Despite my disappointment, I was keenly aware that, from a blogging perspective, not getting in was still a pretty solid outcome. First off, hundreds of people manage to attend each and every Daily Show taping, and millions see the resulting episode on TV, but how many poor schlubs get rejected after having reserved tickets, like 20 max. In short, this, right here, is the kind of first hand account of Daily Show rejection that only a handful of blogger’s are in a position to give. Plus, I now have a solid understanding of the logistics involved in going to see a Daily Show taping, and in the end, dear reader, isn’t that the reason you come to this blog?

LOGISTICS!

• You can request up to four (4) Daily Show tickets here. They’re booked many months in advance, but if you check back every few days, you’ll likely stumble on a cancellation. This works for The Colbert Report too.
• When sign up for tickets, the email asking for confirmation tells you to show up at 733 11th Ave (between 51st and 52nd) from 3:30 to 4:00. It also says that your guests can show up as late as 4:30. This isn’t particularly accurate.
• Since they don’t actually give you tickets until they start letting you in, anyone can hold a spot for anyone else until about 4:30. I arrived at 3:50, but as I’ve already lamented, this was a wee bit too late. Had I gotten there at 3:45, I’m sure I would have gotten in.
• If it’s warm day, I’d probably show up a little before 3:30. If you’re on early side, you’ll wait on 11th, but the later folks wait around the corner on 52nd. It’s always less fun to wait for stuff around a corner.
• At 4:00 or so, someone explains that you absolutely cannot use a camera during the taping, and that you’ll have to go through a metal detector. As such, I would try to bring as little as possible to the event. (They also let you know that you’ll be able to use the bathroom once you get inside.)
• TV studios are kept cold, so stay sharp and dress appropriately! Also 11th Ave and 52nd street, which is right by the river, would be a very cold place to wait in line when it’s chilly out.

So there you have it. Jessica and I also have some tickets reserved for the Colbert Report, but they are for midwinter, so I’m less excited about all the standing around outside.

In other news, I’ve supplemented my inability to actually go out and do things by joining facebook and twitter. More on that later, but for now, here’s a vaguely relevant blog post I wrote a long time ago.

Psychological stopping-blocks aside, there is also a very concrete reason for my recent reluctance to write. “Overheard in Providence” is now a lie (bold-faced)! In June I began cohabiting a lovely one-bed room with my lovely girlfriend in my lovely hometown (a.k.a Manhattan). As of September, I ceased paying rent in Providence altogether. Thus, for this month and last, I have been unable to consider myself a resident of Providence.

When I started this blog, I had the misguided notion that I would post actual quotations that had actually been overheard in actual Providence. Despite a carefully crafted submission form, this did not happen (thanks a lot, general public). Instead I was forced to fill this blog with my own musings (take that, public), but I kept the name, despite criticism mind you, because I felt that it accurately reflected my status as a New Yorker livin’ n’ bloggin’ in PVD. Now, however, it mainly reflects the fact that I own the domain name “overheardinprovidence.com”. (sidenote: I also own the domain providencehalloweendayparade.com, so if Providence wants to have a Halloween Day Parade anytime soon, I’d better be on board.)

And there you have it; I’m a New Yorker, anew. I now reside on 116th St. and Frederick Douglas Blvd. (formerly 8th Ave and/or Central Park West), although I haven’t severed all ties to Providence. Besides my inappropriately named blog and my tenuous status as a contributer to the (newly redesigned!) Providence Daily Dose, my perpetual status as a Brown University CS graduate student ensures my frequent contact with this blog’s namesake.

Perhaps one day, in the distant, distant future, I’ll cease attending Brown University. When that day comes, I may find myself inclined to change the name of my blog. For now though, I’m contented with my newly modified header and this vaguely apologetic post. I will continue to be overheard.

Update: I actually registered providencehalloweenparade.com, as Dave (below) points out, providencehalloweendayparade.com is a profoundly stupid url. Providence needs a “Halloween Parade”, not a “Halloween Day Parade”.

Over the course of my NYC-based only-childhood, my family had a number of cats, although never more than two at once since as my wise father one told me, “Son, when you have three or more cats, you’ve crossed a threshold”. One of our later cats, Moe, was widely recognized as being freakishly friendly, but his feline status still managed to put several of my more dog-oriented friends on edge. The history of cat domestication, it seems, goes a long way toward explaining why the bulk of cats and dogs have such different personalities. Another consideration, however, for why cats don’t always jive with the masses is that non-cat owners don’t necessarily get much exposure to cats.

When I was in elementary school, I was always jealous that dogs, but not cats, got to accompany parents as they picked up their children after school. In New York City, a cat being taken for a walk is a rare sight indeed. So rare in fact, that a single housecat’s walks through central park were recently deemed intriguing enough to warrant an entire New York Times article (complete with multimedia supplement).

Perhaps feline PR would improve if more cat owners took their pets out for a stroll. It’s an unlikely prospect to be sure, but apparently taking your cat for a walk can be far less cumbersome than I suspected, since today, while on broadway between 107th and 108th street, I saw a man confidently walking down the street with his cat perched calmly on his baseball hat. Regrettably, I only got a chance to take his picture from behind (see below), because for some reason I felt awkward running right in front of him to snap a photo. Ridiculous right? He’s walking around with a cat on his head and I’m worried about being discreet.

Since I was already headed to the ATM, I decided I’d walk ahead of him, go inside, then take his picture from the side, but as I was crossing the street I ran into fellow Stuyvesant/Brown/Brown Grad School attendee, Emily Young. When I drew her attention to the man-cat combo, Emily (who lives in the area) didn’t mention having seen them before, so maybe this is a new phenomena. Still, I doubt it’s a one time thing. If you’re the type of guy who decides to go out for a stroll with your cat perched on your head, you’re probably the type of guy who’s game to try it twice.

Footage from IBM’s booth at the 1964 worlds fair fills in some of the details (skip to 2:30 if you like) :

As a graduate student in computer science, and general railroad enthusiast, I found their explanation to be dead on. It may not make much sense, but it uses the word “reality” several times, and it’s presented by a guy wearing a tux, so that’s a plus. Regardless, I’m pretty psyched to live in that tundra village.

I went to the dentist today. In case you aren’t having me followed, I use Dr. Schnall in NYC. Today’s visit was extra thrilling because he recently changed offices, and the new office features a high definition TV connected to each dentist chair.

Last year I thought it was slick that my dental x-rays had gone digital (I am after all, a vocal advocate of electronic medical records). This year, since they were changing office, their dental office consult (yes, such people exist) suggested that they connect their monitors to TV as well.

Anyone who’s flown on Jet Blue knows that broadcast television makes being confined to a special purpose chair that much more bearable. It is difficult to watch TV while having your teeth cleaned, but it’s great for when you find yourself waiting for the dentist. Next time I visit, I’m hoping my dentist will once again follow Jet Blue’s lead and install WiFi. Alternatively I could go to this dental spa and take advantage of their internet enabled VR goggles.

In other news, my dentist asked if I wanted to try invisalign. Looking at the above picture of my teeth, it seems like a good idea.

Update: It occurred to me that my friend Maddie, who informed me that some dentists have VR goggles, also e-mailed me once about this Mashimaro nano gold toothbrush. Her knowledge of high end dentistry is staggering.

With all these banks popping up, I’m reminded of the mid 90’s when drugstores started appearing everywhere. Both of these seem like pretty sweet businesses, since apparently you can apparently make up for terrible service by simply opening a huge number of locations. Still, I can’t decide which is less exciting, the arrival of a bank or a drug store. I’m leaning towards drug store since there’s at least a chance the bank will look nice. Plus it might be a branch of Portland-based Umpqua Bank.

The bike’s small frame is clearly adorable, plus it has a back-pedal brake, so riding it totally makes you feel like a kid again. I was a little concerned about the small wheels and lack of gears, but yesterday’s test run was a complete success, particularly since I was able to keep up on my old rollerblades. As an additional throwback to my youth, we rode past my high school, which literally has 20 more skyscrapers nearby than when I went there.

Afterwards I celebrated our outdoor activity with some amazingly refreshing Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I then celebrated the yogurt’s awesomness with some soft serve ice cream. Seriously though, Pinkberry is excellent, but only available in NYC or LA (PVD coming soon?).