Steeping Out

I'm taking a trip to Latvia in June for three weeks, actually, I'm already here.

The flight over here was so so. I was surprised that it didn't really take much effort to get to JFK from LGA. When I arrived at JFK I had to wait for the Finnair counter to open. It wasn't fun.

The flight from JFK to Helsinki-Vantaa was pleasant. I wish I had more room for my legs, but I made do. We had two large meals (dinner and breakfast), both had meat, but I found out that I could have requested a vegetarian meal if I did so 48 hours before the flight. In flight entertainment was actually quite good. The airplane that we were on was only two months old and had games, music, television, and movies to choose from. For a fee, you could also check e-mail and SMS people.

Upon arrival in Helsinki, I went through security again. I felt that the security in Helsinki was more complete than in the States. I was patted down, and my carryon items were x-rayed in a detailed fashion. I went through Customs, and was allowed entry into the EU. Of all the airports, Helsinki-Vantaa was the best. The staff was friendly and the entire airport seem welcoming. I wish I had more time to shop in the shops.

More later.

Woops! 25 days since my last post; time sure does fly. These past few weeks I have been busy.

Tea

Shortly after my last post, I felt the need to create a place where I can ramble on about the new teas that I’m tasting. I had been looking to host it on my own shared hosting account, but after messing around with various content management systems, I realized that I wasn’t going to get the weblog started. I found out about SquareSpace from an advert on The Deck Network, and took a spin. This was perfect! I could now focus on the tea, and not the nitty gritty setup/configuration. The weblog is called Steeping Out and can be found @ steepingout.com.

Workout

Back in December I started a new workout, it’s a 16 week program that progressively becomes more difficult. I’ve been pretty true to the workout guide, but I’ve noticed that the pace is too fast for me (There are some exercises with which need some additional TLC). The 16 week program might turn into a 20 week program.

In addition to the workout program, I’m working on indoor rowing. Actually, I’m subbing rowing for my interval/cardio training. If there are any rowers out there, concept2 has some cool tools and an online log book that you can use to keep track of your progress. My goal is to get my split time (the time it takes me to go 500 meters) down below 1:30.

Random Things

Here is a list of other random things that have been going on lately

I’m growing my hair out, but not too long. Just Tokyo rock star length. I don’t know if I’ll do the colors or not.

I’m hurting for a new computer. The PowerBook G4 that I’m using now needing to be retired. It’s not handling Aperture, or CS4. Web browsing is slow (damn Flash), and I can’t play some videos due to the quality and such.

I haven’t been listening to anything new lately. It’s bad, I know.

Hopefully, my next post will be more timely, but we’ll see. Take care and check out Steeping Out.

It’s a new year, and one of my many resolutions is to drink more tea. As a Christmas gift, I received a gift certificate to Gong Fu Tea. For those that don’t know about this tea shop, it is a wonderful place to grab a wide variety of loose-leaf teas in central Iowa.

I was determined to pick up a sampling of some great teas:

Black Mango
This is a black tea that has the essence of mango and marigold flower petals. I was told that this tea would be great iced or hot.

La Piña Colada
I couldn’t resist trying this Bai Mu Dan white tea. It is blended with bits of pineapple and shredded coconut. After my initial smell of the tea, I was a bit weary of whether this tea could live up to it’s name; the smell reminded me of buttered popcorn. This was the first tea that I brewed after coming back from the shop, and I was not disappointed. With each sip, I have to remind myself that I’m drinking tea, and not an alcoholic beverage.

Spice
This is a spicy black tea that is blended with exotic spices. I find it to be a great way to start the day, but I am aware that other people believe that it’s too strong and feel that it’s giving them an ulcer with each sip.

Constant Companion
This black tea isn’t as potent as the Spice tea, but it still has a light kick. I has an orange citrus taste blended with some spices. Delicious.

Starbucks And Its Tazo Tea Latte
This past week I tried Starbucks London Fog. This drink is Earl Grey tea steeped with half water/half milk with a shot of vanilla. Starbucks adds some other stuff in it which I’m guessing is to attempt to mask the nasty mint flavor that their tazo brand of teas seem to have. Except for the mint flavor, the drink was pretty good. I’ll probably order it again.

Speaking of Tazo mint and other ramblings
Why does every Tazo tea have a mint flavor? The only Tazo item that doesn’t seem to have the weird minty flavor is their chai syrup, but I don’t think that it is really made tea — just flavored sugar. The chai at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is much more bold and has a kick, but the best chai I’ve had is made by Mike at Gong Fu Tea.

It’s the end of 2008 and I’m gonna share what’s been in my rotation these past few weeks. The highlight is Grace Jones’ Williams’ Blood track. I’m really looking forward for this album to come stateside.

Williams’ Blood (Aeroplane Remix) — Grace Jones

This is a balearic mix, but a powerful one at that. Grace Jones is back after such a long time and this album is probably gonna be enormous. The Aeroplane Remix of Williams’ Blood is probably my favorite track in this rotation. I’ve been listening to the samples from the UK iTunes store (album not available in the US store) and from what I hear the album is awesome. I can’t wait for Amazon.co.uk to dispatch it to me. YouTube video of Grace Jones performing Williams’ Blood

All These Things That I’ve Done — The Killers

At the beginning of 2008 I only had a few of the Killers songs in my library, but over the year I have added a couple. All These Things That I’ve Done is a great song that starts off slow and then crescendos into a gospel choir. Fantastic. YouTube video.

Ooh Yeah — Moby

Who can’t resist a song by Moby? This song reminds me of the days when I would go out to the clubs multiple times a week with not a care about the next day. YouTube video.

Just Dance — Lady GaGa & Colby O’Donis

I stumbled on to Lady GaGa after reading a weblog about some NYC event that she was attending. It was during some research on who Lady GaGa is, I found some video of her performing Just Dance. I’m also fond of her Poker Face song. YouTube video.

Cities In Dust (feat. Lauren Rocket) — JunkieXL

JunkieXL really knows how to rough up the party and kick it into overdrive. I usually play this song after Ooh Yeah. YouTube video.

Paper Planes — M.I.A.

Thank you Shazam (the iPhone application not the interbank network) for telling me what this song was called while at the pub. At first I didn’t care for the gun shots and the cash register sounds but they have grown on me. Maya reminds me of Groove Armada, and that is good. YouTube video.

Kids — MGMT

I really am upset that I didn’t go with my coworkers to see MGMT at the Vaudeville Mews. Kids has a fresh sound that reminds me of some lost innocence mixed with The Knife.

Paddy’s Revenge (Radio Edit) — Steve Mac

This is a fun tune to which I just want to folk dance. It reminds me of the now defunct on-line music station — The Massinova Project. YouTube video.

Baba O’Riley (Radio Edit) — The Cube Guys

Nothin’ like using samples from The Who. YouTube video.

Electric Feel — MGMT

Another MGMT song. This one kept on being played overhead at work and has been engraved in my songs I like category, much like Peter Björn and John’s Young Folks had been a couple months ago. YouTube video.

Human — The Killers

This is from the other Killers album that I added to my library this year. Human struck a chord with me and so it ended up in my rotation. YouTube video.

For a mere $148,000 you can own a Steinway & Sons Model C Music System.

The Model C is a spatial music system that differs from other systems by converting the digital signal at the driver rather then at the amp. This method is as close to the original that science has put out on the market.