Mord Fustang concert and Brooklyn Nets game

I'll admit that this entry is being posted a little later than usual, but I was in Boston this weekend and I've been distracted by learning to use Ableton. Anyways, I went to a Mord Fustang concert on Friday, April 12th at a club called Pacha. I've been thinking about this, and it's a little weird to call it a "concert", because it's more of a DJ set. Regardless, Mord Fustang was the main act, and after listening to him at home and as the opener for Feed Me back in February, I decided that he was a must-see.

Given that this was my fifth concert in New York (5 concerts in 3.5 months, crazy), I knew the drill, and got to Pacha at about 11:40 pm. One of the amazing things about taking part in the nightlife of New York is seeing the sheer number of people out and about in the city at 11:40 pm. It's a far cry from the sleepy suburb that is Shoreline, WA, my hometown. The first thing that I noticed was that there weren't as many people at the club, because Mord Fustang is still up-and-coming compared to Knife Party or Madeon. I was happy to see that the second floor was open, as there is a good vantage point of the DJ booth and its not usually as crowded as the main dance floor.

The opening DJ's selection ranged from good electro house to appalling selections such as "Gangnam Style", which I was hoping had faded away months ago. I guess we're not quite there yet. He also had the bad habit of yelling out "hands up!" or "New York!" very often, which got annoying quickly. I'm not opposed to a well-timed vocal sample or shout to pump up the crowd, but if you use something like that more than twice in your set, it loses its impact.

Soon enough, Mord Fustang took the stage and played a great 2-hour set. He's a mysterious Estonian producer who still hasn't revealed his real name and produces a unique style of music that combines a few genres. Many of his songs have the pronounced kick drum pattern of progressive house combined with the loud, energetic synths of electro house. Others are even harder to classify, mixing in elements of dubstep or even moombahton. No matter what his music is classified as, it's all awesome, and his set on Pacha's excellent speakers really brought that to life. The set even featured a remix of The White Stripes' hit "Seven Nation Army".

From the second floor, good view of the mystery man himself, Mord Fustang.

Blurry, from the second floor.

From the main dance floor, near the stage.

The highlight for me was the heavily featured "Lick The Rainbow", which is my favorite song of his, and has a really unique sound with a cool bass line that was awesome on the speaker system. His remix of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" was a surprising hit, and a good lead-in to a final mashup of many of his other songs to finish the set. All in all, it was a great show and I look forward to hearing what he produces in the future.

I bought a Snickers bar on the way home (because at 3:15 am, I couldn't resist), and didn't get to sleep until a little after 4. Somehow I managed to wake myself up for an eventful Arsenal match that ended with a great result. The rest of the weekend was filled with teaching myself to use Ableton and watching The Masters.

However, the next day I attended a Brooklyn Nets game through Northeastern's Co-op Connections department. The tickets were subsidized heavily, and I am very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to go to a game at the great price of only $15. It's been a long time since I've been to a basketball game, and while the Nets (or the Celtics) can't come close to filling the gaping hole in my heart left by the departure of the Sonics, it was nice to attempt to get back into the NBA, at least for a night.

Walking in.

It's certainly a unique building.

"BROOKLYN PRIDE!" Or something like that.

The Nets, unfortunately, decided that they needed to play music during every one of their offensive possessions, which is blasphemy to me. I went to watch basketball, not hear clips of songs playing. Isn't there enough of that during halftime and timeouts? Besides that, it was a great experience. The Barclays Center is a funny looking building, but it's a very nice arena and the Nets managed to pull through with a comeback win. The end of the game was very exciting, as Nets forward Tyshawn Taylor hit a clutch three-pointer with about 22 seconds left to put the Nets up by 4. That essentially sealed the win for the Nets.

This weekend, I'm hoping to attend day three of the NFL Draft, which shouldn't be as crowded as the first two days and will still be a cool experience for a lifelong football fan. I'll be wearing blue and green that day for sure, 12th man stand up!

4/6/13 - Mets Game and the Spiciest Thing I've Ever Had

Sorry that I have waited so long to post about last weekend. I blame the release of Age of Empires 2 HD. Anyway, my friend Elliott visited on Saturday, April 6th and we had quite a day. We made plans ahead of time to go to a New York Mets game, and get dinner afterwards. I had never been to a Mets game before, but had heard good things about Citi Field, so I was very excited.

The Mets played the Miami Marlins in a day game, starting at 1:10 pm. The subway was packed with other people going to the game, and the stop is very convenient to Citi Field. We had beautiful weather that weekend, making it a great day to see a baseball game. Our seats were in the first row of the upper deck in left field, which gave an excellent view of the field. Obviously they weren't the best seats, but they were perfectly good for just enjoying the weather and some baseball. Elliott enjoyed seeing all the airplanes landing at LaGuardia Airport, as he is a bit of a flight aficionado. The upper deck provided an excellent view of that.

A beautiful day.

For lunch at Citi Field, we got sandwiches from Blue Smoke, a delicious barbeque place. My pulled pork sandwich was excellent, with a great tangy sauce that left me wanting more. The seasoned fries were very solid as well, though they left me wishing for garlic fries from Grounder's at Safeco Field (can't fight my Seattle bias). The game was fairly uneventful until the Mets scored 3 runs in the 7th inning and 1 run in the 8th to win by a score of 7-3. On a beautiful day like last Saturday, going to a Mets game is a great way to spend the afternoon.

Yum.

After the game, we stopped at Jamba Juice near Times Square before taking the subway back to Brooklyn. We decided to go to the Brick Lane Curry House for dinner, at the Lower East Side location this time. I first learned about the restaurant from Man vs. Food, which featured an insanely spicy curry challenge that the host managed to finish. The "phaal" curry has 10 different kinds of chili peppers in it, including the dangerous Thai chili. I was debating with myself whether or not I should attempt the challenge the whole way there.

When we got to the restaurant, I had to make my decision. Because I was feeling adventurous  being an idiot, I decided to go for it, ordering a mango lassi to help with the spiciness of the curry. After ordering it, I immediately thought, "What have I done?" I knew it wouldn't be easy. The curry came and I let it cool for a couple of minutes. The first bite immediately hit me hard, and my mouth felt like it was burning up. My face was sweating and my eyes were tearing up, much to the amusement of Elliott. After a few bites, I would take a break, only to take a few more. The mango lassi provided some temporary relief, and the water provided the tiniest bit of relief, but it was really just a matter of sheer determination. Slowly but surely, I managed to finish all of my curry. My mouth felt like it was burning up afterwards, but I got my certificate of completion and a free mango lassi (on the house).

Worth it? I say so.

After we left the restaurant, I felt extremely full and sick to my stomach. I felt like I was going to throw up, but somehow I managed to hold it all down. After we got back to Brooklyn, I had to go get some Pepto Bismol to help calm my stomach. Despite all the discomfort and suffering, I think it was worth it. I have a story to tell for a long time. The day ended with me saying goodbye to Elliott, who was headed back to New Jersey. We managed to pack a lot into the day, and have the story of the time I ate all of a spicy curry from hell.

Thierry Henry - Legend

It is hard to talk about Arsenal without mentioning Thierry Henry, the club's all-time leading scorer and an integral part of the modern era of success at Arsenal, including his huge role in the club's unbeaten season in 2003-04. As I've probably mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Arsenal and have become very loyal to my club. Thierry Henry is legendary to me, and I've always wanted to see him play in person.

What does all of this have to do with New York? Well, Thierry Henry is now the star of the New York Red Bulls, one of the most talented teams in the MLS. This Saturday, I got the chance to see him in person. My friend John, another devoted fan of Arsenal, came to visit this weekend, so we decided to go to see the Red Bulls play against the Philadelphia Union. This is known as the I-95 rivalry, and the geographic proximity of the two teams (plus Sebastien Le Toux leaving New York to play for Philadelphia) makes this a fairly heated rivalry. Granted, nothing in the MLS comes close to the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers rivalry, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the passion of the home fans.

Saturday started off like a normal day during English Premier League season, with me watching the Arsenal match. Arsenal thoroughly dominated Reading, leading to a 4-1 victory and edging closer to the sliding Chelsea in the table. After that, John and I made a stop at Tim Horton's for breakfast, enjoying some good donuts and coffee. My large iced capp was a bit too large to finish before we left for the Red Bulls game, but I saved it for later (sort of... it got rock solid in the freezer and when I thawed it out later it wasn't the same).

Getting to Red Bull Arena, which is in Harrison, New Jersey, is very convenient, as you just take the subway to Fulton Street or Park Place and catch a PATH train a couple blocks away. The PATH train stops about 5 minutes walking distance away from the stadium, and we arrived just in time for the national anthem. Our seats were 3 rows up on one of the corners, which was really cool because we got to see players setting up to take corners up close.

The first half was fairly uneventful, other than ruthlessly booing Sebastien Le Toux (former Sounder and Red Bull) for going to Philadelphia. Thierry Henry didn't start, so John and I were worried that we might not see him play. However, we saw him start to warm up on the far sideline early in the second half, and immediately starting to get excited for him to enter the game. Soon after, the Red Bulls went up 1-0 on a beautiful flicked-on volley from midfielder Dax McCarty. The players ran over to the corner flag right in front of us to celebrate, which made it more exciting. The stadium was buzzing with energy after that goal.

McCarty celebrates.

Thierry Henry entered the game soon after, and John and I were quick to join most of the stadium in giving him a standing ovation. The man is a legend, not really any other way to say it. Unfortunately, the Union equalized soon after, and New York fans got nervous that it might end in a draw. Thierry Henry had a thrilling bicycle kick shot attempt in the 75th minute that went just wide, but we cheered him for the great skill he showed. In the 81st minute, Henry came through in an absolutely thrilling fashion. He made a great run into the box and received a cross, which he volleyed up with his right foot, and smashed it into the goal with his left. It was a beautiful show of skill that everyone has come to expect from Henry, and John and I were going crazy. He shows such grace and skill with the ball, and seems to glide elegantly as he runs, making it wonderful to see him play.

Legend.

The game finished at 2-1 Red Bulls, though not without excitement at the end. Philadelphia appeared to have equalized again in stoppage time, but one of their players was called (rightfully so) for a foul on New York's goalkeeper. There was a collective sigh of relief, and we soaked in what turned out to be a great win. It was truly a dream come true to see Thierry put on such a show in person, capped off by the game-winning goal.

When John and I got back to New York City after the game, our next stop had to be Katz' Deli for a delicious sandwich. John enjoyed the classic corned beef reuben, while I was given a corned beef sandwich (though I ordered a reuben). Not to worry, though, the corned beef sandwich, which was piled high with the juicy and tender meat, combined very well with the spicy mustard. We left feeling very full.

Nom.

Bottom line, it was another great soccer-filled day, and one I won't soon forget.