The Slope via The Lake

No, Seriously. The Blog Moved to WordPress.

2007-10-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Visit me here now.

Visit The New Home on WordPress

2007-09-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to the new site.

I'm Moving!

2007-09-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

No, not out of NYC. Well, not yet at least.

But from Blogger to WordPress.

I'll post the new link soon. Just trying to migrate the old stuff over....

This Picture Says So Much

2007-09-26T19:50:00.001-07:00

I don't even remember where I found this picture. Or who these people are. But it wasn't staged. I recall seeing it in the sports section of some website. And apparently I enjoyed it so much that I saved it. Yes, I saved it onto the hard drive of a computer that I had at an old job. And when I left that job I sent it to myself at a personal email account. I found that email and it was dated August 22, 2003. Yes, you may begin judging me now.

Wayback Machine: Belle & Sebastian Review

2007-09-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

Another review from ye olde college days. This one's Belle & Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister. Damn. I just realized I wrote this almost 10 years ago to the day! Yikes. Click on the image above to read.

Anniversary Dinner

2007-09-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary (even though it was really on Thursday), with an evening in The West Village.

We started out with drinks at Turks & Frogs Wine Bar (323 W. 11th St.).

We then headed to Wallse (344 W. 11th) for dinner.

I started with the sweet pea soup with pineapple mint and shrimp. I followed it up with the roast squab with mushroom risotto. For dessert, we shared the apple walnut strudel with vanilla ice cream.

And kudos to whomever was controlling the music at Wallse as I heard songs from Death Cab, Feist, Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple during our dinner.

The Instant Cover

2007-09-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

What's with the recent pop culture phenomenon of songs being covered right away (if not simultaneously when the originals were released)?

First there was the barrage of Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" covers from artists like Ray Lamontagne, Nelly Furtado, and The Kooks.

Then there was indie rocker Ted Leo's cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", which he brilliantly mashed-up with the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps."

More recently, faux-amateur Marie Digby (pictured above) covered Rihanna's "Umbrella". And Mandy Moore's trying to get in on the action with her cover.

Where's the line between paying homage or taking an artistic spin on an original vs ripping someone off?

I Just Need A Moment Alone

2007-09-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

I saw a segment on Good Morning America about this guy and it um, almost made me cry.

I Told Y'all He Was No Good

2007-09-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

Damn, it's hard being so right all the time. Just kidding.

But really, I did blog about Isiah Thomas's incompetency and unprofessionalism back in December 2006.

Now, we're seeing yet another ugly side thanks to the sexual harassment trial that is taking place.

Some of the gems that have come out include:

Isiah believing that it's not as bad for a black man to call a woman a "bitch" as it is for a white man to do so
Isiah always trying to hug (and being warned NOT to hug) the woman accusing him of sexual harrasment
Isiah repeatedly using the B-word to refer to the plaintiff

Meanwhile, Mike Lupica of The NY Post wrote a great piece about how the Knicks' actions are defenseless.

Three Times The Lameness

2007-09-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Just as Peter denied Christ three times, I denied the opportunity to listen to good music three times this week.

Okay, so the Biblical comparison is a bit much but the perfect conditions were in place. The stars were in alignment for me to enjoy these shows. Note that they were: 1) Free; 2) Close to my office. So damn close I would have to go out of my way to avoid them; 3) Early shows that started around 5:30pm.

Monday had The Old 97's and The Hold Steady. Tuesday had Victoria Williams and M. Ward (I did catch a brief bit of Victoria Williams singing "Sweet Relief" as I made my way to the subway station). And Wednesday brought Nick Lowe. Here's a link to the site that brought this free series of concerts. And here's a link to a review of The Old 97's show on Brooklynvegan.

So why the lameness on my part? Oh, just working long hours at the office. Being tired. Wanting to go home and have dinner. Wanting to rest.

What am I, 80?

But seriously. Damn you, responsibility and to hell with your buddies productivity and efficiency. You bastards made me want to go home since it was a "school night".

New York Mag Article

2007-09-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Good article by Kurt Andersen in last week's New York Magazine titled "Who's Your Daddy Now?" about the GOP's transformation from the stern dad to "bad" dad. One of my favorite excerpts is below:

"In fact, if the Democrats don’t blow it, 2008 could be the election that finishes off the pro-GOP salience of the tough-daddy-soft-mommy paradigm. Because the Republicans are being rapidly rebranded as a party of men who exemplify the least attractive, most pathetic aspects of the gender—they are the stubborn, arrogant, lazy, incompetent (Iraq, Katrina), hypocritical, crude, nasty fathers, Homer Simpson crossed with Tony Soprano, the kind of men who snarl and posture as old-fashioned patresfamilias but don’t come through when and where it counts. The GOP is becoming the deadbeat-daddy party."

Booklyn In The Fall

2007-09-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today the weather was near picture perfect and autumn like with temps in the high 60's. We took a nice walk up Atlantic Ave. and made our way to the 2nd Annual Brooklyn Book Festival. Located at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, there were tons of booksellers and publishers selling their wares at their booths. There was also a cool non-profit called Booklyn promoting artist books as an art form and educational resource. In addition, there were all day readings and discussions throughout different nearby sites.

We only stayed a short while but sat on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall and listened to some spoken word poetry from young poets of the organization Urban Word.

Later we meandered by the different booths and although we didn't purchase anything, we saw lots of books that interested us. They included:

The Brooklyn Cyclones: Hardball Dreams and the New Coney Island

by Ben Osborne

Job Hopper: The Checkered Career of a Down-Market Dilletante

by Ayun Halliday

What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today's Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty

by John Brockman

The Ten Minute Activist: Easy Ways to Take Back the Planet

by The Mission Collective

Hip: The History

by John Leland

No Touch Monkey!: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late

by Ayun Halliday

Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture

by Trevor Kelley and Leslie Simon

Eat This!: 1,001 Things to Eat Before You Diet

by Ian Jackman

Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly

by Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer

Afterwards we walked down Montague Street and grabbed a bite to eat at Chipotle (which was a longtime staple of our diet in Chicago) before browsing the shops. Eventually we arrived at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade where we enjoyed the Fall weather and view of Manhattan.

Unlucky Irish

2007-09-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe it's more than not being lucky as we witnessed another embarassing Notre Dame football loss - this time to the previously equally hapless Michigan Wolverines. I say previous since now we alone hold the dubious distinction of being #1 in Sucking.

We headed to Astoria, Queens to watch the game with friends. Afterwards, we gave up on the long line at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden and instead opted to drown our sorrows and empty stomachs at Neptune Diner where we had a spirited and nerdy conversation trying to recall the "codenames" of G.I. Joe characters. [Gulp.] Did I just write that out loud?

Where Was I?

2007-09-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, I led a work outing to Shea Stadium to see the Mets beat the Braves 3-2.

On Thursday night, I headed up to Midtown to see a friend who was visiting from out of town. We grabbed dinner and drinks at nearby St. Andrews Pub.

Last night, we had some Indian food at Amin here in Park Slope and then did some browsing at the Barnes and Noble on 7th before getting some hot chocolate at Cocoa Bar.

More Pick-Up Artist

2007-09-15T05:13:00.000-07:00

I continue to be entertained, fascinated and disgusted by VH-1's The Pick-Up Artist.

Quick recap for those unfamiliar with the show - it's basically a "reality" show competition where "lovable losers" without any "game" learn how to pick up women in bars in hopes of becoming a "master pick-up artist."

That's actually a nice way of putting it. And I am surprised by the seemingly favorable review in The Times. I am equally amazed that any of the so-called "seduction techniques" work but apparently its success and others were documented in Neil Strauss's The Game.

In the VH-1 show, Mystery is the lead pick-up artist instructor along with his "wingmen" J-Dog and Matador. First of all, the only mystery taking place is how this guys gets any women. He looks absolutely ridiculous, like Criss Angel's taller older brother.

And, of course, his wingmen have douchebag fratty names like "J-Dog" and "Matador".

Secondly, he creates unnecessary acronyms and terms for basic words and phrases as if to legitimize the science of his seduction techniques. For example,

Gambit - Conversation Starter

IOI (Indicator of Interest) - Nonverbal Signs that Woman is Attracted to You

Bounce - Change Locations

He also teaches cheesy lines to open a "set" with like: "Hey girls, I've got a really important question for you. Do you floss before of after you brush?" And there are the "gambits" like stupid magic tricks to get women to talk to them.

Now I'm all for teaching these guys self-esteem and confidence but more often than not it seems like he's just teaching them lines and games to "trick" women into giving them their number or making out with them or worse. It's certainly offensive in its objectification of women as if the only way for these guys (or any for that matter) can "score" is if the women are: 1)mentally impaired by heavy alcohol; 2) falling for tricks, techniques and gambits.

Now I realize much of the scenarios they put these guys through is for the sake of entertaining television but more than anything these guys need to develop self-esteem and social skills in real (see sober) settings and not just booze-infused nightclubs. Plus, these aren't the types of guys who should be trying to compete with the meatheads, fratboys and guidos (like the Roxbury Boys below) in a meat-market-like scenario.

Lastly, there's a funny YouTube clip of comedians poking fun at the whole Mystery Pick-Up Artist methodology here.

Of course, all of this being said I will still tune-in on Monday to see if Joe D. or Kosmo win it all.

Damn you VH-1. Damn you.

Separated At Birth? VH-1's "Pick Up Artist" and Chicago Public Access TV's "Svengoolie"

2007-09-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

NYC and You Versus Me

2007-09-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Before I offer up my theory of NYC as a city of endless competition, let me say that there are at least 5 things that I really like about our fair city:
1)Career Opportunities
2)Ethnic Diversity
3)Cultural and Entertainment Offerings
4)No smoking in bars
5)No tax on clothes under $110

And now on to the theory....I was thinking about this on our subway ride home from the Union Square Trader Joe's. A Trader Joe's which, mind you, we arrived at when it opened at 9am on a Sunday morning and a Trader Joe's which had a long line at the door prior to it opening.

Here's my observation (and it's not necessarily an innovative breakthrough but one that becomes more lucid the longer I live here) - one of the main contributors of stress living in this city is the sheer quantity of our inhabitants within the small geographic confines of our 5 boroughs. But because there's so many of us wanting the same things, life here often becomes a series of competitions.

So, we fight each other for seats on the subway, to get a reservation at the latest "buzz" restaurant, to get a promotion at work, to get our kids into the right schools, OR simply to get your foot in the friggin' door at Trader Joe's. It's a series of battles we fight every day from the miniscule to the significant.

Some people thrive on this but I don't. As E.B. White said in his essay Here is New York: "New Yorkers temperamentally do not crave comfort and convenience--if they did they would live elsewhere."

And yet more and more I find myself craving just that! Imagine that. Comfort and convenience! Hmm, we might have to move out of NYC after all.

Book That Sounds Interesting

2007-09-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City

By Elizabeth Currid

Description from Amazon.com:

Which is more important to New York City's economy, the gleaming corporate office--or the grungy rock club that launches the best new bands? If you said "office," think again. In The Warhol Economy, Elizabeth Currid argues that creative industries like fashion, art, and music drive the economy of New York as much as--if not more than--finance, real estate, and law. And these creative industries are fueled by the social life that whirls around the clubs, galleries, music venues, and fashion shows where creative people meet, network, exchange ideas, pass judgments, and set the trends that shape popular culture.

The implications of Currid's argument are far-reaching, and not just for New York. Urban policymakers, she suggests, have not only seriously underestimated the importance of the cultural economy, but they have failed to recognize that it depends on a vibrant creative social scene. They haven't understood, in other words, the social, cultural, and economic mix that Currid calls the Warhol economy.

With vivid first-person reporting about New York's creative scene, Currid takes the reader into the city spaces where the social and economic lives of creativity merge. The book has fascinating original interviews with many of New York's important creative figures, including fashion designers Zac Posen and Diane von Furstenberg, artists Ryan McGinness and Futura, and members of the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The economics of art and culture in New York and other cities has been greatly misunderstood and underrated. The Warhol Economy explains how the cultural economy works-and why it is vital to all great cities.

WTF? From Lollapalooza to ESPN Pitchman

2007-09-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else see the Kelly Rowland/50 Cent/Perry Farrell theme to ESPN's College Football Game Night?

First of all, it was a bad cover of Satellite Party's "Only Love, Let's Celebrate." Secondly, it was a bad idea to combine these three. Lastly, wasn't Perry once a alt-rock god? Now, he's a cheesy segment (a la Pussycat Dolls for the NBA) for a sporting event?

Food.Drink.Talk.

2007-09-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week hence the slowdown in postings.

Thursday night I met up with a friend at Union Hall to grab a beer and exchange mix cd's.

Friday night my wife and I met up with friends at Blue Ribbon Bar in the West Village where my wife proclaimed the manchego cheese and honey appetizer to be "The Best Thing Ever". Later we passed on newcomer Bar Fry due to its lack of liquor license though made a mental note that we might want to return there. Eventually we made our way to Garage where we had some live jazz with our libations and food.

Yesterday, we ran errands in the Slope and finally checked out Lemongrass Grill on 7th Avenue where the Noodle Mao with chicken did us right. We then watched Notre Dame proceed to display an inept offense against Penn State.

Wayback Machine: The College Newspaper Archives

2007-09-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

I dusted off the old scanner and decided to upload this old CD review I did back in college for Stereolab's Dots & Loops.

Double-click on the image above to enlarge and read the review.

Fuzzy Balls

2007-08-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tennis balls, that is.

So one night I wear a "hipster" hat and the next I put on my "corporate" hat.

Last night I got a chance to go to The U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens.

I'm not a huge tennis fan but it was a pretty cool experience being there for the first time. My company has a corporate suite so I got a chance to watch the matches in style.

The weather was great and after seeing Maria Sharapova polish off Casey Dellacqua in a mere 51 minutes, it was on to the marathon match between James Blake and Fabrice Santoro. It went 5 sets and the two went back and forth like two pugilists who couldn't deliver a knock-out punch to finish off their opponent. Finally, Blake triumphed with a 6-4 win in the final set to take it all. The crowd appreciated the gutsy performance by both athletes and showered them with applause when it was all over.

Colin Farrell, ex-NYC mayor David Dinkins and Monica Seles were all in attendance and shown on the big screen.

After the 3 hour and 25 minute match, the crowd dispersed around 12:30am and I took the 7 train back to Manhattan. I ended up back in Park Slope around 2am. It was a long night but a pretty entertaining one.

Hipsters Unite

2007-08-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Not wholly unlike the Kent-to-Superman transformation, last night I stepped into my proverbial phonebooth (a.k.a. my apartment) to change from "corporate sell-out" to "faux-hipster".

Rushing from Manhattan to Park Slope and back to Manhattan then to Williamsburg was a bit ridiculous but somehow I got to Mugs Alehouse in time to meet one of my best friends from college who recently returned from holiday in Italy and recently relocated back to NYC.

We then made our way to McCarren Park Pool for the Grizzly Bear/Broken Social Scene/Feist show. It's a great venue - wide open spaces, a pierogie booth from the folks at Warsaw and the standard Brooklyn Brewery booths.

This was actually the first time that I hung out in Williamsburg at night and it definitely felt like the epicenter of indie hipsterdom, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. If terrorists wanted to destroy all the indie-listening, thrift shop-wearing, art school-going kids all in one shot (just like in Gremlins when they gathered all the Gremlins in a movie theater to destroy them), they could take dead aim at McCarren Park Pool.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed catching up with my friend and hearing Broken Social Scene perform some of their hits like Superconnected and Major Label Debut.

The crowd loved Ms. Feist and she did not disappoint, delivering most of her popular songs from The Reminder. I didn't bring a camera but found the pic above on Brooklynvegan.com who got the pic from Kyle Dean Reinford.

Also on Brooklynvegan, someone posted Feist's setlist:
When I Was A Young Girl
So Sorry
My Moon My Man
The Limit To Your Love
I Feel It All
In My Hands (Tony Scherr cover)
Leisure Suite (4 track demo version)
Brandy Alexander
Phantoms
Past in Present
The Water
Mushaboom
1234
Intuition
Sea Lion Woman
Let It Die

The weather was perfect - cool and comfortable - and it was a nice way to cap the summer. Feist ended the show by wishing us "a nice autumn".

100 Things I've Done

2007-08-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

While trying to come up with my list of "100 Things To Do Before I Die", I thought it would be interesting to create a list of "100 Things I've Done".

They range from the simple to the extravagant, the everyday to the uncommon, and the trivial to the significant. But going through this exercise showed me that I've BOTH experienced life AND also have much more to do.

Here it goes (in no particular order of importance):

1. Was interviewed on CLTV (Chicagoland Television) while attending a pink-slip party.
2. Donated money to a meaningful cause.
3. Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
4. Saw the Pope in person at the Vatican.
5. Attended Lollapalooza '94 at Randalls Island when The Smashing Pumpkins and The Beastie Boys headlined.
6. Flew first-class.
7. Earned a bachelor's degree in English.
8. Lived in Chicago for nearly eight years.
9. Rode in a classic Rolls-Royce.
10. Had my wisdom teeth removed.
11. Shopped at the Mall of America.
12. Shot hoops with a City of Chicago sanitation worker.
13. Learned (and subsequently forgot) how to speak Ukrainian.
14. Learned (and subsequently forgot) how to speak Spanish.
15. Became an uncle.
16. Became a godfather.
17. Spoke words about a loved one at his funeral.
18. Gave toasts as a groomsman.
19. Was a groomsman 6 times but never a best man.
20. Got a fake tattoo.
21. Hiked up Mt. Snowdon, the tallest peak in Great Britain.
22. Stayed up all night in Hamburg, Germany.
23. Ran a now defunct "Guys' Weekend" among college friends.
24. Drove backwards down a road in Wessington Springs, SD.
25. Drove along the Pacific Coast Highway.
26. Sold items on Craigslist.
27. Got a fake tattoo.
28. Heard the U.S. Poet Laureate speak.
29. Spent college summers working at a law firm.
30. Commuted for different jobs via train, plane and automobile.
31. Attended a synchronized swimming competition.
32. Witnessed Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire battle it out at Wrigley Field.
33. Participated in a charity 5K Run/Walk (yeah, I walked).
34. Had a fake ID from Arizona. Had a fake ID from Florida.
35. Attended a wedding that traveled down the Willamette.
36. Played in a couple "Bookstore Basketball" tournament games.
37. Lived with roommates. Lived by myself.
38. Won a prize (an autographed Bloc Party album courtesy of Time Out Chicago).
39. Been to many a tailgater.
40. Participated in a snowball fight.
41. Spoke in front of large audiences.
42. Earned a Master's Degree.
43. Went to my high school prom.
44. Gambled in Vegas.
45. Fought with a landlord.
46. Was a political cartoonist in college.
47. Taught inner-city high school kids in Chicago through a volunteer program.
48. Attended the NBA Finals, the NCAA tournament, and regular season MLB, NHL, NBA, MLS, MiLB games
49. Had a pint at the Guinness factory in Dublin.
50. Been pulled over 3x for speeding but never got a ticket.
51. Volunteered at a soup kitchen in SoHo.
52. Was a deejay on the campus radio station.
53. Had a long-distance relationship.
54. Drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.
55. Worked for a dot-com.
56. Got laid off from a dot-com.
57. Lived in 7 apartments including a high-rise, a mid-rise and a brownstone.
58. Watched the sun set in Aruba.
59. Went backstage at a Depeche Mode concert.
60. Watched some b-ball at the W. 4th Street Courts in West Village.
61. Drank a "forty".
62. Fell in love.
63. Proposed in Central Park.
64. Got married in Oak Park, IL.
65. Backpacked through Europe with friends.
66. Saw Big Ben, Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, The Eiffel Tower, The Berlin Wall, The Vatican, etc.
67. Had a "non-speaking" part as a Roman Soldier in my grade school's rendition of "The Stations of the Cross".
68. Had a company fly me out for an interview.
69. Was high school valedictorian.
70. Was high school student body president.
71. Was an audience member at The Colbert Report, The Conan O'Brien Show, TalkBack Live on CNN, and The Jenny Jones Show.
72. Sent flowers to my mother.
73. Said goodbye to the home I grew up in.
74. Participated in a cooking class, skated at Rockefeller Center, and bowled at Chelsea Piers for different corporate outings.
75. Went to a movie by myself.
76. Went to a concert by myself.
77. Ate frogs legs, escargot, caviar and foie gras (though not all in the same meal).
78. Have been through 104 cities in 12 countries.
79. Visited the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, The National Gallery, and The White House.
80. Had meals at Jean Georges, WD-50, Charlie Trotters, Georges at the Cove and L'Auberge.
81. Talked to one of my favorite artists (the band Ida) at Schubas in Chicago (I was drunk).
82. Volunteered at a hospital in Elizabeth, NJ. Volunteered at an elementary school and a food pantry in Chicago, IL.
83. Reviewed CDs and Concerts for the campus newspaper.
84. Wrote a poem about a girl.
85. Had a different girl write something about me (it wasn't favorable).
86. Seen many concerts from arenas to small venues, including R.E.M., U2, Beck, Oasis, Pavement, The Sundays, Matthew Sweet, The Lemonheads, Aimee Mann, Death Cab for Cutie, Elliott Smith, Ida, The New Pornographers, Belle and Sebastian, Badly Drawn Boy, Depeche Mode, etc.
87. Have laughed with friends at The Second City, The Improv Olympic, and Zanies.
88. Have seen the Louvre, The National Gallery (London), The Tate, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Guggenheim, The Museum of Natural History, The Met, Musee d' Orsay, SF Moma, etc.
89. Watched plays at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
90. Worked for a global financial services firm.
91. Worked for a cable television network.
92. Worked on product placements for different television programs.
93. Have seen some celebrities throughout NYC.
94. Have visited Belgium, Amsterdam, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy, France, The Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and of course, Canada.
95. Blew off studying for an exam to go to a concert.
96. Performed many a skit at various corporate outings and retreats.
97. Earned a few "senior superlatives" in high school.
98. Stepped onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium.
99. Lived in NYC and realized that there's more life to be lived.
100. Started a blog.

UPDATE: THE ANTI-BOTTLED WATER CRUSADE

2007-08-26T13:26:00.001-07:00

It struck me that I spent some time posting about how I changed my perspective on bottled water due to increased awareness thanks to the extended media coverage on this issue BUT I haven't followed up with how it's changed my behavior.

It's been about a month and I'm happy to say we no longer buy bottled water in bulk (or at all, really). We switched to one of those Brita water pitchers for our home use and have not missed the bottled water at all.

At work, meanwhile, I now use a Nalgene bottle for drinking water at my desk.

Hopefully we can keep it up and continue reducing our impact on the environment (and on our wallets).