PSA: Free Admission Wednesday Oct. 21 to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum will be offering free admission on October 21, 2009, from 10 am to 5:45 pm, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the exact day the Guggenheim Museum's Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building opened to the public. View the Kandinsky exhibition, called “sensational” by the New York Times, and enjoy special film screenings, tours in several languages, and a roster of activities, including many family–friendly programs, throughout the day.

Current exhibitions include:

Kandinsky
Through Jan 13, 2010

Gabriele Münter and Vasily Kandinsky, 1902–14: A Life in Photographs
Through Jan 13, 2010

Intervals: Kitty Kraus
Through Jan 6, 2010

Paired, Gold: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Roni Horn
Through Jan 6, 2010

The Deutsche Bank Series at the Guggenheim
Anish Kapoor: Memory
Oct 21, 2009–Mar 28, 2010 (Opening Day)


Take advantage man...take advantage...

PSA: Sasha and DJ Three - Friday, Nov.6

Blkmarket Membership has locked down a special underground party featuring the one-and-only Sasha with the super talented DJ Three closing out the party on Friday, November 6.

The New York City location will be announced within 2 days of the event. To be notified you must RSVP to sasha.underground@gmail.com with your full name. Tickets will only be available at the door, $25 if you RSVP or $35 if you don’t RSVP. Show runs from 10pm Friday night to Noon on Saturday

N.W.A. - Parental Discretion Iz Advised

your song of the day...checkit!



[Dr. Dre]
One, two, three, kick it

[The D.O.C.]
Aiyyo Dre, what's goin on man? What's goin on?
Ay what ch'all gonna do for this last record?
Nah tell me what cha'all gonna do?
Okay, you want me to do the intro? Aight!

Parental discretion is advised for the moment
While I'm getting candid, now understand it
Ain't too typical in any way, though the pro
on the mic is the D.O. to the C. this is an intro
I know the DOC makes you want to take a valium
So buy a bucket cause upcomin is my album
And for the record, meanin my record, check it
Listen to the single and you'll be like, yo, I gotta get it
But in the meantime, listen to the rhyme
of the Dr. Dre, played wit N.W.A.
Yella's on the drum roll, rockin the beat
Aiyyo Dre, where's you gonna take this shit man?

[Dr. Dre]
Aiyyo, let's take it to the street (WORD UP!)
Let 'em understand perfection
Let knowledge be the tool for suckers to stop guessin
Cause I don't give a fuck about a radio play
Observed the english I display
Lyrics for the adults, children have been barred
and scarred from listenin to somethin so motherfuckin HARD
Dope, pumpin that's so my shit will never falter
Yo it's Dre so fuck the "Mind of Minolta"
Psycho, like no, other motherfucker
So step to me wrong, G-O for what you N-O
But be warned, never will I leave like a regular
Cause I'm a little better than the regular competitor
I use to see 'em on stage
Earnin money like a thief, but without a guage
Until I got full, of clockin the lame gettin pull
(They said you wasn't gon' get paid)
Nah that's bullshit! They like it stylistic
And I enchant the crowd like I'm a mystic
(C-C-C-C) C-C-C-cameras are flashin, when I'm in action
A photo, or fresh with a flair for fashion
Pure simplicity, see it's elementary
You hear one of the hardest motherfuckers this century
Try to comprise a word to the wise and the guys
Parental discretion is advised

[MC Ren]
Ren is most extremely high performance
The black hat cause I worn this, cause it's like enormous
Some shit I don't take it, not even in a toliet
And shit from a sucker, put in a pot and I'll boil it
Turn up the pilot as it burns
And maybe, the motherfuckers will learn
I'm not a sub, cause I speak sensible
Not considered a prince, cause I'm a principal
I'm engineerin; the shit that you're hearin
Cause when it comes to power, I'm power steerin
Silly you say, I say you're silly when you say it
Rushin to the eject, to put my shit in and play it
It's like Apollo, but I'm not an amateur
And I'm not givin a fuck, while I'm damagin ya
It's for the record; so Ren's lyrics is gonna spin it
And if there was a trophy involved, I'll win it
Possession is mine and I'm the holder
Cause a nigga like Ren don't give a fuck cause I'm older
So for you to step off would be wise
And say fuck it, parental discretion is advised

[Ice Cube]
I be what is known as a bandit
You gotta hand it to me when you truly understand it
Cause if you fail to see, read it in braile
It'll still be funky -- so what's next is the flex
of a genius, my rapid-stutter-steppin if you seen this
dope, you hope that I don't really mean this
But if played, made the grade or high-top fade
It's not my trademark when I get loose in the dark
You guess it was a test of a different style
It's just another motherfucker on the pile
Drivin your ass with the flow of your tongue
You hung yourself short, the after-knowledge was brung
to your attention, by the hardest motherfuckin artist
that is know for lynchin any sucker in a minute
Stagger 'em all
When I start flowin like Niagara Falls
Ice Cube is equipped to rip shit in a battle
Move like a snake when I'm mad; and then my tail rattle
I get low on the flow so let your kids know
When I bust, parental discretion is a must

[Eazy-E]
Little did they know, that I would be arrivin
And it's surprisin, rockin it from where I been
But it's the E here to take, no mistake to be made
in the trade where funky ass records are bein played
Fuck the regular, yo as I get better the
bitches wanna trick and go stupid up on the dick
So I get 'em hot, thinkin they're gonna get it
As they sit, rubbin their legs like a cricket
To you it may be funny, but
there's no service of beef, without money
So slip the C-note, and you can choke
on a wing-ding-ding-a-ling down your throat
Foreplay; to me ain't shit
When you spread 'em I'm ready, then you can get the dick
of the Eaze, if you can deal with the size
But if you can't, parental discretion's advised! {*echoes*}

{*bass guitar and piano solo for a minute*}

[Unknown voice at the end after band breaks down]
Shut the fuck up!!

Delivery Week (Seamless Web Promotion) - October 19-31

Seamless Web will have a promotion starting October 19 through Halloween where you can get a 3-course lunch for $12.09 + tax or a 3-course dinner for $20.09 + tax delivered to your door. The participating restaurants are as follows:

35 Thai
Abboccato
Aceluck
Aja
A La Turka
Alfanoose Middle Eastern Cuisine
Alfonso's House of Lasagna (Brought to you by Domenico's)
Amber (3rd Ave)
Amber
Aquamarine
Au Mandarin
Austin Fishwich (Brought to you by Salmon River)
Azuki
Baluchi's (East)
Baluchi's (Greenwich St.)
Baluchi`s (Spring)
Baluchi's (West)
Barbarini Alimentari
Bellini Italian Restaurant & Brick Oven Pizzeria
Benvenuto Grille
Big Nick`s Burger Joint & Pizza Joint (Bdwy)
Bistro by PS450
Bread and Olive Restaurant
Brother Jimmy's - Amsterdam Ave
Butai
Cafe Spice (University Place)
Chelsea Ristorante
Chiam
Chola, brought to you by Tadka
Cinema Brasserie
Cucina Di Pesce
Dhaba
Doyers Vietnamese Restaurant, Inc.
Earthen Oven
Ethos (First Ave)
Ethos Greek Cuisine
Fresco by Scotto on the Go
Fresco on the Go (Pearl St)
Fresh Basil's
Garage Restaurant & Cafe
Giorgio`s of Gramercy
Greenwich Street Tavern
Havana Central (Bdway)
Havana Central
Havana Central (Time Square)
Hill Country
Indus Valley
Intermezzo (Only ASAP Orders Please)
I Vandali-Fresh Italian Restaurant
John`s Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
Khao Sarn II
Kitchenette
Klong
Koodo Sushi (Grand Opening)
Kuta
La Giara
La Gioconda
Lilli and Loo
Little Thai Kitchen
Mama Mexico (49th St.)
Matsu Sushi
Molyvos
Momoya
Natsumi
Niko`s Mediterranean Grill & Bistro
Nomado 33
Ollie`s (42nd St.)
Paris Commune
Perle
POP Burger
Pound & Pence
Pyramida
Rare Bar & Grill
Red
Regional
Salmon River
Serafina at the Time Hotel
SIAM INN NY
Sushi Time
SUteiShi
Tao
Thai Chai - Yo
Tre
Waterstone Grill
Wave Sushi at Caviar Russe
Wild Edibles
Yama (Carmine)
Yama (E. 49th)
Zen Palate
Zucchero e Pomodori
Mama Mexico (Broadway)
Match 65 Brasserie & Sushi Bar (Formerly Paris Match Bistro)
Mudville 9 Grill
Paprika Cucina Italiana
Peep Restaurant
Pera Mediterranean Brasserie
Smorgas Chef West Village LLC
Smorgas Chef
Smorgas Chef (Park Ave)
Sosa Borella - 8th Ave
The Volstead

Here's a map of all the joints. Link

It'll be interesting to see what some of these restaurants will be offering for the promotion. As Jacques Pépin says - Happy Eating!

Nirvana - Breed

This song just popped into my brain, so...

PSA: Steve Lawler @ Pacha NY, Saturday Nov. 7

PSA: Andrew Weatherall @ Love on Saturday, October 10 (Update)

From the promoters:

Dear Friends, its with great sadness that we have to mention this, but Andrew Weatherall was denied his work visa to come to the U.S. This is something we really were looking forward to but now for the 2nd time we have tried to book him, its not possible once again. But fear not, we have put together something for all of you that will still get your grooving. We have asked Bill Patrick who is on tour now in the US, to come and take Weatherall's place and do an extended set for us.

------

Maybe third time will be the charm?

Inside Dan Barber's Kitchen

PSA: Andrew Weatherall @ Love on Saturday, October 10

Andrew Weatherall is very cool and has produced some amazing music. He also plays awesome music when he djs. The last time he was supposed to come to New York, he had visa problems. Here's hoping to smooth sailing this time around.

You can get your advance tickets for 15 bones here.

GusGus - Add This Song (Patrick Chardronnet Mix)

PSA: John Digweed @ Pacha New York on Friday, October 9

The mega-influential John Digweed makes his long-awaited return to NYC on Friday, October 9 at Pacha. I haven't been to Pacha in years, and even with the recent spate of legal troubles, I'm willing to slog through the bullshit for a few hours of Diggers.

Grace Jones - Williams' Blood (Greg Wilson Version)

Released on Wall of Sound late last year:

Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald

This first cut is a track from the original album titled "ReComposed" that was released on the supremely venerable record label Deutsche Grammophon.




And this is a remix by Carl Craig released on the AA side for a remixed release.

New Basement Jaxx Album and Tour

Basement Jaxx have finished their fifth studio album titled "Scars", and is set for domestic release on October 6. They've got a short North America tour that kicks off in San Francisco on October 30 and ends in New York on Saturday, November 7 at Santos Party House. Hells yeah. You can purchase your tickets for the New York date here.

Here's the video for their first single "Raindrops".

René et Gaston - Merluche Ideale

This Is Really Cool (simulations)

Tone Matrix


Roland TR909

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Born On The Bayou (Live @ Woodstock)

Nate Appleman and Keith McNally Team Up For Bowery Pizzeria

From Grub Street:

This just in, via an e-mail from the man himself this morning: Keith McNally has tapped none other than Nate Appleman to helm the kitchen at his forthcoming pizzeria on the Bowery, Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria. Appleman, who will be chef and partner, was last seen looking for a point of entry into the New York market, having parted ways with his partners at A16 and SPQR in San Francisco. He's also this year's recipient of both the James Beard Rising Star award and Best New Chef honors from Food & Wine magazine. While the last time McNally experimented with a name chef on an Italian restaurant, at Morandi, the results were initially mixed, the McNally-Appleman one-two immediately catapults Pulino's into the territory of places like Otto and Co., where top operators and chefs are in tandem, and puts it on a path for epic success. It's a (characteristically) very shrewd move for McNally and a virtual lottery win for Appleman, who has something to prove in NYC. Pulino's, a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night proposition — per the McNally standard — will open sometime in December.

Gentlemen Broncos

A new one by the director of Napoleon Dynamite:

Upcoming Eric Ripert Show on PBS

If you've checked out the blog list on the left side of this site, you'd see Ripert's Avec Eric site listed.


from W Magazine:


Out of the Kitchen

Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert brings his brand of culinary cool to the small screen.

By Jenny Comita

September 2009

Compared with his fellow megachefs, Eric Ripert has always come off like a bit of an iceman. A tall, tanned, silver-haired Buddhist who manages to look cool even in close proximity to a blazing range, he reigns over New York’s famed Le Bernardin with a calm confidence that makes Gordon Ramsay and the rest of the apron-clad screamers seem like three-year-olds in dire need of a nap. When a judge on Top Chef, the cooking contest show on which Ripert has guest-starred, referred to him as Obi-Wan Kenobi last season, the analogy between the wise Jedi Master and the 44-year-old culinary whiz seemed apt.

This fall, however, foodies will get to glimpse Ripert’s untethered side when his own TV series, Avec Eric, debuts on PBS. A far cry from the cutesy quick-cook shows that dominate the airwaves, each episode opens with a behind-the-scenes look at one aspect of Le Bernardin—the haute seafood eatery’s saucier station, for instance—and closes with Ripert creating a masterly but manageable dish in a home kitchen. In between, Ripert travels in search of inspiration, and it’s on these trips—whether to slurp oysters straight out of the sea off California’s Hog Island or to hunt wild boar in Chianti, Italy—that his suave facade begins to erode. Standing in the Tuscan forest in a thunderstorm, his camouflage jacket pulled over his head like a babushka, he practically leaps out of the shot when the burly creature streaks past. Even eight months later, sitting in the cookbook-crammed conference room of Le Bernardin, he seems shaken by his close encounter with the big pig. “Eee was coming right at us!” he says, his French accent so thick it sounds almost put on. “We were looking for a tree to climb! Eee ad these beeeg teeth on the sides!”

Avec Eric represents Ripert’s first regular foray onto the small screen. Though he certainly doesn’t lack for presence, and though his culinary chops trump those of just about anyone else on TV—he has held on to his four New York Times stars for 14 years, longer than anyone else now cooking in the city—he has been slow to pick up the toque of celebrity chef. He’s doing so now, he says, because he believes his seasoned team is up to the task of handling the restaurant during his absences. “You don’t become a chef to become famous,” says Ripert, who enrolled in culinary school at 15 and landed in the kitchen of Paris’s La Tour d’Argent two years later. “You become a chef because you like cooking.”

But running Le Bernardin, which Ripert has co-owned with Maguy Le Coze since 1994, when Le Coze’s brother and cofounder, Gilbert, died, also means acting as manager, talent scout and marketing machine. Ripert, who lives on the Upper East Side with his wife and young son, does a remarkable job of juggling, says chef–turned–writer–turned–TV host Anthony Bourdain, a close friend. “I’ve never seen him freak out under any circumstances. He’s a great advertisement for Buddhism.”

Ripert credits the religion, which he began studying in his 20s, with teaching him kindness—as a young chef, he was a bit of a hothead, once throwing a plate at pastry chef François Payard—but it hasn’t exactly turned him into a type B personality. In his new memoir, Born Round, New York Times food critic Frank Bruni recalls that while many chefs posted his photo so servers could spot him, Ripert took it a step further, digging up videos so his staff could also study his mannerisms. Ripert seems embarrassed by the story but admits it’s true. “We have standards, and we do everything possible to meet them. If that means having Bruni on video, then that’s what it is,” he says. “But by the way, the videos were legal! They were Frank Bruni reporting from the White House!”

Meeting those standards in the current economy has, of course, meant making hard choices. With many New York restaurants down as much as 30 percent, just about every eatery has reacted by offering some sort of deal. Ripert saw his own business plunge in the first month of 2009, and, he says, “we had to make a decision: Either we lower the price, in which case we cannot provide the quality that we want, or we stick to our standards.” The answer, he says, came to him while he was walking down Madison Avenue: “I saw one designer store where everything was 90 percent off, and it was empty. And then there was Hermès, nothing on sale, and the place was packed.” He chose the Hermès strategy, on the logic that “nobody remembers a bargain but nobody forgets a bad meal,” and insists that it has been successful, with business rebounding almost entirely by early spring.

Thus far, acting on instinct has served him well. “I never pressure myself to do something I don’t want to do,” he says. It’s a philosophy he applies even to Buddhism. While vegetarianism is the karmic ideal, for example, Ripert has no problem cooking up creatures. “The way I see it, you don’t take the life of an animal for something meaningless,” he says. “If I have a beautiful ingredient in front of me, I’m going to pay homage to it. I’m not going to f--- it up.”