Hosive

on one level, this is a movie about a guy choosing between the domestic, down to earth, plain jane who loves him and the magical, elusive, Gwyneth Paltrow hottie who he loves(desires). what does he want? on another level, this movie is about…joaquin phoenix…the whole movie hinges on him…focusing on his absolute fleshing out of a lonely hearted, live at home son with an undiscovered treasure of a soul.  i suspect that joaquin phoenix is just playing himself.  he is electric and makes everything work; showcasing his acting brilliance in nuance; playing the regular schlep.

too bad he’s retiring for hip hop. i’ve always enjoyed his work and try to watch everything he’s in.

this is an old fashioned movie with old world values…parents trying to set up their children, passing on family businesses in the old neighborhood. its a romance that is sweet with a bit of longing for more than we’re destined for. slow and mesmerizing…and charming.

i enjoyed the capturing of the brighton beach culture…a part of the city that i rarely get to enjoy; and it is a beautiful movie to view.  i would watch it again to savor more of the scenary and dialogue. its not a must buy nor a must watch in the theatre. but i may pick it up in a bin clearance. theresa may have enjoyed the same parts that i did but may be turned off by the indie leanings.

most people see the end of winter with the advent of warmer weather and rightly so….but the winter also symbolizes the holidays. so as we bid farewell to the magical winter, a flashback to the richness of the season…friends and family, babies, christmas and new year’s.

and we are getting another kind of flashback this morning with the snow!!! in march? in late march?

and an even sadder flashback…as our beloved tree is put out for recycling……symbolizing a death of sorts…..

but rarely do we associate the spring with death….the days are getting longer…the warmth of life is peeking through…trees and flowers start to come out and we anticipate new births and magical times in this next season.

Posted under christmas, winter

lent is the spiritual discipline of fasting or adding to have more time to reflect on the life, death and resurrection of jesus from ash wednesday to easter sunday. clearly i haven’t given up facebook or internet for lent like many people seem to have in the city. i decided not to give up something but to add something this year.

i’m reading to my baby girl while she’s still in the tummy everyday. we are going through the whole bible, children’s version. there are a few on the market but this one presents the scriptures as a cohesive story as god shows his deep love and grace over time. we just finished the first testament last night. according to theresa, she quiets down and doesn’t kick when i am reading. its sweet and quite magical.

when our daughter is born, i promise not to go nuts on pics…..maybe one update a week on baby….with one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..so this week, we did a test run of this.

and now the update that you’re actually interested in……how’s mommy doing?

first trimester was terrible….no appetite, throwing up all day, gaggin, no energy, moping around…..threats that this will be the only baby ever!

then second trimester….food tastes good again, no more morning sickness nonsense, second wind…back to regular life! and back to “….we’ll see after the first one comes….”

third trimester will include being bigger and more waddling. no fun up and down stairs. or long distances. keep in mind, we are keeping our carbon footprint miniscule without a car.

but for now, theresa’s co-workers have decorated her belly in celebration of her current mood!

so i asked our friend leo chen one day, if his name is short for anything or is it just leo? he said….just leo. it got me thinking where that name came from. then we just started making up origins of the name. and started calling him permutations of leo.

so for one year, i’ll present one a week until we’ve exhausted the possibilities. we are now into our fourth month. i currently do not have 52 versions but only enough to get started. you can help if you’d like.

this week…..i will call my friend leo, le occitane. it’s french…i think.

in the past, i’ve called my friend leo so far:leonardo and leopold, for christmas, noel, leotard, leopatra, leoben(for bsg), leometro, bibliotecha, fileo fish, leodis, leodore, leonazi, leopard and diosleos!

Posted under leo-graphy

when people come into the city, we are always surprised by where they want to visit or to 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…

this east village diner does serve the usual diner food during the usual diner hours(all day/all night/24/7) but i can’t recommend any of that…because i’ve never ordered or eaten the diner food from here. instead, i order from a selection of ukranian dishes…not from a secret menu or an alternate menu handed only offered to special customers….they a part of the everyday menu which makes this unlike any other diner that i’ve been to.

if you are down with the standard eggs, pancakes or burgers, ok. but if you want something special on the side or as a main…something eastern european, welcome to nyfrakincity(last battlestar this week). and to veselka

for example, this special christmas borscht with dumplings. i think it was a winter time special but also named for that crazy red color. i love it.

i usually go for one of the stews…either the ghoulash, beef stroganoff or here the bigos with kielbasa, roast pork, sauerkraut and onions with mashed potatoes. really filling.

i’ve read some reviews that this is not authentic stuff…and i will defer to real ukranians to give their stamp of approval or not. but i am thrilled with the fake ukranian!

here are the pierogi’s….dumplings with either meats, potatos, sweet potatos, cheese or mushroom.

we had a great time! henry is reacting to the camera….not the food!

the city that never sleeps often refers to decadence, ungodly work hours or the blinding lights that are on until dawn….but for non-working, non-partying night owls, there is also real life culture that is abundant….and good eats besides pizza and nonsense. this would be one of my top 3:30a go to places. great to know that i can eat like this any time of the day!

when our daughter is born, i promise not to go nuts on pics…..maybe one update a week on baby….with one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..so this week, we’ll do a test run of this.

how’s daddy doing this week? not bad….actually pretty darn good after receiving the new u2 album: rich man’s edition. here’s mommy capturing the moment.

is the uber-deluxe version worth it? pretty unlikely especially with that deluxe exclusive poster in the middle of the post…of a cloud??? its the no line on the horizon nonsense.(now that blue photo……that one is pretty cool) but like my boy, chris low, said…..”dude, this is your band. i know which version of the album you’re getting.”

i guess he was right.

how about the music? it is a u2 grower. most u2 albums take some time to warm up to me. or vice versa. the more i listen, the more things i like. i like the songs in theory but will they be like radiohead songs that i appreciate but only listen to in the fall?  a key is seeing the songs live. studio versions are snap shots of the music…..its like a picture of the ocean…and then seeing the ocean. so i look forward to the tour.

Posted under baby, poppa tsang

the real reason the watchmen is the unfilmable movie is not because the graphic novel had so many plot points or nuances or layers…its because it will be hard to please everyone. print to film is usually hard enough…these are different mediums with different pleasures and strengths…what works on page does not work on film does not work on tv does not work on stage. only really really good and talented folks can pull these kind of translations off. do you satisfy the rabid followers? do you want to make money and appeal to a wider audience? do you compromise? and while people always say-just keep the essentials….no one can agree what the essentials are! what a burden! who needs it? only the stupid or the visionary will attempt.

i came in evaluating the watchmen the movie as a movie…without reference to the book. otherwise, just admit you’ll hate it. i also went in wondering if non-nerds will understand it let alone like it.

my favorite review said it was awesome and awful. and since people do this stuff for a living, i will defer to that. that seems to be the range of responses. it is awesome especially on glorious imax. the characters are real and alive…though different interpretations from alan moore’s work. again, here some complained too innovative or too dogmatic. there’s no satisfying either camp…its a death trap, a suicide rap. its like the new bsg when they were announcing its plans. you wind up having to trust your own voice. i liked (director)synder’s voice. but there were also some unbelievable points even for a nerd like me….mostly surrounding the ending.

however, the mystery of who is killing off the superheroes…and the introduction of each character and their histories did it for me. these are heroes we know but with different names…and with those real world flawed personas from the postmodern deconstruction mode….a lighter, family friendly version is of course the incredibles. i would watch it again. i may buy it but only a director’s cut with all of the footage! maybe that version will appease the old school. theresa enjoyed it and thought regular people would understand it.

final word is that this is not for kids along the lines of coraline and even the dark knight. rated r means bones and and other body parts protruding.

when our daughter is born, i promise not to go nuts on pics…..maybe one update a week on baby….with one for mommy and(maybe)one on daddy…..so this week, we’ll do a test run of this. here are new pics of our baby! the technology is amazing. at the office, it looks like they’ve got a camera in the tummy! on paper, it looks less so…but still you can see more and more of the reality of baby tsang:

she’s getting to be so real. even “smiling” here as the technician claimed she was….but to me she looks like she’s not that happy. one thing she seems to be is stubborn. a few techs and nurses have independently commented that when they tried to take pictures or get readings on her. or she’s playful and doing hide and seek.

there’s that reality setting in.

the predecessor to the jon stewarts and the stephen colberts of the world…the one who is the missing link between the fake news of snl and the fake news phenomenon of today(see dl hughley with his show on cnn…cnn!)is craig kilborn. the former sportscenter anchor turned faux headlines anchor turned(now)actor and behind the scenes producer used to have a daily moment of zen on his show. the kids would call it a wtf??? its a crazy, unbelievable, can’t make this up scene that leaves you speechless…and in wonder. i won’t(can’t)do this daily but will post whenever i see something….wow?

for lent, here’s your moment of zen: