Yankees/Orioles==>PAINFUL!

It is an overcast day in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, and that mirrors Billi Pod’s mood following last night’s fiasco out at Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built.

What am I talking about those of you loyal and faithful readers and followers who are not into sports are no doubt breathlessly asking your inner selves? Well ... it went down like this ...

The weather at the stadium for game 1 of the YANKEE/BALTIMORE series was awesome. It was balmy and very pleasant ... and ... dammit-to-Hell ... that was about the only pleasant things during the painful game.

It didn’t help that seated to my immediate right were 2 Boston FuckSox fans and 2 Orioles fans who had driven down from Bristol, CT (home of ESPN). It was Tony, Mike, Mike and Mike, not joking about their names, and their sole purpose in life was to torment Billi Pod.

Actually, just kidding about the torment thing ... they were really nice guys and we had a good time with our back-and-forth banter.

Journeyman pitcher Freddy Garcia was on the mound and he pitched just well enough to lose. We were losing 5-2 into the bottom of the 7th but staged a 2-run rally but ... and a H U G E but ... Mark Teixeira had to leave the game due to an injury to his left wrist. His status is presently unknown. Bummer. Just what we need ... another f-ing injury.

In the bottom of the 9th we had the tying and winning runs on base with 2-outs but Russell Martin struck out and the game was over ... the Orioles won 5-4, our 3rd consecutive loss ... The Wankies record for the last 10 games==>3-7. Barf!!

Tonight @ 7:05 is game 2 and it will be Ivan Nova (10-4) on the mound for The Wankies vs. Chris Tillman (3-1) for Baltimore.

Moving on to other things and stuff ...

Tonight’s entertainment event is ... 

8:00==>MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA @ Avery Fisher Hall - “Mozart’s ‘Prague’ Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 20.” (discounted TDF ticket).

Yeah, Billi Pod is really in need of a classical music fix. 

When the concert is over I will walk back to PHC, weather permitting, while listening to the final innings of the YANKEES/ORIOLES game on my trusty but now ancient Walkman.

I feel the definite need to walk and wander ... so will close this posting with something extra for you loyal and faithful readers ...

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.81  miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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

THE BEST MAN==>A

I hope all of you loyal and faithful readers and followers had a great weekend out there in the wastelands, hinterlands and boondocks.

This is Monday and it is, of course, Billi Pod’s usual errands and stuff day so let’s get right to the important things, like his report card on yesterday’s entertainment event ...

GORE VIDAL’S THE BEST MAN, the play about power, ambition, political secrets, ruthlessness and the race for the presidency, set at a national convention==>A.

The all-star cast, headed by James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Cybill Shepherd and John Stamos, delivered in all aspects and this made the three-act 2 hour and 40 minute running time fly by. 

It is set in 1960, which made the casting of James Earl Jones as a former President a bit difficult to accept at first, but his phenomenal acting skills quickly put this issue to rest.

My discounted TDF ticket wasn’t the best in the world. It was in the orchestra, row C, seat 13, which is extreme house left and I considered moving upstairs to the mezzanine where there were some empty seats. I didn’t and I am glad I didn’t because I was able to really focus in on the individual actors etc. etc.

When the show was over I felt as if I had been a part of the action. I am soooooooooo glad that I finally got the opportunity to see this outstanding theatrical event.

It was almost 6:00pm when I left the theater. I then headed up to the Upper Westside to be with some of my AA buddies (you know who you are) for some pizza and wings before the 8:05 YANKEES/BOSTON FUCKSOX game carried on ESPN.

Man, what was supposed to be a fun evening quickly turned painful as the F**kSox jumped off to a quick 2-0 lead. Hiroki Kuroda pitched a decent game over 8 innings but our bats were dead until the 7th inning.

At the end of regulation the game was tied 2-2 and we all thought The Yankees would win in the bottom of the 10th. Wrong. The F**kSox scored a run in the top of the 10th and then we went poof in the bottom of the inning, to lose 3-2.

My buddy “X,” who is a diehard F**kSox fan, gave us tons of grief during the entire game. It was very painful. It was 12:30am when I finally got back to PHC.

Today, being a Monday, it will be Billi Pod’s usual errands and stuff day and then for tonight his entertainment event is ... tada ...

7:05==>YANKEES/BALTIMORE @ Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built, for game 1 of a 3-game series. 

The Orioles, under Buck Showalter, are in 2nd place in the AL East. Who would have thunk it?

It will be Freddy Garcia (4-4) on the mound for The Yankees vs. Miguel Gonzalez (2-2) for the Orioles.

Well, my loyal and faithful readers, Billi Pod has to begin his errands and stuff day ... so ...

I will close by sharing this gem with you loyal and faithful readers and followers ...

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.50 miles

Mileage for past 7 days==>24.04 miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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

Saturday==>Fabulous? NOT!!!

Good morning to all of my loyal and faithful readers and followers. I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend out there in the hinterlands, wastelands and boondocks.

Well ... honestly, yesterday was anything but fabulous for Billi Pod for obvious reasons that most of you already know ... yes ... I mean yesterday’s dreary experience out at Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built, for game 2 of the YANKEES/BOSTON FUCKSOX series. The starting time was 4:05.

When I arrived at the stadium around 3:45 the tarp was on the infield and in a few minutes it began to rain and it was majorly nasty for the next hour and 45 minutes. It seemed as if time had actually stopped. Boring. Boring. Boring.

The rain finally stopped and the grounds crew did an awesome job in getting the field in condition to play and the first pitch was at 6:09, meaning a 2 hour and 4 minute rain-delay. Oh well ... I was there and it was time for baseball.

Our ace CC Sabathia was on the mound and he basically sucked, giving up 3 runs in the top of the lst inning. But, we true fans never lost faith in the ability of The Bronx Bombers to stage a comeback, and stage one we did, finally tying the score at 6-6 in the bottom on the 8th inning on a massive 2-run homer by Mark Teixeira off of his hated enemy Vicente Padilla.

You could actually feel the gloom and doom settle in on the F**Sox fans as our closer Rafael Soriano came in to pitch the top of the 9th. Then ... OMFG!! ...

Usually reliable centerfielder Curtis Granderson misplayed a fly ball into a triple that led to the go-ahead run and then a sacrifice fly brought in an insurance run. The Yankees went down meekly in the bottom of the 9th and we lost 8-6. OMFG!!

Needless-to-say Billi Pod was not in a happy mood when he finally got back to PHC at 9:45. Yes ... I know ... I know ... you can’t win them all and all of the usual clichés but this was a game that was ours to win and we simply blew it. Barf!!

This was my 23rd game of the 2012 season and the record is: 14 wins and 9 losses.

Oh well ... moving on ...

Today’s entertainment event is a Broadway show ...

3:00==>GORE VIDAL’S THE BEST MAN - “A play about power, ambition, political secrets, ruthlessness and the race for the presidency set at the national convention where two candidates are vying for their party's nomination.” (Broadway - discounted TDF ticket)

The all-star cast includes James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Cybill Shepherd, and John Stamos. I am finally getting to see this well-reviewed dramatic revival. It has a running time of 2:40 with two intermissions and it closes on September 9th. 

Then ... after the show I will meet up with a couple of my AA buddies (you know who you are) in the Upper Westside and we will watch the final game of the YANKEES/F**KSOX series at 8:00pm on ESPN. One of my buddies is an avid F**ksox fan so I hope we can add to his pain and misery over their dreadful season.

It will be Hiroki Kuroda (10-7) on the mound for the Yankees vs. Felix Doubront (10-5) for the F**ksox

So==>have a great rest of the weekend everyone!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.58  miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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

ZAPATA! THE MUSICAL==>A+

I hope all of my loyal and faithful readers and followers are totally geared up for an AWESOME weekend. Have fun everyone, so saith Billi Pod.

I am so happy to report that yesterday’s entertainment event, ZAPATA! THE MUSICAL, about Emiliano Zapata the hero of the Mexican revolution, earns an==>A+.

The show is part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival and is being produced by my friend Julie Miller.

The show is totally incredible in all aspects - music, story line, choreography, direction, staging, and especially the performers. 

Enrique Acevedo as Zapata and Maria Eberline as Josefa, his girlfriend and eventual wife, bring electricity to the stage with several soaring duets.

This was 2 hours of musical theatre at its best. Hope this show can find a life after the festival ends because it certainly deserves it.

As luck would have it, Julie was seated one seat away from me. Seated in front of us was Scott Siegle and his wife Barbara. Scott is a well-known producer, writer, host.

Congrats Julie Miller==>you did it again!!! 

Two performances remain: today @ 1:00pm and Sunday @ 1:00pm. 

Billi Pod says==>See it!!

When the show was over I returned to the cool confines of PHC for game 1 of the  YANKEES/BOSTON FUCKSOX series, with Phil Hughes on the mound vs. Aaron Cook. Well ... as you probably know by now ... it was ...

YANKEES 10, BOSTON F**KSOX 3. The Yankees blew it open in the bottom of the 8th inning with Curtis Granderson’s grandslam.

The F**kSox now trail The Yankees by 11 1/2 games. Nice job Bobbie V. Don’t think you will win Manager of The Year. Jus sayin ...

Today’s entertainment event is ... tada ...

4:05==>game 2 of YANKEES/F**KSOX series and Billi Pod will be there in his usual seat. It will be our ace CC Sabathia (10-3) vs. John Lester (5-8). 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>3.25  miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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

SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN==>A

TGIF to all of my Worker Bee friends and my loyal and faithful readers and followers out there in the hinterlands, wastelands and boondocks. Hope everyone has an AWESOME weekend.

As anticipated, I had a terrific time last night with my dear friends Michael Rodriguez and Scott Wojcik at the opening night performance of SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN, which Scott is directing.

It started around 5:45pm when I showed up at Michael’s office, located on 38th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. We headed downtown to the Lower Eastside via a cramped, jammed and humid F train. It was, of course, rush hour. Our destination was the Wild Project Theatre located on 3rd Street between Avenues A & B.

We had to get off our train one stop early because, for reason’s unknown, the local train was to begin running express. Not a real problem since we had plenty of time before the 8:00 curtain but it was very hot and humid ... and ... the sky began to ominously cloud up.

All the time we were walking Michael and I were doing some major catching up. It was about 7:00 when we got to the theater and ... tada ... out in front was Scott, one of the co-authors (dammit, whose name escapes me at the moment) and the two cast members Jason Patrick Sands and Tom White. Nice.

We chatted briefly then Michael (whose picture is below) and I found a nearby bistro and had a bite. We did some more catching up. It was really getting ugly looking out, with thunder and lightning.

We went back to the theater and settled in. It was almost show time. I want to share with you loyal and faithful readers something that Scott, who was making his NYC directing debut, had written in the program notes ...

“... I could never have done this without the never ending support of my amazing partner, Michael, who from the first moment I saw him I knew that love for a lifetime is a reality ....” 

These guys have been together for over 12 years. WOW!!

Now ... Billi Pod’s report card on ... 

SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN, that follows the lives of two men from their first meeting in 1967 at a motivational conference through present day==>A.

Cooper, played by Jason Patrick Sands, is openly gay while Joshua aka Shua, played by Tom White, is a closeted gay who ultimately marries and has children. Their “relationship” covers 44 years, often told from the stage by the reading of exchanged letters.

The play has a thought-provoking, believable and touching story line delivered by stellar performances from the 2-man cast. I was totally involved for the entire 90 minutes.

So ... Billi Pod says==>see this show if you can.

The remaining performances are:

Friday 7/27 @ 6:00pm

Saturday 7/28 @ 2:00pm

Sunday 7/29 @ 2:00pm

Tickets are available: FreshFruitFestival.com, Theatermania.com, or 866-811-4111

Luckily, we were inside the theater when most of the rain and high wind was going on. It was only lightly raining as I made my way back to Midtown West after the show.

So ... Michael and Scott==>Thank you for a totally enjoyable evening!!

Today’s entertainment event for Billi Pod is ...

5:00==>ZAPATA! THE MUSICAL - “Emiliano Zapata, hero of the Mexican revolution,  reappears in the 21st century to show a idealistic but confused member of ‘Occupy Wall Street’ the proper way to fight for a better world.” (Off Broadway - discounted ticket)

The show is part of the New York Musical Theater Festival and is being produced by my friend Julie Miller. Julie is a “sometimes” member of Dian Crystal’s posse.

When the show is over, it is playing in my immediate ‘hood, I will come back to the cool confines of PHC and settle in to watch game 1 of the 3-game YANKEES/BOSTON F**KSOX series from Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built.

Ichiro Suzuki will be making his Yankee Stadium debut and I am sure he will get a roaring welcoming cheer. Phil Hughes (9-8) will be on the mound for The Bronx Bombers vs. Aaron Cook (2-3) for the F**kSox.

Well, I've got a few things to do before my 5:00pm show, so will post this now ...

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>5.68 miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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

Wednesday Was An AWESOME Doubleheader!!

It was an AWESOME entertainment doubleheader yesterday for Billi Pod and it is yet another example of why he L O V E S living in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World ... so ... let’s get right to it with his report cards on ...

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES, about ... tada ... Jews telling jokes==>A.

I found the show to be extremely funny but also  poignant, too, as the 5-member cast, in addition to telling jokes, gave the audience a look into the performer’s family history. The cast is uniformly excellent.

The house was sold-out and Billi Pod was by far not the oldest person present, not by a decade. There was a lot of ... “what did he/she just say? ... throughout the performance but never to the level of being annoying.

Yes, my loyal and faithful readers, this was a totally entertaining event and Billi Pod says==>See it!!

When the show was over I came back to the cool and comfortable confines of PHC and settled in to watch game 3 of the YANKEES/SEATTLE series and it was a nail-biter until the very end.

Ivan Nova pitched a decent game, giving up only 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out 5, but he left after 5 innings losing 2-1.

The Yankees continued to struggle with runners in scoring position up until the top of the 8th inning when they exploded for 4 runs started by a clutch 3-run bases-loaded double from pinch hitter Jayson Nix (who??).

David Robertson and Rafael Soriano closed it out and the Yankees won 5-2.

Thank God this West Coast nightmare is over. The Yankees were 2-7, but, thankfully, the teams underneath them haven’t been playing that great either so the Yankees come home to Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built, leading the second-place Orioles by 8 games.

Friday begins a 9-game home stand==>Boston FuckSox 3; Baltimore 3; and Seattle 3. Billi Pod will be at 4 of the games.

The evening’s entertainment event was ... 

DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD, about the ‘Peanuts’ group who are now teenagers==>A.

So, in 10 years what has happened to the ‘Peanuts' gang, I know you are breathlessly asking? Well ... here it goes ...

Snoopy has been put to sleep after killing Woodstock. Linus has become Van, a stoner who smoked the burned remains of his security blanket. Pigpen has cleaned up into a violent homophobic jock named Matt.  Lucy, known only as Van's sister, is a lithium-addled pyromaniac who has slept with, believe it or not, Charlie Brown, or CB, as he's now called, a popular kid with a mean streak. Schroeder is now called Beethoven and he’s gay, sorta, maybe.

The show is bold, funny and thought-provoking with the vulnerability of its characters taking center-stage. The young cast is stellar, particularly Michael Petrocelli as CB.

I saw this with my theater-buddy Marty Kosarik and he gives it a grade of A+. It is presently on the $9.00 TDF through early August, so ...

Billi Pod says==>See this show!!

Tonight is going to be a very special evening for me starting with ...

8:00==>SPRING AT THE WILLOWBROOK INN - “Follows the lives of two men from their first meeting in 1967 at a motivational conference through present day. They develop a deep relationship based on mutual understanding and love as their lives unfold separately.” (Off Broadway)

The play is part of the 10th Annual Fresh Fruit Festival, NYC’s only festival of LGBT Arts and Culture, which will present over 40 performances running until July 29th.

The show itself is the first thing that makes the evening special.

The second thing that makes the evening special is ...

This show is being directed by my friend Scott Wojcik, who will be making his New York City directing debut. Scott is co-owner of Wojcik/Seay Casting and has been involved in casting commercials, TV, theatre and film for almost twenty years.

The third thing that makes the evening special is ...

 I will be seeing the show with Scott’s longtime boyfriend/partner Michael Rodriguez. I have known Michael for years and years. He is a Talent Agent and owns a firm called The Roster Agency. Michael went to college with my niece, Donna Parker, shown in the picture, so we go back a long long way. 

Looking forward to seeing you Michael ... and ...

Scott==>BREAK A LEG!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.29 miles

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

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