A Goldilocks Moment

Upon entering my hotel room on a recent trip to suburban Venice, an unexpected choice confronted me. My room contained three single beds side-by-side.

My first thought was "I feel like Goldilocks. Which one should I choose?"


I decided to try all three, but unfortunately, I did not experience the satisfactory outcome that Goldilocks achieved.

Bed one: too hard. Bed two: too hard. Bed three: too hard.

In the end, none were "just right," so I chose the middle.

The porridge, however, was another matter altogether. . .

So Long 161st Street & River Avenue

Until I read about it in Monday's New York Times, I had completely forgotten that this was the last season for storied Yankee Stadium.


Reading the article rekindled dormant memories of the stadium where, while living in New York during the eighties, I spent many nights and afternoons drinking warm-ish and semi-flat beer from cardboard cups and eating dirty-water dogs.

I vividly recall seeing Dave Righetti pitch the first Yankee no-hitter in 27 years against the Red Sox on July 4, 1983.

During those years, I also enjoyed the lightning fastball of Ron Guidry and revelled in the circus surrounding Billy Martin's repeated comings and goings as Manager.

Although the Yankees of those years played great baseball and won a lot of games, they failed to win a World Series title. Fortunately, this did not diminish the experience at the ballpark.

Thinking about those days makes me wish I had made one last trip to see a game this year. Unfortunately, I didn't think about it. Living 3,500 miles away in another country has allowed my interest in the Yankees to drift away.

The new Yankee Stadium will undoubtedly provide a great venue for a ball game, and while I am sure I will like it, it will never replace the original.

Someone commented that the "the ghosts will simply walk across the street" to the new stadium. Maybe, but somehow I don't think so.

Moving Downmarket

Without commenting too much on the merits (or not) of the US Government's "Cash for Trash" free bank-recapitalisation proposal, many fear that the wholesale wealth destruction and taxpayer-funded costs from the current financial markets turmoil may ultimately usher in an era of lower living standards.

FINTAG's Newsletter asks "Will Century 21 become the new Bergdorf Goodman?"


Having worked across the street from the downtown New York Century 21 Store for more than ten years, I've shopped their countless times, so I think I'm OK with that. I will just need to sharpen my elbows for my next visit.


As the New York Times says: "Goods, Yes; Services, Not Necessarily"

Music From TV to Me

Every once and a while I re-discover how amazing the internet really is.

For a while (well, a few years actually), I had been wondering about a song used as background music for a Vodafone TV ad that aired back in 2002. I kind of liked it and wouldn't mind having it on my i-pod; however, I had no idea of the song's name or who recorded it.

Finally, I decided to see if I could find the song. It took about three minutes. I found a site called Song of the Salesman, a database of music from UK television commercials, searched for "Vodafone" and found the song in about thirty seconds.


This is a very cool site. I guess I didn't need to wait six years to find it -- the ease in which I found the song makes me feel silly for procrastinating. But hey, I didn't have an i-pod back then, so it really wouldn't have mattered.

Oh yeah, the song is "Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols

Discover The Dandy Warhols!

My Library

I have finally started to enter my books into LibraryThing. It's a slow and laborious process that will probably take me months, buy I'm determined to do it. As a consequence, the sidebar on this blog titled "What's On My Nightstand" that I've set up to let you know what I'm currently reading (or attempting to read) will not accurately reflect my current reading list.

The widget that powers this utility shows my most recent entries into LibraryThing, so as I progress through the thirty-year catalogue catch-up, it will show the last five books I have entered. Once I have completed the process and start entering what I'm currently reading, it will again become accurate.

Not that I expect that any of you care, but just wanted to keep you up to date!

Bye-Bye Blighty

A few weeks ago, I commented about how many British had opted to take their holidays in Britain rather than travel abroad. Well, after a cold and rain-soaked August, sentiment has shifted. So long to Blighty's dreary shores and hello to the sunny Med.


The Evening Standard reports that bookings for foreign holidays have soared by more than 150%. The article says:

Sun-starved Britons who holidayed at home this year to help save the planet and ease the credit crunch are now rushing to book overseas trips. Travel firms say there has been a huge "never again" backlash after a rain-drenched August, during which thousands of families decided not to fly to cut their carbon footprint. . . Many customers booked as soon as they got home from this year's summer trip.

Jonathan White, managing director of VFB Holidays, said: "We've spoken to lots of people who have sat through the wet weather here. Their view is simple: blow the recession: We need to get away somewhere warm. . .we've already opened our 2009 bookings and are hearing from people who've returned from rain-soaked UK holidays vowing 'never again'."

So, bugger austerity and saving the environment. The masses are voting with their feet and they want sunshine on their holidays! Looks like Boris Johnson was right all along.