EV Grieve: Search results for life on mars

Showing posts sorted by relevance for query life on mars. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, September 9, 2011

And now, posts that we never got around to posting this summer

Well, I have nearly 1,100 half-started, half-finished, half-assed posts in the EVG hopper. They just weren't working for some reason. Or pointless. (Or more pointless than usual.) So now, in all their glory, here are some of those posts... with, perhaps, an explanation why I never posted them.

Self-explanatory.

Ditto.

Well, as far as dog poop etiquette signs go, this was pretty blah.

Lordy. On what turned out to be my second-to-last time at the Mars Bar, a fellow was sitting by the door, dressed in a pink shirt, seemingly doing rather anything to draw attention to himself. We all figured he was a reporter trying to get some color for his article. He did get any. For more on Mars Bars and pink shirts, please revisit this post.

A shot of 115 St. Mark's Place enjoying its third gut renovation in as many years. I kinda forgot to ever post them.

Oh, a reader wanted to start a Tumblr with photos of people eating their food from Seventh Street restaurants on neighboring front stoops. I thought it was funny. But I never heard back from the person.

This was a pointless attempt at wondering out loud how Phebe's on the Bowery went from a hangout for William Burroughs and Terry Southern (circa 1978) ...

...to a place for duffers and Cincinnati Bengals fans.

EV Grieve Technologically Advanced Form of Extraterrestrial Life Correspondent Bobby Williams took these shots at Tokio 7 on Seventh Street. We were worried that the Predator would break free, and disguise himself in that dress...

But it hasn't happened. Yet.

Is this the worst ad ever featuring a New York Yankee?

Mattress delivery gone amuck.

This opened on Essex Street earlier in the summer. And I told someone that this was Beauty & Essex.

I never did write a review of the new Hamptons Market on First Avenue at 13th Street.

A reader asked: Are the swimsuits in Tompkins Square Park getting skimpier...?

Or are we just getting older? He asked that question after sitting in the Park one weekend. He thought, for a moment, that he was somewhere else. I couldn't make it work without seeming like a perv for posting gratuitous butt shots. I would never do that.

Bobby Williams sent me these photos... of a bridal party in Tompkins Square Park. They were looking for a place to have their pictures taken.

But we think the rats scared them off before they took any photos.

Oh, this was going to be some jokey line about how small sandwich bags are getting. Not funny.

And the rest... random photos...

And I have about 1,065 left...

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Flashbacks: An afternoon sitting at the Mars Bar listening to David Bowie

Last week, we posted a new video short by East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar."

In the entertaining 8-minute video, Hank Penza, the owner of the Mars Bar who died last November, shared some history of the corner space on Second Avenue and East First Street.

Now our friend Alex found a 90-second clip on YouTube ... a rather serene slice-of-Mars-Bar life showing a few people quietly sitting while David Bowie's "China Girl" plays on the jukebox.

The video isn't dated ... it was uploaded in April 2012 — about nine months after the Mars Bar closed for good. It's aptly titled in part "Sweet Memories."

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Video: 'Last Days at the Mars Bar'

East Village-based filmmaker Jenny Woodward has released an entertaining new video short titled "Last Days of the Mars Bar," featuring interviews with owner Hank Penza in the days leading up to the bar's closure in July 2011.

Penza shares some colorful anecdotes (and perhaps tall tales), such as how the bar got its name and how the first art appeared on the bar's walls on Second Avenue at East First Street.

And Penza doesn't seem all that broken up about the end of days here.

"Fuck the bar. What am I, crazy? There's a beginning and an end. You hear? The Mars Bar will live forever and I'll die... I feel like there's a beginning and an end, and this is the end to another chapter in my life."

Penza died last Oct. 29. He was 82.

Last Days at The Mars Bar from jenny woodward on Vimeo.

The corner storefronts where Mars Bar stood were eventually demolished in late 2011/early 2012 to make way for the 12-story residential building Jupiter 21. The corner space now houses a TD Bank and The Alchemist's Kitchen, a cafe and shop that sells botanical medicines, herbal remedies and whole plant beauty products.

H/T Goggla

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Mars Bar replacement now leasing at Jupiter 21

We noted yesterday that the plywood has come down at Jupiter 21, the new luxury apartment building that went up at the former Mars Bar space on Second Avenue and East First Street ... Yesterday afternoon, the official news release landed in our inbox announcing the start of leasing at Jupiter 21.

(Several of the residents of the former buildings have already secured their co-ops here at the promised rate of $10.)

Now let's just dig right into that news release for details:

In continuing the transformation of the East Village, BFC Partners announces that residential leasing has successfully begun at Jupiter 21, a newly-constructed 78,000-square-foot rental building located at 21 East 1st Street. The 65-unit, 12-story building, designed by GF 55, offers 52 market-rate rental residences and 13 affordable condominiums.

“Given the incredible demand for this neighborhood, we have already seen tremendous activity,” said Joseph Ferrara, a partner with Don Capoccia and Brandon Baron at BFC Partners, Jupiter 21’s developer. “The Jupiter 21 rentals are being greeted so positively that we are renting up the building quickly.”

Comprised of studio-, one- and two-bedroom apartments, Jupiter 21 features a unique display of innovative design that captures both the eye and imagination. Each unit is equipped with natural hardwood flooring, sleek modern cabinetry, stainless steel European appliances, designer fixtures and oversized windows. The building also includes best-in-class amenities such as central air conditioning, GE washer & dryers in every unit, rentable on-site storage and a full-service concierge. Many of the units also have terraces or balconies, offering spectacular views of New York City.

Stylish and modern, residences at Jupiter 21 feature Kohler deep soaking tubs and walk-in frameless showers, Kohler fixtures and floor-to-ceiling porcelain tiling. Kitchens include Caesarstone Countertops, Kohler Fixtures, glass back-splashes, Bertazzoni cooking ranges, Summit International refrigerators and Miele dishwashers.

Jupiter 21 is a pet-friendly residence that features an attended lobby and live-in superintendent, in addition to other amenities including video intercoms, a virtual property management service by mybuilding.org, and a roof terrace with expansive city views. Homes in this beautiful, modern building will start at $3,450 per month for studios, $4,500 per month for one-bedrooms, and $5,575 for two-bedrooms. The Corcoran Group will handle leasing for the 52 rentals.

In addition to its rental units, the mixed-use property includes 10,832 square feet of retail space along 2nd Avenue. Tenants will include TD Bank and a yet to be decided lounge/bar venue.

Occupancy is expected for early June 2013.

So is that "yet to be decided lounge/bar venue" really going to be Mars Bar 2.0?

Also, the Jupiter 21 website is live with photos, floor plans and what not.

Here's a look at the roof terraces:

Jupiter 21’s two communal rooftop terraces are equipped with couch seating, grills, television, outdoor surround sound and a posh wet bar. A DVD system allows for outdoor movie screenings. Taking place high above the lower east side, the outdoor oasis provides an escape from the day-to-day setting of city life.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The former Mars Bar is becoming a fucking bank branch

Mars Bar primed to make an East Village comeback?

Saturday, January 23, 2016

John Holmstrom's 'Punk' playlist

[John Holmstrom photo by Stacie Joy]

The exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first issue of Punk Magazine continues at Howl! Happening at 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue (through Jan. 30).

On Jan. 15, I interviewed founding editor (and East Village resident) John Holmstrom on East Village Radio. (Unfortunately, the show is not archived.) Holmstrom picked the playlist for the show, and included comments about each song... sharing it here now...

1. "You Drive Me Nervous" by the Alice Cooper Band
The first punk rock band I saw live and it changed my life forever...

2. "Kick Out The Jams" by Blue Oyster Cult
BOC was a truly twisted, crazed live heavy metal band that had Patti Smith and Helen Wheels as lyricists, and whose managers convinced CBS Records to sign The Dictators. And of course, the MC5 created punk rock by getting The Stooges signed to their record label.

3. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by Iggy Pop and The Stooges
This was the prototype punk song, covered by so many punk rock bands over the years.

4. "Get Out of Denver" by Eddie and the Hot Rods
Eddie and the Hot Rods were the first band from England labeled "punk." Here's why. The pub rock scene was the biggest influence on the English punk scene.

5. "Riot In Cell Block No. 9 by Doctor Feelgood
Another "pub rock band from England. The Ramones opened for Dr. Feelgood at the Bottom Line in early 1976... Just the most amazing show.

6. "Bad Girls" by the New York Dolls
This was the first band I went to see at a small club: like Club 82, the drag club. Didn't like their fashion sense but love the music.

7. "My Generation" by The Patti Smith Group
Patti had a lot to do with putting CBGB on the map, she and her band made some great music, I need to give them props.

8. "(I Live For) Cars And Girls" by The Dictators
I picked up the first Dictators LP, loved it to death, played it for Ged Dunn Jr. and Mr. McNeil, and it inspired us to start a magazine. Oddly, enough, everyone in the band hates it!

9. "Judy Is a Punk" by the Ramones
I like the first Ramones best, it's very close to what they sounded like live at CBGB.

10. "New Rose" by The Damned
First punk band from England to release a record, tour the states, play at CBGB, etc. This was punk rock before it became formalized.

11. "Rocket USA" by Suicide
They often opened for the Ramones, and were the first-ever band to call themselves "punk." Even though people would now call this techno, Suicide was truly a punk rock band.

12. "I'm on E" by Blondie
I just love this song. It runs through my head whenever things are going bad and I am out of money, energy, whatever. Blondie were so much fun to work with, open to everything.

13. "Carbona Not Glue" by the Ramones
The best song by the Ramones, could have been a hit single if not for the lyrics.

14. "I Wanna Be Me" by the Sex Pistols
I always liked their B-sides better than the singles. The lyrics are brilliant, and aimed at people in the media (like me).

15. "Ready, Steady, Go" by Generation X
I always liked their debut album so much. "Purist" punks hated them: too pretty, too polished. In a way, they were the blueprint for pop-punk bands like Green Day, Blink 182, etc.

16. "Ain't Nothing To Do" by the Dead Boys
Great American punk rock band. Amazing live performances.

17. "Teenagers From Mars" by the Misfits
We planned a cover story on The Misfits, but couldn't do it: we were forced out of business unexpectedly.

18. "I Wanna Be Famous" by The Bullys
Great NYC punk band that still performs live.

19. "I'm a Boy" by The Bullys

20. "Against All Authority" by the Bullys
Brilliant song by them IMO.

Exhibition details:
Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
All events are free
Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project, 6 E. First St. between the Bowery and Second Avenue

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk Magazine

John Holmstrom on the CBGB movie and the East Village of 2013

Thursday, December 17, 2009

A new mural, and Life on Mars on Sunday afternoon

Over at the Mars Bar, a new mural....and a new exhibit kicking off Sunday at 4.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

The story behind one of the original CBGB awnings that's now up for auction

[Photo by Rainer Turim last winter outside the John Varvatos store on the Bowery]

According to research by Gothamist, there were three awnings during the life of CBGB at 315 Bowery. One was up from 1973 to 1987, another from 1987 to 2000 and the last until the club closed in 2006.

And where are they now? The most recent awning is at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Museum in Cleveland. The original awning was allegedly in the possession of JFA (Jodie Foster's Army), who may have borrowed it after a show in the mid 1980s. And the third awning has been with East Village resident Drew Bushong since 2004.

Now Bushong is selling the awning at an auction at Sotheby's on Dec. 10, where it could potentially fetch between $25,000 and $35,000.

I asked Bushong, a former CBGB employee, about the awning and how it came to live in a box under his bed... and why he's selling it now.

How did you come into possession of the awning?

Totally randomly. I was walking home from Mars Bar on a sweaty night in 2004 and saw a cardboard box that was very familiar. It had sat above my desk for a year. I heard later it was just waiting for postage stamps to get to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but was tossed out with a bunch of other crap in a cleaning rage.

So I saw it sticking half out of the trash in front of the club, and just threw it over my shoulder. I didn't really lose my shit about it until the next day when I woke up in bed next to it, torn open with the awning peeking out of it. Was quite an exciting hangover.

How do you know that it’s the real deal?

There's no doubt it's real. In my research, it's one of only three awnings that hung there. It went up as a replacement after punk rockers JFA are rumored to have stolen the first one.

It's a bit of a mess with paint splotches over some tags and it stinks a bit. It's been under my bed mostly since I found it.

Why are you selling it?

I had a beautiful baby girl, Thorn, 3-and-a-half-weeks ago and could use the space and money in better ways now. Dad ways now. Life's pretty exciting.

How long did you work at CBGB?

I worked as a door guy/security starting in late 2000 and was just working a couple shifts a week here and there. I had been there a few months and was getting pretty good at it. One boring night I ended up stopping a fight from happening and got stabbed in the neck in the process. I held the knifer down, under this awning actually, and called [owner] Hilly [Kristal] before calling the cops. I guess I handled the fight pretty well as I was promoted to management pretty soon after.

I have to say it was the best job I'll ever have. Best crew of people and employees and some of the most exciting shows I'll ever see in my life. Really got to be a part of something real special by working there.

[The middle awning is the one up for auction on Dec. 10]

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Life on Laura Mars

Ah, the Bowery Boys do justice today to a long-lost (unintentionally hilarious!) NYC classic...The Eyes of Laura Mars from 1978. With Faye Dunaway fresh from winning an Oscar for Network. As the Bowery Boys put it:

As such, it seems a thin but playful satire of downtown New York decadence. Manhattan looks unusually great for such a commonplace horror flick. The best set is easily Mars' studio, in one of the Chelsea warehouses piers overlooking the Hudson River, just steps from the West Side elevated highway. The most notable -- and campy scene -- erupts at Columbus Circle, at a ridiculous fashion shoot involving burning cars and models in lingerie and fur coats. Oh Columbus Circle! Were you ever so fun?

You get a taste of Hell's Kitchen in a brisk chase scene involving Tommy Lee Jones' cop character, his feathered hair flapping in the wind. But seeing Soho was more striking to me, devoid of shopfronts, mysterious flat warehouses during the day that open to become large, disco-thumping galleries at night. There are still galleries in Soho, of course, but the one in 'Laura Mars' is a big, hokey circus. (The director even condescendingly throws in a dwarf, to get the point across.)

Here's a trailer/infomercial for the film....

And those memorable, uh, lines...

Friday, January 10, 2020

Heroes

David Bowie died on this day in 2016. The video here is a live version of "Life on Mars?" — one of my all-time favorite songs.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Serving up 'Licorice Pizza' this Thanksgiving

"Licorice Pizza," Paul Thomas Anderson's well-received coming-of-age film, opens this evening in 70mm at the Village East by Angelika on Second Avenue at 12th Street. (Given the 70mm format, it will be playing in the large auditorium — the Jaffe Art Theatre.)

The thumbnail plot of the comedy-drama: "Alana Kane and Gary Valentine grow up, run around and fall in love in California's San Fernando Valley in the 1970s."

You can find ticket info here.

And the trailer because it has Bowie's "Life on Mars" ...

Monday, December 15, 2008

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition (2:19 p.m. edition)

Richard Hell at K-Mart (Flaming Pablum)

Renovations coming to Met Food. Meanwhile, enjoy the Chuck steak (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

City will reroute traffic at Chatham Square no matter what you think (Save the Lower East Side!)

Life on Mars filming on Bleecker. (BoweryBoogie)

Astroland like you never want to see it (Curbed)

Why we're popping more pills (Esquared)

42nd Street faded ad from 1990 (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

A class where men learn how to shave (The New York Times)

Three days that shook the world (Fortune)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Before the Mars Bar

[Photo by EV Grieve reader Shannon O'Toole]

At the Times this past weekend, Dan Glass checks in with an article on the artistic history of the Mars Bar. And there's this passage about the bar's debut:

When the bar opened in 1984, at First Street and Second Avenue, the facade was gleaming. “We thought, 'Oh no, another sushi bar; there goes the neighborhood,'" said Jim Sizelove, who was part of the rowdy art scene called the Rivington School.

As Glass notes, that crowd hung out at the bar/performance space No Se No at 42 Rivington St. near Forsythe. When No Se No closed several years later, "Mars became the unlikely new home."

Fortunately, there is a well-curated website for The Rivington School and No Se No. You can find it here.

A few shots from the site... showing the bar's exterior and interior...

Per an essay by Freddie the Dreamer: "Getting to No Se No on Rivington Street was a trip through shattered and burnt buildings, empty lots of scattered bricks bordered by sagging cyclone fences, once were homes but now were fields where whores and junkies were busy about. Respite from the desperation of the streets, warmed with thick smoke and black lights, cheap beer and whiskey, through the door of No Se No and the magic of life became an impending adventure."

There are also photos and background on The Rivington School Sculpture Garden on Rivington at Forsythe featuring Cowboy Ray. (Access that here.)

The garden-clubhouse was adjacent to Adam Purple's space. The city bulldozed the Rivington School Sculpture Garden in late November 1987.

[All images ©1980-2009 rivingtonschool.com and photos ©1980-2009 Toyo Tsuchiya]

Thursday, April 11, 2024

East Village native Anna Colombia on pursuing photography and growing up in the neighborhood

Anna Colombia is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in the East Village, where she still lives.

Her most recent publication is "Make Shift Youth," a zine featuring 24 Riso-printed images and letterpress-printed text from her days in the neighborhood's punk scene.

Here, she discusses discovering photography, growing up in the East Village and finding inspiration today.

What sparked your initial interest in photography in high school?

My high school experience was horrible, so I kinda stopped going after a certain point. My mom really wanted me to graduate and to enjoy learning, so she started trying to get me to take high school art classes at SVA. One of the first ones I took was an introduction to photography. I was hooked instantly by the magic of it all and learning how to use the darkroom.

Obviously, being in high school, I didn’t really know what to photograph, so I started by taking pictures of a lot of the graffiti around the neighborhood, and then naturally my friends and the punk shows I was going to.

Were you known in the punk community as someone who always took photos? What was your initial comfort level with photographing people?

I always had a camera with me, but I don’t think I was ever seen as that person always taking pictures. My style of documentation has always been somewhat on the sly, with friends saying they never really knew I had taken certain pictures because it was always so natural.

There was another girl who sometimes hung out and who was always taking photos. She was the one everyone thought of as the photographer. Her collection has got to be amazing, but it always bothered me that she didn’t respect people’s wishes not to be photographed. I have always been very comfortable photographing people, because I have always only photographed the people in my life.

While I love catching moments of my life through those around me, I also respect when people do not want to be photographed.

Why did you decide to revisit growing up in the East Village punk scene with "Make Shift Youth"?

Before COVID shut everything down, I had spent about two years slowly working, scanning all my negatives from high school and the years after. I hadn't looked at my high school photos in so long, and I was surprised by what I had, especially that the majority of them highlighted all these ladies in the scene... something I personally feel you don't see a lot of (or enough of) when it comes to documentation of "alternative" scenes.

Then, the lockdown happened, and I had a lot of time to sit and play on the computer with the images at home. I had been applying for grants to publish another, bigger collection of photographs from my travels and decided maybe I should start with this collection since it was smaller and really what started it all.

So, I began slowly working, putting together images I wanted to use for this zine. I had just discovered Riso as a print process, and I really loved the idea that instead of just showing the original images, I could manipulate them to become abstracted and color-blocked prints, combining the two things I love: photography and printmaking.

On the opening page of the zine, you wrote the date and then scribbled it out. Why did you decide not to list the years?

I like the mystery.

How do you balance documentation and abstraction in your visual storytelling?

I began publishing zines in high school about being female in the punk scene, using my photographs and words to tell this story. I have been publishing zines and art books for many years now, combining stories about my life with photographs and printmaking. While I really wanted to show these photos, I didn't want to take away from them by visually adding any text or talking about them.

As a printmaker, my work focuses on abstracting an image and allowing those who see the work to create their own narrative. When I started putting the photos I wanted to print together, I could already see how I wanted to abstract a few of them: extending aspects of the image or cutting out the parts I thought were important. I wanted the narrative to flow from page to page through composition, colors and shapes.

You were born and raised and are still living in the East Village. Did you ever live elsewhere... or at least consider it?

I traveled a lot for a long time, riding trains and hitchhiking, but that's a different story and a whole other body of photo work I'm hoping to one day publish. The East Village has always been my home.

Why have you decided to stay here?

This neighborhood and city have changed so much, I honestly don't know anymore.

How does your environment in the East Village continue to inspire or influence your creative process?

Growing up in the neighborhood was definitely one of the things that started me on the path of the work I make. As a kid and teenager growing up in the East Village, I experienced things a lot of people might not have. My mom is an artist too, so that also helped me see and interact with my surroundings in a unique way.

I grew up playing in Tompkins and the 6th and B Garden, got in trouble for taking hypodermic needles to show and tell that my friend and I found in the concrete playground of P.S. 19... long before it became what it is now. I drank at Mars Bar when I shouldn't have, and got to go to shows at CBGB and Coney Island High.

All these experiences have shaped who I am today and fueled all my early work. The neighborhood has changed, gentrification and rising rents have priced out all the things I grew up with and loved. And while I do find some inspiration still walking down the streets, I find a lot of what inspires my new work comes from the time I spend traveling across the U.S. and other countries.

I understand you have a treasure trove of photos. What else from the archives might you feature next?

I would love to do maybe two or three more volumes or even have a show of the actual photographs. I’ve thought about doing one volume of only photos shot at punk shows...mosh pits, mohawks and a sea of hair dyed in all the colors of the rainbow.

My real dream, however, has been to publish a photo book of the collection of images I have from after high school, traveling around and across this country for years.

And did you ever replace your mom's Canon Rebel that you destroyed with beer while in high school?

We had to get it fixed... she was not happy about that (it was kinda a loaner from her job). I think at the time, I also told her someone at the show spilled beer on it (not me, of course).

My mom saw how much I loved photography and later bought me a smaller, more pocket-friendly (for my lifestyle) camera, which continues to be my favorite camera to shoot with.

You can find her Etsy shop here.

Friday, September 23, 2011

A look back: East Village Summer 2011

Today is the first day of fall. Or, if you wish, autumn. But fall really sounds less pretentious.

This past summer, we posted 1,036, uh, posts.

Here are just a few of them.

JUNE: (311 posts)

At the Howl Festival...