17 May 2009

66Sick Once More!



What better way to start summer than with free fun? And now that we've gotten to know the hosts maybe there'll be more free champagne. Most of you have already been here so you know the draw, but for those that haven't...

THE RUNDOWN
Date:
Tuesday, May 19th to Wednesday, May 20th.

Time: 10 PM to 4 AM.

Location: Happy Ending
302 Broome Street
Downstairs
Manhattan

Price: Free.

Drinks: Free house vodka cocktails from 11 PM to 12 AM; $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon all night; easy to sneak in booze, dark enough on the dance floor to enjoy it.

Music: No-names (DJs Micprobes, Peter High, and Dimitry) spinning sets heavy on the electro with some pop thrown in for good flavor. A few of songs I've heard there are...

The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
KiD CuDI - Day N Night (Crookers remix)
Cut Copy - Lights and Music (Moulinex remix)

Crowd: A mix of young hipsters and Euro-trash; free booze means they're drunk as Hell, but doesn't ensure that they'll dance; downstairs tends to be a fire hazard as midnight (i.e. last call for free vodka) approaches; after that the crowd thins out a little, but things never really die down; in the off-chance that the lower level doesn't please, just walk upstairs to Disco Down on the ground level and discover a whole 'nother party.

ID: 21+, but they are more harsh with guys; the first time I went Olek almost didn't get in because the photo on his ID was taken ages ago and doesn't really look like him anymore; on the other hand, Kat was using a friend's ID and got in no problem; government issued only.

Coat Check: They actually started forcing you to check your coat and bag if either is too big. I think it's like $4, but save yourself the trouble and just leave all that shit at home. What the fuck are you doing going out in a jacket anyway? It's summer, bitch.

Directions: F train to Delancey; walk four blocks West on Delancey until you hit Eldridge; walk one block South to Broome; turn East on Broome; Happy Endings is near the corner; it still has the red awning of the location's former Chinese massage parlor.

Pregame:
Is Lazy Catfish still closed?

A few photos from last time:

11 May 2009

New Artist Alert: Vic Was Right


It must've been over a year ago, but one time I was smoking cigarettes with Vic during a party in Jersey and he called it:

"Soon all you're going to need to start an electro band is a relatively attractive chick and a guy who can play synth."

Or something like that.

Well, he was right; not just about the future of electronic music, but even his melancholy regarding it. Here are two bands that prove his point; Cute chicks singing, with invisible guys providing the beats. The tunes aren't really innovative or substantial, but they make for fun, interesting dance music. The songs also double as great remix ammo.

La Roux


I think Vic's comment stemmed from a conversation about Crystal Castles, so its only appropriate that La Roux reminded me of CC, sans the meth. Ben Langmaid creates a similar rough, lo-fi sound, but its much more restrained, more melodic. Also, unlike Alice of CC, Elly Jackson can actually sing. The Twelves took to La Roux's "In for the Kill," but came up a little short of their usual handiwork.


La Roux - Bulletproof (mp3)


La Roux - In for the Kill (mp3)
La Roux - In for the Kill (the Twelves remix)

Ladyhawke

Alright, maybe I spoke too soon: Turns out Ladyhawke is actually just one chick, who sings and produces the music. Sorry Vic, guess your theory's got a hole in it--unless the guy behind this is really invisible. Anyway, Ladyhawke is a blond from New Zealand churning out electro-pop. It's actually a bit more layered and intricate than La Roux's brand. And if Alex Metric's and Fred Falke's attempts are any indication, its much more conducive to great remixes.


Ladyhawke - Back of the Van (mp3)
Ladyhawke - Back of the Van (Fred Falke remix)


Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning (mp3)
Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning (Alex Metric remix)

P.S. Hundredth post, motherfuckers.

07 May 2009

Ain't Nothing Wrong w/ Cornbread

Let's have a moment and reflect on those past days when everyone at school asked for your sign. They then proceeded to tell you were going to die.



Those were the days.

02 May 2009

Artist of the Week

JULIAN SCHNABEL

Although Julian Schnabel's isn't exalted for his modesty,

"I'm the closest thing to Picasso that
you'll see in this *#@ life" (from Wikipedia),

his ingenious plate paintings, which integrate broken ceramic plates to create images with varying textures, are extraordinary. The novelty of Schnabel's work is reminiscent of Seurat's pointillism pieces, in which small dots of paint create an image, that strangely enough remind me of the discrete quantization of matter. Yes, I've been a chemistry student for far too long.



Not only does this man create eloquent fine art, but has also directed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a French foreign film that I behoove you to watch at some point in your life. Here is a clip to catch your interest:


New Artist Alert: CLUES

Who remembers The Unicorns?



The group unfortunately disbanded in late 2004 leaving us eager for something equally fun and melodious. Luckily, Clues was formed in 2007 to excite our aural sensations.

Silverlake Steps - Clues - "Perfect Fit" from We Listen on Vimeo.



The band is made up of Alden Penner (former vocalist of The Unicorns), Brendan Reed (The Arcade Fire), Ben Borden, Lisa Gamble, and Nick Scribner, thereby creating a sound much akin to The Unicorns and Arcade Fire. Every song is engaging in its own manner for each has a similar melodic theme but evolves completely differently. Some of their stuff is geared towards the sappy-lyric obsessed emo kids (like me), while others are a bit more upbeat and danceable to (hey, I enjoy this too, don't call me an emo kid!). They will be in New York on June 17th, for which my friend Mike will be traveling to all the way from Rhode Island! (Nudge, I think all of you New Yorkers should make the subway trip). The show is $12 and available for purchase at: TicketWeb.

25 April 2009

Dying to be thin....

With all of these countless commercials and advertisements for diet remedies, followed by desperate resolutions to drop 10-20-30- even 40lbs and beyond (even I'm guilty!), I got to thinking about how God-damned lucky we are as Americans to even have that option. The above photograph (Nachtwey, 1993) depicts a starving woman suffering from the famine in Sudan and reflects that of many images and faces of millions of others just like her - all across the world! Universally, millions of people are dying for a crumb of bread; while as Americans, we aim to (as many diet books will tell you..) "cover half of your meal with a napkin to avoid picking at it and to eat smaller portions." But, where does that half uneaten meal go? It goes to decompose in a waste... you know, much like the wastelands millions of poverty-ridden human beings must not only reside in, but search through to find rotting morsels of food that even a maggot wouldn't touch - just to satisfy their hunger enough to survive just one more day! So, instead of dwelling on that trivial extra winter weight, picture those people starving around the world who would KILL to be pleasantly plump, rather than continue DYING to be thin.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Yacki's Track to Success, Pt. I

My mom gave birth to a calf. I weighed around 10 lbs. when I was born and it was difficult being a fat kid.

About 1 year old and able to hold an adult sized bowl of food.

Everyone gawks at the grossly chunky kid. None of my friends made fun of me (to my face), but I clearly recall this one time that everyone laughed hysterically when my ("friend") Alexander pulled down my gym sweatpants in the middle of the playground thereby exposing my grandma underwear and chubby legs. It was traumatizing.


This is me at age six with my only true friend, Ramona.

All the boys saw me as just a friend, but I wanted more. You might be wondering what an eight year old might have possibly known about dating. Here's some background: I was pretty much raised by my grandmother, who religiously tunes into Canal 41: Univision, a Hispanic channel that broadcasts some of the raunchiest soap operas. So, every birthday, I'd blow out my candles and wish for my papi chulo. My wishes didn't manifest themselves for a long, long time.

Why? Probably because I was a fatty. I wore size 11 jeans (at 5'2" then) and would soothe my insecurities by calling myself a curvaceous Latina (the only visible curves were the rolls on my torso). I began identifying myself as wholly Peruvian, and denied my Japanese descent for a few months. That transient phase ended after graduating middle school and entering high school where I found some White friends. My obsession with Lil' Wayne was replaced with one for the front man of Dashboard Confessional, Chris Carrabba.


Left: Lil' Wayne, Right: Chris Carrabba.

In my freshmen year of high school, I started taking better care of myself. I discovered make up and no longer looked like a little Asian boy in a dress.

This is me looking like a little Asian boy in a dress.

This was around the same time that my first boyfriend and I got together. Luckily, he wasn't a douche bag about my weight. I ended up giving rice (a key part of the Hispanic diet) and lost a few pounds, but still weighed around 155 lbs. I was fat and happy throughout high school until we broke up after three years of dating. I became a health fanatic and dropped to 130 lbs.

Unfortunately, the healthy mindset dissipated shortly after stepping into my current relationship. Luckily, my weight hasn't varied much from 130 lbs., but I'm FREAKING OUT now that summer's right around the corner. This happens every so often, especially when I want to procrastinate from things I should be focusing on (i.e. studying for my physical chemistry final that is in three days).

My goal for the next few weeks is to go down to 120 lbs.

My current statistics are as follows:
Height: 5'4"
Current Weight: 131 lbs.
Goal Weight: 120 lbs.
Frame: Medium

I have been keeping track of my calories for the past five days, and it was incredibly difficult for the first "three day hump" because I accidentally consumed a 700 calorie Mango Margarita from Blockheads that left me starving for actual nutrition. I intend on sharing some of my irrational fears, but mostly (I hope) interesting nutrition and biochemical facts with you guys.

Today's Lesson:
In my opinion, drinking light beer is futile. I discovered Heineken Light a few months ago through my best friend, and it was love at first taste, which was odd because I never really liked the taste of beer. However, Heinken Light had this almost soda like taste, which amused my soda-loving taste buds. Now, if you're out and about, dancing and drinking, you tend to want to get more and more inebriated as the night progresses. So, you purchase as many tasty beverages as necessary to get to this point. This amounts to several gratuitous dollars spent because turns out Heineken Light only has 3.5% alcohol content! This is false advertising, if you ask me. I can consume almost the same amount of ethanol from certain yogurts. So, go for shots, ladies. One shot (typically 1.5 oz) of most vodkas, gins, and whiskeys is about 95 calories and about 40% alcohol. You would have to purchase two Heineken Lights to consume this amount of alcohol, which is costing you about 200 calories, $14 (if each beer costs $6, +$1 tip/drink), a bloated tummy, and another fat roll. This applies to most light beers, which range from 3.5%-4% alcohol content.