So the overwhelming and somewhat surprising results are offcially in. Most people order soy milk because they are lactose intolerant.

Coming in at a close 2nd is that because people actually prefer the taste of soy and nut based milks to the taste of regular milk.

Among the “Other” answers given, some people don’t take milk at all in their coffee while some others do not know whether the milk being used by their particular shop is organic or not. As in, they do not know if the cows whose milk they’re drinking has been ethically derived or not. So these are all legitimate reasons.

The sneaky reason I had for taking this survey was because sometimes when I visit Abraco Espresso, they are out of their freshly made almond milk. This is due to people that I thought were ordering almond because they thought it had less fat. The survey shows that this is not the case - most people are lactose intolerant or just prefer the taste. So what happens when vegans actually go into the shop is we get screwed. Because while someone who likes the taste has been hogging all the almond milk, we will have no milk substitute available for us.

Anyhow, what I learned was that people just love the taste of milk alternatives or they are lactose intolerant - as is most of the world. But sometimes they’ll just bite the bullet and get regular milk.

I should become a market researcher. . . . . . NOT (channeling Borat).

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Photo from Wikipages.com

I had a very musical evening last night. It all began in the Grand Central subway, where I met up with a friend who was playing trombone in the terminal. Her band, called the Dramatics band, includes 2 trombones, a trumpet, a saxophone, and some awesome drums. They play jazz/ African fusion tunes in various subway terminals nearly every day of the week.

We went with her to Le Poisson Rouge, a relatively young venue in the West Village. There was a $10 cover for an evening of 2 shows, something I won’t normally pay. When you walk into the establishment, you’re greeted by a hanging fish tank and a dark room. The performances occur downstairs, through a red lobby with interesting throne chairs, in a large dark room with a spacious stage and ample seating. The space lacked the dinginess many other musical venues in the area possess.

The show last night began with Ethan Iverson, an inventive pianist. He played innovative renditions of a variety of jazz standards. My favorite was Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, which he played with melancholic intensity. Some of his other playing was a bit too much for me, a non-musician, but he clearly has a lot of talent. Next up was Gabriel Kahane and his band, a singer-songwriter group.  The band’s charming leader had me cracking up with his humorous anecdotes that punctuated their songs. I was most impressed with their violin player, Rob Moose, whose fast fiddling stole the show. We left as they continued their set, but had thoroughly enjoyed a melodic evening.

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Finding parking in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn has got unbearably bad over the past couple of years.

And what makes it worse is really selfish drivers. On many an occasion I have seen cars parked a few feet away from the end of the block. Surely no car was parked there earlier that warranted the car to be parked the way it is. Have two cars like this in a row and for every three spots you have just two cars parked.

Just last week and again today, I see someone parking their car bang in the middle of two open spots. In both cases I had to pull up and ask them to move their car back or front so I could also park. If I was not there at that instant, they would have just parked and gone away.

I realize there is no rule to force them to park so as not to take up two vacant spots, but isn’t it the right thing to do.

The guy today who parked was already out of his car and then made a big fuss about getting back in. However I have a big SUV (ok ok I know!) and he realized that one way or the other I was going to try to squeeze in and would invariably bump his car. Only then did he get in his car and pull back freeing up one entire car parking spot.

Other than dismissing these drivers as assholes, is there something that can be done. Or does one just swallow it and move on ?

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Dear coffee drinkers of New York City, please take this survey because I am dying to find out. There is a legitimate reason for me asking this question and I urge you to be honest, sincere and bold in your response. Also, if you know of any other coffee drinkers around the city, please send this survey to them as well.

Take the survey here.

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Read into this however you like. This is out in front of the 23rd St. Pick-A-Bagel, which has fine bagels nd I highly recommend.

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If by some chance you have the guts to chat up a woman on the street, talk the talk, and be charming enough to get her number, here are a few things you should NOT do if you want to actually see her again.

1. Don’t call her the same night at 11pm to see if she wants to get together - especially if you have a tone in your voice that sounds like you’re looking for some action.

2. When she doesn’t call you back, it’s because she didn’t appreciate your gesture so it’s best to just lose her number.

3. Don’t call her a month later (clearly drunk) at 5am and leave a message telling her that you just had a dream about her and describe the dream in detail. Remember, you had a 5 minute conversation in the street… A MONTH AGO! You’re strangers.

Idiot. No self respecting woman will think that ANY of that is cute and she won’t call you back and waste an ounce of her breath on you either.

Clearly, this guy doesn’t have a clue. However, if you do meet a random woman on the street and want to increase your chances of seeing her again, think about calling her the next day (don’t send her a text, it’s cowardly) tell her it was nice to meet her and ask her if she’d like to go out sometime.
Simple, but it works.

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We recently tried to get my sister’s 4th generation iPod fixed. There is a common problem amongst this generation of iPods and it’s that they stop playing music. You will see the batteries remain the same the playlists will function and the iPod even works on docking stations, it’s just that you can’t hear a thing out of the headphone jack.

When we went to the Apple store at Roosevelt field mall. The “genius” attending to us flat out told us that there is no way to open up the iPod as it is designed in a sealed manner. If this were truly the case then there should be a lawsuit against the company for creating a product that is essentially unfixable.

But later when we returned to more tech savvy means and Googled the issue, we found this video on Vimeo that shows not only that the iPod can be opened but that the issue can be fixed.

This was not the first month when Apple has let me down. The same store in Roosevelt Field told me that my streaming videos will no longer play as they used to. Not only that but while in the process of attempting a fix that I suggested to them, they even messed up my Garage Band.

But it gets better, I asked my friend who works at the Apple Store on 5th avenue as a “genius” to resolve the issue. He asked his colleagues and they could not resolve it either.

So while the fault not may be within the liars at the store—it may be with the brass at Apple who seems to have taken a more evil route upon the success of its brand.

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Photo by Nathan Bullock

Last week marked a historic election and true milestone for this country. But while so many people celebrated, looking with hope to the future, the country suffered a hit to civil rights more reflective of its past. Proposition 8 (a ban on gay marriage) passed in California, along with other anti-gay rights measures in Florida and Arkansas. Last night, I joined a protest against prop 8 here in New York.

Since many people, including myself, invested so much energy into the presidential election, opposition to proposition 8 did not receive its needed support until too late. Now that it passed, protests have erupted all over the country. Last night, New York City joined the list of protesting cities. Gathering in front of a Mormon church (one of the biggest promoters of the proposition), a large crowd came together with signs and chants to peacefully show their opposition to the gay marriage ban. Read more

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John Roleke, Queens blogger, needs your help. For all you Queens-ites, vote on the best and worst in several categories — including politics, development, neighborhoods, restaurants, sports, potholes
and other ones he wants you to come up with!
This is your chance to express your opinion!

Is LaGuardia one of the worst of Queens? photo by JeremyGoldstein/Wikimedia Commons

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Volunteers distributed 1.2 million copies of a fake NY Times, dated to the 4th of July, 2009.

According to the 30-some people behind the fake issue, they want to encourage their elected representatives to stick to the promises made during the campaigns.

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So now that Barack Obama has been elected President, let’s help him out and show our support for his plan of healthcare for all!

Attend HealthCare NOW’s rally and march calling for a national Single-Payer health care system. At the rally there will be a Phone-A-Thon supporting HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. Let’s get it passed.

One Nation, One Plan!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
4:00PM - 5:00PM Rally
Corner 42nd & 7th Ave
5:00PM March to GHI 34th St & 9th Ave

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Now that the time has changed we are heading straight on to the end of the year. I find the light to be absolutely beautiful this time of year.

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The entire world is in a state of economic downturn. China plans on pumping $586 billion through an economic stimulus package. Iceland is in a state of “hell has frozen over and we really need to get the heck out!” type of situation.

And as the economy lowers our demand for gas prices here in NYC - prices are dropping at the pumps - latest was $2.55 per gallon.

But what surprises me is that real estate prices in the city are not budging—at least not until now. The latest data shows that neighborhoods like the East Village, Midtown West, Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem are seeing significant overall drops in pricing. According to the linked article, real estate agents in NYC now encourage their clients to price 10 to 15 percent lower than a year ago.

This is not the whole story. Due to the situation presented with the highest unemployment rates of all time, people like Danh Le are getting rid of their apartments and trying to find cheaper ways to survive. He is in search of a place to live for $100/month. An excerpt from his craigslist post:

I want to get rid of my expensive rent and be semi homeless. Obviously there are a lot of risks so I’m wondering if there’s anybody out there willing to lower my risks with a certain place to stay. I know the economy is bad so maybe you would like some extra money. I want to believe that there are people who are willing to help a person in need. I have up to $100 to spend on housing a month. Could I sleep outside in your backyard?

And as we all know, 30 is the new 20. More and more kids are staying at home with their parents, especially in the NYC area than ever before. The situation is difficult but if we’re as determined and positive as some of our friends over in Iceland, we too can overcome this awful economy.

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We learn that another celebrity-backed movie-morphed-into-musical is coming to town, courtesy of Dolly Parton. I’m sure ticket prices will be as splashy as the stage.
It’s a case of the chicken and the egg on Broadway these days. Are movies being recycled into splashy musicals to fill seats in the theaters, at unaffordable [to most people] prices, to pay for the high-priced movie and TV celebs and splashy sets? Or do we need the movies-made-into-splashy-musicals and celebs to fill seats, and thus have to charge exorbitant prices to pay for the splashy sets and high-price stars they have to use on Broadway in order to fill those seats.

Big money drives a Broadway production, and big money pays the bill for a night out at the theater. “Disney-fication” revived an ailing Broadway and cleaned up the Theater District, but ticket prices have gone through the roof, and I wonder what’s going to happen if tourism goes down in this crappy economy, especially from international visitors. In his effort to help the middle-class, can Mr. Obama help pass initiatives to subsidize the arts, as they do in Europe, to keep tickets reasonably priced? Or better yet, to help emerging producers, directors, composers, and writers without Disney-type bank accounts to put up original and stage fresh ideas, without such a hefty price-tag?

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If you want to see a great picture gallery of this year’s Village Halloween Parade, click here.

Photo credit: Jeanne Fleming/Wikimedia Commons. Picture from the 1998 Village Halloween Parade. Notice the Twin Towers lit up in the background.
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Thank you Pamela Skillings, About.com’s Manhattan guide.

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