David Wright: Double Header

The Mets are taking on (one of) my (other) hometown team, the Diamondbacks out at Shea. David Wright injured himself and missed last night's game, but he's back on the job today and the Mets are on their way to an easy victory ...

Afternoon Headlines

Happy Birthday: The Beatles' legendary "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" came out 40 years ago today. Quite a few big things came out this time of year, huh? (AP)

Let the Breakup Begin, Again: Drummer Stewart Copeland calls the Police's recent concert in Vancouver "lame." That's funny. That's exactly what I said when I heard about the reunion $how$. (Reuters)

Psyche Job: Brenda's crazy brother, Billy, is joining the cast of "Law & Order." With Jeremy Sisto added, that's officially every working actor in Hollywood. (AP)

Straight Up: If this leaked conference call of pill-popping nutcase Paula Abdul is any indication, her new reality show, "Hey Paula," is going to make "Being Bobby Brown" seem like a show about Mormon missionaries. (AP)

Barbara's Gals: Rosie O'Donnell is a tough act to follow. So who's going to fill her chair on "The View"? Roseanne Barr, Whoopi Goldberg, Ricki Lake, Kathy Griffin, Wanda Sykes, Gayle King and Sherri Shepherd have all been mentioned. (AP)

Movie News: That film by Elisabeth and Andrew Shue I blogged about recently, "Gracie," comes out this weekend. It's dedicated to their brother Will, a 1970s soccer prodigy who died in 1988 and so far the buzz is very promising. If nothing else, we get to see Dermot Mulroney running around in short shorts. (Source)

Man With TB Apologizes for Putting Passengers at Risk

Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old lawyer from Atlanta, sat down with Diane Sawyer to explain his side of the decision he made to travel with TB that has ignited an international controversy. He said doctors strongly recommended that he not travel to his wedding in Greece, but never did they forbid him. His father, also a lawyer, recorded the meeting, he said. "My father said, 'OK, now, are you saying, prefer not to go on the trip because he’s a risk to anybody, or are you saying that to cover yourself,'" he said. "And they said, we have to tell that to cover ourself, but he’s not a risk." In another bizarre twist to a story it turns out Speaker’s father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a tuberculosis researcher who has worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Speaker is now in Denver where he stands receive the best treatment for his drug-resistant strain of the often-fatal disease. "I don’t expect those people to ever forgive me. I just hope they understand that I truly never meant them any harm."

You really gotta feel for this guy. As easy as it is to judge him from afar, it really sounds like he was being given the runaround by his doctors (can't we all relate to that?) and the authorities and when he found out he needed to be in Denver or possibly die, his judgment was clouded. His fellow passengers have every right to be angry, but keep in mind that his doctors had him going to work (trying cases), jogging, sleeping in bed with his fiance and living in the same house as his young stepdaughter -- so why would he think he was putting others at risk? He was continuing to go about things just as he had. Here's hoping the doctors in Denver can help him. (NYT)

Chelsea Boy: John Krasinski

I don't think the producers of "The Office" could have found a more perfect guy to play the sarcastic Jim Halpert than John Krasinski. He's cute but hardly leading-man gorgeous with a fun and mischievous personality-- just the type of guy who would suddenly seem really hot if you worked in a typical office full of average, boring guys. Krasinski is suddenly a hot commodity in Hollywood, although the previews of his big star turn on the big screen opposite Robin Williams looks embarrassingly bad. (It happens.) Let's hope some producer can find the right script for him moving forward. I've got an idea: How about a few more years, say, on "The Office"? (Photos by Randall Slavin @ the Chelsea Hotel, as seen in Mean magazine.)

Morning Wood: Mickey Friedmann

Mickey Friedmann is a ballet dancer and he's got the bod to prove it.

Dave at 16

(Via Deadspin)