46 year old Chinese woman just spotted crossing 23rd st on Park Avenue South wearing an eye patch over her left eye.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Saturday, September 17, 2005
11 Madison Ave
My new offices are at 11 Madison Ave. This building has quite a history and is rather spectacular, especially inside the lobby.
(The following text has been lifted and edited from www.greatgridlock.net/NYC)
It all goes back to the building next door at 1 Madison Ave that was completed in 1909 as the headquarters for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
The 213.5 m clock tower facing Madison Square Park was added to the original building (108,700 m², built in 1893) to make it the tallest in the world.
In October 1929, Met Life announced plans for building to the opposite side of 24th Street, at 11-25 Madison Avenue. Replacing McKim, Mead & White's Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, completed only 13 years earlier, the new building was originally planned to incorporate around 100 storeys and restore Metropolitan Life the title of the world's tallest.
The Depression, however, prevented from realizing such grandiose plans. When work came to a halt in 1933, only 29 storeys of the original plan had been completed. That reflects in, for example, the 30 elevators available for as many floors. Although the massive size of the building was enabled by air-conditioning and lighting, the bow-tie shape was, nevertheless, devised to provide sorts of light-court to maximize the available natural light.
Two whole floors of the building were originally built with low ceilings and fitted with filing cabinets for Met Life's files. Later, the floor was torn from between these storeys and the space turned into a banking hall.
There are two lobbies, with the southern, at 11 Madison, going through the whole longer axis of the building. Decor of the three storey high space consists of a coffered ceiling as well as of pink granite floors and gold vein-veined marble walls.
(The following text has been lifted and edited from www.greatgridlock.net/NYC)
It all goes back to the building next door at 1 Madison Ave that was completed in 1909 as the headquarters for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
The 213.5 m clock tower facing Madison Square Park was added to the original building (108,700 m², built in 1893) to make it the tallest in the world.
In October 1929, Met Life announced plans for building to the opposite side of 24th Street, at 11-25 Madison Avenue. Replacing McKim, Mead & White's Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, completed only 13 years earlier, the new building was originally planned to incorporate around 100 storeys and restore Metropolitan Life the title of the world's tallest.
The Depression, however, prevented from realizing such grandiose plans. When work came to a halt in 1933, only 29 storeys of the original plan had been completed. That reflects in, for example, the 30 elevators available for as many floors. Although the massive size of the building was enabled by air-conditioning and lighting, the bow-tie shape was, nevertheless, devised to provide sorts of light-court to maximize the available natural light.
Two whole floors of the building were originally built with low ceilings and fitted with filing cabinets for Met Life's files. Later, the floor was torn from between these storeys and the space turned into a banking hall.
There are two lobbies, with the southern, at 11 Madison, going through the whole longer axis of the building. Decor of the three storey high space consists of a coffered ceiling as well as of pink granite floors and gold vein-veined marble walls.
arrr matey, will ye be helping me look for treasure?
Dressing like a pirate is the newest emerging look on the streets...well, almost... a very hip young 20-something (myself of course) is wandering around the city wearing an eye patch, puffy shirts, bandanas and of course skull and cross bones. This look is on the verge of being very big. It's catching on- during the week I spotted a girl wearing an eye patch (it looked like it
was there for medical reasons though).
This preoccupation with pirates is not just a 'look' it's also a lifestyle of drinking rum, speaking pirate talk, singing sea shanties and always looking for treasure. Freshly caught fish is the food of choice, when on land one always thinks of the high seas and it's quite normal to have sudden spells of nausea from being car or land sick (a pirate is only accustomed to the motions of the sea), eating too much and from drinking something that is not rum.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Traces of an Evening of Joy
Joy is in New York this week and luckily we had time to see each other yesterday. She bought a video tape over that had captured a night out we had had in 2003. It was a great evening....it's funny to see the video after so much time that's passed.
Panic! We saw this play early on that evening.
Went to Moustache for dinner - chickpea salad, babaganoush, pitza...
then walked from east village to soho
and danced at some soho club where Joy's friend Duane was dj-ing
Panic! We saw this play early on that evening.
Went to Moustache for dinner - chickpea salad, babaganoush, pitza...
then walked from east village to soho
and danced at some soho club where Joy's friend Duane was dj-ing
The Pillowman
Yesterday I saw The Pillowman. It was exceptional. I can't believe how many good plays are on Broadway at the moment, usually the better shows are off Broadway.
Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum were in this production directed by John Crowley. The writer, Martin McDonagh also wrote The Beauty Queen of Leenane.
The set was extraordinary. The way the stories were 'played out' above the main stage were seamless, and fitted perfectly with the dream/nightmare dark themes of the play. I loved the stories within the play, they were witty and dark, the better ones: The story of the little girl who wanted to be Jesus, Little Green Pig, The Pillowman and the story of Katurian Katurian Katurian's childhood. There was even one there for me about chopped off digits, but this one was about chopped off toes, not thumbs - but I didn't really like that particular story.
www.pillowmanonbroadway.com
Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum were in this production directed by John Crowley. The writer, Martin McDonagh also wrote The Beauty Queen of Leenane.
The set was extraordinary. The way the stories were 'played out' above the main stage were seamless, and fitted perfectly with the dream/nightmare dark themes of the play. I loved the stories within the play, they were witty and dark, the better ones: The story of the little girl who wanted to be Jesus, Little Green Pig, The Pillowman and the story of Katurian Katurian Katurian's childhood. There was even one there for me about chopped off digits, but this one was about chopped off toes, not thumbs - but I didn't really like that particular story.
www.pillowmanonbroadway.com
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