Joel Plaskett and Pete bracketed at Kenny's Castaways

Me at Centre Court Sept 2005

So I thought I might have jinxed my Rangers by vaguely rooting for Roger Federer throughout the French Open, but to be honest the French is my least favorite slam and now that Roger has one I mostly don't care. Nadal can have Roland Garros, I always have my eyes on the green grasses of the All England Club. I've been watching Wimbledon longer than I can remember because my mom is a tennis nut. The first final I really recall is Boris Becker lifting the beautiful golden trophy as a 17 year old in 1985. I rooted him on to win two more, Andre Agassi his first slam, Goran his only. Then there were the famine years when Pete Sampras ruined the hopes of many players and my hopes along with them. Then there was Roger. Always liked him even when he was beating my other faves. I've been with him through 7 Wimbledon finals, and I'm beyond thrilled to cheer him on through a record eighth. I'm equally excited about his opponent. Scotsman Andy Murray reaches his first final on Centre Court and is a strong hope for the United Kingdom's first Gentlemen's champion in over 7 decades. I'll be hoping against hope that I see Roger's beamy face reflected in that golden chalice tomorrow, but I can't root against Murray either. Let's hope it's a great match!

ps. Gonna miss Breakfast at Wimbledon on NBC though, especially the theme music which I sing incessantly whenever it comes to mind.

So it's Spider-Man week here in NYC and thanks to the Mighty Ganesha at The Diva Review I was able to attend a couple of the events as at least a pseudo-professional. First up on Monday was the ceremonial lighting of the Empire State building with the cast and director Marc Webb. I can't believe their model building doesn't have King Kong hanging of the top of it (or a certain spandexed superhero) but overall it was worth battling some overtaxed photogs to witness the Spidey crew push the lever.  Very Metrolpolis - wait that's the wrong city!

Then Wednesday saw Peter Parker on the steps of the Museum of Natural History to present the santa looking arachnid expert with a live Chilean Rose Tarantula. Thank heaven this event was outside because I was already getting the creeps picturing myself and a bunch of rabid photogs battling for position amongst a bunch of live spiders.  No nightmare scenario at all -the press couldn't have been more friendly and accommodating and santa was so anxious that his beautiful (and big and furry) spider didn't bake in the brutal sun (that same sun that caused Andrew Garfield to strip mid-event). Andrew was so gracious and hurled himself into the group of fans observing to sign autographs and take pictures. I'm a bit bias but AG is one of the sweetest people ever and one of the finest living actors to boot. I had the privilege (the Mighty Ganesha blesses me again) of seeing The Amazing Spider-Man earlier this month and his Peter Parker is a real wonder. This is a comparison you hear all the time

and I never give it much credit, but AG reminds me of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause - watchful, uncomfortable, anguished, in love, witty. His performance is so nuanced yet naturalistic it's a bit of a shame the whole movie doesn't quite live up to it. Still I strongly urge everyone to go see The Amazing Spider-Man next week - it's filled with great moments, great performances and for the first time it looks and feels like this kid is really flying through a great big city. My city.

 It's been along time since I first read Andrew got the part and even since I haunted the NYC production and I'm thrilled the movie is finally here ready to be ingested. So eat it up!

Buddy Ian's new project

Hello friendies, I've been outlining a new project for Buddy Ian - a picture book about his look for love and these are some samples from the first practice shoot. Like how it looks, but I think the B&W will be even better.

Our King finally has another jewel in his crown. Now I wish there were pictures of him holding the much uglier Conn Smythe trophy, but Henrik has long been deserving of the Vezina trophy as the best goaltender in the league and now his has on his fourth outing on the ballot. I heard some people (I'm looking at you Wyshynski) dismiss Henrik's career effort this season as just a product of playing behind a better team but although Jonathan Quick did a masterful job of backstopping his team to the Stanley Cup, he did so under mild expectations. Henrik stood up under the brightest spotlight in the league, prevailing through HBO's 24/7  series, The Winter Classic (penalty shot included) and arguably the toughest division. He's a superstar, and while that trophy will try to look real nice beside his gold medal, I'm hoping there's a lot more hardware in Henrik's future. Fingers crossed our team can take it two steps further next season and that ugly ass Conn Smythe will be in handsome Henrik's hands and that gorgeous silver Stanley Cup will be reflecting his gorgeous face.

Gutted

I think Henrik's looking to the Hockey Gods (or more likely the jumbotron) and wondering why this series ad to shake out this way. I of course was wondering as I often do, "Why do the Refs swallow the whistle when the puck is in Henrik's crease?" I never heard any of the Blueshirts reference a lack of call on the OT goal, but from my POV I saw Henke lay directly on the puck before it was scooped out to Henrique's stick for the putaway I had time to yell "Blow the whistle" twice at the TV before the series was over. Not that the one goal was the reason we lost the conference finals. I'll grant that the Devils played better than us, but it kills me to see see the final play transpire unnecessarily. It broke my heart. I was home with my mom watching the game. Se mercifully fell asleep in the 3rd period so I could focus and ultimately sob as my team took their places for the handshake line I was dreading. Monday morning she hands me the rally towel I had brought with me to hopefully cheer the Rangers to wins in games 6 & 7 and says, "Don't forget your crying towel." I guess mom wasn't fully asleep, or I woke her with my loud weeping.

 Really I owe this bad feeling all to Henrique on the Devils. If he didn't score the game 7 OT winner against Florida we could have been facing either them or the Flyers. I have a lot of hope for next season though and I firmly believe it isn't wishful thinking. This team will be mostly intact with new star Chris Kreider added to the daily mix along with a few other surprises this post-season I'm sure. Hopefully Henrik will have another injury free consistent effort and we can try to make it even further. Until then I'm rooting for Federer to sweep all the tennis tournaments this summer.

Only good thing about the Devils advancing is it makes no difference that I'll miss game 2 of the finals for Andrew Garfield's final performance as Biff. You only have 4 more opportunities to catch this tremendous production of Death of a Salesman on Broadway before it closes Saturday night. Everyone is excellent, but Andrew Garfield will break your heart. Even more spectacular is he's an even better person than he is an actor. Go see it!

testing our limits

So I've been smelling really badly this week. Seriously it's been a little like a locker room up in my shirts, but I realized what it was after that heart wrenching game last night - My frustration with this Devils series, and my hatred of Brodeur in particular. It's seeping out of my pores like Patrick Elias' undernourished excretions. So gross. This lost particularly hurt, but we're not out. I believe we can win the next two games and hope against hope we do. Henrik will shut it down and every line will light Marty up! Let's Go Rangers!

Whatever it takes

Three things I could enjoy from game 4 -

1. No shutout for Mar-tan
2. No more than 3 goals scored on Henrik
3. Rupp's swipe at Brodeur

You know Avery loved number 3. Might have gotten a 71 tattoo in the last day. Also, apart from the game I got to spend it with my favorite people in one of my favorite places - MSG, so thank you Jane and El Fano and Kim, who came all the way from Minneapolis just to be forced to watch nonstop hockey.

Let's hope we give her some thing better to cheer tomorrow night! Let's go Rangers!

Soldiering on

I said when I first saw Chris Kreider in a Rangers sweater at the 2009 draft that he was a soldier, and he's certainly been living up to my first impression. He scored his 5th goal of the post-season and his 3rd on Brodeur yesterday. I have a ton of faith in my team, but they've been surely testing it by playing well every other game. By all measures except the scoreboard they should have lost this one too, but Henrik and the hockey gods sorted us out. Luckily we have Kreider too, that offensive spark that I've begrudged so many other winning teams in the past. I really do believe and so I hope tomorrow we can go up two games for the first time this playoffs. Let's Go Rangers!

PS. Looks like Girardi and Cally have been in a non-stop rumble. OMG, those bruises, those noses. Just another good reason to put away the Devils as quickly as possible!

more than half way there

I couldn't have scripted a better Game 1 of the Eastern conference finals. Well 7-0 wouldn't have been bad either, but I firmly believe in saving some goals for when you really need them -like in the 3rd period of a scoreless game. Girardi (isn't the Broadway hat looking a little spiffier these days?), my boy Chris Kreider made Marty properly suck it and Anisimov sealed it with an empty netter. Henrik earned his 2nd shutout of the playoffs and while he may never reach Brodeur's record, each one is so special. Let's try to not depend on that tomorrow night. I would love to go into NJ having backed up home ice with another win.

We're 9 wins deep already! 7 more to go, but I'll take the next three first. Let's go Rangers!

PS. Dancing Larry got some national coverage (congrats) on NHL tonight Monday, although Kevin Weekes called him something else. As a former Ranger shouldn't he know better?

halfway to heaven

We did it! Thank the hockey Gods we played such a good sound game 7, but even so my heart was beating out of my chest last night. It felt terrific to finally be on the smiling side of the handshake line against the Caps, even as I felt for those sad white sweaters. I've always wondered if I had the resiliency as a fan to endure a deep run, and thankfully I'm about to find out. I have quite a bit of guilt that I wasn't a hockey fan in 1994. It was my first year in the city and to be honest team sports were the furthest thing from my mind at that time. I grew to love the Rangers in the early 2000s, not our finest years, but I still loved those Lindros years.

The Lundqvist years have been much kinder & given all of us a ton of great moments and a few happy handshake lines. My favorite is the 2008 quarterfinal line against the New Jersey Devils. We all remember Brodeur refusing to shake Avery's hand and #16's brilliantly candid interview after, a definite highlight. But I also remember the Devils pulling out game 3 of that series in OT at the MSG and it hurt like Hades. This upcoming series is gonna be brutal win or lose. It's my first conference finals & I definitely have the resolve to get through it. I hope and believe the Rangers do too, but every second is gonna sting, every goal against gonna be a kick in the gut. I just hope (really a lot) that we'll be on the right side of this line. 8 more wins to go, but let's get the next four a little quicker. Let's go Rangers!

I believe!

I hope I can use a similar photo to the one below when I write about tonight's game. To be honest I've been nervous about closing out this series since Marc Staal potted that game miraculous winner Monday night. No matter what I'm very proud of the team this year, but I do hope that the same level of effort and drive the my Blueshirts displayed all season is more than evident tonight. No nail bitting, gonna just try and enjoy it. Picturing sticks raised in joy, please let is be so! Let's Go Rangers!

it was our turn

The Rangers have a poor recent history of conference semifinal Game 5s. In 2008, we lost the game and the series to the Penguins in OT courtesy of a goal by Rangers-killer Marian Hossa. But it was the year before was the real gutcrusher. After winning both games at home to tie up the series 2-2, we go into Buffalo and are 7.7 seconds from taking the all important game 5 from the Sabres when Chris Drury  ties it up. Not a death knell exactly until Afinogenov wins it in OT. On that night 5 years ago, Buffalo snatched victory from the hands of defeat and it hurt so acutely, still hurts in fact. But it feels a little bit better today because it was our turn last night. 6.6 seconds from going down 3-2 to the capitals Brad Richards pulled off a miracle, somehow tucking a puck in the net that normally would have just stuck in Holtby's pads. Not only that small gift from the Hockey Gods, but then Marc Staal pots the GWG less then 2 minutes into OT. It fell euphoric to be on the right side of that miracle, but having suffered through it before I really felt for the Caps afterward. Still I want a full repeat of Rangers/Sabres 2007. Let's go into to DC and take game ^ and hope the hockey gods have a few more smiles for us this series and this post-season.

He's MCA

I am one of the millions who can verify that the Beastie Boys were one of the first rap acts to reach the white suburbs. Beyond that even. I grew up in very rural upstate NY and was weened on a musical diet of crossover country and light FM. Love Eddie Rabbit and Anne Murray, but I had a distinct appetite for rock all along starting with Joan Jett and Blondie and eventually morphing into the heyday of hair rock in the late 80's. My favorite album in 1986 was Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, I played the tape so much on my walkman that it gave out and I had to buy another.  A close second though was Beastie's debut License to Ill. I loved that album to pieces too. Always had a penchant for smart-asses and all three Beastie Boys fit that description. Plus they were funny. I'd never even been to Brooklyn let alone a White Castle, but that album hooked me. I even spent hours playing and rewinding the songs to write down what I interpreted as the lyrics. I remember having to look up Davy Jones' locker because at eleven I didn't get the reference. Love to find that notebook because my "translation" must be hilarious. The Beastie Boys were my first and my favorite rappers - when I saw Ad Rock at a Rangers game last year I involuntarily lost my shit. I never saw them live or followed them with the ferocity I had in the 7th grade, but I will miss Adam 'MCA" Yauch just as much now. Rest in peace.

just in time

So I thought I might miss Wednesday night's Game 3, dooming my Rangers to another loss. didn't make it home until 11pm and having avoided the score was nervous about the potential bad news. Turns out game wasn't nearly over just heading into 2OT.  Just took me a little while to get my mojo working and some terrific saves from both Holtby and Henrik, but Gaborik finally tucked the puck in the net (the right one) at 12:15. So relieved and excited. Woke the neighbors with cheering and clapping. Would love an easier afternoon, but really whatever it takes, I've got all day. Let's Go Rangers!

The reason I missed the majority of the game? A last minute effort to meet Benedict Cumberbatch. I should have known the Rangers were destined to win because I was incredibly lucky all night. Got one of the last standby seats to the PBS Sherlock event, was one of the honored few who got to meet Sherlock himself - plus a couple of great fans, Katie and Chris, who adopted me for the night. Please check out Sherlock series two on Masterpiece Mystery tomorrow night. It's terrific. And Benedict is a complete delight on and off the screen.

G&Ts and GWGs

I cannot recommend this as a sounds fan strategy, but my gameplan for game 1 included getting indecently drunk and in public no less! Started with an all you can drink brunch. managed to down 4 1/2 strong-ass mimosas tan on to a bar where I mainlined gin and tonics. don't know if I was slurring, but the bartender thought I was saying, "Ow, Ow, Ow" instead of "Out, Out, Out." and expressed the appropriate concern. Watching the game drunk does smooth over some of the most nervewracking portions of the game. For instance I completely missed the 5 on 3 and

except for yelling, the caps game tying tally with less than 4 seconds to go in the second didn't bother me that much at all.  No shame when Kreider scored the GWG. I screamed and clapped like I was a professional cheerleader. Thanks for coming through guys - it was well worth my very unpleasant personal post-show. No drinks tonight, but I'll be ridiculous on the inside. Let's Go Rangers!

relief and rejoicing!

It's only fitting that Henrik Lundqvist was nominated for a Hart trophy as MVP of league after his MVP player last night to take game and move on to the 2nd round. Of course now we have to play those Capitals. I regret having to play my 2nd fave team, but at least it's later on this season. And as the top seed so hopefully this time we can prevail!

I think it bodes well that Staal and Girardi scored and that former World Juniors teammates Stepan and Kreider have been playing to well since game 5. After coming back to take games 6 & 7 I feel we have the talent and resilience to make the conference finals.  Maybe we'll meet the Devils like in 1994. I've been scouting them a little and noticed that Brodeur nearly always steers the puck far down the ice because it takes him so long to heft himself up off the ice after he butterflies. Put that info in the kitty and ope we have to use it. Let's go Rangers!

We could be heroes

Now every Rangers fan expected Chris Kreider to score in Game 5 after Al Trautwig interviewed him before the 3rd period. But unfortunately that didn't happen and Ottawa went on to win 2-0. To be honest I was kinda dreading Game 6, especially after the Sens took a 1st period lead, but maybe #20 needed a little extra time to let the interview mojo work, because he scored the GWG in a 3-2 win. Yay Rangers. I have a friend who shouts "Rangers in 7" at me pretty much all year and I'm always thinking, "No, Rangers in 4 or 5 is fine by me." This time though I completely concur. RANGERS in 7! Hopefully Kreider will have even more GWG this postseason.

Every Rangers fan also know we'd be nowhere without our All-Star superstar goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and today his incredible stats and superbly consistent efforts have been acknowledged by the league with a Vezina trophy nomination, his fourth, and hopefully this time hell take home the hardware. Henrik most certainly deserves it!

It's been a difficult series, but something I heard tickled me yesterday during the Panthers/Devils game. Chico is an unrepentant homer, but sometimes it's so enjoyably ridiculous. So last night Chico summed up the disastrous 2nd period in which the Devs coughed up a two goal lead (game 4 anyone?) by commenting, "Actually, the Devils played really well between the two goals Florida scored." Would have loved to see him call for the Penguins this round!

down but not out

That bitch Chris Neil takes out Brian Boyle

So my playoff series hasn't quite gone the way I had scripted after game 3. instead of putting away the Sens we're now down 2-3, but I always have faith and we'll just have to take games 6 & 7. Apart from a slew of penalties, I think our real failure has been urgency, and it shouldn't be hard to muster that now that everything's on the line. As usual Henrik's been shouldering the blame for not save those OT tallies, but the team in front has to score as well. I like to lay blame too, and I'm gonna call out Yahoo! sports for writing a post about Jason Spezza's lack of scoring.

Thanks Wysh, guess what happened after you penned that nugget? Spezza went and scored two goals! Of course that wouldn't be devastating if that wasn't the final score 2-0. Blows. Also now Sens killer Brian Boyle (please eat some citrus) has been concussed by agitator extraordinaire Chris Neil. Hate that asshole. Where is Sean Avery when you need him?

Hopefully his spirit is at least in the dressing room tomorrow night. I want an edgy, full-ass effort from my boys - show Ottawa and the league who's number one in the East.

Emma: outfit by Dolce and Gabbana Andrew: shirt by Dollie Banner

 

While my Rangers have been struggling I've continued to live off of Monday's Amazing Spider-Man photo shoot. Usually Michael J Fox just makes me happy on his own, so seeing Andrew Garfield adorned in my shirt is infinitely more enjoyable. The only thing that would make this sweeter is if MJF attends Death of a Salesman. Wouldn't that be brilliant? As you can imagine I'm pretty psyched for the new Spidey movie especially after that last trailer which really showcased some Peter Parker intensity. Hopefully Andrew will be able to squeeze in another project or two between Salesman and Spidey press because I need more than one movie a year. A Tony award would be nice too, get on that NPH :D

Andrew Garfield receiving his shirt. ps He's a delight.

Things are looking up!

It's been a pretty good couple of days. First my Rangers rebound from a contentious and crappy Game 2 to take Game 3 off a brilliant effort by Henrik Lundqvist and an inspired performance by Brian Boyle. I will say BB looked like a monster out there despite all the boos shouted his way, but the guy needs some Fruits and vegetables. Might be the bruises, but Boyle's looking a little grey and translucent for my tastes. Don't get scurvy BB!

I should probably hate Ottawa more than I do, but as always I just want to be the better team and you can't get much better than a shutout. So let's just do that again tonight.

Then yesterday my good fortune went crazy when Andrew Garfield, soon to be your Amazing Spider-Man showed up to the Sony photo call (thank you Just Jared) sporting the shirt I made for him!!!! How sweet is AG that he thought to wear a present from a fan for a press day? I'm over the moon and even moreso that the cherubic face of a young Michael J. Fox is now all over the interwebs! So support this fine actor and even better man by seeing The Amazing Spider-Man this summer (July 3rd) and cathcing his brilliant performance in Death of a Salesman on Broadway through June 2nd.