Hat Trick

I like Diane Birch, but LOVE her hat.

Nothing But A Miracle - Diane ...

Monsters of Folk

Monsters of Folk is being heralded as the new Traveling Wilburys because of the all-star line up of M. Ward, Jim Jones of My Morning Jacket, plus Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes. I'm not sure if anything compares to a band that counts both Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan amoung its members, but from what I heard their stuff is really good.

The Right Place - Monsters of ...

Birthday Apéritif

Rosa Regale, a red sparkling wine, sweetened my birthday celebration this weekend.

We also enjoyed some tasty appetizers, including a cured meat platter from Marlow and Daughters. I was so happy to have an excuse to shop there that I wasn't even that grossed out by the live action butchering that was going on right before my eyes.

Perception vs. Reality

Composer Nico Muhly spoke to a room full of composition students, musicians and others yesterday on my lunch break. Because of his age, his cuteness, his professional grooming (protege of Philip Glass) and his more mainstream musical collaborations, Nico gets a lot of press. Its funny, most stories I read describe him as "impish" or use similar adjectives which I thought was silly before seeing him in the flesh. He truly is like some magical, wonderful, musical elf.

Plus he's an entertaining and articulate speaker. He dispensed invaluable advice to his audience when asked about his particular career path, his compositional process and navigating the special relationship between musicians, commissions and composers. Sometimes I forget that composers are such unique and special breeds of musicians.

Nico writes a prolific blog and one student asked a question directly lifted from the content of one of Nico's entries. It was a loaded inquiry regarding the New Music "scene" in New York and elsewhere. I admired his diplomacy and reluctance to perpetuate any exclusivity or negativity by dispelling any type of music scene to be more "perception than reality."

Mothertongue Pt. 2: Shower - N...

image via esquire.com

Oxford Comma

Birthday present to myself! So cute, right? Actually, they are kind of boring, but perfect basics for my fall wardrobe.

Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

Shana Tova!

We celebrated Rosh Hashanah with my dear BU friend Dave and his family on Roosevelt Island last night. The food was amazing- gefilte fish, fluffy challah and the most delicious dish ever: cholent, a hearty stew with lamb, potatoes, egg, and beans.

Happy new year!

The Retributionists

I received comp tickets to the matinee of The Retributionists at the Playwrights Horizons theater in midtown over the weekend. The lead actress moo-ed her lines so distractingly I could scarcely enjoy the play at all. She was supposed to be some kind of manipulative femme fatale revenge mastermind, but instead she was just kind of exhausting.

The handsome Adam Driver provided some consolation. While he was at Juilliard, I saw him in Burn This and have been a fan ever since. His performance yesterday was a bright spot in this otherwise grim production.

Adelaide Salon

I went to see Jess Stover at Adelaide Salon in Greenpoint for my hotly-anticipated hair cut. Jess was great. She gave me a fabulous cut and asked all the right questions to make sure she was giving me the exact style I wanted. Plus, she augments all of the products she uses in her salon with jojoba, jasmine and other natural goodies, which was so lovely.

As for my cut, I think it kind of looks like what Jane Fonda had going on in her cop kickin mugshot. In a good way!

A Happy Marriage

My book club tackled Rafael Yglesias's A Happy Marriage this month. Generally speaking, I liked the book and thought it was poignant and well written. Truthfully speaking, I was happy when it was over. It was heart-wrenching and the narrator was so hard to like.

In fact, we spent most of our book club meeting this past Sunday in Sheep's Meadow dissecting his character. I loved seeing the different sides of our argument emerge and was pleasantly surprised by the group's dynamics. Girls who I previously considered to be moral stalwarts were permissive pushovers. Other normally mellow girls showed their secret contrarian/devil's advocate side. I also loved watching other park goers' reactions to our fiery gathering.

Can't wait for next month's session!

oh baby let's go . . .

. . . to a cabin down below.

Recently I was convinced to leave a perfectly nice Upper East Side house party to pursue an elusive bar in the East Village.

We arrived at the supposed address to find a greasy pizza joint. I was confused and disappointed. And drunk.

"Fear not," said my gallant companion, as he picked up a surreptitiously mounted phone and conversed with a mysterious entity. Who was he speaking with God? Oz? Who ever it was suddenly opened some kind of trap door, through which we descended into a cozy, candlelight bar full of attractive people. Fun times ensued.

Its a bar named after a Tom Petty song, how could it be lame?

Cabin Down Below (Album Versio...

Labor Day Brunch

I enjoyed the best brunch I've had in a loooong time at Egg in Williamsburg over the weekend. Located on North 5th Street, this teeny spot emphasizes locally grown "artisanal ingredients" on their menu, meaning everything was fresh and scrumptious-looking. The wait was lengthy, but well worth it.

I ordered the Eggs Rothko- brioche, egg over easy, vermont cheddar and candied bacon. YUM!

image via A Passion for Food.

Taking Woodstock

I had high hopes for Taking Woodstock. To start, its directed by Ang Lee. Meryl Streep's daughter is involved. The subject matter is one of the high points of our country's musical history.

Unfortunately, it failed. Boring story line and poor casting in Demetri Martin. What's worse is that there was no discernible soundtrack, which is baffling to me.

FAIL.

Kings of Atlanta

Southern gentlemen of Pistolero

I went to see Dali's Elvis last night at The National Underground. First of all, that place kind of sucks- expensive beers and an extremely inattentive sound staff.

Dali's Elvis set was awesome. I especially loved the amped up versions of Velcro Suit and Sundried, probably because usually I hear them play acoustically and things are much more mellow.

We stayed for Pistolero's set afterward and I'm wicked glad we did. Their stuff sounds like a cross between Kings of Leon and Blind Melon and The Traveling Willburys. I can't wait to see them again this Saturday at The Hudson House.

Yellow House - Pistolero

New 'Do

I'm getting my hair cut next week and have started to shop around for some hair inspiration. Here are my favorites so far:

Sharin Foo of The Raveonettes

Leila Moss of the Duke Spirit

Ok, I know its messed up for a grown adult to want to emulate the style of a teenaged girl, but isn't Taylor Momsen's cut adorable?

Bad Medicine

My girlfriend Shana celebrated her birthday last night at an intriguing new spot called Apotheke. After wandering around Chinatown, we finally found it behind an unmarked door on the dark side of the street. Apparently in past lives the space has been an opium den and an opera house, information reflected in the bar's decor.

I ordered a delicious starfruit champagne cocktail from the "Health and Beauty" section of their apothecary. Champagne has health benefits? As if I needed an excuse to drink more!