My first full summertime in New York as been filled with activity and fun. So much so that I'm behind in documenting all my wheelings and dealings. Forgive me if spending time playing, singing, dancing, working, traveling, and loving all trump blogging. Oh yeah, and grad school. Pesky that.
The previously mentioned Yankee game, which was a scorching 95 degrees(!) was a splendid affair because of terrific box seats! I guess my complaining from last year paid off. It was a high scoring game, and everyone drank plenty of $9 beers in the shade. I think I'm still more of a Mets fan though. Following the game we hung out with other geeky scientists at a fancy terrace BBQ party called "Beers of the World". Note, that the Chili beer is a crime against humanity. To quote Ralph Wiggum, "This tastes like BURNING!" The Wagyu Beef burgers were scrumptious, and made up for it. Such a happy day.
The next day, I noticed my 17" MacBookPro battery had swelled up out of its case, and was severely bulging. A trip to the Apple Store fixed it but this is a serious problem that's affected 4 people I know - including Tom. The wonderful Aaron had acquired tickets to see Erasure at McCarren Park Pool and invited me along. It was my first time seeing Erasure, and despite being a tiny bit late we all had a great time. I'm not such a fan that I can name every song, but I sure did sing along with the crowd. Later that night I ended up running into Andy Bell at Nowhere and grabbed a photo. Check out the rest o the Photos!
That Saturday I spent at a BBQ with our new first year students in upstate NY (okay fine, it was Westchester). Chill, standard, bus driver from hell - thank goodness for Google Maps on my phone. Sunday was a housewarming party all the way out in Brooklyn for David. He's got a beautiful view of the Verrazano Bridge.
Next up, my friend Adam from high school was visiting NYC from Amsterdam and we got together for a dinner and drinks. Super-great to catch up with him. I think we really weirded out his friend (from Luxembourg!) a few times.
And then? And THEN I went to see Daft Punk. Robots. Lasers. Lights. Dancing. Awesome. Getting to Coney Island was awful, but it was all worth it. Check out the photos. I have some videos up on YouTube as well... link to come. Nothing can really convey the energy and flow of such a show, but maybe you can get a taste of it.
The next day, I hopped a train to DC for a weekend with Tom. NY and Philly peeps were in attendance, so we had a little pre-party at Tom's place to watch the 130 Cats Video from CNN (really, this one is better than the YouTube one) and drink Watermelon frozen drinks. Yum! Then off to Woof! at Titan. Much fun was had. Much dinner was also had at Thai Tannic.
Saturday after a workout, Tom and I went to Taberna del Alabardero for Restaurant Week. It was delicious, but the cream based potato, leek & shrimp soup did not end up agreeing with me. Costume change followed by a stop at the Chateau Deux Sean, featuring Jimbo to warm yet another house. Great space, semi-sketchy neighborhood. Great to see those peeps, as I don't always when I'm in DC. We stayed long enough to drink a vodka or two, then it was time to bounce over to Nellies Sports Bar. Good space, fun people but it was crowded trying to get a drink.
On our way to the 9:30 Club for BLOWOFF we had to walk past a bus stop on U Street with about 15-20 black men and women. A smile and a nod and no big whoop, until we all get past each other and then one guy shouts to us, "Ya'll look like Martians!!!" and begins to jump up and down pumping his fists. So I turn around and jump back shouting, "Wooooooooooooh!" One love. :)
BLOWOFF rocked, as usual. Great music, great friends, sexy crowd. Unfortunately I didn't make it the entire night this time, as the cream soup caught up with me. Mixed with the aforementioned vodka, my stomach was doing flip-flops but I managed to keep my dinner down. Photos from the entire weekend are here.
Sunday, Jim and Don were gracious enough to host an impromptu BBQ and Pool Party. It was one of those amazingly sunny, perfect gatherings of friends where you just lounge and float and have a coke or a beer, eat a burger, jump off the diving board 50 or so times. Yeah... bliss.
I played the bonus round and stayed in DC through Monday, reading and working from the couch. And then Tuesday morning back to the lab and experiments and science. Hang on to me, before I fly off this crazy spinning world.
In case you happen to find yourself in Brighton, England, on September 1, 2007 you might consider attending the biennial World Beard and Moustache Championships. Yes, it's that time again. Forget the US Open tennis tournament which usually sucks away every last bit of my free time at the end of summer. I don't suppose the Beard tournament will be televised very much, and certainly not in HD. Mercifully, USA broadcasts from Ashe and Armstrong courts are show in HD 1080i on UniversalHD (unlike the other majors... stupid 16:9 SD cheapskates). 
Remember that bananas are worth 5,000 points. Very important! 