05/26/09

A New Way to Discover Music

Sick of all the songs on your iPod? I have a cure for the iTunes blues.

First, think back to some of your favorite songs. How did you discover them? Sure, the radio and music videos played a part, but, if you're anything like me, chances are you discovered your favorite tunes from those one or two friends who were always just a bit ahead of the curve on these things. Their mix tapes were legendary, they always heard the best stuff first, and they were always pushing you to listen to that new song that they'd been playing over and over on their own stereos.

Well, mix tapes may be dead (though I admit...

Posted at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/19/09

Bad Buzz for Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock

Of all the upcoming summer movies, Taking Woodstock hits closest to home. Rather than taking place far out in space or way into the future, the film, about the creation of the famed music festival based on a book authored by Woodstock behind-the-scenester Elliot Tiber, takes place throughout—and was filmed in—the Hudson Valley. Helming the production is Larchmont resident Ang Lee.

Since the movie feels so local, I've been following its progress closely. (The fact that it stars Demetri Martin, one of my fictional boyfriends, didn't hurt, either.) I was excited for its debut at...

Posted at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2

05/12/09

Westchester's Own USS Enterprise

Before you took the time to honor your mother this past Sunday, chances are you snuck out on Friday—or even Thursday—to take a peek at the new Star Trek picture. The sci-fi film took in a more-than-respectable $76.5 million dollars at the box office.

I admit that 11 of those dollars were mine. Though I'm not a trekkie by any stretch of the imagination—up until a week ago, I couldn't tell a Romulan from a tribble—I did find the new adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the rest thoroughly enjoyable. Yet, as I watched them hurtle through space on another Earth-saving mission, something looked oddly familiar.

It was the spaceship, the USS Enterprise. To me, the iconic starship resembles a building that can be seen from 287, close to the junction for...

Posted at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

05/05/09

Movies to Avoid to Keep Your Peace of Mind

With the exception of our vice president, everyone agrees that there's no reason to panic about swine flu right now—even though it's now hit as close to home as Rye Country Day School, which is shutting down for two weeks. Even so, a majority of the cases in the United States haven't shown any more muscle than the regular, non-porcine variety of flu. Still, have you noticed people lingering a little bit longer while washing their hands, or busting out the Purell a little more often? (In our offices, a couple of new hand-sanitizer dispensers have mysteriously appeared in our hallways.)

While...

Posted at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0