Forget what I said the other day: This is opening night for me. It’s the first time a Red Sox game is starting in the 7 p.m. hour, when I can actually watch. Those early-morning Japan games and then the late-night Oakland ones just didn’t count if I couldn’t really watch them. So now that baseball is on and I can actually see it, it’s like the season has just started. Woo hoo! Go Sox!
Awwwww … how sweet. On my last day in the apartment, as I’m packing up and throwing stuff out, feeling happy and relaxed and having fun, I’ve been blessed by my neighbor with yet another flute recital. How did she know that’s exactly what I wanted? I guess since it’s 4:45 in the afternoon I don’t have a very good reason to make her stop (other than my perpetual annoyance and her seemingly uncurable lack of courtesy and the fact that I can hear it even when I go outside — and the fact that the building managers have asked her and her roommate to stop practicing their instruments in the building not once but twice), so I guess I’ll just let her play. And I’ll even join in the fun by blasting my music really loud and seeing how she likes it. Everybody gets something! Hooray!
You already know how I feel about the New Kids on the Block — ahem, sorry, NKOTB reunion. When they appeared on The Today Show this morning, tons of fans went crazy. I was driving around listening to Kiss 108 and that’s all anyone was talking about. (Sure, I know, there’s an ulterior motive there, but there were all kinds of stories of people driving hours to see them at a club tonight, and digging out all kinds of old NKOTB paraphernalia, etc.). Now, maybe it’s because I grew up in New York and not here in Boston, but I tell you: I just don’t get why this is such a big deal. I can appreciate wanting a favorite group to reunite, but not if it’s a teen pop group. I mean, look at those guys in the picture; I don’t really want to see them try to recreate their glory days all these years later. I don’t want to hear Joey Mac stretch his voice to reach the high notes in “Please Don’t Go Girl.” They’re grown men. I actually feel sorry for them having to do this — especially Donnie Wahlberg, who has tried so hard to get some credibility in recent years with his acting. How can we take him seriously again after this? Seeking a reality check, I asked a 30-year-old woman at Newbury Comics this morning if she was excited about the reunion, and she told me, “I lived through it once. That was enough.” That seems to be how I feel about it, except I skipped it the first time around.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/23953971#23953971
It’s been a week since I bought my condo and I’m somewhere between halfway and two-thirds of the way moved in. I’ve been packing up and making daily trips over, dropping off breakable and easily-movable items — partly to make it easier for the movers (who come early Saturday morning) and cheaper for me, and partly because I just can’t wait to live there full-time. All my CDs, most of my clothes, just about my entire kitchen and bathroom … it’s all there. I’ve run the dishwasher a few times, I’ve done one load of laundry, and I’ve even done some cleaning. In short, I’m doing everything all according to plan and so far it’s working out just fine.
There’s lots to like about my condo, but I have to say, one of my favorite things about it is the boiler room. Yes, you read that right. You see, I bought a place in an older building that’s been rehabbed, refurbished, redone, etc. All the amenities are modern and new and clean. And yet, in the boiler room there’s a pretty cool bit of history on one wall, where all kinds of former residents wrote their names. Some of them dated their signature, and the years go as far back as the 1930s and ’40s. The most recent date I saw was 1987. And being a sucker for nostalgia and stuff like this, I just find the signatures give the building a lot of random, hidden, unexpected charm. It’s really impressive that over the years, and despite extensive renovation, these names have remained on the wall. Perhaps it’s because I’m not alone in appreciating this aspect of the building. One day I’ll have to sign my own name on one of the bricks. For now, though, I am eager to share in the history of this place I’ll soon call my home.
I’ve had an ad up on Craigslist for a couple days now, but I thought I’d link to it here because I’m hoping there’s a reader out there who will want one of the items. I’m selling my kitchen table and chairs, desk and chair, and kitchen cart, and I’m hoping to do so before the weekend. Prices and sizes and other details (including pictures) can be found here. Please let me know if you’re interested. Thanks.
Some people like him and some people hate him, but I’m in the group that is upset about today’s news regarding longtime channel 4 sportscaster Bob Lobel, who, along with Scott Wahle and entertainment reporter Joyce Kulhawik, was let go by the station. I’m not going to get all mushy and teary-eyed about his departure, but I did always enjoy Bob’s good humor and his knowledgeable reporting. Lobel was a fun guy to watch, and I’ll miss seeing him on the air.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you’ve gotta love George Clooney. Nearly everything the guy does is classic and cool, not to mention totally retro. The way he dresses, the way he interacts with the press and the public, and especially the choices he makes in terms of movies — it’s all a throwback to a way things used to be.
His first two directorial efforts, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck were informed by a classic sensibility and took place in an earlier time. Now, with Leatherheads, Clooney’s third film behind the lens, it’s clear he’s not quite done with the past. And I’m not complaining.
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If you saw a front-page newspaper headline blaring “Honey, I Duct-Taped the Kids!” and were given the page number where you’d find the story about how a mother bound her kids to chairs and then posted the pics on MySpace, what would you expect to find there?
Pictures, right?
Not if you read the Boston Herald today. There are no pictures to be found. Bummer. I mean, not that I endorse this behavior at all. I find it reprehensible, as I’m sure everyone does.
But that part of me that’s fond of the salacious and unsavory behavior of people with no brains wanted to see the pics. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 