Yoga Pop: Volume 4

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa practice.

Song. Artist. Album
(Order is important / Time crops noted)

1. Hymn 1. Eluvium. Copia
2. Introductory Nomenclature. Telefon Tel Aviv. Fahrenheit Fair Enough
3. Crystalnight. Alpinestars. White Noise
4. Fall Bicycle. Lymbyc System. Love Your Abuser
5. Wooo. Vitalic. Ok Cowboy
6. Don't Give Up. The Whitest Boy Alive. Dreams
7. Useless Information. Apparat. Walls
8. Ghost of a Horse Under The Chandelier. World's End Girlfriend. Hurtbreak Wonderland (4:50.7)
9. Sincetta. Plaid. Double Figure
10. Valentine. Justice. Cross
11. Forgive. Burial. Burial
12. Stretch (You Are Alright). Tortoise. It's All Around You
13. The Light. White Magic. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
14. Soul. Spacemen 3. Take Me To The Other Side
15. Winter (What We Never Were After All). Mum. Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy
16. Space Fertilizer. M83. Digital Shades Volume 1
17. Goodnight. Triosk. Moment Returns

Autumn Two Week Staycation To-Do's

1. Decode the ins-and-outs of all entrances/exits at the Union Square subway station.
2. Ride bike from Manhattan to Astoria to Coney Island to Manhattan.
3. Replace certain drinking glasses with a set from Bodum.
4. Buy a FIRM mattress without getting hoodwinked.
5. Attend a Christie's art auction dressed like a collector.
6. Drink mulled apple cider at least once each day.
7. Attend five concerts, two art benefits, and two Halloween parties.
8. Read the 2 foot stack of magazines that's piled up on my counter.
9. Figure out how to re-brush and re-coat an old steel desk.
10. Ride around the City on the top level of a red double decker tour bus while listening to "Strange Geometry" by The Clientele.
11. Go apple picking upstate with B.C. and L.P.
12. ??????

Stop Asking Me What I Think About The Economy...

I've already told you, it's about to suck.

Oh, and look at this CHART.

Mops 'R Us,
KH

Jumping Monkey Cocktail Recipe

This is a recipe I adapted from a cocktail served to me at Perry Street Restaurant during the spring of 2006. 

Naming credit: Christina Frayne

Ingredients:
Kentucky Bourbon
Serrano peppers
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar (optional)
Passion Fruit Juice

Making the Syrup:
The quantities I use in this example should make enough syrup for many drinks (15+). The extra syrup should be cooled and stored at room temperature in a glass jar. Other types of peppers can be used to vary the taste and heat level - Thai chili, Jalapeno, and Habanero (hot!) all work well.

1. Bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil in a medium sauce pan.
2. Add 5-7 roughly chopped whole Serrano peppers. Boil gently for 2-3 minutes.
3. Drain out the peppers and discard. Pour the water back in the pan under low/medium heat.
4. Completely dissolve 1 1/2 - 2 cups of sugar into the water. Note that the traditional balance for simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water. I prefer to use less sugar for this particular drink.

Making the Drink:
2 parts Bourbon.
1 to 2 parts syrup depending on desired sweetness.
8 parts passion fruit juice.

Combine ingredients in a Cobbler Shaker with ice. Shake and serve in a chilled double old fashioned glass. Granulated or brown sugar rim if you like that sorta thing.

Yoga Pop: Volume 3

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class/practice.

Song.Artist.Album
(Order is important)

1. Prologue. Kraftwerk. Tour De France Soundtracks
2. Valley Of The Dolls. Mylo. Destroy Rock & Roll
3. Hairy Trees. Goldfrapp. Black Cherry
4. Flutter. Bonobo. Dial "M" for Monkey
5. Ramble On. Various/Led Zeppelin. Pickin' On Zeppelin Tribute
6. O Mexico. Dosh. The Lost Take
7. Collarbone. Fujiya & Miyagi. Transparent Things
8. Leyendecker. Battles. Mirrored
9. I Am The Sub-Librarian. Piano Magic. Low Birth Weight
10. Noah's Ark. CocoRosie. Noah's Ark
11. Don't Think. Lali Puna. Scary World Theory
12. Disaster Location. Julian Fane. Special Forces
13. Random Summer. Mum. Yesterday Was Dramatic Today Is Ok
14. Distractions. Zero 7. Simple Things
15. Bluebird of Happiness. Ulrich Schnauss/Mojave 3. Spoon and Rafter
16. Onsay. Fennesz. Venice
17. Hands Playing Butterfly. Efterklang. Under Giant Trees

10 Things I Learned in Berlin

1. According to young Berliners people from Munich are shit and the music they listen to is shit.
2. Pre-made cocktails are sold at gas stations in 12 oz aluminum cans.
3. In former East Berlin the WALK street light symbol is characterized by a striding leprechaun.
4. The TV tower isn't filled with TVs.
5. Techno music IS popular (We were all correct).
6. Most dancing-music-type clubs don't "get going" until around 4am.
7. Berlin's obsession with Andy Warhol and his Velvet Underground banana image is REALLY annoying.
8. "Dark" restaurants are cool.
9. Nine out of every ten Berliners between the ages of 20 and 30 is a graphic designer.
10. Half of Brooklyn has already moved to Prenzlauerberg (Kiev is the new Berlin).

Yoga Pop: Volume 2

Designed to play for the duration of a 75 minute vinyasa yoga class/practice.

Song.Artist.Album
(Order is important / Time crops noted)

1. I Saw Drones. Boards of Canada. Geogaddi
2. Ivyhouse. Saint Etienne. Places to Visit
3. This. Brian Eno. Another Day On Earth
4. Lex. Ratatat. Classics
5. Light Pattern. Bonobo. Dial 'M' for Monkey
6. You And Me In Time. Broadcast. Tender Buttons
7. So Easy. Royksopp. Melody AM (3:45)
8. Birds of a Feather. Herbert. Scale
9. Mer du Japon. Air. Pocket Symphony
10. As Serious as Your Life. Four Tet. Rounds
11. Everyone's A V.I.P. To Someone. The Go! Team. Thunder, Lightning, Strike
12. Where. Colder. Again
13. The Valleys. Electrelane. The Power Out
14. Silence and Little Melodies For. Cyann & Ben. Happy Like an Autumn Tree
15. The Light. The Album Leaf. Into The Blue Again
16. Beauties Can Die. M83. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (8:00)

Most / Least Desirable NYC Restaurants (Hype Adjusted)

--Most desirable restaurants after adjusting for hype--
360
Aki
Anyway Cafe
Apizz
Bozu
Cafecito
Cha-an
Chiyono
Downtown Bakery II
Fette Sau
Franny's
The Good Fork
Kori
Little Giant
Locanda Vini E Olii
Los Dos Molinos
Marlow & Sons
Moto
Natori
OMS/B
Pizza Gruppo
Pho Bang
The Queen's Hideaway
Tides

--Least desirable restaurants after adjusting for hype--
'Inoteca
9th Street Market
Cafe Habanna
Clinton Street Bakery
Da Silvano
Danal
Dos Caminos
Frank
Katz's Deli
Koi
Kuruma Zushi
Lombardi's Pizza
Mama's Food Shop
Momofuko Noodle Bar
Morimoto
Tomoe
Veniero's
Waverly Inn (Note: I've never actually eaten here)
Una Pizza Napoletana
Union Square Cafe

Favorite Music of 2006

My favorite album releases of 2006, in order.

1. Camera Obscura: Let's Get Out of This Country
Scotland : Pop : Merge

2. Destroyer: Destroyer's Rubies
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Merge

3. Midlake: Trials of Van Occupanther
USA : Rock/Lo-Fi : Bella Union

4. Figuirines: Skeleton
Denmark : Rock/Pop : Control Group/TCG

5. Casiotone For the Painfully Alone: Etiquette
USA : Singer/Songwriter : Tomlab

6. The Brother Kite: Waiting for the Time to Be Right
USA : Rock/Pop : Clairecords

7. Peter Bjorn & John: Writer's Block
Sweden : Rock/Pop : Wichita/V2

8. Electric President: Electric President
USA : Electronic/Pop : Morr Music

9. Mojave 3: Puzzles Like You
UK : Rock/Pop : 4AD

10. Lonely, Dear: Sologne
Sweden : Singer/Songwriter : Dear John

.Other Much Liked Albums
The Fiery Furnaces, Junior Boys, Herbert, The Pipettes, Grizzly Bear, The Mountain Goats, Math and Physics Club, The Hold Steady, Sunset Rubdown

.Favorite Live Shows
1. Daft Punk: Coachella Music Festival (CA), May
2. Sufjan Stevens: Allen Room @ Lincoln Center (NYC), January
3. The Editors: Mercury Lounge (NYC), January
4. Jens Lekman: Bowery Ballroom (NYC), July
5. Figurines: Mercury Lounge (NYC), June

.Favorite Album Cover
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Etiquette

.Favorite Lyrical Verse
The Mountain Goats: Get Lonely - Wide Sage
"And some days I don't miss my family...
And some days I do.
And some days I think I'd feel better if I tried harder...
Most days I know it's not true."

.Favorite Song
The Long Blondes: Giddy Stratospheres

Gentrify Gripe

Houston between 2nd Avenue and Bowery.

David vs. Goliath.