Hakuna Matata

September hosts Back 2 Broadway in NYC to welcome the new season.  The event allows free tours in select theatres, a festival in Times Square where they preview shows, concerts, etc.  We were out of town or busy for most events, however we were able to tour the Minskoff Theatre.

The Minskoff Theatre, designed by Kahn and Jacobs, was built in 1973 and is located on 45th and Broadway.  It has been the host to musicals, dance companies, concerts, and even the Miss Universe pageant in 1981.  The Minskoff is a post war theatre and built on the premise that what is on stage should take, well, center stage.  The walls were left white and bare.  The only design element were the silver domes for the lights.  In fact Kahn and Jacobs specifically requested it remain this way and for interior "desecrators" to never touch his design.

However, their wishes had to be ignored when the theatre began housing The Lion King.  According to our proctor it took six months to refurbish the theatre in order to house the show.  The main lobby now features hand painted, gold-leaf sculpted tablets and large colorful murals.  On the escalator wall there is a large (~30 feet tall) wooden lion face on a red wall.  The theatre is no longer void of decorations, completely the opposite.

Personally, I still prefer the character and charm of an old theatre.  But it's all the same when the lights go down right?

 

Ace of Cakes

On Friday evening I went to meet a buddy for happy hour at a bar in Times Square.  It just so happened they were hosting a party for the Anime festival in town.  It definitely provided an excellent opportunity for people watching.  At one point I saw a bunch of folks taking pictures so I walked over to see what the hoopla was about.  I came back joking with my buddy that they were taking pictures of books and figurines on a table and that people will take pictures of anything.

Well we come to find out that what they were taking pictures of was a cake made by Charm City Cakes.  Charm City Cakes is home to the Food Network television show, Ace of Cakes.  Ace of Cakes is a pretty cool program where they make very intricate and specialized cakes for events.  If interested their web site is - Charm City Cakes.  I honestly did not think it was a cake and was very impressed to learn it was.  Good job Duff and crew.

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After Miss Julie

After Miss Julie is currently in previews at the Roundabout Theatre in Times Square and will be showing through December 6th.  We were fortunate enough to receive comp tickets to last night's performance and had excellent seats.  It was also special because it was the first show we've been able to see since moving to New York.

After Miss Julie is set in a large country estate outside of London in July, 1945. The British Labour Party had just won their famous landslide election victory over Winston Churchill's Conservative party promising radical change and reform.  The production features Sienna Miller as Miss Julie, a young woman who seduces her wealthy father's chauffeur, whom is soon to marry another woman. (Personally, I found this somewhat ironic because this isn't too far from her recent paparazzi captured rendezvous with a married Balthazar Getty)  The chauffeur is played by Johnny Lee Miller, whom you may recall as Sick Boy from Trainspotting and the lead in the sitcom, Eli Stone.  Marin Ireland, a Tony Award nominee, plays the scorned woman and has been in numerous theatre productions.

We really liked the play and were really happy we were able to see it.  It was nice to see formal theatre as the last shows we've seen have been musicals and theatrical displays (i.e. Stomp, Avenue Q, Fuerzabrutta, etc).  Here there was nothing to hide behind and talent takes center stage.  I found Sienna's performance very honest and believable for her largest theatrical role.  I thought Marin Ireland shined in her role, with her experience being very evident in her facial expressions, tone, and stage presence during silent scenes.

(pics to be uploaded soon)

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VMAs return to NYC and welcome the drama

I know this is late, but I was waiting for all the Kanye drama to die down.  want the media or other blog sites snatching my exclusive photos.  These were taken just hours before Taylor Swift was famously interrupted on stage at the VMAs.  

back story...

Paige and I were walking back from Rockefeller Center when we heard Taylor Swift, and while it sounded live we dismissed it as someone playing a live cd from their car.  I also joked to Paige that if she really was performing live this close the little girls around us would be running.  Well, as we hit broadway we did see people running north and looked up to see Taylor Swift performing outside of Radio City Music Hall.  It was definitely cool to be walking around and then all of the sudden you see a pretty famous singer performing 80 feet in front of you.

Here are some quick pics I took, though her spot lights were so bright the shots were affected.

the crowd at Radio City Music Hall at 1pm.  VMAs didn't go on until 8pm.  nuts

standard pose

her band heading down from the roof.

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Congratulations to the Gerndt's!

This past weekend we flew into Atlanta to witness our good friends Callie and Andrew get married.  It was a beautiful ceremony and we felt honored to be there.  We wish them the best of luck!

Unfortunately I didn't have our camera, so i borrowed these pictures.

reception pic

Callie walking down the aisle

it's official!

"dirty"

heading to st. lucia


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Parklife

One thing that I thought I was going to miss most about Atlanta was the greenery and park space.  I lived in Inman Park, frequented Piedmont Park, and ran on freedom park.  I took it for granted.  As a tourist I thought the greenspace was severely lacking in NYC; however as a resident I've realized if you want green space, you have many options.  There is, of course Central Park, Riverside Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, community gardens in the East Village, etc etc.

The inspiration for this post came while listening to an old Blur cd and Parklife came on.  It is a pretty cool song and for those interested you can hear it here:  blur: parklife video.

One of my favorite quotes from the song is: 'Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as parklife'

here's to parklife...

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BOX SEATS SUCK, BOX SEATS SUCK

was the chant from the Bleacher Creatures at the end of roll call and it honestly made the day at the yankee game. It's no secret I'm easily bored when it comes to baseball and have attended many Braves games from the Chop House only watched the game from the TV's near the picnic tables and bar. But sports in the northeast are a different animal. The fans are actually into the game and support their team. This is far different from the entitled Braves fans that couldn't even sell out playoff games in their winning stretch.

We went to the afternoon game on Labor Day and I can't think of a better way to celebrate a holiday established for Blue Collar workers. Jeter was only 4 hits away at this time from passing Gehrig as the all time Yankee hitter (has since surpassed it) but was 0-4 this day. Paige's friend Nikki is a bigger Yankee fan than I have ever met, and I guess you can say one of the biggest all around sports fans I've ever met, and she was hoping for Jeter to pull through while we were in the stands. While I've admitted to not being a big baseball fan, it would have been pretty cool being in there when he broke the record.

This video shows the Bleacher Creatures in actions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleacher_Creatures) doing the roll call chant as the Yankees take the field in the 1st inning. 'Bald Vinny' leads the call at every Yankee home game:

A few of the pics taken:

you have to pre-game before heading there right??

first sight after walking out of the train station at Yankee stadium

cruelty? or everyone needs to pay rent somehow?

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the BLUBLOCKER experiment

For those that don't remember, Blublocker sunglasses were made famous during the 80's by infomercial king Joe Sugarman.  I always thought they were pretty cool but I'm not a big fan of ordering something off the internet I can't touch first.  However, my hesitation in getting a pair was removed when walking through Times Square a few weeks ago and saw a vendor selling genuine Blublockers. It was a sign the time had come, so I pulled the trigger and picked up a pair.

The experiment:  The first time I put them on I remarked to Paige how much I liked how they tinted the view.  Everything you look at through them takes on a vintage look.  Paige jokingly said I should hold the camera up to them when taking pictures for the same effect.

Here are a few pictures I used the Blublocker effect on at The Frying Pan on the Hudson River and at the Yankee game on Labor Day...

If anyone knows Joe Sugarman, tell him I'd be up for appearing on future infomercials.  The are making a comeback after all.

(yes, I am aware that some cameras have a function to give photos this look.  I am also aware that photo editing software can give this look as well.  But I consider this the forest park, GA way of doing things.)

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The trumpets are sounding

In our quest to try new restaurants, I went on Restaurants.com to find deals; this way, if they wind up sucking we won't have to pay an arm and a leg.  As I went through the list on an 80% off day, I checked reviews for one's that sounded interesting.  Similar to the way I pick out most wines based on the label, I tend to pick restaurants based on the name.  The Elephant stood out to me because of my brother and sister's recent African Safari.  The reviews were good so I decided to add it to the cart so we could check it out.  

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Success!  It was awesome and will definitely become a great staple in our restaurant list.  

The Elephant considers itself a French-Thai restaurant (not a fusion) with options from both cuisines. The restaurant is definitely more of a social scene and one you should not go to unless you want to speak with the people next you, listen to some good music, and be in a fun atmosphere.  Through conversations with the Australian women, next to us Paige found her current favorite drink - Lychee Martini.  The women had enjoyed quite a few, and after insisting Paige try theirs she was hooked and ordered one for herself.  

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Now for the food - Again after seeing another neighbor's Shrimp Dumplings (pictured below) we promptly ordered those to start and were very happy we did.  For our entrees Paige ordered the special which was a Hanger Steak and I got a half order of Green Chicken Curry which was more than enough. Both were major successes as everything tasted extremely fresh and the sauces were perfect.

  

The Elephant's bar showing the eclectic decor of the restaurant (photo taken by: Youngna Park for NY Magazine)

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