Jets-Less Super Bowl: Now I Can Rest Easy, and Bar Spotlight: MikNic Lounge

I really dislike the Steelers. But for those who know me, I dislike the Jets even more. Sitting at the Berman Bothers household watching this unfold with a tallboy of Joose, basically a knock off Four Loko, I at least was content with the 24-19 result, even if I wasn't thrilled with the Green Apple artificial flavors...

Cold weather aside, our fair borough was particularly pleasant with some Apt. 138'ing on the holiday this week and Hana Cafe'ing for weekly sushi (apparently the Tuna Lover special wasn't all it was cracked up to be but man that spicy sauce on regular rolls is intensely good).

Brooklyn Fare's expansion is starting to show a little more; they are starting to stock the additional space with goods and the lines are getting longer and longer; they should figure out a way to create real lines so people don't end up fighting over who was first to purchase the 6.99 organic lentil chips (you'd think yuppies wouldn't yell at each other as much but it certainly happens there, it's almost more fun than going to Pathmark). Flank steak was on sale again which was great.

Getting rid of potato "eyes" while prepping meals is kinda gross for some reason; it's like a mini-cactus bug that grows out of the potato. It makes my hands stiffen up.

I need to eat in Fort Greene more often; somehow Flatbush acts as a larger divide than it really is and there's plenty of great food across the way, the most I've gotten out of it was Black Iris but definitely want to partake of the small soul food joint about a block or two east of Flatbush.

MikNic Lounge (misspelled MikNik by Gothamist) is opening up next week on Columbia to give some additional watering hole options slightly closer to Atlantic without having to usher all the way down to Moonshine. Singer/songwriters rejoice: live music and a backyard could make for a relaxing summer spot. The west side is certainly an area that could use some additional burst as people look for the next bustling area in Brooklyn to latch onto. It looks cute and true to that part of the neighborhood and we'll see what kind of vibe will inherit the space. Here's a sneak peek from their Facebook page below. I really dig Columbia and hope that more traffic will come around, there's a few staples like Alma but this might seem more like a Last Exit.

The MTA this week just didn't have it's shit together at all. I say that with utmost prejudice due to the fact that all of the things that required speed and or convenience of the subway this week were not supported by timely and consistent service. There's nothing more defeating about New York public transportation than seeing three B trains come through one station before you finally see a Q train, which is what you want. The look on people's faces are so volatile, the head shakes so terse and violent that you're afraid that they might have not gotten enough neck stretches earlier in the morning to warrant such movement. Couple that with the MTA dude on the front end at Dekalb who just belts out incoming trains as if he's on a radio show and proceeding to yell out the synopsis of The Kids Are Alright, and you have a recipe for putting on the iPodz.

Digital Dumbo is coming up, can't wait! 2nd anniversary of canoodling and rubbing elbows with all kinds of agency types. I might want to try to meet more than 2 people this time...

Or I could just creep:

Keep it on the down low.

NYC Subway Station Stairs

The NYC transit system is finding more and more ways to annoy me, but I actually am surprised at how little I've been angry at it lately. Sure, now trains wait for others across the platform, service changes derail getting to places in a timely fashion, but for some reason, the G train I think runs fairly well.

I think the one thing that bothers me irrationally about subway stations is the size of the steps on the stairwells. It's not the stations' faults, it's a combination of my height the depth of the steps. They either aren't deep enough, not shallow enough. When I run up one by one, I feel like I'm getting nowhere and expending too much energy for stairs. Maybe it's the bouncing from step to step in a straight line and with each step because they are a hair too small you're like, "when am I ever going to get to the top?"

Going two steps at a time is good though, but I feel like I've had a couple of pairs of ripped jeans solely because of that. Maybe I should just take my time on the stairs and walk slow, that way the pace matches the actual progression up the stairs.

Yet, I've been caught too many times going up or down the stairs behind someone who I determine is walking TOO slow. What is too slow you ask? Tough question, but part of my perception correlates to if I think the person in front of me is capable of moving with a little more speed and just is being leisurely or incredibly safe. I dunno. All I know is if I'm charging up step by step and a person is taking their time, those two put together make me feel like I'm running in place even more. The bigger the stairs the better I feel actually, such as Atlantic-Pacific.

Slow news week? Yeah you guessed it.

Photo courtesy of APP.com. If you click on that link, it's a pretty awesomely weird story. I dare you.

Shoeless on the Subway: She Must Really Dig You, Man

Imagine my surprise when I saw this ringworm/feces opportunity present itself in front of me coming home on the B train. This couple was totally in love judging by their smooch fest but come on lady, your dude don't wear heels, he's got no reason to not have shoes on.

Now I'm a huge fan of going barefoot when I can. I love the feeling of my feet in warm sand. I love the feeling of my feet on hardwood floors and on carpeting of all textures. I'm a barefoot kind of guy partly because that's how I was raised, to take shoes off when entering residences.

However, when you know your feet are probably going to encounter what can be described as a terrific amount of spots where animals and people have either urinated or shat on, where garbage has run rampant at some point, where you probably want something to protect you from just rough ground, AND you decide to go not a block but an entire subway ride's length to some point B destination and back again, you sir are noteworthy of a blog post from an insignificant blogger.

The dude's neck was also bushier than Scorsese's eyebrows. But that's just pickin' on him.

Atlantic Avenue Tunnel Tour - Bringing Back Fantasies of TMNT II

The KCB mustered up a Sunday afternoon to take the Atlantic Avenue tunnel tour. A couple of awesome things beforehand though; first, I went to the Willoughby 99 cents store and 4 AA batteries and two flashlights cost $3.23, which I thought was pretty good.

As I lined up outside of the confusion that is Trader Joe's, the line got really long. Two things about this tour that could prove inconvenient; if you're the last one down or up from the manhole, it's a long wait. A very long wait. Not that being down in the tunnel is more visually stimulating.

Once you're down there, you're greeted by a portly fellow by the name of Bob Diamond who is jovial, kindly asks you to watch your step, and whatnot. You figure out that the man is THE man who re-found this place. Everyone gathers in the dark with flashlights whizzing around the ceiling. By this point you're already an hour into the wait.

For many, this story could get tiresome. But for me, Bob Diamond gave a wonderful, sprawling monologue that lasted 3 stops along the tunnel and went from the construction of the subway tunnel through the ramifications in history of it to his personal story. He's told it so many times, and tells the story with humor and an assurance. It's like his calling, a unique historical artifact that he alone has such a great knowledge about.

What's even more awesome is there's stuff yet to be discovered; Bob is trying to unearth, literally, a legend: that there is a full size train behind the end of the tunnel (east end) and possibly more important things within that train.

If you have bad knees, ankles, or feet, this tour might not be for you; the ground is hard and the cold humidity makes spending an hour and a half in dampness feel a bit much. I was drawn to the story though; there's not much to see otherwise; it's really the feeling of standing in the tunnel. It's kind of like the part in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze where the turtles find a hidden subway station with several train cars and furnishings and whatnot. There's no furnishings here, but Bob's voice will carry you through a unique piece of Brooklyn history, and you'll be glad you went.

Who doesn't like going down a manhole anyway? The tour is 15 dollars cash. Make reservations (groups are large but they only take a certain number when they do the tour) and come early so you can get in and out quick.

Ninja, ninja, RAP ninja, ninja, RAP:

Subway Musings - Shake, Rattle, and Roll

I was on the subway today coming home from work and a woman came aboard at City Hall. She was wearing a long blue corduroy button down and had very long strawberry blonde hair, probably late 40s. She struck me as a little odd because she was holding a paper plate with a slice of pizza on it, but on top of that was another paper plate with an empty soda can rolling around on top of that. She was looking around for a second until she decided to look down on the ground, actively searching for something to catch her eye. She kept nudging the pizza slice this way and that, as if it was a restless sleeper trying to find the most comfortable position.

Upon getting between Rector and Whitehall, she took the Diet Coke can and started shaking it vigorously. This would have been fine except she had broken off the tab on the top of the tasty beverage (I'm a Diet Pepsi man myself, even Diet RC, Pepsi One if available, Diet Sunkist) and had lost it in the can. She kept shaking it and shaking it, the little fucker rattling away inside. People started to take notice. And just when you thought you couldn't handle it any more, the tab showed itself on the paper plate. The woman didn't even look elated, which led me to believe that this was something of a routine. She then inspected the tab for a split second before putting it in her pants' pocket. That also led me to believe that this was a habit.

What got me was the length of time she was giving the can the business. I would say I'm a pretty patient person in most cases, and it felt interesting to me as the sharp cackling grew louder that I wanted to see how long it took for it to bother me. Just as you're about to give up internally, she got what she wanted. It's like a weird build up of something you don't want to hold onto just to test yourself, I dunno, putting your finger next to a burning candle to see how long you can hold out. What a tease.

Kind of like most old Juliana Theory songs from Understand This Is A Dream (which I owned for several years), you think they are going somewhere climactic and big, and then you're just left frustrated. And that's before I started to dislike them..."the TAI-eeme is 2:22 andIhooope your wish, comes, truuuueee...." what's with those numbers on the album cover?

Speaking of Juliana Theory, they are coming around after 4 years of not being a band (what's with all these bands, some I like, coming back after 4 years, which is totally not enough time to be broken up, come on Piebald) to Highline Ballroom way out there in Chelsea, way out there on August 20th this year. They are pre-selling tickets to all 46 of their current fans (oooo low blow, sorry guys).

Tastes Like Chicken...On The 6 Train

DListed is the best celebrity blog out there period. There is no one more scathing, no one more hilarious, no one who can beat the dignity out of you like Monique in Precious. I feel wonderfully dirty reading his blog, taking famous nitwits and pushing their faces in the mud.

When people eat food on the subway, it's usually smelly and kinda sucks. I like this guy's approach below. Organic and lively. No hot sauce to be seen.

DListed took the words right out of my blog for this one. 6 train, I'm so glad you don't come into Brooklyn. But I would love it if you came in just to be crazy like this:

Twitter Kitsch: N Train Gossip

I knew Twitter was good for something. The KCB is all about a wonderful scoop and it's better than strawberry ice cream. It's the vile, the disgusting, the hilarious, and the totally weird things happening on the N train. Twitpics flow with things from too much makeup to unwrapped condoms.

Combine this with the new season of 24 portraying New York in a vaguely stereotyped way (with some truth: cell phone reception can be a mucka ferguson in certain parts of the boroughs) and you got the makings of greatness. I realized that people think Brooklyn is like short for Murder. But on the other hand, you have Brooklyn Heights which is short for Bank.

Check it out: N Train Gossip on Twitter

What does this Twatter remind me of? Of course the Vans Song by the Suicide Machines. It's a tongue-in-cheek beat down of what other people wear.

Subway Musings - Discman Like a Boss

I was coming back from work on the subway listening to a little Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and I was at the front of the train. Being at the front of the train is awesome because you can stare out the front window and with the help of side lights and the train headlights, you can see the trajectory of the train. It's like you're going through your personal cave tour.

Anywho, there was this twenty-something woman with jet black hair parted to one side, bob length. She had a bright purple, old school puffy jacket, kind of like a purple version of the jacket worn by Jennifer Lopez in her "Feelin' So Good" video.

She was quietly rocking a Discman. Large and in charge Discman. Obstructing her purse Discman. She changed CDs and was listening to an old MCA Records compact disc, and it was just kinda glorious to watch. The deliberateness, and patience, and slow pace was nostalgia and hypnotism at once. I would remember for the longest time, I had my old school water resistant Koss portable CD player, bought for cheap at The Wiz (none other) for 20 bucks. One of the best 20 bucks ever, because it was the baddest ass CD player ever. It had rubber on it, and didn't need skip protection because it was a beast of a CD player. It was ginormous. Even if I was a weirdo, everyone loved my CD player. I could submerge it in ze water and it would still play. I had to carry it in my hands everywhere because it didn't fit into any pocket. A tank wouldn't survive a head on collision with it.

So as I saw this woman with this Discman, and not for ironic or hip reasons, switch CDs out, from one full album to the next, I smiled. I bet I could still do it like that (I'm partial to listening to albums straight through). It's not just a technology thing, but the transition from tapes and CDs to something like an iPod is the patience with which we listen to music, the time we take to listen to musicians and the complete work that they record. Of course there are great singles. That's why we take the time to make mix tapes and CDs. The charm is there. You think about the music more. It's great.

Picture this CD player, but a snap on arm on the right and a light gray front. About twice as thick too. And large kooky rubber buttons along the bottom. And the word Koss was embedded on the plastic front.

Oh and before you forgot that I referenced a J Lo music video, BAM:

What Would NYC Be Like Without The Subway?

After reading the NY Times article linked to from Brownstoner regarding Gov. Paterson's decisive rejection of another save-MTA plan, I thought how dystopian would it be if we didn't have the subways. The whole debacle on the A train in Brooklyn from Jay St. to Euclid including some weird shuttle bussing and lots of yelling got me thinking too. Walking and biking would of course increase but it'd be a pretty interesting character study fodder for a movie eh? Like Do The Right Thing, but instead it'll be called "Insufficient Fare" or something...

Speaking of Fah Q'ing the subways, tell it to the MTA tomorrow evening in person!

Think scaling back and raising prices doesn't make sense either? Especially when the numbers are in the hundreds of millions?

The Daily News is reporting that the MTA is holding an open (probably slightly open) forum from 6pm to 9pm tomorrow, Jan. 29th, at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Brooklyn.

Hooah! I might just take a look, or take a minute to voice that R train ear stabbing. Not that it'll be a problem because we'll be going over the bridge in the evenings from now on folks...

Check out the story here.

Can't picture it? Here you go: You see the Marriott from the outside (it'll be darker out, less light, etc. etc. than this picture)


Then! You'll be yelling at the MTA...INSIDE the building, in the nice lobby before the shindig and then in the conference room ballroom whatever room (hotel room if she's really a cougar). That guy is rushing in this picture by the way:


Then! After all the headaches acquired from yelling and howling (as my dad would exclaim), you want to jump off here:

Yup there are the bridges, so nice and lovely at night.

Fah Q: Stupid R Train Between City Hall and Rector Street

So on my way home each day, I wonder, all those weekends that they cancel service in lower Manhattan and the first couple stops in Brooklyn, couldn't they just douse Tribeca with a little of Rachel goddamn Ray's E-V-O-O? I try to close my eyes and picture nice things, and then between these two stops, I get an earful of shrieking screeching until my ears start to bleed.

If I want that noise I'll go to the green line stop at Union Square, bub. Can someone fix that noise before I go deaf on the high end?