Please welcome the newest addition to the Anna Weichselbraun household:

Dear Weber Grill,

I am so happy that you have decided to come hang out with me for the summer. Although it was something of a production to get you from Gramercy to Flatbush Ave (that cabbie was not too happy about the ashes but at least now he knows how to flip down the rear bench of his taxi van), I knew that when I saw your picture while idly wasting time on craigslist during work that you were going to be mine and it was going to be good.

The inaugural barbeque was filled with laughs, beers, and trash bags nearly going up in flames. What more could I want?

Weber Grill, I am so proud of you already.

Sincerely,

your proud owner.

PS: Cheers to Christina for producing the production with me.
PPS: Metblogs, are you ready for a bbq meetup?

I’m sure most of you don’t know, but today was the Norwegian Independence Day Parade in Bay Ridge Brooklyn – also known as the Syttende Mai (May 17th) Parade; a celebration of Norway’s peaceful separation from Sweden in 1905. The parade is held in Bay Ridge because it used to be home to the largest number of Scandinavians on the East Coast. Like most neighborhoods, that’s not the case any longer and parade gets smaller and smaller every year. Sad thing. I do love seeing the Viking Ships and people dressed in traditional garb.

So, why would I travel out to Bay Ridge from the UES for a parade on a Sunday?? Well, I have very near and dear personal reasons – no need to get into that.

As you know, the weather was a screwy today so I didn’t get the best pictures, but I had my usual front row window seat at Canteena – great bar on the corner of 80th and 5th Ave. After the parade, I was “stuck” at the bar since I didn’t bring an umbrella and it was POURING. Not a bad thing though, I ended up meeting the most entertaining, sweet guys- J.P. and Gabe. Of course, they were Norwegian. I had such a nice time with them. My cheeks are still hurting from all of the laughing and smiling. Guys, I owe you a drink or two. How many did I end up having?? Thanks for the Norwegian lessons – good luck working on that block of Nokkelost.

Skål!

In addition to the ICFF and the Erotic Expo, this weekend was also the NYC Tattoo Convention.
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Damn that Kaavya Viswanathan! Now that she’s been caught plagiarizing, scrutiny upon us Asian American authors is at an all-time high, and so I won’t be able to submit my own piece – um, INSPIRED, let’s say, by The New Yorker piece from last week – to the likes of The Paris Review, Harper’s, and well, The New Yorker (they can’t possibly keep track of all of their submissions, can they?).

It’s not a plagiarism. Really it’s not! I was just so heavily influenced by the great Larry Doyle that it all came out subconsciously. It’s more of an homage. An homage to a satire to a plagiarism. Hm, so does it really even exist? See for yourself.
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Is it me or does the coffee at Tea Lounge taste like garbage. I don’t mean it tastes bad, I mean there’s a slight hint and after-taste of gutter.

But the lattes are good.

Today evening we had to make our way to the Upper East Side from Brooklyn. On the motorcycle the choice was to take the Brooklyn Bridge and then FDR, or go local over the Manhattan Bridge and then get on First Avenue. Being a windy day, I decided to go local and that was the correct decision . Making the left from Houston St. onto First Avenue we coasted with the traffic. Not too fast not too slow, an average speed between 25-30 mph.

The most amazing thing was that every traffic light was synchronised. We did not stop at a single light from 1 street all the way to 77th street where we had to make a left.

That was one of the most amazing NYC street rides in a long time.

I’m definitely going to check out this excellent event on Saturday afternoon.
Good cause, hot feminists, gambling, and drinking in the afternoon!

Benefit for Cecilia Fire Thunder
B-I-N-G-O Benefit Party
for Cecilia Fire Thunder
& Pro-Choice Mississippi

Help Save Reproductive Rights in South Dakota and Mississippi while having
fun!!
Sat. May 20, 3-6pm
Pete’s Candy Store
709 Lorimer St. (L to Lorimer)
Williamsburg, nyc
$7 suggested donation

All proceeds go to Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge of South Dakota, who bravely announced after a draconian abortion ban was passed in her state last March that she would defy it by starting an abortion clinic on tribal lands, if it is not repealed by the referendum. Also, a group of women in MS, who are starting a coalition, Pro-Choice Mississippi

Cool Prizes
One free lager or well drink
MCs Mrs. Jayne Dough and Vendetta Washington of the Missile Dick Chicks
Music by Jodi Shaw
Special Guest b-i-n-go number reader:
Jessica Valenti, founder Feministing.com
and more!

rsvp apprec’d: feminist9 @ yahoo.com
Bingo called from 3:30-5:30, Jodi Shaw 5:30-6:30pm
Organized by: Lisa Oelfke, moderator of the list-serve Women’s Mobilization

(and yes, I just had to resurrect the hipster bingo picture.)

With the plethora of Italian, Mexican, Japanese, and not to mention Japanese-Chinese-Vietnamese fusion restaurants on the Upper East Side, it’s easy to forget there are other types of places as well. You just have to look a little harder.

Take Pio Pio for instance, a tiny Peruvian establishment on 1st Ave between 90th and 91st Streets.
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Those crazy kids at Alt Cafe are at it again

Flip side after the jump. Just don’t let your Momma see it…
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A friend of mine who spent the last year working on the Gulf Coast for Americore, sifting, sorting and rebuilding, casually dropped the fact that forecasters predict this will be the worst hurricane season in decades. I winced, turned back and asked what Americore and FEMA would do to prepare the Coast. He then, just as casually dropped the fact that, given the winds sitting over the Atlantic, the hurricanes shouldn’t hit New Orleans, Mississippi, or even Florida.

“Really? So, like, Texas then?”
“More like…here.”
“What now?”
“They’re predicting they’ll hit anywhere between D.C. and Boston.”

Picture a long pause here.

“…And how many storms are there gonna be?”
“Like six catagory fours or above.”
“Great…”

I would bitch about getting so soaked in the flash floods we’ve had in the last couple days that my five block walk to the subway has rendered a shower redundant, turning my loose fitting khakis into an ass framing wetsuit, and how, quite frankly, no one needs to see that, but considering the above bits of information, and considering the view out my office window, I’ll simply say this:

“Who’s happy they live and work on an Island?!?”

Image from Southern University Physics Department