not the most elegant solution

this story is amazing.

the former governor of North Dakota, Ed Schafer, apparently runs a telecommunications company that is planning on providing all of the state with cell phone coverage. this idea is great, except for the part about using giant latex balloons floating 20 miles up in the air to get it done.

i'm all for trying out new ideas and all that, but can this plan really make sense?

here's an example of some math that i just did:
*North Dakota is about 360 miles wide.

*these balloons would travel at about 30 mph as they drift across the state.

that means that if you released one balloon on, let's say, the western border, it would take only 12 hours to cross into Minnesota.

*so, for 24 hour coverage, you'd need two balloons per day.

*that's 730 balloons per year.

*but, Ed says that they'll always have nine balloons in the air in order to provide total coverage. so, 730x9 = 6,570 total balloons.

that's a lot.

then, consider that some poor team of guys has to spend their days chasing these things as they come crashing to earth, only to re-install them and send them flying again.

if i had to pick some music to go along with all of this nutsiness, THIS would have to be it. obviously.

of course, maybe somehow all of this will end up working.

but seriously though, there's NO way, right?

furnace maintenance


for some reason, i was thinking about Furnace Maintenance this morning.

people from Minot and different parts of Canada are most likely the only folks that will know this band.

does anyone know if they are still playing?

i was glad to see that they actually have a website up. there's not much on it and i don't know if it's ever going to be updated again, but it does have four songs that you can listen to if you want.


and since i'm riding the long-lost memory train today...

go and download this awesome Lush concert from Bradley's Almanac.

he was born 28 years ago today...

buy this fellow some drinks tonight, would ya?

my old grocery store
since it's a slow week in anthony news, we are going on a tour of what was, at least until a few saturdays ago, my neighborhood grocery store.

ladies and gentlemen, i present you with one of Greenpoint's scuzzier grocers, Met Food:








i hope that all of you midwesterners appreciate your giant, bright and spacious Albertsons, Sunmarts, and Piggly Wigglies.

on to detroit...

the bus!

the great move of '06

i spent all of last weekend boxing up the contents of my old apartment that i have lived in for the last five years.

five years.

jesus.

i then carried those many, many boxes up four flights to my new home.

super special thanks go out to my friends vincent (for providing an additional strong back) and eric f. (for providing the all-important mini-van).

immediately afterwards and before i could unpack, i fell victim to a nasty case of the flu.

son of a bitch.

today, finally, is the first day since saturday night where i feel halfways healthy.
i haven't watched so much crappy daytime television since i was in high school.

anyways, goodbye diamond street. i'll miss your classy sounding name, but not your drunken Polish guys passed out on my stoop all of the time.

gardens, fish, skyscrapers, and foosball

last saturday, my pal vince and i headed out to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to look at plants and trees.

it's a pretty amazing place, even in the winter.


the greenhouses are amazing. one moment you are in the desert, then you walk through a door and you are in the jungle.

crazy.


outside, they have these pools and ponds. they were frozen over, but you could still see the big, giant goldfish swimming around underneath.


once we were done at the gardens, we met up with my friend libby for lunch.

after eating, libby wanted to go get some fish for her apartment. that meant that it was off to the pet store.

i should mention that libby lives in Park Slope, which is a pretty nice neighborhood. this is why i was so surpised to find that the pet store that we went to was easily the most disgusting, godawful and downright gross place ever.

there were flies (lots of them) flying around the poor hamsters and guinea pigs and the parrots looked like crap. it was sad.


it's a big decision, buying fish.


once libby had chosen which three lucky fellows to save from that hellhole, we went back to her lovely apartment and had hot chocolate.



it was a great day.


on monday, my good friend brian came in from san francisco for a brief business trip. brief meaning one day.

i had never been to the newly re-opened "Top Of The Rock", so we went there to check it out.


i thought that it was seriously impressive and badass.





go there!

later that night, we ended up playing foosball back in brooklyn.



it was really fantastic to have brian around again. next time (in march?), he should stay longer.

oh, and happy friday the 13th everybody!

the day after tomorrow is now

it was 60 degrees outside in new york today.

it's also january.


the end is nigh.

christmas in minot, new year's in new york

ok, the final chapter of 2005...

during the process of removing my handsome beard, i decided that i wanted to have a moustache. well at least for a couple of days.

here's what i learned about a man who wears a moustache:
that man commands respect!
(he also ellicits laughter at himself whenever he passes by a mirror)

during the last night said moustache, there was an impromtu gathering of old friends at my house.

it was a pretty fun, yet strange night (i'm looking in your direction sheldon...). the best surprise was having steve klein in attendance!
please note the respect that i am commanding.

next year i hope to host an official holiday party again since the calendar didn't allow it this time around. please start considering your outfits now


the next morning, i went out for breakfast with my ma at the delicious Homesteaders restaurant.

i was delighted to have my first hash browns of the trip.

god damn. hash browns are so good.

seriously.

later that night, we all went to my sister's Bump 'n' Tilt basement again.



david did his best to top my high score in Galaga...

...while my sister and matt tried out the new pinball game.

so. much. fun.

oh, i think that i forgot to mention this, but much like it still is now, the weather during this entire trip was so crazy. it was 40 degrees. in north dakota. in december.

this meant that for the first time in my entire life, i did NOT have a white christmas. it was really, really strange and had a big effect on my overall christmas spirit.

nuts.

thankfully, a couple of days after the 25th, it finally did snow.


see how much better everything looks?

Christmastown U.S.A.!




here is my ma and i on our way to lunch.

my brother connor ended up getting this crazy sandwich that has chicken strips, bacon, french fries, cheese and mozzarella sticks on it.

shudder...

later that night, we all found ourselves at a bar.

at a bar, playing foosball.

my sister is a natural at this game. it was a sight to behold.


she's also quite proficient in the arena of lightsaber battles.

my maniac friend dylan somehow had three (3!!!) of these ultra-realistic and mega-expensive things at his house.

the funny thing is just how easy it is to find yourself in a pretty fierce star wars style duel after a night of drinking.

it was shortly after this picture that my lovely, darling sister savagely stabbed me right in the throat.

and thus ended the night's fun.

ouch.


the next afternoon was new year's eve. i was heading back home to brooklyn on the afternoon flight.

i would land in new york at 10:30pm, leaving just enough time to find my way to the big new year's party by midnight.

right?


my departing party. david, you are a true gentleman for seeing me off.

it ended up that my flight left minot a half hour late.

since my layover in minneapolis was only going to be 45 minutes, this left me only 15 minutes to get from one side of that huge airport to the other before my connecting flight left.

once we landed, i sprinted as best as i could while carrying all of my bags and presents and things.

i made it to my gate with one minute to spare. i was exhausted but relieved.

that is, until i saw that the flight to new york was going to take off 45 minutes late.

ugh. that would get me in at 11:15pm. i would be cutting it very close.

after watching more precious minutes slip away while we boarded, taxied around the runway, and then finally took off, i began to realize that i wasn't going to make it anywhere that fun for the countdown.

the plane finally landed at 11:20pm. as i waited for my luggage to come out onto the conveyor belt, i was calling my pals to see where they were so i could try to get to them in time. during one of these calls, my phone slipped out of my hands and smashed against the floor. the display was totally cracked and unreadable.

jesus.

now i couldn't even tell who i was calling anymore.

i ended up getting my luggge to the taxi queue at 11:50. there were about 150 people in line in front of me.

i was screwed.

everyone in line was pretty bummed out about the whole situation. even so, at midnight we all yelled 'Happy New Year!' anyways. it ended up being kind of awesome.


12:00am. 01/01/2006.

by the time i made it to my pals, it was 12:30 and they were at the royal oak.

as you can see by the glasses on the table, i had a lot of catching up to do.



i have no idea who that dancing fellow is, but he was pretty funny.

it ended up being a pretty good night afterall (as far as new year's go anyway...).

the next day, vince and i dropped in on adam and min and we ended up watching woody allen's awesome, amazing, brilliant film 'Manhattan'.

so, despite the broken phone and airport drama, the year started off well. here's hoping that we all have an astounding and productive 2006.