P, Manchmod and I went to Brigantine, NJ for the weekend. It's a very beautiful island, despite some of the hilariously ostentatious homes and the neon casinos in the background. NJ can be a beautiful state. For more pictures, go here.
28 June 2009
Brigantine, NJ
P, Manchmod and I went to Brigantine, NJ for the weekend. It's a very beautiful island, despite some of the hilariously ostentatious homes and the neon casinos in the background. NJ can be a beautiful state. For more pictures, go here.
22 June 2009
I wish I could paint like this
AL and I went and checked out the work of Valeri Larko one weekend in late April. She does small size studies first, and then large scale paintings. The industrial subject captured in paint is a nice juxtoposition. She told us it takes her months to finish a painting. I don't know how she does it -- it's a study in perserverance.
18 June 2009
Longboarding in NYC
So Uptown Skate School is running a coupon special for skateboard (longboard, mind you) lessons. I've signed M and me up for a lesson, although I'm nervous.
I took skateboarding lessons at Chelsea Piers one summer with the hare-brained idea that I would be this super cool badass chick doing crazy ollies and other stuff (that I wouldn't know about, since I know nothing about skateboarding). I was 27, and everyone else was 8.
It's funny how fantasies exist purely in one's head for a reason, as my mental imagery of my skateboarding prowess came nowhere close to reality. At least not in this universe. I am deathly terrified of heights. When my instructor put me at the top of a mini-half pipe, I promptly decided skateboarding was not for me. I gave him back his board and went home.
17 June 2009
15 June 2009
12 June 2009
VDM is beyond tacky
KB and I caught up over dinner at Via Dei Mille (VDM). The place is marketing itself as Soho's version of Cipriani, but it's got a long way to go before it can come close.
The service needed serious help and training. We arrived to a raucous happy hour event at the front of the restaurant. Our hostess didn't realize we had a dinner reservation and almost wouldn't let us in. Once we were seated, we were asked by the wait staff to move to two different tables. We eventually ended up at a table next to the bathroom. Our server took so long to check in on us between courses, we often wondered if he had forgotten about us.
The food was mediocre at best. Our server recommended the meatballs to start because they were one of the more popular dishes on the menu. After tasting the dry underseasoned hunks of meat, I didn't want to imagine what the other starters were like. I cleaned my plate anyway. Mostly because our server took a long time to return to our table, but also because I was worried that my entree was going to be worse. My Dover Sole entree wasn't that bad. It wasn't great either, and at a $28, I would have expected the sole to taste less fishy and the tomatoes to taste less canned, but I was happy to take what I could get.
Finally, the clientele came nowhere close to the sceney trendsters and socialites at Cipriani's. I didn't realize that it was possible to be even more obnoxious than euro-trash B&T, but the orange-tinted women next to us that compulsively took flash pictures of themselves every 2 seconds or so proved me wrong. They wore acid-washed cutoff jean shorts (newsflash: 80s clothes were ugly, which is why people in the 80s stopped wearing them once they reached the 90s), and one girl's shorts were so short, KB asked me several times if she was wearing pants (upon closer observation, we realized she was). KB and I were grossly engrossed, not because we wanted to be, but because the flash going off in our eyes every 2 seconds or so forced us to participate. We were further fascinated and horrified when a meathead stallion and a S&M outfitted bleach-blond walked into one of VDM's single serving bathrooms together and then reappeared 15 minutes later. Eew.
As we left, one of the proprietors apologized for making us move several times (which we appreciate). He then NAME DROPPED (can you believe it?!) and explained that they had to reorganize the tables because Rihanna's party was running late. We doubt Rihanna would actually go there. Unless they paid her.
If I were a betting gal, I'd say VDM won't last long unless it makes some drastic changes. It's a good thing I'm not a betting gal!
The service needed serious help and training. We arrived to a raucous happy hour event at the front of the restaurant. Our hostess didn't realize we had a dinner reservation and almost wouldn't let us in. Once we were seated, we were asked by the wait staff to move to two different tables. We eventually ended up at a table next to the bathroom. Our server took so long to check in on us between courses, we often wondered if he had forgotten about us.
The food was mediocre at best. Our server recommended the meatballs to start because they were one of the more popular dishes on the menu. After tasting the dry underseasoned hunks of meat, I didn't want to imagine what the other starters were like. I cleaned my plate anyway. Mostly because our server took a long time to return to our table, but also because I was worried that my entree was going to be worse. My Dover Sole entree wasn't that bad. It wasn't great either, and at a $28, I would have expected the sole to taste less fishy and the tomatoes to taste less canned, but I was happy to take what I could get.
Finally, the clientele came nowhere close to the sceney trendsters and socialites at Cipriani's. I didn't realize that it was possible to be even more obnoxious than euro-trash B&T, but the orange-tinted women next to us that compulsively took flash pictures of themselves every 2 seconds or so proved me wrong. They wore acid-washed cutoff jean shorts (newsflash: 80s clothes were ugly, which is why people in the 80s stopped wearing them once they reached the 90s), and one girl's shorts were so short, KB asked me several times if she was wearing pants (upon closer observation, we realized she was). KB and I were grossly engrossed, not because we wanted to be, but because the flash going off in our eyes every 2 seconds or so forced us to participate. We were further fascinated and horrified when a meathead stallion and a S&M outfitted bleach-blond walked into one of VDM's single serving bathrooms together and then reappeared 15 minutes later. Eew.
As we left, one of the proprietors apologized for making us move several times (which we appreciate). He then NAME DROPPED (can you believe it?!) and explained that they had to reorganize the tables because Rihanna's party was running late. We doubt Rihanna would actually go there. Unless they paid her.
If I were a betting gal, I'd say VDM won't last long unless it makes some drastic changes. It's a good thing I'm not a betting gal!
10 June 2009
LEGO appeals to the hipster nerd in all of us
as it rolls out Frank Lloyd Wright Collection® LEGO Architecture sets... Among them are the Guggenheim (shown below) and Fallingwater.
02 June 2009
I love mascots
I know that's weird, but I'm a little obsessed with them. Not in a creepy fetishist way, but because mascots usually involve the anthropomorphization of animals. Animals don't have human characteristics! That'd be CRAZY! (Except for the animals on the Brian Fellows show, that is.)
RIP Dr Tiller
RIP George Tiller. Thank you for your bravery and dedication.
You were a pillar in your community and were mercilessly gunned down while entering your church, a place a sanctuary, love and worship.
Thank you for being a courageous man who stood by your convictions despite death threats, bomb attacks and a previous shooting. After being shot in both arms during the 90's, you still showed up to work the next day all because you understood that the ability for a woman to choose to have a child was essential to her ability to be free.
The Tiller Murder And Its Ramifications - CBS News
You were a pillar in your community and were mercilessly gunned down while entering your church, a place a sanctuary, love and worship.Thank you for being a courageous man who stood by your convictions despite death threats, bomb attacks and a previous shooting. After being shot in both arms during the 90's, you still showed up to work the next day all because you understood that the ability for a woman to choose to have a child was essential to her ability to be free.
The Tiller Murder And Its Ramifications - CBS News
01 June 2009
Sperm facial, anyone?
A few years ago, I wrote about a disastrous date with Mr. if-you-market-it-properly-people-will-buy-anything-even-beer-named-cum. Well, I guess he was right. Sort of.
According to this blurb in NYMag:
Spermine, a powerful anti-oxidant originally discovered in, yes, human sperm, is said to diminish wrinkles and smooth the skin. The substance is now being synthesized in laboratories and sold by a Norwegian company called (seriously) Bioforskning. Spermine facials (really) cost $250 at Townhouse Spa, where the substance is penetrated with ultrasound and infrared light (a more basic treatment can be found for $125 at the nearby Graceful Services). Also available at Townhouse for $175: snail-secretion facials.
Here's the link to the company that produces and sells the stuff: http://www.skinscience-spermine.com/english/index.html
According to this blurb in NYMag:
Spermine, a powerful anti-oxidant originally discovered in, yes, human sperm, is said to diminish wrinkles and smooth the skin. The substance is now being synthesized in laboratories and sold by a Norwegian company called (seriously) Bioforskning. Spermine facials (really) cost $250 at Townhouse Spa, where the substance is penetrated with ultrasound and infrared light (a more basic treatment can be found for $125 at the nearby Graceful Services). Also available at Townhouse for $175: snail-secretion facials.
Here's the link to the company that produces and sells the stuff: http://www.skinscience-spermine.com/english/index.html
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