With a tip of my nonexistent hat to the late, great, Jimmy Cannon (who made this kind of column famous), here is my "wit and wisdom" on a bunch of unrelated issues, in no particular order:
-The new data are out and job losses are way over predictions (467,000 instead of 365,000). Further, the overall unemployment level, which President Obama assured us would cap at 8%, rose to 9.5% -- with double digits clearly in sight. Will at least some Democrats screw up enough integrity and courage to admit the "stimulus package" is failing? So far the answer is no.
-Now that Michael Jackson is dead, we are relentlessly being exposed to reports featuring his father. That's too bad, because joseph jackson was, by Michael's account, a terrifying, abusive man who made his childhood a living hell. But there he is, featured in just about every report about his son's life and death.
joseph jackson is an 80 year old man wearing a stupid-looking fedora, oversized sunglasses, a thick neck chain and a big earring. He looks like a cross between a burlesque show routine and a washed-up pimp;
-How sad that a great actor and real gentleman like Karl Malden could die this week with virtually no press coverage at all. Mr. Malden was an academy award winner, an emmy winner, and for over 20 years his "The American Express card. Don't leave home without it" commercials were among the most memorable in advertising history. He deserved better.
-The Celebrity Solstice - which my wife and I were on from June 15-26th, is a truly remarkable ship. It was loaded to the gills, with (according to one of the ship's officers we spoke to) 3,060 passengers and 1400 crew. That is the size of a small city. And everything ran, you should pardon the expression, swimmingly.
As you might guess, the Solstice is massively huge. Probably because of its size, it rides as smooth as silk. The ship weighs 122,000 tons. Come to think of it, that's about how much I felt like I weighed after being on it for 12 days (anyone who has ever been on a cruise ship knows what I'm talking about). My wife said it well: "If you get sick on this ship, you better stay on land for the rest of your life".
-TriBeCa is one of the easiest parts of Manhattan to find parking in. And the TriBeCa Grill, On Greenwich Avenue at Moore (partly owned by Robert DeNiro for whatever it's worth), has an excellent brunch. Pricey, but well worth it.
-The Yankees are finally starting to look like a team with the highest payroll in baseball. Seven game winning streak in progress. It's about time;
-Still speaking of the Yankees, the team's catcher (Jorge Posada), shortstop (Derek Jeter) and closer (Mariano Rivera) all came up as rookies in 1995, and have remained teammates for 15 years. In this day and age that's pretty amazing. Another amazing thing is that, based on everything I've read about them, these are three of the best people you will ever find in the sport. I'm not talking about their playing abilities, I'm talking about them as human beings. What a great clubhouse nucleus they must make;
-Kettle chips really are better than regular potato chips. But kettle popcorn tends to be sweet-flavored and turns me off.
-Will it ever stop raining in the New York metro area? The weatherman says maybe the 4th of July weekend will be good, but we'll see. This is one of the rainiest springs/early summers on record;
-Is Pennsylvania really going to re-elect Arlen Specter to the senate? I doubt that he could even survive a Democratic primary challenge from Joe Sestak, let alone the general election;
-Will New Jersey (my state) really re-elect Jon Corzine as Governor? Probably yes, since he has more money than Croesus and has bought elections in the past. On the other hand his opponent, Chris Christie, is several steps above what New Jersey Republicans usually put up for state office, so it could get interesting;
-I watched a Pontiac commercial on TV this morning which offered some kind of sale, and it used the line "for a limited time only". I couldn't help wondering if that meant the sale or the brand;
-My left thumbnail grows more slowly than my right thumbnail. I don't know what that means and probably don't want to;
-Rome's Fiumicino Airport may well be the least well-run major city airport I've ever been in - especially the Continental Airlines operation there. Continental does a fine job at Newark Airport. Does it ever need someone from Newark to oversee the Rome location;
-The beginning of this past weekend's Gay Pride Parade in Manhattan had a string of balloons that must have gone on for two full city blocks. I know this because we were driving up Hudson Street toward the Lincoln Tunnel and were the third car stuck waiting for it to cross Hudson at Christopher Street (which is about where the parade ended). The pretty balloon colors -- and the huge cheering crowd -- made it a very pleasurable few minutes;
-Vince Carter spent 4 1/2 years with the New Jersey Nets before being traded on draft day last week. He came across as a real professional and a real gentleman for all that time. I wish him well in Orlando - except when he's playing against the Nets, that is;
-Now that Michael Jackson is dead, Jocelyn Wildenstein is about the only person left who Nancy Pelosi can talk to about her face;
-I don't have the exact transcript in front of me, but on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" today, Joe Scarborough commented about how much better NBC would be if Chip Reid were its White House correspondent -- just before bringing on Chuck Todd, who is NBC's White House correspondent. And Todd, with a forced smile, said something (sorry, I don't have the exact words) just as insulting back to Scarborough. It is clear that this was not scripted at all, it was Joe Scarborough winging it and bluntly stating his opinion, then Todd reacting to that opinion. Hooboy.
By the way, I agree with Scarborough.
