Billi Pod’s Update and Some AWESOME Breaking News!!

Well, my loyal and faithful readers - at last Billi Pod has overcome his writer’s block, runny nose and raspy cough, overall feeling of BLAH, general angst etc etc etc enough to make himself sit down in front of his iMac and attempt to bring you hinterland dwellers up-to-date on the things and stuff in Billi Pod’s World.

Yes, a whole week has transpired since my last posting, the longest period between postings during 2011. My bad.

I am appreciative of the various inquiries via email and texts, even though some of them had an underlying snarkiness, attempting to pass as genuine interest.

In my defense I did post daily on my FaceBook Wall, so some of you know what has been going on.

It is Tuesday morning in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, and Billi Pod must confess to still being mired in the morass known as BLAH, but he will not let this keep him from posting ... because ...

Last night I made a promise to self ... “self, I promise that I will write something on my blog tomorrow, I promise.”

Well ... self, being totally uncompromising, has held me to my promise ... so ... tada ... we now have this posting, such as it is.

Billi Pod will give you loyal and faithful readers a condensed version of the past week ...

Wednesday - December 21

The dentist appointment went OK - emotionally draining but OK.

Billi Pod’s report cards on his entertainment doubleheader ...

STICK FLY - A Broadway comedy about a wealthy Afro-American family==>B<==wanted to like it more but way too much screaming and cussing.

CLOSE UP SPACE - David Hyde Pierce’s character has a breakdown after a shattering confrontation with his fiery daughter==>C<==actually this is giving it/him the benefit of the doubt.

Dysfunctional family to the nth degree. I am getting more than tired with this persistent theme.

Thursday - December 22

Flight out of LGA to Philly left on time and went OK, then things got weird. My flight out of Philly was delayed until 5:15 for "maintenance" issues. Free WiFi was quirky. Alarms kept going off in the gate area.

We were two hours late getting into Columbia. Certainly glad I was using my new carryon bag.

Dr. John and Kathi picked me up. We stayed in and had salad and pizza.

Friday - December 23

We basically just chilled, waiting for son Bill III aka The Bill to arrive from Orlando. He drove up.

He got in around 7:00pm and then the 4 of us had a great dinner at a trendy restaurant in da ‘hood called “California Dreaming”==>way-too-much superrich food.

Saturday - December 24

Dr. John spent hours and hours preparing our Christmas Eve dinner==>prime beef tenderloin. It was absolutely AWESOME. We exchanged gifts before dinner.

Dr. John gave me a new Swissgear carryon bag to replace, in his words ... “that piece of shit you just bought.” Nice. Thank you Dr. John.

Happily Alex aka Army Guy was able to communicate directly with family and friends.

Sunday - December 25th

Dr. John went to work in the early morning and The Bill and I headed out around noon, him back to Orlando and me back to The Big Apple.

My 2:30pm flight out of Columbia was only 1/3 full but the airport at Charlotte was a madhouse, which was a bit of a surprise. Was unable to get an earlier flight but was able to get an exit row seat on my flight, without any additional fee. Nice.

Flight left basically on time and arrived in LGA on time. LGA was also teeming. Took the express bus to The Port Authority.

It was cold and windy. On the way to the apartment I picked up a couple of slices and was back in Penthouse C aka PHC at 9:30pm.

Man, was I tired. My nose began running and I started sneezing and coughing. Damn.

Scanned the mail, read the 3 daily papers, ate some pizza, had some grapes and then crashed at 1:00am, a bit earlier than usual.

It was great being with family during Christmas. As I have become older it has become more and more important for me to be able to spend quality time with my family.

Monday - December 26

This was Billi Pod’s usual errands and stuff day and he was able to accomplish everything even though his nose was still running and he was coughing and sneezing a lot. He felt very BLAH.

Nothing of any import showed up on his ticket services so he considered a movie, but in the end he just opted to stay in. Yeah, I know ... but this is what went down.

Did watch the Saints/Falcons game to see if Drew Brees would break Dan Marino’s record for most passing yardage in a season (5,084). Yes, he did it on his final pass of the game, a TD, giving him 5,087 yards.

OK, my loyal and faithful readers, you are now basically up-to-date. You are welcum.

Woke up this morning at the usual time, 8:00am, and I have to admit that I feel basically kinda BLAH. The nose isn’t running yet and I am not coughing or sneezing at the moment, but I just feel BLAH and kinda out-of-sorts.

Have nothing planned yet for the evening, so I might catch a movie, either TOWER HEIST with Ben Stiller or THE SITTER with Jonah Hill - we will see.

Damn, though, Billi Pod still feels BLAH at 1:00pm

Well, my loyal and faithful readers, I have also been holding back some breaking news, but now I feel comfortable sharing it with you ... so ...

BREAKING NEWS #1==>the due date for the arrival of my great-granddaughter has been moved back. Unless something changes, Gina will go into the hospital in Lakeland on Friday night, January 6, and labor will be induced (or a C-section) the next day. Awesome!!

BREAKING NEWS #2==>unless something unforeseen happens - Alex aka Army Guy will be physically present for the birth of his daughter. YES!! He will be on leave. AWESOME!!

Once the actual dates are known I will make my plans to head down there to be with them.

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.”

ALEX-125

Monday Was A Blah Day

OK ... OK ... in the name of fair and unbiased reporting Billi Pod must admit that Monday was a blah day for him here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World.

What do I mean, you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well ... here it is ...

As you know, Monday is usually my errands day, so after posting to this blog I began my chores, the details of which I won’t bore you with. For whatever reason they took longer than usual and were each totally boring.

I was finished with them around 5:00pm and was contemplating when I would head out to the movie theater to see my film-of-choice MONEY BALL, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, when ...

The Baseball Gods took over and I ditched those plans and opted to stay in ... yes ... there, I said it ... stay in ... to watch the YANKEES/RAYS game and The Boston FuckSox/Orioles game. So for the evening Billi Pod was on the couch with the remote, alternating between the two games.

Had really strange feelings during the Yankee game. I want the FuckSox to disappear, of course, but to accomplish this the Rays have to win at least 2 of the 3 games against us ... see my problem ...

I HATE the FuckSox. I hope they never win another game ... ever ... but ... how can I pull for a team to beat my Yankees? I mean ... how can a dyed-in-the-wool Yankees fan want his team to lose, regardless of the situation?

Well, as you loyal and faithful readers know, we fielded a semi-triple-A roster and ended up losing 5-2 to The Rays, who got an excellent outing from their star pitcher James Shields. The Orioles kicked the FuckSox in the butt by winning 6-3 and beating the FuckSox ace Josh Beckett. Nice.

This means that the Rays and the FuckSox are tied for the Wild Card berth in the play-offs.

But, when it was all over==>Billi Pod had a bad case of the blahs because of all of the wasted time in front of the tube and his mixed emotions about who should win etc etc etc ... oh well ...

Luckily things get back in order today because Billi Pod’s entertainment event is ...

7:30==>NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA @ Avery Fisher Hall - The concert will be Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. (“Resurrection”) with soloists and The New York Choral Artists (season subscription series)

This is the first of my 3 subscription series. The symphony performance time is about 90 minutes and there is no late seating, meaning ... you show up late and you miss the entire concert.

As I said, this is the first concert of the season. For the past 8 years I have subscribed to 3 Philharmonic series, each with 7 concerts. As a bonus, I am given a voucher for a free concert for each of the series and that is a big plus. All of my concerts are scheduled for either Tuesday or Wednesday and that works fine for me.

The NY Phil also has a very generous exchange policy, which can be accomplished online - another big plus.

Damn, in rereading this posting I come to the reluctant conclusion that it, too, is blah ... so I better close it out before it gets any worse ...

Sorry ...

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.”

ALEX-34

Friday Was A Total Washout

Good afternoon everyone out there in the vast hinterlands of cyberspace.

Well, my loyal and faithful readers, against my better judgment I went out to Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built, last night for the Boston FuckSox game. It wasn’t raining in Manhattan so my inner meteorologist told me that the game would be played regardless of the weather.

The Bronx was a totally different matter - it was pouring when I got to the stadium. I got soaked just getting from the subway station to the stadium entrance. Despite this, Billi Pod still thought they would get the game in ... but ...

He was wrong. The game was called around 7:30pm. At least they didn’t make us wait for hours and hours before calling it, as they often do. They announced that the game would be made up on Sunday with a day/night doubleheader, the first game at the scheduled time of 1:05pm and the second at 6:30pm. I already have a ticket to the 1:05pm game as part of my season ticket package, meaning ... Billi Pod will be at both games.

Hummmmm ... a doubleheader on Sunday ... a fitting way to end this home season ... NOT!!

On the crowded subway back into Manhattan I decided that I would see MONEY BALL, the just released Brad Pitt movie. Well, when I got off the subway at 42nd Street and walked in the rain to the movie theater, I found out that all of the evening performance times were sold out ... even the ones at 10:20pm and 11:20pm. Damn!! This was the only show I was interested in seeing.

Friday night was, therefore, a complete entertainment washout for Billi Pod.

Oh well ... came back to PHC and spent the rest of the evening in front of the tube watching baseball and meaningless college football.

The weather today is much better and I am confident the YANKEES/FUCKSOX game at 4:10pm will be played as scheduled.

Billi Pod’s entertainment schedule for today is ...

3:00==>THE LYONS - “Ben Lyons is dying. When his wife, Rita, and grown children gather to say goodbye, they learn that, despite being a family, each of them is utterly isolated. Afraid of closeness and afraid of solitude, they are propelled into foreign territory - human connection.” (Off Broadway - discounted TDF ticket).

This play is written by Nicky Silver and the cast is headed by Tony Award winners Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa.

The advance buzz is very favorable so I am looking forward to seeing it.

The show is playing at a theater down in The Union Square area. When it is over, weather permitting, I will walk back to PHC while listening to the YANKEES/FUCKSOX game on my trusty Walkman.

Tonight Billi Pod will stay in and watch ...

7:00==>GATORS vs. KENTUCKY WILDCATS @ Lexington, KY, on ESPN.

At half-time I will grill one of those awesome Allen Brothers steaks that Kathi and John gave to me for my birthday. They are terrific and ... terrifically expensive.

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.”

ALEX-31

Alex & Gina and Billi Pod’s 2011 Horoscope

What a great way to begin the week. My oldest grandson, Alex aka Army Guy, and his beautiful wife, Gina, had a wonderful time together over the weekend at Little Gasparilla Island in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

Thanks, Alex and Gina, for sharing the picture with me and for giving me permission to share it with my loyal and faithful readers.

Alex is headed back to Ft. Hood, TX, tonight and then ... well ... you know ...

So ... love, hugs and kisses to the three of you. Granddaddy.

As for Billi Pod, here in The Big Apple, in every way possible yesterday sucked. Rain ... more rain ... rain ... more rain ...

My game was rained out, of course. Thankfully, just minutes before I headed out to Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built, I received an email from a buddy advising me that the game had been postponed. Whew, that was close.

The remainder of the day/evening was==>rain ... more rain ... more rain ...

At 7:00pm Billi Pod concluded that it was just too nasty to go way downtown for his Fringe Festival show. Why? Well, first of all it was still raining and secondly, he is familiar with the small theater and there is no lobby or waiting area, meaning ... everyone would be standing in the rain until 15 minutes before show-time. Also, it is a rather long walk from the nearest subway station. Nope, not worth it, so he just ate the $9.00 ticket, figuratively speaking, of course.

So the rest of the evening was ... rain ... more rain ... and more rain. Blah and barf!!

Today is the usual errands and stuff day and I am happy to report that there is no rain, thus far, although it is cloudy and kinda gloomy out.

Today’s entertainment event is ...

5:15==>THE LADY DRUG DEALER AND THE HEIST - “In this surreal comedy, three incompetent dudes snorted all the coke they were supposed to sell. Now the lady drug dealer wants her money. Their solution? Rob a bank.” (Fringe Festival - $9.00 TDF ticket).

When the show is over I will probably come back to PHC and watch the 8:05 YANKEES/KANSAS CITY game with AJ Burnett aka Loser Boi on the mound for The Bronx Bombers.

In closing I want to share something with those of you otherwise loyal and faithful readers who have been somewhat critical, lately, of my sense of humor and of my obsession with settling scores with those who have offended Billi Pod, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Folks, it ain’t my fault. I have no choice. It is written in the stars as you can plainly see from my horoscope that was in The Onion (one of Billi Pod’s main sources of information) on my birthday on April 23rd ... and this horoscope is for the year ...

TAURUS (Apr. 20 - May 28) - “Your crude and primitive sense of humor will offend lots of people, but just wait until they get a look at your crude and primitive sense of justice.”

The Onion - April 23, 2011

Not Guilty!! I rest my case.

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.”

Even Billi Pod Has Blah Days

Yep, it has been a blah day thus far for Billi Pod, even though he lives in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World.

What do I mean?

Well, first of all, Billi Pod woke up this morning at the usual 8:00am feeling very blah. He was congested and his nose was runny. He immediately went into his cold-symptoms-attack-mode with Echinacea w/Gold Seal & mega doses of Vitamin C.

After making his usual FaceBook posting, reading the 3 papers and doing 3 crosswords, he went back to bed around noon and slept for about 90 minutes. WTF?

Yes, Billi Pod took a nap ... get over it people.

Felt somewhat better in the early afternoon and that led to the second blah-inducing activities ...

What? Well, today being Monday it is the usual errands day, including laundry gathering (no, I don’t do my own laundry, even though we have a state-of-the-art laundry room in my building) and going to the grocery store for the upcoming week’s food supply. Both blah tasks.

Even made a list (which I rarely do) but ... ended up buying way too much “stuff” ... as I usually do. I had so much “stuff” that the young checkout guy asked me 3 times if this was to be a delivery. Each time I told him no. When he handed me the last bag he looked at me and said ... “good luck, Sir.”

As I was trudging back to PHC, with snot running out of my nose, the thought hit me that this was very very stupid and that one of these days my hardheadedness was going to cause me trouble, big time ... anyway ...

I had planned on going to a movie tonight but, honestly, I am just not in the mood. Blah!!

Will stay in ... feel useless ... feel guilty ... and watch the YANKEES/REDS game, which will probably be rained out. Blah!

Damn, it is 5:30pm and this has become much longer than I had planned.

Gonna close with a brief report on yesterday’s entertainment events ...

Yesterday’s Musicals in Mufti doubleheader at The York Theatre -5:30==>I’M GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER AND TAKING IT ON THE ROAD, and then

8:30==>STILL GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER

was excellent, very entertaining and a lot of fun. Billi Pod highly recommends them.

Make sure you see both shows, in order. They run through Sunday, June 26th.

Tonight will alternate watching The Yankees and The Gator's College World Series game on ESPN2.

Man, just reread this posting and it is totally BLAH!!

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, unless he feels too blah.”

Blah Errands Monday In The Big Apple.

It is a rainy, nasty, cold errands day in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World. And, at 9:30am we actually had some snow flurries. Enough already with this cold weather.

I am delaying heading out to work on my errands list in order to bring you loyal and faithful readers out there in the backwoods and vast hinterlands up-to-date on yesterday’s awesome double header. Yes, and I have to add in the name of fair and unbiased reporting, that many of you take every opportunity you can to remind me of how warm and nice it is “out there.” Yes, I get it ... North==>cold. South==>warm.

Oh well ... this is Billi Pod’s report card on yesterday’s great doubleheader --

MASTERWORKS FESTIVAL CHORUS @ Carnegie Hall==>A<==another terrific concert with talented younger performers.

My seat was awesome, in one of the boxes in the first tier, with a face value of $89.00, for which I paid $9.00. The box seats 8 people. Seated in front of me was Dad, Granddad and Grandma, whose son/grandson, 15yo Alex, was playing french horn with The Long Island Youth Orchestra. We struck up a conversation. Dad is a lawyer.

Needless-to-say they were very excited, but in the excitement they had forgotten to bring their camera, but no problemo ... Billi Pod and his trusty and beloved iPhone came to their rescue. I took several pictures, including this one outside of Carnegie Hall after the concert. And, I even remembered to email them the pics when I got back to PHC from my evening show.

After the concert I had about 3 hours to kill before my 7:00pm show. I had already made up my mind not to come back to PHC. I walked over to The Museum of Modern Art (which closes at 5:30pm on Sunday, dammit) and spent an hour there and then found a coffee shop and had coffee and something sweet. Actually, the time went by pretty fast.

Then it was time for --

THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY==>B+<==a kinda grim story line. Excellent acting. A worth-see.

At the theater I met up with my theater buddy Dian Crystal, and her friend, and we had a nice visit before the show.

When I got back to PHC, around 9:00pm, I had such a good feeling about another great day in The Big Apple.

And, it was a terrific week--

Broadway shows - 3

Off Broadway shows - 4

Classical music concerts - 3

21st AA birthday

Can’t get much better than that, can it?

As some of you loyal and faithful readers know, for record keeping purposes Billi Pod’s week runs from Monday to Sunday. Yeah, I know. I have to make my own calendars, but what the Hell, have been doing it this way for at least 30 years.

Tonight’s entertainment event is --

8:00==>THE 5th ANNUAL BROADWAY BEAUTY PAGEANT @ Symphony Space - 5 of Broadway's hottest men compete for the title of Mr. Broadway by showing their best in: talent; interview; and, the ever-popular swimsuit.” (Off-Broadway - discounted TDF ticket)

Yes, this is something different to start off the week.

GO GATORS AND 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 Says==>Tuesday Was A Barfee Day!!

Well, in the name of fair and unbiased reporting Billi Pod has to report to you loyal and faithful readers that yesterday’s snow, sleet and rain made for a BARFEE day==>yep ... gasp ... I totally stayed in all day/evening.

Oh, several times I thought about heading out to a movie (after all, it is only 2 blocks away) but when I stuck my head out the window of PHC and felt the freezing rain I thought ... this is insane ... just stay warm and cozy where you are.

So the evening resolved itself to be: Keith Olbermann; Rachel Maddow; Fox News @ 10 O’clock; Jon Stewart; and, the first 30 minutes of Letterman. Yes, I know Betty White was on Letterman, but I have had more than enough of her. Sorry, folks, but this is just how I feel.

In other words, Tuesday was a majorly BLAH and BARFEE day.

But not to worry everyone because today is better - better weather and much better entertainment. It is ... tada ...a doubleheader for Billi Pod --

2:00==>RICHARD SKIPPER AS "CAROL CHANNING" IN CONCERT-“celebrates the career and persona of the unique theatrical legend.” (complimentary ticket)

I am not a big fan of female impersonators but this show has gotten very good buzz and my ticket is a comp., so I thought I would give it a shot. It is also playing at a theatre in my ‘hood.

Then tonight I will meet up with my friends attorney Dwight Wells, now living in Tampa, on his boat, and New Yorker Bruce Young, a criminal defense attorney.

At 8:00 we will see==>LOMBARDI-“about the legendary Hall of Fame coach and his impact on his players.” (discounted TDF ticket).

I saw this show in early previews and liked it a lot and it has gotten generally favorable reviews.

After the show we will have a late dinner at Joe Allen.

OK, my loyal and faithful readers, I know what you are thinking==>“That’s twice in one week at Joe Allen. Has Billi Pod abandoned Angus McIndoe for Joe Allen?” Be at ease - we are eating at Joe Allen because Dwight has never been there and he has dined with me several times at Angus.

OK, everyone, I need to post this and then run to the grocery store, so ...

Musings from THE MIND OF BILLI POD (a memoir in progress):

“Being late is never OK to a slug.”

GO GATORS AND 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 Says==>Tuesday Was A Kinda Blah Day!!

Yes, my loyal and faithful readers, it snowed overnight and there is some accumulation but nowhere near the December blizzard and for that Billi Pod says==>WHEW!!

But, in the name of fair and unbiased reporting, I have to admit that yesterday was a kinda blah day. Didn’t see LITTLE FOCKERS as planned because of the anticipated snow and that resulted in a totally boooooooooring evening!! Yes, occasionally life in The Big Apple can become boooooooooring, especially for a entertainment addict like moi. As most of you know, Billi Pod is not a TV person except for sports, news, Jon Stewart and Letterman.

Well, some of you may be thinking, why didn’t he work on transferring data from his iBook and old iMac? Answer==>just didn’t, my bad.

I am, however, happy to report that Billi Pod did use part of the time to schedule shows and entertainment events for the rest of the week.

Oh, forget to report that the miserable DRACULA closed on Sunday as Billi Pod had predicted. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Tonight’s entertainment event is down in The Village --

2nite-8:00==>THE NEW YORK IDEA - “This comedy, set in 1906, about social mores, status and attitudes about sex and divorce in upper crust New York, involves a freewheeling young divorcee who decides to settle down with a prominent Judge.” (complimentary ticket).

This show has received generally favorable reviews and I don’t anticipate having any problems tonight navigating the streets and sidewalks.

So, now it is time to post this and close with the now highly anticipated --

Musings from THE MIND OF BILLI POD (a memoir in progress):

“In today’s world becoming a non sequitur is not difficult.”

GO GATORS AND 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.”

Sunday==>It Is Snowing In Columbia

Well, my loyal and faithful readers, it is snowing here in Columbia, SC, as it is in most of the East Coast, up to and past New York City.

As a result of the snow, dammit to Hell, my return flight to NYC, scheduled for Monday morning at 6:05am has been canceled.

Delta rebooked me for the same flight on Tuesday morning, so we will just have to wait and see what develops. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Bill III opted not to stay for the anticipated snow, so he left yesterday and is now back in Orlando.

Tonight our friends Alvin and Linda Strasburger are coming to dinner to partake of Dr. John’s divine lamb shanks. Of all of John’s gourmet dishes, this is my absolute favorite. It takes a long time to prepare, so he’s working on it now. Yummy yummy!! Can’t wait!!

Will spend the afternoon and early evening in a couch-potato mode watching pro-football.

So ... let me close with the highly anticipated ...

Musings from THE MIND OF BILLI POD (a memoir in progress):

“Betcha didn’t know that Viagra was originally developed to treat horn dysfunction in male Unicorns.”

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.”