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We have quite a week ahead of us, particularly if the rain confines itself to convenient times of day! Tonight, don’t forget there’s an excellent indoor event at Union Hall- the Board Game Olympics! The organizers at Metro Metro have some good tricks up their sleeves- get out there and play nice!
If a night of board games puts you in the mood for even more nostalgia you should head to BAM Tuesday night for a screening of the 1979 classic- The Muppet Movie! Check out the trailer:
On Wednesday Finger On the Pulse NYC is presenting another fantastic BBQ, starring The Harlem Shakes and Sam Mason, of Tailor fame (read my review of Tailor to get your taste buds excited).
If you want to do a bit more moving and a bit less eating Wednesday night check out the Official Tango Factory Milonga Opening at Drom. There will be “live electro tango music” and a “dance exhibit”- sounds promising, if a bit on the unusual end of tango!
There’s a ton going on Thursday; my pick if it’s not raining is a screening of To Catch a Thief in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This might well be the most romantic event of the summer- the bridge glittering above you as Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (future Princess of Monaco) exchange smoldering looks on the silver screen. Sneak in a bottle of wine and a blanket to cuddle under; check out the trailer for a taste of what you’re in for:
For those of you who are not secretly romantics (or trying to get laid- let’s be honest boys), you can check out Mem at the Delancey. The drummer from Brit Boras and the Cavalry, who I’ve raved about in the past, gives the music its hot beat.
If you’re looking for a more classic sound check out the Saxophone Summit at Kaufmann Concert Hall. The 92Y is hosting this all-star concert with saxophonists including Jimmy Heath, Phil Woods and Steve Wilson.
Finally, if you’re still feeling nostalgic, round out your week with a visit to Camp Wanatachi, aka Glasslands Gallery, for lots of great music and theatrical reenactments, plus s’mores, friendship bracelets and hair wrap stations!
Camp Wanatachi
Enjoy and stay tuned for additions!
NOTE: The Big Red Apple is now TheBigRedApple.net
To view this post at its new location click HERE!
Big changes will be coming to TheBigRedApple next week; www.thebigredapple.net is still in Beta version (as Google would say) but once it’s ready to go I’ll be writing to you from my very own domain!
This weekend is chock full of excellent events. Be sure to check my previous post for fun stuff happening tonight and tomorrow. Plus, a quick addition for tonight, if you won’t be able to make it to the Excess Energy party at Hugs Thursday you can check out Brian Blackout at Fontana’s tonight; he’ll be spinning a lot of 70’s arena rock, funk, psychedelia and indie rock- sounds like a party to me!
It turns out that Mayor Bloomberg is the one who dubbed this Good Beer Month! Go out and celebrate his stroke of genius Thursday night at Pacific Standard, where they’re having an Epic New York State Beer Throwdown, featuring (according to Brooklyn Based):
beers from Keegan Ales,Captain Lawrence Brewing Company, Ithaca Brewery, and Lake Placid Brewery, as well as our very own Kelso of Brooklyn and Sixpoint Craft Ales.
Friday night Rooftop Films takes the show the the ground (the lawn of Automotive High School in Wburg) for Animation Block Party! They’re “dedicated to exhibiting the world’s best independent, professional and student animation,” and they’ve definitely followed through in the past. This is going to be a fantastic show, full of comedy and drama and animation in all sorts of styles.
If you’re looking for a classic film join kids of all ages in Hudson River Park for a screening of Ghostbusters! Check out the trailer to remind yourself of just how great it is:
On Saturday night you can go to the rave you always dreamed of attending- FIXED is coming back to the basement of the Tribeca Grand! Guest DJs Riton, Lemonade and Free Energy will keep you dancing all night long!
Also on Saturday Indian Idol Kailash Kher will be rocking the Prospect Park Bandshell! His music is described as “adding elements of folk, reggae and rock to Indian pop” and he definitely looks like he knows how to put on a show.
On Sunday, for a change of pace from all the beer celebrations, celebrate pork at 3rd Ward’s 2nd Annual Pig Roast and Dance Party! Butchers from Marlow & Sons will be slicing and dicing for your culinary enjoyment (there will also be beer, don’t worry). Here’s an impressive (and kind of gross) image from last year’s event:
3rd Ward's Pig Roast and Dance Party 2008
Sunday night finish off your weekend with Our Lady J: Gospel for the Godless at Joe’s Pub:
Our Lady J is a New York based singer/songwriter known for her visionary gospel stylings and powerhouse pianistic skills. Along with her “Pink Champagne Orchestra” and “Train-To-Kill Gospel Choir,” she has sold out crowds at The Zipper Factory, Ars Nova, The Beechman Theatre, as well as world venues including London’s prestigious South Bank Centre and the Spiegeltent (in Manchester, UK). She has also traveled the globe as music director and arranger for Justin Bond’s recent original song cycles. This year, Out Magazine named her as one of the “Out 100,” a list of the people who helped shape LGBT culture in 2008.
On Monday MetroMetro is hosting the 3rd Board Game Olympics at Union Hall; games include Trivial Pursuit, Jenga, Uno, Battleship, Connect Four, Memory and Operation! Sign up in advance and use those skills your parents said were useless!
Stay tuned for additions and have a great weekend!
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To view this post at its new location click HERE!
Can you believe it, our little country another year older? Last year I spent July 4th in Roswell, NM where the Honey Bear Dancers put on a show worthy of our great nation; here’s a video for your viewing pleasure (Happy 4th of July!):
Aren’t you glad you’re in NYC and not Roswell, NM? Haha. Well, there are some great things for you to do here this weekend (though none of them involves the Redneck Woman song– as far as I know). I’ve already posted some great events for Thursday.
This week is the start of the HOT! Festival at the Dixon Place Theater; this “queer” theater festival is as questionable as they come:
From free events like Smash the Church, Smash the State: A Queer Vision of Independence (co-presented by Bluestockings and City Lights Books) to the pointed and provocative work of artists like Arcade, Dorsey, Bornstein and Justin Bond and shows like The Mattachine Project and the Baraka de Soleil curated Black-Out, HOT! Festival strives to provide a platform for art and ideas that embody progressive and uniquely queer voices.
For more questionable theater this week and next you can head to the Joyce Theater to see the Umbilical Brothers “mimic every sound imaginable, creating a warped world where they whip up another uproarious fiesta of carefully choreographed mayhem.” F just saw their show and said it was hilarious; after seeing this video I can see why:
What happens when a boy from Arkansas and deux garçons français decide to play punk rock together? Go to Zebulon Friday night to experience the result- Paris Suit Yourself. Writing for Interview Magazine, Matthew Evans says:
Onstage, the band’s chemistry fuses the bonafides of gospel with the fiery theatrics of early punk rock, as if Atche invokes the haunted vocal grooves from Archie Shepp’s “Attica Blues,” bolstered by strained rhythms echoing the DKs’ “Holiday in Cambodia.” All of that’s wrapped in a handsome wardrobe, and instilled with a techno flow that colludes the deviating sounds.
Head out there and judge for yourself.
On Saturday you have many options for celebrating the birth of our country (messy and imperfect but still inspiring in its absurdity).
Union Hall is celebrating our more esoteric athletic pursuits with a bocce ball tournament! There will also be karaoke and burgers (for the less athletic amongst us).
If you aren’t bocce tournament material but want to be on a team littlefield’s 1st Annual Super Festive 4th of July Gowanus Scavenger Hunt and BBQ is for you! Send in your team info and spend the afternoon scurrying around and making new discoveries on the shores of the Gowanus.
If it’s dancing you want Studio B is the place to be; there will be different DJs on both of the two floors as well as DJs spinning on the open rooftop- get down like it’s 1776.
For most of us July 4th means fireworks and while in NM pretty much anyone can set off their own (in their backyard, on the road in front of their house, in the middle of the highway…), in NYC it’s all about being in the right spot to see them. New York Magazine has some great tips; I second their West Side Highway suggestion.
On Sunday laze around the Brooklyn Yard; the weekly Sunday Best series will include guest DJ Losoul this week. Here’s a shot from one of last year’s events:
Brooklyn Yard '08
Stay tuned for additions and happy Independence Day!
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To view this post at its new location click HERE!
The next week leading up to the LSAT is going to be a bit hectic (read: traumatic) for me so I’m going to unload a whole bunch of upcoming events on you- brace for impact!
First, some additions for this weekend. Tonight is the first night of the Raspberry Brothers’ new show at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas! This month they will be making fun of the original Terminator! I have actually seen their Terminator routine at Union Hall and I can guarantee that you will have an excellent time!
On Saturday the NYC Lab School presents TASTES: from the meatpacking district to chelsea. TASTES is…
an exciting new culinary festival that will benefit arts and enrichment programs for public school children at the NYC Lab School on 333 West 17th Street. Patrons will sample a broad array of specialty dishes from fine restaurants in The Meatpacking District and Chelsea.
Also on Saturday head to Union Square to experience the Silent Rave! The idea is that everyone gathers at a given place and time (the south end of Union Sq. at 6:30pm) and begins simultaneously dancing to whatever music is playing on their individual iPods/MP3 players. It’s something you have to experience to understand but believe me, it’s amazing! Check out this picture from a Silent Rave I attended last summer:
An exhibit worth swooning over will be opening at the Open House Gallery this weekend; to celebrate 60 years of damsels in distress Harlequin is putting on a show of their cover art. Here is a prime example:
Starting this weekend and continuing every weekend through Labor Day you can party all day on top of the Gansevoort Hotel. The Get Up Get Down party will involve brunch by the pool, lounging around, and dancing once the sun goes down; you may not be in St. Tropez but you will feel almost as chic.
On Monday at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Félix Lajkó will perform with violist Antal Brasnyo as part of the River to River Festival:
Hungarian violinist Félix Lajkó fuses folk, jazz, Gypsy, and Jewish klezmer music to create a unique and energetic musical style. Known for his charismatic performances, Lajkó has collaborated with everyone from Japanese Butoh dancer Min Tanaka to the French rock band Noir Désir. Here he will perform with violist Antal Brasnyo as part of Extremely Hungary, a yearlong festival celebrating Hungarian arts and culture in New York and D.C. (extremelyhungary.org).
Monday is also the start of Sake Week! More than 100 restaurants will be offering menu pairings, cocktails and other “sakecentric” events.
Wednesday is the premier of the Ninth Annual Media That Matters Film Festival:
The Media That Matters Film Festival, one of the world’s first and largest online film festivals, kicks off its ninth year with an offline world premiere tonight. This year’s festival showcases twelve jury-selected shorts tackling a broad range of social issues, including climate change, urban planning, and immigration, with humor, humanity, and honesty.
On Thursday, in celebration of Internet Week, Thrillist is hosting a crazy bash at M2 Ultra Lounge. There will be free booze, trapeze artists, a dj battle and visuals by ValuJet Visuals (aka my talented friend W).
Thursday is also opening night for two great shows. First, the Gallery Players present The 12th Annual Black Box New Play Festival, which begins with ‘Father Mike,’ “a nostalgic comedy that takes place in 1955 in the home of a proud Catholic family.”
Also on Thursday the Hudson Warehouse starts their summer season with Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
On Friday you can finish off Internet Week properly at the Webutante Ball! This classy coming out event is happening on the roof of the Empire Hotel; there will be free vodka cocktails from 6-7 and a ceremonial crowning of a Webutante King and Queen!
Next Friday and Saturday you can see the results of the New York 48 Hour Film Project:
The 48 Hour Film Project’s mission is to advance filmmaking and promote filmmakers. Through its festival/competition, the Project encourages filmmakers and would-be filmmakers to get out there and make movies. The tight deadline of 48 hours puts the focus squarely on the filmmakers—emphasizing creativity and teamwork skills. While the time limit places an unusual restriction on the filmmakers, it is also liberating by putting an emphasis on “doing” instead of “talking.”
Click here to see some of the films from previous years and from other locations around the world!
Next Saturday Gemini and Scorpio will be screening Serenity on a private rooftop:
A rooftop screening of Joss Whedon’s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse) space-western “Serenity,” to benefit Equality Now, an international women’s rights advocacy group and Whedon’s favorite charity. Also featuring “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” Whedon’s musical-romp internet series created during the WGA writer’s strike. The screening is a prelude to a bigger CSTS shindig on June 28 hosted by The Browncoats of NYC, and to a series of semi-private rooftop “Firefly” screenings starting June 11, info on which will be available via the G&S mailing list. Look for The Browncoats at the event offering June 28 CSTS tickets and merch.
On Sunday my favorite fitness guru will be performing along with her dance company- Skin, at Symphony Space. Tina Thompson is a force of nature, as you may recall from my past ravings, and you won’t want to miss this performance!
Finally, next weekend is also the start of two exciting theater festivals! The first is the Antidepressant Festival at the Brick Theater:
This summer’s fiesta is meant as a diversion at a time of plummeting stocks and rising unemployment. Nineteen productions are planned, including “Exit, Pursued by Bears,” about the fictional vice president of a Chicago sanitation union who leads a double life as Tickle Bear, the center of an anonymous online furry sex community; and “Schaden, Freude and You: A 3 Clown Seminar,” which provides the audience with a chance to laugh at others as a means of fighting depression. In this case the “others” are clowns, so they’re used to it. For more extroverted types, the Brick is including “Suspicious Package: Rx,” a sequel to last year’s “Suspicious Package,” an interactive theater piece that put audience members, each wearing a Zune media player, into the middle of a film-noir-type mystery. This year a trip to the future is in store.
The second is the Muslim Voices Festival, which will involve events at various locations:
The Asia Society, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the New York University Center for Dialogues will present a festival and conference that explore and celebrate the arts of the Muslim world. Offerings encompass visual arts, crafts, documentary film, standup comedy and theater, including “Richard III: An Arab Tragedy,” a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s play that examines the Arab world’s relationship with the West, from Sulayman Al-Bassam, a Kuwaiti director. The production, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, will be presented at the BAM Harvey Theater.
Enjoy and stay tuned; I will try to post additional events as my schedule allows! Oh, and wish me luck!
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I for one had a spectacular weekend and I hope you did as well! I’ll be posting tales of my exploits later today after I upload pictures from my camera. For the moment, let us turn to the exciting week ahead!
Tonight at the American Museum of Natural History the author of “Death From the Skies! These Are the Ways the World Will End,” Phil Plait, will be lecturing on cosmic catastrophes that could befall us and what we can do to protect ourselves.
Also tonight you can experience underground cabaret at the Night Hotel:
Lee Chappell, the man behind the wildest nights at the Roxy and the Palladium, returns to New York nightlife with underground cabaret ~ Foreign Affairs ~ after an elective decade in the shadows. Co-hosted every Monday evening by Isengart, darling of the German cabaret scene, and Lady Rizo, famed comedienne and chanteuse, FOREIGN AFFAIRS features an ever-changing array of the city’s best new and vintage performers, musicians, and drag spectaculars.
Isengart and Lady Rizo
On Tuesday you have a chance to check out The Woes– the band I raved about recently. They’ll be playing a multitude of instruments at Union Hall. Enjoy the tunes, play some boccie ball and browse the absurd collection of books decorating the area.
Wednesday is the first day of the Tribeca Film Festival; if you don’t have tickets to any of the films, or if you prefer things that are free, go over to the SoHo Apple Store where Spike Lee will be discussing Passing Strange, which brings the hit Broadway rock musical to the screen, and Kobe Doin’ Work, his documentary about Kobe Bryant. Both films screen at Tribeca.
On Thursday you can experience the first Sci-Fi Puppet Storytelling Hour presented by Sick Little Productions at the Under St. Mark’s Theater:
The Outer Puppets is the premier episode of a sci-fi puppet storytelling hour set in the future of low budget public theater. Three stories are told in one bizarre night of live Puppet Theater with live music. Our first story, Official Probe, explores the cavernous gap between what officials want us to know, what the truth is, and what the hell the Machine actually does. The second piece, The Pet Light Bulb, offers a glimpse of what happens when bioluminescents attack. The final tale, Digi-Lounger, propels us into the distant future when humans no longer have contact with anything except a giant digital butt plug. See what happens when an escaped experimental joins the party. The show is hosted (and rudely commented on) by two junk robots from the outer rim (of Brooklyn). Live music composed and performed by Dan Sullivan and Naa Koshie Mills of the Disclaimers. Featuring Ann Gillespie, Michael Gravison, Jason Griffith, Jonathan Harford, Richard Hinojosa, Lindsay MacNaughton and Danielle Thorburn. Directed by Jason Griffith and Richard Hinojosa. Written by Richard Hinojosa.
Also on Thursday Discovery will be playing at Union Pool in Williamsburg. I heard them play at the Cameo Art Gallery on New Years Eve and K and I absolutely fell in love with the singer- Kathleen Cholewka. She has great stage presence and really energizes the crowd.
Discovery Live @ Cameo Art Gallery
A couple of early weekend announcements…
Saturday is the start of the roller derby season! Go to Hunter College Sportsplex for the Championship Rematch- Queens of Pain vs. Bronx Gridlock!
Also on Saturday the Wit’s End Jazz Age party is back at Antik! Their last event, which I posted for your consideration, was a big success and what with Baby Soda playing hot jazz tunes and Akemi Kinukawa of Sandra Cameron Dance Center offering a FREE group lindy lesson I imagine this one will be even better!
Have a great week and stay tuned for additions!
NOTE: The Big Red Apple is now TheBigRedApple.net
To view this post at its new location click HERE!
There are two concerts this week that I’d like to bring to your attention; they’re not sold out as of this morning but you should grab tickets soon if you want to see these musicians fresh out of SXSW.
On Thursday Asobi Seksu plays at the Bowery Ballroom. Check out the video from her single “Thursday”:
Friday night you can catch Langhorne Slim at The Bell House.
Langhorn Slim
If you want something a bit… dorkier go to the Bell House on Wednesday for Union Hall’s Secret Science Club.
Mars expert JAMES HEAD recently spent his “holidays” in Antarctica, studying the bone-chilling landscape for clues that might help explain the mysterious Martian terrain. Dr. Head asks: Could frigid water below the surface of Mars contain evidence of life? What’s the latest news from recent Mars missions such as the Mars Express and Phoenix?
Professor of Geological Sciences in the Planetary Geosciences Group at Brown University, Dr. James Head spent his early career at NASA, training Apollo astronauts and planning lunar landing sites. As a geological explorer, he has traveled around the world (and to the bottom of the ocean in deep-sea submersibles) to study volcanism and tectonism. He is the author of more than 300 scientific papers on topics ranging from gullies and glaciation on Mars to Venusian impact craters. Currently, he is a co-investigator for the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Mission, the NASA MESSENGER mission to Mercury and the NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3).
Before & After
**Groove to spaced-out tunes and video
**Blast off with the Secret Science Club’s quantum cocktail of the night, the “Mars Express”
**Stick around for the out-of-this-world Q&A and music from PHANTOGRAM and BIG BANG TV!!
If you’re more interested in the past than the future get a history lesson on sex in NYC on Thursday at the Tenement Museum where Kat Long will be discussing her book “Forbidden Apple: A Century of Sex and Sin in New York City.” I just picked it up yesterday and it’s full of details about brothels during Prohibition and street walkers in pre-Guiliani Times Square. History has never been this steamy!
This Saturday is the 1st Saturday in April, which means it’s First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum! This month the events include swing music by The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn, tours of the Herman Bas exhibit and numerous other concerts and lectures.
Herman Bas "The Blue Line"
Best of all First Saturdays are totally and completely FREE!
Stay tuned for more events!
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To view this post at its new location click HERE!
There are two concerts worth considering tonight. First, get your fill of British electro-house at Webster Hall where Calvin Harris‘ tunes may not invoke deep thought, but will definitely get you dancing. The second is for all the hipsters out there- Blk Jks will be performing their ‘South African art rock’ at Union Hall.
Also tonight, discover a new kind of brothel- a Poetry Brothel at Madame X.
Here’s how it works: The poets play “whores,” visitors play “johns” (and are also encouraged to attend incognito!) but instead of physical intimacy, the poets offer the intimacy of their poetry by giving private, one-on-one readings in curtained-off areas. All of the resident “whores” are available for private readings at any time during the event (for a small fee). Of course, every good brothel needs a furtive “front” or cover business; ours is part saloon and part salon, offering a full bar (serving Le Tourment Vert absinthe all night!), blackjack table (played for prizes), tarot card readings, raffle tickets, live painting, one-on-one poetry consultations (bring your poems!), and live music, with performances from our poets, performers, and artists throughout the night. Each night “The Madame” will also introduce “the new girl,” a featured reader who will delight the whole cast and cast of customers with a very special public performance.
Poetry Brothel
Tomorrow go over to the Japan Society for their new exhibit- “Krazy! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games.” Check out examples of these evolving art forms, such as this image:
“![Takashi Okazaki. Afro Samurai [film still]. STUDIO GONZO, 2007. © 2006 TAKASHI OKAZAKI, GONZO / SAMURAI PROJECT.](https://thebigredapple.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/manga-38_wide.jpg?w=490 "Takashi Okazaki. Afro Samurai [film still]. STUDIO GONZO, 2007. © 2006 TAKASHI OKAZAKI, GONZO / SAMURAI PROJECT.")
Saturday night you have the challenge of deciding between several events, each of which embrace completely different sub-cultures.
Takashi Okazaki. Afro Samurai
I will be attending a performance of the Young New Yorkers Chorus at Holy Trinity Church:
Young New Yorkers Chorus Event Poster
I’ll admit I’m a novice when it comes to Rachmaninoff but I’m confident that this will be a truly beautiful performance (I have a good reason for thinking so- I have a friend in the chorus whose voice I simply adore).
For a whole different sort of musical experience, check out Black Taxi at DROM; it will be a late-night, down-and-dirty, rock-and-roll-fueled benefit for Studio 42!
For a whole different sort of experience you can spectate or participate at the 2009 New York City Beard and Moustache Championships, held this year at Public Assembly. There will be prizes for full beards, patchy beards, goatees, moustaches and sideburns (and many more categories of facial hair). I attended the 2007 Championships and I can vouch for the absurdity and hilarity of this event.
Beard and Moustache Championship Participant
If that’s all just far too intimidating wander over to Union Pool for what just may be the best dance party you’ve been to all year- Budos Band will be throwing a ‘Voodoo Funk Party.’
Budos Band Event Poster
If you’re not too hung over for bagpipes on Sunday, check out the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade; there will be the requisite music and all the shenanigans you’re expecting.
Also on Sunday revamp your wardrobe and support Housing Works by participating in a fantastic clothing swap at Sixth Ward:
Trade in a bag of your unwanted clothes for a chance to rummage through others’. Fashion students are on hand to help with fittings for your new outfits. Extras, bar tabs, and five-buck donations at the door go to Housing Works.
Enjoy your weekend and stay tuned for any additions I may come across!
NOTE: The Big Red Apple is now TheBigRedApple.net
To view this post at its new location click HERE!
I am limiting this post to Mon-Wed as I haven’t yet pulled together a sufficient selection of events for Thurs (please forgive me; I’m still a bit exhausted from the last week).
Tonight there are several fantastic events to consider. If you’ve never celebrated Purim properly this is the year to embrace your inner Jew. The 92Y Tribeca is having a Purim party worth converting for (or at least worth practicing your kvetching):
Battlestar Megilactica. Frost/Haman. Hebrew School Musical. Join The Shushan Channel for its seventh hit year. Featuring all-new pop-culture Purim takes by writers from The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Simpsons, Frasier and more, this year’s extravaganza will be headlined by The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac, John Oliver and New York’s most-Purimtastic comic talent. Warm up for the show by entering our costume contest and you could win free tickets to 92YTribeca events. Get your grogger on and stuff yourself with Chef Russell’s gourmet hamantaschen. This is one party you won’t want to miss.
Now that sounds much more exciting than Lent.
If your inner art enthusiast is stronger than your inner Jew check out MOMA Monday Nights:
One Monday a month, MoMA stays open until 8:45 p.m. Drop in after hours on March 9 for an art hunt, exhibitions, films, entertainment, cash bar, and a bite to eat at Cafe 2—plus the first 600 ticket buyers after 5:30 p.m. will receive free admission on their next visit. On our Museum-wide art hunt (starts at 7:00 p.m.), rediscover the collection and compete for prizes including a private guided tour at MoMA, benefit party tickets, and exhibition catalogues.
Be sure not to miss the special exhibition Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective (through May 11). A highlight is Kippenberger’s sculptural installation The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s “Amerika” (1994). Reimagining a scene toward the end of Kafka’s unfinished 1927 novel, it fills the Museum’s Marron Atrium with a vast, absurdist employment agency, in which the ritual of the job interview becomes a spectator sport.
Entry to Modern Mondays, the Museum’s weekly series of screenings with contemporary filmmakers that showcases innovation in film, is included in the cost of admission. On March 9, the Modern Mondays event will be An Evening with Jan Sikl and Ivan Passer, a film screening and conversation with two noted Czech directors, at 7:00 p.m. in the Roy and Niuta Titus 2 Theater.
Also tonight; Sarah Barron will be reading from her first book- People Are Unappealing at The Half King :
Unappealing people are everywhere. And they, like herpes, never ever go away. PEOPLE ARE UNAPPEALING, Sara Barron’s wickedly funny debut, spares no one—not even the author herself. Born the child of a hypochondriac mother and an effeminate father, Barron never stood a chance of being normal. At age eleven she started writing porn. At twelve she gets mistaken for a post-op trannie. By seventeen she’s appeared on the Jerry Springer Show.
On Tuesday you can demonstrate what you learned in your High School English Class at Union Hall. Mother Tongue: Spelling and Grammar for Grown-Ups is sure to become more and more absurd as the night (and the drinking) continues.
Also on Tuesday, SW has forwarded me a truly unique event- a performance of Balinese Shadow Puppetry and Masked Dance at Hunter College.
Balinese Shadow Puppetry and Masked Dance
If that’s not your thing later in the evening George Gee and the Jump, Jivin Wailers will be performing at SWING46 Jazz & Supper Club.
On Wednesday get down to a very different beat at Hugs, where my friends Excess Energy will be spinning; celebrate the gorgeous weather with some warm-blooded selections by guest DJ Eugene Tambourine (Solid) and resident DJ Brian Blackout.
Excess Energy at Hugs
Finally, some advance notice: Jeffrey Tastes has pulled together a great list of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations taking place in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for more events this week!
NOTE: The Big Red Apple is now TheBigRedApple.net
To view this post at its new location click HERE!
This was possibly one of the most awesome weekends ever. On Friday night I went out to Monkey Town for ‘Forest Dinner,’ which was truly incredible. The meal was accompanied by some of the organizer’s favorite videos of all time. Here’s the breakdown:
Forest Dinner Prix Fixe Menu
- Fennel braised rabbit
- honey & ancho grilled quail
- venison ravioli
- espresso rubbed elk loin
- grilled wild boar chop [I skipped this one]
- black forest cake
Forest Dinner Music Video Program
- Dan Deacon- Drinking Out of Cups
- Cool Kids- Black Mags
- Bat For Lashes- What’s a Girl to Do
- Kanye West- Flashing Lights
- Lasse Gjertsen- A Self-Portrait
- Mr. Rogers- Lifetime Achievement Acceptance
- Justice- Stress
- MGMT- Time to Pretend
- Kelis- Bossy
- Thunderheist- Jerk It
- Warrior Queen- Almighty Father
- Lasse Gjertsen- Amateur
- Daft Punk- Da Funk
- Wu Tang Clan- Triumph
- Aphex Twin- Rubber Johnny
- Vitalic- Poney Part I
- Tame Impala- Half Full Glass of Wine
- UNKLE- Rabbit In Your Headlights
- Sonic Youth- Death Valley 69
- Madvillian- All Caps
- My Bloody Valentine- To Here Knows When
- Prodigy- Smack My Bitch Up
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Y Control
- Fleet Foxes- He Doesn’t Know Why
- Liam Lynch- The Museum Rap
I really like the set-up they have in their backroom. I attended a screening of Honey Bunny V2 there during Porn Week; check out this picture:
HoneyBunnyV2
Having the screens surrounding you gives the room a sort of virtual-reality atmosphere and the low couches along the walls make for excellent people-watching. Their food is usually very good but the cocktails are kind of hit-or-miss. I had one on Friday that tasted sort of like onion-infused vinegar. I think when bartenders decide to add things like onions to drinks they need to really test them out before adding them to a menu.
I followed that up with drinks at the Huckleberry Bar. I have to say I really prefer Huckleberry on weeknights; Friday night it was so packed and noisy that you couldn’t really enjoy their fantastic cocktails. I particularly like the Article 57. It’s a grown-up version of hard lemonade; rather than just citrus the drink is also infused with ginger. The waitress took forever but then gave us free drinks, which was very sweet of her and definitely made up for the wait. The DJ was totally intolerable but then I guess I’m just not a fan of going deaf from the music. It’s not really a place where people dance so I feel as though that level of volume is uncalled for.
Saturday afternoon I took my first flying trapeze lesson at the New York Trapeze School. It was definitely one of my more thrilling experiences to date and I would recommend it to anyone who does not have a crippling fear of heights. The staff were really friendly and encouraging and even in your first lesson you get the thrill of hanging by your knees, doing a back-flip-release and attempting a catch (I failed; I’m just not that athletic). This is a picture of the tent:
New York City Trapeze School
Saturday night I saw ‘The Cherry Orchard’ at BAM:
The Cherry Orchard at BAM
Ethan Hawke was pretty amazing. You could also really see Tom Stoppard’s hand in the whole thing; his style is very recognizable. I saw a production of his play ‘Rock and Roll’ in Boston and though this was obviously a Chekhov play you could see the similarities between the two. Chekhov is pretty depressing but then again, it seems to me that Russian literature is almost always depressing. Perhaps it’s all the cold.
It has been far too cold in NYC lately. I mean when I step out of the subway and the wind almost knocks me over it takes away from my general enjoyment of going out. I feel as though I haven’t had an outfit that was right for the occasion and the weather for months. I’m tired of wearing boots for goodness sakes. How long must this go on? In a city where you walk all over the place winter is just so much more stressful than in places where you hop in and out of cars. I recently took a cab for 10 blocks. I felt ashamed afterwards but I mean really, I was wearing stockings for crying out loud. Stockings!
I had a late dinner after the show at Bacchus, which is a really great French Bistro in that area. It’s tiny and not too fancy but the food is consistently good and the waitresses are friendly and French (not a likely combo). I’ll admit to being a huge francophile. French accents make me want to be scorned and condescended to. After Bacchus I was out with friends at Union Hall until they closed for the night, which was earlier than it should have been. Union Hall feels like the Park Slope version of the Cheers bar. Of course everyone doesn’t actually know your name, but you do feel comforted the moment you get in the door. How could you not feel comforted by fireplaces and leather couches and hipsters playing boccie ball? They also have some fun events, including the Raspberry Brothers, who I saw do commentary on The Terminator and found hysterical.
I slept too late Sunday to go to the Chinatown New Years Parade, which was a bummer because I really enjoyed it last year. I did however head into the city in the late afternoon for dim sum at Red Egg. I’m not a big fan of Chinese food; I don’t eat pork and I don’t like soy sauce so a lot of it doesn’t work for me. The textures are also somewhat problematic. I have textural food issues. I can’t eat mushy things. There are few exceptions to this and it includes many things that other people appear to like (ie yogurt). I like to chew my food. The experience of dim sum is fun though and since I was with friends who are crazy about dim sum I was able to enjoy the vicarious excitement as well.
The Big Red Apple 