A Manhattan landmark goes tourist trap, "American Karaoke" on the ropes and a record climb of Mt. Everest

- As disappointed as I was to see the iconic Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green close in January, even I couldn’t have imagined that the joint would go downhill this fast. Five months removed from serving filet mignon and catering to some of the fine dining world’s most discerning palettes, the building that was once a Central Park institution will now become a freaking tourist trap. Yes, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a statement Thursday saying that because of an impasse in negotiations between the intended new lease holder and labor unions, the city can't wait to resume using the facility and it will now become a visitor center and snack bar. An area came to an end on Jan. 1 when the building was shuttered January 1 and city officials selected restaurateur Dean Poll to operate it. In response, the restaurant's previous manager, the LeRoy family, sought bankruptcy protection and began the process of liquidating assets. Poll must not be all that eager to renovate the building because he and the various labor unions he is negotiating with for the project can't seem to reach an agreement. With the building being such a famous landmark, Bloomberg and his staff apparently felt the need to step in and turn a formerly great eatery into a place where tourists can go to pay $8 for an overcooked hamburger. But wait, there’s more. In addition to becoming a visitor center and snack bar, the building will also be…..wait for it….wait a little longer……a retail shop. "We'll solicit new proposals with labor obligations from anyone that wants to reopen it as a restaurant," Bloomberg said. The only solace in all of this is that the conversion to a tourist center is expected to only be temporary and so far, no opening date or name has been determined. None of this should be happening, not with Poll having pledged to invest $25 million in the landmark location. How a place goes from being the second highest-grossing independently owned restaurant in the United States, generating almost $40 million from its location on the west side of Central Park, to a place where you can buy an overpriced 20 oz. bottle of Sprite and some Skittles, I don’t know. Nor do I, an avowed lover of Manhattan, understand why the city needs a 25,000-square-foot tourist trap. Get on the ball, everyone involved in this train wreck in the making, and get the Tavern on the Green back to its intended purpose……….

- YEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!! At long last, my campaign to rid our nation and its airwaves of the menace that is American Karaoke is working and it’s working well. As another season of AK is winding down (or so I’m told, because as you all know, I have never (and will never have) watched the biggest abortion in the history of music, the world’s largest karaoke contest and a program that is an affront to all who love good music, ratings for the show are at their lowest since 2004. Making matters worse (or better, from where I sit), the acerbic Simon Cowell is moving on to the future he’s been using the show as a vehicle to set up all along, murdering music in the process. With the ninth disastrous season of AK set to wrap whenever it’s decided who the best karaoke-er is, the right questions are finally being asked. Well, some of the right questions anyhow. The ideal question would be, “How soon can we get this disaster off the air and can we build a time machine to go back and prevent it from ever existing in the first place?” In lieu of that, I’ll settle for people nervously asking if AK can turn its swoon around and recapture the minds of the music-dumb fan base it has managed to suck in over the better part of a decade. A quote that one of the self-important, self-serving and blowhard judges on the show - the black guy who says, “Dawg” a lot - uttered during this season and which was apparently used to sum up the performance of one of the show’s karaoke-ers also applies well to the show’s performance in the ratings this season. "All right, so listen, man. I don't know what's quite going on...it was just alright for me. It didn't really take off, ever, and it started kind of rough. I don't know," Randy Jackson said. Those who watch the show (and I weep for you all) have routinely called this season’s cast of karaoke-ers the weakest in the show's history, but to be honest, when they have all sucked so much that they make my ears bleed, how can you say who is the worst? This year’s hacks are the requisite collection of pop singer wannabes with misguided R&B dreams, identity crises and an overall lack of talent and artistry. Thankfully, the disaster comes to an end May 26 and then I can at least enjoy a few months without AK promos any time I watch a show on Fox. Also, whichever karaoke-er wins the contest will have his or her 15 minutes of fame, put out a crappy album that 5,000 people buy before everyone realizes how much it sucks and then just go away. As for Cowell, he will look to rape music once again with the American version of "The X Factor," which will also air on Fox. Personally, I’m starting to think that just kidnapping this ass clown and shipping him off to a remote island where he’s kept under armed guard for the rest of his life might solve all of our bad-music-themed-reality-show problems………..

- It was only a matter of time. The debate over Arizona’s new immigration bill has been heated since the word “go” and you just had to know that sooner or later, Dora the Explorer was going to be dragged into this mess. Dora, the Latina cartoon character has been a key part of Nickelodeon's programming for almost 10 years, now finds herself as something of an adopted mascot for those fighting against the immigration law. Of course, this isn’t the same Dora your kids love watching as she teaches them the alphabet, how to count, colors, and beginner Spanish phrases. No, this is a Dora in an ugly mug shot, wearing a black eye and bleeding lip and holding a sign listing her crimes: illegal border crossing and resisting arrest. Now, nothing drives home your political point more than cannibalizing the likeness of a beloved cartoon character and using it to promote your own agenda, but I have to ask what Dora’s must shot and other similarly doctored pictures does for the cause. No one knows where Dora is from anyhow and for all we know, she could be from Argentina or Chile. In fact, that brings us to the most laughable aspect of this whole situation: those opposing the immigration law “researching” to find out Dora’s birthplace or citizenship. Nickelodeon is doing its best to stay above the fray and refuses to comment on Dora's background. Maybe I’m just looking at this all wrong, but isn’t Dora a fictional character? She has no origins or background beyond the art boards or computer screens of those who create the show. She wasn’t born, other than being born of someone’s imagination. So to those hijacking her image and story for their own purposes, I have two words: Just stop. Stop posing phony articles narrating Dora's capture and arrest, stop throwing up Facebook pictures of Dora catapulting over the fence at the U.S./Mexico border and stop any similar activities. Fact is, even the two actresses who have voiced Dora on the show are Peruvian and Cuban, respectively. There is no reason to drag Dora the Explorer into your battle and I think that should be readily apparent to one and all……….

- Nothing but respect to 13-year-old Jordan Romero, who became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest on Saturday, breaking the record as part of his quest to summit the highest peaks on all seven continents. The American’s feat was confirmed by his spokesman (yes, dude has a spokesman), who said the boy's team called him by satellite phone from the peak of the world's highest mountain, 29,035 feet above sea level. "Their dreams have now come true. Everyone sounded unbelievably happy," a statement on Romero's blog said Saturday morning. I would say this feat is amazing, but for a kid who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was 10 years old, it’s just part for the course. A painting he saw on a wall once inspired Romero’s goal to climb the highest peak on every continent and he is clearly playing on a higher level than most 13-year-olds. "Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world," Romero said in an earlier post on his blog. He smashed the previous record for the youngest climber to scale Everest, which had been held by 16-year-old Temba Tsheri of Nepal. Romero’s mother watched his progress live from her home in Big Bear, Calif., by a GPS tracker. Oddly enough, Romero climbed Everest with his father, his father's girlfriend and three Sherpa guides. I’m guessing the family is fairly wealthy simply based on the massive travel and equipment costs these trips must have and also from the fact that they could afford not one, not two, but three freaking Sherpas. The group made its approach to Everest from the Chinese side because unlike neighboring Nepal, the other approach to Everest, China has no age limit for climbers. Romero registered with Chinese officials in April and his worked steadily toward his goal since then. His team also planned to do something special for him at the mountaintop, but kept it a secret even from him. Whatever it was, here’s hoping that it was on par with the amazing nature of his accomplishments, not just this climb, but all of his adventures………

- Quite a 24 hours Amar’e Stoudemire had on Wednesday. With his team, the Phoenix Suns, facing a tough Game 2 on the road in Los Angeles and his own ill-advised words about Laker Lamar Odom’s “lucky” performance of 19 points and 19 rebounds in Game 1 still hanging over his head, Stoudemire was then hit with the leaking of embarrassing news about the arrest on Saturday of his mother, Carrie. She was taken into police custody on Saturday in Scottsdale after being pulled over for speeding, erratic driving and failing to have a court ordered-Interlock (breath test) ignition device on her vehicle. As Amar’e Stoudemire was readying for Game 2, he was questioned about a bizarre recording taken from the back of a police cruiser as his moter was taken to a local lockup. According to the police report, Carrie Stoudemire “had a lot of money inside her wallet that was located inside her purse… she wanted her purse to go with Amar’e, but she wanted the wallet to go with her. Carrie stated, ‘I don’t trust him, he will take all my money!’” After witnessing this video, it’s hard to belive that not only was Carrie Stoudemire not drunk, but that she claimed to be on her way to alcohol class. “Boy that feels good to be arrested and not drunk. Woo hoo!” she says in the tape. By the way, that’s a surefire sign that your life is not turning out as planned, when you’re elated that for once you’re getting arrested for something other than being drunk and out of control. It was, after all, just four years ago that Carrie Stoudemire was sentenced to three years in prison for aggravated DUI, a conviction that violated the terms of her probation from a 2003 DUI incident. In other words, moms has a problem with the drinky drinky. Having that hanging over his head, I’m sure that the last thing Amar’e Stoudemire needed during another embarrassing loss in L.A. was TNT sideline reporter/hideous suit wearer Craig Sager shoving a microphone in his face for an interview and tweaking him about his criticisms of Odom. After the game, Sager cornered Stoudemire and quizzed him about his unfortunate choice of words. “Do you regret those (Odom was lucky) comments?” Sager asked. Replied Stoudemire, “I never regret my comments. Never … But he (Odom) played well tonight.” Sager could have left well enough alone after that, but he chose to take another run at pissing off Stoudemire. “Were they (Lakers) lucky to win the first two games here?” he taunted. Stoudemire managed to rise above the temptation to smack Sager and set his butt-ugly suit on fire, but I’m guessing he was nonetheless thrilled to see the day come to an end……….