Icona Pop - All Night

Drag ball realness. Stereogum recaps:

“All Night” is probably the best non-”I Love It” song we’ve yet heard from Swedish dance-pop screamers Icona Pop. Its new video, from director Dori Oskowitz, takes the song’s kineticism and really does something with it. The video works as a sort of mini-documentary about New York’s ridiculously photogenic vogue-ball culture, showing the two members of Icona Pop performing at a club showdown, and it feels like a sports movie waiting to happen.

Sixth Cativersary

Six years ago today I brought Shelley home from the East Harlem ASPCA. She was 18 months old, very underweight, timid, and FIV+.  Today she's a healthy ten pounds and the friendliest cat I've ever owned, if also the quietest. As I like to do on this date, I encourage you to visit your local shelter and consider adopting an adult cat. At this writing there are 44 adult cats up for adoption at the East Harlem shelter. I'm partial to the attitudinal Harrison.

Fifth Cativersary

Five years ago today I brought Shelley home from the East Harlem ASPCA. She was 18 months old, very undersized, timid, and FIV+. She's the quietest cat I've ever owned, other than the occasional questioning chirp she rarely makes a sound. But she's also the friendliest. Sit on my sofa and she'll be in your lap in ten seconds. And many times a day she's on her hind legs, front paws on the armrest of my chair, begging for space on my desk. I love when she does that. As I like to do on this date, I encourage you to visit your local shelter and consider adopting an adult cat. At this writing there are 56 adult cats up for adoption at the East Harlem shelter. I'm partial to Cathy, she looks fun.

Fourth Cativersary

Four years ago today I brought Shelley home from the East Harlem ASPCA. She was 18 months old, very undersized, timid, and FIV+. Today she's a chubby little lap snuggler and every visitor's instant pal, despite the stern look she's giving us above. As I like to do on this date, I encourage you to visit your local shelter and consider adopting an adult cat. At this writing there are 64 adult cats up for adoption at the East Harlem shelter. I'm partial to tough guy Felix.

Big Boxes Come To Manhattan

Manhattan gets it first taste of mega-box retailing today with the opening of the massive East River Plaza mall on FDR Drive in East Harlem. Anchor tenant Costco's 110,000 square foot store is open as of this morning, coming in the next few months will be the long panted-over Target, as well as other jumbo retailers at the 500,000 square foot complex, which is 95% leased. Costco officials claim they expect the location to do twice the per-square-foot sales of its average store, but I don't know where Manhattanites will store a five-liter drum of olive oil. Now our fancy exclusive little island has two Kmarts, three Home Depots, a Costco, and an Ikea that's just a ten minute water taxi from Wall Street. Meanwhile the Great Evil continues to cast jealous eyes on the borough. Give it time.

East Harlem Run-On

(Taking a deep breath):I dusted the bike off for the first time this year tonight and had a long ride along the East River, starting at the bridge over the expressway that runs under the Hospital For Ominous Surgery, rolling by the Blackwell Island Lighthouse (built in 1872 so boats didn't run into the NYC Insane Asylum), continuing past our current nuthouse (built in 1899 and the biggest mental hospital in the world at the time), veering around the Ward's Island Bridge, then leaving the bike path to watch an inning of the East Harlem Little League, where the parents cheered the batters in Spanish and the kids jeered the pitching in Beyonce' ("to the left, to the left") as the Orioles made hay of the Nationals, and since baseball makes me hungry, I then steered into the drive-thru of White Castle where the girl at the window looked at my bike and said, "Choo mas be keeding me," but served me three delicious cheeseburgers anyway, which I ate bouncing to reggaeton on Tito Puente Way (dedicated in 2000), then finishing my tour by spending a heartbreaking 15 minutes gazing at the cats in the window of the Manhattan ASPCA, where a sad fellow totally knew how to work the crowd. (Inhale.)
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