Picture #310: "He knew he shouldn't..."

I was never actually a fan of bendy toys growing up, primarily for the reason that they generally can't stand on their own. The movement and pose-ability of action figures were always of great concern to me as a kid - I could never quite fathom why toy manufacturers chose to make figures which couldn't bend at the knees, raise their arms to the side, or even simply stand up or sit down. The G.I. Joe figures of the 80's were the ideal for my money - full joint articulation and they could (mostly) stand up. Of course, in reality, I never actually had that many action figures of any sort - my parents weren't big purchasers of toys; lots of socks and sweaters for holidays from my mom and from my dad... not much at all, actually.

All that said, Jack Skellington here is pretty cool for a bendy toy.

Today, I went back to Bikram Yoga for the first time in a long while. Actually, it was technically just "hot yoga" at Yoga to the People, since they're not officially licensed. Bikram Choudhury was never able to actually copyright his posture sequence, just the dialogue associated with it, but who needs specific dialogue? It just felt great to move through the practice again.

Afterwards, feeling looser and more relaxed than I have in ages, I went to catch a 1920's hot jazz band called The Hot Sardines at the rooftop bar of The Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. I generally hate the "scene" in the Meatpacking area now, mostly because of the shallow excess of it all, and partially because I can't afford any shallow excess. But there wasn't a cover and I'd caught the band playing on the subway platform before and knew how great they were, so I was happy to go stand at the bar and listen to them be awesome. I mean, they have a tap dancer as one of the musicians - what's not to like? Plus, the view from the Standard rooftop bar is nothing short of spectacular, and the bar itself, well... take a look.