When it rains

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.