obsessed with another kooks tune...

don't shoot the piano player...

definitely having our piano player play this james last gem at the wedding...

stay hungry, stay foolish

kooks do it again...

nice tune...

20 days until The Cyclades

the big trip is approaching... looking forward to the bella stella adventure. maybe i'll get to steer the ship.

new client just signed contract with ep...

i shall therefore play some celebratory contract-signing music...

juicing

we visited a client in fairfield, nj yesterday. an exciting trip through the land of strip malls. this client makes really big juicers so people can get really healthy, fast. it takes 500 oranges to make this thing work!

wedding cake

thinking about this for our wedding cake next june. hope people like it.

a "burg" at techspace!

at least that's the slang term the cops used today when describing our li'l burglary at the office... luckily the "perps" only got a few dollars in change from me...

unfortunately they nabbed greg's apple monitor, too. scary stuff at techspace this morning!

notice they didn't bother to steal the shake weight off my desk. i guess they're not too interested in upper body toning.

charlie christian...

genius.

wedding tunes...

planning on infusing next year's wedding with lots of fun tunes... rach wants us each to pick a surprise song for the first dance. i've been thinking of a few, and this one, although probably not wedding material, is on the short list:




or perhaps this will be the one:

home work

with the other guys out, i decided to work from home today... just kicking back at the moment with my coffee, scanning through email and listening to the monkees... obvi.

balls of meat

my famous -- and, until now, very secret -- meatball recipe has been posted on an epicurean website by my officemate's girlfriend, who writes for the site.

at first i was a little upset, but people love the recipe so much i figure i should let it be shared so all people from around the globe can rejoice and enjoy these genius balls of meat.

i must, however, give credit to my great aunt dorothy (may she rest in peace), and her recipe book, from whence this meatball recipe was stolen.

strangely, i will now post a clip from the great movie, meatballs:

closet space

much more room now with our newly redesigned closet. took a little longer than i expected, but then again i've never really used tools before.

what once was a crowded mess is now less of a crowded mess. exciting stuff!

sebastian...

continuing on the topic of john sebastian (and dancing around as a child), when i was very young there were three albums i'd play over and over. one was south pacific with mario lanza, another was beach boys endless summer, and the third was a lovin' spoonful album. my mother was a massive fan of the spoonful. i absolutely loved that album, especially this song, which i had completely forgotten about (and have just listened to twelve times).

tv theme songs

a pretty good collection of tunes are mentioned here, but there are, obviously, some glaring omissions.

i can't imagine anyone would argue that the golden girls theme song, and show, was terrific. and john sebastian's kotter theme was pure gold (i've even attempted to learn it on guitar)...

but how could they leave the dick van dyke show's theme off the list? according to my parents, when the song played i would run around in circles, giggling -- i haven't added much more to my dance routine over the last 35 years, i'm afraid.

beantown adventure...

an exciting recap of yesterday's biz trip to visit a potential client:

1) woke up at 6am, headed to jfk to catch flight (at this point it was already 85 degrees)
2) got to logan, drove to boston coffee shop to write presentation (two hours before the presentation was to happen)
3) drove 30 minutes to newton, mass. to visit bland office park where potential client is situated (it's now over 90 degrees)
4) met with ceo and a bunch of others... steve and i conducted our typical song/dance/gesticulations to emphasize how great of a fit we are for aforementioned would-be client
5) wrapped up a good meeting / got general agreement they'll use us in some capacity
6) get to airport as massive storm clouds form over logan, our american airlines flight delayed (storm clouds were so ominous, i was secretly hoping to see a tornado)
7) american flight delayed several more times, in increments of 15 minutes.
8) american flight finally canceled
9) attempt to get a us airways flight, to no avail
10) discuss with steve if we should rent a car and drive 4 hours back to nyc
11) decide not to and investigate amtrak schedule
12) buy amtrak ticket over the phone, get to south station and have a beer and watch irish-looking blue-collar beantown folk making merry
13) board train at 9:30pm, fall asleep
14) wake up around 12am, and find out the train is delayed (not moving at all)...
15) listen to vulgar couple behind me munching chips and belching while playing video games as i try to fall back asleep
16) finally get to penn station in nyc at 3:15am, jump in cab
17) get home at 3:40am. takes 20 minutes for me to fall asleep.
18) wake up at 8am
19) leave for work at 10am

facebook loyalty...

nine days of pain

Background:

* Ten years ago, as I was getting out of bed, I experiences a sharp and severe pain in my neck. I screamed out loud and I could not move. The "epicenter" was on the left side of my neck and sent waves of pain through my upper back, neck, and left shoulder blade. The pain was most severe when I moved my head to the left or up and down. The pain slowly went away over the next three days.

* After a few more occurrences of this over the next few months, I decided to visit the Spine Institute. I was seen by Dr. Casden. He had an MRI taken which showed a bulging disc in my neck, C 4/5 to be specific, and mild stenosis where my column was becoming too narrow to house my cord! jfc!

* Casden recommended I begin stretching regularly and refrain from running and other strenuous exercise (at the time I was running about 30 miles/week). I asked him if it was something I should worry about, and could I eventually continue running. He explained that he was also a runner and that I shouldn't worry about it. The alternative, he said, was surgery, but he didn't recommend that as my issue seemed minor. The time off from running along with regular stretching seemed to work for me. The pain went away and I didn't have another episode for a while.

* Throughout the last ten years, however, I have had similar episodes (anywhere from 2 - 6 per year). It typically occurs in the exact same spot on the left side of my upper back and neck (aside from one recent episode that occurred on the opposite side). Every one of these episodes slowly subsided after two or three days.

* It's difficult to determine exactly what triggers these episodes as they are fairly random: sleeping awkwardly, turning head quickly, swinging a golf club, etc.

* This most recent episode, on May 29th, occurred while golfing. The location of the pain and the severity is similar to virtually all previous episodes, however, unlike the previous times, this one has persisted for over nine days, with minimal improvement.

* I just made another appointment with Casden and we'll see what's happening now. Perhaps surgery is an option now? I'll do anything that gets rid of this pain, aside from, perhaps, removing the discs and fusing bone together... anything that spares my crummy golf game from suffering further.

mighty quinn

a nice long weekend in ithaca comes to a crashing end this morning as i jostle with the unwashed masses on the L train; each of us furiously trying to get to our meaningless jobs.

this lyric from dylan's "mighty quinn" stuck with me as i smushed against my fellow hoi polloi...

I like my sugar sweet,
But guarding fumes and making haste,
It ain't my cup of meat.
Ev'rybody's 'neath the trees,
Feeding pigeons on a limb
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here,
All the pigeons gonna run to him.

a great song, but i'm not really sure who the mighty quinn is - neither is dylan, apparently. i'm sure he penned it during a drug-fueled writing session so i'll give him a pass. in any event, it'd be interesting (uh, and hilarious) if an eskimo showed up on the streets of nyc and solved all of our problems.

i can't find dylan's version on youtube so i'll post manfred mann's version instead (with slightly modified lyrics):

back from the jungle...

lots of adventures in honduras this past week. a mix of ruins, rain forest hikes, ultra-cheap baleadas, fishing, snorkeling and... un raton muerte en la piscina de pico bonito lodge.

however, the only thing that is sticking in my mind right now is the theme song from the soap opera, tu y yo. unfortunately i can't find the song on youtube.

mission accomplished...

after a three-month struggle to add clothes-washing capabilities to my tiny apartment, i can finally stop sending my dirty clothes to j. rafa cleaners, who have managed to lose a multitude of socks, shirts, and, somehow, even my laundry bags over the last two years! i never did figure out how they could have lost the bags.

come to think of it, i'm not even sure where j. rafa cleaners is. I've been leaving my laundry bags with the doorman the entire time i've lived in this 'hood, and have never bothered to find out where they're located. doesn't matter anymore.

p.s. sears sucks.

the dryer saga...

my attempt at getting a washer and dryer for the apartment hit another road block. this time, an incorrect plug on the dryer that was delivered. this is after i described over the phone, in detail, the kind of socket i have. the good news is that the washer seems to have been hooked up properly. although i haven't done a load of wash in it yet.

apparently the guys are coming back tomorrow to switch out the plug with one that fits into the wall socket.

adios seve...

i remember the 1995 ryder cup for a few reasons.

reason #1: it's the first golf tournament i have ever seen live. at the time i had just started getting interested in golf. i would watch tournaments every weekend on tv. i would play golf on sega genesis, constantly. and i would play a round of golf pretty much every weekend with literally anyone who wanted to go (various names come to mind like craig lamb, randy mcfarland, dan broderick, chris bowen, etc.). i was terrible at golf, but i loved it. i even started dressing like a golfer.

my friend joe piendel came across a couple ryder cup tickets for the final round at oak hill country club in nearby pittsford, and he asked me if i wanted to go. i jumped at the chance.

reason #2: on the way to the tournament, i got my first and only speeding ticket. joe and i wanted to get there early and see everything. we hit a bit of traffic on the way, and once it cleared i apparently slammed on the pedal and was going 90. A few minutes later i got pulled over in my bright red 1993 honda civic.

reason #3: that tournament is, to this day, the most exciting live sporting event i've ever witnessed. joe and i saw all the big names up close like faldo, couples, love III, and ballesteros. we even watched one guy get a hole-in-one. at one point, joe said he wanted a memento from the tournament, so we got up close to a par 3 tee box on the front nine. after one of the players teed off and the crowd moved on, joe snuck under the rope and picked up the guys tee and small divot. he put the tee and the dirt in his pocket!

through three rounds, the americans had taken the lead, and everyone assumed it would be yet another victory for the americans (they used to always win the cup).

but the europeans had other plans. they stormed back on sunday in their singles matches and their legion of fans got louder and louder as they day went on, singing and chanting could be heard throughout oak hill. at the end, joe and i managed to get somewhat close to the 18th hole, somehow squeezing past the masses of fans, although it was a madhouse as the europeans were going to clinch the cup. on the final putt there was a roar from the crowd and the players started jumping around. the european crowd was going crazy, singing so loud it was almost deafening. at the same time, the american players were trying to get off the course as fast as possible, and they all walked right by us led by mickelson and his wife, strange, pavin, lehman, etc.

joe and i stuck around for another twenty minutes and watched all the european fans and players rejoice. just as we started walking away, we heard a massive booming sound up in the sky. we looked up and saw the concord flying very low right above us. i imagine it was flying in to come pick up all the european golfers. it was an amazing sight amidst all the other stuff happening around us.

i've since been to three u.s. open golf tournaments, the u.s. open tennis finals, the final game of the world series, and numerous college football games, but no other sporting event can compare to the energy of that ryder cup, and the excitement i felt watching the europeans rejoice at their victory, led by seve ballesteros, their de facto captain and biggest cheerleader.

feliz cinco de mayo

sittin around at the office building scripts in our new scripting platform... kicking back a few coronas with the guys...

blasting this tune at the moment... i imagine this is how everyone celebrates cinco de mayo, right?

gray hairs...

just doing an initial review of items needed for next week's trip to the jungles of honduras...

big new back pack... check
travel guide... check
rain jacket... check (rainy season just started)
malaria pills... not yet
book for the flight... check (new one from mother called "the old patagonia express")
very limited and rusty spanish... check (as paul schkrutz would say while trying to order three beers "tres escuebas por favor!" wtf?)
passport... check

looking at my new passport photo vs. my original passport photo from 15 years ago, it's not even the same person. a full head of dark hair on the old one. what happened to that kid?

as the great adam yauch once said...

"I've got more rhymes than I've got gray hairs
And that's a lot because I've got my share"

ten years on...

bin laden is dead.

a few things come to mind for me from that day ten years ago:

1) walking into my office on the morning of 9/11 to a ringing phone. i dropped my bag, picked up the phone, and it was my friend dan. he asked me "are you watching this?" i had no idea what he was talking about. it was about 9:05am and i had yet to turn on my computer. dan had very little info at the time, but he was watching things unfold from his office window, a big plume of smoke emanating from the first tower. he said "i think a small plane flew into the trade center!" i plugged in, checked out cnn.com and saw an image of the building with smoke pouring out.

2) after about an hour, every conference room at ogilvy was packed... people were glued to the televisions, watching the horror unfold. many were crying. rumors were flying. mass confusion.

3) around 11:30am, our prez, carla h., sent everyone home. but many who lived in brooklyn, queens, new jersey, could not get out of the city as all subways and buses were shut down. at the time i lived in the upper west side of manhattan, so i had a bunch of people over to my place.

4) for the next three or four hours, we watched in shock.

i imagine bin laden's death won't change much, as he had become just a figurehead for a number of different splinter factions of al quaeda, each with their own de facto leader. but let's hope things get a little better.

also, what the fuck is with the pakistani government? a little embarrassing to say the least that he was found deep in the heart of the country, hiding in a mansion. i imagine things will get a bit weird between the US and pakistan now.

first barbie of the year...

a few burgers, some corn and some... deviled eggs?

always a good day when you're bbq'ing on your tiny little patio in nyc.

panic on the streets of, er, west philly?

earlier this month, rach and i were helping rebuild a dilapidated house in west philly as part a wharton community outreach program (a la habitat for humanity). it's been an interesting experience. on one hand it's been great to finally, after 41 years, get my hands dirty and use some tools (uh, has anyone ever heard of a circular saw? j/k). but on the other hand, it's a bit weird because the family we're helping just sits around doing nothing as all the volunteers do all the work around them.

at one point a volunteer named willy (the cousin of wally, another volunteer) and I were installing a new floor in the kitchen, and one of the family's teenage boys walked into the kitchen, turned on the gas stove, lit his cigarette, and then walked back out to the porch to hang out with his 'hood friends. willy and I looked at each other, shook our heads, and continued on with the floor. wtf?

anyway, rach just send me a news alert about a murder in west philly... yep, on the exact same block where our little dilapidated house is located.

needless to say, we shan't be going back there again.

the king's speech...

great movie. here's the actual speech VI gave... you can definitely hear the stammer.

good friday? great friday...

just spent the entire week trying to convince my dim-witted (but important) client to increase our inbound volume for his programs. and he just did! nice!

in other news, i flew in to columbus last night for easter weekend to hang with rach's fam. always fun to visit the carpenters. unfortunately it's supposed to rain tomorrow so i guess we won't be heading to the golf course in the morning. oh well, maybe we'll hit up the jack nicklaus museum instead. then easter baskets and church on sunday... and then back to nyc on sunday night.

gazelle munchin'...

good god, this story about persian gazelle hunters is the coolest thing i've read in a while...

unfortunately for the gazelle population, many were perhaps not even eaten. i wonder what the persians in this region ate once they destroyed the population.

dinner party at JC's on wednesday...

lots of good details coming out about this dinner party, that we've never known before. frankly, i think the last supper would make for a very interesting movie o' the week on the food network...

but who would they cast as JC? maybe adam richman wearing flowing robes, sandals and a fake beard?

why starbucks is better than ogilvy...

seems like the average barista gets better training than the average ad flunkie (and a fraction of the pay). after spending well over a decade in the ad world, i'm not at all surprised to learn this.

this barista vid proves my point (doesn't it?). none of my old ogilvy colleagues could do this stuff:

tomato payments...

i've asked all my clients to henceforth submit all payments to us in the form of tomatoes...

this is the best business idea we've had in a while, unfortunately.

the mahatma lost his specs...

apparently someone has absconded with mahatma gandhi's goggles. a college prank? a near-sighted homeless man? we'll never know...

il mulino...

was good on saturday night. i'll keep this one short as it's uninteresting to talk about food right now. i had the sea scallops -- strange as i've been repulsed by scallops until just recently -- and a big dish of pasta with lamb ragu. 'twas good, but the pasta was a tad over-cooked, and it had a bit too much ragu on it.

the mozzarella appy was great, though.

rach had a big dish of pasta with lobster. i liked hers better than mine.

overall zenkichi was the big winner this week.

now i shall go into a month-long health kick with more running as the weather turns nicer.

shitsurei itashimasu!

rach took me to a really good japanese restaurant called zenkichi on thurs night. we had the eight course tasting menu and a bottle of sake. my favs were the saikyo miso cod and the washyu beef tataki.

we had our own little private room, separated by long bamboo blinds. the waitress would pull up the blinds each time she came to deliver one of the courses, and then let it down after she left. before entering, the waitress would say "shitsurei itashimasu!" it's apparently a polite way of saying "i'm entering your space now." i've been saying it non-stop for the last couple days.

to continue the ridiculously gluttonous week, we're off to il mulino tonight!

la palapa para mi cumpleanos...

ate some strange fish tacos at la palapa last night. i like tilapia but these tasted like chicken and were orange. wtf?

anyway, the whole group went out last night and was pretty good fun. we had a few tiny pitchers of sangria (each pitcher would pour about three glasses). the gang sang 'happy b'day' and they brought out a cake for the table. it was pretty good. coincidentally, it was the bartender's b'day as well, and everyone at the bar was singing to him. dueling b'day parties...

afterwards steve, michel and i went out for a night cap and found a new place called cienfuegos in the east village. the waiter raved about the rum punch so i got one. it was terrible.

three nights in a row going out for dinner/drinks. a bit tired this morning. however, i'm very much looking forward to round 4 tonight with rach. she's taking me out for a surprise dindin in the 'hood!

street... bond street...

went out with the entire EP gang last night to bond street, a japanese place in nolita. i'd been to the bar/lounge several times before, but had never eaten there. it was great, especially the big eye tuna tarts. we also had hundreds of rolls, sushi and sashimi. the meal certainly beat my typical lonely dinner in front of the tv consisting of these yummy items.

we also had a few lychee martinis, even though, according to felipe, they were gay. he ended up having three of them.

this thursday, for my b'day, rach is taking me out to a surprise place. can't wait!

steak frites with bro' joe...

thanks to my big brother joe for a great pre-birthday dinner out at the always-reliable pastis. i had the steak frite and joe had some really tasty sea scallops, which i usually don't like, but these were great.

now back home watching the ncaa champ, which is entirely un-fun since 'cuse isn't in it. oh well, maybe next year.

list of things that ache in my 41 year old body...

i'm turning 41 in two days. over the last few years i've noticed little aches and pains that i never noticed before. here's the current list:

- right hamstring (this one's pretty new, and it's slowing me down a bit when i run)
- left shoulder (it's from the vermont snowboarding trip... from two months ago)
- right shoulder (this one is pretty much gone now, it's from my near fatal attempt at body surfing last july in montauk. two massive waves hit me and kept me underwater for several seconds. i landed awkwardly underwater.)
- left and right knees (they crack all the time, but no severe pain)
- left wrist (a new little thingy that seems to occur when i use the shake weight in the office)
- neck (this one has been around for a decade and is related to the three bulging discs i have in my neck. directly related to years of running. has recently shifted from the left side of neck to the right side. less frequent spasms recently, though.)

congrats donny baseball!

my favorite ball player of all time, don mattingly, won his first game as a big league manager last night. way to go donny!

it's sunny in philly no longer...

traveling on the bolt bus back/forth to philly to visit rach over the last eight months, i've been able to watch past episodes of "it's always sunny in philadelphia." it's become my favorite tv show of all time (until now that title belonged to my childhood fav "the six million dollar man"). i want to be a cast member. i want to hang out in the bar with the gang and sweet dee.

unfortunately i've now watched all the episodes. it's been a great way to avoid listening to the other bolt bus passengers snore or talk on their cell phones (or both).

i guess i'll have to find another show to watch...

here's a ludicrous blooper reel:



and for old times sake, i present colonel steve austin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA

initial planning begins....

bought tickets to honduras this morning... a surprisingly affordable $430, with only short pitstops in miami.

here's the loose itinerary so far:
san pedro
copan (hacienda san lucas perhaps?)
parque nacional jeanette kawas
roatan (leaning towards blue bahia hotel)

ana's sister, vero, has kindly offered up her home to us for our stay in san pedro. nice!

just got fat at sabrina's...

just had a great meal at sabrina's cafe in the fairmount district of philly. decided on the jeuvos rancheros and turkey bacon. since it took 1/2 hour to get seated (the nerve!) the manager gave us a free appetizer for the table... a massive serving of french toast (the "stuffed challah french toast", to be specific), loaded with banana, walnuts and vanilla bean syrup...

now it's time to lay on couch and watch basketball.

the gloating sun...

in philly this lovely, yet frigid, sunny day. the sunlight is beaming through the windows... mocking me as i sit at rachel's desk, working away. very peaceful, although i'd prefer to be outside playing.

a new adventure...

my favorite time of the year is when we pick a new vacation spot so i can start obsessing and reading a shitload of stuff about it. this year's adventure (i'm fairly certain) will be honduras. seems like it'll be somewhat like the belize trip, but less developed and fewer tourists.

a mix of jungle, mayan ruins, monkeys, and then off to the bay islands and roatan for snorkeling and scuba diving.

looking forward to swimming around with all of these cool things...

thanks for the extra cash, mr. douchebag!

my client, whom i'll refer to as mr. douchebag here, has been late to pay our monthly invoice for the seven thousandth time. this time it's 22 days late and counting so i gave him the obligatory nudge today. he promised he'd get to it by the end o' the day. so several hours later i received a note from him questioning my numbers (the nerve!!!). he thought they were on the high side. so i begrudgingly checked my numbers again, and lo and behold i was wrong... i was actually SHORT by around $13K!!!! i apparently forgot to add an entire campaign's worth of calls to my query when i created the original invoice. what the fuck!!!

anyway, i just sent the new, higher invoice to mr. douchebag. i can't imagine he'll be too happy about it.

but F him, he's the one that was late. lucky for me that he complained about it, or i never would have found the error!

newt for prez...

the one with the clown and one with the nude guy sawing(wtf?) are my favs of newt as he proudly announces his exploratory campaign for el presidente...

http://newtinfrontofstockphotos.tumblr.com/

will the real p.d.d. please stand up...

rachel and i went to twenty manning grill last night for some nibbles. as we waited at the bar for our table, we had a couple margaritas, one of which was their specialty, a granita margarita... very good.

after our drinks i handed the bartender my credit card... she looked at it and said "was a relative of yours here a few minutes ago?" i said "no, why?" and she said "because another guy named peter deluca was just standing at that same spot a few minutes and ordered drinks." wha wha whaaaaat?

i really wish i had been there a few minutes earlier so i could have met my doppelganger.

Incontincence Update...

According to an interesting email I just received that was sent to my spam folder... "Mesh Patches used to fix Incontinence are Recalled."

Won't be too long before email messages like that actually make me interested enough to read them thoroughly...

the big push...

my subway ride was its usual horrid event. i smushed my way on at bedford, then the announcer said the train would be bypassing union square (my stop) and 6th avenue. instead of heading all the way to 8th avenue and getting on the eastbound L, i decided to get off at 3rd. it's raining today in the big rotten apple but i had my trusty umbrella. well, moments after exiting the subway on 3rd, three of the support beams(?) popped and i had to throw the umbrella in the nearest garbage can. i walked the remaining four blocks to work in the drizzling rain.

all in all the usual nightmare. from the crowd standpoint, i still have never seen anything as bad as the subways in japan.

happy ides of march...

why isn't this a federal holiday?

rest in peace, joe morello...

one of my favorite drummers of all time was joe morello, who passed away saturday at the age of 82. morello created the amazing rhythm for dave brubeck's greatest songs, including his opus "take five."

i had the privilege of seeing morello and brubeck at the new orleans jazz festival about 13 years ago. they weren't on one of the main stages -- those were reserved for the horrid dave matthews and other ludicrous popinjays of that ilk -- but the crowd for brubeck was huge, regardless. unfortunately their sax man paul desmond had died several years before that, but seeing morello and brubeck was a thrill.

here's morello in action on one of my favorite jazz tunes, "three to get ready." i persuaded rachel to learn how to play this one...

come armageddon, come...

i absolutely loathe sundays. i have for as long as i can remember. i don't even consider sunday to be part of the weekend. to me, the word "weekend" is all about fun, relaxation and a mind free from anxiety. i've always felt weekends are really only one day long.

each sunday around 6pm the anxiety starts building and i begin sinking into a depression. one that lasts until about noon the next day.

it's notably worse this particular sunday as i've just returned from sunny naples, florida to the cold grey skies of nyc. thankfully every day is not like sunday.

rain, rain, and then more rain...

lucky i'm working all day cuz it's been raining all day here. when it rains in florida it's as if a hurricane is hitting. and then, typically, 10 minutes later it stops. but today, after the deluge at 9am, it rained continuously until right about now.

the rain didn't stop the pool cleaner though, and i watched him do his thing from my makeshift office at the kitchen table.

i was going to go for a run, but now it looks like i'll just kick back with a corona (light).

black bones are the original bones...

interesting story about the origin of man... we all knew (didn't we?) that man originated from Africa but i think it's very cool that they can determine a more precise point of origin...

what's more interesting, though, is the photo they selected for the story. what in the world is this guy smoking?!

the title of this post references, of course, lyrics from this gem by the Stone Roses.

So why no stack for black on a radio station in this, the city?
Been going on so long, level on the line, I'm a leaf on the vine of time
Black bones are the original bones
And so this the whole wide world should know, y'all
I came to sing this song in your city...

don't eat the grouper...

we went to a fish shack last night called Randy's Fish Market. the first thing listed the menu was grouper. the florida gulf is known for grouper. so imagine my surprise when i read an addendum to the menu advising patrons to not eat the grouper. what's more, the waiter also suggested we try some of the other fish on the menu. apparently grouper has been over-fished in the gulf for far too many years and there's a scarcity now. so why on earth does the restaurant still accept it daily from local fisherman and still serve it!?!

anyway, i went with the triple tail instead. it was just ok. i guess that species should be happy it's not as delicious as grouper.

poolside...

woke up at 9am. made coffee. drank coffee by pool. went for four mile run. waved back at smiling neighborhood folk (yes, they wave and smile at you here, unlike cold and vulgar nyc). back to house, exhausted (as i'm out of shape). showered. took short nap while watching b'ball game. back outside to pool to eat lunch.

nary a smell of urine or garbage anywhere.

fake vacation is off to a great start. beach tomorrow!

slave to routine...

exit apartment and feel chill of 30 degree weather: check
walk to subway through litter strewn brooklyn streets: check
squeeze into subway and get pushed by horrid, unapologetic passengers: check
arrive at office and prepare to deal with inept clients for 10 straight hours: check

oh well, i can at least look forward to the flight to naples tonight!!!!

Water can be found in you...

We have a water cooler in our little office and i often drink 500 little cups a day (in addition to my standard six cups o' coffee per day). The repercussions? Well, today I went to the bathroom so many times that my co-workers asked where the F I kept going. I pointed to the water cooler and the noticeable dent I had made in it today.

Reminds me of this gem from the unknown Swedish band Eggstone (listen to the incredibly ludicrous lyrics)...

These rhymes are Daryls, but the burgers are RONALDS!

Rachel and I went to two different bowling alleys in Williamsburg this weekend: "The Brooklyn Bowl" and "The Gutter" (my favorite of the two). I've been bowling thrice in the last 30 years, but I somehow wound up at two alleys in one night(!?!) Anyway, as we exited the Brooklyn Bowl, I walked by the one and only Daryl McDaniels of RunDMC fame. I was so excited that I smiled and gave him a head nod (that's about how excited I get these days). I was a huge fan of RunDMC back in the day... here's a gem from a million years ago (rest in peace Jam Master Jay).

I think I just spoke to the ghost of Paul Lydne...

I have this strange obsession with the 60's comedian Paul Lynde. It dates back to my childhood when I used to watch "The Hollywood Squares." Lynde, for some reason, always made me laugh. Perhaps it was his delivery, as I'm sure most of the adult-themed (and gay) references went way over my head.

Anyway, I just spoke to a prospective client who sounds exactly like Mr. Lynde. I had to immediately look for Youtube clips and came upon this one:

simpsons opening with real people...

great rendition of the simpsons opening bit... notice that it's shot in the UK.

Come Home To The Simpsons from devilfish on Vimeo.

today's horoscope

according to today's horoscope on MyYahoo, that bastion of clairvoyance...

"You're good with a crowd. You know how to tell jokes, shake hands and remember names. Today you'll very likely be doing all three. Even if it feels harder than it looks, it's good to put yourself out there. Don't overstrain yourself, though. Just go out there and trust your natural abilities. You might be surprised at how much easier it can be when you don't really make an effort. Some things, you know, are like that!"

in actuality, i'm horrid with crowds, i dislike shaking hands and i almost never remember someone's name, even moments after i meet a person. and today i shan't do any of these three as it's a holiday and virtually no one is at TechSpace (aside from two colleagues and myself).

the end of blogging?

i imagine most people blog so their ideas, thoughts, jokes will get viewed by their friends. rachel and i were just discussing this the other day. i prefer that no one read my sad little blog, while rachel prefers that complete strangers read hers so that new connections, friendships might be forged.

according to the ny times, the blogging community is rapidly dwindling and former bloggers say they are too busy to write lengthy posts and are uninspired by a lack of readers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html?_r=1&hp

yeah! friday night! time to stop working!! give me the music make me jump and prance!

our daily bread...

One of our agents sent me a thank you note the other day for...

"... continuing to oversee the quality scripts that EP has most recently been developing. There's nothing like a script that makes agents proud and enthusiastic about the product, to make a call center rise to stellar heights!"

The agent went on to say...

"... I especially would like to call your attention, regarding this matter, to the on-point e-mail [recently sent by EP] stressing ethical approaches we should take as we seek our daily bread. It is wonderful that you (and the rest of the staff) are so accessible. It's wonderful to be an expert on this planet!"

What's interesting is A) that an agent would be excited about a telemarketing script, and B) the number of agents who use religious references like "our daily bread" in their emails, or in their signature line (e.g., "God Bless").

I wonder if J.C. would have been a good call center agent, and would he use company emails to proselytize the agent community.

this charming marr...

i spent the entire night trying to learn this gem by johnny marr. it didn't come out nearly as well as this guy's rendition:

Sears sucker...

This rambling note that I sent to Sears' "senior case manager" explains it...


Hi Robert (or anyone who can help),

My name is Peter DeLuca and I'm the customer in the case referenced below. I've had massive difficulty with this particular order (# 207827487).

Feel free to contact me when you can at 917-xxx-xxxx.

To summarize the recent series of unfortunate and brand-deteriorating events:

• On January 29th I purchased four distinct items online from Sears.com: a washer, dryer, stacking kit, and installation service for the dryer (i would later find out that installation service should not even be available for an electric dryer, as there's no installation necessary).
• On the evening of February 2nd, I received a call from Sears telling me that the washer was set to be delivered the next day (Feb. 3rd) at 10:45am and that I needed to be present at home to accept the delivery. I asked the representative about the dryer, and she had no record of me ever purchasing the dryer(!)
• The above issue then triggered a series of time-consuming calls to ostensibly incompetent Customer Service agents to determine why my dryer purchase was not being recognized by Sears Home Delivery, never to be resolved.
  
• On the morning on February 3rd, I received a call indicating that my dryer was going to be delivered between 11am - 3pm. Interestingly, this representative had no knowledge of the washer purchase. At this point I assumed both were going to be delivered that day. But I was wrong. Neither was ever delivered! This triggered another series of calls to Sears Home Delivery, and more confusion.
• Sears Home Delivery finally told me that the washer delivery was unfortunately delayed and had never even made it to the warehouse (even though I had received a call the night before saying it was ready for delivery) and that it will be arriving on Friday, February 4th. But I had already taken the day off Thursday, February 3rd and I wasn't even going to be in town on the 4th.
• I received a separate call from a different Sears department indicating that my dryer was also not available, and that I never should have received the delivery appointment call in the first place.
  
• Now it's several days later, Tuesday, February 8th, and I have (again) been told by two separate Sears departments that deliveries will occur today. However, neither the washer delivery group, nor the dryer delivery group recognizes that the other product was ever purchased (obviously a massive disconnect with Sears' internal systems). We'll see how everything turns out.

During one of the many calls I've made over the last week, I asked for a discount on the total purchase and the removal of the installation service, which I never needed in the first place. I've received no confirmation that this charge has been removed, or that any discount has been given. Needless to say, Sears is almost certainly going to lose a customer for life.

Thanks,
Peter

karaoke...

Saturday night Rachel and I went to a karaoke party with a bunch of her fellow Wharton students. I was the oldest by about 10 years. I didn't sing along to any of the songs because A) I didn't really know many of the songs, aside from Beat It by MJ, and B) I cannot sing in front of people I don't know -- unless I'm sauced, which I wasn't. But if I had joined in, I surely would have picked a gem like this old Elvis tune, which would certainly have gone over poorly with the others...

One of the Beach Boys' best...

beautiful song by Hardy...

Vivian Maier photography

kudos to my old friend Harold who posted this link to Vivian Maier's street photography.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/new-street-photography-60-years-old/