Billi Pod’s Sunday Update

Sunday - It is a gray and nasty day in the Greatest City in The World and this is supposed to be the beginning of 3 days of on and off rain. Hope the forecasters are wrong.

My plans for today are simple - will stay in during the afternoon and watch the rubber game of the Yankees @ LA Angels series. The Yankees won last night 7-1 behind an awesome performance by veteran left-hander Andy Pettitte. This evening will probably walk the block and a half to one of the two movie theaters and catch a movie.

My selection will probably be the recently opened and mixed-reviewed KICK-ASS, about a nerd who wants to become a super-hero. Sorry, this is just my kind of humor/movie. Speaking of movies, I finally got around to seeing DATE NIGHT with Tina Fey and Steve Carell and I highly recommend it, and no, guys, it is not a “chic-flick” it is a comedic action movie, although it will make a good date movie.

One last birthday item. As most of you loyal and faithful readers know, my most trusted sources for news and information are: (1) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; (2) Fox News (especially Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck); and, (3) The Onion-America’s Finest News Source. With this in mind, I think I should share with you my birthday horoscope, courtesy of The Onion -“Taurus - When life gives you lemons, why not blame them on your troubled upbringing and consequent inability to show affection? It sure beats making lemonade.” Oh Yeah!! Makes sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, let me give you a brief health update. First, the one-time problem in my right forearm is no more. The physical therapy did its job and now I do a series of exercises at home twice a week and things seem fine. Whew!!

Things aren’t quite as good with my liver problems which are keeping me from getting clearance for the cataract surgery on my right eye. As you remember, surgery on the left eye was done on January 19th. The second surgery had to be canceled several times due to the liver problems. The subsequent conflict between the eyes is, frankly, driving me fucking nuts. 10 days ago I had blood work done and was expecting everything to be a go ... well, got the results last Friday and ... while the Hepatitis B is “gone” Dr. Ferran is still concerned that the liver function results are not where she wants them to be. Will have blood work done again on May 5th and, please Dear God, hopefully the results will be good enough for her to give me a thumbs up. I know my eye doctor will schedule the surgery for me as soon as he can after everyone else says its OK.

I feel fine, of course, and am handling it One Day At A Time.

In closing let me comment on the outstanding season start for the Yankees. I have seen 3 home game, all of which they won. They are playing very well and the pitching has been excellent. In my opinion their main opponent in the AL East will be, not the Boston FuckSox, but the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have a very good team and could go all the way to The World Series, no joke.

Oh, and congratulations to Timmy Tebow for being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the NFL Draft. Billi Pod’s prediction - give him 2 years and he will make all of the doubters and nay-sayers look like fools. Just remember where you read it first.

Go Yankees!!

Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Billi Pod’s Awesome 76th Birthday!!

I am so glad to report to you loyal and faithful readers that April 23, 2010, turned out to be the awesome day that I hoped it would. When I woke up at 8:00am I checked the weather and it was 46º and the sky was virtually cloudless. I knew that I could begin my birthday adventure whenever I wanted.

So, after having breakfast and reading all of the emails, texts and postings I was ready to head out at 11:00. It was 52º so I wore a sweater and running pants. I had uploaded “1776 the Musical.” “76 Trombones,” and “I Did It My Way” into my iPhone. In my backpack was a bottle of water.

It was a bit brisk as I headed North up 9th Avenue for 118th Street in the Upper West Side, walking just a bit slower than the usual “I’m-a-NewYorker-get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way” pace. It felt good. Was at Lincoln Center (62nd Street) at 11:30 and at 76th Street at 11:45.

As I had previously posted, my plan was to take a short break at 76th Street, find 76 W. 76th Street, and, hopefully, have my picture taken. Well, that didn’t happen. Why, you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Because there is no 76 W. 76th Street, that is why. The last building number on the block is 60 and the next block begins with 100. Oh well ... it was a good idea.

So, back on 9th Avenue I went (actually 9th Avenue had turned into Columbus Avenue and would ultimately become Morningside Drive). I also began to experience some rather steep up-hills and then significant down-hills. I still felt great

At 110th Street Columbus Avenue turns into Morningside Drive which it adjacent to Morningside Park on the East and Columbia University on the West. The Park was absolutely beautiful. I had only 8 more blocks to go so up the really steep inclined Morningside Drive I went, arriving at 118th Street at 1:00pm. Billi Pod had done it and he felt great!

Took some pictures and then went over to Amsterdam and decided to take a bus back to 42nd Street. The M-11 bus actually goes South on 9th Avenue so that would work fine I told myself. Well, it took almost an hour to travel the approximate 4.5 miles, but ... what the hell ... I played solitaire on my iPhone.

Bottom line, I was back at PHC at 2:25, a bit tired but really feeling great, physically and mentally. After checking the emails, texts, voice-messages and postings I took a nice soaking hot bath and my legs felt great as did Billi Pod.

At 7:00 headed out to my Broadway show SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM - “It's a completely different kind of Sondheim evening: an intimate portrait of the famed composer in his own words...and music. An ensemble cast, led by Tony Award winner Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat, will perform brand-new arrangements of over two dozen Sondheim tunes, ranging from the beloved to the obscure.” My legs felt fine after walking the 12 blocks to the theater.

The show was excellent, especially Barbara Cook but it was a bit long, 2:45, so it was after 11:00 when I got back to PHC.

Watched the rest of the Yankees vs. LA Angels game, which the Yankees lost 4-6. Decided to postpone the steak until tonight, a small salad was all I wanted.

Yes, I did walk at least 100 blocks, or 5 miles, on my 76th birthday, and, yes, Billi Pod was tired when he finally crashed at 2:00am, but it was a very happy tired.

Felt great when I woke up this morning at 8:30. No problem with muscle or joint pain. I have two shows planned for today, both are one-person performance pieces.

The first is “HEBREW SCHOOL DROPOUT Or: How I Converted from Judaism to Catholicism and Back to Judaism AND Lost Those Stubborn Last 10 Pounds!” and then tonight is: “Lynne Koplitz - Functionally Dysfunctional” playing at a theater on my block.

Again, I want to thank everyone for the emails, calls, postings and texts about Billi Pod’s 76th Birthday - they all mean so much to me - THANK YOU family, friends and you loyal and faithful readers!!

Go Yankees!!

Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

PS: A big Happy Birthday shout-out to Ruth Porter Stoll who also turned 76 on April 23rd. Ruth, Burke Allen and I were classmates and we share the same birthday.

Billi Pod is 76 on Friday!!

Good morning my loyal and faithful readers. Well, on Friday Billi Pod turns 76. Wow! 76, that is a BIG NUMBER. What are my plans for tomorrow you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well, these are my plans, assuming the weather is OK ....

Mid-morning I will leisurely walk up 9th Avenue 76 blocks (3.8 miles) to 118th Street. while listening to “1776 the Musical,” “76 Trombones,” and “I Did It My Way,” on my beloved first generation iPod. Will take a break at 76th Street and have my picture taken, if possible, at 76 W. 76th Street (have no clue what is at that address).

When I reach 118th Street I will take the subway back to PHC and chill. Have a fairly well reviewed Broadway show, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, at 8:00. Will walk to and from the theater located on 54th Street. When these 24 blocks are factored in the total for the day will be 100 blocks or 5.0 miles.

WHY? Why am I doing this you are asking? Well, it is very simple. There are two reasons: (1) Because I want to; and, (2) Because I can. If the weather is bad or I change my mind at any time - no big deal.

After the show I will settle in to watch the rest of the Yankees @ LA Angels game. Will grill a steak on my George Forman grill and bake a potato. Desert will be Edys Frozen Yogurt.

So there you are. We will see how everything plays out.

Go Yankees!!

Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Wednesday - Be Careful What You Ask For

OK, let’s settle something right now -yes, I did take down from this blog the posting: “The Biography of Topher Falletta,” but not, repeat NOT in response to the waves of criticism, threats and demands from the Politically Correct fringe and others. It was taken down to be rewritten in order to be even MORE cutting-edge, revealing and true-to-life. No, KNB and others, you have not seen the last of “TB of TF.” As “they” say, you should be careful what you ask for.

Oh, yes ... remember ... “Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Billi Pod

Billi Pod’s March 2010 Entertainment Stats

Good morning my loyal and faithful readers. Yes, I know it has been a while since I have posted on this blog. I have a list of excuses but they really don’t matter, do they? Bottom-line -- Billi Pod is still doing well in The Greatest City in the World. I feel fine and am slowly winning the health issues and totally returning to Billi Pod’s usual frenetic Big Apple lifestyle. Plan to post a detailed health update a bit later.

What I want to share with you today are my stats for the month of March 2010. In checking my daily log (log, not diary - real guys don’t keep diaries) I find that during the month I attended/saw/did the following:

5 Broadway shows (Present Laughter; A Behanding in Spokane; Lend Me A Tenor; A Little Night Music; and Red); 15 Off Broadway shows; 1 rock music concert (A Tribute to The Who); 4 classical music concerts; and, 2 movies (City Island and She’s Out Of My League).

I celebrated my 20th AA birthday and 20 years of sobriety on March 18th.

I was out of the City for 3 nights to be in Bartow, FL, for the 58th Class Reunion of the Summerlin Institute Class of 1952. Was able to spend face-time with student/bartender/manager Scott Reed (who was named General Manager of the Lower East Side hotspot Los Feliz), his father Stan the Man, and Justin Allen Pifer and Benjamin Sears.

On the health issue(s): had 7 physical therapy sessions, 4 doctor appointments, and had to cancel the cataract surgery that was scheduled for March 30, dammit to Hell. Oh well ...

The weather for a good part of the month basically sucked and there was a lot, and I mean a lot, of rainy, ugly, nasty, cold days/nights. Despite the weather, there were only 3 days/nights where Billi Pod stayed in apartment PHC without attending some entertainment event. I think that is pretty awesome in and of itself, don’t you?

Oh, I posted almost daily on my Facebook Wall www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=100000655659050

Anyway, I now want to share with you the bare bone stats for the first 3 months of 2010. Please take into account all of my health issues and the terrible weather in reviewing the following activities report:

13 Broadway shows; 42 Off Broadway shows; 1 rock music concert; 7 classical music concerts; 6 movies; and 20 years of sobriety. Health issues: Cataract surgery; torn right bicep tendon; Hepatitis B; 15 physical therapy sessions; and, 15 Doctor appointments. Out of town 3 nights and stay in 17 days/nights without some entertainment event.

And, to top all of this off - became a member of the Facebook community and got a new iPhone 3GS.

So there you have it those of you loyal and faithful readers who stayed with me until the end. I don’t want to brag, but all things considered - not bad for a soon-to-be 76 year old guy, is it? But, it is up to you to decide because ...

I only report - you decide

Oh, Thank God the baseball season is about to begin. Sunday the Yankees are opening the season in Boston against The Fucksox.

Go Yankees!!

Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”