a few weeks ago i went to my 20 year high school reunion. i would have posted earlier but i blinked and a few weeks passed. just like i blinked and it was 20 years.

this time passing quickly is mostly a good thing….i feel the richness and fullness of life….which makes time just fly. recently, chris rock joked that when you have(a good life)time passes quicker…when you have(a crappy life), time just crawls and you wind up playing the time game at work….begging for time to move. so time blowing by…..its a double edged blessing.

going to reunions can be a mind game…will anyone remember you? will you see people that you want to see? will it be a waste of money for a drink and some finger food? there are a lot of fears running through your head. especially after my 10 year reunion where there were a few folks i was excited to see but inexplicably did not recognize me. what a nightmare!

i wonder what mental obstacles stopped some of my classmates from coming.

i ate those fears and went with anticipation of seeing people especially people that i may not have seen in 20 years…..not since the 80′s!

most of the people i connected with were from this strange civic education program that i was part of at bronx science. it was a social experiment envisioned by lawrence kohlberg of moral development theory fame. the community had mixed results especially the day we learned that dr. kohlberg drowned himself but the upside were these deeper relationships because of the time spent together. my closer friends during my high school years came from c.e.p……many who i had hoped to see. no luck with the majority of those but i did connect with a few i saw from the 10 year and one dear friend from 20 years ago.

i think about 200 of my peers showed up…which is about 20%. that’s right, 20%…the rumor is that because we were the 50th anniversary class, they let in more students that year pushing the class from the usual 800 to the astounding 1000. in fact, when i was in college i met another student from nyc.  i then found out that she also graduated from my high school.  the same year i graduated! 1988! we were from the same school and the same year…and never met each other!

hoping to see some of my friends from the missing 800 at the 25, 30, 35 and 40 year reunions. 45 and 50 will likely be a crapshoot….just hoping to make it to those!

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or go eat. they are equally surprised that we do not frequent those places or want to go eat there. no. i do not want to eat at ruby tuesdays , bennigans or tgifridays in times square. then they ask where we go……so here are the places we like…not the best or the cheapest or whatever category….just where we go and go on a regular basis:

another two current obsessions of mine in the city….vendor food and jerk chicken. i just love me some vendor food. and i love me some jerk chicken.

the concept of vendor food or street food just appeals to my sensibilities. the underdog nature. the entrepreneurial spirit. the love of food exhibited by their owners. the guerrilla mentality. cheap, cheap, cheap.

in nyc, there is a vendor food culture complete with awards and cult followings. many people will frequent carts near their work place because they have no choice. but there are a few carts that feature artists who’s medium is food. their work is beloved and people will make the trip to feed their cravings.

so my search for good jerk chicken in the city led me to this place….with a following of their own. the major complaint of this place is that it is slow….to which its supporters will say…that’s what makes them authentic! they are on island time! more cynical fans add that the boys in the truck probably smoke it up after hours to account for the delays in service. and occasional glazed looks.

as mentioned already, what’s cool about street food is that it is usually marketably cheaper than restaurants housed in a (more)permanent structure. so if you can find a place that also serves a killer meal, it’s a thrill to find in the city. its a treasure hunt resulting in a prize.

the reviews of this place boasted of the flavor of the meat. they are right on. the smoke and heat of jerk seasonings goes throughout the meat. my mouth is on fire and loving it. the flavor is rich and authentic. the cabbage and rice are serviceable…not great but not bad either…but with the sauce…anything with that sauce is magic! but clearly the meats are the main attraction here. a criticism of the chicken maybe that it is not as tender as offerings from a restaurant kitchen. but then these are the wide margins we allow for street food.

i got the large which was way too much food. the next time i got the small and was still stuffed.

here’s my boy, p-eater ong salivating.  we took the food down to bryant park and had a jolly good time. i can see this being a good sabbath ritual. wake up. wash up. or maybe not. then head down to the dutchy for some jerk chicken. back home for a good food coma nap.

my first two predictions were not that hard……i started easy….but i still called them…saw them coming awhile back and glad i published them before they happened.

10) sarah palin will avoid any more interviews

(….but she is doing snl! very cool! )

sarah palin has not given any more interviews and probably will not in light of the katie couric stuff. that makes me nervous…a vp who cannot answer questions. reminds me of the crazy bush conference that oliver stone recreated currently showing on tv in promotion of w. i heard that press conference on the radio as it was happening and was stunned by it.

9) colin powell will endorse obama

and this sunday on meet the press:

Colin Powell endorses Obama

(CNN) — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat’s “ability to inspire” and the “inclusive nature of his campaign.”

“He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure,” Powell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well,” Powell said.

Powell, a retired U.S. general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself.

Powell said he questioned Sen. John McCain’s judgment in picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate because he doesn’t think she is ready to be president.

He also said he was disappointed with some of McCain’s campaign tactics, such as bringing up Obama’s ties to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

Powell served as secretary of state under President Bush from 2001 to 2005.

The notion of a Powell endorsement has been rumored for several months.

On August 13, Powell’s office denied a report on Fox by commentator Bill Kristol that Powell had decided to publicly back Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

Several sources said at the time that Powell had not made a decision about a possible endorsement.

“As always, he is holding his cards close and waiting for more information,” one adviser told CNN’s John King in August.

Powell himself brushed off queries on any potential presidential nod but told ABC News on August 13 that he would not be going to Denver, Colorado, for the convention.

“I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol’s musings,” he said. “I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear.”

In February, Powell told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he was weighing an endorsement of a Democratic or independent candidate.

“I am keeping my options open at the moment,” Powell said.

“I have voted for members of both parties in the course of my adult life. And as I said earlier, I will vote for the candidate I think can do the best job for America, whether that candidate is a Republican, a Democrat or an independent,” he added.

Powell has offered praise for Obama, calling him an “exciting person on the political stage.”

“He has energized a lot of people in America,” said Powell, who briefly weighed his own run for the White House in the mid-1990s. “He has energized a lot of people around the world. And so I think he is worth listening to and seeing what he stands for.”

Powell’s adviser has said that “he likes and admires John McCain, and that would be a factor in anything he does if he decides to get more involved.”

Another source close to Powell said he has known the Republican nominee for more than three decades “and likes him and is looking for a reason to vote for him. He hasn’t found it yet.”

The former general, who has largely steered clear of politics since leaving the Bush administration, noted that the next president will need to work to restore America’s standing in the world.

Powell gave the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in support of George W. Bush in 2000.

“I will ultimately vote for the person I believe brings to the American people the kind of vision the American people want to see for the next four years,” he said. “A vision that reaches out to the rest of the world, that starts to restore confidence in America, that starts to restore favorable ratings to America. Frankly, we’ve lost a lot in recent years.”

Powell’s adviser also said at the time that the vice presidential picks for both candidates would be a major factor in his decision, both for the quality of each man’s running mate and for what sort of “signal that choice sends about the character and judgment of the candidate.”

He also said that a Powell decision to back Obama would not be a surprise.

duh!journal scours the earth for dumb behavior….some low brow…some high minded…all duh!

a concussion is a brain bruise. you have too many of them and you start blanking out and then you start blacking out and then you lose brain functions….and then death.

so this player for the denver broncos has had so many of them….he can’t remember how many….when asked for specifics, he said either 8 or 10.

should he keep playing? duh!but then again……

from the denver post:

Stokley has concussion “8 or 10″

Hey, guys. Easy with the head butts next time.

Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley suffered a concussion Sunday after he took three sets of blows to the head. The first was after he made his first catch for 4 yards on the Broncos’ opening series.

On the next play, Stokley caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler and took some more cranial abuse.

“On the touchdown, I got head-butted a few times from teammates,” Stokley said. “So that didn’t help.”

Stokley left for good early in the second quarter. He had just made a 14-yard reception and was touched down by Jacksonville safety Brian Williams. Stokley got up, started walking to the sideline — and collapsed to his knees.

“I kind of lost my equilibrium,” he said.

Stokley got up and returned to the sideline but didn’t return to play and still was foggy Monday. If it was his first concussion, Stokley would have a good chance of playing in the Broncos’ next game Monday night at New England. But as far as Stokley can recall, it was concussion No. 8 or 10. His playing status for the Patriots will be, at best, questionable.

“I don’t want to be a liability out there,” he said. “And I don’t want to be a vegetable when I’m 50. But if there’s any way possible, I’ll be out there playing.”

Stokley suffered a concussion last year in Game 5 against San Diego, but he didn’t miss playing time because there was a bye the next week. He said he has suffered three major concussions, the first playing for Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette).

“But back then, I got knocked out and couldn’t remember the score at halftime and what was going on, but they just threw you back in there in the second half and you played,” Stokley said. “Times have changed, thank goodness, for the better.”

The NFL collectively started taking concussion injuries much more seriously during the 2006 season. Broncos starting left guard Ben Hamilton missed all of last season with a concussion. The Broncos announced during the game Sunday that Stokley’s return was “probable,” but that may have been gamesmanship — the receiver watched the rest of the game from the sideline with a parka hood pulled over his head.

“Every team has the same protocol now dealing with concussions,” Stokley said. “It’s a good thing, because if it wasn’t for that, guys would just go back in and play.”

********

dude, you seem like a nice guy. please retire so you can make it to 50. and not be vegged out after that.

from newsarama:

The final fate of the survivors of the 12 Colonies is a little bit closer. According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, the final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica will begin airing on Sci Fi on January 16th at 10pm, which, if the episodes are being shown weekly, will put the series final on March 20th. Timing and scheduling, of course, is a little unclear, as Executive Producer Ron Moore has said that the final 10 episodes will run 11 hours in length – or longer, with the series finale running three or more hours. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan, there will be websiodes in the lead-up to the final episodes.

What to do until then? Last week, NBC/Universal confirmed that Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 will be released on DVD January 6th, 2009.

*******

and while no dates for u2 are set…we are getting close. u2 had a party near our favorite half moon bay joint, duartes. u2 and the tsangs love the same areas!!!

according to atu2.com:

According to our staff in the San Francisco area, there was a party for U2′s new album Thursday night in Half Moon Bay, California. One of our staffers was told earlier today that U2 would be at Sam’s Chowder House, a highly-rated restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean, for an event tonight. On arriving at the restaurant, security wouldn’t allow our staffer inside. A restaurant employee, though, later told our staffer that there was a party for U2′s new album going on inside. Meanwhile, another staffer called the restaurant and heard loud, U2-sounding music being played in the background while being told there was a private event happening tonight. What we’re not sure of is how many (if any) of the band were in attendance. More to come if we learn anything new….

Update: Bono and Edge were at the party last night, which was hosted by Elevation Partners, and might have doubled as the company’s annual meeting (which has happened in October in past years). @U2 reader Roman G., who also writes for the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune spoke to the restaurant owner, who said, “It was fascinating. It was wild.” Now you know!

Update #2: This article from the Half Moon Bay Review has pictures of Bono and Edge with the restaurant staff, and extra details … including news that Bono and Edge played a couple new songs.

while the followers of each man are fighing each other, obama and mccain are exchanging light hearted jokes and jabs with each other and their friends, the democrats and republicans. this was a dinner after the third debate. note that the videos are unlikely to show up on facebook.

this is why i am agnostic about politics: they are friends with each other. politicians are friends with each other. mccain is friends with joe biden, hilary and john kerry. kerry asked mccain to consider running with him in 2004. remember that the next time you hear biden or kerry talk about mccain or vice versa. they’ve got their devotees trained like rabid monkeys to fight each other while behind closed doors, they are enjoying a good laugh. maybe even laughing at their monkeys convinced that they are enemies.

to hear them talk in public, you would think they were enemies. but how do they change gears so quickly? they change their emotions so quickly. how are they able to do that? they are not like you and me. they are actors! and you’ve been duped! or they are schizo! or they are monsters like jekyl and hyde! politicians are a different breed and the standard categories we use to analyze regular folks do not apply.

don’t believe the hype!

I don’t know if this will be prophetic or pathetic but here goes with my best guesses…(mostly)in order of how they will happen:

10) sarah palin will avoid any more interviews

9) colin powell will endorse obama

8)osama bin laden will be captured and/or a major stateside terrorist activity will be averted in time for the election

7) whatever lead obama has on election day will shrink resulting in a very tight race.

6) riots will happen whether obama wins or loses

5) obama will win the presidency.

4)gov arnold schwarzenegger will get a cabinet position in the obama administration

3)assassination attempts will be a frequent occurrence. Until.

2) Manny will sign with the Yankees.

1) Bloomberg wins third term as mayor of nyc

Posted under politics, prophet

the simpsons toy line made by playmates(not those playmates)is regarded as one of the best toylines ever made along with gi joe, transformers, the original star wars figures lines and cabbage patch kids. welcome to the toy subculture. in japan, the subculture is actually mainstream…more extensive and involved…intimidating if not scary.

the history of the simpsons playmates line is too extensive to recap on my site. but there is an excellent article with pictures of every figure and diorama from the line here. you don’t have to read the whole thing….just look at the pictures(i feel a weird playmates theme arising).

this is theresa’s workstation. at her office, there is a culture of collecting and displaying toy collections from robots to kinder egg toys to the current vinyl toy craze. theresa features our simpsons figure collection by bringing in a different diorama and cast of characters every few months. btw, there is foreshadowing in this picture. check back next week.

for election season, she is displaying town hall with mayor quimby, kent brockman the reporter and the evil mr. burns. after election day, another set will be rotated in.

the goal of the toyline was to recreate the whole springfield town with all the locales and sites. the formal name for the line was the world of springfield. i started out by getting the church with the pastor as a joke but then found a bunch on clearance as the toy line was winding down. whenever we go to a town, i rummage through the local toy store’s stock and see what “treasures” i can find. once in awhile, i go through ebay listings to see what rarities might be available. friends also buy us figures….so the collection has gotten pretty extensive.

one of the features of the simpson toy line is that they talk…and say lines from the show. each figure has a chip and when plugged into a relevant setting, they will say something….on some sets, they will have multiple lines. discovering which figures will talk and what they will say in the sets is part of the fun. you take the figures and put them into the connection points in the set and push a button…and magic. if a figure is not compatible, a sound effect relevant to the scene will play….in this case, a hot mike.

because the sets run on batteries….sometimes when there is an electrical spark in the air, the sound feature goes off on their own. in own home, that means….you hear voices for no reason. a few guests have had the crap scared out of them.

i’m guessing people come over and look at theresa’s toys especially since she brings different ones in…..and i’m guessing they push the buttons to see…or hear what will happen. i know that when people come to our home…they go to each set and push away….plugging in different characters.

and…..there’s that foreshadowing again.

in college, my groomsman william and i dreamed up a character called third world country guy and we said if third world country guy came to visit us in the states and saw the way we lived….while they ate rocks and bugs….he* would kick our @$$. price club would be an example. owning animals as pets instead of as potential food source is another. here is another:

when i was in dc, i had a mini plan to the dreadful bullets to take students to games to….because who wants to be invited to hang out with the pastor at the church? going to an nba game is so much cooler….though you still have to go with the pastor.

this year, i got a mini plan to the stadium trying to get all star and playoff(wah wah)tickets for 2008…..with the season winding down, i expected an offer to re-up for 2009. in dc, i got a letter with a carbon copy and a self addressed stamped envelope. in nyc, i got this……

its like an offering for new multi-million dollar condo. but the price is actually closer to 1.5 billion.

the mailing was printed on heavy stock cardboard….glossy…..shiny and happy….and luxurious….

with fold outs…..

making sure you know exactly where your seats will be in the new stadium……

and just in case you want to upgrade to a suite….which does look like a multi-million dollar condo….which it is except you can’t sleep over. and its closed in the winter.

i got $11 tickets in the bleachers last time….i can’t afford this….but thanks for offering?

pages and pages of amenities and perks to choose from….

how many trees died in the cause to get me to say yes???

concluding with the following salespitch:

the vanity of thinking that if you give up the dough that you too will be part of the magic!

but i found a mockable misstep…..let’s take a closer look at this pitch….

the yankees have committed a fortune to arod and are trying to market him as the future……but you know what arod(listed here with)grandpa, mom, dad and sis have in common….none of them have won a world series.

* of course on 9/11, we discovered that third world country guy had a name.

for my devoted and long suffering monday readers, sorry that this is late. i was away on a retreat…and sabbath’d from the internet.

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or go eat. they are equally surprised that we do not frequent those places or want to go eat there. no. i do not want to eat at ruby tuesdays , bennigans or tgifridays in times square. then they ask where we go……so here are the places we like…not the best or the cheapest or whatever category….just where we go and go on a regular basis:

my current favorite obsession is the australian meat pie shop called the tuck shop. when we lived on the lower east side, i saw it but didn’t know what the heck a meat pie was. after asking my buddy, pei li(who is a lot of nyk’rs’ australian friend), i understood it as a pie with different fillings. but still wasn’t sure if it was more like a pot pie or more like a jamaican patty. i went to an upscale shi shi aussie place hoping to discover the answer and the meat pie there was neither!

turns out….at least here…..its like a pot pie! that’s great because i love pies….both sweet and savory….the crust…the fillings….the portability…the shape of it…the cuteness. i must convince you: i heart pies.

there’s a tuck shop midtown but the pies there are older(stored over a few days)…. as opposed to freshly made in the one on the lower east side. they just don’t sell enough and go through their stock quick enough midtown. so make sure you go to the l.e.s. spot. the pies are also cheaper and there are more pie choices further south. makes sense that the one down “under” would be that way….

here are three of the pies we sampled including a guiness steak pie…yes! that kind of guinness! and yes! steak! we watched them make a new batch with strips and strips of cow and a big ole bottle of beer.

we also tried the chook and ham pie…which is chicken and ham. and finally, my sister and i sampled a shepherds pie, a once a week specialty. all yummy. but my favorite was the guinness steak.

check the menu for other pie options……

this is my kind of food….comforting, hearty fall food. its delicious! just ask my niece jaq, jaq! we went back a few days later with our bud, justin from out of town. i am using every opp to go…..this is likely a once a month craving.