NYDiscovery

Kendra Morris live on 11th St. Bar (Video)

This video is much better, as you can actually see Kendra performing my favorite song of hers. 11th St. Bar is a nice venue, by the way in the same block as our favorite hangout, Bar on A.

Being in the Tube - Getting an MRI Taken

When talking with people about MRIs a lot of different experiences and even some horror stories bubble up! Are there so many claustrophobic people out there? Makes me wonder...

So, I got one done today and the experience was more interesting than anything else. Admittedly, I am not claustrophobic and I know that I am not since I've been using sun tanning beds every now and then. (Relax, this was back in Munich!)

Granted, there's much noise going on once inside the tube but I got my ears well covered and I managed to make some beats out of that noise. I closed my eyes and tried to come up with some ideas, ideas for lyrics/poems. I got a couple of bits and pieces and will work on them.

The more annoying part is having to wait for 16 days before my doctor will discuss the results with me! 16 more days with pain. But this also means 16 more days to potentially recover anyway...

-- By Elke

The Hurt Locker gets my Oscar vote for Best Movie and Best Director

I finally got to see The Hurt Locker and have to say, that this is easily the best movie I've seen all Oscar season 2009!

Why?

First of all, it's very well made!
I so hope that Kathryn Bigelow will take home the Oscar as Best Director. It's time and long overdue that a woman wins that price! But that's of course not the main reason. With no Ang Lee or Martin Scorsesee in the mix, there's no reason to not hand the trophy to her - and no, not to her ex-husband (James Cameron) either!

Secondly, and as important: the movie is RELEVANT.
It's about war and what we do to each other. It's about when there's betrayal and violence everywhere, whom can you still trust? Who is friend and who is foe? It's actually a lot about trust!

Thirdly, it's suspense pure!
The movie is interesting and captivating from minute 1 until its very end. It is - if I may say so - entertaining in the way that you feel these 131 minutes being very well spent.

-- By Elke

Kendra Morris Live on February 2nd at 11th Street Bar, NYC

Our friend Kendra Morris is playing on Tuesday, February 2nd at 11th Street Bar. We missed her last shows, so Elke and I are really looking forward to see her. 

This video is from her show at the Cameo in Williamsburg. Terrible lighting, but you'll get an impression.

New View on Manhattan from the East River State park

Last week, while strolling through Williamsburg, we discovered the East River State Park, which features views like the one above. The park itself still looks pretty rough, but hopefully that changes in the summer time.
 

Johnny Weir: Adding Sparkle to the 2010 Olympics

A couple of days ago, I complained in a Facebook status update that I currently wouldn't have a favorite actor or singer - let alone would have a crush on somebody! I simply didn't come across somebody who took me by storm and fascinated me on the spot. This dire streak, which lasted throughout the second half of 2009, ended yesterday!

It started with Time Out New York magazine's new daily newsletter. They asked Bold Questions to Johnny Weir and this caught my interest. I hadn't finished the article yet, when I fired up a Google search. Watched a couple of Youtube videos and realized, I just had missed to watch the Nationals which were held the night before, while the Gold Globes were on - which I didn't watch live either!

Social Media has its great moments. Of course I found a Johnny Weir's fan page on Facebook and I while I initially hesitated to become a fan because of his attitude and comments regarding "fur", I decided, I could do it nonetheless. I also follow him now on Twitter. Luckily, I did not miss to tape the start of his TV show Be Good Johnny Weir on Sundance Channel which aired yesterday for the first time.

While I only had time to watch half of the show, I am ready to admit that I can't wait to watch the whole thing! Johnny Weir not only wants to be a superb ice skater but a glitzy pop star and personally I am fine with that! He's fascinating and a far cry from being boring. I'll watch the show and I can't wait to see him competing at the Olympics. I hope, he still has a chance to win a medal. I'll certainly watch the short program on 02/16 and the long on 02/18 and will keep my fingers crossed for him!

He'll make an appearance at tomorrow's opening for his show at the IFC Center in New York but I'll pass on that one... for now.

-- By Elke

Brooklyn discovery: two cool places we found yesterday

Yesterday we explored, Williamsburg, the neighborhood on the other side of the East River a bit and besides from me finally getting a feeling for the geography over there, we also found two cool places to hang out or dine:

Iona is arguably an Irish pub, but besides a Guinness sign, an Irish bartender and some Gaelic writing on the wall, is has not much in common with what we call an Irish pub over here in Manhattan. And we felt right home there and stayed for far too many drinks.

On the same street is Dokebi is a Koran BBQ joint, that compares to W 32nd Street establishments in a similar way like Iona to, let's say the Connolly's mini chain in Midtown. Food was excellent, we had fresh shrimp and organic beef cubes, which both tasted perfectly after grilling them on the table.

We'll for sure go back to those places and can only recommend them to you too.

"My Life in Ruins", not quite bad as expected

It is kind of a perpetual new years resolution of Elke and me to watch more movies. We wanted to start the year off with "The Hurt Locker", a top Oscar contender. But it got late, so we fell back to "My Life in Ruins", a little comedy that critics tore into pieces. But we were in for easy entertainment and above all nice Greek sceneries.

And yes it's really not good. The plot is ridiculous and all characters follow simple stereotypes (to its credit, the movie officially labels the stereotypes in the beginning). But there are, surprisingly, some good jokes (one of them almost had us rolling on floor, laughing) and in the end everybody is happy, which is kind of contagious.

It is more a Lifetime Original Movie than a feature and we watched it to the end. So if you come across it, let's say, in an airplane entertainment system, it may be one of the better alternatives.

NYDiscovery Photo Project: The High Line through the year

Every year we create a calendar of our pictures and give it away to our friends and family. This year's theme will be the High Line, New York's newest park, which opened last Spring. Besides being located beautifully on Manhattan's west side, it sports also a very carefully selected, interesting vegetation. Well, there's not much to see in January, but wait as we go through the seasons.
 

Want to see some pictures? (with sun, sea, beach and palm trees)

Elke and I don't want to give the winter depression a chance and looking at photos of beautiful places certainly helps us. If you need the sight of the sun, the sea, some beaches too, then I suggest having a look at the photos from our Caribbean cruise on Flickr. Also, I'm posting daily photos out of our library on Posterous and the current theme over there is also "beach".