Talk about battling some serious heat! The Mets players and C.O.O. strapped on firefighter gear to climb up FDNY ladders, battle a blaze, and rappel down the side of a building. Check it out:

And now some screenshots of the Metsies in action:

FDNY commissioner Sal Cassano with Mets pitchers R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey, Dillon Gee, Bobby Parnell, and Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, who took part in the Firefighter For A Day Challenge

R.A. Dickey climbs up a ladder

"Firefighters" Bobby Parnell and Mike Pelfrey

R.A. Dickey rappels down a wall

R.A. Dickey and Big Pelf fight a car fire

FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano talks with Mike Pelfrey

Looks like a cool team-building event for several Mets players, or as my girlfriend calls it, “Really smart thing to do right before spring training!”

RELATED: FDNY training an eye-opener for Mets [mets.com]

[This post originally published at MetsTalk.com]

Its usually a tricky question to answer, especially if the person asking hasn’t lived in New York themselves.

Or I just show them this:

That right there is why I LOVE NEW YORK so much. :)

Actress Alaina Reed-Amini, best known for her long-running roles as Olivia Robinson on the children’s program “Sesame Street” and Rose Lee Holloway on the comedy “227,” has died.

Reed-Amini lost a two-year battle with breast cancer at St. John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, according to reports.

Reed-Amini, who changed her named from Alaina Reed Hall after she married Tamim Amini in 2008, turned 63 last month. In 1976 she joined the cast of “Sesame Street” as Olivia, a professional photographer and the kid sister of Gordon the teacher. She left the program in 1988 for a role on the NBC sitcom “227.”

When I heard the news, I didn’t even recognize the name, but then I searched on YouTube and found this video from Sesame Street in the 80′s. All the childhood memories of watching Sesame Street flooded back and I realized that it was Olivia from Sesame Street who had died.

So thanks Alaina, for playing a part in my development during my formative years. You will always have your place on Sesame Street:

Check out this video from the NYU Inter-Residence Hall Council of Lady Gaga singing and playing piano  at the NYU Ultraviolet Talent Show. She ended up coming in third place.

The first song is called Captivated and the second one is Electric Kiss.

The best part is that one of the judges said she thought Lady Gaga would be the next Norah Jones. Perhaps you could see why she said that, but uh, no, not exactly Norah Jones…

The original:

And then the second chorus was heavily sampled in Jason Derulo’s “Watcha Say”:

And of course “Hide and Seek” made an appearance on Australian Idol in Season 5 by contestant Ben McKenzie:

What really made the song famous was it’s inclusion in a scene of the (now-defunct) teen drama The O.C.:

That inspired a Saturday Night Live Digital Short parody of The O.C. finale, called “Dear Sister”…

Check this out here (it was playing automatically).

And then someone parodied the parody on YouTube:

And then, of course, there are parodies of the parodies and parodies of the parodies of the parodies. And parodies using Lord of the Rings scenes and parodies using The Office, etc.

So what does Imogen Heap think of the sampling, at least in Jason Derulo’s hit version of the song?

She spoke about it recently with the BBC:

Finally, I have to ask you about Jason DeRulo’s single Watcha Say – which samples Hide and Seek. It seems to have split fans right down the middle: Some love what he’s done and others are literally out for his blood. What do you think of it?

I really believe a song has a life of its own, so when I heard his version, I actually thought it was pretty good.

Even the first time? I found it took a bit of getting used to…

First time I heard it, yes. I understand that for some people, it’s their favourite song and it feels like he’s butchered it and butchered their memory of it. But, to me, I’ve heard it in so many contexts – by a choir, by a marching band – I loved that it was completely different.

You just can’t keep a good song down!

Thanks for listening along!

Al Franken, like many Americans, is sick and tired of listening to conservatives throw up strawman arguments about health care reform intended to scare Americans into accepting 47 million uninsured fellow citizens, increasing out-of-pocket costs and skyrocketing personal bankruptcies due to health care costs–all the while decrying “socialized” medicine. Below, he schools Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the Hudson Institute–which until recently employed disgraced health care “analyst” and serial liar Betsy McCaughey–on how people in other “socialized” countries don’t go bankrupt trying to stay alive.

Now that’s refreshing to see, isn’t it? Enough with the scare tactics, let’s get healthcare reform passed!

In New York, concrete jungle where things are made of… there’s nothing you can’t do… Now you’re in New York… these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you…

And as long as no one gets seriously injured, its all just part of a New York day.

Wow, I guess the penny cab driver got away this time. Unless the NYPD finds this video online. Hard to say who’s to blame. The road rage seems to have got the best of both of them.

Of course, tossing the garbage can was probably going over the line, sir. Some would call that assault… unless they’re WWE fans. :P