Cyworld.com and pixel people

Heard about this online at CNN.com. It's good to see journalists care just as much about online social communities as they do about war on terror, John Karr and K-Fed. It's like Friendster/Myspace but with an Asian twist. As we all know, the Asians like anime, fantasy, cutesy imagination, etc....so it's more of a multi-taskbook of social communities. There is a Mini Me avatar you get to build (pick your hair, clothes, accessories) and you can buy stuff from a MiniRoom store(ie tv, pets, friends) with acorn money(I know, what the f*ck?) It's like creating a cartoon self, kind of weird, but the asians love it (and so do I, deep down inside). It's not as creepy as it sounds, ok, so show some support and love for the Asian creators. They work hard. And that might be me one day coding all that stuff.
Cyworld.com


If you are like me and are fascinated by "pixel people avatars" ( I swear it reminds me of something when i was younger, but i can't remember), also check out these little nuggets...

The Avatar Prom on the-n.com. Some of us don't like the Sims and need something a little more innocent, thank you very much. Or we don't like to pay for games. Is that a crime?
http://www.the-n.com/games/avProm


This eboy rocks! Check out his maps of NYC, London and Venice or just his pixel people graphics.
http://hello.eboy.com/eboy/index.php

Vermont

Went to Vermont this weekend. Here are some good places to go...

Ben + Jerry's factory tour
The tour is $3 for adults. Nothing fantastic to write home about but you get a free, decent sized sample of the flavor of the day. Our flavor was "American Pie"--now our new favorite flavor-- it it was like eating apple pie with vanilla ice cream, but without all the bulk. Chocolate Therapy is also a good flavor for chocoholics like me. The line to buy ice cream always looks long, but it's worth standing in line for 10 minutes! Plus it should be fresher than your grocery store freezer, so just do it! I never realized how cause worthy Ben & Jerry's company is. Kudos to that! Much better than the annoying singing at Cold Stone.



Cool road signs
Do drive around Burlington and take in the cool signage reminiscent of European road signs.




Leunig's Bistro & Cafe
Located on the corner of Church & College St on the Marketplace in Downtown Burlington, it was very Parisian bistro like, with delicious food for a $15-$30 price range. Loved it because they had my two favorite beers, Hoegaarden and Stella Artois, not to mention the Crab Cake Rissole with mandarin orange slaw was fabulous (and I'm usually not one for slaw). Just crispy enough on the outside and not too fishy on the inside. The grilled steak frites was pretty good too, with a thyme seasoning on the steak...a nice and unique paring.
Check out the menu if you like here.

Penny Cluse Cafe
Located at 169 Cherry Street in Downtown Burlington, they have the best gingerbread pancakes ever! Expect a 45 minute wait for a table(the pancakes alone are worth it). The home fries aren't exactly what I expected (looked yellowish in color like tumeric was put on them), if you're looking for something crunchy, stay away from these!

You can get the recipe for their gingerbread pancakes or see a menu at their site here.

University Inn & Suites in South Burlington
At 5 Dorset St, in South Burlington. It was more 2 star than three star. The side entrances to each of the buildings have a card swipe reader, but none of the doors actually lock (in some cases the lock has been removed completely), so it's a false sense of security. They say they keep it unlocked so staff can come and go easily. I say that's a load of crap. I understand that crime isn't as bad up north near Canada...maybe you don't need to lock your doors, but I like to be prepared for a worse case scenerio and lock up just for safety's sake.

Janina Boesch and Filip Olszewski are cool!

Saw Janina Boesch's project for Manhattan Dissected on the Adobe site, she won the Adobe Design Award for 2006 in interactive design. She stole my idea that I failed to come up with first. Grrrr! Lovely none the less because I'm currently obsessed with panoramic photography and organizing information in a visual way. Plus it's of Manhattan, so I know it like the back of my hand. Also check out the analysis of overall color scheme in the photos and the percentage averages. You can check out a demo of the project here.



Also loved Filip Olszewski's The Suclking Pigs Interactive (http://forgiveme-iloveyou.com/sucklingpigs.html)
It's a flash based interactive piece of his band. Takes a while to load, and two of the musicians aren't complete yet, but definately you should check it out for now. Use your computer's keyboard keys to make the drummer bang certain drums and sing, or play the accordian. Reminds me of TAP(the dancer on the PDA project). Olszewski's other work and animation is really good too.


I am very jealous of everyone.

Sock Puppet Drawings

I like to doodle, especially sock puppets. I did this at work last year.

Wakeboards...and 1996

So on September 3, 1996 I wrote myself a letter to read in May 2000. It was an assignment in Mrs. Wobb's English class.

*side note: I remember this kid in my class who Brandi liked and he looked a lot like a kid version on Chris Kattan's Roxbury brothers character on SNL, like a spitting image.

Anyway, I was so obsessed with wakeboarding at the time and I knew words like the Bunny Hop 180, Roll to Revert. I had a subscription to Wakeboaring magazine and it was all because I was in love with Parks Bonifay (superstar 14 year old who won the gold medal for wakeboarding at the 1996 x-games in RI) and knew that he rode a 54'' Conelly Dually board--because I was obsessed like that. Now I could really care less. But that was my first obsession to the extreme.

Plus 1996 started my obsession with alternative music and music videos in general. I'd always carry around my walkman listening to Radio Free Hawaii 102.7 FM. That was the best station ever, dark horse week, party train, Kereigh(with a gh), golden ear or tin ear, songs like Primitive Radio Gods "Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth with Money in My Hand," Green Day's "Walking Contradictions," No Doubt's "Spiderwebs," 311's "Down," Dave Matthew Band's "So Much to Say," Diswalla's "Counting Blue Cars," Oasis' "Wonderwall," Bush's "Glycerine," Nada Surf's "Popular." And don't get me started on MTV, because there's a whole 10 page rant about that.

Who cares right?

So I'm starting this blog because...

A) friends tell me I'm the guru of NYC and they always turn to me for restaurant, bar, store, anything cool and good recommendations..i sometimes beg to differ, but I do a snazzy taste and style.

B) I am obsessed with random things, and when i tell others about it, they get obsessed too...whether it be right away or days, weeks, months years after the fact

C) I spot the trends. Not bragging about it. It's just a fact.

D) I want you to eat the best food, sleep in the best bed and buy the best clothes, just as I have.

So keep on reading on. Comment or drop me a line to show some support.