After two weeks of not being busy with work, I'm getting slammed this week. Slammed is better.
Leave it to Pixar to teach us about humanity through robots (or rats, or toys, or monsters...).
The Wire is a great show. Everyone who said so is right.
Surprisingly good opening bands are fun. The AOK Collective is a Brooklyn-based hip hop group that played before Care Bears on Fire at the CitySol festival on 23rd at the East River. They were good. Five dudes or so, coupla gals, good voices, good fun. Care Bears is better than a novelty act but not as good as a good band. They're probably better than a third of the bands that gig around the city on any given night, and they're like 12. So good job there.
There's a 500 square foot beach near 21st street and the East River. Rocks, sand, seaweed, and everything. I really fucking liked that beach. I liked the idea that there were beaches all around Manhattan before we, as the Syreen from Star Control 2 said, "paved over it (earth) in concrete and plastic." Well put, Talana. Oh, and random bands playing loudly at Otto's Shrunken Head can be a helluva lot of fun. Especially with a Tiki drink. And a Kazoo. And a free CD. And a little pin. Recommended.
Coz see, I knew the Hold Steady would be great, and they were. High expectations met. Good crowd, tons of people, tons of space, and a beer for sale that I liked. The added bonus was that one of the opening bands, The Loved Ones, were really fun as well. It happened to be abso-fucking-lutely pouring when they were playing their set, which either added or detracted from the show, depending on how much you like somewhat annoying communal bonding experiences. Me, I like em.
And that right there is why I like the summer more than the winter. I get the cozy winter thing. I get the warm foods, the idea that you can always put more clothing on to get warm, but can't do shit when it is real hot out. The difference for me is that the mildly annoying weather in both seasons is treated differently. In the summer, there are concerts and outdoor movies and shows and funky art things (waterfalls, telectroscope), and chilling in gardens, and eating outside with people, and going out to ballgames, and a million other outdoor social things going on. The weather may suck, but it is a much more social season, a more fun season for me, than winter. The winter feels more solitary to me. I dig it in December, but can't stand it by the end of February. But props to all seasons - not a lot of days beat First Skirt Day in the Sprint and the crispness and pertyness of the Autumn is sweet. New York wouldn't be excited about any season without the previous season to set it up. Good job, seasons.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Yes/No
One taco, one hip-hop collective, one very competent tween girl punk band, one discounted beer, one small beach, one perpetual motion device, one aging New Jersey-based speed metalish band, one effective tiki drink, one loud punky band with one accordian, one order of friend chicken with a side of mashed potatoes, one Magic Hat #9, one bar we closed down, two friends, many coversations. One nice night.
/nodding/ /smiling/ /eyes closed/
Yes.
/nodding/ /smiling/ /eyes closed/
Yes.
Bad pictures, Bad band
Here's a link to their music. Remember, this is how they sound in the "studio." Their voices are a billion times better recorded than they are live. Let that sink in.
http://www.myspace.com/evermacaque
Here's a CentroPic of them destroying my will to live -
Another from the second level of the Billyburg venue (approximate temperature of second floor: 121 degrees).
Thankfully, Andy D (the rapper-singer-songwriter) and Lord Midnight (rocking the hair, silver outfit, and guitar) came and saved the day -
And here's a macaque that looks really pissed that Macaque is sucks so hard and his sullying his good name -
Macaque better watch it, this little guy looks like he's ready to throw down and ruin their shit.
http://www.myspace.com/evermacaque
Here's a CentroPic of them destroying my will to live -
Another from the second level of the Billyburg venue (approximate temperature of second floor: 121 degrees).
Thankfully, Andy D (the rapper-singer-songwriter) and Lord Midnight (rocking the hair, silver outfit, and guitar) came and saved the day -
And here's a macaque that looks really pissed that Macaque is sucks so hard and his sullying his good name -
Macaque better watch it, this little guy looks like he's ready to throw down and ruin their shit.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Absolutes
Hey blogosphere. A few people have told me "hey, you should have a blog." So fine, why not? Don't look for a theme here, there isn't gonna be one (at least not by design). Let's jump right in.
At thirty years of age, I think saying anything is the best or worst of anything is tough. My memory isn't that good, I've experienced a lot of good things and a bunch of crappy things and it makes comparisons difficult. I ate at Peter Luger's a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. Was it the best steak EVER? I don't think so. I also don't have a clear memory of eating a steak somewhere that was definitively better. So maybe it was. It was at a social outing tonight that helped me stumble on my mini-epiphany about bests and worsts.
See, I saw the worst live music show of my life tonight. When I realized that I let it wash over me. It helped me appreciate the moment even more. It was an experience. It was in Williamsburg (of course), right by the water (but without much of a view), and not near any trace of civilization. I bet the hipsters fucking love that. Two girls in this band. One with a MacBook and some small synth device, one awkwardly dancing around. Both couldn't sing for shit. I'm definitely a better singer than these girls and I'm *terrible*. Off key, no discernible point to any song, atonal, terribly annoying, and generally painful to witness.
They were the worst band I had ever seen.
Worse than the loud craptastic Andrew WK opening acts. Worse than that guy I saw who dressed like it was the 1920s and made gutteral, mumbling, faux-hillbilly attempts at old-timey music while stamping his foot on stage for 40 minutes. Worse than Porno for Pyros at the end of freshman year. Luckily, Jaime's friend came on stage after the two girls were done bludgeoning our souls and played guitar (while dressed in all silver) with his friend who techno-rock-rapped about drunk girls and Vikings. Much better.
The walk back to the subway (JMZ, Marcy) reminded me that I don't like Williamsburg so much. Real ugly, pretty expensive, completely random, barbed wire, construction, light industrial zoning randomly near apartments. Just a haphazard mess. I don't need to write about rich hipsters who love it there - I have a feeling other blogs may have covered that already. And I live in a similarly despised 'hood, so I shouldn't talk.
Randomly:
I got excited about 4+ innings of no-hit ball thrown by John Maine of the NY Mets. Fun to be a Met fan these days.
Firing Willie Randoph was a good move. He brought nothing to the table. Nice guy though and should have been handled a bit more carefully by Mets GM Omar Minaya.
Omar Minaya. Confuses me. He just signed Andy Phillips. Andy came up through the Yankee system, played a bit with the Yanks and sucked pretty bad. Now he's 31 and got released by the Reds. He's had around the equivalent of a full season of major league At Bats in his life and has hit 11 HRs and posted a .252/.294/.381/.675 (Batting Average, On Base Pct, Slugging Pct, OPS) line. That's bad. Roughly, that last number should be over .800 or so to be above average, depending on what position one plays. Look, we all know Carlos Delgado needs to be partially platooned with a right-handed hitter, but why Andy Phillips? I wish the Mets had some guy in their minor league system that can step in and provide some punch from the right side once or twice a week.
Wait for it.
Valentino Pascucci. Val. He's a beast (6'6", 260) and he isn't terribly young at 29. But he hits, if only in the minors. He hit another home run tonight and his numbers aren't updated to show that, but his line for the Mets AAA club is - .296/.420/.587/1.007. Add the homer and it'll be something like .300/.420/.600/1.020. For reference, if that last number is over 1.000 you're awesome. Usually only like a half dozen guys a year in all of baseball manage that. What's even better is that he punishes left handed pitchers to the tune of .404/.522/.865/1.388. That's a better line than anyone has ever put up in the history of the game (except a juiced Bonds in 2004). Now, do I expect he does this in the majors? Hellsno. But if he can only face lefties, I don't see why he can't hit .240/.325/.475/.800 for us (yeah, us - I'm with the Mets) this year. Better than Delgado's .224/.267/.388/.655 vs Lefties this year, right? Right. Let's do it.
Someone tell Omar.
At thirty years of age, I think saying anything is the best or worst of anything is tough. My memory isn't that good, I've experienced a lot of good things and a bunch of crappy things and it makes comparisons difficult. I ate at Peter Luger's a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. Was it the best steak EVER? I don't think so. I also don't have a clear memory of eating a steak somewhere that was definitively better. So maybe it was. It was at a social outing tonight that helped me stumble on my mini-epiphany about bests and worsts.
See, I saw the worst live music show of my life tonight. When I realized that I let it wash over me. It helped me appreciate the moment even more. It was an experience. It was in Williamsburg (of course), right by the water (but without much of a view), and not near any trace of civilization. I bet the hipsters fucking love that. Two girls in this band. One with a MacBook and some small synth device, one awkwardly dancing around. Both couldn't sing for shit. I'm definitely a better singer than these girls and I'm *terrible*. Off key, no discernible point to any song, atonal, terribly annoying, and generally painful to witness.
They were the worst band I had ever seen.
Worse than the loud craptastic Andrew WK opening acts. Worse than that guy I saw who dressed like it was the 1920s and made gutteral, mumbling, faux-hillbilly attempts at old-timey music while stamping his foot on stage for 40 minutes. Worse than Porno for Pyros at the end of freshman year. Luckily, Jaime's friend came on stage after the two girls were done bludgeoning our souls and played guitar (while dressed in all silver) with his friend who techno-rock-rapped about drunk girls and Vikings. Much better.
The walk back to the subway (JMZ, Marcy) reminded me that I don't like Williamsburg so much. Real ugly, pretty expensive, completely random, barbed wire, construction, light industrial zoning randomly near apartments. Just a haphazard mess. I don't need to write about rich hipsters who love it there - I have a feeling other blogs may have covered that already. And I live in a similarly despised 'hood, so I shouldn't talk.
Randomly:
I got excited about 4+ innings of no-hit ball thrown by John Maine of the NY Mets. Fun to be a Met fan these days.
Firing Willie Randoph was a good move. He brought nothing to the table. Nice guy though and should have been handled a bit more carefully by Mets GM Omar Minaya.
Omar Minaya. Confuses me. He just signed Andy Phillips. Andy came up through the Yankee system, played a bit with the Yanks and sucked pretty bad. Now he's 31 and got released by the Reds. He's had around the equivalent of a full season of major league At Bats in his life and has hit 11 HRs and posted a .252/.294/.381/.675 (Batting Average, On Base Pct, Slugging Pct, OPS) line. That's bad. Roughly, that last number should be over .800 or so to be above average, depending on what position one plays. Look, we all know Carlos Delgado needs to be partially platooned with a right-handed hitter, but why Andy Phillips? I wish the Mets had some guy in their minor league system that can step in and provide some punch from the right side once or twice a week.
Wait for it.
Valentino Pascucci. Val. He's a beast (6'6", 260) and he isn't terribly young at 29. But he hits, if only in the minors. He hit another home run tonight and his numbers aren't updated to show that, but his line for the Mets AAA club is - .296/.420/.587/1.007. Add the homer and it'll be something like .300/.420/.600/1.020. For reference, if that last number is over 1.000 you're awesome. Usually only like a half dozen guys a year in all of baseball manage that. What's even better is that he punishes left handed pitchers to the tune of .404/.522/.865/1.388. That's a better line than anyone has ever put up in the history of the game (except a juiced Bonds in 2004). Now, do I expect he does this in the majors? Hellsno. But if he can only face lefties, I don't see why he can't hit .240/.325/.475/.800 for us (yeah, us - I'm with the Mets) this year. Better than Delgado's .224/.267/.388/.655 vs Lefties this year, right? Right. Let's do it.
Someone tell Omar.
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