Thanks to my woman, I caught Bloc Party waaaay uptown on 175th street at a new venue called the United Palace Theater last night… and this morning woke up appropriately singing I Still Remember to myself.

The funny thing is, I was expecting the show to be terrible. The location was super far away, I’d never heard of the place, it was billed as a seated affair (The seats which my woman had turned out to be excellent, but who wants to sit?), I hadn’t loved Bloc Party when I saw them last year in McCarren pool (despite loving their first album), and, to be honest, I haven’t been too into Weekend in the City.

As it turned out, all those worries were wasted. The trek up there was quick on the A train (although the train home took forever), the venue (a semi-converted church) was absolutely gorgeous with gold trimming to spare, no one bothered sitting, and Bloc Party made all the wimpier songs off their new album rock to the point where pieces of the ceiling were falling down on them! It was a ton of fun and I left there dripping sweat from jumping around almost their entire set.

Björk plays the United Palace Theater next month and although I haven’t heard anything from her new album yet, just imagining her live in that bizarre space makes me feel like the show would be fantastic. I need to remember to try and find tickets for under $500. (Damn scalpers!)

Additionally, I need to remember to give a listen to Albert Hammond, Jr‘s album Yours to Keep. I really enjoyed his opening set.

(Image: Bloc Party @ United Palace Theater, originally uploaded by tammylo.)

Finally ate at Sheep Station last night down on 4th Avenue in Park Slope and all I got to say is if you even romotely like the idea of a steak sandwich, you gotta try theirs. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

I need to remember to head back there again for some beers and that sammich.

(image sheep station back room, originally uploaded by scaredy_kat.)

Take arguably the single most bad-ass character in video game history, use basically the same engine from the original God of War, fix all the problems people had with the original game (not enough bosses, weapons, etc.) and what do you get? An unbelievably amazing game that had it not been the sequel to one of the best games ever and on a last generation system, could have really been memorable… but since it is both of those things (despite the many moments of sheer joy had playing it) when it’s over and done there’s an empty feeling inside leaving you wanting more.

I shouldn’t forget that I loved playing the game. (The climax of the third sister and Zeus fights are gaming gold!) I just didn’t feel like Kratos’ character grew. I didn’t feel like the high-res CGI cutscenes where amazing enough. I didn’t feel like the cliff-hanger, “finishing the fight” style ending was satisfying enough. I think I played through the first one 3 times, but I’m not 100% sure I’ll make another run on this one.

Obviously, I’m going to remember to get God of War III (Hell, I might even pick up the original storyline PSP game), but they better ratchet it up a lot more and really let Kratos loose.

I hadn’t read Steinbeck since I was a kid in high school. For some reason, I remember liking The Pearl and hating to the point of not finishing (and I assume doing poorly on some test) The Grapes of Wrath. Anyway, I picked up Tortilla Flat since there was not much else to read in my place and it was so short. I’m glad I did because I loved it. It had the feel of a sitcom the way the stories were short self-contained vignettes chronocling the rise and ultimately the fall of Danny and his paisano friends Pilon, Pablo, Big Joe, Jesus Maria and the Pirate who live in squalid poverty and blissful idleness near Monterey, California.

The writing really reminded me of the writing style in Blindness by Jose Saramago (boy I write about this guy a lot it seems).

I ran out today and picked up a couple of Steinbeck collections to save myself from buying all the individual books plus a couple of Saramago titles (All The Names, which I plan to read next, and The Cave).

Now I just need to remember to read all this stuff. I also shouldn’t forget to pick up Cannery Row.

Well, according to Dr. Maoshing Ni turning yourself upside down for a couple of minutes daily is part of a collection of daily activities that should improve my memory! Who knew it was so easy? He lists a couple of other tips I should probably give a try as well in the post titled Paving the Way for Memory Lane, so I better remember to get with the program or be doomed to a dwindling memory and decreased concentration caused by “decreased blood flow to the brain and loss of brain cells.”

Image: upside down people for peace, originally uploaded by nycjournal.

I went to St. John the weekend before last. This was the first time I had been back in my home of the USVI during “season” otherwise known as “when all the pale mainlanders come down.” Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed my long weekend recharge, but I couldn’t help but feel like I shouldn’t be returning to places I’ve been when there’s a whole wide world out there to visit. So, I promised myself, no St. John trips for at least 2 years. (Though those direct flights to St. Thomas make them so easy!) Anyway, we’ll see how I do.

I need to remember to visit as many places as possible before I keel over or get too old or get a rug rat.

Last Thanksgiving I took a photo of a burning tire repair shop as it lit up the night sky and thrust huge flames over adjacent buildings. I thought this was a pretty cool photograph, so I posted it to Flickr.

Within 24 hours, Gothamist had run a story on the fire using my photo, The Brooklyn Papers contacted me for usage of the photo in their publication and the photo’s views shot up to around 150 views. Over the course of the next couple days, the views continued to rise and after about 4 days the photo slowly crested the 300 views mark. It took about a week for the views to stop coming in, leaving the photo at around 360 views.

In the months since then, it’s gotten around 15 views. Today, one of the better photos I feel like I’ve taken is hovering around 385 views.

Last weekend I posted another photograph, this one of a woman wearing a small bikini standing in front of a blurry sky and sailboat. I posted it because I liked it. I thought it was kind of a cool photo.

Within 5 minutes the views were at 25. Within an hour they were in the 80′s. A day later it was at 245 views! Two days later it was at 365 views! (A feet it took the fire photo about a week to accomplish.) Now, 3 days later, the photo has 426 views!

When I first started to notice the rapid rise in views, I thought about taking the photo down, but decided I was being silly because upon closer inspection, there was nothing lewd or unsavory about the photo. It was just a small black bikini bottom and a hand and a boat and a sky. Of course, the old adage “sex sells” is true, but the attention paid to this unremarkable photo is astounding to me. I mean, what’s the big deal?

I need to remember to put bikinis in all advertising projects I work on…

I find that most wine and liquor shops only stock the basics in rum. Bacardi and other such rums which, frankly, I think suck. So, sometimes when I’m in a nice liquor shop, I sometimes inquire as to why they don’t carry nice rum to go with their nice wines. Well, I did just that today and found myself holding a bottle of Homére Clément. I’d never heard of it (it only came out in January of this year) and the price was high, but the guy behind the counter sang it’s praises so much I had to grab a bottle.

I have to remember to have a glass tonight to see how it stacks up against some of my favorites like 1919 and Cruzan Estate.

(Update: Well, as expected it was spectacularly smooth, but in addition to that, it was an amazing balance of subtle sweetness (not as sweet as 1919) and luscious flavors. I should remember not to finish the bottle too fast and just drink it for a special treat.)

Producing large websites the likes of sixflags.com for a company as unique as Six Flags Theme Parks is an undertaking so large, so full of potential pitfalls, and so amazingly complex that it’s no wonder complete interface to infrastructure redesigns of this size don’t happen all that often. That said, the all new web presence for Six Flags is a huge step into the future everyone involved should be proud of.

Highlights include large expanses of space for gorgeous new photography on nearly every page, massive video streaming at HD resolutions larger than many HDTVs, immersive 360 degree panoramic photography users can use to experience what it’s like to be at the top of the scariest rides on the planet, two original Flash games, over 2000 pages of rewritten copy, and more image assets depicting more rides, stores, events, entertainment, emotions and experiences than you can imagine across numerous park sites coast-to-coast!

The best part is that the new site will only just keep growing with more new content, new features, sweepstakes, partnerships with leading companies and more. So, sign up for the all new Team Six to stay up to date with the latest Six Flags news, but remember that despite the fact that this new site is chock full of experiential content, the only way to get the full Six Flags experience is to visit the one closest to you! Get your tickets, Season Passes, or VIP tours here and enjoy!

I gotta remember to visit Six Flags Great Adventure as soon as it opens!

Little Big Planet has got to be the most innovative thing I’ve seen in gaming in a long time. (Sorry Will, Spore looks cool, but not quite my thing.) The GDC presentation is a must watch!

I have to remember to check it out when it’s released and if necessary buy a PS3.