Happy New Year!

Today I went out with my little bro John, Buffy and two of his friends, Brad and Paulette and their two dogs Massey (short for Massismo) and Niko, two little Malteses. We had brunch OUTSIDE because of the dogs. It's December 31st! What the heck!?!? I have to say it was pretty warm. Well, there were these stovey things at Dos Caminos. We went to the one in the meatpacking district which made for good street viewing. Later on we're off to Central Park for free fireworks at midnite! Hope it's stays warm, but for some reason I'm doubting it. Good thing John got handwarmers as one of his Christmas pressies!

mb on Dr. Oz!

Well, it's official! I am a "ToFi"? What the heck is that do you ask? (No, it's not some new WiFi frequency!) According to the almighty and powerful Dr. Oz (tee, hee), I am thin on the outside and fat on the inside. Damn! At least I got an SUV to the studio and a free Dr. Oz mug. Hurrah! ;-) That's more than I received from the Daily Show! Oh, and I also got a free blood test. Oooh, ahhh! Yea, be jealous suckas!! (NOT!)

SantaCon is coming to town!

Actually, it's here! So I get up this morning and look out the window and across the street is this huge building with all these balconies. And what do my wondrous eyes do I see... About six balconies filled with Santa Claus-es drinking beer. SANTA!!!!

Then I realize, "Oh, it must be SantaCon!" What is SantaCon? From 10 am until 11:30 pm people dress up a la Santa and supposedly spread cheer throughout the city. They start off downtown allegedly donating canned goods and Toys for Tots but I didn't see any of the Santa mob holding anything while they were walking around. (If we were in New Orleans you know their hands would be full of Christmas hurricanes!) I did run into bunch of Santas in Grand Central who were definitely in the Christmas mood. Too much eggnog? Ho, ho ho!

Gaga’s Workshop!

Forget about Santa! Lady Gaga and Barneys NY rule! Barneys is opening an entire floor devoted to Lady Gaga tonight! 25% of sales will go to Gaga's Born This Way Foundation which empowers youth by fighting bullying and will also offer mentoring.

The entrance way to Barney's is all decked out as are the windows in Gaga's interpretation of an elves workshop. Gaga's Workshop will be opening tonight at 11:59 but you can check out the website to see the special items they will be offering each day. The $15 cookie with an amazing likeness of the songstress has already sold out.

The special daily items which can be ordered online are a mix of inexpensive like the cookie or Gaga acrylic rings but then there are handmade flame shaped press on nails with red crystals (see photo above) for $225 and cut off spiky leather gloves ($265). Quite a mix. And we won't know what else is being sold in the workshop until 11:59 tonight. So much Gaga gear!

Uma Thurman and mb!

Oooh, aaah! I met Uma Thurman. Uma was at Lord & Taylor hawking a new perfume, Ange ou Demon Le Secret, by Givenchy. I found out about it and I told my friend whose staying with me who's also a journalist. L&T is about 5 blocks from me so we thought we would go. My friend said she'd buy the perfume and would try and ask her some questions and I would give her jewelry from the designer (Alzerina) I'm doing social media for. (You gotta see the BOTTLES and BOTTLES of perfume my friend has in my apartment.) But I wasn't planning on buying the perfume so I was a little nervous about the whole thing. So we're at L&T and there are these guys in black with trays of champagne and macaroons. Tres bien! Every person we saw working for Givenchy's PR asked each of us to take our bottle out to get it signed. I just looked at them and said, "I'm with her" and pointed at my friend. I thought they were going to kick me off the line but I made it. So, we're just about to go up and meet Uma and my friend sees these 8x10 color glossy photos of Uma so she takes one and ask one of the PR minions if we can get the photo signed as well. The woman says no, either the perfume or the photo. I thought that was kind of lousy so I take the photo from my friend and tell her I'll get it signed. So it's our turn and Uma is sooo nice. She signs the bottle, signs the photo and I give her the Swarvoski earrings by Alzerina and we get our photo taken. Don't know why I was so worried! Ha, ha! I text Alzerina and all is well with the world!

Maurizio Catellan Retrospective

If you wanna see some art or just see some weird shit, get yourself to the Guggenheim. "All" the works of Italian art antagonist (antaginator?) Maurizio Catellan are hanging in the rotunda like a giant mobile. The display is pretty unique. I don't think any other artist has come up with the idea to hang a mess of the their work like that. It's pretty cool

Cattelan first made news in Italy with hanging three versions of children by the neck from trees in a park in Milan. Many people were not amused. You can see the kids hanging here along with life-size horses and some sort of bull with it's horns replaced by motorcycle handlebars. Bull indeed! Then there's this guy with a hood over his head just sitting and hanging out. I kept expecting him to throw off the hood and give the finger to the people looking at the exhibition. Catellan does seem to be into "realistic" life-time versions of animals and people but there are also a lot of versions himself strewn throughout the mix. Interestingly, the depictions of himself are mini-versions. Hmm, wonder what that means!

As you walk up the ramp more and more of Catellan's works come into view. There's also photographs and these weird pigeons standing on a lot of the work. Very life-like! Like I said whether you think it's art or weird shit, check it out!

Guggenheim Museum

1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th St.)

"All" Maurizio Catellan Retrospective

Until January 22nd, 2012

Greenwich Village Halloween Parade 2011!

Hey there! Halloween nite baby! I was there with a friend for all the action. Some pretty inventive and messed up costumes out there. Yes, owing to the recent zombie trend, there were zombies aplenty. Case in point, I was sort of this zombie-vampire thang. (See pic with the very SCARY Nikon camera around my neck. Positively GHOULISH!!)

While a lot of the costumes were good...I didn't see the cleverness like there was years ago. For example, the guys dressed up as green, plastic toy soldiers, complete with weird, green feet/stands. They would be patrolling the parade route and then one of them would call out and they would all freeze. So cool! Or the people who dressed up like Mr. and Ma'am George Bush and sat on the back of a convertible probably rented just for the event!

There seems to be a lot more people advertising their clubs or wares this year as well. Although I did get 5 cool Jagermeister t-shirts (5!) as well as astronaut ice cream courtesy of Fiat. (Freeze dried!) So, who am I to cast blame???

It's still worth checking out the parade. I'll be there next year! Ooooh, maybe I can get some freeze-dried astronaut fudge sauce for my "ith creme".

Photos from the Brooklyn Flea Market!

Fly to the Brooklyn Flea Market!

Went to the Brooklyn Flea Market on the waterfront in Billyburg. It was pretty cool. Took the ferry from 34th St. It's a nice space in the shadow of these monstrous fancy-schmancy apartment buildings. There's people selling jewelry and antiques. Some new and vintage clothes as well. Probably the best part is Smorgasburg! Those are the food stalls and there's all kinds of yummy stuff...cupcakes, homemade soda, artisanal pizzas and these yummy Mexican sandwiches.

There's another Brooklyn Flea in Ft. Greene as well. From Thanksgiving through March the market moves indoors to the former Williamsburg Savings Bank. See my next blog for photos for photos!

Brooklyn Flea Market

Williamsburg

Sunday 10 to 5

East River between North 6th and North 7th Streets

Ft. Greene

Saturday 10 to 5

Bishop Loughlin Schoolyard

Rain or shine!!

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

ME, ME, ME! Went to a taping of the show yesterday. (See photos.) It was mildly amusing. Meredith was very nice and the audience wrangler, this comedian Rick Mercurio, was funny. He tried to keep the audience amped before the show and during the cuts in taping. What I didn't like was that he kept advertising his show at Gotham Comedy Club, over and over. Oooow, and he'll give us free tickets after the show. Yeah, we got tickets to his show along with a free How to be a Millionaire t-shirt, but they weren't FREE tickets. Just five buck off the cover price. Then, what? You gotta buy drinks too? Fughedabouit?

What was cool was seeing the set. Of course it looks smaller than it seems on TV. I sat right in front of this huge swinging camera which I swore was going to come by and hit me in the head. (It didn't) I also took the test to be on the show. I thought I did pretty well as the questions seemed pretty easy. There were even two questions about Germany but they only called three people at the end. Harumph!!

The best part was afterwards going to get something to eat with my friend Ale. We were so hungry after sitting there for a few hours. We were on the Upper West Side so we went to Lansky's and I had mahtzo ball soup cause it was freaking freezing and raining and some pierogi. Then we headed to Magnolia and I had a pumpkin cupcake which was alright. Nothing spectacular. Should have gone with the chocolate. Haven't been to the Magnolia on the Upper West Side and it's a very cute establishment with lots of places to sit! How to be a Magnolia Millionaire!!

What the heck is this??

Steampunk Halloween Haunted House

Face it, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a haunted house in NYC around Halloween-time... Blood Manor, Nightmare, Blackout...I've been to them all. But this was my first year to hit the Steampunk Haunted House downtown. First off, no tortuous long line. (Take that Blood Manor! Waiting on that line is the true horror!) We were whisked quickly inside with the news that the performers would be touching us. Whaaaatttt? No worries, they're just guiding you through house.

The theme this year is "Through the Looking Glass" a la Alice in Wonderland. Ooooh, Alice in Wonderland, positively frightening!... You need to know that this fright fest is more creative and mysterious than blood-curdling screamy-scary. They do divide you from your friends though and you sometimes are left alone in a room with strange creatures, like a girl dressed up with a steampunk horse mask. We sat across from each other with a table in between us. On the table was a chess set, except that the pieces were all horses. Okay! She moved a piece. I moved a piece. And then she checkmated me and when I protested, stuck her long metal nose in my face. There were a lot of little girls dressed in white nightgowns with short hair like Alice Liddell (the ALICE). They were creepy though. As I was walking up a set of stairs one of them innocently pulled me back by my jacket and whispered in my ear.... "I didn't mean to do it."

What's kind of cool is that you and friends have different experiences. One ended up closed up in a box for a while. Glad I missed that one. The Mad Hatter was this tall, skinny girl standing on a table singing this kind of creepy tune into an old fashioned block mike. She then motioned for us to follow us into the next room and demanded to know why we weren't wearing hats. I might muss my hair!!

Then there was the Queen who let me look in her hand mirror while making sure I could still see her behind me. Like I said, not super scary but it was incredibly creative although a bit too short. I wanted MORE!!!

steampunkhauntedhouse.com

Abron Arts Center

466 Grand St. (at Pitt St.)

Halloween Costume Swap

Hey, you wanna free Halloween costume? Help yourself to some gratis costume candy at the GrowNYC Halloween Costume Swap. Of course you can also bring a costume but you don't have to.

It's all part of the Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Sculpture Park. BOO! While you're there attend a costume-making workshop or enter your dog in the canine costume contest. I have to break out Buffy's Victoria's Secret model costume. Yes, she has one, which I stayed up until about 3 in the morning to make, but I digress....

Also stop by the Greenmarket at the park to pick up some local farm-fresh produce or listen to spoken word by Urban Art Beat NYC. Check out Buffy's dance moves while she gets down and dirty at the "Beat-n-Brass" concert by William B. Johnson's Drumadics. Hey, she'll be wearing that slutty model outfit so why the heck not???

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
32-01 Vernon Boulevard
Long Island City

Saturday, October 22, 2011

11am-3pm (Rain or Shine)
Free Admission

Fundraiser for Japan

On the evening of Wednesday the 19th the NY Japanese-American Lions Club Charities and NY Osaka no Kai are having a Dinner/Dance Cruise to raise money for local and international communities in need of disaster relief. Tickets are only 30 bucks. There will be salsa music and J-pop, quite the mix. A free salsa lesson will also be available. You're on your own with the J-pop dancing!

http://www.nyjalc.org/HOME

mb on The Daily Show

Hey there!

I was on The Daily Show. My first TV experience...ooh, ahh! The set-up is John Oliver goes down to see the Wall Street protestors and gets kind of fed up with their hand gestures and other freakiness. So after going downtown Oliver goes to a bar where I'm with a bunch of people and

we talk about the protestors.

Hope you saw it!!

mb

World Block Party

La MaMa is 50 years old and the theatre/cultural organization is celebrating today with a party on E. 4th Street. There will be food, performance, crafts and apparently some world-wide bell ringing! In memory of founder Ellen Stewart who died in January 2011 at the age of the 91 there will be bells rung by the people at the party, neighborhood churches, businesses and a video feed of theatres ringing bells around the world to rename the street Ellen Stewart Way. (Stewart used to start each performance in the theatre by ringing a bell.) Peformers include Blue Man Group, Nicky Paraiso and the PigPen Theatre Co. I wanna see Blue Man Group for free money! (Years ago one of the group was in one of my plays. Actually, he sucked in it. I know it's not what I wrote because another performance had this non-professional actor playing the same part and he rocked it! So there!!)

Sunday, October 16th
1 pm to 6 pm
E. 4th St. between Bowery and 2nd Avenue

Open House NY This Weekend!

Don't you just love looking in other people's windows? Admit it! There's something about peeking in and checking out the furniture, what's on the walls, those little tchotchkes? Yes, if someone inside catches you, scurry on! But this weekend you can not only look into those windows, you can go inside! It's Open House New York weekend!

There are places to see in every borough. I wanna check out the Mausoleums of Woodlawn Cemetery. Creepy and just in time for Halloween. The house tour of Bronx's Barlow-Pell Mansion also sounds good. Greek Revival, mid-19th century home?? Yuuup!

Workshops are available for kids as well as talks and tours led by architects, designers, planners and scholars. There's even music and dance performances inspired by the city's architecture and landscape.

Reservations are required for most of the events so be sure to check out the web site. You can also post your photos on the weekend's Flickr page and there's even a photo competition. Checks it all out!!

http://www.ohny.org/

I'm back (in the NY groove!)

Yeah, I was busy, okay... ;-) What, like you never were?!?! So I'm back and here's the dope. First of all I'm scheduled to be on The Daily Show on Monday nite (Oct. 17th). Don't get all excited. I'm just gonna be part of a segment on the disenfranchised yet apathetic 99%. TUNE IN!

Now, for a little of what's going on in NYC! On Saturday Oct. 15th grab your beast and head out to DOG-TOBERFEST! From 9 AM to 6 PM, Fleet Street between Flatbush Ave and Fulton St. in B-land will be full of dogs, free snacks and activities for pooches! Rain or Shine, get your pooch on! Me and Chew-Buffa will be there. (See pic!)

Speaking of DOG-TOBERFEST, I wonder if they'll have Dogtoberfest beer?? WOOF! Having lived in Germany I got to liking that crazy Marzen/Oktoberfest beer style... malty and with a sweet aroma and this brew by Flying Dog has it. Double WOOF! (Hiccup!) I know they've got the goods at Fourth Avenue Pub (76 Fourth Avenue). Guess we'll have stop by. You gotz to do what you gotz to do!