August 3, 2003
Just back from a very long and successful trip to New York. Hectic, expensive (one cab ride was $71; one dinner was $396, before tip, with a $31 hamburger, $45 steak and $15 house salad).

Learned a ton just from being in Bob Brink's World.

Wore a suit and tie both coming and going. We couldn’t go through the hotel lobby (The New York Athletic Club at Seventh Ave. and Central Park South) without a suit, tie, slacks and good shoes on. Really kind of interesting (all the formality). Bob had several business lunches which he invited me to, and I met the editor of Esquire magazine and the publisher of Popular Mechanics.

Our meeting at the network went so-so. I thought the presentation was solid but I didn’t think we sold them on much of anything. Bob Brink thinks otherwise, and I’m going to trust his instincts. Nice people. They are referred to as “The Suits” by their LA production company, but the irony was we were the only ones in suits at the meeting (it was casual Friday, summertime attire for them), but it was still funny to me. We had a limo waiting for us at the curb for the entire meeting. So amazing. Just another world.

Bob also treated Kathy, Deena, Thomas and I to dinner at 21. More waiters per customer than I have ever witnessed in my life. Liza Minelli was there but I didn’t see her. Deena said I was leaning over her to look at an original Remington and didn’t even notice. The whole place is packed with original Frederick Remington illustrations (all black and whites, many I’ve never seen before). I’m thinking of giving the 21 Club a Best of the West award for Best Place to See Remingtons East of the Mississippi.

Speaking of my daughter, the brother of the Unabomber thinks Deena should have her own TV show. I can’t tell you how this even happened (how she met him, etc.), but it’s true. On a related note, I met a major NY honcho at a party who told me all the inside story on the World Trade Center investigation. They’ve spent $80 million so far and they have found and archived 15,000 body parts and matched DNA to more than half of the victims and even some of the hijackers (they’ve positively ID’d three). One of the odd asides on the DNA testing is that they have determined through trying to match father and mother DNA with certain victims that some of the fathers were not the father, if you know what I mean.

"I know he's willing to die for his cause, but is he willing to take a hot poker up the ass?"
 —Al Franken, on why we should torture terrorist suspects