- activism
- anarchy
- apocalypse
- Athens
- bicycles
- birds
- books
- Buenos Aires
- clubs
- coffee
- couple's dancing
- Dante's Inferno
- demons
- drunks
- Dyckman
- economy
- film
- fire hydrants
- graffiti
- Greek diners
- gross factor
- Havana
- idling
- immigration
- Inwood
- Ioannina
- it's a man's world
- Miami
- New York City
- Nova Speaks
- Ode to...
- odyssey essentials
- olympians
- on the subway
- Outer Space
- paradise
- police
- press
- prostitution
- public space
- restaurants
- Rio
- salsa
- school
- Sicily
- sidewalks
- Sinvergüenza
- star trek
- star wars
- stores
- street cookie
- taxis
- trees
- twilight zone
- urban confessions
- Washington Heights
- zipcar
Miami Bodega
St. Valentine’s Street Cookie
A lonely valentine sitting on the cold cement sidewalk.
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Knitting Bandit Strikes in Inwood on Saint Valentine’s
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It’s Still a Salsa Universe with Salsa Characters
Nova’s back with some salsa characters. She’s found a hot breeding ground for some interesting folks.
Shoe Brush Stealer
There is no comedy or wit in this character. To the guy who borrowed my shoe brush and never returned it, poo-poo to you.
Let’s Make Love…
Those last three periods of his name are essential in understanding this character, because that’s how he leads. You feel the dance starting out slow, as it typically does as partners feel eachother’s level and pizazz out… but then it’s one minute into a song that’s pounding away and this guy’s leading you like it’s a ballet. You don’t know what to do… Wasn’t this a quick 3 minute fling? You begin to blush as you understand, too late, that this is a salsa character who’s Westley the Farm Boy, not the Man in Black Dread Pirate Roberts you fantasized he would be in the dance (Princess Bride, people). And he’s just made salsa love to you without you knowing it. By the time you realize this, you leave the dance full of shame at the vulgarity of how you tried to do a licentious hip swivel when the poor guy was just interested in a soft brush of his hand across your back in a cross-body-lead.
Projectile Missile
Quick, duck! If you suddenly see objects shoot across the room, take cover. There is a Projectile Missile on the loose. And 95% of the time they are ladies. I myself was recently called out. A salsera has to select her outfit most carefully, as all those cutesy accessories we like to walk around in become weapons of mass destruction on the dance floor. Bracelets, pony tail holders, necklaces, earrings, and the nuclear bombs that men tend to dance with, cell phones. So if you see someone looking a little too shiny in their bling or someone who is a little too heavy in their pockets, it might be best to carve out another niche on the dance floor.
Salsa Dummy
All followers are this character to a certain degree. This is when you become lab rats for leaders to experiment their clever turn patterns on. It’s a no win situation, ladies. If you don’t do it, leads don’t get better and like it or not, your enjoyment of the dance is largely in their hands.
Get Another Hobby
thanks to JPLogan for pointing these guys out. These are the “Don’t Care” characters who have been dancing for so many years and show absolutely no desire to dance anymore. They don’t look at the girl, they barely lead, they barely do anything! Yet because they are so trained in the count, and because they have spent all their free time learning turn patterns and the latest shines, still they come like sad robots to socials to execute their programs.
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Ugh… Frappe Haven Closed for Health Violations
What’s going on? Made the trek to Astoria and was looking forward to a nice, sweet, caffeinated frappe and a souvlaki to go at the great Athen’s Cafe. First noticed that the seats weren’t outside. Then saw the big health department sign that the place has been closed for health violations. WHAT? Come on Athen’s Cafe. With what’s going on in Greece, you’re needed more than ever. What’s left if we don’t have our kafenenion culture to sulk in? And you make a mean frappe, though apparently not a necessarily sanitary one.
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The Gastronomical Orgasm in Anne Zouroudi’s Writing
An odyssey essential, if one is partial to Greek odysseys, is the writing of Anne Zouroudi. I wouldn’t have stumbled upon her work if it hadn’t been for a good ol’ independent bookstore (Crawford and Doyle) that actually stocks interesting books. I was sort of surprised I bought the book; it’s a detective series and I’m not partial to that genre of literature. But… that’s why independent book stores do their part.
Anne Zouroudi writes much like a poet, and she writes much like a poet about Greece. About its romantic landscapes, about its less romantic realities, its cultural nuances and, what I find most enjoyable, the divinity of its food (in there is also a detective story, but it’s subtle compared to the cultural landscape of Greece, at least to me…) Her books are a very well versed outsider’s intimate knowledge and perspective of Greece. Back to the food…. the detective of her series enjoys life, (what archetypal Greek doesn’t?). So we get to savor each an every one of his meals. His coffees, the wines he favors (complete with the varieties of grapes). The processed food clutter of the periptero (newstand)–it still makes your mouth water even though you know it’s junk food. Because it is a nostalgia for Greece that anyone torn away from the land (forgetting its annoyances) knows… It’s not like she’s writing pages about the salami and kopanisti cheese the multi-purpose storeman’s slicing for you (I mean the detective); it’s about how it falls onto the wax paper, how the storekeeper wraps the package up with an elastic band… it’s the banter that goes along with it… Sigh, it’s as if you’re there in the kafeneion with our portly detective just taking in life.
Ode to the writings of Zouroudi! An author that brings back memories of Greece, the modern, the mythical, the gastronomical… The detective story is enjoyable too!
For a complete selection of her series visit the British version of the website, though not it’s not always updated (I had to do some detective work of my own to find out her new novel was out). You can order her books from sellers like Alibris or Abe books- only a few of her books are available in US bookstores- the rest you can order from overseas.
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Paying Respect
Let’s pay respect to Broadway Restaurant at 101st street and Broadway, a diner that keeps it old school in the good ways (hot, hot coffee in a nice ceramic coffee cup, good company, familiar staff) and for the prize here: still having a cottage cheese omelette on the menu. Had to search far and beyond for that.
The birds are back
It’s been awhile, but worth noting (for those who notice such things…) that the 59th street birds are back! When the Columbus Circle subway got its renovation, they uprooted the bushes by the entrance that was like a sparrow colony, probably the source of those grimy birds that resembled coal miners that you’d see while waiting for A,B, C, D or 1 or 9 train. But they planted new bushes and it seems the tenants did not waste time moving back in (more likely scenario- it’s a new wave of gentrifiers who took up this fabulous slice of real estate now that all the hard work has been put into renovating the neighborhood).
Ode to… Crawford Doyle Booksellers
With Borders closing, and the publishing industry (like all industries, it seems) in a bit of uncertainty as to the nature of its future, thought it good to note a lovely independent bookstore in NYC that continues to deliver fabulous fiction (and non-fiction). You won’t find many of the books here at the big chain retailers (or should I now say retaile-R… who is left in the area besides Barnes and Noble?) They have a small delicious fiction section which they seem to change every other day. And I rarely fail to walk out with a new book every time I visit. You’ll find a celebration of (gross term) ethnic writers and genres here, with of course a little bit more of French themed books (can’t forget it’s the Upper East Side)… Yes, I’m also biased by the fact that there has to be a philhelene working in the background of this store, or a very old-world wealth value of the Upper East Side that holds still the romantic notion of a classical Greece (or the golden years when Onasis made Greece sexy again): because I can actually find modern Greek authors here I don’t find elsewhere, and fell in love with Anne Zoroudi’s Greek Detective Series. Despite it being a detective series I found myself devouring each and every one of her books, ordering them special from England after being introduced to her by Crawford Doyle, because they aren’t all printed here.
And what is an independent bookstore without good staff? They give you recommendations, wrap your books ever so elegantly if you wish (no charge). It’s just so darn great to be in there. Save the coupons and magazine, accessory and stationery buying for the mass market products you can find in the big chains. If you want some serious good reading and to support those who supply a market for them, take your business here.
Ode to Crawford Doyle Booksellers!
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Summer Musings: Urban Waterfalls
Stumbled on a little urban oasis by Lincoln Center. It was a hot day and we wandered into a shaded area. The scene took me by surprise. These folks know how to do an urban summer, thanks to the courteous entity that still values open, public space. People lined their chairs up, backs faced to the rest of NYC, and were simply watching a man-made waterfall (aka water fountain). An endearing site. It’s how we do summer.
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