January 2010
On The Way To AC.
I’m sitting on the Aces train as I write this. I’m headed down to Atlantic City for the day to play cards with my friend Lance. The Aces train is super nice, runs from Penn Station NYC to Newark to AC. Am easy breezy 2:53 ride. The best part (for me at least) is that it makes a right turn on the way just north of Philly crosses by the Betsy Ross bridge and goes right by my old hood.
...
Hey.
It’s 13 degrees out this morning. Does someone want to come walk Reese for me?
LOST.
Paraguay says I watch too much TV. I don’t think I do. At least not too much. But, yes there are certain shows I really like and make it a point to DVR them (For the record I watch zero live television with the exception of sporting events). As for the shows that are a must for me I’ll list them in order: 1. PTI (Pardon The Interruption) on ESPN. Best show on TV. Period. 2. The Soup on...
Going For A Ride.
As I get old(er) I realize that running as much as I used to is just not doable. My legs remind me of that fact. Especially the shins. It’s a lot of pounding. So, I’ve started bicycling. I have to say I really like it. For starters I can cover a lot more ground. Secondly, NYC has some of the most amazing bike paths. I can cruise the length of the west side of the island virtually...
The Paraguayan Files (Número Dos)
Day 2: Bienvenido a Asunción. After arriving in PY under the cover of night it was nice to wake up the next day and actually see it. Paraguay (Asunción particularly) is a dichotomy of sorts. It’s somehow simultaneously beautiful and in disrepair. Much of that has to do with the economy (or lack there of). Sadly, it’s a trend that is repeated throughout much of Latin America. Please...
No, we can't
marco:
Thomas Friedman:
The most striking feature of Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency was the amazing, young, Internet-enabled, grass-roots movement he mobilized to get elected. The most striking feature of Obama’s presidency a year later is how thoroughly that movement has disappeared.
In part, it disappeared because the Obama team let it disappear, as Obama moved to pass what was...
The Paraguayan Files (Número Uno)
Day 1: Leaving New York. There is no simple way to get to Paraguay. It’s 4,685 miles (7538 kilometers if you prefer metric). While that distance isn’t all that bad it’s the fact there are no direct flights into Asunción that complicate things a bit. The most common route is to fly to Sao Paolo, Brazil and then on to Ansunción. That’s what we did. We had to go with a day...
One Year Later.
A lot of people today will sit and pontificate about how President Obama did in his first year in office. The beauty of this country is they are entitled to do so. Love that about the US. As fucked up as it is right now we still get a lot of things right. Freedom of speech is one of them. Guns in everybody’s hand, well not so much. As for Obama I’ll say this – he’s trying. But,...
You Ought To Be In Pictures.
Finally got around to importing the 800+ photos I took on our recent trip to South America (yeah, I went a little crazy with my new toy). Most of them are meh, but some are pretty good. I have to go through them all still and clean them up, but I’ll be posting them over the course of the next week or so along with a right up of all the wonderful things we did. And it was wonderful. Simply...
Bandwagonesque
I grew up outside of Philly. 39 years in one spot. It’s in my blood for better or worse. I like to think better. Couple that with lifelong support for all the Philly sport franchises and you can begin to understand why I’m not a fan of the fickleness of New York sports fans. They are the biggest bandwagon jumpers I’ve ever scene. Ever. Taking a quick look around this morning you...
Niceness Is Nice.
This morning I wanted to get a bagel from the corner cart on our block. I stop at the same cart about 3 or 4 times a week when I walk Reese in the morning. I always get the same thing. A plain everything bagel. Cost $.75. I give him a dollar and tell him to just keep the change. No big deal. So today I walk up hand him my dollar and ask for my bagel. Well, he didn’t have any plain everything...
Picture This.
Before we left for South America I got a new camera. I’ve been wanting to delve into photography for some time, but never have. I’ve dabbled in the past here and there, but let’s just say the bulk of my experience taking pictures has been on weak point and shoots, or worse my iPhone. Pathetic. I really want to get into manually controlling the camera and understand how the...
Spoon.
Spoon featured in the New York Times. LINK. Love Spoon. Easily in my top 10 all time.
Back from South America
Spent the last 15 days traversing Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Mostly in Paraguay hanging with Lili’s family. It was a great trip. I really enjoyed myself and my time to decompress. Much needed. And South America is stunning. I didn’t do any blogging or internet surfing and I didn’t miss it at all. I did check email a few times and of course had to send at least one tweet...