Ponce De Leon constantly on. The fountain of youth not Robotron/

New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down

Honeymooning in New York and watching the second to last show from LCD Soundsystem does not suck. It does wear you out though, but a 5-hour concert at a packed venue that’s comparable to Warehouse Live will do that to a person. You can’t give enough credit to James Murphy and the rest of his crew for the effort they put forth in delivering over three hours worth of music on each of five nights over a six-night span. I’ve been to my fair share of concerts and I’ve never seen an entire place go from 0-60 as fast as Terminal 5 did when “Dance Yrself Clean” really kicked in. Incredible show from the beginning (Sh** Robot)

to middle

to end

I also hit Wicked, which made a 5-hour concert seem short by comparison. I could’ve easily chopped an hour off of that show. Though I would pay good money to see Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth in the Elpheba and Glinda roles.

The third day/night in NYC was spent waiting in line and then watching The Daily Show. It’s not easy getting tickets or in this case getting reservations to stand in line to get tickets. The doors were to open at 5 and we got there at 2:30 just to be safe. 149 people were already in front of us, but we were safe. Jon Stewart could not have been cooler, more genuinely and just plain funny with his audience Q&A. Good stuff and as I raised my hand to be discovered with my witty, topical, philosophical question that was going to land me a writer’s job on the show I opened my mouth to start the next chapter in my life when the guy behind me asked his question and I realized Jon was maybe pointing at him and not me so I took solace in the fact that he at least looked in my general direction. Needless to say I highly recommend attending a Daily Show taping should you find yourself in the area. Jake Gyllenhaal was a nice enough guest, but dammit the next day’s was Norm Macdonald.
I didn’t do much in the way of fancy eating because regular drinking drained my wallet at a high rate. We did go to Top Chef Angelo’s new sandwich shop, Social Eatz, but it was closed for that particular lunch due to lack of inventory. Nice job, Angelo. It’s next door to a porno viewing theatre and below a martial arts academy. In other words a perfect spot for Angelo.

I did get to check out Mario Batali and company’s Eataly. Yeah, it was awesome.
Worst part of the trip? Finding out the NBA Store closed a couple of months ago.
Best part? Finding the Bronx Zoo cobra. We decided to start our search at the reptile house. It was a short search.

Quick Hitters and Random Thoughts

--Clearly the highlight of the championship game was the decision to go back to Luther Vandross for “One Shining Moment” although that was really just a no-brainer.
If you were at the game you probably already clicked on this, but it’s pretty damn cool to find yourself in this photo from SI.

--It’s AMC and now it’s FINALLY in HD on U-verse! And just in time for The Killing. I thought the premiere knocked it out of the park. I’m glad they went for a two-hour premiere to allow the audience a chance to familiarize ourselves with all the various characters and arcs we’re going to be looking at. I liked the little fake-out in the opening scenes because after so much hype about the series I think it served to lighten things up before trying to engross you in the plot. A plot that surrounds itself in the AMC blanket from the excellent music to the cinematography to the directing which did feel very Rubicon-ish. I like all the different angles of this we’re going to see, but none more so than the parents of Rosie Larsen played by Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton. They were outstanding in conveying the emotions of what it must be like to have your teenage girl go from missing to dead to telling the rest of the family to grief to reflection. They really just nailed it all as did the cops played by Houston’s own Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman. I look forward to seeing how this puzzle takes shape.


--I watched about two episodes of The Tudors before deciding it was no Rome so I didn’t bother keeping up with it. The Borgias has Jeremy Irons so that’s definitely a checkmark in the cast category. Also checkmarks in that category are Borgia’s sons David Oakes, the creep from Pillars of Earth, and Luke Pasqualino who some may remember from the U.K.’s Skins. I wasn’t blown away by it or maybe I was just tired, but it was boring and tedious after two hours worth. The wife likes it so it’ll stay in the rotation, but this seems more Tudors than Pillars.

--If there’s one show with two characters that I’d like to see in a “The Fly” type episode a la Breaking Bad it would be Justified with Raylan and Boyd. I wish last week’s episode was a two-hour one because by the end of it I was so ready for the “big whoop-de-doo” that Mags Bennett is putting on this week. I guess Raylan gets a beatdown a season and this one was a doozy courtesy of Coover.


--Four players in MLB are their current team’s all-time hit leaders. How many you got? One just got there over the weekend. That one being Ichiro who surpassed Edgar Martinez with the Mariners. The others…Derek Jeter, Todd Helton and Michael Young.

--Of course Guy Fieri is getting his own line of shoes…I mean kix. And why wouldn’t Vanilla Ice and Guy have dinner together?

And because you need more news from the Ninja Rapper he’s going to be back on the big screen where he belongs. I really like you Adam Sandler, but this movie like so many of your recent ones just looks like crap.

--You are not allowed to complain if you bought a ticket to Charlie Sheen’s “show.”

--Really Eater.com? You’ve already been providing regional coverage to Austin, but now Dallas and still not Houston?!

--I didn’t watch Top Chef until last night, but knew the result and congratulations to Richard Blais and Mike Isabella on what appeared to be one great and extremely close finale. Everyone knows how much the choke job has weighed on Richard’s mind so to see that weight get lifted was a nice moment. As happy as he was, was as sad as Isabella looked. He put his best foot forward and made a team of sous chefs I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy perform well. He’s had more than his share of douche moments, but he came across like a good guy in the finale. The season was entirely too long and dragged at times, but it was a satisfying conclusion especially if your name is Richard Blais.
Oh and I’m sure you’ve already googled “Mike Isabella pepperoni sauce recipe,” but here’s the best I could come up with from him.

--Top Chef Masters starts up tomorrow night because we almost went a week without a Top Chef-related show and I think the world would stop spinning on its axis were that to happen.

--I’m Team Shipley’s, but I don’t mind Dunkin Donuts like I stumbled across every several blocks in New York. However, pepperoni and cheeseburger stuffed breadsticks sound disgusting no matter where they’re from.

--Curb Your Enthusiasm finally has a return date. Sunday July 10th we get Larry in NYC. Can’t wait. Sundays in July with Breaking Bad and Curb. I can’t imagine anyone not on board with Breaking Bad, but if for some reason you STILL have not watched this show you can play catch-up on AMC starting with the first episode of season one on AMC this Wednesday night.


--I’m ready for Lights Out to be over this week. Alan Sepinwall has hyped the finale, but he’s liked the show a lot more than I have anyway.

--I would watch this in the theatre if both Flight of the Conchords were in it, but Bret McKenzie in The Hobbit is nice enough.

--You knew this already, but the final season of Friday Night Lights is out on DVD this week. Can’t wait to run through them with my wife this weekend especially since I know whose scenes I need to fast-forward through. Looking at you girl with a stupid name.

--Put me down in the “Like” category for Let Me In.

Questions, concerns or if you’re really enjoying Moonwalking With Einstein and are anxious to create some memory palaces…