HOLY S**T - French Overload

When you combine one French band with one pair of French DJs, I damn well lost my mind...  Best surprise appearance EVER!!!!

Phoenix + Daft Punk = L'insanité française

Harder, better, faster, stronger indeed.

~H

Picture #2: Juxtapositions on Broadway

 The mixture of architecture styles in New York highlights the interesting features of each building: the ornate spires of Grace Church stand out against the plain apartment building behind it; the details of an older redbrick structure are set off by the gleaming new glass tower beside it. ~A

NYC's a Pretty Town

Let's face it. There are a lot of attractive people in this town. I haven't been to LA, but I imagine that people spend quite a bit of effort, time and money to spruce up their image... makeup, hairdresser, clothes etc....

But there has to be limits.

When your bobby pin drops onto the dog-pee and crap-infested sidewalk that is a NYC sidewalk, putting it into your mouth as you fix your hair is a no-no.

Ech... I almost gagged.

~H

Port Authority Poem

Ah, the tiny rebellions of the cranky commuter... spotted in the Port Authority bus terminal. ~A

The Things You Learn

Several important things I learned today:

1) It is IMPERATIVE that the lid is SECURE on the coffee cup BEFORE drinking hot coffee. Thankfully, I was wearing a rain coat at the time. Unfortunately, while my jacket dried out relatively quickly, it thoroughly looked like I peed myself. well, heeello, cute checkout girl... it's not what you think. honestly.... it's coffee.

2) I've heard this from many a person, but I do mghuabmle. I mean, mumble. I've got to learn to articulate my words, which leads me to the third great lesson the day:

3) It is apparently never too early for steak and cheese (colloquially known as cheesesteak) at the roach coach. I was a little early for a site visit, and decided I was hungry so stopped off at a roach coach to snag a bite to eat.

"Egg and cheese on a roll, please!" says I to the master chef.

"You want onions on that?"

"uuum, sure just a little bit," says I, somewhat thrown off but definitely looking forward to some extra flavor to the breakfast sandwich.

Five minutes later, I give him a $10 bill and receive $5 in change. Shit, that was the most expensive egg and cheese I've EVER had. Crack the bundle of aluminum foil open and lo, and behold: a steak and cheese sandwich. At 7:30 AM. The chef confused "egg" with "steak". Heck, he completely eliminated anything remotely close to eggs. I had in fact ordered a cheesesteak. At 7:30 AM.

Don't judge me, what do you think I did with it? Excuse my while I clear out my arteries...

In the new world order...

Given the current state of the economy, we decided that it was time to cash in our small change jar and put it into our savings account. Mind you we've been adding (and taking) to this jar for the past 4-5 years and it was getting kinda heavy.

We had a latte bet to whoever could guess the closest: Ali = $50, Heron = $83.75

I thought that we were going to destroy the penny arcade machine at TD Bank but after finally feeding the thing, this is what we came up with:

My cameraphone sucks so let me tally that up:

• 4 Dollar coins
• 232 quarters
• 776 dimes
• 514 nickels and
• 1810 pennies.

Grand total = $183.40 and going straight into savings.... man alive that felt good. We were like giddy children...

-H

Crooked Still

Went to a concert last night by a band called Crooked Still. We first saw them at Joe's Pub a year ago and have totally gotten into them. Since that last concert, their lineup has changed as their cello player left, to be filled in by a cello player AND a fiddle player.

Concert last night was at an East Village bar called Drom. Decent space but the bar is awkwardly placed so standing room had an awkward view esp with columns in the way. The Joe's Pub concert we went to was WAAY more awesome if only because the crowd then was so much more hyped. The crowd at Drom seemed to be more interested in catching up with friends rather than paying attention. I dunno... maybe I felt left out?

In any case, Crooked still was still an awesome live show. Maybe I was jaded by the atmosphere but I really didn't get into the music till halfway through. A lot of their new stuff seems mildly mainstream and mellow. All of a sudden, the energy by the band really picked up. Lead singer was pulling her own twists on the songs (phenomenal voice by the way), banjo was picking a storm, cello and fiddle were wailing, bass was solid as ever... it was a great show overall. Of course Ali couldn't stop dancing the entire time.

Yup, pretty much the only bluegrass I'll listen to.


-H

mmmm....Pumpkins

As I'm sure Ali has indicated, we've been complete slackers w/ posts. Finally worked through some of my apathy/sloth (and work) to provide a short post about the Smashing Pumpkins concert we went to: White Crosses at the United Palace Theater. Keep in mind that I've been a Pumpkins fan since Siamese Dream though I can't say that some of the later albums have been on my Top 10 playlist. As with every artist (e.g. Metallica), artistic evolution often leads to different sounds than what initially drew a listener, leading to much gripin' about how they "just don't sound like they used to." I'll admit I'm one of those listeners; I respect the evolution, I just don't have to like it. Point being, while the concert was really fun overall, I couldn't really appreciate a portion of the set. Each to their own....

Highlights: Soma, Disarm, Galapagos, Cherub Rock, Zero (pic below)...


BTW, design-wise, the theater was a really cool old-school building; ginormous and had a classic feel to it. Here's what it looks like from the outside. I love how Manhattan offers so much in the way of cool architecture. This one was a hell of a subway ride away.
- H

PS. What the hell is up with Dinosaur BBQ? It's one of my favorite BBQ joints, but at 11 PM on a Friday night, how the HELL is it a 1-hour wait for a table? The place closes at midnight damnit.

PPS. Concert audio courtesy archive.org via smashingpumpkins.com

You know you're in NYC when...

... you realize the sweet-looking, grandmotherly WHITE lady sitting next to you on the subway is in fact the one blasting Jay Z through her headphones. That woman must have some seriously bling-bling knitting patterns... -A

We're really not that different from....

any other animal in the world... safety (and dryness) in numbers... Union Square during a ridiculous Saturday afternoon squall.
Love the man in the plastic bag... that's evolution for you.

-H

Strange Name for a Store

We bought produce here the other day... and it LOOKS ok... but I keep staring at it wondering, WHAT DO I NOT KNOW?! -A

South Indian Dosas

Because it would be uncool for me not to put in a shameless plug, this man has the BEST dosas available in Manhattan. Go forth and support yer local foodie stall.

(see? I'm not anti-veg, just anti-stupid-ads-that-try-to-scare-people-into-veg) see previous 2 posts for context.

-H

Camera Blurb

This picture came out pretty cool. Late night on 57th St with a slow shutter speed on a Panasonic point-and-shoot. Anybody know how to really dial in the manual settings on a Lumix FX-33?

-H

Global Warming Doomsday

I may be somewhat ignorant of the actual hard numbers associated with this argument but, somehow the scientist and engineer (and the gastronomist) in me refuses to believe in the validity of the claim on the bus.

Keep in mind that I am certain that meat production contributes quite a bit to climate impacts (transportation, harvesting, processing) but there's absolutely no way that eating vegetarian or using animal-free products don't have similar impacts.

Chalk one up to the doomsday/fear approach. Cause that really worked in grade school.

BONUS: The website that they refer to is soooo legit-sounding. Click on the picture to zoom in; it's not even worth repeating here.

DOUBLE-BONUS: speaking of global warming, can the owner of the Chevy Cavalier that was parked outside of the Kips Bay Loews please stand up? I'm talking about the one that had 8 solar cells mounted to various surfaces of the car, and very likely was powering the 6-inch fan inside the car. That was awesome. Talk about grass-roots... (I had a picture that has since disappeared... boo)

-H

Who're You Gonna Call?

Heron and I had the perfect mid-week date - with delicious takeout from our neighborhood gem Sushi Suki, we snuggled up on a blanket to watch Ghostbusters in Carl Schurz Park. The setting was perfect - a small neighborhood event in our cute little park, cooled by the river breezes. The organizers even provided free popcorn! -A

*Didn't have a picture of the movie event (held on the basketball court) - but here's the park! Isn't it pretty?

Carl Schurz Park: Clouds and Fences

Yesterday was sunny and yet, still bearable - so I headed out to Carl Schurz Park to enjoy the river breezes.

(Incidentally, I had been calling this Carl Schultz Park up until 5min ago when I googled it for the link. Not that I haven't passed the sign about a thousand times... And now that I can spell it, I find there are all kinds of events going on - movies, music, knitting! Who knew?)

This tiny green oasis on the Upper East Side contains a surprising number of recreation options for such a small park (as well as Gracie Mansion), but we mostly love sitting along the East River and watching the DEP barges chug by. It's a small neighborhood-y getaway from our massive city...


On my way to the 6 train, there were some gorgeous sunbeams peaking around the buildings - I shot blindly due to the brightness but was fairly pleased with the results... -A

Pretty Pee Protectors

For those urban plants suffering from the scourge of dog urine, an inventive solution - plastic tulips serve both decorative and protective purposes, by giving Fido something indestructible to aim at. -A

Waterfalls, Water Taxis and the Brooklyn Ikea

After getting my butt handed to me last night by a certain boxing instructor at my gym, I've decided rest up today, with plenty of fluids and balanced meals. (And when I say balanced, I mean I balanced out my lunchtime salad with several mini peanut butter cups.)

So let's talk about wanderings from a time when I could walk without pain... On the last day of my parents' visit, we headed downtown to the South Street Seaport to check out the Waterfalls in the harbor. Interesting, but not as impressive as The Gates in Central Park a few years back... More entertaining was the yogi performing in the Seaport - I missed his better tricks with my camera, but they included stuffing himself into a 17-inch box, and putting his legs behind his head, propping himself on his hands and swinging like a pendulum. Wild...

Afterwards, my mother was intrigued by the free water taxi to the new Ikea in Brooklyn and convinced us to take a ride. Good times - the ride across the harbor was great, and Red Hook's waterfront lovely. Even if they weren't, the gorgeous new Ikea and a fabulous outpost of Fairway, our favorite NYC grocery store, were well worth a visit. Just remember: no Ikea receipt, no ride back for you... we ended up buying lingonberry sauce and a hotdog just to get back to Manhattan. -A

Ode to a Dead Tree

One of my favorite things about living in NYC is the incredible creativity of my fellow residents. Display found near York Avenue... -A

Three-One-One, Over and Out

Yesterday was my last day at the city call center - I'm taking a few weeks off before business school starts in the fall.

I'm proud to have played a part in building an iconic NYC institution, working with an amazing group of dedicated civil servants. I miss them already. -A