Twenty-nine years ago today, John Lennon—perhaps the most beloved of the Beatles, and certainly one of the world's most strident voices for peace throughout his lifetime—was gunned down in the entryway of the Dakota on Central Park West by Mark David Chapman. Fans will gather, in the annual tradition, at the "Imagine" mural in the park's Strawberry Fields section to commemorate the life and music of the man who, with the considerable help of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, changed the entire world's idea of what rock 'n roll was. The entrance, which has become something of a solemn tourist trap and a place that sneaks up on more than a few New Yorkers, is situated just west of Central Park West on 72nd Street.
In other news, it was recently announced that the SoHo arm of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame will be closing on January 3rd, which means that the John Lennon: The New York Years exhibit will close as well. The exhibit is a stunningly comprehensive collection of artifacts from Lennon's life, including the very mail bag the NYPD returned Lennon's bloody clothes to Yoko Ono in, as well as a picture of the glasses Lennon was wearing when he was shot that is nothing sort of devastating.
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annex, anniversary, central park, dakota, death, george harrison, imagine, john lennon, mark david chapman, new york years, paul mccartney, ringo starr, rock and roll hall of fame, soho, strawberry fields, the beatles, tribute, yoko ono
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Posted on 12/8/2009
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Well here we go. From Gothamist comes this video of a woman running lines for her Real Daughters Of Long Island audition, perhaps. A perusal of YouTube points to this being a J train, for those of you keeping score. A note to tourists: our crazy people are usually way more creative, but the downside is they're not normally this persistent. A note to the faint of heart: graphic language and several allusions to forcible mastectomies.
The J train is not to be outdone by the D train, apparently. Gothamist reminds us of this fight on the comically shiny line:
Man, this is the Dark Knight to Improv Everywhere's Batman Forever. Speaking of which, the Ninth Annual No Pants Subway Ride is coming up on January 10th. Given the MTA's propensity for holding a heating lottery with the cars on every train during the winter, maybe bring along some break-away pants just in case. Here's what it looked like last year.
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d train, improv everywhere, j train, mta, my mother, no pants, subway
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Posted on 12/7/2009
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The MTA's Twitter (yes, the MTA has a Twitter account) posted a photo of the new feature rolling out along the L train: real-time displays of where trains are on the route. This is comforting, somewhat, since simply not knowing when or whether a train is coming is half of the annoyance of public transit, but what about those long weekends, for example, when the F train isn't running between Church Avenue and Jay Street? Do we really want a live display of how bad our commute is going to be? Self-delusion about outages is the only thing, many times, that keeps the thronging masses from open revolt on the subway platforms. This heralds a new era of the MTA either trying to make themselves look better and more efficient or proving once and for all that they truly do not care what we think.
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l train, mta, real time display, subway
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Posted on 10/30/2009
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Given its size and attendance, it's strange that the Brooklyn Book Festival didn't span more than one wayward September Sunday this year. The 4th annual festival brought publishers of all types out to the plaza at Borough Hall to ply their wares on a literary public, from giants like The Paris Review to college literary magazines (some clumped together at the same booth). As with the three previous installments, the main attractions were the panels and lectures from some of literature's most luminous talents. Brooklynite writers like Paul Auster and Ben Greenman and comedian David Cross shared schedule space with musicians Lupe Fiasco and Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth). Even the more graphic sort of novels were represented, with a full New York Comic Con alley as an appetite-whetting exercise for next month's convention. at the Javits Center.
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ben greenman, borough hall, brooklyn book festival, david cross, festivals, javits center, lupe fiasco, new york, new york comic con, paul auster, thurston moore
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Posted on 9/14/2009
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Sixteen of the world's best snowboarders will converge on the East River Park to compete for pieces of a $100,000 purse. An entirely massive jump has been constructed, as well as the usual snowboard half-pipes, to accomodate the "jam session" format preliminary and final rounds of the competition. Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White will be competing alongside Pat Moore, Travis Rice, Kevin Pearce, Mikkel Bang, Danny Davis, Kohei Kubo, Kazuhiro Kakubo, Terke Haakonsen, Andreas Wiig, Torstein Horgmo, Jake Blauvelt, Greg Bretz, Bjorn Lienes, and JJ Thomas. Local metal miscreants and all-around lunatics Anthrax will provide the musical landscape for the event. Gates open at 2pm on February 5th, and the event will end sometime after the awards presentation, which is scheduled for 9pm.
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andreas wiig, anthrax, bjorn lienes, danny davis, east river park, gold medal, greg bretz, half pipe, jake blauvelt, kazuhiro kakubo, kevin pearce, kohei kubo, mikkel bang, olympic, pat moore, purse, red bull, shaun white, snowboarding, sports, terke haakonsen, torstein horgmo, travis rice
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Posted on 1/14/2009
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