twodoebs

This weekend Kati and I scratched another goal off of our KAMLOF list . . . we went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to see the rose gardens in their June glory.

I managed to get Kati to climb into a tree while we were in the Botanical Gardens.

On our way back from the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Kati stopped off and spent some time at a street fair near our new [hopefully!] apartment on Smith Street in Brooklyn.

Comedy Central say, "It will do for Hollywood and the entertainment media what 'The Daily Show' does for news and politics." Sounds good. And, with his "Spade In America" segment from SNL/Weekend Update, David Spade seems like the right person to do it!

David Spade to host satire show on Comedy Central

While I was out of town this weekend, it was suggested that the Steelers were going to have a long season this year. The thought, as it went, was that the NFL had figured out late in the 2004-2005 season exactly what needed to be done to minimize "Baby Ben."

Not wanting to take issue with someone who may ultimately play a large role in my life, I kept quiet. How I wish I had this article to silently make my point FOR me!

Steelers Team Report

The good news is that I had an interview today that went very well and that--as a result--I'll be starting a new job on Tuesday. I'll be working as a special Assistant District Attorney, which means that I'll be prosecuting crimes (which--in turn--means that I'll be BACK in court!).

The bad news is that this position in pro bono. This means that I won't be getting paid. Nothing: not minimum wage, no health insurance, no stipend, not even a parking voucher.

But it's all good. It WILL be good experience, it's my understanding that these pro bono positions regularly roll into paid positions, and it'll get me back into New York (good riddance, New Jersey!).

Thanks to everyone who's wished me luck and all who have given me their support. Special thanks, of course, to Bob, Paula, and Kati for making my time between jobs tolerable. Keep your fingers crossed for me as I start in on this new time in my life!

Not only did I TAKE a few pictures in Pittsburgh, but I TOOK a few pictures from Pittsburgh. That is, there were a coupla old Christmas shots that I had taken on Yak's digital camera that had--ahem!--never made their way to me. So here's a few pictures of this, that, and the OTHER thing.

Bob and Paula workin' on a crossword puzzle (this was Sunday, though, so I don't think they GOT many of 'em!).

Paula on her most favoritest deck.

Of COURSE, no trip back to Pittsburgh would be compleat without a picture of Jenny (actually, I took quite a few more, but I'll only indulge myself in posting this one!).

When I tell people that I spent 16 hours cleaning out my 'rent's garage, I don't think anyone believes me, so here's the proof--we FILLED this dumpster with stuff that we threw out!

A good one of Paula on the Staten Island Ferry last weekend.

Kati at Liberty State Park on Memorial Day. 

Kati holding up the object of out excursion to Liberty State Park: a letterbox hidden in the woods!

One of ME that Kati snuck while we were at Liberty State Park. 

Here's a way-back-when shot of Stepper and Grandma--sweet.

Stefanie helping herself--no doubt to a huge serving of Christmas beef!

This may very well have been the last picture taken of Grandma--it's certainly the last picture *I* took of her, so unless someone from Sunrise took a picture of her sometime in January . . .

The last movie I made mention of here was "Up for Grabs" and I posted that--quite favorable review--more than a month ago. Those of you who know me well know that between the theaters and Netflix, I see a TON more than two movies in a month. But I don't mention them here 'cause they're either not really remarkable or because I think about the same as everyone else ("Crash" is a pretty good example 'cause while I thought it was an excellent movie--and well worth a watch for anyone who's considering it--so did most of the critics, so I didn't bother to write anything about it). "Up For Grabs" was an exception 'cause I thought it was much better than some of the critics and I thought it would be a worthwhile mention (now that I'm thinking about it, I gotta also recommend "Mad Hot Ballroom," even though the critics pretty much all liked it, too, just 'cause it was SO much fun!).

ANOTHER exception is "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which I just saw today with Bob and Paula. Awe, this movie was SO bad! I don't know what we thought it was going to be, but PLEASE, stay AWAY from it. Those of you who play HSX (and BTW, I'm on the VERGE of breaking H$5 million and Sweet Kati's within striking distance of H$3 million . . . yeah us!) will know what I mean when I say that it is currently trading at H$142.94, which BAFFLES me 'cause it was SO bad . . . even for a movie like this (of course, that doesn't mean that I'll short it--despite Kati's urging!--'cause it DOES have that unexplainable appeal of people who enjoy bad movies). B-A-D, bad--"I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul!"

Movie Review: "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"

So I'm in Pittsburgh for the weekend, spending some time with my folks and helping them with a few household chores. And I met up with Schmarbo-Schmast, Arch, and Peggy last night to watch the Tyson fight (so sum up the article in a phrase, "Tyson is washed up"--sorry, Arch). I was only there for a few hours, but a few things occurred to me.

FIRST--Silent Readers of doebtown
The purpose of doebtown is for me to have an outlet by which to express the crazy things that go on in my head. To let my life be an open book, so to speak. So I have absolutely NO qualms with people--whether they are friends in the brick-and-mortar world or just people that I don't know that have stumbled onto doebtown in one way or another--stopping in and seeing what I've posted. BUT, I was surprised to hear that there are regular readers who are too "keyboard shy" to chime in when they've got something to contribute. PLEASE, let it be heard by all that doebtown WELCOMES everyone to voice their thoughts . . . "information--and our useless opinions--WANTS to be free!"

SECOND--eHarmony
I've got to . . . I can't deny myself any longer. eHarmony is a great website that provides a much needed service, which is not available anywhere else. While--as previously discussed , I UNDERSTAND that eHarmony does not accommodate everyone's lifestyles--I simply do not understand the logic of people who scoff eHarmony simply because it is *online* dating. I've got news for people who think this way: we live in an online world . . . the internet--are you READY for this?--makes things BETTER! In my opinion (and it is, to be fair, only my humble opinion) the idea of dating yet not giving eHarmony a chance would be as foolish as wanting to buy a car yet not doing research on the internet . . . if NOTHING else, eHarmony vastly expands one's network of potential dates.

THIRD--Dispelling Rumors
One of the reasons I originally started doebtown was to have one place where people could check in and see what's going on in my life. Last night, I realized that I have not been COMPLEATLY forthright with what I'm up to these days and, as a result, there are inaccurate, confusing, and speculative ideas going around regarding my going's-on. And while I'm SURE it's self-indulgent to think that anyone really CARES what I'm doing, it's crazy that someone can be confessing to "reading [my] blog all the time" and yet is still misinformed regarding where I am and where I'm going. So, in an effort to be MORE forthright, allow me to explain exactly what I'm up to.

I'm currently between jobs. I was unhappy at my last job at the television company on the Jersey Shore, so I quit. I got out of my lease and moved out of my apartment. I'm currently living with Kati (it's a misstatement to say that we're living together, 'cause what is REALLY happening is that she is gratuitous enough to allow me to live with her) in Jersey City while I look for another job. Realizing that the happiest I've been in the last few years was when I was working in criminal law, I'm looking to get into one of the New York City District Attorney's Offices. Along these lines, there are a FEW irons in the fire and I'm very hopeful that one will come out hot very soon. There are currently no plans for me to move back to Pittsburgh or anywhere else outside of New York State, as this is the current geographic limitation on my license to practice law. Some preliminary plans HAVE been discussed to address the contingency of what I'll do if I'm unsuccessful at finding suitable employment in New York, but at this point, they're nothing more than just that--contingency plans.

Well, because the last post received interested feedback from at least ONE loyal doebtown reader, I thought it might be worthwhile to post some new information that I have acquired with regard to this matter since I last wrote about it (this is ALMOST more just notes to myself as I continue to investigate how they're going about this, but it MIGHT be interesting to anyone else who is curious about this case):

- According to court documents, the docket number for the case is 1:05-cv-04960, the case name is LAP Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates LLP et al v. China Digital Media Corporation et al, and it's been assigned to Judge Preska.

- According to court documents, although the plaintiff is an attorney, the complaint was filed by Christopher Brennan, who also works at the firm of Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates (570 Lexington Avenue, 44th Floor, New York, NY, 10022, 212-319-7600), on behalf of Mr. Ziegler.

- According to the complaint, the e-mail address in question is saz@zza.net.

- According to the complaint, Mr. Ziegler is a securities lawyer.

- According to the complaint, the offending e-mails in question "touted the stock of Defendant China Digital Media Corporation and appeared to be part of a 'pump and dump' scheme perpetrated by Defendants John Does 1-10 with the acquiescence and assistance of Defendant China Digital Media Corporation." Complaint at 2.

- According to the complaint, "Anyone . . . who investigated the origin of the SPAM message in question . . . would have concluded that the SPAM originated from ZZA and/or Scott Ziegler. Were any such person to go to the website www.zza.net such person would believe that such e-mail came from a law firm that specializes in securities law matters. Complaint at 9.

- According to the complaint, the named defendant admits to having hired a "stock promoter" and compensated this stock promoter by giving them 600,000 free trading shares of the defendant's stock.

- According to the complaint, the named defendant has chosen not the reveal the name of this "stock promoter."

- The causes of action in the complaint are libel, conversion, trespass to chattels, negligence, unjust enrichment, trademark infringement,

- The plaintiff requests $250,000 for compensatory damages and punitive damages of $1 million for each tort count (for a grand total of $1.25 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages--that's $6.25 million for those of you who are counting along at home!) and treble damages for the trademark infringement count.

Isn't there some expression about finding something that everyone needs and that isn't being provided then watching the cash roll in? Well an attorney in New York recently opened up a new practice area that has ME very interested. He's suing a company for using his e-mail address in a spamming campaign.

The details of his suit are still rather vague. But it is a novel approach to an age old problem (well, OK, not an AGE old problem--more along the lines of a DECADE old problem . . . but it's a very difficult problem!) and Mr. Ziegler may be on to a hot new practice area.

A Hot New Practice Area?