Posts in the East Village Category

December 16, 2010

“Tron, Burning Man, and Zaragoza”

So, a friend of ours hooked up  Mike, Warner, and I  with tickets to the sneak preview of “Tron” tonight at a ginormous IMAX 3D on the Upper West Side. Before I knew anything about the movie, I was quick to write off the entire general concept of Tron as the nerdiest thing that I had ever heard of. Then, I had vivid flashbacks of being a little kid playing Tron (I think the original came out in 1983 and I have memories of throwing socks at other kids, weird right?).  After that,  I heard through the grapevine that the cinematographic landscape of Tron’s “alternative universe” was inspired by the physical landscape/layout of  Burning Man, Jeff Bridges was the star, and Daft Punk produced the entire soundtrack.

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East Village, New York City (2008-Present) Comments ( 0 )
December 8, 2010

The Russian Turkish Baths – A completely different kind of spa in the East Village

Right around the corner from our place in Stuy-Town, is a legitimate Russian Turkish Bath. The series of saunas has apparently been on 10th street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A since 1892. As of late, I have become a fairly addicted to the completely unique experience. Which, is a bit wild and cultural to say the least. You would never think you were in the middle of downtown Manhattan.  The spa is located in what looks like a few big apartment buildings in the middle of a residential block.

As you come up the stairs into the main room you’ll find very quickly that there are absolutely no frills–except for free razors and Q-tips. They provide towels, robes, and shorts to all comers. The influence is heavily Eastern European both in visitors and employees–and they are not exactly the warmest people you have ever met. They save the “warm” for the saunas downstairs.

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East Village, New York City (2008-Present), NYC Places to check out Comments ( 1 )
November 30, 2010

The State of the Music Industry at Mona’s- Avenue B – East Village

So, I popped into Mona’s after a couple hours of work tonight to enjoy a pre-bedtime, delicious Guinness and I ended up sitting next to a bit of a character. Dwayne, is a roadie. From what I can tell has been a stagehand for a very, very long time. He used to work for the Stones, the Allman Brothers, and a plethora of other fabulous bands. He’s also lived in Alphabet City in the East Village since 1968 or so. Which, if you know anything about the East Village is a feat in itself. It used to be really, really “bad news bears” here.

The conversation started with a general discussion about the music industry as a whole. Which, for all intents and purposes, is not in a good place. Dwayne, like the rest of the world, blames the internet for the lack of gigs. Apparently in the mid 90′s he was building massive stages for 5 major shows in the New York City area per summer on average. Now a days, he is lucky to get one or two a year.

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August 12, 2009

Blasphemy in Union Square

Union Square

After work today I had to get out into the city and found my myself being magnetically pulled toward Union Square–which my life has been in some way, shape, or form been centered around since I moved to NYC.

In the square there was a young guy with a megaphone loudly informing everyone that “they will die in a burning inferno of flames as the lord returns”. He reminded me of a guy I ran into in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia.Apparently, Judgement day is not going to be good times for the sinners and Jesus is going to kick some serious ass. On a bright note he was getting jeered pretty loudly by the surprisingly big group surrounding him. I think it was mostly tourists snapping pictures. He was positioned right next to the 20 deep New York Roller Blading club (who are going to burn as well). There was a psychic reading tarot cards, a juggler, and a dude carrying around a sign that read “shaman healer”. Now, I have met a few shaman in my day (traveling in the Amazon), and I am pretty sure this guy was just a hippie with a clever marketing scheme.

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East Village, New York City (2008-Present), Union Square Comments ( 0 )
May 2, 2009

“BE” present

I manage my life. There is not an exact formula or organized method that I use. I did not learn how to do it from a self help book. But there is definitely some serious life management going on. More than anything, I consistently set goals for myself. I also sporadically journal about anything and everything that comes into my mind involving major events in my life: Business events, relationships, travel, family.

Starting B.E has been one of the most rewarding challenges that I have embarked on thus far. I am 31–living in one of the biggest, fastest moving cities in the world, developing a business, and enjoying every second of this ride. My goal with regards to BE is ironically, to “be”. I need to make a million different decisions every day that could effect my future and the future of my partners. But instead of stressing about what “could happen” or “what might happen”, I am choosing to be present with what “is” happening. Not to say that we are not doing our best to forecast the future, or learn from our past mistakes–but you can still do this while “being” present.

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