Not Going Home Yet

4 Apr

Two words: Woo Hoo!

Actually, I thought Gina was pretty good this week. And I knew Phil wouldn’t go home because it’s gotta be boy-girl-boy-girl. But because of that fact, I’m pretty confident that Haley’s going to be with us for not one, but two more weeks. Especially because next week is Latin week (with J.Lo) and let’s face it, if any of the guys is going to have a problem with that, it’s Phil (not including Sanjaya, of course). And I’m sure the Latin thing is gonna work well with Haley’s hot look. So, I’ll get two bonus weeks with my favorite Idol contestant. (And if you want to hear my real prediction, I think she’s with us for at least three weeks if the week after Latin is Country music. That’s when LaKisha’s going home.) Woo hoo!

Free, Fast … and Sanitary?

3 Apr

Great. I go and get a high-speed Internets connection with Comcast that costs me way too much money each month, and now, just three months later, Google announces its own Internets service — and it’s absolutely free. According to the site, Google believes that “all users deserve free, fast and sanitary online access.” To that end, the service has a 10-times higher flow rate than basic DSL, it’s vaccuum-sealed to prevent water damage, and it uses “discreet DNA sequencing of your personal bodily output to display online ads that are contextually relevant to your culinary preferences, current health status and likelihood of developing particular medical conditions going forward.” Wait a second. What was that again? Yes, this was Google’s April Fools joke. And I didn’t learn about it until today (thanks, Jason). Still, I thought it was pretty funny, so I figured I’d post a belated link.

Is the End Near?

3 Apr

I’m not going to lie: there’s an uneasy feeling in Martinworld today because tonight may just be Haley Scarnato‘s final performance on American Idol. I fear that no matter how well she sings and no matter how hot she looks, she’s a goner this week. After all, if the pattern of boy-girl-boy-girl elimination holds, then tomorrow it’s either going to be Haley or Gina, and I think Gina’s safe for another couple weeks, unfortunately. So yeah, although I hope I’m wrong, I’m resigning myself to the fact that Haley and I will have to part ways after Wedenesday night’s episode. She’s going back to her fiancee, and I’m stuck with Sanjaya. Life is cruel. At least I’ll always have my People magazine spread and my happy memories of our time together. I’ll miss you, Haley. Good luck tonight!

Bagel Blahs

2 Apr

In these last few hours before Passover begins, I just wanted to recall the good old days when I loved Finagle a Bagel. I used to go to the Chestnut Hill location most every Saturday for lunch, and I’d usually get the same thing: a smoked turkey sandwich on an egg bagel. And before I let my recollections run wild, I’ll just say I remember it being a usually pleasant and not too expensive experience. When it was announced that Finagle was opening a location in Coolidge Corner, I was pretty excited. After all, when your only other bagel option (on a Saturday, at least) is Bruegger’s, a Finagle store is like manna from heaven.

But what a waste this store has been. When I stopped in yesterday, I was reminded of why I’ve largely stayed away from the store since its opening a couple years ago. For one thing, it’s too small, by half. That’s the biggest complaint I have. Whether you sit down to eat or you’re simply on line to order, if there’s a crowd, you can’t help but feel cramped. Also, the service is slow. All I had was a bagel with cream cheese. Took about 10 minutes to get that after I ordered. I suppose I can’t complain about the cream cheese slapped on the bagel, but other times I’ve been to Finagle the sandwich making was shoddy (something I’ve complained about before). And finally, a bagel with cream cheese, a medium soda, and a cookie cost me about $6.50. I don’t want to quibble about something like price, but when did such a minor meal become so expensive (relatively speaking, of course)? Used to be you could get a bagel sandwich with turkey or something similarly substantial and a soda for that amount. And it came with chips or a “seasonal accompaniment” like cantaloupe for free. I mean, at Bruegger’s, I get a bagel with cream cheese, a soda and a muffin or something (no comments about my poor eating habits, please), and it only costs about $5.50. A turkey sandwich at Finagle now costs close to $6 on its own, and that’s without the accompaniment. Of course, the price thing is not specific to the Coolidge Corner location, but it’s one more reason why I have begun to really dislike Finagle. How times have changed. Ah well. At least the bagels themselves are still good.

Game On! (again)

1 Apr

Wanted to post an addendum to my posting yesterday about the start of the baseball season. When I got in my car this morning, the first thing I did was turn on WEEI. Because I’m not much of a football, hockey, or basketball fan, I hadn’t listened to the station at all since last August. And over the course of the hour that I could tune in, I just found myself becoming happier and happier. It wasn’t just the fact that I really enjoyed what the guys on The Baseball Show were saying. It was the whole idea that baseball was back.

It got me thinking: Do Patriots fans get this excited about the start of football season? I seriously doubt it. Which is not to say that baseball fans like their sport any more than football fans do. It’s just that the start of baseball season has more significance and has a greater impact on me and, I’ll bet, Bostonians in general. It signals the start of spring and nicer weather, and football season indicates that the weather is getting worse. It’s because there are more games in a baseball season than in a football season, so there’s more to follow on a day-to-day basis, and thus, it’s almost an entire lifestyle change. Maybe there’s more to it, something about father and son relationships, something about hope and rebirth and second chances and the American Dream being symbolized by the sport, and something about long-standing passion and devotion and tradition — all things that I just don’t see to the same degree with football. Maybe it’s because the Sox play right downtown and the Patriots play all the way out in Foxborough. Maybe it’s all those things. But even in cities where the team isn’t very good — the guys on the radio specifically mentioned Kansas City, and not just because that’s where the Sox begin their season — the opening day game is not just a game, it’s an event.

So it is for me with the Sox this year. Not sure I’m adequately expressing my thoughts here, but I’m just really excited to have baseball back in my life. I’m hopeful that this season will end on a better note than last season did. But that’s at least four or five months away — or seven, if we’re lucky and all goes according to plan. For now, I’m just ready to go along for the ride, and looking forward to the late nights I’ll spend watching games on NESN, the time I’ll spend listening to ‘EEI, and the inches of Globe and Herald coverage I’ll read. Bring it on. Bring it all on, even the extra congestion on the T on game nights. It’s been a long, long winter since I followed this sport. I wholeheartedly embrace its return. Let’s go Red Sox!

Listen Up

1 Apr

I had a long drive ahead of me today, so put in my new mix of songs from Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Mika, and James Morrison’s latest CDs. That’s all the mix was — my favorite five or six tracks from those four albums. And if I can toot my own horn about my mix-making ability, then I have to say this was one damned good mix. But it’s not just my arranging that made this mix so good — it was the music itself. Yes, you’ve heard me mention all those folks before on this blog, but if you’ll allow me to do it one more time, I just wanted to give them another plug. If you don’t already own Winehouse’s Back to Black, Allen’s Alright, Still, Mika’s Life in Cartoon Motion, or Morrison’s Undiscovered, then seriously, do yourself a favor and pick them up. Or download a few tracks on iTunes. You’ll thank me.

Game On!

31 Mar

Now that the last spring training game is over, I have just one thing to say: Batter up! It’s been a long, cold winter (as always) and there’s something about the start of another baseball season that gets me all excited. Sure, I was really pissed off last August when the team fell apart, but all is forgiven and this is going to be a great year, I can feel it. Sitting in the stands in Fort Myers I was reminded of just how much I love this game and how happy I am that it’s back. So I say bring it on. Monday can’t come soon enough. Let’s go Red Sox!

Dressing the Part?

31 Mar

I suppose if you’re going to apply to work for something called the “Geek Squad,” then you’re sort of asking for it. Still, while waiting for assistance at Best Buy today, I was struck by just how much the Geek Squad guys feed into the stereotype. All of them are forced to wear a dorky outfit of black pants, white shirt and black tie, and apparently it’s also a requirement for them to slick back their hair like they’re trying too hard (if possible). According to the photos, they also wear black shoes and white socks, but I had no actual confirmation of that.

As a customer looking for a repair job, I was trying to think if this look made me any more comfortable, or if I’d rather the guys wore more “normal” outfits that were less, well, geeky. When you need to have your computer or camera or whatever looked at, you want someone who knows what they’re doing, who can actually help and won’t give you a runaround. Maybe if the Geek Squad was wearing something slicker, I might feel like I wasn’t getting the legit service I needed. Then again, it’s hard to take these guys too seriously when they look like they’re wearing a costume (as opposed to a uniform, like the other Best Buy employees). And maybe that’s why, when I was told they wouldn’t/couldn’t fix my camera, I felt sort of empowered to argue back about how my service plan should cover the cost of a new camera. A losing battle, and I knew that going in, but it was partly that damned outfit that convinced me I was somehow superior and in the right, and could win. My mistake.

Point is, Best Buy does no service to its employees by making them dress up like geeks. It makes them look silly, and it only serves to frustrate customers.

Try the Veal

23 Mar

I’ve been asked by a couple folks why I still haven’t seen 300 yet, so I wanted to explain, because as your friendly neighborhood frequent moviegoer, I know you look to me for guidance on how to spend your hard-earned cash. The truth is, I just wasn’t all that impressed by the last two films in the series, 298 and 299, so I’ve decided to skip 300 entirely. I’m sort of hoping 301 is better, because at the peak of the series — 294 — it was really very good. Kind of like how Oceans 11 was a much, much better movie than Oceans 9 was. Same with Apollo 13; they almost stopped making those movies after Apollo 12, but somehow Ron Howard got back on his game for the 13th film in the series and then called it a day.

Similarly, I’m having a hard time getting excited about The Last Mimzy, seeing how I never did get around to seeing the first or second Mimzy movies. Does anyone know, were those two any good?

(Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Please tip your waitress.)
(And of course, this is posted with apologies to Todd, who thought of at least one or two of these jokes before I did. Though in my defense, they’re not really the kinds of jokes anyone should want to take credit for. But it’s alright, Todd can have all the credit he wants.)

Lock It Up

21 Mar

You may have noticed a week and a half ago that I mentioned something about my car having been broken into.

At the time, the cops from Brookline who took the report and dusted for fingerprints told me mine wasn’t the only one in the neighborhood that had been broken into, and in fact, mine was the rare one where the window wasn’t broken.

But now I’ve seen that there’s been a rash of break-ins all over the city.

So as a PSA, I’ll just say that if you have a car, make sure it’s locked and that any valuables are removed. Don’t be like me and not remove the faceplate from your radio.

You may just come to find that it and the rest of the radio are missing one day. Continue reading →

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