From Minneapolis to Miami: The Week Ahead

Over the next seven days, I will be traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Miami, Florida. In case you had a hard time guessing, Minneapolis is for business and Miami is for pleasure. Within the span of three days, I will be traveling from a state named after gophers to a state named after sunshine...quite a difference. In case you are wondering, yes it is true- my company decided that no one within 1,000 miles of Minneapolis is qualified to do the work that I will be doing. That is quite an ego boost I might say, even if it isn't necessarily true.

I'm looking forward to going from a small office park in bitter cold and freezing Minneapolis (Minnetonka actually, but who's counting?) to the sun soaked beaches of Miami. It should make for quite a culture shock. Drop me a line and I will send you a postcard, but make sure you specify which location you want me to send it from. Any tips or suggestions for me while I am in Minnetonka are welcomed.

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

It may have been an eyesore, but I loved it. It may have looked like a blue and orange toilet bowl in Queens, it may have been cold and concrete and lacked character with its zig-zagging exits and florescent lights in the shape of ballplayers, it may not have had the "history" or the "tradition" of baseball's "cathedral" in the Bronx (please note the quotes), but I loved it. To me, Shea Stadium was like a second home- a place with many memories. A place where I cheered when the Mets clinched the 2006 NL East, later cried after game 7 of the 2006 NLCS (and so being a Mets fan goes), a place where I drank one of my first beers, lost my voice, was surprised by my grandparents, felt the stadium rock quite literally at Billy Joel (two nights in a row), watched Matt Franco have the game winning hit off Mariano when the regular season Subway Series actually equivocated to my pride and dignity in middle school, watched John Maine almost throw a no-hitter only for Glavine to wipe away that excitement within 24 hours (and so being a Mets fan goes), screamed "Laaaarrrry", watched the sun set for the final time on Shea Stadium as a horrific day turned into an electric night as Seaver threw the stadium's final pitch to Piazza at the "Last Game at Shea", watched games with family, JLC, home friends, college friends, my employer and back and forth. Today, the stadium where this all took place was brought to the ground.

I loved Shea, despite that everyone told me it was one of the worst stadiums in baseball. Today is a sad day, but the opening of Citifield will soon take this old friend's place, creating a new place where memories will be made and cherished. Here's to the 2009 baseball season- a clean slate.

Private Computer Crash Steak Lessons

The title of this post summarizes three major events that have taken place in my life over the past 72 hours (1) My computer crashed (2) We took a private cooking class and (3) I ate a significant amount of steak/other various meats for dinner tonight. And now I elaborate...

1. Friday night, my computer worked. Saturday morning, my computer did not work. Nothing says happy valentine's day like a crashed hard drive. The one bright spot with this is that my Apple Care is valid through May, so if something was going to happen to my computer, now was the time. Usually, I would expect for this to occur the day after Apple Care ran out. For the time being I am using Diana's computer/my work computer. Should be up and running in 5-10 business days.

2. As part of my valentine's day present to Diana, we took a private cooking lesson with Janeen Sarlin, who says she cooked for Bill Clinton. The class was at a friend's apartment and was put together by Dave for Stephanie's birthday. In total, there were three couples in attendance. (Editor note: When it comes to people in my blog I have two rules: (1) I don't use friends' last names and (2) I don't introduce any of my friends to my readers. If you are that curious, you can ask me. However, Janeen Sarlin is fair game as she is a public figure). Dinner took 7 hours to make, during which approximately 9 bottles of wine were consumed by the six of us. We learned how to cut onions without crying, how to pound veal, and how to turn pie crust into breadsticks. The night concluded with Rock Band. Note to self: Planning dinners involving nine bottles of wine on a Sunday night is a bad idea. When you have work the next day and no one else in the country does. By the way, Janeen was great and I would highly recommend her.

3. And now I arrive at the steak/other various meats portion of the post. Last night after work, I took the PATH to "meat" (no pun intended) Matt and Joe for dinner in Newark at Fernandes' Steakhouse. It is a Brazillian restaurant that specializes in Rodizio (waiters serving various meat on skewers at your will). The quantity of food consumed was legendary. Cows, lambs, and pigs were running for their lives at the very sight of us by the end of the night. My personal favorite was the roast beef. Other honorable mentions included the bacon wrapped filet, pork loin, and garlic sirloin.

Change that America Needs

Happy President's Day everyone! While many of you are enjoying this day off, I am at work literally dripping with sweat. Since my client has the day off today, the AC is off in their office. However, my firm does not have off today which means that we are in fact at the client, working, and sweating. When we called the Buildings people to ask them to turn on the AC, we were told that they needed a cost center to allocate the air conditioning to. Well given that we are in a recession, and every penny counts, my team decided it would make more sense to just deal with it. (Obviously this would not have been my decision). Who said that corporate America isn't making sacrifices? While for you President's day might mean 3 day weekend, for me, it means wearing a light colored shirt to work so that I don't sweat through my clothes. Good times.

I'm not really sure why anyone should have President's Day off to begin with. I just don't see what it is about this day that would require us to have off from school and work. Are we supposed to be reflecting on past presidents? Does thinking about Washington and Lincoln really qualify as such heavy lifting that we need off in order to properly execute this duty?

I think it would be much more appropriate to have off for the current president's birthday, which in this case would be August 4th for Obama. I just think it makes more sense to give the day off to the guy who would appreciate our efforts the most. This would add a great element to elections, because people would compare the nominee's birthdays and vote based on when they could use another day off. You know, that stretch between President's Day and Memorial Day is pretty long...maybe I should think about running for office on the platform of breaking things up in early April...change that America needs.

A Glimpse At My Netflix Queue

A few months ago I joined Netflix and have been really enjoying it. It's really pretty cheap, and it has given me the opportunity to watch a bunch of movies that just fell through the cracks for me- ones that for one reason or another I just never got around to seeing. So far, I've rented Pulp Fiction, Speed, Momento, Boogie Nights, Step up 2: The Streets, Seven, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which I saw but wanted to see again), You Don't Mess with the Zohan (awful), all three Bourne's, Manhattan, and Burn After Reading.

So today, I thought I would give everyone a little preview of what is on my upcoming Netflix queue. Keep in mind that it is like a fine wine, constantly evolving, so this is subject to change:

Current: Righteous Kill- On the surface, this seems like it should be a great movie with a DeNiro/Pacino 1-2 punch. Well I've only heard horrible things about it from other people since I rented it and it has now been sitting on my desk for about 3 weeks. I'm debating just sending this one back, but we'll see what this weekend brings.

1. Vicky Christina Barcelona- I love Woody Allen, Annie Hall is one of my favorite movies

2. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist- When it came out in theatres it seemed too Juno-like for my taste, but I'm willing to give it a shot now

3. Zack and Miri Make a Porno- Saw it, loved it, want to see it again

4. Blindness- I like movies about crazy epidemics (Children of Men, 28 Days Later, etc.)

5. The Usual Suspects- Heard this was a great one, but I've never seen it

6. In Bruges- Is supposed to be funny, was nominated for Best Comedy at the Golden Globes. Colin Farrell is awful, but I'm curious.

7. Crimson Tide- A classic that I've never seen

8. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3: Disc 1- For my long time readers, you know my thoughts on this show and how much I love it. I've seen seasons 4, 1, and 2 (in that order). Season 3 is all that remains.

9. Casino- I need my DeNiro fix from somewhere in case Righteous Kill lets me down

10. Kung Fu Panda- I love the well done animated films (with the exception of Wall-E which I found incredibly annoying)

Feel free to critique, criticize, and let me know your thoughts.

Down with the Today Show

Prior to the arrival of 2009, I would get ready for work in the morning in silence and pick out clothes in the dark while Diana enjoyed the life of a student and did not have to be up at 7:30am. However, now that Diana is working, we are both up in the morning at the same time. This has posed a new problem for me: she likes to watch the Today show. I don't know why, but I have never liked this show. I didn't realize how much I disliked it though until now. With that, I give you my Top 10 Reasons Why I Dislike the Today Show:

1. They laugh at each other's jokes when they aren't funny. You couldn't have faker laughs if you tried.
2. Al Roker has officially lost his mind and I liked him much better when he was fat.
3. They report on things like news when they really aren't news. It's 7am. I don't care about octuplets, or weight loss, or that someone turned 100 this early in the morning. Leave me alone.
4. I'm 99% sure that they all hate each other and it drives me crazy that they pretend to be best friends
5. They talk too calmly. Everyone seems happy and relaxed. Listen, no one likes being up this early. If anything, I'd rather watch someone who was in as bad of a mood as I am. It would be much funnier, and then maybe you wouldn't have to force the laughter.
6. Matt Lauer is not a real reporter, I don't care what you say. He is best known for his segment, "Where in the world is Matt Lauer?" That is not real reporting. That is Today show reporting.
7. They always show weather for random cities. Are that many people in Cincinnatti really watching this?
8. The whole show seems to be one huge cross-promotion for the network. They have NBC TV stars on way too often as guests.
9. Ann Curry is condescending
10. It's 7:30 in the morning! I don't even like food or baseball that early...how am I supposed to like the Today show?

I vote for Saved by the Bell in the morning...anyone else with me?

To Lighten Things Up...

It has been a brutal few weeks in the world, and baseball has been no exception. Even the Mets have gotten killed over the past few months, between the CitiTaxpayerField debacle (I wish MetLife had some free dough, but that would make things too easy), the Wilpons appearing about 1,249 times on the Madoff client listing, and the Mets 2009 inaugrual season patch looking like the Domino's symbol.

Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, they do. A friend sent me this, and I laughed out loud. This has been quite an off-season. Enjoy!

Weekend Food Review

Monday is a great day to reflect on what you ate over the weekend. This weekend, I happened to have food experiences that ranged from mediocre to delicious and I'd like to share them with you.

On Friday night, I went with Michael and Teddy to Ono, a trendy Japanese restaurant in the Meatpacking District. Normally, these are not my favorite restaurants; however, they were featuring the restaurant week menu, which includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $35. Overall, while the atmosphere was cool, the food was just ok- it would be a huge ripoff to go under normal circumstances. I would actually argue that the $15 wine pairing was the highlight of the meal. Three glasses of wine for $15 is pretty good, especially in NYC. At least the company was good.

On Saturday, I unfortunately found myself on Long Island visiting my grandma in the hospital (she is doing better now, thanks for asking). On our way there, I realized that we were very close to Bobby Flay's new burger joint, Bobby's Burger Palace and insisted that we stop. The restaurant features gourmet burgers, amazing fries, and shakes...menu here. I had the Philadelphia burger- provolone cheese, grilled onions, and hot peppers. Throw in an order of sweet potato fries with honey mustard horseradish dipping sauce, and assorted condiments like jalapeno hot sauce and chipotle ketchup, and I was in business. Word on the street is that they are opening one of these down the shore (Monmouth Mall), so be on the lookout!

The last food experience I wanted to discuss with you today occurred later that evening at Diana's friends' Karen and Sara's birthday party at their apartment in Brooklyn. Their friend is a pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar, and although she wasn't at the party, she dropped off cupcakes that she had made. I can't even describe these things. There was carmelized burnt toast on top, a cinnammon cream cheese frosting, and coffee cake on bottom. It was truly incredible. If the Milk Bar is half as good as these cupcakes sign me up.

This weekend is a perfect example of how just because a restaurant is expensive doesn't mean it's good! Burgers and cupcakes work for me.

A-Rod Joins the Ranks

Those of you who know me know how much I hate the Yankees. Just the thought of Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neil, and Scott Brosius makes me sick. Alex Rodriguez was never my most despised Yankee, but I still never particularly liked him either. I think my first real distaste for him developed in 2004 after his Bronson Arroyo glove slapping incident in the ALCS. It was the perfect summation of a wimpy prima-donna panicing in the heat of the moment. However, today's news that A-Rod tested positive for steriods in 2003 saddened me. Not because of anything that this news does to him personally, but because of what it does for the game.

I recently posted about my thoughts on steroid use and the hall of fame here. While I think steroid use is wrong, to pretend as if the era never existed only exacerbates the ugliness of the time period. These players and their statistics need to be recognized for what they are and framed by the time period in which the players played the game.

Today's news on A-Rod simply shows that everyone that played baseball over the past three decades is guilty until proven innocent. Simply put, players' words don't matter anymore- they have lost their meaning. Player after player has looked us in the eye and blatantly lied. I am tired of going back and rehashing things that happened 6 years ago. I really just want to move on.

The bottom line is that A-Rod's failed steroid test took place in 2003, and really means nothing in terms of the validity of today's game. But if A-Rod is guilty, then everyone is guilty. If anything, this provides more proof that the hall of fame needs to recognize all of these guys as excellent baseball players, and let the fans decide for themselves in the public court of opinion whether or not they are actually good people. The hall of fame is a museum- a place to celebrate history. Today's events are historical, for better or for worse.

I don't like A-Rod, but I hope to see him enshrined in Cooperstown in the future.

Top Chef visits Le Bernardin

So on this week's episode of Top Chef, the contestants went to Le Bernardin, the restaurant I wrote about visiting in one of my recent posts. The chefs got to meet Chef Eric Ripert, taste a few of his dishes, and then had the challenge of having to recreate one of the dishes so that it would taste as similar as possible to those dishes served in the restaurant.

*SPOILER ALERT*

So now there are five remaining contestants: Fabio, Leah, Stefan, Hosea, and Carla. About a month ago, after the first episode of the season, I had put odds on who I thought would win. Of the 3 contestants I gave the best odds to win to, all 3 are still in the competition. I do believe that Stefan now has the best chances of winning, although I will be rooting for Hosea.

A Bunch of Idiots

I think it's funny that over the past week Wall Street has been called shameful, greedy, and selfish by numerous politicians. While I partially agree to a degree, these statements are primarily being made in reaction to the size of bonuses being received at the end of 2008. These people work 70 hour weeks at minimum, through one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S. history. Oftentimes, these bonuses represent the bulk of one's pay for the year. Meanwhile, for the third time in the past few weeks, it has been made public that a prospective member of Obama's cabinet has failed to properly pay their taxes (Geithner, Daschle, Killefer). By the way, not paying taxes is illegal- receiving bonuses for working hard, no matter how excessive or stupid, is perfectly legal at this time.

These are not low level staffers that have not paid their taxes- these are individuals that Obama has selected as being the most capable people in the entire country to serve the nation in a given expertise. This has now happened three times. That is a small sample size with a pretty high number of occurrences if you ask me. How about you pay your taxes before you start calling others greedy and selfish? I doubt that these taxes were avoided maliciously, and in most instances I'm sure these politicians are good public servants, but how stupid do you have to be to have back taxes when you know you can possibly be nominated for the cabinet?

In the words of Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, "We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer." Hey Claire, I think we found more idiots kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer, and they are in Washington. I think the moral of this whole recession is that we are all idiots. Let's stop pointing fingers and actually do something about it.

First Day of Spring

Spring begins for different people at different times. Some might go by the calendar, a noticable change in the weather, or even the first sight of blossoming flowers. For me, spring begins on the day that I obtain the Fantasy Baseball Index (FBI here). There is no definitive date that this event occurs on. Oftentimes, it is just an instance of chance- walking past a cluttered newsstand and the bold yellow title catches my eye. Other times, it has been calculated, whether it was an order placed online or a planned trip to the bookstore. All I know is, for me, spring began yesterday, and yes I know its only February.

To me, the Fantasy Baseball Index is the best fantasy baseball magazine out there. I have bought every annual issue that has been published for over a decade, and I even save them, creating a Fantasy Baseball Index library. I believe the first issue I got was 1997 (that is 12 years for those of you counting at home). With the rise of the internet, fantasy magazines are outdated- its information is stale by the time spring training arrives. However, it is my first taste of fantasy for the season and signals that pitchers and catchers reporting is on the horizon. Was it just me, or did it feel a little bit warmer out yesterday...until it snowed this morning. Ok, so maybe it isn't spring yet, but it isn't too far off- I now have the 2009 Fantasy Baseball Index.