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Tea House is on show at U.S in several major cities. And the group happened to choose PACE theatre as their stage. Amanda got the chance to volunteer at the back stage and we were even invited to the reception, got to meet with the stars and talk to them :)
This is the second time I played paintball. Judy invited us to the game. It is very nice of her to give us the thermal pad, keeping our fingers and toes warm for 7 hours. The battle field, Skirmish USA, is at PA. They boasted USA # 1 and I guess they are. Some one in the bus to the battle field told us that the biggest game in 2005 has more than 3,000 people involved!! It is called "INVASION OF NORMANDY". Lots of people even bring their own night-vision guns. It is incredible!!
Amanda and I haven't done much cooking in our new apartment. Most of time we eat out. But I somehow feel like cooking. So I invited some friends over to our studio for after-Thanksgiving dinner. And this gave me a perfect excuse for cooking. But since I haven't touched any cooker for almost a year, I asked for some help from Wei and Xiaoxiao, two girl chefs. Wei is very good at cooking, learned cooking when she was in Canada. I guess that was one of few major entertainments for her at that time. Xiaoxiao is talented, I believe, she hasn't done much practice, but does cook well! Oh, yes, Amanda is in charge of appetizer and desert, while Simon volunteered to fight with the crabs. With all the help, I finally made the dinner possible. So it was more like an "DIY invitation". Sorry guys, I will do a better job next time, if there were "next".
We spent this Thanksgiving dinner with our new friends Naom and Ava. All the major dishes except the Turkey are prepared by Ava and her assistant. And the talk is interesting. I am glad that I share many similar opinions with Noam.
We later joined the big crowd at the Fat Black Pussycat. Noam gave us the VIP room for gratis, made us feel really like some kind of VIP.
We played several games while drinking, an interesting one is:
1. Think about one thing that you've never ever done before.
2. If anyone has ever done the thing, that person will have to drink.
3. If it happens no one ever did it, you need to drink.
So the motivation is to reveal the secrets of others. (based on the assumption, everybody is open and frank.)
Meat Packing District locates at the west side of Manhattan, on the south of Chelsea. It is between 15th St. and 10th St. It used to be dirty place with lots of meat shops. But the real estate of manhattan is too precious for meat packing. And the whole industry moved to Bronx, just like South St. Seaport, leave behide the historical buildings and paved streets.
Now the residence here are super models, filmmakers. The shops and bars here are cute and trendy.
SMALL SUVS:
Toyota RAV4 (2005), Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Subaru Forester, Mercury Mariner*, Mitsubishi Outlander
"Our 2005 reliability survey, the largest of its kind, reached a milestone this year—we've gathered responses on more than 1 million vehicles from Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org subscribers, the most we've ever received. These results underpin the most comprehensive reliability data you will find anywhere. Here, we give you a first look at our new Predicted Reliability Ratings for new cars, based on this survey, and the models that we expect to be the most and least reliable. "
| Most reliable Vehicles listed in scoring order, starting with the best score. | Least reliable Vehicles listed in scoring order, starting with the worst score. |
| SMALL CARS: Toyota Echo, Honda Civic (2005), Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid (2005), Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza (non-turbo) | SMALL CARS: Chevrolet Cobalt* |
| SPORTY CARS/ CONVERTIBLES/COUPES: Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5 Miata (2005), Lexus SC430, Chevrolet Monte Carlo (2005) | SPORTY CARS/ CONVERTIBLES/COUPES: Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible, Mercedes-Benz SL, Mercedes-Benz CLK, Ford Mustang (V6)*, Chevrolet Corvette*, Audi S4 |
| SEDANS: Lexus GS300/GS430*, Infiniti M35/45*, Lexus IS300 (2005), Honda Accord Hybrid*, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord 4-cyl., Lexus LS430 | SEDANS: Jaguar S-Type, Lincoln LS, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Saab 9-3, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 5-Series (V8), Audi A8, Chrysler 300 (V8)*, BMW 7 series |
| WAGONS: Toyota Matrix | WAGONS: Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Volkswagen Passat (V6) (2005), Volvo V50* |
| MINIVANS: No models for this category. | MINIVANS: Nissan Quest, Buick Terraza*, Chevrolet Uplander*, Pontiac Montana SV6*, Saturn Relay* |
| SMALL SUVS: Toyota RAV4 (2005), Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Subaru Forester, Mercury Mariner*, Mitsubishi Outlander | SMALL SUVS: Saturn Vue (AWD), Hyundai Tucson*, Kia Sportage* |
| MIDSIZE SUVS: Lexus RX400h (Hybrid)*, Toyota Highlander, Toyota 4Runner (V8), Infiniti FX35 | MIDSIZED SUVS: Volkswagen Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, Land Rover LR3*, Land Rover Range Rover*, Ford Explorer (2005), Mercury Mountaineer (2005), Jeep Grand Cherokee*, Ford Freestyle (AWD)*, Cadillac SRX, Volvo XC90, Chevrolet TrailBlazer (V8), GMC Envoy (V8), BMW X5 (V8) |
| LARGE SUVS: Toyota Land Cruiser | LARGE SUVS: Infiniti QX56, Nissan Armada, Hummer H2, Lincoln Navigator, Ford Expedition |
| PICKUP TRUCKS: Honda Ridgeline*, Toyota Tundra | PICKUP TRUCKS: Nissan Titan, Chevrolet Colorado (4WD), GMC Canyon (4WD) |
Everything in the party is soo perfect, and I guess everybody had a good time. That's what I like, everybody happy, which is rare to achieve. Thanks for everybody's coming over. Yann's Studio69 is an awesome place for shooting. He himself is a professional photographer shooting for Magazine Maxim.
Pictures from others:
Francesco and Tao
Technique summary:
From the picture below, you can have an idea of how chaotic the place was :)
Yann, the owner of Studio69, lend us a Mono light. But unfortunately, my Canon EOS 300D DOES NOT have a sync slot for the light. I never check it before, and single-mindedly thought it must be there. So I found it at the last minuete, and had to set the mono light in slave mode, and use my interal flash to trigger the light. But even after I set the mode of camera to "M", I am getting inconsistent lighting results. I guess the ETTL lighting inside of the EOS 300D is too stupid to guess what is happening. I clicked only about 150 pictures the whole afternoon, and half of them are heaviely under-exposure or over-exposure, and I have to rely on photoshop to rescue them.
| Time: | 12:pm-5pm 11/12/2005 (Saturday) |
| Direction: |
CHELSEA 152-158 west 26th street suite 35 New York, NY 10001 (near FIT, between 6 & 7 avenue) |
| people P: Photographer M: Model O: Others |
M, Amadna P, Francesco P, Mickey M, Nicole O, Simon M, Suzanna P, Willow M, YaTing M, Zhen |
| contact |
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| weather (a nice day) |
Mostly Sunny High 57°F, Low 46°F Wind: 6 mph UV Index: 3 Moderate Humidity: 56% Sunset: 4:40 PM |
| more | please click the link to continue |
Guys and Girls,
It is very important that you read the detailed instruction carefully to ensure a happy party for everybody.
1. I only listed people who have confirmed with me to go, so please either leave a comment here or reply to my email, so I can keep the list updated.
2. Fees: We recently changed our policy and agreed that ONLY photographers should pay for the rent of studio, and models should come for FREE. So all the photographers will finally split the $500.00 studio rent.
3. What to bring:
a) For models, please bring whatever clothes you want to help present yourself, and not too heavy to carry, unless you arrive in car(parking may be a concern. plz refer to the link in the direction field of table for subway info).
Makeup is very important for a sucessful photo, so don't forget to bring some with you. (we do have a private change room).
b) For photographers, camera, tripod, film, laptop, charger, light, reflector, flash and etc.
The portfolio of you, or some magzines like Vogue, Elle, and etc. These greatly help the models, and photographers to warm up. (I will bring in three books I just bought for the event. Please also bring yours.)
c) Snacks are welcomed, but not mandatory, and shouldn't prevent you from bringing more clothes, photo equipments.
d) We do have a stereo. So bring in one or two CDs you like would be a good idea.
It took Amanda and me two weeks before we finished the DVD of Finding Noam, an interview with the owner of Fat Black Pussycat, Cafe Wha, Olive Tree, and Comedy Cellar.
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We brought our DVD to Noam as we promised. And he was happy like a child. Actually we are very thankful for Noam providing the opportunity for the interview, and he really opened himself up to us. I learned a lot from the interview, not just about how to sucessfully run a business, but also how to treat your life. |
| I would also like to thank the most unselfish help from Sun Zan, the director of Fang Lin. I can call him up 1:00am in the morning and asking for video editing questions. |
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Olive Tree is another piece of property owned by Noam. The recipe for the soup below is from Noam's Grandma.
The table of Olive Tree is made of rock in black and served as not only for supporting food, but also a chalkboard! How splendid the idea is! Are they borrowed from NYU just 2 blocks away? :P
Wandering through the daunting city, cursing and being cursed, drinking but still sober, jumping like a mexican bean, casting thunderbolt to cows, chasing the knights riding 100cc motorcycles, we found Nemo.
You don't know what I am talking about coz you were not there. //grin
(http://www.studio69nyc.com)
