Sunday, December 29, 2002

 
HOW FORTUNATE.
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Jill Z. made me one of those old fortune teller things, where you pick a color, and then a number, and then a number, and then look under the flap for your fortune. So, I went over to Pete B. and made up this story about how I met an old Gypsy woman in downtown Hollywood (Florida), who gave me this fortune teller that would always tell you your true fortune. This seemed to me to be not so much an obvious lie as an obvious joke, but everyone asked me "Are you serious?" I guess I told the story well. Anyway, the point of this story is the fortunes I wrote on the fortune telling device:

1. No one will ever really love you.
2. You will outlive your children.
3. You will contract an incurable STD.
4. You will be falsely accused of child abuse.
5. You will lose all your hair and teeth by the age of 45.
6. Your spouse will cheat on you.
7. You will lose all your savings at the age of 53.
8. You will never be successful or respected in your chosen profession.

So, it was great going around to everyone and reading them their fortunes. These are kind of amusing to read, but it's much funnier when you pick a number and that's your personal fortune. Then, two days later I was at Pete's house again for a surprise birthday party for his wife, Samara B.. Toward the end of the night I asked Samara whose fortune I should do, and she indicated her 10 year-old half-sister, whose name I forget. She loved it, and insisted to go around doing people's fortunes. It was so funny, seeing this little girl say these terrible things! She told her mother that she would never be successful in her chosen profession, and then she told her father that he'd lose all his hair by the age of 45 "Oh, that's already happened to you!" she said. From the mouths of babes. Then she told her grandmother that she would be falsely accused of child abuse. It was hysterical. She asked to copy the fortune teller device, and I let her, but she had to promise to let anybody else copy it who wanted it. I hope it spreads all over her school and all over the world.

Make one yourself, and substitute your own ideas for your least favorites above. Here are some tips:

1) I kind of regret the two that mention your specific age. They don't work for anyone over that age.
2) A fortune is something that will happen in the future. Don't say, "you look ugly", say, "you will loose your looks much sooner than you would have thought possible." You can disagree with the first one, but the second one has the ring of truth, because who's to say today that it's not true?
3) Don't be overly graphic or sexual. The one about the incurable STD is already more than pushing it. A couple people found that one a little un-funny.

UPDATE 1/2/03: How to make a paper fortune teller.

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I'M BACK.
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I got back to NYC late last night.

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Saturday, December 14, 2002

 
ARCHIVES.
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I've noticed that my automatically generated archives links are often a little screwy. So, I've gone back and inserted a link to the previous month's archive at the end of each month, so that you can always scroll through the archives this way. On the first of each month, at 12:00:01 AM, is a back-dated blog entry with a link to the previous month's archive. Try it!

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Thursday, December 12, 2002

 
AND I'M OFF.
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I'm off to Florida until December 28th.

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NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: AL'S SOUP KITCHEN INTERNATIONAL * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
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Al Yeganeh, the world famous restaurateur, and inspiration for the Seinfeld episode titled "The Soup Nazi", seems to be getting a little more mellow as the years go by. But his soup retains all of its exquisite flavor. It really is that good. Unless the weather is terrible, there's always a line of at least half an hour at lunch time. I particularly recommend the seafood bisque and the chilli. It's on 55th Street between Broadway and 8th. I, also, live on 55th Street between Broadway and 8th, and that's not entirely a coincidence.

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WAY AHEAD OF YOU, DAVE.
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Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 12:51:23 -0500
From: Fair (Fair@FAIR.ORG)
To: David D.
Subject: RE: CORPORATE MEDIA CONTROL: AOL's HBO promotes AOL's CNN in "Liv e from Bagdad"

We did put out a release on this, mentioning the HBO/CNN connection but
focusing on the content of the movie. See
http://www.fair.org/activism/hbo-gulf-hoax.html .

Regards,

Jim Naureckas

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Wednesday, December 11, 2002

 
AOL TIME WARNER BLOWS ITS OWN HORN.
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Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 18:36:21 -0500 (EST)
From: David D.
To: FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY IN REPORTING (fair@fair.org)
Subject: CORPORATE MEDIA CONTROL: AOL's HBO promotes AOL's CNN in "Live from Bagdad"

To Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR):

I wish to share a particularly blatant example of corporate control of the media having an effect on the way in which a story is reported.

The new made-for HBO documentary, "Live From Baghdad" was very entertaining, but not very objective. The movie takes a very favorable view of CNN, and its rise to prominence during the 1991 Gulf War. Yet nowhere does the movie mention that HBO and CNN are both owned by AOL Time Warner.

I hope that FAIR will please inform its subscribers about AOL Time Warner using one of its media outlets (HBO) to make and broadcast a documentary about another of its media outlets (CNN), without disclosing the greatest possible conflict of interest that there can ever be-- that both are owned by the same company.

Very sincerely,

David D.

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Monday, December 09, 2002

 
JAMES BOND'S INVISIBLE CAR.
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Dav C. points out that James Bond's invisible car may be closer than I thought.

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.
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Jill R. and I went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park Sunday night to check out the festivities on the anniversary of John Lennon's death. There was quite a turn-out, three or four times what I'd seen there in previous years. We stayed for about a half-hour or so, singing Lennon songs along with the crowd. Oh, the songs he might have gone on to write!

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RAVING SILVERMAN.
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I saw Sarah Silverman perform at "Jewcy", a benefit for the UJA, on Saturday night with Jill R. Silverman was really funny, but there's one joke in particular that I can't stop thinking about. I'm paraphrasing here a bit. She said, "I honestly believe that if black people had lived in Germany in the 1930s, the Holocaust would never have happened." There's a long, silent pause here, as we all mull this over, trying to think about how this could be. Then she continues, "I mean-- it would never have happened to the Jews."

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NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: MEXICANA MAMMA * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
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I went to this small West Village Mexican restaurant Saturday night with Jill R. It's the best Mexican place I've been to in New York City, which has a real paucity of good Mexican places. The food at Mexicana Mamma is excellent and rich, without being heavy or oily. I have an incredibly high tolerance for spicy foods, but I think some people might find this a bit too spicy for them.

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Monday, December 02, 2002

 
MAKE IT SO.
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Wil Wheaton, the actor who played Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and self-described, "washed-up, former child actor," has a blog which is almost endearingly mundane.

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Sunday, December 01, 2002

 
NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHURRASCARIA PLATAFORMA * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
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This Brazilian riodizio (all-you-can-eat) restaurant at 316 W. 49th street was fantastic. I ate here last night with Danny B., and savored every delicately prepared bite. This is a riodizio restaurant, which means that waiters come around continuously and carve meat off of skewers onto your plate, and they keep coming around, until you tell them to stop. This makes Churrascaria Plataforma an excellent choice if you are on a low-carbohydrate diet, such as Atkins (me) or Sugar Busters (Danny). It's also, I should think, a great place to binge if you are bulimic!

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NYC RESTAURANT REVIEW: MAXIE'S DELI * * * (3 stars out of 4).
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This new Times Square delicatessen is typical of those in the Times Square area, like the Roxy and the Carnegie. I ate here on Wednesday night with Debbie W. and Danny B. It has excellent, fresh food, in giant 1 pound sandwiches that must be shared, despite the $3 sharing fee. I'd say it falls on my list of my top favorite Delis in New York in this order, starting with my favorite:

1. The Carnegie Deli (North Times Square). * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
2. Katz's Deli (Lower East Side). * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars).
3. Ben's Deli (South Times Square). * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars).
4. The Roxy Deli (Central Times Square). * * * (3 stars).
5. Maxie's Deli (Central Times Square). * * * (3 stars).
6. The 2nd Avenue Deli (East Village). * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars).

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MOVIE REVIEW: DIE ANOTHER DAY * (1 star out of 4).
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I'm not a huge fan of the James Bond genre, but I usually do enjoy these movies, at least on a superficial level. However, this is my least favorite James Bond movie that I've seen. My two main complaints are these:

First, I know that James Bond is, on some level, a science fiction character, and he's supposed to have the very "latest" technology, including some things that haven't exactly been invented yet. Nonetheless, these things usually sound reasonably plausible, like something we could invent in the next five or ten years, if we really put our resources to it. But in this movie, James Bond gets an invisible car. He presses a button, and his car becomes invisible, using holographic projections of what's on the other side of the car. This does not seem like something that we're going to invent in the next 10 or 20 or 50 years. This sounds like something that we will invent in no fewer than 200 years, if ever. So, now, does James Bond have an invisible car from now on? If so, that seems like a major revision of the character. But if not, then why not?

My second main complaint is that the sexual innuendo was very coarse and not the least bit clever. I found Mr. Bond and his associates to be not the least bit sophisticated in this regard, and some of the crude double entendres offended my intelligence, if not my sensibilities.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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I had a great time Thanksgiving. I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from my balcony, which overlooks Broadway, at 55th Street, which is right about the exact center of the parade route. I had 8 friends over who were in town, and we had bagels and lox and tuna and suchlike, and drank mimosas and Kahlua spiked coffee.

In the evening, my friend Danny B., who is staying here for the weekend, came with me to my cousin, Michael R.'s and his wife, Stephanie R.'s place in Brooklyn for Thanksgiving dinner, where I got to play with their, 2-year-old twins, Nicholas and Sabrina. I also got to see my ex-aunt Carol and some of Stephanie's family.

The food was delicious. Tragically, I ate too much, both in the morning and at night, which inspired me to go on the Atkins Diet the next day.

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