wu?

in tribute to the late, lamented Deadwood (i'm 2/3rds finished with its stellar 3-season run).

blockbusting

update 1, update 2, to my earlier post.

hopefully, the charges stick and their lawyers won't be able to get them out in 25 years at least.

we got talent!

and she traveled all the way here for this.

bravo, Madam Prez. hope you get a couple of million at least. as long as most of it don't go into some fat pig's pockets.

druggy druggy

last Friday, Brooklyn cops swooped into my street and raided two notorious houses, resulting in arrests and general glee among my neighbors. had I known, I should have taken the day off and you would be watching YouTube clips instead of my boring prose.


these dens of iniquity (not obvious from the facade) housed what I called the "PBA" - the Puting Basura Association; in other words, white trash who were usually drunk, loud, belligerent, and generally not very nice neighbors. as i have learned, community activists have been pestering the police and local politicians for years to do something about them, and it turns out dealing and using dope is also part of their repertoire.

here's more details from the sharp eyes of the Brooklyn Eagle and the Bay Ridge Rover.

a tenant in my building who delivered the news to us after work wryly said, "now we have nothing to talk about."

my street still has a mobile truck stationed, raising the thoughts that the arrested felons may be out on bail soon, or they will be supplanted by others.



well, it will at least be quiet for awhile, especially for those who live just beside these houses.

should i throw tomatoes at her?

i have to find ones with the salmonella, no doubt.


our President goes on a junket while the country just finished another round with a typhoon.

... jetted off to San Francisco en route to Washington and eventually, New York, with the objectives of her trip still up in the air. Meetings with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (widely whispered to be no fan of the President) and with candidate Barack Obama ... have not been confirmed.

The horde of congressmen and the two token senators, the 10 Cabinet members and the President's own family will probably spend their time doing other things. The First Family, for one, will want to know how their San Francisco properties are doing. We can be confident other Filipino officials will similarly be inclined. At least Speaker Prospero Nograles has been frank about the main purpose of his visit: to attend Manny Pacquiao's upcoming fight in Las Vegas.

ahhh, kaya pala!!!! goddammit, if i had cable TV, i'd probably see them in the audience during this fight.

once she arrives here in NYC, the Philippine Embassy will most likely be closed again, for this "momentous event" (happens at least once a year, right?).

do you know how lucky the Embassy staff are? because they get a lot of holidays - following both Filipino and American calendars. June 12 Philippine Independence Day? check. US Thanksgiving? check. Good Friday? check (note: Good Friday is not a religious holiday here, so for the last 7 years i spent 3 PM reflecting at my desk). didn't Gloria also declare a Ramadan holiday back home? does the embassy close on that day too?

can anyone tell me the total cost of this junket is? better yet, tell it to the victims of the typhoon.

blue in red

with the frenzied opening day of the IKEA in Brooklyn (Red Hook) behind us, let us give a toast to the Big Blue Box and its controversial appearance in the borough, by running this.

originally appeared in Esquire Magazine, June 2006


oh, well, just like the normal people, i "need" to grab a couple of things. how's saturday sound?

from the brownstoner

holy Marty Markowitz! the venerable brownstoner linked to a photo of mine!



Thanks! Brooklyn, baby!!!!

Antoine Walker, where are you?

am sure he still wants to be Green.

Celtics achieve what the Patriots can't.

Kobe is NOT better than Jordan.

Ray Allen has the last laugh.

Doc Rivers, championship coach? unbelievable.

Phil Jax may want to quit at 9.

Sam Cassell should shut up now and return to his Alien Mothership with 3 rings.

The Finals MVP should be shared by the Big Three: Paul Pierce, Allen and Kevin Garnett.

Boston thanks Kevin McHale, Glen Taylor and the city of Minnesota.

and on that note ... this is how you do it, Stephon Marbury!!! moron.

get F'd

do we or do we not? what's going on?

ok, i see a green light. but then, when i tried, i got what i expected:


oh, well, i've been running an FF3 release in my home desktop for a month now (bundled with Ubuntu). i guess i can wait a few more hours.


ps. go Celtics! goodbye, Tim Russert!

all you need to know today

that game was for the ages.

back to high school

1984-87 ... that seems so long ago. and even though i was a barely-than-casual NBA observer back then - it didn't become a full blown interest until Jordan won his 1st championship in 1991 - it was like these two were the only teams that mattered (Bird vs Magic, always, all the time). in a small town in a Third World country (of course, the 1992 Dream Team would usher in a new age).

looking back at it now, that period was split with two titles each for Boston and L.A. Boston leads in overall titles between them, but the Lakers can close that gap to 1. and they sure can.

Kobe seems to be at the height of his powers, and he has a better supporting cast that does not include someone named "Shaq". the Celtics, hailed early this season as a great team with heavyweights, lost some of that allure in the Playoffs by not convincingly beating Atlanta, Cleveland and Detroit (playoff record 12-9). although the Lakers have not beaten the Celtics yet this season, that was before Pau Gasol's arrival via the Memphis fire sale.

being in New York City, i had misgivings; should i root for the Celtics because i am on the East Coast after all, or should i pull for the Lakers, because New Yorkers hate anything Boston sports-wise? (c'mon, the Patriots and the Red Sox are different circumstances) i'm happy for Kevin Garnett as his journey from the wilds of Minnesota have ended up here on the big stage, and even that alone puts me squarely behind Gang Green (and i never liked Kobe anyway - but i respect his talents). this is the Finals that i wanted, once the Playoff seeds were established.

one thing for sure, there's a lot of Pinoys who filed for absences from work for this one.

at the risk of being laughed at ... Boston, 4-3.