In 6th grade I started writing a mystery. Gave up after about 3 chapters but, at the time, I was quite proud of the name I picked for the rich old guy who gets murdered: Prescot Cadmean.

I seem to recall there used to be a restaurant in the Eaton Centre in Toronto that loudly broadcast when your table was ready (you could hear it throughout that end of the mall), always in exactly the same manner...

"SMITH, YOUR TABLE IS READY, SMITH, TABLE FOR TWO, SMITH FOR TWO"

So people would reserve under the name "Screw" and various other Bart Simpsonesque names.

When I was in 6th grade I wrote an appropriately juvenile SF story. I named one of the characters Raskolnikov; my memory is that I made it up & thought it sounded appropriately Russian.

I was quite shocked a few years later on reading Dostoevsky. I went back & checked, there were no copies of Crime & Punishment in our house. I still don't know where I got that name.

My friend initiated this lifelong practice when he used to dine frequently at the old Magic Pan here in San Francisco, which had the same operating procedure. (Yes, sad to say this friend is now well into his 50s yet persists in this behavior.)

When I was in high school, the teachers would pass out Delaney cards at the start of the year. Each student would write his name on the top of one. The teacher had a book with slotted pages, representing the desk-layout of the classroom. The teacher would collect the cards, call out the names and insert the cards in the slotted pages, according to where each responding student was sitting. The game was to slip an extra one or two cards in, with fictitious names of course. I always suspected that the teachers knew exactly what they were doing when they asked, "Who's Dick Hertz?"

just caught the last seconds of a commercial for a show called "crazy sexy cancer".

You sure it wasn't "crazy sexy canker"?

Oh, interesting. It's a documentary about a young cancer sufferer. The title is, of course, a TLC allusion, so I am cool with that.

You just made me remember a guy I dated who would routinely pick a Number Name for reservations, like "Four." That way, when the broadcast was made we would hear things like, "Four, party of two, your table is ready; Four, party of two..." He thought it was hilarious. Thanks for reminding me of it - while I thought it quite silly, remembering his glee at the situation has brought a smile...

Was he a Freudian?

Michael Vick supports al-Qaida.

wouldn't surprise me. that dog murdering bastard.

Wacky phone call #5,001:

Caller: Hi, I'm a reporter doing a story on the Peruvian earthquake and how it's affected New Yorkers.

Me: Uh, okay. How can I help you?

C: Well, since Nobu is a Peruvian restaurant I thought it would be good to talk to some of the staff there.

M: Nobu himself spent some time in Peru, and several dishes have South American influences, but the restaurant is new-style Japanese, not Peruvian.

C: But it's listed as a Peruvian restaurant.

M: Where?

C: Menupages.com.

Yeserday at the beach in Santa Monica:
A family of 4 all on Segway scooters riding on the bike path.
A group of 10 year olds on the sand singing a Who medley beginning with Baba O'Riley.

This afternoon I had a craving for Sprite. I went to a drive through and was about to order a small soda when I realized that the cost of a 42 ounce beverage was half the price of the small soda. Insane. So I got the super mega beverage, which is enough liquid to slake the thirst of a pack of hyenas. Insane.

Thanks to Daisy for correcting my error.

Yikes. Ski-masked gunman just robbed Sizzler one block from here. Police lock down all streets for a standoff. Am on a deadend street. Helicopters overhead. Can't exit street for lunch. Never would've thought of robbing a Sizzler, for some reason.

Woman killed by pet camel that tried to have sex with her.

"You're not one of those vegansexuals are you, cause I think you're gonna like my humps".

I saw a similar thing in Santa Cruz this spring. All of them over 200lb's. They wonder why?

Too lazy to walk, they might (heaven forbid) actually get some exercise if they did .

Kill me now - The fat tongued C*** continues his rampage of overtaking the TV schedules.

Jennifer Connolly and Paul Bettany seated behind us at our silly little local restaurant this evening.

Michael Imperioli at the greenmarket on Wednesday. Good taste - he was shopping from Paffenroth.

Upscale McDonald's

I saw Angelyne's pink Corvette parked in front of Canter's Deli last night. Girl's gotta feed the boobs, I guess.

Don't we already have a "Celebs At Their Best" thread?

Reminds me of (I think it was) the movie "Demolition Man" where there had been "restaurant wars" and Taco Bell had won, so all restaurants were now Taco Bell. But they were now "nice" Taco Bells.

Steven Van Zandt is outside our apartment getting his photo taken with construction workers. He's about as tall as his Jaguar.

Neighbor across the street just phoned in a panic. FedEx just delivered 65 pounds of frozen Sockeye: husband did some pro bono work for one of the Native American nations up north and they sent this to him as a thank you.

They don't have a chest freezer.

I called the fish cutter at work: he's coming to their house after his shift to break down as much thawed fish as they want. My husband has offered to smoke some of it.

We're gonna eat GOOD the next week or so!!!!

We went to h.s. together, boyfriend's best bud, and Steve was about the funniest guy I ever knew.

But he was much taller then.

His Jaguar is often parked outside our apartment. He can afford a Jag but not garage fees?

You wouldn't understand. It's a Jersey thing.

He does come across as a good guy. I've also seen him with his wife Maureen--to whom his been married since 1982; that's something!-- get into the car on our street. I assume they live on our block or nearby in the Village.

That's a great picture, thanks. Boy, he got old!

not only has he been married to her since 1982, he was married to her for 6 seasons on "the sopranos" as well. so that's 31 years of marriage.

So he's not "Miami Steve" anymore?

Look! ZZ Top is on my roof!!

Jane, that's hilarious.

Steve van Zandt is a good friend of Drew's and a really sweet guy.

... brain freeze...

Does he take requests?

Speaking of which, the new E Street tour and CD are coming 10/2. MSG: 10/17-18.

EEEK!

In Ottawa all we have is Flower Power.

Oh, yeah, and Phantom is on at the National Arts Centre. Bring a cape.

No fair, no fair. EEEK got blocked out by our security team.

When I was in middle school, I was totally in love with Leif Garret and the Bay City Rollers. My walls were covered with posters of them. Never heard of the Cowsills. Rex Smith came later. Greg Brady - well, he was never part of the equation. What a weird line up.

David Cassidy, Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson clearly had better things to do

Funny you should mention them...Cassidy was just here as a 'headliner'--although I am using that term very loosely. And Donny Osmond also, for the Osmonds "Reunion"...there were some pretty scary PR photos from that. Lots and lots of groups (or parts of original groups) that were popular in the 60's, 70's and 80's are trouping through Las Vegas playing in the small arenas and clubs right now. Ticket prices are very cheap (as they most likely should be ). The ads can really verge on terrifying/hilarious if you remember how these folks looked in their prime. Very few have held up very well.

The Partridge Family was very loosely based on the Cowsills. I think their only hit was Hair.

Ah, yes. David Cassidy and Donny Osmond were right there up there. Not on my walls, that is - but definitely in the same time frame.

I can't believe that I'd never heard of them!

The Cowsills

OK, I'm ashamed to admit that, not only do I know who they are, but that I liked them (I was, like, 10 or 11 at the time, so give me a break ) and they had one other hit besided "Hair".

Feast your ears on this! Indian Lake. (Embarrasingly politically incorrect warning.......)