May 29, 2010

R.I.P.


Gary Coleman (Feb 8, 1968 - May 28, 2010)         Dennis Hopper (May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010)

May 26, 2010

Get well soon, Bono

U2 has been forced to postpone their North American tour due to Bono having had emergency back surgery on Friday. The U2360 Tour was supposed to start on June 3 in Salt Lake City but now it looks like Bono will need at least 8 weeks to properly recover.


According to U2.com, "Dr Muller Wohlfahrt confirmed, 'Bono suffered severe compression of the sciatic nerve. On review of his MRI scan, I realized there was a serious tear in the ligament and a herniated disc, and that conservative treatment would not suffice. I recommended Bono have emergency spine surgery with Professor Tonn at Munich's LMU University Hospital on Friday."

Professor Tonn, who carried out the operation, added, "Bono was referred to me by Dr Muller Wohlfahrt late last week with a sudden onset disease. He was already in severe pain with partial paralysis in the lower leg. The ligament surrounding the disc had an 8mm tear and during surgery we discovered fragments of the disc had traveled into the spinal canal. This surgery was the only course of treatment for full recovery and to avoid further paralysis. Bono is now much better, with complete recovery of his motor deficit. The prognosis is excellent but to obtain a sustainable result, he must now enter a period of rehabilitation".

We were set to catch U2 in Montreal on July 16 but now we will just have to wait for a new date in 2011. So be it. I care much more than Bono recovers properly and fully, something that The Edge hinted in a Skype interview may be a challenge for the Energizer-Bono. Here's my heartfelt best wishes to dear Bono that he has a good and full recovery. When ever the time is right I look forward to welcoming my beloved U2 back on the stage.

May 25, 2010

I love New York in the spring

We have returned from our long weekend in New York City. We rented the same apartment in the Upper East Side that we had stayed in back in May 2008, which was nice since we knew the neighbourhood well and felt like we were at home. We were supposed to be a foursome but one of our party had to drop out at the very last minute to have emergency knee surgery so we ended up travelling with our dear friend Mara.

FRIDAY
We enjoyed awesome bagels each morning from Tal Bagels before starting our daily adventures. This was Mara's first trip to NYC so we took her on a grand tour of the must-sees. The first night we took the subway down to 42nd Street in Midtown and walked over to Times Square to take in the craziness. I got us off at 42nd street on purpose because when we existed we were right across from Mara's (and mine as it turns out) favourite building in the world, the Chrysler Building. It was a hoot to surprise her by asking her to look up. She was in a nice state of quiet awe. We ended up walking a huge loop and got back on the subway at 51st Street and headed back up to the Upper East Side for dinner at one of the city's great 24-hour diners, Gracie's. We couldn't believe we were ordering dinner at 12:30 am!! I had a massive souvlaki platter that had about five pounds of pork and the greatest Greek salad I have ever eaten!!

SATURDAY
The next day we had our bagels and cream cheese some very strong coffee and then walked over to Central Park. It was a gorgeous day and we just wandered around, taking in the unique sights and sounds of the greatest city park ever. By wonderful happenstance we ended up watching a hilarious street-show by three young black guys who called themselves "The Afrobats". Their routine was a blast, littered with sharp humour and a nod to prevailing ethnic stereotypes ("White people...do not worry...there are only three of of us. We can't hurt all of you") and they worked the crowd like no busker I have seen before. They had us in stitches at they danced, jumped around, and entertained. It turned out to be one of the most memorable moments of the trip.

I then took us on a quick detour to find the cheery tree under which I proposed to mark in May 2008. While it was a little bit of a challenge to find that special spot, as the cherry blossoms were all gone, I am thankfully blessed with a very sharp sense of direction and I was able to find our special tree. Mara kindly took some photos of us reuniting with a place that will always be special for us.

We left the Park to take Mara down Madison Avenue so she could ooh and ahh at the windows of the famous high fashion houses. We finished our walk at Bloomingdale's and hopped on the subway at 59th Street and went down to 23rd Street in Gramercy Park so we could walk over to 8th Avenue in Chelsea, the city's primary gay village. Before we got there we went into the lobby of the Hotel Chelsea to see where so many movers and shakers of the art, literary, movie, and music worlds once lived.

Mark was delighted to have a proper visit in Chelsea, and after a fantastic lunch at Rocking Horse Cafe, we hit the stores hard.Mark bought himself a cool shirt at The Starting Line and me a cool shirt at Nasty Pig which was so sweet of him. We then walked down to Chelsea Market for some treats and a much-needed break.

Rejuvenated we continued our journey south and entered the West Village, my favourite neighbourhood. We walked along Bleeker Street and took a quick detour down Grove Street so we could show Mara the building used for the exterior shot of the "Friends" apartment where Monica, Rachel, Chandler, and Joey lived. We went back to Bleeker and continued browsing until we decided to line up for a spot on the patio at our favourite NYC restaurant, Bar Pitti. Just like during our trip at New Year's we had the same celebrity sighting as Famke Janssen came to dine with her Boston Terrier and a male companion about halfway through our meal.

After dinner we walked up to Washington Square Park and the hopped on the subway at Astor Place and headed back to our apartment to chill out. We ended up watching three episodes of "Sex in the City" which was a hoot to actually watch while being in the City! Given that Carrie Bradshaw lived in the Upper East Side we felt like we were neighbours.

SUNDAY
Sunday morning began with some more bagels and raspberry preserves and then we were off on the subway down to the legendary flagship Macy's on 34th Street. We saw no miracles but we did see massive crowds of people and after grabbing a pretzel we took off on the subway to Lower Manhattan and got off at City Hall, and walked over to the historic South Street Sea Port. We peeked at the Brooklyn Bridge, went for an incredible lunch at New York's oldest surviving bar, The Bridge Cafe (serving food and/or drink since 1794!!), and then Mara hit the stores. We then hopped back on the subway to our apartment for some much-needed rest.

Our threesome parted ways at 7:00 pm as Mark and I hopped in a cab down to Theatre Row to the Imperial Theatre to catch the musical version of Billy Elliott. It was a good show with some very good parts. The standouts in the cast were were the awesome Canadian Kate Kennig ("Mrs Wilkinson") and the impressive Trevor Braun ("Michael"). Our "Billy" was played by 12 year-old Alex Ko, (there are 5 actors playing the lead role) who was certainly very solid and capable and effortlessly cute. He did not have the charisma or stage presence I was expecting but he performed admirably and it was an overall wonderful experience. Oh, and our seats were amazing: we could touch the stage if we stretched out our legs!!

We ended our night at another 24-hour diner back on the Upper East Side called the Viand Coffee Shop. It was the quintessential New York diner, right out of "Seinfeld" or a Woody Allen film. I had a massive plate of leg of lamb and some side mash and string beans. Mark opted for a giant club sandwich. We left stuffed and satisfied.

MONDAY
Monday morning we hopped in a cab to JFK, with a good load of memories and Alicia Keys singing in our heads...
Even if it ain’t all it seems, I got a pocketful of dreams
Baby, I'm from New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothing you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Hear it for New York, New York, New Yoooork!

May 14, 2010

Facebook a Ponzi scheme?

For a variety of reasons, including privacy concerns, I deleted my Facebook account well over a year ago. When I want to connect with friends afar I phone or email them. If they are in town, where most of my real friends are, I get together with them to, perish the thought, talk in person.

Facebook allows folks to pretend they are much more popular than they really are and pretend to connect with their legions of pretend friends. In reality, I am much closer to the cashier at my local Food Basics than any of the so-called friends I used to carry along on my Facebook account.

With accusations flying of a (possibly criminal) ambivalence towards its users' privacy, the Facebook organization is facing some very harsh media coverage and users are starting to wake up and trying to navigate the maze of 170 options in order to manage their privacy.

Now, as the bloom is definitely off of Facebook, its actual creator ponders whether we are at the end of the Facebook era, while another fellow argues that the insidious social media platform is really a Ponzi scheme.

May 12, 2010

Things that ought to be banned

There are a number of things that I would like to submit for consideration for banishment in the hopes of making our lives better.

1. The expression "going forward".
(Annoying and redundant)
2. The constant flow of TV dramas about cops, lawyers, or doctors.
(Are these the only three careers on the planet?)
3.  The expression "from Wall St. to Main St." or any derivative.
(A patronizing rhetorical device)
4. Illegible small print on TV automobile ads.
(Impossible to read in time alloted. How is this legal?)
5. Wall-to-wall pharmaceutical ads during the news. (How medicated do we meed to be? We have made almost every part of the human condition a pathology)
6. Twitter.
(Massive waste of time and bandwidth)
7. The pseudo-philosophical crap on the side of Starbucks coffee cups.
(Because I always look to paper cups for wisdom and guidance)
8. Those horrific cow bell milk commercials.
(Simply terrible)
9. Being asked to make a donation by the cashier at local stores.
(I don't appreciate guilt-on-the-spot. If a company wants to make a genuine social contribution they should simply pledge a portion of earnings, not redistribute money from their customers and then take credit for it)
10. Uncivil people at movie theatres.
(We now pay the most money in the history of movies for the worst possible customer experience, thanks to endless chatter, cell phones, texting, and unruly behaviour)

May 5, 2010

The Right Stuff

As if FOX News wasn't enough of a mouthpiece for ardent Republicans, coming soon to cable is the Right Network.

With none other than Kelsey Grammer (yes, as in Frasier) as its celebrity pitcher, the new network is aiming its guns at the major networks and hoping to capture the hearts and eyes of the disaffected Tea Baggers and others who think the G.O.P. has drifted too far to the middle. Here's their promo trailer...

May 4, 2010

Kent State's grim 40th anniversary

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State University shootings. A student protest against the Vietnam War and the presence of the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State campus ended in tragedy when guardsmen shot and killed four and wounded nine Kent State students.

A poignant archive and documentary is available at May 4 Archive.