Ni Hao You Doin’? – A new Hepnova shirt on Zazzle in collaboration with Joey G.

We were hanging out in Little Italy/Chinatown tonight and Joe came up with this brilliant bilingual pun that celebrates the confluence of cultures in a pizza/scallion pancake slice of Lower Manhattan with classic New York wit and attitude.  Here’s to pasta and to potstickers and to Sino-Italian-American friendship! Ni hao you doin’?

Buy the Ni Hao You Doin’ shirt on Zazzle

Ni Hao You Doin’? by Hepnova in collaboration with Joey G

Here’s a new groove for #MusicMonday: an updated version of the Hepnova track You’re For Me with vocals by the fierce and fabulous Ms. JC Cassis.   The original version of You’re For Me was on our eponymous 2009 album and featured vocals by Hepnova co-founder Nicholas Dibiase.

The electric guitar solo (you know, the part where you wonder, “who invited The Edge to this Silk Road hoe down?”) was played by the brilliant Dr. Bob Devine.  And the crazy synth sounds you hear near the end come from the legendary Swedish SidStation.

Here are some reviews we have been getting:

JC calls You’re For me “a down-and-dirty country banger in the style of Johnny Cash.”

Mediocre Student says, “I like JC’s voice. and the pipa at the beginning. it’s like Detroit Chinatown. Your music has kind of a limping, offbeat rhythm which is a nice contrast to the incessant and calculated thrust of the bullshit Gaga house music I’ve been hearing in the Castro.” (*Actually the “pipa” sound is just a really cheap toy nylon string guitar, but also probably made in China, so I guess we are on the right track.)

Prestonism: “RAD to the MAX”

@ToniaMBartz: “GORGEOUS”

@KrysVS: “i would give it a “wow” to a “very wow”

@ClowerPower: “I could picture this on the soundtrack for a Tarantino film!!! ”

@AlexBerger: “A very fun retro feel!”

@JackAlert : “Can’t wait for #MusicMonday! Awesome new @Hepnova mix:… I think I might be in love with @JCCassis“

I got back late Friday night from a 5 day holiday on Saba in the Dutch Caribbean with my ITP pals Elizabeth and Catherine.  Saba is a tiny, tranquil island with no beach, but excellent diving and hiking.  We stayed at El Momo Cottages and I took a PADI Scuba Diver certification course at Sea Saba.  We came back tanned (a little sunburned actually) and relaxed and ready to take on the last 6 weeks of thesis before graduation (cue freak out now).  Photo essay and travel details below.

Saba Quick Guide

Stay: El Momo Cottages
Just the right kind of rustic (pictured above and below). Proprietors Andries and Marieke are gracious hosts. It’s a bit of a schlep up the hill and stairs, but the view is worth it. The homemade breakfast is a great way to start your day, while the homemade flavored rums make an excellent nightcap.

Eat: Brigadoon
The best restaurant on the island. Owner Tricia is a lively hostess, while her husband holds down the kitchen. Stick with the fresh seafood dishes and definitely try the luxurious seafood chowder.

Dive: Sea Saba
Professional and friendly staff. Scott was a knowledgeable dive instructor who explained things very clearly and helped reassure us total beginners.

Snack: Saba Snack
Tiny snack bar on the main street in Windwardside. Soursop smoothie and a coconut cookie (pictured below) make the perfect mid-afternoon post-dive snack.

Above: St. Maarten through a 70′s-tinted prop plane window. Below: Winair prop plane.

Above: View into the cockpit.  Below: Local wildlife.

Above: Mango tree.

Above: A final taste of the islands: smoked herring-stuffed plantain washed down with piña colada at the St. Maarten airport while waiting for our flight home.

Additional photography courtesy of Catherine White.

Photo by Chika Iijima @ ITP
Hipstamatic for iPhone

Photos by Daniel in the Lion’s Den via Flickr.

Last night the Trustees of the Awesome Foundation New York met in person for the first time to get the ball rolling.

Photo (clockwise from top left): Jesse Chan-Norris, Lee-Sean Huang, Sam Lessin, Steve Rosenbaum, Douglas Repetto, Dawn Barber, Clay Shirky, Colin Nedercoorn, Brandon Kessler, Catherine White, and Chris Dixon

Reminder: Grant applications are due at midnight tonight! Tell us why your project is awesome and deserving of a $1000 dollar grant. Submit proposals here.

I checked out Kogi, the much-hyped Los Angeles Korean BBQ Taco truck when I was in town visiting the family last week.  We followed them on Twitter and drove out to Encino to wait in line for the Korean/Mexican fusion food cart.  They have multiple trucks that park at different locations in LA on different days.  All I have to say about the experience is “Yes!”

Yes, the place has a lot of hype, but the food was great.

Yes, it’s fusion, but it’s fusion that just works.

Yes, the lines are long, so get there early.

Yes, the truck was late, stuck in traffic on the 405, but this is LA…

Yes, it’s cheap. Two bucks for a taco and five for a quesadilla.

I tried the tofu and spicy pork tacos and the kimchi quesadilla.  The tofu was flavorful with Korean marinade and seared to make it taste “meaty” rather than gelatinous.  Worth trying even if you are a total carnivore.  The spicy pork was great too: spicy, sweet, meaty, and fatty.  I have to admit this one was an easy sell for me.  When I go to Korean BBQ, I prefer the pork belly to the usual beef dishes like kalbi and bulkogi.  The quesadilla was amazing too.  The umami that comes out of the ménage à trois of kimchi, sesame, and melted cheese is divine.

Kogi Official Website
Kogi on Twitter
Kogi on Yelp

TXTTONE is my final project for Live Web.  It’s a web browser and SMS-based collaborative musical instrument that is meant to be performed in a room full of people with laptops and cellphones.  I wanted to create an interactive and collaborative musical experienced based on the ubiquitous technologies that we normally have with us at all times.  I was also interested in the play between the synchronous and asynchronous and explore the phase effects that result from TXTTONE being played on multiple computers simultaneously.  TXTTONE is programmed in AJAX/PHP, with SMS support by TextMarks.   I did the sound design in Logic Pro; I was going for “wind chimes meets dial tone.”

Check it out here.

More photos on Flickr

Head-to-toe Uniqlo.  Belt by Aldo. Shoes by Camper.  Necktie is vintage Yves Saint Laurent.

My friend Sophia IM’ed me the other night while I was at school. She asked me for some cooking advice based on the ingredients she had in her kitchen.  It turned into a game of IM Iron Chef or Stump the Cook from The Splendid Table.   Here is a log of our chat (edited for readability).  I’ve also posted photos from Sophia of the final result.

Sophia: ok Iron Chef, I’ve got ground turkey, yellow squash, broccoli florets, onion, tomato, garlic, some white rice, bag of frozen cut veggies (carrots/corn/peas), heavy cream. olive oil and balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, ground pepper.
And Fage yogurt

me: ok. You have a rice cooker?

Sophia: yup

me: Ok, easy. Cook the white rice.
while that happens, saute onions, garlic
add tomatoes and ground turkey
add the cooked rice in
and use that as stuffing in the squash (cut in half and partially hollowed out)

Sophia: woaaaahhh

me: you can chuck in some of the other veggies too
or a bit of the yogurt/cream to enrich things
and then put the stuffed squash in the oven
until the squash is cooked through

Sophia: nice – so I’m stuffing the raw squash?
(they’re skinny, is that ok?)

me: yeah, cut them in half lengthwise
and partially de-seed using a spoon

Sophia: oh shoot they’re yellow zucchini
that’s what I meant to say

me: yeah, you can still do it
to save time, you can parboil, steam, or roast the squash while the rice cooks

Sophia: I’m hazy on what cooked through for squash is – got an estimate on time?
oh ok

me: 30 minutes (or however long it takes for the rice to cook)
you can pre-cook the squash and make the squash then
if you have cheese, you could melt it on top
or put the Fage yogurt on as a topping instead of the sauce

Sophia: nice
that’s amazing – you need to do this for a living
or we have to put you on a blog

Sophia: how long would you cook ground turkey for? It’s always dry for me

me: because there is very little fat in the turkey, put the ground turkey in the sauce after you saute and onions and garlic and add tomato
so it cooks in sauce instead of frying it dry

Sophia: also – I was always taught to cook meat separately from veggies – in this case it’s ok to add raw meat to the tomatoes/garlic/onion?

me: yeah, because you are cooking it a long time
the turkey is not frozen, right?

Sophia: nope

me: or if you want to brown the turkey for color or taste, cook the turkey first in olive oil.
remove it from the pan, then cook the onions, garlic and tomatoes
then put the cooked turkey back in when the tomato sauce reduces

Sophia: I like it better not browned. So I can just add it raw to the onions? How long do I simmer/cook this together

me: here are the steps:
heat the pan. When it gets hot, put some oil in. Then the onions and garlic
then put in some turkey
and saute it until it changes color
then the tomatoes
bring to boil
then turn the heat to the lowest setting
until the rice is done
which would be about 20 minutes or so
if you are putting yogurt and cream into the sauce, put that in after you have turned the heat to low

Sophia: it’s ok to cook yogurt?

me: if you use yogurt, just stir it in just before you stuff the squash
but for cream, put it in when you turn heat to low
but I would choose 1, not both

Sophia: awesome. I’m going cream I think

me: sounds yummy. I’m in class and STARVING

Sophia: lol I have green onions too – would that mess it up?

me: no, I would chuck in the green onions at the end, just before you stuff the squash

Sophia: gotcha

me: in order of doing stuff: preheat oven to 400 degrees, wash the rice and get it going
then cut all the veg. Pop the halved squash in the oven
then make the sauce

Sophia: Definitely blog this!

JC Cassis and I performed at The Tank on Wednesday as part of the three-day ITPalooza music festival.  We played our dance-pop songs to an intimate crowd and managed to get rock the house despite all the technical difficulties.  I also got to see my friend Natasha from Arizona who came to the show.  We hadn’t seen each other since high school!  Thanks to Mike Rosenthal for the space and to Roy Vanegas for organizing the whole thing, as well as to everybody who came out to support us.

Here’s our set list from Wednesday night (click on the links to hear/download recorded versions):

• ODI et AMO
• Halfway
• I Don’t Want You
• Anything You Want
• Dance Dance Dance
• Hands Off
• Everybody’s Crazy in New York
• Can’t Stop

Photos by Catherine White
Update: view video of our performance here. Thanks to Milena Mepris for the video.

Last week, Kris and I followed the New Amsterdam Trail, an official tour of the National Park Service created by the Harbor Conservancy in partnership with the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation.  Download the free tour files here, then put the MP3s on your MP3 player and print out the PDF map.  The 90-minute self-guided tour of Lower Manhattan starts in Battery Park and ends on Wall Street and tells the story of the early days of New Amsterdam, the Dutch colony that would become New York City.  Honestly, not much remains to see from those old Dutch days, but I would recommend doing the tour anyway to hear some fascinating stories of the early history of the City.  In any case, it’s a good excuse to stop for an al fresco snack and a drink on Stone Street.

Then there is the unexpected.  We saw a wild turkey foraging right in the middle of Battery Park!  See, there is definitely more to New York wildlife than just pigeons and rats.  We’ve also spotted a barn owl one night last year in Battery Park City.

Thanks so much for your help!

From Twitter via @myGengo.

The cast and crew of Timberbrit recently shot a music video of “Worst Fantasy,” a song from the opera based on Britney’s “Toxic”

While we are on the subject of Britney, check out Hepnova’s “Hit Me Britney,” a recombinant cover of “…Baby One More Time,” and “Oops!…I Did It Again.”

Whoa!…What’s with the ellipsis abuse?

A.G. – Weird erratic/eclectic General MIDI madness
Drama Queen – Smoky night-time eyes, tape hiss, and more drama
Dream – MIDI-powered koto and shamisen Orientalism, oh my!
Fondue – Minimalist mating music for robots
Hymn – A terrifying deconstructed Taiwanese hymn
Last Song – Just when you thought it was over, last but not last
Prozac Piano – Pop a pill before you listen

You know you want to download them all in one ZIP file.

Jackie O: Half Octopus Half Style Icon

Jackie O by Hepnova

Jackie O tribute on HuffPost

Nicholas DiBiase (@Hepnova) from Hepnova and Noah Dyer (@WealthNetTeam) from WealthNet Partners give a brisk talk about the basics of branding and how it can affect relationships with potential investors. Geared toward the entrepreneur, this video introduces the essential concepts of branding and why they matter to the startup seeking funding.

Stories, examples, and counterexamples along with an amusing skit keep this first salvo in the struggle against bad marketing fresh and entertaining.

This piece was produced for the online educational resource/expertise marketplace Advisor Garage.

This is the fifth in a series of “This is real DIY” experimental documentary videos. Music by Hepnova.