Bob Smizik Makes me Crazy
And not in a good, warm-fuzzy sort of way. He wrote two columns on Penguins fans last week that made me want to throw my computer across the room.
The first column was a condescending, let's pat the little fans of a sucky team on the head, slap in the face. He found the idea of fan loyalty to the Penguins mystifying, simply because we insist on attending games long after Pirates and Steelers fans would have taken their ball caps and terrible towels and headed for the exits.
Umm, if I recall, the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs are not traditionally banner teams. Yet I could not find two seats in Wrigley Field to save my life. You might want to rethink your logic.
The second column was a condescending, don't worry little fans, you'll get your multi-purpose arena lecture. So Bob, let us go over this one more time.
- Ed Rendell accepts $150,000 in campaign contributions from Forest City Enterprises. Dan Onorato and Bob O'Connor accept a combined $45,000 in contributions from Forest City Enterprises.
- Ed Rendell appoints three of the seven members to the Gaming Control Board.
- Forest City Enterprises partners with Harrah's and applies for the only open slots license in Pittsburgh.
- Ed Rendell puts together a Plan B for funding an arena if the Board decides not to choose the Isle of Capri plan. Plan B calls for a voluntary donation of $7.5 million a year towards a new arena from the organization awarded the license.
- PITG Gaming LLC agrees to contribute $7.5 million a year if awarded the license
- Forest City Enterprises refuses to agree to contribute until the Penguins agree to remain in Pittsburgh. The Penguins cannot agree, as that would be breaking the commitment they made to the Isle of Capri.
- Dan Onorato goes before the Gaming Control Board and tells the board to not allow the need for a new multi-purpose arena to factor in their decision because “the issue has been resolved”. Which is news to 2/3 of the city of Pittsburgh.
At the Movies
Thank You for Smoking
I like Aaron Eckhart (he is easy on the eyes) so viewing this film over the weekend was not a hardship. It turned out to be a very funny satire on the lobbying industry. William H. Macy (another one of my favorite actors) was pitch perfect. My description can not do it justice. Go see it.
Pride and Prejudice
I watched this film over the weekend as well. Keira Knightley is excellent as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen is well suited as Darcy.
Unfortunately, the action and plot is compressed, which speeds up the movie to an almost frenetic pace and eliminates most of the Lydia/Wickham subplot. Rent the 1995 BBC version instead. It is a longer, more faithful adaptation. And the bonus is watching Colin Firth give off smoldering looks for five hours.
City Walks Decks
Chronicle Books LLC publishes decks of cards with an illustrated map on one side and info about the walk on the other. There are fifty cards in each deck. Walks are available for the following cities:
- London
- New York
- Paris
- Rome
- San Francisco
- Washington DC
- Amsterdam
- Boston
- Chicago
I like the idea of these decks! I am becoming bored with my travel books and it appears that these maps will contain more walks than my books can find room for. Also, I like the ease of simply carrying a few cards instead of an entire book. Will have to remember this for my next trip!
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to scan one of the cards and post, but I'm pretty sure that would violate the publisher's copyright.
ReplyDeleteThe deck is very cool. The Paris deck is modeled after the arrondissements, so you can (theoretically) walk the city from the center to the outskirts. The metro stops are clearly labeled and the back of the cards have historical notes and suggestions on places to stop.
I think I'm going to pick up a couple of other cities in anticipation of traveling again.