Chinatown & Little Italy

It was a beautiful day for some good 'ol New York city exploration!  Along our route we passed by the Manhattan Bridge.  

First stop was Vivi Bubble Tea!  I highly recommend getting down there to try the Bubble Milk Black Tea buy one get one FREE! 

Then we skipped on over to Tasty Dumpling Inc.. My personal favorite! If you haven't had pan fried chive and pork dumplings then get on over there! Filling and cheap we all hung out and munched on these delicious little devils.  5 Tasty Dumplings for $1.25

Lastly, we explored the Elizabeth Center Mall. If your a fan of any anime or highly popular international show(s) your bound to find various  cute accessories and kick-knacks to interest you. The stores in this mall are so colorful and full that we had to really take our time to admire everything. 

On our way back to the dorms we traveled through Little Italy which was still in full swing with the San Gennaro Festival.  The food stands in Little Italy were so delicious looking and sweet smelling that I was tempted to buy MORE food to just have a taste.

Overall, we had a great time and I highly encourage some more exploration of China Town and Little Italy. You never know what great shops you may find.

Manhattan Mini Storage Takes a Stance

You know it's an election year when storage places are getting into the mix! Only in New York City!

Brooklyn Bridge Walk

Life in New York can be so fast paced that people need to stop and take a break. NYC is one of the biggest and most exciting islands in the world and people tend to forget that there is an outside to it. Bridge Walk is a monthly event where RA Adam takes residents across the bridges of NY to explore the rest of the area. 

A few days ago the Bridge Walk Club went to BROOKLYN. The views were crazy awesome and the company was lovely. We had some daredevils attempt to jump off the bridge and the other RA's shook their butts all the way across. The lights along the skyline were mesmerising and the buildings were unbelievable. We managed to get some ice-cream and even check out the Brooklyn docks too! If you didn't come you definitely missed out but lucky for you there will be another Bridge Walk in two weeks!

Model Night

Ludlow Collective got together to draw a nekkid lady for 3 hours on Thursday.

Kaffine and Konversation!

On Wednesday, September 19th, residents of Ludlow gathered for the noblest of causes; that which is known by many, understood by few... Drinking lots of really strong coffee late at night and talking really fast and then subsequently getting tons of work done! They also learned how incredibly easy it is to cold brew coffee for much cheaper then any store could offer. All in all fun was had by all!

This was also Ludlow's first event to raise money for our fall semester charitible organization, the Fugee's Family.  We raised $11!  Not a bad start!

HOLY COW GUYS! Did you know Vincent Van Gogh was probably color blind?!

Sooo my older brother, Abel, is color blind. Thankfully, for him and for my sanity, he is not the kind of color blind that can't see any colors and just sees life in black and white. His color blind is the kind where he gets colors that have similar values confused like greens and browns as well as purples and blues.

 I say for my sanity because as an artist I feel that being color blind is one of THE worst things that can possibly happen to you (aside from losing your eyes and hands in a freak accident or getting carpal tunnel that is). What if you're painting and you think the color you mixed is a nice brown and you think it's a masterpiece and it's hanging up and then someone tells you the girl has olive green hair?!! Everyone will make fun of you that is what's gonna happen! But seriously.. it's one of my ultimate fears to suddenly realize I am color blind.

I am convinced you can't be a successful artist if you are. My fears aside; there is talk that Vincent Van Gogh might have been color blind. The image you see above is his famous starry night. One seen under regular lighting, the other seen under a chromatically filtered light. Read the rest of these articles about Van Gogh and his suspected colorblindness. As well as Monet's ultraviolet eye. Play around with the different apps and websites that let you see what a color blind person would see and thank the almighty heavens you don't have such a drastic color deficiency.

FLIGHT CLUB NYC

        Flight Club is one of my personal favorite places to pick up a dope pair of fly kicks. If you are going to wear sneakers they might as well be awesome as hell right?!  

What makes this place so awesome? FCNY is not your ordinary sneaker store, they offer shoes that have never been worn from the past, so you can pick up a pair of sneaks that were in production in the 90’s that may have been discontinued, in brand new condition.  

Stitch 'n Bitch

RA Corie and 12 other residents had a bitch'n time during Stitch 'n Bitch last Wednesday. Crocheting, sewing, and paper art could be seen by all in the community room that night. RA Mike and Shaun even joined to work on some of there projects!

While RA Corie taught crocheting and conversed animatedly, RA Mike sewed some patched to his bag.

This meetings beverage was Root-beer and Cream-soda floats!

Zumba!

For those of you who did not attend Zumba, we have to tell you that you missed out on some sweaty fun!!!!

On Monday, Sept. 8th RA Irving hosted a Zumba class in the common room. In attendance we had five awesome RA's!

If you were afraid of coming because you've never danced before, well let me tell you that you have nothing to worry about because RA Irving will work with you to get all the steps! And the beauty about Zumba is that you always follow along! 

At the end of the class all the RA's wanted to learn some of the moves from Gangnam Style video, we learned 20 seconds of the last part of the video! We had a blast! 

Come to the next Zumba class on October 15th @ 8PM!

Playing with Your Noggin

On Sunday the 16th at 7:00pm the Ludlow Community room was overtaken by uproarious, competitive, and nearly insane residents engaging in a life changing game of Cranium. RA Jessie hosted the rambunctious event and nearly lost her mind trying to claim the win with her equally competitive partner Brian.

Keyana & Joseph showing off their King Kong sketch.

At the beginning of the game, it seemed like team RA Adam would win, but in a surprise turn of events Brian and RA Jessie ended up in the gauntlet with RA Shaun, Kane, and Jennifer. While two teams were duking it out, Keyana and Joseph had yet to move past the starting line. Fortunately, Keyana's stunning drawn rendition of King Kong put them in the race.

After two hours of sweat, tears, and anguish the first Gang's Game Night had come to a close with a clear winning team. Congratulations RA Shaun, Kane, and Jennifer for the win! But no, I will not let you win next time. ;)

Join us on the next Gang's Game Night on Oct. 21st @ 7:00pm! Get ready to lose.

The Cranium Winners! (Kane, Jennifer, RA Shaun)

Tense thinking involved.

The beautiful artwork we ended up with.

Grad / Undergrad MIXER

Mr. Sun was shining this past Sunday, 

And Ludlowians came out to play,

Grad students went on the Terrace,

Oh it was such a beautiful day.

Undergrad students came to talk, 

They met up and mingled and ate, 

Pizza, lollipops, drinks and more, 

It was such a perfect date. 

Chitter chatter about the future, 

College, careers and what's after? 

Asking questions and getting answers, 

Even squeezed in some smiles and laughter. 

The wind was getting chilly now, 

And everything was done, 

I hope that all the people came, 

Had lots of Ludlow fun!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Until my recent move to New York I’ve been in transit. The summer started in New Haven, near the Connecticut coastline. A plane ride later and I was Costa Rica conducting art therapy groups with school-aged children. With new stamps in my passport I went back to work stateside at MoMA PS-1, the contemporary art museum in Long Island City, for Warm-Up. Thousands of people flocked to the museum each Saturday for music, dancing, and new works by artists Max Brand, Lara Favaretto, and Zackary Drucker. After another plane ride I found myself wandering around Münich watching surfers wipe out on the Eisbach river and standing face to face with Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait.

With the semester about to begin I’m looking to further explore New York. I’ve compiled a list of low-cost (mostly free) things to do in the weeks to come:

Lonely Planet “40 Free things to do in NYC”

Time Out New York “Free things to do in NYC”

NYC the Official Guide “Free in NYC”

National Geographic “Free things to do in NYC”

The L Magazine “25 cheap things to do in NYC”

Fodor’s “Free things to do in New York City”

Kitchen Repaint! Thanks, Ludlow Collective!

At the recent Ludlow Collective meeting, Ludlow residents asked to have the kitchen painted to warm the place up.  And here it is!  Thanks Ludlow Collective!!!  Make sure to join our next meeting, Thursday, October 4, 9 pm in the Community Room!

 

San Gennaro Parade

Cannolis!!

We were inches away from the parade!

This past Saturday, me and several other Ludlownians headed to Little Italy for the Feast of San Gennaro. We got there with time to eat amazing fried oreos and cannolis! There were so many food options, it was hard to pick what we wanted to eat! Not long after we ate our awesome food, the grand procession parade began. Me and my fellow Ludlownians ended up right next to the parade, literally inches away from the fancy cars, floats, and marching bands that passed by. It was a super fun experience! The festival will go on until the 23rd this month, so if you missed out make your way down there and get some delicious food! 

on our way there

Ludlow Collective Gallery Night

The Ludlow Collective met up for the second time last week to go see some brand spanking new gallery shows! NYC is the center for upcoming artists and new talent.

If you want to find out about shows that are open now or soon to be then check out ArtCards.  Join the Collective on the second Thursday of October and well hit up some more awesome shows!  

Here are some images from our night!:

playing with the art
at "The Fall Show"

Alex, Samm, and Keyana at Salon 94
on Freeman's Alley. (missing Zarah)

naked man on the freight elevator
at "The Fall Show"

Concrete tubes and one fast dude

You know what I really hate? Well okay I hate a lot of things but one of the things I really REALLY hate is taking the train. The entire process of descending into the putrid cesspool of sweat, rats, and alligator farts. Packing my body into a loud metal tube that will then travel through a network of other concrete tubes, frequently stopping for no reason and possibly containing human fecal matter.

Photo by Mike Morelli on 1st Ave near 4th st

This does not appeal to me, not to mention the fact that the train I want will doubtlessly be either A) Canceled for the small block of time in which I need it to be running, B) Be running on a completely different track or C) Make all stops except the one I'm getting off at.

  Some people say, "But Mike! What about busses?" To this I respond "What are busses?" I waited at a 'bus stop' for an hour once and I didn't see a thing.


You know what I do like? A lot? Being completely liberated, able to move freely through traffic, on any street, and go as fast or as slow as I like with the wind in my face and the sun on my skin. Feeling the seamless connection of man an machine, and cracking 30mph before I even get to class. I also like laughing at gridlocked motorists. A lot.

Long story short this is a shameless plug for everyone to get a bike and ride it everywhere all the time like me.

"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man.  Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish.  Only the bicycle remains pure in heart."  ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

Sunbathing @ Pier 45!

Saturday, September 8th a morning that started with clouds and rain, in the end it turned out to be a sunny afternoon and a great time to enjoy the sun out in the Pier. 

        

RA Irving and Ludlow resident ZoHa Babazadeh still decided to adventure out to the pier and they had an amazing time! They took in all the sun that they could while enjoying the beautiful views that Pier 45 has to offer. After sunbathing they came across a Festival that was happening on 6th Avenue and they bought some really delicious food! 

          

First they started with grilled chicken dipped in a spicy peanut sauce! For our cain course they shared a Mushroom and Spinach Crepe with Lemonades! Lastly they decided to shop around!

It was a very fun time at the Pier and at the unexpected festival! 

Memo's from Nicole: Laundry Room & Guests

Memo: Laundry Room & Guests

Dear Ludlow Residents,

               I have been receiving some complaints regarding the number of guests using the laundry.  Your guests are allowed to use the laundry, but please be respectful of the residents who live here that also need to use the laundry room.  If you are having a guest over that needs to do laundry, please try to do it during a non-peak time and make sure that they retrieve their laundry in the appropriate amount of time. 

Also, you need to be with your guest at ALL TIMES.  Guests left unattended will be asked to leave.  Thank you!

Non Peak Times are:

Before 10 am

After 11 pm

Wednesday – Friday from 12 – 3 pm

If you’d like to view peak times, go to Laundry View and select “view weekly stats” from the right hand side of the screen.  http://www.laundryview.com

Best wishes,

Nicole Shillings

Ludlow Residence Hall Director

(212) 592-2217

nshillings@sva.edu

Facebook: LudlowLiveWire

Blog: Ludlow Live Wire

Twitter: LudlowLiveWire

Ludlow Genius Bar

Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Pintrest, Snail mail, Gmail, iPhone, text message, MySVA... there is so much technology to keep track of and there are so many ways to communicate. In case you missed it, the Ludlow Genius Bar hosted by RA Bethany, provided residents with an opportunity to:

- Get SVA and MTA alerts sent right to their phones

- Put SVA email into one account to check on a regular basis

- Add the Ludlow social calendar to their email or iPhone

- Sign up for social networking groups

- Get their student loan checks, schedules, bills, and other important school documents sent to their Ludlow in-boxes (instead of addresses out of state)

- Have a convenient card (in five stylish colors) with emergency numbers at your fingertips

Extra emergency cards will be available in the RA office during office hours.

Ferry Ride to IKEA

RA Adam and RA Shaun had gotten 24 Ludlow Residents to join us on this BEAUTIFUL afternoon to IKEA. Even RHD Nicole had tagged along as well! That's like the President of Ludlow! We all set out for the M15 downtown to where we could caught the Taxi Ferry to the Brooklyn IKEA. Oh and did I forget to mention that it was FREE! As soon we arrived to IKEA both RA Adam and RA Shaun mentioned to the Ludlowians that they would both be taking the 4pm Ferry back to Manhattan if they weren't sure how to get back alone. Many of the Residents went straight to the cafeteria before setting out into the Maze of IKEA. Once you enter there's no turning back. Eventually it was time to wait for the Ferry Taxi and head back, it wasn't that long of a trip but it took alot outta of everyone. This program was very Successful and alot of our Residents had fun!

A small rice cooker can go a long way

It is about 6 inch tall and 8 inch wide

When I found out that I would be living here at Ludlow, the first thought occurred to me was: “oh man…. how am I going to cook rice?”  

I had few friends who lived in Ludlow and I was well aware of very much inconvenient rule that the rice cooker was not allowed in Ludlow residence hall… and imagine my excitement upon finding out that this year the rule has been changed and the rice cooker is no longer against the policy!!! Yay!!! Because I had left my rice cooker at home, the first thing I did after moving in and learning good news was to get my new rice cooker. One option was to get a “proper" rice cooker, which costs well above hundred dollars, but sadly for a student with a low budget, I quickly realized it was not my option. So I opted for a rather economic rice cooker I had found at Kmart (just under $20!). I was a little skeptical about it at first, but fortunately, the rice cooker proved me wrong.  

                                          

And here are some progress shots I took while the rice was cooking:

For cooking a semi-brown rice, the whole process took only about 20-25 min.  Yes the rice is not as fluffy as it would have been had it been cooked in more fancy and expensive rice cooker, but for what it's worth, I find it as an amazing alternative. 

Plus, I can also steam vegetables and dumplings (it came with a little basket thingy so the vegetables can be suspended above a boiling water) and even better, I can also cook ramen in it!!! If you guys want to know more about the rice cooker or cooking with a rice cooker in general, feel free to stop by or shoot me questions on a comment section.

First Friday Film and Food: Pulp Fiction

Jules: Do you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules: Tell him, Vincent.
Vincent: Royale with cheese.
Jules: Royale with cheese. Do you know why they call it a Royale with cheese?

Residents who attended the first installment of the First Friday Film and Food series with RA Bethany learned the answer to this question, and many others, after viewing Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction on the Terrace drive-in style. Mini Royales with cheese were served fresh from the grill. 

Each first Friday of the month we'll be serving up a different film and serving an iconic food from that film. Mark your calendar for Friday, October 8th at 8:00 PM, when we'll be showing the Breakfast Club. Bring your bag lunch (sandwich, sushi, Cap'n Crunch, etc.) to the Community Room and we'll provide the Pixie Styx. It will be much more fun than detention, see you there!

Mac & Cheese Wednesday!

   Wednesday September 5th was RA Shaun's first Mac & Cheese night! This event was a HUGE success! Ludlow Residents came down to the Common room and waited patiently for their share of that golden noodle! Everyone seemed so excited for this event and it makes us RA's of Ludlow very happy to see our Residents enjoying themselves! Unfortunately many of our Residents missed out on Wednesdays Mac & Cheese night. Luckily RA Shaun has two more Mac & Cheese programs lined up for this semester! 

Next Mac & Cheese Wednesday is October 10th 2012! There will be more Mac & Cheese this time around! I bring the Mac you bring the rest!

Save the date: October 10th @ 9PM in the Common Room! 

High-school Musical

Recording my first CD at Lands Creek Recording Studios many years ago...

I was voted "most musical" as one of my senior superlatives in high school. I never performed in an actual "high school musical"; I did, however, actively play music all throughout high school. I wrote my first song for my 7th grade health class, and I recorded it to a tape with my 4-track tape recorder. That's practically vintage now! I won the high school talent show a few times; first time being my freshman year for a song I wrote about the Tsunami catastrophe of 2004. Throughout my high school years, I played several coffee houses, I played for events like pageants and weddings, and of course the talent show every year. 

Playing at a coffee shop at Nazareth College a few years back

The summer before my senior year, I went on a family vacation to visit my aunt living in North Carolina. She had always supported me and wanted me to professionally record my music. So, being the amazing aunt that she is, she paid for me to spend 2 days in a professional recording studio and track 5 of my songs. Of course when I listen to it now, I can only be amused at the many little flaws (that hopefully no one else notices) and the teenage-angsty topics I wrote about– as I was only 17 when this was recorded. I am proud that I can say I have a cd, even if it's 5 years old at this point! For anyone who's interested in hearing bits of it, you can preview the songs at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rebeccaliebert. If for some crazy reason anyone wants full songs, let me know and I'll hook you up! ;)

Sunday Funday!

R.A. Adam Loving Life

Ludlow residents had their ice cream cravings satisfied on Sunday night during R.A. Brent's Sundae Sunday event! A large group of the Ludlow community showed up to indulge in the delicious spread of Ice cream and candy toppings. Not only did the residents get to indulge in a tasty treat, everyone who attended was able to hang out and get to know each other a little better.

Ludlow Collective First Meeting

Ludlow Collective hosted their second event (YAY) and first meeting Thursday September 6th!

The Collective gets together every first Thursday of the month to just hang out or talk about any issues or ideas they have to improve the community within the building.

This past Thursday we had our first meeting!  There were a combination of undergrad and graduate SVA students, Kings College Students and NYC interns.  We had snacks and discussed a bunch of different things.

This week we talked about: 

• Painting and decorating the kitchen
• Getting a triangle for the pool table
• Having some art work in the community room
• Getting a ping pong table
• Getting speakers for the TV in the community room
• Hosting a Pot Luck Dinner
• Having a community drawing wall
• Hosting a Pool and Foosball Tournament to raise money for the Fugee Family (Ludlow Charity)

So if you feel like you can help out with any of these things or this seems like a group that you would like to hang out with for an hour on Thursday nights, come on by October 4th for our next Ludlow Collective meeting.

See you on the flip side ;)