At last, I’m back to my duly appointed rounds in the art world. This week I took time out of my busy schedule of posing for statues and writing beautiful love poems, and went to see Lots of Things Like This at Apex Art . The show was curated by Dave Eggers of McSweeney’s and A Heart Breaking Work Of Staggering Genius fame, which is no small footnote to make. As a writer he’s good, but as an organizer and editor he’s phenomenal. He has an fantastic eye for mixing art and comedy, just like how I have an eye for the finer things in life like RingDings and smooth jazz music.
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As cities go, New York is pretty good in terms of public art. Sure, historically there have been some issues—Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc was removed from the financial district in the 1980’s for a litany of absurd reasons, but the city also allowed Cai Guo-Quiang (currently having a retrospective at the Guggenheim) to explode fireworks in a ring above Central Park, and Roxy Paine’s conjoined gleaming silvery trees brought a bit of wonder to the bleak landscape of Madison Square Park in winter.
This July, Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, in cooperation with The Public Art Fund and NYC, is bringing a spectacular new project to Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan—4 waterfalls. Some spewing out of tall scaffolding, and one, sure to be my favorite, will be cascading from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. A waterfall coming out of a bridge—how crazy can you get?!
It seems that beautiful weather is here for good, so there’s no better time to walk from gallery to gallery in search of the best art, best people watching, and best open bar. This week, our anonymous Gallery Insider gives the rundown on events celebrating the work of Louise Lawler, Stuart Hawkins, Delia Brown, Christopher Wool, Robert Therrien, Neo Rauch, and Anish Kapoor.
Sometimes it’s all about the experiences. There’s nothing better way to say thanks to mom than with a nice, relaxing brunch this Sunday - with or without a thoughtful accompanying gift. Here’s some recommendations to get you started with ideas of where to take the your family’s special Queen Bee.
Jane in the West Village still has availability on OpenTable, on the early side at 10:30, or later at 1:30 and beyond. They do walk-ins, but with this one I’d recommend a reservation to be safe. This restaurant is home to the most massive vanilla bean french toast I have ever seen, complete with decadent crème brûlèe batter and real Vermont maple syrup. Can’t beat that. For egg afficionados, I would recommend the “Benedict Johnny”, with its poached eggs, corn pancakes in lieu of english muffin, maple chicken sausage (made on premises), and hollandaise sauce. They use a roasted tomato hollandaise, which is a subtle way to provide some variation that definitely succeeds.
It’s 80 degrees outside, so shed your winter wear and step out on the town at the following events tonight:
Event: The Onion and Newcastle Brown Ale present “The Smoothest Happy Hour” 6-8pm at Slainte
Fun & Games: Chelsea Mind Games (Math Bee!) 6:30pm - 10:00pm Chelsea Market 75 9th Ave bet. 15th and 16th
Fun & Games: Gameshow Speakeasy @ The Fortune Cookie Cabaret
I feel like I may be the only adult under the age of 30 who listens to the radio in New York City. One of the problems is that most New Yorkers don’t utilize the one mode of transportation that practically necessitates using the radio: a car. I wake up to the radio in the morning, listen to it at work, and even have a radio in the shower. I live and die by the news and weather on 1010 WINS, while other New York transplants don’t even know what 1010 WINS is.
One complaint about radio as a medium is that corporate giants have destroyed it. That may be true when you compare today’s radio to that of 25 years ago, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any bright spots. Thanks to the addition of high-definition radio subchannels, terrestrial radio is becoming increasingly diverse.
So, for those unfamiliar with radio in New York or its latest developments (perhaps you haven’t turned on a radio since you listened to Z100 when you were 16), here’s a rundown of what’s happening on the radio dial, after the jump.
Ahhh, the Staten Island Ferry. Gateway to… Staten Island. Unless you live there, or are in search of a cheap way to see some great views of Manhattan (without, of course, ever actually setting foot in the elusive fifth borough), it would seem like the type of trip an intrepid sports fan would never need to take. But there, of course, is where common wisdom fails. Lying at the far side of the Ferry (and with its own great views of both the sunset and lower Manhattan) is the Ballpark at St. George, home of the Staten Island Yankees, the Bronx Bombers’ Single A affiliate.
The past few years have been a sad time for independent bookstores; it seems like a new one closes every day, forced into an early demise by the 40% off rack at Wal-Mart or the clickily convenient Amazon. But with Publishers Weekly predicting a rebound in sales for indie sellers, and the corporate fat cats bottoming out in these rougher economic times, the tide may be about to turn — particularly in New York, where whether because of die-hard neighborhood pride or the proliferation of storefronts too small to house a Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores can still be found scattered around the boroughs — offering everything from highly-specific niche titles to locally-oriented book groups.
In the name of preserving New York’s eclectic entrepreneurial spirit (and hopefully staving off the Big Corporate Bookstore’s reign of terror), I’ll be doing a regular feature wherein I profile a lovely little bookstore in the area — so that you, knowing where they are, might stop in.
This week on Holding Hans, Brian counsels a young lady who has some seriously bizarre ultra-liberal parents.
Dear Brian,
My parents don’t like my boyfriend because he dresses like a Republican and they are super liberal. I try to tell them that he just likes blazers, but they refuse to accept him because they think that he’s a closet conservative. Help!
- Sarah L.
Dear Sarah L,
Are you sure your parents are just super liberal? I suspect they’re also retards. You might not want to let them boil water in the vicinity of small children. Has it occurred to your parent that they are exhibiting the type of small-mindedness and myopic thinking normally associated with Republicans? Perhaps you should tell them that. If that doesn’t work, you may want to consider divorcing them or arranging for them to be kidnapped in Thailand and framed with a drug trafficking rap. Given that they’re probably pot smoking hippies, that shouldn’t be too hard.
It’s Cinco de Mayo (or as some like to call it, Cinco de Drinko)! Get out there and celebrate the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862 by checking out the following events:
Fun & Games: Triviotic with the East Village Idiot, hosted by our very own Chris Carrara!
Comedy: The Very Best of The Ed Murray Show @ Sound Fix in Williamsburg
Comedy: Andres du Bouchet Has Been Expecting You, featuring Christian Finnegan, Todd Levin, and Heather Lawless @ Ochi’s Lounge, 7:30 pm
Contributing Writers
- Adam Winer - Comedy
- Afro Blanco - Music
- Amanda Wolfe - Events
- Angela Williams - Fashion
- Chris Carrara - Manhattan
- Dashiell Bennett - Film
- Doug Miller - Sports
- Greg Rutter - Art
- Jaime Morelli - Brooklyn
- Kat Rosenfield - Books
- Lara Ruth - Food
- Mardie Cohen - Theater
- Nick McGlynn - Nightlife
- Stephanie Young - Family
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