Updates - Doctor Zhivago - Chris - Scott & Amber - Capitol Steps - Going Away Pizza Party - The Spoils - Yankees

Wednesday==>Yes, my loyal and faithful readers and followers, I admit to not timely posting on this blog and I sincerely regret the discomfort it has caused so many of you out there in the boondocks, hinterlands and wastelands.

Billi Pod’s only excuse is that so much is going on in his life at the moment that he just wasn’t able to find the time to sit down in front of his ‘puter and write.

So ... why don’t we just begin with some catching up in a kinda summary fashion ... beginning with ...

SUNDAY. Billi Pod’s entertainment event was the Broadway show ...

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, the musical adaptation of the Boris Pasternak novel that follows Dr. Zhivago, a high-minded young doctor, who finds that destiny leads him to Lara, a haunted beauty who captures his heart==>C

I found this production to be tedious and frankly boring as the 2:40, with intermission, running time seemed to be forever and ever.

As I had previously posted, the reviews were almost uniformly negative and I concur ... and ... the show is closing this Sunday after only 26 previews and 23 regular performances.

On the sports scene ... the Yankees beat the Boston FuckSox 8-5 at the fetid cesspool known as Fenway Park and swept the series 3-0.

Sunday’s Pedometer mileage==>5.51 miles (or, 12,042 steps)

Total mileage for the week==>27.48 miles (average 3.94 miles per day)

Total mileage for 2015==>481.48 miles (average 3.92 miles per day)

MONDAY. As I previously posted, this would have been the 33rd birthday for my grandson CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM FALLETTA. We lost him in a freak boating accident on July 2, 2014.

8:30am==>breakfast with John Scott Reed aka Fabson and soon-to-graduate law student Amber Lee, at Cookshop at the corner of 10th Avenue and West 20th Street.

Amber, who is originally from Auburndale, FL, attends American University - Washington College of Law, in DC. She is scheduled to graduate on Sunday, May 17th, which is, coincidentally, the same day that our mutual friend Justin Allen Pifer graduates from Pace College of Law in White Plains, NY.

Billi Pod's entertainment event for the evening was an Off Broadway show at Town Hall ...

8:00==>CAPITOL STEPS: HOW TO SUCCEED IN CONGRESS WITHOUT REALLY LYING - “Celebrating post-filibuster Democrats and Tea Party Republicans with musical political satire poking fun at all sides of the issues. If you’ve ever wanted to see Barack Obama sing a show tune, Nancy Pelosi sing a rock song, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie do a classical ballet, this might just be the show for you!” (Off Broadway - complimentary ticket)

This sketch comedy group was born in 1981 and was originally composed of Congressional staff members and government employees. Now the troupe primarily employs professional actors and singers.

I have seen them perform multiple times and they have always been gut-busting funny. Well, I am happy to report that they are still gut-busting funny.

Billi Pod’s report card==>A

Before the show I met up with Dian Crystal aka My Lady, and that was nice.

Our seats were in the upper nosebleed section but just before the show started we were able to move down to fabulous loge seats.

We both left Town Hall with big smiles on our faces.

On the sports scene ... the Yankees lost 3-1 to the Blue Jays in Toronto as our bullpen imploded for the first time this season.

Monday’s Pedometer mileage==>6.08 miles (or, 13,290 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>487.56 miles (average 3.93 miles per day)

TUESDAY. Most of the morning was spent getting PHC in shape for the Going Away Pizza Party that Dian Crystal and her posse, plus two mystery guests, had planned for 3:00pm in the afternoon.

At 2:30pm I went down to the lobby and asked the deskman if he would tell the arriving guests that I had just moved out and he said he would.

I then posted this on the front door to the apartment ...

Needless-to-say ... this got things off to a good start as everyone arrived. 

The guests/hosts were: Dian Crystal aka My Lady; Marty Kosarik aka Whatever; Vera Olichney; Julie Miller; and, Cathy Altholz. The two mystery guests were Michael Pederson and Dennis Dohman.

The gang ordered pizza and we had a great time. Yes, it was food, friendship and fellowship at its best.

As a thank-you I gave each person a bottle of Pat’s Ho-Made BBQ Sauce.

In this picture, it is ... left to right ... back row: Dennis, Marty, Michael, Cathy - middle: Vera, Julie, Moi; and, front row, Dian.

The party ended around 5:00pm and I have to admit to being emotionally drained ...

So ... thank you guys==>I am really going to miss each one of you, that is for certain.

I stayed in and watched game two of the 3-game YANKEES/BLUE JAYS series.

The Yankees won 6-3 on a stellar outing from starter Michael Pineda, who tossed 8 scoreless innings.

This brings us to today ...

Billi Pod’s entertainment event is an Off Broadway show in early previews ...

7:30==>THE SPOILS - “Nobody likes Ben (Jesse Eisenberg). Ben doesn’t even like Ben. He's been kicked out of grad school, lives off his parents’ money, and bullies everyone in his life, including his roommate Kalyan (Kunal Nayyar), an earnest Nepalese immigrant. When Ben discovers that his grade school crush is marrying a straight-laced banker, he sets out to destroy their relationship and win her back.” (Off Broadway - discounted ticket)

This show is written by and stars Jesse Eisenberg and the stellar cast includes Kunal Nayyar, from TV’s The Big Bang Theory, as the roommate Kalyan.

It is playing at The Signature Theatre Complex on West 42nd Street, has a running time of 2:20, with intermission, and runs through June 28th.

On the sports scene ... tonight at 7:07pm is the final game of the 3-game YANKEES/BLUE JAYS series, from Toronto.

On the mound for the Yankees (17-10) will be our former ace CC Sabathia (0-4) vs. Mark Buehrle (3-2) for the Jays (13-15)

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

GO YANKEES!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>3.01 miles (or, 6,598 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>490.57 miles (average 3.93 miles per day)

Billi Pod

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

CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM FALLETTA (1982-2014)

CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM FALLETTA (1982-2014)

Today would have been his 33rd birthday.

Chris, we miss you sooooooo much!

Love ya - mean it!!

Granddaddy

A Queen for a Day - Doctor Zhivago - Yankees/F**kSox - Moving

Sunday==>It is a beautiful Spring morning here in The Big Apple, The Greatest City In The World.

Yes, your favorite Big Apple blogger is happy to report to all of his loyal and faithful readers and followers that at 10:00am it is sunny, with a few puffy clouds and a mild breeze coming off the Hudson River. The temperature is 64º with a high of 77º in the forecast. Nice, at long last.

So ... let’s get started with ...

Billi Pod’s report card on last night’s Off Broadway show ...

A QUEEN FOR THE DAY, set in an abandoned warehouse, Giovanni is a respected “made-man” who is forced into a difficult position as he is asked to give up his crime boss brother as part of a one day immunity deal also known as a “Queen for a Day”==>B+

This rather harsh drama is extremely well-acted by a stellar cast headed by David Proval as Giovanni “Nino” Cinquimani and Portia in the role of Patricia Cole, the Assistant US Attorney.

The story line has lots of twists and turns, some foreseen and some that are not. It is totally involving for the entire 90 minute running time.

My only quibble with the show is that there is way-too-much yelling and screaming from Giovanni, which coupled with his heavy Italian accent and use of Italian/Mafia slang, makes him sometimes very difficult to understand. This gets kinda old about 1/2 way into the performance.

Having said that ... 

Billi Pod says==>it is worth seeing if you are in the mood for drama.

It is playing at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, opens on May 3rd, has a running time of 1:30, without intermission, and runs through July 26th.

Moving on ...

Today’s entertainment event will be a recently opened Broadway musical ...

3:00==>DOCTOR ZHIVAGO - “This musical adaptation of the Boris Pasternak novel follows Dr. Zhivago, a high-minded young doctor, who finds that destiny leads him to Lara, a haunted beauty who captures his heart, as the ever-changing world swirls around them.” (Broadway - complimentary ticket)

This show opened on April 21st and received mostly unfavorable reviews. Frankly, I am uncertain just why I booked it, but I did ... so ...

It is playing at the Broadway Theatre at Broadway and 53rd Street, has a running time of 2:40, with one intermission, and is a open run (although the buzz is that it will shortly post a closing notice).

Moving on some more to the sports scene ... for you Marty ...

Yesterday afternoon in that cesspool known as Fenway Park the Yankees won their second consecutive game against the pitiful Boston FuckSox, by a score of 4-2, on an excellent outing from Nathan Eovaldi, 3 RBIs from Brett Gardner, and a save from Dellin Betances.

It was a very exciting game to watch.

Tonight at 8:05pm on ESPN, the Yankees go for the sweep of the 3-game series.

On the mound for the Yankees (15-9) will be Adam Warren (1-1) vs. Joe Kelly (1-0) for the FuckSox (12-12)

Of course your favorite blogger will be glued to his 42” flat screen TV, praying to The Baseball Gods On High for a sweep of the wretched FuckSox.

In closing==>I have to admit that the full impact of my decision to leave The Big Apple and return to The Sunshine State has now fully surfaced.

Yes, the mental countdown has begun. I guess the final nails were driven into the so-called “coffin” when, in the past several days: (1) I signed the binding contact with the mover and made the payment up front; (2) the moving date of May 20th was set; (3) I was notified that as soon as I vacate the apartment the landlord will begin a major renovation project, and the contractors came by to take measurements etc; and, (4) my bedroom is now loaded with moving boxes that must be assembled.

In the name of fair and unbiased reporting I have to state that the whole thing has turned kinda depressing because of what I believe to be “Mover’s Remorse.” 

Oh well ... I am still confident that I have made the right decision ... so ... what will be, will be ...

On this happy note ...

HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE WEEKEND EVERYONE!

GO YANKEES!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>3.35 miles (or, 7,333 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>475.97 miles (average 3.90 miles per day)

Billi Pod

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

A-Rod and the F**kSox - A Queen for a Day - A Response

Saturday==>Last night up at that fetid cesspool known as Fenway Park Alex Rodriguez smashed a pinch-hit homer off Junichi Tazawa in the 8th inning to lead the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the hated FuckSox.

The line drive homer was #660 and tied him with Willie Mays for 4th place on the all-time HR list.

As might be expected this event generated a firestorm of media coverage and these are the headlines in today’s papers ...

CHECK PLEASE! A-Rod’s 660th HR ties Mays, bests Sox. $6M bonus battle with Yanks on deck.

back page of the NY Post

SAY IT AIN’T SO. Dust off the asterisks again as A-Rod ties Mays on homer list with No. 660*

back page of the Daily News

And, in the Gray Lady ...

660. The Number Is the Same. The Context? Anything But.

front page of sports section of the NY Times.

Oh the drama ...

The game itself was a nail biter. We get a decent outing from the struggling CC Sabathia who gave up 2 runs in 6 innings. He did not get the win. Once again the bullpen was stellar.

Game 2 of the 3-game series will be at 1:30pm this afternoon.

On the mound for the Yankees (14-9) will be Nathan Eovaldi (1-0) vs. Wade Miley (1-2) for the FuckSox (12-11).

Of course your favorite Big Apple blogger will be in front of his 42” flat screen TV watching the game and screaming obscenities at those loathsome FuckSox scum-bags.

Moving on ...

Tonight’s entertainment event will be an Off Broadway show in my Hell’s Kitchen ‘hood ... 

8:00==>A QUEEN FOR THE DAY - “Set in an abandoned warehouse, Giovanni is a respected ‘made-man’ forced into a difficult position. Torn between love, loyalty and survival, he is asked to give up his crime boss brother as part of a one day immunity deal also known as a ‘Queen for a Day.’” (Off Broadway - complimentary ticket)

This drama stars David Deblinger, Vincent Pastore and David Proval from “The Sopranos.”

It is playing at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, opens on May 3rd, has a running time of 1:30, without intermission, and runs through July 26th.

I will close out today’s posting with a response to the rather nasty posts, texts and emails I have been receiving regarding my characterizations and comments about that putrid team from Beantown ...

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

GO YANKEES!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>3.29 miles (or, 7,203 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>472.62 miles (average 3.91 miles per day)

Billi Pod

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

Pace Law School & Justin Allen Pifer - Airline Highway - The Boston F**kSox

Friday==>Yesterday was a very interesting day for your favorite Big Apple blogger and, as warned, he was unable to post on this blog.

The reason ... I had a wonderful afternoon and early evening up in White Plains, NY,  at Pace Law School, with soon-to-graduate Justin Allen Pifer ... so ... why don’t we get started with the details ...

As you will recall, the purpose of this trip was for me to participate as a “jurist” in Justin’s final moot court trial.

So ... at 1:20pm I was on an express Metro North train headed to White Plains. We made excellent time, arriving, as scheduled, at 2:00pm.

Justin met me at the train station and drove us to the Pace campus. He then took me on a brief tour of the law school, including the very impressive law library.

Justin had some final things to do in preparation for the trial so we split and I spent about 30 minutes just walking and wandering around the beautiful campus.

At 3:30pm I reported back to the moot court classroom, also very impressive, and was seated in the jury box, with 4 law students (yeah, it was supposed to be 6 of us .. but no matter).

Justin and his female co-counsel were representing the plaintiff, a very unlikeable talk show host, who claimed to have been injured when a “family event” Sumo-wrestling match he was refereeing went “wrong.”

The Judge for the trial was the class professor. He is also a New York State Judge. We had a nice conversation during one of the breaks.

The whole thing was very interesting and I was really impressed with how well prepared the lawyers/students were and how totally in-character the 4 witnesses were.

The trial was over around 6:00pm and we began our very low-key deliberations, in the jury box. Bottom line, as much as I would have loved to have returned a verdict for Justin’s client, I agreed with the other jurors who felt the plaintiff was responsible for his injuries, therefore, no liability.

I did think that Justin and his co-counsel did a much better job than the two guys who were representing the defendant corporation.

This was Justin’s final class before his graduation, which is scheduled for 10:00am on Sunday, May 17th.

As a side note ... on that momentous day, John Scott Reed and I will Uber up to Yonkers to join Justin and his family for a celebration luncheon.

So ... Justin took me back to the train station in time to catch the 7:15pm train back to Grand Central. It was not an express so it took just a bit longer, but no problem.

It was 9:00pm when I opened the door to PHC. I was starving. Thankfully, I had some pizza in the ‘fridge.

I stayed in for the rest of the evening watching baseball.

So ... Justin==>thank you for the tour and for inviting me to participate in your final moot court trial.

Moving on ... or perhaps back ... whatever ...

I now need to share with you loyal and faithful readers and followers Billi Pod’s report card on the Broadway show he attended on Wednesday ...

AIRLINE HIGHWAY, in the parking lot of The Hummingbird, a once-glamorous motel on New Orleans’s infamous Airline Highway, a rag-tag collection of strippers, hustlers and philosophers have come together to celebrate the life of the iconic burlesque performer Miss Ruby, but she isn’t dead yet==>B-

There is a lot to like about this show, with the exception of the characters, who were basically stereotypes with in-your-face personalities. The underlying story line, that there are people in the “under-class” who are down-on-their-luck through no fault of their own, is stuffed down your throat from the opening scene to the finale. Yeah, we got it after 15-minutes.

Now, the acting is excellent and that is what makes the show worth seeing. I was very impressed with the legendary Julie White as a hooker with a heart and a drug problem and K. Todd Freeman as a sassy transvestite.

Frankly, I considered leaving at intermission but I am sorta glad I didn’t because I would have missed the triumphant entry of Miss Ruby.

So ... Billi Pod sorta says==>it is sorta worth seeing with a discounted or comp. tix.

It is playing at the Friedman Theatre on West 47th Street, has a running time of 2:15, with intermission, and runs through June 4th.

Moving on ... the reason this posting is delayed is because earlier I received the packing boxes from my mover and it took a long time to store them so I could still move around the apartment.

Now ... what about tonight?

Well, the weekend’s entertainment events will be governed by the fact that @ 7:10pm the Yankees begin a 3-game series against the Boston FuckSox up in that disgusting cesspool known as Fenway Park.

On the mound for the Yankees (13-9) will be our struggling former ace CC Sabathia (0-4) vs. Justin Masterson (2-0) for the FuckSox (12-10).

Saturday’s game will be at 1:35pm and Sunday’s game will be at 8:05pm, on ESPN.

Of course, your favorite Big Apple blogger will stay in to watch all three games.

Hey ... don’t be judgmental ... I am a Yankee fan and it is the repulsive FuckSox ... so ... what do you expect ...

On this happy note ...

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

GO YANKEES!!

Yesterday’s Pedometer mileage==>5.03 miles (or, 11,001 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>469.33 miles (average 3.91 miles per day)

Billi Pod

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