New York Dionysia

Drink Drank Drunk vol. 5: Jazz it up

2007-11-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the corny, dumbass title. But this volume is about bars that have live music, and the boy likes jazz, so... we end up at jazz bars once in a while. Like last night. Instead of the usual West Village, we hit up Alphabet City, where there is also jazz aplenty, if somewhat fledgeling against the Vanguards to the west. But to avoid the stentorian cover charges, we ventured to the far east.

Drunk: Prohibition on Columbus Ave between 84th and 85th St.
The most fun you will have on a Wednesday night. If you try to go on a Friday or Saturday, it's too crowded. Why? This is the only bar I know of in the West 80s that has fun live music, creative drinks, and a genuinely partying atmosphere. If you're a territorial girl, don't bring your mate here, because the waitresses and bartenders are all smoking hot ladies. Otherwise, ogle to your heart's content. Seriously, I always come out of the place questioning my straightness. As for the kind of music, naturally, it depends on the night. They seem to include a smattering of genres over the course of a week. Given the bootlegging theme, it would be really fun (in a super cheezy way) if they had old-fashioned jazz and ragtime, but what I've heard in there tends more toward rock than jazz (despite a badass sax player on Wednesday). I'm sure they have jazz nights. Anyway, there is a full menu, which is tasty if a little overpriced. Drinks don't come cheap either. But there's no cover charge… At least, there wasn't in the middle of the week. And there was plenty of breathing room, but also plenty of partying, perfect for an "over the hump night" (as a bar in my hometown called their Wednesday night promotion).

Drank: Rue B on, yes, Avenue B just south of 12th St.
We must have gotten here too late last night (around 11?) because it was almost too crowded to hear the band, much less get a glimpse of them. We were stuck at the table by the door, unable to penetrate further into the densely packed throng. And it was a noisy throng—people seemed to be missing the point of going to a bar with live music. I guess if you want to be part of an audience who are actually there to listen, you have to go to a place with a cover charge. But there's the charm—no cover charge. I could hear some light, pretty piano in the jazz ensemble, but because they were too far away, I have no idea if they were any good or not or even how many instruments the ensemble contained. But Rue B does have a cute martini menu and lots of yummy tapas. We split a bluefish panini and it was the panini of my dreams—bread crispy enough to make your jaw tired and not greasy at all. To get within decent listening range, though, I imagine one would have to come either very early or on a weekend. But their website is broken, so we can't see what the gigs are. Rather pathetic.
Also drank: Louis 649 on 9th St. just west of Avenue C.
And we also stopped here. Also no cover. This was a much better deal as far as hearing the music, which was fun. NYMag will tell you there is a pit bull; my Zagat's for some reason says the doggy is "gone" but this is a LIE. Perhaps it is not the same doggy as before, but there is definitely a very sweet and friendly doggy circulating among the guests. There was nothing to eat and a rather limited menu of fancy drinks—lots of single malt scotch. But it was laid back and easy to hear the music—exactly what a jazz bar should be when it doesn't want to be a pretentious club with a $20 cover. For a place named after Louis Armstrong, though, the crowd was blindingly white—and that includes the staff, the band, and the audience. Almost creepy.

Drink: Nublu on Avenue C and 5th St.
This was the last place on our agenda last night; we didn't make it. They don't do jazz exclusively—it sounds really neat and eclectic. Both NYMag and Zagat's Nightlife note the garden, and I love a cafe/bar with a nice garden, so perhaps it would be better to go at a time of year when drinking in an outdoor area wouldn't involve freezing my nipples off. Looks like there's a party scene too—could be interesting. I'd be excited to find a place serious about music without so much of that subdued connoiseurship, so it's still on the agenda. (Cash only, be warned!)

Brinch Branch Brunch?

2007-11-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

Brunch and wedding diets don't really get along very well, but brunch won today. There was a quest involved, though.

I wanted to try Alouette for brunch—the NYMag blurb (which comes up when you search for it) even says it's "a favorite among chic Columbia kids," so maybe if we ate here, we would make "chic" status!—but it wasn't open. Which was very strange, because the last time I was walking by, they definitely had a brunch menu out, and the NYMag page still says they have weekend brunch. However, when we went there today right around noon, their hours were posted as only dinnertime, and there was no indication of brunch anywhere to be seen. Nor does their official website, now that I look at it. If they got rid of brunch, they'll never see me inside, because the dinner prices are "reasonable" (webpage quote) only for the uber-chic. Very disappointing. Can a small place in that nabe stay open with only dinner hours? I guess if they have a following, and if their prices are just that chic.

I was still hankering for Frenchy brunch, so we tried Cafe du Soleil, where we had dinner once like two years ago, and I remember liking it, though it was corny and crowded as Time Out notes. But their prices have probably gone up since then, and even though the menu said "brunch," it was a boldfaced lie, because it was really a dinner menu at dinner prices. I certainly don't know anyone who eats $23 coq al vin at a weekend brunch.

You probably can't get Frenchy brunch on the UWS, or anywhere in Manhattan for that matter, for non-dinner prices. So we gave up and went to 107 West on Broadway and (duh) 107th. They have a satellite on Fort Washington and 187th which I liked a lot when we lived in the Dominican colony up there. The atmosphere feels light and airy, and the coffee isn't bad (for some reason, bad coffee happens more often than one would think, even at otherwise decent places!). And the food is consistently yummy at both locations. It can be expensive to have dinner there, but brunch or lunch is fair. We had something amazing called a Raspberry Tulipe for dessert—good thing I got to split it, because it was huuuuge! If they threw in an alcohol deal it would be perfect. $4 is too much for a bloody mary or mimosa at brunchtime.

Some of my other favorite places for brunch:

Le Pain Quotidien on Amsterdam at 84th St. There are several locations throughout the city. This one is usually jam-packed with yuppies, especially yuppie moms and sprogs, as I imagine most are. Luckily they are making another location in the low 90s on Broadway. Sounds Starbuckish, but they need it! What's so attractive about it? The organic menu and normal portion sizes make it easy to get a brunch that's delicious and not 1200 calories. Also, the aesthetic reminds me of all those stylishly quaint cafes in Kyoto.... *sigh*

Cilantro on Columbus and 83rd/84th St. Since I made that other post we have tried most of the food here. It is consistently awesome, and we're in here at least 2x a month. Watch out for the sangria. It is dangerously drinkable.

Fred's on Amsterdam at 83rd St. Have I seriously not posted about Fred's yet!? Not to be confused with Fred's at Barney's, IT IS A PUPPY THEMED RESTAURANT. IT IS FULL OF PICTURES OF PUPPIES. Needless to say, I am something of a fan. Brunch here has been hit and miss, but they do have a very reasonably priced Prix Fixe. I have always been more impressed when we get dinner here, but, well, the puppy decor tends to make up for any other deficiency. I seem to recall some kind of mushroom ravioli or similar pasta dish being particularly scrumptious.

How to make a happy Missa:

2007-11-09T00:58:00.000-05:00

Start by marinating for 3 hours in anime club, then sprinkle liberally with puppy pictures.

Can I just say, I luuurrrrrve this lolpuppy/loldolphin couple. From—where else?—i can has cheezburger.

Meanwhile, I went to the school anime club for the first time today. Why had I not gone earlier? Because I am a dumbass. OH MAN I had forgotten how much fun it is to talk to people who share my interests!

Tonight there was a talk where the owners of Central Park Media (who are behind the US release of my most favoritest anime ever, Shoujo Kakumei Utena) were sweet enough to come up at 9 PM and give this presentation to geeky students about the challenges of getting Japanese companies to license the anime and manga to sell in the States. There had been a demand for a while, but no supply until the turn of the 90s. The Japanese companies wouldn't sell it in part because they didn't think that foreigners could understand it, and therefore wouldn't like it. (Because Utena makes sooooo much sense in its native country?) And in part because American lawyers are scary, which, well, is understandable. Seriously, this was interesting stuff, doubly interesting because fans never get to hear these kinds of stories. Not many companies are willing to open up to consumers about the trials and tribulations of their business, and the fact that these folks took the trouble of doing so for a bunch of fangirls/boys is pretty awesome. Of course, it's easier for a small company to communicate directly with consumers that way, but they really gave a neat glimpse into the industry. I think that's rare. It shouldn't be, because from the standpoint of a fan (i.e. a loyal consumer), it was so engrossing and enlightening.

Anyways. MOAR PUPPIEZ!!1!11 (From flickr, not mine.)

Remind anyone of this?

Oh my gawd this person's golden retrievers are absolutely gorgeous. *MELLLLLLT*

WHEN WALL-EYED TERRIERS ATTACK!

"But they are bombs of LOOOOVE!!!"

2007-11-06T18:44:00.003-05:00

This, right here, people, is the reason why everyone hates America.

All the parts of the world that have common sense have been trying to get rid of war since WWII. In most places, the icon of a bomber plane would be recognizable for what it is: an instrument of death, destruction, and horror. But here in AMURKA, ties with designs of bomber planes are cuuuuuute! Look, the bombs even have little hearts on them!

Unfortunately, I think, the number one reason for this is that there hasn't been a war on American soil since the Civil War. People won't remember how bad war is until there's another one. (And doubly unfortunately, 9/11 wasn't enough. Apparently, all that did was give the Bush administration an excuse to pull 8 years of total bullshit and give Giuliani a bullshitty platform for his bid for the presidency.)

PEOPLE, THIS SHIT AIN'T CUTE.

So, in sum, if I see anybody wearing this tie, I'll probably black out and beat them to death.

(If we must have cute violence, Mori Chack already filled the niche, y'all. Gloomy Bear wins. You, tie designer, lose. You are a poseur and a menace to society.)

is made of fail

2007-11-05T23:12:00.000-05:00

Actual content first: Is this little guy on The Daily Puppy not the most MENACING looking cute you have ever seen? He wants your soul for a chew toy. Squeaky squeaky. But seriously. Siberian Huskies are the most stunning domesticated dogs. The only thing prettier is a wolf.

(Bonus: If you read to the end of this post…or scroll down, anyway…there are more puppy pictures!)

So. How long has it been? Long enough to prove that I am a sad, sad excuse for a blogger.

But here is my excuse for being a sad excuse! I stopped working and went back to school, which has actually given me less time to do any kind of bloggy things.

There's also some wedding planning going on so I'm spending more time around places like here and here and here rather than working on my own humble abode.

What am I back in school for? Japanese language and contemporary literature, mainly. So I went from working at a cosmetics company to being a grad student. I'm not sure how much this increases my reading on the geek-o-meter but it must be a substantial amount.

Since the boy and I are now BOTH grad students at Columbia I've ended up not getting many chances to explore new bars/cafes/restaurants/similar establishments. (We're kind of trying not to go out as much, not just because of grad student budgets, but mostly because we are vain and want to be skinny and pretty in the wedding pictures.) So for the meantime I'll have to just write about pictures of puppies and stuff.

MOAR!!!11!

Puppy eyes!

Puppy tummy!

Puppy butt!

Okay, I'm done. For now.

Drink Drank Drunk vol. 4: Cheltheaaaa!

2007-06-23T01:46:00.001-05:00

Last night we ventured into fabulous Chelsea. I tried to get my man to wear my lip gloss so he'd fit in better. I've tried that in the West Village too. No dice. Maybe I have to wait until AFTER he's really drunk to bring it up...
Well, maybe the first and second places below are too far east to really be in Chelsea. The second one definitely is. But we walked through Chelsea to get to them... No gay bar trolling though. Sigh.

Drunk: Cutting Room on W 24th St. a little west of Broadway
We actually went here last night to see the Ultimate Drum Show, which was a lot like watching Mad Max as interpretive rhythm and light FX. It was okay until they tried to get the crowd to sing along with "Do ya think I'm sexy." See, the problem with that song is, if you have to ask... you fail. Besides the part about, you know, who originally sang it. But anyway. We were here before, too, a long while ago, and it was neat. It was so long ago, though, that I can't remember whether or not we tried the food. The decor is really interesting—they have all these old paintings and weird pictures. And a horizontal-screen Pac-Man!! And in the back room (the event space) there are a bunch of paintings of musicians, including one of U2 with Bono holding a mic in such a way that he looks like he's smoking some pole. (Another in our party pointed this out, and the more I looked at it the more it was true, to the point that it distracted me for much of the performance.) The drink selection isn't real creative and the food probably isn't either, but for pure aesthetic amusement, check it out. Don't miss one of the event organizer ladies who dresses and looks like Paris Hilton 30 years later. (Not the only one I saw working there who had really overdone the bleaching and the plastic surgery.) But whatever. They have a good DJ too.

Drank: Galway Hooker E 36th St between 5th and Madison
Okay, this really is not Chelsea at all. In fact, that page says it's Murray Hill. Just goes to show you how much I'm in that area...I don't even know where the damn nabes start and end. So this place was named for a kind of boat, not a prostitute, and perhaps in kind, it was a bit of a disappointment on Friday night. Too new? Wrong location? I don't know, but it just wasn't happening. The space was big and empty. The original cocktails were uninspired and untasty. The music was too much pop. There was a pole in the middle of the floor which would have been perfect for a skanky dancing contest, and one almost happened, but the energy just wasn't there. I was struggling not to fall asleep myself. Maybe I could have defibrillated the party by ordering an Irish coffee and shaking my stuff, but since the place has this literally movie-theater sized TV spanning the 2 floors—making Kei Igawa's assets somewhat bigger than mine—most people were more interested in watching the game! It'd be awesome to go for a big Sox/Yankees game... Though we'd probably have to bring a lot of large friends to avoid getting lynched.

Drink: The Black Door on W 26th St. near 6th Ave.
My man swears we've been here before but I don't remember it for the life of me. I think he went with some other kids when I wasn't there. We walked by it last night, though, and it looks seriously classy and awesome. NY Mag says they have a decent wine and (bottled only) beer selection, "with a brasserie-inspired vibe that feels very grown-up without being pretentious or stiff." Maybe when I'm rich and famous I can host a party here.

Flickr sucks

2007-06-22T00:19:00.000-05:00

Okay, I realize that images are lots and lots of bandwith, but seriously, you could have made this in bigger print.

I'm just doin my thing, uploading a bunch of puppy pictures, when I get this shit:

You've run into one of the limits of a free account. Your free account will only display the most recent 200 photos you've uploaded. All of your photos beyond 200 will remain hidden from view until you either delete newer photos, or upgrade to a Pro account.

Yeah, somehow I missed that. Since it's pissing me off, I'm inclined to think that it's their fault for not making it clearer in a more conspicuous place on my photos page BEFORE that happened. So that I could, you know, not have been using my Flickr account for a Photobucket. Grr.

Sure, I could spend the $24.95 a year, but maybe I should just actually get my own damn webspace.

An open letter to Barnes and Noble

2007-06-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

Dear B&N,

Now, I'm not sure this is the case at all your locations. Maybe the store at 3rd Ave and 54th St is an anomaly. But it doesn't make a lot of sense for this to be the case anywhere.

Considering that women are a MUCH LARGER group than GLBT, it's mildly ridiculous for the Gay/Lesbian section to have more shelf space than the Women's Studies.

But, hey, whatever sells, right? I'm sure most people would rather read about loud, sassy lesbians than honor killings and reproductive rights (or rather, the lack thereof).

Unfortunately, you guys have better hours than the NY Public Library so I'll keep going back. Gawd, I can't wait 'til I can use the Columbia library.

In the meantime, you can attempt to regain my respect by stocking more books about Simone de Beauvoir than Rosie O'Donnell.

No love,
Missa

PS. Did you really have to put that store less than 20 feet from my office? I have no idea how much productivity this has cost me. But it's a lot. And I've had to write this letter to you for another 10 minutes or so.

PPS. Women are also a larger minority than black people, with a longer history of systematic oppression to boot. But whatever, don't let that stop you from devoting three times as much shelf space to African American studies. I'm white, so if I argue against that, Al Sharpton will take away my blog or something.

PPPS. Why the fuck is "Sex and the City" in the Sociology section? It's not like somebody had it in their hand and put it back on the shelf. There are three copies there. Last time I checked, Candace Bushnell and Barbara Ehrenreich aren't in the same genre. Please get whoever decides the shelf stocking checked for drugs.

PPPPS. This letter may or may not be finished.

Now, I'm no expert...

2007-06-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

Far from it.

But I think they got the wording wrong. Shouldn't this be an "Emergency," not an "Alert"? Or at the very least, a "Red Alert"?

I don't understand the connection between runway shows and real fashion. They have more in common with ugly avant garde art exhibitions than actual clothing that people wear.

Somebody should do a Go Fug Yourself for runway shows. But maybe that would just be redundant. What can one possibly say about this stuff that it doesn't already scream about itself?

Then again, this would probably look normal in India. I think it's really the sunglasses that make the Queer Eye in me want to gouge itself out with a spork.

Drink Drank Drunk vol. 3: Class in the East Village!?

2007-06-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

I bring slacking to a new level. I'm not even writing in here lately while slacking off at work. Is that meta-slacking?

Anyway, this time, how to destroy your liver...IN STYLE!

Drunk: Cloister Cafe on 9th St. west of 2nd Ave.
Oh em gee. This place is so pretty. It's got this stained glass window decor and this gorgeous garden with mini-fountains and vines and lights... On a warm night, it's just wonderful. There's decent food, too, so if you find yourself in the area hankering for a meal al fresco, this is it. I haven't been here in much too long, actually. But it's another one of my favorites in the area. Somehow most of my favorites are clustered around this block... it's almost next door to Cha-An. It's not as classy as the next bar, but hey, anything inspired by The Cloisters looks awesome and classy to me.

Drank: Angel's Share on Stuyvesant St. by 9th St., upstairs
We went here...2 weeks ago when I was going to finish this post...but Angel's Share is easily the most classy, yet non-stifling place I've ever had a drink. The cool, sexy jazz soundtrack along with awesome original cocktails and an impressive selection of scotches kept both me and the boy happy enough to drop way more than we should have here. It's well-hidden, though--it's inside Village Yokocho. You have to go up to Village Yokocho, turn a sharp right and go into the door. But hurry up: NY Magazine reports that Angel's Share could move way the hell down and over to Tribeca. Well, it doesn't say the present location will close, and I really hope it continues operating, because seriously, how much class do we get in the East Village? It's quiet and sexy and I would highly recommend it for a date with someone you actually like. Not a girls' night out, though: they don't do groups.

Drink: Blue Owl on 2nd Ave. at 12th St.
Actually I think I was here before, but we left quickly because I was already too drunk to remember it and had no patience for the classiness at that point. The lounge area looks really nice, though. I don't know if I'd be allowed in if they knew I'm about to be a grad student.

Random negativity post

2007-05-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

Design For the Other 90%:
“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

Well, yes. That's why I like Target. While the world's designers are focusing on the rich, skinny, and beautiful, the ripoffs are here for the rest of us. Or at least some of the rest of us. Sign me up for the revolution anyway.

"A fascist corporate wasteland" is a pretty good description of America in the 21st century. My thoughts are with Cindy Sheehan.

Case in point:

NY Mag must be hardcore sucking some RIAA cock. WHY THE FUCK IS THIS NOT AT THE BOTTOM LEFT PRACTICALLY OFF THE PAGE? (The item in question says "Suing college students for stealing music.")

I hate Rudy Giuliani. No, seriously. I literally hate the man. I don't just hate what he does and says. I hate him personally. If I ever see him in public, I will probably have to try really, really, really hard to stop from grabbing the nearest blunt object (like, say, a baby) and beating him over the head with it until he's on the ground, and then stomping repeatedly on his nuts (assuming they exist). I don't even want to bother with finding links. Just look for any recent news or YouTubes of him and, if you have a shred of common sense, you'll feel the same way.

Two of my dearest friends are getting married this summer, one in less than a week. I want new shoes for the occasions. But everything I'm finding is just unbelievably fugly. Look at this stuff on sale at Saks. Designers may be targeting only the wealthiest 10%, but apparently money can't buy you taste.

...Damn, I feel pessimistic. I must be reading too much Vonnegut lately.

I, um, got no snarky headline for this one.

2007-05-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

It's just so monumentally stupid.

There's an article, not very compelling, in the Times about the Peter Braunstein case.

A Mr. Fraser Conlon has this to say about it:

Mr. Conlon wondered why Mr. Braunstein would have been attracted to an industry [the fashion publishing industry] that was so toxic for him, an industry dominated by strong women, which was certainly no place for a misogynistic male.

Um, what? The fashion and beauty industry is no place for a misogynistic male?

Sure there are plenty of women working in it. But it is misogyny. You don't have to be a women's studies major to get that. You just need some modicum of reasoning faculty.

One might excuse him by dint of mere cluelessness, but...

“Fashion is what fashion is,” said Fraser Conlon, a former publicist for Tom Ford and Donna Karan, who now runs Amaridian, a gallery of sub-Saharan art in SoHo.

So you've worked for Tom Ford and you still think this industry is "no place for a misogynistic male"?

Dude, did you even go to high school?

Corgis are awesome.

2007-05-25T09:35:00.001-05:00

Ahhh!!! That's better!!
Originally uploaded by stoney_runes

Now there's a breed I'm considering. With a dog having a tongue like that, I'd never have to vacuum.

Take my job ... PLEASE

2007-05-25T09:09:00.001-05:00

I'm completely serious. Anyone looking for work in East Midtown?

Comment for details.

The best wedding ever

2007-05-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

Since my post mocking stupid brides was found by a few people to be somewhat amusing--thanks for the comments!--I'll continue on sort of the same subject and share my ideas for the perfect wedding.

Ideas for my actual wedding are here in the LiveJournal I just started for it.

But this would be the perfect wedding.

The ceremony: In a big ass old cathedral

The reception: Some hotel ballroom

The dress: Shelby, or maybe Vegas (Thanks, Erin!)

The bridesmaid dresses: Pretty in pink!

The color theme: Barbie pink, royal purple, diamond white

The flowers: Lots of roses. And lilies. And cattleyas. Everywhere.

The cake: Made out of Krispy Kremes!!

The cake topper: Precious Moments!

The music: Plenty of Celine Dion and Whitney Houston with some KISS thrown in for variety.

The first dance: Sex Planet by R. Kelly

The father-bride dance: Butterfly Kisses

By "perfect," of course, I actually mean "guaranteed to make all your guests stab themselves in the jugular with a dessert fork." And that's really what we all want to see at family gatherings, right?

I could dedicate a whole 'nother blog to this.

2007-05-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

So, somewhere in the midst of all my drinking and ranting and puppy-stalking, I'm supposed to be planning a wedding. For like, this coming winter or spring. Right. I don't even know when, let alone where. Not knowing the venue kind of makes it impossible to proceed with anything else. Um, anyway. Maybe I will start another blog for that. In the meantime I've just been looking at other people's blogs about weddings.

One of those blogs had a link to this very ridiculous site, True Bride Confessions. It's like the should-have-been-an-abortion bastard spawn of Overheard in New York and that reality TV show Bridezillas. Like the Overheard sites, it's somewhat addicting to read... but in contrast, the retardedness on True Bride Confessions, rather than being amusing, just makes me stare in horror and wish that the site enabled comments.

Oh, wait! I have my OWN blog and I can take these quotes out of context and diss the confessors to my heart's content!

My ring is .22 shy of a full carat.
That pisses me off so bad.
I'd be more worried about how you seem to be 22 billion brain cells shy of a functional human being.

Sometimes I wish I was still single....so I could be promiscuous.
Hey, if you want AIDS that badly just wait 'til he's out of town for a couple days!

I love my huge diamond. I get this little rush from looking at other womens rings and knowing that mine is better.
I get this little rush from reading your post and knowing that there will always be someone more pathetic than me, and it'll probably be you.

I have a 1.5 carat ring that is worth a luxury vehicle and I still want a bigger rock.
Damn, is your face that ugly?

Before you get married, ask yourself if you have screwed everyone you have EVER wanted. If you answered no, then it's not time for you to get married. TRUST ME!! Play the fied before you get married and start then. The same goes for your husband... or soon be husband.
"Of course I want to marry you, I just have to screw that guy I used to like first... Oh, and Antonio Banderas, and Johnny Depp, and the Mac guy in the Apple ads, and Stephen Colbert, and the guy on the X-files--not Mulder, the other guy, what was his name... damn... Skinner? No, that was the bald guy... You know, the cute Russian dude... Oh, and Scully, too... whatever happened to her? This is gonna take awhile. We better move back the date."

Well, responding to these is amusing enough. But I won't clutter up the page with this crap any more. I'm going to read the Overheard sites. Those are more frequently amusing.

Bonbon swimming

2007-05-21T16:51:00.001-05:00

Bonbon swimming
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

This picture is a couple weeks old. It has gotten chilly again since then. But it was hot out that day. Sweep was very happy to have jumped in the pond at the nature center near my parents' house. Ideally I will spend the whole month of July like this ... lyin' in the sun and watchin' puppies have fun. Hopefully the parents will take one of Booboo's new babies home!!!

Soon it will be time for all the babies to go their separate ways. I've hardly gotten to see them at all and it just breaks my heart.

I'm really attached to one of the females and I want to take the little sweetheart home with ME, but a hunting spaniel would just not be happy in the city... I don't think...

Drink Drank Drunk vol. 2: Eats

2007-05-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

'Cause sometimes, you need to eat while you're drinking.

Drunk: Oh Taisho (aka Yakitori Taisho) on St. Mark's Place east of 3rd Ave.
We wanted to go here Saturday night, but our friends were too tired and the weather was nasty, so we ended up staying in playing video games and reading manga like true Japanese geeks. Anyway, if you've never tried kushiyaki (grilled stuff on skewers, most famously yakitori, or chicken on a skewer) this is the place to start. This warm, smelly, cramped little izakaya has everything you could think of grilling on a skewer (babies aren't on the menu, though) and it's cheap. Sure, you could go to some fancypants place and get some beautiful, perfectly non-greasy, melt-in-your-mouth yakitori. But WHY? This is one of the few places I've been to here that really feels like the kind of comfort-food izakaya I'd frequent in Kyoto. And that feels good. You can tell it's authentic when all the other kids in the place are Japanese students.

Drank: The Abbey on 105th St. east of Broadway
We went here last night. Another stereotypical Irish pub...not much to say. The food is alright--check the specials menu for some variety--and the beer selection is sure to satisfy, if not thrill. It's not one of the best; it seems severely understaffed at times. But happy hour deals are great. And their coffee drinks are every bit as good as The Parlour's. Tangent: We did try the food at the Parlour. It was not very edible. I would not recommend ordering a meal there. If you want to eat at an Irish pub on the Upper West Side, and The Dead Poet is too crowded, just walk twenty blocks up and The Abbey should do you fine. However, the best Irish pub I've had a meal at is, if I remember correctly, O'Flaherty's Ale House down on 46th St. between 8th and 9th Ave. They actually have a pretty good shepherd's pie. Even The Dead Poet doesn't have that.

Drink: Rosanjin on Duane St. between W. Broadway and Church St.
Okay, well, this is really more of an eating place than a drinking place. And it's crazy expensive not including beverages. But it's a kaiseki-ryoori (Kyoto-style multi-course seasonal gourmet meal) restaurant that recently opened, so I really really want to go and for kaiseki-ryoori, the price is not so bad. (Especially when you factor in the cost of plane tickets to Japan.) I just have to wait until there's something to celebrate, hopefully with my parents, so they can pay. Anyway, if the food is that fancy, I bet the sake selection is to die for...

Previously: Drink Drank Drunk vol. 1
Still haven't been to Pat O'Brien's...dammit.

Elms and sky

2007-05-12T10:23:00.001-05:00

Elms and sky
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

The weather has just been fucking amazing lately. This was taken sometime almost 2 weeks ago…the end of April. And it's STILL beautiful out.

I went home to my parents' house last weekend and I'm still in the process of uploading all the piccies of BABY PUPPIES!

Since it's so nice out lately, I had been walking home from work through the park fairly often, but not this week. I got on the subway Tuesday morning and right before my transfer stop at Columbus Circle, I fainted dead away. How melodramatic of me. And I've been feeling woozy and headachy on and off. Think it's a combination of anemia/dehydration/girly woes, so I've been drinking lots of water and resting a lot and eating a lot, and trying to avoid moving around. Which is extremely frustrating when it's nice out like today. But today I actually have things to do so I will go outside and run about, fainting spells or no!

Hopefully, if I faint again, I'll wake up to some pretty view like this instead of freaked-out people all crowding around me on the train. That was fucking terrifying.

Golden babe

2007-05-02T15:20:00.001-05:00

Puppy chewing
Originally uploaded by klocean.

There is nothing in the world cuter than a golden retriever puppy. Nothing.

Well, except my Booboo.

(Pic not mine)

Shit, global warming! I better get my back hair lasered!

2007-05-02T13:27:00.000-05:00

I think pretty much everyone (who can read) is aware at this point that global warming is real and it's fucking scary.

That didn't stop Laser Cosmetica from sending me, through New York Magazine A-list Invitations, the most idiotic ad I have ever seen in my G-mail inbox.

Dear A-Listers,

Click for details on how you can survive and adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions while having fun and looking sexier than ever!

For More Information, call 888-458-5793.

Click here for your invitation.

(Why did I just have to fucking hand-code that? The code wouldn't work when I copy-pasted it. I'm too lazy to even put a box around it like it ought to have. Fuck, I need to make a stylesheet.)

Anyway, see how lame it is and why I had to post about it? And the webpage itself ventures even further into fucktard-land:

During the Ice Age cavemen were prefectly adapted to freezing temperatures because their bodies were covered in hair. Now that global warming is occurring Laser Cosmetica wants to do its part in the evolutionary cycle. Enjoy dramatic climatic change hair free and care free with our global warming proof laser hair removal protocol.

Prepare for global warming and save 25% off your package plus one free treatment!!!*

The evolutionary cycle? You really couldn't come up with anything more, oh I don't know, RELEVANT to promote your services? Or are you such hacks that you figured it was cute and clever when Diesel did it so it'd work for you too?

Well, here's why it didn't:
1. Diesel only has three simple words in their campaign: "Global Warming Ready." They let the visuals do the rest. Limiting it to that very short slogan makes it tongue-in-cheek, and the visuals manage to make it relevant, showing clothes that are stylish yet rugged and durable enough to survive an environmental catastrophe and let you look good in the meantime. And it's the word "ready" that really makes it: you probably won't see flocks of tropical parrots descending on Moscow anytime soon, but JUST IN CASE, better score a pair of these stylish yet durable short shorts. It's an implausible scene and therefore amusing. Whereas Cosmetica here distracts from their own ad entirely by apocalyptically reminding us that "global warming is occurring." I can see that what they're trying to get at is global warming → more summer → SWEET! more beach time! → better get ready for that bikini ... but what they do get at is global warming → ruined beaches, super hurricanes, skin cancer. "Enjoy dramatic climate change"? Are these people high? And...the evolutionary cycle? Seriously, WTF? I don't think evolution even goes in a cycle.
2. Diesel's slogan is kind of a pun on their name, or at least I took it that way. I didn't like Diesel for a long time because I associated the word with horribly smelly trucks that make me choke every time one drives by. But, well, I like their merchandise and they won me over. So when I saw that ad campaign I thought, "That's cute, they're kinda poking fun at their name because diesel fuel emissions probably contribute to global warming. But not as much as the meat industry." Cosmetica fails on all points at being satirical, clever, cute, or tongue-in-cheek.

Gotta love the 3 exclamation points followed by an asterisk, too. It's "prefectly adapted."

That was way too long-winded. I wish Copyranter would take over this post.

Design Wishlist, vol. 3, and also the Ballad of Digg and the DVD Crack

2007-05-02T11:20:00.000-05:00

If I can't have the iPhone, I at least want this one from Nokia.

I'm not impressed by their website though, because when I try to zoom in for a closer look on that pretty thing, it says I don't have Flash installed, and I totally totally do. Yeah, the L'amour collection page is pretty sweet though. I need to learn how to do that... What's up with that skinny stick phone though? What the hell good is that? There's no screen! How would I text message!? Perfect companion for a night on the town, my ass.

Oh and click on "Immerse yourself." What a hilariously overdone ad. Nokia, honey, if you're going to make the visuals that pretty, don't use those elegantly minimalist web 2.0 sans-serif fonts. I can't even think of anything else that clashes so badly for a good simile. Okay, so you have a brand image to maintain, but if you're going to pimp out this special collection with the art nouveau/chinoiserie aesthetic, be consistent with the collection's image and make the fucking fonts match!

Also, I am upset that there are way more designs available in Europe. And probably several hundred in Asia. And only 2 for the US. Fuck that, I want a pretty phone too! But Verizon probably doesn't support them either. Poo on Verizon. Right now, I have the same Motorola phone as my sister does, and it takes shitty pictures. The phone I had in Japan 4 years ago was eons ahead of this sorry device with its shitty camera. (Japanese everything is better, blah blah blah, etc.) Also it takes seconds to react when I press the buttons, like it's full of spyware or something. Since it's not pretty, I have covered it with stickers, which just makes it look kinda tacky. Is it can be new fone tiem now?

In other news, wow, I suppose it shouldn't be that shocking, but the stuff going on with Digg and the DVD crack is really amazing to me. Why the hell isn't this at the top of the NY Times Technology page? This is huge. Or so I think.

I'm confused, though. This guy says that the crack posted was a well-known DVD crack code that's already all over teh internets. Then this guy says the string of letters and numbers "can crack encryption on new HD-DVDs." Which is it, people? I think that's a pretty big difference.

And I'm watching this like a sophomore on Grey's Anatomy. Even though it'll probably end up in a courtroom and outlast my attention span at some point.

So stopping after the 2nd martini makes me a stodgy Puritan, now?

2007-04-30T20:26:00.001-05:00

I discovered an intriguing article in last week's New York Press. Intriguing because it concerns drinking in New York, which is more or less my chosen subject matter here:

DRY SEASON - Why aren’t we a town of world-class drunkards?

The writer, Mr. Bernstein, takes issue with the fact that, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (what the fuck is mental hygiene?), New York City has a lower rate of binge drinking (14%) than the rest of the nation (24%). Binge drinking "is classified as draining five or more drinks on any occasion every month." My first reaction was like his: Jeez, who doesn't do that? Are that many people straight-edge or pregnant!?

But in fact, these statistics are totally unreliable because in this Puritan-founded country, most people are probably lying about how much they drink. Space it properly and intersperse it with snacks, and many of us won't even get drunk on five drinks. Only idiots who don't know how to drink "turn the LES and E. Village into Dante’s Seventh Circle of Hell, reserved for sloppy boozers prone to high-fives, tequila shots and sidewalk vomit."

Unfortunately there are a lot of those idiots, because thanks to those Puritans, Americans have an unhealthy fear of and fascination with alcohol. Same with sex. Because of moronic conservatives with Puritan values, there isn't enough sex education, so you end up with the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in any developed nation, not to mention the spread of STDs. Because of Puritan values, liquor gets the same treatment and you end up with the highest rate of DUI/DWI incidents (for which, paradoxically, the penalties here are some of the softest anywhere in the world) and alcohol-related deaths of any developed nation. I believe that many of America's problems can be traced back to Puritan values. Why do you think the Puritans got kicked out of England? It's because they were nuts! Of course, they also practiced lives of ascetic frugality and considered money as sinful as anything else, but conservatives seem to have dropped that part. Free market y'all!

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that there's a stigma on the word "binge drinking." When you say that, you get an image of those NYU students and their tequila shots, not somebody who is perfectly capable of enjoying several drinks over the course of an evening without splattering vomit on a trash can. (Not that I haven't puked in the East Village...but I did it properly, hunched over the toilet.) So of course with a survey like that, no one is going to want to classify themselves as a "binge drinker" even when it's anonymous. That skews the results. People don't want to call themselves "world-class drunkards," either. (I prefer the term "lush.")

On the other hand, five drinks is enough to make some people quite sick. I rarely need that many to get good and tipsy. Maybe the rest of the nation is just fatter than NYC and can handle more drinks. The statistics note that men do "binge drink" more, but men generally have more body mass which means they can handle more drinks. So this "how many drinks" question as related to drunkenness is flawed to begin with.

Another issue, which Mr. Bernstein fails to address, is that drinks are fucking expensive here. If I have seven drinks out on the town in Manhattan, that's at the very lowest about $40. If they're nice drinks, and I tip properly, probably more than twice that. If I'm eating, too, and I'd better be if I'm going to consume that many drinks without falling over, that's another expense. Yes, everything is fucking expensive here and the reason for that is mainly real estate. And there are many people in the city who consider an $800/person bar tab to be quite reasonable. But maybe, just MAYBE those of us who can't afford bottle service are trying to get more bang for our buck, and enjoy 2 or 3 cocktails at a time instead of "binge drinking," which will damage our finances more than our livers.

I probably don't "binge drink" more than once a month. I didn't even do it in college that much. I'm a lightweight, and I try to watch my calorie intake as well as my budget. But that doesn't mean I don't get hammered frequently. It most certainly doesn't mean I don't like alcohol. And I'm insulted that Mr. Bernstein would question my status as a "world-class drunk" just because I don't fit the DoH's definition of a binge drinker.

Perhaps I shouldn't be insulted by what's clearly just an asinine attempt at a humorous tirade. But I do resent the implication that I must not like alcohol enough if I don't consume some arbitrary fixed quantity of it. On an empty stomach, it only takes me half a glass of wine to make a complete ass of myself. Okay, I can usually accomplish that sober, but you know what I mean.

So say it with me, folks: It's not the quantity of liquor, it's the quality of drunkenness.

Drink Drank Drunk vol. 1: Irish

2007-04-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

I think I'll start a new feature, hopefully somewhat weekly, as follows:
One place where I would like to drink soon.
One place where I recently drank.
One place where I have been drunk in the past.

Of course, that order makes the feature title flow better than "Drunk Drank Drink," but it makes little sense to start out a post with something I haven't done yet, so in practice I'll write these in chronological order from past to future.

This time it's sort of an Irishy theme. Loosely.

Drunk: The Thirsty Scholar on 2nd Ave between 9th and 10th St. (East Village)
This place is so small, I'm not sure what the draw is, besides the Erin-inspired decor and the generally good music. This is usually a stop on the St. Marks Place grand tour after Village Yokocho or Kenka (which I'll write about another day, I promise). The Thirsty Scholar is loud and narrow, perhaps more of a Celt-themed dive bar than an Irish pub, the kind of place college students live for. But if I remember correctly, they can whip up decent coffee drinks, a necessary break from the sake carafes on a long night.

Drank: The Dead Poet on Amsterdam Ave between 81st and 82nd St. (Upper West Side)
This bar we visited last night has an awful lot of nice TVs for a literature theme. The walls were mostly covered with those kitschy old "My Goodness--My Guinness!" ads, along with a bit of vaguely Irish-themed decor. The only thing really literary that I could see was their motto, which they took from a Longfellow poem and framed with the words backwards so that it appears the right way in the giant mirror over the bar, and the cocktails, all named for--can you guess?--dead poets and writers. I ordered a Robert Frost and it was so overwhelmingly sweet I was inclined to think that a dentist or diabetes specialist came up with it rather than a bartender with an English degree. That makes me reluctant to try any of the other cocktails on the list. However, I imagine I'll be back, because the happy hour deal was good--$4 drafts with a decent selection--and they had some intriguing other beers. Oh, and don't be deceived by the "bar food" menu. The chicken sandwich my companion had was totally non-greasy and quite delicious. Not even the fries were greasy--non-greasy by fry standards, anyway, which is to say they had been made properly and weren't soaked in oil. Rarely does a bar kitchen neglect to smother the food in oil, but the Dead Poet achieves this feat. Excellent.

Drink: Pat O'Brien's on 2nd Ave. and 88th St. (Upper East Side)
You don't get much more stereotypically Irish-pubby than that! I quite literally never go to the Upper East Side, which is why I haven't been here yet. But I hear it's a Sox bar. So at some point, I must go. My understanding is that the neighborhood is pricey and the residents of it are loaded, so it may be too expensive to be a viable game-watching venue, but we'll see.

Mmm, plastic manufacturing byproducts!

2007-04-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

China is fucking scary.

Not that I think China is more scary than the US. But I don't think anyone would argue that they're dominating the global economy, and when they're doing stuff like this--putting poisonous filler material in animal feed which goes not just to our pets, but also to animals in the human food chain--well, that's pretty fucking scary.

Melamine is "not believed to be particularly toxic," according to that article, but..

“I don’t know if there’s a regulation on it. Probably not. No law or regulation says ‘don’t do it,’ so everyone’s doing it. The laws in China are like that, aren’t they? If there’s no accident, there won’t be any regulation.”

It's okay until people die from it! (and probably even after they do.)

Actually, the laws in most places are like that, but this manager at a Chinese chemical company doesn't even know if there's a regulation. Do the people who are putting it in the food know? They don't care, they're just saving money. Do the people who are feeding it to animals know? They probably don't care either. This is from a place that has sold FAKE BABY FORMULA.

China is one of those places (okay, maybe the only place) with an amazing history and enormous global influence where I never want to go. The things they do there in the name of economic growth make me as scared and angry as anything perpetrated by the US government in recent years.

That said, why am I always getting hits on this blog from China? I figured it's spy robots, but if I have any readers from China, I certainly would like to hear your comments/counter-rants/vicious flames.

Just some pictures, dude.

2007-04-27T14:40:00.000-05:00

Work is INSANE--or more specifically driving me INSANE--or most specifically driving me MORE INSANE--so um, just flickrness for today. None of these photos are mine.

Though hopefully I will have some new bar reviews this weekend.

Two of my favorite things!

Puppy And Books by Tom Maisey

There is much rain today here too, and I feel similar about it.

Puppy in the rain by m2*

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"

Chance! by jlcrawford2105

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Flo Running by duckberry

Oh please mommy can I have one please please please pleaaaaaaaaaase?

A puppy by Kyran2005

Click on that last picture-taker's link. They're all pictures of Aussie Shepherds, and they are beautiful! Ohsosweet!

So big and strong!!!! and cuuuuuuuute

2007-04-26T00:03:00.001-05:00

So big and strong!!!! and cuuuuuuuute
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Eeeeeeee! The sweet baaaabies! They're 2 weeks old in this pic. Look how much bigger they've gotten!! Their eyes aren't open yet but their noses are turning a healthy black. But their eyes should open this week. I really need to get home and see them again soon!

(Pic by my dad.)

Rudy has syphilis

2007-04-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

Well, he probably doesn't, but his brain either has holes in it, or it's been hijacked by Cheney and Rove.

Apparently Rudy Giuliani is trying to get on voters' good sides for his presidential campaign. How?

By blatantly using 9/11 as a threat, with all the callousness and talking-out-the-anus-ness of the worst of the White House!

I imagine that if I had been living here in 2001, this would make me even angrier than it does. I can't imagine what people who lost loved ones that day, or are struggling with illnesses caused by the dust, would feel when they hear their once-popular ex-mayor say this:

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.
...
“If any Republican is elected president — and I think obviously I would be the best at this — we will remain on offense and will anticipate what [the terrorists] will do and try to stop them before they do it,” Giuliani said.

O RLY? You didn't stop it the first time. And what have Republicans done besides give people in the region more reason to support or join al Qaeda? STFU, Rudy.

Where I drank tonight.

2007-04-24T23:48:00.000-05:00

I haven't made a bar post in far too long.

I was out with a darling girl friend tonight, and we went out around Columbia turf. Omitting our girly-girl conversations, here's a summary:

We ate at Tokyo Pop, on Broadway at 104/105th. Not to be confused with the manga company, this place has yummy Japanese (food and waiters, heh heh) and awesome cocktails. It's a little pricey compared to other things in the area, but, dude, ginger ice cream. There's live music on some nights, and I think this is the best J-cuisine within easy walking distance of Columbia. The internets agree that delivery is a total ripoff, though. Definitely eat in.

Then we had cocktails at Sip, at Amsterdam and 110th. After seeing the cocktail called Monkey Gland, which according to the description contains absinthe--isn't that illegal here?!--we decided the place was inspired by Hunter S. Thompson. I used to go here all the time last year before I started working. It's got free wifi and is a lovely quiet tea/coffee shop during the day. Back then they had just opened the kitchen; now they have a full menu of food, too, and I think it's pretty good. Cocktails were interesting, but they're all overpriced, and the bartender was an idiot.

Finally we stopped at Caffe Swish, directly across from the Columbia gate at Broadway and 116, for some sake. There isn't a huge selection of it, and I've heard mixed reviews about the food, but it serves its purpose. They served the sake in the bottle rather than in carafes, as we'd expected, and we received more than we thought we would. Obviously this is to their credit, but my companion had to catch a bus. Since we'd paid for the drinks, though, I snuck out the unfinished bottles in my purse. w00t!

Hmm, gotta go back to Sip and try some absinthe when it's not a weeknight... Always did want to try it. If Oscar Wilde drank it, it must be cool! But in the US, it's probably just fake absinthe-flavored liquor. Although Sip is 6 blocks from Columbia and they weren't carding...so maybe they do serve the real stuff! One can always hope.

There is a method to the tail's madness!

2007-04-24T16:05:00.001-05:00

wag
Originally uploaded by rgottorff.

Naturally, people would rather read about how puppies' tails wag in the New York Times rather than, say, the Middle East or how extremely special our president is. The article about puppies' tails is #2 on the most-emailed list, seconded only by the newest installment in the Mystery of the Disappearing Bees--which is also a real problem, of course, but I'll be the first to admit that I'd rather read about puppies.

The article concerns something I'd never noticed: a dog's tail wags more to the right when he's happy, and more to the left when he's scared or angry. It's due to the different sides of the brain processing different emotions, and similar phenomena are also observed in other species, including primates and humans.

See how far that yellow lab's tail is to the right in the picture (not mine)? Looks like he's happy to make a new friend.

I wonder if this is not just a subconscious phenomenon for dogs (domestic and wild) and actually figures into their communication. The height at which a dog carries his tail, facial expressions, and ear position are all part of a dog's "nonverbal" communication. Some of their body language is more obvious (rolling over in submission, that about-to-pounce stance when playful) but other cues, like the direction of tail wagging, are subtle enough to escape humans' attention. If this data is conclusive, there should really be more education about this, because we are all taught that when a doggy is wagging his tail, he's happy. But, based on this information, if a dog with aggressive tendencies is wagging his tail toward the left, he could be seconds away from deciding to attack. Of course, it's the owner's responsibility to keep an aggressive dog out of situations where he could attack a non-threatening person or animal, but unfortunately not all dog owners are responsible. Or intelligent. So I hope there will be more studies and education regarding this find.

Meanwhile, are there really 1,800 Wiccans in the armed forces!? Seems like the military culture wouldn't be very welcoming, but that's just a guess.

Edit after midnight: Puppies have now surpassed bees on the Times most-emailed list. Yep. Everyone wants to read about puppies. However, the title of that article is completely idiotic. What drunk, lonely editor slapped that on there?

Oh, I miss Japan.

2007-04-24T11:51:00.001-05:00

red bridge
Originally uploaded by pink_emmie_bat.

The weather is still beautiful here. (It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but we won't talk about that.)

The apple blossoms are blooming, and there are a couple of cherries blooming in Central Park, and I know there is a Hanami Festival in Brooklyn sometime (probably missed it again though), but oh! The cherry blossoms are blooming in Kyoto! (I studied abroad there for 8 months a few years ago. I freakin' love it.)

This picture, which is not mine, is of somewhere in Tokyo, but oh how I would like to walk down Tetsugaku no Michi and stop for some matcha...

But probably the best I could do over here is--and why have I not posted about this place yet?--a Japanese cafe called Cha-An. I never would have found it if I hadn't been scouring the city for a place that might have matcha (a kind of green tea) pastries. The sign isn't conspicuous, making it easy to miss; it's on the second floor at 230 E 9th St, near 2nd Ave, around the block from Village Yokocho. It's quiet, calming, with the perfectly sweet and tranquil feeling I love so much about Kyoto cafes. There's a little tea ceremony room right in there and they'll perform one for you if you make the reservation! The menu is wonderful--endless varieties of classy tea, lovely entrees, snacks, tea sets, desserts, fine sake... It's fantastic, really one of the jewels of Little Tokyo. (Jewels don't exactly come cheap, but you get what you pay for.) I'd like to skip out on work and walk down there right now... Mmm, matcha milk. The only thing missing is the Japanese garden.

Le sigh. Kyoto, my far-away love!

Looooooogo!

2007-04-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

You may not have noticed if you're using a reader, but I finally made a logo and managed to make it into the header. It's none too original, but hours messing around in Photoshop does not a graphic designer make.

Think it's cute and campy? Think I'm a no-talent hack? Go'head and comment!

Spring has arrived!!

2007-04-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

What a stunning, beautiful, lovely day! And three of them in a row--on the weekend! It's almost more than one could ask!

I walked all over the UWS. Mostly just to enjoy the weather, but also to shop for shoes. I like Nine West, but they didn't have what I wanted this time. I wandered up and down looking for something that had better shoes than Payless but not as good as Barney's Co-op. At last, down past the AMNH on Columbus Ave at 80th St., I found Medici with some fine selections that wouldn't dip into my drinking funds. Now I have a flashy, trendy pair of silver ballet flats so soft it feels like I shouldn't wear them out of the house. For less than $50. The staff was nice and unintrusive. I will be back there next time the feminine impulse strikes me.

After that successful venture, I was hungry, but I discovered something. Every single eatery was crowded! On such a beautiful day, every last family had brought out the strollers and were parked in every last decent-looking cafe/restaurant/bistro/brasserie, vivaciously chatting and bowing to the whims of their whiny, sunburned children, while good-looking couples occupied every last 2-person table. Perhaps if I'd dressed nicer, I might not have been so reluctant to edge in asking for a table for one, but as it was, everyone had at least one companion and I felt that I would be turned away in favor of the next (more lucrative) couple. Or else I just didn't want to be the only one at that classy bistro seated by myself in my gaucho jeans and manga-illustration shirt. (And Boston hat, of course.)

I wandered on, refusing to give in and have a fruit plate at Starfucks. (All the Starfucks were jam-packed too, anyway.)

Enter the Hampton Chutney Co. This Indian-inspired sandwich shop, on Amsterdam Ave between 82nd and 83rd, was, for some odd reason, almost totally empty. I had foolishly passed it by before because I thought the appelation "Hampton" gave it an automatic air of snobbishness. Nope: it's inexpensive (for Manhattan, as always), unpretentious, clean, charming, and delicious. The lovely afternoon light came in, but without the entire front of the shop thrown open, the street noise didn't. Hankering for cheese, I ordered the mushroom-onion-goat cheese-arugula sandwich on black bread (they were out of 7-grain, but that worked out just fine) and was pleasantly surprised. And that cardamom coffee--fantastic! Why have I not seen this concoction at more coffee shops? Does it have to be an Indian-inspired place? The only problem was the Indian chant music, which, in the manner of Indian chants, went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, etc. and got very annoying. But I assume it won't be on every time I'm there. Understated decorative details like this really make the atmosphere.

I love Edgar's, but not much natural light makes its way inside--the coziness is more suited to gloomy weather--so the Hampton Chutney Co. may be my cafe of choice on sunny days.

But it will compete with Cilantro, where we went for brunch yesterday, and where they do throw the whole front of the shop open. Beautiful. And I had the most amazing omelette ever. (Except for the chive flower one my mom makes--secret recipe.)

See my flickr page for more photos of today. Man, I hope the weather stays this way for some time!

This is a wonderful post.

2007-04-19T09:10:00.000-05:00

How am I like Cho Seung-Hui?

As the insightful Mr. Keating says:
We all need to take responsibility. We are all a part of this world in which individuals are driven to commit such horrifying acts. We need to ask ourselves not “how could he do something like this?” but “How could I do something like this?”

Mike reminds us to watch the rhetoric being tossed about:
in the early articles i read on the subject, the killer was referred to as a "south korean national" and "legal permanent resident alien" more times than as "student." ... in this case, the language chosen to describe the Other equally serves the purpose of identifying the self, and these labels demonstrate a clear nationalistic and xenophobic objective.

Xenophobia. For a country built on immigration, don't we already have enough of that? Doesn't the world already have enough of it?

We all need to watch our words and our actions, lest we allow this tragedy to generate more.

I don't intend to soapbox--I need to watch myself as much as anyone else.

Tiny babies!

2007-04-17T10:32:00.001-05:00

Pillow2
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

I went home over the weekend to see Booboo's baby puppies. Of course, I took a metric ass-ton of pictures.

They're sooooooooo sweet, and mom and all 8 babies are all healthy! They're less than a week old in these pictures; they won't open their eyes for about another 8 days. I cannot contain my enthusiasm for this event and am prone to fits of ecstatic squealing.

This is very sad.

2007-04-17T09:06:00.000-05:00

Wow, way to take more steps in making all the music we hear completely homogenous and manufactured!

If this ruling holds, internet radio broadcasters will have to pay triple the current royalties on songs they broadcast. That's going to put many sites like the amazingly wonderful Pandora out of business. And it's retroactive so it'll put lots of sites out of business instantly. Listeners like you and me will have a harder time finding new music to enjoy, and new artists will have a harder time getting themselves heard. So everything will sound like Nickleback and Jessica Simpson. Hooray.

So I don't know what to do besides post this link:

And yes, I already emailed my representatives. For whatever good that will do. But Senator Kerry did play a role in getting the DirecTV-MLB exclusive deal tossed out, so maybe there's hope. (Well, my Senator is Hilldog, so I dunno...)

The pinnacle of inappropriate

2007-04-16T18:35:00.000-05:00

I'm really sick of writing rant posts today, but some horrible things have happened.

The Virginia Tech massacre has, like these killing sprees always do, sparked new life into the debate on gun control. Meanwhile, someone at the White House is apparently jealous of all the attention Imus has received for his inappropriate remark, and has countered with this response to the awful events:

On this afternoon of national sorrow, President Bush offered his prayers to those who are suffering as a result of today's enormous tragedy at Virginia Tech, as well as his support for a full investigation.

His statement of grief came shortly after White House spokeswoman Dana Perino had voiced this sentiment, "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed."

-from Katrina Vanden Heuvel on the Editor's Cut blog at The Nation.

Wow. I don't think I've been this angry before at one single statement from the White House. I'm not the only one who thinks that's NOT OKAY, right? To blather on about the Second Amendment immediately after 33 people have been killed?

Now maybe this is Ms. Perino's grand faux pas, or that of whoever told her to make such a statement, not Dubya's. Or maybe it's been taken completely out of context and it wasn't a general statement, but a response to a reporter's question, like "Will this incident change the president's stance on gun control?" I'm trying to research that but I'm not finding much yet. And I like to at least pretend to have informed opinions rather than visceral responses. But I'm not so far removed from being a student, and it's hard to bottle up that primal, visceral response.

There's just so much about this we don't know yet. We don't even know who the attacker was--he blew in his face.

The slow response that ended up allowing 29 more deaths is perhaps the most infuriating part. But, as the campus po-po chief said, "We acted on the best information we had at the time."

Right. Why do you think these guys are campus security, and not actual law enforcement? Utter ineptitude.

But I guess they tried. What else can people do?

Living here isn't as awesome as you think.

2007-04-16T15:32:00.000-05:00

Apparently I'm not done for today.

Just when you think everything is cool, something like this happens and scares you back into your mom's basement.

Oh, and not to mention this. I...don't know what to say.

Except that, seriously, I think I'll grab all my video games and move into my parents' basement. They have a big-ass projection TV down there.

The buzz is the bottom line

2007-04-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

This post on the New York Times blog Diner's Journal is quite interesting.

The fact that she didn’t turn him down flatly confirms something we all suspect or know: the “entirely booked” restaurants that turn away a regular caller are seldom entirely booked. They have tables in reserve, because they don’t want to have to turn away a celebrity, a corporate titan, anyone who might be — or be connected to — the sort of diner who lands the restaurant a mention in Page Six or convinces the other diners in the place that they are supping at the very epicenter of fabulousness.

The comments are fun to read, too.

there is a guest where i work that had over two-hundred visits to us in the last year. if we re not saving a table for him when he wants it, then we are beyond foolish.

sometimes it s not about “buzz”. sometimes it s about the bottom line.

So aren't "buzz" and "the bottom line" the same thing here? Or at the least, very interconnected?

For myself, I avoid those "haute cuisine" places where reservations would be required. Unless someone else is going through the rigamarole...and paying. Because it's just not that much better than the cozy place down the street. Sure, once in a while I like a posh Frenchy place...but more often than not, it's the company that matters. And that means the people I came in with, not the glitterati three tables over. I don't understand what the hype is. Frasier is amusing, but what, exactly, would I get out of eating brunch at the same time and place as Kelsey Grammer? What appeal does "supping at the epicenter of fabulousness" really have? I'm more concerned about whether the place has real maple syrup or not.

Here's the irony: the cheap diner farther up on Broadway has it, but the more gentrified Edgar's doesn't. (That's okay, though, it keeps me from gorging on waffles every weekend.) So poshness isn't everything.

But where are these cozy places for regular people? Try Pisticci, a hidden gem of Italian at 125 LaSalle St, all the way up in Morningside past Columbia, and so worth the trip. It's crowded most nights, because it's really good, but you'll get a table within half an hour. And they don't take reservations. Save room for the chocolate amaretto mousse dessert. It's not cheap, but it's fair--less than half what you'd pay further downtown for Italian this good. There are a few bars in the area, too, and some other decent restaurants if the wait ends up being too long (but it shouldn't). Take a walk around. The student grass-and-watering-hole Toast is nearby, among other places we frequent. The area is nicer than you think.

...Which could bring up a whole 'nother gentrification rant, but I'm done for today.

Insert shriek of horror here.

2007-04-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

What the hell is this shit!?

Well, okay, we know what it is. It's the design for the "New U.S. e-Passport." This one will have "updated security features" so the regime can keep more tags on us. Hooray. The question is: What exactly will this do for us?

...Besides make our eyes bleed?

The other question is: WHY IS IT SO FUGLY?

Look at this thing. It's got monuments and eagles and founding documents on every page! This isn't a passport, it's a clipart-happy right wingnut blog! Whatever happened to plain ol' utilitarian paper? It's good enough for the rest of the world. But nooo, not the glorious United States of America! Now our passports will make us look like asshats even more.

Even if these mysterious, unspecified "updated security features" are necessary, does it have to look like something John Ashcroft would tattoo on his ballsack?

Boy, am I glad now that I lost my passport last year. I had to renew it, so now I won't need to do so again for another 10 years or so. Hopefully, by then, they will have fired these sorry excuses for designers and gotten rid of this steaming pile of feces copy-pasted from Free Patriotic Clipart.

Or else, by then, we'll all just have microchips in our wrists, and I won't need to worry about involuntarily stabbing my eyes out when I renew my passport.

Today's puppy picture!

2007-04-11T20:59:00.001-05:00

Dinner
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Another from my dad of Booboo and her sweet babies! "Iz it can be yum yums tiem now?"

Special Billy

2007-04-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

Being a Mac-head (actually, I'm not sure what you call Mac fans...so maybe I'm not much of one), I was convinced for a long time that Bill Gates and MicroSoft were trying to destroy the world. I'm still convinced that the majority of the business world uses Windows because the IT departments keep it that way: Macs run so smoothly that if everyone used them, IT at most companies would be one person working part-time. By now, I'm grown up enough to know that Bill Gates isn't evil incarnate, but just a geek with a very good business model that has made him very, very, very, very rich. (The dubious honor of evil incarnate goes to pudgy old white guys like Rumsfeld, Cheney and Rove.)

Whatever respect I might have had for him, however, is diminishing a little after reading this Times article about his imaging company, Corbis. Why is he hoarding all these images to himself like some kind of film-obsessed pack rat? Is he bitter that his business model (according to the Times, "Mr. Gates started Corbis in 1989 with the idea that people would someday decorate their homes with a revolving display of digital artwork") for Corbis, unlike MicroSoft, didn't work out? Apparently, Corbis has a collection of over 50 million photographs to which it owns the rights. Less than 1 million of these are digitally available and those that are cost an arm, a leg, and several souls. Corbis owns the rights to pictures that most of the world recognizes: Marilyn Monroe with the skirt malfunction, Albert Einstein making the goofy face. You know what I'm talking about without me linking to those, don't you? Well, I can't anyway, because Corbis owns them. Alright, well, most things are owned by somebody or other. However, there are millions of pictures that Corbis isn't even making available. To me that seems, paradoxically, both incredibly selfish and a bad business move.

Anyway, that's not the stupidest part here. This is the really special part:

"The prints and negatives from Otto L. Bettmann’s archive, as well as those from a few smaller collections, are kept 220 feet underground in a former limestone mine in rural Pennsylvania."

Let's look at that again.

Archives of film negatives and photographs... kept underground. IN A FORMER LIMESTONE MINE.

...Brilliant. Did Billy think of this all by himself?

Another corgi!

2007-04-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

clover-6wks01
Originally uploaded by phobia.garden.

I can't stop thinking about puppies, so, um... MOAR!

(Pic not mine.)

PILE O' BABIES!!!!!!

2007-04-10T09:54:00.001-05:00

PILE O' BABIES!!!!!!
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

My brother sent me this pic from his cellphone, thus much improving my day.

BABY PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-09T19:05:00.001-05:00

BABY PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Gyp's puppies were delivered this morning!

There are 4 boys and 4 girls, all looking healthy! Mom is recovering from a C-section but she's doing fine too. My dad took this picture; they're just a few hours old here!

I'm taking Thursday and Friday off this week, and going home to my folks' house to see them! No amount of o(^v^)o smileys or exclamation points can do justice to my ecstatic spasticness. I can't wait to bury my face in a pile of puppies!!

For REAL football... and Kokopelli

2007-04-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't been out to many new places lately. I'll have to write about a couple local spots (local being within walking distance of W 87th and Riverside).

The closest bar to our humble abode is The Parlour, a stereotypically Irish football pub on W 86th just west of Broadway. And by football, of course, I mean what we Ugly Americans call "soccer." You can stop by here in the morning for brunch and UK football games. And they make a mean Irish coffee. Seriously. The coffee drinks here are just to die for. I can't speak for the food; not being a fan of either proper or American football, I haven't sampled a meal there. For me it's the perfect spot to get a drink when I want to get out of the house, but not too far. The crowd seems pretty tightly knit, though, enough that it's slightly uncomfortable to go alone. Bring a friend or a passel of fanatic British Islanders. And, if you can keep yourself from quaffing Guinness the way the atmosphere expects you to, definitely have a coffee drink.

Over at W 83rd and Columbus Ave, Cilantro serves up fine Southwestern fare. Not Mexican! Don't call it Mexican! It's Southwestern! But you won't make the mistake once you see the charming Anasazi and Navajo-inspired decor. For the less spicy-inclined there are also plenty of New American classics. The array of huevos rancheros, omelettes, french toast, and belgian waffles (which I really need to try) make this a wonderful place for brunch. There are some tasty cocktails too; the friendly service and well-rounded menu have made me eager to try each meal of the day here at some point. And the prices aren't too bad either. The place lives up to its namesake, a yummy herb.

More chocolate!

2007-04-08T19:56:00.001-05:00

Jake
Originally uploaded by selfishlyspoken.

You never can have enough chocolate.

(Pic not mine.)

Chocolate!!

2007-04-08T19:49:00.001-05:00

Puppy!!!!
Originally uploaded by Gail Johnson.

Just like Valentine's Day and Halloween, Easter is clearly all about chocolate.

This kind of chocolate, known as the chocolate lab, will save you lots of calories. You don't eat it, you snoooooogle it!

(Pic not mine.)

Bigger bitrate ≠ better sound

2007-04-07T20:29:00.000-05:00

This is another rant post. Until the weather stops yelling "Psyche!" and actually gets warm enough to be outside, I'm not going to have much else to say. Anyway, The Slate addresses what I had been thinking before.

With the deal between iTunes and EMI, the DRM-free EMI music available will be 30¢ more per track than other music on iTunes. I thought that was just a jab at the consumer by charging more for DRM-free music, but Kevin pointed out that in addition to no DRM, the bitrate of the tracks is twice as high. That is, it's 256kbps as opposed to the standard 128kbps.

My first thought when I read that was: does that really make a difference? The Slate has answered my question. Their verdict is that there is a difference, but not a very perceptible one. Going from 92 to 128 kbps makes a much bigger difference to the human ear than does doubling a compression rate of 128kbps. By the time you get to 128, anything above that isn't a very noticeable improvement. It's the same as JPGs. When you have a low quality JPG, it's very noticeable. Make the compression rate higher, and you increase the file size by adding more information to the picture, giving you better quality. But you get to a certain point where it looks enough like the original Photoshop document that no matter how much more you increase the file size beyond that point, it's not going to make a noticeable difference.

The Slate also makes an interesting note that it's the codec--or the method of encoding an audio file into MP3 format--that makes the difference in sound. Before the MP3 format, audio files were unusably huge. (Now, with iPods designed to carry around video as well, we could easily tote around the raw AIFF files ripped clean from the CD, but I don't know anyone who does that.) Encoding into an MP3 simply throws out most of the sound information that the human ear doesn't actually notice. This effectively makes the file small enough to use. It's the codec that decides what information to keep and what to throw away. A sucky codec will throw out too much good information: Even if you encode at 512kbps, a sucky codec will give you a tinny, nasty MP3. This is why some of my oldest MP3 files that I downloaded on Napster back in the day sound crappy on my 2005 iPod. They were made with old codecs and the shiny new(er) iPod reveals the crappy sound. But those masterpieces of 90s J-pop have the exact same 128kpbs bitrate as the Keane album I recently bought on iTunes. The new stuff just has a better codec, not a better bitrate!

So it's as I thought. Increasing the bitrate is just an excuse to charge more for DRM free files. So not only are they charging more for something that should be a feature of the product in the first place; they're also attempting to disguise that fact by adding a bogus "increase in quality." Most people will look at that and think double the bitrate means twice as good sound quality. Well, unless your ears are as good as your dog's and you and dropped several hundred dollars on your headphones, you won't even notice. I believe this is a deliberate attempt by EMI to confuse the consumer into believing they're actually paying more for a better product rather than for usage rights that The Man doesn't want us to have. How to beat this dick move? Don't pay those extra 30 cents per track--only buy entire albums that you want!

That's what I'll be doing. Of course, to show The Man that it is definitely preferable to have my music without DRM, I'll try to buy more EMI albums than other stuff. Regardless of how many dick moves surround it, it's still a good move to do away with the DRM.

Corgi post!

2007-04-06T19:56:00.001-05:00

Willow
Originally uploaded by jeffronicus.

Welsh corgis are quite adorable. Something about the ears and the short little legs, I think.

(Pic not mine.)

Thanks, Senator Kerry!

2007-04-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

He may not have been accessible enough to win the election in '04, but Senator Kerry has redeemed himself as an ally of the common man. Or rather, the common fan.

Earlier I complained about how Major League Baseball had signed with DirecTV to only offer their Extra Innings package, pretty much the only way to see games if you don't live in your team's area, exclusively through the News Corp.-owned satellite service. Cable tried to keep up but MLB was asking that they match what DirecTV paid--$700 mil. Steep, right? Negotiations apparently stalled. This meant that we would no longer be able to see the all-important Sox games on iN Demand, and we would have to go to Standings pretty much every time we wanted to see one. Not a terrible prospect, but expensive. And not so great for weekdays.

So then Senator John Kerry (perhaps a maligned-feeling out-of-town fan himself?) stepped up to the plate (yeah, I went there) and urged the FCC to start an investigation. Obviously, offering the package exclusively through one service smacked of antitrust violations. He didn't just leave it up to the dubious mercy of the FCC, though; Kerry also pushed MLB to continue negotiations with the cable companies and iN Demand. And it was just announced tonight that they were able to strike a deal: MLB lowered their asking price for the Extra Innings package, which benefits both DirecTV (who will also pay the lower price) and all the fans who would have been deprived. Score!

The article says the deal has yet to be officially signed, but games will be shown on iN Demand starting tomorrow! (Should have been tonight but it took time for the cable to get it back into the system.) Of course, my dad won't be happy until somebody offers NESN in HD outside of Boston. After all, what good is an HD TV, if not to see guys in uniforms scratching their nuts in glorious digital detail?

Now if only Matsuzaka's first game wasn't in the daytime, dammit! Still considering playing hooky from work tomorrow to watch it. Sure feels like I did enough work today to deserve it.

I really want to see this game. Daisuke Matsuzaka is a right-hand pitcher who until this winter was on the Japan League's Seibu Lions, to whom the Red Sox paid $50 mil for the right to talk to him--so he must be something. He's the first Japanese pitcher since they had Hideo Nomo in 2001, and seriously, this guy's so cuuuute! Not like hotpants-cute, more like puppy cute. Adorable. Here's some more stuff on him, complete with cute manga graphics and informative graphics. ソックス頑張れ！

Warm and fuzzy.

2007-04-04T00:21:00.001-05:00

Puppy
Originally uploaded by a0k1.

Watch the news, read a non-fiction book, the world seems like such a horrible, disgusting place.

But when you see something like this, don't you feel like maybe things are okay?

I do.

(Pic not mine.)

White wall

2007-04-04T00:10:00.001-05:00

White wall
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

I don't know why I like this picture. The composition is nothing special and I can't even really figure out what the subject was supposed to be. The light, I guess, because what I really like is the light... in the sky, off the windows; and in the bottom window you can see the reflection of the building across the street, which the sun was hitting directly at the time.

My reactions to various and sundry

2007-04-03T19:52:00.000-05:00

So it looks like the recording company EMI Group will be selling DRM-free music on iTunes. That's awesome. That's not just a step--it's a huge leap in the right direction. A leap forward and a leap for consumer rights.

I'm not disputing that. But the price of a non-DRM song owned by EMI will be $1.29, while pretty much all songs in the iTunes store have been $.99. Am I alone in thinking that paying an extra 30% for the right to fully use something I purchase is a tad, well, absurd?

No, it's not as absurd as CD prices. It's not as absurd as DRM to begin with. And the absurdity is certainly mitigated by full albums being offered at iTunes's standard $9.99. But paying 30 cents more per song for no DRM when I only want one or two tracks feels like the leaping is being followed by sniggering all the way to the bank. "OK, you can have your music without DRM. But guess what? We're still The Man, and you're still the little guy, so pay up."

And it's ridiculous that they're offering everything in their catalog EXCEPT the Beatles' work without DRM. Cute, real cute. "You can have all our stuff without DRM ... BUT NOT THE MOST POPULAR STUFF EVER. NOT YOURS." As if anyone who listens to music doesn't know at least several Beatles songs by heart--are you going to start charging us for having it committed to memory, too? When I read about this, I thought the Beatles' stuff should start going public domain soon, but I erred: apparently it'll be 70 years after Paul or Ringo, whoever survives longer, shuffles off this mortal coil; unless of course EMI files a copyright extension, which they certainly will, and which I'm not sure should be legal. But anyway.

Well, I'll be trying to avoid not buying full albums (or any Beatles music ... but my dad already has it all on CD, and on vinyl) to show what I think of that. And I'm enjoying imagining the looks on the faces of the record execs when they got wind of that news. Probably something on a spectrum between "Another massively devastating terrorist attack on American soil?" and "Did I just shart myself in a shareholder meeting?"

Meanwhile, all the movie companies still want YouTube to die, or at least change its policies, despite the fact that seeing a movie on a 400 or so pixels square on my laptop, broken up into 12 or 15 downloads, is not the same experience as watching one on my TV. Or even better, my parents' wall projector TV. And guess what? My parents, and even I, are still willing to pay for that. So are a lot of other people. Get a clue, Hollywood. Why don't you stop buying your lawyers beach houses and use your money to make some good movies? Or is that too much to ask?

In other news, this is pretty amusing. It's funny because soooo many people think it's not funny. The meaning is so obvious it's hard to understand why anyone would be offended by it, besides the so-called Obamamaniacs. For some reason this is hard for people to understand, but it's not making fun of Jesus or Jesus freaks, or even conservatives. Michelle Malkin obviously doesn't get it; otherwise she'd quit it with her cutesy patronizing sighs, and recognize it as the cynical remark it is--one she should agree with, in fact. This doesn't even have anything to do with the "My Sweet Lord" (which itself was obviously a comment on the commidification of Easter by candy companies, and by extension consumerism at large, et cetera) beyond the Jesus-sculpture part. (Was people's problem with the chocolate Jesus mostly with the Naked Jesus Penis part? Anyway...)

Clearly, "Blessing" is making fun of the people who see Obama as this Chosen One who will step in come 2009 and become the country's savior. Maybe Hercules would have been a more apt metaphor: like the upteenth bastard of Zeus with the barn full of shit, he'll magically clean up the mess that the current regime has made. Yeah, he sounds like he means to do some good stuff if he's elected, but to live up to some of these hyper-optimists' expectations he really would need supernatural powers. Well, I'm only rephrasing the artist:

"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," Cordero said. "In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped."

More amusingly, isn't the artist out of the same school who did that piece where you walk on the American flag and write in a book? Something like "The proper way to show respect for the flag"? I can't find a link for it because I don't know the artist or the title. But it makes me want to go to the School at the Art Institute of Chicago ... though I'll be the first to admit I couldn't art myself out of a paper bag.

Well, that was enough ranting. I promise to post about bars, puppies, or weird photos next time.

It's WTF time!

2007-04-03T13:48:00.000-05:00

There's a lot of neat stuff out there, so I've joined Technorati.

Technorati Profile

Procrastination, baby.

Aaaaaaaaand... Puppy post!!

2007-04-02T13:55:00.001-05:00

Puppy love
Originally uploaded by dshearer.

It's Monday, we all need puppy love. (I know it's Monday because I've spilled liquids on my desk at least twice today.)

(Pic is not mine.)

Caption'd!
"CHOMP I has ur face!"
".........K" *lick*

Memorial

2007-04-02T13:37:00.001-05:00

Memorial
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

The weather was nice a couple weeks ago. It was nice last week too, but then decided to go back to winter. It's quite enough to drive one insane.

This pic has been on my flickr page for a few days but I still like the effect I got in Photoshop, so I'm posting it here. (Mostly, I'm bored at work...) The straight line of the flagpole messes it up though... I keep thinking it's a glitch in the photo. But it's kinda cute how you can only see the edge of the flag. Anyway, this is a memorial in Riverside Park around 90th St. but I'm actually not sure what it memorializes. WWII dead, I think, maybe a previous war.

The presence of the flag in the picture urges me to make a political comment, so: What we really need is a memorial to our civil liberties and the government's checks and balances which have fallen to this administration. ...Administration? More like "regime." Seriously, I think that all the time--isn't "regime" a more apt word to describe the W years? Of course, it's just a coincidence that when you say the word "regime," a phrase that comes to mind is "fascist regime." Just a coincidence.

/end stereotypical East-coast liberal bitchiness.

Bonus discussion question: If such a memorial as I just mentioned were to be built for real, what do you think it should look like?

A lonely pursuit

2007-04-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

I live in New York; I was born and raised upstate. But my dad is from New Hampshire and my significant other grew up in Boston suburbia. If I was anything other than a Red Sox fan, the former would disown me and the latter would dump me. Do I object? No. The Yankees are overpaid whores.

I'm not one for in-depth analysis (talk to my man if you want a bottomless well of that) but I like baseball because it's a great excuse to drink and yell. And the rules are easier for me to comprehend than those of (American) football.

Supposedly you can find anything in NYC, but it's harder than one might think to find Red Sox bars. There used to be a perfect one called Harrison's at Amsterdam and 79th—good food, decent beer and full bar, and really close to us—but to my utter chagrin and extreme dismay, it closed last summer and moved to the Financial District, of all places. One would think that it closed because they were priced out of the area, but then why would they move to Wall Street? I can only assume they said SCREW YOU to the "poor" UWS and went downtown to serve the more lucrative clientele of Harvard Business School graduates. Well SCREW YOU right back! Yeah, I'm still really mad about that. Do not go to a bar called Harrison's. Unless you live in that area, I guess, and in that case, shouldn't you be spending your Goldman Sachs bonus instead of reading my lame blog?

Anyway, we've found a suitable substitute in the East Village. Standings is at 43 E 7th St., around the west corner from 2nd Ave. It's easy to miss; look for it on the right of Burp Castle (which shares the owners). It's far away, but fun. The crowd gets rowdier than in the relatively tame Upper West Side, and the bartenders are super friendly. There are good happy hour deals on a changing selection of tasty brews. (I think there's also wine, but no liquor or food. However, there are plenty of delis and takeout joints in the immediate vicinity. They even have a pile of delivery menus for you, and don't miss the free pizza on Friday nights and free bagels on Sunday!) And there are always game events. It's a Sox bar, but that doesn't mean it's unfriendly to fans of other teams. Unless, of course, you're partial to the whores in pinstripes.

But to date that's the only decent bar we've found where Sox fans feel welcome (that hasn't closed). There are people from all over the world here, not excepting Red Sox Nation by any means, but it sometimes seems lonely and futile... only seems that way, until we get over to Standings. The location is relatively far from our place, but quite near Little Tokyo, which does end up being convenient in a way.

We were planning on going there tonight to see the opening game, actually, but the other people who were to accompany us ended up having other things to do, so we are staying in. With the 6-pack of Magic Hat #9 I found on sale at Gristedes, this is the much more economic option. I'm not sure how healthy this is going to be, since Joe Morgan is one of the announcers so we have to drink every time he says something stupid, which probably means I should have the ambulance waiting outside like they do for frat parties.

Seriously, you cannot bash this man (Joe Morgan) enough. He's as dumb as Karl Rove is diabolical. This is a guy who, commentating (is that a word) the Baseball World Classic game between Japan and the Dominican Republic (or another Caribbean nation, I could be mistaken there), described the Japanese players as "cool and calculating" and the Latino players as having a lot of "fire and passion." Way to generalize with racial stereotypes!

But I'm getting off topic. Like I said, I'm not one for in-depth analysis, so I can't go on and on bashing him based on actual numbers like they do at the above linked blog FJM, but you can bash him enough just by listening to him talk; he contradicts himself enough. Why am I bashing this guy so much when this isn't even a baseball blog? Read FJM and this SF Weekly article to see why, if you dare.

Now I've got to keep from getting drunk long enough to help my man's little sister edit an AP English paper on The Great Gatsby. We'll see how this works out. I may turn her paper into a treatise on the mint julep.

Words fail me.

2007-03-29T23:12:00.000-05:00

It's not very often that I am completely, utterly, literally dumbstruck, but... Seriously. I only know two languages, but neither of them are helping.

...Except to say that as much as everyone laughs because he's making fun of himself and his "evil" reputation, I really would not put it past "MC Rove" to rip the heads off small animals for a hobby.

I hope I don't have nightmares.

Vynl, blurry

2007-03-24T20:07:00.001-05:00

Vynl, blurry
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Well, this has been a doozy of a week. Exactly a week ago now I was fast asleep after overindulging in the afternoon on St. Paddy's Day. Nope, didn’t even make it to dinner. How embarrassing.

My constitution lately is weaker than that of a consumptive Brontë character, what with catching one subway disease after another. I'm starting to think that the MTA is testing biological weapons on its passengers. (Really, would you put it past them?)

Anyway, on The Wearin O' The Green there was of course no way to get into an Irish pub; this precipitated a quest for a decent bar that wasn't remotely Erin-themed. The quest brought us to this thoroughly campy but satisfying place, Vynl on Columbus Ave at 84/85th St. I rather enjoyed the music/pop-culture-themed campiness, but others may find it purely annoying. Even if it nauseates you, the food and drinks will still go down easy. Some dishes are usual American fare, some are Thai-inspired; there's an impressive array of original cocktails named after musicians and celebrities (though I can't say naming a cocktail the "Pearis Hilton" makes it very appetizing at all). Everything is creative and, from what I've tried, delicious. They deliver, too, if you really can’t stand the crazy decor. But are you sure you want to miss the mosaic tables?

There are other locations, too, one in Hell's Kitchen and another on the Upper East Side somewhere, I believe. The same people also own some other eateries in town, and it should be worth stopping by them too.

Well, it's 9PM on Saturday night—time to pretend I'm not sick.

I'm not dead

2007-03-21T11:02:00.001-05:00

Shiba Inu in a Blanket
Originally uploaded by karlw90.

Work is very busy this week; I have a cold; I have several billion things to do and I must be still hungover from St. Paddy's Day. (No, not Irish, just like to drink.) But I'm not dead....yet.

Since I have not uploaded any pictures from this weekend yet, here is a picture (not mine) of what I would RAWTHER be doing.

Doesn't he just look so comfy?

Design Wishlist, vol. 2

2007-03-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

The weather here is viciously nasty. Glad I'm not flying, since probably more than half the flights into and out of the Atlantic metropolitan area have been canceled. As it is even I can't be bothered to go out drinking in this. There is a message from the heavens, and it is this: Thou shalt stay in with the PS2 and a mug of hot cocoa. Or several. With Amaretto.

Which is sort of related to what I'm writing about--mugs! Or more broadly, dishware.

The British Library and some manufacturer have released a porcelain ceramic collection embellished with scans from classic writings--Charlotte Bronte and Oscar Wilde manuscripts, Mozart's notation, lines of verse by Elizabeth Barret Browning... They're simple black on white, clean lines, very graphic and probably influenced by the design aesthetic I was previously denouncing, but more than redeemed by the old-world elegance of the handwritings. It's an interesting blend of aesthetics that ends up working extremely well. The collection is called Great Works, and I DO WANT. I have never paid much attention to dishes, usually just the food that goes on/in them or the necessity of washing them, but, hmm, maybe I should get married soon as an excuse for somebody to buy me these.

Shipping from England, though, ugh. I hope they're selling these in the States somewhere. But maybe that wouldn't be so profitable, given the literacy levels here...

A microbrewery, uptown!

2007-03-15T10:35:00.000-05:00

Magic Hat #9, Hoegaarden, and Stella are all quite well and good, but I just love a nice microbrewery. Support small business and all that. Besides, microbrewery beer is unique, which more often than not means uniquely tasty. The Westside Brewing Company at Amsterdam and 76th delivers the goods. Even when I order a beer and end up not liking it very much, it's so flavorful that it's hard to argue as my glass drains. Along with their 6 or so house brews on tap at any given time, the menu sports a fair selection of every kind of more widely consumed alcoholic beverage, including wines and a full bar. Plasma TVs will hopefully make it a good spot for watching ball games. And there's more room than is immediately apparent; last night it looked like our party of six would have to wait, but we were taken to a nice, quieter, less crowded back room.

Plus, the food is great--better than one would expect from a place supposedly focused on beer. I had a bison burger last night (yeah yeah, I'm trying not to eat meat very much, because the meat industry is disgusting, but I wanted to try it) and it comes on an English muffin instead of a boring old hamburger bun, which is quite a nice twist. It didn't taste much different from a beef-burger that I could tell, but it was definitely less greasy and a lot leaner. Mmm, tasty. There are also some nice pasta dishes, and, for those of us who try to avoid "bar food" (I know I should have), a decent salad menu that goes beyond the usual iceberg lettuce and tomato. There's one I want to try that sounds Thai-inspired, with scallops and lemongrass. Well, there's more beer to try there, so I'll certainly be back. We missed it last night, but they also have good happy hour deals, I think. Though the beer isn't as overpriced as many Manhattan establishments to start with. (Food is not dirt-cheap, but having good food to go with good beer is definitely worth something.)

Reminds me in contrast of Vol de Nuit, also known as Belgian Beer Bar, way down at 6th Ave and 4th St. (Don't get the numbers mixed up! I did that one time...) This place has its own charm with its ambient low red lighting and completely classy all-Eastern European brew menu, but it's super-crowded and the music is cool but there's no room to dance, and it's only fun if you come with a wolf-pack of friends and get there before the NYU masses to stake out some territory. Yeah, the beer is good, but the only food they have is fries with sauces, which are REALLY TASTY and therefore extremely dangerous. It's a good stop on a downtown bar-hopping night to load up on Chimay, Delerium, and more esoteric selections, but not much more. For a full-service stop I prefer microbreweries like the Westside. (Yeah, I know there's a microbrewery somewhere down there in the West Village too, but I didn't like it as much as the Westside!)

PUPPIES!!!!!

2007-03-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

Baby Bonbon
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

I know you were all looking at my info on the sidebar there and thinking, "If she loves puppies so much, why aren't there any puppy posts?"

To satisfy you, or perhaps to assuage my guilt over not making more puppy posts, but mostly because I'm super spastic about it, I will hereby announce that sweet baby Booboo--actually an 8-year-old English Springer Spaniel named Gyp--is preggers with 8 sweet babies!

This little guy in the picture is one of the puppies she had in 2004, now a handsome young lad named Sweep. But I call him Bonbon, because when he was born he looked like a sweet little ball of chocolate.

These Springers live with my folks upstate; they aren't city dogs. They're hunting dogs literally bred to chase pigeons. Having one in the city would be just plain cruel, but I want one of Booboo's babies soooooo bad. But I can't! It would be mean!

They're due April 10! Booboo will have a C-section because she's small for a Springer and it was really hard on her last time.

I really want to get a puppy soon of another breed more adaptable to city life. I'm thinking a Shiba-inu or a Welsh Corgi... I really should be looking for breeders. But I will be much too busy trying to get home all the time to play with Booboo's babies. Squee!

Design wishlist, vol. 1

2007-03-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

A lot of people have design blogs. I can't get into this modern sense of "design": I think it's pretentious, often overpriced, and usually just plain fugly. (Maybe I'm pretentious for saying so, but I'll leave that to someone else to judge.) Alright, some of the stuff in the MoMA gift store is cute and innovative, but most of it is fugly. I'd rather have tapestries than brushed aluminum, any day.

Then once in a while there's something that makes me go, OOOOOOH. Like this.

This is a cute and innovative piece of furniture called "Feel" from a firm called Animi Causa. It's made of a bunch of cushy balls that you can rearrange to make the furniture into whatever piece you want. (I had to take a screenshot; click on the website for more views.) But, disappointingly, it falls into the overpriced category: It's $1399 for the kid-sized one, and $2950 for the properly sized one! Please. They can't possibly be that expensive to make. It really is annoying when something comes out of this field that actually looks like it could be useful, and then has a price tag like it came from Vuitton.

Then again, the rest of their products are par for the course: overpriced AND fugly. Can anybody imagine putting this in their room and using it this way? What kind of schizophrenic bachelor pad statement would you be trying to make?

Apparently shelves are just too plebeian for some people. Wouldn't mind the "Feel" in my room, though. Or the Target knockoff, rather. When I get enough of a room to put it in. (At the moment I live in a "large" studio with my significant other, and we already have 2 couches in there.) On a side note...Animi Causa really need to proofread their English on that website.

I'm not even going to get started on the iPhone. Well, too late. It's not that it's fugly, or the price is too high--though it is a tad steep, but that's new technology for you--it's that they just had to go and make it exclusively through Cingular. My parents' company pays for a family plan with Verizon, so I effectively don't pay for my cellphone. That means that if I want an iPhone, not only will I have to shell out for the device itself, I'll have to pay some $700 a year, I imagine, to join a network that neither my folks nor my man use. Real efficient, that'd be. After all the customer-oriented innovation Apple has come out with in the past decade or so, this is a real disappointment.

What's up with this "let's only offer products people want through exclusive services that may be out of their reach" anyway? Major League Baseball just agreed to offer its Extra Innings package--which is the only way you can see your team's games if you happen to live elsewhere--exclusively through DirecTV. Well, isn't that just great! Many places in cities can't get satellite because of the tall buildings, and many landlords won't let you install dishes at all! Never mind the fact that DirecTV is owned by News Corp. The whole deal is just sickeningly exasperating. Of course, it's useless for me to complain about all this, since I have no idea what solution to offer, just that trusty old fantasy of a socialist revolution.

Well, I guess that's my wishlist for today. Target, start selling "Feel" knockoffs. Apple, let Verizon have the iPhone, you bastards.

Belfry

2007-03-12T11:43:00.001-05:00

Belfry
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

This is one of my prettier pictures so far, I think. It's a church on West End and 86th that I always admire when I walk by. I had some fun with it in Photoshop. There are more shots of it on my flickr page, and I'll probably keep taking pictures of it too as the seasons lend their different lighting. Yay.

Old apartment?

2007-03-12T11:36:00.001-05:00

Old apartment?
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

How long's this building been here? I think it's funny how you can see where the fire escapes used to be, like they took them off to make room for another building next to it that never got built. Do people even live here?

Construction on 84th

2007-03-12T11:32:00.001-05:00

Construction on 84th
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

This is right outside Edgar's on Saturday. I couldn't figure out what they were doing, so I had to take a picture...

Edgar's ♥

2007-03-12T11:25:00.001-05:00

Edgar's
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

My regular cafe is called Edgar's because it is on Edgar Allan Poe St. (aka 84th St.) between Broadway and West End. How much more badass can you get with a street name, and still have the namesake be a dead white guy? According to New York Magazine the guy used to live here! Didn't even know that. The place isn't as creepy or gothy as an emo tweenager might hope, but it is thoroughly charming. Check out that ceiling and those chandeliers!

The coffee confections cost more than those from a certain chain that keeps appearing on every block like some kind of vermin infestation, but are they ever worth it. I would walk five miles in a blizzard to pay twice as much for the moccachino here. As it is, I only have to walk 3 blocks and it was only cold for about 5 days this year, and I indulge myself every weekend. If I have been to the gym three times that week, I have a pastry. Oh, the pastries. Varieties of cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, pies, tarts, gelato, all homemade. It's a threat to the figure.

Brunch here is a pleasant ritual, but it can get loud and crowded since it's a popular spot for families. Fortunately, the children of Edgar's devotees are generally better behaved than the senior patrons. It's fairly lively all day on the weekends, but I've never had to wait for a table. On the afternoon of a day off, though, it's a quiet haven to be enjoyed with a good book. Or a trashy book...that works too.

I hear there is a fine cocktail and wine menu at dinner, but I haven't had the chance to check it out; this is more of my brunch/coffee spot. The array of salads and sandwiches also makes it great for refueling while shopping in the West 80's. Every time I'm in here, it makes me so glad I live nearby. Bring cash, though -- they don't take credit cards!

Yummy sushi

2007-03-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

Details
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

I don't just love Japanese food. My major was Japanese language; it's my line of work, and I'm entering a masters program for it in the fall. That was because of manga, not food, but anyway, I love the food. (After studying abroad for 8 months I had to get new jeans a size up...I've since atoned, but it's not much easier to stay away from cafes and bistros and restaurants in Manhattan than it was in Kyoto...)

With such an inclination for things Japanese, I ought to be on the West Coast, but I'm not; and of course, NYC affords food and culture aplenty of any and every kind. Maybe not as much J-stuff as I might find in the Bay Area, but between Kinokuniya the Japanese bookstore and the Little Tokyo around St. Mark's Place, it's usually alright.

So what's this picture of arabesque shadows got to do with sushi? Well, it's just a decorative detail above the stairs up to one of my favorite places, Village Yokocho. It's sometimes referred to as a Japanese tapas bar, but it's really a fairly authentic izakaya (居酒屋, Japanese pub) with a great drink selection, good food and fair prices. Love this place. Of course, being so good, it's usually very crowded on weekends and sometimes there's a wait, but it's worth it. I've never had bad service there, they usually play good music, sometimes J-pop, and it's lively and awesome. Perfect for a group of friends.

Meanwhile, tonight, we're going to a little sushi-ya called Kinoko (meaning "mushroom"), on 72nd St. a bit east of Broadway. The only thing to do there is all-you-can-eat sushi for $20. An unassuming place, but it's good sushi so this is a fantastic deal. Fills you up fast though, so come ravenously hungry and plan on not moving for hours afterward. A trip to this place is like a Japanese Thanksgiving...but even better, because it's with friends instead of aggravating blood relations. Myself, I've eaten nothing but a bowl of instant oatmeal today in preparation. Mmmmmmmmm.

For a good time call Cleopatra

2007-03-05T12:06:00.000-05:00

Cleopatra's Needle is a great neighborhood place. There's classy live music, usually jazz ensembles, with NO COVER CHARGE. It's totally laid back, unpretentious, not too loud. The eats are passable Mediterranean, and there's a nice menu of coffee drinks and original cocktails. These, and the wine, are a bit overpriced, but ... no cover charge. Yeah. (There is a $10/person minimum, but that's the price of a cocktail, so it works out. I don't think it's strictly enforced, anyway.)

Last night we were impressed by an open mic jam session of mostly Japanese musicians. Some (Korean, I think, from her name) lady also took the mic and did a nice rendition of "On a Clear Day" -- she had just the right voice for the style. I couldn't help wondering if I could pull that off, but all I've practiced in recent years is J-pop and random crap at karaoke...

Anyway, an excellent spot to chill out, if you can afford the drinks.

It's gonna eat me!

2007-03-05T12:03:00.001-05:00

Eek!
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

I know nothing about architecture, but I'm a sucker for architectural details, especially elaborate ones. You know, baroque and rococo and gargoyles and angels and all that. And I'm always surprised and delighted when I find such details, especially given that those styles are less popular in the States, which just don't have 1000+ years of European history working for them. All the sterile-looking glass and metal structures these days just don't do it for me at all. I'd much rather be freaked out by some kind of diabolical jester face glaring at me from 10 feet up.

To put it in poetically succinct 4chan-ese: NYC POST MOAR GARGOYLZ!!!

We're not missing much.

2007-03-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

There has been much ado about how the nightlife in Manhattan has been totally mutilated by the advent of "bottle service." It's true that many things on this screwy island are screwing over normal people—and by normal people I mean those who happen to be NOT filthy stinking rich. Housing costs, anyone? So it's not really surprising that the nightlife, where the businesses are also subject to absurdly high rent, would follow suit and screw over the normal people. And along with that silly "cabaret license" law, the complaint is that there's nowhere to go where you can just dance around and have a good time. This seems to be true, and even if it's not surprising, it is really fucking lame.

In 10 or 20 years, I imagine, all the normal people will be forced off the island and the entirety of the real estate will be nothing but hi-rise "luxury condos," offices, fancypants stores and overpriced hospitality establisments. And a couple colleges where only kids with rich parents can afford the dorms.

But everyone has heard this rant before. And far be it from me to offer a solution to the problem, besides a good socialist revolution; I have little grasp on sociology and much less on economics. The point is, I, and probably many others without money to burn, keep seeing all this astounding wealth and wonder (often with envy, of course) what it's like to live that way.

Then every so often I get a glimpse, and I'm reminded that it's totally plastic and boring as all hell.

Like last night. We went to this party, a birthday party for some friend-of-a-friend 30-year-old millionaire investment banker, where the guy had rented out a club. Or should I say a lounge—I believe that's the proper term for one of these swanky establishments whose revenue comes mainly from bottle service. Boucarou Lounge, to be precise, at 1st Ave and 1st St, where the music was loud and unimaginative and the name of the place was projected onto a wall like an ad.

We had been led to believe there was an open bar. This was not the case, to our immense disappointment. We had been hoping to dance around, but the place was overrun by ditzy girls in expensive outfits and guys who clustered around the bar to buy them drinks and set up for a little date-rape later. There were bathroom attendants, which creep me out no end, especially when it's a male attendant in the ladies' room. No, I'm not going to tip you for handing me a paper towel from a pile that was right next to me, when you didn't even tell me that the door on my stall was broken, allowing someone to walk in on me. The principal reason I left early (besides my boyfriend passing out because he hadn't eaten before drinking, thus pissing me off) was that I had to use the bathroom again, as happens with the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and I did not want to see the bathroom attendant. I mean seriously, what is the point of bathroom attendants? I appreciate a sparkling clean, fancy, stylish bathroom, but not some dude in there handing me a towel. That just makes me intensely uncomfortable.

There was bottle service at the tables, but we wasn't sure if it was for everyone on the birthday boy's tab, or if cliques of well-to-do guests were purchasing the bottles of Cliquot that came with trays of strawberries and fancy chocolate. So while we tried to decide whether to ask if there WAS an open bar but we just had to mention somebody's name, or if we should help ourselves to some of that bubbly, or if we should just start dancing like idiots and freaking out all the bimbos, my boyfriend fell asleep and we were just sitting there doing nothing. The music was as plastic as the clientele, not even worth dancing to.

More of our friends were supposed to be on the way, but I couldn't stand it. It only takes a couple minutes to make me remember how allergic I am to that kind of atmosphere.

And if this is the sad state of Manhattan nightlife … I sure am glad I've been saving my gil.

Damn, why does Brooklyn gotta be so far away? Does anybody know where you can go to dance on the island anymore?

Spires, closer

2007-03-03T18:32:00.001-05:00

Spires, closer
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Zooming in. Garsh, they're pretty. I wonder if you can go up there?

Spires

2007-03-03T18:30:00.001-05:00

Spires
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

Wow. Why are the tops of buildings so pretty?

The weather was beautiful today, or so I heard, but then of course as soon as I woke up enough to go outside, the pressure started dropping (I could tell because it made my ears hurt) and in came stormy clouds and wind. It got cold and it felt like it's going to rain. But here are these two lovely spires sticking up against the sky, and they just don't give a damn.

Football.

2007-02-04T19:52:00.000-05:00

The superbowl is on. We're having a party, and I am watching it for the ads—as does everyone else who can't follow this bastardization of rugby fraught with homosexual innuendo. There haven't been any particularly memorable ads yet, but it's almost halftime so there's still hope.

The Coke ads are annoying, though there was a slightly amusing one, a parody of Grand Theft Auto except, as one of our friends said, it was more like "Grand Theft Be Nice To People" where this guy was walking around being a good samaritan to the accompaniment of Broadway-set phenomena following him.

More amusing was a Doritos one that consisted of two not so savory individuals, a customer with a child-molester mustache and a grocery checkout lady, flirting heavily, and then it cut to the checkout lady with messy hair requesting over the PA a "Cleanup on register 6!" To which everyone pretty much had this reaction:

Because obviously, anyone who's on TV should be beautiful! And if not, it is a shocking disgrace!

I'm only watching the ads, and I started this post between commercial breaks. Andy Warhol has won. There is no longer a definite distinction between art and product, entertainment and commerce. Advertisement is entertainment.

The halftime show is now on. Prince is not as fabulous as I'd hoped. Overall, this is a disappointing Superbowl so far, but alcohol is being consumed and that improves any situation greatly.

As a side note, there is a grocery store called Little Bear West Side Market on Broadway at about 77th St. The jalapeño peppers from this place are made of napalm. I attempted to cut them up and wash the seeds out for guacamole, and my face caught on fire. My man had to finish as I sniveled and whined with my face in a wet towel. The resulting guacamole tastes like the flames of hell itself, but it's popular. I guess we'll be back to that place next time we need jalapeños.

Mystery building

2007-02-03T15:05:00.001-05:00

Mystery building
Originally uploaded by ny_dionysia.

What is this building? It's beautiful. And mysterious. (Mostly because of the very top, which looks like a castle.)

When I'm rich and famous, I will buy the top and live there. Some of the time.

Another one of those hack photo blogs.

2007-02-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

I live in NYC, where I drink and take photos, among other things.

But I promise not to post too many drunk pictures.