begun to spread out among the various side streets, so there were no longer teams of people walking up an avenue. When I got to my sister's apartment, I gave my sister and sister-in-law a hug and just sat down. My brother who worked downtown was in Rome on a business trip and my sister-in-law was trying to get in touch with him. It turns out that his company was getting everyone who was in Europe at the time to England because that was deemed a safer country, although my brother said that the people in Italy couldn't have been nicer when they heard he was an American, and more specifically a New Yorker.

Both my sister and my brother-in-law worked in the corporate world so they knew people who worked in the Trade Center and they spent the next few hours trying to get in touch with their friends. I spent my time e-mailing friends and Internet contacts to let them know I was okay, but mostly I watched CNN. It still hadn't hit me yet. At around 4 p.m., I decided that I had to go home. So, after convincing my (older) sister that I would be okay walking the 3 miles or so uptown, she let me go, but told me I had to e-mail as soon as I get there.

It was so quiet as I walked up 3rd Avenue. Usually when I walked home from work, I would cross over to 1st Avenue in the upper 30s because I liked the river view and walking past the UN building. That was most definitely not an option. There were tanks and what must have been National Guardsmen blocking the side streets along 2nd Avenue. I didn't cross over until 59th Street. Uptown things were going along as normally as they could. People were still stopping in at the Chinese restaurant to pick up dinner, but there was a hushed tone. I e-mailed my sister and checked my messages. I guess at one point it was impossible to get a line out from inside the city, so I had several phone calls from my sister's sister-in-law in Florida trying to make sure I was alright. As weird as it sounds, it felt comforting that there were people who cared enough to check up on me.

The next day I tried to give blood, but the line was around the block and a woman told those of us who were on the end of the line that we probably wouldn't be able to give. Instead she asked if there was anybody who wanted to volunteer inside. Since I had nothing better to do except go home and scare myself by watching even more CNN, I elected to stay. For the first few hours, I made some food runs and helped direct people to the proper waiting areas. In the afternoon, I was asked if being around blood bothered me. I didn't think so, so I was brought into the room where the actual donations occurred. I helped label the blood donation bags and get them ready for refrigeration (or transport). It was kind of icky, but I felt like I was doing something helpful. When I left, I wandered around the Upper East Side looking for a newspaper. A lot of people had that same idea because when I exited a store carrying a New York Times and New York Post, several people stopped me and asked me where I got them.

Since my office was below 14th Street, we weren't allowed back in until the following Monday, so on Thursday, my sister, her husband and my sister-in-law went to my parents' house in NJ for the weekend. They lived 55 minutes outside the city (with no traffic) and they got the smell and the soot from the towers. On Saturday, I went with a friend of mine who lived in Weehawken (right across the river from downtown) to pick up some necessities. She was staying with her parents for a few weeks because she was too distraught to stay in her apartment by herself (she worked at World Trade Plaza and was one of the people who had to evacuate). It was the first time I saw the skyline without the towers. While I'm somewhat used to it now, it looked like there was a hole in the city and was shocking. When we got back to the city on Sunday, things seemed to have calmed down, but the smell in SoHo on Monday morning was so strong, I can still remember it today.

One other bit of randomness about the week. My sister (whose apartment I stayed at) and her then-fiancée were supposed to get married that weekend. Although none of their close friends were killed in the Towers, they knew enough people who were mourning friends and family that after a great amount of deliberating, they decided to postpone the wedding until late October. Supposedly everyone they talked to from the rabbi to the caterers to the florists were great about a) not charging for the cancellation and b) rescheduling. Of course, they got married in the Rainbow Room around the same time that the anthrax scare was occurring at NBC and other news organizations, so they had some cancellations and no-shows due to fear. But, the last song played at their wedding was Frank Sinatra's rendition of "New York, New York," which we sang and danced to in a huge circle dance rockette style. While their entire wedding was gorgeous, that's what I'll remember the most.
What Price Agenda?

Why? Seriously... why? A madman directed a bunch of madmen to attack America and they did. And, they got lucky, taking down the Twin Towers. The government screwed up. They screwed up in tracking the growing threat in the 1980s, the 1990s and so on up until 9/10/01. Did the Clinton administration do all they could do to stop Al Queda? Probably not, but 20/20 hindsight is usually 100% accurate. Did the Bush administration do all they could during the transition and their first year in office? Probably not, though ignoring a memo that says Al Queda is determined to attack the U.S. puts the level of probability closer to 100%. And, their actions since 9/11 often leads me to wonder if there is anything this administration puts above politics... and I do include national security in that question. Take a look at Ron Suskind's book The One Percent Doctrine for more information on that.


But why come out with a movie that puts much of the blame on the Clinton Administration? And, why on ABC? ABC is, after all owned by Disney... a company that refused to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11 on the grounds that it didn't want to get into politics so close to an election. As if we're not 60 days out from the very important midterm elections, The Republicans would like to keep the House and Senate and are not above leading the public to believe that 9/11 was all the fault of the Clenis (Clinton's penis) to get there.
And, now it seems that the producers of this docudrama have an agenda. The writer, Cyrus Nowrasteh, has been called a good friend of none other than Rush Limbaugh. The director, David Cunningham founded The Film Institute, which has as its goal... "Godly transformation and revolution TO and THROUGH the Film and Television industry." If these folks don't have an agenda, then NAMBLA is just out for a good time.

Someone at ABC was asleep at the switch. Who vetted this docudrama for accuracy? And, if it doesn't matter that it's not accurate... if the emphasis is on the drama, rather than the docu, then why focus so much attention and press time on the fact that this was based on the 9/11 Commission report? If at least five of the Commissioners charged with writing this report claim numerous inaccuracies and only one commissioner is publicly behind the film (and as a paid consultant on the film, he also stands behind a sign blinking conflict of interest) isn't there something wrong? Who was in charge of publicity? Was it ABC's decision to send previews out to conservative bloggers/pundits, but not to those on the progressive side of the aisle? As we learned in the New York Post, an actor, Harvey Keitel, ended up hiring his own researcher and did his own rewrites to add accuracy. When this was happening, didn't ABC wonder why? Where was the executive in charge? And, how can ABC be so stubborn that they would ignore the public outcry and the private correspondence they've been receiving from people like President Clinton and Madeleine Albright?

I'll be honest. I don't think I would have watched this film, even without the controversy. Except for the CBS documentary by the Naudet brothers in 2002, I haven't been able to bring myself to watch any of the 9/11 programming on TV or any of the features in the theaters. So, this isn't strictly a political decision on my part. Maybe I will be able to watch such programming one day, but not today. Still, all things being equal, I hope when I am ready to watch, I don't have to worry about the agenda of the producers. Because, seriously, don't the victims of 9/11 deserve better?

Are you ready for some football??

Watch this instead of some crazy rightwing flight of fantasy.


Saturday, June 17, 2006


This just killed my friends and I... We're just outside Granville, OH on the day before another friend's wedding. We're looking for a restroom and come across this McDonald's, with a single golden arch. Is that even legal?
I just got back from seeing tick... tick...BOOM! put on by the Rubicon Theatre Company in LA. I'd seen it twice before (both in NYC) and it's a damn fine show. It somehow manages to put me on an emotional high at makes me slightly depressed that this and Rent are the only shows that the theater-going public will have from Jonathan Larson. That a guy so talented should leave us too soon makes me sad, but that he did leave two pearls behind brings the glad.

As I said, I saw the show twice in New York, once with Raul Esparaza as Jon (who was fabulous) and once with Joe McIntire (of New Kids on the Block fame - he was also great). I'm beginning to think that this is an actor-proof show because once again I walked out of the theater grateful for a fantastic theater-going experience. That I should feel that way after seeing a show once is lucky, twice is kind of surprising, but to feel the same way after seeing a show for the third time is shocking.

Set in 1990, tick... tick... BOOM! hearkens back to a more innocent New York (yes... really). Although Rudy Giuliani had yet to get to work on the Disneyfication of the city, Al Queda and Osama Bin Laden had not yet made themselves known to Americans. The set, designed by David Farley, touched upon the tragedy of 9/11, as the World Trade Center was front and center on the New York City skyline that took up the back wall of the stage.

The show resolves around Jonathan (Andrew Samonsky), a "promising young composer" who is days away from his 30th birthday. His life is in flux... his girlfriend (Tami Tappan Damiano), an aspiring dancer, has suggested that they leave the city and move to Cape Cod, his best friend (Wilson Cruz) is in the process of moving from their edge of SoHo walk-up to a deluxe apartment on the East Side, and the show he has been working on for the past five years has a critical workshop coming up. Jonathan doesn't know what to do. Does he give up on his dream of becoming the new sound of Broadway or does he sell out his dream for the BMW, doormanned apartment and corporate job?

Jonathan Larson wrote tick... tick... BOOM! in the years before RENT, and on some level it shows. It feels unfinished. I read that originally, he wrote it as a monologue with songs for himself, and on some levels it feels like it. While Cruz and Tappan Damiano are really great (both as their main characters and as several minor characters apiece) there's little meat to their roles. The exception to this is when they are singing. They are funny... they are hopeful... they are regretful... they are wise... goofy... and above all... they are powerful.

As the main character, Samonsky has more to work with and he perfectly captures the youthful exuberance of someone who knows what he wants to do, with the uneasiness that comes with realizing that it just might not work out.

Knowing what happened to Larson makes the whole evening a little bittersweet. But, I'm glad he wrote it, because it left me feeling hopeful. It's not to late, and as he wrote in a later show... you gotta live for today.

Sunday, February 26, 2006



Picture of the Day...
The Pacific Ocean is beautiful any time of day, but particularly as the sun is setting.
What's on my TiVo for the upcoming week...
As always, schedules are subject to change as I realize that a show I thought was a repeat is actually new or I decide to give a new show a chance or I get sick of watching the same repeat for the 30th time (SVU, I'm looking at you).

Sunday:
Alias (KCOP repeat)
Cold Case (CBS)
Family Guy (FOX)
American Dad (FOX)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Monday:
General Hopsital (ABC)
Sense & Sensibility (TCM)
Friends (TBS)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
Daily Show (COM)
The Colbert Report (COM)

Tuesday
Loving Evangeline
Suspicion (TCM)
General Hospital (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
Gilmore Girls (WB)
Scrubs (x2) (NBC)
The Closer (TNT)
Cold Case (TNT)
The Daily Show (COM)
The Colbert Report (COM)

Wednesday
General Hospital (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
Law & Order (NBC)
Law & Order (NBC)
Action in the North Atlantic (TCM)
Alias (TNT)
Alias (TNT)
Alias (TNT)
Alias (TNT)
Alias (TNT)

Thursday
General Hospital (ABC)
The Simpsons (KTTV)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
Roy Orbison & Friends (KCET)
Wilthout at Trace (CBS)
The Daily Show (COM)

Friday
General Hospital (ABC)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
House (USA)

Saturday
Rabbit Proof Fence (IFC)
101 Dalmatians (KTLA)
The Sting (TCM)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)
Law & Order: SVU (USA)

And, coming next week (unless my Tivo is just lying to me) the first spring training game of the New York Mets out of Port St. Lucie. Awesome!