MAY
29, 2006 --
When Andy Rooney Retires …
This writer has no plans to run for president -- of the country, or anything
else. A call from CBS News to succeed
Mr. Rooney as, uh, senior commentator for "60 Minutes"is another
matter. It would be fun, after 37 years, to return to CBS News -- this time
as resident grumbler.
MAY
29, 2006 --
Morning on Manhattan's West Side …
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Traffic
got going only when the Budget truck, not the double-parked
truck, moved.
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MAY
21, 2006 --
Thank You Verizon Tech Support …
LPR thanks Verizon technicians who removed the glitches that kept this DSL
from getting linked to the Internet. So far
so good. This is not to say that I do not have some billing questions to speak
to Verizon about.
LPR was surprised to hear a Verizon radio commercial that seemed to mock the
use of automated voices that answer consumer calls -- given the frustration-creating
automated voice that takes Verizon's calls.
MAY
21, 2006 --
Listening to the People?
Several weeks ago, Lou Gottesman, proprietor of Riverdale Graphics told me
that the country needs a " Manhattan Project" to end our gas price
problems.
The other day, Lou told me he heard Dick
Morris -- perhaps still a friend of Bill's -- call for a commitment to deal
with out
energy problem comparable to the Manhattan Project of World War II that built
the first atom bombs. (Mr.
Haysbert -- as president, please take calls from Lou Gottesman.)
MAY
21, 2006 --
Google's De Facto LPR
Photo Exhibit …
LPR learned, last week that a number of its photos appear on Google Images.
More than 800 photos. Wow -- that's more than the average number of LPR's daily
visitors -- so far …
MAY 21, 2006 --
Inconsiderate Fox Sports …
LPR also learned last week that Fox Sports has a blog that posted the LPR photo
of Greg Maddux -- without asking
permission and without credit.
Incidentally, at the
LPR site, there continues to be interest in the Maddux
photo, taken outside Yankee Stadium, last June -- suggesting that perhaps Cubbies
are MLB's most
dedicated fans.
MAY
21, 2006 --
Calling Hal Prince …
New York Times drama critic Ben Brantley, writing in the Arts & Leisure
section of the May 21 edition, wonders if we have reached the end of the road
for Broadway musicals. The article is called, "The Day The Musical Died," and
the subhead concludes, "The only hope may lie in the past."
This writer has long been calling for a repertory company that would perform
Broadway musicals, from Romberg and Cohan to Sondheim as opera houses the
world over perform operas from Monteverdi to Richard Strauss and Puccini. The
establishment of an American Musical Theater Company is not inconsistent with
the Brantley article. Could someone get hold of Hal Prince on this?
MAY
21, 2006 --
The 2006 Preakness …
Yes the Dubai-owned
Bernardini won, but LPR thinks it is more likely be remembered as the
valiant Barbaro's last race.
MAY
21, 2006 --
Wither weather?
It's
been chilly the current month of May
And I don't challenge global-warming at all
But wonder if Oscar Hammerstein Ii were alive today
His song lyric would be "It Might As Well Be Fall"
The calendar, of course, says it is Spring
Yet the cool of the evening May twenty-one
Emboldens a thought -- with caution to fling:
Is there a a new path how we orbit the Sun?
MAY
14, 2006 --
Thank you Washington Mutual …
… for being humane in setting your credit card interest rates --indicating
your belief that good
will is still a business asset.
MAY
14, 2006 --
Thank you, North Fork …
… for having a machine in your Johnson Avenue branch in the Riverdale section
of The Bronx that takes coins and issues a receipt which can be redeemed for
paper
money at the tellers' windows. And for making this machine available to non-depositors,
as well.
Thanks to North Fork, I was able to perform my civic duty and turn in a great
many pennies that were accumulated
over years and years.
Don Imus has North Fork as a sponsor and tells his audience that this bank
is friendly and has had remarkable growth. Thank goodness we still have a few
business beacons -- like North Fork, along with Washington Mutual, shining
the light of good will.
MAY
14, 2006 --
No Thanks, Capitol One …
… I appreciate your recent communication complimenting me as one of your "valued" cardholders
and offering me checks to use for credit card balance
transfers, carrying my current interest rate. As you are presently squeezing
me with a rate above 28% I must decline your
suggestion that I let you squeeze me further. Say, how about including notice
of your high interest rates in your commercials -- for truth in lending purpose.
MAY 14, 2006 --
Chase …
… with its 29.99% interest rate continues to indicate its deserves the
anagram its name provides: ACHES. Yes, Chase
aches. How regrettable banks like Chase no longer regard good will towards the
ordinary customer a
business asset. Hmmm. When was the last time a
Fed head talked about the value of good will in business? LPR wonders: is the
term "good will" even
mentioned in business schools, these days?
MAY
14, 2006 --
The Federal Reserve …
I can't help feeling that Mr. Bernanke, Mr.
Greenspan's successor as Fed head, is following the practice of tinkering with
interest rates just to persuade people that we need the Fed. (If the purpose
is to slow the economy, do we need more than
short-sighted oil execs?)
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MAY
14, 2006 --
You Never Know…
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Hideki
Matsui on May 11th outside of Yankee Stadium.
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LPR got this
photo of Hideki Matsui walking from the Yankee parking lot to
the ballpark -- and the game in which he broke his wrist, diving
for the ball.
LPR wishes Hideki a speedy and complete recovery (meanwhile wondering if that
is a pre-game expression of concern on Hideki's face).
MAY
14, 2006 --
Marking the Triple Crown Season?…
U.S.
racing's triple crown competition opened, May 6 with Barbaro's
impressive win in the Kentucky Derby. Next is the
Preakness Stakes, followed by the Belmont.
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LPR
recently noticed this "horse" on Broadway.
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Recently, LPR noticed this -- sod statue? -- of a horse on an island that separates
Broadway's north and south lanes on Manhattan's west side. This "horse" stands
on Broadway, a block or so from 86th Street.
At this point, the IRT subway is a subway, running beneath Broadway. Between
116th and 135th Streets, the subway emerges into the open, and again returns
to the open air at Dyckman Street, for the remainder of its course -- ending
at 242nd Street in The Bronx.
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The
subway emerging above ground
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MAY
14, 2006 --
The Audacity of Arrogance …
Hollywood and TV companies are said to oppose a proposal from the Securities
and Exchange Commission for disclosure of
the wages going to high end actors and news anchors.
Reuters reported on-line, May 12, that opposition is based, in part, on the
view "that the salary structure for high-paid talent is too complex and
irrelevant to
shareholders." Yeah--who do these shareholders think they are, anyway
-- owners of a company?
MAY
7, 2006 --
Line Jumpers?
Before World War 1, we had an open door immigration policy. The quota system
was begun after the conflict.
In Senate debate, back then, one senator
opposed to quotas indicated that we can be an hysterical people. Apparently,
the focus, today, is not on immigration limits but on whether people who are
in the United States without documents (years ago, I thought the term "illegal
alien" was a bit harsh in referring to human beings).
LPR would be interested if the media or Congress got the views of persons,outside
the country, waiting years for documents to be permitted to live in America?
MAY
7, 2006 --
The Lincoln Center Plaza Bubble …
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A
subnerged David Blaine at Lincoln Center.
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David
Blaine inside the Bubble tank
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Another NYC
event free to spectators was the appearance of master illusionist
David Blaine, in a water-filled bubble in Lincoln Center Plaza.
So far as LPR knows, Mr. Blaine was not accompanied by the sounds of Handel's
Water Music.
As one photo suggests, people were encouraged to wait on line (not to be confused
with on-line) for the chance to walk up to the bubble and greet Mr. Blaine
by placing a hand against his, separated only by the bubble's wall.
MAY
7, 2006 --
LPR Update -- Painted Pot Pleaded Away …
LPR
has learned (via webmaster Terri Fassio) that Winsted's Christopher
Seekins has agreed to remove his
pot painting as part of a plea agreement.
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LPR
took this photo of the Winsted, CT home on March 21,
2006. Check out the LPR Archives for the full article.
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MAY
7, 2006 --
Country Views …
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Mares
and foals - photo taken May 1, 2006.
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A
Sherman, Connecticut road in the spring.
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MAY
1, 2006 --
LPR Wishes …
… a magnificent month of May to clicksters from, among other places all
over the world, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,Germany, Beijing,
Paris, Stockholm, Atlanta, San Francisco, Sydney, and Texas.
MAY
1, 2006 --
Evening Reflections …
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Big
Y Supermarket in Torrington, CT
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Torrington's Big
Y supermarket the evening of April 24 -- with reflection.
MAY
1, 2006 --
The Persistence of Potholes Popping Up …
LPR
is not on a campaign to identify the great potholes of New York City.
They just pop up as one drives the city's streets, demanding that photographs
be taken.
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This
pothole, on West 48th Street, is
within sight of piers on the Hudson River and, thereby, in a position
to provide a surprise welcome to a visitor to NYC.
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MAY 1, 2006
--
Thank you WTIC …
A few weeks ago, LPR turned on Hartford's WTIC, shortly before
7:30 p.m., in time to hear someone saying "shame on you" to Chase
bank for its offer of
checks on credit card accounts -- an offer that he alleged to be less than clear
about charges on these checks.
Would, now, someone say "shame on Chase" for charging cardholders 29.99%
interest"? Indeed, LPR would like to know if Fed Chairman Bernanke regards
29.99% interest as harmful to the economy.
MAY
1, 2006 --
Just a Thought …
Major League Baseball teams are already named for articles of
clothing: to wit, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox. (And the
Cincinnati Redlegs -- shortened to Reds?)
How about Overalls as the name of a new MLB team, allowing, of course, for
the possibility of some confusion if the team joins the American League and
announcers have to talk about the Orioles against the Overalls.
MAY 1, 2006
--
Truth in Anagrams?
The appointment of Tony Snow as press secretary to President
Bush will not usher in an era of good feeling between the White House
and the White House
press corps. Anagrammatically, Tony Snow turns into, among other things, Stony
now.
NOTE TO LPR CLICKSTERS:
If we don't speak out against economic bullying by Oil, Credit Cards,
Municipalities, WHO WILL?
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