SUMOLICIOUS SUMO BABY

Brilliant Nihongo Romaji

2009-08-08T23:40:00.002-04:00

I loved the Magic 8-Ball as a kid, and have discovered that you can tap its properties and so much more with Will Carlough & Rich Boenigk's Translation Party! It translates English phrases to Japanese then back to English and Japanese until the phrase repeats itself. I already broke it twice with "I like that band!" and "Sit up straight", but I also got some amazing results with "Maybe I don't feel like working" and "When will I be rich?"

Have fun:
http://translationparty.com

Invasion on the 7 train

2008-08-28T20:50:00.002-04:00

Alright US Open people - it is so obvious when you've boarded the 7 - bright pique shirts and special sun caps, accents unmistakably honed outside New York - hints of the left coast and elsewhere, in decibels louder than our usual tone.

You need to know that your train behavior is kind of obnoxious. New York may seem like it's roaring at all time, the 7 train may look wild on the outside - but it's really pretty tame. We commuters are just trying to get home quietly, read a book, stare out the window. I don't need to hear about your friend looking pregnant, don't need to know about how you don't know where "Mets Stadium" is, and I certainly don't want to feel you falling on me when you don't hold on.

So just like we can keep our voices down in libraries and holy spaces, let's practice that on the subway too. It's a refuge for us commuters, from demanding jobs and crazy streets. You're on turf when you hit the train, so keep it down!

Participate in the democratic process?

2008-06-05T13:24:00.004-04:00

"Sign a petition to get a Democrat on the ballot?"
"Are you a registered Democrat?"
"We're trying to get a Democrat on the ballot for the fall..."

These are the various lines I used this morning on the Lower East Side to get people to sign a sheet to (you guessed it) get a Democrat on the ballot (for State Senator to represent the district).

It was freakin' hard. Most people looked like I was going to puke on them. Even if I got someone who wanted to sign, they had to be a registered voter from the area. A large number of people told me they weren't registered or they just weren't citizens. One guy told me he couldn't vote because he just got out of prison, but that if I needed a man to go find him at Dunkin Donuts.

If it's this difficult to get signatures just for a spot on the ballot, I cannot imagine campaigning for votes.

In the end, the majority of people who signed my petition were either hipsters, metrosexuals, or older Latina ladies. In the span of two hours, every Asian person who walked by me claimed not to speak English or just ignored me. And one African-American said he would never vote for Obama even though he's a Democrat. He was cursing up a storm about it. And a security guard told me not to vote for Obama because he would take the troops out of Iraq and then the Iraqis would come to New York.

I wasn't even campaigning for Obama but WHAT did you just say???

Where are these people getting their information from?

All in all, it was kind of a disheartening job, but one man graciously told me to "keep up the good work." He may not know how much that really helped, as a traipsed up and down Delancey, competing with the allure of the subway, McDonald's, and the baseball caps knock-off store. Just helping a community activist build better schools and affordable housing. But sorry, let me get out of your way.

grammar ghosts

2008-04-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

YOU'RE ABSOLUTE PERFECTION is what I thought the first line was to the new Lucky Ghost song - but I in a recent interview with the singer I learned that my interpretation was slightly off.

On a side note, I'm a stickler for using you're and your in the right place, along with it's and its. Oh yeah, and apostrophes... I'm sorry, but thanks is not written thank's. I've been in too many elementary school classrooms lately where teachers have misspelled/misused these words.

Anyway the Lucky Ghost singles are so sweet they're like a perfect vodka.

myspace.com/sethberkowitz

what's up with the five cents?

2008-03-10T11:35:00.004-04:00

New Yorkers beware - as of this month, if you purchase the $8 Metrocard they kindly offer you a "$1.05" bonus. Basically it means that if you want a full ride with that, you will need to add a beautifully uneven 95 cents. Put that on your credit card.

I haven't tried adding the 95 cents yet, but frankly I find it quite annoying and conniving. I doubt most New Yorkers will think about the five cents, so if a million New Yorkers forgo today's 5-cent-bonus, that's $50,000 for the MTA in one day. Yup.

to a great oh-eight

2008-01-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

It's '08. Almost as easy to write as '07 since you can close the zero at the top and slide your pen to the next digit. A professional artist told me he got dizzy writing '08 for he first time yesterday. This same artist has an awesome new comic on the web at www.roundersthecomic.com.

It's updated every week, so if you're logging on for the first time, it's best to click on the home page and begin from there. It takes place in an alternate world where a violent game of baseball is the norm, and the protagonist is in love with a girl with a robot arm.

In other news, though I have an incredible immune system, I'm suddenly fighting a cough. To avoid going outside to buy medicine, I decided to mix together a bunch of recipes from a site called The Holistic Medicine Cabinet। I just downed a mug of camomile, bay leaves, nutmeg, lemon juice, sage, honey, cloves, whiskey and a cinammon stick. The site doesn't mention camomile - that was my mom's idea.

my reality fix is back - with lots of blatant plugs

2007-11-16T11:41:00.000-05:00

It's bad enough that I consciously follow a reality show - Project Runway - but now I have to sit through their full sentences about products on the program. If they give me one more plug about the shoe line or the car sponsor or the many other companies that sponsor them, I may have to shut the TV off. And de-program the DVR setting. Hear that reality show producers?

I know they're trying to find innovative ways to beat the DVR commercial fast-forward. But these plugs are incredibly annoying and totally boring. There's gotta be a more creative way to give the products attention.

And as for Project Runway...after so many seasons, everyone on the show just knows how it goes. The boys are constantly quoting Tim Gunn's "Make it work"... I think it's time for a new slogan, Tim. I know you got it in you...

finding the joy in phil collins' "against all odds"

2007-08-29T16:33:00.000-04:00

So take a look at me now!

After listening to last weekend's This American Life*, Phil Collins' song has been stuck in my head for days. The fabu-tastic Joe McGinty is featured in this episode (called the "Break-Up"), as his friend Starlee narrates her tale of relationship woe. It's quite amusing, especially when she calls Phil Collins to ask him how to write a song. He's a real gentleman.

* http://thisamericanlife.org/

amy winehouse singing rehab in a chair

2007-08-21T14:32:00.000-04:00

here's a clip of amy winehouse (who just escaped rehab again, according to the press). watching her sing here is kinda fascinating. sorta reminds me of a female tay zonday...

purr baby ready for CBGB, a little late

2007-08-06T10:17:00.000-04:00

this lady got a haircut over the weekend. it was quite an ordeal, but she was alright. she's now running all over the house like a new man. and purring.

sorry schadenfreude lovers - britney seriously needs psychiatric help

2007-07-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

lately it seems that most of the media has never seen a real manic episode, an event that is experienced by 1 in 100 people. it is so obvious to those of us who know about illnesses like bipolar disorder, that britney spears is clearly going through a synapse/neurotransmitter malfunction in her brain. forget drugs & alcohol, britney's behavior is so beyond that.

at this point, if she is drinking or drugging, it's in reaction to her fragile emotional state of mind. she does not know what she is doing. incoherent babbling, wiping grease on a dress worth thousands, going to the bathroom with the door open in public - there is no way she is doing these things intentionally.

if you want to know more about how mental breakdowns like these can happen to the best of us, read AN UNQUIET MIND by kay redfield jamieson, and SKYWRITING by jane pauley. in jamieson's book she talks about looking back on bipolar episiodes and wondering what you did, what you said. jamieson is a phD. and we all know jane pauley. she was considered a "good girl" and she lost it too. luckily they were both saved by support, therapy and medication.

can someone please send a competent pychiatrist to this poor child britney? stop taking photos, stop making fun of her. the public's ignorant reaction is the saddest thing -- the unravelling of this individual is not just about, "oh look what happens to celebrities."

bipolar disorder or versions of it can happen to almost anyone (with or without drugs/alcohol), but luckily most of us don't have to go through it in front to the whole world.

random distraction

2007-06-28T12:10:00.000-04:00

This made me laugh very hard today.
http://ninjapants.org/files/index.php?image=what+the.JPG.jpg
Don't know what it is.

It's Rounders, baby *

2007-06-16T22:05:00.001-04:00

As you follow this exciting baseball season, there's an alternative baseball world waiting for you every week now at GW COMICS! Seth Berkowitz is posting a "new weekly comic about a fictional turn-of-the century baseball team"...

In other news, did you know that Alissa Milano has a line of baseball clothes now at mlb.com? It would be awesome if I could try the clothes on before buying them, but the Mets Clubhouse doesn't sell her stuff. If anyone spots a tangible** version of that adorable blue tank top, please escribame!

*Quote from Seth (www.gwcomics.com) as I asked him to explain more...

**opposite of virtual

ordering from amazon? use this cool radio link!

2007-05-08T10:27:00.000-04:00

WFUV is an awesome station - and now you can keep their eclectic sound going whenever you order from Amazon. Just use the link to Amazon on the homepage at wfuv.org, and do your Amazon thing. No extra cost to you, and you're supporting one of the greatest independent stations in NY ;)

otro indie outlet

2007-03-11T20:38:00.000-04:00

There's another site you can watch films on now called jaman.com - apparently they have a lot of rare international films plus a lot of short films... Vanessa Arteaga, a New Yorkina like me (who was executive producer of the fascinating film Tarnation), is in charge of the Latin division...

You're Being Followed by a Moon Shadow

2007-03-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

After two and a half years, the Total Lunar Eclipse is back - and you can see it in your backyaard on the east coast, Europe, and other parts of the world. The "totality" begins at 5:44pm, Sat 3/3. Space.com breaks it down for you (among other sites).

um...your adhesive's coming off

2007-02-28T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to ask this question for like a year now - what's the deal with the gold sticker that guys are leaving on their baseball hats? They say "7 1/2" on them...they're on the brim...(see photo).

What does it mean? And what happens when it rains?

I ran into an old neighborhood friend the other day who was wearing one and I was like, Significance? And he was like, I just do what everybody's doing.

Damn.

keep it clean, folks

2007-02-14T14:14:00.000-05:00

A sign in my neighborhood post office reads:

Please keep YOUR mail clean.

Subway Qualm Part I

2006-12-14T19:59:00.000-05:00

Great real estate on the subway: the door. Yes I know you are technically not supposed to lean on it, one because it supposedly causes damage to the doors and two, they might inadvertently open mid-ride, however...leaning on the door is prime when there's no seating space available.

Recently during rush hour a kind man offered me his spot on the door. He saw that I was reading and highlighting a giant textbook, carrying a huge backpack, and trying to hold on to the railing above. It was great. (Very soon after though, a couple of obnoxious banker types - a young guy and a woman in bright blue cashmere - got on and totally shoved me to the side as they discussed who from "Goldman" would be at "the Christmas party"...They also said "wow is everyone on this train going to this party?" Yeah obviously I was in my torn Jansport and 5 o'clock frizz - oh and did I mention the enormous textbook that was suddenly pressed up against me, papers sticking out and an open highlighter ready to stain the next shirt that slammed into me?)

This morning I once again found myself on a crowded subway, holding a hardcover book, a notebook and a pencil trying to jot down notes (for a paper I'm writing on Noah Webster). This time I had nothing to hold on to as two people leaned on "the door" and all the pole space was blocked or taken. So I sucked in my abs, bent my knees, and braced myself as the subway zoomed through the tunnels. I kept wondering why the dude a foot away from me playing Tetris wouldn't offer his door space. I mean, if he were sitting, would he offer me his seat?

I wonder if most people consider that the door can be considered space that can be given, just as a seat is. I know the MTA would not endorse this, so you don't see signs that say "Priority Seating" or "Won't you please give this seat to the disabled...?"

The door is prime real estate because one, it separates you from the rest of the crowd, giving you a sweet corner to yourself, with a view of the urban artwork on tunnel walls, scurrying rats (not really), buckets and gloves here and there, and even an abandoned train station here and there (that's true). It also gives you a nice place to relax, as you wait for the train to get to the next station. And there's the rub...

(to be continued)

Wrapping up latest on the SNL-inspired shows this week

2006-12-01T12:38:00.000-05:00

Studio 60 is staying on the air! I love the dialogue on that show, the political awareness it fosters, even though there's a lot of walking & talking that makes me dizzy sometimes (though there was a shot on last week's episode that was so beautifully executed, it was like bringing a deux ex machina camera into The Globe).

I saw some conservative website today that called Studio 60 anti-Christian. What a bunch of hogwash. I bet they've never really watched the show. I'm a confirmed Christian dudes - not a fundamentalist mind you - but I know anti-Christian when I see it and this certainly is not. Studio 60 can be pretty balanced actually.

Speaking of TV, did anyone notice that Tina Fey left on her wedding band on 30 Rock last night? She plays a single chick dating the beeper king, and there she was with a shiny wedding ring on her left hand (not part of the plot). Maybe I'm a little mad at her for writing in a joke about beeper ads only being on the 7 train. What she tryin to say about the 7?

Anyway I couldn't stay mad for long because Alec Baldwin's joke about waiting for a page from 1983 was toooo funny.

African Sesame Street puppet with Bill - AIDS Awareness Day Friday

2006-11-28T11:14:00.000-05:00

I recently saw an interview with "Elmo", Kevin Clash, and he talked about how the Sesame Street versions in different parts of the world represent the issues each region finds most important for its children to learn about.
In South Africa, it was AIDS, and after much deliberation, the adorable puppet Kami was created. You can see her here, in a PSA with President Clinton:
Clinton & Kami Campaign

buncha lushes

2006-11-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

New research has emerged that an ingredient in red wine helps lab mice run faster, and also staves off obesity and death.

People have been talking about this "ingredient" in red wine for a long time. You know what it is? Resveratrol, which is found on grape skin and in peanuts too. But everybody loves to talk about it in red wine. Like they want to justify getting a little tipsy, a little red in the face, a little acne-ridden. Fine, I like red wine as much as the next guy, but do we have to focus on it like it's the only place on earth to find this resveratrol?

Also, the studies showed that you would have to drink hundreds of glases of red wine to have similar results to the mice's.

Articles on the research are everywhere today, but you can read one story at The Washington Post. Pass me that peanut grape.

sweet dreams and nightmares

2006-11-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

Did I dream up the events of Election Day? That was last Tuesday, the 4th, when newspaper stands and boxes displayed huge photos of Adrienne Shelly with giant headlines like "Slain" and "Murdered". It was absolutely surreal to stand on 57th Street staring at this...Did I think, over a decade ago, that one day I would be in a world where this would happen to the actress I most admired and looked up to at the time?

It was seriously like a bizarre nightmare, the kind where I wake up and say, I had that this really weird dream where something horrible happened to the girl from Trust*.

And then I would probably analyze the symbolism and say something like does this mean that I feel like I'm being shot down, and that I can only trust myself?

Then again if you read the "work" of Jane Roberts, aka the Seth Books, there's a fine line between dream and reality - something that happens in "real" life, say a thunderstorm, is also symbolism for say, the release of stress and emotions among the people in the area.

On Election Day I also wondered if I had stepped into an alternate political reality, to avoid the sorrow of Election Day 2004... It's definitely a time to celebrate, with the Democrats dominating the House and Senate. People voted in record numbers on Tuesday, and everyone who has participated in spreading the word about bringing peace and sanity back to our government, and international realtions, had a part in this. Authors, activists, and big mouths alike.

Nomi Prins sums up who was affected by the election on her blog this week: http://nomiprins.blogspot.com/2006/11/top-ten-most-affected-by-election.html
(Folks like Rummy, Paris Hilton, and Nancy Pelosi's stylist)

If you can take the good with the bad (sorry about the cliche), we're gonna be ok.

* Andy Ostroy, one my favorite political bloggers, and Adrienne Shelly's grieving husband, posts a beautiful yet simple homage to his wife at http://www.ostroyreport.blogspot.com/#111106. He posts the photo of her Trust character at the end of Hartley's film...it's an image that makes me weepy.

feminist, artist on her borat experience

2006-11-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_179/howiwasduped.html

naive

2006-11-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

The beautiful, inspiring Adrienne Shelly is dead. She was only 40. She was Hal Hartley's main actress in the early part of his film career.

It seems her death was a suicide.

People magazine reported that in 1996 she told a magazine that her father turned down agents who approached her as a child. Apparently he said, "I will not have my daughter jumping out of a window when she's 30."

As a teen I watched the movie TRUST by Hal Hartley over and again.

I loved when Adrienne's character talked with Martin Donovan's character about the word "naive."

I loved when she shouted after her boyfriend, "This is more important than football!"

Deaths are so sad because I wonder how I could have expressed my admiration for the person before they left us. I'm sure a lot of blogs and online magazines will receive comments over the next few days, maybe weeks. But where were we last week when Adrienne Shelly was going through what she was going through? Does fan mail really help? Do we really like celebs for who they are, or for what they represent?

Well I'm gonna have to go home tonight (after Borat) and pop in the TRUST VHS...(it's not available on DVD. Maybe now that this indie icon is on the cover of The Post of all papers, more people will see TRUST, and a DVD will actually be distributed...)

Anyway thanks to BQ for the first heads up today, and SB for knowing I would be affected by the news.

my favorite cartoonist on the blogosphere

2006-10-17T13:43:00.000-04:00

Seth's art is on the first Mstrmnd media interview at henryjenkins.org.

We just went to see Pan's Labrynth at the NYFF. A movie about imaginative lands and standing up to a facist regime sounded like a productive way to spend a Sunday. But it was scary!

Like Seth's creepy drawings!

oceanic concerns

2006-09-19T21:04:00.000-04:00

Wanna know how much mercury is in your tuna fish sandwich or swordfish entree? Check out gotmercury.org. Also, you can help save endangered sea turtles by not buying longline caught fish (I'm not really sure how to know that). More info at seaturtles.org.

Thanks to my Soy Delicious Purely Decadent non-dairy frozen dessert (aka ice cream in my book) for letting me know about the turtles that have been around since before the dinosaurs, and are now endangered!

not all US teens know that about STDs and pregnancy

2006-09-18T13:41:00.000-04:00

Do we want our youth (and future adults) learning scientific facts or right-wing propaganda in Health Ed?

From http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/take-action/school-board/:

Three steps you can take to make sure accurate sex ed is taught in your local schools...

The best way to promote honest, accurate sex education in schools is to start locally. With many school board elections coming up this fall, you can make a critical impact by following the steps below...

Take the following steps to promote honest, accurate sex education in your local schools:

I. Plan to vote! Find out more about your local school board elections. Many communities (but not all) are holding school board elections this fall. Find out if yours is one of them by looking up your state on the National School Boards Association website. This resource can help you find details on your state's elections and contact information for your local school board.

II. Before you vote, find out where local candidates stand on sex education. Once you find out who is running in your local elections, make sure you know their position on sex education. Get the answers you need by attending a school board candidate forum and asking one or more of the sample questions below.

How to find school board candidate forums:
- Read the community events section of your local paper.
- Call your state school board association.
- Contact your local League of Women Voters.

No school board candidate forums happening in your area?School board members aren't the only ones making decisions about sex education in your school. You can also ask candidates for governor and state legislative candidates questions about sex education at candidate forums. And don't forget that you can always contact your school principal or superintendent and express your views about honest, age-appropriate sex education.

Questions to ask:
1. I believe the best way to prevent teen pregnancy and reduce the spread of STDs is to teach accurate sex education that provides information about condoms and birth control in addition to abstinence. Do you agree that young people deserve factual information about sex so they can keep themselves safe?
2. Our federal government's abstinence-only programs censor teachers from talking about birth control. Do you believe that teachers should be forbidden from talking about methods to prevent pregnancy and STDs – even if a student asks for more information about birth control? 3. The AIDS epidemic means that young people who don't have all the facts to stay safe are at great risk of contracting this life threatening disease. I believe that accurate sex education is the best way to reduce the spread of STDs and prevent teen pregnancy. Do you support teaching comprehensive sex education that includes information about condoms and birth control in addition to abstinence, in our schools?

III. Let us know about your grassroots efforts! Help us keep track of this campaign. If you attended a forum and asked a question, tell us how it went and what kind of response you received.

i was the only one

2006-08-31T10:26:00.000-04:00

last year you could google search "sumoh" and only find my blog, along with a bjillion japanese sites with the same word in them. i feel like ever since my name was on the tonight show with crying while eating, it's in the public consciousness. really. now there's a lady in texas with my name. and she's some kind of actor too. arrgghh. can't a girly blogger be sui generis?
so i stole an "s" from the psuedo-sumoh's myspace page. that'll show her.

like a mini Buzzflash

2006-08-30T16:14:00.000-04:00

Heavy stuff to read:

Breaking down the value of megastars in a film

Nomi Prins' piece on higher insurance premiums because of Katrina and Trent Lott
(this article linked to by Buzzflash today due to yours truly)

Freaky Clown, Plus A New Burger Design

2006-07-31T16:27:00.000-04:00

You may know I haven't visited a McDonald's in several years, but I'll admit it was my favorite place to have a birthday party when I was four. The Hamburglar climbing tower, and the Grimace trampoline-cage were the greatest. Another treat was meeting Mr. McDonald himself.

Well, for a little afternoon freak-out, visit this YouTube link to the first Ronald McDonald commercial.

Then, if you want to learn how to save $1.49 at McDonald's (it involves lining your inner burger with different sized french fries), check out Cas' new video (which as of this moment has been watched over 40,000 times) : Ghetto Big Mac.

IFC! Rooftop Films! Trivia!

2006-07-25T16:56:00.000-04:00

The "Misanthrope" video, featuring everyone's favorite ghost in a photo booth (or at least my favorite ghost in a photo booth), is screening in a couple of places next week.

First - at the ever-awesome Rooftop Films, August 5th. That's at the Automotive HS in Williamsburg (Bklyn) next Friday. For more info go to http://rooftopfilms.com/show_06-shortstrapped.html.

Also, if you don't want to leave the house, or if you want to see it again and again and again, it's also airing on IFC...Yeah! Here's the schedule:

Monday, August 7 8:30 PM
Tuesday, August 8 12:30 AM
Wednesday, August 16 10:45 AM
Thursday, August 17 7:30 AM
Tuesday, August 22 5:15 AM

If you want to contemplate some trivia about my role in the video, you can visit www.susanstewart.blogspot.com for questions.

responding to MTA woes

2006-07-18T13:39:00.000-04:00

There's a running commentary on Gothamist about the new subway rules, and whether a woman who got a ticket for putting her feet up should fight it. You can see my reaction as #78* on the queue. I'm generally a stickler for rules, though I also advocate fighting them.

*SSNYC

mysterious wage of actors/musicians

2006-07-11T08:23:00.000-04:00

The NY Dept of Labor* lists the average wages for various occupations. I always like to see how much more the average publicist makes, and how much I can look forward to making as a teacher. However, if you want to know how much the average actor or musican makes, the site says "n/a". I think even salary.com lists those averages, but not our Workforce & Industry data!

I heard a statistic once that only 2% of actors make the millions. I know a few who live off some national commercials and are able to buy a house and car and raise kids. And then there are the rest of us. Hand me that issue of Backstage. Thanks.

*http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/apps.asp?reg=nys&app=wages

replenishing books lost last year

2006-07-10T14:24:00.000-04:00

If you want to give more to those devastated after Hurricane Katrina, it looks like you can purchase books on Amazon for libraries in Mississippi that lost their collections. See the list of libraries here: http://deweydonationsystem.com/?page_id=32

I was hoping I could browse through their lists and then just mail them copies of those titles I had at home, but it looks like they've got a system. Apparently, if you really want to send used books, you can email your list to s.davis@harrison.lib.ms.us, along with ISBN numbers, and they'll see if they can take them. Whether they take them has to do with climate issues in the temporary library homes.

imagining the sails

2006-06-26T23:40:00.000-04:00

Returned from Greece recently and took about 300 photos. The luxury of digital.
Here are two, from The Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, the southernmost tip of mainland Greece.

Above: what is left of the Temple (15 of the original 34 columns).

Below: an untarnished view from a cliff on the Aegean sea. We tried to imagine what the view would have been when King Aegeus saw the black sails on his son's boat*.

*His son had gone to slay the Minotaur and was supposed to return with white sails, but in all the excitement he forgot, so Aegeus threw himself into the sea. Hence, the Aegean.

(Our new friend from the trip, Devin, editor of This is Our War, thinks they really should have had a better system.)

Background check on that Fwd you sent

2006-06-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

I love snopes.com. They will research emails you get about winning money from Microsoft, or the missing girl from the local deli, and tell you if they're true. Usually those emails are fake, but I don't have to tell you that, right?

However recently, I was surprised to learn that the NPR/PBS impending budget cuts were actually real. (You can sign a petition to save public radio and television at moveon.org.)

Another thing I totally appreciate about snopes: if you send them a personal email, a smart, articulate person will write you back. Right away.*

*at least in my experience

shout out for gourmet frozen alcohol

2006-05-25T17:58:00.000-04:00

If you haven't tried Wine Cellar Sorbets wine sorbet, and you are 21+, and you like wine, and you like things that melt in mouth and get you a little tipsy, then you are surely missing out on something quite heavenly and rather cool. One of the owners is my good friend Joe Lane. The other two dudes*, the faces of the company, have been making the rounds in local media lately, on TV's "Cool in Your Code" and and the free fun daily paper, Metro.

OK the point is, this stuff is really good, so pick up a pint at your local deli (NYC only right now). It's a lovely (yet perishable) gift to bring to a party. For locations, visit http://winecellarsorbets.com/stores.htm. Let me know how it goes.

*Bret Birnbaum is the main brain - he also runs the rebellious T-shirt company, Corporate Logo. He's one of my favorite people as well.

on gas prices under current administration

2006-05-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Andy Ostroy makes some good points on his blog, The Ostroy Report. In response to recent RNC chair comments he says, "Remind America that gas prices were $1.50 when Bush took office, and that a barrel of oil cost $30 instead of this week's $67.50."

When can I get the car that uses french fries for fuel? Someone please let me know. In the meantime our little auto stays in the garage as much as possible.

playback singers

2006-05-19T18:09:00.000-04:00

There is a fabulous 500-seat Bollywood theatre in Jackson Heights. A group of friends and I went the other night, for $5 Tuesdays, and we really had a blast. The movie of the week was 36Chinatown. Fascinating musical numbers - with lyrics like "rock your body" and "beat it" interspersed with Hindi.

Aside from no one ever kissing on screen*, it floored me to learn that no one sings their own songs either. SB was doing some research after we saw the film, and we discovered the playback singer phenomenon. Yes, I know this was done in Hollywood forty years ago with films like My Fair Lady, but in Bollywood, this is totally acceptable nowadays; in fact, audiences often go to films to hear the playback singers, no matter what the movie is.

It was also interesting to see a warning at the end of the film about the dangers of smoking*. It now dawns on me why the detective is trying to light his cigarette throughout the film and never gets the lighter to work right!

My new favorite Bollywood pop star is Shahid Kapoor. He's like an Indian Ralph Macchio, circa 1984.

*My friend Dan Engber wrote a great piece in Slate last year about Bollywood rules and the Cinematograph Act: http://www.slate.com/id/2120162/ (SB & I found it among our research...Dan was going to see the film with us but he's in Europe right now...what a sneaky Pete he is, writing highly-regarded articles about Bollywood and not telling me.)

Perils & Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, & Borrowed Money in the 21st Century...

2006-05-15T17:14:00.000-04:00

Kevin Phillips is back - and this time he'll respond to David Brooks' scathing review of American Theocracy. Tonight Mr. Phillips is on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) 11:30PM.

I'll be in the studio audience rooting for him, like a lady at a boxing match.

And in case you've been under a rock the past couple of weeks, Stephen Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner footage has been circling the web. It's fantastic.

do something - click on this letter

2006-05-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

As gov't men try to ban abortion, at least teach kids how to prevent getting preggers...(click here) Help pass the Healthy Teens Act

(more info at http://prochoiceaction.org)

childcats

2006-04-28T00:36:00.000-04:00

Yes we celebrated their birthdays this week.

Unlit candles in their low pH Eukanuba.

Yummy!

American Theocracy

2006-04-05T14:25:00.000-04:00

This fabulous publicist booked an interview for America's premier political analyst, former Republican strategist Kevin Phillips on PBS' Tavis Smiley. It airs Thursday night (4/6) on affiliates nationwide. Phillips is also on Real Time with Bill Maher this Friday (4/7) at 11pm on HBO. Phillips is the author of the New York Times bestseller American Theocracy.

Simplicity vs Complication

2006-04-04T00:25:00.000-04:00

I've discovered the revolutionary gem that is Netflix. Sure call me Johnny Come Lately, but sometimes this Aries gets distracted. I can see what my friends have rented! I can see what they think of what they've seen! If I add a movie to my queue, Netflix sends me to other pages like the movie I've picked. It can be a little disorienting, like a day in DisneyWorld, but as long as I know I'm on a ride, it can be ok.

My beau, who shares the accont with me, thinks I'm cluttering up the queue.

What to do, give me something to surrender to. - Aaron Hill

Franken's man

2006-03-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

Does anyone in the media lie more than Bill O'Reilly?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200603280011

how I play it

2006-03-06T12:03:00.000-05:00

One year I'm gonna win that Oscar pool! I need a good strategy. I can never decide between my heart, my intellect, or my psychic ability. So my picks get muddied.

My friend Aram says to just pick what you want to win, because if it wins and you didn't pick it, you'll feel bad. That is true. However if it doesn't win and the one I figured would win wins, then I feel stupid. So what would I rather feel?

Glory.

One of these Oscar nights - those $10 are mine!

no need

2006-02-23T12:26:00.000-05:00

Project Runway was especially mean last night, and I am not into that. The host was deliberately trying to get a rise out of people, causing totally evil drama. She would show people video clips of cast members putting the person down. Then she'd say, "How does that make you feel?" People were crying and choking up.

It's unethical. What's up with television doing shit like that?

And with reality shows, these people don't even get paid to be ranked on. At least give me some day player rates if you're gonna be an asshole.

Clean since 1990...

2006-02-15T22:27:00.000-05:00

My TV fast of 15 years is so over. It began with Six Feet Under, then Curb... This is what I now watch religiously:

-Project Runway
-The Office
-Cash Cab

Don't judge me.

EW is not so ew!

2006-01-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

SB says nothing surprises him anymore. With our friends on Jay Leno, on CSI: Miami, touring the world in The Bravery, it was just another thing when Will Carlough's redheadedleague.com was in this week's Must List in Entertainment Weekly. I am totally psyched.

Be sure to check out The Future if you haven't done so already.

Will is also interviewed at nerve.com; it's all for his film Robin's Big Date at Sundance.

budding Marxist now a middle class anti-communist

2006-01-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

I got a part in the new Steven Soderbergh film Guerilla, starring Benicio Del Toro as Che Guevara. I'm playing a woman against socialism in the 60's. The character fascinates me because 1. I, SS, only attend peace marches, not protests and 2. In college I found real communism somewhat alluring, if it could ever really work. (In reality I really am more of a capitalism fan these days - if it could ever really work the way it was meant to - without hurting people*).

I'll be "protesting" in front of the UN in high heels and a fancy purse - the daintiest little protester I ever did see.

* good book: Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists by Rajan and Zingales, former clients of mine

tsunami total

2005-12-29T17:25:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week the New York Times stated that 5,395 were killed in the tsunami. That is a very different number from the 100,000 that was reported last year after the terrible incident. 100,000 is the kind of number that made me want to donate my life savings. What's up with the very disparate calculations?

tarot revelations

2005-12-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

Ben Fine read my cards last night. I think what sums it up is a quote by Joseph Campbell:
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

sparkling holidays

2005-12-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a beautiful time after the great winter soltice - merry christmas, happy hannukah, the festival of lights, cheery kwanzaa, and of course a fabulous new year.

I've received lovely xmas cards this month, but one of my favorites has to be the one from the Japanese hitchhikers I picked up by the Queensboro Bridge during the strike. One of the girls drew a crying sun and underneath it said:

Happy!!!
Have A Happy Holydays

:)

Luxury travel

2005-12-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

The trains are back. I'm ecstatic about it. It's great to see the platform performers, the panhandlers, the newspaper stands, the conductors... I heard a guy say on the radio that he was going to hug a homeless person on the subway and welcome him home (sad I know). I told my conductor on the E today that it was like luxury travel and he laughed. He said he hadn't heard that one yet.

Sitting back and sipping coffee while my underground chauffeur takes me to my destination is awesome... It's also nice that a lot of New Yorkers are gone today for xmas...next week it'll be rush hour all over again and I'll be ready to beat up the stinky person next to me. But for now, it's all heavenly.

everything has to be about the strike

2005-12-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

The transit strike is all I've been thinking about. When I turn on the radio it's all I want to hear about. When I talk with people I want to know how they're doing with regard to getting around town. So it's weird to get emails from friends and family in California and Boston and Iowa, that are not about the strike. Don't they know what we're going through? It's mayhem in NY without our ride! (I was happy to finally see CNN reporting on the strike yesterday, that's more like it.)

I was interviewed for the Daily News about picking up hitchhikers. We'll see if I make it into the story tomorrow.

The Tookie Manifesto

2005-12-13T17:29:00.000-05:00

Schwarzenegger still acting like The Terminator...

In case you were curious about the Tookie Williams peace protocol, now adopted by the most recognized gangs in America:
http://www.tookie.com/protocol/table.of.contents.html

magazine sensitive

2005-12-08T21:06:00.001-05:00

For a while I put my New Yorker subscription on hold because I could no longer stand to read Anthony Lane's movie reviews. Every single one was negative and I'd had it. I also got really mad after reading Sascha Frere Jones' review of The Pixies reunion when she said no one was really that into them the first time around. Fuck you. I was and I was devastated when they broke up. Because I'd never seen them in concert. And my friends were into The Pixies too. So double fuck you to Sascha because she obviously doesn't know what no one means.

Anyway, I get angry at magazine writers. I cancelled my Jane subscription because a guy I know wrote a sexist article (against men) and I had had it with all the sexism that I just said no more. If we're gonna be equal, we gotta be nice to guys too.

OK the point of all this is that Anthony Lane actually wrote something positive about a film. He liked Brokeback Mountain. And he said it was neither gay nor a western.**

**Speaking of westerns, my friend Will's movie about Batman and Robin got into Sundance. Extremely exciting. It's not a Western and there's no duel, but they are a dynamic duo!

Check out Will's film site www.redheadedleague.com. (I'm in a few of the flicks.)

Madonna at 2:30am

2005-10-25T09:59:00.000-04:00

Among a thousand gay sweaty boys, I got to see Madonna at the Roxy on Saturday night. Out for AC's bachelorette party we received word from someone in the "network" that Madonna would appear at the Roxy after midnight...

It was hard to believe the rumor, but we trekked all the way to the meat-packing district anyway, got on a long line, and eventually made our way into the unbelievably crowded club...we had to pay $25 to get in, with flier - otherwise it would have been $40 (oh but AC got in free with a little "I was out smoking" trick that I won't fully reveal here, lest our sneaky ways are learned by too many people).

After waiting near the male go-go dancers in thongs for about an hour, the music faded and MADONNA came out, made a speech about being in NY and not wanting to skip the Roxy, and played songs from her new album while dancing on stage with people her bodyguards chose from the audience.

New York's an amazing city.

the inner dilemma

2005-08-12T15:22:00.000-04:00

Is revealing Sumoh's identity on this blog like Mark Felt coming out?

Being on Jay Leno on Wedesday night was fantastically fabulous. It would be nice to just say FOLKS this is the girl who's been ranting, and crying (on cryingwhileeating):

susanstewart.blogspot.com

But I sit here debating whether it's the thing to do.

as Ghandi said: We must be the change we wish to see in the world

2005-07-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

Digging deep: Beautiful Marianne Williamson excerpt at: Dragonfly Review

a link to edamame, because of me

2005-06-09T01:35:00.000-04:00

For the first time, SUMOH is really in the news - and in Houston, TX!

ABC-TV Texas

The Crying While Eating bottomline

2005-06-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

I really want this website to win the Contagious Media contest. No one deserves it more than Cas and Dan and the crazy lugubrious kids ingesting victuals for fame. They were at #1 for the first straight week and now we have seen a slightly disturbing change in the number.

So, as Heather would say to Veronica, if she had thrown up at a virtual frat party instead, Link it up baby, link it up!

The Great Internet Catharsis*

2005-05-29T16:31:00.000-04:00

There is a fascinating phenomenon happening on the internet at you read this: cryingwhileeating.com

Featuring the consuming work of such artists as Cas, Dan Engber, Ashfin, Cory, Jesus, Rowdy, and Ben Fine, folks from all over the country have entered video of themselves -- crying while eating.

Wacky. Weird. All in good fun. Crying While Eating was literally created about a week ago, and already they've had over 250,000 unique visits with many more to come. National media is writing about it, and it was featured on VH1 yesterday. Most people are really loving it (though my friend Isaac Green thinks it's just too sad; he's a very sensitive soul).

Now as a plus to your cryingwhileeating experience TODAY, yours truly is featured as the first bawler!

The hits will be tallied up on June 9th, as part of a "contagious media" contest. I hope you'll check it out, and spread the word. To see what other buzz there is out there, just do a search for the three key words...C.W.E.

*The Great Internet Catharsis - title by
Crying While Eating's Casimir Nozkowski

quoted in Minnesota

2005-05-19T10:39:00.000-04:00

The outspoken journalist and talented architecture student Rachael Stewart recently published an op-Ed on school violence, and quoted this li'l ol' blog:
www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/04/28/64395
Yeah!

bureaucrataton

2005-05-13T00:05:00.000-04:00

Twice in the past week I have had to wait on the Customer Service line at a certain wireless company store. That 80's song "...tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies" played from the ceiling both times. Are they doing that on purpose, to butter you up for the bureaucratic kill?

To make a very long-ass story short, the only way to get them to credit an erroneous charge on my bill was to talk to a "supervisor support team" member on the phone. Surprisingly or not, that guy was actually human, unlike the five other people I had to deal with before him... I call the latter folk the BUREAUCRATATONS.*

*a la The Transformers tune on "the Decepticons"

I'm a-get politcal about purchasing again

2005-05-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I purposely did not enter Target, despite being at its doors and knowing we needed cat litter. I hope my miniscule boycott eventually affects something besides my own inconvenience.

To remind myself of what's going on with the political contributions of various corporations, I took a tour of buy blue again. Here are some progressive WINNERS, to keep in mind when you purchase your material wonders of the modern world:

AMERICAN APPAREL
CARIBOU COFFEE
FOOT LOCKER
FREDERICK'S OF HOLLYWOOD (ooh)
JAMBA JUICE
LEVI'S
MYRIAD RESTAURANTS (Tribeca Grill)
POLO RL
PROGRESSIVE Insurance
SONIC (drive-ins)
STARWOOD HOTELS (Sheraton)
TOM'S OF MAINE
WORKING ASSETS Long Distance

Last night as we walked by a Dunkin Donuts in LIC* I asked SB if he wanted a bagel. He said sure, I'll contribute to undermining Roe vs Wade - why don't I just mail a check...? (He was kidding.)

It's pretty amazing to think of it that way. By buying coffee from DDs, in essence we are supporting the Bush administration - and I hope by now you know what a terrible thing that is. By literally giving money to certain high-profile merchants, we are effectively influencing the politics and human rights of the people in the world. Supporting a particular company through our purchasing is obviously more effective than doing nothing at all - that's something I learned on that dumb Inauguration Day boycott that got us nowhere.**

*The reason we were strolling in LIC is that the 7 got stuck mid-turn at midnight and we had to walk through it and exit the station to find another means of transport. We ended up walking by an arts space called "Exposure" which was intriguing. The area by the 59th Street bridge is still pretty run down, but it reminds me of Williamsburg, circa 1995. Look at that place now.

** snopes.com/politics/war/not1dime.asp

fighting over mother's day balloons

2005-05-05T01:04:00.000-04:00

Devouring my egg and cheese sandwich (on rye) I sat on a subway platform bench today, while next to me was a petite woman, shorter than I, in super tight jeans, reebok sneakers, with dark blonde cornrows in her hair. Because she was carrying large black shopping bags and walked slowly, from the corner of my eye I thought she was homeless. But she wasn't after all, the place she shopped at had just given her non-descript black plastic bags that would make any slow walker on a subway platform seem homeless.

I guess it's my basic train-travelling fear that a person in need of medication and a shower will plop down by me, and start up an incoherent conversation. Alone before she had sat down, I had chosen an area that was relatively quiet for a Wednesday afternoon in a NY subway station. Suddenly, the lady started calling down the platform, echoing gutteral sounds that could have been Chinese. I wondered if I was in an ideal waiting spot after all...was she indeed crazy? People standing nearby turned to look at her; I couldn't find the target of her yelling anywhere. Then, a young man in baggy pants sidled up to her, also carrying large black bags.

"That's mine!" she said.

"No it's mine," he whined softly.

"The red one is mine," she said, pointing at a large red ribbon protruding from the top of the bag. Helium Mother's Day balloons were peeking out of all of the bags.

"No, it's mine."

The inane chatter went on for a few more minutes until the train arrived. I decided to let them board without me and I waited for the next one. I would have had to have switched trains anyway, if I hadn't waited for the other one that was coming.

It probably wasn't Chinese she was speaking. The boy was probably her son (why he wasn't in school was probably a business decision on her part). Perhaps the balloons were for relatives and friends. Later I saw the same balloon configurations being sold in wholesale stores above ground.

People really like to honor moms.

you've got a bud in Budd's

2005-04-28T23:01:00.000-04:00

As Jackson Heights natives know, there is a fabulously terrible dive bar in the neighborhood frequented by young Irish cops, old men who smoke, mothers who stay out later than you, and non-English speakers who will buy you a shot.

Well after 57 years of a truly eclectic jukebox, loud SuperBowls, quiet baseball nights, bad pizza, decades of arcade games, a very handy pay phone, wooden booths, private bathroom stalls to throw up in, and free beer from Mike, BUDD's BAR is closing its doors.

Without BUDD's on 37th Avenue and 83rd Street (selling Chirstmas trees, promoting softball matches, and 9/11 and tsunami relief funds), Jackson Heights will surely be a different place... But not before we toss back a few fantastic memories (like drinking with mining hats on during the blackout) on the eve of FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2005.

Come celebrate with the best and worst of us, at the place where my junior high school's dean carded me for the first time.

we love this one

2005-04-27T16:01:00.000-04:00

For reels, FUNNY HA HA is one of the coolest films I've ever seen. And this lady has seen a lot of talkies. Matt Elkind just sent out a reminder email to our friends about how much we love this movie. It's being released in New York (Cinema Village E12th) and Boston this week.

I like FUNNY HA HA so much that I Friendster-emailed the lead actress in it when I was going out to LA last year. She was really cool about getting back to me, though we never did get to meet. Her film screened in the same festival as THE FUTURE last spring, so I felt we had a kind of connection.

Film Comment, The Boston Phoenix and Cinemaspeak picked FUNNY HA HA as one of "Top Ten Films of the Year". It chronicles the angst of honest hipsters in a world of hang-overs, friendship betrayal, tatoos and pointless poignant conversations.

The best way to describe how I felt about FUNNY HA HA is that I was really sad when it ended.

published photographer

2005-04-21T15:10:00.000-04:00

A photo from my 'band collection' was posted at the fabulous Will Carlough's amusing weblog DiogenesClub.net. It features Jon Conway of The Bravery, when CONQUISTADOR was on their New England summer tour.

That night we all packed into this bar off the Metro-North in Connecticut and hung out with the colorful locals before and after the show. My favorite part of the sets in those days was when Sam, Brian, Togo and Seth would spontaneously do this synchronized instrument move during the bridge of "Slumberland." It was hot and the dancing was good.

unbelievable but believing

2005-04-14T07:42:00.000-04:00

My psychic tuning has been incredible lately. I also attribute psychic ability to "chance" encounters on the subway and in elevators. Yesterday I was honored to meet Wallace Shawn, who I remember most from The Princess Bride, in an elevator. He is currently working on the Hurly Burly production with Parker Posey (who I recently found out broke up with Ryan Adams - they were cute, man!). Mr. Shawn and I talked about the people in our lives who are in their 90's.

Then, several minutes later, I bumped right into a casting director I met a SAG event recently and we got to catch up on actor stories as we rode the train. And finally, to cap the major psychic anecdotes of the last 48 hours, I was actually on-air last Wednesday. Remember the blog entry about WBAI's The Positive Mind? I said I would be as quiet as I could. I did! Well, the host of the program at one point turned the microphone to me and asked me about my PR work and ending world poverty. It was amazing. One of the dreamiest days of my life.

I often find psychic ability unbelievable. But I remind myself again and again that we are spirits having a human experience. And in that case, the mishaps and mistakes that happen can be seen as lessons instead of heavy boulders. And the great connections that occur can be believed, if we're open to them.

sometimes i can really say i love my job(s)

2005-04-12T10:12:00.000-04:00

If you are online or near a NYC radio today and want to check out the fruits of my labor, check out www.thepositivemind.com or 99.5FM at 1pm. I am accompanying the author of "Creating We" to the great Armand DeMile show. I'll be in the studio with her but I'll be as quiet as I can. Cheers.

forget DD - I'm back on Starbucks

2005-04-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

Apparently the soy-milk-totin' DD ain't so cool after all. They gave 88% of their election contributions to Republicans. Starbucks on the other hand, gave 100% to the Democratic party.

I have found a few reasons to justify going to Starbuck's now. Forget that they're taking over every street corner. At least they are using their profits for Good. Last I heard they were giving their employees stock options and offering above the minimum wage for workers just starting. And you don't have to pay $3 for a coffee. You can still get a nice cup of decaf for about $1.50 and have raw sugar and soy milk.

Plus there's the hanging out aspect. We all know about the laptop hookups, the couches, and the tables at Starbucks... Is it my imagination or are there more crazy people sitting in a given Dunkin Donuts than Starbuck's? And I mean harassing, drooling, totally batty people sitting in those plastic chairs. What can I learn from these folk? (I'm serious. Please tell me.)

Here's the problem I face: no Starbucks in Jackson Heights. There's one in Woodside, but not JH.

Speaking of JH, I saw my fellow blogger x-tina this morning walking to the train. The only head of brilliant red within a mile radius. Thanks for beautifying the neighborhood, Chris.

Anyway, find out more about the blue supporters at www.choosetheblue.com and www.buyblue.org.

Oh I was very sad to learn about Target. Why they gotta be supportin the right wing? It was my favorite retail dept store until today. Ho hum.

BIG BULLY = BILL O'REILLY

2005-04-01T10:14:00.000-05:00

in case you didn't know (by now) -

Fox's liar-bully on Paul Krugman, Terri Shiavo, The Miami Herald:

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/03/30/bill_oreilly_goes_after_paul_krugman_
miamiherald_new_york_times_aclu_supreme_court.php

What the hell is going on in Michigan?

2005-03-30T14:59:00.000-05:00

The Michigan House voted yesterday that it's ok for doctors to refuse to treat homosexuals. This is an absolute outrage. The bill actually states that a health care provider can refuse to treat anyone based on "moral or religious grounds". What's next? This is a damn slippery slope, as Flint's Rep Minore said yesterday.

A DOCTOR treats anyone who needs them, isn't that the cardinal rule? Despite the person's history or background! How we got to this is just abonimable.

Fortunately the legislation does not affect those receiving emergency care. But again, what's next?

Well the bill now goes to the Republican-dominated Senate.

These are really scary times, folks. Really fucking scary.

What are we doing about it?

Article at: http://www.proudparenting.com/page.cfm?Sectionid=65&typeofsite=
snippetdetail&ID=1204&snippetset=yes

what runs through a person's head?

2005-03-24T21:12:00.000-05:00

Cody Thunder seems like a really nice kid. He's one of the boys who was shot by the Red Lake HS gunman - or as Armand DeMile calls him a boy - gunboy. Cody was hit it the hip and survived. He was one of the only kids who ever reached out to the gunboy. His photo reminds me of a great kid I knew in youth group who died a few years ago in a car accident.

I am stunned and shocked by the event at that school in Minnesota. This wasn't supposed to happen. We learned our lesson, didn't we Michael Moore? I wonder what he has to say about this.

I remember in 9th grade one of my classmates brought a gun to school because he was anticipating a fight with a rival crew after school. Now I went to a nerd institution so this particular guy was not your average student. I didn't really think much of the fact at the time because I never assumed he'd use it. I figured it was just a decoy in case something went down. What did I really know about the deeply rooted societies that are gangs?

Well before the 3 o'clock bell rang someone of authority found out (algien se entero) there was a gun in his locker, and my weird funny bio lab partner was suddenly carted off by security folk and given a week's detention.

Three and a half years later this guy graduated with the lowest grades in school. I couldn't find him for the high school reunion so no one knows what became of him. But what if something worse had happened that day in 9th grade? I had never really given it a second thought until now. I trust the brotherhood, as my cousin Rich says we have to do, when we leave our bikes unlocked. I want to continue to trust.

I keep thinking about the media coverage on this ordeal, how it's not the biggest headline right now... about what runs through people's minds, about gunboy Jeff Weise's blog...

What can we do to make a real positive difference in the life of a troubled kid like that? Seriously. Start thinking. Maybe if we project our thoughts out into the universe we can all start to heal each other and wisen each other up to make smarter, consciousness-minded, peace-driven decisions in this life...

put your eyes on [and] you're almost there*

2005-03-21T14:11:00.000-05:00

explosive sweet rockin
AARON HILL AND THE CRIMSON GUARD
www.aaronhillandthecrimsonguard.com
(The CD is on sale Astronomy Day in April.)

*lyrics by aaron hill

I'll grab that soda can from your hands!

2005-03-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

There is nothing that irks me more in New York than litterbugs. Maybe it's because I see them every damn day tossing their straws and plastic bags and soda cans and GUM onto the streets, in train stations, behind trees, out of car windows. Where the fuck do they think they live?

I used to tell people that I'd pick it up for them. "Oh I'll get that," I'd say as the business reply card from Maxim fell to the floor of the subway, or as they left their half-eaten burger on the waiting bench. They'd usually snap out of their daze and apologize, hastily snatching the thing they dropped and take it with them. It worked well for a while as I lectured girls who threw candy wrappers, men who let their kids chuck CD stickers on public floors, and picked up after messy eaters.

Then a few months ago, on a lonely Sunday on a local platform, I nonchalantly mentioned to a petite well-dressed woman throwing tissues into the train tracks that casting her paper there could cause a fire. As I walked further down the platform and began to read The New Yorker I heard this fiery voice booming behind me. "That's discrimination!" she yelled.

"What?" I asked.

"How come you don't tell him something?" she asked as she pointed at a tall guy next to me. "He was throwing water!"

"I didn't see him. Sorry." The guy shrugged and then winked at me.

"Well that's discrimination!" she screamed. I noticed she had a Spanish accent.

"?De donde eres?" I asked her in my impeccable Castillian style. "Yo tampoco soy de aqui. ?De donde eres?"

Well she suddenly dropped that whole argument and just started hollering about how I was "smart." "You smart," she said. "Oooh you think you're so smart! You're gonna get in trouble one day, you hear me? You think you so smart!"

She continued, "You know, I should get the police to come here and arrest you for harassment!"

Now I was not feeling very well that day. I had been in a car accident a week before, which is why I was taking the train on a Sunday afternoon to begin with. My body was in really bad shape and I was in no mood to defend myself or get into a fight for that matter. I was also afraid she'd throw me into the tracks along with her tissues.

Suddenly these two guys show up in 'do rags. They're stocky guys in big jackets and some bling and I'm thinking "Holy shit am I in trouble now." But they methodically walked over to my side and just stared the woman down. She literally backed up along the platform and barked one last condescending "you're smart" as she went back to her place of train waiting.

Finally the subway arrived and we all boarded. I sat near the hoodies who had stood next to me in silence, my heart beating madly from the weird stress I'd just experienced. I got off at my stop and was too tongue-tied to even thank them. My mom says they were my guardian angels that day.

So that was the last time I spoke to a litterbug. I am infuriated when I see these absent-minded garbage delinquents in NYC. I'd like to buy lots of billboard space and TV ads to remind people how awful it is to litter and how they should really take note of what they're doing. Maybe they're too blind to even read a sign or pay attention to an important message though. How can I convey to them that the earth is really going to spit us out if these humans keep acting like careless monsters?

defeat

2005-03-16T00:44:00.000-05:00

months and months it has been since there was a substantial pathogen attack in my body. well now a war has been waged and i sit here, humble beneath my health mantras, my echinacea, pulsatilla, and open windows... looks like the white blood cells couldn't resist all the sickies in the office, the house, at auditions, and on subways and dollar bills... i'm sorry, body (as will carlough once said*). we'll get through this.

*line from the film 'of caves bodies and schnapps'

my favorite economist with Jon Stewart tonight

2005-03-10T18:15:00.000-05:00

The fabulous Paul Krugman will finally exchange words with the great Jon Stewart tonight on The Daily Show (Comedy Central 11pm). Social security - exciting stuff!

handling life

2005-03-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

You would think I'd be a bit more discombobulated since my cell phone arrived at Verizon DOA (dead on arrival) last week. All of the numbers and addresses in my phone were suddenly gone. In the back if my mind I decided to welcome the malfunction as a form of freedom, and little by little I'm gathering up numbers again from the people in my life.

For a while there I felt I was taking things way too seriously. I longed for a time when I could giggle at disasters that came my way - like seven years ago when I arrived at my parked hatchback on 59th Street to find a NYC garbage bin crashed through its back window. I stood there with Spanish tourists I was taking around that night and just burst out laughing. I mean what else can you do? We removed the metal garbage can and let the shattered glass sit on the back ledge as I drove the car back to Queens from the city. The next day the glass was replaced...

Because the truth is these things happen, and we move on. Or figure out why. (In the case of my cell phone, there was absolutely no logical explanation.) Since the garbage pail fiasco, we've dealt with much bigger horror stories: 9/11, the blackout, the tsunami. Maybe those events are what makes handling this particular snafu so much easier than I could make it.

...So if I haven't asked you already, will you forward me your coordinates?

creations creep into our heads

2005-03-06T11:42:00.000-05:00

"The final dishonesty of plagiarism fundamentalists is to encourage us to pretend that these chains of influence and evolution do not exist, and that a writer's words have a virgin birth and an eternal life."

- Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker, 'Something Borrowed' 11.22.04

Word.

2005-03-01T23:59:00.000-05:00

The Times Square Jumbotron is featuring the "quitters" commercial I was in. For 30 days. So look up the next time you're pushing past the tourists.

safe

2005-02-26T12:13:00.000-05:00

"Keep me safe, keep me safe," the little boy in AI says whenever he feels endangered. Can I say that to our country's peace keepers? I love living in New York; I love the fun I can have every single day just by walking down the street; I love my friends and family and home and kitties. Since 9/11 it became clear that this great city is a target. Yet I still want to carry out my days here. I sometimes ask why people stay in countries with regimes they disagree with. Well they are probably in a quandary like mine.

I wish George W. Bush were smart. After watching the three presidential debates last year and seeing the documentary JOURNEYS WITH GEORGE I know that there are millions of people sharper than he is. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the man who represents our nation is a flake. It infuriates me that he went to Europe and said the words "this here country." Who is this faux hick making speeches? (Last night Bill Maher said we kept the president safe in Europe by putting a Canadian flag on his backpack.) Is it true that before he was announced president in December of 2000 he had only been to one foreign city in his life - London? That's a rumor I heard. That would be just awful. Because he's like a little kid who just learned the rules of foreign policy and is running around tattle-taling on everyone who is off the mark. What does Jimmy Carter have to say about Iran?

Once again I ask us all to have a picture of peace in our minds. Imagine a force field of love and strength around New York, the US..., and around those who want to be safe.

METRO baby

2005-02-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Surely you've heard of METRO. Does anybody commute in the morning anymore?

Anyway I'll be quoted in tomorrow morning's paper in a piece about the film & TV tax incentives in New York. The article is by the lovely Amy Zimmer.

So if you're getting on or off the subway during rush hours in the morning and someone is offering you that free trendy (big circ) paper called METRO say YES THANK YOU and then while away your time reading it. Or you can pick up a copy from one of the METRO boxes on the street.

In the meantime I'll be in Kansas to say my corporeal goodbyes to Aunt Milly.

Love.

scarrrrry book

2005-02-17T18:44:00.000-05:00

Are cliches so bad? They often convey truth. Here goes: I have been running around so much lately it's hard to know which way is up.

With that said let me tell you about my latest publicity project - 50 Ways to Protect Your Identity and Your Credit by radio man Steve Weisman. Now you can be really paranoid about throwing out that credit card solicitation or opening up that email. The number one rule is shred. (Wouldn't that be a cute short film? About a big green monster named Shred. I don't know where to go from there.)

relief in Jackson Heights

2005-02-15T11:58:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of salsa teachers in this city if you look for one. I've been taking classes for days in preparation for my first Broadway dance audition this morning. I warmed up at 7am and got to the scheduled dance studio on 12th Avenue early to discover that the dance call is next Tuesday, not today. So I'm relieved, but nervous all over again.

Meanwhile, there are great places to chill in when you are in Jackson Heights with a little time to spare before getting back to work. If you are done with your all-you-can-eat buffet at Jackson Diner, Indian Taj, or that cute place on 37th Ave, you can stroll on down towards 80th Street, just past the post office. There you will find the lovely and beautiful Inner Peace, an amazing store lined with cedar shelves, incense lightly burning, and lots of whole products, scented candles, cards, blankets and all sorts of new agey stuff. A block over is Rudy Volcano, another adorable abode filled with gorgeous and comfy knick knacks from the mountains and shores of South America.

Now I need a nap.

so much

2005-02-09T16:00:00.000-05:00

Our cabinets and fridge are stocked with awesome organic meals and snacks from Trader Joe's (Long Island). It is comforting to think I don't have to spend money on anything edible for the next few weeks. However I think I have to buy a new wall unit, to store what doesn't fit. The Star Wars figurines take up three shelves in the dining room, and if we evicted them, well, they'd be homeless and could fall prey to the cats, and maybe even the hedgehog. Tragedy all around.

In really sad news, all kidding aside, one of my aunts passed on this morning. Millie was diagnosed with breast cancer just before Christmas, but the doctors said she was too fragile to operate on. Details are floating in, little by little. Millie was a really fantastic, sprightly lady. I always loved her big swimming pool with the blue slide. She's survived by a wonderful family in Florida.

Kelly Ripa was in an indie called The Stand-In

2005-02-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

I am like a ghost slowly making her way through television shows and screens. This evening on ABC's HOPE & FAITH, as the final scene in the convenience store begins, the gal in the sweet pink jacket with coffee in hand is someone you may know very well. 9pm to 9:30 EST. http://abc.go.com/primetime/hopeandfaith/

Flowers in the Attic for the Japanese

2005-02-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

In sixth grade I adored the VC Andrews series about four beautiful children stowed away in Olivia's attic until their mother could return (they were such gruesome and explicit books that the librarian finally said my parents needed to sign a permission slip to continue to borrowing them). The new film from Kore-Eda Hirokazu, NOBODY KNOWS, brings me back to that time when I was immersed in the world of abandoned children, rooting for them, loving and hating their mother for everything. It opens tonight in New York only, at the Sunshine on Houston, and at Lincoln Plaza off 62nd Street. (If it does well in this first week as a foreign film, it can get wider distribution across the country.)

It's a quiet movie with lovely shots of the Japanese city where it was filmed. Of course the kids (and their mom) are adorable and great, while the film explores class and rules, rivalry, love.

As the credits rolled I got weepy when the name of the actor playing the mother came up: YOU. I thought, Wow, it's us - we're the ones who abandoned these children.

And then I came to learn later that the actress' name is You (she's a Japanese pop star). So it's not you. But maybe it is.

Just Don't Believe The Hype Tonight

2005-02-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

You should all know by now that George W. Bush is often quite misinformed and therefore he LIES*.

So tonight, when he tries to tell you that Social Security is gonna fall apart if his friends and other financial types don't take over, please remember that it really ain't as bad as he says it is. Please. Privatizing social security just hasn't worked in other countries that have tried it in recent years, including Chile and Argentina.

Visit Paul Krugman's latest pieces explaining what is really flawed and what could be done to make a real goddam difference (and letters responding to this) at:

http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=paul%20krugman&date_select=full&srchst=nyt

Note you can also learn about why and how African Americans can and will benefit from Social Security (despite GW's assertion to the contrary):

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/opinion/28krugman.html

So if Social Security just needs a little tweaking (even according to the annoying conservative David Brooks) how then does this proposal benefit the majority of Americans?

That's rhetorical.

* I am being very generous here by giving him an excuse for his prevarication. I understand he doesn't read the paper because he relies on his staff to give him important news. Does someone out there in blogland have a link to that precious, disturbing information?

Galway Kinnell

2005-02-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was poet Galway Kinnell's birthday (b. 1927).

He once said, "Maybe the best we can do is do what we love as best we can."

follow-up, Sarah Goodman!

2005-01-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

Caught the documentary Army of One at Pioneer. The three budding soldiers who are followed around for over a year are pretty fun to watch (in spite of or within their difficult circumstances). There's the cigar-smokin guy from the "PJ's", the liberal alcoholic who leaves the world of finance, and the dancer from the south who just wants to please her dad... It's fascinating to watch their excitement and attitudes toward joining the military shift and evolve throughout.

Unfortunately it abruptly ends just as folks are being shipped to Iraq, and so I suggest to the filmmaker Sarah Goodman this - a follow-up - how about Army of One Two?

The film is at Pioneer Two Boots Theatre (3rd Street off Ave A) for one more night - Feb 1st 9pm. Find out more at:

http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/#ArmyOfOne

Thanks to Matt Kohn (Call It Democracy) for giving me the original heads up on the screening!

Flying...IN character

2005-01-28T01:24:00.000-05:00

At the Aviator Q&A tonight with Alan Alda and Leonardo DiCaprio. Leo said he doesn't really want to be a pilot after playing the mysterious, risk-taking Howard Hughes. Among other craft musings, he and Alan Alda shared what it's like to be in "the zone", where you no longer think about the character, and your voice stabilizes and you're just "doing it." (After the Q&A Leo patiently let trembling girls take his picture and guys put their arms around him while Harvey Weinstein yelled, "We're late!")

Anyway I found myself in that place of surrender this summer, performing in Barbara Colio's LA HABITACION. On stage I often felt like I was channeling the supermarket supervisor as I sat in the police interrogation room. It's a beautiful feeling to just let go and let character and self come though. (Like in Unity we say, "Let go and let God.") It's like flying.

Bush & his cronies have to watch VERA DRAKE

2005-01-25T18:10:00.000-05:00

I had the honor of seeing the latest Mike Leigh film VERA DRAKE yesterday (since Imelda Staunton is up for a SAG Award). VERA DRAKE depicts the kind of world I suppose George Bush and his "constituents" want us to go back to, where only the rich can have a safe abortion and the poor are left to fend for themselves in a reality where not everyone can have a baby, and birth control doesn't always work.

As for the film, it's beautiful and of course sad. The only issue I have with it was how black & white Vera's "abortion agent" was. She's portrayed as a judgemental asshole really, and while yes, she is taking advantage of the whole black market of abortion, she still must have had her reasons, which are never really shown.

The film is crafted really well, with wonderful moments of foreshadowing. The biggest stab in the heart is at the end, when the loving Vera Drake is reprimanded going up a staircase, after all the years she has spent spreading cheer on her own staircases.

By the way, tonight there is a celebration party for NARAL, to thank the volunteers who are fighting to keep this world pro-choice and to make sure that women have the support they need.

Glued

2005-01-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

The sweetest thing to watch when I am home in a snow storm is Toby, the little grey tabby. Not only does he patiently watch snow fall out the window, he is in love with mechanical devices -- from the humidifier to the shredder to the sanitation truck when it drives by. He runs out from wherever he is hiding to woo his beloved solid playmates.

When Seth and I finally decided to leave the house on Saturday, my sister said, "You're gonna get glued." After leaving enough food for Toby and his step sister, we ventured into Manhattan anyway, for Phoebe's going-to-LA festivities. We didn't get "glued" after all and instead ate vegetarian chili and experienced the ruminations of a thin beautiful black drag queen at Lucky Cheng's.

(This is the second time drag queens have been mentioned on this weblog...in case you are counting.)

Subway Spirits

2005-01-20T01:29:00.000-05:00

When I run into friends on subway cars it truly feels like we are spirits colliding in a playground of form. Tonight I walked right upon two friends in the bowels of the Times Square station - they happened to have seen my brilliant entrance on L&OSVU last night so it was totally fun to joke about that. Usually when I bump into buddies like that it's as though we are carrying a message for each other, that had to be given in that way.

Now, I have been seeing a lot of random people from my high school lately on Lexington Avenue. I haven't stopped to speak with any of them, because (a) I wonder if they saw me too (b) we are all in a rush, and (c) do we really have anything to say to each other? But if we are spirits hoping to connect in these physical forms in tangent ways, perhaps I should stop, and stop the person who is passing me. I can hold my hands up, my face covered in my winter scarf, and just say the person's name. Oh it just seems so creepy. Shouldn't these things just be organic?

mememe: a blog story

2005-01-19T10:58:00.000-05:00

mememememememememeyoumemememeyouyoumememeactingmememe
mesubwaymememepeacemememememememememehellomemememe
catsmememeratsmemepowermememeheymememememusicmememe
youmeyoumeme

i was a teenage photo double (REPRISE)

2005-01-18T15:20:00.000-05:00

If I am not engrossed in opening the cheats on Karaoke Revolution 3 then I too will watch my L&O Special Victims Unit debut (sumoh.blogspot.com/2005/01/give-it-away-give-it-away-give-it-away.html). Though running around as someone else really doesn't count as a part (thank goodness), so one day perhaps I can tell you about my real part, with a face and some words to emote. GOD.