This past weekend I took a little time to catch up with some old coworker friends out at Lake Tahoe, CA. Actually, more like Lake Tahoe, NV. Or both. You get the point. I haven't skiied for two full years, but nonetheless, Sean and I flew out to San Fran on Thursday, met up with Ewa and her significant other and Kathy and her significant other, and headed out of town bright and early Friday morning, reaching Truckee at a record-setting pace of 3 hours.
After renting skis from a local shop, with an employee that was just soooo stoked on everything, we had two and a half days of awesome weather and plenty of good snow (spring skiing, at its best!). Despite eating snow, face-plant style, only on Friday, I can tell you that every joint and muscle in my body is pretty much screaming for oil and lubrication. I guess that might also be related to the fact that we consumed a few tasty beverages (not a lot, I might add) on Saturday night and apparently I didn't hydrate myself before hand or early the next day. So I woke up on Sunday feeling like something was wrong, I had a splitting headache and my joints (especially my upper body) were incredibly tender. Apparently, I am suffering from dehydration. It got so bad that at lunchtime I was considering throwing in the towl on the day because I was feeling light-headed and a bit dizzy and my neck was really really stiff. It's now Monday and I still have the headache and the joint aches (not to mention a sore throat and a cough) despite having guzzled gallons of water.
But, regardless, the weekend was an awesome time for everyone. We all improved our form and style on the slopes and we all lost some money at the casinos on Saturday. Oh wait, that wasn't really fun....
I just arrived back in New York after taking a delayed (as always) red-eye back from Cali. I was lucky enough to get a little bump up to First class, which makes sleeping much easier. I actually slept pretty well, at least until my neighbor (who had the window seat) decided to get up about six times to go visit his family in the rows up in front. I mean, common. You don't need to kick me, stick your butt in my face, and wake me up six times in a five hour flight. If you wanna get up that much, switch seats with me for crying out loud and it will be easier for everyone.
I'm not kranky, really....
The J. Riley
Monday, February 28, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The Biweekly Update
It seems like all people do is whine when they don't see a new blog entry everyday. Well, if you people would comment more often, maybe I would feel like people read it and I would be motivated to put important things like Champions League soccer and online poker on the backburner and would let everyone know what I'm up to ;o)....
So, my baby sister Faryn (she's now 18) and my mom came out this past weekend to visit. It was Faryn's first trip to a REAL big city (since SF is really a small big city) and was mom's second visit out here. They arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a red-eye flight on thursday night and proceeded to nap for a few hours after arriving. Fine by me, I had work to do!! Friday night was my introduction to them of New York's darker reputation when we went to see Rent! on Broadway. Let's see, the main characters are a group of friends, most of whom have AIDS, some of which are drug addicts, they deal with homeless people, and several of them are gay or lesbians. That outta be an eye-opener! Well, much to my satisfaction, they loved it! I didn't think Faryn liked it until she kept coming home at night and turning on the soundtrack in iTunes :) . Yea, I guess she liked it!
Saturday morning, after two hours of make-up application, blow-dryers, and showers, we headed downtown for brunch. In true style, we found a street and started walking around looking for something new. We came across a nice little French cafe in SoHo and had some authentic euro-breakfast. It was really splendid, full of flavor and, as usual, just enough food for a brunch. Excellent. We did the usual tourists things for the rest of the afternoon, as evidenced by the pictures we took:
http://justin.sixpak.org/pictures/05-Mom%20and%20Faryn's%20Visit/
Sorry, some of them need a bit of editing, like rotation. You'll have to wait a bit for that.
Saturday night, the festivities began all over, with dinner at a Spanish restaurant with Paul, Cathy, D, D's mom Roberta, and D's cousin Jeff. Good find, D, we had a great meal. I guess Faryn likes the fact that NYC doesn't card people, and she took advantage with the pitchers of Sangria that we had ordered for the table ;o). After the ridiculously sized and moderately priced meal, we continued with liberal New York evenings by attending a potty-mouthed comedy show at Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village. There was definitely some hilarious gigs going on there, for shizzle....
Sunday morning, we did the French brunch thing at one of my favorite spots, Rue de Crepes. Cheap, tasty brunch way over in Chelsea, near some excellent men's clothing stores (ahem!). I dig those shops, but there's never anything I can afford. So, we headed to Broadway and did some shopping at more realisticly priced stores. You know, the ones where the jeans are only $150 rather than $250. No jeans were purchased, but I did hook myself up with a couple $10 shirts. I almost pulled the trigger on the Zara shoes, but I just couldn't rationalize spending so much money on something that might not match my wardrobe. But I might be back....Mom and Faryn found some good deals on items at H&M as well as some other girly stores. Faryn found an awesome Brooklyn sweatshirt at the hip-hop store, which is one of my favorites on the strip. That's where I shop for my bling and other urban-wear ;o).
Since it's late, a few more quick items. I went to the orthodonist's today for a consultation. It's never a good sign when he starts by saying "I don't want you to get a complex over this, but...." . Yea, I know, I'm an orally genetic mutant with every possible problem. Thanks for validating this once again. I had hoped that somehow my teeth had straightened out, my cross-bite had gone away, my lower jaw moved forward, my upper pallet had spread, and I learned how to use my tongue properly to speak and swallow in the past year and half. Damn! Guess I'll have to wait a few more years before those things fix themselves.
I got a busy couple of weeks ahead of me, so we'll see how the blogging goes. I head off to the fresh snow of California tomorrow night for a weekend of skiing and liver-damaging recreational activities. Next week, the Peruvians arrive for three weeks of intimate living conditions and fun in the sun....I mean freezing cold. Should be a good time, I hope they don't get sick of me and kick me out of my own apartment ;o).
Peace out. Go Liverpool (in Champion's League, you know!).
The J. Riley
So, my baby sister Faryn (she's now 18) and my mom came out this past weekend to visit. It was Faryn's first trip to a REAL big city (since SF is really a small big city) and was mom's second visit out here. They arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a red-eye flight on thursday night and proceeded to nap for a few hours after arriving. Fine by me, I had work to do!! Friday night was my introduction to them of New York's darker reputation when we went to see Rent! on Broadway. Let's see, the main characters are a group of friends, most of whom have AIDS, some of which are drug addicts, they deal with homeless people, and several of them are gay or lesbians. That outta be an eye-opener! Well, much to my satisfaction, they loved it! I didn't think Faryn liked it until she kept coming home at night and turning on the soundtrack in iTunes :) . Yea, I guess she liked it!
Saturday morning, after two hours of make-up application, blow-dryers, and showers, we headed downtown for brunch. In true style, we found a street and started walking around looking for something new. We came across a nice little French cafe in SoHo and had some authentic euro-breakfast. It was really splendid, full of flavor and, as usual, just enough food for a brunch. Excellent. We did the usual tourists things for the rest of the afternoon, as evidenced by the pictures we took:
http://justin.sixpak.org/pictures/05-Mom%20and%20Faryn's%20Visit/
Sorry, some of them need a bit of editing, like rotation. You'll have to wait a bit for that.
Saturday night, the festivities began all over, with dinner at a Spanish restaurant with Paul, Cathy, D, D's mom Roberta, and D's cousin Jeff. Good find, D, we had a great meal. I guess Faryn likes the fact that NYC doesn't card people, and she took advantage with the pitchers of Sangria that we had ordered for the table ;o). After the ridiculously sized and moderately priced meal, we continued with liberal New York evenings by attending a potty-mouthed comedy show at Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village. There was definitely some hilarious gigs going on there, for shizzle....
Sunday morning, we did the French brunch thing at one of my favorite spots, Rue de Crepes. Cheap, tasty brunch way over in Chelsea, near some excellent men's clothing stores (ahem!). I dig those shops, but there's never anything I can afford. So, we headed to Broadway and did some shopping at more realisticly priced stores. You know, the ones where the jeans are only $150 rather than $250. No jeans were purchased, but I did hook myself up with a couple $10 shirts. I almost pulled the trigger on the Zara shoes, but I just couldn't rationalize spending so much money on something that might not match my wardrobe. But I might be back....Mom and Faryn found some good deals on items at H&M as well as some other girly stores. Faryn found an awesome Brooklyn sweatshirt at the hip-hop store, which is one of my favorites on the strip. That's where I shop for my bling and other urban-wear ;o).
Since it's late, a few more quick items. I went to the orthodonist's today for a consultation. It's never a good sign when he starts by saying "I don't want you to get a complex over this, but...." . Yea, I know, I'm an orally genetic mutant with every possible problem. Thanks for validating this once again. I had hoped that somehow my teeth had straightened out, my cross-bite had gone away, my lower jaw moved forward, my upper pallet had spread, and I learned how to use my tongue properly to speak and swallow in the past year and half. Damn! Guess I'll have to wait a few more years before those things fix themselves.
I got a busy couple of weeks ahead of me, so we'll see how the blogging goes. I head off to the fresh snow of California tomorrow night for a weekend of skiing and liver-damaging recreational activities. Next week, the Peruvians arrive for three weeks of intimate living conditions and fun in the sun....I mean freezing cold. Should be a good time, I hope they don't get sick of me and kick me out of my own apartment ;o).
Peace out. Go Liverpool (in Champion's League, you know!).
The J. Riley
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Viewpoint Employee, Who Are You??
Okay, which one of you is working at Viewpoint / Mediastream? I know the groupies frequent my blog, but I'm not familiar with you!! Email me or something
Back at the Lighthouse
I took a walk down memory-lane today by eating at the first university dining hall in years. My coworker is a kosher guy, and there was a rumor floating around that there was a nurse's school up in the Bronx, across the street from the hospital I'm at right now, that served kosher meals at lunchtime. So after a successful security breach, we found ourselves in the dining hall, tray in hand, reading the featured cuisines of the day. Sweet. I was hoping to relive my college days and find myself in the middle of a food fight between the students and the professors, but no such luck today.
Maybe next week....
J. R.
Maybe next week....
J. R.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Note To Self:
Note To Self:
From now on, log off of Skype if you decide to leave your computer on overnight. Otherwise, Alex (in Spain) will use his intellect to determine that you must be awake at 4:00 in the morning, and will not realize that maybe you just didn't log off of Skype. And, since he thinks I must be awake at 4:00 in the morning, it is okay to call me at that time, waking my tired ass up because my speakers are also on. Lift pillow, place over ears and head, and press firmly until ringing subsides (usually about 5-10 minutes). :o|
On a side note, I've been told to check out Flea Market Cafe and 7A in the East Village....
J. Riley, who couldn't fall back asleep after some stupid German called me at 4:00am (I can say that because he, like most of my friends outside of those who live in NYC, doesn't read my blog)
From now on, log off of Skype if you decide to leave your computer on overnight. Otherwise, Alex (in Spain) will use his intellect to determine that you must be awake at 4:00 in the morning, and will not realize that maybe you just didn't log off of Skype. And, since he thinks I must be awake at 4:00 in the morning, it is okay to call me at that time, waking my tired ass up because my speakers are also on. Lift pillow, place over ears and head, and press firmly until ringing subsides (usually about 5-10 minutes). :o|
On a side note, I've been told to check out Flea Market Cafe and 7A in the East Village....
J. Riley, who couldn't fall back asleep after some stupid German called me at 4:00am (I can say that because he, like most of my friends outside of those who live in NYC, doesn't read my blog)
Monday, February 14, 2005
Visitor Preparation
This weekend begins the standard spring migration of visitors, here to enjoy the New York lifestyle at the expense of my living space ;o) . The following groups have "booked" the "guest room" in my apartment for the spring:
- My Mom and youngest sister (this weekend)
- Some friends from Peru
- My other sister (and just about all of her friends)
- Some friends from Denmark
All of these folks will enjoy the lavish comfort of five-star hospitality and living quarters with a self-provided continental breakfast, lunch, and dinner while enjoying the company of world class chefs (me), personal tour-guides (me), and a personal, professional concierge service (me). Are you thinking about a luxury trip to the center of the universe as well? Book now, space is limited!
Discounted stays void where prohibited. Offer not valid for convicted felons.
Cool, check out the new "Comments" link below, provided by Google!
J. Riley, a fully-recovered caffeine-holic
- My Mom and youngest sister (this weekend)
- Some friends from Peru
- My other sister (and just about all of her friends)
- Some friends from Denmark
All of these folks will enjoy the lavish comfort of five-star hospitality and living quarters with a self-provided continental breakfast, lunch, and dinner while enjoying the company of world class chefs (me), personal tour-guides (me), and a personal, professional concierge service (me). Are you thinking about a luxury trip to the center of the universe as well? Book now, space is limited!
Discounted stays void where prohibited. Offer not valid for convicted felons.
Cool, check out the new "Comments" link below, provided by Google!
J. Riley, a fully-recovered caffeine-holic
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Edvard Munch's "The Scream"
What is wrong with me?
My pulse is racing.
My mind feels like a vast quarry with visions of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" racing through it. How did this happen?
Was it the fact that I drank a bottle of wine last night while playing poker with someone on the other side of the planet earth, shortly before watching TV and drinking a Bacardi Limone and Coke?
Was it the fact that I got six hours of sleep last night and woke up on my own at 8:30am on a Sunday morning, when I usually can't wake up until noon after going to bed at 2:30am?
Was it the cappuchino that I drank this afternoon with my brunch that gave me a caffeine high, and I am now coming off of it just like I did with Juliano's last year when I had a mocha on an empty stomach?
Was it hearing that the end of my cohabitation of the best city in the world with Paul and Cathy is now just months and weeks away?
Was it hearing about the plans for my vacation to Argentina, which is being organized by someone else, someone that I don't know?
Is it the culmination of all these things, with a strong base being founded by last night's activities and the effects of the chemicals on my body?
What is wrong with me?
My pulse is racing.
My pulse is racing.
My mind feels like a vast quarry with visions of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" racing through it. How did this happen?
Was it the fact that I drank a bottle of wine last night while playing poker with someone on the other side of the planet earth, shortly before watching TV and drinking a Bacardi Limone and Coke?
Was it the fact that I got six hours of sleep last night and woke up on my own at 8:30am on a Sunday morning, when I usually can't wake up until noon after going to bed at 2:30am?
Was it the cappuchino that I drank this afternoon with my brunch that gave me a caffeine high, and I am now coming off of it just like I did with Juliano's last year when I had a mocha on an empty stomach?
Was it hearing that the end of my cohabitation of the best city in the world with Paul and Cathy is now just months and weeks away?
Was it hearing about the plans for my vacation to Argentina, which is being organized by someone else, someone that I don't know?
Is it the culmination of all these things, with a strong base being founded by last night's activities and the effects of the chemicals on my body?
What is wrong with me?
My pulse is racing.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
The Eyelids
I'm getting tired of these chronic issues with my eyes. Come on, it's been almost a full year now. Does anyone know if pharmacies sell prosthetic eyelids?
Monday, February 07, 2005
Amnesia
I recently experienced a terrible bout of amnesia, and I am not happy about it whatsoever. In fact, I am livid about it.
Here in New York, many of us do not have doorman at our buildings. I actually prefer not to have someone open the door for me, because I am perfectly capable and I feel sort of snobby when someone else is acting like my servant. However, there is one reason why doormen rule, and that is when you order something online and are expecting a delivery. Because without a doorman, you are forced to a.) risk someone snaking your package that is sitting in the lobby; b.) go down to the post office to pick up your package; c.) open the door on your own. However, I am lucky enough to have an office with a receptionist who can sign for my packages and will hold them until I come into the office next. Wow, what a great alternative!!
So last week I ordered some things from an online store for my digital camera, as well as a book that I've been wanting to read (Guns, Germs, and Steel). I followed the shipping online, saw that the receptionist had signed for it, so I headed down to the office to pick it up. Sure enough, my packages had vanished. Someone must have stolen them from right there on her desk. And I'm pissed!!! These people are paid to play solitaire, answer phones, and sign for packages. Now I'm out $55 for the camera accessories.
I've lost my LCD screen covers. And I've lost my (digital camera) memory. Damn, I hate amnesia....
J. Riley
Here in New York, many of us do not have doorman at our buildings. I actually prefer not to have someone open the door for me, because I am perfectly capable and I feel sort of snobby when someone else is acting like my servant. However, there is one reason why doormen rule, and that is when you order something online and are expecting a delivery. Because without a doorman, you are forced to a.) risk someone snaking your package that is sitting in the lobby; b.) go down to the post office to pick up your package; c.) open the door on your own. However, I am lucky enough to have an office with a receptionist who can sign for my packages and will hold them until I come into the office next. Wow, what a great alternative!!
So last week I ordered some things from an online store for my digital camera, as well as a book that I've been wanting to read (Guns, Germs, and Steel). I followed the shipping online, saw that the receptionist had signed for it, so I headed down to the office to pick it up. Sure enough, my packages had vanished. Someone must have stolen them from right there on her desk. And I'm pissed!!! These people are paid to play solitaire, answer phones, and sign for packages. Now I'm out $55 for the camera accessories.
I've lost my LCD screen covers. And I've lost my (digital camera) memory. Damn, I hate amnesia....
J. Riley
Culturefest
Every once in a while, New York has what they call "Restaurant Week", when the top restaurants in the city go on sale for the week, offering budget-minded prix fixe, 3-course meals for the low price of $35. Wow, what a bargain!! Since I don't think that I've ever indulged in this extravaganza, I organized a little get together for a few of us at Calle Ocho on the Upper West Side. We are always up for things with Latin flare, and Calle Ocho was the obvious choice for such an experience. It offered a nice mid-week break for those that are overworked and under-paid. You know, financial auditors like Paul and Cathy ;o) . We had a pretty darn good meal along with some pretty darn good drinks, as the pictures that I will soon post indicate!
The next stop on my cultural expedition for the weekend was on Saturday. I live about ten block away from one of the premier art musuems of the country, if not the world. The "Met", aka the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've been wanting to become a member there for a while, just so that I have no excuses for not taking one or two hour trips there every once in a while when I have the day free, such as Saturday. I had nothing going on, my friends were all either working or out of town, and my apartment was already (realtively) clean. So....I hopped online and made my membership happen. Now I have no excuses for not going there when I'm bored or when it's a rainy weekend day. I had no agenda for the museum, I thought I would just walk around, people-watch, and look at some Euro paintings. I caught the tail-end of a tour being given on the artist "El Grecho" and got the chance to listen to the guide talk about what made that artist unique and what you could see into paintings. Let's face it, I have no idea what I'm looking at when I go to art museums. The tour provided me with some much-needed guidance in this area, and I sort of figured out what I should be looking at when I observe paintings. Not that I'm ready to bid $50,000 for a picture of some old guy, though....
After wandering around for a few hours there, I headed downtown to the premiere soccer bar in the city - Nevada Smith's. They show games there all day, every weekend. Real Madrid was playing that day and, since I'd never seen them play (they are the equivalent of the Yankees, they buy all the best players from the world), I figured I had nothing better to do than waste a few hours with some rowdy Euros and a few Americans. It was a good game, and Madrid scored some spectacular goals and made some stellar moves that made it worth the $5 Pilsner Urquell that I nibbled at.
Saturday night I polished off some leftovers before heading out to catch up with Paul and Cathy, who were recovering from their sixth workday that week and were looking for a mellow evening. Cathy heard about a Thai place that supposedly could burn a whole in your stomach it was so hot, and of course she wanted to give it the Becker challenge to see if it was hot enough for her liking. From what I heard, it did alright....Afterwards, we walked up to some theaters and saw Million Dollar Baby with Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman. It was yet another depressing movie, but this time about a girl who wants to become a boxer. I actually liked the movie, but it did seem to be missing something, I'm not really sure what.
Sunday was America's cultural event of the year, the Super Bowl. Paul and Cathy were having a small gathering at their house with some food and drinks so that the girls could watch the game (neither he nor I really cared too much about anything other than the commercials ;o). Before the game, I did some shopping in order to waste some time and took my first trip into the famous Bloomingdales. Talk about some cash-money stuff - WHEW! $135 for a tie? Give me a break! They had some good sales (50% off Burberry shirts, for example), but I wasn't really in a spending mood. At least, until I bellied up to the bar - Dylan's Candy Bar, that is. This place is like a crack den for kids, with every kind of candy you can imagine. I seriously felt like I was in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and D was the victum of assault and battery by some little kids who were on a sugar high trying to fill their bags with candy. Baltimore Jenn and I were going to meet up later that evening for another flick, Sideways, so I was sure to stock up on the junk food prior to that event.
Despite being reprimanded by the girls watching the football game, I bid them farewell at half-time and headed downtown to the Union Square theaters. I had watched the trailors for it on Friday and had heard about it from some people back in California and realized that it was the perfect movie to see. I think Paul Giamatti is an awesome actor, and he didn't let us down in this case. The movie is about two college buddies who go up to the Central Coast of California to go wine tasting. One of them is an actor who is getting married to a rich family at the end of the week and the other is a divorced, pessimistic, aspiring writer who's trying to find out how to move forward with his personal life. It was very funny, but very serious at the same time as Paul Giamatti struggles through the week dealing with himself and his friend. Excellent, excellent flick....
Another insomniac night last night. Must have been lots on my mind!
J. Riley, operating on three and a half hours of sleep....
The next stop on my cultural expedition for the weekend was on Saturday. I live about ten block away from one of the premier art musuems of the country, if not the world. The "Met", aka the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've been wanting to become a member there for a while, just so that I have no excuses for not taking one or two hour trips there every once in a while when I have the day free, such as Saturday. I had nothing going on, my friends were all either working or out of town, and my apartment was already (realtively) clean. So....I hopped online and made my membership happen. Now I have no excuses for not going there when I'm bored or when it's a rainy weekend day. I had no agenda for the museum, I thought I would just walk around, people-watch, and look at some Euro paintings. I caught the tail-end of a tour being given on the artist "El Grecho" and got the chance to listen to the guide talk about what made that artist unique and what you could see into paintings. Let's face it, I have no idea what I'm looking at when I go to art museums. The tour provided me with some much-needed guidance in this area, and I sort of figured out what I should be looking at when I observe paintings. Not that I'm ready to bid $50,000 for a picture of some old guy, though....
After wandering around for a few hours there, I headed downtown to the premiere soccer bar in the city - Nevada Smith's. They show games there all day, every weekend. Real Madrid was playing that day and, since I'd never seen them play (they are the equivalent of the Yankees, they buy all the best players from the world), I figured I had nothing better to do than waste a few hours with some rowdy Euros and a few Americans. It was a good game, and Madrid scored some spectacular goals and made some stellar moves that made it worth the $5 Pilsner Urquell that I nibbled at.
Saturday night I polished off some leftovers before heading out to catch up with Paul and Cathy, who were recovering from their sixth workday that week and were looking for a mellow evening. Cathy heard about a Thai place that supposedly could burn a whole in your stomach it was so hot, and of course she wanted to give it the Becker challenge to see if it was hot enough for her liking. From what I heard, it did alright....Afterwards, we walked up to some theaters and saw Million Dollar Baby with Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman. It was yet another depressing movie, but this time about a girl who wants to become a boxer. I actually liked the movie, but it did seem to be missing something, I'm not really sure what.
Sunday was America's cultural event of the year, the Super Bowl. Paul and Cathy were having a small gathering at their house with some food and drinks so that the girls could watch the game (neither he nor I really cared too much about anything other than the commercials ;o). Before the game, I did some shopping in order to waste some time and took my first trip into the famous Bloomingdales. Talk about some cash-money stuff - WHEW! $135 for a tie? Give me a break! They had some good sales (50% off Burberry shirts, for example), but I wasn't really in a spending mood. At least, until I bellied up to the bar - Dylan's Candy Bar, that is. This place is like a crack den for kids, with every kind of candy you can imagine. I seriously felt like I was in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and D was the victum of assault and battery by some little kids who were on a sugar high trying to fill their bags with candy. Baltimore Jenn and I were going to meet up later that evening for another flick, Sideways, so I was sure to stock up on the junk food prior to that event.
Despite being reprimanded by the girls watching the football game, I bid them farewell at half-time and headed downtown to the Union Square theaters. I had watched the trailors for it on Friday and had heard about it from some people back in California and realized that it was the perfect movie to see. I think Paul Giamatti is an awesome actor, and he didn't let us down in this case. The movie is about two college buddies who go up to the Central Coast of California to go wine tasting. One of them is an actor who is getting married to a rich family at the end of the week and the other is a divorced, pessimistic, aspiring writer who's trying to find out how to move forward with his personal life. It was very funny, but very serious at the same time as Paul Giamatti struggles through the week dealing with himself and his friend. Excellent, excellent flick....
Another insomniac night last night. Must have been lots on my mind!
J. Riley, operating on three and a half hours of sleep....
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Musicals Featuring the Songs of....
Sorry, I know it's been a while since I've written, but it's been a busy week and weekend...
Last weekend was possibly the first time I've had a "2-in-2", although I'm not positive about that. After a lazy Saturday where I spent most of my time sitting on my futon reading Jack Kerouac's On The Road, I headed down to Sean's favorite burger joint to meet up with him and some of his coworkers for a bite to eat. I felt bad because they were had all spent the whole day moving one of his coworkers to her new apartment while I sat around waiting for Sean to call me and let me know when and where the moving festivities began. Guilty as charged! I had spent Friday night with them as well down at Second Nature for someone who knows someone who knows someone who is moving. Not a bad place - if you like crowded bars playing decent music but not having enough room to tear up the carpet at. Karma came back to bite me in the arse for that one, and I was stuck with an upset stomach for the rest of the weekend. I guess that's what I get for eating boring American food!
But, I wouldn't let that ruin a perfectly good weekend! That night I met up with Paul & Cathy, who had friends in town that had won lottery tickets to see Wicked. Being as diligent as ever, they found some student tickets available for the first row of the musical Good Vibrations, which featured songs of the Beach Boys. It was worth the $30 tickets, especially since we were looking up to the stage and some of the dancers were wearing skirts ;o) . Feeling like a blown-up balloon, I decided to head home afterwards rather than hit midtown with the crew. My body was pissed off about that American food...
Sunday was full of more time spent in Time Square, this time trying to win lottery tickets for Avenue Q, which is supposed to have lots of puppet nudity (GASP!). It's also supposed to be hilarious, by the way, and won the Best Musical award in 2004. After getting denied there, the mad scramble for tickets to something was on again. Wonderful Town was sold out of their student tickets, Julia of the Sea looked boring, so we hit Broadway Avenue and found ourselves in line for Mamma Mia, which features the songs of Abba. I had tried to get seats for this last year, but pulled a blonde manuever and bought tickets for a Wednesday when my friends were in town for a weekend. Yea, oops. That's okay though, because we got $20 tickets to the standing-room only for that afternoon's show! What a deal. Mamma Mia was a pretty entertaining gig, full on with Love Parade-like space outfits in some parts of the show. (Speaking of the Love Parade, may it rest in peace. The world's biggest celebration of techno music was disbanded last year by Berlin just because the city was being destroyed by the millions of tourists who came or something stupid like that ;o(. )
I headed home after that because I had a meeting with a colleague of Paul's who needed some mp3 music moved from her work laptop to her personal laptop. After being stood up two times before, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that she was going to stand me up one more time because she had "sooo much to drink last night and I'm hung-over". I was at my wit's end with that one and decided if she bailed once more, she was going to have to find some other geek to work on her computer...
But, in the end, the evening turned a corner and karma came to my side. Baltimore Jen called and wanted to see if I wanted to go see a movie that evening. Ummm...yes please. I'd been trying to get ahold of her for a while, but she's been swamped with work and after-work LSAT classes and thus hadn't returned any of my phone calls. She wanted to see either Hotel Rwanda (a movie about genocide - fun!) or Sideways (a movie about wine tasting in California, probably in the area near where I went to college). Tough choice there, right? So of course I picked Hotel Rwanda. :o|
Oops. Okay, depressing movie but I really wanted to see it and it appealed to my sense of learning more about the world and why/how America has turned its back on it. Don't even get me started on the Bush administration....Anyway, so we saw the depressing movie and what better way to make a difference in the world than to go eat dessert and drink coffee (or chamomile tea if you have an upset stomach) in an awesome little European cafe, complete with a live piano player and a position overlooking the street, in a swank Upper West Side neighborhood. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
J. Riley
Last weekend was possibly the first time I've had a "2-in-2", although I'm not positive about that. After a lazy Saturday where I spent most of my time sitting on my futon reading Jack Kerouac's On The Road, I headed down to Sean's favorite burger joint to meet up with him and some of his coworkers for a bite to eat. I felt bad because they were had all spent the whole day moving one of his coworkers to her new apartment while I sat around waiting for Sean to call me and let me know when and where the moving festivities began. Guilty as charged! I had spent Friday night with them as well down at Second Nature for someone who knows someone who knows someone who is moving. Not a bad place - if you like crowded bars playing decent music but not having enough room to tear up the carpet at. Karma came back to bite me in the arse for that one, and I was stuck with an upset stomach for the rest of the weekend. I guess that's what I get for eating boring American food!
But, I wouldn't let that ruin a perfectly good weekend! That night I met up with Paul & Cathy, who had friends in town that had won lottery tickets to see Wicked. Being as diligent as ever, they found some student tickets available for the first row of the musical Good Vibrations, which featured songs of the Beach Boys. It was worth the $30 tickets, especially since we were looking up to the stage and some of the dancers were wearing skirts ;o) . Feeling like a blown-up balloon, I decided to head home afterwards rather than hit midtown with the crew. My body was pissed off about that American food...
Sunday was full of more time spent in Time Square, this time trying to win lottery tickets for Avenue Q, which is supposed to have lots of puppet nudity (GASP!). It's also supposed to be hilarious, by the way, and won the Best Musical award in 2004. After getting denied there, the mad scramble for tickets to something was on again. Wonderful Town was sold out of their student tickets, Julia of the Sea looked boring, so we hit Broadway Avenue and found ourselves in line for Mamma Mia, which features the songs of Abba. I had tried to get seats for this last year, but pulled a blonde manuever and bought tickets for a Wednesday when my friends were in town for a weekend. Yea, oops. That's okay though, because we got $20 tickets to the standing-room only for that afternoon's show! What a deal. Mamma Mia was a pretty entertaining gig, full on with Love Parade-like space outfits in some parts of the show. (Speaking of the Love Parade, may it rest in peace. The world's biggest celebration of techno music was disbanded last year by Berlin just because the city was being destroyed by the millions of tourists who came or something stupid like that ;o(. )
I headed home after that because I had a meeting with a colleague of Paul's who needed some mp3 music moved from her work laptop to her personal laptop. After being stood up two times before, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that she was going to stand me up one more time because she had "sooo much to drink last night and I'm hung-over". I was at my wit's end with that one and decided if she bailed once more, she was going to have to find some other geek to work on her computer...
But, in the end, the evening turned a corner and karma came to my side. Baltimore Jen called and wanted to see if I wanted to go see a movie that evening. Ummm...yes please. I'd been trying to get ahold of her for a while, but she's been swamped with work and after-work LSAT classes and thus hadn't returned any of my phone calls. She wanted to see either Hotel Rwanda (a movie about genocide - fun!) or Sideways (a movie about wine tasting in California, probably in the area near where I went to college). Tough choice there, right? So of course I picked Hotel Rwanda. :o|
Oops. Okay, depressing movie but I really wanted to see it and it appealed to my sense of learning more about the world and why/how America has turned its back on it. Don't even get me started on the Bush administration....Anyway, so we saw the depressing movie and what better way to make a difference in the world than to go eat dessert and drink coffee (or chamomile tea if you have an upset stomach) in an awesome little European cafe, complete with a live piano player and a position overlooking the street, in a swank Upper West Side neighborhood. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
J. Riley
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