Umm…this is pretty raw

I just about lost my shit when I saw this ad where Bruce Lee plays ping pong with nun-chuks.

Is it fake? Absolutely

Do i care? Absolutely not

This is just one reason that the creative professions interest me so much.

The iPhone

The iPhone is playing music right now, it’s also recording my thoughts in the form of this blog, and I can’t help but think of how cool this thing is… It’s true I waited for six hours on line starting at six in the morning….but I swear it’s worth it. After getting my phone activated, I started trying totext message with it immediately – realizing that it’s touchscreen would leave something to be desired – but not much… Honestly it’s great… But the real utility to be found with this phone is the fact that it basically does everything you need it to do… Everything.

I’m on a budget – it can track my expenses…I’m studying for an exam – it quizzes me while I’m on the go…I have a blog idea – yup, I wrote this entry while waiting for the bus…

I have lists of everything on here – abs to top it all off it plays music – I’m on love and it only took a week… short of a computer, I am more dependent on this device than any other.

The problems that it has had for me, have all been software related so far – no cut and paste , spotty support for the landscape keyboard – but all and all, this device IS prime time and I would wait in line for six hours again for it…

Leeeeeeeroooyyyyyy Jeennnnkinsssss!!!!

Yeah, everybody gets to see somebody like that.

My inner dork is loving this stuff…

The World of Warcraft is a funny game – I don’t play it that often.  But I’ll tell you what, this video made me cry it was so funny…Dorks at their finest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU

yeah, it’s been seen millions of times, but yeah – I just found it…

I thought the whole idea was to keep the dog off the bed

Get Ready for a Don King moment. Only in America can this fantabulousness reside. Okay, actually it wasn’t that much of a Don King moment. But honestly, I had no idea people made pet steps. I thought the whole idea was to keep the pets OFF the bed. Not encourage them. Although when I browsed the website I realized that this product is aimed towards older folks.  I guess its’ alright to show the pooch a little down comforter love.  Hell, they do tend to love you unconditionally, I guess you might as well let them sleep next to you if they’d like.  Although for those purists out there who vehemently deny their dogs any creature comforts (hi mom!), I’ve figured out a way that this invention could be used to train your dogs to stay OFF of the bed. Put little pressure-sensitive electric strips on the treads of the stairs.  That way if they use the stairs, they get zapped.  Come to think of it, it would probably work with your kids too…

Bag It…Click it…Sip It

So I just got a camera today – and I’m looking forward to taking it on some loooooong walks through Manhattan and Brooklyn – I need photos of this city.

Just a few things I’m wondering/pondering though – does anyone make messenger style bags with backpack straps? Messenger bags hold SO much more stuff, only the straps kill the neck. A backpack rarely holds enough – but the straps are much more comfortable and good for your back. Maybe there is something I don’t know about messenger bags – i basically want a camping backpack with the straps oriented 90 degrees off kilter…although a shoulder option would be very nice as well…and preferrably while being huge – it would also qualify as carry-on size…that would be great…

Lastly, McDonalds gets kudos on their beverage bags – they have a little “weld” down the middle allowing you to hold two drinks in each bag – without any tipping and awkward soda combinations when you finally do make it back to your study session…

Look for pictures of my brand spanking new Canon EOS 40D with a 17-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens…I’m snapping shots of everything around!! I’ll probably post some really crappy pics of it…using my OLD camera hahaha

Doma: A Little Slice of the Seattle Coffee Shop Experience in the West Village

Since coming to New York last year, I’ve been searching for a coffeeshop that I could go to and sit down in.  One where it wasn’t too crowded, one that has a good offering of coffee, small food items, wine, and soft drinks.  Outlets for plugging in your computer, and good lighting.  Well, Doma is all of these except for it tends toward the more crowded on weekends – and doesn’t have plug-ins on weekends until after 5pm.  Doma is in fact more than just this.  The tiny space with maybe 500 sq. ft of space somehow seems swanky and homey at the same time.  Funky, gossipy lesbian Czech women working, wine, bluefin pate salad ($8), glorified KoolAid (Doma Refresher, $2.75), wood floors, a hodgepodge of mismatched tables and chairs, a pitiful magazine selection, huge bay windows, hanging lights, two lumbering ceiling fans, and a big brick wall painted white all make the décor seem like hanging out in the den with your cousins.
There is a de facto dress code of designed T-shirts or collared shirts with jeans or linen slacks and casual sneakers for guys.  Ladies should wear a combination of yoga inspired pants with some type of shirt-dress and either sandals, genuine workout sneakers or low-key boots.  The idea is laid back, yet sexy as hell.  Ladies, hair should be down and in as “natural” a style as your particular hair type will allow.  Afros are highly desirable even if it isn’t your natural hair style.  Gentlemen should arrive clean shaven or covered in a gentle layer of scruff. Bring your old books, because they have a trendy “Books for Darfur” drive, where people throw away their literary scraps at Sudanese children so that they feel good about themselves…
Besides the gentle patina of pretense inherent in the crowd that frequents Doma (which is perfect for me), the actual place itself is a gem.  It’s situated on an off street, about two or three blocks south of a subway station – it is in fact extremely easily accessible, with the 1,2,3, F, A, B, C trains within five blocks of its’ locations.  All kidding aside, Doma is easy to find, the food and drinks are pretty tasty (the juices can be a little expensive, but the coffee is okay), there’s tons of space and the people tend to be nice to look at…

Doma
Open 0745 to 0000 every day
212.929.4339
17 Perry St.
New York

A Damp, Sweaty, Humid Piece of Heaven in Manhattan

It’s a little rough around the edges.  The music isn’t that great, a warbling Chinese rendition of what I can only describe as Tears of A Clown on crack.  Melamine paneled plywood walls are adorned with small clocks with grapes on them and charts of meridians that course through one’s feet, legs, torso, hands, arms, chest, back, neck, face, and ears.  The shelves are stocked with odd and mysterious effects such as salt, honey, small candles, and four miniature zucchini lined up in a row on top of a tiny, cheap microwave sitting atop a cheap mini-fridge.  Coursing from the fridge is a small cord that joins a heap of other cords at an outlet that realistically probably has too many things plugged in.  A tiny desk, surrounded by peeling wallpaper – it has flowers on the ends of vines (it also has a homey feel, reminding me of the sheets I slept on through most of my childhood which is apparently summed up by the number 1846) – is attended by a man who is keeping the records in a spiral bound notebook with a pencil.  The various women performing the massages are speaking in Chinese to one another, but over them you can hear constant, impassioned groans, grunts and heavy breaths, simultaneously strained and relieved…someone next to me is having some serious work done – I’m merely sitting at this point when just as a woman with large biceps and obviously strong hands comes out I hear a lady exclaim “oh Jesus”…almost immediately I think “now that’s the massage I need.”  In my overeagerness (I walked two miles across town to get here) I stand up before the woman is ready to provide my mashup.  Originally I was planning on a 30 minute backrub and I instead opt for a 45 minute backrub.  The woman agrees and leaves me to my own devices in the room to undress.  I’m a bit confused as to “how low I should go” wondering if I should take off my underwear or not when she comes back in and hastily commands me with a certain confidence to take off my shirt and socks.  I quickly comply, and she places the towel over me – my virgin experience in this rubshack and I’m quickly glad that there will be no chance for any “wikki-wikki” as my friend Izabella calls it.  She is the entire reason I’m even there to be honest, I before had avoided these kinds of places like the plague, always worried about being inadvertently caught in some type of prostitution sting just as I’m getting undressed.  The lady spreads the towel over my back and starts mashing on my back through the towel… Suddenly the music changed – instead of relatively meaningless Chinese pop music, suddenly Bob Dylan was singing Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (at least in my head).
Yes, the combination of the warm towel, and the strong hands was enough to melt me in a way I thought only illegal pharmaceuticals could…This is a feeling akin to what I imagine Demerol would induce.  So as the oddly strong Chinese woman started to pull on my back, and massage knots out, with the towel over me, I started to drift into a sort of musculoskeletal dream world.  Then she took the towel off, and quickly spritzed an alcohol and oil gel mixture on my back – smoothed it over quickly, and began to work.  Soon, the impassioned grunts, moans, and deep breathing through pursed lips that I heard from others was all that I was capable of contributing to the room.  What I was truly impressed by was how she managed to use her hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, and even her shoulder to rub my back and neck.  At times it was all too intense for me to deal with – shocks of pain searing through my back and neck up to my mouth where it was translated into loud yelps.  Directly after one of these outbursts, she would lean over and coo into my ear with a gentle, yet endearing accents “IS okay? Just relax?”  It worked every time…I felt like I was drifting into a state where I had lost complete consciousness of my body – I was for once alone with my thoughts and had absolutely no idea what was happening to my body…it was heaven…
One thing I noticed thought during the massage – was that my hamstrings were amazingly tight – and the more she rubbed my legs, the more my lower back relaxed – the less pressure I felt on my spine.  I had a physical therapist once tell me that my hamstrings and gluteal muscles were tight, and that it was the source of much of my back and hip pain…A “butt-clencher” is how she termed it.  So yes, letting her rip into my muscles down there was well worth the five minutes – and it didn’t tickle or hurt nearly as much as I thought it might.  When I go back, I will likely ask her to focus on that region – helping me to relax those muscles, and alleviating pain in the region and relaxing the musculature all the way around my spine.
When my time was up I sat up slowly, dizzy and feeling like I’d lost a ton of weight.  Another thing I didn’t expect – I was sore.  I’ve been told many times that I would be sore after a massage and that I would need to drink a ton of water.  It never really happened unless the massage “hurt” me.  This time, I was not only feeling less tense after the massage was over, but I was also feeling like I had just played a full game of rugby.  The massage was intense, and I was definitely feeling worked out.  I paid the woman for the 45 minute experience, and realized that with a seven dollar tip included it was $45 dollars total.
Amazing…
Qui-Gon Something Something Chinese Massage
Open from 1100 to 2300 every day
W57th St.  btw. 9th and 10th North side of the street
New York

$26 for a 30 min massage

$38 for a 45 min massage

$48 for 60 min