Our Urban Odyssey » odyssey essentials

Ugh… Frappe Haven Closed for Health Violations

Nova — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:43:02 +0000

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

Nova — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:54:41 +0000

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

Nova — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:49:44 +0000

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.

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Ode to… Crawford Doyle Booksellers

Nova — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:52:18 +0000

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

Nova — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:37:57 +0000

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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Summer Musings: Sun-dried Clothes

Nova — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:31:41 +0000

Thought to break the silence with some simple summer musings… Enjoyable summer moments that can occur, yes, even in a city. First, is the simple pleasure of drying your clothes in the sun. In an urban setting especially, this is associated with poverty. Because who does this except if you don’t have access to a dryer or are trying to save money? We frown upon the look of clothes lines hanging between buildings, socks and underwear hanging from window guards instead of curtains, hangers dangling from the trellis of a fire escape. Indeed, for the most part (with some slight exception to the clothes lines between buildings, especially on a greeting card) this isn’t a good look for a neighborhood. Never mind that it’s not exactly country air that’s drying your clothes, and with all that grime you might as well not wash them at all. Even more–and this happened to me in Athens when laundromats were so few in between and forget the college giving us a washing machine–we were forced to do these things and pray our clothes (more importantly delicates) didn’t get bombed by pigeons. Still, still, if you can secure a secluded, clean spot for even a sock, there is something wonderful about drying your clothes in the sun. There is a freshness to them, an unmistakable smell. You just think they are cleaner by virtue of the rays of the sun. Yeah, it’ll damage your urban wardrobe I’m sure if you do it constantly when the sun is blazing down. Sure blasting them in the dryer aint no good either. But even if it’s just that one sock, or small handkerchief you dry out in the air of your window, on your terrace, wherever… it brings a little something special to summer.

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The Eternal Robin Byrd

Nova — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:37:23 +0000

Have a basic cable TV question for you (those who are up at ungodly hours of the night or early morning). How on earth is Robin Byrd still on the air? The question doesn’t question the Queen’s throne of hosting the Sesame Street equivalent of sexual health for many of us growing up in the 80’s who were able to sneak a peak. C is for… Clitoris, of course! Do you know where your clitoris is? Here let me show you… And so on, goes her show, offering the same type of diversity as the innocent PBS counterpart. There is something for all tastes there: gender preferences, body images and fetishes. But my Lord, breast implants have come along way since the jugs you see on the show- two stiff orbs with as much space between them as the north and south poles. Brazilians (as in the haircut down south) have become the staple of today’s porn, but at Robin’s you’re sure to see a bush. Yet her shows continue to be aired, with a phone number to call into to boot (the original 970 number?). And the commercials (advertising hotlines and escort services) are the same ones from back then too. So I guess my question is, is this a cult classic? Is it supposed to appeal to that generation who grew up with it and still find those hairstyles and lack of airbrush and make-up titillating? I guess I could google it, but afraid 0f what else I’ll dredge up and’ll hijack my computer. She really means to teach you something, not just get you off. Ever see the musical orgy endings? How isn’t it Sesame Street? I’ll take a cookie, you little monster. With a tall glass of milk. She shows love to each and every one of her guests.

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Barrio Dreams

Nova — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:32:43 +0000

A recommended book for those with an interest in topics on gentrification in NYC, NuyoRican Heritage and the politics of neighborhoods. Not a light read (very academic), but it provides some really interesting insight in some of the history of “El Barrio”- it’s relationship to Harlem, the Economic Empowerment Zone and El Museo del Barrio (had no idea it was originally a museum for Puerto Rican heritage that slowly erased its Nuyoricanness to market itself a more sanitized and profitable “Pan-Latin Museum” That’s a harsh summary and there’s more to it, but that’s the short you can take out from reading the book). Neighborhood improvement projects aren’t as simple as they sound. Neither is immigration.

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Free those words! Writers’ Liberation

Nova — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:40:09 +0000

Highly recommended for those writers who spend way too much time worrying about the rules of grammar.

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Where have all the comic stores gone?

Nova — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 22:23:52 +0000

What’s a girl-nerd to do? Some people take to booze, some drugs, some a little bit of both, others chocolate… Comic book stores used to offer a paradise of fantasy for those who need a little something more than the life of an urban odyssey. You’d save your allowance, or blow your measly first-job paycheck on X-Men, X-Force and Excalibur, crossing over to DC territory only for a Supergirl or Wonder Woman. Inside the pages of a comic book, bodies are perfect, men are heroes, you can sore through the sky and toast people who are bad. But now… now where are all the comic book stores? Big Apple? All that’s left of you are the markings of of where your bricks were ripped away to give way for the building of a new race of condos on the Upper West Side. Oh, the agony of seeing what is left of you advertised on the streets like a billboard: lines and lines of scratches against the building where you were once nestled, like a trail of scratches from bloodied fingernails.

I suppose the comic book stores have went the way of all small mom and pop shops, the predecessors of the plight of independent bookstores… No, don’t comfort me with the selection at Barnes and Nobles or Borders… I don’t even care for the comic book store near Union Square (if it’s still there) not because I have anything against it… it’s just not my hood.

Ode to the comic book store! A recently rejected-by-a-literary-agent- nerd-girl’s strip club, drug den, and escapist paradise.

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