PHIL NGUYEN

I saw My Bloody Valentine on Tuesday. I must say, it’s like nothing I’ve ever been too. It’s the first show where I’ve had the wind knocked out of my from just being there. Scott says it best: it’s like standing 20 feet being the engine of a Boeing 757. You can actually feel the sound waves hitting your body. I was really skeptical as to why they would hand out ear plugs before you enter. I now understand. I ate brownies beforehand and at moments, I was immersed in the sound and light show. I don’t think I knew who I was or where I was at. It was awesome, to be sure.

I still haven’t bought Girl Talk tickets yet. He sold out in like two weeks and I couldn’t find time on my schedule to get them. As a result, I will have to resort to Stub Hub and overpay by 500%. Thats OK, though, because Girl Talk is completely worth it, and if it’s similar to his performance at APW, then I will be a happy camper.

Poker has been going well recently. So much so that I’m considering this epic dinner. It’s one of those things that only happens once in a decade or so, and probably the only point in my life that I’ll have disposable income to go (read: no real responsibilities). Still, it’s a pretty penny and I could do other fun things instead. Like travel.

Speaking of travel, I want to try to qualify for some European Poker Tour events. In particular, I’d like to make it to Prague, Copenhagen, or San Remo. I think I’ll definitely try to make to the event in the Bahamas because that is somewhat large in the poker community. C’mon poker gods! Give me some tournament luck please.

I’ve been an absentee blog owner recently. There hasn’t been any legitimate reason for my brief hiatus, but I have been busy with real work (poker), fake work (bar scouting reports), and fun (too much). A rundown of things I’ve done this past week:

Monday: A friend of mine does PR work for restaurants. Part of the job description is going to various restaurants, sampling some of their best, and reviewing it. I was invited for a dessert tasting, and well, you know, I can’t turn down a free meal. This instance, we went to Olana. I ordered a chicken milanese sandwich as a small entry (can’t eat on an empty stomatch!), which was subpar, but we were there for the desserts so I can excuse that lapse in culinary judgement.

The first one we got was peaches and blueberries on polenta waffles with a side of blueberry ice cream. It was pretty good. There was a mixture of textures, from the smooth ice cream, to the dense, crumbliness of the polenta. The next dessert was a rhubarb strudel and that was absolutely fantastic. The pastry was wonderfully flaky, and the taste was just delicious. We got a fried ice cream ’smore, but that was easily the worst one. It was too heavy and there was a singular flavor that was too overpowering. We also got a cheese plate, which was standard as far as cheeses go.

Tuesday: I saw Jaguar Love (ex Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves) at the Southpaw. Decent music doesn’t often come to this side of the slope, but the Southpaw houses some gems every once in a while.

You would think that I’d become exposed to new, rad music now that I live in the hipster capital of the world; well actually, a hop, skip, and jump away from said purgatory. But my once brazen ears have been musically sheltered. I am an endangered species. And soon, I will grow old and bald and be relegated to playing the Foo Fighters on repeat.

But ANYWAY, they were absolutely fantastic. I can see how their sound would be very hit or miss to some people - the singer’s voice is shrill and potent. But they are much more muted than their Blood Brother’s days, and they definitely put on a very fun live show. The two opening acts were really good, and I wish I remembered who they were.

EDIT: Stether’s remembers! They were called Kings of Left and the other was Beluga.

Wednesday: My knowledge of wine is pretty much zero. I don’t even know enough about it to be a novice or an amateur. But alas, I made my way to a Inoteca. I don’t think I made a fool out of myself, though I do feel like a girl ordering fruity, sweeter wines (read: blushes). But I must say that they tasted great, and I could get used to adding wine to my drinking repertoire. For various reasons, I feel somewhat important and older when I’m at a wine bar. It’s a stark contrast to drinking boxed Carlo Rossi and passing out in a bathroom during college.

I want to take this course at the French Culinary Institute. The price tag is kind of hefty ($995), and I’m not sure if I’m going to want to go to class at 8pm on a Wednesday night in December. The cold scares me. Why do I even live in the northeast? But still, I’m considering it. I’d learn a lot, and if I have plans to open a bar, I at least have to know the basics.

Thursday: Vegetarians united and we went to Vegetarian Palate for dinner. It wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be, but it’s still a place I would return too. I ordered a mango chicken which was pretty good. And the table split vegetarian peking ribs (very good) and fried chicken bananas (not good, but then again, I don’t like ‘nanners).

Speaking of vegetarianism - I briefly experimented with it about a month ago. In total, I was a vegetarian for 13 days, which of course is a small sample. But I want to dispel this myth: a lot of people say that becoming a vegetarian makes you feel healthier. It’s kind of like an intangible thing that not many people can properly explain. They don’t say you gain more energy, or that you lose weight, it’s just some feeling. Well, I didn’t feel better. I felt much, much worse. Perhaps it was a lack of protein. Or maybe I just missed a medium rare steak. But I felt less responsive, and I had terrible, irregular stomach pains. That, more than the lack of meat, made me not want to be a vegetarian for any period of time.

BUT, I recently stumbled upon an advertisement for something that might have cured it - and something, I may get anyway: The Washlet. It’s not a toilet or a bidet, but a toilet seat attachment. And a hose-type device juts out, and washes your behind. Look at the demo. I think I’m crazy, but I think this might be the ultimate luxury.

Friday: I played poker for like six hours. I thought my brain was going to melt away into the long lost corridors of the sphinx.

One more thing: this is probably common knowledge to the internet-savvy crowd, but for the unaware, XKCD is seriously the best internet-comic ever. And this is coming from someone who loves dinosaurs and dinosaur comics. I want to post some of my favorite XKCD ones, but half the greatness lies in the alt tags, but you sort of have to be an computer geek to know what they are. Still, I may post them anyway.

The last few days have been eventful, though I suppose most nights are when you are twenty-two years old, unemployed, and have some disposable income. I went to the opening of The Crow’s Nest the last night. The location is awesome; it’s on a barge by the East River. The bar itself isn’t as impressive. It’s just a standard fare rooftop bar. Drinks and food were on the house, so that was pretty sweet. The photographer for New York Magazine seemed pretty incompetent and grossly unorganized. I don’t think Chris and I fit the image of what they wanted to portray so it’s doubtful either of us will make the cut. I mingled with some people and shared some dreadful small talk. Being a professional poker player lends itself to random conversations with people you will never see again.

The night before last I was at the Yankees game. Now, I don’t find baseball itself to be that compelling of a game; I just think there aren’t enough riveting moments per game that really warrant careful attention. But I find going to actual games to be fun use of my time. Of course, there is heavy drinking involved, but I think just being in a energized crowd with rowdy fans amps up my own level of enthusiasm. What’s sort of annoying though was that I was in the bathroom during the only home run hit the entire game. Still though, I’m glad that I’ve started to going Yankee and Mets games.

I ate at Tamari today. It’s a Japanese tapas bar that has been getting some buzz around here. I wasn’t crazily impressed; I think (no, I know) J-Pan has the best Japanese food this side of town. Here, I got tuna tar tar with avocado & peanuts to start off. It was OK. There was a bit too much onions and scallions for my taste, and I don’t think the tuna was as fresh as it should have. Still, it was a refreshing dish.

Then I got standard miso soup and salad, followed by vegetable gyoza (fried dumplings, essentially). These were average, as well, and taste the same like at every other Japanese place. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the smaller Japanese restaurants just get the same brand of frozen dumplings.

I got some sushi, which was good, but not great (this is a ongoing theme, you’ll see). I finished with a tofu steak which was fairly tasty. I think it has a little too much sauce on it, but the texture was good, and it was a nice way to finish the meal.

Hmm, I didn’t plan to write three paragraphs on such an average lunch when I haven’t even mentioned the world class food I’ve been eating otherwise (Luger’s and Fatty Crab stick out for me) but I’m looking for content to write about I guess. I might go to Al Di La tonight, a really nice Italian place. If I do, maybe I’ll trip report that.

So since LuegoFuego has been visiting the United States from overseas (Sweden, or some other crazy Scandinavian country), I have been going to some fancy dinners and racking up some heavy bills. Poker players, out of sheer boredom and an affinity for degenerate gambling, often settle the bill by playing a game (?) called credit card roulette. Here, each person hands over their credit card which is either placed in a hat or a basket or some other container. The waiter is then instructed to remove a credit from the basket, until there is one left, and that unlucky soul foots the entire bill.

Another thing: poker players like to prove their masculinity and self-worth (the author of this blog is guilty as well) in front of other poker players. So what ends up happening is everyone gets expensive meals and nice bottles of wine, with the assumption (or hope) that most times, they won’t have to pay for it.

Of course, I can’t ever get any luck at this cursed, wretched game. We’ve been to nice restaurants three times during their trip. The first time, I lost a six-person roulette at Peter Lugar’s Steakhouse. The bill, after tax and tip, was $770. The next time was a J-Pan, and I dodged that bill. The last dinner was at Magnolia’s (the restaurant, not the bakery). This time, I lost a four-person roulette for $260. That means I’m probably down like $800 is equity over the course of the week, just for dinners. Shitty, right?

Anyway, after this terrible run of luck, I’ve been trying to eat-in more to conserve some money. Today, I made a standard penne with vodka sauce and some strips of chicken cutlet. It wasn’t anything deserving of praise, and probably was not my best effort.

I always like going to the market midday for lunch supplies. I go to this one market on Union Street a lot, and I’m pretty sure the guy behind the counter is at least familiar with who I am. With the exception of brief small-talk and conversational greetings, we don’t really talk. But he surely must know that I don’t go to work. He isn’t snarky at all, but I can help but think that he probably thinks that I’m a trust-fund baby or possibly a college student (though those are rare around these parts of town). Those are the social dilemmas that I have to deal with.

I’m going to a Yankees game tonight. I hope it doesn’t rain. Tomorrow, I’m going to a photo-shoot for the opening of the Crow’s Nest, a rooftop bar on top of The Water Club. I really hope it doesn’t rain.

It will probably rain.

Ben was telling me this weekend how he started to read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. I really enjoy Chuck Klosterman and I think his unique memoir-writing style is truly captivating. I admire his patent candor (regardless of how genuine it really is), even though my good friend Stethers would certainly call it “beatnik tripe.” I remembered how I finished about 60 pages shy from completing Killing Yourself to Live before my loaner yanked it from my possession. So today, I went to the bookstore and bought it and started to reread it. I also bought his latest, IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas. That should also be very good.

For lunch today, I ate a gyro. It was moderately satisfying, if not a bit messy for my tastes. I actually don’t like gyros that much (or any Greek food for that matter), so given that predilection, I guess the gyro was pretty good after all.

I also organized my calender finally. June is a very very busy month for me.

A fairly productive day in my opinion.