hobiewan

Livejournal got me through a period of life but...<sigh>, it's time to move on.  It's not you, it's me. 

I'm going to try to import all my posts from Livejournal slowly but surely back to the mothership at hobiebarnes.com.  If you still check this out, which I would be surprised if you do, head on back to the old site.  You'll be surprised.

Peace out!

 Just saw this video after surfing EW.com - it is a great 'modern' spin on West Side Story called Web Side Story.  So funny:

That's my life, of course.  But I also did see the Broadway production of it last night with Larry (it was my birthday gift to him).  A little bit of drama preceded the show of course.  In the morning, Larry texts me with this message:  
"Hobie, you do realize these tickets are for the 2pm show, right?"

Here's me walking in the Rockefeller Center concourse on the way to work..... reading the text.... stopping.... beginning to panic sweat..... freak out commences.  I text him back, "please tell me you're kidding..."   He's not.  I check my email and see that yep, I moronically bought the matinee tickets.  No WONDER I got such great seats.  So, now I'm thinking through all the options I have:  
1)  Ditch work for the afternoon --- Unfortunately, there's no way I can do that especially that day with the meetings I've got to be involved with
2)  Larry goes without me and takes someone else like a coworker or family ---- a viable backup option but it would still suck for ME, so I wasn't content to go that route; plus, Larry wasn't necessarily able to leave work either!
3)  Beg TicketMaster to exchange the tickets from the matinee for the evening show.  I really did think I had bought the evening show.  This goes to show my attention to detail leaves a LOT to be desired.
4)  If all else fails, I bought ticket insurance (the first time I've EVER done that), and one of the covered reasons is work responsibilities.  i was totally ready to make up a story in that route and get my money back to buy tickets for another performance later on.  

Option 1 and 2 sucked, so I started the phone calls for Option 3.   Surprisingly, Ticketmaster was helpful.  But when they put me on hold for a while as they made calls to their client rep, they finally came back on with me and told me they couldn't get in touch with their contact.  She tells me that if I don't hear back from them by 1pm, all sales are considered final.  What the hell does that mean?  She obviously has to say that, and in response to my questioning of what my insurance options, tells me to call the insurance folks.  So that's what I do.  

After about 30 minutes, during which I have been talking to Larry (and apologizing for being a dumbass), I finally get a call back from Ticketmaster.  They exchange my tickets!  My original tickets were center orchestra, row H.  I know, awesome seats, right?  The rep tells me the best seats she can get me now are row N, against the right side of the theater.  Well, that sounds okay.  I'm just stoked to get seats and not have to do an insurance claim (I know, an insurance claim for Broadway tickets?).  

Fast forward through the workday, then it's evening.  I pick up my tickets at the theater, then wait for Larry.  I see the seating chart and realize that the seats are literally far right.  I've been there before, and usually you end up not being able to see that far right part of the stage because it's just blocked by the wall.  Oh well, you don't have to SEE music, right?  Anyways, we finally go inside and find our seats.  Jackpot!  The seats, while on the edge, are also unlike what I've seen before.  The middle orchestra is normal, but the side sections are raised up a little bit.  Plus, row N was at the front of the particular section, so we had no seats in front of us and a little wall too, so lots of leg room and no giant heads in front of us.  

Whew, that was a long way to tell a story about seats.  It's my blog though, so I'll talk about whatever the hell I want!  West Side Story was really good though - although the performer who played Tony, while ridiculously hot, was not a good actor at all.  He could sing decently, but his acting was a lot about exaggeration and talking in a funny Broadway voice.  He's lucky he's hot and in jaw-dropping shape.  I'm sure that's how he got the job.  ;-p  The other performers were amazing.  My favorite scenes from the performance were 'Somewhere' (I absolutely love that song - it makes me tear up every time), 'America', and 'Dance at the Gym'.  One of my favorite songs from the movie, 'Officer Krupke', just wasn't done all that well, so I couldn't get all happy about it.  Some interesting choices the show had versus the movie were that America was sung amongst only the girls, 'Somewhere' had a kind of dream/fantasy sequence sung by the whole cast for most of the song before it became only Tony & Maria, and very noticeably, 'I Feel Pretty' and 'A Boy Like That' were sung in Spanish.  

Alright, enough of that.  Here's an awesome video my friend Dan sent me - it's an over-dubbed 'Literal' version of the video for 'Total Eclipse of the Heart.'  If you've seen it before, you probably know it's kind of a weird, creepy-in-a-bad-uncomfortable-way video to a great song.  Well, this video version addresses all that head on.  Glee Club of the Damned, indeed.

Holy shit - this game will be amazing.  Larry sent me the link to the actual website where there's more details about the game, but I hadn't seen this video until just now.  Wow.  LOVE the Beatles.  Can't wait to play this game.  I so want to go see the Beatles LOVE show at the MIrage again too.  I'm trying to talk Larry into seeing it again when/if we get to Vegas this summer.  


In other trivial (to YOU) news, I made it a second day in a row to work out in the morning.  I think the adage is if you can do something three times in a row, you're on your way to making it a habit.  And I'm so stoked that after leaving work in a few minutes, i"ll actually be heading HOME.  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I have made a life change - I am working out in the mornings again.  I will admit that one day does not a habit make, but it's a start.  I finally had to admit to myself that my workout habits have been broken due to the fact that at work, I typically end up having to stay late for issues.  So when this happens, by the time the crisis is resolved, it's late enough for me to say Eff that to working out.  Mornings though almost always are a slow start, and would guarantee that I can get some exercise in.  So I got up at 6:15 AM (!!!! - I haven't done that since AF times, I swear), got ready and headed in to the gym at work.  I realized then that NYC is definitely a city that does sleep, it's just not until 7am in the morning.  My commute was awesome!!!  The subways were not crowded and the sidewalks were almost...quiet.  I could get used to this.  It was great to be done and it is a good way to get awake, although I still grabbed a cup of coffee afterwards.  So Day 1 done - here's hoping I can stick with it.

This weekend was Larry's birthday weekend.  He got the first season of Star Trek on Blu-Ray and some awesome center orchestra tickets to see West Side Story on Broadway this week.  He's got a great boyfriend.  We also went to see 'Up' (so good...and so emotional too!), went to the Whitney museum (not Whitney Houston, alas; it's a very cool museum focused on American art); had BENIHANA for dinner (I LOVE that place); also saw Terminator Salvation on Sunday.  I enjoyed the movie and it does seem that it is keeping in step with events that have been told in the earlier movies.  I'm not sure it's that great of a movie... I really enjoyed the first three a lot more (I watched T1 last night at home - damn that movie still is good).  

So now back at work.  It should be a good week as we'll get to see West Side Story on Wednesday and if all goes well, I'll even get home every night at a decent hour as my workout will be done in the morning.  I'm also going to be writing for RealityNewsOnline the Thursday night recap of 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!'  I enjoy writing for the webpage and it gives me something to do that has nothing to do with my job, although this time the show is on NBC....  :-)

 Hey Hey Hey!
I bet no one is reading this, but that's cool.  I just wanted to write out some of the more recent things that have been going on since it is still cool to reflect on them from way IN THE FUTURE!

- Want to stab my eye out at work.  It's been so frustrating and annoying and I want to quit more often than not.  I think it's actually going to get better and right now I just have to survive it.  But damn, surviving is sucking right now.  Here's hoping I can make it without hurting myself or others.

- Mila visited me this past Memorial Day weekend!  Sveta was supposed to accompany her but like everyone else in the country, her job is sucking and threatened to basically fire her if she went on vacation this weekend.  Bitches. 
  THURSDAY:  She came in on Thursday afternoon - I was supposed to meet her at JFK but of course, work effed that up, so she ended up taking a cab to 30 Rock and meet me there at work.  That actually worked out though, as that first day I was able to show her around Rockefeller Center (the SNL studios, the Top of the Rock observation deck where my Reserve AF card actually worked and got me a military discount - HELLS YEAH).  Afterwards, we chilled in my hood, Upper West Side-style.  Luckily she's been to NYC before so there's not a pressing need to march around to every tourist attraction in the city.  That actually made it a nice trip.
  FRIDAY:  We left "early" to head to the Statue of Liberty.  I put early in quotes because it wasn't early enough.  I was trying to go by what we did when Susan and Jeff were visiting in April - but I forgot that we were there really early to buy tickets because we went to the Today Show first to try to get on TV.  When we made it to the ticket booth at the Statue of Liberty then, it was like 8:30am.  We not only got Pedestal access tickets, but the line to the ferry was non-existent.  Cut to Friday with Mila.  The line to buy tickets wasn't so bad, but all the Pedastal access tix were gone, so you can just go to the island and gaze upon the Statue but not in it.  Then, we went to go to the ferry line - and ended up walking half of Battery Park just to find the end of hte line.   Holy god.  It was nonsense.  An hour and a half later of waiting and baking in the sun, we got on the ferry.  Then of course, work starts calling and driving me absolute batshit nuts so I nearly have a nervous breakdown, but I digress.  
        We did make it to Liberty Island eventually, and it was a beautiful day.  I'll be posting pictures on my picasaweb tonight that has the pics, but it was a fun time.  Thankfully Mila understands my stressed-outness and hung with me through the craziness.  I calmed down eventually.  We skipped Ellis Island (there's really not much to see) and headed back to Manhattan.  There, we went to Midtown, got some grub at an irish pub, then jumped in line at tkts to buy some half-price Broadway show tickets.  I've been wanting to see 'Rock of Ages' so we got tix to see it.  Larry joined us to do that after work and let me just say, the show is so much fun.  It's another "Mamma Mia" style musical with a collection of well-known songs, but in this case, it's all classic late 70s/80s rock, from Pat Benatar to Journey to Def Leppard.  It's AWESOME.  Highly recommmended.  Even the show's program is cool, as it's made in the shape of a record album cover.  Afterwards, we started the trend of not eating till way late in the evening and got some grub at the Coffee Shop restaurant in Union Square.
      This whole time was also spent ensuring Larry passed the Mila test, and he did so with flying colors.  They even connected on the Jewish level, which was fun to see.  Needless to say, Charming Larry was super charming and fun and once again reinforces why I love him so much.  

    SATURDAY:  On Saturday, we slept in a bit and slowly but surely got out the door of my apartment.  We strolled up to a sweet restaurant on Columbus where we sat outside on the patio and had a delicious and relatively affordable brunch.  It was a beautiful weekend and continued to be the entire time, so we decided to head to SoHo for some shopping.  There's a store there that Larry & I really like called UniQlo, which is a Japanese store that has very cool clothes for very Target prices.  LOVE IT.  I bought plenty of things plus I got to dress Larry up in some more flattering threads.  We walked further through SoHo, found a gelato place and chowed down on that (YUM), and then found our way in Little Italy.  There was a huge festival going on on the main strip and the smells of Italian food were insane.  There was also a ton of Fleet Week sailors partaking in the festivities - it's always nice to check out those goods too.  Bwahahahahahaa!  ;-p   Little Italy is surrounded by Chinatown so you eventually end up on Canal Street, which is the crazy ass street you go to when you want to buy knock-off designer goods.  It's just so packed.  We muscled our way through that, went back home to drop off the shopping, then went to the West Village for some good German food at the Lederhosen restaurant there.  This place also happens to be half a block away from the exterior location used for the FRIENDS' apartment!!!!!!  It's awesome.  After dinner, we strolled to a gay piano bar called Marie's Crisis.  It is sooo much fun especially if you like showtunes (I know, it's almost super cliche).  We walked in at a perfect time though as the crowd, which is standing-room only all around a central piano, started singing all the songs from Cabaret, which is one of my favorite musicals ever.  I think everyone in the place, besides us, had to have some connection to Broadway as everyone there sang really well.  It was not your typical painful sing-a-long where most people have no  business singing.  :-)  Anyway, it was a good time.  

    SUNDAY:  Another slow lazy day.  Larry went to Zabar's and bought some Lox for he and Mila to share on a fresh bagel.  I skipped on the lox.  I think a lot of Rock Band 2 was played (with Mila ROCKING on vocals to James Brown's "Sex Machine") and some time spent on the Hudson River at my favorite riverside cafe there.  It's such a surprise to find this place as it's not really obvious it's there unless you spend time on the river.  We were anticipating my friend Suzanna (from MHS) and her husband Brandon coming in that evening to visit, so we headed back once it looked like it might rain.  They eventually showed up around 9pm, and after getting a little settled, we headed off to Cafeteria, which is probably my favorite restaurant in Manhattan.  Love the food, love the restaurant's style, love it.  It's also very hip/trendy, but not overly so where you feel completely out of place.  Lots of catching up and story telling ensued.  I believe quite a few Cafeteria cosmos were imbibed as well.

    MONDAY:  Yesterday, the theme of lazy day continued, although we did emerge out of the apartment, so it wasn't totally lazy.  After getting breakfast at Utopia Cafe, we went into Central Park for some people-watching and sun-soaking.  My place was packed the night before, so Larry didn't stay over then.  He had told us he was going to go running in the Park and amazingly, as we were walking along the main running trail, we ran into him during his run.  That was surprising.  We spent a few hours walking around, sitting and relaxing and overall enjoying the nice day.  Finally we walked back to the West Side and got some snacks at the Shake Shack, which is always a great treat.  We even saw Frances McDormand and her Coen brother husband, althoguh I don't know which one it is.  Suzanna and Brandon left afterwards and then Mila, Larry and I had a home-cooked meal of chicken alfredo and broccoli while watching Dreamgirls and The Jazz Singer (Neil Diamond version, natch).  Whew!  

It was a good long weekend, and now I'm here at work spending time typing it all up.  Whatevs.  I probably should go now, but I'll update on more stuff as I recall. 

I google'd the street I live on because that's what you do when you don't want to go to bed just yet.  I was interested to see if I could find anything easy-to-find about the street and the buildings on it.  Google probably isn't the best to find real true "stories" but I did find an article from the New York Sun that talks about nothing but West 72d St, which now happens to be my home.

http://www.nysun.com/arts/looking-up-on-72nd-street/80680/

I live right across the street from the buildings talked about at 137 and 139 W. 72nd St and they are what I see when I look out my windows.  How freakin' cool is that???

So it seems that NYC and the whole Northeast is about to get pounded by some snow!  About time.  I've been cheated now for two winters from a decent snow fall.  Heck, in Colorado Springs we'd have fantastic snows all the way from November through to May or even June.  And they were good, honest snows, full of Americana spirit.  Here?  It's a bunch of commie liberal pink-o puff snow that has no substance.  Damn Democrats.  Yeah, I don't know, I'm sure Democrats will get blamed for this somehow by the Republicans while Republicans will mock Democrats and their "global warming" craziness.  Or neither will happen and I'm just a shithead.  Sounds plausible

Anyways, it's Sunday night and I'm looking out my window and while it's nice and clear of snow now, the snow is falling pretty good and trying it's best to stick.  I have no doubt when I wake up in the morning tomorrow there'll be plenty of stuck snow.

Went with Larry down to the southern tip of Manhattan again to finish the walk around Battery Park up to the World Trade Center site.  It had been brutally interrupted by Work (!) a few weekends ago and now seemed as nice a day as any to do it.  It's a ghost-town down there though on weekends.  And you know what's disappointing?  How little work or progress seems to have been made on the Freedom Tower that is being built on the site.  Apparently it's been built high enough to be above ground level, but you could have fooled me.  It's nothing I could see.  I am interested to see some progress as it would seem almost reassuring.  It's been nearly 8 years now since it happened and you'd think there'd be something there.  I look forward to its eventual state, as the final rendering looks to be very nice:


It was a nice walk to have this afternoon.  We then walked around SoHo a bit, checking out the Museum of Modern Art store where there is a LOT of really cool shit that I really wanted to buy.  All sorts of 'modern' takes on kitchen things and stuff that just looked cool.  Me likey.  I did end up buying a Muji business card holder for $5.  Very basic, very clean, and something I've wanted for a while.  We then stopped by the Design within Reach store.  YEAH RIGHT!  Whose reach????  I saw these cool modern bar stools that I had the nerve to sit on......$1700 - EACH.  W...T....F!!!!!  After casually looking around and saying eff this, it was off to the Apple Store to drool over all that cool shite.  Seriously, want lots of money to just buy all their neat computers and iPods and such.  After feeling woozy from too much coffee, we ran in and got a slice of pizza - YUM.  And finally made it back to the Upper West Side where Larry & I went to Fairway, the city's most nuts grocery store.  Apparently it's the best prices too, which accounts for the chaos.  But seriously, it's nuts.  And Larry made a delicious chicken with Bells seasoning, mashed potatoes and asparagus with gravy.  IT WAS AWESOME.   How great is it to be with someone who can cook like no one's business!?

And so now it's Sunday night and tomorrow it'll be interesting to see if I'm working from home because of the snow.  Yes, I could walk to work.  But if it's like super snowy, who wants to do that?????  I bet my boss would make me come in though.  I mean, I have no real excuse not to.  But I just want to sit at my awesome windows and stare outside!  :-) 

I'll do my best to keep up to date on this blog from now on.  In the meantime, feel free to check out my picasaweb.google.com/hobiewan site.  Lots of my recent pics are all there as it just is too much effort and time to do that photoweb stuff all myself when Google does it so much better! 

Peace!

I had to re-post a comment I saw on the Huffington Post - of course I'm sure others will think this is all liberal spin... whatevs.  Prove it wrong.

For those of you trying to keep up at home:

$1.6 trillion tax cut = OK
$1 trillion+ spent in Iraq = OK
Annual $500 billion deficits = OK
Near-Doubling of the National Debt from $5.8 T to $10.7 T = OK
$85 billion to bail out AIG = OK
$700 billion to bail out the rest of Wall Street = OK
$700 billion in domestic infrastructure investment = Wasteful Pork
$75 billion to keep people from losing their homes = Socialism OMG
Scary.

Anyway, I wrote my first recap of the Amazing Race 14, episode 1 Insider videos but it hasn't been posted yet.  Gotta say though that after that firsrt episode, I really really want to go to Switzerland!!!   Survivor has been entertaining so far and LOST was freakin' glorious yesterday. 

Yes - it's been quite a while since I've writtten a damn thing here and for that, I of course apologize.  It's been a non-stop busy month of working hard and then having great weekends in NYC with Larry.  I've put up pictures on the new place for my pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hobiewan76as things happened and as I took pictures.  But there's been nothing overtly crazy, that's for sure.  I didn't make it back for SnoFest...frown.  And to answer a question my Dad emailed me, yes, I'm stressed about tax season.  I know it won't be as painful as it was last year, but still, the income I get from the renters in Colorado is going to screw me.  After all the screwing I get from the rent not covering the mortgage.  So yeah, that's all been on my mind too.  But my new apartment is freakin' fantastic.  I love living in the city!

Okay, enough from me for now.  I wanted to post because I found another one of those articles that throws the Bible right back at people who love to claim Leviticus gives them the right to call us gay folk heathens.  Takes one to know one!!!! Nyah nyah nyah NYAH!

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Hey there Hi there Ho there!
I'd post more here but it's late and I be tired.  Anyways, I found a much easier way to post plenty of my pictures and that is through the magical world of Picasa!  So here is a link to my personal Picasa site where you can see the recent groups of pics I've been taking, including Christmas, New Year's Eve, and the New Place!!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/hobiewan76

Talk at ya later!

That's the title of one of Britney Spears' new songs and if you say it just right, it is also highly juvenile yet HILARIOUS.  I can't believe one of her songs is titled that.

WELL!  Here's where things stand now that it's 2009 -

• I now have TWO apartments and ONE house.  I have officially become a real-estate mogul.  Okay, that's taking it a bit too far.  But right now my name is associated with the Riverwalk apartment in Jersey, my soon-to-be swank UWS apartment, and my house in Colorado.  Oy.   A lesser person would pass out from the stress.  Me?  I just develop panic attacks!  LOL. 
• Concerning the oh-so-awesome new apartment, I got the keys last week before New Years.   Before I went home to Los Angeles for Christmas (more on that later), I bought a new 52" Samsung flat-panel LCD TV which is effing AWESOME.  I was going to buy it from Best Buy, but those bitches had a) the nerve to not have a delivery date for it before JANUARY 20 (yes, still in our future) and 2) not even have the TV I wanted in stock in any of the 6 stores around the NYC area and iii) I know I mixed up the listing increments.  I did that for Jenny.  She has a love of the Bart that is the ultimate in unrequited love so I thought I'd give it some appreciation.  BWahahahahaqhahahahahahaha1!111111111!!!!!
  • I ended up using Crutchfield.com and man, I wonder why anyone would buy big-ticket electronics anywhere else.  I got the same price I would have paid for a lesser TV for the much higher-end model, FREE shipping, and no sales tax.  SahhhhWEEET.  They ended up delivering that this past Friday (Jan 2nd) to my empty apartment.  And it is awesome to behold.  I also bought from Crutchfield a matching TV stand and Larry & I built that yesterday and today, having fair to satisfactory success. I say that because the floor in my apartment is not what one would call 'level'.  It took a bit of work to make it okay.  But once I put a lot more stuff in the place, it won't look wrong.
  • Yesterday we went to Macy's where I bought a new couch since I had sold all my previous couches before moving away from Colorado.  I got a Macy's card and got it on 12-months same-as-cash, which is YAY!  Free shipping on the couch too, which is a 4-pc sectional.  Comfy.  I'll get that this upcoming Friday, after...
  • ...the movers come move me out of my current digs in West New York!  I set that up for Thursday which is all sorts of stress-inducing for me.  I hate moving with a passion.  I wish it was just over.  It soon will be, but still.  Hate it.
  • So come this upcoming weekend - well, I think I'll have a pretty fucking awesome place. 
• Christmas in Los Angeles!  Yes - I flew back to Los Angeles from the 23rd through to the 28th.  It was so great to get back home and see Mom and Harv, as well as a whole lot of other friends and family. 
  • The first day back, Harv picked me up and for dinner Mom had got us El Pollo Loco!!!!!  I heart El Pollo Loco and really wish it existed out here in NYC, just like I wish the Noodles chain from Colorado Springs was out here too.  <sigh> 
  • The first family outing was on Christmas Eve when we partook in the Sperske annual Christmas Eve celebration, although many of the cousins/kids didn't make it this year, so it was a relatively quiet time.  Doesn't mean I didn't have a good time though seeing all my aunts and the cousins who did show up.  It's always fun when this family gets together!
  • On Christmas Day, we went over to our friends EB & Andrea's house in Monrovia, and of course had EB's world-famous prime rib.  I ate far too much and literally had a food headache after getting back home that night.  It's a good thing, but not really.  But it was so delicious!
  • The day after Christmas, I got to spend some time with my buds Mila and Sveta.  Mila came over in the early afternoon and picked me up and we began our Memory Tour '08 in style, first going to Target.  Mila likes to pretend she celebrates Christmas and definitely enjoys the after-Christmas sales on all holiday items.  Then we went to BURGER BASKET(!) which is one of our cherished childhood places to eat.  We would eat there all....the....time.  We also swung by MHS and took some pictures (all my pictures are still on my camera for a little bit longer - sorry!).  We then headed out to North Hollywood where Sveta lives and we crested the Hollywood Hills and drove around West Los Angeles and ate at our spot, The Stinking Rose ( a great garlic-y restaurant).  It is never a dull moment with all of us together.  I really really hope those two can make it out to visit me this spring.  It would be redonk.  After dinner we drove around some of the Hobie highlights, including around and in UCLA and Westwood as well as various locales throughout Los Angeles.  It was so strange to see that Bookstar Beverly Connection was actually gone and replaced by an Old Navy!!!!!!!
  • Finally on Saturday, we met up with some of Harv's brothers and sisters-in-law at Mimi's Cafe which was awesome as I hadn't seen them for literally five years.  Then that afternoon my stister Stacie and her husband Phil and two of their boys came over for some Christmas fun. 
  • As you can see, it was non-stop and it was EXHAUSTING.  I loved it, but seriously, that was not what anyone could call 'relaxing'. 
• And of course, New Year's in New York!  This year was a  whole lot better than last year's (and the year before that, and so on and so on.....) as one, I had someone to kiss that wasn't family or a friend.  Two, it wasn't spent alone, which I've done far too many times to count as an adult.  Third, it was a blast to celebrate it in New York City.  Shelly's co-worker (and our friend, of course) Claudia had invited us to where her husband, Gualti, is the head chef at, a restaurant called Revel, in the Meatpacking District.  So Shelly, Larry, and I went along with Claudia and it was a great time.  It was definitely cold as hell outside, and I feel bad for those poor schmoes who felt that Times Square was their place to be to ring in the new year.  No gracias.  But inside the restaurant, where we had a full four-course meal and fantastic wine, the atmosphere was fun and exciting.  And warm.   It was nice to not be crammed into a place where you can't even sit.  It was especially nice to be amongst friends and of course, Larry.  So yes, I hope this New Year's celebration was a sign of good things to come. 
• These last few days, it's just been a matter of getting everything lined up for the move.  The TV is there and the cable guy was there this morning hooking up my high-speed internet and HD-DVR service.  Yay!  Thursday will be moving and Friday I'll get a couch.  Saturday night is the loft party!!! Be there or be square (this is what cool people say when they throw parties....)  Larry & I even cleaned the windows today - ugh, those bad boys were Le Filthy. 

Normally I do a wrap-up of the year, and I think I still will.  Probably tomorrow.  But I at least wanted to let you know I was still kicking around and hope that everyone is doing well too.  Here's to a fantastic 2009!!

The original ad has been taken down (sorry Jenny - cute agent photo is now gone) so I wanted to re-post the pictures that were on the ad.  It's obviously the way it looks with the previous tenant's stuff in it.  It'll be interesting to contrast with how it will look in a few months.  I say "few months" because that's probably how long it'll take to get it cleaned up and to actually have a decent compliment of furniture in it.  Having to start from scratch is a little painful but hey, it's worth it.  The first essentials to pick up?  TV, TV Stand, and couch.  

Anyway, here are the pictures:

Where the hell have I been?  Gosh, it's been awhile, hasn't it?  Sorry 'bout that, y'all!

What's the crazy exciting news going on right now, you ask?  I am moving to NEW YORK CITY!  I know, I know, didn't I do that  over a year ago?  Kinda.  But I was still across the river in Jersey.  Close, but definitely no cigar.  But I knew back in November that I was ready to finally live on my own and most importantly, move into the city.  I've been checking listings a lot over the past 30 days.  Mostly through craigslist because hey, it's free.  Of course, you get what you pay for.  But one listing I clicked through on had a link to the actual site.  The ad in craigslist was actually quite informative so I was impressed enough to follow the link to the real site.  Good move on my part.  The site belonged to this guy who not only puts great pictures of the properties up, he also puts up detailed floorplans (a huge rarity in the online world) and great descriptions.  Here's the link to it while it's up of the place I fell in love with online and once I saw it in person, I had to have it:

http://www.ccrny.com/?detail&rrecno=54495

Go ahead, be jealous.  Sure, it's 'only' a studio.  But DAMN.  It's a huge giant space with 12' ceilings.  Those windows are awesome.  It's in the Upper West Side on a fantastic street (72nd).  It's a block and a half away from the Dakota (where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived) and Central Park.  My commute to work, via two possible subway routes, is about 15 minutes.  It's basically ridiculous.  The rent will probably appall anyone who doesn't live in NYC and the immediate area around it.  I know it's appalling to me when I really think about it.  But for the area and what I'm getting, it's incredible.  Also, there's a freakin' attic over the kitchen for storage.  Plus, the closet is incredible in that over the two sides where the clothes hang, shelves go up like another 10-12 feet.  You think i'm exaggerating.  I am so not.  I will need a damn Lex Luthor library ladder to get up to the top shelf if I need to. 

So that has been an exciting thing to do.  My lease will start Jan 1 but I will also have both places at the same time during January.  Hopefully that will make moving not so stressful. 

Other than that - let's see... it's been a while but it's mostly been busy at work or hanging out with Larry.  Thanksgiving I spent with him and his family in Fort Lee, which was a lot of fun.  I am headed home to LA for Christmas though, so look out California!  You're lucky Prop 8 passed or I may have just got myself gay-married for kicks! 

Of course plenty of fun things have happened in the meantime, but I really can't detail them all.  I've been writing like crazy still for RealityNewsOnline but Amazing Race just ended!!! Booo....  They are asking me back to recap the new NBC show "Momma's Boys."  I would never watch something like this but if they want me back to write for them, who am I to complain?

I haven't linked to my stories lately, so let me see if I can find the recent ones and link them here:

Episode 8's Insider Video recap:
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article17367.art&page=1

Episode 9's Insider Video recap:
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article8542.art&page=1

Episode 10's Insider Video recap:
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article8551.art&page=1

Hopefully my recap of the finale's Insider videos will be up really soon.  

Peace out!

I went and posted pretty much a month and a half's worth of photos I've been sitting on, finally.  They're over at the regular hobiebarnes.com site. 

I also killed the Shooting Gallery.  No need and I was getting tons of user requests from spammers.  Bah!

And if you missed seeing the Beyonce / Paul Rudd SNL sketch, my apologies, as I see that it is no longer available.  Bastards!  OH wait, that's my employer I'm talking about!  But why the hell isn't that on Hulu?  It's effin' hilarious, much moreso than the Joe Biden cold open.  C'mon now.

Wow - not only is the song pretty damn fun, but the video is incredible.  The dancing and the very intricate lighting changes and the camera moves - woah.  Check it out:
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I don't know how long this particular clip will be up and available for use, so here's hoping NBC.com or Hulu put it up once this gets taken down.  But in the meantime, I ended up having to watch this Beyonce video shoot a few times last night because it is that hilarious. 
</div>
Oh dear lord, that shit is just funny.

Some recap fun for you since the last time we checked in with each other:  Friday night, I met up with Larry and Shelly and Claudia for belated birthday fun.  We went to Pastis (a very popular place and one that I've been wanting to go to forever) and had a great meal.  I also began drinking in what would become the Hobie & Larry DrinkFest.  It was a great time with delicious food and delicious drinks!  Having started with two beers, I naturally moved on to red wine.  (Yes, seriously).  After we finished dinner at Pastis, we went to visit where Claudia's husband, Gualti (sp?), works as the executive chef.  Yes, I know people.  He is at the restaurant/bar called Revel and was literally across the street from Pastis.  We ended up getting a sweet table there and just continuing the drinkfest.  After red wine, I naturally moved on to Mojitos.  (Yes, seriously).  We ended up sitting there for nearly 3 hours, but it was a blast.  By the time we left, Revel was packed, and when we went outside, the MeatPacking District was mobbed.  It's only at nearly 1 in the morning does the place become seriously crowded with the 'beautiful people'.  Good times.

Yesterday Larry had to work again, so I spent my time being lazy indoors away from the rain.  Good times.  More Fallout 3 and rewatching of Casino Royale because I can't wait to see Quantum of Solace!!!!

I'm also searching for a place to move to in Manhattan!  It's exciting but scary because DAMN, places are expensive in the city.  But the prices aren't quite so ridiculous as they once were due to the economy.  So here's me hoping to take advantage of that!

Strong inflection on the 'I' there above! 

First, before I forget to put a link here, yet again one of my articles has been published on realitynewsonline.com!!  A guy is definitely getting used to this...  Here's the Amazing Race 13 Insider video recap for Episode 7, by yours truly:
http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article8513.art&page=1

Alright, in regular stuff, Larry has been ridiculously busy at work so there haven't been any really exciting things to report on.  Last weekend I did go see 'Role Models' which was pretty damn funny, but I probably could have waited to see it via Netflix.  That weekend was also a three-day weekend, and I ended up taking it VERY easy.  On that Friday night I had first gone after work to have drinks with coworkers (that is always fun to say and actually do) and afterwards I met up with Larry where we had dinner and then went to one of the nicer gay bars in town, Therapy.  We both proceeded to get pretty trashed.  The rest of the weekend was very lowkey as Larry had to work during most of it.  I did get to see his office.  He is up on like the 15th floor so he actually has a window and a view.   His company has two floors and because it's an advertising company, it is much more about having an interesting aesthetic.  They have a common room area in one corner of the building that has this completely windowed dramatic view of Manhattan skyscrapers.  It's incredible, and would be a fantastic place to have a company event.  So jealous, as this 2nd floor nonsense doesn't provide for too dramatic of views.

But then again, this morning I was looking out the window and lo and behold, the Christmas tree has been wheeled in.  It's on its side now and I will have pictures up shortly.  I just can't believe it's been a year already!!! The FTPs are soon to return!!!!!!!

Anyways, the rest of that weekend was cool, as I watched blu-rays and played lots of Fallout 3 (LOVE THAT GAME).  Also visited Larry on Sunday and we went to see 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno', which was pretty entertaining.  I just didn't like that it ended without resolving to my satisfaction one of the KEY aspects of the movie.  WTF?  But I think I was alone in my letdown. 

So now it's been a decently busy week at work.  There's been plenty to do and I've been doing it, but I sense upcoming drama.  Actually it comes from the fact that I am planning to move out when the lease ends.  Shelly & I have discussed it but I don't really know what she will do.  Of course she'll land on her feet, but I really just have to move into the city and I want some privacy again.  I knew the roommate thing was only going to be just to get me on my feet here in NYC, but I've got my footing and I want to have some privacy again. 

This weekend looks to be another lowkey one though, as Larry has to work yet again.  I really want to catch Quantum of Solace, as it looks fantastic.  I know the reviews are mixed, but I read one from the Digital Bits this morning that most closely aligned with what I was anticipating.  Basically, this looks to be the second part of a narrative that encompasses both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.  If looked at in that way, and taken together, these two movies combine to totally reintroduce Bond.  The following movie will probably be where it truly starts with a whole new story.  I really didn't capture what The Digital Bits had to say, so here's a link to what Bill Hunt was saying on 11/14/08:
http://digitalbits.com/#mytwocents

So that's where we're at now.  Happy Belated Birthday to Jenny from the Block!  Of course it's still my birthday month so any further presents are welcomed and encouraged.  :-)

Peace out!

And what does that mean?  Well, another of my Amazing Race recaps has been published!

http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article8492.art&page=1

And also, Ugly Betty is on tonight.  Yay! 

In other stuff, I'm hoping that based on what I'm reading that the fight over Prop 8 is just beginning.  It could end badly with respect to my viewpoint, but there should be a further legal battle over it.  I know that people are saying that it's only just about the term 'marriage' and that it really doesn't mean much.  But based on the law just passed in Arkansas in which foster children can not be placed in a house with an unmarried couple (read: gay), the term 'marriage' to me starts to mean a lot.  Because it'll be much easier to write a law indirectly discriminating by saying that something requires a married status.  So, game on.

Hmm...what else?  Not really much. Fallout 3 has been so much fun to play.  Still haven't played Little Big Planet yet, but I think I'll have time this weekend to try it out.  Yay for 3-day weekends!!!!

It was amazing to watch the returns on TV and then to finally have the West Coast close their polls and wrap it up for Senator Obama.  It was incredible to watch as he kept racking up the electoral college votes from the previously too-close-to-call or too-early-to-call states too.  It was nice to see the old McCain emerge in his concession speech (if he hadn't picked Palin, I seriously believe this race would have been much tighter; not a different outcome, but tighter).  And it was awesome to see the humongous crowd in Chicago watch Obama's acceptance speech.  It's time for a new day, and I personally can't wait to help be a part of it. 

The only drawbacks to today look to be Proposition 8 in California.  It looks like intolerance and discrimination will continue to exist, at least as of now.  I hope to wake up on Wednesday morning and find the vote has gone to a No on 8.  And to the passive-aggressive comment left anonymously on my post below, seriously, wow.  But take heart, if you are truly poor and backwards, Obama's not going to take your wealth.  So yay for you!  About the backwards, well, in the words of Jeff Probst, I've got nothing for ya.  Good luck with that.

In the meantime, for everyone else who is excited about the possibilities of a new day and a chance to put America on a smart path forward, Yay!!!!!!!