Please Kill Me

I recently read Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and it was unputdownable. You don't need to be a fan of punk to enjoy this book, as it really is more of an evocation of an era in New York City. What I found especially interesting is that the book begins in the 60s with the Velvet Underground and that English punk had nothing on NYC punk. I also love the oral-history format, which I first experienced reading Edie: American Girl (another NYC must-read!). Legs McNeil, the co-author of Please Kill Me, was just in a New York Times article about the upcoming CBGB movie. This movie is definitely causing a punk rift.

City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3

 I love the City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3 for a number of reasons:

• It's easy for me to get to.
• It shows a good mix of indie, foreign, and blockbuster movies.
• It has an older clientele, though the Lincoln Plaza Cinema on the Upper West Side wins for most "mature" audience, with the Paris Theatre nipping at City Cinemas' heels.
• And then there's that painting of Brooke Shields in the lobby. Does anyone know the provenance of this work of art?

According to this website, City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3 has been around since 1962 and shared the block with another popular cinema, the Baronet & Coronet. City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3 even makes a very brief cameo in the 1969 film John and Mary, starring Mia Farrow and Dustin Hoffman.

(Photo credit: hazeldove)

57 Great Jones Street

When I started my current job, the office was in 57 Great Jones Street, a somewhat unassuming two-story building with a Japanese butcher in the storefront and the "secret" Japanese restaurant Bohemian housed in its rear. Since I work for a Japanese company and am not Japanese, and we were sharing space with a Japanese design firm, I was amazed by all of this Japanese-ness. But even more amazing was finding out that 57 Great Jones Street was once owned by Andy Warhol and was where the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, on the second floor, where our office was. Wow! Even though I was only there a month before our office relocated, I like that I got to spend time in this historical building.