April 3, 2012

I didn’t read any of the Harry Potters. I shudder at the thought of picking up a stephanie meyer’s book except to use as a wheel chock for when I need to change the oil in my car. I was, however, intrigued by the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It is impossible to go through a week without someone mentioning it or seeing it on the subway. and since the movie opened last weekend, the Hunger Games have been all people can talk about at work, too.

I was a bit hesitant at first to read the Hunger Games, likening it to the Twilight series – adequately written, aimed at teenaged readers, and incredibly embarassing to be caught reading on the subway. But then I heard about the story:

Hunger Games is written in the voice of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive.

wait a second….

I’ve heard this plot before…. Read More »

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Sinatra at the Sands

March 26, 2012

“the sands is proud to present a wonderful new show, a man and his music. the music of count basie and his great band. and the man is frank sinatra.”

this familiar opening is the start of one of my favorite albums of all time, Sinatra at the Sands. I really like the Frank, Dean, Ella, Etta, era of music, but for me, this one is the best. Not only is it full of familiar songs done live, Sinatra has some ad lib dialog with the audience in addition to his two monologues. He introduces the amazing Count Basie orchestra and a certain audience member, Quincy Jones, as well. This album is set up to be one continuous show, where the audience applause starts at the end of one track and goes right into the next, making it as close to the live experience as we can get. I don’t think Sinatra is on a formal stage, because of the way he interacts with the audience, it definitely has more of a lounge-type of feel, which also makes this album unique.

After the quick introduction, Sinatra and the Count Basie orchestra go right into a classic, “Come Fly with Me”, which is not only upbeat, but also kind of hints for the audience to “come fly” with Sinatra. The beginning half of the album has the slower, swoon-ier, serenades like “I’ve Got a Crush on You”, “Street of Dreams”, and “One for my Baby” – which Sinatra describes as a “drunk song”.

“his broad flew the coop with another guy and all the bread”.

This set list picks up with “You Make me Feel So Young” and “Luck be a Lady”, but then oscillates between the calming, familiar haze of the slower “It was a Very Good Year” and the faster “Get me to the Church on Time”, ending with “My Kind of Town”. His banter with the audience and final reprise is a great example of Sinatra’s charm and sense of humor. Have a listen, you just might rediscover an old favorite.

“one more? that’s what I’ll be saying to the bartender”

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Science!

March 6, 2012

The problem: big fancy hdtv with no over-the-air signal with no antenna nearby and the stores are already closed.

The solution: use a coaxial cable, some chicken wire, a bit of aluminum foil, and a giant steel pot to fashion an antenna

Poor Man antenna

this surprisingly worked really well – at first the chicken wire sort of did the job, but the addition of the giant steel pot made the antenna contraption work as well as an antenna you’d buy at the store. so when an episode of The Bachelor (sabrina…) is airing and you must see it, get some wire and a giant steel pot and you’ll be watching horrible reality tv in no time!

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One Liners – FSM

February 23, 2012

“Just went from six to midnight”

“andre the giant, out of the shot, please. mutumbo, out of the shot!”

“I bet you think strippers like you, too”

“you sound like you’re from london!” Read More »

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The Map

February 22, 2012

I love free things. I love awesome things. Most of all, I love things that are both awesome and free. this applies to things like national parks, the Smithsonian museums, green markets, and the Express crossword. Recently, my cousin from NYC was able to get a hold of a subway map that is both these things.

A map? yes. a map. it’s an MTA subway map, which is always free, but what makes it awesome is that it is a map of the MTA Night Service. even the Village Voice agrees!

Nyc subway maps

What makes this so special is that it is a limited edition map, only 25,000 are distributed. you had to get it at one of two distribution locations, so you can’t just pick it up anywhere. on the reverse side, it also has a big piece of art on it, making it not only highly functional for the new york city night crowd, but also quite beautiful. so good, in fact, it deserves to be framed!

if you were unable to get your hands on a copy, you can get your own pdf version here. but it might be a little costly to have it printed in all its map-ly glory.

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Breckenridge

February 17, 2012

Breckenridge 2012-0925.jpg

what happens when you get 15 people in one house for one week to go snowboarding at Breckenridge? unfortunately, this is not a rant on cramming people into a house, there was no Real World-type drama, but rather an awesome awesome trip with a ton of new friends!

Read More »

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Under or Over?

February 15, 2012

I had posted before about government workers being overpaid, but now, a new study by the Congressional Budget Office provides some detailed insight. I read this article and was intrigued by some of the implications.

this graph kind of summarizes the differences pretty well. It is interesting how the private sector puts a higher dollar value on higher education, where the government does not. this simple stacked bar graph seems to speak volumes to me.

Read More »

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100 Foods

February 9, 2012

I first saw this list through facebook and wanted to see just how many of these I’ve crossed off the list. I like that the list is very diverse in terms of ethnic and unique foods, however, if you live in a metropolitan area, you’ve likely been exposed to a lot of these already. some are only available in certain regions like alligator and chitlins.

1. Abalone
2. Absinthe
3. Alligator
4. Baba Ghanoush
5. Bagel & Lox
6. Baklava
7. BBQ Ribs
8. Bellini

Read More »

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6 years

January 30, 2012

enjoying maple taffy

6 years ago, we visited Mont Tremblant in Quebec, CA on a spring break trip made for college kids. it was definitely an experience – we rode the 12+ hours in the Jack Daniels tour bus, the conditions were mostly wet, and we learned quickly that we were easily the oldest ones in the club/bar because the drinking age is 18 or 19. the above picture was taken at the maple shop, where they pour hot maple syrup over ice to help it crystallize and then it had the consistency of loose taffy.

Read More »

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Tremblant: Revisited

January 25, 2012

fred sol wade at the creperie

6 years ago, my two friends and I went on a spring break trip to Mont Tremblant to snowboard for a week. there were a few things we learned really quick about this ski town located 2 hours outside Montreal: (1) ski town food is really expensive and (2) the Canadian drinking age is 18 or 19, so you have to be super careful (or reckless?) with who you talk to in the bars. this trip was a really fun trip, however it was really warm and it rained a bit – so the snowboarding wasn’t ideal, but still completely memorable.

Read More »

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    Picture Taker. Adventuring Cooker. Avid Traveler. Mass Transit Regulator. Everything Eater. Powderin' Snowboarder. Xbox Gamer. DIY creator. Life Awesomer.

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