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The late Jerry Orbach originated the character that sings the song “Try to Remember” from the musical The Fantasticks, now being revived on Broadway. Try to remember that time before September.

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow….

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow….

A picture I took at the Brooklyn Promenade in 2004.

Friday night – went to see Mets v. Dodgers at Shea.  Umm, no, not a great games (Mets lost).  Mets won Saturday, but lost today, so I believe the magic number to clinch for the playoffs remain at 5.

Watched most of the House season premiere.  Hmm.  House is insane, we know that, right?

Star Trek celebrating its 40th Anniversary.

The Brooklyn Book Festival is on 9/16/06.   How exciting!

And then, there’s tomorrow.  Another somber anniversary.  If I didn’t know it has been, I wouldn’t believe it’s been five years.

Australia’s Steve Irwin laid to rest today in private. What will the institutions that he has built remain? What will Animal Planet do to replace the person who served in the role that Emeril Lagasse performs as the anchor for the Food Network? Ok, he was a little cocky and full of Australian character, but he also was a serious conservationist and ran Australia’s largest zoo. Hopefully his family will be able to carry on the franchise to the third generation. Let’s remember this spirited man.

No, I never met the man and I don’t really watch tennis. I think that the things that we have in common are that we are the same age, and right now we both have backaches (his while being propped up with cortisone shots to the back during his marathon run with Becker on Saturday, mine just from being a slug this weekend sleeping the wrong way on the sofa while the missus was away with her girlfriends in Philadelphia). I do admire him for his evolution from a rebel into a sports great. Sunday was his last game.

I was in the same park at the same time as the final match, but as I did not have a ticket to the U.S. Open (you can see the jumbotron from outside the stadium), I had to avail myself of the other things available at Flushing Meadow Park. Most of my time was spent at the Queens Museum of Art (if you’re fascinated with New York, the Panorama of the City is an incredible feat of architectural modeling – think Google Earth for the 20th Century). Also there is a nice exhibit of the World Fair Expos that were held at that location, as well as serving as the first headquarters of the United Nations.

I did have an Amex card, and apparently there were a number of giveaways they were sponsoring that you could get if you had one. I did snag the Metrocard giveaway; I do want to get the free CBS radio. The free pedicab ride was neat also.

Afterwards, I went to Flushing to do some grocery shopping and check out some stores. Flushing Mall has a number of wedding studio photographers; instead I went to the 99 cent Japanese store. Afterwards, I was starving, so I went to Sentosa, a transplanted Malay/Singaporian restaurant. I had the Roti Canai and Asam Laska; both wonderful and flavorful. Definately worth another visit.

Comic strip commentary: the latest Mary Worth – Mary takes her presumed stalker Aldo into her apartment to make it clear why she doesn’t want him to stalk her anymore. Now you, me and the rest of the normal world would say: “Mary, what the heck is wrong with you? You don’t let a stalker, even if he is a neighbor, into your apartment. You call the cops and get a restraining order against the man.” Particularly when Aldo has already a known alcohol problem and confessed to have neglected his wife (who was already mightily pissed with him after their fight and, when he was passed out drunk, she drowned in the filled tub after tripping into it – thus he felt he “killed” her).

So, Aldo gets the shock of his life upon entered Mary’s apartment. Gasp! It’s not the love nest he was expecting but these people that he didn’t know. Toby, her husband the Professor, and Wilbur (of the Dear Wendy column), Mary’s closest friends in the condo. Funny how Aldo doesn’t recognize them, since (a) they’re his neigbhors too; and (b) Mary hangs out with them; so if he’s a real stalker, he’d know who they are.

Anyway, apparently, Toby is determined to give Aldo an “intervention” to force him to stop stalking Mary. Oh-kay. Let’s see if this works. Unless she, Wilbur and the Professor have nightsticks hidden behind their backs, I’m not sure what will get through to Aldo. Not that I’m encouraging vigilante violence against stalkers. Really not my place to do that, I should think.

The third season premiere of FOX’s “House, M.D.” begins tomorrow! A nice article previewing the upcoming season: looks like more of Dr. Wilson’s dark side is coming out. Like we hadn’t gotten hints of it last season (too many inklings that Wilson’s a serial adulturer and a guy who falls for his female cancer patients and when he practices tough love on House, well… he may be House’s best and only friend, you got to wonder about this man for the reasons he even hangs out with House).

Oh, geez. American Express’ sponsoring the US Open gave us this little game: Andy Roddick v. Pong. For your complete and utter waste of time and enjoyment. Addicting game, of course, and you come to despise Pong and your own mouse.

More updates to my little website. Change on the fiction page – a new vignette. Some changes on the links page. Hopefully the little graphic there actually pops up.

US Open: Agassi v. Becker game – Benjamin Becker, no relation to Boris. Umm, I know everyone’s for Agassi, but Dick Enberg on CBS sounded a little too enthused that young Becker was feeling a little physical pain. Come on!

At any rate, so long, Andre Agassi. It’s been great. Your adopted city of NY loves you, you know that? Now, go out there and enjoy the rest of your life!

Spent most of today drifting in and out of consciousness. Guess I was that tired. When I was awake, I ended up watching way much of the Andre Agassi marathon on CBS, since they were airing it due to the rainout of the US Open. Tribute to Agassi indeed.

The remnants of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ernesto made things wet and windy in the East Coast.
Updates to my little website. New art – so check it out.

Interesting article. Apparently food safety regulators are concerned about how Asian people in America store Asian food:

Two Asian delicacies are the subject of a simmering debate pitting merchants who like to store them at room temperature for hours against food safety regulators who worry the practice could allow bacteria to build up.

One is a rice cake filled with fatty pork and beans, wrapped in banana leaves and served during the Lunar New Year. Another is a baked pastry consisting of lotus paste and a duck egg yolk. [….]

The “lotus paste and a duck egg yolk” things sounds an awful lot like mooncake, if you asked me (I could be very completely wrong about that, being the not-entirely-knowledgeable ABC that I am). But, I’m in the mind that if a billion plus Asian people eat some of this stuff and haven’t been that harmed, how bad can the stuff be? (particularly mooncakes, which admittedly don’t get refrigerated when you buy them off the shelves, but they’re so preserved, what’s the point? Anyhoo, they taste better cold if you asked me). Uh, never mind…

The Entertainment Weekly double issue/Fall tv preview! This is going to take awhile to read and analyze.

A story on the concept of brunch.