so I tried Pinkberry (the west coast's "tasti-d") yesterday. It's in Koreatown on 32nd St between 5th and 6th ave...mush closer to 5th ave. Anyways they only have two flavors, original (don't know if that's vanilla, or some fruity flavor that looks white) and green tea. I am a green tea fanatic, so i tried green tea with mochi balls.
First of all the small is a lot bigger than a tasti-d small...so hence it's like $3.75 with no toppings. The mochi balls are not out in the open, so unless you're in the "pinkberry know" you have to ask for it as "rice cake" or something...cos i guess no one knows it's called mochi (well at least in japanese, don't know what it is in chinese or korean). Anyways with mochi balls it came out to $5.26.
The green tea (soft serve) was not sweet like typical green tea ice cream, nor was the tea flavor as strong. It also had this unusual citrus flavor. I think I'll stick to tasti-d or (jamba juice's green tea smoothie)...cos i like the creaminess, and I can get mochi in chinatown. If you like fruit toppings, I'd say try Pinkberry, if you're more a creamy ice cream person, stay clear of this place. Those people in LA are weird.
lovehateNYC and Spike Lee
I don't know where this came from, but somehow I channeled my writing muse and my thesis paper turned out fabulous...here's a tidbit about Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" that will make you want to rent it again right away...
Spike Lee’s awareness in the issue of love and hate goes beyond his relationship with New York City, for it is a central theme in his third feature film, Do the Right Thing. Too often viewers get caught up in the issues of racism and questions about who did the right thing when discussing this movie, but they fail to even acknowledge the complex underlying theme of the polarity between love and hate. At the start of the film we are introduced to the idea of the balance in opposition when Mister Señor Love Daddy mentions to his radio listeners that he is "doing the yin and the yang." From the very beginning Lee subtly interjects the concept of balance of duality in our lives. What soon follows is the most significant visual pairing of opposites in this film, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. (fig. 6)—this ironically foreshadows the ideal resolution to all conflicts in the film.
Smiley says as he holds up this photograph of the pair, "they are dead, but we still have to fight against...upon hate." The events that occur throughout this twenty-four hour period of the film are either motivated towards hate (i.e. the protest against Sal’s, the killing of Radio Raheem, the riot and burning of the pizzeria), or are attempts to turn hate into love (i.e. Da Mayor attempting to warm up to Mother Sister by bringing her flowers, Sal and Jude innocently flirting, Mookie telling Sal to put the bat down). Ultimately the lesson to be learned here is that if we allow hate to take over our lives, no one will ever win because letting hate consume us leads to complete annihilation. Anger built up in the end of the film as Radio Raheem and Sal fought each other, and hate finally plateaued when no one was capable of stopping the NYPD from murdering Radio Raheem. There was an opportunity to prevent hate from taking over, but anger persisted and therefore a snowball effect led to complete destruction. Even at the close of the film Lee wants us to walk away with the comprehension of balance in opposition by presenting us with quotes from both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. One must not chose a quote to live by, rather one must see the intelligence in both.
Spike Lee’s awareness in the issue of love and hate goes beyond his relationship with New York City, for it is a central theme in his third feature film, Do the Right Thing. Too often viewers get caught up in the issues of racism and questions about who did the right thing when discussing this movie, but they fail to even acknowledge the complex underlying theme of the polarity between love and hate. At the start of the film we are introduced to the idea of the balance in opposition when Mister Señor Love Daddy mentions to his radio listeners that he is "doing the yin and the yang." From the very beginning Lee subtly interjects the concept of balance of duality in our lives. What soon follows is the most significant visual pairing of opposites in this film, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. (fig. 6)—this ironically foreshadows the ideal resolution to all conflicts in the film.
Smiley says as he holds up this photograph of the pair, "they are dead, but we still have to fight against...upon hate." The events that occur throughout this twenty-four hour period of the film are either motivated towards hate (i.e. the protest against Sal’s, the killing of Radio Raheem, the riot and burning of the pizzeria), or are attempts to turn hate into love (i.e. Da Mayor attempting to warm up to Mother Sister by bringing her flowers, Sal and Jude innocently flirting, Mookie telling Sal to put the bat down). Ultimately the lesson to be learned here is that if we allow hate to take over our lives, no one will ever win because letting hate consume us leads to complete annihilation. Anger built up in the end of the film as Radio Raheem and Sal fought each other, and hate finally plateaued when no one was capable of stopping the NYPD from murdering Radio Raheem. There was an opportunity to prevent hate from taking over, but anger persisted and therefore a snowball effect led to complete destruction. Even at the close of the film Lee wants us to walk away with the comprehension of balance in opposition by presenting us with quotes from both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. One must not chose a quote to live by, rather one must see the intelligence in both.
songs of the week
Three songs, and then some, on repeat this week...
Lost Ones by Jay-Z
Wind it Up by Gwen Stefani (hey, I hated this song at first, but you take what you get, and it grows on you)
Thanks to You by the Old Wave
Fix Up by Dizzy Rascal
LDN by Lily Allen
Toxic by the Chapin Sisters
Acid Food by Mogwai
it's wonders what two mini stereo to RCA cables and female adaptor connectors can do with an audio recorder and "non-downloadable" songs from a website. Very Macguyver-esque.
Lost Ones by Jay-Z
Wind it Up by Gwen Stefani (hey, I hated this song at first, but you take what you get, and it grows on you)
Thanks to You by the Old Wave
Fix Up by Dizzy Rascal
LDN by Lily Allen
Toxic by the Chapin Sisters
Acid Food by Mogwai
it's wonders what two mini stereo to RCA cables and female adaptor connectors can do with an audio recorder and "non-downloadable" songs from a website. Very Macguyver-esque.
Gwen Dolls and Palindromes, and Gavin's 39th
So Gwen Stefani's Love Angel Music Baby dolls are coming...pre-order them from target or huckleberrytoys.com now or else crazies like me are going to snatch them up like tickle me elmos.
Also watched two must rent netflix films this week.
1. Elephant/Firm by Alan Clarke (who also directed Scum...which is another essential brit tv drama classic). Clarke's Elephant inspired Gus Van Sant's Elephant, in so many ways...dare I even say the long take, observational technique that made Last Days fabulous. Much admiration must be given to Alan Clarke. Another side note, Danny Boyle produced Clarke's Elephant, and there's some great commentary on this dvd given by Boyle. Plus a concept to think about...It's like an elephant in your living room.
2. Palindromes was great. A little strange and bizzare at first, but you get used to the character changes. The Sunshines are hilarious.
And major P.S. it's Gavin Rossdale's 39th birthday today, so have some birthday cake or stick toffee pudding in his honor. (Still looking pretty good for near 40. Can you believe it's been 10-11 years since Sixteen Stone and Tragic Kingdom came out, damn. Gwen Stefani should really go back to No Doubt and stop messing around with her experiments, because she's prone to Fergie and Furtado syndrome (mature ladies tryin' to be skankalicious is not hot))
Also watched two must rent netflix films this week.
1. Elephant/Firm by Alan Clarke (who also directed Scum...which is another essential brit tv drama classic). Clarke's Elephant inspired Gus Van Sant's Elephant, in so many ways...dare I even say the long take, observational technique that made Last Days fabulous. Much admiration must be given to Alan Clarke. Another side note, Danny Boyle produced Clarke's Elephant, and there's some great commentary on this dvd given by Boyle. Plus a concept to think about...It's like an elephant in your living room.
2. Palindromes was great. A little strange and bizzare at first, but you get used to the character changes. The Sunshines are hilarious.
And major P.S. it's Gavin Rossdale's 39th birthday today, so have some birthday cake or stick toffee pudding in his honor. (Still looking pretty good for near 40. Can you believe it's been 10-11 years since Sixteen Stone and Tragic Kingdom came out, damn. Gwen Stefani should really go back to No Doubt and stop messing around with her experiments, because she's prone to Fergie and Furtado syndrome (mature ladies tryin' to be skankalicious is not hot))
The Old Wave
Sorry I've been a lot busy lately. But fail you not, I've found another excellent obsession. This Russian band, The Old Wave, is the new Muse mixed in with a little Eugene Hutz. This is where you regret not taking that Russian class in college. I came across them on myspace. I usually ignore trails of desperate self-promotion, but sometimes you come across the little gems in your friend request mailbox that make your day a little brighter.
I don't know how young these guys are (they look a little too young for me to trust)...but it reminds me of first discovering muse in 1999 when matt bellamy was barely manly enough to sport a little goatee.
You can hear some songs on their myspace page here, they've got a song in english called "Pollina's Sky." My new song on repeat is "Thanks to You," Russian never sounded so lovely. Lovely, lovely, очаровательный. Ah.
"You don't fall in love with people that make you wanna crap your pants!"
I love the Gilmore Girls and just when I thought this season was going down the drain...Paris (Geller, not Hilton) says this line...
"Do you see any of my students falling in love with me? No. Cos you wanna know why? You don't fall in love with people that make you wanna crap your pants!"
"Do you see any of my students falling in love with me? No. Cos you wanna know why? You don't fall in love with people that make you wanna crap your pants!"
Sara Cardace is a liar!
If you don't know, I hate it when music journalist don't do their job right. I used to be a music journalist, and I did a damn good job and worked my ass of to get everything perfect and accurate. Even alcohol is not an exceptional excuse for what Sara Cardace at the New York Magazine online has done. See for yourself here.
Her article about Lily Allen's show last night...is not entirely true...in fact there are at least seven valid discrepancies with her article. Either Ms. Cardace has not done her proper research, she was drunk when she wrote the article, or she failed as a journalist by barely managing to tell the majority of events in the exact or even, the acceptable, "slightly tweaked" order in which they occurred. But then again going to a free concert as a journalist is so blissful...it's hard to remember everything, huh?
1. She forgot to mention the B&T crowd, especially the creepy guys in scrappy jeans and t-shirts who charged the stage after the show, pushing innocent petite women, to snatch any paper in sight (even if it was not a set list...say like the champagne glass Lily was drinking out of)...in hopes of getting a piece of Ms. Allen. But this is extra information I'd cut for obvious reasons, but good water-cooler conversation.
2. Your use of "awesome"-ness. Are you at a loss for words? Get a dictionary and a thesaurus. You write for New York Magazine! I don't think awesomeness is exceptional unless you write for Nickelodeon Magazine. And if you had to use "awesomeness" don't hyphenate it and put it all in quotations marks. If you can't use the word properly, don't use it at all.
3. There was no guitarist on stage while Lily performed...were you hallucinating? There was a BASSIST though. I don't even think any of Allen's songs have a guitar in it. Learn your instrument names. There was also a keyboardist/mixer guy onstage too if you didn't notice--he had on a snazzy tie.
4. I don't think I'd call Lily's dress hipster-appropriate. Personally, I think she'd sock you in the head if you told her that. She tends to like to wear a variety of "party" dresses when she performs...at times with trainers (British slang for "sneakers")..but on this occasion she was rockin' some nice off-white heels.
5. Ska-tinged...not the word to describe what you should have called "calypso inspired 'LDN'". Overall I think her songs especially "Knock Em Out" has a dancehall vibe to it more than a ska vibe...especially since ska became way overrated and lost its essence after the 2000 fad.
6. What you call "Window Shop" is actually "Nan You're a Window Shopper"...which is a parody of 50 Cent's "Window Shopper" (really it's wonders what wikipedia can tell you)
7. How the hell did you know that Mark Ronson's nickname is "the Cobra Snake" but you didn't know "Nan You're a Window Shopper"? I think that's a little more important that talking about if his "It Girl" is there.
8. Ronson did not DJ after Lily Allen left the stage...Aaron LaCrate did...and the "Sweet Dreams" beat was played during his first set, not at the end of the show.
9. Why did you not mention Domino at all? They were spectacular! Among other fabulous things.
10. I would have subtly included that the show was slightly short with just seven songs and one encore...but since you like to sugar-coat things and mess them up, then obviously you would overlook it.
11. I wish you had a better image taken of Lily, because that image makes her look pudgey...when she really looked fab!
I wish I had time to write a better formatted letter complaining to New York Magazine online about Ms. Cardace's journalistic problems...but I have better things to do. But maybe I'll take some time off the thesis to do it. Cross your fingers!
Take this as a lesson kiddies, if you want to be a music journalist just because you like watching bands and like to listen to good music...beware...do it right or else I will find your article and tear it shreds...because I was the best of the best...and if I wanted to continue in journalism...it'd be the next Matt Pinfield.
Here's an image of the article..sans Lily's picture and the sad article title of "Lily Allen, Hero at Hiro" (we are not still writing for the highschool newspaper are we?)
Her article about Lily Allen's show last night...is not entirely true...in fact there are at least seven valid discrepancies with her article. Either Ms. Cardace has not done her proper research, she was drunk when she wrote the article, or she failed as a journalist by barely managing to tell the majority of events in the exact or even, the acceptable, "slightly tweaked" order in which they occurred. But then again going to a free concert as a journalist is so blissful...it's hard to remember everything, huh?
1. She forgot to mention the B&T crowd, especially the creepy guys in scrappy jeans and t-shirts who charged the stage after the show, pushing innocent petite women, to snatch any paper in sight (even if it was not a set list...say like the champagne glass Lily was drinking out of)...in hopes of getting a piece of Ms. Allen. But this is extra information I'd cut for obvious reasons, but good water-cooler conversation.
2. Your use of "awesome"-ness. Are you at a loss for words? Get a dictionary and a thesaurus. You write for New York Magazine! I don't think awesomeness is exceptional unless you write for Nickelodeon Magazine. And if you had to use "awesomeness" don't hyphenate it and put it all in quotations marks. If you can't use the word properly, don't use it at all.
3. There was no guitarist on stage while Lily performed...were you hallucinating? There was a BASSIST though. I don't even think any of Allen's songs have a guitar in it. Learn your instrument names. There was also a keyboardist/mixer guy onstage too if you didn't notice--he had on a snazzy tie.
4. I don't think I'd call Lily's dress hipster-appropriate. Personally, I think she'd sock you in the head if you told her that. She tends to like to wear a variety of "party" dresses when she performs...at times with trainers (British slang for "sneakers")..but on this occasion she was rockin' some nice off-white heels.
5. Ska-tinged...not the word to describe what you should have called "calypso inspired 'LDN'". Overall I think her songs especially "Knock Em Out" has a dancehall vibe to it more than a ska vibe...especially since ska became way overrated and lost its essence after the 2000 fad.
6. What you call "Window Shop" is actually "Nan You're a Window Shopper"...which is a parody of 50 Cent's "Window Shopper" (really it's wonders what wikipedia can tell you)
7. How the hell did you know that Mark Ronson's nickname is "the Cobra Snake" but you didn't know "Nan You're a Window Shopper"? I think that's a little more important that talking about if his "It Girl" is there.
8. Ronson did not DJ after Lily Allen left the stage...Aaron LaCrate did...and the "Sweet Dreams" beat was played during his first set, not at the end of the show.
9. Why did you not mention Domino at all? They were spectacular! Among other fabulous things.
10. I would have subtly included that the show was slightly short with just seven songs and one encore...but since you like to sugar-coat things and mess them up, then obviously you would overlook it.
11. I wish you had a better image taken of Lily, because that image makes her look pudgey...when she really looked fab!
I wish I had time to write a better formatted letter complaining to New York Magazine online about Ms. Cardace's journalistic problems...but I have better things to do. But maybe I'll take some time off the thesis to do it. Cross your fingers!
Take this as a lesson kiddies, if you want to be a music journalist just because you like watching bands and like to listen to good music...beware...do it right or else I will find your article and tear it shreds...because I was the best of the best...and if I wanted to continue in journalism...it'd be the next Matt Pinfield.
Here's an image of the article..sans Lily's picture and the sad article title of "Lily Allen, Hero at Hiro" (we are not still writing for the highschool newspaper are we?)
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