Bread Factory Cafe

Location: 935 8th Ave., Btw 55th & 56th
Cuisine: Deli, Diner, Pizza
Phone: (212) 586-2221
Website: www.breadfactorycafe.com
Prices: About $8 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 8
Service: 7
Value: 8
Environment: 6

Visits: ~10

I usually go here for their turkey burgers. It's one of the best I've ever had (in a tie with Belly Deli, which I have yet to review). The patty is well-seasoned and almost tastes like a beef burger. It's nice and thick, so it'll fill you up good. The fresh baked bun also adds to the overall taste. Other than that, I've also ordered their regular beef burger, Monte Cristo panini, bianca pizza and iced coffee. None of those items were disappointments and I would gladly order any one of those on future visits. The only negative is... some of the food is warmed up by nuke.

The service is prompt and polite. The staff is great at answering questions and putting together custom orders. I haven't had any myself but witnessed this with other customers as I waited for my order. The environment is OK... usually clean, but congested. There's just a narrow strip of tables and one or two times I actually had to wait a bit to get a seat.

Johan to the Mets

The Yankees failed to come up with a package to get Johan Santana as he got a verbal agreement with the Mets yesterday. It's disappointing because I think the Yankees have too much faith in their young guys. I can understand holding on to Chamberlain because he truly proved himself. But I consider Hughes & Kennedy unproven and would gladly package the 2 for a guaranteed 20-game winner like Santana. I don't mind him going to the Mets at all. At least the Sox didn't land a deal and Johan gets shipped to the National League. So the Yanks won't have to face him as much.

Snowless Winter

So far this winter, it's been mostly warm and sometimes cold. We're almost through January though and no significant snow yet. We've had flurries on days that were too warm for accumulation. Snow has been predicted a lot more than it actually fell, almost as if the meteorologists were hoping for snow just so their segment could have some variety! We're supposed to have some snow and freezing rain on Friday... we'll see if that actually happens though. It's supposed to be coupled with 44 degree temperatures though. It's just another strange winter.

Moving Stars

As I mentioned before, I'm not going to write about the Bulls games until they win 2 in a row. So that could be it for this year! But I still want to cover basketball, so let's go with the big news of the day:

Kidd
It's totally public now... Jason Kidd wants to be traded! And the "migraine" incident really had nothing to do with a headache. I'm a little shocked by that. I thought he was the type to tough it out, but it must be extremely frustrating to nearly average a triple double and have a crappy record. In truth, the Nets were never really the same without Kenyan Martin. Martin, Jefferson and Kidd were an amazing trio. That's proof that chemistry overshadows stats. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up at the trade deadline coming up (2/21). Who knows... he might still be a Net if there are no takers. There are no Bulls rumors related to this news and I can't really see a swap anyway.

Webber
The Warriors signed Chris Webber this afternoon! I'm happy that he ended up with Golden State and not LA. This was an excellent move. Webber still has game and the warriors need the inside presence and the many talents of this veteran. Webber's always been a great player and nice person, so I'm glad he was able to join a potential championship contender.

More Flash for the Week

I missed one store yesterday when I posted the deals...

Radio Shack Flash Drive Deals
- SanDisk 4 GB for $29.99
- SanDisk 8 GB for $59.99

So Radio Shack matched Staples' prices. What's great about this week is you don't need to rush. These two stores don't sellout like Best Buy and Circuit City. If you need the 4 or 8 GB models, this is the week to buy.

Western All-Stars (Part 3 Correction)

I spoke too soon in part 3. That post was a few days before the actual was announced, so it looks like either Iverson made a comeback in votes or I misread the counts. So it's Iverson instead of McGrady. AI would be the point guard with Bryant as the shooting guard.

Djoker's Wild

I didn't get to see the Australian Open Men's Final since it only played live overnight, but I pretty much knew Djokovic was going to win it. Hopefully they replay it later. It was pretty amazing that he defeated Federer in straight sets. Once he did that, there was no stopping him from winning the tournament. It was equivalent to Sharapova knocking out Henin. This makes Djokovic the first human (Federer & Nadal being meta-humans) Grand Slam winner in quite some time. Maybe Djokovic is improving rapidly because he's able to mimic everyone's moves!

Congrats to Tsonga as well. He may have lost the final, but moved up in the ranks as he made several stunning performances to eliminate a top player each round.

Tech Deals of the Week (1/27-2/2)

Verge Neoprene Sleeve for $12.99 @ Circuit City
An easy way to build a laptop backpack is to get a normal backpack and add a padded neoprene sleeve to it. This one fits 15.4" widescreen laptops and is available in pink or black.

Circuit City Flash Drive Deals
- PNY 2 GB for $14.99
- PNY 4 GB for $29.99

Staples Flash Drive Deals
- PNY 4 GB for $29.98
- PNY 8 GB for $59.98

4 GB iPod Nano for $127.99 @ CompUSA
This is normally $149.99 and never goes on sale!

8 GB iPod Nano for $169.99 @ CompUSA
The normal price for the 8 GB model is $199.99.

Two Winners

Both Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic came out as winners tonight. Sharapova had an impressive performance for the entire tournament as she went through without dropping a set. She played confidently and cut down on her double-faults. To put it plainly, she was perfect! Ivanovic was the runner up, but her performance during the Australian Open boosted her to number 2 in the rankings.

This match was a lot more fun to watch than the bad basketball games played tonight. I would've liked it to go 3 sets though, but Maria was just too hard to defeat. I watched as a neutral fan because I enjoy watching both players.

Comeback & Shocker

Ana Ivanovic sure gave me a scare last night when she went down 0-6 in the first set against Daniela Hantuchova. She started off the 2nd set by going down further, 0-2 and putting herself in danger of an embarrassing shutout. This didn't look like the same Ivanovic that took out the top seed! But she didn't give in and came back to win the 2nd set 6-3. Then she took the 3rd 6-4. I do feel bad for Hantuchova though. She just couldn't close it out. It must bring back memories of last year's Wimbledon when she couldn't close out the one-legged Serena Williams. I'm happy and excited for Ana. She earns a trip to the finals and I get to watch two of my favorites go at it.

The shocker was on the Men's side with Rafael Nadal going down in straight sets to Jo-Wlfried Tsonga, 6-2 6-3 6-2. Tsonga was just returning everything Nadal threw at him with great acrobatic defense. Not only the victory was surprising, but the length of the match... 1 hour & 57 minutes. That ended hopes of continuing the Federer vs. Nadal saga for this tournament.

Eastern All-Stars (Part 3)

Here's the actual starting lineup as voted by the fans:

Dwight Howard (C)
Kevin Garnett (F)
LeBron James (F)
Dwyane Wade (G)
Jason Kidd (G)

I'm almost seeing eye-to-eye with the overall fan vote. I can't agree with Dwyane Wade this year though... not with Miami being one of the worst teams. Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Chauncy Billups and Michael Redd are all better picks. I had Ben Gordon. There's probably a little bias there, but if you look at the numbers and keep in mind his 4th quarter ability, then he should be right up there.

Maria's PowerShot

Maria Sharapova is on a mission this tournament! She just dispatched Jelena Jankovic pretty easily. She's totally in the zone. Hopefully the long layoff until Friday's final doesn't put her fire out. She has yet to drop a set. As I watched her this time around, I felt more confidence in her serve. I usually cringe and feel she'll double-fault. The last couple of aces in this match were just perfect.

Ivanovic vs. Hantuchova is next, but it'll end to late for me to post anything. I'll get to that tomorrow night hopefully.

Tennis Over Basketball

The Bulls can't seem to put together a winning streak and keep losing to bad teams. The Nets can't seem to win and have lost 3 against the Knicks... THREE! It's a good thing the Australian Open is featuring so many great matches. It's saving me from watching bad basketball! The semifinals are interesting because of the mixture of usual suspects with some new faces. The Williams sisters and Andy Roddick are out of the mix. Surprisingly, Henin is out of it. Ivanovic and Jankovic have stepped up a level. Sharapova has cut down on her mental kinks. Of course Federer and Nadal are hanging around. Djokovic has been holding the 3rd seed steadily. And there's a guest appearance by Tsonga.

Right now I'm watching Sharapova vs. Jankovic. I'm hoping Maria can pull this one off so I can blog about it. Any opportunity that I can post her photo on my blog just makes the page look that much better!

Western All-Stars (Part 3)

Here's the actual starting lineup as voted by the fans:

Yao Ming (C)
Tim Duncan (F)
Carmelo Anthony (F)
Kobe Bryant (G)
Tracy McGrady (G)

I had Yao & Duncan as my picks. I guess I'm OK with Melo on the team. I think Dirk is the more versatile player though. Melo is flashier, which is typically how fan voting works. The fans picked Bryant & McGrady for guards... so where's the point guard? That's another flaw in the system. We often see 2 shooting guards get picked because of points and flashiness. We all know how I feel about Bryant by now. And McGrady has been injured for a good portion of the first half. I feel pretty strong about Nash and Iverson. I'd even take Parker & Ginobili over Bryant & McGrady.

Ana Conquers Venus

Ana Ivanovic just defeated Venus Williams in another exciting women's match. Ivanovic has never won a set against Williams, but really showed improvement today. Both sets were pretty close, but Ivanovic stayed aggressive and scored at the most crucial points. She used her speed to makeup for lack of height and had a bunch of excellent serves. It's a shame one of them had to lose though. Both Ana and Venus are super nice, so it's sad to see one get eliminated.

This sets up an Eastern Europe Semifinals. Ivanovic will face Daniela Hantukova and Maria Sharapova will face Jelena Jankovic.

Maria Takes Down the Champ

"I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end except having a little letdown in the end of that first set. I felt like I did many things right, and I just played the way I can play."
- Maria Sharapova

"She served consistent and she's been much more aggressive and looked like it was her day and probably her tournament, so she's in great shape. She looks really confident now, and she has a great chance to do it, I think."
- Justine Henin

Those were post-match quotes from Maria Sharapova's masterpiece victory over Justine Henin. It was a bit of a shocker because Henin hasn't lost in 33 matches and has been a Federer-like opponent for the past year. The first set started out as a one-sided contest with Sharapova getting off to a great start, but Henin made a run and nearly came back to win it. The composed Sharapova was able to shutdown her opponent's late rally with some clutch plays. I thought Henin's rally would carryover to the next set, but I was way wrong as it ended up being a shutout. The final score was 6-4, 6-0.

I think Maria Sharapova is one of the most physically talented players on the women's side. She certainly puts the work into it also. She tends to get defeated when she overthinks her gameplan. If she can get over that in each match, she should be very hard to defeat. She did that against the top seed.

Stargate Atlantis 413 (Quarantine)

Quarantine was one of those very well-written episodes where there's no "bad guy." Atlantis malfunctioned and trapped everyone in whatever room they were in at the time. What made the episode interesting was the combinations of characters trapped in each room and the awkward situations. McKay was trapped with his girlfriend, Katie and was about to propose to her before the lockdown. Carter & Zelenka were trapped in an elevator. Sheppard and Teyla were trapped in the computer room and had some time to resolve their difference of opinion about Teyla's pregnancy. There couldn't have been a stranger combination of Ronin & Dr. Keller trapped together. So it was a nice bonding experience between some unlike characters. I'm glad the Stargate series builds on things like this. It's more realistic as opposed to battling aliens in every episode.

Tech Deals of the Week (1/20-1/26)

RE: CompUSA
CompUSA is going through a transitional period as Systemax takes over. This includes purging the inventory and restocking. There are deals in each store, but they may vary from store to store. I checked out the 8th Ave. location and the prices are not that cheap, but it makes them a little more competitive. The good buys at this point are anything made by Apple. Because Apple never goes on sale, the 20% off on the products is great. Some of the large LCDs also have great prices.

PNY 8 GB Flash Drive for $59.99 @ Circuit City
If you missed this deal from two weeks ago, here's your second chance.

SanDisk 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.99 @ Radio Shack
Standard sale price for the 4 GB model.

PNY 4 GB SD Card for $29.99 @ Best Buy
That's $10 off the $10/GB ratio... and this is a memory card!

T. Smandych vs. N. Fairtex

The Contender: Asia - Season 1, Episode 1

The Contender: Asia's first matchup was between Trevor Smandych of Canada & Naruepol Fairtex of Thailand. The Wild Boars won episode 1's competition and the right to choose the matchup. Their strategy was to eliminate the weaker opponents first. So the sent their best fighter, Naruepol to fight the Tiger King's weakest link, Trevor. This was the most one-sided match I've seen so far. Trevor had no chance. Whatever moves he threw either missed or did no damage. Naruepol gave Trevor a good beating, but enough to get the win. He was respectful and didn't try to seriously hurt the obviously weaker opponent. He held back elbows and it was pretty obvious that he could've gone for the knockout any time he wanted and with whatever move he wanted.

New York Burger Co. II

Prices: About $13 per person

Visits: 3 (eat-in)

I updated the price to $13 because I must've had a side dish last time when I rated it at $15. Just $9-10 already gets you a burger, fries & drink. For my full rating, click here.

Today I had the NY Burger, which is a regular burger with plum tomatoes and romaine lettuce on a brioche bun. I also used their special NY Burger Sauce on it. Along with the fries, I got a cup of thousand island dressing and chipotle honey for dipping. The burger was great... not too large, not too small and all of the ingredients were as flavorful as always. The thousand island dressing for the fries was likely homemade. It tasted richer than the bottled stuff from the supermarket. Chipotle honey is my favorite so far... sweet and spicy at the same time.

Back into the Swing of Things

The Australian Open is in the process now, the first major Tennis tournament of the year. So far, I've only been able to catch 2 matches. The first, unfortunately was Andy Roddick's early exit as he lost a 5 set marathon to Phillip Kohlschreiber. I was a little shocked by it even though he was behind. I just thought he would make a comeback against the #29th seed. I guess that's what makes tennis exciting. The underdog always has a legitimate chance (unless he's facing Federer). Roddick has been slowly moving down in the rankings over the past year, but I don't feel he's playing worse. I think he's actually improved. I guess the other guys are just improving more quickly.

The second match was earlier today and it was another marathon... Lleyton Hewitt vs. Marcos Baghdatis. The match went 5 sets and lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes! Baghdatis won the first set, then Hewitt came back to win the next two. Based on momentum, it looked like the hometown player was going to wrap it up, but the 4th set went to a tiebreak that Baghdatis won.

5-set matches are often longer than extra inning baseball games. Players are running around the entire time with very little rest, like in basketball. But instead of 5-on-5, it's 1-on-1. That gives you an idea of how well-conditioned these guys are.

Related Links: Hewitt heads into final 16, Australian Open, Rod Laver Arena, Tennis.com

The Contender: Asia

We all know about the boxing reality show, The Contender, hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard and Sylvester Stallone. Well, this year, there's an Asian branch of that airing on AXN and it's based around Muay Thai boxing... real Muay Thai. I'm not talking about those kickboxing matches with all of those rules that limit a fighter's moves. In The Contender: Asia, they can do all of the traditional Muay Thai moves... elbows, knees, throws, etc. The fighters are all professionals too... Yodsaenklai, John Wayne Parr, Naruepol Fairtex, Rafik Bakkouri, to name a few. The action is hardcore, unlike American boxing. You can't escape getting hit my hugging your opponent or you might get elbowed or thrown. I only saw a few episodes so far, but naturally the matches with the Thai fighters are very one-sided. And the ones with the Americans/Canadians are one-sided in the other direction. The interesting ones are with the other fighters. The challenges that happen before the matches aren't really exciting at all, so you can kind of doze off for the first half, but your eyes will be stuck to the screen for the 2nd.

Related Links: AXN, The Contender: Asia

Have the Info., But Get it from Him

"Can you create a report similar to the one we created for <client name> that shows impressions for the <client name> campaign that ran? Azrael should have the exact dates the sponsorship ran. If not, I can get the dates for you."
- <Salesperson>

That's an example of pure laziness... or stupidity. The sales rep. sent an email to the traffic manager to ask me for certain dates when she herself already has the dates. She could have just emailed the dates to the traffic manager instead of asking him to get them from me. Time is lost through all of the emailing. So imagine if this happens constantly... and if we have more than one of these dumb reps on the team. The loss of productivity can be astronomical!

Subway Tales: "Random" Searches

Note: I apologize for the lack of detail in this post, but it's meant to be a commentary on something the NYPD could do a better job of. I don't want to give away valuable information to potential terrorists... hence the vagueness.

Over the past 2 years, I've observed how the "random" searches worked in certain subway stations and the NYPD needs to mix it up a bit more. When I wear certain clothing and carry a certain type of bag, I get searched all the time... as many as 4x a week! If I carry a different type of bag, I can go months without getting searched. That to me says, "NOT RANDOM!" It also became pretty obvious which days the NYPD would be present at the station after going through the same routine during my daily commute. We have to keep in mind that the 9/11 terrorists were very patient and thought out many things carefully. The more random we are the better. Aside from mixing up the routine, I think the cops should place their search table a little out of site so people can't scope out the place before entering... and change-up the location too.

Apple's Releases

Macbook Air
I'll start with the most anticipated one. As expected, Apple released a new laptop in a new line. It's neither Macbook nor Macbook Pro. It's the thinnest laptop on the market at just .76" and 3 lbs. It features a 1.6 or 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, 80 GB HDD or 64 GB SSD, a 13.3" widescreen, 5-hour battery life, wireless N and a multi-touch (ala iPhone & iPod Touch) trackpad. It's a technological marvel. So why won't anyone buy it? It starts at $1,799 and goes up to a whopping $3,098 if you want the SSD! So we're looking at Macbook Pro prices for less than Macbook power. All of that extra money is for the reduced weight. If I get an ultraportable system, it would be for traveling. So I would just need the basics... Internet access, word processing and photo storage. That makes the Asus Eee more practical @ $400-500. The $3,000+ Macbook Air tells us that it's not the right time to buy a SSD laptop. When that type of drive becomes more common in a few years, the price will drop drastically. "There's something in the air." And it turned out to be sweet, but I'll let it float away and wait for another gust.

iPhone Update
Not much here really... added a wi-fi store and maps. Everyone wanted to hear about official unlocking. I Guess we'll have to wait.

iPod Touch Update
Not much here either... added mail, maps, web clips, customizable home screen and other regular Internet services. There's still no syncable address book to make this a legitimate PDA. When's the Newton coming?

Apple TV
Apple TV now works without a computer hooked up, but something tells me that it still sucks!

Eastern All-Stars (Part 2)

Dwight Howard (C)
Well... Big Ben did improve a bit after the injury, but not a big enough comeback to pick him over Dwight Howard. Howard is the leading rebounder this year.

LeBron James (F)
No change on this position either. I don't think I'll ever remove my vote for King James. He's the best player in the league. I just wish he played for the Bulls instead of killing them all the time!

Kevin Garnett (F)
I had to remove another Bull... Luol Deng. While his numbers were consistent, Garnett's leading his team to a solid best record in the league and is the clear cut MVP so far.

Ben Gordon (G)
I'm keeping Ben Gordon in here because of his clutch play and energy. He comes out with very little warming up and produces a binge of baskets.

Jason Kidd (G)
The Nets aren't doing that well, but Jason Kidd keeps racking up triple-doubles (almost averaging one). He's the perfect match for the 4 scorers above. Hinrich did start getting into rhythm, but just not enough good games to match what Kidd has done so far.

Something in the Air

There's something in the air

That's all we have from Apple on their product release for tomorrow. That likely speaks of the built-in wireless N for their new laptop(s)... nothing exciting. There are a few new rumor updates though. According to Wired's Gadget Blog, we can expect the system to be unbelievably thin... probably thinner than anything else in the market right now. They're going with a new color palette (for laptops)... black on silver to match the iMac. There's still no word on what line will be updated. Most of that depends on what hard drive they use. If it's a SSD, then it has to be a new line because it wouldn't really be a Macbook and would have too little storage to be a high-end Macbook Pro. If it has a regular HD, then it could be either a Macbook or a Macbook Pro, but the Pro is due for an update.

"There's something in the air." Is is it a sweet scent or did someone pass gas? Well... we shall see very soon!

Hawks Prey on Bulls

I don't know what to think at this point. We just don't know what we're going to get each night from this team. Yesterday, they made the lowly Hawks look like an all-star team! Deng returned and played great, leading the way with 28. Nocioni was solid, spreading out through the stat sheet, including 20 points. Wallace had 13 rebounds, but everyone else fell asleep. That had to be Gordon's worst night since lighting up the bench under Boylan.

I think I'm getting carried away with these postgame entries. My blog is starting to look like a sports blog instead of a general interest one! One post will be very excited and the next will be disappointed. The Bullscast guys are boycotting their "Honorabull" award until the Bulls put together a streak. So I'm not going to talk about the games until they can at least win back-to-back.

I usually don't pay attention to baseball until the last game of the NBA Finals is complete. For the first time, I actually miss baseball!

Western All-Stars (Part 2)

Yao Ming (C)
He's the MVP runner-up in my opinion. On the offensive end, he's becoming dominant and has such a wide array of weapons. He's got the hook, the dunk and a jumper with range. He's also one of the best free-throwers in the league, a rarity for a 7'+ guy. On the defensive end, he blocks shots and pulls down rebounds.

Dirk Nowitzki (F)
I'm sticking with Dirk because he's still putting up his MVP numbers.

Tim Duncan (F)
I had Marion here last time, but Duncan's numbers are a little bit better.

Steve Nash (G)
He's still a dishing machine. 12 per game is crazy!

Allen Iverson (G)
I switched McGrady out because AI has more points and assists. McGrady has more rebounds, but with Yao and Duncan already, I wouldn't want another 7 footer.

Tech Deals of the Week (1/13-1/19)

There're still no CompUSA circulars yet, but at least we know that they're a little more stable and won't die out completely since Systemax took over.

Kingston 4 GB SD Card for $34.99 @ Best Buy
A memory card for under the flash drive sale ratio!

Rocketfish 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub for $14.99 @ Best Buy
This is a standard portable 4-Port hub that's self-powered and looks great. It's white and transparent.

Dynex 50-Pack CD-Rs for $5.99 @ Best Buy
If you still need these ancient things, this is the week to buy them.

SanDisk 4 GB SD Card for $34.99 @ Circuit City
A memory card for under the flash drive sale ratio!

PNY 4 GB Flash Drive for $29.99 @ Circuit City
This is the lowest price in a long time for the 4 GB drives. The past several weeks have had sales of $34.99. If you missed the 8 GB sale last week, this is the same ratio.

Nexxtech 15-Pack DVD+R DL for $14.99 @ Circuit City
$1 a piece is as low as these get.

7 Train Gets Faster

I headed to Flushing today along with my aunt and sister for a small get together. For the next few weeks, the 7 train won't be running from Woodside all the way to Main Street. Instead, there's free service on the LIRR and that's perfectly fine with us. Our travel time was cut by 10-15 minutes each way. Usually alternate services are terrible and take much longer. Earlier in the year, they had shuttle buses to 111 Street and it made the travel time longer by 30 minutes because of the overcrowding. But we'll take free LIRR service anytime! It was just 2 stops from Main Street to Penn Station. The ride itself was a mere 18 minutes. It wasn't overly crowded. Everyone was able to sit. Surprisingly, the MTA employees were very prepared and did a great job of directing people to the proper entrances and exits. The 7 returns to normal service in March, so enjoy this while you can!

The above weekend service change is due to installation of a new signal system that will allow trains to stop at 74th Street during emergency track work. Previously, this major hub would always get skipped and customers would have to travel backwards to go forward. For more information regarding this matter, click here to visit www.mta.info.

No Flu... Just Nocioni Fever!

It's hard to predict Bulls games this season. They must have Las Vegas going nuts. They beat the Pistons twice, but lose to the Knicks? twice!? At least they won one they were supposed to tonight in a comeback victory against the 76ers. Nocioni lead the way with 26 points and 7 rebounds. It seemed like he continued off from that great game he had against the Kings, before he got sick. Work ethic like that symbolizes Bulls basketball. I bet everyone on this team has images of Jordan embedded in their minds when they play injured or sick. Gordon contributed 15 and Joe Smith, who has been so reliable put up 19. Aaron gray had 8 off the bench, but his points are significant because he can grow into the post presence that's been missing from this team.

Flor De Mayo

Location: 484 Amsterdam Ave., Btw 83rd & 84th
Cuisine: Spanish, Chinese
Phone: (212) 787-3388, (212) 787-0200
Prices: About $15 per person
Credit Cards: All major

Food: 9
Service: 8
Value: 7
Environment: 7

Visits: 1 (eat-in)

I've been wanting to try this restaurant after hearing about it from a few friends, so I finally got to check it out. I had the Lomo Saltado, which is sauteed sliced steak with potatoes, tomatoes & onions over fried rice. All of the ingredients tasted great together. The steak was tender and juicy. The potatoes were interesting because they were french frie-shaped, so the dish was made up of strips of steak, potatoes, tomatoes & onions. The portions were large. I was able to finish the whole thing because it was about 8pm and I was hungry. It's definitely larger than a normal meal.

The service was pretty good and fast. They were almost a little too fast... to the point that I thought the food was nuked! But the taste, temperature and texture told me it wasn't. The environment and restroom were clean.

Flor De Mayo also has their lunch special prices on Saturday. This ranges from $6.35-8.35.

Unrelated to any of the ratings... the restaurant's Spanish name is the same as it's Chinese name! That's something I always notice because there are a lot of Chinese restaurants where the Chinese characters mean something totally different that the English name.

2 Highlight Reels in a Week

It was another highlight reel for Yao Ming... the 2nd in a week's time. What else would we expect when he faces the Knicks twice? The Knicks should put Eddy Curry on him, but we all know how ineffective Curry is against Yao. Seriously, it's just posterization practice. So instead, they put David Lee on him. Lee did just as well as Curry despite the height disadvantage. Yao just shot over him all the time and it didn't matter if Lee was in front or behind. It was easy to get the ball to the 7'6" giant. Yao finished with 36 points & 11 rebounds. So Curry ended up guarding Luis Scola. Naturally, the Rockets looked to Scola to score and he put up a solid 19 on the Knick's big man. So I don't know if that strategy worked. Lee on Yao made no difference. The effort was there, but the height wasn't. So Yao had a big game as always. But Curry on Scola opened up a good 2nd scoring option. Anyway, one of my teams avenged the other. I'll take that!

Opposite Day

The Knicks and Bulls traded skills last night. It was the Bulls that squandered a 4th quarter lead and the Knicks that defended well. Gordon did not play well in the 4th quarter. Crawford and Curry played like they did during their Bulls days. Deng was injured and Nocioni had the flu, but there should be no excuses. When Hinrich, Gordon & Smith score 20+, the Bulls should win. There were just too many minutes given to Noah & Thomas, but no choice with the injuries. No excuses though... the Bulls second team is still capable of beating the Knicks. I've been patient with this team, but 2 losses to the Knicks (to split the season series) in one year is really bad. They only have 2 other losses in the previous 3 years. So if there's a firing or trade due to a loss to the Knicks, I can't oppose it anymore.

I suppose some of this has to do with scheduling as well. Last year, most of the Knicks games were during the 2nd half. The Bulls have been a different team during the second half of their previous years.

Mundo Albiceleste

This is just a quick shoutout for Seba and John's blog, Mundo Albiceleste. They post entries about all of the major Argentine players. As a Bull's fan, I'll be posting comments on that blog whenever Andres Nocioni has a significant game. I may also comment on Manu Ginobili who I also love to watch and Luis Scola because I loosely follow the Rockets. To visit Mundo Albiceleste, click here.

American Gladiators

American Gladiators is back! I always say that old shows and themes have a way of cycling back to the next generation. When I watched this as a kid in the 90's, it looked fun and competitive, but was relatively low budget compared to the new version. It's hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali. The old events are back as well, but seriously upgraded. Assault now has fast weapons and looks very intense. The contestants must have Jedi reflexes. It also has more movie-like fx. If the contestant wins, the gladiator goes flying. Hang Tough is the same except failure means falling into water instead of a safety net. Joust and The Wall are also the same, except for the water below. Earthquake was an upgraded version of the wrestling event (I forgot the name of it) where the circle is suspended in the air. The contestant must fight the gladiator and gravity at the same time. The Eliminator looked great. It's longer and uses most of the same obstacles as the original. It's flashier and looks more tiring. New events include Gauntlet, Pyramid and Hit & Run.

As far as contestants and gladiators, they tried to add some more personality to the event. The interviews were done in the same fashion as a reality show. There's some staged taunting too.

What's very funny is that they interviewed the contestants immediately after each event... after they just used up all of their energy or got beat up. They didn't even have time to catch their breath!

American Gladiators can be seen on NBC, Mondays @ 8pm.

Clockwork Apple: 2 More Markers

Here are two more people that I see almost every day. Unfortunately, they're just ordinary people... no obvious quirks, but I can tell time by when I see them because they run like clockwork in NYC:

Jane Lee
As I travel down the street while transferring trains, Jane always passes me, going in the opposite direction. If we pass each other in the middle of the street, I'm on time. If we pass close to the stairs, I'm late. If we pass inside the building we both cut through, then I'm early.

Jorge Martin
If I leave work a little later than usual, I see Jorge heading to the same train. We both usually get on to the same car too. Jorge is named after a college friend of the same (first ) name because they resemble each other.

Stargate Atlantis 411 (Be All My Sins Remember'd)

Stargate Atlantis returned after having a few weeks off during the holidays. And this was a great episode to kick off the 2nd half of the 4th season. The previous episode, This Mortal Coil, left off with the replicators approaching with plans on wiping out all humans. So in Be All My Sins Remember'd, the Atlantis team allies itself with their mortal enemies... the Wraith. This episode will keep you on your toes because of all the unlikely alliances and possible twists. It was hard to tell who was going to betray who at what moment. I don't want to spoil the story, so I won't mention how the whole thing went down. Up next though... the humans resume their war with the Wraith... and there are still Replicators out there!

Fall in January

The past week has brought us some strange weather in NY. Last weekend, it was over 50 degrees for the New Year's celebration. So it didn't seem so daring for the crazy people who took their shirts off in Times Square this year. Immediately after New Year's Day, on Wednesday, temperatures dropped to below freezing. Thursday sure felt like subzero when accounting for wind chill. Friday was more of the same. This weekend was Fall weather again... around 50 degrees. The forecast has the upcoming week above 40 degrees each day, with a high of 58 on Tuesday!

Tech Deals of the Week (1/6-1/12)

Maybe I should change this weekly feature to Flash Deals of the Week! Really... those are the only items that have been good buys. Hard drive prices have gone up as well as LCDs.

PNY 4 GB Flash Drive for $34.99 @ Best Buy
The standard 4 GB flash sale price.

Kensington Wireless Notebook Mouse for $9.99 @ Circuit City
This is $29.99 with 2 $10 mail-in rebates. There are usually a lot of wireless mouse sales for this price, but I wanted to highlight this one because it has 4 buttons... rare for notebook models $9.99.

SanDisk 4 GB Flash Drive for $34.99 @ Circuit City
The standard 4 GB flash sale price.

PNY 8 GB Flash Drive for $59.99 @ Circuit City
That's $10 off of last week's sale price for a total of $20 off my $10/GB rule!

Logitech VX Nano for $39.99 @ Staples
The lowest price was $29.99, but I think that was extremely rare. If you're looking for the best notebook mouse, this is the week to get it. This is lower than the 2 sales previous to the $29.99 week.

Logitech MX Revolution for $59.99 @ Staples
This is the desktop counterpart for the VX Nano and is the lowest price I've seen not counting Black Friday.

Kings... Finally

After a disappointing double OT loss against the Blazers a couple of nights ago, the Bull turn it around with a win against the Kings. The Kings were a team they had trouble with last year. Andres Nocioni was awesome off the bench, outputting 26 points in 30 minutes of play. He shot 5 of 7 from the 3-point line... vintage Noc! Gordon added another 20 off the bench. Ben Wallace didn't have great numbers, but he won the game in the final seconds by hitting the game-winning free throw and then blocking the potential game-winning shot! The Bulls need to get used to winning these nail-biters. That's how this game was significant to me. I've longed for them to win in the final seconds. This kind of experience boosts confidence and increases playoff performance.

So far, under Boylan, I feel more confident in the Bull's gameplay, despite the 2 losses. With the Knicks, Sixers, Hawks and Magic coming up, they really need to get fat on wins and keep playing hard.

On a different note... Congrats to Ben Gordon for the CDW/Sony Notebooks Player of the Month for December. That was well-deserved.

Another Knicks Killer

Ben Gordon kills the Knicks by literally winning games in the 4th quarter. But Yao Ming can also be considered a Knicks killer because he averages 30 points and 13 rebounds against them. Today he also had 4 assists and 4 blocks. Before the game, I told my friends that he's going to make a highlight reel tonight because he's facing Curry and Randolph. Right in the beginning of game, the Knicks gave Yao a lot of attention, but he was able to find the open man due to the double-team for some assists. He got into foul trouble early, but Motumbo came in and blocked Curry on back-to-back shots! The Rockets lead by 10 or more for most of the game. Great teamwork... great playmaking. Imagine what it would've been like if McGrady & Francis were playing!

Repeated Survey ?'s for 2008-01-04

A repeat of 2007-11-25, but with new answers...

1. When was the last time you took a nap? about 3 weeks ago
2. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Mom
3. To text you? Dick
4. What are you doing tonight? Stargate
5. What are you listening to? nothing
6. What did you do over the weekend? New Year's w/ family
7. What did you have for breakfast? yogurt
8. Last book you read? Maximum Carnage
9. Last thing you bought? 320 GB external hard drive
10. Last movie you saw: I Am Legend

I think Jordan is Back

I'm talking about Mr. 4th Quarter, Ben Jordan (Gordon). He's averaging 29 points since being benched. It's just amazing how that works. Maybe he's just better coming in cold turkey. Last night's win was significant because they came back from a large 12-point deficit to win by 12... a 24-point turn-around! In order to make make 4th quarter runs, you need some scoring power off the bench. So far it's a good strategy by interim coach Boylan... going back to the beginning. Wallace played one of his better games. 6 players scored double digits. Deng had a double double. In the past few games, everyone played good minutes and stats were spread out. Things are looking good and they're going to need this positive energy because they're facing the Blazers tonight. Portland is a team modeled after the Bull's building process, looking at personality more than star power. I guess they learned their lesson from the Jailblazer days. They're also coming in with 13 wins in their last 14 games. It should be an interesting mirror match.

Getting Ready for Mac Expo

The next Mac Expo is coming up on January 15. The rumors are already floating out there, but what will actually get released? How will the public react? There's definitely going to be a new laptop coming out and it'll be an ultraportable, which is why I'm holding out on the tempting Asus Eee PC. The new notebook has been confirmed to have removed the optical drive to save space & weight. What's still unknown is:

• Will it be a Macbook, Macbook Pro or new line?
• Will it have a HDD or SSD?
• Will its price be competitive with the Asus Eee?
• What will the screen size be?

Some of these ideas conflict with each other. The Macbook was just updated a few months ago while the Pro is due for an update. If the new model uses a SSD, the capacity will be low and not fitting for the hi-end Pro family. My guess is that the Macbook line will stay the same. The Macbook Pro will get a slight upgrade... maybe the 2.8 Ghz processor. And the ultraportable will be a new line called Macbook Nano. The price will probably not be competitive with the Asus Eees just because it's Apple. Most rumors have said that the screen will be 12.1" or 13.3". The Asus is 7", but I'll guess that it's going to be a 10" widescreen.