I don't need anyone explaining the irony of a new posting on a blog one would imagine is about North London actually being about New York. But there you go. Here are some random reflections on our recent trip stateside, inspired by a magazine article which had the 100 best things in the world right now, though not in a counting down stylee but more in a manner which suited them. Which, I guess, suits me...
6. Lit-er-at-ure
Esquire placed Liza's new
company at this position (which officially makes her two and a half times cooler than cover star Brad Pitt) and we're clearly excited by the comparison between her "options" and those offered to the original staff at Microsoft. If for some reason we quit our jobs, and commute between our homes (neither of which have been bought yet) over here and there, you'll know why. As for the heading above, that's lifted directly from Alan Bennett's sensational 'The History Boys'. Of course, my keen sense of drama meant that it played to sold out West End crowds when I lived in the US and is now wowing them on Broadway. Indeed, it comes to a cinema near you next month with the admirable decision to keep the original cast and director. We managed to get the best cheap seats in the house for last Wednesday's matinee and had a grand old time. Funnier still was that it was clearly the pensioners' day out as the line for hearing aids was longer than for the bar and bathroom! Funniest of all though was the Craig's List ad offering tickets for 'The History Of Boys'. A different kind of play, I would imagine.
2. Print-A-Porter
Sticking with the writing theme (and there's more to come later), it felt good (literally) to have the New York Times back in my grubby mitts. I realise that a fair chunk of it is available online - though we could really do with your Times Select password, Jess - you can't get the likes of Maureen Dowd or George Vecsey for free. No one in the UK writes like them and we haven't had a film critic like A.O Scott (let's face it, Anthony Lane is simply on a planet all of his own) over here since Tom
Shone (you must check out 'Blockbuster') nor one on television like Bill Carter, well, ever (if you're into the late night wars carried out by NBC with Leno and Letterman's CBS then look no further than 'The Late Shift'). Overall, I'd take The Guardian and Observer if it came to blows but the NYT has some seriously heavyweight writers.
8. The Six Feet Under movie theatre
I love the Angelika theatre on Houston and Mercer. For starters, it has the sounds of the subway rumbling right through it and, somehow, the deep noises add to a film's charm, not detract from it. Secondly, Liza and I always scream its name whenever we passed by it because it reminded us of a dumb moment from the much lamented Six Feet Under when a character with the same name was called into the room. Try it for yourself some time. My partner in crime couldn't make it to the movie but Deb could. We went to a daytime screening on opening day - and you just can't beat daytime screenings on opening day - of The Science Of Sleep. I should declare an interest because director Michel Gondry and I are like
this (!) but what I enjoyed more than the movie was the fact that such a hip crowd packed the theatre out. They were clearly au fait with all his seminal music videos (if not my show) and these people simply don't exist in England. As for Deb, she managed to sleep through some of the movie - oh, the irony! - and check her email before delivering her damning verdict. Seriously, it's not that bad...
11. The Subway
There's almost a theme to this posting. You digging it? Speaking of digging, you still have to marvel at the Subway system. I shan't go on about how - yes - cool it is, what with the perfectly in place air con system but rather shall recall one small snapshot. An elderly African-American fellow had a sketch pad with him and through gesture alone, got the consent of a fellow passenger to start drawing him. He was told that he had three stops to get the job done and set upon his task with relish. We couldn't believe how quickly and efficiently he moved, his hands darting across the blank page for, probably, the millionth time. We sadly had to leave after stop two but already you could check out what an incredible job he'd done. And I don't care what you may think about London, but you don't get that on the Met Line.
9. Pret-A-Manger
Not the sandwich store (though nothing wrong with them either) but more about the food in general. From the Upper West Side Italian named for a grandmother to the East Village one with the ultimate affordable pasta dish, the supremely named Priest's Strangler', it's hard to find better grub anywhere. We didn't even get to any of the fancy pants places but, frankly, didn't need to when you can get $4 burgers at Shake Shack (still no evidence of doody!) to ridiculously good fried chicken over at Big Daddy's Diner. And that's not even beginning to mention the madness out on Long Island that is Zorn's...
3. Life's A Beach
Long Island also brings with it in-laws and a cracking beach which has a delightful walk to a lighthouse. It really is as simple as that and each one of you should try it at some point. You probably already have done. Seriously: reading the paper, in the sunshine, listening to the Red Sox beat the Yankees in their stadium up in the Bronx is as good a way to spend Saturday afternoon in mid September as you'll ever get.
12. Don't Call Us
Delightfully, almost a year after writing the piece, I discovered some good old fashioned hate mail waiting for me during this trip. A letter would have been almost too great to contemplate but the fact that the email dropped into my inbox whilst we were in New York makes me feel justified in reprinting it. A touch too much anger perhaps, especially when you consider that I'm under 30 and actually enjoyed some of the acts (click
here for the CMJ Drive Thru Records Showcase review on my other blog if you wish to know what she's going on about)...
Message from Ashley:
Are you on crack, middle-aged, or just plain delusional? Unless you're under the age of thirty, you shouldn't be at a Drive-Thru Showcase to begin with. Drive-Thru doesn't exist to suit the tastes of fancypants music snobs; the label is SMART and understands the musical preferences of TODAY'S youth... not the fillers of tomorrow's obituaries. At first I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt- and then I skimmed the rest of your articles. KT Tunstall? Oh yeah, you have AWESOME taste.
Cheers.
5. 1st and Glen
American sports remain way better than they're given credit for in the UK. We saw the baseball season pretty much wind down and the (American) football season get going. I had explained to me the
Heidi Bowl incident from the early 1970s and then, by sheer coincidence, it nearly happened to me 15 minutes later as the Jets gamely attempted to overhaul the Patriots (they didn't but I feel that won't stop the anecdote from gathering legendary status). As for baseball, it clearly wasn't going to be Boston's year once the London slump took effect. I continue to find it a fascinating sport and - shock horror! - believe that it's probably more watchable than cricket. Before you lynch me, remember that both appeal to stats mad people and that it grew out of the laws of cricket. And in David Ortiz, we probably find ourselves with a modern day Don Bradman. Here's hoping for a Subway World Series that the Mets win in 7.
1. Strand And Deliver
It might just be the finest book store in the world you know. The Strand (just off Union Square) claims to have 18 miles of books and I'm inclined to believe them. Well, I think I looked through most of them. To be honest, it suffers from being slightly on the overwhelming side and the staff can be intimidating: when I asked about using the step ladder, the lady barked her 'YES YOU CAN!' back at me. For that reason, Book Soup on Sunset in LA might hold the edge in friendliness (and for its title, Marx Brothers fans) but it can't compete when it comes to stock or price. Strangely, my lone library book from London was the Nick Hornby collection of articles where he attempts to review every book he reads each month and he frequently mentions shopping there and the unadulterated thrill he still gets from finding his work on the shelves (ah, one day perhaps). In the end, I restricted my purchases to six: Michael Lewis's Moneyball (Hornby got his there too) and George Vecsey's Baseball, a collection of New York pictures, a selection of Gary Smith's sports journalism, David Remnick's Reporting (the best profile writer out there and editor of the world greatest magazine, 'The New Yorker') and - finally! - the essential collection of American Film Critics, collated by Philip Lopate. It starts in the silent era and ends in 2005 and has reviews and essays from all the legendary American writers on film. I even think The News Of The World's Paul Ross gets some of his work included ; )
4. Ken!
Nothing more to add here, apart from to guide you over to the Jeopardy blog when you're done with this. And you're nearly there!
10. (Times Six)
It was merely good timing that we were in town for the debut episode of Aaron Sorkin's new series, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. And it pretty much lived up to all my high expectations with an opening sequence better than anything since, frankly, the pilot of The West Wing. From there, the dialogue merrily went about its way ("skipping rope" said one review and that's spot on) and as soon as it ended, we wanted more. A fitting line to sum up Sorkin's show, our time in New York and, hopefully, your feelings about this post coming to a close.
