jefF-STOP: new york

Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts

3/31/09 - NYC for a Day

	MOVIE - "Hunger" -apple- ART - "Happy Days" -fox- LOCAL - No State Support
	U.S. - Sinking dollar FRANCE - Parisian window pics -flickr- WEB - Nifty print ads -ad sneeze-

MOVIE NEWS - "Hunger" is already out in very limited release. Seeing the trailer for this serious film, about a group of 10 already gaunt-looking prisoners sacrificing their lives on a 60+ day hunger strike in Ireland in 1981, made me think that a hunger strike in the U.S. today would last a whole lot longer. -apple-

"Way Faster-er and Totally Furious-er" is out...race you to the theater.

ART NEWS - 3/31 - 4/5 "Happy Days" -fox- A pricey stage musical of the old TV stand-by? Pay money to watch a TV show on stage? Sounds like a "Fonzi" scheme. -review-

4/3 - Shen Wei Dance Arts, "This brilliant New York-based company, featured in the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics" -ferst- Not like those printing press/abacus people...you get to see these dancers.

LOCAL NEWS - NO STATE SUPPORT - While our Atlanta transportation authority, MARTA, is trying to convince the state legislature that it is an asset for the entire state (MARTA is the only major transit agency in the nation that receives no regular, significant state funding"), it seems NYC is having the same problem funding its system -nyt-

DROUGHT'S OVER - According to the state's chief climatologist, the drought is officially over. Someone tell the Piedmont Park Conservancy...can we move Pride back to June, please? -ajc-

U.S. NEWS - Sinking dollar - In light of the failing strength of the U.S. dollar, China wants some world body to administer one world monetary unit; not a single country's currency. What currency? The "Earth-o"? I thought we already had a universal currency...isn't it called "gold"?

FRANCE NEWS - Parisian window pics -flickr-

WEB NEWS - Nifty print ads -ad sneeze-

...the rest of the story...

12/14/08 - NYC

	MOVIE - "Ben Button" ART - JC Superstar Gospel LOCAL - Brian Nichols lives -ajc- NYC - If you can make it there...
	U.S. - Last Christmas Bush -nyt- FRANCE - Person of the Year -lemonde- WEB - MoMA Design Store -shop-

MOVIE NEWS - The director of "Fight Club", the writer of "Forrest Gump", conceived by F.S. Fitzgerald and starring Brad Pitt...perfect, right? I've only seen a preview, but it seems like a fantastical and philosophical telling of one man's life journey in reverse - like Big Fish, but backwards. Promising. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

ART NEWS - We got to a hear a preview selection this morning from the gospel version of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Midtown Alliance yearly meeting. Dunno if I'll love it, because it's another way to enjoy a Broadway show I love, or if I'll hate it, precisely because it isn't the exact same show. I'll give it a try - I enjoyed both "Aida" and "The Color Purple". -Alliance Theater-

LOCAL NEWS - If frickin' Georgia can't sentence a person to death whose 4-victim killing spree was practically broadcast on television, then why have capital punishment at all? According to the Georgia Dept. of Corrections, it can cost as much as $18,250 per year to house a maximum security prisoner. We can pay for Brian Nichols to be in prison for 3 years, or we can buy "his and hers life-size Lego sculptures" from Neiman Marcus. -ajc- -GDOC- -neiman marcus christmas book-

NYC NEWS - 12 Broadway shows closing, 100,000 Wall Street jobs lost, MTA fares going up, Hillary stepping down, 62 degrees one day and snow the next, $40 dinner entrees, Harry Potter naked, $1000/sq ft real estate, $700/month parking - If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere.

U.S. NEWS - Obama's on the way in...how far will he take the "green" promise of his campaign? Will we at last find out which is greener - a cut tree or a plastic one? Until then, we have the last Christmas Bush -nyt-

FRANCE NEWS - Person of the Year, Obama -lemonde-

WEB NEWS - So our friend Martha says "darling, if you are going to MoMA, you've got to go into the design store there and get the "banana holder"...seriously, it's brilliant! It's plastic and it opens up so you can store a banana inside without it getting bruised. I'm not kidding...it's perfect for kiddies lunch boxes." No, seriously Martha...I'm going to buy this from MoMA for someone under the age of 21? -shop-

...the rest of the story...

ATL 12/10/07 - Xanadu

Christmas in Hawaii, 1980. We had just lost mom's parents that year, so we went to Hawaii with her sister for a fresh start on the holidays. My hair is so styling that you can barely see my eyes, but I've ditched the eyeglasses upon starting my Junior year in High School. I also seem to be at least 75% leg. (Next week - Junior/Senior Prom, 1981).

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge - Manhattan Bridge / The towers / The view midway

Eco/Green windows at Barney's - Xmas icons from recycled materials

Rockefeller Center Rink / Tree / Friends

Bryant Park - The weather gave everyone a runny nose / Tree / Kid's tables

Grand Central

NYC tree stand / Our entire room (really!) at Night Hotel / "Did we like the New Museum?"

Cheyenne Jackson - mega-super-rollerskate-a-licious star of Xanadu - hearts us!

MOVIE/ART/NYC/LOCAL/NATIONAL/WEB NEWS

MOVIE NEWS - "I Am Legend" & "The Kite Runner" are opening this week. In the battle of the tag lines, it's "The last man on earth is not alone" vs. "There is a way to be good again."

I have read both books.

(According to Imdb, this is Will Smith's 3rd movie beginning with "I", after "I, Robot" and "Independence Day". Eight of his other films have "I" in them. "Ali" is his only movie ending in "I". There are two "I"s in Will Smith.)

There are no "I"s in Jeffrey Keesee.

ART NEWS -There is an advanced screening of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" at the High tonight. Buzz is that it's the front-runner forBest Foreign Film Oscar.

NYC NEWS - What they wanted us to know about NYC - We met 2 types of New Yorkers; the ones who pleaded 'Don't vote for Rudy' and those who implored 'Don't vote for Hillary'.

What they wanted to know about ATL - 'What's the drought like?'

Celebrity Sighting - We sat right behind Miss Angela Landsbury at "Xanadu". T first recognized her, passing the word onto S, then to me, and on to D. As D. started typing into his cellphone to activate the camera feature, he said "OMG, what should we do?" S. sensibly replied, "Nothing. We are going to leave her in peace and she's going to enjoy a nice evening of live theater with her husband." Good answer.

Headlines - Air travel is an issue; the story headlined 'U.S to limit air traffic at JFK' in Tuesday's paper accompanied a 2nd story on a near collision there on Sunday.

Local celebrities - Friends nicknamed a certain national morning news program's weatherman 'Sam Trampoline'.

Overheard - Diner - Yes, I know I'm a control freak & yes I've been called a dictater. 'Me, too, except for the tater part.'

Overheard 2 - Bartender - I'm starting to lose my patience. 'So's Kervorkian.'

Toilets 1 - An article in New Yorker announced the imminent arrival of new pay public toilets. The were contracted out along with new bus shelters and newsstands - the newsstands are in place, but the commodes were late arriving, as it seems the Italians were still tweeking them.

Toilets 2 - At least one company has turned the lack of public accommodation into an advertising opportunity. Who better than Charmin to sponsor free public restrooms in Times Square?

Eco-shopping in NYC - Environmentally friendly canvas shopping tote from Barney's - $295.00. Pigment dyed canvas shoes from Daffy's - $23.99. (Didn't get a lot of shopping done at B's...)

3 day tour of NYC - Toured B'lyn Hts, walked the bridge, saw the 5th Ave windows, "Xanadu" w/ Cheyenne Jackson, show tunes at a piano bar, "The Ritz" w/ Rosie Perez (& Ryan Idol), Italian food with 'Mama' & a former 'Cat', skating in Bryant Park, shopping lower B'way, fabulous party, Lips, and more piano bar. Whew!

LOCAL NEWS -Cool photos of Downtown Decatur.

MARTA stopped running the closest thing we have to a "trolley", the Tourist Loop Bus. What distinguished that bus from any other MARTA bus you'd see on the street? Not a damn thing. It didn't have a distinctive look (like San Francisco's open-sided cable car), it didn't have an easy way to identify its destinations (like the big, graphic map on the side of each Parisian autobus), and it didn't seem readily available (running only every 30 minutes).

Hopefully the proposed Atlanta Streetcar could overcome those obstacles. MARTA claims they just didn't have the demand for the dedicated route, but I have to wonder - which came first, the rider or the bus?

NATIONAL NEWS -Mudslides in Oregon, ice storms across the entire Midwest, heat wave in the south...by all means, Mr. President, let's send a non-cabinet member delegate to the enviro-talks in Bali...

FRENCH NEWS -The french used to dominate the cultural world...under Sarkozy they are trying to play a little "catch-up". Many French believe the country and its culture have been in decline since — pick a date: 1940 and the humiliating German occupation; 1954, the start of the divisive Algerian conflict; or 1968, the revolutionary year...former French cultural attaché Frédéric Martel marvels at how the U.S. can produce so much "high" culture of lofty quality with hardly any government support..

WEB NEWS -I can't help thinking I should be looking for a job like this guy is - "One Week Job". Week #31 is the Georgia Aquarium!

Go vote for your favorite Christmas photo! Atlanta Insider.

...and view your favorite local volunteer group in action (starring my sweetie!)

...the rest of the story...

Xmas Windows - Manhattan vs. Defiance

Having had the fantastic luck to visit both New York City AND Defiance, Ohio during the Christmas season, I'd thought I'd share that good fortune with my loyal reader by posting Christmas windows from both cities.

(NOTE: If anyone has any trouble figuring out which windows are "Bergdorf Goodman" and "Saks" and which are "Bridal Elegance" and "Defiance Area Youth For Christ", just shoot me an email.)