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the bright aisles of c-town
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Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Some guys on a window-washer apparatus are waterblasting my building. I used to think my building was dark gray. It's light tan! I just hope that water doesn't blast right onto my bedding. I hope I remember to close my windows...
Try blasting some drum'n'bass when you feel lethergic. I'm feeling a bit tired right now so the stereo is blasting some DJ Dara.
Why am I tired? - Because we are some jackasses here in 4C. Jeremy and I stayed up way too late last night watching 24 (taped) and NBA playoffs. Then Dave came home and we tried to debate [by extension] the ethics of collecting unemployment and cheating on taxes through a comparison of fouling in basketball and ultimate. It didn't really work. But I ate a lot of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the process.
I don't really want to jinx anything, but the kiddies are getting their work done these days. Might the end of the school year fly by?? Not if my staff developer keeps bugging me for my ECLAS reading diagnostic scores! "I already told you - you'll get it when I'm done!!"
3:16 PM
Monday, April 28, 2003
Spring Break is over and what do I have to show for it? Well, I guess a severly disrupted biological clock is some kind of accomplishment. That, and hours upon hours spent watching NBA playoffs.
Back to school today - it's all downhill from here. The kids even seemed kind of cute today. Hah! Wait 'til Friday, I guess.
1:26 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Jess and I went on a monumental inline skate trip today. We met up at Fairway (125th @ Hudson River) at 12:30 and went south on the bike path. We cruised the side of Manhattan and took a quick tour of Battery Park City and gazed at Ground Zero for a few minutes. Then we went down to Battery Park to see Miss Liberty. We wandered aimlessly around the Wall Street area for a few minutes but then we found the South Street Sea Port. Unforunately, we weren't allowed to skate on the wooden planks of the piers. We found a nice bike path and skated between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. We continued through East River Park, but that path abruptly ended so we had to find a crosswalk to get to the other side of the FDR.
This ended our easy path skating and began our weave through the city traffic. We zipped around alphabet city and then went up Madison to Grand Central. We took a quick break near the New York Public Library and Bryant Park to eat a Subway sandwich. Some guy in the park had a trained falcon which he would release to the oohs and ahhs of the crowd. We didn't see it snatch up any beer or bras, however.
After our lunch we continued zigzagging through the midtown pedestrian traffic up to Central Park. We entered the south/middle entrance of the park and skated up the east side roads. The uptown blocks flew by, and we got to cruise down a gigantic hill by the skating rink near 110th. The cabs were stopped at the light so we cruised downhill as fast as we could until our bearings were hissing. Once at the bottom of the hill, however, we had to almost crawl our way back up the 110th street hill to Columbia. Jess barely made it back for his 4:10 jazz class and I fought the wind on Riverside back up to 150th. I don't even want to start figuring out how many miles we skated... partly because I don't want to discourage myself from trying to skate to ultimate practice at Baker Field tonight. I would love to have skated from one end of the island to the other in one day. Today seems like the day to do it!
And rock at 7pm. All this after a crazy night of disc golf. I love vacation.
1:42 PM
Friday, April 18, 2003
Why is Ticketmaster STILL the Devil??
So, I purchased a ticket to Field Day today. Tickets went on sale at 10am, so I rolled out of bed around 10:08 and purchased my ticket around 10:10. According to the website, tickets purchased between April 18-30 are $150, May 1-31 are $170, and June 1 or after $190. Oh wait, excuse me, the fine print:
There is a limited supply of tickets in each price range. Once the allocation in each price range has sold out, ticket prices will automatically increase to the next price level.
So, by 10:10 I was already in the $170 range. By 10:30, Drew had to pay $190. Looks like the allocations in each range were probably a paltry amount. That's bullcrap, if you ask me. I shouldn't be bumped up into the next tier 10 minutes after tickets go on sale. The promoters of this concert knew this was going to be a big draw, and should not have used such misleading promotion schemes.
But, not to bitch so much... I am camping 2 days and seeing an amazing lineup.
Now, if I could only get in touch with a Mr. Christopher Campos and get my fucking tent back. If anyone out there knows a Chris Campos in New York, PLEASE give me his number. He has been borrowing my tent for the past 2 years.
8:00 AM
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Spring break starts.
Frisbee with Jeremy in the park.
BBQ at Drew's at 7:30. (C'mon by!)
Disc Golf at Midnight.
Does it get any better???
2:06 PM
Sunday, April 13, 2003
Jess sent me this link and I had to blog it immediately.
The Dialectizer
Basically, you put in any website you want and it will transform the text into a dialect of your choosing: redneck, jive, cockney, elmer fudd, swedish chef, moron, pig latin, or hacker.
I tried it on www.whitehouse.gov
Booyah!!
7:04 PM
Jackie and I went to this inexpensive restaurant Friday night called Garlic Bob's. Despite the Italian fare, our waitress was a paisty brunette with a UK accent. The man who seemed to be the manager was a tall, orange-haired man with a similar accent that may have even been Australian. The place seemed under new management, because the first thing our waitress said was, "Good evening. Just to let you know we are no longer accepting gift certificates at this time. Would you like something to drink?" Also, half of the track lighting was different and had no bulbs. Jackie and I thought the place might be going through some kind of transition. The food was ok, but our pauses during bites seemed so pressing - there was no music! 4 couples sitting at tables whispering to each other because the place was dead quiet.
THE BILL
Our bill came to $38. I gave the waitress $60 and asked for change. She brings me back change as if I had given her $50 and promptly walks back around the corner near the kitchen. I say, "Excuse me!... There is only change here for $50, but I gave you $60." She scurries back and replies, "Oh, I'm sorry, there's so much money passing hands back there that I got mixed up. I thought you gave me 50. I figured you would tell me if I was wrong." What kind of scam is that??
Issue #1. 'So Much Money Passing Hands.'
There were only 4 couples in the whole restaurant! At most, only 1 other party was paying.
Issue #2. 'I Figured You Would Tell Me If I Was Wrong.'
I'm sorry, but if you mess up and forget how much money someone gave you - ASK! Short changing me and then expecting me to figure it out is dishonest, not to mention an awful way to try and get your new restaurant more business.
Issue #3. The Scam
Ok, it's a slow night. Ok, Jackie and I had been drinking and she might have thought she could slip one by us. But, if you really want to scam someone - nail the credit card people because are much less likely to check. I rightly gave her a $5 tip. I think I would have been comfortable leaving nothing, but maybe she was just high or something.
Oh, and Jackie ordered pizza from the place a few months back and had an awful experience. As she says, "If your cat likes $40 pizza that arrives ice cold and an hour late, then Garlic Bob's is for you!" Avoid that joint at all costs. We should have just gone to Gray's.
4:26 PM
Monday, April 07, 2003
So, I got a strange phone call today asking me to be a participant in a research study about mp3s and music downloading. Apparently I am about to join a research study where I document my music downloading habits for 5 days. I'll get paid $150 for my efforts, and I'll definitely blog my involvement in this project. I just hope it's not the RIAA knocking on my door... because I pirate so much music I might as well wear an eye patch.
Just downloaded The Streets - Original Pirate Material. It's British hip hop, and at first I couldn't stand it. Somehow, it's kind of growing on me. It's just so bizarre to hear British dialect and inflections with fat beats. It's cool though, because the group isn't try to do 'white american hip hop.' They aren't wannabes - the sound is fresh and new, like nothing I've ever heard. I'm curious to find fans of this music and see what they're like.
Ok, after 2 hours of sleep last night I'm crashing NOW. Saturday night I went to bed at 5:30am. This morning I woke up at 5:30am. My clock is all kinds of cuckoo.
6:02 PM
Sunday, April 06, 2003
Check out the Brooklyn Live Work Coalition.
Intrepid, pioneering tenants have carved out homes and workplaces all over Brooklyn, resulting in one of the most miraculous urban renewal models in New York City in recent history. Now thousands of people (10,000 in Brooklyn alone) living and working in commercial buildings are haunted by the fear of losing their homes. The lack of rent protections results in rents doubling at the end of leases, displacing tenants and forcing them to forfeit often years of labor and money invested to rehabilitate their buildings. It is common procedure for landlords to exploit the talents of live/work tenants to improve properties and then to evict once their buildings have increased in value. The lack of proper zoning and code compliance causes tenants to feel further threatened. Many people feel compelled to keep their live/work practice hidden and live in fear of City Officials, despite the fact that these same tenants are making buildings and streets safer, creating cultural Mecca's along the Brooklyn Water front, revitalizing small businesses and rejuvenating their neighborhoods. If New York City is to remain "the cultural capital of the world" and maintain a diverse culturally vibrant population, allowances need to be made to secure and stabilize our communities.
10:08 PM
Great night tonight.
On the subway I ran into Dan Nieman. It's great bumping into someone one the subway - which is just probable enough that it happens every once in a great while.
Party at Milan's. Matt Hughes is saying good-bye to New York and hello to HoBroken. Ran into Carl, Rob, and Russ from my floor freshman year. It was great to see them. Drew, Nick, and Jon joined me at the party. We messed with the drunken minds of the rugby meatheads. One rugby jackass said to the other rugby jackass, "Why are you even here? Should you really even be here?" Drew called him a regular old Camus. I laughed out loud, and they had no idea what was going on. Drew's joke worked on two fronts - first it was a dry satire on the existentianlism of the meathead's comment. But, more entertainingly, the guys had NO idea what drew was talking about, and even if we explained it they would have just turned around and done a keg stand instead of listening.
Anyway, with great subway meet-up luck tonight we ran into Matt McLaughlin and Ariel on the uptown 1 at Christopher Street. As we all get on the train, some 40ish woman barrels through us. Nick or someone says, "Excuse you," and the women replies, "Excuse the 5 of you!" I thought it was her fault, but I couldn't really tell. Then before we even got to the next stop she starts complaining that we are talking too loud. It has become apparent that this woman was having a bad day. We point to the door to the next car and invite her to switch cars. We are not even being loud. She continues muttering to herself and the people around her. It has become apparent that this woman may be schizo... Some homeless guy comes into the car and starts giving his speech. She starts complaining to the guy for being so loud. The dude is hilarious with her: "Lady, I didn't do nothing to you! Why don't you get off my back?" He started making fun of her, and we started digging into our pockets for change for the guy. She is pissed with him, but we show our approval with a handful of nickels and dimes.
Adventure time! Drew and Nick lead me to the Hudson Hotel at Columbus Circle. This hotel is a super-trendy hotel, with A+ lighting everywhere. We try the elevators to get to the roof, but there is an old man there who needs to see our cards before we can proceed. We have no cards. Nick goes around trying to get a card. No Dice. So, we go down to the first floor, go through some doors that we're not supposed to go through, and voila! we reach basement access to the elevators. So, after we explore a few floors we head through the fire stairwells to the basement. We sneak past some hallways and spill out into this gigantic unfinished room full of construction supplies. Lumber, paint, stools, furniture, tables, decorations... it's the mother load. We keep walking around and we proceed through a deserted women's locker room from decades ago. It leads us to a jogging track balcony that looks down on an abandoned swimming pool. The place was lit with temporary fluorescent lights. It was an erie place that just begged to have a photo shoot or underground party or something happen in it. We'll definitely have to head back there with a camera sometime. We ran around a bit more, discovering various rooms of loot and then we finally exited right past a security desk and a night guard. On the street--- home free. Reminded me of tunneling at Columbia all over again.
Back to Columbus Circle, back on the uptown 1, and a peach cobler from Crown to boot.
Oh, a word about the Accelerated Reading Club show last night. Thanks to Jackie, Jeremy, Drew, Nick, Jon, Kyle, Bill & friend for coming out last night. It was a great time, and I hope you all enjoyed yourself. One thing has become apparent from their comments, though: Nathaniel (our singer) does a lot of crotch-grabbing while performing. I didn't believe it at first, but Jackie got a photo of it with my camera. Left hand on mic, right hand firmly grabbing crotch. Oh, gotta love those sex-symbol vocalists with enough ego to light a lamp. I'm all for it - sure beats a stand-still.
Set Yo Clockz Fo'wad.
1:22 AM
Friday, April 04, 2003
Rock show tonight at the Charleston! Accelerated Reading Club tears down the roof at midnight. Bedford L.
Reasons for the last gap in posts: huge party, ted leo show, observation by assistant principal, 2 band practices... whew.
3:54 PM
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