Vegas, After All

It was disappointing that my wife and I did not get to go to Vegas on our own but I still had to make it out there for my work event.

Flying was still no treat - even three days after the sudden snowstorm in the NYC area. I had to fly to Charlotte, NC and then fly to Vegas from there.

After a couple hours of delays on both legs of the flight, I finally reached my destination. Vegas is certainly not a pretty town - the strip has theme hotel after theme hotel intermixed with strip-mall like establishments and construction sites. All of this resides in a relatively small area surrounded by desert.

Exhausted from the flight and battling a cold, I took a nap immediately. Later that night, I met up with co-workers to have dinner at Social House at Treasure Island. The food was pretty good and we were a little distracted by the Sirens of TI show that takes place in front of the hotel every night. If I had a kid, I don't think I would take them to watch this show but apparently that does not stop the throngs of tourists and families from flocking to this free event.

The next day we had our partner meetings and in the afternoon it was back to "team-building". We had a private poker lesson from a dealer, took in dinner at Il Mulino at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and saw an entertaining show from Penn and Teller at the Rio.

Au Revoir Simone - Fallen Snow

Moving On

Still stinging from not being in Vegas this weekend, we decided to make the best of the weekend and head into the city.

We ended up having brunch at The Little Owl in the West Village. My wife had the whole wheat pancakes with berries, marscapone and vanilla maple syrup. I had the eggs benedict and side of bacon. The food was tasty and the place had a nice vibe.

We then headed to Magnolia Bakery to pick up some cupcakes.

Grounded (or "How we Endured a Horrific Day of Non-Travel")

It all was going too smoothly. I called the airline the night before and despite the repeated winter storm warnings, our flight was not cancelled. I called again in the morning despite the fact that it was snowing outside but the flight was still not cancelled.

So, we got up at 5:00 am, got our things together and headed to JFK airport. We waited in line for an hour to get our bags checked in and to get our boarding passes. Amazingly, still no cancellations. We were thinking that this might happen. We might escape New York's wintry mix - a cruel final blast of ice and snow that took place just 36 hours after we experienced 70-degree weather in the tri-state area. We spent a half-hour getting through security and scarfed down breakfast in just enough time to get to the gate as the boarding process began. Maybe we would get to Vegas after all!

We boarded the plane, stowed our belongings, buckled our seat belts, fired up the ipods and Nintendo DS and we're looking forward to the warm weather, the gambling, the NCAA games, our dinner reservations, and possibly seeing some friends who would also be there. They even de-iced the plane and got us to the runway. But alas, it was not to be! First, the pilot took us back to the gate and had us de-board. That's when it did not look good. We had been on the plane for a couple hours so getting us off was the only thing they did right. Afterwards, we all sat around at the gate. They said they weren't cancelling the flight and it was "indefinitely" delayed. What the hell does that mean? We were held hostage. Our bags still on the plane having been checked in. Dreams of going to Vegas dashed but still remained on the off chance that they might fly. But we all knew as time went on and the weather worsened, the chances of going to Vegas got slimmer and slimmer.

U.S. Airways just handled it poorly. We all get that they can't affect the weather, but there was little communication. We relied on each other or word-of-mouth to find out what was going on. Three to four hours later (out of a total of about 8-9 hours wasted in the plane and at the airport), it was clear that we weren't flying. We waited in line to find out where to get our bags and how to get re-booked but upon getting to the desk, the clerks walked away! What are we, invisible? One even said she would be right back, but never returned. Absolutely terrible customer service. Finally, we said "Fuck it, let's just get out of here." We went down to baggage claim, got our bags and waited in line. Ice pellets barraged almost as mercilessly as the entire day had. We waited for quite some time before we got into the cab and headed home.

Au Revoir Simone at Union Hall

Last Tuesday night I met up with a friend at Union Hall to see Au Revoir Simone.

I purchased the tickets a while back but of course was second-guessing the purchase as I sat at the bar waiting for my friend to arrive. Not because I don't like Union Hall or because I didn't think Au Revoir Simone would be good. But rather, it was simply because one gets into the flow of the work week, gets tired, and finds himself wondering if he is too old to be going out on weeknights and seeing shows. Okay, that "one" person would be me.

There was a good crowd at the bar upstairs and of course the usual throngs surrounding the bocce court but I had never been downstairs to see the live music venue. It was nice - a small bar, a few chairs/benches along the side and the intimate feel of seeing a band play that was reminiscent of my younger days watching indie bands in people's basements.

We missed the first opener but did catch a spirited performance by Liverpool's Hot Club de Paris, which had an interesting mix of oddball humor, barbershop a capellas and dare I say, a Futureheads-type sound of music.

Au Revoir Simone then came on and I wondered to my friend - "Which came first, the haircut or the band?" - referring to the almost identical-look that all three members sport. See picture above. The place was packed and Au Revoir Simone did not disappoint. Some of my favorite songs were "The Lucky One" and "Through the Backyards".

Family Guy

Random but funny.

Slope Saturday

Yesterday we ran errands and then ended up at Park Slope Ale House for a drink and lunch.

Later that night we headed to old fave Union Hall for a couple drinks and their flatbread.

We then tried to check out newcomer gastropub Alchemy but it was totally packed! So, we found ourselves at Long Tan, a Thai restaurant with a good bar, good prices (if you eat at the bar) and a great i-tunes playlist courtesy of the bartenders. We tried the shrimp dumplings with plum sauce, vegetable spring rolls and crispy squid. It was all pretty good and made us want to come back and try the entrees. And the tunes couldn't be beat - The Smiths, Bloc Party, The Shins, etc.

The Little Ones -

Cool City Gear Here

Check it out here

Late Adopter

I finally got around to downloading some free podcasts on i-Tunes.

There's lot of good content on there - from NPR's This American Life and Fresh Air to Harvard Business Review pieces and daily foreign language lessons. Check it out!

Eventually, they all leave Chicago and move to NY

First, Ira Glass takes This American Life from Chicago to NY.

Now, Ryan Schreiber of indie rock tastemaker Pitchfork is moving from Chicago to Park Slope!

Red State Hypocrisy

I've grown weary and have lost count of the numerous occassions in which a Republican politician or supporter has stuck his/her foot in their mouth by revealing what a hypocrite they are (see Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Bill O' Reilly, Dubya, etc.) and now this little gem about Gingrich who apparently was having an affair while leading the charge against Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal!

Boozy nights

On Wednesday night I met up with some old co-workers at Blue Ribbon Bar in the West Village. It's got a great ambience and I did enjoy the Old Speckled Hen ale that they had on tap.

Afterwards we headed to Daddy O's whose ambience was less desirable but whose tater tots were for real.

Last night I had a friend in town for work and we met up in Union Square where we had drinks at Lucy Latin Kitchen followed by tapas at Pipa where the crispy calamari can't be beat. We finished off at Heartland Brewery for some Indiana Pale Ale.

It then took me forever to catch a cab. I pretty much walked from 18th and B'way to Bowery and Canal (~2 miles?) to get a cab to go home to BK! I now see why I never go out to Manhattan on Saturday nights...

Get Your Elastic Pants Out...

Because Dine-In Brooklyn week is coming....

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!