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A blog by someone who doesn't like or understand blogs.
A major theme of this blog is the love affair between the blogger and the city of New York.
Email me at david @ danzig . com. Close up the spaces there, if you are a human being and not a spammer.
Bloggers with whom I am personally acquainted, in real life, in alphebetical order by first name:
Blake N.
Dav C.
Jessica D.
Lauren P.
Sean S.
Steph T.
If you know me in person, and I forgot to put you here, definitely, please email me, and also please accept my apology!
Take a look at some of my nearby neighbors by clicking this button: 
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Monday, September 30, 2002
A NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
1. Have you heard about Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam, a traveling arena show consisting of vert skateboarding, BMX, motocross and punk bands? (Multiple choice.)
I never heard of it, and I'm not interested
I haven't heard about it until now, but it sounds cool
I've heard about it, but I'm not interested
I've heard about it, and I'm interested, but I'm not sure I'll go
I've heard about it, and I'm going to it
I never heard of it, and I'm not interested.
2. In the spirit of Boom Boom Huckjam, what types of arena shows would you be interested in seeing? (please describe the scene in detail!)
That is not my bag.
3. How often do you buy something new for your bedroom? (Multiple Choice)
Once a week
Once a month
Once a year
Every few years
Never
Once a month.
4. When decorating your bedroom and/or bathroom, where do you shop for furniture/decorations?
Department stores (Macy's, Sears, J.C. Penney, etc.)
Home furnishing stores (Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Pier One, IKEA, etc.)
Super stores (Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart, etc.)
Bed and bath stores (Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things, etc.)
Clothing stores with added home section (Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, etc.)
Bed and bath stores (Bed Bath & Beyond, Linens & Things, etc.)
5. What is most important to you when you are furnishing/decorating your bedroom (i.e., a comfortable bed, a bright colored rug, lots of shelves, etc.)? Why?
I love my comfortable bed. The thing I think about next is space-- I like lots of storage, and a good layout of the furniture. After that, my tasted become very eclectic. None of my furniture matches, and I just buy things that appeal to me.
6. Does your bedroom represent your personality? If it does, please describe what items in your room represent you and why?
A lot of it is very functional, with lots of shelves, the TV, and the remote-control for the air conditioner all accessible from my bed. That's the way I am: practical.
7. Do you like your hair for the most part, or are you always wishing it looked differently?
I like my hair for the most part
I'm always wishing it could look different
I like my hair for the most part.
8. How often do you shop for hair care products?
Once or twice a year
Every few months
Once or twice a month
Weekly
Every few months.
9. How much money do you spend on hair care products each time you shop?
Less than $5
$6-$10
$11-$20
$21-$40
$41-$75
More than $75
Less than $5.
10. How often do you get your hair cut?
Yearly
2-3 times a year
Every 8-12 weeks
Every 6-8 weeks
Every 4-6 weeks
Every 2-4 weeks
Every week
Every 6-8 weeks.
11. If you were to color your hair, how would you go about doing it?
Go to a salon
Buy women's hair color and dye it at home
Buy men's hair color ad dye it at home
Buy men's hair color ad dye it at home
12. If you had the opportunity to change your hair color (at a low cost) as many times as you could, how often would you change it?
Once a week
Once a month
Twice a month
Few times a year
Never
Never.
13. Do you associate your look with one particular style, or do you have many styles?
Yes, I associate my style with one particular look
No, I have a few different styles
No, I have many different styles
Yes, I associate my style with one particular look.
14. How important is your personal style to you?
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important at all
Somewhat important.
15. Do you have a TiVo or Replay box in your home?
Yes, I have TiVo
Yes, I have Replay
Not currently, but I plan to get TiVo soon
Not currently, but I plan to get Replay soon
No, and I don't plan on getting either in the future
Yes, I have TiVo.
16. What is the best feature/advantage about having TiVo or Replay?
I never have to rush home to catch a show. When I'm not watching TV, I never have to think about TV. It's freed me from having TV affect my schedule.
17. Which instant messaging platform is the most popular among you and the people you message?
AIM
MSN Chat
Yahoo Chat
ICQ
I don't use instant
I don't use instant.
18. Which instant messaging platforms (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc.) do you use on a regular basis? Check all that apply.
AIM
MSN Chat
Yahoo Chat
ICQ
I don't use instant messaging software
I don't use instant messaging software.
19. If you could make IM better, what features/capabilities would you add to it?
It could give people my phone number, so I wouldn't have to waste time instant messaging with them ever again.
20. Have you ever used Netflix, or any other online service for DVD or video rentals?
Yes, I use Netflix regularly
Yes, I use Netflix once in awhile
I have used Netflix before, but I wouldn't use it again
No, I have never used an online service for DVD or video rentals
Other
No, I have never used an online service for DVD or video rentals.
21. Are you excited about the new Xbox Live, set to launch on November 15, 2002? Why or why not?
This is the first I've heard of it.
22. What new video game, that has NOT come out yet, are you most excited about?
The next sequels to Sim City, Civilization, and Grand Theft Auto.
23. What brand-new TV shows are you most excited about this fall?
American Dreams
The Twilight Zone (though I won't get to see it for a while, since it's opposite The West Wing).
24. What new seasons of previously existing TV shows are you excited about this fall?
Six Feet Under
The West Wing
Enterprise
The Simpsons
25. What one fall movie are you most excited to see?
Star Trek: Nemesis
26. Guys: What do you do to handle all of the junk you have to carry in your pockets, like your wallet, cell phone, keys, Palm Pilot, etc.?
I am a girl, so this question does not apply
I carry it all in my pockets-- it doesn't bother me
I carry it all in my pockets, but it bugs me
I buy baggier pants so it all fits
I use a man purse
I carry a backpack
I carry it all in my pockets, but it bugs me.
27. What beer brands are the least appealing to you? Why?
Budweiser, Miler, Coors, etc. They represent the consumer culture, which I reject.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85508429
MORE LINKS TO MY REVIEW OF "SLANDER".
My review of Ann Coulter's book, Slander, also has a difficult-to-spot link to it from Scoobie Davis Online. Apparently, my "succinct article" is "The Last Word on Ann Coulter." Though, I think what he may mean by that is that linking to my article is the last word that he, Scoobie Davis is going to mention on the subject.
And, just so it's all in one place, The only other link to the review that I know about, besides that one, and the ones in the blog entry immediately previous to this one, is from Blake got Blogged, who very kindly called it "a great review".
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85507521
MY REVIEW OF "SLANDER".
My review of Ann Coulter's horrible book, Slander, has several links to it from three different blogs by Dr. Rush Limerick, that I've just learned of.
Liberally Lying About Liberals is a great collection of Web resources about the book, among which I'm quite honored to be included.
My review is also cited in his untitled, well-researched collection of factual errors in the book.
Finally, I am quoted in Dr. Limerick: The Blog.
The most salient part of the article for Dr. Limerick seems to be this paragraph, which I think is also my favorite, just because it is such a black-and-white example of the book's distortion of the truth:
Here's another great example of how she [Ann Coulter] twists the facts. I don't have the page right in front of me, but in her attempt to portray the New York Times as left-wing, she says that because they have been endorsing Democrats, it's been more than a quarter of a century since the New York Times endorsed a presidential candidate who has won a majority of the popular vote. Now, I'll take Coulter's word that that's true. But, of course, it's been more than 13 of those 25 years, since any presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote, and in every one of those presidential elections, The New York Times endorsed the candidate who got the largest percentage of the popular vote.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85506022
THEATER REVIEW: MR. SHOW LIVE-- HOORAY FOR AMERICA TOUR * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
If you liked the too-short-lived HBO show "Mr. Show", you'll like the stage show every bit as much. If you aren't familiar with the show, then definitely get the DVD, and also try to catch the live show in your area.
I don't want to give anything away, but the basic idea is that GloboChem buys a presidential election, and this loosely ties together a bunch of mostly new scenes, and a couple of favorite old scenes from the television show. The show is hilarious and brilliant and wonderful, and I can't recommend it enough, though I should also warn that it often treads--and some might say crosses--the line when it comes to being tasteful.
But don't just take my word for it. I saw the show with Jessica D. who also loved the show, and afterwards we saw Saturday Night Live's Chris Parnell outside, and I briefly introduced myself, and we spoke to him for a couple minutes. He had just seen the show, and he also claims to have liked it very much.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85505942
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: MAX * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This East Village Italian restaurant on Avenue B between 3rd and 4th Streets has the best pasta I've ever had, and is very cheap for Manhattan, with most pasta dishes costing only $8.95 for more food than I could comfortably have finished. Yet, my opinion of them is significantly lowered by the terrible service Manny F. and I received when we ate there Saturday night. While our waiter was very busy and over-worked, he also, clearly, forgot about us more than once. Perhaps on a Tuesday this problem would vanish. The food is too good not to give them another chance.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85505928
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: UNCLE NICKS * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
I had dinner Sunday night at Uncle Nick's with my Aunt Ellen, Uncle Phil, their daughter who is also my cousin Elizabeth, her husband Ron, and his cousin Andrea. It might very possibly have been the best Greek food I ever had, though I'm not a huge Greek food fan. Ron and Andrea are both half-Greek, and they, apparently, are both HUGE Greek food fans. Everything I tried there was outstanding, especially the lamb dishes and the desserts. Uncle Nick's is highly recommended. It's on 9th Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85505924
RESPONSE TO "AN ARM OR A LEG?"
Barry D. responds in his blog to the questions I raise in my very recent blog entry "An Arm or A Leg", though he doesn't actually answer the questions. He's a little critical of some of my phallocentric answers, where by "phallocentric", I mean "reluctant to amputate my phallus". Actually, the word he uses is the in-some-ways-more-loaded-and-in-some-ways-less-loaded term "male-centric". Oh, just see for yourself.
He also raises a difficult question, which I'm paraphrasing: How many years of memories from your life would you be willing to lose rather than lose a limb? In this scheme, you'd keep all the skills you'd acquired in that time, but you'd be unable to recall a single event in the missing time. He expects your answer may be different depending on whether the years come from the beginning of your life or the most recent part of it.
I suppose for me it depends a little on the limb. On the other hand, there are specific memories I have that I would probably pay money to forget. It's hard for me to think of almost any memory worth losing an arm for. There are wonderful memories I'd hate to lose, but I'd also really, really hate to lose my arm. So, I'm going to say that I'd be prepared to have total amnesia before I'd lose an arm. For a leg, I think I'd give up my whole childhood, at least until my senior year of high school. But even then, I'm almost never going to say that I wouldn't give up just one more year to save my leg. But, I'd have to keep something. Barry D.'s friend Halley seems to think we should prefer to lose my most recent memories to my earliest, but I think the opposite is true for me. If I held on to only the last few months, I'd be pretty well oriented in my life. I'd know all of the most important people in my life, and I'd be not that disoriented in dealing with people. By contrast, I don't think about my childhood very often at all, and I certainly don't draw from it very much today in deciding who I am. I don't think I really started to become the person who I think of myself as being, until the very end of high school.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85505877
Saturday, September 28, 2002
SPARE A THUMB, MISTER?
Cheesbikini.com's Sean S. writes in to say (among other things: "you say 'I won't spare my thumbs,' etc. etc. I think you mean the opposite: that you won't -sacrifice- your thumbs, etc." He's referring to my last answer in my immediately previous blog entry. He is right, of course, that I would spare my thumbs the horrible fate of being cut off. I meant I wouldn't spare my thumbs and some other fingers in the same way that I might be unwilling to spare a quarter, even though I'd be sparing that quarter the fate of being in a smelly panhandler's urine-soaked pocket. That is, I wouldn't give those fingers away.
I deeply regret any horrifying, mutilating misunderstandings my earlier statement may have caused.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85502154
Friday, September 27, 2002
AN ARM OR A LEG?
Did you catch the season premiere of E.R. last night? That one scene-- you know which one I'm talking about-- completely took my breath away. I can't stop thinking about how fragile we all are.
Anyway, at one point two of the doctors started playing "This or That", only with some real teeth to it. Here it is from memory, with my answers.
I should warn you that some of this gets a little bit gruesome.
Would you rather lose a toe or a finger?
A toe, of course. You can have all ten toes before I give you one finger.
Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?
A leg. I'd miss working out, but I could still get around with a prosthetic, and people would hardly notice. If I lost an arm, I think that would make me a freak. I think nobody I don't already know would ever look me in the eye again.
Would you rather be deaf or blind?
Deaf. I listen to books on tape all the time, as it is. While I would miss that if I were deaf, I already know what it's like to go through most of my life shutting out most external noise. I guess it would make it hard to talk, but it seems like many people who become deaf later in life do not lose their power of speech. And I'd still have the whole Internet, which I'd pretty much lose if I were blind, along with my ability to take care of myself in basic ways.
Would you rather lose both arms or your penis?
That would be a really tough choice, and I'm sure I'd have big problems with depression no matter which I picked. But in the end I'd have to say a fond goodbye to my penis. What would I get to do with it without any arms, anyway? Maybe if I were already married, and I knew my wife would stay with me no matter what, then my answer would be different. Obviously, this question only applies to men, but it's easy enough to change it around to apply to a woman.
Here's some questions that were NOT on the show, but that I've thought about.
Would you rather lose your ability to hear music or your ability to hear speech?
I'd much rather lose my ability to hear music. I like music, but if I never heard it again, I don't think it would really change my life that much. But if I couldn't communicate with other people, that would change everything about my life. Yet, every person I've asked this to says they'd rather lose their ability to hear speech. I find that impossible to fathom.
If you are heterosexual, would you rather have sex with a dog of the opposite sex or a human of your same sex?
Every guy I've ever asked this picks the dog. Every woman always picks the person. I'm no exception.
And here's one I just thought of, that's actually got me a little stumped:
If you are male, would you rather lose a finger or one of your testicles?
I keep going back and forth. Losing a testicle somewhat decreases my ability to reproduce, and it deprives me of a back-up if something happens to the other one. I suppose some potential mates might notice, and might object. But, more likely than not, it would have no real effect on me at all. Losing a finger would be noticeable to almost everyone I meet, and might really creep a lot of people out. Also, depending on the finger, it might have some serious functional difficulties, and almost any finger would make it harder for me to type or play the piano or guitar. I guess my answer is going to be that it depends on the finger. I won't spare my thumbs, or my index fingers, and I wont spare the middle finger of my right hand (I need it to write), even at the cost of a testicle. But I'll give up either pinky, either ring finger, or the the middle finger of my left hand.
If you'd like to answer these probing questions on your blog, here they are. I don't have a comment section, but I promise that if you do it, and you write to me, I'll put a whole, proper blog entry about it here, along with a link. My e-mail address is david@danzig.comDELETETHISPART. Delete the part that says "DELETETHISPART". That's to foil spammers who are harvesting e-mail addresses.
Would you rather lose a toe or a finger?
Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?
Would you rather be deaf or blind?
Would you rather lose both arms or your genitalia?
Would you rather lose your ability to hear music or your ability to hear speech?
If you are heterosexual, would you rather have sex with a dog of the opposite sex or a human of your same sex?
If you are male, would you rather lose a finger or one of your testicles?
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85498343
Monday, September 23, 2002
THE FRIDAY FIVE -- COMMUNICATION
1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people?
Not as good as I used to be. I feel like I'm so busy lately.
2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why?
Meeting in person is always my first choice, but I'm also a big e-mail fan. I think e-mails are more thoughtful and more permanent than a telephone conversation, and they're faster and easier to save than letters.
3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it?
No. I tried it for a week, but it was such a huge waste of time that I uninstalled it.
4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away?
I have many close friends nearby, but most of my close friends live scattered around the country.
5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?
Out of sight out of mind.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85480418
THIS OR THAT -- THE NAME'S THE SAME (SORT OF), PART 2
The name's the same (sort of), part deux...
1. Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon?
I dunno. Maine?
2. New York or New Jersey?
"A major theme of this blog is the love affair between the blogger and the city of New York."
3. Van Gogh or Van Halen?
Van Gogh.
4. Bill Clinton or Bill Gates?
I'm a huge Bill Clinton apologist!
5. Leonardo daVinci or Leonardo DiCaprio?
daVinci.
6. "American Pie" or "American Idol"?
No, thank you.
7. George W. Bush or Curious George?
Heh, how about Bi-Curious George?
8. Billy Joel or Billy Idol?
I'm a big Billy Joel fan.
9. Donny Osmond or Donald Duck?
Donald Duck.
10. Dr. Seuss or Dr. Kevorkian?
Dr. Seuss!
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85480408
THE MONDAY MISSION -- CREATIVE WRITING
1. Do you have a favorite piece of poetry or prose written by someone else? Care to share it?
My favorite poem was always "Invictus" by W. E. Henley. So, I was very disappointed when Ted McVeigh (the guy that blew up the Oklahoma federal building) chose that poem as his final words. The most famous part of the poem, and the part the media always quoted when they mentioned that about McVeigh are the lines "I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul." But my favorite part is this stanza:
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have winced but not cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloodied but unbowed.
2. In High School, did you enjoy creative writing? Do you currently do any other writing in addition to your Blog?
I did, and I was very proud of some of it, and I wish I kept up with it better. One of the things I like about blogging, is that it's good to be writing again. But it's not the same as writing a story. I did take a few comedy sketch writing classes a while back. They were fun, and I wrote some stuff I really liked.
3. Have you ever noticed that the Blog entries you least expect to get the most comments do, and those you expect to generate a lot of feedback don't? Which Blog entry of yours surprised you by getting a lot of comments? Which one did you think would generate a lot but didn't?
I don't allow commenting on my blog. Write your comments about my blog on your own damn blog. Or e-mail me: david@danzig.comDELETETHISPART. Delete the part that says "DELETETHISPART". Unless you're a computer program. Then go ahead and leave it.
4. Sometimes you get a chance to make a lifestyle change that has a huge impact on the course your life takes. That is, a moment where something became very clear to you, and that realization changed your life, such as: the need to leave a relationship, to stop an addiction, to bond with someone, to start a new career, and so on. Have you ever had an "awakening" moment in your life?
Sure, lots of times. One of my fondest was deciding to cut my long hair off. I was looking at myself in the mirror late at night, with my straightened hair down to my shoulders, and I thought, "What the hell am I doing?" The next day, it was all gone. That may not sound like much, but it was a big change in my life. After 6 years, I finally rejoined society.
5. Then there are other times where you can have a huge impact on someone else's life. You suggest they see a doctor, stop them from taking that last drink, or maybe just say some kind words at the moment. Have you made a lasting positive impact on the life of someone else?
You make it sound so good and so easy. But a lot of times, people just tell you to mind your own business. I try to encourage the people I care about, but I never can tell how much my words mean to anybody.
6. Are there any charities or organizations which you support? How did you come to be involved with them?
I am or have in the past been a member of The Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, The National Organization for Women, The American Civil Liberties Union, The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International. I've also gave money to Jerry Brown's 1992 presidential campaign. As you can See, I am a feminist, an environmentalist, and a civil rights activist.
7. Care to collaborate with me? Help me out and write the rest of this poem:
I drifted though a dream last night,
visions full of colors bright.
My thoughts began to drift to you,
and in an instant we were two.
I touched your hand,
We began to blend,
Filled with a feeling
that should have no end.
....
I penetrated your soft flesh,
Not with skin but wire mesh.
As your skin began to blister,
Suddenly you were my sister.
Then I was at the county fair,
Clad only in my underwear.
Then, in class, I gave my best,
But hadn't studied for the test.
I drifted through a dream last night.
BONUS: Hey cutie, what's up with this attitude?
As if.
Today's PG-13 comment question: Where on your body do you like to be kissed?
I guess it's not that creative, but I like to kiss on the lips: long, sweet, lingering, movie kisses.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85480380
Sunday, September 22, 2002
RESTAURANT ROW.
Restaurant Row is the block of 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue in Manhattan. It includes, I have heard it said, 26 restaurants. I have been to perhaps half of them, and they have almost all been very good, and they have all been an excellent value for the price.
I'm always surprised by how many locals have never heard of New York's Restaurant Row, and I don't think very many tourists are aware of it. I was searching around, trying to find a site to link to for this article, and there is absolutely nothing out there. So here's a partial and possibly out of date list of the restaurants on Restaurant Row, along with the kind of food they serve.
B. Smith's (global eclectic)
Bangkok (Thai)
Barbetta (Italian)
Becco (Italian)
Broadway Joe (steakhouse)
Clay Oven (Indian)
Da Rosina (Italian)
Danny's Grand Sea Palace (seafood / steak / Thai).
Firebird (Russian)
Hourglass Tavern (American / continental)
Hunan Chef (Chinese)
Joe Allen (American)
Joshua Tree (American)
La Rivista (Italian)
La Stanze Verde (Italian)
Lattanzi (Italian)
Le Beaujolais (French)
Le Rivage (French)
Les Sans Culottes (French)
Lofti's (Moroccan)
Marlowe (American)
Meson Sevilla (Spanish / Italian)
O'Flaherty's (Irish)
Orso (Italian)
Pomaire (Chilean)
Swing 46 (American / Continental)
So, I'm pretty sure some of those are gone, and I stuck on some newer ones that I know are there. And I know there's a Japanese one (with no sushi) near the NW corner, but I forget the name. But this should be a good starting point for getting an idea of the street. Anyway, the correct way to pick a Restaurant Row restaurant is not to pick it off a list, but to walk along it, and look at the menus and the crowds and the specials, and see which restaurant calls you inside. I've very rarely eaten at a restaurant there that wasn't exceptionally good, and the prices are usually far less than you'd expect, considering how nice the restaurants are there. If you walk in by 7, and tell them you have a Broadway show at 8, they are invariably prepared to hear that information, and to get you out of there in plenty of time for your show. It's a great resource here in midtown, and as often as I go there, it isn't often enough.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85478745
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: BANGKOK * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
This newcomer to Restaurant Row (the block of 46th Street between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue) was a little disappointing. The menu is great, and they have a fabulous weekday lunch special which will stuff you full of food for only $6.95, or stuff you more full of food and include a free soft drink for $8.95. But the food itself was just okay, and the service was terrible. They've only been open a couple months, so maybe they'll get it, but in the meantime, they are not up to the high standards of Restaurant Row.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85478667
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.
Thanks, Blake, for the nice compliment of my review of Slander.
I have to admit, though I normally write just for myself, I really did want people to read that particular post, and I know it was kind of long, and that's sort of why I posted so little this week, so the half-dozen or so people who read my blog once in a while would go ahead and read it instead of skipping it, since there was nothing else to read here. So, please read it if you haven't already.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85478632
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
ABOUT THESE RESTAURANT REVIEWS.
I should probably have mentioned at some point that 100% of these restaurant reviews are for New York City restaurants. I think I'll re-name the feature "New York Restaurant Reviews."
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85466743
Monday, September 16, 2002
BOOK REVIEW: SLANDER: LIBERAL LIES ABOUT THE AMERICAN RIGHT (2002) no stars (0 stars out of 4).
The deliberate misstatements in this this infuriating screed, which is actually the number one best-selling book on the New York Times bestseller list right now, are very well documented. I was shocked to learn there were so many provably false statements in the book, which the author, conservative pundit Ann Coulter, constantly boasts contains 35 pages of footnotes. When I was reading it, I had taken her at her word in her recounting of provable facts. There are lots of Web sites devoted to compiling examples of Coulter's outright lies. A nice set of links, and some contributions of his own, can be found at Scoobie Davis Online, so I won't bother to list them here. What I want to talk about is not Coulter's constant misstatements of facts, but her consistent misuse of logic.
Practically all of her arguments fall into this format:
Liberals always do X, and they never do Y.
Conservatives always do Y, and they never do X.
Here are some examples of Liberals doing X.
There, you see? I've proved it.
Thus, suppose Ann Coulter wanted to prove that the New York Times only ever runs sports stories, and never runs any other kind of stories, unlike the conservative Washington Times, which would never dream of publishing a story about sports. The proof would go like this:
Look at these headlines from today's New York Times: "Redesigned Yankees to Face an October of Uncertainties", "The Giants Aren't Out When Down", "W.N.B.A. and Players See No Urgency to Start Talks." Story after story in The New York Times deals with nothing but the subject of sports, to the exclusion of all other forms of discourse. Can you even imagine stories like this running in the Washington Times? No, of course you can't, because the liberal media would never let them get away with it. (Of course, let me be clear that, as everyone knows, The New York Times publishes stories about national, international, and business news, among many other categories, and the Washington Times does have a sports section.)
This goes to her central argument, which is that all liberals only engage in name-calling, and never engage in meaningful debate, and all conservatives always engage in meaningful debate, and never engage in name-calling. Now, we all know that this is absurd. In the first place, there are lots and lots of very thoughtful liberal commentators who publish interesting and engaging arguments that do not resort to name calling. There are so many of these, and they are so easy to find if you look for them, that I do not think there is any point to singling out any of them here. It wasn't a liberal who coined the term "faminazis"; it was Anne's hero, Rush Limbaugh. It wasn't a liberal who said that Socks is the White House cat, and Chelsea is the White House dog, it was Limbaugh again. It wasn't a liberal who wrote a memo instructing conservative candidates to call their opponents "bizarre", "corrupt", "destructive", a "disgrace", "incompetent", "insecure", "insensitive", "intolerant", "pathetic", "radical", "self-serving", "selfish", "shallow", "sick", "traitors"-- it was Newt Gingrich. It wasn't a liberal who turned the word "liberal" itself into an insulting label, it was George Bush the elder. And, of course, it wasn't a liberal who called called Gloria Steinem a "deeply ridiculous figure", Christie Todd Whitman a "birdbrain", Adlai Stevenson a "boob" and a "blowhard", Michael Moore a "working-class phony", Jim Jeffords a "half-wit", letter-writers to the NY Times "pathetic little parakeet males and grim, quivering, angry women on the Upper West Side of Manhattan hoping to be chosen as that day's purveyor of hate", American Journalists "retarded", Bill Clinton a "rapist"--those were all said by Coulter herself. But her argument goes like this: here's some examples of liberals engaging in name-calling. There, you see? I've proved it. Liberals always engage in name-calling, and conservatives never do.
This pattern appears over and over. She says the New York Times is liberal. Then she mentions some of the occasions where the New York Times took the liberal position on an issue in one of its editorials. There, you see? She says that liberals call conservative women ugly, but conservatives never call liberal women ugly, and she gives a couple of examples of conservative women who were called ugly (even as she, in the very same sentence, calls Bella Abzug ugly!) There, you see?
Here's another great example of how she twists the facts. I don't have the page right in front of me, but in her attempt to portray the New York Times as left-wing, she says that because they have been endorsing Democrats, it's been more than a quarter of a century since the New York Times endorsed a presidential candidate who has won a majority of the popular vote. Now, I'll take Coulter's word that that's true. But, of course, it's been more than 13 of those 25 years, since any presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote, and in every one of those presidential elections, The New York Times endorsed the candidate who got the largest percentage of the popular vote.
I'd like to think that I would be just as harsh if Coulter were a liberal or a nonpartisan writer. I was very troubled by some of the distortions in Michael Moore's book, Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!, but he really did have some redeemingly good ideas, and, more importantly, he regards himself as a humorist, and his book is labeled as a humor book. Coulter's latest book is incorrectly labeled as non-fiction. I had a lot of criticism of Bork's book, The Tempting of America, but I also gave it its share of praise, and gave it 3 stars out of 4.
I find it hard to believe that many people will be converted by her book. Anyone so easily duped as to fall for her nonsensical arguments and insupportable assertions has probably already been inducted into a cult, long ago. Anyone who is already so pre-disposed to agree with her that they don't catch the illogic and inconsistency of what she says, is going to be woefully unprepared in an argument about politics with any liberal or moderate who is older than nine. So, despite its popularity, I'm pretty sure the book is harmless for the most part.
The only positive things that I can think of to say about the book are these. First, as I said, Coulter has obviously lied when she said that liberals call conservative women ugly, but conservatives never call liberal women ugly. Conservatives do it plenty, they do it famously, and they do it to children. But she is right that media pundits have no business insulting women's appearances, no matter what their politics are. I haven't verified this, and I know that Coulter lies a lot, so I don't know for sure if this is true, but she says that Linda Tripp and Paula Jones both have gotten plastic surgery after they had their appearances brutally insulted in the media. That's really terrible, and those insults should stop. Coulter is right to raise that issue, even though she is lying about who does it and who it's done to. Second, I can say this positive thing about the book. It really is of great comfort to me as a liberal that on page after page, she demonstrates that she knows that she has to lie, distort, and make logical errors when trying to prove her points, more or less without exception, because, presumably, she knows that she could not have defended her views successfully by telling the truth.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85458020
MOVIE REVIEW: TADPOLE (2002) * * * (3 stars out of 4).
This was a delightfully cute and funny movie about a very precocious 15-year-old boy named Oscar, but nicknamed "Tadpole" (Aaron Stanford) who falls in love, romantically, with his 40-year-old step-mother. There are some really funny scenes, and some very satisfyingly witty dialogue. The movie also stars Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith from Cheers), Sigourney Weaver as Oscar's step-mother, and John Ritter (forever Jack Tripper from Three's Company) as her husband, Oscar's father. This last is laughably appropriate as there is one very farcical scene when the characters are all out to dinner that made me whisper to my friend, Jin K., that "this is very Three's Company."
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85457710
Sunday, September 15, 2002
THE FRIDAY FIVE -- SCHOOL.
The new Friday Five.
1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why?
In high school, it was definitely computer science. But in college, it lost it's appeal. I became a philosophy major, and I loved it.
2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
I think my all-time favorite was Professor Stone, my Torts professor in law school.
3. What is your favorite memory of school?
I had some fun times in college and law school, but they weren't really in the school, as in, in class. I just happened to be away at school when they happened. I don't know if it's my favorite, but I have a really great memory of playing a song I wrote on a piano in front of some classmates, and really impressing them.
4. What was your favorite recess game?
Oh, yeah, right.
5. What did you hate most about school?
I was pretty unpopular as a kid. I was relentlessly teased in elementary school. The older I got, the better it got. Today, I am popular and successful, but I still carry some of the scars of those experiences. On the other hand, I am much more independent than I would be if I had been able to rely on the approval of others. I think a lot of the people who define themselves only in terms of their relationships with their friends don't know who they really are. I know who I am.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453930
THIS OR THAT.
This week's "theme": potpourri.
1. Paper or plastic?
Plastic. Because of my horrible hand injury, it's a little hard for me to grip things for long without a handle.
2. Stripes or plaid?
Stripes.
3. Baseball or football?
Neither. I am not a fan of spectator sports, but I do like Duke basketball, and I can always watch any boxing match.
4. TV or movies?
Tivo.
5. Craig Kilborn or Conan O'Brien?
Conan, of course.
6. Amazon or BN.com?
Ah, well, Amazon.com is almost always (but not always) cheaper. But bn.com makes it much, much easier to search for audiobooks, plus they have same-day delivery here in Manhattan. So, the answer is, I always check both, and if bn.com is cheaper, or if it's even close, or if I'm in a hurry, then it's bn.com. But, if Amazon.com can save me more than a couple bucks, then I usually go with that.
7. Yahoo or Google?
I love Google. It's so smart. Note, however, that Google provides the Web search results for Yahoo, so it's kind of a stupid question.
8. Star Trek or Star Wars?
I like Star Wars better than the original series or the new "Enterprise" series. But I like the other series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager) better than Star Wars.
9. Cats or dogs?
Dogs! I love dogs, and I hate cats. I'm also allergic to cats, but, honestly, that has nothing to do with it.
10. Is that for here or to go?
For here. Here's something interesting: in Manhattan, they never say "for here or to go". They say "to stay or to go". At first, and for years, I defiantly replied, "For here!" But now, they've got me saying "to stay."
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453907
THE MONDAY MISSION.
1. Where were you and what was happening in your life the moment when you first became aware of what was happening at the World Trade Center in New York City last September 11th? What was the first thing you did when you heard the news?
I actually slept through it. The first thing I always did every morning when I woke up, back then, was turn on my TV to NY1. I turned it on, about a minute after the second tower fell, to hear the anchor say "The World Trade Center is no more." Stunned, I got up and ran to my balcony, which used to have a fantastic view of the two tallest towers of the WTC. I saw a giant plume of smoke, and all my neighbors watching from their balconies. I got dressed, and went downtown, and took these amazing pictures.
2. When those truly responsible for the attack are apprehended, what do you think would be the most fitting form of justice?
I see what this question is getting at. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I'll certainly grant that this would be as justified a case as there could ever be for its use, assuming there was absolutely no question as to the guilt of the people apprehended. Still, it does seem rather "unchristian" of us to do God's job for Him, and to allow no possibility of forgiveness.
3. This will probably be much like when our parents respond to "Where were you when JFK was shot?"- an event never forgotten by those who were there. But how do you think the history books should present the 9-11 attacks? Should it be included for all future generations? How can we truly convey the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day to the children of our children?
For most Americans, "the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day" were all experienced while sitting in front of a television set. The events of that day were probably better documented than any other in the history of humankind. So, you know, just sit your kids in front of a TV set with a tape of the news coverage from that day, and I'm pretty sure they'll get the gist of it.
4. No one in that building, in the Pentagon, or on the planes (other than the terrorists) knew that 9-11 would be their last day to be alive. For me, it brought home the reality that I could be gone at anytime, without any warning. Now, I really want each day to have some value. Did the events of 9-11 bring about a change in the way you live your life?
I had the opposite reaction. Living in New York, a short distance from the World Trade Center, and experiencing the frequent warnings of possible terrorist attacks on various weekends, I had to decide to ignore the chance that I might die any day, and just live my life the way I always had. Thinking about each day as if it might be my last would be really paralyzing, because just being alive in New York carried with it real perceived risks at the time, that could have been minimized by taking paranoid precautions. I did not want to live like that.
5. Several who loved to fly in planes will not step foot in one anymore. Many parents are more protective of their children. A year later, do you find yourself feeling more secure than back then? Or is it just a matter of time before something else happens?
I always felt it was just a matter of time, before that. Living for three years almost exactly in between Wall Street and Times Square, I always used to wonder which direction I'd be looking from my balcony when I saw that inevitable mushroom cloud engulf the city.
6. The best way for me to honor the those impacted by the attack will be to refrain from any media that day. No papers, no radio and especially no television. Others will light candles, and others will attend special services. What, if anything, will you do to personally reflect on the tragedy?
See my previous blog entry about what I actually did that night.
7. One of the visuals that touched me the most were the walls and walls full of hand made "Missing" posters. What image will you always have in your mind when you recall the events of 9-11?
Absolutely, that is one of the most potent images of the time. I don't know what the impression was of seeing that on television, but I had to walk at least three quarters of a mile to get anywhere for almost a week, because the roads were closed all around me, and those posters were on practically every lamppost and every block, and near the hospitals they went on and on and on covering all the walls of the hospital and every inch of wall space for at least a block in every direction. At first, when the news media were talking about air pockets and such, and when survivors were still turning up for a few days, I figured that many of these people would be found. The last survivor was rescued Thursday September 13. Saturday morning, I woke up, still thinking that many of the faces on the posters would soon be reunited with their families. At some point during the day on Saturday, I realized that these posters had been transformed into strange memorials for the dead. For months, thousands of different faces stared at me from beyond death, often pictured graduating or at their own weddings (since those are many people's most recent photographs), with weirdly personal identifying information, such as birthmarks, scars, or tattoos. It was eerie and very sad, and I often got a little weepy when I walked past them.
BONUS: Who's gonna come around when you break?
Better send the meat wagon.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453876
AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE GUYS * * (2 stars out of 4).
This recording of a reading of the popular off-off Broadway play, "The Guys," was very disappointing. The play is an ostensibly true story about the writer of the play (Anne Nelson), who also helped a fire chief write eulogies for some of his men. I'm a real fan of the genre of recorded plays on audio. Audible.com has a bunch of them, mostly by L.A. Theatre Works, and they're mostly very good. I see it as a return to the radio plays that were so popular before Television, and which were a really beautiful art form that has been mostly forgotten. But having said that, I think The Guys was extremely trite and superficial in its treatment of the emotional impact of the September 11 attacks, and that it got a free pass from the critics because of its subject matter and because of the Flea Theater's proximity to the World Trade Center site. In fact, I think there were a lot of free passes being handed out by critics of the New York Theater in the months after 9/11. Most notably in the case of Mamma Mia, a musical based on the songs of Abba, at the Wintergarden Theater, which opened in October 2001, with much anticipation, but at a time when ticket sales were extremely low following the attack, and when Broadway desperately needed a hit. I haven't seen the play, myself, but the glowing reviews all seem to come through clenched teeth. For example, Newsday entitled its review "'Mamma Mia' a Guilty Pleasure," and NY1's review begins "Mamma Mia defies scrutiny. If you attempt to analyze this mega hit from London, it'll fall apart. It's hokey, implausible and silly. The Abba music, despite its popularity, is mediocre and many are likely to think: What's the big deal?" before going on to tell us how "none of that really matters." I think these and some other shows got better reviews than they deserved, because of 9/11, and I think we should expect better from our critics.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453788
RESTAURANT REVIEW: SUSHISAMBA * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
I had dinner last night with Debbie W. at Sushisamba. This upscale sushi chain with Brazilian influences has multiple locations in Manhattan and one on Miami Beach. It has delicious creative sushi rolls, as well as a wide variety of non-sushi dishes. I want to say that it's over-priced, but by the time we left, there was an hour and fifteen minute long wait to get in, so I guess it must be under-priced, right? But there were few maki rolls under $7, which is pretty up there. Still, the food was excellent, and I guess it is worth and extra 50% to get some really reliably delicious, fresh, good sushi.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453737
TV-MOVIE REVIEW: LATHE OF HEAVAN (2002) * (1 star out of 4).
Graham M. made me save this on my Tivo for him, and we watched it together on Friday. The basic idea is that the protagonist has dreams, sometimes, which alter reality, including the past, but nobody other than he notices that anything has changed. A&E was really pushing this remake of the famous PBS version, which is, according to Graham, really great. But this one was just awful. There was nothing good about it, except that some of the futuristic fashions that people were wearing were quite interesting and sharp-looking. I'd actually say that it maybe deserves an award for the costumes. But other than that one distraction, I could not wait for it to be over. Stay away!
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85453723
Thursday, September 12, 2002
BOOK REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS * * (2 stars out of 4).
This second book in the series is a tired retread of the first, and contains some pretty big holes in its reasoning. The main flaw, I think, is this. The whole book is about how someone is trying to kill the children in the school who are not pureblooded children of a witch and a wizard. This is, of course, a heavy-handed metaphor for racism. But early on, when we see that Draco Malfoy is exactly as evil as his father, we are told, without irony, that they must both have the same "bad blood". And maybe it's not fair to criticize a children's book for being too predictable. But I swear I'm not giving away one moment of suspense by telling you that everything works out okay in the end. Incidentally, had I been writing reviews at the time, I would have given both the first book and the first movie 2 and a half stars, and I thought the book was a little better than the movie. But for book two, my advice is to wait for the movie.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85440979
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
MY 9/11/01 PICTURES.
I don't usually click on the links in blogs, particularly when they are in long blog articles. So, I want to make a special note that you should check out these pictures I took on September 11 last year. The few pictures marked with an "X" after the number are especially recommended.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85440903
GROUND ZERO.
I went to ground zero tonight. I'd been there many times since the attacks, including on September 11, 2001 (when I took these incredible pictures), but you could not get very close to the actual footprints of the towers then, nor see much of the actual excavation site, even from the viewing platform they built. Now, you can get right up to the fence, and see down into the site very clearly. It's amazing how deep the pit goes into the ground. It was probably about seven or eight stories deep. There were lots of people there, but it wasn't very crowded, and it was easy to get right up to the fence to look. There were two people there each taking turns reading two-minute biographies of every WTC victim, and they drew a small crowd. I listened to about half a dozen of them, and then decided to walk all the way home, a little over four and a half miles, just to feel more connected with it, since I don't live downtown anymore.
Along the way back, I passed through Washington Square Park, Union Square Park, and Times Square. I stayed at Washington Square Park, which is right near where I used to live, for about an hour. There were some excellent musicians playing, and they drew a huge crowd of at least 150 people. It was very festive and life affirming. There were more people at Union Square Park, but it was much more somber, with people solemnly holding candles in silence. Times Square was eerily quiet. It wasn't as empty as it was last year, the weekend after 9/11 last year, but it almost felt like walking down any old street in the city, and not the busiest part of town at all. There were American Flags displayed on most of the video screens, but not all of them, which there had been for the month following 9/11/2001.
I've been feeling some dread about the attacks, as the anniversary was approaching. It seems that the media has bombarding us with reminders of how terrible we all felt, just as things were starting to get back to normal. But the tone of the city tonight has been at least as much of celebration and awe as it is of sadness and remembrance. I feel better about living in New York right now than I have in a very long time.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85440852
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!
September 11, 1982 is the birthday of my brother's girlfriend, Rachel. Years ago, she became an emancipated minor and moved out of her parents house. When she did, her mother stole her Barbie doll collection. So, for her birthday, I got her a Barbie Dream House, and about 10 or so Barbie dolls. When I was picking them out at the Toys R Us in Times Square, a woman came over to help me. She got me a bag to carry my purchases in, and she carried the Dream House for me, and brought it downstairs after I bought it to the shipping area. She also made the excellent suggestion of getting the "Times Square Barbie", which you can only get in that one store, and which is in its debut year. But the woman who was helping me wasn't wearing one of those blue Toys R Us vests with a name tag, though she was bossing all the blue-vested people around. So I asked her what her job was. It turns out, she works for Mattel, the manufacturers of Barbie. Apparently, I was buying enough Barbie stuff to be worth her notice, even though she doesn't work for the store. Rachel seemed to really love her gift, which made me happy.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85440886
Monday, September 09, 2002
AWWW.
My friend, J, left me this really thoughtful letter, that I hope he wouldn't mind me typing in here, but I really want to save a copy of it forever. He stayed with me the last two weeks, after his girlfriend threw him out. He wrote:
Dear Dave,
Thanks for letting me stay at your apartment for the last few weeks (as well as all the other times that I stayed with you), and for all of your help during this particularly painful time in my life. Thanks for being there when I needed you, and for helping me out when no one else would. Thanks for the emotional support and companionship that you have given me during my time in New York City. You've been a really good friend to me, and, though I may never be able to repay you, I will never forget all of the helpful things that you have done for me. When I look back on this period of my life, I will no doubt have many sad memories and regrets, but, one thing is for sure, I will always remember and appreciate the friendship and laughter that you gave me when I needed it most. It has meant more to me that you will ever know. I hope that I can be half as good a friend to you as you have been to me. You're a good person Dave, and a true friend, and I wish you happiness and peace in all the things that you do.
Your half friend,
J.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85431594
I HAVE STREP THROAT.
I was diagnosed this morning with strep throat. I've had a sore throat for about 12 days, but no other symptoms, except, early on I had a sinus headache, and I've had a very slight cough. The doctor gave me penicilin, and it already seems to be helping considerably.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85431557
Sunday, September 08, 2002
THE FRIDAY FIVE.
Here's the latest Friday Five.
1. What is your biggest pet peeve? Why?
When people call that HBO show, "Sex in the City." It's "Sex and the City." It's not about sex in the city. It's about sex and the city.
2. What irritating habits do you have?
Well, I hardly know where to start. I speak my mind without censoring myself very much. I am told that I am argumentative, though I certainly don't mean to be. I bite my nails. I pick my teeth too often, ever since my bridgework become slightly unglued. I crack my knuckles.
3. Have you tried to change the irritating habits or just let them be?
I've been working, very successfully, on thinking more before I talk, and on being less quick to start an argument. I try to bite my nails in private, but I have no motivation to stop, as it seems far superior to clipping them, in many ways. I'm having my bridgework redone tomorrow. I haven't done anything to cut down on cracking my knuckles, since my horrible hand injury, and my occupational therapist told me that cracking my knuckles has greatly increased my flexibility and that my great flexibility greatly enhanced my recovery; plus, my hand is stiff a lot ever since then, and I've been very self-indulgent about it. I have to say, I really think a lot of the rules of etiquette are very arbitrary and annoying. Why does it have to be considered rude to pick your teeth at the table? Why couldn't it be considered extra-super-polite to pick your teeth at the table? That would certainly make everybody's life a whole lot easier.
4. What grosses you out more than anything else? Why?
I'm not very squeamish. I suppose seeing severe injury to my own body is the most troubling thing for me to consider.
5. What one thing can you never see yourself doing that other people do?
Copying my mode of dress or speaking style from a popular entertainer.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85427688
MOVIE REVIEW: SIGNS (2002) * 1/2 (1 and a half stars out of 4).
There are some suspenseful moments, and some meaningful emotional ideas in this movie, but the M. Night Shayamalan (writer of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable) trademark twist ending was a quite a let-down. It seems like Unbreakable was about 5% as clever as The Sixth Sense, and Signs was about 5% as clever as Unbreakable. I'm shuddering to think about his next movie. Also, I rarely notice the quality of acting. I think of it like sound or lighting--I usually only notice it when something goes wrong. All I really require is acting that's just passably good enough to convey the story without getting in the way. But, except for Mel Gibson, most everyone in this movie seemed to be reading their lines off of index cards. It felt like going to a script-reading, more than it felt like seeing a movie, and it took me right out of the story.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85427670
Saturday, September 07, 2002
MOVIE REVIEW: THE GOOD GIRL (2002) * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
I loved this movie, and it is my favorite movie of the year so far. I was reluctant to see it because it stars Jennifer Aniston, and I've always been disappointed by all the "Friends" movies, even though I do like Friends very much. It is a black comedy about an unhappily married woman who has an affair with a much younger man. I found myself really identifying with the husband, Phil (John C. Reilly, who I'll always remember best as the cop in Magnolia), who loves his wife Justine (Jennifer Aniston) quietly and comfortably, feeling they've outgrown the need for passion or romance. At the same time, I found myself very much identifying with the "other man," Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal, the title character in Donnie Darko), who feels put upon by the world, and who loves Justine with an intense passion which seems more real than the bonds of marriage. And, of course, I found myself identifying with Justine, who constantly makes one wrong choice after another, because she's too afraid to do what she knows is right. The movie is intense, but also bitterly funny, or at least I thought so. Over and over, I was the only person in the theater who laughed at one very funny moment after another. I wanted to really crack up, but, being the only one laughing, I managed to restrain myself to a chuckle. This only increased my conviction that the movie really spoke to me, in particular. Also, I think I liked it better because I had fairly low expectations; so, I hope I haven't ruined the experience of someone reading this review who might now have much higher expectations than I did, and be less pleasantly surprised. Still, I unhesitatingly reassert that I loved this movie. It is the only movie I have seen this year that I would give 4 stars to.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85425066
ANOTHER NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
They don't usually come this close together. They definitely got their $5 out of me this time.
1. Name your favorite brand and explain why it is your favorite.
Charge.Com, because it is my own company that I built.
2. Name one brand that has caught your attention in the last year. Explain why it caught your attention.
Rolls Royce, because I recently saw their classic, now-famous ad that said "At 60 MPH the loudest sound you'll hear is the clock," and I thought that was pretty clever.
3. Name a brand that you used to like, but don't like anymore. Explain why you don't like it anymore.
I used to really like NBC when I was growing up. But I really don't like CNBC or MSNBC and especially ShopNBC, and I didn't like how things turned out with David Letterman, and I didn't think they gave the new Colin Quin show a fair chance, and Saturday Night Live has totally stopped being counter-cultural and has gotten all "pop-cultural" instead, and, all-in-all, NBC has really lost my loyalty, over the years.
4. Name a brand that "speaks" to you. Please explain.
I'm really getting the sense, from all these questions, that look-look conceives of branding differently than I do. Brands are the enemy, constantly trying to trick me into liking them or being interested in them. They all lie and they all suck, and I constantly have to defend myself from them, and I hate all of them. No brand "speaks" to me.
5. Name one new product that has caught your attention recently.
Those new video screened cell phones from Sprint. I'm thinking about getting one.
6. Have you noticed any new packaging (for any product/s) recently, that you either like or find interesting? Please explain/describe.
I have noticed that a lot of products in the supermarket seem to be coming in non-traditionally shaped cans that Are covered on every surface with very bright colors.
7. Think about the marketplace (retail stores, entertainment venues, restaurants, etc). What if anything, do you think is missing (product, service, experience, etc)>
Compassion.
8. Think about your recent trips to any retail store/s. Name something new that you noticed (ex: a Gap store that provides computers for customers to browse clothes on their website). Please explain.
A "Bed Bath and Beyond" in Manhattan has an escalator just for shopping carts. I thought that was pretty nifty.
9. Think about your recent entertainment experiences. Name something new that you noticed (ex: a movie theater that has a bar). Please explain.
I was at a tattoo convention, and there was an oxygen bar. It was very popular.
10. Think about your recent dining experiences (fast food or regular restaurant). Name something new that you noticed (ex: fast food restaurant that serves health food). Please explain.
Here's something new: I saw a McDonald's commercial that made me angry. First appears a Big Mac, then a super-sized french fries, then a large Coke. Each image is followed by a cartoon smile. Announcer: "What could make you happier than a Big Mac Extra Value Meal? An appetizer before it. Like our cheesy mozzarella sticks [pictured, deep fried] or a tasty fajita [pictured, dripping with cheese]. Happy now?" And then the smile integrated with the McDonald's logo, and the word "smile". I don't tell other people what they should eat, but this is nuts! A Big Mac extra-value meal is already very unhealthy, But, if I want to SMILE and BE HAPPY, then I have to have some deep fried cheese first. And another thing: a fajita is not an appetizer! Hundreds of obese people who saw that are going to start getting fried cheese because a commercial told them it was a normal thing to do to be happy.
11. What are your favorite smells/scents?
Tuscany brand cologne, bakeries, and forests.
12. What do you use to freshen your breath?
Proper Dental Hygiene, Listerine, and Breath Savers.
13. What made you choose the breath freshener that you currently use over other breath fresheners?
I've tried lots of different things, and these work very satisfactorily for me.
14. What will the next new packaging for a breath freshner look like?
I think the trend is to get smaller (like the new Listerine Breath Strips). It's more convenient.
15. How important is technology in your life (ex: your computer, your cellphone, etc.)?
Very, very important. It's my livelihood and a huge part of my social life.
16. What do you think are the main differences between how you are growing up and how your parents grew up?
Technology, the pervasiveness of marketing to children, and an increased apathy among our political leaders to the younger generation.
17. How often do you eat out? (Multiple choice)
Several times a week
Twice a week
Once a week
Twice a month
Once a month
Once or twice a year
Never
Several times a week
18. What type of restaurants do you frequent the most? Multiple choice
Fast Food (McDonalds, etc.)
Chain restaurants (TGIF, Sizzler, etc.)
Expensive restaurants
Local cafes/coffee shops
Expensive restaurants
19. How often do you eat at home? Multiple choice
Every night
Several times a week
Twice a week
Once a week
Twice a month
Once a month
Never
Several times a week.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85424921
Friday, September 06, 2002
HAIKU (PLURAL).
I went to the Olive Tree last night for drinks and a very late dinner, with Graham M., Jessica D., and her friends Chris, and Joey. The tables there are made of black slate, or some similar material, and there's a bowl of chalk for you to write or draw on the table. So, it turns out Graham can draw pretty well, and he draws this nice picture of John Lennon. And Chris, as it turns out, is a professional animator. So, I'm clearly outclassed, and feeling my creativity paralyzed, and I say something to that effect. I say, maybe I'll just write a poem or an essay. So, someone, I think Chris, suggests I write a haiku. A haiku, of course, is a Japanese poetry form consisting of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. So I wrote this one:
Cops in the rear view
I know we can play this off
Just fucking be cool
Inspired, Chris wrote "Jesus, fuck, my head", but that was as far as he got, before he said he was stuck. So I wrote:
Jesus, fuck, my head
Too many cocktails last night
Call in sick for work
Then I wrote this masterpiece:
Woman at the bar
How does she resist my charms?
Obviously gay
This was not my favorite, but it was by far the most well-received:
Five syllables here
This line has seven of them
And here are five more
And then, after Jared, I think his name was, another friend of Jessica joined us and told some disturbing story about his girlfriend's gynecologist finding pieces of a broken condom inside her, I wrote this gem:
LADIES! Look at this!
It's a brand new lubricant!
It's spermicidal!
Chris, it turns out, lives right around the corner from me, and is home during the day. So, we made nonspecific plans to have lunch in the future.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85422070
Thursday, September 05, 2002
THE NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
Today's turned out to be a big survey taking day.
Here's the new look-look survey. Look-look.com is a slightly evil research company that tries to predict trends among young people, mostly by having photojournalists try to spot trends, and also by polling us younguns. I'm in my last year before I'm too old to be in their survey pool anymore. But in the mean time, the surveys are fun, and they make you think, and they make your opinion count, and you get $5 for each one. If you're under 31, you can join at www.teamlook-look.com.
Now, my survey questions and answers.
1. Describe your ideal day (Please be very specific. Include where you are, what you're doing, who you are with, what you are eating/drinking, etc.).
It's hard to say. I guess I'm out with one of my celebrity crushes, and we're winning the lottery, and I'm taking a pill that makes me turn 10 pounds of fat into 10 pounds of muscle.
More realistically, maybe I have a great day at the gym, and maybe I meet someone really special at a party or something, and maybe we wind up going together to a really cool off-off Broadway show, and messing around a little afterwards.
2. What activity do you practice in your everyday life that brings you the most pleasure? (Please list at least two activities).
Going to the gym.
Seeing good off-off Broadway theater.
A great meal.
Books on tape.
3. What do you wish you had more time for?
Going to the gym. I'd love to go twice as much. I hate when I have to cut my workout short.
4. What do you indulge in that makes you feel good about yourself?
Blogging, maybe. But I usually don't consider things that make me feel good about myself to be indulgences.
5. Do you have any indulgences that make you feel guilty?
Sure, all of them to do with food.
6. What do you miss most about your childhood that you wish was incorporated into your adulthood?
What a great question! I'd really love to see other people's answers.
I guess what I miss most of all, is constantly meeting new people in social situations. Every year, and every semester in college, there were always new classmates to get to know. Now, I am self-employed, and I telecommute from home. I could really go a long time without ever meeting someone new, if I wanted.
7. What is the last thing that you did that you consider playful?
Flirting with an ex-girlfriend.
8. What do you do to treat yourself?
I practically never reward myself. Doing something good is its own reward. I guess on my birthday and on New Year's Eve, the two days when I am most self-indulgent, I usually don't watch what I eat.
9. Please complete this sentence: Nothing says fun like. . .
Toys made of candy. That you can have sex with.
This is what it says when you finish a survey, which I always think is a little obnoxious:
Guess what? You're done. Thanks sincerely for your time and your opinion. A check will be made out to David [D.]. We'll be in touch soon and hope you can participate in another survey.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85419069
THE MONDAY MISSION.
At the suggestion of Blake N., here's The Monday Mission.
1. What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you on a date?
I'd like to try to be more open on my blog. I really would. But there is no possible way I'm going to answer to that question publicly.
2. Do you eat your veggies?
Not so much. I don't eat much fruit or vegetables. Even when I was vegetarian I avoided them, in favor of cheese, french fries, beans, bread, and tofu. Potatoes, by the way, are technically not a vegetable.
3. Most people are comfortable going to the bathroom in front of at least one person. Has anyone ever used the restroom in front of you that you wish wouldn't have? What happened and how bad was it?
Nope.
4. Have you ever had a bad online transaction? You know, the item wasn't what you thought it would be, you got totally ripped-off, no refunds, it just plain sucked? What's the story there?
Yeah! I bought my friend a "beer of the month club" membership. I sent a check, and it got cashed, and the beer never came. $250!
5. Ever have a current love find any old love letters (or similar item) you kept that probably should have been thrown away? How did that turn out?
Nope. Though, I have found that women are not usually as upset as men about hearing about their partner's old lovers. I've discussed old girlfriends with new girlfriends, and they never seem to have a problem.
6. A secretary at work was telling me about a trip she took to Mardi Gras. She showed off her beaded necklaces and proudly said she "earned' each and every one of them (for those not familiar with this tradition, ladies walking up Burbon [sic] St. in New Orleans will flash people who are upon the balconies, in return the guys will throw them worthless plastic necklaces). I was shocked, I had no idea this quiet gal had a wild side. Was there ever a time when you did something totally outrageous because you knew no one would know who you were, or maybe didn't care even if they did?
No. I've done some pretty outrageous things, but never because I thought I was protected by anonymity.
7. Hey, what happened to you last night? I waited forever!
Oh, dude, I, like, totally flaked. I didn't get to the gym 'til 8:30, and wound up having dinner with Graham M. at around 11 PM. We went to the very first Blimpies in New York. It's less than a block away, but I've never gone before.
BONUS: I know I could break you down, but what good would it do?
I fear that I may already be broken.
Who's your favorite recording artist?
The Beatles. I always fumble with that question, when I ask it. I say something like, "Who's your favorite band or solo musician" or something similarly awkward. "Recording Artist". Perfect. I'll have to remember that.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85418503
WASTING AWAY.
I weighed in this morning at 182 pounds. That's the least I've weighed since I was a freshman in high school, and I was quite a few inches shorter then, and I'm quite a lot more muscular now. I blew right past 183 which broke my old post freshman-year record of 184, which I set when I first tried the Atkins diet, back in 1997, and, again, I'm much more muscular than I was then. Only 3 more pounds, and I'll be down to my old 8th grade weight. I was a chubby kid.
I imagine that this must be a low fluctuation, since I'm 2 pounds lighter than yesterday morning. But since I've been working out, I've never gone back up after what I keep thinking are low fluctuations, though I do find my weight loss occasionally stagnant for a week or so. But that's not too bad. If you lose just 1 pound a week, that's 50 pounds a year, and I've been averaging just a little higher than that, while also simultaneously building muscle mass. Not to put too much pressure on myself, I am hereby going on record that I'll be what the kids call "hot" in about six weeks. Ten tops. But, as I say, no pressure. If it takes another ten weeks besides, that's okay, too. In the meantime, I'm enjoying looking ever-so-slightly noticeably better every week than I did the week before, and looking quite noticeably better every month than I did the month before. If I never get any better looking than this, that won't be too shabby.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85418366
THIS OR THAT.
It's Thursday, so you know what that means. It means I'm two days late for the Tuesday This or That. This weeks theme is "The name's the same...almost...".
1. Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise?
These are two of my favorites, more because I most always like the scripts they pick, rather than because of the actors themselves. But I actually do think that Hanks is a really great actor, so I'll pick him.
2. Julia Roberts or Julia Stiles?
I'm not a fan of either. I just saw Julia Stiles at Shakespeare in the Park a couple months ago. It was the first time I ever heard of her. I guess she's hotter hotter than Julia Roberts, just because she's 21, and Roberts is almost 35, but that doesn't seem like a good reason to pick one or the other, even thought that's what both of them are famous for. So, I guess I'll pick Roberts, just as a sort of affirmative action thing.
3. Kevin Costner or Kevin Spacey?
Kevin Spacey. Again, more because I like the scripts he picks, than because I like him, but also because I like him.
4. Ben Affleck or Ben Stiller?
I LOVE Ben Stiller. I think he's one of the funniest guys out there. His old FOX show, The Ben Stiller Show, featured then-unknowns Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk, all of whom I'd never heard of before that show, and who are now among my favorite performers. Also Zoolander, which I thought looked totally stupid in the advertisements, turned out to be hysterically funny.
5. Sean Connery or Sean Penn?
Sean Connery, of course!
6. Jennifer Lopez or Jennifer Aniston?
Jennifer Aniston. I am not a J-Lo fan.
7. Courtney Love or Courtney Cox-Arquette?
Courtney Cox-Arquette. What can I say? I like "Friends".
8. Sarah Michelle Gelllar [sic] or Sarah Jessica Parker?
Sarah Jessica Parker! I love Sex and the City, and I do not like Buffy.
9. Michael Douglas or Mike Myers?
Mike Myers. I love Mike Myers, and I do not like Michael Douglas at all. I've never liked any movie he's been in. Wall Street was okay, I guess, but the rest were terrible.
10. Nicole Kidman or (Anna) Nicole Smith?
Nicole Kidman, by process of elimination.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85417952
BOOK REVIEW: A TRIAL BY JURY * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
The book by D. Graham Burnett is about his experience as the foreman of a jury on a murder case in New York City. In law school, we lawyers are told that the jury is "a black box". You can look at what goes in, and what comes out, but there's no way to look inside the box, and the subject of what makes juries act the way they do is the subject of some awe and mystery. So, this book is a really great resource for seeing the process of how juries arrive at their decisions, and what it feels like to serve on a jury, and what sequestration is like. It's also a great work of political philosophy about the relationship between law and justice, and about the appropriate limits of the power of the state. I listenned to the book unabridged on tape all at once, durring my marathon session at the gym.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85417767
A MISERABLE NIGHT'S SLEEP.
I went to bed last night at 2 AM, but I couldn't fall asleep until 5:30, even though I took some NyQuil when I went to bed (I am getting over a cold). Then I woke up at 6 AM, and I couldn't fall asleep again until 7:30 AM. I woke up at a little before 10 AM. I lay in bed for another hour and a half, and then I decided to get up. Obviously, I must have something on my mind.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85417732
Tuesday, September 03, 2002
SOMETHING STRANGE IS WRONG WITH MY FOOT.
Sometimes, when I work out, I feel this strange numbness on my foot. Yesterday, I realized that the numbness is always on my right foot, on the middle toe, and the toe to its right (the "ring-toe", if you will). It occurred to me, that this corresponds to the two numb fingers on my right hand (see my previous blog entry). On a hunch, then, that my problem was psychological, I tried massaging my numb fingers (they're not completely numb). When I did so, the numbness on my foot was considerably relieved.
I told this story to my friend Danny B., who is a medical doctor. He told me that it's impossible that the numbness could be psychological, because those nerves aren't anywhere near each other in the body or the brain, and that furthermore, it's very likely that, while exercising, I am cutting off some circulation to my foot. Yet, he couldn't explain why massaging my hand would have improved my foot.
Peculiar.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85410296
I HAVE A HORRIBLE, PERMANENTLY DEBILITATING HAND INJURY.
On July 4, 1998, I was leaning on a porcelain sink in a hotel room which collapsed off the wall. I fell with the sink, which broke on the floor. The jagged pieces of porcelain cut my hand and wrist very badly, completely severing five tendons, three nerves, and a minor artery. I had my hand in a cast and a splint for more than a month, and then when I got it off, I had to do about 7 minutes of painful, strenuous hand exercises once per hour, every hour that I was awake, for about three months. I never missed a single hour in all that time, and I've had a remarkable recovery, and now have a range of motion that is better than 100% of normal (although not as abnormally flexible as I was before). I do have permanent scarring all across my hand, and some permanent numbness in my middle and ring fingers, which makes it a little harder to type or play the piano or manipulate small objects, such as coins. This injury is on my right hand, and I am right-handed.
I am just writing all of this, because it gives background to my next post.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85410268
BOOK REVIEW: THE PAINTED WORD * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
Tom Wolfe persuasively argues that modern art, which originally rebelled against theory-driven artwork, had become, by the time the book was written in 1975, totally consumed by theory, and he laments that a few thousand art intellectuals decide what art is successful, as opposed to the general public who collectively dictate their own tastes in the worlds of fashion, books, theater, film, and so on. As a result of this, Wolfe amusingly remarks that artist were creating artwork, in the fashion of the time, to be as "out there" and counter-cultural as possible, and getting praise from within the tiny art-world, but then lamenting that no one was buying their artwork, artwork that they had created just to offend contemporary tastes.
But, as in Wolfe's From Bauhaus to Our House, he gives reasoned arguments over matters of taste, which can't be explained by reason alone. I like a lot of pop art and modern art, and all of Wolfe's arguments have little bearing on my aesthetic sense.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85407418
THE FRIDAY FIVE.
The new Friday Five questions.
1. What's your favorite piece of clothing that you currently own?
A classy brown pin-striped shirt that I had custom-made for me in Bangkok, for only $18 (a week's pay over there).
2. What piece of clothing do you most want to acquire?
I need to buy more shorts. I keep running low if I don't get to the laundry, and then I have to wear ones I don't like to the gym. I don't like the ones I don't like because they don't have good pockets.
3. What piece of clothing can you not bring yourself to get rid of? Why?
I have a shirt that used to be my favorite shirt, but the sleeves and the color are all frayed. Now, I never wear it, knowing that the next time I wear it may be the last before it completely falls apart.
4. What piece of clothing do you look your best in?
I think I look sharp when I dress up in a suit, but I don't like to go through the bother.
5. What has been your biggest fashion accident?
Okay, these are obviously girl questions; boys don't have "fashion accidents". I dress very conservatively and always try to make sure everything matches before I leave my apartment. I did recently accidentally where black Doc Martins with shorts and white socks. I meant to wear my sneakers, but I put on my regular shoes by mistake out of habit, and I was on the subway before I caught my mistake. Nobody seemed to notice, though, and it really didn't look as bad as I would have thought it would.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85407397
Monday, September 02, 2002
I WENT A LITTLE CRAZY AT THE GYM TODAY.
Saturday was my three-month "luniversary" of going to the gym, and today, to celebrate I did twice my normal weight-lifting, and then I rode the elliptical machine for three hours and 45 minutes, until it said I had burned 3,600 calories. Normally, I do an hour and burn 1,000 to 1,100 calories. I picked 3,600 for two reasons. First, it's a little more than a pound of fat, which is 3,500 calories, and I liked the idea of burning an entire pound of fat in one session at the gym. Second, when I ask people how much they work out, I almost invariably hear that they do 300 calories, 3 times a week. So, I liked the idea of doing as much in one afternoon (well, one afternoon and evening), as my other friends do in 4 weeks.
I've heard again and again that the three month mark is when you start to first notice changes in your body from working out. I definitely noticed a difference more than a month ago, but I continue to be pleased by my progress, which seems a little noticeably better just about every week. At this point, I think I would be pretty happy if I'd had plastic surgery three months ago, and this was the result. Standing on the elliptical machine, peddling away, doing a month's worth of exercise all at once, I could almost have sworn that I could tell the difference between the way I looked when I started and the way I looked afterwards. But, it must have been just my imagination.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85407367
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.
So, I met one of the other David D.s that I know, the one who lives in Washington, D.C., in Wilmington, Delaware yesterday, all day, for a day trip. We decided to meet at about half-way between New York and D.C. First, I said Philadelphia, which is about an hour and 15 minutes from New York, and about an hour and 45 minutes from D.C. Then, he said, how about Baltimore, which is about 2 hours from New York, and about an hour from D.C. So, I asked, what's in between Baltimore and Philly? Well, there's Wilmington, Delaware, he told me. Okay, I said, how about there? But there's nothing to do there, he complained. Oh, come on, I said, that's a real city, the largest city in Delaware, and people spend their whole lives there; I'm sure we can find something to do for a day. He was persuaded, and he brought his friends Mike and Jen, a married couple who, luckily, had a car (I had taken Amtrak).
Well, it turns out there is not much to do there. They do have one museum that is largely an advertisement for DuPont which was founded there, and which runs the town, and that killed some time, until it closed at 4:30. There are very few places to eat, and mostly the places that are there are either holes in the wall, or national chains. They do seem to have some nice shopping, and with no state sales tax that seemed worth a try, but practically all the stores were closed because it was Sunday, so we never got around to it.
Still, it was fun to see David and to meet his friends, and we had a good time. I think my favorite part was when we drove by a big sign right by the museum saying "DuPont Experimental Station", which made us all feel a little nervous about breathing the air or drinking any nearby tap water. And then Mike said that the thing of it is, the sign says "DuPont Experimental Station", because "DuPont Experimental Station" was the best the spin they could put on it. That cracked me up, realizing they might just as accurately called it something like "DuPont Animal Torture Station" or "DuPont Dumping Ammonia Into the River Station" or what have you. Of course, I'm just speculating about what might go on there. For all I know they don't pollute or hurt animals, though I'm not sure how you would develop synthetic polymers any other way.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_09_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85405428
Sunday, September 01, 2002
SHOP THE BRONX'S LITTLE ITALY ONLINE.
The online store at the Arthur Avenue Web site let's you shop for meat and cheese and bread and souvenirs and other items delivered anywhere in the country by next day air. If I didn't live here in New York, I'd be all over that.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_08_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85402011
THE BRONX'S LITTLE ITALY.
Jin K. and I had dinner on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, after a New York Times Article last week compared the Bronx's version of Little Italy favorably to Manhattan's more famous one. We had a very nice, and surprisingly inexpensive meal, but I realize now that I should probably have tried to go during the day. Arthur Avenue does not cater nearly as much to the tastes of tourists, and its emphasis is on shopping more than eating or hanging around. Perhaps I will try to get back there during the day--the trip will be much faster during rush hour, when I can take the express train--but, for now, I think Manhattan's Little Italy is more my speed. I really go for the touristy stuff, the bright lights, the late night crowds, the overpriced ambiance: these are the reasons why I moved to New York.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2002_08_01_daviddanzig_archive.html#85402004
