Spiegel's Back!
08 Jul 07 @ 09:18 AM
category » culture
The Spiegel guys are back in New York with a new Absinthe show and another new show La Vie. Opening night was last night.
Crazy beautiful, of course, definitely not to be missed! And the Green Fairy Garden on the pier is just a great venue to hang out in.
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Vamos a la Playa...
04 Sep 06 @ 06:43 PM
category » culture
And after Italy, a few days in London and Scotland, a whistle stop day back in the NY office, and then off to Black Rock desert for a weekend at Burning Man, which I have tried to get to for several years but in which endeavour I have always been thwarted...
This year, I was determined to make it, to see this amazing ritual of fire, earth, air and (not much) water. It's pretty damn fabulous there, but if you don't like the dust, stay away. There is just no getting away from it: the Playa finds its way into every nook cranny and crevice of everything you are and own.
It really just has to be seen to be properly understood.
Robin Hood and the Pink Princess: A Tale of Love, Betrayal and Redemption
24 May 06 @ 07:03 PM
category » culture | humour | new york
Here’s a wonderful New York tale: that of Robin Hood and the Pink Princess.
The Pink Princess is a bicycle. She’s bright pink, and very, very old. She’s been ridden on the streets of this fair city for nigh on 18 years, and has always been handed down from one owner who leaves town to the next loving caretaker in line. She came to me from Carey, who moved back to South Africa in 2004. The Pink Princess has survived many adventures. She’s been stolen, and been returned, she’s been touched by Bono – twice – and she has braved the indignities of many a nasty winter with quiet long-suffering.
Last year I gave the Pink Princess to Jasmine. Anyone who knows Jasmine will know that she is the perfect person to love and ride the Pink Princess.
A few weeks ago, Jasmine calls me up and says she wants to buy a new bicycle, because the Pink Princess is not very comfortable any more and it is basically falling apart. What do I want her to do with it, she asks. I say get her a tune up, and give her back to me and I will find her another home.
A few days later, Jasmine calls sounding a little worried. Why? She took the PP to four different bike shops to ask about fixing her up, and they all laughed in her face. One place refused to even touch her, another told Jasmine that to fix her up would cost twice the price of a new bike, and another told her the PP was a death trap and shouldn’t be on the streets.
Jasmine thought that this news might upset me, fond of the PP as I was. It didn’t really. All good things come to an end, and she had a good run. So Jasmine and I decided that she would “donate” the PP to a needy person in the city by simply leaving her unlocked by a lamppost on Bleecker Street. So off Jasmine went to buy her new bike.
Two days later, Jasmine calls again. Her new bike has been stolen. After one night out on the street. But the Pink Princess – unlocked, and right next to it – is still there!
Every day that week, Jasmine calls me to tell me that the Pink Princess is still there. It seems that even the thieves in this town have some standards and will not lower themselves to steal a pile of rubbish. Which is frankly hilarious, though I do feel sad for the crimson lady, dying all alone and
neglected.
Now, to Robin Hood. Robin Hood is also a bicycle, belonging to my friend Annie. She came out of her house one day last week to find that her chain had been cut, had then been clumsily stuck back together with black masking tape, and there was a note in her basket. The note read (click pic to see):
“I was gonna take your bike. But Robin Hood only steal from da rich!”
Now where is this guy? Mate, you can have the Pink Princess. She’s easy, and lovable, and she needs a home. She's waiting for her prince on Bleecker St.
Soaring halls
07 May 06 @ 08:38 PM
category » culture
Last week I went to an art benefit for the Lower Manhattan
Development Council at Cipriani Wall Street.
I simply can’t imagine how they fill this place every day, even if
every hot shot on Wall Street thinks of it as their favourite place for a quick
bite at lunchtime. I heard a funny story
though – that in the “old days” (how long has it been a restaurant, I wonder?)
some chap wanted to impress his girlfriend and basically rented out the whole
place for an evening. When they walked in to dinner, there was a single table laid
for two in the center of the room. Apparently, halfway through dinner, the
woman couldn’t take it any more and had to leave, because she was
self-conscious with every pair of eyes in the room – the
trying-to-be-discreet- but-hovering-anyway-waiters-and-maitre-d’ – on her, and
she became paranoid that the ceiling was echoing her words and everyone was
laughing at her. Poor bastard.
Then, from the cathedral ceilings of Cipriani, to the Community Synagogue on 6th St. for the tail end of a benefit dinner for ps122. Damn, that synagogue is funky. What a great space for a party, and what a great evening all round it turned out to be.
Board Games Galore
06 Dec 05 @ 04:58 PM
category » culture
From Defective Yeti's The 2005 Good Gift Game Guide. Good to know for those competitive family gatherings.
Watching the English
30 Sep 05 @ 06:45 PM
category » books | culture | language
Kate Fox is a social anthropologist who has studied the behaviour of people at the racetrack, in the pub and at football matches. In her new book, Watching the English, she goes further and deeper into all the social interactions of the English and tries to identify how and why we do things differently from other nations engaging in the same activity.
She's smart and writes well - and, joyfully, wittily too. That's one of the key characteristics she claims for the English: the famous English sense of humour. In no particular order, but all connected, the following are the mainstays of the English character in her view: social dis-ease (awkwardness), humour, moderation and fair play. These underlying themes, she claims, directly result in such idiosyncrasies as our seeming willingness to queue in an orderly fashion (even in pubs, oh yes), and to rarely complain; our reticence to talk about what we do, and seeming diffidence towards strangers; the violence displayed when the English break out of their privacy/awkward zone (football hooliganism and the like) and the fact that we say "sorry" when others bump into us. All this, and much, oh much more. The book starts with the author sitting in a cafe in Paddington station, nervously having a drink early in the morning, to fortify herself for the job in hand. She's a hands on researcher, and has to engage in a spot of queue jumping, to record people's reactions. It's priceless.
It's a funny book which made me groan and giggle in recognition. It might not all be accurate, but it seemed mostly pretty spot on to me. Stereotypes of the English bound, and this book helps to explain why. I feel like giving it to any foreigner who is closely involved with me and saying "If you want to know how and why I behave in this way, read this book."
Edinburgh Festival
28 Aug 05 @ 10:43 AM
category » culture
Just got back from a few days in Edinburgh at the Fringe Festival. There's always the potential for total rubbish. We did see one overly pretentious French/Russian performance art thing - I'm not sure what even to call it, and we just had to walk out, which unfortunately did cause a mini exodus as several others, encouraged by our actions, followed suit - and a Best of Fringe selection that would have been bearable were it not for the truly dreadful and irritating MC who went on and on and on. Not to be age-ist about it, but we knew we were in trouble once we saw that the average age of that particular audience was over 60. Oh well, you live and learn.
All in all, great fun, and lovely to be back up there for the first time in 10 years, catch up with some family, and hang out with friends, old and new. And we did see some good stuff - a couple of up and coming comedians, a quite gripping, if not completely eye-opening play about the IRA - and Paul Merton and his Improv Chums. Which just reiterated my long-held belief that Paul Merton is A Very Funny Man. The five of them had me in stitches for most of the performance. So damn clever, I'm still chuckling at the image of a spider throwing a javelin. You had to be there...
Without a Doubt
23 Jun 05 @ 07:06 PM
category » culture
One of the best plays I have seen in ages: Doubt. Riveting. So, I think most people recognise that morality is not always a black and white issue, even if we are not pure relativists all of the time and subscribe to a basic framework: but is it really better to play by the rules if it causes more damage and pain in the long run, and if the (blind) alternative is in some ways beneficial? This play certainly brings that issue to the fore.
Also, having just finished reading Robert Wright's The Moral Animal (also excellent) I now understand more scientifically the truth of what I always believed: that there is not much that can be called true altruism. Altruism is a supremely selfish act, in biological terms. The two other great points he makes? One, that we are not biologically designed to be happy, merely genetically successful - and much of what makes us unhappy and guilty in modern society in fact constitutes a genetic home run. So, I guess NYCers can stop all the hand-wringing and therapy and accept that in being supremely successful in all their unhappiness they are probably winning the endurance race!
The other point? That self-awareness, and honesty, isn't always genetically successful, so, to prevent us from acting against our genetic interest, self-delusion is hard-wired into our genes. Which in essence means that, rather than Machiavellian-ly (is that a word?) knowing we do wrong and pretending otherwise, we actually can't always detect our own ulterior motives. We all drink our own Kool-Aid! So much for living a moral, upstanding life. I'm beginning to wonder if the schizophrenics amongst us are actually the most honest folk because they, albeit unwittingly, display their several true natures in all their weird and crazy glory.
Life before 4
03 Mar 03 @ 12:00 AM
category » culture
Ohhhhh...the unbelievable paroxyms of pleasure I am now in! Having recently reinstalled my operating system, my sound card is now working properly, I have installed RealPlayer and I can listen to BBC Radio 4 live online.
This could be very distracting...
Transparently Fashionable
26 Feb 03 @ 01:21 AM
category » culture | humour
A couple of days ago Helen sent me some hilarious photos of Japanese women wearing "transparent" skirts, showing their knickers. I've had problems with my site, so couldn't get the photos uploaded. But I sent it to Dave, and he kindly has posted one up on his site. Take a look. Quite amazing.
What struck me most was that the bums seemed to so perfectly fit the wearers...on further investigation, whilst the skirts are not actually transparent - rather, they are printed with an image of a ladies' backside - the images themselves are apparently, of the wearers' bodies themselves. Which begs the question - why not be really out there and wear a transparent skirt?
Correction
21 Feb 03 @ 04:58 PM
category » culture
Correction
As Adam Gold quite rightly points out, the phrases "fashion week parties" and "intellectual stimulation, erudite conversation" in the same sentence create a bit of a non sequitur.
Correction: make that an oxymoron. Or both.
Hitchen...a Ride
25 Oct 02 @ 09:55 AM
category » culture
Went last night to see a debate at NYU on Does Orwell Matter? Social Criticism Today, with Christopher Hitchens, Andrew Sullivan, Vivian Gornick and Michael Walzer. Fascinating stuff, and notable that both Sullivan (right) and Hitchens (left), who I expected to go at each other just a little, were both so enamoured of Orwell that the whole evening was fairly sedate. Sullivan verged on sentimentality in his encomium. Everyone expected and wanted Hitch to violently disagree with everyone else, and even the other panelists would open comments by stating "...I am sure Christopher will disagree with me on this". His response, to Sullivan, was "...it will be an evening of langorous fellatio if I don't disagree with you." No wonder he looks tired - it must be exhausting to have created this contrarian public image and to have almost a duty to be difficult at all times.
Vivian Gornick caused the most controversy by stating that the aftermath of 9-11 was not, in her mind, a display of patriotism. Problem was, she couldn't define what she thinks patriotism is, and the rest of the panel scoffed.
One man did ask a ridiculously long and belaboured question that was more of a statement, and a provocative one at that. In essence, he said that Sullivan and Hitchens had both impaled themselves, alienating their own bases, by not being consistent on the sides they took. The crowd hushed, waiting for Hitch's reaction. Rather disappointingly, he was unfailingly polite, pretty much ignored the personal reference and spoke only of Orwell.
I'd never seen Hitch speak before. He really is a remarkable speaker/debater - witty, excoriating, totally contrarian, thoroughly arrogant and utterly compelling. He totally dominated the panel. As he said, he isn't a social critic to make friends and indeed, if one has too many friends, there must be something wrong with you. I've read some of his stuff, but not particularly regularly. I'm a new fan.
More Useful than a Tiara
08 Sep 02 @ 04:45 PM
category » culture
Good god. Gwyneth Paltrow is obviously a princess. She acts like one, and now she needs a $23,000 platinum, crystal-encrusted mobile phone to complete the image. Not sure this is going to get her any further sympathy votes in the current bash-gwyneth climate. Now that's a mugger's delight. Hope she has it handcuffed to her wrist.
The Weakest Wit
20 Aug 02 @ 05:17 PM
category » culture
Since the spell of fabulous London weather inevitably had to come to an end, and it has been raining all afternoon, I have been at home today reading and working instead of wandering the streets. During a tea break I tuned in to see what's on British afternoon telly these days - and of course became transfixed by Anne Robinson cruelly lambasting the contestants on The Weakest Link, which I haven't't even witty, just plain rude. That's one of the great tragedies of modern society: that rudeness passes for cleverness and simple good manners are scorned as uncool.
The two strongest contestants by far were a chef (male) and a barrister (female). Unlike the other contestants - who admitted they had voted off their rivals for reasons like "well, she's smug and she voted to get me out last time" - these two behaved with dignity and only ever gave the reason that the person they had voted for had got the most questions wrong. When it was down to the last three, the chef could easily have voted off the barrister, his strongest rival for the prize, but he didn't: he said she was the strongest contestant and so she should stay. The third remaining contestant at that time had voted for the barrister saying he wanted the chef to win because "chefs don't make much money and the lawyer doesn't need the money". Suffice to say, it was a fair contest between the final two. And when the chef lost by one point and his interview out-take was shown, he congratulated the barrister charmingly, and then said "For any children watching, I think Anne is great at her job, but please don't learn from this programme that being downright rude to people is clever or acceptable." I'm surprised they didn't cut this segment out, but probably they are all just laughing at him behind his back for his gross naivety and, well - damn stupid niceness. What a shame.
Shake-ing your thang...
31 Jul 02 @ 05:10 PM
category » culture | language | sf
Last night I went over to Transparent Theatre for a read-through of The Tempest, which a bunch of us are performing on Saturday night on the banks of the Eel River up in Mendocino for TT's annual Shakescene party. Ok, it is fun to act every now and then, and I did agree to partake in the revelry. But I only found out last Friday that I was in it, and was a tad nervous on arrival last night to discover that all but 3 of the 12 players are working actors in the SF theatre scene. One read-through, one short rehearsal on Saturday and then a performance in front of 60+ people. Eek. But I was relieved to discover that this is really only for fun and nobody has any intention whatsoever of memorising all of his lines before the weekend. The key question now is how to rig up some personal flashlight paraphernalia such that we can all read our scripts - as subtly as possible - whilst bouncing around on a bunch of rocks on the banks of a river in the twilight...
There's no question, though, that the man has a masterful turn of phrase, and there are some which thoroughly deserve to be resuscitated in everyday conversation. Wouldn't you just love to be in your cups in the middle of a heated debate and turn to your antagonist and say "Watch out...I am in case to justle a constable!" ?
