My Favorite Things - NYC Edition

It's been a little over a year since we made the move from Chicago (hence, the Lake Michigan reference in The Slope via The Lake) and by most, if not all, measures have been happy with the move.

That being said, here are some of my favorite things (in no particular order):

-The hand-rolled bagels at La Bagel Delight
-The view of the city from the Q train when crossing from the Brooklyn side to the Manhattan side
-Everything at Al di La AND Rose Water
-Summertime stoop sales
-Two words: Fresh Direct
-The book reservation system at The Brooklyn Public Library
-Hot chocolate at Cocoa Bar
-Park Slope's tree-lined streets and historic brownstones
-The fried chicken at Blue Ribbon
-Ozzie's Blend at Ozzie's Coffee
-No smoking in bars and restaurants!
-The underrated Brooklyn Museum of Art
-No sales tax on clothing under $110
-The egg creams and ices at Uncle Louie G's
-The police blotter in The Brooklyn Paper
-The burgers at Helios
-The beauty, peace and quiet of The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
-The t-shirts at Brooklyn Industries
-Ethnic diversity
-Nathan's hot dogs and skee ball at Coney Island
-Catching a Brooklyn Cyclones game at Keyspan Park
-New York fans' love/hate of their own teams
-The cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery
-The dumplings at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar
-Prospect Park during the day
-The greenmarkets at Grand Army Plaza in Bklyn and Union Square in Manhattan
-The burrata at Tempo
-The fact that New York, for better and for worse, is a city of superlatives
-The aioli fries at Melt
-"Reading the headlines" segment on NY1
-The comfort food of Mango
-The jukeboxes at Union Hall, Great Lakes and The Brooklyn Inn
-Bananas Foster French Toast at Two Boots
-Flatbread and triple threat at Union Hall
-The deals at Century 21
-Full house cheesesteaks at High Stakes Cheesesteaks

Lemonheads at Southpaw

Last night we finally got to Southpaw to catch a show - Vietnam and The Lemonheads.

We started the evening at nearby Union Hall for the "triple threat", flatbread and drinks. We then made our way to Southpaw by 9. Of course, the opening act did not start playing until 10:30! In a word - ridiculous. We're way too old to be standing around for three hours in a crowded club. Tired and full, two of my companions left but I stayed on to see the main act.

Dando and crew did not disappoint - breezing through the set but playing many crowd favorites - "Confetti", "Rudderless", "My Drug Buddy", "Turnpike Down", "Bit Part", "Allison's Starting to Happen", "It's About Time", "Great Big No", "Down About It", "If I Could Talk I'd Tell You", "Hospital", and closing the encore with "It's A Shame About Ray". There was little banter from the band except for the occasional "Thank You. You're too kind" from Dando and "Thank You Brooklyn".

A good performance from the Lemonheads but "It's A Shame" it took them so long to take the stage!


Check out YouTube here for my favorite Lemonheads song "My Drug Buddy"

The Bird and The Bee -

Chris Elliott taking a drivers test

Separated at Birth?

Good Sunday Afternoon Flick

We finally got around to watching a Netflix rented movie - Wordplay.

It's an interesting documentary about the world of crossword puzzles and the people who love them - from NY Times puzzle editor Will Shortz to everyday people who end up competing at the annual Crossword Puzzle competition in Stamford, CT to celebs like The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and former President Bill Clinton.

It's an entertaining look at this subculture and makes me appreciate the work that goes into creating these puzzles. Highly recommended!

Filipino Food in SoHo

After staying in BK yesterday, we ventured into Manhattan (specifically, SoHo - Mercer btwn Broome and Grand) to try a Filipino restaurant called Cendrillon for brunch.

We started with the lumpia shanghai with fresh pineapple sweet and sour sauce. For the entree, my wife had the chicken adobo in a claypot while I tried the pancit bihon.

Both courses were flavorful but not extraordinary. However, Cendrillon did provide a solid and enjoyable dining experience.

You know you're getting older

when you get excited about your favorite childhood TV sitcom coming to DVD!

New Music I'm Interested In....

Bloc Party Weekend In The City
The Shins Wincing The Night Away
Peter Bjorn & John Writer's Block
Sondre Lerche Phantom Punch
The Bird & The Bee The Bird & The Bee
The Kooks Inside In/Inside Out

Cry For Help

Whoa. What a mess.

Obama 4 Prez

He's in! Now here's how you can learn more...

Shooting In the Slope

Yikes. I wondered why I heard helicopters hovering in the sky yesterday morning. Turns out that an NYPD cop was shot close to where we live! But was there another NYPD cop involved? This is where the story gets shady....

Narcissistic, Incompetent Bastard with a Love-Me-Daddy Syndrome

Okay, that's just one hypothesis of many put forth in a recent article of New York Magazine called The Loneliest President, written by John Heilemann. It's an interesting read and invites a number of different analyses into why Bush may be the way he is.

Of course, those of us who are rational keep trying to make sense of his nonsensical, irresponsible and irrational ways - which seems like a frustrating and futile endeavor.

Heileman writes:
Yet it’s worth considering the possibility that Bush’s madman-at-the-wheel métier owes as much to psychological factors as to structural ones. For some time now, armchair psychiatrists have argued that Bush suffers from a classic case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, citing his sense of grandiosity (“I’m the decider”), his arrogance and lack of empathy, and his tendency to surround himself with sycophants as evidence. Certainly, Bush seems to be in the grip of something close to a bona fide delusion (“a false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes,” says the DSM-IV) about the situation in Iraq—and in a state of near-clinical denial about the likelihood that his policy there has irretrievably failed.

For me, 2008 can't come soon enough. Edwards, Hillary, Obama...please hurry.

Old School

A couple weeks ago I was at The Brooklyn Public Library's Central Branch and checked out some photos on display from Al Pereira (including the one to the left of Big Daddy Kane).

It was a nice collection of 80's and 90's hip-hop artists and reminded me of the brief period in my life where I was really into it (see eighth grade and freshman year of high school). It also reminds me of the old show Video Music Box with VJ Ralph McDaniels.

Yes, now I feel old.