Archive for August, 2007
Update: Burning Man burner revealed
Paul Addis, pictured above, is the suspect believed to have been behind the premature burning of the 40 foot Burning Man effigy. For a guy who has no doubt invoked the ire of 35,000+ hippies, he looks pretty darn happy.
For a while, however, we were almost certain it was this fabulous queen pictured below:
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“The axes are invisible. The chops are for real.”
[slogan for the 2007 USA Air Guitar Championship]
We feel like we have been living under a rock. Why the hell did no one inform us that there was an Official Air Guitar Nation with national tours and championships taking place right under our noses!!!?? The US finals were August 16th at the Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza. The totally awesome William (Billy) Ocean won this year (in video above). If anyone knows Billy personally please send us an email immediately. He makes us weak in the knees. And for more fun check out the Japanese version…complete with a Hello Kitty chest plate, rock on man. rock.on.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vUsumUmdeY]
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Burning Man contributes to global warming, prematurely…
At around 3am PST today (6am EST), the Burning Man figure caught fire. He is supposed to be burned on the 6th day (Saturday) of this 8 day festival….sources suspect arson. The 35,000+ person experimental community festival is held annually in Black Rock City, Nevada. The figure is still standing, but damage has yet to be assessed as to whether figure needs to be rebuilt…
Could it be the business men disguised as business hippie douchebags trying to sabotage the anticorporate hippie douchebag lifestyle? On second thought these guys are most definitely too high on designer weed to pull off something like this. Its probably the green hippie douchebags from Coolingman, peeved about the festival’s carbon footprint…developing…
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Update
Just wanted to share with you what La Esquina told us last night. Being in the area we stopped by Kenmore St. to scope out the situation. We asked them to eat downstairs and they told us it would be closed until this Saturday do to “remodeling”. Based on the numerous past reports that have told us otherwise, we will add this excuse to the list.
Also, Daily News reported today that the Box “misrepresented” itself to its neighbors before opening. While this is hardly shocking to anyone that has been inside the place, we find the “cultural institution” vision they came up with as their plan alibi to be rather humorous. Promising plays based on the lost Jack Kerouac writings and having the support of actors such as Jude Law, Josh Lucas and Rachel Weisz who wouldn’t want them in their hood? In all seriousness we don’t know what these tenants’ deals are….if the Box isn’t a cultural institution, it is most definitely a place of learning. And that type of knowledge you ain’t gonna find on any other street in town.
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It’s Starting
Everyone knows that the best thing to cure the Monday Blues is to go out. Still feeling some residual hang over from the weekend we decided on dinner and wine. After not wanting to wait for 45+ minutes at Freemans (it’s a monday!) we headed back to Gemma. Place was also hopping. We ended up bumping into old pal David Cabo (one of the owners of Pink Elephant). Feeling a little bummed after reminiscing on the past summer and it’s inevitable end, we are starting to try and get excited about Fall Fashion Week in the city. And this Invite to Tamara Pogosian’s Fashion party at Pink is just the thing to help us get in the mood.
After our gnocchi and a Grand Cru we decided to head home, but hear David ended up at Pink to join the after party for the “Dedication” premeire staring Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup (who were both there along with Harvey Weinstein and Cuba Gooding Jr.).
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Cruising 101: How to “do it”
Ever wonder how to cruise at an Airport or your local truck stop? Well, just take a page out of Minnesota Republican Senator Larry Craig’s playbook:
“According to Roll Call, the arresting officer alleged that Craig lingered outside a rest room stall where the officer was sitting, then entered the stall next door and blocked the door with his luggage…[then] Craig tapped his right foot, which the officer said he recognized ‘as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct.’”
We can only imagine the look on the cruising Senator’s face after the officer told him he was under arrest. We can then only imagine the look on his face after he immediately realizes that he has to tell his socially conservative voting constituency.
Bets are being taken whether Craig will enter rehab a la Mark Foley. In the meantime try and reconcile his voting history with his cruisin’ habits:
1)Senator Craig has received much praise for his voting record from conservative groups including American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council
2)1996 voted for Defense of Marriage Act (Stops Federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and allows states to ignore legal same-sex unions made in other states).
3)1996 voted against bill outlawing employment discrimination based on sexual orientation
4)Opposed having federal hate crimes bill cover gay and lesbian motivated hate crimes
Hmmm…someone hasn’t been very honest with themselves…
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Missoni knows how to put on a show.
With Fall Fashion Week coming up, Missoni put on a great show this Saturday at the W Hotel Hideaway House in Sag Harbor. We really like Missoni. Besides the clothes, the models actually weigh more than 90 pounds and are fit
Singer John Legend was spotted there mingling with the models and later at Pink Elephant to party for what was the weekend before the weekend that will officially end the maddness out east.
[photos from rob rich]
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Town Topics
It must have been a slow August for the NYPD “pow-pow” and they decided to take matters into their own hands to spice things up. They were EVERYWHERE this weekend, busting as many local area hipsters as possible along the way. A recap: La Esquina, it seems, NEVER had a CO (Certification of Occupancy) for its basement. From Eater: “it’s not in the least surprising that a restaurant that has patrons walking through the kitchen to their tables wouldn’t be operating completely above board.” NEXT: Rising suspicions of drug use at the Box led police to do a raid early Friday morning. Hmmm…wonder what would give them any idea that drugs were being abused at this venue:
[during a performance of the song "COCAINE"]
We also heard reports that the pow-pow busted 2 venues in Williamsburg on Friday. I mean what better way to get into the city’s hotspots for free right? Maybe some of our officers have started to reach a mid-life crisis and needed a weekend of fun.
In any event, we ended up going to Gemma (pronounced “Jemma”) on Friday at the Bowery Hotel and were extremely pleased with our decision. Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode of the elitist Waverly Inn in the West Village have created a rival space on the East side that has managed to feel warm and breezy at the same time. We think we scored a corner balcony table because of the Australian accents emitting off our group, and heard French and Spanish conversations from surrounding patrons throughout dinner. Which helps to validate our claim that Europeans get preferable treatment at such places as these. Even so, we loved this place. It made us feel like we’re surrounded in quality, but not overly sceney people. And we hear we’re not the only ones that fell for Gemma. Apparently almost half of Wavery Inn’s staff switched over.
[photo from eater]
And our last piece of news, Los Dados is FINALLY going to open today at 73 Gansevoort (across from future Highline). From the creators of Lotus, Double Seven, and Suenos. With tacos priced at upwards of $16 we are pretty sure this isn’t going to fulfill our “good old fashion dirty mexican food in NYC” search that we’ve been on for quite some time now. We’ll give it a try, out of sheer boredom I’m sure.
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3rd Party Hoopla
In life, we have always lived according to the old saying “the more the merrier”, especially when throwing a party. We think that our country should do the same regarding its political parties. Today on the Van Der Galien Gazette political blog, we once again heard that this may not be so far off. Seems a certain mayor from the epicenter of the world may look to team up with a certain senator from the middle of the country nowhere. On May 2, 2007, Senator Chuck Hagel from Nebraska had a dinner with Mayor Mike Bloomberg of NY. During a May 13, 2007 appearance on Meet the Press, Hagel entertained the possibility of an independent run with Bloomberg. “It’s a great country to think about — a New York boy and a Nebraska boy to be teamed up leading this nation.” We think it is just crazy enough to work.
Hagel is notorious for his criticism of the Bush administration (he is himself Republican), and is arguably the most prominent member of his party to do so, making several much publicized comments:
“To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic.” This was in reference to the increasing amount of debate surrounding the Iraq War, and his assertion that the United States should withdraw its troops. (Nov ‘05)
“I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn’t take an oath of office to my party or my president.” In reference to Bush, the GOP, and the PATRIOT Act (Dec. ‘05)
“There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq,” In the Washington Post after Republican losses in the ‘06 midterm election.
“(It would be) the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam, if it’s carried out.” Regarding Bush’s plan to send an additional 20,000 troops into Iraq. (Jan ‘07)
It may seem highly unlikely that an independent team would take over office at this point, however ‘09 is looking to break the norm and this may be a positive step forward. With Hagel’s experience and Bloomberg’s money, they could surprise us all with quite a party.
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Porcão really hits the spot…
We’ve all heard about meat that is so good it literally “falls off the bone”. But who has really had meat that good? Enter Porcão, a Brazillian meatery located at 26th and Park. Forget Smith and Wollensky’s, or Peter Luger, you simply won’t experience the succulent taste of Porcão’s meat cuts anywhere else in the city. Leave your steak sauce at home.
So here’s the deal; you are given a coaster that has red on one side and green on the other. Green means keep the meat coming, red means you’re stuffed like Homer Simpson at a hotdog eating competition. Think Dim Sum, but with meat skewers. Waiters come around with 12 different cuts including tenderloin, flank, hump, beef ribs, short ribs, and rump. If they see green, they proceed to cut the meet from its skewer onto your plate. Vegetarians may be jealous, but they won’t be completely left out since there is a Veggie buffet as well. If you can’t make it to Carnivale this year, fine. But definitely take a trip to Porcão.
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La Liars
Seriously, we knew something was fishy. I mean when are Manhattan hot spots going to start coming up with a little bit better excuses? Is this like included in some kind of restaurant manual on how to get out of tricky situations?
From Eater:
SOHO—While Guest of a Guest reports that La Esquina has been temporarily closed due to a plumbing issue, our inbox tells a different story: “La Esquina lastest victim of the DOH. Using the “water main break” excuse. Closed for the weekend. Calling people with reservations now to let them know they are closed for the weekend due to “water damage”. They got raided last night by a huge posse of cops and fire brass.” Developing…[EaterWire]
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