On a Monday....

The auto show, Imus and the West Village...

It was a strange week last week in many ways. For me, personally, it was one of those weeks where I was looking for something to do. The stinky weather, which seems never to end, abated some last Monday. The sun was bravely trying to poke its rays through the gloom.

I decided to check out this park in Dover New Jersey off route 46 where in past years the cherry blossom trees have burst forth in pink perfusion with a display rivaled only by Washington DC. This is the second time this season that I have visited this park hoping that there would be some color. But alas, the trees are bare. I know there are some cherry blossoms somewhere, but evidently not in Dover. I'll check back at the end of this week to see if there is even an inkling of a bud. Very disappointing. It's a hundred mile round trip and with gas at three bucks a gallon it becomes an expensive proposition.

On Tuesday I did something I have not done in years. I went to the N.Y. International Automobile Show. When I was a kid this show was a yearly ritual. My friends and I would make what could best be described as a pilgrimage to the temple of all that was holy on the West Side. The old New York Coliseum on Columbus Circle was the Mecca for the car enthusiast. We reverently bowed our heads in deference to the shiny paint jobs and glittering chrome.

Now a days the show is held at the Javits Center. The venue is fancier and the admission charge was $14.00. I will tell you right now, it wasn't worth it. Gone are the out of this world concept cars. They have been replaced by what they think are concept cars but are really just made over versions of what is or will soon be in production. What happened to all the creativity? Gone also are any cars with balls. I mean those muscle cars with motors you could hear a mile away that I remember from Ford, GM and especially Chrysler. The manufacturers have given way to their feminine side and embraced soft fenders, rounded grills, pastel paint jobs and low emission tree hugging engines that hardy make a sound. Even the trucks, which are the only vehicles that still make some noise, have turned wussy with their car like interiors and ...gag, choke...DVD players for the kids. Next they'll have curtains on the windows and doilies on the headrests. Give me a break. Haven't my testicles shrunk enough? I'm driving a four door Civic for god's sake. I think I'll save my money and my time next year.

Imus. What can I say about Imus. Did he say a really dumb thing? Yes. Should he have been suspended? Yes. Should he have been fired? No!

I have listened to Imus since I was a teen and he was a DJ on WABC and on WNBC. This is the kind of humor, shtick if you will, that he does. I don't think he even realizes what he says half the time. His insults, and he insults everyone, are automatic and put forth without malice of forethought.Or any thought for that matter. I have a feeling he will be back on the air real soon without the loss of even one fan. The proof of this manifested itself last Friday when the WFAN radiothon went on without Don and collected over 3 million dollars,a record. The money came mostly from small donations, i.e., his fan base. They voted with their money.

Shame on all those advertisers who caved to pressure. I personally will never shop at Staples again. I will make sure that I never buy a Proctor and Gamble product again, and I will try not to use my AMEX card unless I absolutely have to. I vote too.

A fairly nice day on Saturday. In anticipation of the impending Nor'easter the folks in the West Village spilled out into the streets, parks and piers. I grabbed the camera and took a walk. It felt good to be back and walk the streets I had walked down for the past thirteen years. I miss the "Village" and would not mind working in the area again. There is always something going on.

I'm cutting back on the number of posts I publish. I'll try to do at least one a week, and posted it every Monday. I find as I get older I have less to say. Let us all take a lesson from this.

I'm OK, you're OK

This is just a note to let everyone know that I'm just fine. Not that any of you care. I could be lying here in a pool of my excreta and I would not hear a word from you. But that's OK, I know you are all busy and have lives of your own but you could leave a comment on this blog once and a while just to let me know you care.
With that being said I just want to let all of my fan out there that I'm taking a little break from this blog. That fact is that I have not had all that much to say so why even bother writing about it. I'll probably reduce the posting frequency down to once a week. I have some things planned for this week. For one I'm going to the auto show on Tuesday. I usually don't go to these things but I think it might be good photo op, and besides, I'm bored.
I'll take some photos and post some of my favorites here and on WWW.BRUCEPIX.COM.
Have a nice week.