• With bitter cold, occasional rain and gusty winds, it was great to see the bright blue fences at Yankee Stadium on TV, the best sign that spring is about to arrive. The Yankees won 9-2. It took just minutes for Hideki Matsui to reach his trademark clutch form, stealing a home run and hitting one himself. It's great to have Tino Martinez, one of the classiest players out there, back home; his diving stop late in the game was typical Tino, giving everything he has no matter what the circumstances.

• Dinner at Kittichai was very good. The pond in the middle of the room made for interesting decor; a room not that large was well designed for the illusion of spaciousness. The food ranged from good to excellent. Pro-active water refills were a key component in reliable service because much of the food was bold or spicy. I knew beforehand this was a celebrity hangout, so it was cool when CBS reporter Andrew Kirtzman sat down at the next table. He's been one of my favorite news personalities for years, ever since his acerbic and clever "Winners and Losers" segments on NY1 six or seven years ago.

• Altar Boyz was cute. The "plot" was a stretch--but fine, we knew that. The music consisted of smart lyrics and a good band consisting of two synthesizers, drums and electric guitar. I was glad the band was on stage level and was trying to figure out what each of the two synthesizer players were doing. One would appear to be used for sound effects from time to time while the other delivered more traditional synthesizer sounds (digital piano, strings and so on). While the acting was generally good, the obvious standout was Andy Karl (Luke), who persuasively captured an Eminem-esque vibe in both looks and sound. It's definitely worth seeing, even if it does not exactly raise any compelling questions.

• 1.25" or so inches of rain on Saturday. The NAM model got a bit carried away, as usual, but it didn't matter: the heaviest downpours were perfectly timed with when I had to be outside.