Random

1. The Day After Tomorrow is a stereotypical NYC slam poem: good intentions; overt but shallow politics; a handful of clever moments. New York City flooded; an environment-hating, Dick Cheney-lookalike VP; and American refugees fleeing across the Mexican border are the main highlights of what is basically a special effects exhibition that borrows liberally from the same formula that birthed Independence Day, minus the semi-coherent script. Overall, a guilty pleasure. Hopefully they'll be able to add a disclaimer to the DVD that "no careers were harmed in the making of this motion picture" as I like Dennis Quaid and am…

1. Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican is without question the best autobiography I've ever read. Her writing is vibrant, fluid, and concise. Her evocation of life in PR as Americanization slowly seeps in is deadeye brilliant, and her transition to life in the margins in Brooklyn is heart-rending. She never uses a hammer to make her points, choosing the subtle, the offhand, the seemingly innocuous instead. Edwidge Danticat should take notes. Ernesto Quinones should be embarrased. 2. What ever happened to Junot Diaz? 3. Up next, Matt Ruff's Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls. 4.…

1. Call me a sap but last night's Survivor catapulted the show back to the top of my favorites list. Rob proposing to Amber, before the winner was declared, was one of the coolest TV moments ever. EVER! 2. There was more drama, humor and energy in last night's three-hour finale than in the last three seasons of Friends. 3. For all those complaining about reality shows being bad for TV and being of lesser-quality than its scripted counterparts, Survivor is the George McKibbens that shoots that theory down. 4. Speaking of George, the Urbana trio has appropriately dropped out…

1. TGIF! Finally. Heading up to Providence, RI tomorrow for a long weekend of nothing more than relaxing. Saturday dinner with the MacMillan trio of Worcester will be fun. Might hit Roger Williams Park on Sunday. Definitely the crepe place off Thayer we found a couple of years ago. If it's even still there. Possibly up to Boston for Marché? Wish it was going to be a little warmer, though. 2. Pat Tillman. Hate the war, respect the soldier. Especially one that voluntarily signed up knowing he was going to be fighting in a war, walking away from millions of…

1. There's something about the concept of The Swan that really turns my stomach. 2. If George Huff isn't in the top three of American Idol, America deserves a daily primetime version of The Swan. 3. Despite his accent, which is getting inexplicably stronger each week, I'm rooting for Boston Rob on Survivor: All Stars. 4. Anyone blaming Russell Simmons for "lowering the bar" in the slam scene via Def Poetry needs to do some soul-searching and question whether or not there's a little latent racism to come to terms with. 5. Bad poetry sucks, regardless of its subject matter,…