I have been slacking...2 weekend updates

So first I spent a weekend in NY City and then here last weekend was my birthday.

NYC - hmmm, where to start. We arrive 2 hours late, so we get to my friends apt at 1 am. We still have to go out, so we get dressed and leave for Le Souk, arriving at 2 am to find out a friend had ordered a bottle for all of us. NICE. So we get in that way, otherwise we would have stood outside all night, just like waiting for a taxi at the airport. Le Souk is an awesome little bar, hookah bar, restaurant. I got my friend to try hookah, it was HILARIOUS. You know its not a cigarette, but her attempt was such. hahaha. Anyways, too funny. I got hit on by a guy wearing sunglasses in the middle of the village in NYC at 3 am. WTF? no, and then he wouldn't leave my group alone. Somehow he became part of our group. This place had awesome music and people were actually dancing. I love that. :) I really enjoyed myself. We crashed at 5 am I think, something like that.
The next day we just did a little touristy stuff...World Trade Center site, and a few Starbucks stops later we ended up in the shopping area off 5th. So that was fun. That night we had a big group dinner at a sushi bar. It was terrible. Let me tell you, I have never had such bad seaweed salad or sushi in my entire life. I was so hungry later I was about to eat a hot dog from a street vendor. It was called Matsuri. I do not recommend this ever, unless you just want drinks, because those were decent. Its in some hotel. In that same hotel there is a club and I cannot remember its name at all. It was FUN though. Great music, great drinks, great size dance floor, seating areas, no lines in the rest room even though the bar was packed. All in all I loved this place. I think it might be hard to get into sometimes, but we had 8 girls and 2 guys, so go figure. Then we went to some club, and please forgive me for not knowing the name...but I was drug to this place. My friend is living there for a few months and met a guy, so we had to meet him out. This place was decent, about midway on my ranks. Good music, good drinks...and plenty of seating. And let me say the crowd wasn't bad either. I was getting hit on by nice young professionals left and right. Even got a brunch date for Sunday. haha. But anyways, the dance floor was elevated and full. So people were hogging all the space and it was scary to get up there. You might fall a few feet on heels. OMG. Again, sorry I cannot remember the name. If I ever figure it out I will note it.
After that it was about 3 am and we headed to the meat packing area for a club. But what we didn't know was Paasha had a famous DJ there and we could not get in without paying $50 each or 3 of us could get in with each bottle. Ummm, sorry, no. So we went back to the west side where we were staying and scoped out the home neighborhood for late night bars. To our surprise we could not find one. :( So we settled for late night pizza. Too bad.
Sunday was a gem of a day. Beautiful weather, nice breeze, we had brunch outside. (I went with my friends, not the guy who asked me out). We went to Nero, its in the meat packing district. You pay $20 and get bottomless champagne, mimosas, Bellini's, or bloody Marys and a dish of food. Very good food too. Totally worth $20, especially in NY. We hung out the rest of the day in the NYU area, Washington Square Park, and some shopping places. Nothing too special. That night however, we were going to take it easy. So we started at dinner in Hells kitchen. We decided to try the Ouzaria (since I just got back from Greece). It was fantastic. We had ouzo, lamb, eggplant dip, all of it fantastic. Not as good as in Greece, but pretty good for NY, since I have had bad experiences with food so far (do not eat Mexican food in NY, YUCKY).
Then we walked over to Thalia. Now, if you are a Spanish music fan, you know who Thalia is. She does not own this bar. haha...but it is named after some Greek god or something. Anyways, irrelevant fact for you. This bar is a great little prize. The ambiance is fantastic. Reds/oranges/bright colors accented with gold and black. Beautiful. Great specialty drinks. I had something called Ryan's Whisper. It was very unusual, but great. 3 out of 3 olives for sure. We had a few mojitos and then our NY native buddy called to go out. He told us to meet him somewhere (I wasn't on the phone), but we ended up in a somewhat gay biker club. I think. I don't know, but it was gross and everyone was staring at us...like in the movies. I even had to use the restroom, OMG. I will never again go down that street. Nasty. When we figured out we were not in the place he wanted to go, we went to another little village bar. It was very simple, just a lounge bar. We had a few drinks there. Again I am sorry for forgetting the name, but honestly you can find little lounges like that on every street. Then we went to the meatpacking district. I don't know what happened to taking it easy, but we ended up in the trendiest hotel bar. It was so awesome. Hotel Gansevoort (I think I am spelling it right). This place is awesome. We started with a shot...then went to the terrace. Its a great view of the water and other big hotels/pools/meat packing plants. Just kidding! :) But the bar is large enough for about a hundred people to take a seat. There are two small bars on each side of the place. The drinks were made well. I think we had a few drinks and some more shots. The music that night could have been better, but it was Sunday, so they were playing old school. Also a 3 out of 3 olive bar. Highly recommended - if you can get in. The door guys are more than a typical prick of a door guy. But I might say its almost worth it to wait a while.
We left Monday night. We had a terrible day after all those shots, honestly one of us had to stay in bed all day until we got in the cab to the airport. Haha, not me, but so funny. So that was the end. All in all a great trip, very fun, very lacking in sleep, which is always a great sign of a good time.

My birthday was also a blast...there are pictures I dont remember. Another good sign of a good time. My friend hosted the preparty at her new house, full bar, fondue, finger foods, the works. It was awesome. She even decorated...how sweet. That party was met by a few long time no see's. I love those. It was a good time. There are pictures, but a few people seemed to be ghosts...I dont see them in any pictures. (You know who you are). Then we headed to Rocbar, I think I was a birthday bitch trying to get everyone to leave before Rocbar's line formed. Not an easy task with a full bar and a full house. Moving 30 people is never easy. At Rocbar a few more people showed up...I think we filled up half the back lounge. Awesome. I honestly do not remember much after the shots started coming my way. I remember points where I had two in my hand and someone else was trying to get me one. NOOOOOO. Anyways, I am sure you have all been to Rocbar, so I will do a quick review of the place for those slower folks. There is a rock area, a techno area, outdoor lounge, and pool hall area. Its an eclectic place, with a lot of character, room, and people. All types of people. Hard rock crowd with mohawks and chains, techno dancer with funky clothes and the regular trendy type. I think the Red Door type started to go here, but couldn't hang with the Rock group. I love it. So, its awesome, there are bars everywhere, so easy to get drinks (proven Saturday night). The only downfall is the line. It starts at 11, even if no one is there, they start a line. That sucks. But once you are in, its a good time had by all.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Friday Floetry x 10/19/07

Its been buzzing all over that Nas is coming out with a new album with a controversial title (check the web if you want to know what that is). Nas is saying its coming out in December, and Def Jam is saying there is no album in the works and thus the whole thing about the controversial title is a moot point. Anyway, that got me thinking of Nasir Jones, and his “work”, If I Ruled The World. Here’s a little sampling from it, check the whole thing out when you have a minute.

Floetry:


Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassin
Imagine going to court with no trial
Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters
No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters
Days are shorter, nights are colder
Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra
The world's hot my son got not evidently
It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually
Trooping out of state for a plate knowledge
of coke was cooked without the garbage we'd all have the top dollars
Imagine everybody flashin, fashion
Designer clothes, lacing your click up with diamond vogues
Your people holdin dough, no parole
No rubbers, go in raw imagine law with no undercovers
Just some thoughts for the mind
I take a glimpse into time
watch the blimp read "The World Is Mine"


Taken from If I Ruled The World by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill (“Lauryn Hill says her heart was in Zion, I wish her hear still was in rhyming”)

Judz College Football Top 25 (Week 7)

After another crazy week, the poll has some new faces and we bid adieu to a few fakers in our midst. Here is this week's Top 25:

1. Ohio State - Pretty much by default. I think LSU beats them in a neutral field head to head game, but I have to penalize LSU for losing
2. LSU - Assumed they would roll Kentucky, but loss could get them refocused
3. Oklahoma - Beat a very very good Mizzou team and have a pretty easy road the rest of the way so long as they don't beat themselves
4. South Florida - Still expect at least one loss, which could come as early as Thursday night @ Rutgers
5. Oregon - After letting the game against Cal go and a bye week, the Ducks plastered Wazzu and are playing the best ball out west
6. Florida - Will beat Kentucky on Saturday - BOOK IT!!
7. Boston College - I am still not a believer and first loss is around the corner
8. Arizona State - Still just waiting to see how good this team is.
9. California - They drop this far (and behind Oregon despite beating them) just because Nate Longshore may not be healthy
10. West Virginia - If Pat White is healthy, the Mountaineers can run their way to Nawlins
11. South Carolina - First place in the SEC East for now, but still have brunt of SEC schedule left
12. Missouri - Were never out of the game against the Sooners until the 4th quarter, but one or two more losses could be on the horizon
13. Virginia Tech - Playing as strong as anyone in the country
14. USC - 17-10 over Arizona --> injuries are to blame, but until healthy you guys are down here
15. Kansas - I just can't push them up any higher yet
16. Kentucky - This is why the SEC is so difficult after upsetting LSU, their reward is a game against Florida
17. Auburn - The loss to USF doesn't look so bad anymore, but the flop against MSU is still unforgivable
18. Boise State - Offense is clicking, but defense was played for fools in 4OT game (and highest scoring game) against Nevada
19. Texas Tech - Defense stepped up in blowout of Texas A&M and offense behind Harell and Crabtree is something to behold
20. Hawaii - Still undefeated, but games against BSU and Washington remain
21. Michigan - Are playing some really good football and Mike Hart, if not injured, could be runaway favorite for Heisman after his play through this tumultuous season
22. Tennessee - Two bad losses, but this really is a great team truly capable of beating anybody
23. Cincinnati - Tough loss to Louisville, but still capable of big things this season
24. Virginia - Being 6-1 is worth something even if they haven't been glamorous in how they've done it
25. Illinois - Lost a game they should've won against Iowa, but this team is still young and quite strong

CFB Week 7 in Review

The big news from this past Saturday's action was the University of Houston Cougars winning the Bayou Bucket for the third straight year in their come from ahead then behind 56-48 victory over cross-town rival Rice Owls. The Coogs set a record by being the first team in college football history to have both a 300 yard receiver and a 200 yard rusher. Donnie Avery caught 13 passes for 346 yards, which is a Conference USA and UH record. When this was announced over the PA system as the Coogs were in the victory formation, Avery did a backflip and a loud roar went through the crowd. Anthony "Quick 6" Alridge added 205 rushing yards including a game clinching 50 yard td run in the closing minutes. Both Avery and Alridge received helmet stickers from the Gameday Crew at ESPN. The Coogs now sit at 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.

Now, onto the rest of the week. I heard something about #1 LSU and #2 California both losing close games. LSU lost in triple overtime and Cal lost when their backup qb made a rookie mistake and was tackled in the field of play causing the clock to run out before Cal could attempt a game-tying field goal. With the inaugural 2007 BCS standings, Ohio State sits at #1 and South Florida at #2, with Boston College at #3 each pretty much by default. I continue to give hearty congratulations to USF and BC for beating the teams on their schedule, but are we sure these are 2 of the 3 best teams in the country. Would you really bet on either of these teams in a game on a neutral field against LSU or Oklahoma or even USC (despite how poorly they have played lately)? Let's be honest here, will any of these teams actually remain undefeated this year? South Florida still has to play @ Rutgers, @ Connecticut, Cincinnati, and Louisville, while Boston College still plays @ Va Tech, Florida State, @ Maryland and @ Clemson (and the ACC Championship Game). Ohio State has the best shot at going undefeated, but still have their rivalry game against Michigan at the end of the year. Plus, no one really knows just how good these guys are since the two signature wins were against teams that have proven themselves to be average at best. So where does this leave us? In the greatest possible scenario, especially if OSU were to lose along the way. We could have 4, 5, 6 and maybe even 7 teams, each with one loss jockeying for position to get into the championship game. Heck, we may even see a 2-loss team in the BCS Championship game, but it is highly doubtful.

This season has been one of the best with upsets coming left and right, especially so early in the season. We are at about the midpoint of the year and it is anyone's guess who will emerge on the other side. Come December, there will be a lot of unhappy campers out there thinking their team should've been in the championship game.

As you can probably tell, I did not watch much college football this weekend as I was tailgating and watching the Coogs pretty much all day Saturday. New Top 25 poll coming later this afternoon.