Another thing

Do you think the lucky souls who fabricate upholstered covers to encase televisions into played Careers when they were young?

Did any of you guys play it? Is this something I missed out on because I grew up in France?

Do all my career problems stem from not having played this game as a kid? Where are my "Fame?" and "Fortune?"

I know what all my CG$ friends' kids are getting for their birthday when they reach the required age of 8+!

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Adventures on a bus

I'm easily amazed by concepts that most people take for granted. These things usually come in the form of bad ideas that society readily accepts or is simply too occupied to question.

For example, I don't get station wagons with wood paneling on the side. Obviously the car is made out of metal, that's not real wood. Why does it need to look like wood? Is it for nostalgic purposes?

Once on a college road trip, we stayed in a cheap hotel where the walls were covered in sheets of stickers that looked like wood. The concept of going with this fake wood decor as opposed to say, a nice paint job or real wood, baffled me. You can't just put a sticker that looks like wood on something and turn it into wood!

My boyfriend at the time made me a shoebox "sticky wood world" that did just that. I'm talking wood sun, wood people a wooden house and trees. It was an amazing gift that demonstrated just how much he got me but sadly it vanished somewhere in the 10+ moves since then. Also, I guess it's kind of a silly thing for a "grownup" to hold onto.

I came across something yesterday that brought back the same exact feeling. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you upholstered bus television!

My main concern with upholstering any sort of television, aside from the sheer lack of purpose, is the fact that someone actually does that for a living. There's either a machine out there that was invented to make this happen or a crafty gal or guy who does this by hand.

Why does a television need a carpeted cover? I assure you it's no more aesthetically pleasing than one without. It's truly mind-boggling.

To be fair, my friend pointed out that it's protective and when I got up, since we were lucky enough to score seats just below one of these beauties, I managed to hit my head on it and it didn't hurt.

Was it the clever carpeting that minimized the impact and saved me from a possible bump to the head? Am I so clumsy that I should wear a helmet on any bus I choose to ride where the televisions are not upholstered? And should I just go ahead and upholster my television, computer monitor and maybe even my microwave to make things safer around my apartment?

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Big ups Giants

Against all odds, I hit up not one but two Super Bowl parties Sunday night. And while, to this day, 90% of what takes place on a football field remains a mystery to me, I actually enjoyed the last quarter of the game because it was a real nail biter and totally worked out in New York's favor.

At fiesta numero uno, I had the chance to reconnect with Danger (pictured above), who I met and instantly fell in love with last October. The second party brought us face to face with a roomful of hot bartenders, a dangerous thing to stumble upon when you have to be at work at the crack of 10 the following morning.

Somehow, I managed to stay out of trouble (for the most part.)

It's nice to have my place back to myself after having had friends in town since last Thursday. Their visit was wildly fun but it also did a number on my liver, sleep schedule and wallet. I envision a nice long week of staying in and recuperating.

Or at least, that's the "plan"...

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TF @ Hugs

For weeks, perhaps months even, my old Atlanta room mate, DJ Carrie Whitenoise has been telling us about her weekly, "Do It", at new Williamsburg hotspot, Hugs. I still haven't managed to check out her Tuesday night, because I am "boring" and have to show up at a "job" every Wednesday morning, but I did make it out there last Friday night for some hot Treasure Fingers action.

With its low, rounded ceilings, speakers directly in the walls, and long cavernous layout, Hugs conjures up a more dungeon-like feel than its name implies. The sound isn't bad; minus one questionable speaker I had the misfortune of sitting in front of early in the night. The DJ setup in the back leaves a bit to be desired but TF still managed to churn out a rocking set.

It was good to see everyone out, especially the B's (Blair and Brian) and the R's (Reba and Ross – a veritable party on wheels.) We got our dance on; we played some Skee-Ball and munched on some cupcakes. What more can you ask for?

Here’s to hoping that Treasure Fingers graces us with his presence again real soon!

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It's raining mixes/Sunday is the new Friday

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!)

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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.)

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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!

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