The Dromedary Dash

I guess that they just couldn't think of anything else to say...

Camel racing, a popular sport in many Arab countries, has been criticized for exploiting underage, and sometimes enslaved, jockeys.

Little Richie in Big China

I went to the Chinese Consulate's office today and nothing funny happened. Really, nothing at all. I just went in, waited for about 20 minutes, and submitted my Visa application. I'll be going back on Monday to pick up my Visa. The sad thing is that I'm sort of hoping that something weird happens so that it makes for a funny blog post.

Restaurant of the Week

Since I forgot to post this on Friday for some reason, here is the restaurant of the week. I have been here twice in the past two weeks and it is fantastic:

Tsuki [1410 1st Ave. (bet. 74th and 75th Sts.) 212-517-6860]
An absolute gem. I am consistently amazed by how many excellent sushi restaurants there are in New York. Like many of the other ones, Tsuki has a very modest decor, but some fantastic fish. You should really make sure to treat yourself here, and here is how you should do it: Start with the 3 Salad Appetizer, which is definitely big enough to share between two people, but also worthwhile for a hungry individual. The Lobster Salad is particularly delicious and can be ordered with just seaweed (no Hijiki) in an exquisite combination. For the main event, go for the Omakase if you've got the money, but there is also a more affordable way to taste some of the best fish available. In this case, I am referring to the Tsuki Selection, in which you get six of the chef's best cuts of fish along with the fantastic Volcano Tuna Roll. In fact, this selection is big enough that you could certainly share it with someone else, along with one other roll (perhaps Salmon Carrot Sauce?), and feel full. Finally, if you still don't feel full (or even if you do), top off your meal with the Mochi ice cream. Get chocolate and vanilla. Both are excellent and come with very sweet and tasty mountain berries. On the whole, Tsuki is a very good alternative to a place like Sushi of Gari because it is cheaper, much less crowded, and of similar quality.

Ivy League Gangstas

Well, more like gangstas wearing Ivy League clothing:

A few minutes later, a 22-year-old named Maurice Mincey walked into the store. He sported dreadlocks, a do-rag and a [Harvard] crimson hat loosely planted on the top of his head. The tags were still attached.

What does the “H” stand for?

“Hot,” he said. “Hustler. Hood.”

Noise Pollution

Dan has railed against it before, but this time it's personal. They need to do something in my office to quiet down the color printer that sits right next to my desk. It is in use for what seems like 50% of the day and it is LOUD. Most of the silent times are when it has run out of ink. It is the only color printer that most of my floor is connected to, and apparently these people have a lot of PowerPoint presentations (or family photos?) to print. I even feel bad for my new neighbor. It's like she moved into a new apartment and things seemed wonderful, but nobody told her about the sound from the subway every time it passes by.

Brilliant!

Boy, Julian Illingworth sure knows how to keep a crowd entertained. His match today against Dan Jenson of Australia was even more hotly contested than a Berger v. Berger showdown. Constant complaints to the referee flowed from both players over lets, no lets, and strokes. And, oh yeah, these two guys played some pretty incredible squash. The first game was a typical "feel-out" game and Jenson took care of things pretty impressively. In the second game, Julian just made too many errors and couldn't get any momentum going. But for the third game, he changed his shirt, lost his bandanna and got down to business. An extremely competitive game ended with an 11-9 victory for Julian and the crowd went wild. Not surprisingly, almost everyone was rooting for the young American, especially the sizable Yale contingent. And in the fourth game, Julian took advantage of his momentum and won comfortably.

But despite losing games three and four and looking somewhat tired in doing so, Jenson was far from done. He came back with a vengeance in a pulsating fifth game. Rather than sucking the life out of the game, the extremely high number of lets just ratcheted up the tension. The game see-sawed back and forth throughout and amazingly, there were ties at 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10. It was truly an epic duel that had the whole crowd wondering what would happen next. To be honest, either player would have been a deserving winner, but Julian simply would not be denied. He finally emerged victorious with a 12-10 win in the most exciting match of the tournament's first round. We shouldn't be too surprised by this match though because Julian has something of a flair for the dramatic, with a remarkable victory over Yasser El-Halaby of Princeton a few years ago coming in a similar scenario.

Congratulations Julian and good luck against David Palmer tomorrow!

Selling a Stereo

If anyone's interested in this, please make me an offer I can't refuse. Thanks.

Congratulations!

Our boy Julian Illingworth has made the main draw of the (squash) Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Station. And luckily his match is at 12 noon on Sunday, during the session for which I already have tickets. It's gonna be fun.

Around the office

Two vignettes:

1. While grabbing some water in the kitchen, I took a peek over at the copy machine to see the piece of paper that was lying there. Turns out it was a copy of the complete lyrics to "My Humps."

2. There are two little girls (SVP's children, around 10-years-old) running around the 16th floor today. I have been spending most of the day in my boss's office watching videos and capturing still frames. I just want to bring them in, sit them down, and tell them:

"Girls, if you study hard enough in school and get grades, you might be fortunate enough to attend a school like Yale University. And then, if you are really successful, you might get the chance to work for a major sports league. And if you prove your worth there, then one day you could get the chance to sit in front of a television and capture images from it for 5 hours. Remember, work hard and stay in school. You could be me some day."

Coincidence? I think not

I was just about to write a post about how I never get any visitors from Africa. I was gonna ask all those Africans out there if I could write things that were more appealing to them. Do they not like elevator humor out there in the heart of darkness?

But then I checked my site meter and I found some manna from heaven. I had a visitor from South Africa! Does this really count though? I really wanted someone from Uganda or Democratic Republic of Congo. I'll take what I can get, however, and if I have to write more about Nobu (really, the person was searching for Nobu) to get more visitors from Africa, so be it. Here's a world map marking the locations of my last 100 visitors.

Celebrate Good Times

While no goal celebration will EVER top this one (yes, Robbie Fowler is actually pretending to sniff the touchline), Craig Bellamy's effort yesterday is definitely my favorite in a long time. For those not paying attention, the Liverpool players had a bit of a row in a bar last week in Portugal, which ended with Bellamy hitting Nostra's twin John Arne Riise in the legs with a golf club. Now watch this:



Oh yeah, and later in the game, Bellamy assisted Riise on the winning goal!

Tim, the Hardaway

An update on everyone's favorite homophobe. Turns out that some gay people have a sense of humor about the thing. A very funny sense of humor.

Mr. Freeze

Check out this awesome scene from 46th street and Vanderbilt Avenue:

Awkward in the elevator...just like in the rest of my life

I get home, listening to my iPod and wearing a suit as usual.

I get in the elevator, but I hold it for a young teenager. I hit the button for my floor, he hits his, and I start wrapping the headphones around the iPod. He stands in one corner, I stand in another. He starts smirking at me, containing laughter. I mumble, "What?" He continues to smirk and manages to control his giggling. At least I live on the 5th floor. I get off of the elevator and hear him burst into laughter.

Analysis:

Have I become a suit? A trademark no personality, boring, piece of shit? I hope not. I swear, I just wear suits for work because I have to. This incident was weird because this morning I was just thinking about how I look like "a suit"on the subway every morning and then this happens. Tough times.

Validation

I chose the restaurant for my going away lunch (don't worry I still have 3 more weeks) and it was a rousing success. This is really all I ask for in life. That and a well-paying job that I enjoy which is based in New York, but has fun business travel locations. Any suggestions?

The restaurant in question was the midtown branch of:

Gyu-Kaku [34 Cooper Sq. (bet. Astor Pl. and 4th St.) 212-475-2989]
A great place for groups, but also somewhere you could dine alone, this outpost of the Gyu-Kaku chain has some of the most delicious BBQ south of 32nd street. The menu has a lot of options for what you can throw on the grill (you have to cook it yourself), but I would recommend sticking mostly to the beef. The best option, of course, is anything Kobe. We had the Kobe Kalbi and it was simply fantastic. Almost as good however, and much cheaper, was the Harami, marinated skirt steak. A third good beef option is the regular Kalbi. Be careful when you are ordering because each portion is not that big and the tally does add up. It's worth it though. And if you can get there early or late, they have happy hour pricing on one meat each day Monday-Thursday.

"How to Break Up With Your Girlfriend In 64 Easy Steps"

A wonderful little video sure to make you smile, and then maybe cry.

Found!

Is it any surprise that in searching through my old collection of baseball cards, I found both Delino DeShields and Marquis Grissom rookie cards? Of course not. It was fate that Dan and I would name blogs after these two American heroes.

Joel Surnow, keep your day job

The 1/2 Hour News Hour is something to laugh at, not with. Most of the jokes directly attack people or organizations in the most obvious and least clever manner possible. Then we hear a horribly intrusive laugh track. Worst of all, the show has atrocious pacing and is over-written to the point of complete awkwardness. Almost every joke falls flat and sounds like it might be told at a Neocon cocktail party. But the jokes just keep on coming in a rapid fire format, as the show completely lacks any semblance of structure.

I will say, however, that I did like the one joke about Iran denying the existence of the Holocaust denial conference. Check out some clips of this monstrosity here. Luckily there is only one more episode planned.

Restaurant of the Week

It's a long weekend, eat something. A lot of things. Here is this week's selection:

Carne Vale [46 Avenue B (bet. 3rd and 4th Sts.) 212-777-4686]
If you're in it for the salad, this is not the churrascaria for you. But if you're in it for the salad, you shouldn't be in a churrascaria. For $35 at Carne Vale, you can get all the meat you want all night long. And while you are at it, try drinking some Caipirinhas. For those unfamiliar with how these things work, you start by serving yourself at the salad bar, which features salad along with hot and cold appetizers. The selection here is good in this regard, but small. After you warm up, the main event starts as soon as you flip your food coaster to green. At this point, servers start coming around to your table every couple of minutes with skewers holding all different cuts of meat. Take what you like, use the special Brazilian sauce, and become a carnivore. My favorite meats were probably the Beef Ribs and the Sirloin. Be wary of the Flank Steak because it is very salty (albeit tasty). Eat until you can eat no more and make sure to watch the belly dancing shows that happen periodically. Finally, for those who are curious, the interior of the place is darkly lit and features comfortable leather chairs.

A true addict

On the subway last night, I spotted a man smoking a cigarette on the platform between the cars while the train went from 68th street to 59th street. At 59th street he got off the train. Brilliant.

Greatest Hits

After seeing someone else do this on his blog, I thought that it would be a good idea for me to do this on my blog. So here are a bunch of my favorite posts. Hopefully I will write more posts that I like in the future, so this page will be updated on a semi-regular basis and will always be available on the sidebar. If you have never read my blog before, check this shit out!

Typical Content:

Can somebody please start a blog about me already?

Rejoice Thirsty Masses (an old Actual Rod chestnut)

307th Visitor Contest

The wonders of the Dalton School

Tragedy Strikes

What it is like to wear a suit around the city Part 2: Electric Bugaloo

The Way Things Work

The Zoo

The Penny Lottery

Take back the Park!

Business

How to turn 51 cents into nothing, and more!

What Hath Modernity Wrought

Stories:

Delino: Behind the Laughter

10 for the line, 10 for the shine

The Blogger and the Blogger's Brother

The Turtle Man

Maury! Maury! Maury!

Car trouble on the Lower East Side

The Dream Team

The BathTubYoga Saga

Elevator

Economics 101

Tailgate Fun

Dinner for Two

A matter of preference

Ladies first

Rants:

A random attack

The Emmys

An Annoying Trend

The Daily Show vs. The Colbert Report

Quite a piece of work

More about South Park

Job Stuff:

Job Interview

Retirement Party

Overheard at the Office

Fire Drill

Just another day at the office

Sports Content:

The Sports Scene, with Richard Berger

Adrian Beltre's Disappearing Act

What ever happened to Drew Henson?

Typical Cy Young Absurdity

Nash v. Wade (No, not the legal case)

Draft Recap

Picture Search

A surprisingly large number of my readers find this blog by searching for either this picture (from this memorable post) or this picture (from this not-so-memorable post). I hope that these people stick around and then come back...

You heard it here first (in America)

Watch out for Ricky Rubio in the 2009 NBA Draft. This 16-year-old Spanish phenom is currently strutting his stuff in the Euroleague, where he led the league in steals despite playing only 18 minutes per game!

Another Chance at Pop Culture Immortality

The quiz is tomorrow. I just got 6 for 6 on the practice questions, but they were sort of easy. I went to the taping of the first season of this show, The World Series of Pop Culture, and I feel like I have a chance to compete and be successful. We'll soon find out.

Marriage many years later

The New York Times (and ERC) likes these stories of late-blooming love, and why shouldn't they? Here is the latest installment. This one took three broken marriages and over 40 years of separation, but at least the two are happy now, right? And it turns out that the bride is my friend's aunt, so I'll try to find out more details if I can.

Simon Rich Shout Out

Congrats on the book, but bigger congrats on getting referenced in IvyGate in a positive light.

Doing something about the stench

I have long hated the smell of Subway sandwich shops. The smell is overpowering outside of every single franchise and I am not above crossing the street to avoid it. This is why I am extremely proud of the condo board at The Waterford on the Upper East Side for suing Subway because its store is causing the building to be "inundated with strong and nauseating food odors." Fight the power! And besides, the idea of purchasing a Subway sandwich in New York makes little sense when there are so many superior delis and specialty shops everywhere.

Because it's Sunday and you need some NFL in your life

Check out the amazing NFL Party Pug:



Also, I actually picked the Colts to win the Super Bowl this year at the beginning of the season...

"Cab"-aoke

Are you ever bored in the back seat of a taxi? Do you long for something more to entertain yourself? Then how about "Cab"-aoke! That's right folks, you can sing along to all your favorites while you get driven from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side. No, seriously, wouldn't this be fun? They are putting video screens in the backs of cabs soon, so why not add this feature, right?

I was inspired to think of this last night when I got in the front seat of a cab and noticed a harmonica. I asked the cab driver about it and he started to play for me and my friends. He even played Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and forgot to turn on the meter. But we still paid him because he was so friendly and good at the harmonica.

Restaurant of the Week

Amazingly, the guide is now completely up to date. This will probably change when I go to a new restaurant this weekend, but a man can try, right? Here is this week's restaurant:

Mediterraneo [1260 Second Ave. (at 66th St.) 212-734-7407]
A Berger family favorite for years, pasta doesn't get much better than at Mediterraneo. The pizza and other dishes are good too, but pasta is clearly the specialty (along with fast service). Among others, I would recommend Tagliolini al Granchio, Linguine Nere all'Arrabbiata, Pappardelle all'Anatra, and Penne al Sugo Toscano, but every single pasta dish I have ever tried there has been delicious. This restaurant is almost always crowded, so if you can't get a table, I suggest a visit to the sister restaurant down the block, Za Za (see below).

A couple of links

A cool ticket futures site. Basically it is like betting on the success of teams based on ticket prices.

Also, a pretty good cartoon about the "Right Wing Noise Machine."

Personal Day

I just don't deal well with celebrity deaths. I may have to take tomorrow off. R.I.P. Anna Nicole.

A Scam for All Seasons

First time I've been hit by the Toyota National Lottery e-mail scam. And I thought that I had won 541,022 pounds sterling from a lottery that I never entered in a country that I don't live in...

Read more about lottery scams and Nigerian 419 scams in general. Never send them any info, ok Ariel?

Watch Out Black History Month

There's a new sheriff in town this February.

I wonder if she goes to Dalton?

JAP on cell: So, I met up with him, and he asked me if I was anorexic! I was like, 'No, but thanks for noticing!' He got all mad, though. I think his sister died of anorexia or something. Whatever, at least I know I look great.

--88th & Park

Overheard by: Vicksburg

Entering the virtual marketplace

On the subway today, after not making onto an overcrowded train, I struck up a conversation with a couple of guys who also missed the train and ended up talking like someone out of an infomercial.

Man #1: Yo, good thing we missed that train, right? It stinks in there.
Me: Yeah, I'd rather wait the 3 minutes for a train without a BO problem.
Man #2: They're packed in there like sardines bro. Sardines.
Man #1 (addressing me): So check this out (shows me Sprint Pocket PC...which is way more valuable than I realized it was).
Me: Whoa, that's a pretty baller phone.
Man #1: Yeah, but my brother gave it to me and I don't have Sprint so I wanna sell it. You know how I can do it? Should I go back to the Sprint store?
Me: Well I'd say you're best off selling it online.
(At this point we get on the next, much less crowded train.)
Man #2: Now this is more like it.
Me: So, Craigslist is probably your best bet, you fill out a form online, take a picture, and hopefully get some good responses.
Man #1: But what about that identity theft and stuff?
Me: The great thing about Craigslist in this case is that you will be the seller, so you just have to wait for the offers and you only have to give someone the item once he or she actually pays you. So you can't get ripped off.
Man #1: Wow, that sounds perfect, I'll hook that up as soon as I get home.
(We arrive at 77th street. I give both guys fist bumps, wish them luck, and I'm out.)

Random Political Link

I don't really like DailyKos in general, but I like what Russ Feingold has to say here.

Hat tip to Dan.

At least Lovie Smith can take solace in his Christianity

I'm not gonna gloat about my powers of prediction...wait, my score was just 4 points off from the exact final score? Ok, fine, for once I out Nostra'd Nostra. Anyway, the Colts absolutely dominated this game from post-Hester return to finish, but they also somehow managed to let the Bears hang around for way too long. Oh well, it made for a more compelling game. But enough about the game.

Upon first recollection my favorite commercial was the preview for Wild Hogs. Either that, or the commercial that I actually liked a lot, the one for GM's 100,000 mile warranty. Part of the reason I liked it so much might have been because it reminded me of this ad. I also thought that the the GPS and Maposaurus monsters ad was very funny. And for the last time I will encourage my friends and readers to check out something related to the NFL Super Ad contest. In this case I refer to the :60 version of the spot which is now available online. But enough about the commercials.

I really want to talk to you about how obvious it is that God loves Indianapolis and the Colts more than he loves anyone or anything else. It was so nice to see a good Christian coach like Tony Dungy and a good Christian owner like Jim Irsay walk away with the Lombardi Trophy. Those dirty jews have been dominating football for far too long.

What Hath Modernity Wrought?

January 20. A date which will live in infamy.


That was the day that our New Haven Coliseum was destroyed in a vicious act of war that put our sacred freedoms under attack. These explosives hate freedom. Nothing makes them happier than the idea of a mid-sized American city that doesn't have a downtown sports-entertainment arena. But we will defeat these explosives in any way necessary. It will be an epic struggle of good vs. evil, but we will win. A beacon of hope rises from the rubble.

Harlem Shakes

A shout out to the boys from Gothamist:

MUSIC: The Harlem Shakes celebrate their new EP release for a second night in a row. This time they take the show to Brooklyn, where their 60s era rockin' pop will get you moving. Check out their tunes here.

Friday // 8pm // Union Pool [484 Union Ave, Brooklyn]

I went to the show last night and picked up a copy of Burning Birthdays. Indulge yourself. And I have to admit, even though I've heard "Sickos" about 600 times, it's a fucking catchy song. Also, it was great to re-connect with my own blog fans again last night. You know who you are girls. See you in New Haven tonight perhaps if the Med Students try to dissect me.

Super Bowl

My predictions are:

Colts 30, Bears 20

Rich 1, Guacamole 0

I've been on the bandwagon for awhile now (just forget about those other years when I picked the Colts...I wanna be right THIS year, ok?).

A "Real" Bloggers Convention

And we weren't invited?! This is an outrage. We'll remember this NBC...

Also, who wants to come to a bloggers convention in New York some time in February? Or early March? Anybody? I can put the pictures up on the Facebook...

Restaurant of the Week

Check out part two of this new weekly feature. Also, I have updated the guide considerably in the last couple of weeks, adding a Diner category and tweaking the front page slightly (try to figure out how).

Zerza [304 E. 6th St (bet. 1st and 2nd Aves.) 212-529-8250]
Lovely service and great food make this East Village Moroccan restaurant a great place to try something different. The atmosphere, which includes music and sometimes belly dancing, lends an air of authenticity to the proceedings. As for the food, there are a couple of good appetizers to try. Depending on your tastes, I would recommend the extremely sweet Saganaki (fried Feta cheese with pure honey) or the Marinated Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese. For my main course, I was desperate for some cous cous, so I ordered the lamb variety. It was excellent. The lamb was succulent and the blend of toppings on the cous cous was wonderful enough to make sure that I cleaned my plate. The tagine was good as well. Try a red Algerian wine, which is sweet and a fine complement to the food. If you feel like relaxing, top things off with a hookah.

The best development yet

Everyone and their mother knows about the Aqua Teen fiasco in Boston. But check out the video at the bottom of the link when the accused duo discusses hair (and only hair).

Prime Rib

Maybe it's all those cheap Vegas buffets and the terrible food in dining halls, but I have always looked down on Prime Rib as a cut of meat. For example, I would NEVER consider ordering it at a steakhouse (Porterhouse is my favorite cut), but it seems to have a very high reputation (see 1st pararaph). Am I missing out?