The Kisburn Daily

I Heart U2ube

2009-05-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Snowy March 2nd

2009-03-02T15:37:00.001-08:00

Thought I'd post some pics of what we woke up to this morning.

It's Been a Long Time Coming

2008-11-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Times They Are A-Changin'

A Change is Gonna Come

Change is here:

Understanding Real America in Wasilla

2008-10-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Zoinks!

2008-10-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

"Yikes! Look out Obama! There’s a grabby old gnome on your tail!"

I admit that I didn't come up with the image or tag line but I've been giggling about it all morning and had to share. Thx to our buddies Chris and Shelly down the hall for sharing the picture and brilliant Saturday morning cartoon tagline (and for sharing pizza and a few "zoinks" moments during the debate last night).

Post Turtle

2008-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who's hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Palin and her bid.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a 'Post Turtle'".
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was.
The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle".

The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with".

"Must See TV" Thursdays Are BACK!

2008-10-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Country First

2008-10-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

I personally love history...

Go Pat, Go!

Really? You still think she's qualified? Really?

2008-09-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

Let's review the future Veep's opinion on the bailout, shall we:

Oh and about that proximity-to-Russia thing ---- well it seems that because I can see the moon qualifies me to be an astronaut.

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska."

.............wow.

Social networking is like an exercise machine

2008-09-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, social networking is a pretty cool web 2.0 stuff. Then reality sets in: Which should I subscribe to? All? None?
1. My favorite cousin is on Myspace
2. My parents are on Plaxo
3. My ex-coworkers are loyal to LinkedIn
4. My current coworkers are Facebook sluts

In case you didn't notice companies are diving in bigtime for ways to gather and sell our personal info (re: how you spend your money). Afterall --- you are a target audience for "something" -- right? Let's take a look at the list, shall we?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

"What are you doing right now?"
Greg is updating the family blog to say he has a love/hate relationship with the web upgrade to 2.0.

P.S. Politics on hold --- still trying to figure out what McCain meant by commenting on the height of your average South Korean.................ummm...........wow.

Getting to Know You

2008-09-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Greg's Op-Ed:
So how about that Palin speech? As much as it pissed me off I have to hand it to her, she succeeded in getting the Republicans fired up. Granted, she was in the halls of the converted so we'll see what the next few weeks holds. I had hoped to learn more about her character and what she could offer to the middle class but instead I got coyness and sarcasm. Her ignorance to Obama/Biden's experience was insulting. It's been far too long since we've had leadership that can handle issues with class and sophistication --- I don't want another world leader that "I'd like to have a beer with."

Another blogger put it this way:
"Close your eyes and try to imagine her as president. Now stop shuddering, open your eyes, and vote for Obama."

The Real John S. McCain

Is John McCain really the best face we can put forward as a nation?

The Kisburn Weekly

2008-06-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Our site is paved with good intentions... We really meant to post more (darn Citi's security blockers!)- but instead here is the week in review:

Last Saturday while Greg was hard at work making sure that teachers in Florida receive development plans for their students (thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act), I decided to explore the Brooklyn waterfront. Heading out to Brighton Beach, I missed my stop and landed at the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island instead...

Everyone was in good spirits despite the politcs surrounding the event this year (the Mermaid Queen went on a 4 day hunger strike to protest the Coney Island redevelopment plan) but alas, I was sorely overdressed and in need of body paint and sparkles, so after awhile I continued on my journey. http://gothamist.com/2008/06/22/coney_island_mermaid_parade_08.php

Russian reigns supreme at Brighton Beach and flags were waving & horns were honking when Russia won the soccer world cup quarterfinal that day! I passed several festive waterfront restaurants along the boardwalk, enjoyed a roasted corn on the cob, and after taking a nap on the beach I headed back to Brighton Beach Avenue and bought some fresh fruit and vegetables from one of many crowded street markets before heading home.

The rest of the week was pretty busy. Greg & I met some new friends of ours at a restaurant on the Lower East side on Tuesday night, and much to our chagrin (since we picked the restaurant) there was a murder right outside of it the night before..... Wed. night my company sponsored an evening at Shea Stadium and I watched the Mets play one of their last games at Shea before they move to Citi Field. The night brought back childhood memories of going to Shea with my father, and once again change tastes bitter.... Leave it to Pixar to make things feel better. Friday night we watched WALL-E and all I can say is-- find somebody to hold hands with and GO SEE THIS MOVIE! It lives up to A O Scott's review. http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/movies/27wall.html?scp=3&sq=%22Wall+E%22&st=nyt

Last but not least.. Greg went on a 75 mile bike ride today across the north shore of Long Island, as part of the LI Harbor Ride.
http://www.bikenewyork.org/rides/lihr/index.html

He's been riding alot this summer. A couple of weeks ago he went on a 50 mile ride to benefit disabled children, and a few days before that he rode a 62 mile Mansion Tour. Right now he's sleeping the sleep of the innocent, and since it's close to midnight on a work night, I better join him.

Have a good week, and thanks for reading!

Everyday Art Encounters in NYC

2008-06-22T08:59:00.000-07:00

I moved to my new office location at 666 Fifth Avenue, 6th floor on 6/6 (no joke). I planned to walk across the street to St. Patrick's Cathedral to pick up some holy water and bless the new space, but instead I found religion in the art gallery of the lobby- which coincidentally moved into the building the same day I did.

I was greeted with the following message on my first day of work at 666 Fifth:

Each day, I was greeted with another message highlighed in the window.

The installation is called The Peter Tunney Experiment, and the meaningful messages smack in the middle of capitalist midtown really speak to me. I managed to get myself invited to the opening party for the gallery on Thursday, and hopefully I can meet the artist and find out more about what he's doing. Check out his wesbite http://www.tunneyart.com/

Lost in Translation

2008-05-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

Four years later Carolyn have caught the Lost bug. Thanks to Netflix we've just finished season 1 and have moved season 2 to the top of the queue. The whole time I've been convinced that Hugo "Hurley" was that guy from Armegeddon and earlier, Herman's Head (91-94 sitcom). Does anyone remember that show at all? They have a similar voice and "look" but Jorge Garcia (Hurley) is not Ken Hudson Campbell (Animal) ---- just like Paul Prudhomme (K-Paul, Chef Paul) is not Dom DeLuise (Cannonball Run).

The Pope will walk in my shoes today! (and I don't mean my size-8 Prada knock-offs)

2008-04-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

As if I needed another reason to feel that NYC is the center of the universe-- now the Pope will be holding mass tonite at a church I attended on the Upper East side-- a half block away from a little studio I rented from John & Maria Reiser for 4 years from 1998-2002. The last time I went to that church (only 1 of a handful of times, I confess, and all of them holidays)- was for a full Easter Sunday mass with my mother in 2002. What I remember most about that day was not the striking beauty of the immense traditional church- and it is beautiful- but that my mother actually admitted that she was bored by the long mass and couldn't wait to get out into the fresh air. And now the first German pope in centuries will visit "one of the last places in the city's Roman Catholic archdiocese that still regularly offers Mass in German". The Reisers must be beside themselves!

Here's more on this story from Fox News (..sorry, but it has the best coverage of this one particular event)

"...St. Joseph's Church, on Manhattan's Upper East Side, once was at the heart of German-American life in a city whose German-speaking community was as populous as Munich. The neighborhood, called Yorkville, has little left that's German. But the church and a small group of German Catholics remain.

St. Joseph's was founded in 1873 by the first of tens of thousands of German-Americans who for more than a century ran Yorkville's butcher shops, beer gardens, dance halls, restaurants and bookstores. By 1900, New York had more than 300,000 German residents and about 100,000 German-speaking Austrians among its 3.5 million people — about the population of large German cities like Munich and Leipzig.

Today, a short walk from the church, big steins of beer are still served with specialties like boiled pig knuckle, bratwurst and liverwurst at the Heidelberg Restaurant, a spot with dark wooden walls, decorated with deer antlers."

Full story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,350208,00.html

Happy spring!
-Carolyn

Put the needle on the record

2008-04-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Remember the last time you were in a record store? Remember that surly dude behind the counter giving you the look of utter disapproval when you put your copy of The Raw & the Cooked on the counter? Remember getting that same surly look when you tried to sell it back to him for spring break cash? And remember when surly-guy tried to explain the genius of The Shaggs to you and you almost bought it? Well you can relive those times this Saturday during the National Record Store day. I plan on hitting the village by bike or foot and supporting my local tune shacks. The afternoon will likely include some lunch and long arguments over who’s worse: Rick Astley or ..... Rick Astley?

Join me on the crusade!

www.bleeckerstreetrecords.com/
http://othermusic.com/
Rebel Rebel Record @ 319 Bleeker Street
Generation Records (http://www.myspace.com/generationrecordsnyc)

On a side note, just when you thought we haven’t commodified dissent enough yet…….just shoot me

Maui Style

2008-04-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Aloha! Carolyn and I have obviously been offline for some time. The connectivity in our condo wasn't working and I just couldn't bring myself to care. Finally I tinkered with it again this a.m. and decided to post a couple of photos of how hard things have been on us. Last night we attended the Old Lahaina Luau. It was very traditional --- no flame twirlers and hip-hop interpretations of Hawaii classics to keep the kids interested. Just a slow roasted 200 lb piggy, beautiful and talented dancers telling the entire history of the islands. We also learned that the song "Aloha Oe" --- you'll know it when you hear it --- was actually written and composed by Queen Lili'uokalani, the last Queen of Hawaii, an accomplished musician. Can you imagine any world leaders today composing music?

Mahalo for reading!

Friday Bonus!

2008-03-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Carolyn and I are flying to Maui on Sunday for some badly needed R&R. We both have fairly demanding jobs and each week we take turns joking about who's going to quit. That said, I ran across this clip of folks that.....well.......may have quit joking and walked out one day to find a new passion. Seeing this made me appreciate my contributions to society once again and I will happily return to work after soaking up sun for a couple of weeks! All I could say was...........wow.

TGIF

2008-03-21T05:33:00.000-07:00

Gutter Twins show = Spectacular

Japanese impersonators performing
"We Are the World" = Craptacular

There's no place like home

2008-03-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

I caught part of a awesome documentary last night called Home, which was written by Alan Cooke, a stage and film actor. It was shot on location in New York during 2005 "exploring themes of nostalgia and the concept of home."

Included are a number of interviews with immigrants and native New Yorkers including Woody Allen, Liam Neeson, Frank and Malachy McCourt, Alfred Molina, Mike Myers, Rosie Perez, Colin Quinn and Susan Sarandon. It's beautifully shot and made me realize (again) why I love this city and why I call it home.

Tonight I'm treating Carolyn and I to an evening with The Gutter Twins at Webster Hall. I got the chance to see Lanegan with The Soulsavers a few months ago but this show is quite another thing entirely. I don't have the time to go into the details of why but suffice it to say that The Dulli/Lanegan record and tour is on same level of a Lennon/Nilsson collaboration ---- in my book anyways.

Also, I stumbled across a review of the soundtrack to Backbeat. While the movie may be so-so, the soundtrack looks like a must-own. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Check out the band:

Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum): vocals
Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs): vocals
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth): guitar
Don Fleming (Gumball): guitar
Mike Mills (R.E.M.): bass guitar
Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters): drums

2008-03-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I suddenly had a craving for a good hot dog and thank goodness for the proximity of the F Train. I took a short 20 minute commute out to Coney Island to Nathan's for a world famous all-beef dog and an order of krinkle cut fries. It was a bit chilly but still a gorgeous day to be at the beach. According to the Astroland web site, yesterday was supposed to be opening day. Not quite sure what's going on with this majestic place. There's much speculation about what will eventually happen with this area commericially and residentually. It may be run down and have its share of hobos, but it's still beach front property. I personally believe that it will rise from the ashes and become a hot spot again in the next 5-10 years.

Every picture tells a story

2008-03-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

More of the same indeed. Not much is going on with us outside of watching another politician playing "doctor" with our tax dollars. I got semi-curious about the prevalence of political sex scandals and ran across this list on Wikipedia. Talk about up-to-date! Eliot, you're #3 in 2008 and it's early yet!

Crowes and Idol Times

2008-03-08T09:14:00.049-08:00

What can we say about The Black Crowes show other than "simply great." They are a seasoned band who's sound is wearing well with their age. Chris looks like he hasn't has a good night's sleep in a while but he sounded great. Not sure if anyone knows this but I invited Carolyn to see them with me at MSG on New Year's Eve during our "pre-dating" days. This was an obvious ploy to get a kiss from her at midnight -- which worked! And the rest, they say, is history.

Here's a short clip of them performing a cover of Robert Johnson's "Poor Elijah" from the show

Oh yeah, we also saw one of my rock critic heros, David Fricke, there rocking out. He's a passionate writer and senior editor of Rolling Stone ---- and hightly respected even by those highly critical of RS. I caught his attention and tried to mouth "I love your writing" but he may have misinterpreted it as "Hey, I'm a stalker and I'm going to kill you." Oh well.

So who's watching American Idol this season? Wow, could they cry a bit more? Could they have less "star" quality? And what's up with Paula? Does her contract state "must be loopy for each show?" Let's cut to season-end and crown this guy America's sweetheart already!

Welcome to the Goodtimes

2008-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

Most folks have a band or performer that they will plunk $$ down for each time they're in town. Some of our more "geeky" friends will fly to other places to see a show. I once flew to DC to see Cheap Trick w/ Guided by Voices, and Carolyn has numerous Dylan and Grateful Dead road trips under her belt. (Editor's note: Nothing against Deadheads but Carolyn refuses to be associated with a bunch of goof-bags twirling in the aisles.)

On my short list are The Black Crowes and tonight will perform their new record, War Paint, in its entirety at The Fillmore (Irving Plaza).

2008-03-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday I did the standard dog run but walked home a different way that took us under the Brooklyn Bridge. It had been some some since I'd been there and forgot what a great view it is. There's also this Gulf gas station with a number of classic cars parked in it, including the lovely E-Type Jag below.

Sunday Carolyn and I visited some open houses in the neighborhood which also gave us the opportunity to visit the roof top of one building. Beautiful day, breath-taking views!

Chilly paws!

2008-02-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

According to the weather we're expecting more snow today/tomorrow. Here's what Simone should expect for her walk. The Brooklyn Heights promenade is one of our favorite things in the 'hood. Not only are there great views of Manhattan and Lady Liberty but there's always other friendly folks out dog walking. A social Besenji is a good Besenji!

Why Not?

2008-02-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today inElvis Presley History

1962 - Elvis Presley's "Good Luck Charm" was shipped with "Anything That's Part of You" as the B-side.
1963 - Elvis Presley had two dental crowns applied.
1970 - Elvis Presley began three days of performances at the Astrodome in Houston, TX. More than 200,000 people saw the shows.
1971 - Elvis Presley's album "Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) hit #12 in the U.S.
1990 - Milli Vanilli's Rob Pilatus shared his perspective on life with Time magazine. In the interview he said, "Musically, we're more talented than any Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger can't produce a sound. I'm the new Elvis."

Random Elvis Quote
If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead. - Johnny Carson

2008-02-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

We're big fans of our neighborhood architecture. Our commute to the subway is approximately 3-4 blocks there's a number of beautiful buildings, one of which is Borough Hall (the subway's namesake).

Brooklyn Borough Hall, date built: 1846-1851, Architect - Gamaliel King

2008-02-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Who watched the Oscars last night? I'm that guy that says "hey -- isn't that the guy that was in that movie with that other guy?" Caro and I were out in Baldwin and joined friends for some sumptious dinner and the long-so-very-long exchange of gold bald men. We left at 11 and still managed to not get home until nearly 1:30.

Carolyn did introduce me to the allusive song sung by the 2/3 train as they take off. I always thought it was the breaks being let off but it's clearly Bernstein from West Side Story. I spent a couple of moments on Google and found this similar experience chronicled:

"Then something unusual happened. The "2" train played a song,
and it wasn't the automated voice followed by the happy ding-dong of closing doors. I believe it was the brakes being released - I'm not really quite sure. I waited until another downtown express train stopped across the way. When it pulled away, the same thing happened - the same song. It was only four notes and Leonard Bernstein must have had something to do with it. The train, in what seemed like perfect pitch and tempo, played the first four notes to "Somewhere" from West Side Story.

2008-02-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Kisburn (Kisling-Burnett) Daily. We have high hopes of keeping this updated fairly regularly and hope you'll stop by from time to to time to see what we're up to in Brooklyn, NY. We miss our families and our many long-distance friends and we hope our words and pictures can give you a glimpse into our lives.

Leave a note and stay warm -- spring is on it's way!

Greg and Carolyn