September 21, 2005
Avenue of the Americas? You gotta love Dan Barry, whose column today was devoted to that mysterious name no one uses, Avenue of the Americas. He has a great quote: One reader wrote to The New York Times in September 1945 to voice a common sentiment: "To me it has been Sixth Avenue since I was a lad - it will be Sixth Avenue as long as I live. No power on earth can make me say to a cabman, 'Thirty-fourth Street and the Avenue of the Americas, please.' "
So I Bulldog want to launch a contest: Do you know anyone, anyone at all in this world who regularly says Avenue of the Americas? If you do, leave me a comment along with their name and e-mail address. The lucky winner will be profiled on my blog.
Tags:
avenue of the americas, dan barry, sixth avenue
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Posted on 9/21/2005
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September 20, 2005
So said the lawyer before Dennis Kozlowski went off the slammer. Hey, this guy was the poster child of corporate greed. Every major newspaper recalls the juicy tidbits today: $6,000 shower curtain; $15,000 umbrella stand; $2 million birthday party for wife with the ice sculpture of Michelangelo's "David" urinating vodka. I can't get that image out of my head--not the vodka urination, the $6,000 shower curtain. What the hell can a shower curtain possibly be made of that it can cost $6,000? And does it repel mildew? Once we find out which slammer Kozlowski is going to, I want to write him a letter. I hope he writes back. Also I want to write Mr. Regas of Adelphia and those nice guys from Worldcom. I am sure they would write back, wouldn't they? What else can they be doing in jail?
Tags:
dennis kozlowski, mildew, shower curtain, tyco, vodka urination
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Posted on 9/20/2005
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September 14, 2005
Chock full o' Nuts reigned supreme and deli coffee tasted much like hot water with a brown crayon dipped in it, but New Yorkers eventually woke up and realized there must be better coffee, somewhere. Enter Starbucks: New Yorkers then woke up to find there was a Starbucks seemingly everywhere, including three within view of each other on Astor Place alone.
Round III: Dunkin' Donuts started opening franchises everywhere, pushing the envelope in an attempt to run roughshod over Starbucks' business. Frankly, given how many office workers and cops love coffee and doughnuts, it seemed that weird combinations of espresso and milk were bound to show up at Dunkin' Donuts. And all those garish orange and purple plastic signs, awnings, and three-dimensional puffy coffee cups? There was no outrage, apparently, over this cheesy aesthetic.
Round IV began today, with back-to-back full page ads in the New York Times. While many eyes are on the United Nations, or maybe Hurricane Katrina, or maybe even the election here yesterday (what election?), the coffee wars have taken to the mass media: Italy's Illy hits SoHo's dying gallery district with its Galleria Illy, merging art and top-quality espresso. Meanwhile in its ad, Starbucks declares its wholesomeness ("Wake up and smell the coffee") by providing health care for its workers and wondering about the 45 million Americans who don't have health care.
Frankly, after several decades of cola wars, Coke vs. Pepsi never reached anything as prophetic as this.
Tags:
coke, dunkin donuts, illy, pepsi, starbucks
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Posted on 9/14/2005
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September 09, 2005
A request by FEMA that news organizations not photograph dead bodies being recovered in New Orleans is not going to fly with the major newsweeklies, reports the Post and I am damn glad to hear that. Bodies are still floating all over New Orleans even 12-plus days after Katrina, and every TV interview I've watched makes it clear only now is FEMA acting to give the dead a bit of dignity by removing their bodies. But forbidding news organizations to photograph them? It would have been inconceiveable after the horror of 9/11 to ask news organizations not to publish photos of the victims. I remember well the chilling New York Times photo of a man leaping to his death headfirst; I almost threw up when I saw it on 9/12. But as we debate over the meaning of freedom, both here in NYC with this endless charade over the Freedom Center, and in New Orleans with this endless travesty over FEMA's incompetence, telling news organizations what not to publish is totally un-American. In fact, by publishing photos of these sad, bloated corpses, some in advanced state of rigor mortis, it will only further Americans' overwhelming conviction that their government has failed them miserably once again. (photo credit: Dave Martin/AP)
Tags:
911, katrina, wtc
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Posted on 9/9/2005
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September 08, 2005
"This was expected," said CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal. "We were hoping it would come. Now it becomes a court battle." And Bulldog would like to point out a kickass $40 benefit show Friday night at CB's features ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN, CHANNEL 3, DI, THE ADOLESCENTS & THE CIRCLE JERKS. Bulldog has seen the last three bands listed, and they are amazing turbo-charged great-granddaddys from the 1980s.
Tags:
cbgb, hilly kristal
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Posted on 9/8/2005
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September 07, 2005
Several poster children for government reform are running for Manhattan borough president, a ceremonial job that ought to be abolished. The days of pure patronage are fortunately numbered, yet we still have a multimillion-dollar race for this useless office, as the incumbent C. Virginia Fields has proven. Last year's congressional elections showed that no demographic will go unsliced, and therefore in addition to the various ethnicities of the gorgeous mosaic running for beep, we also have a gay lawyer by the name of Brian Ellner, who apparently hitched a domestic partner agreement with his boyfriend in order to look even more wholesome in his ads. Fortunately Gawker has pointed out the interesting undercurrent in this race: even gay guys can exploit their demographic just like straight guys, Hispanic guys and all other types of guys. He's plastered the Chelsea neighborhood with his posters, much as Ferrer has postered the surrounding Hispanic areas. And since he hasn't got a substantive issue to save his life, Ellner's literature wants us to "feel good about voting again"; he's therefore positioned himself as goin' strong against President Bush. That's great news, Brian, but you are running to be a beep, not a veep. Bulldog walked past the guy shaking hands this morning on West 23rd Street, and somehow feels sorry for him; it just goes to show you, no matter how much money you spend in New York State, you can't always win the office of your choice. Just ask Lew Lehrman or Thomas Golisano.
Tags:
beep, borough president, ellner, manhattan
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Posted on 9/7/2005
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September 05, 2005
For the sick with high premiums or no medical insurance at all, the news just got worse: today's Post says two-thirds of New York's 12 HMOs have "jacked up their premiums by as much as 25 percent in the last year." And the state Insurance Department can't do anything about it; in 2000 the law regulating rates expired. Don't expect the legislature to do anything. Just look at the gas crisis, with prices at the pump soaring beyond belief: the state senate agreed to hold a special emergency session—two weeks from now. Better to saw off your own leg than to expect a miracle from Albany.
Tags:
albany, hmos, insurance premiums, medical, new york post
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Posted on 9/5/2005
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