These Days: Tuesday, January 5th, 2016
Perhaps if they gave him a defense he could use?
These Days
These Days: Saturday, September 19th, 2015
It is not often I agree with Trump about anything, but I agreed with him about Syria: let Assad and ISIS fight it out and wait till the dust settles before you pick a side. Since nothings works for the Yanks, why not leave em to it? It is as though the US forgot what Russia learnt in their own excursions into Afghanistan: this shit will bankrupt you. Enough of wars, since you aren’t really on any side, let Russia go bankrupt for awhile.
These Days: Friday, September 18th, 2015
People claim this is an important series, Mets Vs Yankees, but my friend Ben Buchwald claims otherwise. The Mets have the division sown up and home field advantage isn’t worth wearing out their players, and the Yanks have Wild card in pocket and don’t stand much of a chance of taking the division. So fun? Perhaps. Important? Not so fast.
These Days: Thursday, September 17th, 2015
Cablevision: The worst run cable company, in a market that includes Time Warner, has been sold by the dreaded Dolan family to European telecom giant Altice is for $17.7 billion. Now if we can just convince them to buy the Knicks while they’re at it. But no. The fat pudgy face of James Dolan, a man so hated in this town he should run for President.
These Days: Wednesday, September 16th, 2015
P. Diddy is a thieving bastard? That’s a shocker. According to Danity Kane ex-member Audrey O’Day “We have two platinum albums, let alone grossed over $1millon on Christina Aguilera’s Back To Basics tour while opening for her, and we came off that tour $15,000 in debt.” Quite how this is possible, we will have to wait to find out. Quite how he managed to siphon off everything I have no idea, but I bet it is a lot more interesting than Diddy’s career as a rapper
These Days: Tuesday, September 15th, 2015
I upgraded a couple of weeks and this sleep, smart operating system is the best in the business. Much better than the baffling 8.0 or luddite 7.0, it is a helluva easy system, a pleasure to negotiate and simple as 1.2.3. I have never had a Mac but I would be shocked if it is as good as this at getting you where you want to go. A personal favorite is the “Task View”. A great way to use your computer and if you have 8.0 the upgrade is free.
These Days: Saturday, September 12th, 2015
“A group of ten patrol officers on the nightwatch conducts end-of-shift get-togethers they euphemistically call “choir practices” (possibly to hide their true nature from superiors but actually a sardonic reference). These “choir practices” almost always involve heavy drinking, complaints about their superior officers, and war stories (and, occasionally, group sex with a pair of lusty, overweight barmaids). They hold the choir practices in MacArthur Park because it is in another division’s territory and “one does not shit in one’s own nest.”
These Days: Friday, September 11th, 2015
went to see Michael Jackson with a girl named Christina at MSG the night before (with Whitney Houston! and Marlon Brando!) and we’d been out all night (Id taken the next day off work), we were at a bar in Queens when we saw it on the news, I took the last running train back to the city as my niece Louba was at work and I wanted to get her home safely… crossing 5th ave I watched WTC topple. Picked up Louba and no way out of the city we went on a pub crawl…
These Days: Thursday, September 10th, 2015
Remember Sha Na Na? Sure you do, the old school rock and roll cover band who gave a spark of continuity to the Woodstock generation back in 1968. Dennis Greene was the black guy and a real talent, who appeared with the band in both Grease and Happy Days, before turning his back on the biz and becoming a Professor of Law (Harvard Grad, no less). Sadly he died earlier this week at the age of 66.
These Days: Wednesday, September 9th, 2015
Apocalypse Now: My cousin Hala called me from Damascus to tell me the end of the world is nearing, with a sandstorm that has Egypt, Syria, Israel, and Lebanon. “The sky is red”, she told me. It is hard to believe they could hit Damascus with anything more but there you go.
These Days: Tuesday, September 8th, 2015
People think it is the end of warm weather and while that is certainly a part of the summer season, more important is children being away from school for two months . Look at two months this way: it is something like 0.25% of my life and 2% of a ten year olds. Translation, summer last forever for children but is a blip on ours and since many of us (me) are working stiffs, we more observe than participate in summer. But we observe well.
These Days: Sunday, September 6th, 2015
Is this the year New York returns to grace after only the Rangers did any dame last year? It could be both the Mets and the Yanks get past the first round of the playoffs, maybe, just maybe we will be shocked by the Jets and the Giants, and finally I predict the Knicks have to improve over last year, But forget all that, the New York Liberty are in the playoffs!!! Isiah Thomas, possibly the most hated man in MSG history not named Dolan, baffles New York yet again.
These Days: Saturday, August 5th, 2015
In sports, like rock and roll and unlike the blues, it gets late early, and so off goes Rafael Nadal who seemed like a man who could never lose at the US Open home early “3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 by 32nd-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday night”. It just happens and happens and it is one of the things about watching sports because unlike rock and roll, when you can’t do it any more you get fired.
These Days: Friday, September 4th, 2015
The plagiaristic born Richard,who stole off blues for decades with impunity, had the audacity to say: “Nobody steals from the Stones”. Yeah, I mean, the gall. Look, have you heard his new stuff: it is absolutely atrocious. The man can not sing a note. Shut up and sit down.
These Days: Thursday, June 3rd, 2015
Sure, I hate Tom Brady. Maybe I wouldn’t if he wasn’t the best QB in the business, and a smug dick to boot, but he is and he is and all he does his win. Last year, for instance. But when you’re a winner there is no need to be a cheater and doesn’t anybody believe for an instant the Patriots didn’t spy on other teams and steal their signals? And does anydody in the world believe Tom “Nobody touches my balls” Brady? Well, actually Judge Richard M. Berman just ruled that the NFL and bumbling dullard Roger Goodell had zero proof Brady had anything to do with the Deflategate and rescinded his four game suspension.
These Days: Thursday, August 31st, 2015
The great neurologist and author Oliver Sacks died yesterday at the age of 82. You may remember him from “Awakenings”, which was made into the popular Robin Williams movie in 1990. Or “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, stories of neurological disorders so strange and devastating, it made an atheist out of Sacks and for good reason: if your entirely personality can change due to a blow on the head, what exactly is your personality?
These Days: Saturday, August 29th, 2015
I once had my fortune told, I was maybe 15 years old, not much of it was happy, and every thing she said came true. Of course, as CG Jung was mentioned, if 100 billion people have lived, the fact that one has dreams that come true isn’t foresight, it is blind luck.
These Days: Friday, August 28th, 2015
Is there anywhere New York feels comfortable with topless women? We don’t want them breastfeeding in parks, we closed down all those topless clubs in Time’s Square back in the 1990s. and now we are back to chasing them from Times Square? Lemme tell ya, anywhere a 14 year old boy can see bare tit for twenty bucks is a good place as far as I’m considered. Hell, screw buying records, I’d have spent my last dime there when I was a teen.
These Days: Thursday, August 27th, 2015
If I had the time and money, y’ll know where I would be tonight? At the Beacon Theatre screaming for Fifth Harmony, the second year third place X Factor harmony band who are like One Direction if One Direction sang pop r&b, were female and there were five em so, yeah, not really BUT look at it this way: they have two good songs, the hit “Worth It” plus the current single “I’m In Love With a Monster”
These Days: Wednesday, August 21st, 2015
I wonder if the Authorities have them dead to rights, at first glance I can’t see what rentboy is doing that backpages isn’t, and they’ve been trying to close down backpages for years to small avail. rentboy.com has been shut down. so you’re on your own tonight.
These Days: Tuesday, August 25th, 2015
The Time Of Year: Late August is nostalgia in the form of date, school is back or coming back, working is picking up speed, vacations have ended, and the city has one grows a little older and could look back to an earlier time, just yesterday. To quote Lewis Carroll: “Dreaming as the days go by,dreaming as the summers die”
These Days: Sunday, August 23rd, 2015
August 23rd was designated European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism back in 2008/2009.It is known as Black Ribbon Day and was chosen because it coincides with the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, a non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union.
These Days: Friday, August 21st, 2015
We have a homeless problem because we live in a free society where we can’t simply shovel off people’s rights because they have no money. For all the ways the homeless problem is a major pain on the neck. there is one way it isn’t: it keeps us honest by forcing us to see what happens at the lowest rungs of society. Who has moved these people? Who has the right to?
These Days: Thursday, August 20th, 2015
Now we have found Nemo we are off to find the giddy and wonderful Dory. “As USA Today described, one scene showed Marlin (Nemo’s dad) telling Dory he knows a guy who can help her find her parents; in another scene, Dory interacts with Hank, who tries to convince her to give him the tag that’s on her fin.”. It will be released June 16, 2016 and I wish they’d hurry up.
These Days: Wednesday, August 19th, 2015
With Taylor Swift on my mind this morning, I’ve been listening to her 1989 live boot and I hadn’t realized at the time but the woman has gotten to the point where she simply talks too much. Being taught life lessons by Taylor Swift is the moral equivalent of learning about humility from Donald Trump. Having said that, it is Wednesday and I am ready for another set of new recordings.
These Days: Tuesday, August 18th, 2015
Let’s hear it for Florida, who recently tried a 16 year old as an adult for murdering his mother and gave him 28 years in prison. OK, but how comes this sixteen year old is an adult when he is a murderer and a child when he is 17 years old and having sex with Jennifer Fichter (22 years in prison folks), oh, and a dead hoodlum in a hoodie when he meets the dangerously deranged George Zimmerman. George, the only one of the three who should absolutely be in prison, just painted a Confederate Flag in support of a Gun Shop which won’t serve Muslims. Wait a second, Zimmerman can still legally buy guns? Forget it, it’s Florida.
These Days: Sunday, August 16th, 2015
After getting swept by the Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium last weekend, they have beaten em twice in a row in Toronto, are 2 1/2 games in first and need want more to return the favour. And then they go head to head seven more times before the end of the season. Meanwhile, the Mets just lost in 14 innings but both teams are making for a thrilling year of baseball. Meanwhile, the Jets are still the Jets and the Giants are still the Giants FYI
These Days: Saturday, August 15th, 2015
I am against the death penalty because a) only the poor will die, b) I don’t trust the legal system as far as I can throw it, c) the reason for legal punishment is prevention and rehabilitation. However, news that the repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut means that Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes won’t get it is well
These Days: Friday, August 14th, 2015
How shocking, Sesame Street is going to a pay to view network, HBO and I realize they thing well now they can produce 36 episodes a season instead of the skimpy 18 PBS can afford to pay em. That’s the good news (to a degree, there is the question of quality control) , now here is the bad news: Sesame Street taught generation after generation, regardless of race or class, and that is now over. Congratulations, you nitwits.
These Days: Thursday, August 13th, 2015
The ceiling collapsed at Minneapolis’ legendary First Avenue Club during a performance of Canadian Hard Rock band Theory Of A Dead Man, “a 30-foot by 30-foot section of the ceiling fell in several pieces around 10 p.m. during the performance” leaving six people injured.
These Days: Wednesday, August 12th, 2015
“Retired Army Spc. Tyler A. Jeffries offered up a heartfelt proposal — and ringbox — to Lauren Lilly, who said “Yes!” as former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, along with former First Lady Barbara Bush, looked on. Jeffries, from Florida, lost both legs to an IED in October 2012.” I am sure everything was very heartfelt, and it is a moving story of true love,. HOWEVER, what if Lily really didn’t want to marry him?
These Days: Tuesday, August 11th, 2015
Frank Gilford died yesterday. A utility player in every single meaning of the word, not least, his entire twelve year football career as a Giant culminating in 1956 when he lead the team to the NFL Championship. Put it this way: he went to the pro bowl eight times in THREE different positions: defensive back, running back, and wide receiver. Gifford was 84.
These Days: Sunday, AUgust 9th, 2015
The defense said Holmes would plead guilty two years ago in return for life imprisonment, so in effect the prosecution wasted two years, not to mention money and most importantly, heartbreak. A terrible verdict however it has been a week for people decisions based upon conscious.
These Days: Saturday, August 8th, 2015
Yesterday, the two most important albums were not on Spotify, Iris DeMent wasn’t streaming anywhere and Dre was on Apple Play. I am still getting a real handle on both of them but while DeMent deepens but the new Dre? -the first day, just the thrill of the new made it sound awesome, today? eh… it is like getting drunk, sleeping with a cute guy, and waking up next to Steve Tyler.
These Days: Friday, August 7th, 2015
With all the will in the world, I find it impossible to take the Republican candidates for the Presidency very seriously. They are all like the supervillains in Marvel Comics. And I would really like to, I would like an alternative, a fiscal conservative libertarian. If they could find one, people might actually listen. Instead they have Ted Cruz…
These Days: Wednesday, August 6th, 2015
Thursday is death day for recorded music, unless you are in the market for Macklemore’s lachrymose “Growing Up” -a stomach churning little pop smarm for his poor baby girl. The only way this song matters to the kid is if Macklemore dies in a plane crash before she’s six months old. Yeah, I am listening to Street Hassle for no good reason except somebody mentioned Lou the other day and I thought, you know, his name doesn’t show up in conversation as much as it use to.
These Days: Wednesday, August 5th, 2015
Live: My good friend (and once upon a time rock nyc scribe) Marie Lynn regarding me going to see the boy band at Metlife in a couple of hours: “Somewhere in New York City, a little girl is crying her heart out because you took her ticket to One Direction
These Days: Tuesday, August 4th, 2015
No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani and Bush’s lead singer Gavin Rossdale called it a marriage and filed for divorce in Los Angeles. They’ve been together for 20 years and married 13 of them, they have three sons Kingston Rossdale, 9, Zuma Rossdale, 6, and Apollo Rossdale, 17 months. Apparently Gwen will be providing spousal support and they will be sharing custody. That’s a real shame.
These Days: Sunday, August 1st, 2015
When I saw Morrissey at Radio City, he included her in the videos he used to open the show. If you want to give Cilla a listen, a sort of Dionne Warwick in a UK 60s scene singer for David-Bacharach type songs, try “You’re My World” and “Anyone Who Had a Heart.” She died yesterday at the age of 72.
These Days: Saturday, August 1st, 2015
Warren Beatty was a better actor and a better director and had more famous skirt but Leo DiCaprio owns the swimsuit model field, apparently getting on the cover of SI includes a date with Leo. Also: Leo is 40 years old, so in theory he could keep on nailing supermodels, this year’s model is the ridiculously attractive 25 year Kelly Rohrbach, for another ten years and still spend half his life a married man (like Warren).
These Days: Friday, July 31st, 2015
Rolling Stone: So, while I haven’t seen his books, I would sure guess that Jann Wenner is in some trouble at Rolling Stone. Sure the Will Dana quitting had to do with a serious editing lapse of judgment, that wasn’t true of David Fricke (has he written anything recently? I don’t think so) and absolutely the downsizing of movie critic Peter Travers from Senior Editor to contributing writer. Apparently this one got nasty with Travers furious at Jann pinching his pocket. Of course, it’s a buyers market in the writing world and apparently somebody has awaken the sleeping skinflint.
These Days: Thursday, July 30th, 2015
So, about this lion deal. Here are a coupla thoughts. I agree with the vegans that an omnivore has some nerve taking the moral umbrage when it comes to mass murderer the dentist -the lion may look worse but many many many many more animals are slaughtered to feed us. However, that notwithstanding, surely any animal rights activism is better than none if you care so much about animals? Who do the morally outraged vegans think they are helping? I mean, besides their smug love of self, of course?
These Days: Sunday, July 26th, 2015
Heather Salines, who slept with her daughter’s 15 year old boyfriend, must be out of her mind. 15, well it depends on the boy, but 15 is young (Heather: “When I looked at him, he did not act like a 15-year-old. He acted like a grown man.”) and your teen daughters boyfriend? That is very disturbing. You are destroying a central relationship.
These Days: Saturday, June 25th, 2015
Apparently people don’t get out much in LA -not one but two riots occurred as fans tried to get into a free Future concert. Future?? “Reports said some 700 fans lined up outside the club, which has a capacity of 500, with the hopes of nabbing a wristband for free admittance into the show. Scores of fans spilled out into the street and blocked traffic, prompting L.A. sheriff’s to shut down a portion of the Sunset Strip at around 3 p.m. They moved it to the House Of Blues, and that was also cancelled. Wait a second… DS2 Future???
These Days: Friday, July 24th, 2015
He got fired for a private conversation made public by thieves. For God’s sake, “I am a racist up to a point” is the truest thing a white man has said about black America in decades. Get a goddam grip, innocent black women are getting jailed for failing to indicate they are changing lanes and ending up dead (musta done it herself, apparently -there is a lot of it going around) and you wonder if white America is ‘racist up to a point”? Let me ask you this: if Hulk Hogan thought it, and there was a machine that could read his mind, would he be fired as well? The guy isn’t running for President, he is a wrestler for God’s sake. If Hulk Hogan hates black people, it is nobodies business as long as he doesn’t make racist comments in public and he does nothing whatsoever about it.
These Days: Thursday, July 23rd, 2015
Sandra Bland died in a jail cell and why? because of changing lanes without using her indicator. According to Reuters: “Bland was pulled over on July 10 near Prairie View, Texas, northwest of Houston, for failing to signal a lane change. After the incident escalated into an altercation between her and the trooper, Bland was taken into custody and charged with assaulting an officer. She was found hanging in her jail cell on July 13 with a plastic trash bag around her neck.” There is something so dulling about this, it is like “here we go again”.
These Days: Sunday, July 19th, 2015
When Mary Rudzis was a wee babes in arm we covered the Warped tour religiously, and before she was born, when it was at Randall’s Island on a Saturday afternoon, I’d visit it myself every year. Now, the kid is too old and it is at PNC Banks Art Center -so, you know.Plus, Kosha Dilz is the real deal for sure, the trilingual rapper rocker is a goodie but… he hasn’t released a new album in two years.
These Days: Saturday, July 18th, 2015
Between novels, I am quietly circling “Go Set A Watchman” -all I’m hearing is making me undecided whether I can stomach a racist Atticus Finch or why I would want to. Reading it must be like meeting a close friend from High School on Facebook and discovering he is now the chairman of the local chapter of the NRA.
These Days: Friday, February 17th, 2015
YES!!! A new week and after the disastrous previous week, it is good to have a new set of downs and lots and lots of good ones -White Reaper, Sly And The Family Stone, Miles Davis, Future, Wilco…. as Tame Impala would say: let it be happy.
These Days: Thursday, July 6th, 2015
With a rebel yell they went… a contingent of Southerners held their much hated flag high above their heads when President Obama visited Oklahoma City. And there, my friends, you see freedom of speech in precise action.