Gone Fishing

On Friday, we leave for Canada...to head to our cottage for a week and squeeze in yet ANOTHER relative's wedding... (my cousin Jonathan in Ottawa)...

Getting ahold of us will be tough because cell phone calls up there are like 90 cents a minute (in other words, don't call us) and we'll have no Internet service unless we head into town and stop by the library or something...

No phone, no lights, no motor car...not a single luxury...or something...

Anyways, when we come back I promise lots of pictures, as well as pics of The Huthmans Take Manhattan. I'll leave you with a couple of photos from that trip...one of Anisa doing her Super Happy Face for Aunt Jen:

And a very poor and somewhat scary Super Happy Face from Anisa's father and her Uncle Wiggy:

See you on August 1st

Gone Fishing

Mike

The Day Cool Died

We're slagging though the summer...I blame the heat.

The Huthman clan is in town this week, and I've been fortunate to spend lots of time with Mike and little Anisa while Ivanna has been busy with her seminars and Jen's been at work. We've got lots of pictures of Anisa sleeping her way through New York (not like that, you perverts!)

Anyways, those pics and a full recap of "The Huthmans Take Manhattan (with help from the Watts')" is coming soon...

In the meantime, I've used this blog to talk about the music I like and the movies I enjoy. Now its time to advocate for some of my favorite columnists...this column by Sports Illustrated's Phil Taylor, ran in the latest issue of SI. I think it's great...hope you feel the same.


THE DAY COOL DIED


By Phil Taylor


Cool, the onetime giant of sports culture that had long been in declining health, died in seclusion last month. In a measure of how forgotten Cool had become, the moment of its passing went largely unnoticed even though the event was witnessed by millions on television, shortly after the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers. In the ensuing celebration Celtics star Kevin Garnett was asked how he felt about winning the first title of his 13-year career. He threw his head back and bellowed, "Anything is possible!" as though he had just accomplished something previously thought to be beyond human capability, like walking on the sun or deciphering the plot of Lost. With Garnett's scream, Cool took its dying breath.


Authorities say that Garnett will not be held responsible for the demise of Cool, ruling that he was no more culpable than thousands of other modern-day athletes who have an overwhelming need for self-congratulation and a tendency to overdramatize. Those athletes avoided Cool like a subpoena during its final years, instead embracing midair chest bumps, primal yells and the kind of elaborate, multistep hand jive that grade-school girls do on playgrounds.


Cool was on a respirator as the end neared, its breathing more shallow with every poststrikeout fist pump by Joba Chamberlain, every dunk-and-sneer from Vince Carter and every one-act play performed by Chad Johnson after a touchdown catch. In its weakened state, it was hard to believe that Cool once walked with kings, that Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Julius Erving, Bjorn Borg and Walt Frazier were never caught without Cool, in competition or away from it. Cool not only added to their mystique but also served a practical purpose. "I always felt that [Cool] gave me an advantage," Frazier says. "It's like in poker, if the other players can't read you, it puts that uncertainty in their minds and that puts you in control."


Its age was hard to pin down, but Cool is believed to have been born in the late 1960s, around the time Joe Namath began wearing full-length fur coats and dating models (no one said Cool couldn't be fun) and John Carlos and Tommie Smith stood silent and stoic on the Olympic medal podium in Mexico City, their leather-gloved fists raised in a human rights salute (no one said Cool couldn't be serious).


Stardom quickly followed for Cool. Kids aspired to it. Men tried to embody it. Women were attracted to it. Cool reached out to established coaches, giving their gentlemanly, controlled personas a new cachet. As Tom Landry walked the Dallas Cowboys' sideline wearing a suit, a crisp fedora and an unchanging expression, Cool was on his shoulder. It was there, too, beside UCLA's John Wooden as he directed his nearly flawless Bruins -- perhaps the coolest crew ever -- without rising from his courtside seat. It seemed not so much that winners were cool, but that Cool created winners.


Only in retrospect is it clear when Cool began to hit hard times. In the opener of the 1979–80 NBA season, the Lakers beat the San Diego Clippers on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's buzzer-beating hook shot. Abdul-Jabbar was the kind of Cool customer who would hit a game-winner, stroll off the court and go put on a Miles Davis album. But this was the pro debut for Magic Johnson, the league's No. 1 pick. Magic jumped on Abdul-Jabbar and wrapped him in a bear hug, surprising the captain but charming the fans with his joy. No one knew it then, but Cool was doomed.


Though Magic's jubilation was genuine, over time fans and players alike became so hooked on open displays of emotion that they didn't care if those displays were real or not. Partly because of the huge salaries that athletes were making, the public wanted to see players in agony or ecstasy, as proof that they cared about more than the paycheck. The athlete who preened for the cameras and pounded his chest was assumed to have more passion than the one who kept a lid on his emotions. Cool became confused with Bland and Uninterested. Now it's not the player who bashes in the occasional watercooler who's criticized, it's the one who doesn't.


Like most stars of another era, Cool had several aborted comebacks, with the occasional athlete attempting to revive it. Tom Brady, Mariano Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki were among the last advocates of Cool, but few of their colleagues followed suit. Cool's condition was terminal.


There will be no funeral service, which is how Cool would have wanted it. In lieu of flowers, mourners are asked simply to appreciate players who don't feel the need to punctuate every accomplishment with an over-the-top celebration, who understand the beauty in letting a performance speak for itself. That would be totally Cool.

Random Musings...

THOUGHTS WHILE WONDERING IF I SHOULD PUT IN FOR HOLIDAY PAY FOR HAVING TO WORK CANADA DAY YESTERDAY:

**If I've learned nothing from working in New York, I've learned this: If you are a politician, you are probably corrupt to the core. It is amazing how many times I've reported on corruption cases involving mayors, city council members, etc. Amazingly enough, most of them are in New Jersey...imagine that.


**Petrozza not choosing Corey as his first pick for the final challenge of Hell's Kitchen might have been the biggest blunder in reality TV history. I'm still rooting for him though..


**Speaking of reality TV, when I first saw promos for "Wipe Out" on ABC, I really thought we'd sunk to a new low in television... Now, after watching it in a crowded bar last Sunday, I think its one of the best shows on television. You really should check it out...even if only for 5 minutes. But its WAYYY better watching it in a crowd, with all the "OOOHH!!" and "DOHHH!!!" Good times...


***We got screwed over at the grocery store the other day. We went to this place in Harlem called Fairway because its supposed to be awesome. And it was, until it came to the delivery part. We told them we wanted it delivered, because we were going to go across the street with our friend Dawn and have dinner at Dinosaur BBQ (which I am SO taking Dave to the next time he comes here)

Anyways, there delivery says "3 to 5 hours"...so we figured, thats plenty of time to have dinner and get home before the groceries arrive. Well, we're in the middle of dinner, its been about 90 minutes, and Jen's phone rings. Its the delivery guy...and he's at our door.

I talked to him first and went back and forth on why he was so early. He kept saying "I'm here, buzz me in" and I kept saying "Well, we're not there, we're across the street from the store and are 30 minutes away." This kept going for awhile, with me saying "you're early...that's not our fault." and then finally hanging up on him (a bit of a language barrier as well)

He calls back, this time Jen answers and reads him the riot act. Tells him to go make other deliveries and come back. He says he's going to leave our groceries on the front stoop...Jen tells him thats unacceptable...and back and forth...

Well, we get home...and the groceries are on the front stoop. On a positive note, at least we didn't have a confrontation with him if he came back after we got home. Lord knows he wasn't going to get a tip...


**Random celebrity sighting at the Fairway store though. Dr. John. You know, the legendary musician? He was shopping for yams. I feel like you need to know these things...

**With Cito Gaston now managing the Blue Jays again, and Cliff Fletcher running the Leafs from the GM office, I feel like its 1992 all over again...now if only these two men came bring my teams back to prominence...


**Just finished watching "Rambo"....as in the newest one. Holy %#^!! Pretty funny to watch a 60-year-old Sly run around like he's 35 all over again...I gotta tell ya, the body count in this one is pretty high, but it served its purpose...


**Other movies I've enjoyed recently as we purge through our Netflix list: King of California, Charlie Wilson's War, The Bucket List, Ratatouille, The King of Kong, Disturbia, Deja Vu, and Enchanted.

Movie that was highly overrated: Transformers


**And finally, we can't wait to see our friends in the upcoming months. Katie and Brian this week, the Huthmans in nine days, and Kelly and Meghan next month. The rest of you...start planning your vacations here!!


Mike

Differences by Jen

VS.

Things that are different on the East Coast...

Avocados- they have strange large avocados from Florida, you can still find the California Haas avocados but you see the Florida ones in stores more frequently

Seasonings - McCormick and Lawry's no where to be found- lots of weird named seasonings- i miss the brands and labels that I know

Best Foods Mayo is Hellman's Mayo and Dryers Ice Cream is Edy's Ice Cream- the logo's and packaging are the same - the name is just different

Here "summer" is a verb, where are you summering? I summer in the Hampton's. Even karate schools and kids camps advertise come summer here. Back home summer is noun. What did you do over summer is how the west coasters roll.

Here- A 30% chance of rain defines just about any summer day- don't forget the thunderstorms which are perfectly normal when temps are in the 80's

That's all I got for you now, but I'm sure more will come to me later on!

Oh wait... I just thought of one more

In California-people finish thoughts with "ya know?" or "Yea?"

In NY they finish thoughts with "right?"

Jen's Back! Back to blogging and Back from the Hamptons

Hi Guys!

Sorry it's been forever since I've blogged. Life has been a bit hectic and I've been slacking.

In catching up.. After our trip to California I got assigned to cover Obama in St. Paul, Mn. It was the night he "officially" got enough delegates to become the party nominee. It was an amazing experience to watch history happen before my eyes! Here's a pic I took from the press riser w/ Obama speaking over my shoulder.

Anyhow, this past weekend Mike, Cooper and I went to the Hamptons. Our relatives Glenda and Harvey live in East Hampton during the summer and invited us to join them for a weekend to meet other relatives for the first time.

You see I have a fairly complicated family tree on my Dad's side of the family and there are a lot of relatives that I have never met before

Let me explain My Grandfather (My Dad's Dad -who died before I was born) Sam Weiss had 2 wives and 2 sets of children about 20 yrs apart.

The First wife died at a young age.... She had 2 daughters. One of those daughters is the mother to my Cousin Glenda the one we just visited in the Hamptons.

On her death bed she told Sam to send for her niece in Hungary to marry. Good thing too because this was shortly before the Holocaust. SO Serena (said niece) came to the states married Sam and then had 2 boys- my dad and my uncle art (dorie's dad - the wedding we went to in LA)

Are you following?

So my uncle Art and Glenda are the same age..and Glenda is 4 yrs older then my dad. But Glenda and I share the same Grandfather- very confusing I know. There was a lot of chart drawing and explaining going on this weekend.

Glenda and her dog cousin Cooper in the Hamptons

Now how are we related again? Was a common question being asked.

Anyhow, I've gotten to know Glenda and Harvey pretty well over the years but she is the only one on that half of the family that I have ever really gotten to know. So this weekend I got to meet her daughter Amy and her 2 boys Graham(14) and Emit (10).

Emit

Graham

Amy & her boyfriend Fred

It was really cool! It was so nice and fun to be around family. I look forward to keeping in touch with them from now on. They live in Vermont and we hope to go visit them soon since we are so close.

From Left to Right Me, Fred, Mike, Amy, Harvey, Glenda, Graham... Cooper is out of sight but standing in front of everyone!

Now, here's where it gets to be a super small world. Harvey, married to Glenda, told me back in October that he has a relative that lives in Inwood. That's where Mike and I live. So on Saturday we were all to have dinner together at Glenda and Harvey's.

So guess what? Harvey's niece Traci, her husband Jim and their teenage daughter Katie play trivia at the Pipers Kilt. They are on the Kitchen Doctor team. A team that frequently kicks our butts at Trivia night. What a small world?

Anyhow, they are great people too! They were great to get to know, they told us lots of insightful tips about the neighborhood. We look forward to spending more time with them as well.

Anyhow- the Hamptons. Everyone keeps asking me what the Hamptons are like. It's one of those places that everyone on the west coast has heard the name of, but has never actually been to.

Here's how I would describe the Hamptons... You know how in California when you drive along the Pacific Coast HWY you pass a bunch of beach towns. Each has it's on feel. Some are very chill, others are very Posh. Well that's what the Hamptons are like... except the highway isn't as windy and the towns aren't as far apart.

The Beach from East Hampton

The Hamptons are the east end of Long Island which is long and skinny hence the name. There are several towns and villages... West Hampton, West Hampton Village, East Hampton, East Hampton Village, Sag Harbor, Montauk, and several others. If you really care about the geography google it! :)

Anyhow we had a lovely time... here are some pics....

Gossman's Dock in Montauk

Dog's off leash at the East Hampton Beach on Sunday morning.

Cooper loved it!

Mike and Cooper watching the fishing boats in Montauk

How Low Can You Go...???

Most of my long-time friends, guys like Kevin, Mike and Dave, know that I'm a really competitive person. I don't like to lose at ANYTHING. Kevin and I had Nerf basketball showdowns in our high school years that ended in pushes and shoves...in his parents' living room. On the football field with friends, if my team was losing, I'd bust out my patented "Wiggy tackle" (otherwise known as "grab the guy by the neck and drag him down) out of pure anger at losing a stupid Sunday morning game with friends. Air hockey games...board games...hell, even that NBA Jam Nintendo tournament we held back in early college that ended with Dave somehow sinking a half court shot with Mitch Richmond to beat me in the semis that I'm STILL not over (c'mon Dave, you know you had no business winning that game)....



As you can see...I don't like to lose...I'm the most competitive person I know. And I know a lot of you are asking, "Even more than Katie Neal?" Yes, even more than Katie.. (though to be fair, it was a photo finish.)



I relay this information because this past weekend I sunk about as low as you can possibly go to win at something...all in the name of claiming victory..



This past weekend we spent Saturday and Sunday with Jen's cousins Harvey and Glenda who live in the Hamptons. They are old enough to have grandchildren, and their daughter and her kids stayed at the house as well, so it was a good ol' family get together.



Jen and I had never met Harvey and Glenda's daughter Amy or her kids...14-year-old Graham and 10-year-old Emmitt...


Emmitt (otherwise known as "the victim")





Once we got there...Emmitt asked me if I played tennis. Yeah, but not in a long while, I told him. Well, he really wanted to play (10 year olds have a ton of energy) so with a borrowed racket and some borrowed sneakers from Harvey...Jen and Amy dropped Emmitt and I off at the public tennis courts for an hour or so...



Now, the whole ride over there, and for at least an hour before we got there...I proceeded to hear from Emmitt about how great he was at tennis.. How he had an "unreturnable" serve, how he played all the time and was really good, and on and on and on...



So when we got there, we warmed up a bit, and I said I'd let him serve...but then I said the words that caused the title of this blog post.



"Alright Emmitt, your serve, but be careful...I wouldn't want you to serve it into the net on your first shot...that'd sure be a bad sign..."



That's right...mind games on a 10-year-old...and, of course, it worked...he was a disaster after that. First serves into the net. After that, I made him run all over the place...when he backed up, I dinked shots in front of him...when I needed a point to keep him from winning even one game...I unleashed a fairly hard serve that he'd never be able to return...if he came in close, I'd hit a shot way up in the air over his head...etc.



The first set went quickly...6-love me...he didn't win a game. I wouldn't let him...this was tough love baby! And as it went on, and his frustration grew, he started complaining that the wind was screwing up his shots, and I was lucky and such...



Well, that just wanted to make me win more...now I wanted to shut him out completely!



Again, 10-years-old...



Unfortunately (fortunately?) my lack of conditioning caught up with me, and he actually took two games from me in the second set when I eased up a bit. But the final score? 6-0 6-2 for the supposedly mature 31 year old...



Of course, I had to talk trash afterwards, asking Emmitt where his unreturnable serve had gone, and I hoped to play him again after he found it...he took it all in good humour, but I'm sure quietly, the kid is plotting my demise..



So there you have it...for those of you who thought I couldn't sink any further than playing mind games with my wife at the bowling alley when she was about to beat my score...there it is...annihilating a 10-year-old on the tennis court...



I'm going to make a wonderful father...



Mike

The Perfect Day

This past Sunday was just the perfect day in my mind. Jen and I decided Saturday night that we'd go do some stuff Sunday that we hadn't gotten a chance to do in town here yet. It was a packed day, but a great time.



We got up around 9am and took the train to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or "The Met" as its known in town...as opposed to "The Mets." who are known in town at the moment as "stinkin' losers.") We had never been before, but we only had about an hour of time there, so we flew around and saw the two rotating exhibits that we wanted to see...you know, the ones that are only in there for a few months. One was these statue sculptures made to look like balloon animals that are on display on the roof of the building. Here's a picture!




The other one was actually not what I had in mind, but was interesting all the same. It was called "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy." We thought the exhibit was just going to take a look at superhero fashions through the years and how the cartoonists had come up with looks...instead, it was "today's fashion designers put their spin on superhero fashion" Some wierd shit, let me tell you, but still, pretty interesting...


Sorry, no pictures allowed...the security guy even wagged a finger at Jen when she pulled the camera out...poor baby.



After that, we caught a cab through Central Park, because we had to head over to Lincoln Center for a film festival. We had bought tickets the night before for a flick being shown as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The movie was called "The Recruiter." Basically, its about this Army recruiter in rural Louisiana and some of his recruits. He's been awarded as the best recruiter in the country, and it shows how he goes about finding possible recruits, staying on them about signing up, going through the difficulties of getting people to sign up and stay on course to become recruits, and so forth. It also follows 4 of his recruits through the process, and then basic training as well.


Just fascinating stuff, and real eye-opening for those of us who wonder how they even get kids to sign up for the Armed Forces these days, considering we're in war mode and all.



The director was there for the screening and did a Q&A afterwards. Good stuff...


Anyways, I highly recommend this movie. HBO is actually going to show it sometime in mid-July, so look for it.


From there, we wandered down to Sixth Avenue, where we stumbled upon a street fair! I love wandering through these...always shit to buy, and fun to people watch...its like a mini-version of going to the State Fair...


It stretched for about 17 blocks, down past Radio City Music Hall and into Bryant Park. I got a laugh out of walking by RCMH and seeing people lining up to get into the Tony Awards (they were Sunday night). These poor people, in their tuxs and ball gowns, and they have to line up 4 hours before the show in the heat....they were sweltering...and the smell of kababs and Indian food from the street fair 50 feet away probably wasn't helping matters.


The best thing to come out of the street fair in my mind, besides the birthday gift we bought for little Anisa Huthman when she comes next month, was something Jen had wanted me to try for a long time. Its called an arepa...its basically two corn cakes, with mozzerella cheese in the middle..fried...(see? I told you...State Fair!)



Anyways, its delicious...holy Moses I could have eaten 4 or 5 of the buggers. It might have killed me, but as Dave knows, I'm willing to make that kind of sacrifice for large quantities of good food.


We came home, pretty worn out from the full day, and then had a dinner of pasta with sausage and cheese bread, while we watched Iron Chef America and the Next Food Network Star (whatever did I watch before the Food Network?? I can't remember...)


All in all, the perfect day....it trickled into Monday morning as well when Jen took me to Regis and Kelly....she had gotten tickets for us because Emeril Lagasse was filling in for Regis and she knew I wanted to see him. We sat up close, got a smidge of camera time, and he signed my cookbook for me. That's all I wanted!



A fabulous day (plus a bit) with my fabulous wife...just another day in the Big City.


Mike

We're having a heat wave....

...we had been slagging on the posting since our return from CA, so I wanted to post something this weekend...but it was too hot...that and the fact that I was laid up Sunday with what we now think actually WAS salmonella poisoning (thank you tomatoes!), pushed the posting process to Monday, but it was still too hot, and then Tuesday was hotter STILL...

Yep, we're having a heatwave here in the big city. But it's not a tropical heatwave. It's a heatwave where you're constantly sweating and you want to basically kill yourself. Add in the fact that we don't have central air, and you're just miserable.

Fortunately, the current heatwave appears to have ended today. We're back into the mid 80s (10 degrees higher than normal, but still not record breaking upper 90s temps like the past two days and humidity is down) and there's actually a breeze...I'll enjoy it while I can...July is right around the corner...

Other thoughts from the past few weeks:

**Took in another Jays-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium. The Jays lost, but it was amusing to me to watch these Yankees fans realize that their team isn't going anywhere this year. Big-time fatalistic, and I think we're probably due for some major baseball-related violence in the Bronx this September as the postseason slips away from the men in the pinstripes...

Having said that, my friend once said that these Yankee teams are hard to hate because they have a bunch of likeable players and aren't like the Yankee teams of old. Now, that might be the most ignorant comment I've ever heard (and please, look for my new book "18,738 Reasons to Hate the New York Yankees," coming soon to bookstores everywhere!!), BUT I have to admit, I have an absolute man-crush on Joba Chamberlain...I just like the kid...I like his ability, I like his demeanor, I like his humbleness, I like his polio-stricken father, his life story is unbelievable, I'm just rooting for Joba to do well in his big-league career (except, of course, when he pitches against the Jays)

**Lord help us, but we almost had a Mike Watts appearance on the Nancy Grace show a few days back. I know, I know, how crazy would that have been? The story is that her producer called my office last Monday (the 2nd) and wanted to know if we were covering the Tatum O'Neal drug bust story and if I could come on the show that night to discuss it. I told the producer that we were covering the story, but weren't like down at the courthouse or anything, and that it had pretty much become a non-story (she had been released without bail, didn't say anything to reporters, blah blah blah)...she thought she still might like to use me, and was going to call my boss and ask (I needed his permission to appear for Metro)...

Well they ended up using a New York Post reporter when they decided they wanted someone who had been PHYSICALLY covering the story all day (can't say I blame them there)...this is actually a good thing, because I hate Nancy Grace...she drives me up the wall...I can't watch her without wanting to shoot out my TV, so there would have been a good chance I'd have re-enacted the Sue Simmons profanity during my appearance...

By the way, my sister does a really good Nancy Grace impression...I feel like you need to know these things...

**Jen was in St. Paul last week helping cover the Obama camp for work. She hates when I talk like this, but she's becoming quite the star over there at the alphabet network. She got compliments on her producing performance from folks who rarely hand out kind words, and she's been put on a few shortlists for more producing efforts around the country, including hurricane coverage. I'll let her tell you more about all this in a later post, but I'm very proud of her!! Cooper and I sure do miss her when she's out of town though...my time at the bar goes up exponentially... =)

**More cool duties for me later this summer. My cousin Jonathan has asked me to be his MC for his wedding in Ottawa next month. Apparently he's forgotten that I have about, oh I don't know, a MILLION embarassing stories about his childhood and our summers together at the cottage, I'm sure I'll be able to tell a few of them in front of everyone he knows....should be fun! Jen and I have booked our time off to head to Canada this summer for a week of fun with the wedding at time at the cottage with my Grandma (and Mom and Master Jen, who'll also be there at the same time we are)

**And finally, if you see one movie at all this summer, see Zombie Strippers...

Mike

So Cal Fun!!

A write-up is coming soon... Cooper and I are jet lagged and need to go to bed!

Here's a quick tease

Laureen's Twins

Dorie's Wedding

Homecoming Week (Nor-Cal Version)

Nine months without stepping a foot in California was a long damn time, so you can imagine Jen and I's excitement that we were able to come home for a week and a half. It was really fun to get to see everybody and we had an action packed 11 days.

Friday the 16th was, without a doubt, the longest day ever..but it was a ton of fun. We were up early and on a plane to SF (with Cooper in the cabin underneath the seat in front of us of course) and got in around noon. Bec picked us up, and we immediately couldn't believe the weather. 95 degrees in the FRICKIN city!! We were sweating buckets! I came home for this??

Roasting aside, we had a good time hanging out in the city. Had lunch at a place across from Bec's home, then the girls went or manicures and pedicures while Cooper and I rested. Soon we were headed to Sister Jen's graduation, where we met up with Mom and Dad.

I can't say enough how proud I am of my sister for getting her master's. I remember when my Dad asked me if I thought I was interested in getting a master's in something, I just laughed. But Sister Jen (should we now call her Master Jen?) worked hard for several years and gave up her Saturdays to get her masters in theology. She's a better person than I. Now if we could just figure out what she plans to do with it... =)

Here's a picture of the happy grad and her family.


Following graduation, and a celebratory dinner at a seafood restaurant at Pier 39, we picked up Cooper from Brian and Katie's house (Katie had graciously baby-sat the Coop while we were at the graduation...see her blog for details. How's that for cross-promotion?) and then headed with Mom and Dad back to Roseville. We got in at 1:30 a.m....and realized we had been up for 24 hours. Long day...

Saturday we were up and after a quick trip to Peets (YAY Peets iced non-fat vanilla lattes!!) we were preparing for the party.

The party at Mom and Dad's house I have since compared to our wedding reception, only because we felt like we only had a few minutes with everyone. Thanks so much to everyone who came out. It was great to see everyone, and we really appreciate those who were able to make it.

It's always especially fun to see all the young ones, from little Anisa Huthman, to Gabby Palamadessi, to Brooklyn Pebbles and Emily Mae Martin. I can't believe how much all of those kids have grown in just the last nine months.

THe rest of the time in Sacramento/Roseville was filled with catching up with friends. I was able to grab lunch with Dave one day while Jen was getting her hair done. Jen was able to go have dinner with Kelli and Megan in honor of Megs turning the big 30. We were able to get up to El Dorado Hills and meet Jason and Michele's little boy Dylan Smith.

There's actually an amusing story tied to getting to see Michele and her son. So we're at Target and I'm trying to pick out a toy to bring to Dylan, and I'm showing Jen the two I'm trying to decide between, and some woman comes up from behind us. She's five feet away MAYBE...and she says, "You must be a nice Grandpa..."

WHAT?!?!?!?

So I turned around and faced this woman, who IMMEDIATELY saw that I was nowhere near Grandpa status, and she started backpedaling big time..."or..a nice dad, or uncle"

I was able to smile weakly and say, "actually none of those things"

What I wanted to do was slug her. I mean, are you kidding? Do I look THAT OLD??! Granted I hadn't shaved in 3-4 days but still...

Needless to say, Jen thought this whole situation was HILARIOUS, and she's still laughing about it and calling me "Grandpa"...

Wednesday morning Jen & Cooper went to News10 for a few hours andvisited with all the old coworkers.

We also got to have lunch with Kelly and Chris and check out their home in progress. It's amazing. I can't wait to come home for their house warming party next summer!!

When we were planning to come home, my co-workers here in NYC asked me what I wanted to do most while home. Of course, my answer revolved around food. I wanted good Mexican food and In-N-Out Burger. We were able to get both, thank God. There is no good Mexican food out here. You need to have at least a couple of illegals in the kitchen before you know its good Mexican, and you'll only find that in California. And that's probably the most politically incorrect thing I've EVER said, but hey, it's true...

The evenings during the rest of the week were spent having dinner with Mom and Dad and catching up. It was great to be able to stay with them and we had a fabulous time.

All in all, a great trip home to Northern California. I'll let Jen tell the So-Cal part of the trip, as that had its moments of hilarity as well, including Jen injuring her hip on the dance floor at her cousin's wedding. Apparently I married a Golden Girl... =)

Thanks again to everyone who we got to see when we were home, and we can't wait for everyone to visit us here!!

Mike

The Mic is always on...

When I first took media class in high school with Mr. Clark, he taught us a variety of items when it came to broadcasting, but the one that he repeated over and over and OVER again was..."the mic is always on."

In other words, when you have a microphone in your hand, or attached to your lapel, you have to THINK you are always LIVE...

We've seen journalists get fouled up before by not thinking about what they're saying while they're in the anchor chair. Former KCRA anchor Stan Atkinson managed to call Sen. Boxer a "bitch" on the air,

now, the latest incident comes right here in NYC...where WNBC's Sue Simmons, a broadcasting legend here in the Big Apple, managed to utter the deadliest of the 7 deadly words...

The backstory is it was in the middle of a live tease, and she wasn't pleased that her partner Chuck Scarborough was not paying attention...

what follows is her outburst, and then her "apology" moments later...



Broadcasters....you gotta love 'em....

Remember folks, as Mr. Clark would say, "the mic is always on"

(He also used to say, "Chew gum, lose 10 points" But I digress)

Mike

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts as I continue this 3 week stretch of basically getting up at 12:30 a.m., going to work til 6pm, getting home at 7pm, going to bed at 830pm and then doing it all over again the next day....please pray for me...one more week to go...

- You know you're living in New York when you're wandering around Bloomingdale's and you run smack into Abe Vigoda...most people know him as Fish from Barney Miller and as Tessio from the Godfather movies...the younger of us know him from his Conan and roast appearances...well, he was with some woman who was dragging him around to look at dresses for something...and all I could do was stare...this is the kinda stuff that happens here...

- I don't know about you, but for me, nothing ruins a good Kentucky Derby like an execution moments after the race. Thank God we weren't at Katie's party for that one, Jen would have had to been taken out on a stretcher...

- Met Gordon Ramsey the other day. He was doing a book signing in Midtown and I went over after work to get him to sign for Jen and I. We are big fans of Hell's Kitchen...and I particularly enjoy his BBC shows...anyways, he was actually quite nice, though he did call me "big boy"...guess he could have called me "donkey", so I think I got off easy...

- Personally, I hope Eric or Cirie win "Survivor"...I can't stand any of the rest of them....

- Speaking of Reality TV shows, I caught the first couple of episodes of Temptation Island 2 on the Fox Reality Channel...it would be an understatement to say the show reaches a solid 97 on the Unintentional Comedy Scale...

- The more I live in New York, the more I come to hate Al Sharpton...

- Of all the things I'm looking forward to when we come back to California, the top of the list reads like this, "Lunch with Yams at Squeeze-Inn."

- Walking to the subway at 1am gives you a whole new perspective on who exactly hangs out in your neighborhood...I've seen just about everything over these last two weeks, from two guys openly swapping spit up against a store window, to a guy peeing in the corner, to two white-haired Puerto Rican grannies stumbling out of bar...good times!!

- When it gets right down to it, Baby Mama was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.

- I'm in 6 fantasy baseball leagues this year, (which is driving Jen crazy), but the only one I TRULY care about is the Fox 40 league...and I'm currently in first place...keep your fingers crossed....

I spilt my coffee on a stranger (A Jen post of course)

It's no secret. I'm fairly clumsy... usually this fault only causes problems for myself. Well, this morning it caused a problem for someone else.

The train came. I along with several others walked in and sat down. We're the first stop so everyone got a seat and sat rather spaced apart. Across from me was a grandma and 2 kids. The kids were clearly not from NY and this was their first subway ride. The woman siting one seat away from me on my side of the train looked like a nurse or a medical assistant. She was wearing scrubs.

I had my purse next to me and my travel coffee mug (filled w/ yummy Aged Sumatra Peets coffee). I was digging in my purse for my Ipod when I hear the little girl ask her Grandma if you are allowed to drink on the train. The Grandma said "Yes as long as your careful." I was thinking how nice it was to hear a kid with manners, asking if something is "ok." And that's when I did the not "ok."

My purse hit the coffee mug. My coffee mug fell to the side on the bench and the lid opened and the lady in the scrubs got sprayed w/ Aged Sumatra. She didn't get soaked... but she definitely got sprayed.

I felt awful.

She looked shocked and I kept saying "I'm so sorry."

I offered her my Tide stick. She didn't want it and she got off at the next exit/. Presumably to go back home and change.

I still feel bad.

To that random stranger on the A train - I truly am sorry!!!

Why's Mike so quiet???

If you're wondering why I've been rather quiet as of late, its because I have been slammed with pope-related coverage, and well as working 13 of the last 14 days (including today, Sunday). Poor Jen is getting her Benedict fill as well this weekend (and having to rise at 2am as well), but I think I have her beat only because I've seemingly reported on NOTHING but the Holy Father for weeks now...the whole town has been giddy with anticipation, and I was telling my co-workers the other day, "I swear, if I see ONE MORE Pope-related promo..I'm becoming a Muslim out of spite.."

Actually I was hoping I'd get a chance to meet the Pope...so I could have him bless my matza for Passover...maybe he could have come over and I would have let him try to find the Afikomen?? Just as long as he didn't sit in Elijah's chair, all would have been well...maybe next time...

Well, the pontiff leaves tonight following a mass at Yankee Stadium (if you're lucky B-Neal, maybe he'll say a prayer for the Yankees mess of a starting rotation) but the fun doesn't end for me...

No...beginning next week, I move to a new shift at work...Mondays thru Fridays from noon to 6-630pm....along with that I begin training to be a backup producer for Charles Osgood and his Osgood Files radio shows that he does on a daily basis...

For those of you who aren't familiar with Mr. Osgood, he's the Paul Harvey of CBS radio....google Osgood Files and you'll find out more...

Anyways, I'm training with the regular producer all next week, and then filling in for him the following two weeks after that...the kicker is its a morning shift, as in EARLY morning...as in I have to be up at 2am to get here by 330am...produce Osgood til 10...find a place to take a quick snooze here in the CBS building (maybe I can use Andy Rooney's couch) and then work from noon to 6....

Basically 15 hour days...for 3 weeks straight...maybe I should get the Pope to say a prayer for me!

So if you don't hear from me much in this blog over the next 3 weeks, its probably because I'm asleep...

But I will try and write every now and then should funny stories arise or whatnot...

Hope to see everyone when we come back to California next month!!

Mike

Easy Like Sunday Morning...and Evening

So last weekend was my first weekend of being off the Sunday overnight shift...and thank God! It was actually nice to enjoy a full Sunday without having to worry about jumping on a train at 930 at night and heading downtown...

We started off Sunday with a brunch trip to the world famous Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park. We got to sit in the room that looks out on the garden, and it was amazing. It was like being in the middle of a Faberge Egg or carousel...just lots of pastels...flowers all over the place...very neat experience...plus the food was great. I had a goat cheese omelette and Jen had the eggs benedict on top of pepper jack biscuits with a Cajun crawfish hollandaise sauce...both were delicious....totally neat experience...we can't wait to take Mom and Dad Weiss the next time they come out....

After brunch, we came home, changed clothes, and it was off to KICKBALL with the social networking group up in our neck of the woods known as the UME (Upper Manhattan Experience)...great group of people who are totally fun to hang out with...

yep, kickball...you remember kickball, right? Played it when you were seven, lots of running around involved?? Well about 30 of us gathered at Inwood Hill Park Sunday morning to "kick it." We had been earlier divided into 2 teams, and Jen, myself and Dawn were all on the "Low Ballers"

And you know what? We were awesome! We had Jen bat (kick?) leadoff, and I'm proud to say that not only did she NOT injure herself (maybe I need to rethink her Evel Knievel nickname)..she got a hit (kick?) every time she was up!! In fact the only time she made an out was when she was on first and I kicked a fly ball that someone caught with less than 2 outs and we forgot to tell Jen that you don't want to run on that play...she was all the way to third by the time she realized she needed to come back...needless to say she was out by 40 feet, BUT we can go over the rules another time (see, babe, this is why you need to pay attention to me when I take you to baseball games!!)

As some folks know, I'm pretty competitive when it comes to sports...any sports (just ask Kevin and our bloody indoor Nerf basketball battles...or Mike and Dave and our trash talking air hockey wars)....much like Katie Neal, I don't like to lose (unlike Katie Neal, I don't resort to cheating when I am losing)....but losing was never going to happen for the Low Ballers!! Our team rocked...and we dominated the 9-inning contest 35-to-18. Yours truly went 6-for-7 (minus the previously noted fly ball) and Jen batted 1.000.

One of the members of the group (Claudia) spent the game taking pictures, and as soon as they get posted on the group website, we'll move some over here so you can see our athletic prowess captured on digital film...

That night, after having dinner at home, we went to the Piper's Kilt for karaoke night. Most of you know I can be talked into belting out a tune or two, especially if I have a couple of drinks in me. Well, karaoke nights at the Kilt are themed, and this one was "Kamikaze Karaoke"...that meant that someone else had to pick the song for you, and you weren't allowed to know what song you'd be singing until you hit the stage...

That means I couldn't rely on my old standbys (Cover of the Rolling Stone, Family Tradition, Secret Agent Man) to get by....so I wasn't even going to sing and was just going to take in the show, when another UME friend Jay strolled by and asked if I sang...actually I think Jen sold me out and told Jay to put my name in....he was at least friendly enough to ask what genre I would like, and I said "well, I'm pretty good with country music..."

He thought for a minute then snapped and said "I know the perfect song..." and off he went to put my name in...before coming back and saying, cryptically, "I picked the song...its a song I always like to hear sung at karaoke"

What the hell did that mean?? I spent the next 30 minutes racking my brain...could it be Ring of Fire? Rhinestone Cowboy? Friends in Low Places? What would it be...

So my name is called and I stride up there and the music begins and I look at the screen...and the lyrics "Well it was all that I could do to keep from crying.." hit the screen...and I immediately start laughing....its the old David Allen Coe song "You Never Even Call Me By My Name"

First off, thats one of my mother's favorite songs...second off, I know it pretty well, so off I go, and I make it through with a half-ass southern accent and some small theatrics...

Pictures of that, I believe, were also captured by Claudia and I'll post them as well when they do.

All in all, a pretty fun way to spend a Sunday...even if we returned home after midnight to the realization that I had to be up in 4 hours to go to work....

More Sundays like that are sure to come...we can't wait!!!

Mike (hmmm..sports themed...snarky comments..could it have been anything but a Mike post?)

Family Reunion Written by Mike, Illustrated by Jen

Since we've been out here, we've gotten to see Jen's parents and both of our sisters, but my folks hadn't been able to make the trek out here...until last week. Yep, Barb and Jack rolled in on Thursday and were here until Sunday night. Mom had never been to NYC and Dad hadn't been since the early 80s, so they (and we) were in full tourist mode.

One of the funniest moments happened right off the bat. Jen had the day off, so she had gone down to meet my parents at the airport and ride the subway back with them to Inwood. I got off work early and beat them home, so I took Cooper down to the subway station to wait for them. Well, when they came up with their luggage, he noticed Jen...noticed the luggage, backed up (probably thinking "oh my God these bags are going to kill me"...thats our dog)...then he stopped for a minute, looked at my folks, REALIZED who it was, and flipped out in joy. It was hilarious to see him recognize them and then get really excited...Cooper loves his Grandma and Grandpa Watts!!

Where did we take them first? Well OF COURSE it was the PIPER'S KILT! Gotta love that, "Hey Mom? Dad? I know you want to see a bunch of stuff, but first you gotta check out the bar that Mike spends way too much time at..."

After that on Thursday, we took them down to the World Trade Center Site, then we came home and rested before attending Thursday night's Yankees-Blue Jays game at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, the wrong team won that night ($#^% Yankees!) but a good time was had by all.

Friday morning I had to work my normal shift, so the folks went down towards Jen's work and she got them into the Museum of Natural History. They then proceeded to spend about five hours there (can't say I blame them, I could spend five DAYS in there) and then took themselves (look at the parents, figuring out the subway!!) to Times Square and wandered around there. They returned to Jen's work to watch George Stephanopoulous (or as Mom likes to call him, "George Snuffleupagus") fill in for Charlie on the news, then I met up with them outside of Jen's work and we headed to Carmine's for dinner. Dawn was able to join us, which was great, so Mom and Dad could see that we do have friends here in this town. All five of us had a splendid meal.

Saturday was the big touristy day. Beginning with a walk pretty much through the entire lower half of Central Park. We then proceeded down to midtown, where Mom expressed a craving for a "genuine New York deli pastrami sandwich." Not a problem...we took them to the Carnegie Deli, where we proceeded to eat about 3 cattle worth of meat. After lunch, we headed down on the "1" train to the bottom of Manhattan and rode the Staten Island ferry out and back so they could get a good look at the Statue of Liberty. From there, it was back up to midtown and the Empire State Building. Jen and I sat that one out, and we decided to go drink while Mom and Dad were up there. Jen managed to run smack into a wall mantel (I swear, that girl could get injured in a padded room) but other than that, all went well. After the folks were done, we met up again, Jen and Mom did a little Macy's window shopping while Dad and I had an extra drink, then we came home and ordered in food following a long LOOOONG day of sightseeing.

Poor Dad, I think we tried to kill his bad knee with all the walking he did Saturday. As you can see, he's getting some sarcastic sympathy from his son.

On the other hand, he'll be in great conditioning spirit for his hockey tournament in Florida later this month, so...you're welcome Dad!!

Sunday we made it easy. Brunch at our favorite place up in our neighborhood, plus a wander around Inwood Hill Park with Cooper, then we headed up the hill to the Cloisters museum, where Mom and Dad wandered around for a bit before coming back to the house, and then waiting for the car to come pick them up and take them to the airport.

All in all, a really nice time, and it was so good to see my parents after six months of not viewing their smiling faces. We can't wait for their next trip out, and we can't wait to see them when we RETURN to California for vacation (36 days and counting!!)