Dogs

Sign in front of a building on 14th Street.  Why? because there are too many dogs in NYC.  This is probably a very controversial subject.  People feel that their pet is a part of the family.  Many families in NYC are comprise of one person and a dog becomes their partner in all things.  They take them to the bookstore, supermarket, deli, and luncheonette.  Many businesses in my neighborhood leave bowls of water and 'treats' inside the store for their customers' pets.  Dogs are outlawed in any establishment that serves food, but many people ignore that.

 Many areas in the city that were once for the sole use of vegetation, benches, and playgrounds now give some of that space to 'doggie parks'.  In my neighborhood there are 3 parks, Stuyvesant Park, Tompkins Square Park, and Washington Square Park.  Each one now has a doggie park.  For the record, one of the best relationships I had growing up was with my dog Duke.  I know why people love their dogs.
However, there are 7 billion people in the world.  In the U.S. we spend over $50 billion on our pets.  There are 1.4 million dogs in NYC.  We have a pooper scooper law in NYC but it is not strictly enforced.  Let's say 99% of dog owners pick up after their dogs.  That means 14,000 dog poops are left on our streets at least once a day.  All of the dogs, 1.4 million, are peeing on our trees and plants and streets.  Urine kills the trees and the plants.  Yes, the dog urine and poop is eventually washed away when it rains but it goes untreated into our waterways.
What can be done?  I think people here in NYC are woefully uneducated about their pet.  A dog needs a yard, some space.  Our city needs its plants and trees and waterways to be pristine. Maybe we need sandy doggie walks on the street where a pet can do his business and it can be removed.

Movie Time

The awards are happening.  The academy awards are at the end of the month and I haven't seen many of the nominees.  I've usually seen most of them by January.  Two of the movies up for awards I saw through Netflix.  The first one I want to mention is 'Drive'.  The academy award nominee for best supporting actor is Albert Brooks.  The star of the movie is Ryan Gosling.  I believe he was the latest recipient of the title 'world's sexiest man' from People Magazine.  I've seen 2 of his movies, Drive and 'Lars and the real Girl'.  In both his total dialogue would fit on one page.  Lars was OK.  Some wit, a quirky character and a loving view of small town American life.  In 'Drive' the main character, Gosling, shoots one guy with a shotgun, stabs another with a curtain rod, another with a knife, and after kissing his neighbor's wife he stomps a man to death while they are all riding in an elevator.  The movie ends with him sitting in a car alone with the soundtrack playing a song whose lyrics are, and I'm paraphrasing, 'he's a hero, a real human being'.
The only thing I liked in the movie is the fact that Albert Brooks, one of the bad guys, is a Hollywood producer and a cutthroat.  Literally, he cuts peoples throats. 
Moving on.
Last night I saw 'The Iron Lady' with Meryl Streep.  Meryl is up for best actress and she's good as usual.  The movie less so.  They do a lot of flashbacks to Margaret Thatcher's life while in the present she is undergoing dementia, hallucinating her dead husband, who is played by the great Jim Broadbent.  There is too much of the dementia and too little of the Thatcher years.  But they did show some of the effects of her policies.  For me Thatcher is from the same school as Newt Gingrich.  They're preachers and the sermon is that the other side is evil and bad for the country.  Even though the other side are the duly elected representatives of the people.  But then of course Thatcher and Gingrich know what's best for us all: 'Be quiet and do as you're told'.  The film actually has her saying: 'I won't compromise.  I won't be conciliatory.'  Not a great policy in a democracy.
But then, thanks to netflix, I got to see 'A better Life' and it's wonderful.  The leading man Demian Bichir is up for an Oscar, and well-deserved.  The director is Chris Weitz who did 'About a Boy' which I loved and produced 'A single Man',  and he's from NYC.  The movie tells the story of an illegal immigrant from Mexico trying as a single parent to keep his teenage son out of trouble and away from the gangs in LA.  Best scene: when he confronts the man who stole his dream when he stole his truck.  I presume it would be considered an American film.  But it's not nominated for best picture.

N.Y. Giants are The Champs

They won the super bowl on Sunday and today, after a ticker-tape parade, NY is giving them the keys to the city.  I got downtown at 8:30AM; the ceremony is at 1PM and it was already crowded.  So I left.  Do not like crowds and the press is reporting an estimated 1 million people.
But it was very tempting to stay, because the Giants have played some incredible football.  Manning [MVP] has been connecting with his receivers in some spectacular plays.  Sunday's catch by Mario Manningham in the fourth quarter was one of the most spectacular catches ever.

Americans love their team sports: football, basketball, hockey and baseball.  Some folks pay thousands of dollars to attend the games.  Last Sunday, an hotel room at the Budget Inn, $898.99;  next weekend it's back to $55 a night.  Monday before the game 3,000 seats were available from $2,100 to $516,484, the $16,484 is probably shipping and handling fees.  Parking $499, next weekend, $60. Airfare from NY to Indianapolis between $1,379 to $1,837.  Next weekend $400.

The home of rugged individualism, paradoxically loves its team sports.  Track and field will never attract that kind of money.  Golf, tennis, auto racing have a lot of fans, but your average American is much more likely to know who won the Super Bowl then who won the U.S. Open.
Then there is the violence.  Students in Amherst, Massachusetts rioted after the game and 19 were arrested.  Violence in Egypt continues after riots at a soccer game that killed at least 73 people.  It is a universal response when your team wins or loses: riot.  There is that much emotion in spectator sports.

Meanwhile in NYC we have this going on in Union Square:

 Riding with George Washington

He's protesting the lack of freedom in China, and he looks like one of the college kids from NYU, or Cooper Union.   He's going to sit there all week, if necessary, until something is done.
As Jack Paar would say 'I kid you not', he's giving us one week!!
I guess he figures that now the football season is over we can devote more time to world freedom.