Preppy Pup

At last, here are some photos of Billie in his new sweater, knitted by the talented and craftsy Kam:



He could make the Abercrombie/Ralph Lauren catalog with this sporty prepster shot:

Oscar rant

I'm so over "Million Dollar Baby." As you may have remembered, I'd already boycotted the movie based on its title alone, which means I still have not seen it. A few days ago I started to actually gain some interest in viewing it if only to figure out what the hell everyone was so hyped up over. After tonight, though, I may be back on the boycott wagon. I feel like I, along with maybe two others I've conversed with on the topic, may be the only one to see through this Hilary Swank best actress crap. It's like, hello, why isn't anyone talking about the fact that she won the Oscar in 2000 for playing a boy ("Boys Don't Cry"), and here she is again winning for a "boy" role. And need I remind you that we first heard of Hilary Swank because of her lead in "The Next Karate Kid"?? Seriously now, I don't mean to say she's a bad actress at all, I'm actually giving her tons of credit... for being good at playing a (tom)boy. Way to pigeonhole yourself, Hilary!! Now I know I may get slack for this about how I shouldn't crap on her for challenging typical gender roles and all that, blah blah, but really now, I'm just over it and over her. Thumbs down to the academy for giving her the "OK" to exclusively seek out "boy" roles for the rest of her career, knowing she will continue to get acknowledged for them and win praise as some refreshing rise-to-the-challenge young star with artistic merit. Boo. I think I'm more frustrated about the fact that it seems no one in the mass media has even really discussed this. They just go on touting her and how amazing she was in this movie. Even an extensive google search found very few anti-Hilary sentiments and even less on how she is the premiere tomboy actress in Hollywood. I'm starting to wonder if no one else feels this way. Clearly I'm fired up about it. Bizarre I tell you.

Other anti-MDB feelings were harbored after Clint Eastwood took best director, and the disappointment from the Martin Scorsese camp just came seeping through the TV. I was like, how is ol' Marty gonna sleep tonight? I actually pictured him standing up, throwing down his hanky and walking out of there, screaming "What do you all want from me??" Maybe the academy just isn't all about the furry brows. Bummer for him.

On the bright side, I'm so so glad Jamie Foxx won the best actor Oscar. I actually just watched "Ray" this afternoon and was blown away by his performance. It might have actually been the best movie I've seen all year. The honor was previously given to "Hotel Rwanda," which is still incredible and powerful for the story alone, but in terms of overall performance and actually being moved by the acting, "Ray" takes the cake. Kudos to Jamie Foxx, and double kudos for the best acceptance speech of the night.

Speechless

Well, I contemplated using one of many clever song titles as the subject of this post (e.g. "Are You Happy Now?"), but in the end it was too mean and I felt bad.

Michelle Branch is pregnant!

Yikes. I thought I heard it last night on the radio, so I awoke this morning curious to find out if it was true. Sure enough, it appears Michelle posted a letter on The Wreckers website announcing it. Strangely, the letter has since been removed but can be found elsewhere... bizarro. I was looking at her bio and my jaw just about dropped when I saw that she was born in 1983. I was like, can people born in 1983 even have babies? How scary. To make matters more interesting (worse), I found out her husband was born in 1964!! That's right, she married her bassist who is almost twice her age and now she's preggers with their child at the ripe age of 21. Fabulous, Michelle. Sounds like an oops to me. Here is the excerpt from her letter...seems to be dripping with nerves/awkwardness and a feeling of "Holy crap, how did this happen!!!" but maybe that's just me:

So at the beginning of this project everyone at Maverick kept reiterating that they wanted this project to feel young and fun. (Come on people! We all know that Jess and I are a barrel of freaking monkeys!!) Well now it seems that they are getting exactly what they asked for! Teddy and I are expecting our first child in five months!!! Can you believe it!? That's definitely young and fun for ya! We are so excited and thrilled about starting this new chapter in our lives.

UMMM, Michelle, I think they were talking about YOU being young and fun, not suggesting you get pregnant. Honestly though, I hope it all works out for her and that she doesn't have a meltdown. And for those of you wondering, she was not the one dating the lead singer of Third Eye Blind, that's Vanessa Carlton.


Current Music: Long Way Down, by Pete Yorn

Still California Dreamin'

Mostly for my own sake, here's a quick list of places I wanted to visit/things I wanted to do that I didn't get to over the weekend:

-The Apple Store (FYI: just announced new iPod models and price drops)
-Anchor Brewing Company, home of Anchor Steam Beer (which apparently is in a "seedy" part of town, and which only offers tours on a limited basis)
-Amoeba Records (Indie music heaven!!)
-Alamo Square Park (I can't turn my back on Full House!)
-Ride on a Cable Car
-find the French Laundry waiter and get his phone number (unfortunately no link available)


Current Music: Overjoyed, by Stevie Wonder
Current Mood: v. tired

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

I have returned for the mega update on what was a wonderfully amazing and memorable weekend out West. Huan and I arrived in San Francisco on Thursday night and stayed with the always-fun Katie Kuhn at her very cute apartment. We didn't have high expectations for the weather all weekend, as the usually trusty weather.com indicated that Friday would have an 80% chance of showers and the rest of the weekend would be a washout as well. We woke up to some brief showers Friday morning, but by the time we headed out of the apartment for a day of exploring, the skies were blue and temps felt close to 70° (in other words, absolutely perfect).

We met up with Katie for lunch down by where she works, which happens to be the most amazing workspace I have ever seen, just about a block down from the Ferry Building and right along the water. I guess that can be expected for Gap, Inc., though.

(The Ferry Building)



Her building was this extremely hip space flocking with even more hip, young, and fashionable employees coming in and out. Katie's office was a not-shabby-at-all room with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the Bay Bridge and surrounding areas.



Yeah, pretty incredible. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice lunch outside while we basked in the sun and caught up with an old friend.

Next Huan and I began our walking adventure which would lead us to ultimately conquer the city of San Francisco by foot (well, not quite, but I like to think so). We walked from the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero (which is basically just the waterside) toward Fisherman's Wharf, which is much junkier and touristy than I remember, then we proceeded to stop at Patagonia for a little shopping break. (Funny random story, I thought I recognized one of the guys who was there, but it seemed too bizarre for me to actually know him, but it turns out he used to work at the DC Patagonia.. crazy, huh?) Anyway, we proceeded to climb what felt like the biggest hill in the history of hills-- Hyde Street (though not the steepest, as I've found out that honor is bestowed upon the nearby Filbert Street, at a 31.5% grade, or 17.7° slope-- I think that math is right).

(View up Hyde Street)



I vaguely remember the hilliness of SF from my previous trip, but I guess back then I wouldn't have dared walk any of it with my parents, so this time I realized the true extent of the rollercoaster topography of the city. It's outrageous, really. I can't imagine being like 80 years and old and walking home, or trying to push a baby in a stroller (What if you got distracted and let go for a split second! Runaway baby!)

From there we stopped atop Lombard Street and watched fun tourists descend the "crooked" road in their cars and also admired the amazing view over the city.

(View from the top of Lombard Street)



We made our way down Union Street, a cute little area with small boutiques and shops, which led us directly to the middle of Pacific Heights, this upscale neighborhood with beautiful Victorian homes. It was no coincidence that we'd ended up here, as I was on a mission to see Mrs. Doubtfire's digs as well as that of the Salingers. Lucky enough for me, they were practically neighbors! When I got there I felt a bit awkward, since people actually lived inside, but after a little prodding Huan got me to sit on the stoop and pose for a picture (I'm such a tool!!). My reactions are that Mrs. Doubtfire's house (now when I say that I actually mean the Hillards house, but I don't have to explain that...) is smaller than I thought it would be (though still beautiful and I'd live there in a second), and the Salinger family's house is much bigger than it ever should have been for a bunch of orphaned kids. Again, still beautiful.

(2640 Steiner Street, aka Mrs. Doubtfire's house)



(The Salinger residence.. just around the bend)



On our walk back toward the east side of town, we passed by more ridiculous homes and of course a few very ridiculous private schools. It looked like something out of The O.C., with views overlooking the Bay and all these preppy kids outside. Kinda crazy.

(Other cool homes)



We checked into the Ritz that afternoon (this is the beginning of the bling-bling portion of the trip-- gotta love a corporate hotel discount, though) and headed down to some more shops nearby to end the long day. We went to the hugest Banana Republic ever, it was like museum-sized, and I wanted a small map so I could check off which rooms I had entered. Unfortunately, I missed checking out the Apple store this go-round, and everyone knows that's my "thing." (Just as Huan's "thing" is Niketown.) We passed by it on the way out to the airport though, and it looked pretty awesome.

Out to dinner that night and then to "the Mission" for drinks... apparently that's the fun, hot spot of the city. Finally back to the hotel where Kim & Natty showed up and we had the fab 4 intact.

Saturday the weather was paying us back for the clear blue skies of the previous day. It was cloudy and overcast, and we battled downpours all day, but it didn't dampen our spirits! We enjoyed delicious Californian dim sum and headed down to the Ferry Building to check out the Farmer's Market set up outside. Ok, so it wasn't a great business day for those folks, but we did pick up a delicious bag of California oranges which we enjoyed over the rest of the trip.

(Chinese New Year Parade starting outside the Ferry Building)



We headed back to the hotel for a break to change socks and blowdry our pants, then headed out for another city adventure on foot. We walked through Chinatown, through the North Beach area, which was packed with cool bars that all seemed to serve Fat Tire, one of our favorite beers from Colorado. We stopped briefly again around the Fisherman's Wharf area to catch an ominous view of the Golden Gate Bridge, then after it started pouring again, we headed back to homebase. Luckily the rain didn't last long, and we again found ourselves climbing up Hyde Street and turning around to the amazing view of the entire Bay, the GG Bridge, and Alcatraz.

(Look! Tourists caught in the rain!)



We headed back to get ready for an exciting dinner at the Slanted Door, a restaurant we had read much about and which has been hyped as one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the country. I was skeptical, however, because from what I'd heard it had a "modern" take (combination of traditional Vietnamese using U.S. based ingredients), and I feared a "fusion" disaster. It turned out to be quite a different experience, though. The food was actually really good, but that definitely does not mean it was the best Vietnamese restaurant ever. I could probably find the same quality of food at Eden here in VA at one of my fave local places (say, Huong Viet), but I guess part of the idea behind the "best" mentality is the fact that at Huong Viet you don't get the breathtaking Panoramic view of the Bay Bridge through huge windows as you're dipping into that nuoc mam. (Funny side story: we had to ask them for rice bowls, and as most of the diners were eating like civilized people with forks off the fancy plates, I noticed all of us were eating like we do at home, chopsticks in hand literally shoveling the rice into our mouths with our bowls up at our face!) On top of the amazing view, the atmosphere was just very nice, and there was a super trendy bar area and the food presentation was of the highest quality. I guess that's where the whole "modern" take comes. Modern/Fusion sometimes just refers to things other than the food, I guess. The good part was, we enjoyed the meal immensely and the food itself wasn't "fusion" or whatever other term you want to use. It was excellent, and with the exception of a couple of dishes that were clearly a bit altered to American tastes or otherwise a clear departure from Vietnamese as indicated on the menu, it was spot on. It was about halfway through dinner that I realized what the hype was about, though. Most people don't eat that kind of food on a regular basis, and you'd be hard pressed to find it anywhere else in SF. I guess I take for granted that in a 20 minute drive to Eden, or at home on a regular basis, I can eat "authentic" Vietnamese every day. For the average diner who has a different experience, though, I can see why it's a novelty and worth all the hype. They need to add some real Vietnamese desserts to the menu, though! I mean geez, throw me a bone with some Che Ba Mau or something. That could be a hit served up in a trendy little martini glass type thing!

After dinner Huan, Natty, and I had the bright idea of tracking down some Fat Tire Ale after we had spotted it earlier in the day. After sensible Kim went back to the hotel room to her pajamas, we ventured out of the hotel and basically looked for "BAR" signs. At this point I was in boots for the first time all weekend, and we had made the wise decision to leave our umbrellas behind for this excursion. It was probably after we entered our third bar to check for Fat Tire that it really started to pour, and we kept trekking, searching for that elusive pint of beer. Finally, after we were dripping from head to toe and standing under an awning, we decided to hop in a cab and head to a bar where we knew we'd seen the Fat Tire logo at an intersection we had remembered from earlier in the day. Success! The first sip tasted so good and though I'm not sure I'd do the rainy-walk-in-boots adventure again, I didn't regret it. We chatted cable car mechanism theories over a round of beer... How very San Franciscan of us.

Onto Sunday, probably my favorite day if I had to pick one... likely for the over-indulgent aspects which I will immediately get into. We hopped into our rental car, which was also the ugliest car ever (Pontiac Aztec), to get a head start out to Napa. En route, we were trying to find a place to grab a quick "breakfast," and had come up a bit short on our way out via the Golden Gate Bridge.



We finally told ourselves we'd only stop if we saw an In-N-Out burger, and as if by magic, at that very moment one appeared at the side of the road just before we hit the highway. It was like a good food karma experience. Knowing about all the In-N-Out hype, the burger, fries, and strawberry milkshake was still everything I could have asked for to start the day. Quite delicious for a fast food burger joint, and they pay their employees starting at $10/hr! Might have to pack up and move out West for fast food wages like that.



So, to Napa we carried on... driving through beautifully bright green rolling hills and rows and rows of grape vines everywhere we looked.



After all was said and done, we'd visited and tasted at five different wineries...V. Sattui (bottles sold only at the source), Niebaum-Coppola (Had no idea about this one. They had the Coppola family tree up and everything... was a little too Hollywood for even me, but still set in a beautiful mansion on some 1500 acres), Domaine Chandon (where our fave Newlyweds Nick & Jessica visited), Goosecross (relatively tiny and homey family-owned place), and finally St. Supery (where I picked up a delicious Sauvignon Blanc that tasted like Guava... mm mmm). I will say, after having watched "Sideways" just before this trip, I tried to actually make an effort with the tasting (it's tough to be discriminating after you've been in college drinking wine out of a box) and by the end I was talking about tannins and smelling everything before I drank it and sucking it in my mouth and all that.

(The whole gang in front of the Niebaum-Coppola mansion)



To "kill time" before dinner, we headed to the Napa Valley Health Spa where I was pampered with an amazing massage that put me in a lull and definitely felt great after two days of walking the hills of SF. God, I really sound ridiculous right now. Anyhow. To dinner we go... (If you thought I was ridiculous before... here we really go!)

We dined that evening at French Laundry, one of the finest restaurants in the country. The restaurant is set in an old historic house (once used as a "French Steam Laundry"), seating only about 60 people, which makes for a very cozy and warm ambiance, but still very elegant. The service staff was like I've never seen before, absolutely professional, not to mention young and attractive (haha- ok, I had a dinner crush on a waiter, so sue me! He was a dreamboat.) We enjoyed a delicious and supreme quality 9-course tasting menu that was probably the best meal I've ever eaten and likely the nicest meal I'll eat until I'm 50 or something. Highlights for me were the oysters and Russian caviar served over this incredible tapioca concoction that tasted heavenly. That and this rare Australian beef cooked to absolute perfection. The meal was mostly indescribable, but one I won't forget for some time. Last night I came home and immediately fixed myself a serving of MAMA ramen noodles just to have utter contrast to the night before. Those were also delicious, however.

That concluded our trip, and it was not a bad way to go out. We headed back to SF, packed our bags, and after a couple hours of sleep, Huan and I were up and out around 5 AM to catch our flight back home. It was a mere "long weekend," but we packed in a lot of punch and it felt like much longer. For those of you who have actually made it this far through the update, I highly suggest visiting California. It's a great place, even in the rain, and in obvious and not-so-obvious ways that are hard to immediately describe, it's very different from the East coast. Just remember to pack your sneaks (and an umbrella just in case) if you head to SF!


Current Music: Angels of the Silences, by Counting Crows
Current Mood: pooped (this blog is really like work sometimes!)

California, here we come...

I just wanted to give advance warning to all my loyal readers (you know who you are) about an upcoming break in blogging, due to my travels to the lovely west coast. That's right, tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco, California for a nice long weekend. The occasion is Huan's 25th birthday, which he has deemed extremely worthy and important, and thus, we are celebrating in style. I'm pretty psyched! I haven't been to SF since I was about 10 and even then I think I was all about Alcatraz keychains and the weird street people painted in gold. This time I'm looking forward to soaking in as much as I can of this fabulous city and all the food and fun it has to offer. If I have time, I'd also love to check out the Full House street as well as Mrs. Doubtfire's house and the Salinger residence (Party of Five), but we'll see what happens...because let's face it, when it comes down to it I'm all about being a tourist. Updates and photos to come upon my return. Cheers!


Current Music: Tables and Chairs, by Andrew Bird
Current Mood: excited

My Girl

So yesterday, on the 5th day of the flu and my first "sick day" at home, I was couch-bound and lucky enough to catch "My Girl" and "My Girl 2" back to back on HBO! Oh, how I love this movie! (Mostly the first one, though the sequel is decent I guess.) It reminds me of when I was about 10 years old and Co Dung took me and some of the other cousins to see this in the theater. We figured, "Oh, lighthearted fun kids movie!" Boy were we wrong. But it ended up being such a fun experience and an early lesson on life, though I'm not sure I understood it at the time. I think the lesson we actually came away with was to stay far far away from beehives. Now when I watch the movie, I think about the relationship between Vada and Thomas J. and how well it is portrayed by such young actors, and how easily you become emotionally attached to them. And I think about how I, too, want a friend named Thomas J. just like in the movie. (As an aside, that was definitely Macaulay Culkin's peak moment as an actor... when he's in those glasses! Too cute.) I was watching the movie with Max and wondering where his 7-year-old thoughts were taking him. How funny, that his mom was the one who introduced me to the movie, and here I was sharing it with him. Anyway, just wanted to plug this movie since I had long forgotten about how very poignant and truly enjoyable it is. Great song, too.




Current Music: My Girl, by the Temptations
Current Mood: good

Jumping the Shark

In my multiple conversations about TV this weekend, the phrase "Jump the Shark" came up on more than one occasion. First I was talking to Meevs, someone else who watches as much TV as I do, and she casually dropped it into our chat after I started ranting about the impending doom of The O.C. Then again last night, Kim and I were talking about the same thing (the defining moment of a TV show that sets the stage for its decline) and she says "What's the phrase to describe that?"... and I was like, "Oh, I don't know, but I think Meevs used it this morning and I didn't realize it." Through the simple magic of google, we found out the phrase is indeed, "Jump the Shark," taken from a "Happy Days" episode in which Fonzie literally jumped over a shark on water skis. Interesting, eh? This was all news to me! And of course there is a website devoted to this subject and the moment viewers think TV shows have taken the plunge. It's kind of neat to see how everyone has a different opinion on every show. But yes, to sum, The O.C. may have jumped the shark with Sandy-Rebecca/Marisa-Alex kiss last week. Other moments for me include: Joey & Rachel on friends, Carter & Susan on ER (eew!), Tori and the disappearance of Kelly on Saved by the Bell, and Mikhail Barishnikov on Sex & The City. I could go on forever, but thankfully, I won't.


Current Music: Shanty for the Arethusa, by the Decemberists

Illin'

Well, being sick is no fun. It doesn't happen very often but when it does you're like, wow, this is really terrible and I will never take a healthy day for granted again (yet you do). I'd kind of been in denial the first day or two about it, which ended up kicking me in the butt as today I woke up feeling like crap, having that mucas-y feeling in my chest. The worst is when you trigger a coughing spell and you kind of go halfway and it sounds like this purring in your throat, and you have to get the rest out by hacking up your lung. Just great.

Anyhow, this post simply an excuse for why I have not been on top of my blogging. Today was a good chance for me to catch up on a lot of my TV, though. Quick roundup: The OC is going down the tubes, but at least it still has good music... American Idol is wonderfully entertaining, and I'm predicting Mario Vasquez as the winner as of today. He reminds of me Justin Timberlake, ok?...and I'm loving Abby's new flame on ER-- his name is Eion Bailey, and I finally placed him as the boyfriend to the anorexic girl in Center Stage! Quite a catch...Oh, and I guess it's with serious disappointment that I report Kris & Jon's loss on The Amazing Race. I really thought the good karma couple would win out in the end, but seems I was wrong. And with this next season featuring reality TV has-beens and other quasi-celebs, this will only increase the difficulty of my chances of being cast...Matthew Fox is looking good on Lost; he's really come quite a long way since his Party of Five days. Then again I was always distracted by Scott Wolf, so I don't know. They really do need to release that entire series on DVD, though. Talk about underrated.

Ok, now that I've officially fried my brains for the day in front of the telly, I think I'll head back to the couch to recuperate. Cheerio.


Current Music: Each Coming Night, by Iron and Wine
Current Mood: blech, but actually improving

Happy Tet/Lunar/Vietnamese New Year!

Happy lunar new year! (Nam Moi!) It's the year of the Rooster, so for all of you born in 1993, 1981, 1969, 1957... etc... it's your year and it only comes once every 12 years, so be proud and wear all your roosterisms on your sleeve. I'm not actually sure if the significance of one's year-- either it's good and lucky, or you have to be extra careful all the time... all the details and explanations are pretty confusing.

Never one to spare interesting facts, here are some bits of trivia I dug up about the new year:

-"The rooster is generally regarded as a good symbol but with one flaw. For the superstitious, the Rooster year is an ominous time to tie the wedding knots as it features a lunar anomaly. The Chinese newspapers have been reporting the tales of couples rushing to get married before the so-called 'widow year' begins."

-"Legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying 'This is the animal that hides in your heart.'"
-
-"A common Vietnamese belief is that the first person to enter a house at New Year will bring either good or bad luck. The Vietnamese also believe that there is a [Kitchen] god in every home who travels to heaven at the New Year. In heaven, this god will reveal how good or bad each member of the family has been in the past year."

Every year since I can remember, on the eve of the new year around 11:55 PM, my parents will leave the house and drive around the neighborhood for a little while, then come back and ring the doorbell to be the first official people to enter our home in the New Year. Same thing happened last night, but I had to drag myself out of half-sleep to greet them with a smile and a new year's greeting.

Wishing everyone health, happiness, and good fortune in the coming year!

Runner's High

Huan and I went for our longest run ever downtown Saturday, starting out along the mall toward the Capitol, swinging back around and cutting over to the Tidal Basin and around the Jefferson Memorial, along the river toward the Lincoln, across Memorial Bridge and back, then finally past the Lincoln and back up to finish right by the Washington Monument ("pencil") and WWII memorial. It was somewhere right around a 7-miler, a distance I once would never have considered let alone actually complete. It was really amazing, though, and for the first time I experienced what I believe they call "Runner's High." Somewhere right around the 6-mile mark when I was on the Memorial Bridge, I felt this sudden feeling of euphoria and this amazing jolt of adrenaline. It was kind of out-of-body; my legs felt like they were moving on their own, the movement was natural and easy, and I felt better then than I had at any other point on the run. It was like I had to remind myself where I was and what I was doing. I finally, if only for a moment, figured out why it is that runners really love to run. The feeling during that runner's high and the feeling after you've finished a run is one of such undescribable satisfaction. It's really incredible to push your body and mind to a limit you never thought you could achieve. Pretty cool feeling.


Current Music: Across the Universe, by The Beatles
Current Mood: great

"But I can't stop listening to the sound...

...of two soft voices blended in perfection, from the reels of this record that I've found..."
-"Homesick," Kings of Convenience

Last night I ventured back to the Iota Club (am I a "regular" yet?) with Kelly Alm and Pepper to see the Kings of Convenience put on a wonderful show. These Kings are two guys from Norway who for the sake of comparison resemble Simon & Garfunkel with some sweet finger-picking acoustic guitar stylings and beautiful harmonies with a kind of Nick Drake-y hush and whisper. Their music is incredibly calming and soothing, and to see them perform it live so naturally made me appreciate it that much more. The dynamic between the two guys was pretty interesting-- one was a crazy/outgoing/clownish redhead, the other a more subdued/quiet/handsome model-type (and if you must know, absolutely and completely my "type" of guy... quite the European dreamboat, really). They would clown around a lot on stage, joke with the audience and chat/bicker amongst themselves (in Norwegian even!), but as soon as they quit that act and started playing their music, it was like a hush fell over the room and everyone was completely entranced. It was a great experience and I'm glad I got to seem them because word has it they don't come to the U.S. too much to tour. And when I showed up at the club (2 hours ahead of time!) there was already a line streaming outside. For a while it was very reminiscent of the Ray LaMontagne evening of heartbreak, except that we actually made it in this time and they cut off the line shortly after us. Good call. This Iota club is creating lots of unnecessary drama, though!! I really wish there was a website called "Band Popularity Meter" where one could go and effectively gauge a band's current status to know how many people to expect to line up outside a tiny show. Anyway, it was another great night of music with good company. Glad I got to see Kel again as it has been more than a few months since we've enjoyed any quality time.

Photos from the evening...

Kings of Convenience, Erland Oye (left) and Eirik Glambek Boeand:




Eirik Glambek Boeand (the hottie):




Two thumbs up:




Current Music: Love is No Big Truth, by Kings of Convenience
Current Mood: most excellent

Virtual tour

Live out your NYC tourist dreams vicariously through these photos from last weekend... I've even offered you drippings of historical facts that you are sure to enjoy.


View from Lo's "temporary" office in the Flatiron. Overlooking Madison Square Park with the Chrysler Building in the background:




Next is the MetLife building, built in 1909 as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. It was modeled after the "campanile" (not sure what that means-- belltower perhaps?) at St. Mark's Square in Venice... all my little Italy lovers (you know who you are) will have to confirm this one. At 51 stories, it was the tallest building in the world when it was built until surpassed by the Woolworth Building in 1913.




And now, for the sweetest and also most bizarre building in the city.. The Flatiron. Built in 1902, this 22-story (Or 21? It's up for debate.) building was modeled after a Greek column, employing three distinct parts. It was one of the earliest buildings to use a steel frame and is considered one of NYC's first skyscrapers. At its most narrow point, it is only 6 feet wide!




I'll spare you a more detailed architectural analysis for fear of embarassing myself or giving you false information. It's pretty amazing, though... Looks like a wall from this angle (What a beautiful and clear blue sky day!):





Here is the view from the Central Park ice skating rink, owned by none other than "The Donald." That was the definitely the high point of tourism for the weekend. Kim's building is in the background-- the tall one with the black/tinted windows outlined in white brick.




Last photo... View of Lo's "Cosby Show" street in the Upper West Side:




That concludes the tour. Hope you enjoyed it... Happy Friday to all!


Current Music: Landlocked Blues, by Bright Eyes
Current Mood: relaxed and in my homebody element

Chicks and sports (cont'd)

So Auddie has a SUPERBOWL PARTY to go to on Sunday. First of all, who throws co-ed Superbowl parties in 6th grade? Really now. These kids...

Yes, that means it's a boy who invited this other girl, and she was allowed to invite two other friends, and Auddie is one of them. We were sitting at dinner when she tells me this, so immediately I'm like "What are you guys going to do? Because clearly you aren't going to watch that game for 3 hours..." And she's all "Eat! Play!!" And I kind of give her an eye roll or something, so she insists that "she'll learn" as she watches it (again). So I go straight into trivia mode and am like, "Do you even know who's playing?" (She did.) And then she shares with me that a touchdown is worth 6, the kick after that is 1, and a kick by itself is 3, and if you get tackled in your own endzone it's 2. I quickly reminded her that knowing how the scoring works doesn't do much in terms of overall knowledge of the game.

Sigh... well, we'll see what comes of this "Superbowl party." I guess I'll be happy at all if they are watching the game and not up to some freaky spin the bottle or whatever the kiddies are doing these days. On another note, I'm kinda feeling like a reject because my 11 year old sister has Superbowl plans and as of yet, I do not. Man oh man... she's going to be a handful.


Current Music: All at Once, by Pete Yorn
Current Mood: quite good

This is what you get...

A few (or 10) random observations...

1) When I'm in the car trying to make a turn and there are pedestrians who have the "OK" signal, I'm always cursing under my breath and slowly inching to run them over because they all seem to take their sweet time. But I noticed today that when I'm the ped and I have the walk signal, I am totally in my own world and not paying a damn bit of attention to the cars who are trying to turn. Not at all! Very occasionally I might do the speed walk if they look like they're gonna run me over, but most of the time I think I just stroll. So this is me as a pedestrian apologizing to the cars, and me as a driver understanding the slow pedestrians. All better now.

2) Let's talk for a moment about the homeless man who wants to squeegee my windshield. Once I was about third in line at a light when I noticed him squeegeeing the first car in line. I thought to myself, "Now why did you let him start squeegeeing halfway through the light cycle? You're gonna hold up the line and people are gonna get pissed!" But then a few weeks later I was first in line and I realized how it happens. You're just there, stopped, and the guy just walks right over and starts up with his squeegee on your windshield. It kind of freaks you out for a minute. You have the panic about what you'll do if/when the light turns green, and at the same time you scramble for your wallet because you gotta give him a tip, right? Now I don't mean for this to sound condescending or whatever, I'm just trying to seriously address this dilemma. What if you were caught without any cash? The guy would probably think you're an ungrateful and rude a-hole. It does seem a bit forward to just approach someone's vehicle and start spraying water all over it while they're en route, though. So anyway, when this happened to me, the guy walks over to the window and I give him some cash, but he still has half the window to wipe down when the light turns green! EEEEE. People behind me are getting antsy, I'm slowly trying to inch away but he walks in front of the car to finish the job, and I'm somehow trying to indicate, "It's ok!! Just go!" Finally he gets it and I drive away, but one of my windshield wipers is still propped up! Man, I'm stressed out. I drive a little ways wondering if it will somehow fall down by itself (clearly there's no way), and eventually I have to pull over and put it down myself. I respect this guy for wanting to earn his spare change instead of shaking a cup on the corner, but we have to work on the green light/windshield problem. Make the lights longer?

3) There's a random little Vietnamese restaurant downtown on L street. I guess it serves Pho and some other things. It claimed to serve authentic Vietnamese "cousin" (as opposed to cuisine) which I'll actually take as a good sign because if you can't get the English on the sign right, chances are the food is decent. I really thought I only saw this around Eden or actually in VN, but sure enough, right in the heart of the city there are folks who make the same mistakes. Gotta love it.

4) Did W dye his hair for the State of the Union or was it just the bad lighting on my TV?

5) Very excited about potential warm(er) weather as I'll be able to resume some outdoor runs. Who's comin' with me?

6) Huan sent this bizarro link to me. Somehow they are able to "read your mind" (by asking a trillion questions) and guess which dictator of sitcom character you are thinking of. Not too amazing, but still worth a few clicks if you're bored.

7) I just noticed that the same guy is in the Capital One ("Marco, Po-No"), Jetta, and Enterprise commercial. Weird, huh. "Commercial" actors are very strange. You usually associate them with their one gig, but for this guy I guess he's trying to advertise for everything. I'm sure that'll come back to bite him in the butt when he becomes a big time actor and they show these old embarassing films of his career start. Or maybe not since he's making good moolah. Just did some googling and found this article about him. Turns out he's done about a dozen more. Crazy.

8) "Million Dollar Baby" is probably the worst title for a movie that exists in my brain's movie database.

9) Did "Finding Neverland" really get nominated for Best Picture? I haven't even seen it, but come on now...The best? Take this bullet point with a grain of salt, because apparently I have an aversion to Peter Pan-themed experiences which I only recently discovered.

10) Vietnamese TV (I'm sure that's the technical name) was here tonight filming my gramps in the living room. It was kinda cool. I wonder if they wanted his autograph or what. Apparently he was doing a little "Happy New Year" greeting since Têt is coming up. Gotta love the VN celebs.


Current Music: Karma Police, by Radiohead
Current Mood: content