The C.A. in song

So for the last few months I've been driving around with this Spoon CD in my car (given to me by one of my two music gurus, Min), listening to it off and on and bugged by Track 9, which I could have SWORN was about a newspaper I used to work at. But then I thought, that's ridiculous, why would anyone sing about The Commercial Appeal.

But it turns out, that's exactly what they were singing about:

Spoon Lyrics
"Finer Feelings"

Memphis comes creeping down my back
Somehow this place tastes just like an attack
A hundred-yard-stare of a kiss
Lord, I know I'll never miss it

They told me stop scouting the field
They told me have a look in Commercial Appeal
And start getting that hair cut sharp

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in Commercial Appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away

I was part-time at the Tasty Prawn
That and moving furniture and cutting lawns
Covered in newsprint, staying up real late
Just holding out for some fate

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in Commercial Appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away
[x2]

I was dreaming in the driver's seat
When the right words just came to me
And all my finer feelings came up

Always out on some witch's hunt
For the one who never lets me want
Before you know it it's all fuss

Sometimes I think that I'll find a love
One that's gonna change my heart
I'll find it in Commercial Appeal
And then this heartache'll get chased away
[x2]

It's snowing. Again.

Sigh.

Go Cup Gold

I guess I knew that my godparents daughter (or godsister, as I like to call her) Cathy was famous - I mean I see her on TV, in cooking magazines, sometimes in the Sunday coupons for Glad or Reynolds Warp or something like that, and she has her own cookbooks - but it must not have sunk in because yesterday I was truly shocked when, looking at my boyfriend's Starbucks cup, I saw this:



Iron Chef is all nice and what not, but you know you've arrived when you score the quote on the back of a Starbucks go cup.

Snow dog

Snow, Snow

We got our first big snow of the year on Friday. I'm a little late putting these up, but here are a few scenes from my day:

Blast From The Past

Naxos. I miss you. Especially since a blizzard is supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Brooklyn by way of dishes

There's a store in the city called Fishs Eddy — for those of you that haven't yet gotten a gift from me from the store. It makes dishes. There are a couple of lines that feature local landmarks, like Central Park, Conney Island, the Manhattan skyline. And then there is the Brooklyn line, as seen here on my absolute favorite item — the butter dish.

Staten Island. Like Brooklyn, but without stuff, and with detached houses, and...OK, nothing at all like Brooklyn

[Sigh] I did not go to Park Slope today. I went to someplace that was very much NOT Park Slope. I went, instead, to Staten Island.

In particular, I went to what I believed is called the Woodrow section of Staten Island, where my boyfriend just moved from Westchester County. He moved to Staten Island because Brooklyn - where he works - was too expensive to live in. Actually he's not the first person I've heard say that. Some friends of mine recently moved from Park Slope to Manhattan because MANHATTAN was cheaper. When did THAT happen?!

Anyway, I digress. Staten Island.

You see, I really want to have an open mind. I'm not originally from here. (I know. I know. Who is?) I shouldn't have any inherent dislike of that island, no reason to think of it as a garbage dump. But here's the thing about New York - all of New York - everywhere I go all the stereotypes and things you see in movies and on television seem to be true (except people, in general, are WAY nicer than they are given credit for. WAY nicer). But from what I've seen of Staten Island - and it's not a lot yet - it is a dump. And, to make matters worse, there is nothing but houses for MILES where my boyfriend lives. There is a gas station and a Domino's that delivers. Google and the phone book were no help. So we had Domino's. ARG! Staten Island! ARG!

I'm sure this won't be the last you hear of my life with Staten Island. Unfortunately.

Oh, Cobble Hill! You are SO easy.

So, it's pretty exciting times here in Bucky's World, as I've managed to piss off an entire section of Brooklyn. [See companion story here.] I know, I know. I've reached the big time. I'll be expecting a call from the New York Times and Oprah any day now.

But, do you not think that, uhm, perhaps...just perhaps...they are a tad bit too sensitive in Cobble Hill as 1) I have a total readership of about 6 (well, until now) and 2) I spend an inordinate amount of my time eating and then blogging about apples? I mean, for all they know, I am an 11-year-old circus freak and I'm blogging from my winter home in Romania and I never even BEEN to Cobble Hill.

There was one kind soul, however, who wrote:

we live nearby and couldn’t agree more. Lupo is no longer welcoming as it was when it opened and it is a stroller parking lot at happy hr.
Snarky. Yes. Accurate. Yes.

Anyway, tomorrow I have my sights set on pissing off Park Slope. Also, I'm now taking requests. Anyone else I should try and anger while I'm at it? Apparently, wanting to have a decent lunch on Valentine's Day and expecting good food and good service are too much to ask for in the Big C.H. That's something only crazy people in the suburbs should expect. Oh you crazy, suburban dwellers with your Olive Gardens and your Trader Joe's and your Starbucks...Wait a minute!

Nothing can stay free forever, especially in this town

Well, I don't think anyone ever thought the ferry would stay free forever. But still, sometimes a girl like to dream. The Independent Budget Office offered among one of its many creative ways to raise money, charging for the now free Staten Island ferry. All I can see this doing is decreasing the number of people who ride it and thus making it not worth the effort and in turn leading to it being decommissioned like so many other ferries in the region. But I could be wrong. Maybe people would pay $4 just to ride the ferry. I, however, would not. Full story below:

NEW YORK (AP) — If the city is looking for ways to pinch pennies in tough times, an independent budget agency has a few ideas: taxes on cosmetic surgery, laundry services and luxury apartment rentals, charging tourists to ride the Staten Island ferry and collecting fees from residents based on how much garbage they throw out.
The Independent Budget Office, a city agency that does not report to the mayor, on Wednesday laid out 63 proposals in its report entitled “Budget Options for New York City.”
The report stressed that the agency’s economists and analysts do not endorse any of the ideas but simply present them, along with projected savings and arguments for and against.
While many of the proposals are unlikely to be enacted, Mayor Michael Bloomberg often says he appreciates creative thinking — particularly in finding new ways to save money and bring in more revenue.
And Bloomberg has increasingly warned that the city could be facing a precarious economic situation. Last month he presented a budget plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, that demands cuts from every city agency.
The Independent Budget Office report looked at a variety of ways the city could find savings or generate new income. Many seem to be targeted toward the rich, like a proposed tax on luxury apartments.
Owners of units that rent for more than $3,000 per month would pay a 1 percent tax; with an estimated 50,000 such apartments in the city, this tax would raise approximately $24.2 million in 2009, the report said, and would only grow as the number of luxury apartments — and their base rent — also increases.
Or what about a tax on cosmetic procedures, both surgical and nonsurgical — like Botox, chemical peels and facials? The report estimates more than $1.4 billion was generated in the city in 2006 for cosmetic procedures by board-certified physicians, and much more by those who are not certified, such as facialists.
The report estimates $65 million annually could be generated by such a tax.
Another idea is to tax services such as laundering, dry cleaning, tailoring, shoe repairing and shoe shining.
The budget office projects that applying the sales tax to these services could bring in about $40 million annually, and it notes that the bulk of these taxes would be paid by “more affluent consumers who use such services more frequently.”
Another idea is a “pay as you throw” program that charges households for waste disposal, based on how much garbage they throw out.
Some cities, such as San Francisco and Seattle, already have versions of this program, the report noted. In New York, a household would pay an average of $91 a year, netting the city a savings of $296 million. It could also have the added environmental benefit of more awareness about trash and recycling and an overall reduction in waste.
One proposal that New Yorkers may favor — but those outside the city might not like — is to charge tourists to ride the Staten Island ferry, which is now free to the millions of commuters and tourists who ride it each year.
Of the 19 million riders each year, an estimated 3.6 million are from outside the metro area, the report said. Imposing a round-trip $4 fare on those outsiders, while also charging regular commuters a nominal fee for an annual pass, would bring in an estimated $3.4 million annually.

AP Dish, not Wire

Once upon a time, I'm sure, the news from the Associated Press (AP)* was transmitted over an actual wire. But as technology tends to do, we've advance now and the AP stories come shooting to us via large satellite dishes that sit atop our building.

I bring this up, not because it's any kind of new revelation — the AP dish has been around my entire career - but because as I was sitting outside the building earlier today, waiting for my car to warm up and staring at the dish, I realized how much the dish sucks in the winter. It particularly sucks on a snowy Saturday when building maintenance isn't here and we have to climb up there with a broom and knock the snow off it. It just occurred to me that this was nothing I ever had to do in the south. When news wasn't moving on the wire, it's because there was no news to move. Now it's because someone needs to go up and knock the snow off. Just another reason to be oh, so tired of snow.


*Most of you are either reporters or people who know reporters or people who at least READ the news and thus know what the AP is. (Some of you, it's true, even WORK for the AP.) For those of you who do not, it is a global news organization/behemoth, which provides print and broadcast stories for member news organizations...namely every paper you've ever read.

To anonymous, with love

We are all, so very stupid.

The New York Times
Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?
By PATRICIA COHEN

A popular video on YouTube shows Kellie Pickler, the adorable platinum blonde from "American Idol," appearing on the Fox game show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" during celebrity week. Selected from a third-grade geography curriculum, the $25,000 question asked: "Budapest is the capital of what European country?"

Ms. Pickler threw up both hands and looked at the large blackboard perplexed. "I thought Europe was a country," she said. Playing it safe, she chose to copy the answer offered by one of the genuine fifth graders: Hungary. "Hungry?" she said, eyes widening in disbelief. "That's a country? I've heard of Turkey. But Hungry? I've never heard of it."

Such, uh, lack of global awareness is the kind of thing that drives Susan Jacoby, author of "The Age of American Unreason," up a wall. Ms.Jacoby is one of a number of writers with new books that bemoan the state of American culture.

Cobble Hill is no Brooklyn Heights

I had a very miserable morning/afternoon stuck in New York traffic. I spent hours in bumper to bumper traffic both in Brooklyn and trying to get out. It was like it was Fourth of July weekend or something and everyone was trying to get to their summer homes. By the time we found a place to park and then a place to eat, I was cold, had a caffeine headache and was tired, plus my ears hurt [see cold].

So we wound up at Bocca Lupo, a wine bar that serves panini lunches. It's one of those places where the portions are small, the prices are big and the service is bad. And I was NOT in the mood for such a place. Then all of The Cobble Hill moms started pouring in with their SUV-sized baby strollers. It was everything the stereotype says it is. I am not at all enamored of Cobble Hill. I'd like to go back to Brooklyn Heights, please.

But lots o' love for this guy!

Yea! I've been cheering for this guy for the last two days. Watching Westminster beats watching the primaries!

NEW YORK (AP) — America has a new Snoop doggie.

Barking and baying up a storm, Uno lived up to his name Tuesday night by becoming the first beagle to win best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club.

The nation's new top dog was clearly the crowd favorite, and drew a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden when he was picked.

No love for me

So I'll be spending yet another Valentine's Day alone. I don't know why I keep taking the day off. Well, part of the reason is that for the last two years I've had to work the Monday before and so I've had to pick another day in the week to take off. And while both years I was promised a date, the week of my date (the same one both times) has backed out, blaming it on work.

I've never been a big Valentine's Day person. I mean, I like to go out to dinner - or make dinner at home - and I'll take flowers any time during the year, but some people go crazy. The other day I was in Target and I was in line behind this guy and his thuggish friends. And the dude was buying two stuffed animals and six or seven hearts filled with chocolate. All together he spent just a wee bit under $100. And I don't think it was all for the same lady. He asked my advice on which heart filled chocolate I would prefer. When the woman working the register said, "What kind of chocolate does she like?" referring to the woman he was buying for, he answered, "I don't know. That's the problem." I suppose it was funnier if you were there.

I think I'll wish you all a happy UN-Valentine's Day and find some nice man-hating movies to watch on Thursday.

Earthquake

2 earthquakes rattle Greek port, but no immediate reports of damage

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Twin earthquakes rattled the western Greek port of Patras, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, officials said Tuesday.

The Athens-based Institute of Geodynamics said a 5.4-magnitude quake occurred at 10:25 p.m. Monday and a 5.5-magnitued quake struck around noon Tuesday. Both quakes were centered around 100 miles southwest of Athens and 25 miles outside Patras.

“The activity is ongoing but the likelihood of a very strong earthquake is considered to be very slight,” Institute director Giorgos Stavrakakis said. “This is a phenomemon of twin earthquakes or virtually identical magnitude. It’s not common but it is well known.”

Before there were gods, there were...more gods?

I'm a little confused by this article in the New York Times today about a discovery of a deity that predates Zeus worshiped by the Greeks before they were Greeks. (I guess Greek-speaking people came later from the Balkans. At least that's what the article says.) I mean first I'm confused about how they look at these shards of pottery without any markings on them and determine that they were vessels in which offerings to gods were left:



Maybe it was just a good place to store meat. But more confusing is that I thought there was already established gods before Zeus. Much of Delphi was built over a temple to Gaia (otherwise known as Mother Earth). There's a cave there, which is off limits to visitors due to danger of collapsing, that was believed to be the birthplace of the deity; a crack that goes to the center of the earth and from which she crawled onto the surface and created life.

Maybe these new gods are supposed to pre-date her too, but Zeus is more widely known, so they used him? Either way, they should really explain it better.

NY Times: Giants Stun Patriots in Super Bowl XLII

This is a very dark day indeed.

Update: Books, Movies, More. Part 1: Books

There's not really a "more." I just thought it sounded better with three things, instead of two.

It's been months since I updated my reading/viewing, and so I won't be covering everything I read/watched, but I'll do my best to sum up.

Read:
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch - My least favorite book by her (thus far). Skip it unless you are trying to read the entire catelogue of her works.

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt - This book had the opposite effect on me that his last book Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil did. I never want to go to Venice, ever. Savannah, however, I would move back to in a heartbeat. The book was fine. I didn't hate it. It just wasn't very unique since it's the exact same formula as Midnight. You'd be better served re-reading the first book and skipping this one.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8(comic) - I'm glad the gang is back, even if it's just in comic form. However, I'm not sure I've yet warmed to the legion of Slayers in army-like format. I would like to see something new and all of this feels a little rehashed.

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain - (I may have mentioned this one in a previous post.) Funny. Funny. Funny. Especially for anyone out there that read Nancy Drew as a young lass...or lad — I'm not judging. It's a spoof of the teen detective novels we all loved as a child. The main character is indeed Nancy Drew. Though this is supposed to be the "real" Nancy Drew (actually named Nancy Drew) whose college roommate Carolyn Keen stole her story and wrote the world-famous books about her adventures as a falsely fictitious character. Anyway it picks up where all the books left off and follows her through college, marriage and into old age and is purposely written over-the-top in the language of the original hardback Nancy Drew books. Check it out. You'll have a good laugh.

Bought:
The Nice and The Good by Iris Murdoch
Love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
El Amor en Los Tiempos del Colera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(That's right. I bought the same book in two languages. Take that Nick Hornby.)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

I also sold three books on half.com. (Thanks, Melinda, for that introduction.)

Nice day outside, wish I had brakes

Because the weather is so nice today, I've decided to stay in and update my blog.

Well, the truth is I did just walk the dog, so I was outside for about an hour. But I can't really go anywhere till I get my brake pads replaced tomorrow. I went last week to have my oil changed and tires rotated at Firestone, where I always go, primarily because 1) it's on my way to work and 2) it's next to Borders, so I can look for books I don't need and also get coffee - two very important aspects of my life.

So I come back and the guy at Firestone calls me to the desk. This always happens. Every time I go in they try to convince me I need something done. I say no thanks and then I go to AutoZone and do it myself (if it needs to be done). WAY cheaper to do it yourself. For example: You need new wiper blades. That will cost $40. AutoZone price for Bosch wipers: About $22. This time they tell me I need new front brake pads. It will cost a little over $250 to have them replace them. The guy puts the hard sell on me, saying they are almost metal to metal. I need to have it done immediately. I find the phrasing a little funny since they are semi-metallic brakes. They want to replace them with ceramic. No price give on the cheaper semi-metallic brakes.

This is a problem, because I CAN'T replace the brake pads. Wipers, air filters, belts, batteries - all these things I can do myself. Brake pads require jacking the car up, take off the tires, taking off the pads, putting on the new pads, tires, etc. Then repeating on the other side. Not having any air compressed-tools and only the jack that came with the car, this would not be impossible, but would certainly feel that way as I was doing it. The current brake pads on the car came from AutoZone and my dad put them on four years ago. Apparently Nissan Pathfinders blow through brakes like I do bags of coffee.

So anyway, I obviously do not have a spare $250 lying around. So I'm wondering what to do when the mail comes (I'm back at home at this point) and there is a coupon for a local tire/brake place that will do per axle for $69 metallic $89 ceramic. This is too good to be true, I think. I call them up and ask if labor is included. They say yes and can do my Pathfinder. Woo-hoo! Victory is mine.

Sometimes I get tired of being a girl and dealing with auto-related places. They are always trying to get one over on you, thinking you don't know what you're doing. Actually between this experience and the first dentist I went to up here, I'm just getting tired of people thinking I'm a complete moron and trying to rip me off. I should start a blog of places NOT to ever go.

Football. God help us.

I don't want to hate the Giants. Really, I don't. But they have two things working against them for me right now:

1) After spending so much time bad mouthing Eli Manning when he was quarter back for Ole Miss, playing against LSU (sorry Ole Miss fans), I cannot bring myself now to defend him or cheer him on or cheer for his team. Last week with the Giants v. Packers, at least I had the excuse of cheering for a different Mississippi quarterback. One that played for Southern Miss and thus was not in the SEC at all. But this week I have nothing to hide behind. When the New York (but really New Jersey because that's where they play) Giants suit up against the New England Patriots, I'll just have to cheer on New England without any good reason. Well, except for...

2)I work for a newspaper in New York. This means our executive editor lost his mind and decided we should blow out Super Bowl coverage all week long. So our already overtaxed, less than full staff — which is working on both a giant special business and industry section AND all the crazy, overblown coverage of the Super Tuesday presidential primaries the same editor wants — is now having to try to cram in all of these football stories. Most of them don't even know anything about football. And also, we're not exactly THE source for everyone's Giants news. People really aren't buying our paper to read up on the team and I don't think they care if local caterers are doing better business. They might, however, pick us up for pictures of people's dogs dressed in Giants gear.

In fact, the entire staff - lifelong Giants fans, New England fans, non-football fans alike - are cheering AGAINST the Giants because the executive editor has already started talking about how we need to have a "plan" for post-win coverage. "There's the parade. The homecoming. The what this means..." I can hear the rioting already. The staff's rioting that is.