eukanuba liberation front

Blip Festival

2006-12-01T13:21:08-05:00

Get out the damaged Sega, your old Nintendo and Game Boys, it's Blip Festival weekend: "the four-day celebration of over 30 international artists exploring the untapped potential of low-bit videogame consoles and home computers used as creative tools." Don't miss tomorrow's 8bit documentary screening about art & video games!

Tags: 8bit, blip festival, cory archangel, game boys, ninentdo, sega

CBGB Store opens this Friday on St. Marks Place

2006-11-20T21:31:25-05:00

Hilly Kristal moves fast: CBGB is opening its retail store this Friday at 23 St Marks Place, as previously reported by the great TwoWheeler on this site. I also saw the Joey Ramone Place sign Mr. TwoWheeler pointed out that I missed the last time I walked up the Bowery, but I think there was a second sign that is actually missing. Well maybe not. Anyhow (212) 982-4052 is the number for this great store, and Hilly himself is hanging out there every day. The nice white tile inside is so clean I had to ask: When is the graffiti gonna come? It's kind of funny ... how all the anti-establishment punk rock music n stuff has been commercialized. I mean, when I was a kid St Marks was full of punks, now the new baby punks are everywhere. I saw one with Anti-Nowhere League written in Liquid Paper on her leather jacket going into the Japanese market. 20 years ago, she would have been in your face demanding half of whatever you were eating. Well whatever.

Tags: bowery, cbgb, hilly kristal, st marks place

CBGB is gone and forgotten

2006-11-10T14:49:05-05:00

Uh so CBGB's closed three weeks ago and there is nothing left. It's gone and forgotten, every indication on the outside that it was never there. And the Joey Ramone Corner sign in memory of the greatest Ramone—ripped down too. Next stop: Las Vegas?

Tags: cbgb, hilly kristal, ramones, vegas

The U.S.S. Intrepid moved—ten feet

2006-11-06T15:08:22-05:00

I watched at 9:15 this morning as the festivities got underway: The U.S.S. Intrepid was gonna move from its berth, the first time in 24 years. All the massive tugs from McAllister were in place. There were plenty of veterans and active-duty service members on hand, NYPD helicopters in the air, FDNY guys on the stern of the ship, Coast Guard vessels in the Hudson, several hundred onlookers, Steve Forbes' yacht The Highlander and did I leave anyone out? Oh yes, the NYPD brass band, which struck up some patriotic military tunes as well as local favorites like "On Broadway." After a while, there came an announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Intrepid has moved five feet." Another eternity passed, and another announcement: "The Intrepid has now moved ten feet." People were getting restless. Some left. The party on Forbes' yacht looked like fun—cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The cops looked bored. The band left. I took off on the bike path. The Intrepid was stuck. Everything had seemed in order: today is the highest tide of the year. The weather was picture-perfect sunny. 600 tons of water were sucked out of its ballast tanks. The river was dredged a bit. But then there was one hitch—a big hitch: the propellers had were stuck in the bottom of the Hudson. Looks like some more dredging is necessary. Too bad about the Forbes yacht party; a lady from the Intrepid's Education Department told me the yacht had planned to follow the Intrepid downriver and have a nice celebration.

Tags: broadway, fdny, forbes, highlander, intrepid, mcallister, nypd, tugboats

street theater: Canal Street Post Office

2006-09-08T12:41:54-04:00

Just before visiting Province Chinese Canteen in Tribeca today, I experienced one of the most exasperating Canal Street post office moments ever. There was actually no one in line, which I think never happened before at 11:45 am. But I had to wait four minutes because the clerk behind the window was busy talking to another clerk. At which point I went over and said apologetically: "I am so sorry to interrupt." Clerk: What you need? Bulldog: I'd like 50 two-cent stamps, please. Clerk: I ain't go no 52¢ stamps. Bulldog: I said fifty, five-zero, two-cent stamps please. Clerk: Oh. (Clerk counts out 52 two-cent stamps.) Bulldog: You are being too nice, let me give these two extra stamps back to you. (Hands over two stamps and one dollar.) Clerk: But you said 52 two-cent stamps. Bulldog: Have a nice day. Then I noticed this weird flyer tacked up on the bulletin board at the head of the line titled WHY BUY STAMPS? Although it was typed, it was illiterate nonsense that mentioned a number of bizarre things, including a discussion of whether Moses might have used express mail when delivering the Ten Commandments. (Never mind whether theological discussions are pertinent to the sale of postage stamps.) So I asked the chatty clerk who had been speaking with the window clerk about this WHY BUY STAMPS? Chatty: What are you talking about? Bulldog: That display over there. Chatty: What about it? Bulldog: Who put it there? Chatty: Why you asking? Bulldog: Because it's the most illiternate thing I've ever seen in a post office. Looks like a second-grader wrote it. But that's just one guy's opinion. Chatty: Have a nice day. Bulldog: You too. Did I mention the grilled chicken sandwich, srved on steamed mantou at Province is really great? Two for $7.50 (opening week price was two for $7). Hold the two-cent stamps.

Tags: canal street, chinese canteen, post office, province

Shake Shack shakedown

2006-08-17T18:41:50-04:00

On its most recent inspection, the overhyped Shake Shack scored 109 violation points. That's a lot of violations. But when you really look at these ten different violations, they don't add up to much--not for a place located in a park without a big sanitary kitchen, that is. For example: Accurate thermometer not provided in refrigerated or hot holding equipment. Uh, this is a burger shack, right? Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly. Wait, this place even has plumbing? Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist. Does this mean anti-pigeon, anti-squirrel, and anti-rodent devices are missing? Toilet facility not provided for employees or for patrons when required. Wait, this is a park! Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility's food and/or non-food areas. In other words, the park's flies fly into the shack. Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding. Remember the scandal of that burger chain with its undercooked burgers? Danny Meyer probably hasn't got this kind of bad meat or temperature issue. Cooked or prepared food is cross-contaminated. Meyer says: "To adhere to the code, we now store meat and cheese in separate coolers." Hmmm, just like we do at home, I would point out. Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations. OK, but every restaurant in NYC eventually gets this violation. Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation. Who knew they had smoked fish?

Tags: danny meyer, restaurant violations, shake shack

NYC.com readers offer more useful beat-the-heat tips

2006-08-01T11:58:26-04:00

I'd like to thank the many New Yorkers who have emailed additional suggestions on how to stay cool during this heat emergency: Open all the hydrants in your 'hood. Don't bother to close them at night; that's the Fire Department's job. Besides, every car that hydroplanes is one less car emitting greenhouse gases. Try on everything in multiple sizes at Macy's. Then wander through The Cellar examining appliances for a few hours. Don't worry about surveillance; no associate will even notice you regardless of how long you stay. Visit your participating Carvel ice cream store for a soft-serve vanilla cone. Then demand to speak to Cookie Puss and say you won't leave until he arrives. Alternately, order a Fudgie the Whale cake and have it lavishly decorated while you wait. Hang around Rice to Riches, slowly eating your rice pudding over a 3-hour period while watching the bored employees scooping out all those flavors of rice pudding. Head to the Bronx to visit the Diamond Ice plant and demand a tour. Refuse to leave without any free samples. Alternately, steal one of their trucks from Diamond's West 16th Street garage.

Tags: carvel, cookie puss, diamond ice, macys, rice to riches, the cellar

Bulldog's top ten ways to beat the heat

2006-07-31T13:07:03-04:00

1. Hang out all day at Western Beef in the meat locker. 2. Get a large iced tea at a Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble and spend all day nursing it while reading 20 or 30 magazines. 3. Take the A train to Rockaway Beach, but don't get out of the train. Instead, continue back up to the Bronx. Repeat. 4. Eat a pint of Ciao Bella ice cream before going to bed. 5. Keep your air conditioning on low, praying that you will prevent a blackout. 6. Go to the multiplex at 11 a.m. and switch theaters every 90 minutes. The bored ushers will never figure it out. 7. Buy a bag of ice at Associated Supermarket and ration out the cubes to family members. 8. Fly to Ushuaia and enjoy chilly Tierra del Fuego. 9. Eat huge amounts of spicy food to promote sweat. Then drink water to stay hydrated. 10. Accost at least one guy in a huge SUV each day who's parked with the engine running and windows open. Ask helpfully: "Have you heard of global warming?" I had a great conversation on Saturday afternoon about this with a fat guy who was sitting in his Cadillac Escalade. He just sat there for more than 15 minutes talking to me, motor running and windows open. Then I got bored with him and left.

Tags: associated supermarket, barnes and noble, ciao bella, rockaway beach, starbucks, western beef

spoiled milk and a flat rat

2006-07-27T11:54:31-04:00

It's so hot in England that Mark Vance, an entertainer at Warwick Castle who wears a full suit of armor and was named the man with the hottest job in Britain by The Daily Express, was photographed frying an egg on the breastplate of his outfit. Meanwhile, back on the island of Manhattan, the radio announcer had said at 7 that it was already 75 degrees. Ten minutes later, I saw one of my favorite hot summer things: 12 cases of milk sitting on the sidewalk in front of Met Food. Of course, it was much cooler inside the market, so that's why the milk stays outside on the sidewalk. I joked about it with the bored cashier, apologizing that I'd taken her away from reading Cindy Adams' column in the New York Post just so I could buy a dozen organic eggs. She just laughed. Now you know why I don't buy milk this time of year; it's pre-curdled. Fortunately, eggs don't sour the way milk does in late July. Then a few minutes ago, walking away with a take-out sandwich from one of my favorite Tribeca places, I walked past a huge flattened rat in the middle of Hudson Street near the city water tunnel #3 big dig. That's my other favorite hot summer sight, flat rats. There haven't been as many chicken bones and used Q-Tips on the corners as of late, but I've noticed the number of used Crest whitening strips thrown on sidewalks has increased. Apparently oral hygiene and fitness now trump nutrition and clogged ears. Guess I should be thankful that at least I have electricity, right? One of the other odd things about hot summer days I can never understand is why does the cold water tap run hot for up to a minute? How can that be? Don't tell me the lead pipes in my building are feeling the heat as well....

Tags: cindy adams, met food, milk, new york post, rats

LaGuardia power outrage rolls on

2006-07-18T16:10:16-04:00

WNYC radio is reporting that the lights are still out at two terminals at LaGuardia, and NY1 reports that some flights had to be cancelled and others delayed due to this power outage in Terminal A and parts of Central Terminal B. Although it appears to be a continuation of Monday's troubles, the outage is limited to passengers traveling on Delta and American Airlines. Con Edison claims to be working on the problem. I won't even mention the subway problems of yesterday or today. Baby it's hot outside. Suggested listening: The Lovin' Spoonful's Summer in the City. Suggested beverage: lemonade, of course.

Tags: american airlines, con edison, delta airlines, laguardia, lovin spoonful, summer in the city