Pinch me, I saw George Clooney
Although I was having a pretty shitty day on Thursday a dream of mine did come true. OK ladies, get ready to hate me. I met George Clooney, well not met but was in the same room as him. First let me say he's #1 on my jump list. I used to have a calendar just of his photos.

Anyway George was speaking at NYU Journalism School about his biographical film on broadcast journalist Edward R Murrow, Good Night and Good Luck. It wasn't easy getting tickets either. I had to put my name in a raffle to be in the 100 person auditorium and luckily I got picked, phew. His Gal Friday helped organize the event and definitely got a more up close meeting than I.

Back to George. He came right into the room and said hello before sitting down and being introduced and was super friendly and conversational. His confident, but low-key charmer reminded me of his character from One Fine Day. He was dressed in a tight black turtle neck shirt with black blazer over it. He looked like he walked off of a magazine cover, he looked that good, just like he does in his films. I'm sorry I don't have any photos, photography wasn't allowed and my phone does not have a camera.

Oh by the way the screenwriter Grant Heslov and Murrow actor David Strathairn (River Wild, Dolores Claiborne) were in attendance and answering questions too.

Besides the film itself George talked about his father, newscaster Nick Clooney, as well as his own experience majoring in journalism before deciding on a career in TV and film. He said he wasn't meant to be a journalist because he had a problem listening to the people he interviewed since he was already planning his next question and going through the list of questions in his head. Much was my problem concentrating for the first 10 minutes of his 'Inside the Actors Studio' like Q&A. I tried taking notes but I simply stared at his handsome face ;)

Here is what I did manage to catch. So George who directed and co-wrote the screenplay said that they almost did the film as a live television series instead of a feature film. His father and himself always admired Murrow but decided on exploring it as a film topic once he saw what was going on with people's civil liberties post 9/11. What concerned him was the idea that the government was practically saying you're with us or your against us, which reminded him of another era--McCarthy and his black list time.

In regards to the political attacks that he's been getting due to his politically minded films. He said, "I can't say I believe in freedom of speech yet then say 'but don't talk about me.' That's alright though, I can handle it." He did clarify that he doesn't go around spouting out his political convictions but does not shy away from answering questions during interviews. He also said that he was surprised that the film wasn't as controversially received then he thought it would be, but then said a lot has changed in the last 6 months and Good Night and Good Luck is a historical piece not solely a political message or even the fictional based film Syriana that is also out now. He mentioned that O'Rielly gave the film a good review but said he could not recommend George Clooney as a commendable human being, lol. He laughed about it.

Speaking of his good humor, when someone's cell phone emitted a crazy ringtone while he was talking he called out "Telephone!" the second time another cell went off (grr) he pretended it was his own mobile and that his agent was calling him. He also admitted that he was surprised that Good Night and Good Luck is still doing well and then he joked accrediting it to it being in black and white, and all the ladies going to see his costar David Strathairn, plus the heavy sex scenes. ;) He also joked that the 7.5 million it cost to make the film was subsidized by FEMA, lol.

When asked if he was afraid of taking the risk of making a black and white historical film, to which he replied "The riskiest thing he could do would be to chicken shit out of doing what he wanted to do or make."

Then a woman directly behind me asked a question and it was like the see parted and he was staring right at me *sigh* No, I didn't ask a question, I had nothing to say and was too busy enjoying what I was hearing and taking down notes.

David Strathairn asked a good question to the journalism audience, could Murrow exist today? Can broadcast journalists speak out against the system without being a pundit or ostracized?

Overall it was an interesting discussion, George was incredibly friendly, personable and amazingly intelligent and articulate. If it's possible my esteem for him has soared to new heights, haha.

News: George Goes Back to J-School.

Lecture: George Clooney

School's Out Forever!
I'm rocking out to Alice Cooper's song in my head right now. I handed in my last final ever. That's it. Undergraduate degree, check! Master's degree, (provided I get a B average) check! I already have a cummalitive 3.7 average, so even if I get a C, which I doubt, I'll be an official graduate graduate :) Stick a fork in me, I am done. Done, no more homework, just real work. It will be nice to just work full-time instead of doing school and work full-time. No more night classes, phew. Was it worth it? Yes, my writing has improved a great deal as did my journalism skills. I have to head back to NYU soon though, need to get all the alumni gear. Plus keychains and tees for the family. Note: if you are family reading this, please disregard the above statement. Thank you.

MTA Strike = Y2K?
So all week the threat of a possible subway transit strike wreaked havoc in the city but so far has turned out to be nothing. I didn't have to work from home or walk further than I usually do. My friend K slept over my place last night in order to have a shorter walk to work, all for naught. It's like Y2K, all the media fuss and disaster preparations that took place and then nothing the world contained on.

Pac Man Diaries
Last night around midnight, on a work night mind you, Miss Ski Boots above me decided to play some music and I'm not talking the lull you to sleep kind. Even through my ear plugs--which I bought for these occasions--I heard the constant thumping of the bass from her speakers vibrating through the ceiling ... and my pillow.

When I finally fell asleep around 1:30ish I had equated the sound with the noise Pac Man makes when he eats a pellet. I ended up dreaming that I was searching for the moving, stomping cherry bonus point, trying not to get killed by Blinky and the other colored ghosts. Instead of being on a PacMan board though I was going back and forth on the Upper East Side grid, well I suppose it could have been the Upper West Side too. My race finally ended when I ran into a friend going into Central Park and my dream changed focus. Maybe my neighbor had decided to finally turn off her stereo and go to sleep. I know, dreams are only interesting to those who had them.

I actually have my own Ms. Pac Man machine. Not in my current tiny studio, but in storage waiting to be played again. It's the sit down cocktail table kind. My father gave me the one he had in his restaurant for my 10th birthday. I remember coming home to it in and seeing it sitting there in the living room of me and my mom's apartment and then all my friends and I playing it. The best thing was that I could enable it to accept quarters or open the coin holder and jimmy the free credit button.

The problem with having one in your apartment though is that it's really loud. I put cardboard over the speakers to help muffle the sound otherwise I couldn't play it in the evening or mornings so that I didn't disturb my neighbors. Over the years as I moved around it has graced my bedroom, a spare room, two basements and a living room. I stupidly covered the sides with large stickers when I was twelve and unfortunately it will look even worse if I attempt to remove them. I guess the ASPCA bumper sticker will have to stay.

The sad thing is that in all the years that I've had the machine, I've only been to level three before losing all my spare guys. My cousin holds the record at reaching board four. In my defense, It's the PacMan game with the extended screen, where you think you reached the end and then it moves to show you more and more dots. It doesn't have those sneaky passages either that let you go to the other side, nope you have to munch your way back and not get killed.

Food for thought: If Ms. Pac Man is supposedly married to Mr. Pac Man and begot a Junior Pac Man even, then why isn't she a Mrs.? Poor grammar usage, where is Lynne Trust?

PS: This is my 200th post!

Partied like it was my birthday
So it was a good thing it was otherwise the circle that formed around me while I how-downed to "The Gambler," the blackmail photos that ensued and the big group of 20 of my close friends would have been a little bit over done otherwise ;) Add in the fact that we were also celebrating my impending master's degree, explains why I'm still tired on Monday.

Let me introduce you to...

The happy hour nazi, D-Rod, who made sure we all drank our share of free drinks during my reserved one hour open bar:


My hero, D-Rod’s husband Eddy:


Dance hotties Dawn and Caroline:


Becca, who came down from NH, and yes I'm very happy, lol.


K and Eddy getting their groove on or imitating John Travolta, u decide:


Gotta love the group shots and dancing on the bar photos:


My DVD Review: The Baxter

Would you like coffee with your subway?
On Monday the MTA put into effect new rules for subway riders like not allowing feet or bags on empty seats. Yet their proposed rule in September that forbid people to drink coffee on the subway trains was overturned after riders complained. Although I don't bring a cup on my commute, I originally felt bad for those who do when the rule was first issued.

Until today that is when a coffee holding woman dropped her full cup of coffee all over the surprisingly clean floor. She didn't even apologize for getting splashes on my expensive black holiday work pants and on other people's clothes or get upset over the thought that someone had to clean her mess up later and of all the clean shoes that would have to step in her puddle. I would have felt bad for her if she looked at all remorsefully or if she didn't huff and puff over the fact that I had to grab the bar closest to her to keep myself from falling during the bumpy ride this morning.

News: Brake on drink & ride ban

1 day to my birthday
2 days to birthday open bar party