Santacon NYC 2008

I want to say 2,000 people but I'm bad at approximating numbers so I'm just going to say A LOT of people converged on NYC dressed as Santa Clause on December 13, 2008. Among many landmarks we hit the public library, Rockefeller Center for the X-mas tree, South Street Seaport and the Staten Island Ferry. Drinking commenced at 10am at 33rd street between 6th and 7th and I'm sure did not end until much later. I took a name around 6pm. This event happened around the country but my friend Julia in San Francisco said the NYC one looked way bigger. 

My favorite part of the whole day: everyone was asked to bring canned food to donate at the beginning of the crawl. I brought three items but I saw people with entire sacks of food to donate. That's a lot of baked beans :) 

David Wain's Show: Wainy Days

There are so many cameos in the web series Wainy Days by David Wain- creator of Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models.  Start at the beginning but start now as you'll be somewhat caught up for the timely return of STELLA -  that's David Wain, Michael Showhalter and Michael Ian Black, all friends at NYU.  They're playing at the Nokia Theater in NYC tonight.  

Parody Wednesday

So this is from one of my favorite blogs out of San Francisco, Laughing Squid. 

It's "Jizz in my pants" - by The Lonely Island, the group includes Andy Samberg and they've made over 30 digital shorts for SNL. 

Favorites include: Jizz in my pants, Giraffe and Dick in a Box.  

According to their blog linked above, The Lonely Island's debut album "Incredibad" hits stores 2/10/2009.

** Update: New video for "Best look in the World"

Space Olympics

      "Iran So Far" - Cameos by Adam Levine and Jake Gyllenhal

People getting punched before eating

Extreme Challenge

Cloister and Fort Tryon Park

Even in winter this Bronx park is an oasis from the stress of life in an urban jungle. 

The Cloisters are a satelite of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's ancient relics collection in the middle of Fort Tryon park. Less crowded that central park with views of the river and bridge. You can drive here up the Henry Hudson Parkway. You can take the subway or a bus. But anyway you can get here - just do it. It's a beautiful little secret for a lot of people. 

Lady Sovereign is ... back?

Last I read about Lady Sovereign, the female British Eminem is how she was branded a few years back, she was yelling at a crowd in Williamsburg that they were nothing and stormed off stage after playing only 2 songs. 

Well she's got a hot new song. Looks like Britney isn't the only one making come backs! 

Song is called "I got you dancing." You bet you do LS. 

Pop Champagne

Jim Jones laid it down last night at Mercury Lounge.  He played some old school hits like "Certified Ganstas" and "Jackin Swagga From Us." The performance was re-scheduled from an earlier date and it finally sold out. Jones was joined on stage by Ron Browz of "Pop Champagne" fame who's coming out with his own album sooner than later. The crowd went crazier for Browz than Jones. People had their cell phones and cameras out but only a select few were really getting down :( Come on NYC! 

The opener Sun Ra (different from Sun Ra Arkestra) came complete with flashy outfits and go-go dancers. Gotta love the live band and hip hop crew combination. Reminded me a bit of Digable Planets. Can't find them online but they said it was rare for them to be together. Only identifier- "we're from the land of moo." 

Streamers

David Rabe's play Streamers is currently on stage at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater. The Roundabout production highlights wonderful actors and an ambitious script about 4 young soldiers at bootcamp in 1965 Virginia coping with timely issues of anxiety, fear, sexuality and race relations. I was pleasantly  surprised to see an old friend, Hale Appleman, in the lead role of Richie. I went to summer camp with Hale ages ago and it was fun to see him again on stage.