Monday, September 25, 2006

Staying in to go out... APT - NYC.

My girl Joy hit me in the mobile and said, "We're going to end the night at apartment." Now to most this would sound like a lame end to any night out. Ah, but this was no ordinary apartment. This was APT.

Imagine having the apartment of your big city dreams; a loft space with intimate hallways, cozy nooks and a cavernous main room complete with a stone balcony to boot. Include all the furnishings and fineries that take the palce from "cozy" to tipping the scales at "lush". That would be major, but that's not it. Throw in a finished lower level with a bar and security entrances. Riiiight. Now what would all of this cost you? A small cover and whatever you're eating or drinking.



APT is just that, a New York City lounge/club in the Meatpacking District known for the juxtaposition of warehouses and some of the trendiest nightspots in NYC. The door is classically understated, almost camouflaged, adding to the cool with a speak-easy, only the cool kids know type of vibe. Once inside I'm are greated by a staff that really makes me feel like you've stepped into a friend's house party so I oblige by exchanging names and conversation with them. Tara, the cutie at the door the the lower bar has a deadly smile and sense of humor to match so I chat for a bit to get the skinny on the downstairs party. I stroll down the candy-striped hallway leading to the living room lounge. It's like taking a deep breath and then "ahhhhhh" when you hit the end of the hall emptying into a low-lit auburn and plum room.



I take a seat with my crew around a table at the foot of a bed (yes a bed) and we commence to order libations. Our wait-staff member A.C., is a lanky young lady with a pension for dancing to the ambient beats while she waits for her orders to be filled. She slides over to me to ask what I might want as i joke with her, "Hey A.C., you cool like a fan?" "You know it baby. What can I get you?" Ah, that's the vibe all night, every night at APT.



My man Akalepse spins the illest mix of old soul and down-tempo beats that chill the room out, maintaining our ease, but I'm want to venture below to see what's the happs downstairs. The striped hallway acts as a warning track signaling that I am leaving the cool of the lounge as I hit the small lobby and run into Tara again and she gives me that smile and I make my way downstairs. I float right into Hip Hop heaven as the DJ is spinning just about every old school classic I could think of. The entire lower bar is buzzing with drinks and sounds as every head in the place nods on time and shouts the songs word for word as if this was school and we were reciting the Pleadge of Allegiance. From their the night was a euphoric blur.

4am: I find myself cooling in a stoop just outside the unmarked door. Tired, delightfully buzzed, and sharing laughs with my guys about the night that transpired. A swift cab ride to the Upper East Side and an easy grin etched on my mug tell all the story that need be told. "What did you do last night?" "Oh, I stayed at the APT all night, no big deal."



---
Steve G. of the YP

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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

All SHOW no GO? Not SO! Nike style with real-life applications.

As if I needed to tell anyone, Nike is a company known for marketing saavy and the daring idea. Many times this is all smoke-n-mirrors; lots of flash with barely enough substance to make it viable. In the late 90's they gained in fashion and style but they lost a lot of hardcore athletic types.

Well you can scratch that. Nike is now taking that style and flair and moving to gain back the true athlete that the company was built for and gain popularity with inthe 70s and 80s.

At nike.com alongside and intertwined with their bells and whistles advertorials, they have very real, very accessible "training" mini-sites that allow the user to not only get real athletic training programs and videos, but also buy the clothing seen in action. And vise versa you can pick apparel and then see it go to work. Very nice, VERY nice.





I'm a hard-core Adidas convert myself, but as is the case with many of us Nike was my default almost at birth. The homegrown giant that made every kid believe his turn was up next. I may be coming back "home" if this proves a constant growth area for Nike.

---
Steve G. - YALE PARK

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Pack it up, Pack it in, Let me begin... O'GIO Bags.

I'm a backpacker from my younger days. You know the kids who carried their lives in a dusty, beat up Eastpack. A range of items from Walkmans and music to crumpled up job apps from mall. I never really outgrew that means of carrying, call it nostalgia or the fact that I'm still that kid no matter how you dress me up.

Enter O'GIO.

These packs are the sickest example of urban mobility and the need to have your stuff with you and not back at the flat. With a range of packs from backpacks to duffels they've got the spectrum covered and the years of research behind them. I remember having an O'GIO mobile locker pack that was seriously a moving gym locker. That was 11 years ago and I wish I still had it!

This is my current O'GIO 'Nyquist' pack. This rather pedestrian looking backpack can actually fit my entire mobile office allowing me absolute mobility, absolutely. Books, papers, magazines, my 15" laptop and every cable, mouse and wire I'd ever need is in there. But here's the magic; it never gets bulky and fits slim to the back.



So impressed am I that I just ordered my new O'GIO 'Hip Hop' messenger pack in 'punk rock black' for my pending trip to NYC.



Don't sleep on O'GIO! Check out to peep the best options I've seen for mobile professionals.


---
SG of the YP.

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