I’ve been feeling like crap for days and I’m not sure what to blame it on, but I do have a few theories:

1. My massage at Bliss.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a FANTASTIC massage, as always. Actually, it was better than usual. It was my first male masseuse at Bliss (and a hot one at that) so I put in the request for harder pressure. Maybe not a good idea since there’s the possibility that too many toxins were released. However, looking back on that experience, if THAT’s what got me sick, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

2. My dinner at Coffee Shop.
Yes, I realize that some may think of that as a bold move since they were shut down recently, but my thinking was that this may have been the BEST time to go since they’re under scrutiny. Outside of my possible brush with some bad eating (which you risk ANYWHERE you go), I will say that the staff was SUPER nice and overly apologetic for the long wait for a table. When does THAT ever happen at Coffee Shop! Besides, we only waited 30 minutes for an outside table on Friday in that perfect weather and they didn’t even rush us out. No complaints there.

3. High Pollen Counts.
I don’t have allergies, but since my friends with allergies were under the weather, I thought I’d throw that in there too.

I really hate to blame my city for this, but I have to blame it on SOMETHING. After all, it IS Saturday night and I should be out… not home. Anyone else at home tonight with some strange cold/stomach thing? To be honest, I think it might have been the massage, but I may hust have to go back to back and test my theory out.

From My Video Archives – A grimy,graffiti covered Number 1 train rolls into Times Square station and a ride uptown begins. The train is a far cry from today’s stainless steel cars with air conditioning and comprehendible announcements.

From my video archives – Times Square in April,1987 – 20 years ago – long before Disneyfication sanitized the area,making it safe for Midwesterners.

McCann’s in Astoria is a great Irish pub with some great nightly deals. In addition to Ladies’ Night and their other specials, it also offers a deal where the last Thursday of your birthday month, you can drink there for free.

McCann’s has a quaint Irish exterior and inside, typical pub booths, pool tables, and many tv screens (that I’m not a fan of) which play the big sports game of the day. It’s a bit loud and crowded, so I don’t go often. But I do like to go the last Thursday in March to take advantage of their birthday deal.

(more…)

Well, it’s official: I’ve been profiled.

This morning, while walking past the Chinese Consulate on 42nd Street, I noticed a woman standing on the sidewalk handing out flyers to the (mostly Asian) passersby. My reaction was my usual person-handing-out-flyers reaction: hands in pockets, eyes to the ground. But as I approached, the woman didn’t even make the slightest attempt to hand me one!

I know! Can you imagine? The flyer-woman outside the Chinese Consulate, handing out a Chinese-language publication, refused to offer one to the six-foot-tall white guy with his hands in his pockets! How racist!

Whatever, lady. I’m sure the Falun Gong demonstrators across the street would have been more than grateful for a moment of my attention. So maybe I don’t read Chinese… I still think the characters are pretty!

Sigh. Well, at least now I know what it feels like.

No doubt about it, winter is a depressing time. Sure, it’s cute in December when there’s still the promise of presents, but by February you feel like every falling snowflake is a nail your coffin. And by you I, of course, mean me. But let’s forget about that now, because it’s spring! The grey icey lumps lining the sidewalk have melted, the sixteen trees in all of Manhattan are blooming, and the Ratatat mixtape has found it’s way onto the, uh, internets.

Happy music doesn’t cheer me up in the winter, it just reminds me that I’m miserable. But in the spring, some hot beats compliment the shining sun like me kissing my boss’s ass. This spring my anthem will definitely, probably, be Silverchair‘s (yes, they still exist, they have a new album coming out, and Daniel Johns has grown up to be a stone fox) Straight Lines. But I’m definitely open to suggestions…

Friends, what music are you listening to, or looking forward to listening to, this spring? What music should I listen to? What should I do with my life?

With the elation that spring is finally here in NYC, comes a tradeoff of sorts. As I pass the garden in front of my building, I can picture the tulips soon to come — my favorite flower. But then I am reminded of the other side of the coin, as I let out a huge ahchoo!!!!!!

Yes, it always brings me back ot Dr. Sidney Rand’s office in Elmhurst. Memories of lying on my stomach, 60 scratches on my back, each infused with a different allergen. They tell me to lie still for 45 minutes but after 30 I scream for the nurse, because I can’t take the itching anymore. “Oh yes, cat” she says “wow, that scratch really blew up! No pet kitties for you!” I knew that, but what I found out later was that I had to worry about beech trees in March and April, flower pollen May through mid-August, and ragweed from mid-August until November. My only allergy-free months would always be December through to February. At the first bud blooming, so do the allergies. So although I am thrilled that the days are longer and the mercury is rising, I am saving up my Claritin® coupons!! Spring has sprung, the pollen is here!

Beginning April 11th expect to see some big changes at Irving Plaza. The legendary New York concert venue is being renamed “Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza”. Like the famed Fillmore in San Francisco (and the recently opened Fillmore Aud in Denver), patrons will receive fresh apples upon entry and a commemorative poster upon exit. By opening night, the walls will be painted a rich red, vintage posters will be hung everywhere, flat panel tv’s will be installed, and sightlines from the balcony will be improved. By this summer the club’s sound and light systems will be upgraded and the bathrooms will be redone.

New York City was home to the storied Fillmore East from 1968-1971, just a few blocks away on 2nd Ave in the East Village (the building is currently an Emigrant Savings Bank). Irving Plaza is operated by Live Nation, who are also rechristening Philadelphia’s TLA as a Fillmore in late April. Lily Allen will be playing on opening night- April 11th at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza.

Here Jesus is enjoying the tale end of a Guinness at the bar at the IFC Center. Yet another reason Jesus loves the IFC Center (besides the great indie film programming): there’s a bar attached!

Interesting note: the bar is called “The Waverly,” which was the name of the iconic Village movie house–known as a gathering place for “hippies and stoners”– that sat shuttered for years until it was eventually renovated into what is now the IFC Center.

Dear Mr. Stinky pants,
I realize Spring has just, err, sprung. Summer – and all that sweat-making heat – is still a long time away. I would like to caution you against what you apparently decided was to be your co-riders’ winter of discontent by forgoing basic hygiene until the snow melted: we can smell you. From several feet away.
Now, you haven’t quite reached the epic proportions of Crazy Gristede’s Bag Foot Guy, but you’re getting there, and it’s clearly all because you eschewed both soap and deodorant through the lean winter months. Still, when I sat down next to you this morning, what wafted through the air was less reminiscent of a trip to the Yankee Candle Co. than a trip to Scores New York after 3 A.M.
Also, I’d like to caution you on one other point of etiquette. No man I have ever met in my life is such a tripod as you apparently were attempting to pass off. Further, the spread you were giving the seats offered plenty of opportunity for passersby to judge for themselves and you, sir, are no tripod. Close up shop, dear. And then wash that shop. Several times.
Your friends and co-riders on the subway will thank you.
(Subway Letters – Episode One)

[photo from Gothamist]