Report Card, Things & Stuff And Some Important Internet Links

Monday==>Well, to those of my loyal and faithful readers and followers out there in the miasma known as cyberspace who are sports fans ... yesterday the sport’s psyche of your counterparts here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, took a major beating.

First ... in the afternoon The Denver Broncos, headed by Peyton Manning, put a major 41-23 ass-whipping on The Giants and Eli Manning, who had 4 interceptions. The Giants running game was nonexistent, netting only 23 yards. Not a pretty game.

Then ... in the evening up at that cesspool known as Fenway Park, The Boston FuckSox put another ass-kicking on The Wankies, winning 9-2 as Ivan Nova had another miserable outing. Our bats were dead. 

With this sweep the FuckSox 2013 record against The Wankies is 13 wins and only 6 losses. Barf! Wretch!! Puke!!!

Technically we remain in the hunt for a wild-card spot because both Texas and Tampa lost, too. Only 12 games remain in the regular season.

The Wankies have today off (Thank God) and then begin a 3-game series against The Blue Jays up in Toronto.

Oh well ... moving on ...

Billi Pod’s report card on last night’s entertainment event, The Off Broadway show ...

EN AVANT! AN EVENING WITH TENNESSEE WILLIAMS - “He discusses some of his works, his loves and his demons==>B+

The show is extremely well performed by William Shuman, who is also the playwright. It is informative and also very thought-provoking, especially as he gives insight into Williams' personal play-writing process.

I am glad I caught it since this was its final performance as part of the NYC Fringe Festival Encore Series @ The Baruch Performing Arts Center on East 25th Street.

When the show was over the weather was great so I leisurely walked back to PHC, a distance of just a little over 2 miles. 

Moving on ...

During the day today I will do my usual errands and chores and then for tonight will be another Off Broadway show ...

7:00==>WAITING FOR WAITING FOR GODOT - “Two understudies occupy their time backstage trying to understand art, life, and their absurd existence. Turns out, the only people who truly understand waiting for Godot are the two actors who are Waiting for Waiting for Godot.” (Off Broadway - $9.00 TDF ticket)

This comedy/drama is a part of the NYC Fringe Festival Encore Series, is playing at The Players Theatre on MacDougel Street in The West Village, has a running time of 1:20, without intermission, and its final performance is tonight.

Now ... something a bit different for you loyal and faithful readers and followers out there in the boondocks, wastelands and wilderness ...

As some of you know, your favorite blogger is what he classifies as a Reverse Snowbird. What am I talking about, I know you are breathlessly asking your inner selves?

Well, inner selves ... to refresh your memory ... Billi Pod is a native Floridian who retired and moved North to New York City. He became a full-time resident in June 1998 ... ergo ... he is a Reverse Snowbird (which incidentally was the original title of this blog).

In the name of fair and unbiased reporting he must admit that the transformation was not without difficulties and he wants to now share with you the results of some recent internet research that will shed some light on what he is talking about ...

First ... 43 Reasons Why Growing Up In Florida Was Paradise On Earth

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/43-reasons-why-growing-up-in-florida-was-paradise-on-earth

Then ... 21 True Struggles Of Floridians Who Move Out Of State

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/21-true-struggles-of-floridians-who-move-out-of-state

So ... take a minute to check out both of these links so you will better understand your favorite blogger and the difficulties of being a Reverse Snowbird.

You are welcome!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>4.19 miles (or, 9,168 steps)

Total mileage for the week==>34.03 miles (average 4.86 miles per day)

Total mileage since 7/1/13==>279.96 miles (average 3.68 miles per day)

GO YANKEES!! 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 LIFE AND SORT OF DEATH OF ERIC ARGYLE==>B+

Sunday==>It is a beautiful Fall morning here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, with azure blue skies, wispy clouds and a steady breeze coming off of The Hudson River. The temperature at 9:00am was a kinda brisk 59º.

I hope that all of my loyal and faithful readers and followers out there in the hinterlands, wilderness and boondocks are having great weekends with lots of fun and other stuff.

Your favorite blogger has to admit that yesterday afternoon was a mixed sports day that went down like this ...

First was another heartbreaking loss to The Boston FuckSox at that fetid cesspool known as Fenway Park. The Yankees lost 5-1 as CC Sabathia had yet another mediocre outing and our bats went totally dead.

It wasn’t a fun game to watch and that is putting it mildly. The Yankee dugout looked totally beaten down by the end of the game. I know the Yankee Nation was feeling that way, too.

Tonight at 8:00pm on ESPN is the final Yankee/FuckSox game of the regular season. On the mound for the desperate Yankees will be Ivan Nova (8-4) vs. Clay Buckholz (10-0) for the FuckSox.

Folks, the Fat Lady is exercising her vocal cords off-stage as she gets ready to symbolize the end of the 2013 season for The Bronx Bombers.

On a positive note ... Number 1 ranked ‘Bama won a nail biter over #6 Texas A&M by a score of 49-42.

As I posted yesterday, I was rooting for ‘Bama to win because my son Bill III aka The Bill in an avid Crimson Tide fan. It was a very very exciting game.

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel aka Johnny Football had an awesome performance against the #1 ranked team, passing for 464 yards and rushing for 98 yards for a jaw-dropping total of 562 yards of offense, which included 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

It was a totally enjoyable game to watch. I believe The Tide will repeat as National Champions.

When the game was over I headed up and over to the Eastside for my entertainment event for the evening, the Off Broadway show ...

THE LIFE AND SORT OF DEATH OF ERIC ARGYLE, about Eric Argyle who is having a bad Sunday because it's late, he's still in his pajamas, a room full of people are staring at him, and he died at 11.42am, two days ago==>B+

The show is extremely well acted, especially by the ensemble cast who play multiple roles. The story line is complex, very thought-provoking and at times a bit confusing. Happily I was able to understand the heavy Irish accents with few problems.

This show is playing at the 59E59 Theatre Complex, one of my favorite venues, has a running time of 95 minutes, without intermission, and runs through September 29th.

Billi Pod says==>if you want something a bit different, then see this show.

Moving on ...

Damn ... I really miss having Sandy Mullon in and around PHC ... I really do ...

Moving on some more ...

Today’s entertainment event is an Off Broadway show ...

3:00==>EN AVANT! AN EVENING WITH TENNESSEE WILLIAMS - “I'll fix myself a drink then we'll talk. You'll hear about mother, Edwina, who believed she was Amanda, father, Cornelius and dear sister Rose. Then we'll explore some of my work, my loves and my demons.” (Off Broadway - complimentary ticket)

The show is written and performed by William Shuman who is the winner of the Excellence in Solo Performance Award from this year’s NY Fringe Festival.

It is part of the Encore Series, has a running time of 1:25, without intermission, and the final performance is this afternoon at the Baruch Performing Arts Center on East 25th Street.

When the show is over I will walk back to PHC, a distance of approximately 2.5 miles. Will listen to the Giants/Broncos game on my trusty Walkman as Peyton goes against Eli.

As I know you loyal and faithful readers and followers expected==>Billi Pod will stay in tonight to watch the final Yankees/FuckSox game.

HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.46 miles (or, 5,376 steps)

Total mileage since 7/1/13==>279.96 miles (average 3.68 miles per day)

GO YANKEES!! 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.”

Normality Has Returned To PHC

Saturday==>Billi Pod is happy to report to his loyal and faithful readers and followers that he has successfully completed the single-male restoration process @ PHC following his visit from Sandy Mullon of Anna Maria, Fl, and ... yes ... thankfully ... the entire apartment is again cootie-free as a result of the heroic efforts of his pest-control friend Quido Carlucci.

Unfortunately, this was the only pleasant thing about his yesterday since his entertainment plan was to remain in the restored PHC for the evening to watch the first game of the 3-game Yankee/Boston FuckSox series from that fetid cesspool known as Fenway Park.

Well, as you know ... The Yankees got their butts kicked as Hiroki Kuroda gave up 4 runs in the first inning and then the bullpen imploded once again to give up 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th. The final score was 8-4. It wasn’t fun to watch, trust me on this ... it wasn't.

And, dammit, all of the other teams in the running for the wild-card spots won. Barf!! Time in running out.

Well ... today is gonna be mixed day, starting with a sports afternoon in front of the tube ... first ...

1:05==>Yankees/Boston FuckSox @ Fenway Park, with CC Sabathia (13-12) on the mound for the Yankees vs. Jon Lester (13-8) for The FuckSox.

Then ...

3:30==>Alabama @ Texas A&M on CBS.

To quote one of the local newspapers:

“Anyone outside of College Station is sick of Johnny Manziel’s antics. Everyone - including those folks in Texas - is jealous of Bama quarterback A.J. McCarron due to his hot girlfriend. So who do you root for in this one?”

Well, my son Bill III aka The Bill of Orlando, FL, is an avid ‘Bama fan so in true fatherly fashion Billi Pod is gonna say==>Roll Tide!

Then ...

Tonight’s entertainment event is an Off Broadway show ...

8:15==>THE LIFE AND SORT OF DEATH OF ERIC ARGYLE - “Eric Argyle is having a bad Sunday. It's late. He's still in his pajamas. A room full of people are staring at him. And he died at 11.42am, two days ago. An issue that people don't seem all that receptive to.” (Off Broadway - complimentary ticket)

This show is playing at the 59E59 Theatre Complex, one of my favorite venues, has a running time of 90 minutes, without intermission, and runs through September 29th.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>2.41 miles (or, 5,275 steps)

Total mileage since 7/1/13==>277.50 miles (average 3.70 miles per day)

GO YANKEES!! 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.”

Update on Sandy and Billi Pod’s AWESOME Adventure

Friday==>Well, my loyal and faithful readers and followers, you can take a deep breath and relax because your favorite blogger here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World, is now in a position to share with you the awesome details of his just-concluded adventure with Sandy Mullon of Anna Maria, FL.

Sandy arrived on Tuesday morning and this morning, Friday, is heading back to Florida. We had a wonderful time together and for the most part the weather cooperated and that was good because our plans included some extensive walking and wandering time.

So ... in kinda summary form ... let’s get started.

Tuesday - Sandy arrived at PHC around 11:45am and we spent some time doing some major catching up. Her last visit here was way back in May of 2011.

In the early afternoon we leisurely walked over to Madison Avenue and then down to The Morgan Library and Museum at East 36th Street where we spent a couple of hours going to all of the open exhibitions. This is a pretty impressive place.

When we finished up we then leisurely walked back to PHC.

As I had earlier posted, I had previously invited my theater-buddies Dian Crystal aka My Lady and Marty Kosarik aka Whatever to join us for an early (6:00pm) dinner at my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Meske, located on West 47th Street in my Hell’s Kitchen ‘hood.

What I didn’t post was that Dian and I also had planned to use this event to shield a surprise birthday party for Marty whose 51st birthday was to be on the next day, September 11th.

Well, folks, thanks to the expert planning by Dian, this was a total surprise. When he arrived he had no clue what was about to happen. We had a ball, with fun and fine food.

And, Kate Martin of Lakeland, FL, who had been in the City this summer for a fashion-industry related internship was also at the restaurant with friends and she stopped by to say hello.

Sandy grew up in Lakeland ... so you had 3 people with ties to Polk County aka PFC aka Polk F**king County, together at the same time in an Ethiopian restaurant in NYC ... what are the odds?

When dinner was over we split, with Dian and Marty carrying Marty’s load of surprise birthday gifts and Sandy and I heading for our entertainment event ...

8:15==>NEWSICAL THE MUSICAL - “No one in the news is safe. Current events, newsmakers, celebrities and politicians are mocked and lampooned, with music==>B+<==still funny, topical and basically well performed.

It was a great start to Sandy’s Big Apple Adventure.

Pedometer mileage for the day==>5.46 miles (or 11,930 steps)

Wednesday - after reading the 3 daily papers and having breakfast, around 10:30am we walked South down to the West 30th Street entrance to The High Line and walked the entire length of the “park.”

For those of you loyal and faithful readers and followers who live out there in the boondocks, wastelands and hinterlands ... “The High Line is an approximate 1-mile linear park built on a 1.45-mile section of the former elevated New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan - it has been redesigned and planted as an aerial green way.”

We walked to the very end, exited, walked up to the 14th Street subway station and then subwayed up to the second phase of Wednesday’s adventure ... THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART.

It was about 1:00pm when we arrived at MoMA

After she retired from The Department of Children’s Services, Sandy taught art history at State College of Florida. Her background makes our visits to museums and art galleries etc. even more enjoyable. It is like having my own private tour guide.

We left MoMA around 4:00pm and came on back to PHC where we chilled and had my usual pre-theater snack, a fruit and cheese plate.

Then it was time for our entertainment event, the Broadway musical ...

8:00==>PIPPIN - “The story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life? Or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory?"==>A<==a lot of fun with incredible acrobatics. Great cast even though Pippin was played by an understudy, Erik Altemus.

Our seats were excellent, 3rd row of the front mezzanine.

When the show was over, it has a 2:30 running time, with intermission, we leisurely walked back to my ‘hood where we had great burgers at 5 Napkin Burgers at 45th and 9th.

It had been a terrific day.

Pedometer mileage for the day==>7.34 miles (or 16,039 steps)

Thursday - this was going to be a major walk and wander day ... and ... trust me my loyal and faithful readers and followers ... it was that and then some.

After the papers and breakfast, around 10:30am we subwayed down to Ground Zero were we spent about 2 hours checking things out, including the soon-to-be completed World Trade Center and the huge World Financial Center. We also strolled along the Hudson River.

Hummmm ... the weather was beginning to get a bit iffy ... had we brought our umbrellas? Of course the fuck not.

We then subwayed up to The West Village for a walk and wander session that included Washington Square Park and a lot of shops. Oh ... it began to rain and we got pretty wet ... oh well ...

It was about 3:00pm when we got back to PHC. We rested for a few minutes and then spent about 45 minutes walking around my ‘hood, including walking over to the river.

Came back and had the usual fruit and cheese plate.

I was able to give a birthday call to my oldest grandson Alex Falletta aka Army Guy, who lives in Elgin, SC, with his wife Gina and their darling daughter Saylor.

No only was Army Guy celebrating his 33rd birthday but he was also celebrating his promotion to CWO3. He found out about the promotion on his birthday.

AWESOME!!

Then it was time for our final entertainment event, another award-winning Broadway musical ...

7:00==>MATILDA THE MUSICAL - “The story of an extraordinary girl who dreams of a better life. Armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, Matilda dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.”==>A<==what fun. The young kids in the cast are simply incredible, especially Oona Laurence who played Matilda, a role that is alternated between four young performers.

My only quibble with the show is that sometimes I had trouble understanding the lyrics as sung by the children.

Our seats were super-excellent, front row of the mezzanine, on the aisle.

When the show was over, 2:30, with intermission, we walked back to my ‘hood where we caught a late bite at The Westway Diner on 9th Avenue between 43rd and 44th.

I have to admit that when we got back to PHC around 11:00pm we were both tired. Sandy crashed and I watched the final innings of the rain-delayed Yankees/Orioles game, which the Yankees won 6-5 in the 9th inning, on a wild-pitch.

Then I zonked out.

Oh, man ... this was a super-excellent day ...

Pedometer mileage for the day==>9.55 miles (or 20,886 steps)

Friday - well, as “they” say, all good things must to come to an end, and this morning marked the end of Sandy’s all-too-brief Big Apple Adventure. She left PHC around 8:00am and caught a cab out to LGA. I am happy to report that her flight to Tampa left on time.

So ... Miz Mullon==>PLEEZE PLEEZE come back soon.

Now ... moving on to other stuff ...

Tonight @ 7:10pm, at that fetid cesspool known as Fenway Park, The Yankees will play the first game of a 3-game series against THE BOSTON FUCKSOX.

On the mound for The Yankees will be Hiroki Kuroda (11-10) vs. John Lackey (9-13) for The FuckSox.

The Yankees limp into Boston with even more injuries. Derek Jeter is now out for the remainder of the season and last night Brett Gardner left the game with a strained left oblique. He may be finished for the season too.

The Bronx Bombers are still in the wild-card race and are only one-game behind for the second wild-card spot, currently held by The Rays.

OK ... up front ... your favorite blogger intends to watch all 3 of these games. He does, however, have shows also scheduled for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

So, my loyal and faithful readers and followers, you are now up-to-date.

I do have to close this posting by also noting that Billi Pod has began the laborious process of converting PHC back to an all-male lifestyle, which includes, of course, bringing in the exterminator to rid the place of cooties ... awwwww ... come on ... everyone knows that females bring cooties with them wherever they go. 

This fact has been known by the male sex from the beginning-of-time and is passed down from father-to-son, generation after generation. Need further proof? Check out this website ... Calvin is never wrong ...

http://www.wanorrisjr.blogspot.com/2011/05/billi-pod-calvin-sayfemales-cooties.html

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>9.55 miles (or, 20,886 steps)

Total mileage since 7/1/13==>275.09 miles (average 3.72 miles per day)

GO YANKEES!! 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.”