Links of the Week

Here's a new feature....a random assortment of things that piqued my interest over the past week:

Billboard magazine discusses and exhibites the Top 25 concert posters of all time.

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This was delicious:

See a lot of other delicious-looking items from American Spoon here.

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Another great fiction podcast from The New Yorker. Take 19 minutes to listen to T.C. Boyle read and discuss Tobias Wolff's brilliant short story "A Bullet in the Brain" here (click to listen, right click to download). Click here to read.

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New Yorkers are still talking about this:


More on David Tyree's Amazing Catch in the Super Bowl and how he's not an anonymous diner at the IHOP anymore: article here.

For those who may be too young to recall the original "Catch" by Dwight Clark,


you can read about it here.


And if you want to watch that see "The Catch":



And Tyree's catch also has its own wikipedia entry here.

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And a little politics to end this week. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd opines about the candidacy of Hillary Clinton here.

"I Play the Oboe"

This was my favorite Super Bowl commercial:

Super Happy Ending

This picture nicked from the Boston Globe this evening:

Let's Go Bows!

Here in Brooklyn, a family of four sported matching black University of Hawai'i Warrior t-shirts as the Sugar Bowl started on New Year's Day.

This morning, I am glad I won't be the one to break the news to my youngest, Shayna, that the team from the Hawaiian Islands was summarily slaughtered in front of a national audience, 41-10.

My heart goes out to Colt Brennan, UH quarterback, who may have gone in the 2nd or 3rd round of the NFL draft. His standing was likely deflated in the worst performance of his career.

To rub salt in his wounds, the Warriors only touchdown came late in the game, after Brennan was knocked out by the ruthless Bulldog pass rush. Tyler Graunke, in relief, executed much better. No doubt aided by a Georgia defense resting on a comfortable 4 touchdown lead. Nonetheless, it gave UH fans some comfort that they have something to look forward to next year.

The Warriors touchdown that put them into double-digits was celebrated with much gusto by the Hawai'i fans in the Superdome, as Brennan grimaced from the sidelines.

Which bears the question: how much crap will I get from co-workers who knew I was watching the game with great apprehension? One guy shook his head sadly when I espoused the fact that Hawai'i had a fighting chance. "They're out of their league. It won't even be a game."

Well, damn, he was right.

Still, kudos to Georgia who played well. And so what, if they lost by 31? Illinois lost to USC in the Rose Bowl by 32. And that was a match-up of more even proportions (or it was supposed to be, at least). Plus, there was a t least one other Bowl game with an even more lopsided victory for the winning team. [Sun Bowl: Oregon 56, South Florida 21, Cotton Bowl: Missouri 38, Arkansas 7]

The fact is, Hawai'i won. Not the team, but the State, and the University. The Warriors show-cased their pride and their 'ohana on national TV. And they fought hard throughout, failing on another TD attempt with 2 minutes to go, playing with heart and pride.

Besides, they get to go home to Honolulu, and the Bulldogs have to go back to Georgia. On which plane would you rather be?

Blogging in a Post 11/9 World

So, since I've been "back" from my November hiatus, I've been taking it
relatively easy. I've decided that I will do a little more remote blogging
from the BillyBlackBerry.

Here are some random thoughts for this morning's commute:

I think I saw the actress/comedienne Sandra Bernhard yesterday in the
Chelsea Whole Foods.

Now, before you think I'm a "Whole Foods-y" type, let me proclaim that I am
not. I'm a strict Trader Joe's guy, even in the barren, nearly-TJ-less
landscape of NYC.

Anyway, this is the second time in the last few months I believe I've
spotted Ms. B. (or her doppelganger). The other time was a few blocks away,
on 8th and 23rd, so I'm guessing she resides in the area. Both times I was
with my lunchtime walking buddy, Steve (who buys his tea at Whole Foods),
and both times Steve missed her.

The BilliPod, providing tunes on this morning's commute, is playing the
latest version of "The Contrast Podcast," one of the handful I regularly
download. This week's theme is "Title Tracks". For example, currently
rolling is "Love Gun" from the KISS album, you guessed it, LOVE GUN.

I have nearly completed reading Joshua Henkin's novel Matrimony (see Amazon
link on sidebar). Mr. Henkin will be joining our book club to discuss the
novel next week. Looking forward to that. I will post a review after I
finish the last 50 pages.

By the way, Happy Chanukah to all!

Bookpeeping alert: someone near me reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

And how about that trade the Detroit Tigers finalized yesterday with the
Florida Marlins? Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera will make nice
additions to the Tiger lineup. I'm a little surprised that Dear Old Dad
hasn't swooned about it yet on his blog. Yet.

Just switched from a local R train to an N express at Pacific Street.

Standing and typing one-handedly is a little slow-going. Not sure how much
more quality cybertext you will be experiencing.

My fantasy football season ends this weekend. Despite winning the title in
my league last year, I will finish, at best, 7-6 and out of the playoffs.
Bit of a bummer. This week I will have Drew Brees at QB, Ryan Grant and
Adrian "AD" Peterson in the backfield, Chris Cooley at tight end, Lavernues
Coles and T.J. Houshmandzadeh as my two most-misspelled wide recievers,
Shayne Graham kicking, and the Packers' defense.

Looks like Brett Favre will be extending his record of consecutive starts
with his 250th on Sunday. What a guy!

Speaking of quarterbacks, University of Hawai'i's Colt Brennan should be in
NYC this weekend for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He most likely won't win,
but he could probably unseat Linda Lingle as governor of Hawai'i right now,
if he wanted to (and if it was constitutionally viable). BillyBlog will be
pulling for the Rainbow Warriors against the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year's
Day in the Cotton Bowl.

Someone near me is reading the New Yorker. This makes me sad, as I let my
subscription lapse for the first time in over 10 years. I have dozens of
back issues, unread, at home, and I just could not justify the expense,
considering how seldom I read them like I used to. Despite not reading them
as much, I will still miss their ceremonious arrival at our place. Thank
goodness I can still appreciate huge chunks of each issue on line.

The 23rd Street station on the Broadway line is one of the coolest in the
whole system.

Well, here we are at 34th Street. Time to send this into the ether.

Do let me know if you've found this post even remotely interesting.

(Links and editing to appear at a later time).