Monmouth Park

Yesterday, as you probably know, was the Belmont Stakes, the third race in the so called Triple Crown of horse racing -- the Preakness and Kentucky Derby being the others. The horse Big Brown had won both of those races and was heavily favored to win at Belmont but, sadly, he came in last. Sadly, that is, for those who bought tickets for Big Brown -- unlike yours truly.

Some friends and I went, instead, to the Monmouth Raceway, over yonder in that place called New Jersey. Much less crowded than Belmont. We watched several races and made bets between $2 to $10. I'm not a gambling man by nature but I did pretty good: I lost a few races but won almost $40 on the others (minus about the $20 or so I put in). We were also able to bet on the Big Brown race and I put $2 down on Denis of Cork to "show" (meaning he'd come in either first, second, or third). He came in second and that won me $4.40 (netting me a wild profit of $2.40). Gotta love the luck of the Irish!

I can't say I plan to go often to the track but it was fun. It's so much less crowded than a ballgame and you can make some money as well. The races start around 12:30 and go until 6. There's a race every quarter after and quarter to the hour. They even have picnic areas so you can bring your kids. So long as you don't gamble away your life savings (most people make $2 or $4 bets), it's a good time for all.

The Playgrounds of New York

Wonderful article today about the playgrounds of New York City. I remember being a kid and climbing the jungle gyms, going down the slides, climbing the wooden "castles", and trying to swing as highly as possible on the swings.

New York’s Big Backyard

This really is a great town to be a kid in.

Just a Follow Up

This is not a political blog so this will be my last political entry for a while (unless some bombshell comes along). But I was just wanted to point out a couple of things:

First, an admission: I realize that my previous post about the "awful president" being "awfully unpopular" was lovingly adapted (okay, stolen) from an episode of The Simpsons: it turns out that Springfield elementary is sitting on top of oil and there's a newspaper headline that reads "Awful School is Awfully Rich." I had forgotten where I had first seen this although I remembered something awful being awfully something. Today, however, my memory was jogged and thus I feel it was, and is, appropriate to give credit where it's due.

Second: Can you believe that one of John McCain's advisers is Carly Fiorina, the fired CEO of Hewlett Packard? There's a big article on her today in the Times. This lady screwed up that company so royally that the Board rebelled and axed her. Why in God's name would McCain want advice from this woman? She couldn't run a company and now she's advising McCain on how to run his campaign -- and the country? The hell is he thinking? If this is the kind of judgment he'll bring to the White House, he needs to be kept as far away from it as possible. (I love this part of the article: HP was losing money for almost a year before she was fired, then starting flourishing after she left. And she takes credit for the it's subsequent success because she laid the "foundation." Oh please!!). We've had eight years of bad judgment -- we don't need anymore.

Third, and finally, congrats to Barack Obama. You ran a great campaign and you earned this. If you get elected and run the country as well as your campaign, we'll be in great shape. Some advice Senator: BE RUTHLESS. You know how dirty the Republicans play -- after all, they're the party of McCarthyism, Watergate, Iran Contra, impeachment politics, and Swift Boating. These are not good people. They are mean, nasty, and vile. Liars extrordinaire. Don't fall for this "Oh, they're good people, we just disagree" crap. Uh huh. They are bad, bad folks. Take the battle to McCain, hang George Bush and the Iraq War and McCain's creepy wife and 95% voting with Bush voting record around the Arizona Senator's neck, and plunge the knife in. This is no time for "fair play" because no such thing exists. Play to win!

Awful President is Awfully Unpopular

President Bush -- remember him? I know you've tried not to -- is at 25% in the polls. Lower than Jimmy Carter and Nixon. I didn't think that was possible.

Congrats on making history yet again Mr President. We'll miss you so much.

Howard Stern Channel Nine Show

For those of you old enough to remember, you'll recall that Howard Stern had a local show on Channel 9 late on Saturday nights. It was on for less than two years but it was raw, edgy, and funny as hell -- everything you'd expect Howard to be. It was far ahead of its time.

This is actually the first episode that was broadcast in 1990. Howard makes reference to the Zodiac killer who terrorized this city in the summer of that year. It's also really nice to see the late, great Allison Steele on this show -- even if Stuttering John is being a jackass to her.

It's fun to watch this since it was before Howard was REALLY big and famous. He had to start somewhere.

And then there were none ...

Rudy, Mike, Hillary.

At the beginning of this year New York had three potential Presidents.

Now we have none.

Clinton to Endorse Obama on Friday

Oh well. Time to go, Hillary. Time to get out of the way of history. You fought the good fight but now it's over. Leave with class. Let it go. Obama has five months to take down McCain and there's not a moment to lose.

Breakfast in NYC

Check out the feature from this week's New York magazine What Good is Breakfast?

My favorite breakfasts: a bowl of organic cereal during the week and Eggs Benedict on the weekend. I also love a good cinnamon roll and that great New York staple, a bagel with lox and cream cheese.

Johnny Utah's

Any restaurant/bar that names itself after a Keanu Reeves character has some 'splaining to do. And after going there this past weekend, it has even more.

Johnny Utah's opened last year on 51st street between 5th and 6th Avenue's and promises the "urban cowboy" experience. It has the only mechanical bull in New York City and lots of young drunk people climb on, buckle up and down, and then get thrown off of it. If you're a lady wearing an even semi low-cut shirt be warned -- the guys operating the thing will shake you back and forth so that everyone can see your bosoms jiggle. Yes, if you're looking for the "urban cowboy experience", you'll have a blast (although don't expect to see John Travolta or Debra Winger anywhere).

So what did I think? This is a joint with an identity crises. It looks and feels like a bar but it's also a restaurant. The food is mostly Mexican but it's supposed to be a Texas-style honky-tonk. The place looks and feels like your typical upscale NYC Yuppie joint ($12 Mohitos fer Chrissakes!) but also tries to be "down-home." The activity, as mentioned, is riding the mechanical bull but the music they blast is anything you might hear on Z100 (not, you know, country-western music like you might expect).

And what this has to do with the Johnny Utah character from Point Break I have no friggin' clue.

Believe it or not, this place is very popular. It was jammed. We got there early, around 8 PM, and when we left close to midnight, there was a line down the block. It's not my kind of scene (I was there meeting a friend) but if you like to watch drunk Yuppies embrace their inner redneck, check it out.

Johnny Utah's

For Once, the Middle Class Wins

If you read this blog regularly, you know how I lament about how the middle class is vanishing in this town. As a child of middle class NYC, this is a matter near and dear to my heart. Too often the big developers get their way, building one useless luxury high rise after the other. But sometimes, there is justice in the world.

In New Sale, Starrett City Would Stay Affordable

Kudos go to Senator Schumer and Governor Patterson and the other officials who brokered this deal. It's easy to be cynical about politicians and their motives but, at times like this, they can actually do some good. For the middle class New York, this is a great victory.

New York Women Get More Action

So says the Daily News.

In 'Sex and the City,' number of sex partners true to New York life

The Sex and the City movie is a huge hit and New York women are once again holding it up as a mirror to their lives. According to this article, the average woman in NYC has twice as many lovers as women in the rest of the country.

Hmmmmm???? Doesn't that mean that there have to be men in NYC who need to be those lovers?

I'm not a religious man but ... GOD BLESS NEW YORK WOMEN!