Archive for September 2009
Gateways To Science
My writing and photography has garnered a fair dose of newspaper column inches, a few magazine and website articles and, well, more than 3000 of my own blog posts, but not much by way of good, old-fashion, hard-cover books. In 2004, my pal Ron Lieber hooked me up with some expat pals of his, Mike…
Read MoreU2 @ Giants Stadium: Vision Over Visibility
The lights began to dim. The stadium began to rumble. The band’s massive, claw-shaped 360° began to billow smoke. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” counted down from the outsized speakers: “5… 4… 3… 2…” One by one, Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono took their positions, then launched headlong into a pulse-racing, soul-shaking block of stadium anthems:…
Read MoreThat Dust Cloud Disappears Without A Trace
Yesterday morning at 11:27 I Tweeted, “Noon meeting. Two o’clock flight. Nine o’clock U2 show. Bets, anyone?” At the time, I wouldn’t have wagered even a gentleman’s handshake; the communique derived from Overland Park, Kansas, some 1,201 miles west of Giant’s Stadium. Too many moving parts were in play, not the least of which an…
Read MoreThe Perfect Compliment
When I first moved to New York City, my bets were placed equally between writing for and being on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. The same could have been said of The New York Times, or MTV. Yeah, I probably should have checked the odds. But we’re talking 1995 here. I was 24-years-old. I…
Read MorePretty Good Shape (For The Shape I’m In)
The Abads are a force to be reckoned with. Example. Last Saturday night, The Abads celebrated Chris’ 31st birthday with a roucous night of Cranium (yes, the board game). I showed up from VMA rehearsals well after one o’clock. The shenanigans didn’t wrap until just before five. The next morning, Chris send an email to…
Read MoreAbadfest 2: Electric Boogaloo (Fall 2009)
Radio City Station
For at least a day now (it’s been tough to keep track, frankly; the last few have been punctuated by black holes where my memory used to be), my email inbox has been slammed by a steady flow of identical, potentially editorially-salient spam comments: Buy Valium. For my mother, whose graduation from Columbus High School…
Read MorePride (In The Name Of Love)
I stepped into Times Square at 12:33 tonight, some sixteen hours after first stepping foot in the office. The sidewalk was slick. “Huh,” I thought. “Weather.” This afternoon, I stood outside MTV video Music Awards rehearsals at Radio City Music Hall as one of our crews interviewed the Creative Director in a cramped, curbside mobile…
Read MoreMoment Of Zen: Smith Point, Nantucket
I could hear the back-to-work buzz before I even stirred from the sheets this morning. Trucks slammed their way up Tenth Avenue. Cabs honked. Tires screeched. There was an actual traffic jam stepping out of the elevator this morning. Blue blazers stumbled over dog walkers tripping over baby carriages. There was nearly a four-person pile…
Read MoreThe Day I Almost Ran A Marathon (By Accident)
With all the glass, concrete and stone, it’s easy to forget just how much water there is in and around New York City. The City’s total area is roughly 470 square miles, some 165 of which is water. From the Hudson and East Rivers to Flushing and Jamaica Bays, there are over a 1,000 miles…
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