Saturday, May 29, 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

The oil zone

Around 6 this evening, protesters took to the BP gas station on Lafayette and Houston ... (which was conveniently closed in advance) to condemn BP's involvement in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster (read more about the protest here via Gothamist) .... here are a few photos from the protest ... (BoweryBoogie was also there... you can read his report here.)











Crank it up



Nice to see the Chrome Cranks back in action.... tonight at Cake Shop and tomorrow at the Knitting Factory...

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition



Memorials as street art — I love these too (The Gog Log)

Last seedy "gentlemen's club" in Times Square shuttered (Grub Street)

Gateway to the East Village circa 1983 (Flaming Pablum)

EV Heave spotted something gross outside the Coop (EV Heave)

Shepard Fairey's mural makes a fine backdrop for an 1980s photo shoot (BoweryBoogie)

A beautiful luncheonette in Greenpoint (Greenwich Village Daily Photo)

New York Moviefone Mashup (Patell and Waterman’s History of New York)

More memories of St. Vincent's (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Sailors on St. Mark's (East Village Corner…Musings By MELANIE)

Fancy toast and an omelette at the new Trump SoHo Hotel via room service = $55 (The New York Times)


BaHa mentioned these a few weeks back... and I came across them myself on a trip to Chelsea Market....


"SATC2 takes everything that I hold dear as a woman ... and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car"


I made a vow not to discuss "Sex and the City II." At least more than I already have. But Jeremiah's post today got me all riled up. Anyway, among other things, he points us to Foster Kamer's rundown on the best SATCII slams here at the Voice. (Thanks Esquared!)

Meanwhile, Scott Lamb at BuzzFeed has a hilarious post this morning titled Don’t See Sex And The City 2. Here, you'll find some more blurbs from SATCII reviews. Like this one from Roger Ebert:

These people make my skin crawl.

However, arguably the greatest review is by Lindy West at The Stranger:

SATC2 takes everything that I hold dear as a woman and as a human—working hard, contributing to society, not being an entitled cunt like it’s my job—and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car. It is 146 minutes long, which means that I entered the theater in the bloom of youth and emerged with a family of field mice living in my long, white mustache. This is an entirely inappropriate length for what is essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls.


And!

If this is what modern womanhood means, then just fucking veil me and sew up all my holes. Good night.

[Silence]



[Top image via BuzzFeed]

Voices from 98 Bowery's past



Marc H. Miller has posted more fascinating content to his 98Bowery site:

Messages from the Telephone Answering Machine, 1982-87

Per the site description:

My world in the 1980s lives on in part through a collection of answering-machine tapes that I recently retrieved from storage. Unlike the digital variety we use today, the old machines recorded messages on cassette tapes purchased separately and placed in the machine. Most people reused their tapes, letting new messages record over the old. But being the pack rat that I am, I kept all messages, and when both sides of a tape were filled, I dated and saved the cassettes. I had no special reason to do this. They were simply archival debris that I couldn’t part with. Hearing the messages again has been revealing. Some are from men and women I knew well, some were left by passing acquaintances, and others, by complete strangers. Some allude to significant occasions, others to frivolous moments, the search for diversions, and the mundane realities of everyday life. Individually each message is a record of a specific person and moment. Together they form something more -- a sound portrait of my life in the 1980's composed of the voices of the people who were in it.


Listem to them all here. (I like the one marked Avenue A...). When you're at the site, be sure to check some of the other features. I could spend the whole weekend doing so. One EV Grieve favorite: the Curt Hoppe and Al Goldstein video.

[Image via Marc H. Miller and 98Bowery]

For further reading on EV Grieve:
Life at 98 Bowery: 1969-1989

Revisiting Punk Art

Q-and-A with Curt Hoppe: Living on the Bowery, finding inspiration and shooting Mr. Softee

Immaculate renovation

Just an update on the renovations at the Immaculate Conception Church on East 14th Street and First Avenue, which is not being converted into an NYU dorm.

Earlier!




Now!


Something for Novogratz-designed-penthouse-home-with-a-driveway watchers

Since making its East Fourth Street debut last month, Novogratz-designed-penthouse-home-with-a-driveway watchers have been curious about the garage here... Just what kind of vehicle will fit in here? Is it even big enough for a garage band? (Eh, sorry.)



So, to my good fortune, as well as for other Novogratz-designed-penthouse-home-with-a-driveway watchers, I got a look inside the garage the other day!



My professional conclusion: Yeah, it's pretty damn small.

Meanwhile! After some 77 days on the market, a "for sale" sign for the penthouse has appeared! After a 15 percent price drop earlier this year... the tab now remains at $3.195 million...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Home with Novogratz-designed penthouse now in full view

Here in my car, I don't feel safest at all

Meanwhile, I spotted a car that could fit in the garage at the home with Novogratz-designed penthouse on East Fourth Street...



...on Avenue B the other day...



[As for that headline ... I had been listening to some Gary Numan.]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Home with Novogratz-designed penthouse now in full view

Earlier.