All the traffic that comes to this site is either...
for Darren Jiang or for the phrase "fucking the babysitter"
Interesting.
Anyway - Darren, who apparently won over the hearts of many people looking for him on Google, plays for a NY/NJ Asian American league called Fastbreak.
If you are going after your babysitter ...well I can't help you.
Daniel's Ashhole has been blatantly ripped off by an American-run company in Hong Kong. It's beyond shocking - if you have time please send an email to the president of the company, Robert G. Kushner, kush@netvigator.com, telling him just what you think of his business practices/ethics. It's simply wrong to steal ideas, artwork, and design in this manner and to think that you can get away with it. Daniel is probably not the only designer who's ideas are being leeched off by this loser. He's even ripped off the text on the packaging: The text on the REAL ASHHOLE Packaging (back)"Simply snap an Ashhole onto an empty bottle, and you've got an instant ashtray. No moreaccidental sips of someone's ashed-in-beer and no need to empty the Ashhole - just remove and attach to another bottle." The text on the RIP-OFF Website"...Simply snap it onto almost any empty bottle of beer or soda and you’ve got an instant ash tray. No more accidental slips of swigging someone’s ashed-in beer!" The company's website is here: http://www.pcihk.com, and you can locate their "ASH-TRAP" by doing a search for "ashtray" in their search field. This type of 'business' takes away the incentive from young designers like Daniel who have to struggle just to get their ideas out there only to have them snapped up by larger, ethic-less companies. Again, the name of the person responsible for this is Robert G. Kushner and his email is kush@netvigator.com. Tell him what you think. And please, spread the word to your lists.
I noticed that I am still getting the occasional visitor from wherever looking for a cheap hotel to stay at in New York from my Gridskipper link in February .
Here are some hotels in NY that I wouldn't recommend:
The Paramount Hotel - The rooms are small - so small that you can stand in the middle of the room, stretch out your arms and touch the walls on each side of you.
The Gershwin Hotel - Pros: the hotel has a decent bar. Cons: Weird neighborhood, half the "hotel guests" are actually full time residents who are a little loopy and the rooms are a tad ghetto.
Hotel Pennsylvania - Once, when I was a travel agent, I made the mistake of booking someone a room here (it was Marathon weekend and the city was sold out!)- I was told that they moved the nightstand and noticed that the carpet underneath the stand was a totally different color therefore was 1000x cleaner than the surrounding carpet. They were totally grossed out and asked to be moved to Jersey if there wasn't anything better in the city. This is also where the dogs and handlers stay during the dog show - that should tell you something.
Hostels: don't do it - it's not the same as other countries and you are going to be either annoyed or completely scared out of your wits over your health.
About two weeks ago - I watched Restaurant Revamp - a reality type show on Food Network about Bobby Flay helping to revamp a restaurant in order to save it. The restaurant in question was the Luca Lounge in the East Village. Did anyone else see the show? Because it seemed like the whole revamp gave the place a new breath of life. Maybe not - the boyfriend and I were hanging out in the East Village the other night - going to get a bite to eat at Dumpling Man (and I don't even want to hear any dumpling hating on my Dumpling Man) and we peeped into a totally deserted restaurant. It was the Luca Lounge - The chef that was featured on the "Restaurant Revamp" was drinking a glass of wine at the bar and there didn't seem to be another soul in the place. I thought that it just may be a little early but other places were busy.
It seems like the main problem with this place - only by it's citysearch reviews - is it's waitstaff and service. Quite honestly, if the staff is as bad as the reviews - maybe it deserves to close down. Some of may favorite places to eat are mainly because of the fantastic service, like Kitchen Club - where the waitstaff has always been attentive and wonderful. The worst service I've ever had was at Red Bamboo - where a faux-hawked-im-too-cool-to-work-here host forgot to seat us and then forgot to get a waiter to serve us.
First of all, you have to blame my boyfriend for getting me really into basketball. (Though in high school I was the stat keeper for the boy's varsity basketball team - but that was only because I could get out of gym class) He started getting me into college basketball about 2 years ago and I was so into the whole process of "March Madness" that I actually cried when the Kansas Jayhawks lost to Syracuse. Wept really. So, now I find myself yelling at the TV at basketball games and really rooting for those teams that I emotionally invest myself into.
I saw the last season of Battlegrounds - where players from Europe got pounded in one-on-one games with people from New York/Chicago/LA - it was far less watchable then the current concept. Also, being a New Yorker - you gotta root for people representing you.
Then there is Darren Jiang - who I immediately felt protective of when I saw him in the tryouts for the New York team. I thought that he was going to get the brunt of a physical game to get him out of the running - but the guy has definitely got heart and determination. I also have to say that his mom was really the funniest part of the episode that she was in - no one that hasn't had interaction with an Asian mom can appreciate her candor and total matter of factness about Darren playing basketball and potentially failing. She was very cute with his awards and showing off how proud she is of him - I thought it was very nice to include that within the edit of the show.
So my friend's shower was this past weekend. I made the favors - they were 3 inch brown kraft boxes with either an orange or sage green ribbon with a Burgundy sticker of a bride and groom that said "Love is Brewing". In the boxes were a selection of teas (6 bags) and 4 Green Tea cookies. I spent the entire weekend making the damn things. In case you are interested in the recipe. They are really just shortbread cookies with green tea leaves in them.
Green Tea Cookies: Makes about 8 dozen You can grind the tea leaves in a small food processor or with a mortar and pestle.
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting 2 tablespoons finely ground Green Tea tea leaves (from about 8 bags) 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup confectioners sugar 1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest 1 tablespoon ginger powder 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1. Whisk together flour, tea, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter, sugar, and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; slowly mix in flour mixture until just combined.
3. Divide dough in half. Transfer each half to a piece of parchment paper; shape into logs. Roll in parchment to 1 1/4 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log and force out air. Transfer in parchment to paper-towel tubes; freeze 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
5. Bake until edges turn golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
While my testers at school loved the cookies - the shower attendees didn't seem thrilled at all.
I'm not sure if the bride enjoyed her shower - she just got in a fight with her fiance in the car so she was all ready cranky. I showed up 15 minutes late because I got lost in New Jersey - because I always get lost in Jersey. So I didn't get to set up everything I had planned on and I was on the verge of tears when I arrived because I am totally PMS'ing and I firmly believed I had ruined her shower. I didn't get to talk to the bride at all and spent the majority of the luncheon talking to the groom's grandmother who once lived on the same block I had growing up in my hometown. The bride did get quite the load o'gifts - including a all of glassware she registered for (pilsners, red wine, white wine and everyday), luggage, 3 sets of sheets, a china set and a 50" Plasma screen TV. She has enough spa visits to last her a while and enough cookware for the Food Network.
