What Time Is It?

17 Jun

So here’s what I don’t get: Why a store that advertises being open until 9 p.m. doesn’t stay open until 9 p.m. Ever since Boston College‘s graduation, the stores in the strip near the T stop never operate with consistent hours. Yes, I know a large portion of their business is away for the summer, but if they’re going to have shortened hours, why don’t they just put up different signs, instead of telling customers they’re still open until 9 p.m. and then closing early whenever they feel like it. Take College Sub, for example. A couple weeks ago I got home from work around 8:30 and thought I’d stop in for a quick sammidge instead of cooking dinner. I walked in, saw the guys behind the counter cleaning up, and they yelled out, “We’re closed!” Hello? The same’s true at Flat Breads, which I don’t think has stayed open until 9 p.m. once since early May. I’m fine with these places closing early. I just don’t understand why they won’t put it in writing so I (and other people like me) don’t expect them to be open when they say they will be.

I’m Home

16 Jun

Finally. Of all the random mailings I got soon after I moved into my new place, the one thing I didn’t get that I actually needed was return address labels. Not that I have a hard time remembering what my new address is or anything (unlike, say, my new phone number, which I still don’t know off-hand), but it’s always so much easier to just stick a sticker on an envelope with my return address than to write the damned thing out every time I need to mail a bill payment or send a card. But more than a cure for my laziness, the labels mean I officially live here, in Chestnut Hill, and I have the official return address stickers to prove it. More so than my brand new driver’s license, these say to me, “Martin, you’re home.” So to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, thank you. Look for one of these stickers to arrive in your mailbox soon, with a token of my appreciation inside the envelope.

Saying Goodbye to Tim Russert

16 Jun

If you’re anything like me, then you spent a good chunk of this past weekend watching the endless coverage about Tim Russert‘s passing on Friday. In nearly every interview or remembrance, there was one common theme: Tim’s love of family. And this morning, Tim’s son, Luke, was on The Today Show. If you’re interested and you missed it, I thought I’d post the interview Luke did with Matt Lauer.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25186769#25186769

Oh, Baby

16 Jun

Oh, to be a baby. All my niece Abby does is sleep, eat, and be, ahem, babied and pampered by her parents, grandparents, Uncle Martin, and other family and friends. When she’s unhappy and she starts to cry, people run to make her feel better. She’s showered with gifts. Every day people tell her how adorable she is.

I have to say: it’s a good life. And I wish I got to spend more time enjoying it than just a day or so this past weekend. Continue reading →

Lights Up on Washington Heights

15 Jun

Just a quick public congrats to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who won a Tony Award Sunday night for Best Original Score of a Musical for his In the Heights.

His show also won Best Musical.

And while Lin did lose Best Lead Actor in a Musical, I’d say he still had an impressive evening.

Why do I care about this? Well, in case you’ve forgotten, I interviewed Lin for Continental, and his win continues a decent streak I’ve had of picking Tony nominees and winners. So yeah, congrats to Lin and congrats to me. Continue reading →

Bowled Over

11 Jun

Yes, this is another post about how much I ate.

I don’t mind paying $8 for ice cream when it’s all for charity, and as donations go, you could do a lot worse than the Scooper Bowl. Here’s how it works: The Jimmy Fund gets my money, and I get to fill up on all-you-can eat ice cream. Everyone wins! A host of vendors large and small serve up samples of about four flavors each, and if you don’t mind the huge crowd, you could try a whole bunch of flavors in a few short minutes. Me? I tried Edy’s new Take the Cake and Cold Stone Creamery’s Shock-A-Cone, among other flavors. They were good, but the best thing I tried was Ben & Jerry’s new Cake Batter. Sadly, I was also really disappointed by B&J’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie. I bumped into Liz on the way over, so I didn’t have to pig out on my own, and in the end, a good time was had by all. The weather’s going to be hot again today and thankfully the Scooper Bowl lasts for three days. But you’d better hurry; after 7 p.m. Thursday, it’s all over. So if you’re in Boston, head on over to City Hall Plaza, grab a spoon, and dig in.

My Own Movie Nation

10 Jun

Someone at Boston.com clearly likes me. How else to explain that the site’s linking to my blog again — this time to my review of The Incredible Hulk, which I saw last night. (Last time I got a link from Boston.com, it was to my MGM Grand grand opening recap. Before that, it was a link to a post about my packing and moving process.) Whoever you are over there who keeps providing the links, thanks for the traffic. And to Ty and Wesley: don’t worry, your jobs are secure. For now, anyway. [Insert maniacal laugh here.]

You Won’t Like Him When He’s Angry

9 Jun

What you want to know is this: Is the new The Incredible Hulk movie better than Ang Lee’s Hulk movie from a few years back?

Not really.

But the good news is it’s not any worse. It’s just different.

For example, the story is much better, more focused, and more faithful to the comic book source material than Ang Lee’s daddy-issues epic was.

And the first two-thirds of this film are certainly more enjoyable than most of Ang Lee’s film was.

But that’s pretty much where the good stuff ends.

Continue reading →

Silky Smooth

8 Jun

It’s not meant as damning with faint praise to say You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is Adam Sandler’s best comedy in many years.

(His best movie, of course, was Reign Over Me.)

In fact, surprisingly enough, it’s the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time.

How funny is it? Well, let’s just say Mariah Carey makes a cameo and even she is funny. Continue reading →

Three for Fore

8 Jun

Birthday Fiesta 2008 continued today with brunch at Z Square in Harvard Square and then a trip up to Kimball Farm in Westford for some mini golf and ice cream. I’ll say this much about the afternoon: We started out early so as to beat the crowds and the heat, but man oh man was it hot out there. Our ice cream sure did go down easy. And just in case you’re keeping track, unlike last time (and especially because of last night’s meal), I exercised restraint, choosing a frappe instead of a sundae. It was tasty just the same. Oh, and as for the golf, chalk it up to beginner’s luck, but Jeremy beat Nina and I — though in my own defense, I’ll say he only beat me by a couple strokes, and of the three of us, I was the only one to score a hole-in-one. So maybe I’m older and possibly wiser now, but I’m no better in the mini golf department than I was. S’alright. It could be worse.

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