After a long hard day of quilting and drinking 40's a couple of Sundays ago, I ventured into the city to catch my favorite mix master, Diplo, at Club 205.
It was absolutely amazing. My friends always tell me that Sunday nights are the best nights to go out and it turns out they're spot on. The crowd and venue size were far preferable to what we usually encounter at Studio B or on weekend night LES escapades.
Speaking of Diplo, a new mix of his surfaced online today. You can download it here and, as usual, it doesn't disappoint. You can always count on good ol' dependable Dip!
There's at least two more really good mixes out there right now, notably Cut Copy's Cosmic mix and the Justice Fabric Rejected mix. The Justice mix isn't exactly what you might expect from those guys which is so nice.
Anyone get tickets to the Mercury Lounge Cut Copy show? Sadly, I did not but I might try to go see them at Studio B on March 15th (though I get back from my trip to Big Sky that night around 10:30p.m. which might be a little tight… life is rough!)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
It's raining mixes/Sunday is the new Friday
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Get Treasure Fingered at Hugs
On my trip to Okemo last weekend, I got to spend nearly 18 hours of quality time with two fairly new friends of mine. At the end of the day, this inside look into their tight, oftentimes comical bond conjured up only one thought in my mind: I miss my best friend.
Lucky for me the BFF in question, T$, is gracing me with her presence this weekend. And as though that weren't enough, she's brining along her boo, the infamous Treasure Fingers, making his NYC debut at Hugs on Friday night.
Recently signed to A-Trak's label, Fool's Gold, Treasure Fingers is the hot name on the tip of everyone's tongues at the moment. If you haven't heard him, check out his latest mix here and then promptly get yourself down to the Burg Friday night to check him out in person. Good times guaranteed. It's Friday night, it's free, so don't be lame - represent!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Snowboarding
If you're a New Yorker who likes to get your ski or snowboard on and can find people crazy enough to get up at 3 in the morning with you, I highly recommend looking into the day trips organized by Emilio's Ski Shop. They leave almost every day to various New York and Vermont locations and range in price from around $60 to $90.
Two weekends ago, we gathered an impressive neighborhood crew of 7 people and traveled up to Windham Mountain in the Catskills and last weekend, three of us met up outside Homage around 3am to catch a bus to Okemo Mountain in Vermont.
Having taken a couple of these trips, with the intention of going as often as I can this season, I thought I'd share a few things I learned for those of you out there who might be thinking about going on one of these adventures.
1. Do Vermont, not New York
Okemo was a much better experience than Windham. I'll take nicely groomed trails of packed snow over ice any day. Also, it wasn't as crowded. The downside is that it leaves a lot earlier but the ride didn't seem much longer. (The exact length of it, as we found out on the way back, was exactly two National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets.)
2. Take the bus, don't drive
Maybe you have a car and you're thinking to yourself, I'll just drive up there when I want and leave when I want - no 3am for me. But look at it this way - the lift ticket price for Okemo is $72 and the price of our trip was $80. You're basically riding the bus for free. It's a great deal.
3. Don't sit in the back
Not only do the back seats not recline but both times we went, they didn't bring enough lift tickets for everyone on the bus and we had to wait around at least 15 minutes for them to get more from Guest Services. Extra time spent on the bus is not time well spent.
4. Bring beer
Beer isn't just for the train ride home from Connecticut after a hard weekend of tubing. A tasty, ice cold 24 ounce beer totally hits the spot and makes the ride home far more enjoyable (minus the bus bathroom visit that it guarantees). Thanks again to the cool guy sitting in front of us who was kind enough to share.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Prefab Homes and other dreams
A couple of months ago I came across an article in New York Times about prefabricated homes and thought to myself what a great idea. Cheap and depending on which company you go with, ecologically-sound, the small and simple homes can go for anywhere between $35 to $300 per square foot. Think of it as an ikea-like home, packed flat from manufacturers with an instruction booklet sure to drive you insane when assembling. But for the environmentally-conscious, middle class New Yorker who could never dream of the two words, "home owner," prefab homes may be an interesting alternative (although I have no idea what the cost of land is these days).
Spending the last couple of weeks searching for a new apartment in New York has really got me thinking, where do the middle class live? Canarise? New Jersey? Staten Island? Thankfully, suffering economically and eating ramen noodles are acceptable experiences to have at my age so for now I will stay in New York, but I wonder, would prefab houses ever go over here? Can you imagine a trailer park type neighborhood full of prefab houses, you could fit so many and New York would be the best place to start since we're use to the 10X10 rooms with all of our worldly possessions stuck underneath our beds.
I'm all for it, if it means I could finally be a New York H.O.'er, even though I'd be totally fucked if a tornado or a hurricane struck. But the article does point out the Feng Sui-ness of living minimally, which does not limit the prefab home owner from technological advances, some of the homes come with top of the line electronics including a banging sound system. I do have to envy the fact that some of these prefab home owners are living in spacious nature settings outside NY, where they probably spend most of their day outdoors enjoying the clean crisp air, but I guess New Yorkers do the same except the air isn't too crisp and we spend most of our day working 2 jobs, eating out at fabulous restaurants, visiting museums and galleries and partying it up. Still though, bring on the prefab homes!
Check out Wee Homes and Tumbleweed Homes for two of my favorites!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Pants!
I normally cringe at the thought of seeing someone on the subway with no pants on. If it does happen, it’s likely to be from the hours of 4-6am when It’s just you and one crazy pervert in the car, a situation to be avoided at all cost.
But tomorrow, Improv Everywhere is putting what is sure to be a hilarious spin on this with the 7th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride.
So grab your metro card, take off your pants and get yourself down to Foley Square tomorrow at 3pm "sharp" to join the other New Yorkers crazy enough to ride the metro sans pants.
If I don’t go snowboarding, I’ll be there with bells on! (Bells, yes, pants , no.)
Friday, January 4, 2008
Kitty Wigs
This might be the most "redonkulous" thing I've seen all day. (Thanks Erlene!)
At fifty bucks a pop, these Kitty Wigs are well worth the inevitable barrel of good times they will bring.
And while we all know you're only buying it to ridicule your beloved pet and have a laugh at his or her expense, you can also feel good about yourself knowing that 20% of all profits from your cat’s new do will be donated to the ASPCA.
I think I'll snatch up the pink one for my favorite feline, Miya. It should match her pink pet stroller beautifully.
In other news, the CG$ may or may not be getting even more money in the near future.
Happy Friday everyone!
