GENERATION GAP

Frank Sinatra was said to have been a huge fan of George Harrison's love song "Something."

Here is his cover of the classic, with arrangement by Nelson Riddle.

DON'T FEED ME, SEYMOUR

It's one of the few New York City experiences that I'm happy to say I took a pass on . . .

. . . the dirty-water dog.

ADDRESS BOOK

It was the most unusual living and work situation I've ever experienced.

I spent an entire year "In Residence" at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington. My employer was WaMu Capital Corporation (a subsidiary of the now defunct Washington Mutual Bank) in 2005, and rather than pay my moving expenses, they flew me back and forth every week and put me up in the only 5-Diamond hotel in the Pacific Northwest.

I worked out in the gym with John Duran Duran Taylor, shared an elevator ride with Elijah Wood, and watched 50 Cent hang with his crew in the lobby one morning. The Olympic was also where my Yankees stayed when they came to town to play AND beat the Mariners.

Awesome.

It was an incredible waste of money (as WaMu was famous for flying in contract workers from out of state), but what a helluva nice way to live.

GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66

"it winds from Chicago to LA
more than two thousand miles all the way
get your kicks
on Route 66"

 -- Nelson Riddle, songwriter

Often called America's first highway, Route 66 disappeared many years ago, as it was replaced by a series of Interstate routes (Interstate 10 in California). However, one man in Arizona took it upon himself many years ago to preserve the history the fabled road and his hard work has proven to not be in vain.

MSNBC ran a feature this morning, check it out.

SESAME STREET - FOR ADULTS ONLY

My brother and I weren't allowed to veg in front of the television when we were young. However, dispensation was given if we were watching PBS.

The Public Broadcasting Service was a haven for smart children's programming back in the 1970's. Mister Rodger's Neighborhood, The Electric Company, Villa Allegre, Zoom!, and of course Sesame Street, were shows we watched religiously. We learned the alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes, how to count, and get along with others.

I suppose you could say it was the original Channel 1.

So it was with amusing shock when I read in the New York Times this morning about how the first few seasons of Sesame Street, which are now available on DVD, come with the following warning:

“These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

WTF? A children's show not intended for children?

It seems my fellow Gen X'ers were exposed to such shocking and inappropriate scenes, such as:

 " . . . (a) dingy brownstone at 123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to diabetes. Oscar’s depression was untreated . . . "

" . . . a pretty, lonely girl like Sally might find herself befriended by an older male stranger who held her hand and took her home. Granted, Gordon just wanted Sally to meet his wife and have some milk and cookies, but . . . well, he could have wanted anything. As it was, he fed her milk and cookies. The milk looks dangerously whole . . . "

Read the article. It has an appropriately snarky tone, as it should. I mean, seriously, a parental advisory for Sesame Street?

For shame.

FEED ME, SEYMOUR - Smitten Ice Cream

Hand model Robin presenting the Dark Chocolate Ice Cream, topped with
Candied Jalapenos

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

Psycho windbag and congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) is set to announce her candidacy for President of the United States next month in her hometown of . . .

. . . Waterloo, Iowa.

Oh man, this sounds promising already.

WALKMAN CLASSIC

It's got a good beat and you can tan to it. From 1984, this is Cruel Summer.

I love you, Bananarama.

WEAR SUNSCREEN

The unofficial beginning of Summer is upon us. Watch the UVA rays, don't drink and drive, and eat lots of guacamole.

Happy Summer '11 from the staff of The Steaming Poop blog.

NEWT BLINGRICH

I never really took Newt Gingrich's run for the Oval Office that seriously. His campaign seemed to take off like a lead balloon and he hasn't been able to find any solid footing. The latest issue, which I will call Tiffany-Gate (yes, folks, you read the term here first) looks like it will be the final blow to an already poorly-run campaign.

Many on The Beltway are calling his so-called revolving credit account with the storied jeweler Tiffany & Co. nothing more than a lobbying gift, in exchange for influencing mining policies with the House Agriculture Committee. Businessinsider.com has an interesting article on the issue, you should check it out.

Enjoy your campaign, Mr. Gingrich, because I'm thinking it's going to be a very short one.

WHITE CASTLE

Next time you find yourself in Manhattan and you're hungry for a nice and quiet afternoon getaway, I suggest you make your way over to Grand Central Terminal and buy a round trip ticket to Poughkepsie. The Metro-North train runs north along the picturesque Hudson River, where you will pass along such famous landmarks as the West Point Academy, Ossining State Prison (better known as Sing-Sing) and the gem pictured above.

Known as the Bannerman’s Island Arsenal, this castle-like structure is located on a small island right on the Hudson River. It has been deteriorating for decades, and stabilization work has begun to stop further deterioration of the structure.

The New York Times ran a few photos of the site, check it out.

PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACK

Your MLB standings as of yesterday:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
NY Yankees	27	21	.563	-	17-13	10-8	250	199	+51	Won 2	7-3
Boston	27	22	.551	.5	16-10	11-12	229	211	+18	Won 2	8-2
Tampa Bay	26	23	.531	1.5	11-13	15-10	207	186	+21	Lost 2	3-7
Toronto	24	25	.490	3.5	11-11	13-14	222	212	+10	Lost 2	5-5
Baltimore	23	24	.489	3.5	14-14	9-10	195	227	-32	Won 4	6-4
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
Cleveland	30	17	.638	-	19-6	11-11	235	182	+53	Lost 2	6-4
Detroit	25	23	.521	5.5	13-8	12-15	210	207	+3	Won 3	5-5
Kansas City	22	26	.458	8.5	17-13	5-13	213	232	-19	Lost 4	2-8
Chicago Sox	23	28	.451	9	10-13	13-15	203	214	-11	Lost 1	6-4
Minnesota	16	32	.333	14.5	5-13	11-19	164	252	-88	Lost 1	4-6
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
Texas	26	24	.520	-	17-10	9-14	217	197	+20	Won 1	5-5
LA Angels	26	25	.510	.5	13-12	13-13	198	191	+7	Won 1	4-6
Seattle	24	25	.490	1.5	11-12	13-13	176	183	-7	Won 1	8-2
Oakland	23	27	.460	3	11-12	12-15	177	174	+3	Lost 1	3-7
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
Philadelphia	30	19	.612	-	18-10	12-9	194	159	+35	Won 1	5-5
Florida	28	19	.596	1	14-12	14-7	202	186	+16	Won 2	6-4
Atlanta	28	23	.549	3	14-10	14-13	200	165	+35	Won 2	6-4
NY Mets	23	25	.479	6.5	10-12	13-13	194	211	-17	Won 1	5-5
Washington	21	28	.429	9	11-9	10-19	191	211	-20	Lost 5	3-7
CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
St. Louis	30	21	.588	-	14-9	16-12	250	199	+51	Lost 1	8-2
Milwaukee	27	23	.540	2.5	19-6	8-17	213	204	+9	Won 6	8-2
Cincinnati	26	24	.520	3.5	15-11	11-13	250	232	+18	Lost 1	3-7
Pittsburgh	22	26	.458	6.5	9-14	13-12	175	193	-18	Lost 3	4-6
Chicago Cubs	21	26	.447	7	10-14	11-12	205	234	-29	Lost 1	4-6
Houston	19	31	.380	10.5	11-14	8-17	198	248	-50	Won 1	4-6
WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
San Francisco	27	21	.563	-	13-7	14-14	170	172	-2	Lost 2	6-4
Arizona	25	24	.510	2.5	16-10	9-14	215	218	-3	Won 2	8-2
Colorado	24	24	.500	3	12-12	12-12	214	197	+17	Lost 2	4-6
LA Dodgers	22	29	.431	6.5	11-14	11-15	175	218	-43	Lost 1	3-7
San Diego	20	30	.400	8	9-20	11-10	171	199	-28	Won 1	3-7

So it looks like the Boston Red Sox finally woke up and started playing. They began the season with a spectacular stumble and fall before battling to the second place spot in the AL East, behind the New York Yankees.

Looks like Ryan M. may have been right when he said last month that the season was already over for his beloved Minnesota Twins. They are currently in last place in the AL Central.

The San Francisco Giants have managed to not only hold onto their World Series winning roster, they're they number one team in the NL West. Very nice.

It would be soooo awesome to see my Yankees battling the Giants in the series later this Fall.

DAMN, THIS TRAFFIC JAM

Southbound US 101, E. Blithedale Drive exit in Mill Valley, 1968.

Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, 1957, when the upper deck was still open to two-way traffic.

The beginning of a 30-year waterfront tragedy, the Embarcadero Freeway, 1958.

MUCHO CALIENTE

There are few things in life you can count on, except maybe The Beastie Boys.

Their latest is, in the grand tradition of the Brooklyn-bred rappers, damn good. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two has been in heavy rotation on my MP3 player for the last few weeks, can't get enough.

MY OZ - I WEAR MY SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT

Times Square at night is an awesome sight.

CHEESEBURGER, CHEESEBURGER, CHEESEBURGER

"No Coke, Pepsi." 

The person who can correctly guess the headline and above references, will win a free lifetime subscription to The Steaming Poop blog.

The high-fructose corn sugar-free Pepsi Throwback (made with real sugar) hits the shelves a few times a year. It's back just in time for Summer, along with original recipe Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and 7-Up.

SO SAYETH THE SHEPHERD

SO SAYETH THE FLOCK

Your moment of zen, courtesy of Porkys II: The Next Day.

TRANSBAY REDUX

There was a time when BART was planning to cross into Marin, via the
 Golden Gate Bridge. Marin voters, scared of the possibility that bad city elements would visit, voted a resounding NO to the plan. Too bad, it sure would have made getting to Sol Food MUCH easier.

Here is another artist rendering of a northbound BART train, running along Highway 101, just north of Sausalito. A bike path now stands here, instead. Nice alternative, if you ask me.

The BART map, as it was originally intended to be.

So I posted some pictures from the early days of BART that proved to be quite popular a few posts ago.

Ok, maybe quite popular is a bit of an overstatement, but Dan M., since yours was the only comment received (on facebook), this one is for you.

WAH-WAH

After driving across country from Maryland with his family in the hope of being taken up to heaven in Rapture with a crowd of fellow believers, Keith Bauer admitted his disappointment Saturday as he stood in an empty parking lot outside the locked Family Radio headquarters in Oakland.

"I was hoping. I think heaven will be a lot better than this earth," the 36-year-old trucker told a knot of reporters who outnumbered visitors at the grimy hub of worldwide speculation about the world's end at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Although it wasn't yet 6 p.m. in Oakland, Bauer and other believers began having doubts about Camping's prophecy when the predicted earthquakes and devastation didn't happen in places like New Zealand, where the minister's predicted day of doom, destruction and religious Rapture had come and gone.

Somewhere, P.T. "there's a sucker born every minute" Barnum is having himself one HELLUVA laugh. Click here to read more of this amusing recount of today's event from the SFGate.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

Works for me.

THE SUPREMES

Music to enjoy during the Rapture.

EBONY AND IVORY

I can only imagine what's going to be said in the next few days about Beyonce's newer, lighter look.

SLAM DUNK

"If somebody is gay, that's their own business . . . But it bothers me how people try to say that jocks are not going to like a gay . . . I think gay people should be allowed to get married and God bless them, that's their own business."

"Listen, if a guy can't play that's the only time we don't want to play with him. We don't care about all that extracurricular stuff."

-- Charles Barkley

Well played, Mr. Barkley.

FEED ME, SEYMOUR

Some of the best guacamole in San Francisco is being served up at Mexico DF, on Stuart Street.

TRANSBAY

The SFGate ran an article yesterday with some great photos of BART, as it was under construction and beginning service.

Check 'em out.

CHRISTIAN MUSIC

In celebration of the coming Rapture this Saturday, I present to you the first rap song to not only chart, reaching number one back on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1981, but it was also the first rap video broadcast on MTV (when they were still broadcasting music videos).

Oh, the name of the song is Rapture, performed by Blondie.

Enjoy.

IT'S THE TIME OF THE SEASON FOR . . .

. . . organic Asparagus.

Grown at the Full Belly Farms near Sacramento, this latest bunch of Asparagus is about the best I've ever had. It doesn't need any kind of dressing, is sweet, only takes five minutes to steam, and goes very well with baked chicken (which I make with olive oil, black pepper, sea salt, rosemary) and brown rice.

Full Belly Farm is all about sustainable and organic farming. They offer a summer camp program for kids who plant, cultivate, harvest and sell the produce they raise.

Awesome, check 'em out.

UPSKIRT

OSAMA BIN JACKING OFF

Pakistani officials are denying the charges, but U.S. officials today are talking about the rather large stash of porn found in the room where Osama Bin Laden spent the last several years.

It begs to question that if the Pakistani government didn't know he was hiding in their country (as they continue to claim), then I'm not sure how they can say there is no porn collection. It is it amazing, however, that Osama found the time to whack-off, what with the stressful job of running a terrorist network and having six wives nagging him about how he never takes them anywhere.

Oh well.

Anyway, I'm having a little fun with the titles of videos in his possession:

Debbie Does Abbottabad

Goats Gone Wild

Backdoor Burka

Headless Whores II

Anyone care to join in?

PICTURE THIS

A nice shot (if I do say so myself) from the rooftop weather-cam of the Steaming Poop Blog headquaters, yesterday afternoon.

MY OZ - GETTING AROUND TOWN

Public transit, New York-style.

IT'S THE TIME OF THE SEASON FOR . . .

. . . fresh cherries.

I picked up a bag of them at Bi-Rite this week, first of the season.

Soooooo good.

ICE CREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR . . .

. . . Smitten Ice Cream.

This little bowl of Salted Caramel heaven cost me 6 bucks, and it was worth every damn penny!

Located in the gourmet ghetto of Hayes Valley, Smitten currently sells just a couple of flavours, which they make to order in about 6o seconds.

How do they do that, you ask? Click here for their backstory and then run out to get some right now!

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Shari Miller used to enjoy ribbing me whenever she saw me in my first pair of boat shoes. They weren't the name brand Sperry Top-Siders that all the other cool kids were wearing.

She liked to call them "Pseudo-Siders."

It wasn't long before I bought a pair of the real thing and when she was saw me in them, Shari became quite excited and said "Scott, you're a real preppy now."

My new pair of Sperry Top-Siders Stingrays arrived yesterday and they feel so good, can't wait to wear 'em.