the little owl

opened a few months before i left ny, and i never had a chance to try it. i did go in one night very last minute, and they told me they could seat us much later than we'd planned to eat. i found the people i spoke with to be exceedingly helpful and as accommodating as could be expected.

but i just read this rant on eater, and now i'm wondering if my experience was an anomaly, or if this person is simply having really, really bad luck.

the office and the law

via wsj law blog, comes this site, which is awesome.

as i was watching last week's office with a friend i wondered aloud if there could be any legal ramifications for michael's actions at phyllis's wedding. my non-lawyer friend shot me a look that said, um, no, duh, and you're a lawyer. from hrhero:

"So Michael ruins the wedding, who would have guessed it? With Michael’s egregious behavior, you might hope that Phyllis could make a claim against Dunder Mifflin. After all, if she can be fired for boorish conduct at an office party, why can’t she sue the company when Michael ruins her party? But she can’t. Being a jerk is not illegal. As much as I wish that it were, it just is not."

question answered. no legal liability. but man, if a boss of mine ever acted like that at my wedding, i think i'd run the hell out of that employment situation. although, if my boss was anything like michael, he definitely would NOT have been invited.

hrhero is run by an employment lawyer who estimates the amount of potential damages for each episode. some of the commenters on wsj think she's taking the fun out of it, but c'mon, lighten up people.

i really want a wii

i'll probably never even have time to play it, but i want it nonetheless.

irony

good article from the guardian about british v. american use of irony.

"When Americans use irony, they will often immediately qualify it as being so, with a jovial "just kidding", even if the statement is outrageous and plainly ironic. For instance...

A: "If you don't come out tonight, I'm going to have you shot... just kidding."

Of course, being America, this might be true, because they do all own guns and use them on a regular basis (just kidding). Americans can fully appreciate irony. They just don't feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A bit like how we feel about guns."

so true -- i'm often trying to cut down how much i say "just kidding" after some sarcastic/ironic comment. perhaps i'm just not giving my fellow americans enough credit.

i also enjoyed his analysis of the simpsons.

"One of the best exponents of worthy sentiment is a show that could easily be argued to be the greatest sitcom the US has ever produced. A razor-sharp, joyously dumb and potentially endless treatise on the American family and its suburban environment, The Simpsons is a remarkable show in that, in what is essentially a children's medium, it has established itself as a constant and often highly critical reflection of America itself. Hiding its subversiveness in bright colours and absurd situations, it has made satirical comment on virtually every aspect of America, rehearsing ideas that are at times positively "un-American". Yet at the same time the show exudes an enormous warmth and sentimentality, and holds at its heart great positivity about the linchpin of the American dream: the family. George Bush Snr once declared that Americans should be more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons. Simpsons' creator Matt Groening responded, saying, "Hey, the Simpsons are just like the Waltons. Both families are praying for the end of the Depression.""

really??

this snl skit via the daily dish is really hilarious.

here's an article about it from the miami herald, but watch the video first.

i'm not totally down with this digg thing yet, but the comments on it re: vick's arrest are a total trip.

and an immediate update: he was exonerated after the compartment in the bottle turned up empty. i, too, wonder what the dark residue was. hash, perhaps? wouldn't that kinda count as close enough to marijuana?

the lull

partly poker, partly personal. i haven't been playing much online lately, but when i do play it's a virtual lock that i'm going to lose. one table, two table, three table sngs, all a bust. i've played in two mtts, out halfway through in both cases. i just cannot seem to get my groove back. playing tonight, so hopefully a live game will shake things up and get me going again.

as for the personal lull, i think it's got something to do with heading back to ny but not being 100% excited about it. there are good reasons to go back, and good reasons to stay, but i think practicality and responsibility won out against, to some extent, happiness and personal freedom. not shocking when you have the kind of law school debt that i have, but disappointing nonetheless.

i plan to make the most of my time in ny, which includes finishing an article that's been accepted for publication. it's been difficult to do from here, since i don't have access to all, or even most, of my sources, but i know i'm going to get swamped by work when i get back, which will make it even more difficult.

i'm nervous having been gone for six months what my social life will be like. the world turns even when you're not around, and while i've kept in touch with most of my friends, i have no idea what sorts of things have changed. i'm nervous about moving back into my apartment and taking care of all the errands that need to be done while not using up all of my vacation days for the year. already have a trip planned to egypt in november, a possible trip to argentina in october (which might be tough to swing given november vacation) and possible trip to iceland in may (which may not happen given that i'm going in a couple weeks and it is probably silly to use up vacation to go someplace you've already been twice). given that my hand surgery last year basically didn't work, and on my last visit my doctor recommended another one, that's one more thing that i might need to take time off for.

although seriously, as if i could use the same doctor for a second surgery who already performed one that didn't work. if anyone can recommend a hand surgeon in nyc, please, bring it on.

i know i'll make it through, and that things will probably work out (cause they usually do), but it doesn't feel that way right now.

poker conspiracy

great article at pokernews about the 2 million extra chips that found their way into the last wsop main event.

apparently some employees were disciplined, but it's still not totally clear how it happened, and the nevada gaming commission is about to release its report.

procrastination

ah, it's an ugly beast. when i have ten things to do, and i need to cross them off my list, i become the most efficient little worker bee ever. but when i have only one thing to do, and a deadline several days away, i become useless. all of a sudden i want to check out every blog on the planet, and update my blogroll, and go through all of the bloglines i haven't had time for over the last week. case in point: this is my fourth post of the day!

the work i have to do is for a friend, so it should make me even more motivated, but because i'm still not clear on my interpretation and exactly what is needed from me, it's made me procrastinate even more. plus, like i said, it's the only piece of work i have right now.

i killed some time earlier reading this post on marginal revolution. interesting stuff. i think the economic and societal pressure on an out male professional athlete in the nba, nfl or mlb would be enormous, and i'm not surprised at all at the lack of out gay athletes. but how can anyone really think that just because none are out that they don't exist. there is no way that there are no gay athletes playing in these leagues. but my guess is that the leagues and teams aren't encouraging it, sponsors don't want to hear about it, and the overall team atmosphere is not the most welcoming.

why i'm so tired = tv

i'm sitting here wondering how i can be so tired when i've gotten a decent amount of sleep lately, and i realize it's solely because of tv. most people would get home at 1 or 2am and think, i'm tired, time to go to bed. not me.

i got home tuesday night at 2:30 and knew rationally that i should go to sleep. but how could i sleep knowing that i could find out what happened on the latest heroes? or 24? i made a deal with myself that i would watch heroes and then go to sleep. without commercials the shows are only 41 minutes or so, and what's the difference (i said to myself) if i go to bed at 2:30 or 3:15. if you haven't had time to watch your tivo and catch up on monday or tuesday night shows this week (and care about finding out what happens) don't read on.

heroes -- i loved it, as usual, though i'm not sure how i feel about invisible guy or girl caught between isaac and peter. LOVED finding out that nathan is claire's father, has anyone else wondered what's up w/ that sketchy look in his eye in peter's dream sequence when nathan walks out of the building (campaign hq?) to talk to him. my initial reaction was that somehow he was controlling peter, and that he was actually responsible, but perhaps that's just crazy talk. but i'll admit that i still wonder if he is gonna turn out to be a bad guy. after all, he is a politician. and where is rena sofer? i guess she's been too busy on 24.

yeah, 24. so after i finished heroes, i thought to myself, i'm not that tired, and 24 is only 40 minutes. you know where this is going. by the time i finished 24 it was 4:15, and i knew i had a long wed and thurs night ahead of me. stupid stupid. but...was still glad i watched! love that james cromwell is behind it all, but found graem's death a little anti-climactic. i know he admitted that he ordered palmer and others killed, but does jack realize the depth of his involvement? who were the guys who were sitting with him when logan called during season 5? was his dad in the room but we just didn't see him cause the writers didn't know what they were doing yet? and how scarily long will it take jack to realize his dad is the brain behind the whole operation?

also, isn't logan coming back? i thought i read that greg itzin and jean smart were gonna be on this season. bring back martha and agent pierce!!

wed night was another late night, but i managed to crawl into bed without watching any television. ok, this was mostly because house wasn't ready yet, but still, baby steps.

but that led to a killer thursday night, where i was unable to drag myself to bed before i devoured house, gilmore girls (!? i just wanna see luke and lorelai get back together) and veronica mars.

veronica finally seemed to be getting its groove back, and i was so glad to see the mention of madison's bday gift reminding veronica to get mac a present. the episode that dealt with the baby switch, while totally random when it aired, was one of the best vm eps ever, and i so wish they dealt more with mac and her real mom. i really hope it comes back for another season, and cw stops interfering and lets rob thomas do his show.

house was also back to form, good riddance david morse! loved, LOVED the chemistry b/w house and cuddy when they were talking outside the hospital, but as the ew tv watcher said, why do they insist on making her spineless. i don't think it was in her character to give in just b/c house gave her a relatively minor guilt trip.

no time for lost or fnl yet, and i doubt i'll get to any of the thursday night line up till after my friend leaves monday. boy is thursday a crowded landscape. office, 30 rock, new survivor, ugly betty, csi and men in trees. i can't even imagine if i watched grey's anatomy!! csi has been seriously backburnered, i think i have three or four eps to watch, and i may not get to those till i get back to ny. but 30 rock, office, and ugly betty are serious must-watches for me.

i'm not sure i've written about it before, but brothers and sisters has been impressing the shit out of me lately. i find myself looking forward to watching it on monday, and disappointed when there's no new episode. the acting is way above many other dramas, and i love how it's a soap but not a soap. like i said, i don't watch grey's anatomy, but it seems to me that shows like ga, bro and sis, men in trees, and friday night lights are part of a new resurgence of soap operas, just different than the ones from childhood. my parents watched dallas, and i watched dynasty and LOVED knots landing, but they were clearly Soap Operas, and not given (i think) the same level of respect as other dramatic programs. these new shows are the modern day equivalent, but deal with so much more, and exist in a much more diverse television landscape. at the same time, they don't have that soap opera feeling, like melrose place or that other one that had a city as its title and lasted only a few eps (i think it started with a p??).

damn i love tv.

us v. mexico

the us won, but from everything i've read it's not a victory we should be super proud of. so psyched for jimmy conrad, one of the funniest and nicest soccer players i've ever met (see earlier post here on conrad's corner), who scored his first international goal. this blogger called him man of the match, which based on everything i've read sounds about right.

this ny times article mentions the poor sportsmanship of the mexican players, which doesn't surprise me. the games are always tense, because the mexicans don't like being beaten by americans. for years it's been one of the areas where they consistently outshined us, but since the 2002 world cup we've shown that we can beat them in soccer. i was sitting in the friends and family section during the game, and nobody could believe how crazy the mexican players got once they were down. they were making dangerous tackles left and right, and ever since then every game is fraught with tension.

"Emotions flared late, with Marquez and American forward Eddie Johnson exchanging shoves. After the final whistle, the Mexicans strode off the field without shaking the Americans' hands or exchanging jerseys, as is customary.

''The sportsmanship -- it would be nice if you guys (reporters) and the Mexican press talked about it, because it's really poor,'' Donovan said. ''When we lose to them there, we shake their hands and say, `Good job.' There's none of that reciprocally, and it's kind of disappointing.''"

i'm trying to get my hands on the second half of the game, cause i'd like to see conrad's goal, but for now news coverage will have to suffice.

meanwhile, i'm still hugely disappointed in the choice of bob bradley for coach. if we wanted an american coach with american experience, we may as well have stuck with arena, who still wanted the job. i read the other day that klinsmann is speaking with the australian federation and i wanted to tear my hair out. how could we let someone who is in such a perfect position to coach our team get away? he lives in southern cali, he's AVAILABLE, and he's a great coach. he's got fantastic playing and coaching experience abroad, he brings a new, i think needed, perspective as a coach, and the best thing for our "boys" is an international coach, at least imho. i'm not sure what sunil gulati is doing, but so far i'm not impressed by his tenure.

that's on point, the blog of the post mentioned above, has quickly become one of my favorite blogs. he writes about soccer and tv, some of my favorite things, and is generally pretty funny while doing so. also loved this recent post, with one of my favorite quotes from last week's office.

anyone who puts in their profile under favorite books "Is TV Guide a book?" is someone whose blog i'm going to enjoy.

boo laundry

argh!! i can't remember the last time i needed to do laundry this desperately. i meant to do it before last weekend, but then i got sick, then a friend came. said friend left yesterday morning, and i had stupidly made dinner plans for last night (so no time to do laundry) and now i have another friend arriving in three hours.

although on the bright side i finally got to try fifteen, jamie oliver's restaurant. i wasn't expecting the tasting menu and tasting menu only, and thought there were going to be a la carte options. the food that was served was not food i ever would have ordered off of a menu, but it was also delicious. i won't go back again, but i would recommend to non-picky eaters, and it's a great place to go with a large-ish group.

so yay for fifteen but boo for laundry. i did not do a very good job of planning, nor did i realize how badly i was going to need just one day/evening free to run errands. i'm pretty sure my friend arriving tonight will understand, but it's hard when you want to play host, but feel bad saying, please go do something on your own for a few hours because i need do my laundry, run to the dry cleaners, grab milk, etc. i've always hated errands.

i have no poker post from this week because when i got to the casino on sunday, it was SOLD OUT! i couldn't make it earlier because of how ill i was feeling, and i was really surprised at how early it sold out. seeing as today is already friday, i'm going to try and stop in on my way home from work, because i don't want to get shut out again.

in hindsight, of course, being closed out worked out perfectly. i organized a dinner at a restaurant for my friend, which attracted a nice mix of work and random friends. the two of us stopped at another bar afterward, where i ran into a guy i'd met at a birthday party months ago. things like that don't happen to me all that often here, and it was such a "new york" type of run-in to me.

i blindly offered to help my friend out with some research on the ny mandatory ethics rules on advertising that were recently changed, and boy am i ever regretting that bit of kindness. i now have to draft a memo on the most overbroad, confusing set of rules i've ever read. fun fun fun!

al gore for president?

i've had a number of conversations with friends recently about the next presidential election. in my opinion, regardless of their merits, neither clinton nor obama have a chance. clinton is simply too polarizing. there are too many people who won't vote for her because of who she is, or because of who her husband is. and obama is a little green (and black) -- i don't know a lot about him, but from what i have read he is lacking in foreign policy experience, something which is of great importance right now. hmmmmm. but see this editorial claiming otherwise -- it also makes a good point about george w's lack of foreign policy experience, but please, he should not be used as an example for anything. except for maybe the stupidity of the american people and the problems with our electoral system. i am also wondering if perhaps this foreign policy question has taken on far too much significance, and is just a story created for the purpose of slowing down obama's momentum. i hate to reference usa today but this article does a nice job of pointing out just how qualified he is. so perhaps i'm wrong about the experience factor, but unfortunately, just like many won't vote for hillary because of who she is, i question whether there aren't too many people who won't vote for obama because he's black or because his name sounds like osama. like i said, lots of americans are stupid.

on the other hand, my respect for al gore has grown considerably over the past few years. it's almost like as soon as he "lost" he decided to grow a pair and actually speak his mind. he and obama would be a dream ticket, and being a vp would give the latter a chance to gain experience and become the most qualified, electable candidate in 2016.

just read this post examining the possibility that gore announce on the heels of an oscar win. i think announcing a candidacy at the actual oscar ceremony is, like, the worst idea EVER, but a witty victory speech could be the perfect pre-cursor to an announcement. as far as i'm concerned, gore has plenty of time to announce, he will catch up on fundraising without too much of a problem, and the only thing an early announcement does is give him more time to fuck up.

i'm not even addressing any of gore's policies here, because unfortunately (and as i touched on in my earlier post today), policies don't really seem to matter when it comes to getting elected. i agree with him at the very least on climate change, although my opinion on his candidacy may change once i learn more about where he stands on various issues. anyone who knows me knows that one of my biggest personal issues is drug policy, and based on his admitted experience with drugs, it is possible that obama could be more attractive on that issue than gore. but for now my gut is with gore.

update: this nytimes editorial argues that america has been and is ready for a black president. he includes data on a poll showing that colin powell might have beat clinton had he been the republican candidate rather than bob dole.

"Still. . .there is a pretty good, if not quite conclusive, case that America has for some time been ready to elect a black president. The question for Barack Obama is whether this time around it will be ready for this one."

atheism in politics

one of the poker blogs i read is iggy at pokerworks. he wrote in a very long, sort of all over the place post these words, which i could not agree with more.

"There are atheists in office, but they are liars who claim to be Christians. That is the nature of our political system. It favors lying fucks over people who tell the truth, cowardly phonies over heroes, and almost bars anyone who actually deserves the office. We should have to hunt down worthy people and draft them at gunpoint to serve, given the kind of person who actually wants to be President."

i'm almost finished with the god delusion by richard dawkins, and while i find his tone to be arrogant, i agree with him that religion should not be unassailable. there is so much bullshit involved, and you're just not allowed to call out any of it. you would think we'd want honest people leading our country. yet when it comes to unelectability in american politics, atheists are at the top of the list. iggy also mentions that jennifer harmon says she would never vote for an atheist. i wish someone could explain to me why and how so many people hold this view, because i just do not get it.

our political process has become a status symbol for millionaires. most people truly worthy of holding any political office have a better chance of becoming a famous pop singer, because in this day and age, you can't run without a shitload of money. so maybe one day, all of our politicians will be famous pop singers, since they're in that select group of people who might have enough money to run and get elected.

superbowl

with the time difference and still being sick, i couldn't catch much of it. though with a touchdown and interception in the first five minutes or so, it looked to be a good game.

saw this link to the dave/oprah commercial. so cute!

gabrielle union

i loved her in bring it on, and while she has not received the starring roles that i think she deserves, i do love the fact that she's generally not sprawled all over the gossip pages confusing "celebrity" with "acting." so i was sort of psyched for her when i saw that she was dating derek jeter (cause yeah, he's pretty hot, and smokin' bod), and i love her even more now that i read this rebuttal.

quotes of the day from gabrielle union:

"It'd be great to be dating Derek Jeter. As far as fake relationships go, I'm moving up."

and

"Trust me, if I were dating Derek Jeter, I would hold my own personal press conference to announce it to the world. I'm actually getting a little nervous about when our fake breakup is coming."

i don't know if she thought of those on her own or she has herself a fancy publicist but either way, rock on gabrielle. and if you really are dating him, more power to ya. bring it.

update: read in ew today that she's a lead in the new "football wives" which is the brit soap opera converted for american audiences by focusing on american football rather than soccer. smart move, although heartbreaking, since most american adaptations of brit shows fail. except the office -- the american version has evolved brilliantly.

anyway, added props to gaby for moving to the small screen. all the cool kids (er, good actors) are doing it.

not yet

i'm still not feeling back to my normal self, but at least i made it through yesterday without napping and feeling horrible. i have a friend in town, and while i did my best to entertain on saturday, i spent the entire day feeling like someone was banging my head slowly but firmly against a wall and wishing i was back in bed.

just read this variety article on the possible cancellation of friday night lights, comparing the possibility to the woefully premature cancellation of freaks and geeks. somewhat apt comparison, cause friday night lights really does make the tv landscape a better place.

i also read that both studio 60 and 30 rock are going on an airing hiatus. while i couldn't care less whether studio 60 gets cancelled, 30 rock just gets better and better and i will be VERY upset if nbc makes the mistake of axing it. alec baldwin's mama slam with the "boo-yah" was the best moment on tv last week. followed closely by his pretty woman snap of the jewelry box, tina fey's hilarious reaction, and alec's reaction to her reaction. i can't find the specific videos of these on youtube, but any clip with alec baldwin is a clip worth watching.

i marathoned men in trees while sick (sleep, mit, sleep, mit, sleep...) and was completely blown away by it. the series' ability to speak on the differences between men and women is absolutely jarring, and in particular last week's episode was so full of wisdom on the base differences between the sexes i was left gaping at my computer screen. plus i know anne heche is all kinds of crazy, but i knew back from the days when i watched her as vicky/marley on another world that she was an actress far beyond soap opera capability, and it is startlingly easy to forget about her sordid gossipy past while watching.

i'm sick

it sucks. booooooooooooooooooooooo.