It's Brooklyn, Baby. SO MANY PEOPLE!

This morning's beginner's ballet class at the Mark Morris Dance Academy was jam-slat-packed to the rafters with little girls, moms, a few dads and one grandma and grandpa that we know of. Ballet Bone and her friend Sophia ran around the room with the other girls, doing circles like Indy cars, then falling on the ground.

How would Plotnik know this, as onlookers were discouraged? The key word was 'discrete.' He couldn't stare straight through the little window, because the kids would be able to see him, but he could stare from the side, where the kids couldn't see him, at the mirror on the wall inside, and thereby see the reflection of everything that was happening, which was, as he said, they were all running around in circles, then falling on the ground, then running around in circles again. This is called Transition to Ballet.

How do you like those tutus?

It's humid -- large rainstorm rolled through yesterday and more are forecast for the weekend. It's hot when the sun comes out -- Plotnik remembers Hot and Humid from the Bad Old Days. As far as he can make out, there is no advantage to running into both Hot and Humid at the same time, unless you're at the beach.

Brooklyn! So many people! The bagel store is packed. The muffin shop is packed. The ballet class academy is packed. There is a line of, no exaggeration, at least 1,000 people and probably a lot more, mostly middle school age kids and their parents, stretching at least four city blocks. The people in this line are waiting to get into the High School Fair, participation at which is mandatory for anyone who doesn't want to go to his or her assigned High School, which appears to be everybody. The Crap Shoot for school kids is probably no worse in NYC than in other cities, but there are SO MANY PEOPLE!

It's still wonderful here.

Plotnik learned something yesterday on the Virgin America flight from SFO. Once people get involved with those little touch-em screens on the seatbacks in front of them they zombie out and become completely docile. If terrorists had tried to hijack that airplane they would have had to make an announcement that people could read on their screens or nobody would have noticed.

"Hello. We hope you enjoyink Tirty Rock. Please to place hands on head. No, dis not hokey pokey."