Cheap 'n' Choosy Chelsea

Does it pass the test? +++ MOVIE: Bumble Razor Bob (4 min version, more hair action) The above, shorter, 2-min version also appears on the tikit on Trial page PHOTO GALLERY: Inside Bumble & Bumble +++ WITH HAIRCUTS in NYC ranging anywhere in price from $5.50 (yes I did see a sign somewhere and it said men AND women) to $250 , a free NY 'do is worth its weight in overgrown bangs. Bumble Model Project is a hip salon in the hipper-than-thou Meatpacking district with a 'university' that teaches experienced hairdressers from all over the country their signature 'razor bob' - a groovy haircut done with a traditional razor instead of scissors. Rather than use mannequins and wigs, they solicit willing guinea piglets form the freebie-lovin' public to be models, who thus get done for free. Super cheap and choosy if you're willing to give up your beloved Mamas, Papas and failed hippie look! Why a razor? It's supposed to 'take off the

Continuing my tikit on Trial experiments, my folding friend and I ventured to Robert DeNiro's new eaterie, Locanda Verde . The place isn't cheap, but it's certainly choosy. So how on earth does an upscale brunch qualify for this blog? Justin, the Leo DeCaprio lookalike who served "il-latterate" yours truly told me why straight coffee drinkers get refills and latte drinkers don't ... Fellow illatterates, you'll just have to watch the movie to find out. MOVIE: The tikit on trial at Locanda Verde More tikit on trial experiments Left: A Brompton and a Bike Friday tikit parked just inside, the BMWs, Mercs and Aston Martins are languishing nearby in the gutter.

That's what they charged me to take the waistline of my jeans in - and in about 10 mins flat. Nicely taken apart, cut, and re-sewn like new. Most other stores a few blocks west in Chelsea charge $15. $15 was the quote for tapering the delightfully garish florid Debra Rodman shift I got from my favorite consignment store, New and Almost New . But the job was done properly - armhole binding opened and restitched, not simply run up both sides like I would have done if my sewing machine was her instead of downunder. While I waited a woman brought in some green pants to be shortened and the hems were cut and sewn before she had a chance to sit down. "$5," said the cashier. "$4?" she ventured. "OK, $4." "You bargain here?" I asked her, incredulously. " I do," she said. Pensioners (or pensioner-apparents) can get away with anything! At $5 there can't have been a lot of profit in it. I just hope the workers are treated well. What's

Doncha hate maps that ... a) Tear along the creases, especially when flapping about on a windy street corner, and get soggy when wet b) Omit streets. I'm sorry, a useful map has to have EVERY STREET marked, to be called a map c) Are super detailed in some respects, but not the way you really need it d) Fold stupidly, so you can never get it folded right again I've discovered what I consider York's best map - all things considered being a freebie, assuming you can get your hands on one. It's by a company who call themselves NYTAB.COM - New York Travel Advisory Bureau, sounding as government-sanctioned as "Department of the Interior". The map concertinas to a nice, standard envelope shape that slips nicely into a pocket. The subway lines crystal clear. It names every street. The best feature is you can fold to precisely the area you're traveling in "page" forward or back with a simple flip as you go up or downtown. No massiv

Latest C'n'C tip comes appears on my Gal blog, in conjunction with my Traffic Cone bag. Take a look !

Looking like the mansion scene in "Eyes Wide Shut" with an orgy of socializing rather than shtupping, this cavernous restaurant/bar is total trip for the senses. It features a massive, chandelier-feastooned central dining room harking from some Edwardian era (or a Hollywood set thereof), flanked by little dark nooks and crannies and passageways crammed with people drinking and schmoozing and shouting about the meaninglessness of life and 30 Rock. It's like being in one of the big ballrooms of the Titanic before it sprung a leak. Best of all, unlike most nightspots in Chelsea, there's no velvet rope and unhappy attitude that goes with it - probably because it is a restaurant, not a nightclub, and restaurants always need all the chompers they can get. A server said "We're in the business of hospitality." And he said it with a genuine smile. Whoa! They clearly have a great boss or they're on drugs. You can always spot a bad boss - it comes out

MULTIMEDIA : $22 'do with the works @ Jun Salon "It's just hair." This, from a card-carrying hairdressing salon owner. It's a statement that might freak some cashed-up coiffsters right out, and put others at ease - like me. After umming and ahhing at spending $65-100+ on a trim in Manhattan I thought, there must be a cheaper, yet choosier, way. I mean, look at our Asian hair - straight as the highway to hell and in any color you like as long as it's black - what's so hard about that? I decided to try the well-reviewed-considering (see yelp.com) Jun Salon in Chinatown. Jun is an unpretentious gal who reminds me of one of my favorite gal cousins. She says she use to do $105+ Uptown cuts before she went cheap'n'choosy - and many of her clients followed her, not minding having to pick their way along the cracked and cabbage-strewn sidewalks of Chinatown for their discount 'do. There is something twee (we use the word 'daggy' downunder) a