Wednesday, June 8, 2011

A. Weiner Rises...With Certitude

    For those of you wondering why A. Weiner has not stepped down and resigned...it's quite simple. He doesn't believe that he has done anything wrong and that what he did do has noting to do with the job he was elected for. Which I have to admit I do truly find in a bizarre way fascinating. He really believes that he will get away with texting/twittering/phone sexing women while he is married and not only keep his job...but take the next step on his way to the Presidency of the United States as the next Mayor of New York. I think he sees a Bill Clinton that got away with an affair...so this is nothing. Well, while I'm not exactly a big fan of Slick Willy...however, he is a very canny politician who had an incredible machine behind him. A Weiner is a Congressman in a district in a state and doesn't quite have a Clinton machine.

    The real question is was all of this done via "mobile devices" or has he been with any of these women. I don't think this story has fully run it's course yet & I'm curious to see what else comes out. Keep in  mind...it started as an underwear pic and has escalated to multiple pics (possibly of A.Weiner in state of excitement) to multiple women, phone sex, text sex, and advising a Porn Star on how to handle the media and possibly offering his "staff" (no pun intended here) to support her...which I believe is illegal.

    If he didn't...then what exactly what was he thinking about doing this as a married man...or for that manner any guy. I'm guessing that A Weiner figured out a while ago that he may need to not only rely on his looks...but possibly his charming personality and brains. He may have noticed that the way women looked at him in college vs the way he gets viewed as a Congressman. He may have come to learn that Kissinger was right "Power is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac". Is he really that much of an insecure narcissist that he needed the adoration of these women via a mobile device? With a wife that travels a lot could he not take matters into his "own hand(s)" with past memories or a stimulating movie? Did he really need to take pics of himself next to two cats and use that as a come on?

    I'm worried sometimes when I send out an e-mail that has no pics and nothing major on it...what part of texting and e-mailing creating a personal record eludes A. Weiner, A Tiger, & C. Lee? Do they really believe that they are beyond the law and common decency? Do they have no respect for themselves...their families, their friends? I'm not going to presume to judge them on their morals. Who among else is such an angel. However...showing some common sense is something else. Knocking up your maid...maybe a bad idea. Using campaign money to pay for your bastards support...maybe that might come up...and is illegal. Offering your "staff" to a entertainer and talking and texting from your office doing work hours...maybe not the brightest idea? Going to the same "escort" at the same "establishment"....maybe there could be records?

    If A. Weiner had a sherd of decency or respect for anyone at all he would have resigned. One thing that I also find very troubling is that he has not been ordered to step down by his party. Both sides of the aisle are guilty of like stupid acts. When Mr Lee put up pics of himself on Craig's flexing his upper body he resigned immediately. Why is Pelosi not making him step down? Why is she going to spend tax payer dollars on an investigation that will take months and go nowhere!?!

    Again I could care less that he was texting pics of himself like an idiot. I do care that he is an elected official that is a blatant untrustworthy classless liar. Not who I want representing me or you for that matter. But hey...don't cry for A. Weiner...he'll be fine. Once he loses his job he will reach out to his contacts in the "entertainment" industry make a straight to DVD movie likely titled "A.Weiner Rises" and then get his own Reality show...after he is the next Bachelor and rocks out on the Jersey Show on MTV this summer...

Game of Throngs: The Sport of Queens

Throngs...(A large, densely packed crowd of people or animals: "he pushed his way through the throng") not thongs, so get your head out of the gutter or these ladies will slap you silly! They say that three times is the charm and this past Saturday night was my third "experience" with Ladies Roller Derby. The first was watching Kansas City Bombers starring the one and only Raquel Welch as a kid. The second was meeting a girl working at a gin tasting that was in a league in another state.

    The game takes place on a basketball-sized court where the players have to skate (on old school roller skates) around and around a pretty tight track. They go by names like Suzy Hotrod, Hyper Lynch, Bimbo Slice and Fisti Cuffs. From what I could figure out two players race each other, which in roller derby means they need to break through the rest of the opposing team trying to block them. Once they make it around once a ref follows them over a two-minute period to make as many rounds as they can while being blocked, hip-checked, pushed, pulled, etc.

    The game is split into two halves (there is a halftime show believe it or not – Swing Dancers). The first was kinda slow and it wasn't as aggressive as I expected (wanted). The second half was another story. The home team Manhattan Mayhem was down and came out swinging against the Queens of Pain. Alas it was to be the Queens night.

    Now one of the best parts of this event as you may imagine was the crowd. It varied from the fans, friends & lovers of the players to their families that included kids and gentlemen with Roller Derby Dad t-shirts. As tattooed as the players were the crowd was a bit more. They were rather colorful as well personality wise i.e. shouting out at one point to the Queens of Pain "Get back on the 7!!!" They really seemed into it and my friends and I got caught up in it when it picked up the second half. Make no mistake. These ladies are athletes and good ones. Suzy Hotrod was a standout and would give most men a run for their money if not an outright beating on most fields of play. For something different and fun check out the upcoming schedule on the Gotham Girls website.

    Of special note, do not show up at the event "heavy." You have to go through metal detectors and a slew of well-armed officers. Not for nothing, but who goes to see Ladies Roller Derby "heavy" in the first place?

Manhattan Mayhem plays at the Hunter College Sport Complex on 68th St. and Lexington Ave.

Ninh's Banh Mi: Not Far From Me...

    Before I get into my review of Ninh's let me start by telling a brief story to put this into perspective. Some years back when I first got into Port I learned from some Australian business contacts that Penfolds made a great port but in very limited quantities and likely not available here. I looked around and couldn't find it. A good friend of mine was going to Oz to visit a mutual friend and said he would bring me back a bottle. When he came back he had a bottle of Port but not the Penfold's Grandfather. He couldn't find it anywhere in Sydney.

    To make a long story short, not long afterward I went to one of my local liquor stores (Windsor Wine Shop 474 3rd Ave) to pick up some wine. While looking around...up on top of the top shelf above the port were a few bottles of the Penfold's Grandfather port. Turns out the owner has been carrying wines from Oz for a while...so every now and then his distributor gives him something special.

    I love Bahn Mi and was psyched that a shop finally opened up in the culture-less toxic blighted hood of Kips Bay (a poor man's Murray Hill)*  Ninh's like many is a tiny small front with a few tables that makes a really fresh great Bahn Mi. I went with their classic version which is comprised of Vietnamese ham, pate, and ground pork (all sandwiches have daikon, carrots, mayo, cucumber and cilantro). They have a number of version including grilled pork, beef, curry chicken and a couple of veggie friendly versions all for only $6.50.

    Ninh''s has a few sides and a couple of salads. I went with the shrimp summer rolls (3 for $5). They to were very good, really fresh and came with a tasty peanut dipping sauce. I'm not a bubble tea guy...so I can't comment on them...though they do come in a number of flavors. I do need to try their Vietnamese coffee.

    Now...why you may be asking yourself did I start with the Port from Oz story? I was recently in Vietnam in Saigon the business capital and the major beach towns of Mui Ne and Nha Trang and I didn't see a whole lot of what we think of as Banh Mi. First it turns out that it simply means sandwich in Vietnamese and second the few times I saw them it was just spam with carrot and possibly daikon on a french bread. So after looking all over Vietnam for Bahn Mi...turns out one of the better ones is right in my very own backyard.

*see previous pieces on the subject and yes...I'm being somewhat sarcastic...

Ninh's Vietnamese Sandwiches and Bubble Tea is located at 577 2nd (Btwn 31st and 32nd St)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

X-Chix: Nazi Hunter Review

    This is the "sleeper" hit of the summer. While I used a cheesy B movie title to get your attention...make no mistake, X-Men: First Class is a grade A 4 star (yes out of 4) movie. Why? Quite simply because it has the 4 components of any great movie regardless of the genre...

  • Great Story
  • Great Script
  • Great Acting
  • Great Cast

    There is no 3-D here and while there is CGI it is used to enhance the story and action scenes not make-up for a lack of them. The key that makes this work so well is the great job on character development and how they interact with each other.

     The story at its core is what the comics were all about originally...not spandex and BAP...WHAM...POW...but about being different, being a minority, being judged by how you look..or sound or dress vs what is inside and who you are. Man's fear of those perceived as different from oneself, the stupidity and ignorance of prejudice and the horrors and atrocities that man has committed against his fellow man and continues to do so . It's about what makes us who we are. What makes what could have been good people bad...and why do those who could have easily gone bad stay good? The responsibility of power, it's abuse and ramifications. How sometimes we hurt the ones we love while not meaning to. OK...now that we've gone deep...so to speak, now let's get on with the fun...

     When I read that Vaughn...Matthew Vaughn who did Layer Cake (awesome Brit gangster flick that was blatantly if not intently Daniel Craig's audition to play Bond) was doing the next X-Men flick and setting it in the 60's...I was psyched because there was no doubt that he was a going to do a Bond/Avengers (Ms Peel not Marvel) take on this...which is exactly what he did. What I didn't anticipate was how well he knew some of the characters back stories (NERD ALERT: he does use artistic license...so don't freak out that everything is not exactly like in the comics) and making a young Lehnsherr...Erik Lehnsherr*(Magneto) a Nazi Hunter was pure genius. Make no mistake...this movie is Michael Fassbender's audition to play Bond when Craig has had enough (I'm a Bond fanatic and he passed with flying colors). Thus, the Nazi Hunter comment. This is a major component of the story and Bond fans and those who love the perverse joy in killing histories most despicable villains....Nazi's will rejoice.

    In regards to the X-Chix...good luck in finding a more beautiful and talented cast. January Jones of Mad Men nailed the Emma Frost role. She looks like a Playboy fantasy version of Grace Kelly with boobs in white leather as a Bond Girl. Jennifer Lawrence of (Winters Bone who is only 20 and already almost won an Oscar) is Blue Skinned Shape changing mystique. Beautiful in disguise...but deeply troubled by her true appearance, Zoe Kravitz plays an angel with a dark side while Rose McGowen here plays Moira MacTaggert (in the comics she is a geneticist) the CIA agent that enlists Xavier's help when she stumbles onto mutants on a mission using her "assets" in a scene right out of a 60's spy flick. The boys here include Beast, Havok, and Darwin led by a young Professor Xavier. The baddies Azazel and Riptide are led by Sebastian Shaw (think super-powered Bond baddie). If you don't know them from the comics yo will learn all about them in the movie...we try to maintain being SPOILER FREE here...

   The story centers on why Magneto became a villain while Xavier choose the path of good. From the death camps of the Nazi's to the Cuban Missile Crisis we see how these me were shaped by forces both beyond and in their control. There are plenty of great action scenes and some good humour as well. There are 2 great cameo's and at least 5 great origins explained. Make no mistake...the rest of this Summer's supposed blockbusters have their work cut out for them...if not only all Super-Hero..but all movies were this good...you wouldn't mind paying $10+ to see a flick in the theater...

*As a kid from what I remember Magneto's origin was that he was a Holocaust survivor but a gypsy. It was later on and now that they are really exploring his back story as a Jewish child whose Father was a proud German who served Germany in WWI and was a hero. A man  that could not believe that the Nazi party would rise and go on to build the camps and try to wipe out a people. It was in the camps as a Sonderkommando (google it) that he lost his faith in man and his powers manifested.