The largest man-made icicle was 36′4.5″ (11.1 m) long and weighed 26 tons. These were only ~6″ and located about 3 meters from the sidewalk which made this shot very difficult. There’s something so dynamic about an icicle forged by transitioning a compounds matter between two states as a result of cold, then heat and cold again. Clear, sharp, frozen solid in motion, yet fragile and temporary in nature. I took maybe 30 shots and just couldn’t get the angle or focus right. Here’s a few pics I took near Kee’s Chocolates in SOHO:

Ice Cube – ‘It Was A Good Day’

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Ah wonderful… The wingnuts have found another characterchure to link Obama with and this time an Englishman. Only I don’t know if they fully understand (again) the implications of the link.

Robin Hood, as the legend goes, robbed from the filthy rich and gave to the poor which was generally thought to be a good thing for all the “working” man and “black collar” people out there (riff on blacksmith? no?). Robin Hood was the Hero of the day!

The Tea party peeps have seen through this scam, and they don’t want any of that dirty rich people money (that they paid for through taxes). Right my fellow Englishman! Check out the new campaign Bill Nighy appears in for the English Robin Hood Tax.

Yeah it will never work right? The elitist minority of the Rothschilds, Morgans and Rockerfellers will fund the masses to block it. More socialism….

Even if the banks were to pump £100 billion back into the economy it would wipe out the national debt, fund every major service and ultimately lead to a reduction in the need to tax the citizens. Of course if the citizens have more expendable income in their pockets, they may pay off their debt quicker, get liquid faster, and would have no need for credit cards or loans. That might just fuck over the Banking industry that much more!

Fuck, I just circled my own argument. Ah well, life in debt servitude is just much safer… At least then I have a master to report to daily…

Check out this band of “Merry Men” cleaning the sidewalks in Bryant Park and giving back to the citizens of New York City. City Parks workers paid by the tax dollars of the citizens who live and visit here.

The Revenge – “Forever In Their Debt”

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I’d say there’s less than .5% of NY residents that could afford a multi-head shower room but should I ever become one wealthy enough to throw money at this idea, I’d disco the hell out of it with RainSky waterfalls, 270 degree mirrors (you need the LED shower doors to remember which direction to exit) and LED changing shower heads (complete with remote, so the voyeur can change the mood for the shower participants at will). Showering partner is on your own.

Prince: Purple Rain (Steve Clisby & Chew Fu Cover)

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Out come the Timberlands. It’s the first snow day in NY. Leaving early in the morning, I took a tour around the Village, Time Square and Bryant Park in the snow. It’s supposed to drop over a foot and that seems to be an underestimate. I haven’t seen snow like this in the city ever and can only imagine powder that’s dropping in the mountains upstate and in Vermont. If there ever were a time I’d want to board on the east coast, now would be it.

I took this shot in Bryant Park of the Reading Library. At the head of the library is a statue of William Earle Dodge considered at one time to be a Merchant Prince of Wall Street. William was a noted abolitionist, Native American rights activist, congressman, founding member of the YMCA, mining baron. A considerable resume for a NY Republican of the times; despite his Civil War profiteering (southerners labeled him a carpetbagger) but deserving of the bronze in the park honoring his support of the Native Americans, lobbying for the prosecution of the U.S. cavalry commanders who massacred Blackfeet Indians in Montana and campaigning for the creation of what would be come the Department of Interior.

Crookers – Remedy (Feat. Miike Snow)

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]]> http://austinvegas.com/2010/02/10/a-powdery-snow-blankets-the-merchant-princes-on-nyc/feed/ 0 http://austinvegas.com/2010/02/09/sun-nien-fai-lok/ http://austinvegas.com/2010/02/09/sun-nien-fai-lok/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:45:58 +0000 Austin Vegas http://austinvegas.com/?p=3334

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It’s the year of the tiger and 2010 will be an excellent year… Get out your 99 Red Balloons and have a living room dance party

Nena – 99 Luftballons

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Italian food and culture is rooted everywhere in New York. Rocco Ristorante is one such traditional Italian joint, operating in the Greenwich Village since 1922 that not only has years of history still worn on their unchanged walls but was also a starter kitchen for the Mario Batali. An establishment of this age and character usually caters to die-hard regulars, neighborhood locals and a few well-researched tourists as a walk by doesn’t sell the uninitiated on the traditional style. Fortunately the family style decor and friendly service are still as much a priority as the quality southern Italian food typical 90 years ago today.

Legend has it Anthony “Tony Bender” Strollo operator of several illegal gambling parlors and nightclubs in Greenwich, ordered a hit here back in 1952. While dining in old restaurants such as this in New York, you can’t help wonder what illicit activities and patrons frequented their front and backrooms. Dean Martin and the Rat Pack crew may have graced Rocco’s doors, taken a card game in their backroom or indulged in a traditional meal at the very table you’re eating your Penne Arrabiata and Veal Piccata.

“Nel blu dipinto di blu” (“In the Blue Painted Blue”), popularly known as “Volare” (Italian for the infinitive form of the verb “to fly”) was originally sung by Domenico Modugno, and is the only non-English language song that has reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in America. Modugno became the first Grammy winner for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1958 for this recording. Here’s Dean Martin’s version, probably sung in one of Tony’s clubs in the Village.

Dean Martin – Volare (Nel blu dipinto di blu)

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This week I had a friend in town that I hadn’t seen since I was last at Cal Poly; we’ll call him Marc. Marc’s working on 4 months of a long distance relationship, as I had in 2004, however, he’s in the Bay Area, and she’s in Philly (not much difference really to my LA-NY torture). I openly offered the 2nd bedroom in my apartment for them both to crash for the weekend because I know when trying to make a limited physical relationship work, you’ll need to save all the money you can for cross country flights (and get together as often as possible is my recommendation).

Even when you’ve lived in a city for years, decades, or all your life, sometime you’re too close to the “trees” to see the “forest”. I love the opportunity to have outsiders come in and give me a perspective of what they want out of New York. We let the love birds pick our Saturday evening, and ended up going to the Naked Comedy Showcase on Sat at the People’s Improve Theater (The PIT).

I love comedy but they rarely have good food so we started with a local sushi joint and plenty of sake and Sapporo. The PIT is a 2nd floor single room theater located on a deserted Flatiron block. After ascending a narrow stairway, I immediately had a good feel about the evening when the counter clerks, well stocked in bow ties and tweed, offered $4 Stellas throughout the show. However, they didn’t mention the clothing requirements (or lack there of) when we entered…

I had no expectations for the show. I was going in “naked” so to speak, however, I didn’t realize how literal that was until I sat down in the third row (in case there was awkward nakedness I wanted to conceal by the heads in front of me). While chatting with the petite brimmed smiling man in front of us, he stood up and completely disrobed in the manner an early riser would peeping for a shower. An announcement was made to remind the audience that nudity was encouraged, especially in our section, by the viewers as much as it was a requirement of the talent that night.

Sorry, I hadn’t prepped my birthday suit for public revealing yet… wasn’t going to happen.

I don’t think this was what my out-of-town friends has been expecting, especially Marc as he squirmed a little closer to his girlfriend. The show opened with a fully naked Andy Ofiesh emerging confidently from stage right and I instantly “got” the comedy as did the audience. Smiles, shock and wonderment spread quickly as we all stole glances at this untanned, pudgy, red haired man standing in front of us grinning with his thimble size protuberance resting on top of a racquetball sized scrotum. Wow. I guess you have to laugh for a moment.

Most comedy is adult oriented and this just takes it to the next level as Andy, a long standing nudist before comedian, started with “my penis is fun size; you can fit the whole thing your mouth,”. The audience became increasingly more comfortable over the period of the hour as they warmed to each comic’s self awareness and at many times self deprecating humor. 5 men and 1 women, followed Andy, performing in the buff some really good comedy. Those that know me, know I can’t remember or tell a joke to save my life, so I’ll leave that to the professionals and recommend it to all to just try this showcase out for an evening. However, if you’ll be dropping trou, please bring a towel for the chairs and any bar/bathroom breaks (located in the lobby) you may need to take during the show.

Marc and lady wanted to hit the NY club scene, which these days I’ll respond rhetorically under my breath “What scene?”. Marc being about 9 years younger than I had more interest in the “Jersey Shore” styled clubs of Vegas and NY so I pointed them to Crimson – a new spot in the Flatiron with a party hosted by Dirt Nasty (a Hollywood based Crunk-Pop “Rapper” – I don’t know, I’ve never heard of him).

If expressing my ignorance of Dirt to Marc didn’t date me as an “Old”, then the idea that I would pass on the fist pumping party at Crimson may have. Although researching Dirt for this post, I realize now there’s enormous irony for Dirt to start his US tour at the latest Christian Audigier fashion themed club, promoting his latest track “Fuck Ed Hardy“.

Dirt Nasty, Andy Milonakis & Rich Hil – Fuck Ed Hardy

I didn’t actually get to take photos today. Instead of the club I still went out for wine and beers with the lady and then whiskeys with the boys. We all woke around 11 only Marc got 4 less hours of sleep than I and I still felt two times worse (more Old). We had a good brunch at Jane, mostly because I didn’t have to deal with the typical 30 min. to hr wait with most of the tourists on this wet Sunday.

Here’s a shot from when Washington Square was nice last fall and this LA man trying to do his best impression of The Situation.

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I know it shouldn’t be a bad day; it’s Saturday, but I don’t have weekends so every day is the same to me. It’s not just me, as there’s always someone with a worse day than I. I’ll just listen to some late 90’s punk and feel better:

Against All Authority – All Fall Down

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From the NY Post:

A baseball executive says former Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon “is going to be lucky to get whatever he gets,” if he signs somewhere.

The AL exec told MLive.com that Damon and agent Scott Boras misjudged the market for the 36-year-old outfielder.
…

“Sometimes, we ask for too much,” the source, requesting anonymity, told writer Steve Kornacki. “Then, the smoke clears and you ask, ‘Where am I?’ And now, I can’t believe anybody is going to offer Damon more than the $14 million and $6 million the Yankees did.

“If you turn them down for that, you deserve one year for $3 million or whatever he is going to get. In February, teams have got guys in place. My feeling is that now he is going to be lucky to get whatever he gets. It’s still supply and demand in this game. And Johnny’s arrow is in the middle or going down.”

Well, maybe not all wit. Sorry Damon, you’ve now lost it all….

Face to Face – Lost

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To say that not working for five months has been easy living is to believe a comfortable facade. I’m sure there’s levels of emotion within the psyche of an unemployed person, but I never looked them up. I’m more analytical so I’ve measured my emotions more by my actions.

I was pissed about my group and products being cut from the core business but not very long as that emotion washed into more personal and family focus for the first few months. As the holiday approached, the interview and hiring cycle stopped and I concentrated my time on that imaginary checklist I never had the opportunity to do. Some of which includes:

To a major extent I’ve done all these and it’s really time I get back to work. I’ve been interviewing and pursuing positions of interest with more vigor than when I first moved to NY.

Interesting thing about having no income, is you learn very quickly how to save money and spend it more appropriately. I’ve been doing a lot of frugal shopping in places where the typical Manhattanite doesn’t. I’ve also found the epicurean and fitness value of making your own soup stocks – which I’ve been doing weekly.

I have a relationship with all my local purveyors including my butcher. “My guy” is known for many quality meats but I love that I can buy pounds of left over chicken and beef bone on the cheap and freeze them until needed. When I have 6 hours of home time (typical when I work from the home office), I’ll hack up a couple handfuls (to expose the marrow) and roast them in the oven with a little olive oil and salt for 45 min at 375. Toss them in a large stock pot filled with water to within an inch of the top (about 2 gallons in my case). Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat to simmer and slow cook while stirring occasional as the pot reduces and creates layers of tasty bone fortified stock. About an hour before it’s done I’ll toss in the rough cut veggies (just ginger and onion for Asian based chicken stocks, and on top I’ll add varying amounts of carrots, celery, thyme, bay leaves, and even black pepper depending on the depth of flavor I want to create).

Cool over night. Skim the fat. Package and freeze for use. Easy.

With that stock, I’ve made hundreds of dishes for lunch and dinner but especially important this cold winter are the many soup options you can derive from home made chicken stock. The most important reason for this is the health factor. You can control the sodium and quality of ingredients that go into your base and thus improve the quality of food ingested.

Here’s a Butternut Squash Soup, I adapted with the influential help of Ina Garten:

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with West Indian Curry

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 3 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
* 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
* 2 cups chopped Yukon potatoes (3 medium)
* 2 tablespoons West Indian curry powder
* 5 pounds butternut squash, peeled with seeds removed (2 large)
* 2 sweet apples, such as McIntosh, peeled
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 to 4 cups home made chicken stock

Condiments for serving:
* Scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and sliced diagonally
* Roasted salted cashews, toasted and chopped

Preheat the oven to medium/medium high temp (about 400). Roasting the vegetables first concentrates the flavors before the puree of the soup. Rough chop the onions, potatoes, squash and apples into even, 1 inch cubes. Mix up all pieces with the olive oil and half the salt and pepper and spread evenly onto 2 sheet pans.

Put both trays in the oven and roast for about 35 to 45 minutes, until very tender. Turn the veggies occasionally and rotate the trays top-to-bottom and front-to-back at least once (halfway) through the baking process. Heat the chicken stock to a simmer.

On this particular day, I didn’t have “West Indian Curry Powder”, and I really had no idea what was in those generic bottles at the grocery store labeled “Curry Power”. A very quick google search turned up this mix for “West Indian Curry Powder” and I had all the ingredients so I created my own.

When the vegetables are done, put them through a food mill fitted with the medium blade. (Alternatively, you can place the roasted vegetables in batches in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add some of the chicken stock and coarsely puree.). When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add enough chicken stock to your level of thickness in soup (I used about 3 cups). Add the curry powder gradually to taste (you may not need all 2 tblspns) and the rest of the salt and pepper (also to taste).

Bowl and serve with suggested condiments for crunch.

The thing about interviewing for a new job when you currently are without, is you’re viewed as almost the underdog in the process. Once you get past the paper screening though, it’s all gravy for this professional. I’m getting closer to the goal as certain preferred employers are taking notice. When others are not (and it’s usually the HR gatekeepers, not the hiring managers) I found this song figuratively appropriate for the process and literally appropriate because the band is called Spoon.

Spoon – Underdog

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