You've heard of "slow food"? How about "slow cities"? Love it. http://bit.ly/6xrrPW

Leaving Girl Scouts conference in Reno. Learned there is this thing called the "web" and we should be marketing Thun Mints there.

In a taxi headed to LGA. Then it's four fabulous days in beautiful, sunny downtown Reno...the biggest, little city in America.

Anyone eaten at James in Prospect Heights? Suggestions?

Heading to SFO after a great conference with my fellow web nerds.

"Christmas in Brooklyn" Holiday Mix

Below is a link to our first annual Christmas in Brooklyn mix which we made for for our favorite friends and closest family members. We tried to put together a fun mix of holiday tunes you might not have heard yet, but are guaranteed to get rumps shaking at your next holiday bash.

Click the link below to get the tunes, track listing, and album artwork. It's just under 60 minutes long, so you can burn it to a CD too.

http://www.zshare.net/download/567338528e7641/

We wish all of you a Happy, Healthy Holiday and a splendid New Year filled with the usual good things - promotions, raises, lottery winnings and booze (lots of booze).

GZA @ the Knitting Factory

After pre-partying in the Wall Street area at a friend's holiday bash, we headed out for a nightcap.

GZA was scheduled to perform his classic LP, Liquid Swords in its entirety the Knitting Factory. This show was originally scheduled for August at the McCarren Pool in the WB. So we had been looking forward to this for a while.

GZA took the stage after midnight with an entourage of about 20 of his friends and killed it. He was clearly enjoying playing such a small room. And he took time to tell some stories and do some Wu tracks. The highlight of the night was probably the ODB tribute, culminating in a sweet version of Shimmy Shimmya.

Peep Pitchfork for the full review and more pix.

My little bro is getting married!!!

Congratulations homie! You're all growns up now. Can't believe it.

We couldn't be happier for you and your fiance. And we're looking forward to having another amazing person in the family.

Now make with the party.

The National @ Terminal 5

Got a chance to check out The National yesterday. Thanks Dave! They played the inaugural show at Terminal 5, a new venue in midtown.

Terminal 5 is part of the burgeoning Bowery Ballroom empire. Brand spanking new, it still looked a bit unfinished and industrial. In fact, my first thought was of a prison. Jailhouse rock? This room will probably take some business from Roseland and Hammerstein Ballroom as it competes in terms of size and location. And its a little nicer.

The National are not nearly as new as Terminal 5, but easily just as big. This sold out show was packed to the rafters. Unfortunately, the band failed to take advantage of that energy early. Instead, they played a lot of slower numbers which were a bit tough to engage the bigger room.

They came on strong in the second half of their set though. I'd definitely like to see them again. But preferably in a more intimate setting.

Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the pic!

Bocce, Tall Boys, & Candles

To celebrate me putting another candle on the cake, my girl threw a little fiesta for me this Saturday. We started off at Union Hall in Park Slope (home of the famous indoor bocce courts) and finished up in style at Southpaw.

And since it was the first Saturday of the month, you know what goes down at Southpaw..."The Rub" baby. Ayres and Cosmo held it down on the ones and twos as our friends and I threw down lots o Bud tall boys (just like the hipsters!). So we partied til the break of dawn. Thanks everyone for coming out. You know who you are.

Oh, an we ran into more friends who couldn't get into Southpaw after arriving late from the Arcade Fire show. What are the odds? Good seeing you guys too.

Can't wait to do it again next month. (The party, not the getting older part.)

Shochu!

Last night, before heading over to a show at the Museum of Natural History, we headed over to Hells Kitchen for some drinks and eats.

While waiting for our table to be ready at Yakitori Totto, we grabbed a beer at Valhalla. Holy cats is this place loud! Thank god our table was ready when it was. I was starting to lose my mind. That place has good beers on tap, but the echo chamber effect they have going on is insane.

I was salivating in anticipation on the way over to Yakitori Totto. Word on the street was that this is the real deal- mostly Japanese clientele, dynamite skewers, and pretty much unknown to the masses.

What I didn't know was the power of the almighty Shochu. Shochu, for the uninitiated, is a distilled spirit made from grain or potato, a more potent and dryer/cleaner tasting cousin of sake.

We each ordered a shochu with grapefruit while looking over the menu. What arrived was a large tumber of ice filled almost to the top with shochu, with a half grapefruit and juicer served on the side. Incredible. We juiced our grapefruits and topped off the tumbler of shochu. Sweet nine ounce baby Jesus, was this good.... More on the power of shochu later.

Dinner lived up to the hype. We ate almost every skewer on the menu (as well as a surprising good salad to balance things out). Not a single clunker in the bunch. We will definitely be coming back.

So after another shochu and some nice conversation with the people next to us we took off for the show. It wasn't long before I realized how powerful thise drinks really were. First I lost my bank card in the ATM. Then I cut myself off for the rest of the night. It was just as well given where we were headed....

On My Grind: Spitzer's Corner & Kuma Inn

Before heading over to the show last night, we stopped off at a couple of places nearby on the Lower East Side.

First stop was Spitzers Corner, a new upscale beer hall on Rivington & Ludlow. This place has a ton of great beer on tap and a gourmet pub menu. We made our way past the beautiful people loitering outside and snagged a seat at one of the long picnic style tables inside. Beers were ordered and pork-fat popcorn(!!!) was eaten. Then it was off to the next place. Spitzy's, we'll visit you again another time soon.

For dinner we walked a block or two over to Kuma Inn , an out-of-the-way, second story Asian tapas joint. Since it was BYOB, we stopped off at the bodega along the way to snag a few Sapporos's to drink with dinner. Without getting into too many details, this place is great. Incredibly delicious small plates, good service, shockingly inexpensive bill, and refrigerating my beers until needed - perfect. We'll be back

Merrymaking with Calvin Harris @ Mercury Lounge

We took in a great show last night. Calvin Harris made his US debut last night after getting tons of buzz for his DFA-esque dance rock. The packed house was clearly familiar with all his stuff -- singing along, bouncing up and down, and matching him beer for beer. Good times.

One complaint, who the hell uses backing vocals at Mercury. Totally random. Oh well. Still a good show in spite of the (very poor) lip-synching being done by the backing band.

Check here and here for more reviews.

A Weekend in the Green Mountain State

Some math equations to ponder...

Labor Day weekend + running out of real VT maple syrup = Roadtrip

My wife's cousin = Free place to stay (thanks E & T!!)

Broken headlight + VT trooper = Verbal warning

Beautiful weekend + bum foot = Lots of shopping, eating and drinking

Shopping + eating + drinking = $$$$

RTE 22 + Taconic = One sweet drive

Time away from the city + time in VT = Priceless

The US Open and the "Leisure Class"

Took the day off from work to hit day two of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. We took in some great matches, most notably James Blake v. Michael Russell in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Gotta say that there is something so decadent about sipping a bloody-mary before noon on a work day while frittering away the morning at the tennis matches. Which brings up a conversation I had with my wife that afternoon- namely what would you do if money was no longer a concern.

Perhaps, it was our afternoon mingling with the "leisure class" that got us thinking about it. Not sure. Either way, it was pretty clear that the decision to devote ourselves to travel and hedonism versus altruism and philanthropy was not an easy one to make. I guess we can take comfort in the fact that this is probably a decision we'll never be confronted with.

Maybe it's time for another bloody-mary. And, pass the sunscreen.

Day Trip to Long Beach

After scrapping last minute plans to head to Montauk, my wife and I took a day trip to the West End area of Long Beach yesterday. Spent a perfect day on the beach with friends drinking cold beer, body surfing and basically just enjoying a break from responsibility.

Finished the day with some Mexican food and margaritas. Not so bad.

Now all we need is some hurricane swell.

In Memoriam, Terry Holsclaw

My godmother, Terry, passed away this week. She left us way too soon. It happened so quick I'm not sure I have had a chance to accept/believe/understand it.

Terry was a beautiful, talented, and loving soul with a sharp wit and a no-nonsense approach to life. She left behind a lot of family and friends who will miss her dearly.

I always thought she was my coolest aunt. She probably cemented that position the day of my graduation ceremony from high school. When my parents and I came out of the auditorium, Terry was waiting for us in the parking lot. Sitting on the hood of her BMW, she popped a bottle of Dom Perignon and poured glasses for all of us - much to the envy of my underage friends. Bad-ass (maybe that's the best word to describe her).

I'll definitely miss my bad-ass aunt.

Show of the Summer.

Daft Punk played Coney Island's Keyspan Park (home of the Brookyn Cyclones natch) last night. And they blew the lady and me away.

After last night's Beastie Boys show, we didn't even feel like going. Add the imminent threat of torrential rain and people bailing on our extra tickets - and we were somewhat less than motivated.

But we had no idea what was waiting for us next to the Wonder Wheel that night. Bass that shook your clothes, made your hair stand up and possible induced arrythmia. A light show that was beyond words - let's just say they even synched up the lights on the Parachute Drop to the beat of the music. And a too-cool-for-school crowd that was definitely not too cool to boogie their collective asses off for two straight hours.

Visit Brooklyn Vegan (thanks for the pic!) for one of the best comment threads in its history. And check out You Tube for video of the festivities.

Beastie Boys at Central Park Summerstage

Last night my wife and I as well as my two brothers, a girlfriend, and a good-friend took in the Beastie Boys show at Central Park. It was the perfect end to a surreal day in which a tornado dismantled my neighborhood and the subway system buckled, stranding millions.

Beasties tore through an amazing set of punk, funk, jazz and (of course) hip-hop -- seamlessly blending one in to the other. The oppressively humid night couldn't hold back the incredible crowd energy. Great show.

Check out Brooklyn Vegan for more pix and commentary.