$ENTS FOR YOUR DOLLAR

Recently due to some issues with my mp3 player, I have been going without music while commuting around, which forced me to actually listen to the people around me. Something I havent done in years, and I have since realized why — Rarely are people intelligent in what they say, especially in the early morning.

People I see normally in the mornings who I totally thought were normal were spouting all sorts of nonsense about work that went something like,

oh my god if they make me stay late today I will totally blow my shit at them, dont they know I am the most important person there? I’m way too valuable to be lost, dont you agree? They would totally beg me to stay.

This went on for 4 or 5 stops. The woman was carrying a Russell Investments bag. Which again goes to show my point about giving out tote bags to employees and its detrimental effects.

Best thing I encountered was an old woman who apparently got pushed (it was incredibly crowded on the train) by some younger women. This lady went on for entire way and beyond about how slutty the other women looked and how she had her boobs out in the open for the world to see and how she would totally knee her in the face if she could. Mind you, the entire packed car could hear everything.

Due to this, I will be force to pick up an iphone next week so I can drown out the city with some Chinese Democracy.

It isnt all bad, but its never as funny as what appears in Overheard in NY

Conductor: This train is very crowded. If you cannot fit, please step back and wait for the next train. If you manage to get onto this very crowded train, look at the person next to you and tell them, “Howdy!”
–Queens bound F train

Conductor: Hello, and welcome to the mobile sauna bath.
–A train

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!
Kid #2: “Bam” doesn’t blow up, “bam” makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can’t defeat that!
–6 Train

Jappy girl #1: So like, I couldn’t believe what happened to Erica*, but like, I think she’ll be ok. I mean, she’s gonna marry some guy who went to Penn instead of some guy who went to Princeton, and she’ll have a country house in South Hampton instead of like, East Hampton, but I think she’ll be ok.
Jappy girl #2: Oh yeah, I think she can handle it.
Jappy girl #1: Poor thing.
–The Dalton School

The Dalton School does in fact exist, and not just in Gossip girl.

So I have a new place to eat by Astor Place other than O’tashio Yakitori these days —

Gyu-Kaku
34 Cooper Sq, btw 5th and 6th ave

Gyu is located on by Copper Union in a building that looks much like the NYU dorm it sits next too. There is no obvious sign outside other than a sandwich board with happy hour specials, and even the place itself looks dark from the outside. Aside from not being able to find it, this place has some of my favorite features in a restaurant — Nicely marinated beef selections, and a restaurant with a gimmick.

Gimmick being that all the food is cooked at the table, much like korean BBQ. Choices of beef include Kobe ($20-$60), Filet Mignon, Kalbi ($7), Harami ($12), Tongue ($15) among others and your choice of type of Marinade ranging from Tare to Miso. Portions are generally pretty small (3oz) so ordering more than one dish is almost a requirement.

My personal favorite was Harami which I thought actually tasted better than the Kobe. Kobe is actually bit hard to cook due to its fatty nature. The better part of this place is that they have 50% off happy hour specials for both meat and drinks from 5 to 6:30 and after 9pm on weekdays. That includes half off Kobe chuck on Fridays.

Reservations pretty much required. They will be against sitting you without it, even if the place is only half full.

Google did another quiet rollout of themes for Gmail! No more basic white and blue, but actual colors which are not the rainbow Gmail colors.

If Google knows how to do anything, its how to make a clean graphical interface. There is about 10 different themes to choose from which all looks pretty good. Most importantly, it doesnt make it look like a kids Myspace page.

生日快樂

Surprisingly it has been a year since I registered for this domain. I’m glad I have been able to keep up with it for the most part (sans the month or so of none)

With a year under me, I think at the very least my entries are those of more substance.
Traffic has grown consistent, but could pick up some more along the way

SENTS.COM still hasn’t become available. blasted.

For the iPhone power user, I noticed something new on the INcase site, a new slider case which offers double the battery life of the iPhone.

The Power Slider for iPhone™ 3G is the first accessory of its kind to offer protection, expanded battery life and integrated sync and charge capabilities. While most supplemental batteries simply satisfy the need for added power, the Power Slider more than doubles the battery life of iPhone 3G while providing complete device protection and the ability to sync without removing iPhone 3G from the case.

With its low profile, complementary design and innovative functionality as both a case and power solution, the Power Slider provides the best in hardshell protection and extended battery life for iPhone 3G.

While the light up battery meter and the soft touch coating is a nice touch, the extra battery seems to add a bit of bulk to the casing. I guess it is up to you whether or not the extra chunk is worth twice the usage time. It could always be used as an emergency case.

There is no price set yet, but guaging by the price of its other cases ($34.95) I would guess that this would be well over $60. If that is the case, there are some cheaper options for extended battery life, though it just wouldn’t look as cool.

So the unthinkable happened. Apartment rental prices in the city….came down.

During the time I was searching this past summer, prices for an apartment in a full service building would be in the area of $3200+ for a 1 bedroom and around $2500+ for a studio.

For instance, price in a full service financial district building has gone down to the unheard of $2500 for a 1 bedroom, most of which were not over the price of $3k. Studios have gone down to $2200+.

Taking a look at the sublets available on craigslist, there’s plenty of people trying to unload their overpriced apartments they signed for during the financial heydays of last year.

Vacancy rates have increased 1.3-2.0% with financial district being the highest vacancy and West Village being the lowest. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics will understand that with higher vacancy, comes less demand and thus decreasing prices. Question remains, HOW LOW CAN IT GO.

This was the newspaper handed out free on the streets yesterday. A fake New York Times newspaper dated July 4, 2009 with the headline that the Iraq war is over.

In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass them out on the street.

1.2 million papers? Thats not the most impressive part. The people that picked up these papers are now ebay’ing them online. Last checked, the highest bid was going for over $200. Goes to show, guerilla art pays.
Pays well.

Digg and street wear isn’t really something that you would imagine in the same sentence, but recently Digg created a their own Air Force 1’s sporting their website colors and including the Digg logo.

At a cost of $400 - $700 per shoe, they aren’t exactly the most affordable shoes out there. It also makes me realize how ugly their colors are now that it is splashed on a shoe.

The Glow in the Dark logo is a nice though though. I think that the $ents sneakers would be much cooler. Digg that!

Always a fan of reflective…well…anything. New Balance and DDCLAB recently came out with a new shoe which is fully reflective. It is a slimmed down version of the original New Balance running shoe with a Schoeller-Reflex material which reflects better than 3m and so makes it scuff resistant, water repellent and dirt repellent.

Now running in the dark will be a breeze. The material can be seen from over 300feet away.
I should mention again how glad I am that they finally slimmed down their shoe. The fat shoe look just means you have fat feet.

A stop at Shake Shack [Madison Sq. Park - 24th and Madison] and I came across some two hundred lights all pointed towards the center of the park, strobing. Unfortunately it was not a rave but a new interactive light installation put up. The lights strobe to the pulse of the person holding onto the heart sensors creating massive club lighting outdoors.

Notably strange, there was also tree houses in the trees….?

I wonder if its strong enough to cause seizures eh?
Good installation, better burgers.