Yesterday, I was in the city and as Brian and I were on our way to have a quick cup of coffee, I saw this young girl I thought I recognized. She was standing in front of a hair styling place on 23rd Street and I was trying to figure out where I knew her from. As is akways the case in these situations, it took me a minute to realize I knew her from TV and which show I knew her from.

I’ve resisted writing about baseball although I have watched as the beat writers here in New York have tried to stir up all kinds of trouble. First, talking about the Yankees trading Soriano and Johnson for Schilling (what a horrible move that would be) and then with all the talk that the Mets should move Piazza and bring in A-Rod (never mind they have a great young shortstop in Reyes). It never ceases to amaze me what these guys will stir up.

Anyway, what follows is my Christmas list for my beloved Mets, I hope for all the Mets fans out there we get a few of these things in our stockings for next season.

The way I look at it, we need some pitching, an outfielder or two and a second baseman.

1. Don’t resign John Franco.

Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t! It’s a bad baseball and a bad money move that sentiment shouldn’t play any part in. As it is the Mets would only wind up using a roster spot for a guy who can no longer be their closer and they’ll over pay to boot. Don’t even get me started on how I haven’t been a big fan of Franco, Leiter or Alomar getting Wilpon’s ear last season and then watching Bobby Valentine get booted — we can see what a big difference a new manager made this season can’t we?

2. Put together a package with the Cardinals - Tom Glavine for Jim Edmonds.

QuesTec isn’t going away anytime soon. The Cardinals are looking for pitching and Edmonds has a longer contract than Glavine (I believe) which makes this deal very doable even though Glavine makes $3 mil more than Edmonds. The Mets get the center fielder they’ve needed since Lance Johnson got traded to Chicago and the Cards get the pitching they’re looking for this off-season.

3. Put together a deal for Edgardo Alfonzo.

Correct one of the biggest mistakes the Mets have made in the last few years. This one ranks up there on the Steve Phillips blunder list at the same level as letting John Olerud get to free agency, a mistake that saw the Mets play a third baseman at first for a few years and then trade for Mo Vaughn. Fonzie has always been a good clubhouse guy and can spell all the left side of the infield positions in a pinch giving you a player with some versatility. He can be a good teacher for Jose Reyes and can fill in at third when necessary. The Giants are looking to clear salary and it would be nice for once if the Mets could be the team getting the other trading partner to payoff a contract instead of the other way around. A few low level minor leaguers could probably do the trick. Alfonzo plays until one of the prospects is ready to take over and even then he’d be a good guy off the bench and a good clubhouse citizen.

4. Get Mark Redman! Florida has made no secret about Redman being on the market, they’re looking for pitching and the Mets have enough minor leaguers to dangle in front of Florida to make the deal.

5. Sign Raul Mondesi. You could pick up a strong defensive rightfielder and a decent bat for a song. Mondesi’s stock has fallen the last few years and there’s no way he’ll command the $12 mil he made last year. A three year deal for $9 or $10 mil would do the trick.

6. Sign Jose Mesa. Mesa actually has better numbers than Benitez had over the last few years and he could be one answer for a depleted bullpen.

7. Sign veteran a-list free agents for bench players. Guys like this would include Kenny Lofton, Robin Ventura as an example. The Yankees have been very successful during their run in the late 90’s by doing just that, it’s a smart money move, you give the kids some good examples and sign guys who can provide leadership but maybe shouldn’t be playing everyday at this point in their careers.

8. I’d like to see the Mets sign one of the big three. I’m talking about free agent pitchers on the market in this order of preference: Colon, Petite or Vasquez — I don’t think it will happen but it will shore up the rotation.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, we revisit the World’s Smallest Political Quiz.

Take it if you dare!

The Pentagon announced today it would be putting a new initiative before congress. It’s a new weapons system designed to help the United States armed forces in the war against terrorism. Known as the ADCDS, this weapons system will require $45 billion dollars in funding for research, development and deployment over the next six years.



Yes, the ACDCS is an anacronym for the Anti Donkey Cart Defense Shield and will help our troops deal with the threat of terrorist donkey carts throughout the world.

The U.S. has a Donkey Cart deficit and is far behind in the Donkey Cart arms race. This new brand of low tech weaponry will be a large part of the arsenal in the war against terrorism.

Mexico currently is the world leader in development of Donkey Cart technology and the U.S. will be working closely with its neighbor to the south in an attempt strengthen its Donkey Cart Weaponry and defense.

Think I’m kidding, click on the link above.

Today’s scary tidbit is just another step on the way to the Orwellian nightmare:

Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government. Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men’s lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado.

Don’t take my word for it, go to your local newstand and read a copy (for heaven’s sake don’t buy the damn thing!).

There was nothing in detail up on the website but I can’t imagine this not breaking in a big way soon.

Jesse Jackson explains what he finds so fascinating about Dolly Parton’s new album.



Actually, JJ is defending MJ but, I couldn’t resist.

Speaking of which — MJ that is, explain to me how someone goes from the photo from the other day and winds up looking like below:



Highlights of MJ’s career can be found here.

Last night I got the rare opportunity to see a Broadway show (thanks to the Big S). Anyway, it was a great play - I just can’t say enough good things about it. The play is named “Retreat from Moscow.” Three actors, sparse set but really well written. If you get a chance, it’s well worth seeing - definitely worth standing on TKTS line to get a deal.

Check out this review:

The best word to describe The Retreat from Moscow might well be "succinct." William Nicholson's new play at the Booth is succinctly written, succinctly (but superbly) acted, and succinctly designed. There's almost nothing about it that isn't concisely measured and well thought out, from the impact of a couple of well-placed laugh lines to the dispensing of an expected profundity or two.

The Wizard of Oz...

...was on TV tonight. I watched a bit of it and then I remembered about the whole thing about watching it while having Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this link for full instructions. I have to admit, the thought of doing it appealed to me — it’s a pretty wild movie in any event.

They just flashed this site on the TV and I couldn’t resist:

Looking for that special someone to share your life with? Been looking for love in all the wrong places? Worried that the special someone in your life is up to no good when you’re not around? Look no further.

Of course, you will probably wind up on a future episode of the Jerry Springer Show.

Hey look, it’s a woman in her underwear with wings!



Yeah, Victoria’s Secret makes nice lingerie (spoken as an appreciative observer not a wearer folks) but, can you say pretentious?

A life lived in the public gaze.



Do we really even need to talk about Michael Jackson...

Jackson Urged to Surrender on Warrant

In the press conference, the district attorney also stressed that the issuing of a warrant made the new case different from the 1993 probe. "There is a warrant outstanding and I can assure you that in a very short period of time there will be charges filed against Mr. Jackson, multiple counts," Sneddon said. This time, he added, there has been no civil case filed and none is expected, unlike 1993.

...I guess so since it’s the lead for all major news outlets today (and yesterday).

A friend called and commented on it. It made me remember getting an email from someone a few months back with an attached QuickTime movie that had pictures of Michael Jackson morphing into one and other through the years. It was sad and painful to watch.

Until someone shows a picture of the guy in flagrante delicto with a kid, it’s really all speculation (we are innocent until proven guilty in the court system, just not in the court of public opinion).

I’m not defending Jackson’s behavior and if he is guilty he should be rightfully punished but, at the same time what good is sending this guy to jail going to do?

There was no surprise when I heard the news.

The guy is definitely sick and if he didn’t have money, he probably wouldn’t have the access to children he has (the way things are going for him it sounds like he won’t have money for very much longer).

Also, the question I posed to my friend was this: under the circumstances, what parent in their right mind would even expose their child to Michael Jackson and even chance the possibility of something happening?

It’s interesting to note the family of the boy were seeking out a lawyer to sue Jackson — so, what is it? Expose your child to a potentially dangerous situation in the hopes of securing money? If I had a kid there’s no way I’d let them be around Jackson, much less “sleep over” the guys house. Isn’t it somewhat disingenuous to pretend there wasn’t the chance something like this could happen?

Anyway, he’s a freak (watching his bizarre transformation over the years) but, is all just very sad to watch someone who was so talented just self destruct (and in the process ruin the lives of children).

Watching his strange metamorphosis, I was reminded of
The Talking Heads song Seen and Not Seen:

He would see faces in movies, on T.V., in magazines, and in books... He thought that some of these faces might be right for him... And through the years, by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his mind... Or somewhere in the back of his mind... That he might, by force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal... The change would be very subtle... It might take ten years or so... Gradually his face would change its' shape... A more hooked nose... Wider, thinner lips... Beady eyes... A larger forehead.

He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other people... They had also molded their faced according to some ideal... Maybe they imagined that their new face would better suit their personality... Or maybe they imagined that their personality would be forced to change to fit the new appearance... This is why first impressions are often correct... Although some people might have made mistakes... They may have arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them... They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim, or momentary impulse... Some may have gotten half-way there, and then changed their minds.

He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. opened an exhibition today of eight finalist designs in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition at the Winter Garden.

Check out the site! All the designs have their good points and some of them are truly ingenuous and beautiful.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Microsoft fires worker over weblog Many people post work-related entries on personal blogs, but they don't expect to be terminated.

So, Michael Hanson has become a bit of a folk hero (to me and I’m sure many other bloggers). The guy made an innocuous posting which some suit saw and took exception to.

This is akin to killing a fly with an a-bomb.

Of course, in the unforgiving world of corporate politics where ethics are rarely heard of, just sitting down with someone and telling them they’ve transgressed and giving them a warning isn’t a possibility.

No, it’s off with their head!

Now, if you’re VP level or above, they probably do just that (sit you down and ask you to watch yourself in the future) but, worker bees don’t get that kind of consideration (especially not temp worker bees).

Just another thing that let’s you know the American worker is taking it on the chin.

I can’t speak to the whole thing as eloquently as the man himself could so, click on the links, read the article and read the man’s blog.

The day started like any other day; get up, dink around for a bit, bus into work, and start working through the stack of jobs. Just shy of an hour after I got in, my manager came in and asked me to step into his office when I had a chance. Sure, no biggie, and I headed over as soon as I finished the job I was setting up.

"Okay, here's the first question. Is this page," and here he turned his monitor towards me, letting me see my "Even Microsoft wants G5s" post from last Thursday, "hosted on any Microsoft computer? Or is it on your own?"

Do ethics really matter?

FORMER GREY GLOBAL EXEC SENTENCED TO 70 MONTHS Mitchell Mosallem Must Also Pay $247,000 Fine November 13, 2003 By Lisa Sanders NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — A federal court judge today sentenced former Grey Global Group executive Mitchell Mosallem to 70 months in prison...

So, back in the early to mid 90’s I had a few year stint at Grey Advertising.

Round about the middle of ’96, I was downsized out during a shakeup of the department I worked in. The months leading up to my departure were hectic to say the least. Grey was pitching for quite a bit of business as the industry was undergoing dramatic change.

The agency was still structured along the lines of old modes of doing business. The days of Darren Stevens and Larry Tate were long gone and with them the incredible markup that large agencies enjoyed were disappearing with the advent of the desktop publishing revolution. It wasn’t easy to bury costs and pass the markup along to the client anymore.

The few years I was at Grey we had had a particularly good run going something like 14 out of 16 on major pitches (things like Sprint, House of Seagram, Brown and Williamson just to name a few). Every one of those pitches came through my department. While we weren’t the only reason the agency was successful in their endeavors, there’s no question if the people in the studio hadn’t been good at their jobs, Grey wouldn’t have had such a high success rate, particularly when the studio was called upon more often than not to diffuse a disaster in the making.

One of the reasons I was brought in and one of the “unwritten” responsibilities of my job was speccing out equipment for our department, instituting standards and practices for workflow, maintaining the equipment and training the staff (previously board, read that as paste-up people) in the use of the computer.

My direct boss was a guy named Peter Abbey. Peter was a likable guy, he was fair with people and while he wouldn’t take a bullet for any of his underlings, he wouldn’t throw someone under the wheels of the train either.

Peter had been with the agency for a little over 25 years (at that point) having worked his way up in the department from being the guy who mounted ads for people to the manager of the department. His longevity was due in large part to being a company guy and knowing better than to make waves. He had his own corner of the agency and did his best to keep it isolated from a lot of the intrigue going on in other departments.

Try as he might though, the guy who he answered to was a very political beast and was determined to stick his nose into every cranny he could exploit. Consequently, there were lots of “office politics” and even if you wanted to, you couldn’t easily escape them.

Now, I don’t like that crap... never have.

I’m not a political animal and don’t see much good in glad-handing some incompetent in the cause of furthering my own ends. It doesn’t seem right and it’s an affront to my sensibilities. I don’t think it’s something that’s good for a business either. So, it’s no surprise when I one day found myself in the office of my bosses’ boss having a meeting about equipment requisitions and was pointedly told I should bypass Peter and come directly to the convicted felon above it didn’t rub me the right way. It struck me as something that was both smarmy and unethical so, two months later when I got downsized I can’t say I was totally surprised.

Other people I liked working with were forced out too, some people more willing to “play ball” were moved in (the better to keep an eye on Peter) and that was that.

I still had a few friends at Grey and would always marvel at the continued intrigue and be thankful and relieved I was no longer party to it. I can’t say I’ve ever done worse since my days at Grey and I’m thankful for that. Considering what wound up happening in the ensuing years (this investigation has been going on for some time now), I can safely say I’m happy with the decisions I made.

As the friend and former co-worker who emailed the news to me noted, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Friday was my whirlwind social day, after being a hermit for the better part of the week, I had a jam packed day.

First there was lunch with my sensei.

I’ve never been particularly close to sensei M (Madame M to the uninitiated), taking a more voyeuristic approach in getting to know her by reading her blog (the inspiration for my own).

Still, the last two times I’ve seen her, I’ve come away realizing how much I enjoy her company. Lunch was mainly an exercise in conversation while walking among the windy (and chilly) streets before and after waiting on a long soup line at the infamous Soup Nazi’s stand. Even I was surprised by how long the line was but, the soup was good and so was the conversation.

Madame M toils away at one of my previous places of employment and of course it was one of the subjects that our chat touched on. It’s always interesting to get someone else’s take on a situation, if only to find out how their experience differs or is similar to your own.

I got a chance to briefly visit my former haunts.

I was struck at how odd it always is to revisit the places one has worked. It is at once a both familiar and alien experience. Familiar in the surroundings and alien in the changes that have occurred since you’ve been there. There’s also this weird feeling of being something of an outsider (or maybe pariah) now that you’re no longer there.

You’ve left!

You’re no longer part of the drama of the everyday existence of the workplace! Because, of course, work is so, so important.

It’s how we define ourselves today. (typing never accurately conveys the dripping sarcasm of the statement)

I have to laugh at it. I walked into the place and truth be told, wasn’t really affected one way or the other, no sadness, no great joy either. It was just interesting watching the worker ants toil away until the next flood comes and washes everything away - time is good in that it gives you perspective.

I realized also, I’m not fond of the stupidity and desperation of the workplace. The jockeying that goes on or the struggle for power.

Fortunately, I get the sense Sensei M is not so fond of it either and that’s a comforting thing to be sure.

Afterward, I got a chance to finally see Kill Bill.

Another thing I am thankful for in regard to my current situation is that I can indulge myself by taking in an afternoon film with a friend. The movie was pretty good - I wouldn’t say it was overwhelming (it actually was kind of all over the place in terms of story structure) but, there was still a lot of interesting things going on.

I really like the opening in the House of Blue Leaves, the music is almost enough to make me check out the soundtrack album. I also was impressed with some of the choices Quentin Tarantino made shooting the sequence in black and white or blue to downplay the goriness.

The truth is though, Tarantino’s masterpiece was Pulp Fiction and he may never make another movie that matches it. Watching Kill Bill made me think of Spike Lee’s 25th Hour starring Ed Norton which didn’t get the promotion but was one of the most beautifully shot movies I’ve seen this year (and worth checking out).

After the movie and coffee it was out with Irene for a wedding rehearsal dinner with friends of hers. Really nice people and the groom was another mad e-bayer, lots to chat about.

Today the power went out.

We lost electricity for about four hours. There were a couple of “pops” this morning where the power would intermittently blink out (for a few seconds or a few minutes). Finally around 11:30, it just gave up the ghost and everything went blink.

It’s not a big deal in the summer when it happens but, in the winter it means losing heat which is never fun. Living out in the ’burbs, you get used to things like losing power on a semi-regular basis. We have bad weather (rain usually) and a tree or line will go down and that’s it, you lose power.

Today, I was working on the computer when it happened but, since I was working on the laptop, I didn’t experience the sudden catastrophic loss of work that normally accompanies the power outage event. It did manage to put a monkey wrench in my plans for the day though.

I’ve been playing hermit lately, to use the dumbass Godfather analogy - going to the mattresses, so to speak. It’s the combination of not having a lot of cash (since I’m waiting to be paid) and not wanting to spend anything. I can be amazingly frugal by locking myself in the house. The days go by with amazing speed anyway and believe me there’s an abundance of things for me to do around here.

I’ve spent a lot of time avoiding dealing with certain things (cleaning up, sorting out papers, throwing stuff out) and when I lock myself in what a friend once referred to as “PJ’s Fortress of Solitude” the piles slowly get smaller and things get crossed off the big to do list.

Right now, I’m doing my best to make the house less of a haven for dust that it has managed to become — it doesn’t bother me so much but if your susceptible to allergies don’t ever visit. Also, the incredible volume of paper I’ve managed to avoid confronts me daily forcing me to make inroads to diminishing it’s size.

Trips into the city take about 2 hours each way door to door (never mind train fare and parking) so, if you’re one of those many people I’ve put off over the last week or so, please don’t be offended. Poverty makes me into a recluse.

Also today, I got off my lazy ass and finished working on the GIF logo for my ebay auctions. I’m pretty pleased with it although I know I have to make the damn thing smaller (file size wise that is). Part of the whole clearing out the house means making money off the electronic flea market that is ebay. I’ve done it before and done pretty well, I just want it to be a little bit less labor intensive than it’s been in the past.

I like reading tabloids as opposed to broadsheets.

In New York, it means I prefer the Post or Daily News over the Times or the Wall Street Journal. I like the Times on Sunday and the Journal has proved to be a good read any day I’ve picked it up but, I always shied towards the tabloids.

The Post has always seemed to have the better sports section and I found over the years I liked the metro coverage and editorial side of the News (and it has a good slew of comics which I’m basically a sucker for).

Newspapers are great, I’ve worked at a few throughout my life and I have to say that there was always something pleasing about working at a newspaper. You just felt a lot more “plugged in” because of the nature of the job and newspapers also have a great, broad mix of people from the spectrum of economic and ethnic backgrounds.

Lately though, I find there’s little that holds my interest in either the News or the Post. I don’t know if it’s entirely the papers fault though. A lot of popular media today focuses on the “story of the moment.” In many cases this could be a entertainment based non-feature (think Ben and J-Lo, Brittany or the insipid Paris Hilton) which is run to generate readers. It seems though, these features are run at the expense of hard news or investigative reports.

I like to read the paper every day (currently the Post is delivered daily but, it isn’t much of a read - unless of course you’re in kindergarten) — I get the feeling though it may wind up being a habit that falls by the wayside as I seek out better sources of news.

The big news is Planetary and Wildcats came out today! On top of the new that Global Frequency is supposed to have been optioned by Mark Burnett for the WB.

Here’s a little tidbit for you from the current Popular Mechanics on the August Blackout and the possibility of it having been a terrorist attack:

According to Charles E. Noble, head of Information Security for ISO New England, a NERC member that operates transmission lines, some sort of probing attack may have occurred during the appearance of the so-called "SQL Slammer Worm" that disrupted many Internet services. It also affected two unnamed utilities. "Both entities lost their ability to execute bulk electric system control from their primary control centers for several hours," Noble says.

My catalogs are done and I’m waiting on checks so, I can now actually kick back for a little bit and start writing again... you have been warned.