I once read a statistic that indicated Torontonians watch more films per capita than the residents of any other city in the world. It's not that we go to first run movies more than most people do, it's that we go to a lot more film festivals.
When someone says the words "Toronto" and "film festival", the natural assumption would be that they're referring to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the world's most well-respected gatherings of movie folk. While the TIFF is definitely Toronto's biggest and best known, attracting films, celebrities and celebrity-watchers from around the world, it's actually only one of dozens of film festivals that take place in this city throughout the year...
Read the rest of: "Toronto Film Fests and the End of the "Nabes""»
Rockefeller Center is a symbol of New York. The annual lighting of the giant Christmas tree and the iceskating rink infront of is has come to define Christmas in New York. Home to countless businesses, NBC, Christie's auction house and retail shops, Rockefeller Center IS New York.
Emphasizing this, artist Anish Kapoor designed an installation highlighting this notion. The Sky Mirror, a temporary exhibition, is a giant concave disk made of stainless steel, and placed at the entrance to the Rockefeller Compound on 5th Avenue. The giant mirror reflects the top of the center and the sky, bringing it to the ground on 5th Avenue. The opposite concave side reflects the hustle and bustle of the street. The sculpture, although physical, represents a window or a view, rather than being an object itself.
Kapoor also designed the permanent famous "giant bean", called Cloud Gate at Chicago's Millenium Park. Also made of stainless steel, Cloud Gate warps Chicago's skyline, bringing it closer and framing the viewer.
If you are anything like me and you live in New York, going grocery shopping is a nightmare. I feel like a loser lugging those old lady carts across town, but decent grocery stores are few and far between. I've actually found myself attempting to create a healthy diet based solely on the inventory of my corner deli. After contemplating buying a pale peach colored tomato, I decided ENOUGH! I need nutrients! I want to remember what real vegetables taste like, and not just some shriveled mass posing as produce...
Read the rest of: "Union Square Market"»
The breeze is coming in warm and soft off the rolling waves, and I'm midway into a caffeine and lack of sleep haze that won't send me crashing for several hours yet, listening to the wheels grind slowly over hungry piles of sand criss-crossed with footprints and tire tracks.
It's sunny, warm, I haven't worn a shirt or shoes for days, and there must be ten pounds of sand that I've managed to track into the Jeep since I started this little adventure. Since putting rubber to the asphalt and sand of Highway 12, I've eaten nothing but boil-in-a-bag grub from Backpackers Pantry. Drank nothing but water, rum, and Red Bull, often all in one sitting...
Read the rest of: "The October Session: North Carolina's Outer Banks in Autumn"»
If you happen to find yourself halfway across the world in mid-August, preferably with a sense of adventure and an affinity for insomnia, I'd advise heading to Barcelona and joining in on the annual revelries of the Gràcia Fest. Every August from the 15th to the 21st, Catalans return from their luxuriously long summer vacations and the small barrio of Gràcia plays host to one of the most vibrant neighborhood festivals in Europe.
The Gràcia Fest is basically a hyperbole of a block party- events and feasts are scheduled all throughout the day, live music persists every night until dawn, and outdoor bars and their patrons make it impossible to cross even the smallest square in under ten minutes. Every year, over a million people flood the narrow streets of Gràcia to gawk and to party until literally flooded out by street cleaners in the morning...
Read the rest of: "Gràcia Fest"»
An unfortunate foray was made by yours truly into Roses, in response to its overly simplistic bus connection to Figueres - a mistake that will not be made again. This beach town on the Costa Brava has a lovely name, and a long and lovely sand beach, and little else of charm.
It is for the most part a package-holiday paradise for French pensioners and young families, with newly built condominiums dotting the shoreline, and many more sprouting nearby. In effect, it is exactly the opposite of what I look for a in a coastal escape...
Read the rest of: "Nothing's Coming Up Roses"»
Canadians aren't the only ones who get to
delight in autumnal apple picking. Even the young at heart of the big city can enjoy the pleasures of fall! A day in the country picking apples is just an hour or two away from the Big Apple.
Long Island is home to countless pick-your-own farms, and is a cinch to get to from NYC. With these last Indian summer days, its prime time for an escape to the farm before winter sets in...
Read the rest of: "A Fall Day in the Hamptons"»
