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.

Me Rikey New Noodles and Soup: Naruto Ramen in Park Slope

I love noodles. I love pasta. Barring several favorite foods, I think I could eat any form of noodles at any time. I just ate some pasta salad tonight. It was extremely awesome.

I was walking down 5th Ave. and noticed that a new Naruto Ramen (there's another one in Manhattan) whose "grund opening" this week on Sept. 10th (yes it's complete with typo on the door) is awesome punk rock music to my ears. It's no St. Mark's noodle house (the dishes are a little more expensive but hopefully just as good) but definitely something new to bring to the neighborhood to liven up the food options. The menu is somewhat limited in comparison as well but think of it as something to take out or a quick bite of what I kind of call Asian soul food.

There's just something to the idea that you can have something chewy and soft and in the case of long noodles, a large, unending type of food that sauce and other collective ingredients adhere to, along for the ride into my tummy. Carbonara, chow fun, whatever it is. Bowls and bowls of noodles. Noodles noshing around yum yum yum yum...

Here's the front of the takeout menu:

Fish cakes and boiled eggs, that's not what Maryland does.

Speaking of delicious, here's some Hi-Standard with special appearances by Fat Mike and No Use For A Name:

This Weekend There's SCRATCHbread: The Gathering and Sailor Jerry-mandering

A couple of things that I may be in attendance for, so much to do, so little time on a Sunday.

The friends at SCRATCHbread and their insanely delicious concoctions are not only at the Brooklyn Flea every weekend but they happen to throw their own events. I can't say where this next one is held so if you sign up for their SCRATCHbread newsletter you just may get the scoop on these assemblies (we have that right as 'Mericans). Also, if you're into the whole social play of grassroots funding for businesses, check out their 'Right to Deliciousness' campaign on KickStarter.com, a cool way of getting support for your cause, whatever it may be. Since Brooklyn is all about homegrown businesses (have you seen West Brooklyn lately?) maybe it will trend as well as Groupon has.

The other thing is Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum who helps sponsor Williamsburg jelly pool parties with some very good bands over the course of several Sundays this summer. I doubt newfangled hipsters would appreciate Cap'n Jazz, but hey, I'm not here to flick snob snot at anyone (they did not end up playing due to weather). For more on Sailor Jerry, go to their official site.

Cheers to the weekend!

Scott Pilgrim T Shirt Giveaway - Come All Ye Dorkuses To The Chris Cab-tion Contest

I'm a huge fan of the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World comic book series written by Bryan Lee O'Malley (he's sort of Asian, much like myself). I was handed one on a recommendation from Berman Bothers himself, Loni Berman, and spent several of the next few subway rides rolling through each volume (they take about an hour to read through, very quick, like cheetah). Scott Pilgrim and his merry cohorts in their band Sex Bob-omb inhabit a hilarious, anime/gamer infused world that's a highly stylish, boy-dream setting for a charming and breezy romantic comedy. Mr. Pilgrim has the hots for Ramona Flowers, is being chased by Knives Chau, and is forced to fight Ramona's 7 evil ex-boyfriends (well one of them is well read it! Or watch the movie).

You have Michael Cera (not my first choice to play Scott) and all sorts of fun supporting cast members. What's great about the comic and hopefully what's great about the movie, which comes out tomorrow, is that even if you're not into the references and style, you understand the manic nature suits the story well and gives it a wacky bravado. I'm excited as any, and it's a great way to end the summer in my opinion. If it disappoints, I'll have to hadouken the theater usher.

In celebration of this film adaptation, I have two t-shirts to give away courtesy of Universal Pictures! You can see what they look like below. One is for guys (red). One is for girls (black). Both are size large. You want to go to there.

Guy Shirt: Red Scott Pilgrim T-shirt with full Scott Pilgrim logo on front and “An epic of epic epicness” tagline on back.
Girl Shirt: Black ladies t-shirt with lighting Bomb logo on the front and Scott Pilgrim logo on back nape of neck.

(I'll get pictures up tomorrow)

Now, for those of you who know our very own resident film critic, Roger Ebert's absolute favorite (from FilmCritic.com no less, featured on the homepage) Chris Cabin, you know he wishes he were Scott Pilgrim. Michael Cera too, but I'd rather be Chris Evans. He also owes me a beer from my birthday, so we'll as usual set him up with a Chris Cab-tion contest. You know the drill; comment to enter to win:

"I'll extinguish you"

For more, visit the pretty sweet official website. Or, just do like I do and play Scott Pilgrim Punchout until your head explodes. Basically there's a ton of cool things to check out and I would expect nothing less from an Edgar Wright directed film.

I'll consider all entries through Monday August 16th. Maybe a day after. Who knows?

Street Art on Lawrence in Downtown Brooklyn

Saw this today, not sure how long it's been up, pretty chill on a summer Friday while getting a gyro from the Souvlaki House. I think this block is the one that will be turned into yet another huge, sky-swallowing building in the area.

Siren Festival - Photos of Friends

Unfashionably late with self-gratifying pictures of my friends at Siren Festival 2010, which had a decidedly less superstar lineup. Then again, Ted Leo disappointed somewhat with a set of non-favorites. Anywho, by the time the hot sun dried me out like Mercury, I was ready to go home and watch episodes of The First 48. I thought Earl Greyhound was bank and defined some badassery.

Saved By The Bell House 7.24.10

Themed parties are almost always a good time if there's enough support and a good build (theme decor, good venue, willing participants). Even bad theme parties are kind of funny/depressing in their own way. The idea is that if you are willing to devote a night (or a weekend, or possibly weeks) to something you didn't create/nostalgia/embarrassment/letting loose, you should look out for more theme parties, especially among hipsters. Because they love a good, ironic time.

Yesterday was a Full House of activity, going to beach, getting burned, going to a great barbeque in Ozone Park, seeing a friend get harassed by two men on children's bikes, and wonton love of a show that for all intensive purposes was just cheesy (save a few moments) and had no sense of what high school was actually like: Saved By The Bell.

Don't get my wrong; I enjoy SBTB a lot. I liked it growing up, and I still enjoy watching it in the morning before work. I don't own the series like Pat Craig does, but that's ok.

The Bell House being an amazing venue was the perfect place for a Saved By The Bell dance, where 3 dollars for every ticket went to oil relief. By the time the main part of the dance was over and The Bayside Tigers wrapped up their set, there was a real dance party in the front lounge. Everything is just set up well.

I was wearing my Malibu Sands shirt thinking 8 other people would be wearing it but I was dead wrong. Half the people didn't dress up, the other half were a mix of 3 really dressed up people and 100 semi-dressed up people. Leotards, skinny suspenders, light jeans, I couldn't help but wonder if this was 1994, or people just thought it was an 80s party. Because there has to be a difference right? Reagan vs. Clinton? Shit I should have worn my chain wallet. And brought like a copy of Swingers. Or something. Empire Records by the way is one of the top 10 worst movies ever. I stand by that wholeheartedly.

Folks who bought a ticket received one free vodka lemonade drink ticket and a view of strobe lights and a huge Bayside logo where you could take your picture and feel like a has been actor. "Man in the Mirror" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and other tunes got the dance floor slightly going but everything was surprisingly pretty chill (the dance party in the front was way more solid, Union Pool-ish in a way). The Bayside Tigers played all 90s alt-rock hits; I called 3 of them (Blur, Harvey Danger, and Lit) and we sung most of them throughout. At least they played Bosstones and Blink 182 right?

There were some crazy ladies, some drunk ladies, and a wider age range than usual, probably 21 to 36. Everything was just a lot of fun, it didn't sell out, there was room to dance, I actually listened to suburban 90s alt-rock (except for godamn 3 doors down, god they suck, rembrandts, suck, gin blossoms, double suck for being catchy, eve 6, suck, all played by these bands), and you had just enough characters (yes you lady in the flower top just going batshit crazy, it's a band covering Oasis, not actually Oasis) to make the people watching interesting. When they started playing 3 Doors Down, I kid you not half the people went to go get a drink. People have spoken.

A young woman seemed to twist or land on her ankle the wrong way and I helped get her to the comfortable couch by the side of the stage. There was also a group who came up to me and asked for my picture because I looked EXACTLY (their word) like their friend from LA. I guess I'm not the only Asian with a normal haircut.

The bar moved quick, everyone was having fun, there were cupcakes out front from Robicelli's where you can find all over west Brooklyn and a couple of other locations including the new dessert shop Farmacy on Henry Street in Carroll Gardens.

All in all, a very fun experience and worth it. And btdubs, there are several other clubs in the area. And I still want to go to Canal Bar on 3rd Avenue. They are really trying to turn Gowanus into like a Brooklynized meatpacking aren't they?

Speaking of slightly cracked out neighborhoods:

The Music Slut Has Been Slutty for 5 Years!

The good friends at The Music Slut have been whoring it out for 5 years now. Keeping up with new music is no joke, and if it weren't for internet weblogs such as TMS, well I'd miss out on a possibly inconsequential generation of music right? But that's just me being a music snob. TMS is having a music show in honor of this 5 year mark, details later on.

The Music Slut is no frills music news from across the landscape and they support lots of wonderful music videos; kind of like a really indie Subterranean but in blog form. Lots of dedication on the parts of these men and women and possible minors here to cull info from all angles and give it to you straight up. You don't need Twitter when you have TMS; you get all your tasty morsels with visuals to boot, and it's quick strike. They may have started out a little wordier, but it's been honed to just the facts Jack. I've been reading their first posts, very nostalgic.

5 years is a long time coming, so congrats you guys and gals. In 2005, I was starting the last bit of college, and graduating to more hardcore shows. Alkaline Trio released Crimson (by that point I was doing the whole "I'm only going to listen up to a certain album" thing becaues I was lazy) and there are albums that I still listen to that I consider "new" but I guess 5 years can be quite a while. I'm also glad that some bands that I enjoyed albums from that year are still around and have released not one but several albums since, it gives them a real body of work and a consistency that is admirable.

Again, congrats sluts! The Music Slut will be having a 5 year anniversary show on 7/29 which you can purchase tickets for here. And guess what the kicker is? It's part of the Rocks Off Cruise series, which means you'll be drinking on a boat and being real sleazy with the bands. Like, double entendre sleazy. Tonight Catch 22 is playing. The newer one. That's been playing since before even 2005.

Speaking of sluts at that time: