Autumn in New York

360 view from the rooftop of my apartment building, Sunday night. The roof hatch has been busted but we figured out how to crack it open; it'd been over a year since I'd been up there. Our relic of a city block is surrounded by luxury high-rises. Just a matter of time before our block is terminated, I imagine. Can't hardly wait.

Happy Autumn. I know this blog has been poorly kept so even regular lurkers may not check as often. I'm trying to get back on track with routines.

First week off the job. My roommate's taken an impromptu trip abroad for a week. When I've got the apartment to myself, I do some cleaning and and I do some COOKING. (I even posted an update to an old blog I haven't touched in a few years.) This is just what I needed, honestly. This apartment can get crowded, but it's sort of great for one person. If I could afford to live here alone, I'd renovate the entire place and entertain. (Then again, if I could afford all of that, I might want to pick a better apartment altogether; the sole thing going for this joint is location.)

The autumn weather came on very abruptly this year. We get such a slight window of this weather but I love it. The best season for NYC, by far.

Trying to get some work down before this year ends. This has been a strange regrouping year. Perhaps the single most important part of taking on a career in the entertainment industry is being able to take a beating and keep on going. It might be stupid and cliche but you've got to Chumbawumba it. You get knocked down and you get up again.

Then you drink a whiskey drink, you drink a vodka drink, you drink a cider drink...

Still got some action on my monthly metrocard -- I'm going to the gym by the Financial District this morning!

The Nest End Date

My latest gig ends today.

The Nest: April 28 - September 19. A good run.

Above, some timelapse footage I took of a walk to work during my final week. From Midtown to the Financial District, a bit of a hike. My cell ran out of storage around 19th & Broadway, so I completed the journey using Google Maps Street View.

Final verdict? The best day-job gig I've had in a while. Didn't deal with extras, paid better than the previous two gigs, far better location than the previous two gigs. It was a fantastic summer job.

Need to get some work done during this brief break.

Matt Monaco is Dead

Matt Monaco is dead. Matthew Monaco is dead.

Matthew Monaco is a completely unreliable Millennial.

Do not hire Matt Monaco. In any capacity. He will profoundly disappoint you.

This entry will never be deleted.

Clips of Amateur Musicians Edited Together into a Song

Kutiman is the name of the artist.

http://www.facebook.com/kutimanart

Joan River Has a Posse

Joan Alexandra Molinsky (previously Rosenberg)
June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014
Joan Rivers has a posse.

I Hate Apple: iPod Nano 7th Gen

No shortage of Apple zealots out there, I'm aware. I am not one of them. The one Apple product I have bought consistently over the years has been iPods. I've gone through so many iPods.

The latest was this iPod Nano (7th generation), which I bought just a few months ago at the Apple Soho store, toward the beginning of the job that's ending next week.

The thing about Apple products is they seem to work really well out of the box until they fail catastrophically, not too long after. It's as if complete failure is built into their products. Which might be fine if you've got somebody buying you new Apple toys every few months, but when you're shelling out for it yourself it's a fucking crime.

One of the functions of this iPod is, if you hold down the "volume control" button a computer voice will read to you the name of the file you're listening to. This voiceover is rarely ever useful, of course. Made worse when the voiceover-bot essentially gets STUCK and simply ceaselessly reads every file you have on your iPod, interrupting and fast-forwarding through every playlist and sound file you've got on your nano.

I stopped by the Apple Soho store after work tonight to try to get this looked at but, of course, I had no appointment and was told there was no way I'd be helped tonight. The helpful Genius Bar attendant informs me the only way to get help would be to book an appointment two weeks in advance.

I've hard-restarted, reset to factory settings, restored ipod whilst connected to the computer. Still skipping and talking like a motherfucker.

Asshole Genius Bar attendant wasn't very accurate about the two-week wait. I've got an appointment for Friday night to try to sort this out, which means I've got to use a backup iPod til then. Weep for me.