Errands Monday and Report Cards On Yesterday’s Doubleheader

Good Monday afternoon everyone.

I apologize to all of my loyal and faithful readers for the delay in today’s posting but today, being Monday, is my usual errands and stuff day and I thought that I would get them out of the way before working on my daily blog ... well ...

It seems as if everything took longer than I had anticipated and nothing worked out exactly as I expected. I won’t bore you with too many details other than to share that they all revolved around getting the necessary hardware and stuff to frame and hang the artwork I had gotten out of my Bartow storage area a couple of weeks ago.

One of the few downsides of living in a metropolitan area like New York City is ... no shopping malls ... meaning a lot of walking and a lot of subway rides to get things and stuff. My first store was on 57th and 7th Avenue and it didn’t have what I wanted/needed so I headed further uptown to 97th and Columbus Ave. and they only had part of what I wanted/needed. Damn!!!

So I came back to PHC, went online and was able to order the rest of the stuff. Why I didn’t think about doing that first I really don’t know ... but I didn't.

Anyway ... at least I have made the first step toward overcoming my artistic sloth.

As most of you loyal and faithful readers know, yesterday was another entertainment doubleheader for Billi Pod.

His first show was MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET based on a chance (but true) meeting between Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley, in a recording studio.

When I first saw this show back in March 2011, during its Broadway run, I gave it an A. I am happy to report that it also works very well in the smaller Off Broadway venue at New World Stages, so my report card is==>A.

Each of the performers bore a passable resemblance to the rock ‘n’ roll legends they were portraying. Each of the characters performed their gold record hits in basically a jam-session format.

I have to admit that once again it brought back a lot of memories since it is set in 1956, when I was a mere 22 years old and just beginning to really get into rock music. I left the theatre with a happy smile on my face and my ears ringing.

As planned I didn’t go back to PHC but rather headed down to the Astor Place area for my second show.

Had time to check out John Scott Reed’s aka Fabson new apartment location. Fabson is leaving Brooklyn to return to Manhattan, where he belongs. His building is located on 10th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. It is a happening area and I will post more about it later. Also had time for some coffee and something sweet, again as I had planned.

Met up with my theater buddy Dian Crystal just before the show. She was traveling without her usual posse.

OK ... OK ... I know ... you are tired of waiting for me to report on my second show GOB SQUAD’S KITCHEN, a reconstruction of Andy Warhol’s firms and lifestyle, set in 1965 ... well folks ... even though more time has transpired I am still uncertain just WTF was going on ... so ... Billi Pod’s report card is==>WTF.

It was certainly different to say the least. Unfortunately Billi Pod did not get selected to appear onstage with the cast ... dammit ... Neither Dian, but she really didn’t want to do it, whereas, Billi Pod did ... oh well ...

As I posted yesterday, it is a multimedia presentation that breaks the 4th wall multiple times. I will be very interested in the reviews once the show officially opens.

Now ... moving on to today ... or rather ... tonight ...

8:00==>STONE AND STONE - “Twin brothers perform at The Peoples Improv Theater.” (comedy show -complimentary ticket).

I think that the following press release about the show is very interesting ...

“On a quiet morning in 1983, twin babies were placed in an open basket in the Hudson River on the New Jersey side. They passed over the calm waters to the island of Manhattan where they were discovered, rescued, and later raised by a beautiful and kindly beggar-woman. One day during their eighteenth year, the twins went to play in Central Park. While rubbing sticks together to create a spark, a whole bush caught on fire and a mighty voice spoke out to them. The twins asked the bush what they should do. “Should we found a nation for twins?” asked Adam. “Or discover the cure for gout?” asked Todd. “No!” said the flaming bush. “You must go to Wesleyan University together, start a comedy show and then hit the New York comedy scene. Now!” And that is what they did.

Always dressed in double-breasted blazers, the Stone twins, Adam and Todd, created a two man comedy act called "Stone and Stone" during their sophomore year at Wesleyan University. Since graduating in 2005, they have performed at comedy clubs and theaters throughout New York

City.”

I think this should be fun.

OK ... still got things and stuff to do ... so ...

GO YANKEES AND GO BIG BLUE!!

Billi Pod

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

ALEX-160

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

MO GETS SAVE #602==>AWESOME!!

As most of you now know, yesterday afternoon Mariano Rivera got his record setting 602nd career save as the Yankees won 6-4 over The Twins.

The win was accomplished despite another bizarre outing from AJ Burnett aka Loser Boi who couldn’t get through the 5th inning because he was about to blow a 5 run lead. He gave up 4 runs. He seemed to be pissed when he was taken out of the game because he later told the press that he hadn’t finished the 5th inning because he “wasn’t given the opportunity to finish it.”

You weren’t given the “opportunity” asshole because you imploded once again.

Note to Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman==>this loser cannot ... repeat ... cannot be trusted in the post season.

More about the game ... this was a makeup for a game rained out in April. My ticket was free because I had used a voucher given as a part of my season ticket package. As reported yesterday, my seat was in the upper tier, in the sun. Long story short, because it was a Monday afternoon makeup game, there were lots and lots of empty seats in my usual area. After the first inning I was able to move down to my usual seat because the “gatekeeper” recognizes me as a season ticket holder. That was nice.

It was very exciting being in the stadium for this historic event. As you may remember, Billi Pod was also present when Derek Jeter got his 3,000th hit, earlier in the season. Yes, these two events really were important to a baseball nut like moi.

Getting to the game, though, was nightmarish at best. What am I talking about you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well, let’s start off with ...

When I got to the subway station in The Port Authority Terminal I discovered that an upper westside water main break had taken the A, B & D lines out of service.

Damn ... but I still had an alternative. I walked over to the Broadway/42nd Street station and took the shuttle train to Grand Central Station where I got on the 4 train, an express train that goes directly to Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. The train was packed.

When we stopped at the 86th Street station, the doors remained open and we began to wonder what the f**k was going on. After about 10 minutes, as the jam-packed crowd was getting really antsy, there came an announcement that the delay was because a passenger needed “medical help.” WTF?

We were told to exit the train, which we did. The station was packed. The doors to the train were closed. Then came an announcement that the train had been taken out of service, and the empty train slowly started moving out of the station. WTF?

In about 5 minutes a 5 train arrived. It doesn’t go to the stadium. I would guess that about 1/3 of the crowd got on it even though people, like me, were saying ... no no, don’t do it, don’t do it ... Most of them disregarded our warnings and away the 5 train went. Bad mistake.

5 minutes later a jammed 4 train arrived and the rest of us shoved our way into the already stuffed cars. It wasn’t pleasant and that is putting it mildly.

We arrived at the stadium 5 minutes before game time, meaning a trip that should have taken about 30 minutes took about an hour and 15 minutes. Oh well ... at least I was there for the game, which turned out to be historic.

Yeah ... yeah ... I know ... much too long and who cares ... but Billi Pod just needed to get it out of his system. He is still wondering why they took the train out of service rather than taking the person out of the subway at 86th Street??? Oh well ... they did ... so ...

Last night I stayed in. I alternated watching the Giants/Rams game and the second of the FuckSox/Orioles game.

In the name of fair and unbiased reporting Billi Pod has to admit that he also watched the season opener of “TWO AND A-HALF MEN.” This was the first time I had ever, and I mean ever, watched it, so some of the in-jokes went over my head.

This posting is being written at around 3:00pm, a bit later than usual because this morning Billi Pod had a routine appointment with his eye doctor, whose office is on East 49th Street, between lst and 2nd Avenues, about 4 blocks from The United Nations Building.

The appointment, and outcome, was routine, but getting there wasn’t routine because that part of Manhattan was in a virtual lock-down because of The President’s presence at the UN, along with other heads-of-state.

I won't bore you any more with the details except to say that the police presence was very very heavy and they were obviously not very happy about things.

Oh, and it was lightly raining too.

My doctor is Dina B. Weintraub, an ophthalmologist, and I have been seeing her for about 8 years. My last appointment was 6 months ago, so I was surprised to learn today that she is expecting twins, a boy and a girl, in about 6 weeks. She expects to be able to continue with her practice.

She reads this blog, so==>CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO YOU DR. W. SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER.

Billi Pod’s entertainment event is, of course ...

7:05==>YANKEES/TAMPA BAY @ Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built.

Rookie Ivan Nova will be on the mound for The Bronx Bombers. Billi Pod will be in his usual seat for this game.

Oh, and, of course, the weather is going to be iffy. Trust me ... they will play this game in all conditions short of a category 5 hurricane.

Wow!! What a boring posting ... 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-27