Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Bucky back home...and back at work

It took me a 4:30 a.m. alarm, a two-hour plane ride, the Air Train from Newark Airport to Newark Air Link, a New Jersey transit train to Penn Station, two subway trains to Grand Central, a Metro-North train and a short walk uphill to get to work yesterday.

In the process I twisted my ankle trying to wrestle my suitcase down the stairs to the 7 train. Subway, while getting better, is not the most handicap accessible place on the planet. Thus it is also not the most roll-y bag friendly place either.

Oh well, it's not the worst haul I've ever had. And at least it was only one roll-y bag.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Washington Square construction

As I mentioned in a blog entry about a thousand years ago, NYC is redoing Washington Square Park.

When I was down there last (note the photos from the street festival a few entries ago), I snapped a few photos. I couldn't get any really good shots because of all the people, but I was surprised to see it wasn't the entire square that was torn up. Just the center part.

In case you are wondering why all the construction, from PlanNYC.org:

The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation has begun construction on the renovation of Washington Square Park. The plans include a $16 million redesign of the Greenwich Village landmark paid for with funding by the city, the Tisch family, and NYU. The fountain will be refurbished and moved so it lines up with the arch, the central plaza will be ripped up and flattened, and a new playground will go where concrete play mounds now sit, and a four-foot wrought iron fence will replace the current mishmash of lower barriers. The new park will feature an adventure play area for older kids and a refurbished bathroom house. Holley Square will be moved away from the central fountain to create freer walkways, and there'll be more benches in some areas, new tables for Scrabble, and lower walls for sitting. The central plaza and lawns will all be made to the same grade so wheelchairs can get around and the different parts of the park feel connected.

Proponents of the plan say that the park is in a state of disrepair and that the large expanses of pavement should be replaced with green-space. Opponents of the plans fear that the park will loose its unique character, and they also fear disturbing the burial ground underneath the park during construction. The alleged disenfranchisement of local community members in the planning and design process is of greatest concern to many. During 2005 and early 2006, three lawsuits were filed challenging various aspects of the Parks Department's renovation plans. All of those suits were eventually resolved in the City’s favor, which allowed construction to begin in late 2007. The first phase of the construction is scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2009.


Sunday, April 27, 2008

Happy (Real) Easter!


Or, as we say in the Greek Orthodox church, "Christos Anesti!" (Christ has risen.) To which the response is, "Alithos Anesti!" (Truly, he has risen.) There's a song that goes along with it, but I won't go overboard with the Easter here, as most of you guys already went through fake Easter and thus are already looking forward to...uh...Mother's Day? Memorial Day? Fourth of July? Summer vacation?

Well, whatever it is, Happy Easter all the same!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Friday, April 25, 2008

Blogs is bustin' out all over

Well, it's official. I write one funny e-mail.

I have been chosen to blog for BreakupGirl.net. Though it was based on my e-mails, not on my submitted blog posts, which they felt were forced. Of course they were forced. I don't perform well under pressure. I don't test well. But luckily I write one crazy-good e-mail and that's how they want me to write for them. So now I'm a professional blogger. Please don't feel like a lesser person in my presence. Not everyone can be as great as the old Buckster. (No. Seriously. You can't all be me.)

Anyway, you can read one of my seriously lame sample posts (they were lame...I was rushing and tired from all the crazy-long work days) below:

Title: Love on a Billboard (Or, All you need to know about romance can be found in Top 40 songs)

The floor and the club are in and the bed is out, according to a Breakup Girl in depth examination of the 10 songs that top the Billboard charts this week. (And by in depth, we mean listening to that little snippet they let you hear on iTunes as a teaser.)

Apparently the best places for making love in a pop song are anywhere but the traditional, and coincidentally most comfortable location, the bed.

The poor bed can't get a break. In "Touch My Body," Mariah Carey demands the floor (though admittedly, in a throwback to old school ways, she also asks for the bed). In "Love in the Club"...well, you can guess where Usher and Young Jeezy want to do it. And we can't really tell you where Lil Wayne wants to go, because this is not an X-rated site and all his lyrics are.

But pop songs aren't just about location. According to professors Joe Kotarba and Phillip Vannini in their book "Understanding Society through Popular Music," pop music is one of the most important sources of culture in our society.

To that end, we provide you with all you need to know about our society based on the Billboard Top 10:

1) Wrestling around on the floor? Good
2) Being so in love with someone, your friends think you've lost your mind and try to intervene? Uh, good?
3) Four minutes is the maximum amount of time you can give someone who is Madonna or Justin Timberlake to explain what you want to do to them? Neither good nor bad.
4) Dressing and wearing your hair like your man? Good.
5) Making love in the club? Definitely good!
6) Taking it to the floor? Even better!
7) Trying to breath without air? Very bad.
8) Making someone fall so in love with you they don't need money or cars? Only good if they give those things to you.
9) Asking for a love song because you need one? BAD! Don't ever do it again.
10) Dressing like a pornography poster? Oh Yeah.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Things I hate #429

The term "leisure traveler". As if everyone who doesn't travel for business somehow has loads of disposable income to spent jaunting around the world, or the option not to travel.

I definitely don't have loads of money. And I have to scrimp and save to take trips. I eat A LOT of cheap pasta. I don't go to movies any more except on rare occasions. Actually I don't do much of anything by way of entertainment. All of my "disposable income," in fact, is spent on travel. Either to and fro work, visiting my boyfriend, or seeing family and friends.

Sure I could not travel. But then I would never see my family, never spend time with my friends, never have anything worth calling a life. I don't understand how business travelers suddenly became the ones burdened with the cost of travel when it's their companies paying for it. And the leisure traveler, as it were, is the one that should pay the extra money because airlines don't know how to balance their budgets.

Charging to check a second bag. I swear, soon they'll be charging us extra if we choose to wear clothes on the plane...or use the bathroom...or breathe.

We need a revolution, people. Against airlines, and — while we're at it — against crazy high gas prices. I can't even afford to be alive anymore.

April 22, 2008
Airlines to Charge for Second Bag

By MARTHA C. WHITE
The New York Times

Five of the six major airlines in the United States plan to start charging coach passengers as much as $25 next month to check a second bag, the latest move in their quest to offset high fuel prices.

But while the airlines, and even some industry specialists, say they expect the fees will primarily affect leisure travelers, business travelers beg to differ.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Street Fair Weather, at last






Today's fair, at Washington Square Park. Too bad I had just eaten a big lunch and had only $6 cash on me. I'll be better prepared for you next time, Street Fair!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Potential new stalker moving in...

...as I type. Just in time for the summer stalking season.

Stay posted for updates.

From Bucky to Romantic Superhero

Because I don't have enough to do what with my job and my new social networking duties therein, I have foolishly put my hat in to be a blogger at BreakupGirl.net. They want me to produce some sample posts by the end of the week. Crap.

Here was the post I responded to:

Web superhero seeks blogger/sidekick for fun, clips

Us: Venerable, award-winning website about love, and/or lack thereof, geared for both men and women and combining witty relationship advice with sophisticated comic-strip adventures. We are seeking a new sidekick for help with content writing and management on our new blog.

You: Ace reporter, crackerjack writer. Funny, funny, and funny. Able to spot relationship-related news stories and the clever or insightful angle therein. You should have your own distinct voice and take, but should also be willing to roll with us in terms of style and philosophy. We may also want you to help track and moderate blog comments when necessary. Swinging geeky is good; affinity for superheroes a major plus.

Pay: Alas, none. This is a VERY part-time (part-part-time?) pursuit in which you may engage from the privacy of your own home/cafe/McJob.

Payoff: Honing of your voice and your nose for news. Tons of [short] clips. Considerable cachet / street cred! The opportunity to become part of a tight, fun team who will give you glowing references. And, possibly, your very own cartoon alter ego.



Last night this seemed like a good idea. Though it doesn't pay, it sounded like a fun distraction from my real work. Plus I'd actually heard of the site and been on it before. And would give me real blogging experience (as opposed to you guys here...sorry, fake audience of four), which is what half the paying jobs now have listed as a job requirement. And since it isn't paid, it doesn't violate my current work contract.

Of course, now I'm under pressure to be funny, which is no way for funny to work.

Crap.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Newspaper or Social Networking site: You decide

Our newspaper launched it's redesign this week. Included with the new look of the paper is the addition of Pluck, a social networking site no where near as intuitive to use as MySpace, et al. This is because Gannett is cheap and buys things that don't work quite right to a few cents.

All of its properties are now all Plucked up. (Just a hint of the jokes flying around the office.) This means, in addition to my editor, columnist, and payroll duties, I now how to help manage this social networking site - because I work nights and weekends - and keep my profile page interesting and up-to-date. So I'm blogging in two sites - there and here - uploading photo galleries of whatever I can think of to photograph, leaving messages on other people's profiles and all around trying to spur people on to using our site a social gathering place.

We had to go to training for this. So of the choicest Office Space-like moments where when we were told, "People used to visit our Web sites, now we want them to live there."

You'll be glad to know that we've gone from calling our customers, "readers" - which denotes a monologue - to "audience" - which denotes a dialogue - and now to "communities" - which denotes a polylogue. You're guess is as good as mine as to what that means.

Finally we learned this little gem, a variation on the Customer Is Always Right: The Reader Is The Expert. That is Gannett's new philosophy for all its news products. Nevermind that our readers all seem to be crazy, racist, losers who live at home with their mothers. They are all experts. No need for any other sources. Just listen to the readers. They'll tell you all you need to know.

I couldn't make this stuff up, if I tried.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Aristotle to hang out in Queens

From our friends at the Queens Courier

Greek city gives Aristotle to park
BY CHRISTINA SANTUCCI

A popular Astoria park, named for a Greek city, will soon have another tie to the European country. On Saturday, April 5, a bust of Greek philosopher Aristotle will be unveiled at Athens Square Park, located at 30th Avenue and 30th Street, during a ceremony slated to begin at 1 p.m. Entertainment will begin at noon.

The Greek city of Halkidiki donated the statue, which was sculpted by George V. Tsaras, to the city of New York for placement in the Queens park.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Vasilios Vasilakis, the Governor of the Greek city of Halkidiki, are both expected to attend the ceremony, which was organized in conjunction with Athens Square Inc., an organization dedicated to improving the park.

“They [Athens Square Inc.] have been working to design and fund the renovation,” said Parks spokesperson Trish Bertuccio.

The group raised $45,000 to pay for the maintenance of the statue, said Vice President George Delis. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation donated $25,000, Astoria Energy LLC $10,000 and a private donor provided $10,000.

The statue had been ready and waiting in Greece until Athens Square Inc. collected the money, Delis said.

“We waited 10 years for this statue,” he said, explaining that he had traveled to Greece two years ago to negotiate the work’s release.

The bronze bust of Aristotle will join depictions of fellow Greeks - mythical goddess Athena and philosopher Socrates - in the park.

A fourth space for a statue remains open, and the parks group is already planning to place a statue of playwright Sophocles in the area. However, they expect the statue and maintenance fees to reach $100,000.

“If anyone wants to give us the money, we will dedicate the statue in their name,” Delis said.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Reporter sings the blues. Literally

I'm working on an employee review right now — the part of my job I hate the most — and I Googled her name to pull up the stories she's worked on over the last six months and I discovered her YouTube site.

I knew she was a musician, but I wasn't really sure what kind of music she performed and I had never heard her. But I have to say, I think she's pretty good. Take a look:

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Greek Independence Day Parade


Today was the big parade on 5th Avenue. And I actually made it this time! But in true Greek style, the 1 p.m. parade began at 1:30 p.m. and I met up with my friends, whom I was supposed to meet at 12:30 p.m., at 1 p.m.

It wasn't the most smoothly run parade, but there were some amusing points. However we were at the start of the parade and we really should have been closer to the grandstand, where they were actually telling people what all the floats and participants were.



I bought my two friends who were there little Greek flags. I was dressed in white and blue, a la my heritage. They were pretty taken aback by the anti-Turkey sentiment brazenly on displace in a parade. It's not like the IRA march in the St. Patrick's Day parade.

While it didn't rain today, it was windy and super cold. All week long the weather service said it would be sunny and a high of 60. Instead we got windy — or "Blowy" as my friend Kathianne put it — cloudy and a high of 49. This winter just will NOT let go. I wish it would warm up already.

There was no Greek food being sold nearby, which was the major downside of the parade. They should really combined the parade with a street fair. But it was okay because afterward we headed back to the West Side in Chelsea where there was a street fair. No photos from that. But here are some more from the parade.


Thursday, April 03, 2008

England: Part 1, The Christening

So in case you are just joining us, I've recently (i.e. Monday) returned from England.

I was there because my friends, Sarah and James, asked me to be godmother to their daughter, the most adorable baby ever (well...if you called me out on it, you'd learn that I said the exact same thing about my cousin's daughter Penny and my friend Evy's son, Connor. So my definition of "most adorable baby ever" is very fluid) Amelie. A reminder in case you life in a bizarro cyber world that will not allow you to view any of my previous posts:


The christening went well. It was held at the village church. My friends live in a place called Wanborough in the county of Wiltshire, though I don't think they are actually called counties in England. The village has a little store that is also the post office, a park and a village hall and several inns with pubs. And that's about it. However it's only a few minutes from a bigger town that has a grocery store and a McDonald's and such.

Though I'm starting with the christening, it was actually one of the last things I did there. However, it is the primary reason I was there. The christening was pretty short and involved us all denouncing the devil and promising to pray for Amelie, etc. and there was some water and candles involved. Afterward we got little godparent certificates, which prove helpful the next time we're stopped for driving under the influence of juice boxes. Above are my friends with the vicar after the christening.

The reception was held at a nice seafood restaurant called The Crab at Chieveley.It was about 25 minutes from the church and there's not much else near it. Dear, little Amelie clearly knew the do was all for her because after waking up toward the end of the meal she really hammed it up for the cameras.

I have to say that I totally feel in love with this little baby. She and I got on quite nicely. I made her laugh and she chewed on my sunglasses. She was already asleep the night I arrived and when she woke up the next day and saw me for the first time, she acted like it was the most normally thing in the world that someone she had never seen before would be standing there in her pjs. She liked me immediately. I was heartbroken to leave her...covered in chocolate doughnut, which is what she had been eating in the car on the way to the airport. The next time I see her, she'll probably be making complete sentences (not just dada, mummum and cat) and walking. Oh, they grow up so fast!

So more photos below:

Definitely my goddaughter


Now THAT is how you enjoy pizza!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Bucky lag

Oi. I'm back, but still dragging a little. Updates and clever things to be said will appear again soon.