LA FIN

END OF THE LINE FOR CARRADINE

UPDATE 6/11:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The independent forensics expert who examined David Carradine's body says the actor didn't commit suicide, and Carradine's brothers are asking for understanding as Thai authorities investigate.

"The autopsy findings and the evidence thus far available demonstrate that Mr. Carradine's death was not the result of suicide.

Actor David Carradine, of Kung Fu fame, has been found dead, hanging by a nylon rope in a hotel room closet in Bangkok, Thailand, according to a Thai police official.

So far they're saying that there is no evidence of anyone else being in the room and

Carradine's friends and personal managers...brushed aside suggestions that Carradine might have taken his own life.

Sounds like a night at the Gregory Hotel.

RIP David.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

This ain't your daddy's Sherlock Holmes!

Release Date: 25 December 2009

GUN CLUB AND DAY CARE

Guns, drugs, and toddlers don't usually go together.

But what's great about this report is the god-awful "special effect" at .30 seconds and the fantastic tag line.

REPUBLICANS CARE ABOUT YOU!

Last Saturday, President Obama and first lady Michelle flew to NYC to have dinner and attend the Broadway show Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.

The Republican National Committee had some choice words for the President:

"As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan's theater district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills," the GOP said. "Have a great Saturday evening -- even if you're not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer expense."

With this chiding of the President, the Republicans sent a clear message to America: The President doesn’t care about you but we do.

When misfortune strikes -

Friday, August 26, 2005
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA

Saturday, August 27, 2005
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MISSISSIPPI

- whether natural or man made –

Monday, August 29, 2005
7AM CDT — KATRINA MAKES LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE

- the Republican Party will respond swiftly.

7:30 AM CDT — BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOTIFIED OF THE LEVEE BREACH

MORNING — BUSH SHARES BIRTHDAY CAKE PHOTO-OP WITH SEN. JOHN MCCAIN

8PM CDT — RUMSFELD ATTENDS SAN DIEGO PADRES BASEBALL GAME

A Republican President will battle adversity on the front line, not show disregard for those in need.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

PRESIDENT BUSH PLAYS GUITAR WITH COUNTRY SINGER MARK WILLIS

When hard times hit Americans, like hard times have hit GM employees, -

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
80,000 BELIEVED STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS

3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER

- no Republican will ever do anything frivolous like take in a Broadway show.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
7PM CDT — CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES IN A BROADWAY SHOW

So next election, remember what your President did -

Thursday, September 1, 2005
7AM CDT — BUSH CLAIMS NO ONE EXPECTED LEVEES TO BREAK

- while you suffered.

Thursday, September 1, 2005
CONDOLEEZZA RICE VISITS U.S. OPEN

CONDOLEEZZA RICE GOES SHOE SHOPPING

January 4th, 2006
NEW ORLEANS STILL NOT SAFE FOR DISPLACED

January 24th, 2006
WHITE HOUSE REFUSES TO COOPERATE WITH A SENATE INVESTIGATION OF KATRINA

January 31st, 2006
PRESIDENT BUSH DOES NOT MENTION KATRINA ONCE IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

It’s the Republican Party, no the Democratic Party, that cares about you!

BUSH “SATISFIED WITH THE RESPONSE”

LAST TITANIC SURVIVOR DIES

Millvina Dean, the last survivor of 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, passed away today. She was 97 years old.

A DOG'S LIFE

I got this from the fabulous girls over at Disgrasian.

Have a great weekend.

MAN U, KEEPIN' IT CLASSY

You gotta love the Manchester United fans. Mighty Manchester United lost to Barcelona in the finals of the Champions League so some yahoo drove a mini-bus into a crowd celebrating Barcelona's victory and killed four people.

Keepin' it classy.

AMALGAMATED BANK

A new Amalgamated Bank is opening on 86th St, right next to the new Fabco Shoes.

Now cue the trumpets!!

Amalgamated Bank Selects Brooklyn Native

To Manage of its New Branch in Bay Ridge

Brooklyn, New York (May 28, 2009) – Amalgamated Bank’s Rosemarie Gentiliaco has been named Vice President and Manager of the Bank’s newest branch at 426 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The branch is scheduled to open in June. Ms. Gentiliaco grew up and still resides in the Borough.

After achieving early success in banking, she returns to her neighborhood roots to run the new branch, which is Amalgamated’s third retail location in Brooklyn. Ms. Gentiliaco will transition from Amalgamated’s headquarters location at 275 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. She joined Amalgamated in February 2008 to manage that branch.

“Ms. Gentiliaco’s familiarity with Brooklyn as well as her banking expertise and hands-on approach to customer service, makes her a solid fit for our Bay Ridge branch,” said Kathleen Romagnano, Amalgamated’s Executive Vice President of Retail Banking.

Prior to joining Amalgamated, Ms. Gentiliaco served as Branch Manager at JPMorgan Chase Bank. She began at Chase in 2006, when it acquired the Bank of New York’s retail locations. She started with the Bank of New York as a Branch Manager in 2004.

Earlier in Ms. Gentiliaco’s career, she was employed by the Dime Savings Bank as an assistant branch manager in downtown Brooklyn. Later, she ran a branch in Williamsburg, and was actively involved in community and economic development projects.

Began her Banking Career While in College

Ms. Gentiliaco’s rise in banking started in 1990, when she worked as a part-time teller with Independence Savings Bank while still in college. After graduating, the bank recruited her for a management training program, which provided an overview of branch operations. She spent the next several years at Independence, where she worked at branches in Brooklyn and Queens.

Her professional associations include membership in the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce and the Los Sures Community Development Company Inc. Los Sures is a neighborhood-

based not-for-profit organization, which manages affordable housing programs and fostered economic development that helped transform Williamsburg.

Ms. Gentiliaco graduated from Brooklyn College, and she grew up in Brooklyn’s Gravesend and Bensonhurst neighborhoods. Currently, she lives in Bensonhurst with her family.

About Amalgamated Bank

Established in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Amalgamated Bank continues the progressive traditions of its founders as the only 100 percent union-owned bank in the United States.

Chartered by New York State, Amalgamated Bank is an FDIC insured commercial bank with $4.5 billion in assets. The Bank has 19 branches including 13 in New York City as well as one branch in each of the following locations: Lyndhurst, New Jersey; Washington, D.C., and Pasadena, California. The Bank also has three retail branches in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, the Bank’s corporate banking divisions include Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate and Community Development. The Bank’s website is www.amalgamatedbank.com.


No word yet on when the bank will be christened by being robbed. Any bets?

NORWEGIAN DAY PARADE

Today marks the 385th anniversary of the Bay Ridge Norwegian Day Parade. The parade is exactly like the Bay Ridge St. Patrick's Day Parade, except kilts are exchanged for Viking hats, making it much more difficult to walk.

The parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. on Fifth Avenue at 89th Street and proceeds north along Fifth Avenue to 67th Street, turning right to pass the reviewing stand on the south side of Leif Ericson Park.

The Bay Ridge Food Co-Op will be marching. They'll be dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes made out of gravlaks and Kjøttkaker.

HARD UP?

Unemployed? Trying to find a new job? Not so fast. Being unemployed may not be so bad.

Pfizer says it will provide 70 of its most widely prescribed prescription drugs — including Lipitor and Viagra — free to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance.

It gives new meaning to the phrase "hard up."

BAY RIDGE NIGHT AT THE CYCLONES

I saw a poster for this today and - boom - it shows up on Bay Ridge Journal. Here it is again:

The Brooklyn Cyclones will host a "Bay Ridge Night" and fundraiser for local food pantries at 7 PM on July 8, at Keyspan Park in Coney Island.

The Cyclones, a Class "A" affiliate of the New York Mets, will play the Aberdeen Ironbirds, a Class "A" team affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles.

Regular boxes are $12 and field boxes $15.

For tickets, visit the Cyclones Website

To reserve for groups of 20 or more, call 718-507-TIXX.

A portion of each ticket sold using the promo code "Bay Ridge" will be donated to the collective food pantries of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton.

UNCLE FESTER

I'm very happy that my old friend, Kevin Chamberlin, will be playing Uncle Fester in the upcoming Broadway show, The Addams Family. Kevin and I go back 20 years to when we were both struggling and broke. Thank god one of us has moved on to bigger and better things.

MORE HORN TOOTING

Ok, so I have to toot my horn a little more. My musical, China - The Whole Enchilada, is currently playing in Houston and seems to be doing pretty well.

Caution: Supersensitive sorts need not attend Theater LaB Houston's production of Mark Brown's China - The Whole Enchilada. The show is about as un-PC as it gets. Played by "three white guys" dressed in coolie hats, among other offensive garb, the show covers the history of China at breakneck speed, galloping through dynasties and thousands of years as it pokes fun at ethnic stereotypes and the folks who buy into them.

I found myself grinning, if not outright laughing, through most of the goofy shenanigans.

MEAT LOAF

I know it's Friday but I couldn't resist the Meat Loaf. I saw this documentary the other day and it rocks. And I've finally found someone more neurotic than me.

MANNY SUSPENDED

Oy. Just as the LA Dodgers went into the Major League Baseball modern day record books with the best start at home, Manny Ramirez has to go and spoil the party by getting suspended for 50 games.

Yep. Manny was suspended for failing a drug test. The suspension begins tonight and he'll be available to play again on July 3. Here's Manny's statement:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.

"I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

Ramirez has been having a scorcher of a season. He leads the Dodgers in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.492) and slugging percentage (.641), and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with six.

So thanks for tainting it, Manny.

DODGERS BASEBALL

I lived in LA for years and suffered through season after season of lousy Dodger baseball. We moved back to NYC two years ago and what happens? Joe Torre goes to LA, the Yankees start charging $10,500 for a family of four, and the Mets aren't far behind.

And now, to top it all off, the Dodgers have started the season with twelve straight wins at home, tying the modern-day record of Ty Cobb's 1911 Cubs.

With that said, I'm sure the Dodgers will lose their next game. I've broken the cardinal rule of mentioning a no-hitter while the game is in progress.


Correction: It was the 1911 Tigers. Not the Cubs. Wrong animal. Sorry.

DOM DELUISE DEAD

Brooklyn born actor Dom DeLuise passed away yesterday. He was 75. RIP.

TO GO COLD CUP TUMBLERS

The Starbucks To Go Cold Tumblers have finally arrived at he Starbucks on 75th and 3rd. I've been waiting for these double insulated babies to make it to the store. Starbucks has been selling the Tumblers for hot drinks but the cold ones. Use them for your cold drinks and get a whopping $0.10 off each drink. Stop the madness. These will come in handy now that warm weather is right around the corner. And they make dandy mother's day gifts.

TOOTING MY OWN HORN

Every now and then I have to toot my own horn. From the New York Times:

"The polished, fast-paced, unabashedly theatrical (in the best sense of the word) production of “Around the World in 80 Days” at the Westport Country Playhouse is an extremely pleasant surprise.

The show is smart enough to make sophisticated adults laugh out loud and shamelessly silly enough to keep children in the audience interested and entertained.

Much credit goes to Mark Brown, the actor-playwright who wrote the adaptation.

Apparently, Mr. Brown likes to play with classic books and international settings. One of his earlier works is “The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge,” set a year after the visits of the three Christmas spirits. And his “China — The Whole Enchilada” was a hit at last year’s Fringe Festival in New York."