September 27, 2005

Hi!

Friday night we went out for dinner:

RESTAURANT REVIEW:
ULTIMATE PASTA
1ST AVENUE ON THE CORNER OF 57TH STREET
DINED OUT WITH: Tara, her sister Kerry, and Kerry's boyfriend Brian

     This is a quirky little place that can seat about 16 comfortably. But the smallness of it gives it that
"I'm in someone's kitchen" sort of feel. The pasta itself was very good. It's also BYOB, which means that
if you plan enough in advance, you can also get soused while eating. Though the portions are large
enough that you have to really drink a lot to get hammered. I had the Lasagna Bolognese, and Brian had
a Chicken cutlet with a side of Broccoli. That's why he's still built like the military man that he is and I'm
built like one of the spare tires the army has on their jeeps.
3.5 Patties

    Then Saturday night after work, I made my way down to Fiddlesticks on Greenwich Avenue for Lizzie
Coogan's 30th birthday party. By the time I got down there all my cartoon favorites had left, but the
birthday girl was still there.
     I had no problem finding the place, but whoa! getting back to where the party was proved to be a
hassle. The place was jam packed. By the time I got back to where the party was, I was ready to leave.
But I ended up staying for about an hour. Everybody that Lizzie introduced me to, she told "He's getting
married in December!" So now they all know.
It looked like I had missed a hell of a party. Such has become my life. Not complaining though. Two
years ago, I made almost every party and was going nowhere fast. Now I miss parties, but things are
going in the right direction. Thank goodness.

I told you guys that I was reading two books. I finished one this week. The Jimmy Breslin book, The
Church that Christ Forgot.
      Reading this book was alot like watching a Michael Moore film. Breslin was examining the cases of
abuse by pedophile priests in American Catholic Churches. He painstakingly goes through several
stories of abuse, one more heartbreaking and disgusting than the next. He of course described his own
upbringing in the church, which was actually a mostly positive experience for him. Michael Moore did the
same thing in Fahrenheit 9/11. One of the first things he did was show a picture of his best friend who
was killed in the Twin Towers, thereby showing that he had as much right as any to call for war. Then
proceeded to argue against it.
      Breslin decides early on in his book that he wants to establish his own church. One that gives to the
needy, and takes a vow of poverty, something that two of his main targets, Edward Cardinal Eagan of
New York, and Archbishop William Murphy of Rockville Center choose not to. From there he goes on to
all the interviews he conducted with victims and their families. He describes a number of priests from
Brooklyn, New York and especially Boston, where Bernard Cardinal Law and Bishop Thomas Daily
shuffled pedophiles from one parish to another. (Daily later became Bishop of Brooklyn) He talks about
one of my old priests from St. Mary's, Father John Thompson, who housed his 19 year old boyfriend in
rectory of St. Elizabeth's in Ozone Park (where he was pastor), and stole money from the proceeds of a
candy sale to fund vacations for he and his boy toy.
   He goes after Bishop Murphy for having nuns evicted from a convent so that he could build a mansion
near the church where he works. He calls him Mansion Murphy, and gives him hell for his role in the
pedophile cover-up. Its a dark disturbing book.
   I was an altar boy, and I worked in a church for 4 years in college. I can safely say that I was never
touched or abused. (The worst was I got yelled at a few times, a couple of times by Thompson). But
after reading this book, its a miracle that I didn't. I do remember when I was working in the church, there
was one priest there who used to tell me "do not let the altar servers out of your sight." He was fighting
this war against abuse a long time before it came to light. Breslin doesn't mention this priest, but he
does mention a couple who still have his support, because they kept their hands to themselves and
actually did Christ like work.
    The other night Tara and I were at our Pre-Cana class (which I'll write more about next week) and one of
the speakers was a priest who told us that we should "make sure we make a good confession" right
before the wedding. I haven't been to confession in years. After reading Breslin's book, I wonder why the
hell I should bother.

News Item--John Roberts: He had his confirmation hearings last week before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and he goes before the full Senate this week. Dianne Feinstein of California  Senators
Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Joseph Biden of Delaware, Charles Schumer of New York and
Richard Durbin of Illinois all voted against Roberts. Of course Feinstein, Kennedy, Schumer and Durbin
will vote against anybody Bush puts up there. Biden may be somewhat more open minded.
     Some people just don't understand that one of the spoils of being President is that you get to pick
the Justices that will support their agendas. Bill Clinton picked two pro choice judges, and would have
picked 7 more if he had the chance. That's the way the ball bounces. I disagreed with both Ruth Bader
Ginsberg's and Stephen Breyer's views on abortion, but they both seemed qualified to preside on the
Court, so I had no problem with their being confirmed. I'm sure there are issues where I don't see eye to
eye with on Roberts, but from where I'm sitting, he seems like a fair and reasonable man, as well as
legally brilliant. He'll be confirmed this week, and hopefully Senator Kennedy won't drown his sorrows
too much when its over.
(OK there I go again. No, I haven't stopped admiring the Kennedy's and saying that they get a raw deal
from the media. But Teddy's fighting a useless partisan battle here. He needs to learn to pick his spots)

With Chad Pennington apparently having retorn his rotator cuff, there are fans out there who are  saying
that the Jets season is over, especially now that  Brooks Bollinger will be the Jets quarterback. After
Pennington re-injured his shoulder,  a couple of plays later, so did backup QB Jay Fiedler.
    I don't consider myself amongst the ones who are panicking because their struggles are no surprise to
me. I thought talk of their going to the Super Bowl absurd from the start, Pennington or no Pennington.
       Last year they had a cream-puff schedule for the first 5 weeks, allowing them to go 5-0. They
proceeded to go 5-6 the rest of the way, backing into the playoffs, where they barely beat the Chargers
and then handed the Steelers a trip to the AFC Championship Game. The Jets are just not that good.
       They way they lost that playoff game in Pittsburgh reminded me of the year they lost to Cleveland in
the playoffs. It took years for the Jets to recover from that game, one which they led, blew then had a
chance to win in OT. I don't know how long it will take these Jets to get over that, but it won't be this
year.

Happy Birthdays this week to my sister Katie and to Maureen McGarvey (Tuesday for both)
Everyone else Have a Great Week
Bill