THE SMOKING NUN: 11/01/2008

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Emma & Noah Return Home

Spectacular Sunday dinner with swank, sexy pair Emma & Noah (3&4 from left), who departed New York and moved to London a year-and-a-half ago. Emsie is a real-life Brit and Noah a Virginian, like me. They are back in the States for Thanksgiving and we celebrated their return this evening, first at 11st Street Bar in the East Village and then Mexican dinner at... uh, somewhere in the 40s and Third Avenue... boy, I never really zeroed in on the name of the spot.

LOOK AT THE NEWLYWEDS... THOSE DAMN KIDS!

New York Subways, 1995-2008

A recent visit to the New York Transit Museum startled me into realizing just how much things change over time... in subtle fashion. When I arrived here in 1995, most of the subways that I took were of the Redbird variety, sturdy iron ladies with gray seats.

Over time, we moved to the shiny silver cars with orange and yellow seats,

and today, more and more, the sleek, modern cars with blue benches, automated voices and even LCD maps that show a line's progress are becoming the norm.

Month to month, year to year, as with so many things, evolution is slow to take hold, until suddenly one realizes that the future is upon us. I found a fantastic Web site this morning that exhaustively documents the history of the MTA... which, for my purposes, I focused on the past decade or so (nycsubway.org/).
Even in that time, I have witnessed the end of tokens—and it unnerves me that I didn't save a handful at the time—as Metro cards, which at first were an unromantic flop—were bestowed incentives such as extra rides until they finally took.

Today, of course, it's all about the monthly unlimited pass for $86 (and counting). When I look at other cities that use fare cards such as Washington and San Francisco, the concept of nickel and diming by distance/number of stops, instead of by the ride, is truly a folly of municipalities that obviously see public transportation as an offshoot of driving, as opposed to mighty New York, where it brings together all classes, races, ages and regions as the de facto mode of transport. Long live the subway... in spite of Mayor Bloomberg's strong will to make this city a stomping ground only for the privileged and wickedly wealthy.

E! True Hollywood Story: Celine Dion... at long last...

The E! "True Hollywood Story" that I interviewed extensively for way back in March is finally set to air on E! Friday, December 5, with an encore Saturday, December 6. Let's hope after the two hours I spent with the crew that I get a little face time... though as I recall, I was fat as a tick... alas...
In addition, the Biography Channel documentary on the Wahlberg bros that I also participated in is also scheduled to air December 6.

Meanwhile, because we haven't had a damn working television for eight weeks, I missed out on the Biography on Donny & Marie that aired last month. I found it tonight on YouTube and was gratified to be included in several segments. Boy, that was also filmed near the beginning of 2008...

Celine DIon Forum: 20,000 Members Strong

For anyone who doubts the enduring popularity of Celine DIon—yes, I'm talking to you Sony Music—the four-year-old Celine Dion Forum just announced that it is now 20,000 members strong. I am not usually much for posting on many Web sites, but this is a community of connected, passionate cool cat followers—not just fans—whose knowledge of every nuance of all things Celine is legendary, and I love being part.

As informative as it is, it's also entertaining to see the crafty artwork designed by some of the savvy users, such as these beautiful images.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Timeless

Going into the city on this cold, lazy, gray may-as-well-be-winter day... Thanks for keeping me company on the iPod, Sheena! Off to K-Mart to buy a 20-inch LCD TV for the amazing cheapo price of $200. It may be small, it may sound like an AM radio, but after eight weeks without a television in the apartment, I am on it, baby! Hey, I scoffed at Black Friday, but who said anything about Gray Saturday, especially since this TV is $299 as of Sunday?

KARINE HANNAH album photo session

An incredible afternoon in the East Village of New York shooting photos for Karine Hannah's upcoming album project, produced by Ayhan. He called upon a wondrous Turkish photog/videographer, Gulchin, at a wickedly seedy East Village performance space, Underneath St. Mark's, which turned out to possess an almost haunting, historic ambiance, with original brickwork along the wall, obviously from a previous century. No doubt, the pro pics are going to be much better than this, but here's my take with my beloved little pocket Canon...
THE EAST VILLAGE PERSONIFIED