Thursday, July 02, 2015
Thursday, May 15, 2014
NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour 2014
Sunday, May 4th 2014:
32,000 cyclists, 40 miles, 5 boroughs, 3 bikes, 2 of them folding, and 1 finicky video camera
An hour and 37 minutes of footage (minus ~10-12 minutes of us waiting), condensed into a 17-minute video
The last time Brian and I were on a bike before this was 8 months ago in Paris, in 30 or so minute increments, nothing long distance. Elmer uses Citi Bike daily, but not for super long distances.
We did a leisurely pace, only making two quick stops for me to change/check my camera battery, another two for photo ops (on the Queensboro and Verrazano bridges), and once at a rest stop that was essentially designed as mandatory. From the official start to the finish festival, it took us just under 5 hours, but about 9 hours to complete the entire roundtrip route to the parking garage in TriBeCa.
The weather forecast called for some rain, but other than a brief light spitting, the weather was perfect, except for some strong headwind on the BQE and Verrazano (I was on the first gear for much of that stretch). Actually it didn't rain until just seconds before we were done packing the car to head back home.
Pretty much an awesome experience, and less painful (with a shorter recovery time) than the first one I did back in 2002, also with Elmer.
32,000 cyclists, 40 miles, 5 boroughs, 3 bikes, 2 of them folding, and 1 finicky video camera
An hour and 37 minutes of footage (minus ~10-12 minutes of us waiting), condensed into a 17-minute video
The last time Brian and I were on a bike before this was 8 months ago in Paris, in 30 or so minute increments, nothing long distance. Elmer uses Citi Bike daily, but not for super long distances.
We did a leisurely pace, only making two quick stops for me to change/check my camera battery, another two for photo ops (on the Queensboro and Verrazano bridges), and once at a rest stop that was essentially designed as mandatory. From the official start to the finish festival, it took us just under 5 hours, but about 9 hours to complete the entire roundtrip route to the parking garage in TriBeCa.
The weather forecast called for some rain, but other than a brief light spitting, the weather was perfect, except for some strong headwind on the BQE and Verrazano (I was on the first gear for much of that stretch). Actually it didn't rain until just seconds before we were done packing the car to head back home.
Pretty much an awesome experience, and less painful (with a shorter recovery time) than the first one I did back in 2002, also with Elmer.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
And the Academy Award goes to...
Aah, the Oscars...
we usually try to see as many of the nominated films as we can before the awards show, but this year, we only managed to see 4 of the 9 Best Picture nominees: Argo Les Misérables, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook.
We had literally just seen Argo before watching the Oscars. I had wanted to see the film when it first came out, so barely seeing it in time for the show (well, technically we didn't) demonstrates the tone for our watching movies this past year. Waking up after being half asleep for about an hour, I said we should watch it now. It was 7pm, and the Oscars start at 8:30pm. With Argo being a 2-hour movie, we had to watch the Oscars not in real time, which was fine since we ended up only being behind the end of the show by about 15 mins (fast forwarding through commercials and after watching a minute or so of some performances -- we did watch the whole tribute to musicals (Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago, Jennifer Hudson for Dream Girls, and the entire cast of Les Mis) and Adele's performance of Skyfall. Seth MacFarlane was classy and hilarious with his opener with William Shatner.
One of our ha-ha moments was during the Visual Effects category in which we had seen all but one of the films (Life of Pi) but funnily enough, we both ended up choosing it to win and was the one that won.
The biggest surprise for me was learning that Shawn Christensen of stellastarr* had become a filmmaker winning for Best Live Action Short for his film Curfew in which he directed, wrote and acted.
Congrats to all winners and nominees! Until next year...
Monday, February 04, 2013
The Postal Service!!!
OMG!!
The Postal Service is going on tour this year!! And it's been ten years since their first and only album came out, let alone the last time they performed live...wow
One of our favorite albums of the last decade, we definitely need to grab some tickets (hopefully at face value)
For those with even the vaguest memory, this is the party invitation we sent out accompanied by The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" back in the summer of 2003, our first apartment together.
When our wedding videographer asked us for songs to include in the video, we told him "Such Great Heights", and this the result (it being 2004, the idea of the cheesy wedding video certainly persists in ours -- and the quality is certainly dated...videotape? VHS? What's that?)
LOL at 1:55
The Postal Service is going on tour this year!! And it's been ten years since their first and only album came out, let alone the last time they performed live...wow
One of our favorite albums of the last decade, we definitely need to grab some tickets (hopefully at face value)
For those with even the vaguest memory, this is the party invitation we sent out accompanied by The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" back in the summer of 2003, our first apartment together.
LOL at 1:55
(Wow, I weighed less than 3 digits back then for a good month or so...)
Saturday, February 02, 2013
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Birthday Fun
Sunday, December 16th 2012
We went to see The Hobbit in 3D, shown at a high frame rate which took a little getting used to. We totally loved it and can't wait for the next two films! Too bad I wasn't feeling super great with early signs of a head cold and fever creeping up on me, but seeing the movie actually made me feel a little better, even if it was all in my head.
We then headed to a bar called Characters where we met up with a few friends that could join us on a Sunday night and in crappy weather.
We then headed to a bar called Characters where we met up with a few friends that could join us on a Sunday night and in crappy weather.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Rhumba 4 Relief
Over 120 Ballroom Basix school children in Rockaway were displaced due to Hurricane Sandy.
On 12/12/12 at 12:12:12 p.m. celebrity dancers, Harlem students, Flash Mob America and Ballroom Basix teaching artists gathered for an historic flash mob in Washington Square Park to fundraise for these kids and their families.100% of the post-production "RHUMBA 4 RELIEF" proceeds will go to benefit this very important cause.
Click here to download America, The Beautiful
and help raise money for displaced Rockaway school children:
"Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars" 2012 Winner Tony Dovolani
12:12:10 PM and 12:12:26 PM
SYTYCD Season 8 Top 20 Finalist Iveta Lukosiute
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Brooklyn Marriage Proposal - Flash Mob-style
Flash mob takes over Brooklyn Bridge Park, next to Jane's Carousel, for a marriage proposal on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 4:30 PM. Tons of fun and she said "yes!" Sponsored by Flash Mob America
Song used is a mix of:
"The Time" (Dirty Bit) by The Black Eyed Peas
+
"Give Me Everything" by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Kindness Rocks
A Worldwide Flash Mob in Honor of World Kindness Day
Times Square, New York City
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
No Reservations
Look who we stumbled upon while watching the last episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations
at Brooklyn Fare, no less...
see below around 38:37
Saturday, November 03, 2012
Grouplove
After the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and with power just beginning to return to lower Manhattan, some 3000 NY'ers had a chance to have some fun tonight.
Friday, November 2nd 2012
Post Sandy Lower Manhattan
 |
| photo taken on 10.31.2012 |
11. 02. 2012
This was my first opportunity to do a small tour of lower Manhattan (Chelsea, Flatiron, Gramercy, Greenwich Village and West Village) since Hurricane Sandy hit on Monday, armed with my iPhone and a headlamp (and a p&s, cell phone charger, and a foldable step stool (for a concert later)).
All photos (except above) were taken using Hipstamatic.
The best walking areas were those with constant traffic that illuminated the area with headlights. Otherwise flares and flashlights were the next best thing. Silent moving (and non-moving) silhouettes and pitch-black streets were definitely creepy. Strength in numbers worked great on those dark streets, and when I lingered on the corners, two different women at two different intersections offered walking me down the street with their flashlights when my headlamp was tucked in my pocket.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Happy Halloween!
(from "The Office")
Ryan: You look amazing.
Kelly: Inappropriate—thank you. Who are you, Larry King?
Ryan: Gordon Gekko.
Kelly: Oh, from the insurance commercials!
Another Halloween where only a handful of people knew who we were, but those that did loved our costume. I came up with the idea the night of Tuesday, October 23rd, but Brian did not commit to it until late Wednesday night, so in our usual rushed fashion, we had only a couple days to complete the costumes before donning them Saturday night. Even though the costumes were technically easier to make than last year's, it was still a bit of a nightmare of using permanent fabric markers (these were waterproof and didn't run which was key since there was a chance of rain on Saturday), because it took a LONG time to color each of the sections using markers that from the get-go seemed to be running low on ink and refused to saturate the shirts with color.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Killers - Live on Letterman (Finally!)
Remember that show we went to about a month ago? Well, they FINALLY put the videos online!
You can catch glimpses of Brian (he seems to stand out more than I), and myself occasionally...but watch The Killers' performance of "Human" and around 1:50 (clip) or 32:19 (full show) you'll get a good look at us.
I had commented on how lame the audience was, and I'm thinking the reason we even got a close up was that we were the only ones showing signs of life and having fun in the area we were in. Pause the video, and you'll see the bored-looking folks around us. The only pearly whites you see are Brian's, the girl's on my right, and mine.
Full show:
link to The Killers performance via Live on Letterman
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
World Maker Faire New York 2012
Saturday, September 29th 2012
Here are some photos and videos of our first trip to World Maker Faire New York. This was the third year it was held at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows, NY. Brian volunteered to help out John Sarik, a Columbia grad student, at his display booth, which required waking up super early, driving to Columbia to pick up the display items (getting a parking ticket in the interim - doh!), and setting up at the museum before the influx of visitors at 10AM. Good thing the weather held out for most of the day.
Pretty cool stuff, but a lot of the interactive activities were geared mainly towards kids, so I, along with adults and parents, were more like spectators rather than participants. Is it poor form if adults are learning/playing while a bunch of kids look on?
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Sunday Bike Ride
Perfectly gorgeous weather...
