Five New Yorkers

I got a Flip Video as an early Christmas present--at a Hannukah celebration.

Is there actually a name for the first candle, or is it just the first candle? Wikipedia doesn't say.

So i'm back from that nameless but well-known place we all disappear to for somewhere between two days and six months... for no reason and no excuse in particular. It just happens, right? Life not only catches up to us, but it also has the nerve to run so far ahead that the small things you actually WANT to do get guilt-fully dropped, forgotten, back-burnered, delayed, cancelled, ignored, and contemplated with no action until the lack of action on your most important "to do" list makes it so exponentially long that even beginning to cross things off is paralyzing. How's that for a run on sentence?

Anyway, somehow in the end we're all excused by whomever you think might be on the other end wondering where the hell we went. Or mabye that's wishful thinking. And we also often find that if we actually knew where we had gone, we would love an opportunity to explain ourselves. But we don't know and aren’t given that opportunity because no one really asks for an explanation --since they did the exact same thing last month. And again, justifying our disappearing act is not to offer an excuse for not doing something we promised to do (i.e., write something for this lovely blog every week), it's just a feeble attempt at personalizing an oddly universal phenomenon. One that I think most people in New York tend to experience to the Nth degree. Or then again, maybe it's just me...

Just wanted to write and say that when the snow sticks like this, have you ever noticed:

-How increasingly cozy your apartment feels no matter how large or small it is
-How much fun it is to hibernate
-How much fun it also is to bravely traipse around the city with a weather inappropriate windbreaker on and no gloves
-How peaceful and amazing things look when dusk falls
-That your local bar actually moves a couple blocks further away
-How much the ambient city noise (and people too actually) are quieted and calmed by the first soft, pristine blanket
-How quickly we get over the beauty of it when you can't dig your car out of the 15 feet of sludge the plow trucks pile up behind your front and back bumpers. Yet the heartless local "meter maid" still manages to wedge a ticket in your frozen car door or under the wiper blade that you thought was stuck to the windshield until spring thaw. Not to mention that the plow took out one of your side view mirrors, which is now hanging by a series of mysterious but holiday appropriate green and red wires...

(And on that note I have to go save my other mirror)

Despite the last fun NYC fact above, the first snow is truly STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Enjoy.

Instead of taking a cab from 50th and 2nd this morning, I decided to grab a copy of the Sunday New York Times and hoof it two blocks to the 6 train. After all, we're knee deep in a recession, I'm an advocate of public transportation and are cabs really, on average, that much faster than the subway?

Due to its glossy and pretty characteristics, I usually go straight to the magazine section of the Sunday Times. On the short ride to Astor Place, I learned a few things. First of all, there's a 27 year old Rhodes Scholar who's much, much smarter than I am. Second, as if there there was a nuance of doubt in anyone's mind, Greenspan really did get the financial system all wrong.

The Rhodes scholar is Johna Lehrer. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14wwln-Q4-t.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper Basically, he's another person who thinks Obama is the right thinker in the right place at the right time. And thank God for it. According to Lehrer, Obama is scared of "groupthink", so he surrounds himself with people who are little more hyper and divisive (among other things) than he is. Lincoln did the same thing and it seemed to work for him. (See the book Team of Rivals.)

Another smarty, Robert Skidelsky, reminds us that the "efficient market hyphothesis" isn't true. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14wwln-lede-t.html?ref=todayspaper See, letting people make money off of selling risky mortgages was a flawed plan. John Maynard Keynes knew the economic system would screw itself if left alone, so he butted in. It seems Obama and a handful of others get that. So, in very simple terms, they're spending government money to stimulate the economy. i hope it works.

I'm a simpleton, to the Nth degree, so don't take my summary of this Sunday's Times.

But do take the subway, instead of a cab. And, I know it's hard, but try not to be too jealous of brilliant, indecisive 27 year olds.

Someone we know is in this funny little video. The "California Gays and The People That Love Them" are Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Allison Janney, Jack Black, Jordan Ballard, Margaret Cho, Barrett Foa, J.B. Ghuman, John Hill, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Rashad Naylor and Nicole Parker.

This dude I've never met is always sending me things through some Hillary group I signed up for a year ago on Facebook. On the coat tails of Obama, this and the movie MILK make me want to actually go out an do something, even beyond going to Phili to go door to door for Obama.

And by the way, as always, it makes me want to go figure out my weekend plans on NYC-ARTS.org.

"It’s time to flex your political muscles again. Program the following contact into your cell phone:

Senator Carl Kruger
Democrat, Brooklyn
Phone: (718) 743-8610
Email: kruger@senate.state.ny.us

And just as you did two weeks ago with Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., email that contact information to everyone you know in New York, everyone you now in the country, and everyone you know on Facebook, MySpace, or Friendster. Post it in every Facebook group. If you have a blog, post it. Post it in your status on Facebook and on Twitter. If you’re part of a wiki, post it there.

And while you’re at it, make sure nobody forgets Senator Diaz’s number – (718) 991-3161.

Then, starting Monday morning, start calling Senator Carl Kruger, and make sure everyone you know starts calling. And just as you did with Senator Diaz, in the most polite, respectful, non-argumentative way, I want you to tell whoever answers the phone that you are counting on Senator Kruger to be true to his party, the Democratic Party, and to support Malcolm Smith as Senate Majority Leader. Do not call to ask him to support marriage equality. Just remind him, he is Democrat, and it’s his duty to support the Democratic Majority Leader.

Why? BECAUSE YOU ARE EFFECTIVE.

For two weeks you and thousands upon thousands of marriage equality supporters have called Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. to tell him the same thing. It appears you’re beginning to have an impact. Read this note for the evolving story of Diaz and Smith: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=37752848556.

Now, without taking the heat off of Senator Diaz, it’s time to focus that attention on Senator Carl Kruger as well and to show him how effective we can be. Kruger, a Democrat from Brooklyn, another member of the so-called “Gang of Three” is also using his opposition to marriage equality to defend his stance against supporting Malcolm Smith.

In truth, Carl Kruger is just power hungry. The Daily News reported that anti-tenant Kruger may be withholding his vote for Smith in exchange for the chairmanship of the Senate Housing Committee. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/columnists/benjamin/. Following reports last week that Diaz and Smith were close to a truce (http://www.politickerny.com/azipaybarah/790/diaz-and-smith-seal-truce-hugs-turkeys), Majority Leader, Republican Senator Dean Skelos, felt the need to “up the ante” in order to maintain control of the Senate. According to the Daily News, Skelos offered Democratic Senator Carl Kruger of Brooklyn chairmanship of the powerful Finance Committee with an additional $6 million of funding. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/11/27/2008-11-27_dean_skelos_ups_ante_with_gang_of_3_woos.html.

If we can show Senator Kruger how effective we can be in calling his office to tell him to support Malcolm Smith, he might start to think that we’ll be effective in highlighting his anti-tenant positions to his constituents.

No matter what anyone tells you, remember…

NOW is our time.
YES we can.

As I've mentioned, I'm the director of marketing and product management for Alliance for the Arts, a New York-based nonprofit that serves the cultural community. We just launched NYC ARTS, an important project that's been years in the making. I joined the Alliance at the end of June and have spent the majority of my time there getting the re-designed NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org in shape for launch. Below is the press release we distributed yesterday.

The arts sector, like many other nonprofit and for-profit sectors, is in a vulnerable place. Because so many nonprofit arts groups rely in large part on some sort of charitable funding, support for the arts is crucial. The Alliance has spent years articulating exactly why arts is important--beyond the idea that it's just a good thing to do--in many of its reports. A selection of the studies about the economics of the arts sector and the positive impact it has on New York City's economy can be found on the Alliance's site. One of my favorite points is that in 2005 arts-motivated visitors spent $3.7 BILLION dollars. That alone is a reason for anyone who cares about the health of New York City to support the arts.

So if you care about art, check out the new sites, tell your friends about them, go to a museum, donate to the Alliance, subscribe to our e-mail updates or do anything else you can think of to help us in our fight to help arts groups in New York thrive.

-Joe

Alliance for the Arts Launches NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org in Beta Testing

November 25, 2008 11:24 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK - November 25, 2008 - The Alliance for the Arts has launched the beta versions of its new NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org, the most complete, customizable and dynamic source of information on New York's cultural institutions. Ogilvy New York has signed on as the launch sponsor of NYC ARTS.

Written and edited by people who know the scene, NYC ARTS provides an inside view of New York's cultural life.

The NYC ARTS Web sites have launched during beta testing. The public is invited to participate in testing by submitting feedback through the "Send Feedback" button at the bottom of every page.

NYC-ARTS.org
Locals and tourists will find in-depth information on cultural organizations and their events, programs and activities.

NYCkidsARTS.org
Educators and parents will find the most comprehensive information on cultural activities for children, including arts education programs that support teaching in many subject areas.

Alliance for the Arts Research Center
The research tools in the Alliance for the Arts Research Center will provide easy access to accurate quantitative data on the nonprofit cultural sector in New York City.

In the increasingly competitive entertainment environment, NYC ARTS and NYCkidsARTS ensure that New York City's arts organizations stand out in the clutter of choices. The NYC ARTS brand is a powerful promotional identity both for large cultural institutions that command high visibility and smaller groups with less promotional muscle. Unlike commercial cultural listings that have a narrow focus, these sites give all arts groups equal opportunity to promote their programs and attract visitors. The power of the NYC ARTS sites extends beyond the walls of the Web sites with weekly e-mail updates, interest-specific RSS feeds and connections to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Cultural consumers need a strong brand to help them navigate the rich and diverse resources of New York City's five boroughs. Through recommendations, curated collections and other features such as "Events ending soon," the sites will be proactive in directing individuals to cultural opportunities they might otherwise overlook.

The City of New York is the major underwriter of NYC ARTS. Because the system supports hundreds of cultural organizations and their events in all five of the city's boroughs--in effect shoring up the cultural infrastructure--the City of New York has invested $1.5 million in capital dollars for the first release of the system. It has also pledged additional enhancement funds for future releases of NYC ARTS.

New York's philanthropic community has joined the City as investors in this project. Local foundations and corporations supported the research and development of NYC ARTS.

About the Alliance for the Arts
The Alliance for the Arts serves the entire cultural community through research and advocacy and serves the public through cultural guides and calendars. Through its NYC ARTS guides and calendars, the Alliance promotes New York cultural institutions. Through its research studies highlighting the importance of the arts to the economy and to education, the Alliance helps government and civic leaders understand the importance of cultural organizations to New York City. More information on the Alliance's work can be found at the new www.AllianceforArts.org.

Contact:
Joe Harrell, Director of Marketing & Product Management
Alliance for the Arts
jharrell@allianceforarts.org
(212) 947-6340

This was forwarded to me via email, and I thought it was good enough to share.

Porter

Hey, y'all! Yes, you! Everyone who voted for Proposition 8 in
California yesterday, and everyone who's voted for similar measures in
Arizona, or Florida, or elsewhere. Come on down. Have a seat. Have a
beer. I'd like just a moment of your time; I promise I'll go quickly,
and I won't swear. Everybody with me?

So I'm sure you're feeling pretty good today, and why wouldn't you? It
isn't every day you get a golden opportunity to hurt thousands of
people who never did a thing to you, in exchange for zero benefit to
yourself or to society. You sure showed people who were just looking
to share their lives with the person they love, didn't you? Awesome
work, and I hate to be a party pooper at this, your great moment of
triumph over the homosexuals. But today, of all days, it seems
necessary to remind you of one thing that, I suspect, you already know
deep down.

You're going to lose.

You do recognize that, right? I mean, 150 years ago, your
philosophical forebears kept black men as slaves. A hundred years ago,
your philosophical forebears outlawed marriage between a white woman
and a black man. People like you denied blacks the vote, denied women
the vote, explicitly allowed marital rape, segregated the schools, and
burned down stores with Jewish owners. And yesterday, a man that
people like you once enslaved, the product of a union that people like
you once forbade, was elected President of the United States of
America in part by citizens that people like you once disenfranchised.
The slave owners, the segregationists, the Klan, the rest of it, all
of them are gone or marginalized, sad jokes, and the only thing
separating you from them is just a little more time. A little.

And you do know it. I can see it in your panicky faces. You managed to
get a cheap amendment passed yesterday, a stopgap against a tide you
can't stem, but you know and I know that amendments get repealed. Laws
get changed. Oh, you may still have a decade, give or take, to put
your pitiful boot down on a group that still distresses enough of your
peers to make it unprotected.

But within your lifetime, it's going to happen. Gay men, and gay
women, will be married. Not engaged in a "civil union," but married.
To each other! They'll share their names, homes, and lives; they'll
have the sex you can't bear to think about, in the context of a
legally recognized relationship. Then, you know what they'll do?
They'll adopt and raise children. They'll join the PTA at your
grandkids' school. And you - as marginalized as the
"separate-but-equal" shlubs became after the 60's - you'll see it
happen. And you'll sit muttering into your bib about how things used
to be, and members of a generation who never knew anything but equal
marriage rights for all will nod politely and move away, pausing maybe
to wipe the creamed corn off your chin.

It's coming, and we all know it. We know it because the natural
direction of this society has always been toward more freedom, more
rationality, more common decency. We move in pathetically small
increments sometimes, mostly because of people like you, but we keep
on moving and we're going to move right on past your outmoded ass. And
there is nothing - nothing - that you can do about it.