“The Imperfectionists” – Pretty Close to Perfect

21 Jan

Image: RandomHouse.com

If you missed Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists when it was originally published in 2010, you’re in luck.  It’s just been released in paperback.  Well-received when it debuted, the novel made several best-of-the-year lists.  There’s good reason for this.

Recently, I caught Mr. Rachman on the first night of his North American book tour.  Held at Brooklyn’s Book Court, a more accessible and intimate space than I’m used to when attending readings in Manhattan, the author read from his novel and participated in thoughtful Q&A session.  Intelligent and forthcoming, he charmed with audience with his self-deprecating wit.  Humble but confident, humorous but at the same time quite serious, I found him to be somewhat like the novel itself.

If you’re not familiar with the book, it is made up of a series of short stories centered around an American-owned, English-language newspaper based in Rome.  Each story is told from the point-of-view of a different newspaper staffer (with the exception of one story which is told in the voice of an avid newspaper reader – according to the author, the only one based on true-life events and, not surprisingly, the most outrageous).  But you don’t have to be a news lover or have an interest in the art of reportage to appreciate the the stories and how Mr. Rachman has chosen to tell them.  During the Q&A, we learned that the individual stories came first (more were written than were included in the final version) and the unifying theme later.   And while it tackles the decline of the newspapers and the printed word, much of the focus is on the messy, complicated lives of the staff away from the paper.  Only when you reach the end, do you experience the full impact of the individual narratives and, not incidentally, do you appreciate the brilliance of the novel’s structure.

So, make the trip to your local bookstore or click your mouse, set aside the weekend, and be prepared to be transported to another time and place (and, yes, to laugh and cry).  Mr. Rachman’s grasp of human nature, and his ability to translate that into the written word, make this one not to miss.

Read well.

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It’s Half-Time In the “Glee” Season, So What Are The Best Musical Numbers So Far?

6 Jan

"Glee" on Fox

So, it’s half-time in Glee’s sophomore (2010 – 2011) season, and therefore time to take stock of which musical numbers really rocked.

Overall, I have to agree with Jace Lacob of The Daily Beast, from a storyline character-development perspective, it’s been a bit weak compared to last year (however, I come no where near loathing it).  Maybe this lack of emotional pull spilled over to the musical numbers, because I experienced fewer goosebumps this season, and as a result, have fewer videos on my “repeat view” list.  With that said, here my top five (okay, six):

“Teenage Dream” from Never Been Kissed.

“Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (Halloween) episode – I challenge you to not “take a jump to the left, and take a step to the right, put your hands on your hips, and pull knees in tight…”

“Baby It’s Cold Outside” and ” Welcome Christmas,” both from A Very Glee Christmas.  I mean who can resist Kurt and Blaine singing and dancing to this Christmas classic.  And anyone who grew up watching “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” well a tear or two could possibly be shed.

And, it was a toss-up, hence the top six…

“Forget You” and “Singing in the Rain/Umbrella” in The Substitute.  Yes, Gwyneth Paltrow delivered, and apparently, she is due back at some point in the second half.

So, those are mine … what are yours?

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What’s the Story “Morning Glory”? A Really Funny Movie, As It Turns Out

19 Nov

The reviews were mixed, at best.  The cast was stellar – Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford, Patrick Wilson, and Jeff Goldblum.  And I was in need of a good laugh.  So I took a chance, and I’m glad that I did.

Morning Glory is one seriously laugh-out-loud funny movie.  There are so many witty one-liners – and no, they’re not all given away in the trailer – that you really do need to pay attention.  They sneak up on you, especially when it comes to Harrison Ford’s deadpan delivery.  Sometimes it takes a second to realize the smart humor in the line.

Forgive the small transgressions -  every good New York knows that Schiller’s Liquor Bar is not located on Madison Avenue and that rising stars do not attend job interviews at the Today Show in cocktail dresses and that television played just for laughs doesn’t always work – because even when things don’t quite pass the muster, you’ll still find yourself laughing.  And you’ve got to love a movie that has two strong female leads played by two top-notch actresses, not to mention three swoon-worthy male leads.

When the kids head to “Harry Potter” this weekend, I recommend that you check out Morning Glory.  Try it, you might like it.

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U.S. Microfinance – A Few Updates

16 Nov

Photo: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Though I’ve been keep an eye, and a Google Alert, on the topic, I’ve not written about microfinance in the United States in some time.  As there continues to be daily interest on this blog, no doubt prompted in a part the slow recovery in the job market, I thought I’d share a sampling of the more informative and promising pieces that I’ve come across.  If you have any of your own, I’d love to hear from you.

In no particular order:

Kiva: Visa has donated $1 million to Kiva to “Expand Opportunities for U.S. Businesses to Benefit from the Power of Microloans,” serviced by ACCION Texas-Louisiana.

Suite 101: “Domestic Microfinance Organizations Help Small Businesses in U.S.” by Christine Welter, Feature Writer, Poverty/World Development.

Creating a World Without Poverty, A Grameen Foundation Blog: “The Dog Whisperer, Microfinance in NYC” by Christopher Kellen, Bankers Without Borders volunteer.

The Financial Women’s Association’s Microfinance Initiative: On November 9th, hosted The Rise of Microfinance in the United States event in New York.

The Washington Times: “Micro-finance: Let’s get it going in the U.S.,” by Making Change contributor, Donna Rae Scheffert.

YourNabe.com: “Citi touts microloans in Jackson Heights,” by Rebecca Henely.

And, although it’s off-topic, I’m including the links to two pieces from Sunday’s New York Times:

“Can Microlending Save Haiti?” in the Business section.

Nicholas Kristof’s Op-Ed, “Here’s a Woman Fighting Terrorism. With Microloans.”  Both speak to the power of microfinance to change and potentially save lives.

Small business create the majority of jobs in America.  As banks continue to hold onto their wallets, microfinance increasingly seems like a viable alternative, in my humble opinion.

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Lower East Side #10 – East River Park

2 Nov
New York City's East River Park in Manhattan's...

Image via Wikipedia

I love to walk.  I head out  four or five mornings a week.  Which is a good thing, because, if you’ve read previous posts on this blog or my other, Food, Seriously, you’ll know that I also love to eat.  Whenever I move to a new city or neighborhood, one of the first things I do is map out a new route.  I like having it set – the time, the distance – so that I don’t have to think about those things.  My mind is free to wander … wherever.

When I moved to the Lower East Side, I was faced with same challenge, and this time I realized that at least part of my walk could take place along a river, the East River to be exact, and through the East River Park.  It runs from Montgomery Street to East 12th Street, along FDR Drive, and like many others in the city, it’s recently been updated, made user friendly.

The park is unbelievably close.  I cross over FDR Drive at Delancey Street and walk (quickly) alongside the river.  On with way, I pass tennis courts that are busy, even at 7:30 a.m., even when the temperature is 37 degrees; benches installed facing the river like they’re expecting something or someone; a track encircling a soccer field, both of which are in use most mornings; metal tables connected to metal chairs that are mostly empty at this time of day; leafy trees; a baseball diamond; joggers, some leisurely, some running a good clip and checking their watches – a good sign they’re training for Sunday’s ING New York City Marathon; and finally a playground, where I exit the park at East 10th Street.  Throughout my walk there is the East River hit by varying angles of the morning light, the odd boat buzzing by, the Domino Sugar Factory back lit like in a movie, and the Williamsburg Bridge.

How fortunate we are to have these beautiful public spaces – rejuvenated by the city for our pleasure.

And this one on the Lower East Side is to me, daily, a marvel.

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A Guilty Pleasure – British TV Mysteries

26 Oct

 

Photo: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I liked them before I spent a year living in the UK.  MI5 (Spooks across the pond) got me started stateside.  Then, after a year in Southeast London, with only five channels on the television, and little time to watch (too many books to read to make the grade), I became very focused in my viewing.  And the British mystery/crime/detective series became a staple.

In the U.K., serials always run consecutively – often consisting of only six to nine episodes with no repeats.  Even the American programs ran for a full 13 weeks without interruption (a revelation for an American TV viewer).  Overall, I found that British crime dramas addressed current themes and issues head-on, and were stocked with smart, interesting characters who were a bit grittier and real than their U.S. counterparts.  Add to that, the British accent – so endearing to the North American ear – and that dry, witty sense of humor that always seemed to accompany the rather morbid task of identifying victims and time of death and murder weapon.  Sigh…

To prove my point, here is a list of my favorites (many available here on BBC America, PBS, or on DVD): Midsomer Murders; Prime Suspect; The Inspector Lynley Mysteries; Silent Witness; Waking the Dead; and Wire  in the Blood.

And now there is Law and Order U.K. , about which I am on the fence at the moment, and Luther, which I rather like after one episode.

As for the BBC’s new Sherlock Holmes rendering, “Sherlock” on “Masterpiece Mystery!” courtesy of PBS, I can say that I’m a raving fan.  Set in the present day, this current incarnation of Sherlock Holmes is edgy, eccentric, brilliant, and slightly antisocial.  Dr. Watson is a military doctor who recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan.   The New York Times review claimed, “The appeal is elementary: good, unpretentious fun, something that’s in short supply around here.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Although, one American series, “The Good Wife,” which coincidentally features Alan Cumming, host of “Masterpiece Mystery!”, is a pretty bloody excellent show as well.  If you’re not watching, you have no idea what you’re missing.

The same is true of all of the above.  Happy viewing!

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“Three Faiths” – A New Exhibit at the New York Public Library

25 Oct

Photo: New York Public Library

There is a new exhibit at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”  In their review on Saturday, The New York Times called it “stunning.”

Maybe you learned and forgot, or maybe you never learned in the first place, that three of the world’s religions share one source: the herdsman, Abraham.  The goal of this exhibit is to remind us of this, or to educate us anew:

Over the millennia, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have each created a rich body of founding texts and interpretive underpinnings for their respective faiths, each of which derives from the teachings of Abraham. This exhibition treats these three great Abrahamic religions, setting forth in splendid and historic detail the complementarities and differences among them, explaining their development, and exploring their lived experience through public and private prayer.

In an age when there is so much talk about Christians versus Muslims versus Jews, and the hijacking of the conversation by extremists, particularly in the case of Islam, this exhibition makes a timely a timely debut.  It’s the perfect moment for a history lesson or review.  Knowledge, understanding, tolerance … for free.  The exhibition runs through February 27, 2011.

I’ve written about the main branch of the New York Public Library previously.  Even without this fabulous exhibit, it’s one of the sites that I always recommend to visitors.  The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is an architectural wonder; and it backs on to Bryant Park, one of my favorite parks in the city, in every season.  I just walked through the park the other day, and right now it is being readied for the holidays.  As of October 29th, the ice skating rink called Citi Pond will be open, and the structures that on November 5th will open as the The Holiday Shops are in place.

Go to the Library to brush up on your history and then to the Park to share in the joy of the season.

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Lower East Side #9 – The Proximity to Brooklyn

18 Oct

 

The Brooklyn Bridge, Photo: tlc.howstuffworks.com

 

The eternal battle: Manhattan versus Brooklyn.  Which is hipper, more current, has a better quality of life and better food?  Since I’ve lived in New York, it’s been Manhattan for me, with only a few visits to the other side of the East River.

But now, unbeknownst to me at the time that I moved to the Lower East Side, I am two stops from Brooklyn on the F train.  Also, unbeknownst to me, is the benefit this happenstance.

Example #1 – The Brooklyn Book Festival – Even on a dreary, rainy Sunday in September, this festival drew tens of thousands of book lovers, including me, to downtown Brooklyn.  The line-up of authors and panels was impressive and informative.  My thrills included, Siri Hustvedt, T Cooper, Stewart O’Nan, Kate Christensen, Sam Lipsyte, Rakesh Satyel, and Monique Truong.  Three hours of brilliant conversation – all for 15 minutes, each way.  Time spent?  Minimal.  Value gained?  Priceless.

Example #2 – The Brooklyn Flea Market – I went on an insanely beautiful Saturday morning, which meant the outdoor location in Fort Greene (as opposed to indoors at One Hanson on Sunday).  There are over 150 vendors of vintage clothing, boots, and shoes, jewelry, rugs, furniture, you name it.  And, yes, there are some fantastic food vendors should you get a bit peckish during your visit.  (Who knew that a piece of Whole Wheat Spelt Nut bread with a smear of butter could taste so good?  The folks from Brooklyn based SCRATCHbread, clearly.  And you’ll also find fish tacos, and pizza, and burgers…)  I had no intention of buying anything.  Silly.  I left the Flea Market with two trade paperbacks ($5) and a fantastic vintage dress ($30).  And, I’ll be back.  To shop and eat …  I found a few restaurants on Dekalb Avenue that have my name on them.

Example #3 - The Brooklyn Academy of Music.  I ventured across the river to BAM even before I moved to the Lower East Side.  The Harvey Theatre is a fantastic space.  I saw Patrick Stewart inhabit Macbeth, and Ibsen’s The Cherry Orchard, as part of The Bridge Project.  It’s closer now, so I’ll be going again soon.

I may be a Lower Manhattan gal, but I definitely appreciate what Brooklyn has to offer, and there’s a lot.

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Lower East Side #8 – 10th Annual NYC International Pickle Day

11 Oct

 

Lower East Side Visitor Center

 

Are you old enough, or enough of a movie-buff, to remember the film, Crossing Delancey?  The one with Amy Irving and Peter Riegert, where book lover Isabelle Grossman (Irving) meets and falls in lust with the cool downtown author rather than her matchmaker’s choice, Sam Posner (Riegert) who happens to own a pickle shop on Essex Street, south of Delancey.  She ends up with the pickle-maker, but not until she’s suffered through a long, played-out drama (of course, there wouldn’t be a movie unless she did).

It wasn’t until I moved to the Lower East Side, and saw the Essex Street storefront of The Pickle Guys – yes, south of Delancey – that I began to understand the movie.  Not from the perspective of the 1980′s, but still …  the Lower East Side and pickles, there’s a history here.  And you can learn about that history by visiting the virtual NY Food Museum’s Pickle Wing which tells you more than you could have ever thought it possible to know about the pickle, including its detailed evolution and time line.

 

Alan Kaufman, Owner of the Pickle Guys

 

There is a fine art to authentic pickle-making, and pickling anything, if truth be told.  Like the breweries and delis, the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century, the pickle shops of the Lower East Side were owned and operated by immigrants, who brought Old World techniques to the preparation of food and beverages.  While many of these traditions have been abandoned in favor of industrial methods, processed food, and large corporations, recently there’s been a food revolution of a sorts, whereby old school methods of food production are being reclaimed, revitalizing lost food trades and industries, in the process.   And pickled products are becoming big business, via small, artisinal vendors, once again.  Just look at Brooklyn Brine Co., owned and operated by three 20- and 30-somethings.  As The New York Observer put it:

Formerly the province of grandmothers, and, in New York, the Lower East Side, pickling is experiencing a youthful Renaissance. Jars of various vegetables in liquid are now ubiquitous at greenmarkets and flea markets, in kitchen stores, at butcher shops, sandwich shops and Williams Sonoma. It’s not just earnest, entrepreneurial young outfits like Brooklyn Brine but a resurgence of pickles on restaurant menus all over the city and a rash of amateur canners stuffing farmers’ market booty into Ball jars in their own cramped kitchens, consulting recipes on Epicurious.com or books like Eugenia Bone’s recent Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods.

 

Photo: The Atlantic, "Where Pickles Change by the Season"

 

If, thus far you’ve missed the rebirth of the pickle, your opportunity to get in-the-know has arrived.  This coming Sunday, October 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is The Tenth Annual New York City International Pickle Day.  The festival will be held, appropriately, in the Lower East Side parking lot on Broome Street (between Essex and Ludlow), as well as on Broome Street (between Orchard and Ludlow).  The Pickle Guys will be there, as will Brooklyn Brine, and a few dozen other vendors.

Mark it on your  calendar.  It’s bound to be a salty, delicious, fun time.

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Lower East Side #7 – The Doughnut Plant

6 Oct

Outside the Doughnut Plant New York City

I have managed to delay this particular post for as long as I possibly could, afraid that once I’d gone there, there would be no going back.  I was right.  There’s a reason for the queue snaking out the door of The Doughnut Plant every Saturday and Sunday.  This is a Lower East Side institution.

Daily Specials

In 1994, Mark Israel began making doughnuts in the converted basement of a Lower East Side tenement, using his grandfather, Herman’s, recipe.  Mark would bake all night and, in the morning, he would ride his bicycle, delivering the doughnuts  to the likes of Dean & Deluca and Balducci’s.  Eventually, he developed his own techniques for doughnut making and had the brilliant idea to add fresh roasted nuts and fresh seasonal fruits to his glazes.  After a trip to Mexico in 1999, he added Mexican churros to his offering.  In 2000, the 379 Grand Street location (at Norfolk) was opened.

Mark Israel is a Hit

The Doughnut Plant serves two kinds of doughnuts: yeast and cake.  I’ve been told that the cake is a bit heavier, and it’s also a bit smaller.  I opted for the Toasted Almond yeast doughnut.   It was huge and it was delicious: the dough was had a nice consistency – substantial without being heavy – and the glaze was seriously flavorful, filled with almond pieces, and sweet, but not too sweet.  When I go back, I’ll give the cake version a try.  I am hoping for orange … I’m certain that I’ve smelled the aroma of orange, flowing strategically out of the plant vent, and onto the sidewalk, as I pass by.

Toasted Almond Yeast Doughnut

And there’s good news for those not wanting to venture quite so far downtown.  A second location of the Doughnut Plant just opened in the Chelsea Hotel.  Check out their review in The New York Times.

You can also get your fix at Dean & Deluca, Zabars, Citarella, Joes Art of Coffee, Orens Daily Roast, and Agata & Valentina.

Indulge!

In the doughnut queue

A rack of yeast doughnuts

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