Thursday, July 30, 2009

Off the grid for green and grandeur


One thing I found important about living in New York is that you gotta know when to get out of town. I had the opportunity to breathe some clean air and enjoy some moments of bliss over the last weekend thanks to my good friends at Outdoor Bound adventures. They take New Yorkers out on an extensive list of outdoor activites for quick weekend getaways without breaking your bank. I went on a 2 day hike and camped out 1 night in the Catskill Mountains and happily ditched all cell and laptop communication. I could say I may be hooked on nature again.

The hike was about 9-10 hard miles over 2 days

4 miles on day 1
6 miles on day 2

It may not sound like much but when you're hitting steep ascensions and descents at a rate of 100 feet every 10 minutes while carrying a backpack thats at least 40 pounds, you might think differently. Not to mention, I don't do this all the time. New York city it flat.

Things got a little hairy or should I say wet as we were rained on pretty hard Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We managed to stay dry in our tents at night and although the conditions weren't ideal, it definitely made for more of an adventurous physical challenge on the climbs and drops. We even got to do a little rock climbing.It was lot of fun to power through it.

Peaks conquered were:
-Slide Mountain (4,180 feet-the highest in the Catskills)
-Cornell Mountain (3,870 feet)
-Wittenberg Mountain (3,790 feet).













And a shout out to Garan and Evan our guides for leading us into a recharging getaway.

for more info and a calendar of events:
http://outdoorbound.com/

At your service,

The Boulevardist

Friday, July 17, 2009

Tales of the Cocktail 2009

Well folks I’ve finally come back to earth from my first trip to the “Tales of the Cocktail” festival and it was by far one of the funnest and craziest “work” trips I’ve taken in a long time. I had the good fortune of attending the festival as media through Nirvino which brought on a whole slew of benefits including access to some of the hottest parties of the week. See random pics below.

Work is play.

New Orleans, Louisiana is the annual host to the internationally acclaimed festival of cocktails, cuisine, and culture, Tales of the Cocktail. This event brings together the best and brightest of the cocktail community — award-winning mixologists, authors, bartenders, chefs, and designers — for a five-day celebration of the history and artistry of drink making. Each year offers a spirited series of dinners, demos, tastings, competitions, seminars, book signings, tours, and parties; all perfectly paired with some of the best cocktails ever made. Basically lots of drinking.
As part of my “work” at Tales, I arranged 2 interviews, first with Kathy Casey, one of the first female executive chefs in the country, a TV and radio personality, author of 9 cookbooks including her latest “Sips and Apps”, mixologist and a few more tricks up her sleeve. Second was exceptionally eccentric as well as the man known for keeping the splendors of the Edwardian era alive through his curiously decorated Hotel Estates in Notting Hill and his oblivious take on changes in society as a whole. Mr Miller was accompanied by his Co-creative director David Bromige who did most of the talking.

As this was the first time I were to interview anyone for anything I was very excited and somewhat nervous. As I built my list of questions specifically directed towards the industry I realized that I would just be one of the many bloggers asking the same questions and getting the same answers. That doesn’t make a Boulevardist. I realized that the people I’m looking to reach are outside of the industry so I decided to look to my fellow Nirvino Ambassadors for questions they would ask from the outside looking in.

The following are a few questions and my interpretation of their answers.

Matt S asks: "for those of us who don't use bitters often, what liquors and flavors would bitters best compliment?
Kathy Casey: With her array of different bitters she looks at using them with any spirit as you would in cooking any meat or fish. She likes to think of them as the salt, pepper or even soy sauce of cocktail mixology. So it all works and should be played with.

Catherine P asks: "I have a theory that the rise of cocktail culture might curb alcoholism because cocktail culture, in my opinion isn't about "getting wasted". It is a slightly more cerebral pursuit that includes being present, savoring, and appreciating a craft. Do you think this theory has validity and/or has potential to create a new respect for alcohol?
Martin Miller/David Bromige: (jokingly)"Well first of all, it takes longer to get wasted because the cocktails take longer to make so your forced to be cerebral about it". As a spirit that's been around for 10 years, they had to reestablish tradition and not just be a trendy spirit. They didn't want to pay to play like other big brands but rather focus on expressing the fine details of crafting their gin and let that hold as their style and fashion. They understand the the cocktail culture has been rapidly growing and because you are sipping crafted cocktails that at times will cost more, they believe that there is more appreciation and time taken to enjoying them as well as promoting more conversation in between.

Neil G asks:
"I would like to hear about their favorite cocktails or any trick of the trade.
Kathy Casey: Although she's a trend forecaster, coming up with ideas that turn into tradition such as the lime in a corona is a big part of what drives her thinking process. She suggests an alternate with Asian food, a cucumber slice with a Tsingtao(its actually good!) Also, when you sit at a sushi bar you have all the fish displayed right in front of you while the chef preps your dish. Why don't these new cocktail bars use the same equipment practice? This could be a new trick in display well as keeping the fresh ingredients fresh.

As I am in this to serve I feel that this is the best way to understand what the consumer thinks and this industry can close into its own club at times forgetting the main reason why they're in it. To make money. Wheres the money to be made if you're only catering to your own colleagues and industry associates?

and now for some random "shots" of the craziness...

Funeral service for the "Red Headed Slut"cocktail

Don Q Mixologist Esteban Ordonez with the Nitrogen tank in a W Hotel suite!








At your service,

Tomas

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A little bit of kid in me still...rocks

This past Monday, I had the pleasure of feeling like a kid again at the AfroPunk Festival in the BAM parking lot in Brooklyn. Presented by Mountain Dew the series in its 2nd year is a movement of alternative urban skaters, BMX riders, artists and musicians of color that are also raging innovators in this typically Caucasian scene. I was mainly impressed with the Bulldog Bikes team as they dominated the quarter pipes flying way over my head getting ridiculous amounts of airtime with out an engine. It was an all out urban circus! Brooklyn is representing on the Punk Syde. Check the pics.





Heres some hi-lights:

Grammy nominated Janelle Monae who I am a new fan of tore up the stage with her intergalactic electronic soul/punk style and even got up high on a stool to give an MJ tribute with her sweet rendition of "Smile". It was pretty damn adorable for a Punk show.



the artwork painted live during the event curated by my homie Rasu of coup d'etat Brooklyn


I heard these two pieces were by Remix, a graffiti artist brought in from Puerto Rico. Lovin this Fela tribute.


One of my favorite modern American poets Saul Williams known for his visually spoken word and industrial hip hop style rocked the stage with his lyrics and his band that included CX Kidtronik who was just crazy with the raw beat set! I have to give special props for their outfits reminiscent of the early hip hops days of Afrika Bambatta and the Zulu nation. It was all about good rabble rousin'music and conscious lyrics. Check out Saul Williams' breakout movie "SLAM" as well as his album "Amethyst Rock Star" and take it from there.



and now for more air...





and for those who want to catch whats left of the festival, BAM's cinematek will be showing Afropunk films tonight.

and...This Saturday July 11th theres the AfroPunk block party happening in Brooklyn on Clinton Ave between Myrtle and Willoughby in Fort Green.

Check the link for more info
http://www.afropunk.com/page/afropunk-2009

At your flying service,

The Boulevardist