Aviously

Because, aviously…

Whenever a disaster happens, people tend to start giving to charities again…and now with all the cold weather I heard reports last week of an increase in the usage of Red Cross and how they were requesting donations and funding.

Me, well I refuse to give to the Red Cross and rightfully so. The story goes like this:

November 2005. Awoken at 1AM to the smell of smoke, the noise of detectors, and the sounds of fire engines. There is a fire in the downstairs apartment.

Thankfully everyone gets out okay, and the fire + water damage is contained to mostly one room. But the house is filled with smoke on a cold night in November, and the electricity has been turned off by the FDNY.

The Red Cross shows up, and offers the tenants a place to stay for the night, since the fire happened in their apartment.

When we walk up to the Red Cross agent on the scene, the response was: Well, since the fire wasn’t in your apartment, we can’t help you.

Well Red Cross…we can’t help you either.

And one day, when I am rich, whether via Lottery winnings or hard work, I won’t forget you Red Cross and all the greatness and caring you do for those right here at home in America.

Usually when you are invited away for a Shabbos (Sabbath) lunch, you bring a food item or something similar, to help chip in for the meal.

When I go, I am usually busy during the week not having time to shop + drop off, or I just can’t carry it there day of, so instead I will either buy them something after the fact (something I know they need/can use) or I will just send them a check, usually for an amount more than what I ate…or what I would have been.

Surprisingly I got an email from Chase last week, that one of my payments was declined.

I had sent a check for a lunch in November, via Chase Pay (in which they mail the check for me (saves on postage 😉 )), and it hadn’t been cashed within 90 days, so Chase refunded me my money.

I don’t mind taking my money back, but if someone gives you a check, why wouldn’t you just cash it right away…instead of letting it go to waste.

More and more banks these days are offering “Check Depositing” in their mobile apps…so if your bank offers that, you should get on it, it’s a great feature!

This Sunday is the Daytona 500, and the kickoff to the 2015 NASCAR season.

The biggest story line this year will be the final year of Jeff Gordon’s Championship Career, and he looks to make it a great season, grabbing pole position for this weekend.

As I’ve expressed here before, I am a Tony Stewart fan, and have been for years, and this by default has me rooting for Stewart-Haas racing as a whole. And what a cast of characters we have this year…The Owner, The Crazy Ninja Ex, The Women, and The Reigning Champion.
This team has won 2 of the last 4 championships, which is kind of unheard of from a small organization that they’ve built…and with Harvick racing as he was last year, and Stewart seeking his first win in over a year, look for them to repeat, unless JG24 has something to say about it.

And lastly, ESPN is finally out of the running in airing races. I never cared for their coverage anyways (and that’s not just for NASCAR), but this year will be all about Fox Sports for the first half of the season, and NBC Sports for the second half and the Playoffs.
After watching the Sprint Unlimited last weekend, on Fox Sports, I like what they’ve done with the layout of information presented to the viewers, and hopefully it’ll be a good season 🙂

1677257476001_3945978560001_nascar-fs-2015-preview-922

Here we go with some of my (mostly unbaised) Oscar prediction…which if the Grammy’s taught us, means I’ll get about 10% correct 🙂

Best Picture – Birdman……A lot of people think Boyhood will win it, and the dark horse is American Sniper with all of its  recent publicity. But look for Birdman to be the big winner of the night.

Actor in a Leading Role – Bradley Cooper | American Sniper……If any award sneaks in for American Sniper, it is likely to be this one, although Michael Keaton (Birdman) has a chance and most likely Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) will win this one.

Actor in a Supporting Role – J.K. Simmons | Whiplash……He has won every award ceremony so far this year, and it’s highly unlikely that he won’t win this one as well.

Actress in a Leading Role – Julianne Moore | Still Alice……Long overdue, having lost multiple times in big spots, this will finally be Moore’s year, as she will hold off Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night).

Actress in a Supporting Role – Emma Stone | Birdman……Was there any doubt on who I would pick here? But if we want the unbaised option, it’ll be Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) taking home the award.

Animated Feature Film – Big Hero 6……This award is always a free-for-all, but this may be the Big Hero of the night.

Visual Effects – Dawn of the Plane of the Apes……While I would hope for an X-Men win, the apes will grab this one.

Writing, Original Screenplay – Boyhood……What was done with this movie was ingenious and could only be pulled off as a novelty once, and for that it’ll win.

The 85th Academy Awards® will air live on Oscar® Sunday, February 24, 2013.

My Twitter is open to the public, meaning anyone can go to my Twitter page and read what I’ve written, and respond to it if they feel like it.

On the flip side, my Facebook isn’t.
Without an account you can’t see my page. With an account, you can see what I let you. And if I accept a friend request from you (and I do from most, except scammers and spammers) you are able to read, and respond to, all my posts.

Because of this I am entitled to a sense of “self-security” and “censorship” on my Facebook page, since I let you in the front door, I have the right to boot you from the room as well.

Recently some people have started to use their free time to annoy me. I’m assuming they get bored between work or tests and decide to go troll Facebook.
I never put up with it, either responding straight out, or just deleting their comments right off the bat.
And not surprisingly, they’ve never messaged me about deleting their comments, since I’m assuming they know they’re wrong.

But enough is enough, if you aren’t helping move my Facebook page in a positive direction, and if I get absolutely nothing out of your posts, I will start thinning the herd…and hope others do the same as well.

When I first started reading Bone Season, Book 1 in Samantha Shannon’s series, almost two years ago, I was very confused.
What was all this talk of clairvoyants and Rephaite, Mime Lords and Scion?

But about halfway through the book, it all came together really nicely, and when I read the book a second time, it was absolutely brilliant.

I eagerly awaited January of this year, when The Mime Order was to be released, and after finally finishing it this weekend, I am even more eagerly waiting for the third book in the series.

As the book unfolds we learn more and more about the Sargas and the Scarred Ones, as well as Jaxon and the other Mime Lords/Queens, and all this has us rooting for the rise of Paige Mahoney, much different than from book 1, where it was all about gaining freedom.

When I finally reached the climax of the book, just chapters from the end, I felt a sense of “Aahhh” as it all came to the end we expect from a book…that is until the final chapter took that feeling away.

With such an ending, leaving the readers craving more, in a very good way, how can one not fall in love with the writing of Shannon and the story of Paige Mahoney?

I asked the author about the release of a third book, and she says: “Next year, hopefully”

This book is a solid 9.5 out of 10.

Mime Order Cover

The Last Five Years is a musical based on the play by Jason Robert Brown.
I would say less than 5% of the dialogue is spoken, making this a true, full-out, musical.

The movie stars Anna Kendrick (Cathy) and Jeremy Jordan (Jamie), from Smash, and goes through their relationship, from the present breakup to the wishful beginnings.

Jamie has a solid job as a writer, attending parties thrown by his publishers, while Cathy is a struggling artist, trying out time after time to land roles in plays (and ending up in a summer camp year after year, doing minor plays).

While Anna Kendrick is literally pitch perfect throughout this movie (see what I did there), Jordan’s performance is sub-par at best. Where she hits her notes, he just sounds flat…and when she takes the singing to the next level, he just sounds like a regular on karaoke night.

While the story itself is a solid case of why most young relationships fall apart, Kendricks’ performance is the only light in here, which brings this up to a measly 5.5 out of 10.

The Last Five Years

“What would you do if you won the lottery?”

That’s the popular question going around this past week, with the Powerball swelling to high $$ levels.

Some of the questions to address is:

  1. What is the first thing you’d splurge on?
  2. What car would you buy?
  3. Where would you make your “most used” house?
  4. Would you give your friends/coworkers any money?
  5. Would you still work?

Here are my answers to those questions:

  1. A nice relaxing worldwide cruise
  2. I would have to decide between the Hennessey Venom GT and the Ferrari F12berlinetta
  3. San Diego, California
  4. I don’t know if I’d give money, but I would be a very good friend to have!
    I’d also throw an “All Kosher” going away party for myself at work, in return for all the “All Non-Kosher” parties I’ve suffered through. I would serve only really Jewish foods, that I wouldn’t myself eat, to watch them politely suffer 🙂 Gefilte Fish and Liver anyone?
  5. I would definitely quit my job, but maybe stay on in a freelance role, for when I get bored.

With the show coming to a close this week, and having given everyone 5 days to watch the last episodes, it is time to discuss.

In the end the show turned out very nicely, progressing characters along in mostly believable ways, from releases and regressions, to setbacks and deaths.

All the emotions were toyed with:

  • Charlie’s coming out of a coma and finally talking
  • The relationship falling apart and rekindling between Emma and her Mom
  • May and Dash + May and Leo

It’s a shame that they had to end it at 13-episodes, as more exposure to the hazards of some of these diseases could’ve been a good wake up call for a lot of people.
Cancer, anorexia, cystic fibrosis, and all the other things touched on, are mostly unknowns to people unless they have experienced it firsthand.

What this show ultimately proves is sung out nicely by the main characters at the end:

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.

I will stick with my original review and an 8 out of 10.

Red-Band-Society-Daren-Kagasoff

Boston Part’s 1 and 2

After the USS Constitution I headed off on a walk of the neighborhood, passing by Winthrop Square.

Winthrop Square

As with the rest of Boston, it was very snowy, and I didn’t pass many people walking on the street…and minus one or two large groups, I think I was one of the only tourists brave enough (stupid enough) to walking around Boston that day.

The only other place I saw people was one couple at Bunker Hill, my next stop on my tour, who was equally disappointed that it was closed inside due to snow/ice.

Bunker Hill Building Bunker Hill

After Bunker Hill I took an Uber back to where I had parked my car, sitting through mass amounts of Lunchtime traffic, due to icy-train problems, and thankfully had a free ride sitting in my account (thanks mysterious code user!), entitling me to a free $30 ride, to end my journey Friday. Use my code here 😉

Saturday night me and my gracious hosts headed out to a racist bowling alley to play Candlestick Pin Bowling.
I call the alley “racist” due to the songs being played over the PA system, which did nothing to avoid the “N word” mixed in with the “F”s.

Candlestick Pin Bowling uses tall/thin pins, and a small, cannonball-esque, ball. You get three balls per frame, and bowl two-frames in a row at a time. Strikes and Spares are extremely rare in this game (third ball clearance results in a regular “10”), and as such there were even Jackpots over $9000 if you got 3 of them in a game (in certain frames).
My high for the night was a 59, which, looking around at other bowlers, seemed to be the norm.

Candlepin Bowling

The trip back Sunday morning took 3 1/2 hours, due to an early leaving time, and not hitting traffic until Queens!

PARKING

Let me just address Parking in Boston, and the surrounding suburbs, and how no one in NYC should complain anymore.

  • For starters, if you don’t live in that ‘burb, you can’t park on the streets…no exceptions. Either you have a pass, or you can go park somewhere else.
  • If you shovel out your spot in Boston, especially after a 3′ snow storm, that spot belongs to you for all eternity. When you pull out, you place a folding chair, or child’s toy, in the space, and no one else takes your spot. Because it’s yours and you worked for it.
    Parking Spots
  • “Alternate side parking” and “parking signs” in New York may be called ‘difficult to read’, but at least you don’t need a calendar. In Boston the rules are generally something like “No parking on 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month”.
  • People have been complaining recently about “Alternate side suspended and meters in effect”. In Boston, Alternate side only exists in the summer months, meaning meters are in effect whether it’s snowing or not.

All the pictures from this trip can be found on my Facebook here, even if you don’t have an account!