GE Aviation Commercial

How is this commercial for real? It seems like an SNL skit. It's really corny.

Sick All Week

Sadly, this was my drink of choice all week.

It started on Sunday - headache, chills, stomach problems...

Continued on Monday with a sore throat which kept me at home...

And on through Tuesday until I had a persistent cough on Wednesday and then an interminable and yet intermittent runny/stuffy nose on Thursday and Friday.

I've had a lot of cough drops, Cold-Eeze, Airborne, tea, and soup along the way and I think I am finally feeling better. What a bitch.

Belle and Sebastian - White Collar Boy

Tribeca Film Festival...

is coming April 25th. I'm thinking about checking it out. Click here for more info.

Passing On Beer Pong

Earlier in the week I must have taken every subway line to get to the Upper East Side for a free happy hour that my wife won at Mo's Caribbean.

It's not the kind of place that we would, um, normally frequent but long story short, she was there once with co-workers, dropped the biz card for the free happy hour, and next thing you know we have free drinks.

We stayed long enough to catch up with people but departed once the beer pong started.

Later, we walked down 2nd Ave. and ended up at Ko Sushi (2nd/70th) which was surprisingly good.

American Express - My Life. My Card. (Deniro)

My Media Consumption Habits

It's interesting to think about how much media consumption has changed over the years. Driven by the constant introduction of new technology, I've certainly noticed changes in my behavior.

Here's a look at some of the media I've been consuming lately and any relevant changes:



PRINT
We get a ton of publications thanks to turning in some unused airline miles. It's almost too much so I tend to scan them or just read articles of interest instead of reading cover to cover.

1. 4 weeklies: BusinessWeek, Economist, Time Out New York, New York Magazine
2. 1 daily: The Wall Street Journal
3. 1 monthly: Fast Company

TELEVISION

I'll rarely watch live television unless it's news (NY1, News 12 Brooklyn or the local NBC affiliate) or a sporting event. Most of the time I tend to "binge" watch my DVR'ed programs on the weekend. DVR'ed programs include:

1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. The Colbert Report
4. The Daily Show
5. The Soup
6. The Office

There's also the occasional one-off program: a special on The Travel Channel or Fine Living or NYC-TV...

RADIO/MUSIC

I don't listen to terrestrial radio at all. I do consume some Internet Radio, like:

1. Soma FM
2. Download specific shows from KCRW.com like Jason Bentley's Metropolis or Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic
3. Download podcasts from i-Tunes for shows like NPR's This American Life
4. Hardly ever buy actual CDs anymore (pretty much never!). This is a total change from all the cassette tapes and CDs that I used to buy. Now it's pretty much relegated to one-offs from i-Tunes.

GAMING

1. PS2: a couple hours a week - gameplay has significantly dropped off as I get older
2. Nintendo DS: Just picked this up - been playing "Brain Age" to stave off old age!
3. No online gaming or Second Life for me - I don't get it

ONLINE

1. Hours spent online too numerous to count
2. I blog (obviously) and read some blogs daily (Gothamist.com, Brooklynvegan.com)
3. Look at news sites daily (CNN.com and NY Times.com)
4. Sometimes randomly search Youtube for random videos
5. Occasionally look at social networking sites but it's not that fun since I'm out of the demo and most of my friends aren't on there

MOBILE

1. Not into ringtones, playing games or downloading songs/videos to my phone
2. Rarely use my phone to take pictures
3. Have finally begun text-messaging (yes, a late adopter)

FILMS

1. Go to the actual movie theater 1-3 times a year
2. Mostly watch films via Netflix and usually it's the DVD of tv shows that I never got to watch

I Need to Start Using My Camera Phone

Saw two interesting things in East Village yesterday....

1)The irony of a homeless person wearing a baseball cap with a "Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity" logo on it; and

2)A squirrel in Tompkins Square Park perched on a park bench next to a brown paper bag with his hands on a full sandwich.

Reading Pays Off

I was talking to a Brit recently and somehow I worked into the conversation the recent NY Magazine article "NY vs London" AND a recent Economist article about pub closings b/c they can make more money turning the property into condos.

Week of Happy Hours

Somehow, it's been a week of meeting up with old friends for drinks after work. First, it was at Flute in Union Square.

Then, it was at the Grey Dog Cafe in the West Village. And did I reveal too much to my friend MD about my blog? Has she discovered it through the clever search technology of Google? :)

Finally, it was in our very own neighborhood at Flatbush Farm where the artichoke dip is great and onion rings okay but fries were cooked in the same oil as some of their fish dishes. Yuck.

Dine-In Brooklyn Week at Tempo

Earlier this week my wife and I met up with another couple to take in the great deals of Dine-In Brooklyn Week at Tempo Restaurant and Wine Bar.


The place was packed for a Tuesday night and surely everyone was there for the $21.12 three-course prix fixe menu.


I had the sweet pea and ricotta bruschetta, pan roasted chicken and lemon ginger creme brulee. My wife had the wild greens with warm goat cheese roulades, sardinian fregola with spicy calamari and passion fruit torte.

This Is How Stereotypes Get Perpetuated

Notice the incorrect spelling of "Virginia".

These players don't seem to be bothered by it though.

Half a Movie

We watched Half Nelson on DVD last night and I have to say that I didn't love it - despite its critical acclaim, despite Ryan Gosling's very believable performance as a crackhead, despite the Brooklyn setting and music by Broken Social Scene.

I get that it's not supposed to have a neat and tidy "After-school Special" type ending and that not everyone or everything can fall into black/white but often, shades of gray. Whatever. I was disappointed with the film.

Mates of State - Like U Crazy/Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)

Life Logs - Old School Version

I saw these cool "themed" journals at a local gift store a few weeks back.

You can check them out at knockknock.biz.

Amy Winehouse - Just Friends - Live @ Bayswater

Grass is Greener

With march madness upon us and alma mater pride in full effect, it's always interesting to reflect on whether one would choose the school they went to if they had to do it over again.

I attended an undergraduate institution in the Midwest. It had a prestigious name and good academics but the social life was well, socially retarded.

It ended up working out - I enjoyed my classes, made some best friends for life and even met my wife. But would I do it again knowing what I know now? And aren't I a different person at 31 than the one I was at 18? Or am essentially the same person at the core?

I jokingly told my wife that I should have based my college choice on where I wanted to party for 4 years b/c as we become working stiffs and our friends spread out across the country or to the burbs to start families, college was a pretty good time in retrospect. Little responsibility and you get to live amongst your best friends and significant other in the same place? Not a bad deal.

So what schools sound like they might have been a good time to me based on location and prestige?

-Georgetown (Washington, DC)
-McGill (Montreal, Quebec)
-UCLA (Los Angeles, CA)
-UC Berkeley (Berkley, CA)
-Columbia (NYC)
-Brown (Providence, RI)
-Northwestern (Evanston, IL)

Getting into these schools would be another matter but if I ever have kids maybe I'll strongly suggest they look into these institutions.

Visiting Columbia U

The weather was pretty good today so we headed to Columbia U to see the Medical Center campus and the main campus in Morningside Heights (see picture from the steps of the libary to the right).

We also took in some bruch at nearby Le Monde on Broadway and 110th.

A Belated Birthday Dinner

Last night we met up with a few friends for drinks at Verlaine in the Lower East Side. Yes, we had cheap cocktails amongst the hipsters (they do exist and they do sport ironic mustaches).

Afterwards, my wife and I walked over to my post-birthday birthday dinner at wd-50. We had the tasting menu and overall the food was good and probably some of the most inventive I've ever had (see picture to the left of the miso soup with sesame noodles that you squeeze out of a tube).

Here's the rundown of the meal:

-Trout roe, cauliflower, parsley, kobayaki crisp
-Shrimp and tarragon macaroons
-Foie gras in the round
-Sweetbreads, cabbage-kaffir, water chestnuts
-Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses
-Miso soup, sesame noodles
-Langoustine, popcorn, hibiscus, endive
-Squab breast, beets, sorrel, coconut pebbles
-Black currant parfait, green tea, elderflower
-Soft chocolate, avocado, licorice, lime
-Coffee cake, ricotta, maraschino, chicory ice cream
-Juniper marshallow, lime sugar

The portions weren't huge so don't be fooled by the intimidating list above. And though the food was exceptional and innovative, the overall experience suffered from the ambience and service. I felt like there was a disconnnect between the food (and its prices!) and the feel of the space. When dropping that kind of cash, I might expect a more refined experience a la Jean Georges. However, it was a good meal nonetheless and certainly a unique experience.

Signs That I Have Turned "31"

1. I got my shoes shined yesterday

2. I wore a sport coat to dinner the other night

3. I took a car service to work b/c the 2/3 trains were delayed

4. I place a premium on sleep versus staying up late