nick gray dot net - my blog

This Blog No Longer Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:31:00 +0000

Please find my current internet postings here:

Flickr Photographs - www.flickr.com/photos/nickgray
Public Twitter - @nickgraynews
Private Twitter - @nickgray
Facebook - www.facebook.com/NewFriend
Vimeo - www.vimeo.com/nickgray/videos

tl;dr MEMORANDUM: I have used the Blogger webware to publish this personal blog on nickgray.net for over seven (7) years. It started as an easy way to publish camera phone photos from my Danger Sidekick. I think some of my best posts were from the summer of 2003 when I worked in Bangkok. A quick browse from the archives turns up such random things as my recount of Chinese Cop on Window Ledge Shoots Kidnapper in Head and even a congratulations to President Hugo Chavez (who I do not currently support).

I used this blog to think out loud - sometimes with very long, detailed posts that make no sense to me now. These days I publish a lot more bite-sized bits to Tumblr, Twitter, and Flickr.

Upcoming Travel to London

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:51:00 +0000

I will be in London, England this Friday, March 19th to Sunday night, March 21st.

Upcoming Travel to Rome and Milan

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:40:00 +0000

I will be in Italy from February 16th to February 21st, 2010. I plan to visit Rome, Milan, and a few cities in between. This is my third or fourth time visiting Milan but only my second visit to Rome. Most importantly, I plan to drive over 1600 km (1000 miles) in the country. This should be a challenge. I can't wait.

My Year in Cities (2009)

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:24:00 +0000

Last year, I slept at least one night in each of these places:

New York, New York *
Atlanta, Georgia *
Las Vegas, Nevada *
Bangkok, Thailand *
Phuket, Thailand
Jakarta, Indonesia
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Geneva, Switzerland
Basel, Switzerland *
Cologne, Germany
Dusseldorf, Germany
Austin, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Dallas, Texas
Biel, Switzerland
Breckenridge, Colorado

* Denotes multiple non-contiguous visits.
** Artwork by Patrick Moberg
*** Template via zachklein

Upcoming Travel to Johannesburg, South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:01:00 +0000

I will be working in Johannesburg from January 21st to February 1st. This is my second trip to South Africa and I am very excited.

One night down there - I am not sure when - I will have a party in Johannesburg. Probably near the Melville neighborhood, but ideally in Soweto. Am I naive and crazy? Yes. Will it be fun? Definitely.

Drop me an email or Facebook if you know anyone that I can invite.

Upcoming Travel to Dallas, Zurich, Atlanta, Denver

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:20:00 +0000

I live in New York City and will be traveling a lot more in 2010. Here are some upcoming trips:

Dallas, TX USA	Nov 24 - 27, 2009
Zurich, Switzerland	Dec 1 - 6, 2009
Atlanta, GA USA	Dec 22 - 24, 2009
Denver, CO USA	Dec 25 - 30, 2009
New York City	Dec 31st, 2009

Email me or Facebook message if you know anyone fun that I can meet for a quick cup of tea in Zurich. In exchange, I will teach them how to juggle or teach them five (5) fresh American slang words.

Video from Halloween 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:43:00 +0000

With the help of my good friend Danielle Strle, this year for Halloween I became Sexy Pharaoh - King of Egypt.

Me being all Sexy as a Pharaoh

News Updates from September 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:47:00 +0000

I wanted to share two cool news items that happened to me in September:

Meet Nick Gray, Thrower of ‘Culturally Significant’ Williamsburg Parties

Or some people just meet Nick Gray, who has styled himself as a sort of Lois Weisberg for the Tumblr age. Every month or so, Gray, who is 27 and lives in Williamsburg, has a party for a whole bunch of young people who are largely strangers. Some he's met on Facebook or through Tumblr. Some he meets at McCarren Park or Whole Foods or bowling; he hands them his card, which has his e-mail address on it, and adds them to his "Friends Newsletter," which gets sent out once a month and updates everyone on what his friends are doing... continued

Flight Display Systems Rated #1 in the Aviation International News 2009 Product Support Survey

Flight Display Systems' meteoric rise to the top of the AIN rankings is an impressive feat for the privately held company, founded earlier this decade with a single moving-map product. The company finished in fourth place overall in 2008, but that debut was good enough to make it the top vote getter among cabin electronics manufacturers. Since then the company, led by founder David Gray and fielding a stable of more than 50 FAA-approved cabin products, has been relentless in its efforts to ensure customer needs are being met and that its suppliers deliver top-notch components... continued

Two Pictures from Las Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:54:00 +0000

Made a visit to Las Vegas at the end of September to hang out with some guy friends. Here are two pictures from that trip.

Me, David, Tom, and Levi in Las Vegas on September 30th, 2009

David and Me on October 4th, 2009

Freelance Whales at my house party (Tea Party)

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:23:00 +0000

I had a really great party at my apartment on Thursday, June 11th 2009. Our musical guests, the Brooklyn band The Freelance Whales (MySpace), are largely responsible for the success of the evening. Their fun music had everyone in the audience begging for more. Here is some of the new media that my guests shared from the night.

Luke Crawford shot this video, which also appeared on his blog:

Justin Shaffer captured a lot of beautiful photographs, including these:

Courtney Lewis recorded this fantastic acoustic version of the Freelance Whales song Starrring, which you can click through to hear:

Many more of my friends took camera phone pictures of the band and posted them to their Tumblr accounts - Mattan, Chet (1), Chet (2), Janelle, Jonathan, and Kristen.

Janelle, Courtney, Soraya, Zach, and Chet all chimed in with positive feedback on Twitter:

Hopefully this band is going to blow up just like Passion Pit. Check them out on MySpace or on Facebook.

Upcoming Travel to Geneva, Switzerland and Cologne, Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Next week I will be exhibiting at the EBACE convention in Geneva, Switzerland. My dates in Geneva are May 10th to May 14th, 2009.

EBACE is the premier meeting place for the European business aviation community. The exhibition brings together business leaders, government officials, manufacturers, and corporate aviation department personnel... more info

Then I will be presenting and exhibiting at the Aircraft Electronics Association's Europe Regional Meeting in Cologne, Germany. My dates in Cologne are May 17th to May 20th, 2009.

Check out my work pictures from last year for a good laugh :)

Notes From 12 Hours in Seoul, South Korea

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Video (1:30) of my random Seoul clips

I arrived at Incheon Airport at 4am on April 9th and took a $15 bus to the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul, where my college friend Tiffany met me at 6am. Tiffany was my roommate's college girlfriend.
Her neighborhood is called Yongsan Itaewon and it is known as Seoul's foreigner district. Nearby is a large American military base and a small Korean base.
Picture of Tiffany in her apartment.
The first place we ate at was a fast food chain of Korean-style eating called Kim Bap Chong-u. I had beef noodle soup, along with the typical Korean side dishes. Those side dishes are kimchi, radish kimchi, seaweed, and chun (like a pancake!).

Kim Bap Chong-u ... Breakfast #1 - beef noodle soup

Afterwards we stopped to share a cup of coffee (Americano). This coffee was more than my breakfast - approx US$3. Coffee is really popular with Koreans.
We rode the subway next. Everyone seemed to be studying something! English vocabulary words, test preparation, law exams, work presentations, etc. Picture of people on the subway.
I get the impression that Seoul is really classy. It is clean, the people are largely well-dressed, everything just seems really tight and well-run. For example, the airport buses were right on time - exactly to the minute - both times I rode. Clearing customs and checking back in took me all of 10 minutes.
Speaking of how people dress... Girls there really like to doll it up. Like heels and skirts to work. And I saw a lot of guys in ties and slacks and nice shoes. Luxury brands are really big in Korea.
We got out at Angunk Station, where the Jung Row markets are. Before we cruised the market I made a stop to get some meat, egg, and toast sandwich (US$2). It was DELICIOUS. We also had a red ginseng drink (photo), which was interesting.
Finally we took a taxi to Hong-Dae. The taxis are really cheap - Tiffany said "everything is about a $5 taxi ride."
Hong-Dae is an eclectic neighborhood in Seoul. It was SO COOL. I walked around for hours with Tiffany... we stopped into a very good ramen noodle shop (picture) and also hung out in a chill cafe (video below).

Video of Tiffany's favorite Seoul Coffee Shop

That's it, then! I took a bus back to the airport to continue my journey to Bangkok.
In summary, I think that Korean people love waffles, studying, coffee, anything foreign, high heels, dresses, and sandals :)
If I had more friends in Korea, or if I had business and could make friends (such as through CouchSurfing), I would totally come back for a few days. There are a TON of restaurants and shops to explore... and the dollar is really strong in Korea right now.

Upcoming Travel to Jakarta and Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:43:00 +0000

On Sunday night I will be landing in Jakarta, Indonesia. I will be there in meetings from April 19th to April 22nd. Making a day trip on April 20th to Bandung.

Then on Wednesday night I will be arriving in Singapore. Staying April 22nd to April 26th ... hosted by the sister of my Mumbai friend Akshay. Meetings on Thursday and Friday then exploring on Saturday and Sunday.

This is my first time to both of these places - exciting! As always, if you know anyone cool in Jakarta or Singapore, please make an introduction for me via email or Facebook.

Upcoming Travel to Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:18:00 +0000

I will be in Bangkok, Thailand on April 10th, 11th, and 12th... staying near the Thong Lo BTS station. Then heading to Phuket area thru April 19th.

This is the first leg of my big Southeast Asia junket. Stay tuned for updates. Right now I am going to JFK to catch my flight to Seoul, where I have a 12-hour layover to explore the downtown.

My New Bicycle

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:34:00 +0000

So I finally got a new bike. Zach's friend Paul helped me pick this out on-line.

Scattante Emerald City Single Speed Road Bike (Courier Series)

We removed the fenders and chopped down the handlebars by an inch or so. Now I love riding it every day. When I am on it, I feel like this bike is an extension of my body. Sometimes I even ride it around my apartment :)

photo by Akiko

Are You a Web Designer? Freelance Work

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Enough people email me asking for web designer recommendations that I need to post this:

If you do PHP or MySQL or Rails or sweet Dreamweaver scripting... and if you are my friend in real-life or via on-line channels... please get in touch. Send me a message on Facebook with the following information:

Your website
Your favorite client site
and How much it cost

Feel free to use entrepreneurial license on the "How much your favorite site cost" part.

Upcoming Travel to Las Vegas and Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:31:00 +0000

I will be in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 5th to the 11th.

I will be in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia (30004 and 30041) from February 23rd to 27th.

Meeting Little Boots with Anthony Volodkin

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:50:00 +0000

On Friday night, my friend Anthony Volodkin and I met Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots. Little Boots has these great Tenori-on videos on YouTube that I saw a few months ago...

Now she has a growing music career and was visiting New York City's Studio B in Greenpoint for a midnight show. This blog Cheztune said,

Victoria Hesketh has no qualms about being a dance pop superstar... she and her tight band were upbeat, cute and delivered one punchy dance track after another.

So that was really fun - I enjoyed the venue and the show was great. But one interesting thing is that Anthony runs this website called The Hype Machine, which is pretty popular among music-lovers. Actually it was very popular with Little Boots and she was happy - nay, thrilled - to chat with Anthony after the show.

Anthony Volodkin and Little Boots

Victoria Hesketh and Nick Gray (aka ME)

My Photos from NYT Inauguration Party 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:48:00 +0000

On January 20th, 2009, the New York Times hosted a presidential inauguration party at the New Museum in Manhattan. Thanks Ashley and Sorya! We got a handful of invitations and had lots of fun.

Me and Gino, sporting our United States of America colors - PHOTO CREDIT UNKNOWN

Chet and I goofing around in the cool Facebook photo booth

Gino, Me, Chet, and Patrick

Upcoming Travel to Milan, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:26:00 +0000

I will be in Milan on Thursday and Friday, November 20 & 21. Then I return to NYC on Saturday morning. I will be working during the day, but looking to make some friends and see the town at night. Please email me if you know anyone fun or have sightseeing suggestions.

Right now I am packing my bags in Paris to depart for five days in Switzerland. Fully booked schedule through Lausanne, Geneva, Basel, and Zurich.

Check out some of my Paris photos on Flickr. I have really enjoyed my time here - expect some more updates and random city notes soon.

Upcoming Travel to Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:47:00 +0000

I will be in Paris, France from November 12 to November 15th. That is this Wednesday through Saturday! Please email me if you know any full-time residents who enjoy showing visitors their town.

Right after Paris I am going on a whirlwind business tour of Switzerland, then two meetings in Milan. I will post another blog entry for those dates soon.

2008 England Slang

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:56:00 +0000

I collected all of these slang words during my brief visit to London in September 2008.

Oh my days! like "Oh my gosh!"
joke as in ... "that is well joke" ... meaning funny
"Doing my head in"
"Sweet as a nut"
"Sound as a pound"
___ is pants means something is bad
Slag = skank
Yardie = 100m

Process credit cards using your iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:34:00 +0000

My friend Derek made this new software for the iPhone, Credit Card Terminal. I think it is really cool for tech-savvy small business owners.

Turn your iPhone into a mobile virtual terminal for charging customers� credit cards... through our partner, Authorize.Net.

Upcoming Travel to Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:43:00 +0000

I am in Orlando, Florida this week for the National Business Aviation Association 2008 Meeting. This is the biggest business aviation trade show in the entire world.

Arrived last Friday morning and will depart on Thursday afternoon (October 9th). This is my fourth or fifth year attending this show. It is always the biggest marketing event for our company so I am quite motivated.

By the way, I finished uploading all of my pictures from South Africa. Also check out this short video from my tea party on Thursday.

Random Notes from Cape Town

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:35:00 +0000

At first I felt unsafe and cold in Cape Town. Walking around this colonial and very modern city... if you have never been surrounded at a crosswalk by a bunch of very black people speaking a foreign language... that can be interesting.
After making friends with a few locals I have seen a deeper side of Cape Town, and I really like it here.
My new buddies have names like Skylar, Wilding, Molote, and Sarika. They have taken me to brais (backyard BBQs), briefed me on the ANC (Nelson Mandela's political party), toured a beautiful beach, and taught me some slang.
Slang... ambiguous use of the word "now." South Africans will say "I'll see you now" or "I am doing it now," and now can mean 5 to 10 to 45 minutes.
Slang... To express urgency, you can say "now now." Example, "I am outside your door - OK I will see you now now."
Slang... Another cool phrase is �It�s not a train smash� which means like �It�s no big deal.� example�. Hey I am running late -- OK, it�s not a train smash.
Slang... Instead of "bro," for Brother people say it like the word "brew."
The BBQ (brai) is a serious part of the South African food and social culture.
South Africans are the best grill masters that I have ever met. I have been to a few BBQs now at people�s houses and they are all AMAZING. Choice meat and great seasoning.
The Zulu language is interesting. They have these three types of clicks and tongue-pops that are just so amazing to hear in conversation. Learning about dental, palatal, and lateral tongue clicking was one of those very special travel experiences where I realized how little I know about the world. These kinds of things really make me excited to travel again.
More photos here. (currently 30 photos from Cape Town)