okay, so I got distracted and never completed my NYC tale.
After Weinstein we went to New Line Cinema. I really liked this company. They seemed to know what they are doing. They made buttloads of money from the Lord of the Rings series but haven't grown at all. They keep themselves small. The marketing guy still only had two assistants! Unfortunately the bean-counter guy did all the talking and I started to snooz!
Atari was after a quick lunch at some little place in Mid-town. I have never seen a company that had almost no clue what they were doing. It is really a shame to have that corporate legacy and to sit on it. Idiots.
Finally there was The independent Film Channel. This was fun. The CEO was a hoot. However, I asked several questions about the role of film festivals in their programming decisions and they said "none at all." Bullshit. What am I? A rube?
That was the day in a nutshell. Afterwards Ilya dragged me to the Toys-R-Us in times square at 5:30 in the evening on a Friday! It was fucking crazy! Apparently the Harry Potter kids and Lindsey Lohan were appearing on TRL so Times Sq. was packed with pre-pubes! arg! I could have killed him. I have never hated more people on the planet! We escaped to some pub on 10th Ave and grabbed dinner.
From there I jumped in a cab and headed to Chelsea for Bill Viola's opening. Once again I seemed to gravitate to a building that is determined to hold every single person in the city at one moment! I met up with William, his sig other, and ME, my old boss. Chatted for a bit and then headed over the Eyebeam to see a Christian Marclay performance. Hung out. Ran into this really messy curator that I had met at a luncheon in Boston. He was hammered at 8 in the evening. Not that there is anything wrong with that...But he is a curator for a major art collection owned by some extremely wealthy people. Perhaps that is all he has to do? Travel and drink...Wish I could do that shit!
Saw a couple of faculty, avoided them. Watched the performance which was pretty interesting. Left after the first one and headed to our Sloan reception at the Chelsea hotel bar.
Spent way too much money, hung out with my friend Tracy, ended up at some gay bar.
cadged the express back uptown, grabbed a slice of pizza and went back to L's place.
and that was Friday.
more later...
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
NYC, Sloanies and Me
Friday. The day of the CMS\Sloan Media trip. I was up at 7 watching L do her stretches on the living room floor. She is a marathon runner and is now in physical therapy for her knees. Shocking right? She is also a lawyer. Harvard undergrad/Harvard Law; hardcore New England liberal. A sassy broad. She kicks ass. We didn't get to hang out till Saturday night.
I got dressed, wore the suit pants but not the jacket. Too damn cold on Friday. Jumped on the 1 and headed to Chelsea. We were meeting at 8:15 at a Starbucks south of Houston. met up with Ilya and the gang. Our first stop was Weinstein Co. Formerly known as Miramax. Till Disney bought it and wouldn't let them take it. There is a message there. Met with the SVP of Finance and the head of marketing. Bullshitted and watched some trailers. They were a little stressed. Their fist big release was Friday and it wasn't getting very good reviews. Derailed, heard of it? I had but hadn't read anything about it. Have no real desire to see it. My friend T zapped them good during the Q&A. They kept going on about independent cinema, blah, blah, blah and she asks them if they are so independent how come they're aren't any black people in their films. They were kinda stumped and gave really bad answers like "we really rely on the foreign market and black films don't make money internationally" shit like that. The look on their face...priceless. They brought up their recent purchase of a tranny film as an example of diversity which of course got me started. I said that I was very eager to hear their strategy for that film! Nothing! I think they were glad we left.
oh and one big thing: There were several mentions about being late and how if you were going to be then don't come at all just meet at the next company. We actually gave a $100 deposit in case one of us fucked up. It would literally cost us. We had a very big window this morning. Meet at 8:15 and head to the company at 9, as a group. This one ass-clown calls the team leader at 9 while we are signing into security. He says "I'm almost there!" She tells him not to come and to meet us later.
So we are all sitting around a conference table on the 18th floor of this building. At 9:35 this guys opens the door and comes and sits at the table! We were all kinda flabbergasted. I would have gone and gotten breakfast and met up at the next location. The leader was pissed! She didn't say anything there but I am sure he got an earful later and lost a hundred bucks to boot.
idiot.
I want to work for Weinstein. They make cool movies and everyone in the office was wearing jeans.
to be cont...
n.
I got dressed, wore the suit pants but not the jacket. Too damn cold on Friday. Jumped on the 1 and headed to Chelsea. We were meeting at 8:15 at a Starbucks south of Houston. met up with Ilya and the gang. Our first stop was Weinstein Co. Formerly known as Miramax. Till Disney bought it and wouldn't let them take it. There is a message there. Met with the SVP of Finance and the head of marketing. Bullshitted and watched some trailers. They were a little stressed. Their fist big release was Friday and it wasn't getting very good reviews. Derailed, heard of it? I had but hadn't read anything about it. Have no real desire to see it. My friend T zapped them good during the Q&A. They kept going on about independent cinema, blah, blah, blah and she asks them if they are so independent how come they're aren't any black people in their films. They were kinda stumped and gave really bad answers like "we really rely on the foreign market and black films don't make money internationally" shit like that. The look on their face...priceless. They brought up their recent purchase of a tranny film as an example of diversity which of course got me started. I said that I was very eager to hear their strategy for that film! Nothing! I think they were glad we left.
oh and one big thing: There were several mentions about being late and how if you were going to be then don't come at all just meet at the next company. We actually gave a $100 deposit in case one of us fucked up. It would literally cost us. We had a very big window this morning. Meet at 8:15 and head to the company at 9, as a group. This one ass-clown calls the team leader at 9 while we are signing into security. He says "I'm almost there!" She tells him not to come and to meet us later.
So we are all sitting around a conference table on the 18th floor of this building. At 9:35 this guys opens the door and comes and sits at the table! We were all kinda flabbergasted. I would have gone and gotten breakfast and met up at the next location. The leader was pissed! She didn't say anything there but I am sure he got an earful later and lost a hundred bucks to boot.
idiot.
I want to work for Weinstein. They make cool movies and everyone in the office was wearing jeans.
to be cont...
n.
NYC pt2
had lunch with S. Saw her new fancy offices, pretty sweet although they had those low wall cubicals that seem to be all the rage in corporate land now. I don't get it. I guess it means don't pick your nose or look at porn at your desk!
had a great conversation with her. sometimes I think she is making my job much harder and sometimes much easier?? I don't get it. She's awesome.
From there I walked up fifth to the Guggenheim to spend the evening with performance art. I was once again pretty early so I spent some time at the Met. I wandered around the Renaissance rooms and checked out the Fra Angelico show. Crazy monk painter in the late medieval/early Renaissance. One real stand out painting is Jesus with red eyes sweating blood. some crazy shit. There hasn't been a large show dedicated to him in the US since 1959. If in NYC go and check it out. They were also in the early stages of setting up the big christmas room. Which I love! Big tree, gothic ornaments. crazy, creepy statues. good times.
Went on to watch Marina Abromowiz perform. She was recreating Vito Acconi's Seedbed piece from the early seventies. It was interesting until millions of people showed up and proceeded to block the view, take up space, talk and in general annoy the fuck out of me. I was very amused by all the young "art school" kids looking serious and writing in their journals. Oh I remember when that used to be me. The mismatched fashion, the distinct lack of bathing, the seriousness. oh wait, that's me now!
(I'll spend some time later discussing Marina. I had to return Sat night to watch another performance with my Harvard class.)
I took off and headed back to the west side. Crazy me. I walked from the Guggenheim at east 92nd and fifth ave to west 71st and amsterdam. My feet were fuckin crazy hurting! but that is the fun of NYC. walking everywhere and seeing some crazy ass people. I hit the big Barnes and Noble at Lincoln Center to hunt down the book I had to read by Saturday morning. No luck. In fact I went into about 5 bookstores in the city looking for this fuckin book (because I forgot to pack it! It was sitting on my dining table) and no one had it. its fuckin NYC and they still tell you to get it from Amazon. go figure.
I treated myself to some great sushi. I tend to do this when I am out and about alone as C isn't as big a fan of sushi as I am. I could eat that shit every damn day and night!
Went looking for my old gay bar hangout on the west side. Its gone. the west side is all yuppies and pottery barn now. it used to be great restaurants and bars. Now it is all families. The gays have gone bye-bye. I think that they may have moved farther north to Morningside Heights.
Went back to L's place and rested up for a very long Friday.
to be cont...
n.
had a great conversation with her. sometimes I think she is making my job much harder and sometimes much easier?? I don't get it. She's awesome.
From there I walked up fifth to the Guggenheim to spend the evening with performance art. I was once again pretty early so I spent some time at the Met. I wandered around the Renaissance rooms and checked out the Fra Angelico show. Crazy monk painter in the late medieval/early Renaissance. One real stand out painting is Jesus with red eyes sweating blood. some crazy shit. There hasn't been a large show dedicated to him in the US since 1959. If in NYC go and check it out. They were also in the early stages of setting up the big christmas room. Which I love! Big tree, gothic ornaments. crazy, creepy statues. good times.
Went on to watch Marina Abromowiz perform. She was recreating Vito Acconi's Seedbed piece from the early seventies. It was interesting until millions of people showed up and proceeded to block the view, take up space, talk and in general annoy the fuck out of me. I was very amused by all the young "art school" kids looking serious and writing in their journals. Oh I remember when that used to be me. The mismatched fashion, the distinct lack of bathing, the seriousness. oh wait, that's me now!
(I'll spend some time later discussing Marina. I had to return Sat night to watch another performance with my Harvard class.)
I took off and headed back to the west side. Crazy me. I walked from the Guggenheim at east 92nd and fifth ave to west 71st and amsterdam. My feet were fuckin crazy hurting! but that is the fun of NYC. walking everywhere and seeing some crazy ass people. I hit the big Barnes and Noble at Lincoln Center to hunt down the book I had to read by Saturday morning. No luck. In fact I went into about 5 bookstores in the city looking for this fuckin book (because I forgot to pack it! It was sitting on my dining table) and no one had it. its fuckin NYC and they still tell you to get it from Amazon. go figure.
I treated myself to some great sushi. I tend to do this when I am out and about alone as C isn't as big a fan of sushi as I am. I could eat that shit every damn day and night!
Went looking for my old gay bar hangout on the west side. Its gone. the west side is all yuppies and pottery barn now. it used to be great restaurants and bars. Now it is all families. The gays have gone bye-bye. I think that they may have moved farther north to Morningside Heights.
Went back to L's place and rested up for a very long Friday.
to be cont...
n.
Back from NYC
ah, back from the big city. so much to talk about. probably a little too much for one blog. I'll try and keep it succinct.
day one, part one: Accela to NYC. I am never taking the regional train again! the Accela is so much nicer. sure its forty bucks more but damn it was clean, comfortable and only took 3 1/2 hours. Dropped my bags off at my friends place on the upper west side and headed to MoMA for my meeting. I was having lunch with one of the thesis committee members who is a curator of film and media at MoMA. I was a bit early so I walked around the museum a bit. Crazy packed! I've never seen so many people there! It was amazing for a thursday afternoon! Checked out their new media space which was a bit disappointing. Two great artists Michael Snow and Sam Taylor Wood. Sam's work always involves hot guys. I should mention that she is a woman not a gay man as I initially thought when I first saw her work. she has that sensibility. The work was nice but the room sucked. One little room set aside for video seems a bit of a waste for an institution like this. I decided to leave the museum and head up fifth for a bit. Again, kind of a bad idea, the street was packed! I went into the Disney store, bad idea #3. It was a freakin zoo! I made a single loop and fled out to the street. It was about this point that I was ready to start smacking people!
Luckily I got a call that S was ready to meet with me.
I grabbed lunch for us and headed back to MoMA and her office.
to be cont...
n.
day one, part one: Accela to NYC. I am never taking the regional train again! the Accela is so much nicer. sure its forty bucks more but damn it was clean, comfortable and only took 3 1/2 hours. Dropped my bags off at my friends place on the upper west side and headed to MoMA for my meeting. I was having lunch with one of the thesis committee members who is a curator of film and media at MoMA. I was a bit early so I walked around the museum a bit. Crazy packed! I've never seen so many people there! It was amazing for a thursday afternoon! Checked out their new media space which was a bit disappointing. Two great artists Michael Snow and Sam Taylor Wood. Sam's work always involves hot guys. I should mention that she is a woman not a gay man as I initially thought when I first saw her work. she has that sensibility. The work was nice but the room sucked. One little room set aside for video seems a bit of a waste for an institution like this. I decided to leave the museum and head up fifth for a bit. Again, kind of a bad idea, the street was packed! I went into the Disney store, bad idea #3. It was a freakin zoo! I made a single loop and fled out to the street. It was about this point that I was ready to start smacking people!
Luckily I got a call that S was ready to meet with me.
I grabbed lunch for us and headed back to MoMA and her office.
to be cont...
n.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
and baby makes three
So C and I have added a child to our household, an eight week old blue point siamese cat.Her name is Mame. She is very cute and a complete terror! I haven't had a kitten around in quite a while. I had forgotten what a handful they are. I hope to turn her into a fat lazy cat as soon as possible!
We drove out to Ohio to pick her up. Spent three long days in a car. One day out and two back. Stayed in a really crappy hotel off of I90 in Syracure. It was really nasty and the cat wouldn't shut up all night long. I believe that there were some nasty animal smells going on in that room that she really didn't care for. There were some that I didn't care for either! blech!
This begins my crazy travel month. I am off to NYC for our CMS/Sloan media trip on Thursday. I also have to be there for my Harvard class. We are meeting with the curator of the Guggenheim on Sat.
We had to pick which companies we'd prefer to meet with last week. The list was fairly short but had some good names. I got all of my first choices somehow...
I'll be meeting with Weinstein Co, New Line Cinema, Atari and the Independant Film Channel. I bought a suit just for this day. I believe I ranted about it some days ago. Turns out that we are to dress "business casual" damn it! I'm wearing my suit anyway. I'll just leave out the tie. I am so not doing the khaki thing! If I make people feel bad because I am somewhat dressed up then to god damn bad.
ugh! Mame is calling me.
later,
names...
We drove out to Ohio to pick her up. Spent three long days in a car. One day out and two back. Stayed in a really crappy hotel off of I90 in Syracure. It was really nasty and the cat wouldn't shut up all night long. I believe that there were some nasty animal smells going on in that room that she really didn't care for. There were some that I didn't care for either! blech!
This begins my crazy travel month. I am off to NYC for our CMS/Sloan media trip on Thursday. I also have to be there for my Harvard class. We are meeting with the curator of the Guggenheim on Sat.
We had to pick which companies we'd prefer to meet with last week. The list was fairly short but had some good names. I got all of my first choices somehow...
I'll be meeting with Weinstein Co, New Line Cinema, Atari and the Independant Film Channel. I bought a suit just for this day. I believe I ranted about it some days ago. Turns out that we are to dress "business casual" damn it! I'm wearing my suit anyway. I'll just leave out the tie. I am so not doing the khaki thing! If I make people feel bad because I am somewhat dressed up then to god damn bad.
ugh! Mame is calling me.
later,
names...
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