I'm not just posting this video to be snarky. I'm also posting it because I will be heading off this weekend to the city in the state where Mr. Jindal is governor. So there will be no posts this weekend. When I return, I will give you a full New Orleans update.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
What do you do ...
... when you have so much to write about? Thoughts are swirling in my brain, even more is going on in the city I love ... how to encapsulate it all? Ah, that's why the computer Gods invented bullet points!
- Big news today: Mayor Plans to Close Parts of Broadway to Traffic. The city says this is an experiment. The laboratories are parts of Times Square and Herald Square. As a lover of walking, this is great news. My concern: the re-routed traffic will create huge congestion problems and a giant cluster-F of cars elsewhere.
- Ed Koch is getting ready to die. Seriously, he's throwing going away parties for himself. "How'm I doin'?" I guess ... not well. I don't worry for Ed though. I have a feeling the ex-mayor will bury us all.
- Apparently we New Yorkers are HORNY. I mean like ... REALLY HORNY. I mean like REALLY REALLY HORNY. I mean like REALLY REALLY REALLY HORNY. I mean like ... WEIRD HORNY.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
So Long Liz ...
Liz Smith Bids City’s Tabloids Goodbye
As of Thursday, her column will no longer run in any New York City paper. The New York Post is dropping her, yet another victim of a nasty economy and dying newspaper business.
Liz Smith is a New York institution. A Texas girl who found her calling in our fair city, she's probably the greatest gossip columnist in this city's history. A pal of the powerful, a foe to the phony, a great big glamorous gal, Liz has been dishing the dishy-ish dish in town for over fifty years. No one has ever had a more perceptive finger on the pulse of celebrity culture in this city like her. Not being able to open a tabloid and see Liz Smith's mug and being able to read her scoops is truly sad indeed.
But she'll still be available online. Check her out at wowowow.
As of Thursday, her column will no longer run in any New York City paper. The New York Post is dropping her, yet another victim of a nasty economy and dying newspaper business.
Liz Smith is a New York institution. A Texas girl who found her calling in our fair city, she's probably the greatest gossip columnist in this city's history. A pal of the powerful, a foe to the phony, a great big glamorous gal, Liz has been dishing the dishy-ish dish in town for over fifty years. No one has ever had a more perceptive finger on the pulse of celebrity culture in this city like her. Not being able to open a tabloid and see Liz Smith's mug and being able to read her scoops is truly sad indeed.
But she'll still be available online. Check her out at wowowow.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Woody's Oscars
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You know I love Woody Allen and his movies. As someone who pretentiously calls himself Mr NYC, it would be a crime not to.
So Penelope Cruz just won an Oscar for her turn in Woody's Vicky Christina Barcelona. She makes the sixth performance to win an Oscar in a Woody movie. The other winners?
Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977)
Michael Caine for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
The number of actors and actresses nominated for Oscars in Woody movies is also huge. Woody himself for Annie Hall, Maureen Stapleton and Geraldine Page for Interiors (1978), Mariel Hemingway for Manhattan (1979), Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives (1992), Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly in Bullets Over Broadway, and Sean Penn and Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown (1999).
If there are any others, I don't remember. But that's a hell of a list. (And that doesn't take into account all of Woody's writing and directing Oscars and nominations, which I certainly can't remember).
So that's six wins in thirty-one years, or a win roughly every 5.17 years. Considering that there are hundreds of movies released each year and a couple dozen nominated for Oscars every year, that makes his track record all that more impressive.
So Penelope Cruz just won an Oscar for her turn in Woody's Vicky Christina Barcelona. She makes the sixth performance to win an Oscar in a Woody movie. The other winners?
Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977)
Michael Caine for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
The number of actors and actresses nominated for Oscars in Woody movies is also huge. Woody himself for Annie Hall, Maureen Stapleton and Geraldine Page for Interiors (1978), Mariel Hemingway for Manhattan (1979), Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives (1992), Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly in Bullets Over Broadway, and Sean Penn and Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown (1999).
If there are any others, I don't remember. But that's a hell of a list. (And that doesn't take into account all of Woody's writing and directing Oscars and nominations, which I certainly can't remember).
So that's six wins in thirty-one years, or a win roughly every 5.17 years. Considering that there are hundreds of movies released each year and a couple dozen nominated for Oscars every year, that makes his track record all that more impressive.
Livery Cab 101
Fascinating short article from this week's New York magazine about how the livery cab business in this town works. It's one of those subcultures, a whole world that most of us know nothing about.
These are the people who keep this city moving -- literally.
These are the people who keep this city moving -- literally.
NYC has a new Archbishop
Milwaukee Archbishop Chosen to Succeed Egan
When anyone mentions Milwaukee, how can I not think of Laverne and Shirley? Or Yiddish?
Timothy Dolan will take over on April 15th.
Good luck your Eminence.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Classic Mr NYC
With financial and economic news dominating the headlines, The Wall Street Journal is not reporting news but also making news more than ever. Each week some "genius" or another has a column in it that stirs up trouble.
Anyway, I blogged about Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Journal when he bought it in 2007. Too bad none of my suggestions for the paper were adopted.
Anyway, I blogged about Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Journal when he bought it in 2007. Too bad none of my suggestions for the paper were adopted.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
What a Week in NYC!
The President's Day Holiday on Monday meant that this was supposed to be a "short" week but, here in NYC, it was one of the busiest short weeks ever.
Most of this I've already blogged about, but it's still amazing to see everything that's transpired in just a few short days: A-Rod's steroid confession, The New York Post cartoon controversy, Mike Bloomberg's bumbling quest for a third term ...
But wait! There's more!
Shea Stadium, as shown below, was finally demolished last week. Now the Mets will take up residence in the new Citi Field just across the street. Shea Stadium was built by Robert Moses in 1961. He said of it at the time: "When the Emperor Titus opened the Colosseum in 80 A.D. he could have felt no happier." Well, the Colosseum is still standing in Rome after almost 2000 years. Shea didn't even make it to 50. Sorry, Bob.
And Late Night with Conan O'Brien is no more. He's leaving the show and our fair city to host the Tonight show out in ... dum-dum-DUM-dum ... Los Angeles ... As Conan and Matt Lauer reflect below, it seems like only a few short years ago that the then unknown Mr. O'Brien took over from David Letterman. That was in 1993. Feels like just yesterday ... but it was 16 friggin' years ago!
Oh, the wonders never cease in New York City! Our city is so wondrous that, apparently, even our subways make music. I'm not talking about the begging musicians in the subway, I mean the subways itself. Under Broadway, the Subway Hums Bernstein
And here's another Mike update: apparently our billionaire Mayor isn't so teflon after all. His approval ratings are down. Granted he's at 52% and still a favorite for re-election, but considering that he was in the 70s recently and seemed a shoe-in just a month or so ago, this is not a good trend for him.
Stay tuned.
Most of this I've already blogged about, but it's still amazing to see everything that's transpired in just a few short days: A-Rod's steroid confession, The New York Post cartoon controversy, Mike Bloomberg's bumbling quest for a third term ...
But wait! There's more!
Shea Stadium, as shown below, was finally demolished last week. Now the Mets will take up residence in the new Citi Field just across the street. Shea Stadium was built by Robert Moses in 1961. He said of it at the time: "When the Emperor Titus opened the Colosseum in 80 A.D. he could have felt no happier." Well, the Colosseum is still standing in Rome after almost 2000 years. Shea didn't even make it to 50. Sorry, Bob.
And Late Night with Conan O'Brien is no more. He's leaving the show and our fair city to host the Tonight show out in ... dum-dum-DUM-dum ... Los Angeles ... As Conan and Matt Lauer reflect below, it seems like only a few short years ago that the then unknown Mr. O'Brien took over from David Letterman. That was in 1993. Feels like just yesterday ... but it was 16 friggin' years ago!
Oh, the wonders never cease in New York City! Our city is so wondrous that, apparently, even our subways make music. I'm not talking about the begging musicians in the subway, I mean the subways itself. Under Broadway, the Subway Hums Bernstein
And here's another Mike update: apparently our billionaire Mayor isn't so teflon after all. His approval ratings are down. Granted he's at 52% and still a favorite for re-election, but considering that he was in the 70s recently and seemed a shoe-in just a month or so ago, this is not a good trend for him.
Stay tuned.
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