Good Luck Samwell!

For those of you who live under a rock, it's finally happened. It actually looks like Samwell left. Happy Trails, Homeboy! Good luck and be safe.

Also, best of luck to all the ladies out there who happen across his path and experience some of Sammy's version of "foreign relations" and "exporting good will." Oh Lordy, help us all...

Should be fun to follow. For us here at Pedro's, we're gonna miss his high jinx. We'll follow the blog, of course: www.sunofsam.com (a pun! What rapist wit!) but what I'm really looking forward to is the Limited Edition Directors Cut of his adventures. Paris Hilton, LOOK OUT!!!!!

Happy Trails, Sammy. See you soon.

Pedro's Movie Review: Lucky Number Slevin

I just got back from a preview of the film "Lucky Number Slevin" at the Ziegfeld Theater. I won the ticket from www.thrillist.com by answering correctly the following question: Name one of the two songs sung by Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello in the seminal cinematic masterpiece that is Hudson Hawk ("Bunny! Ball Ball!"). Obviously, I know this shit like the back of my hand, submitted the correct answer* and was awarded two tickets. Also obviously, I went by myself because all of my friends are losers and can't make a 7pm movie on a school night. And I know: I gotta get new friends.

I thought I'd share a recap with you since none of you will see this anyway. No spoilers, btw, but it's not like you fucking care. I just thought I'd mention it in case someone I don't know reads this.

At the conclusion of director Paul McGuigan's brief introductory remarks, he saved his skin by thanking the Weinstein brothers ("Oh, yeah, I almost forgot..."), the lights dimmed and the movie rolled.

It wasn't half bad: not great or particularly memorable, but "not bad" or "pretty good" do describe it accurately. A little bit of a sag in the middle, but otherwise good pace throughout. Josh Hartnett does a pretty decent job, but, and it pains me to say this, Lucy Liu stole the show. She is great as the perky, quirky neighbor/love interest. Also, if it so happens that any of you actually see this, please keep an eye out for the post coital scene between Mr. Hartnett and Ms. Liu because I could swear that there was a nip slip (not entirely SFW) by Ms. Liu, but if you blink you'll miss it, so I'm not 100% sure and could use some confirmation one way or the other. Please let me know. Other cast members are solid although I don't believe any of the performances (or was it the script?) were outstanding. All in on my scale of one to four stars, I clock it in at 2.5/4. I don't see it getting wide release so I'll say it probably tops out in the US at around $30 million.

After the show I congratulated Mr. McGuigan as I walked by, to which he responded "thanks so much!" He was clearly very excited, as well he should be in my opinion. It's certainly a step up from Wicker Park, and if the fact that he's already announced his next two projects is any indication, the studios seem to believe in him as well. He seemed sincere during his remarks and I bet he's got a vicious, scotch fueled hangover this morning. I'm jealous. I bet he had a ball last night. Kudos to him.

On the way out I walked by Ms. Liu who I viewed as continuing to be pert and perky and clearly loving the attention she was getting. She's short, 5' 4" maybe? Then as I made my way up the aisle none other than Bruce Willis stepped in front of me, clad in a leather jacket and baseball cap (with hair). I was surprised at his height; he's gotta be 5' 10". At that moment, I was suddenly thrust into a serious quandary - I mean, it's not every day I stand in line behind John McClane, y'know? I wondered, if given the opportunity, do I ask him when Tallulah turns 18? Or should I amuse him with the Hudson Hizzie trivia contest by breaking out in a solo rendition of "Swingin on a Star"? Or, and ultimately probably most importantly, would it be Bungalow or Marquee later this evening and could he put me on the list? In the end however, I decided to keep my trap shut and my camera in my pocket.

Also had a brief sighting of Josh Hartnett, who is also taller-than-standard-Hollywood size but if was from pretty far away. Does that guy ever shower?

The best part of the evening included a gaggle of teenage girls who, when passing the refreshment stand were in awe of the free pepsi and popcorn ("Oh my God you guys! Look! Pepsi! Popcorn! And it's FREE!"). There was a pair of them that I suspect, based on the ample cleavage spilling out of their tops, had a Bruce Willis groping on the brain, but alas, I went home following the film and cannot report on Mr. Willis' late night high jinx.

On a final note, the gift bag was crap. It included a copy of the ever popular "Watch" magazine and a baseball hat that said IWC Schaff Hausen (IWC sponsored the event and was featured in the film). Very very exciting stuff, no doubt.

*Swingin on a Star and Side by Side, obvs.

Wow! I'm 37 going on 23. SWEET!

I took this quiz to determine what age I act, and, as the girlfriend can (and most certainly will) confirm, I act the ripe old age of ... 23. Boo Yah! College Girls and Keg Parties! Bring em on!! Here is my test result:

***You Are 23 Years Old***

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatagequiz/

Holy Crap. It just can't be. But it is, people.

So deal with it. Via Ohnotheydidn't, the Hilton Skank-bots continue their quest for world domination by making a cartoon based on their lives. Oh, the humanity! I can't wait to see it.

Fire near Pedro's NYC HQ!

There was a fire near Pedro's NYC HQ last week and the girlfriend caught it all on film!
Check it out!

Props to New York's Bravest for heading into a sitchy-ation that the editorial staff here at Pedro's would generally avoid.

Look at that Dude! He's heading straight in there! What a beast!

Now that's a fire!

More NYFD studs just cruising into the oven like it's nothin but a God Damn Thang.
Thanks, but I'll stick to my desk job.

And on Second Avenue? Life goes on. Weird, no? But at least the NYFD had it under control, no one was hurt and all the staff here at PNYC HQ are A-OK. Thanks for asking.

Yo! Where the hell is Pedro?!?

Sorry I've been so out of touch people. I went away to a conference at the lovely Ritz Hotel in Key Biscayne, Florida. It was great. Until Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 12 noon, on the dot. That's when my boss called and fired my ass, along with half of my research department.

Here we go again. Laid off, Part II. Fuck.

So to celebrate, my friends who were hosting the conference took a bunch of us out to Nobu in So Beach where we ate and ate and ate. I can say with certainty that it was one of the finest dining experiences of my life, and that's saying something, people. Most of you know that I do not fuck around when it comes to my gastronomic choices and appetites. But this time I was outdone. Super mega-props to Beau and team for an amazing night.

To make things even better, I got to sit at the end of the table with excellent wait staff access, ensuring that my martini was never empty. Also, my end of the table ended up being the one with people without children, thank God. So while all of the procreating types talked of playground high jinx and pre-school admission stress, my end slurped cocktails and whooped it up. It was great. I had a ball. Thanks in no small part to Rachel Gold Medal Winner, who dropped some lines that night that were absolutely priceless. I'd relate them to you, but, frankly, they're not the kind of lines that will resonate on the written page. They are, however, priceless like a fucking Master Card moment after a few cocktails. Don't worry, as soon as any of you see me, prepare thyselves for some Gold Medal Winner humor. She's a genius. Too bad she lives in Boston. *Props*

Anyway, I got back to NYC, tanned rested, viciously hung over, and plum out of a jobby job. So I did what any man facing a life crisis would do: I quit drinking. For Lent. That's 40 fucking days, people. And actually, it's more. It turns out there's a technicality of which I was unaware. Apparently, Sundays don't count as "Lent" proper. So theoretically, I could go out and get sauced until I booted in the gutter each and every Sunday. FUN! But, alas, I'm going to abstain until Easter. I figure, if I'm gonna do this, I might as well do it all the way, right? So as of today, I'm officially 12 days in. DUDE. It feels like eternity. Now, I'd like to point out for the record that I did actually start on Sunday, Feb 26, a full three days before Ash Wednesday, so it's kind of like I'm going for extra credit here. But actually, once I got started and began sleeping through the night, I just decided to roll with it. And I've gotta admit, I'm feelin pretty good. I've been hitting the gym, diligently trying to get a new jobby job, and generally looking after myself.

So that's it for now. I just wanted to drop y'all a line. There's lots of other stuff going on which I'll get to when I have a minute. The girlfriend is leaving me behind for a month in the sun down south with her 'rents, so I'll have more time later. Thanks for checking in people. Some topics I'll be chiming in on soon include (but are not limited to) 1) More Hoya madness; 2) The fire across the street - and the girlfriend's photos to prove it! Boo Yah!; 3) I'm too tired to remember right now so fuck off, I'm out.