IndieCadeEast 2013–Games and Creativity

While I’ve played my share of video games growing up, I didn’t know much about independent games or game development before I attended IndieCadeEast 2013. Thanks to Diana, we made our way to the Museum of Moving Image in Queens this past weekend to the first IndieCade on the east coast. After two and a half days of intense convention activities, I learned a thing or two about games, crowd energy, creative design, and play testing. Warning: this entry has a lot of media. Proceed with caution.

fancy logo. Link to Indiecade East site

just a shot of the museum entrance.

Five Memorable Convention Moments (more details after the jump)

1. Renga AI: "Your fourth harvester looks really useful now”
2. Game Design Workshop: Post-It Pirates playtest sessions
3. Hokra Play-by-Play Sports Commentary during Sports Friends Session
4. Super Shove Shove Ending Screen during CAPY keynote by Kris.
5. Three way tie for the three “Well-Played” sessions I attended. All the presenters gave engaging presentations and shed some light onto games that I had not otherwise known about.

---

1. Renga Rant

http://wallfour.co.uk/
When D. and I first lined up on Sat. night for this game in the main theater (bigger of the two theaters), we didn’t know what to expect. The volunteer who was handing out the laser pointers instructed every row to pass down the laser pointers (1 per 3 people only). Since we sat on the aisle, I decided to skip it and let my neighbor participate while we observed. Later on in the show, he was nice enough to let us try as well.

Game premise: Team space shooter
The Execution: 100-players (total strangers) + laser pointers (aka annoying red things) = crowd ecstasy and/or complete chaos.
The Twist: We are all dependent on each other to build a ship, fight off enemies, and survive!
Side effect: Continuous blabbering about how cool this game is and seeing “quads” and “radial” shapes every where.

The context for the AI comment "Your fourth harvester looks really useful now” came after we opted to built yet another harvester despite being blown to bits by enemies. The ship can build different parts after each round of attacks. A “launch” engine is said to be the primary goal because the ship needs to build four launch engines in order to go home. Then there are “silo” ship units to hold supplies and “harvesters” which are little ships that can grab supplies to bring back to the silos. Harvesters have no offense so they get destroyed easily during attack.

2012 Trees and Cheer

New York is fun during the holidays and after taking some of my own ideas on winter activities [blog entry], I wanted to share some photos.

NYPL – Schwarzman Building (the one with Lions near Bryant Park). The main attraction is on the top floor. Probably the fastest place to get a library card (and afterwards, you can walk across the street to the Midtown library for checkout)

Origami Tree at American Natural History Museum

Bryant Park Tree (in the background as I was trying to take a photo of the rink)

The 30 Rock Tree

The close-up of the star

I also finally figured out how to add the “social” bar, so hopefully it’ll allow easy sharing? Granted I probably use twitter/email the most when I visit other sites. or comments…

San Diego–Bonus Chapter

San Diego was the first stop on my four-city West Coast Trip. While it was my first time visiting the city, I only did enough research to narrow down my “to-do-list” to Coronado Beach (Voted number one by Dr. Beach in 2012) and Fish Tacos (the hype lives up). My friend and travel companion E. recommended the San Diego Zoo (one of the world’s best, didn’t you know?). I liked the fact that the Zoo was inside Balboa Park, another popular sight mentioned by various San Diego guides.

Outside of the main three attractions, I considered all the other stuff we saw along the way extra bonuses. This entry is all about those bonuses, and also a celebration of taking “side-trips”, “detours”, and “spontaneous adventures” before heading back to the main road and final destination.

Tribute to Classic Baseball Stadiums

Petco Baseball Stadium was one of these bonus side-trips. We were heading towards Coronado Ferry/Coronado Beach and decided to stop by the the stadium for some photos. Once we got there, we find out the stadium tour had just started so we ran halfway around the stadium to catch up with leader. Last year I took E. to AT&T Park in San Francisco (2011 blog writeup) and had a fun time. Could this be the start of a new travel tradition? (note to self, start a separate entry listing all the baseball stadiums/tours/etc).

Out of the many stadium photos that I took, this is the only one that features the western metal supply building.

The old building kept most of its original structure and columns on the inside. I loved walking inside it and running my hands along the brick/wood structures. Keeping this one old building to build a stadium around it… what an idea.

One word of caution for SF Giants fans and NY Mets fans (myself included) who love their stadiums: Petco stadium doesn’t try to look too grand or luxurious. The “canyon” feel of the stadium as well as its many tributes to classic stadiums (Wrigley, Old Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards, Fenway, etc) make it understated yet very special. The paintings of famous players found in the VIP section are unique and lovely and provide a decidedly different feel than classic ball game photos that are featured more prominently in other areas of the stadium. Another nice touch for the fans is the slanting of the stadium seats on the sides towards the home plate, without straining your head. Regular stadium seats that are on the side simply direct attention to what is in front of you whereas everyone is inclined to sit facing pitcher’s mount/ home plate.

The Harbor had a few boats

Architecture around Balboa Park

Wishing well and nearby fountain

Santa Barbara Station - The most postcard-perfect tree

More to come:

• San Diego main entry (Beach, fish tacos, and giant pandas!)
• San Francisco (Where we caught the mist over Golden Gate Bridge)
• Portland (Where I spent way more time than is healthy at Powell’s and went to three gardens)
• Seattle (Where I hiked Mt. Si, saw Radio Lab, and chilled out in Pike Place Market for an entire day)
• Trip notes as recorded and organized in tiny memo pad, with more virtual links
• and of course… tons of photos

Summer in NYC

Assorted shout out and photos for H., T., and the lovely S. Cheers for good times and beautiful new found friendships.

Cheering on the Mets at Citifield
Take the 7 to Mets-Willets Point.
First Mets game for T. and S. The Mets may have lost 13-0 but the experience  of the beautiful stadium and lobster roll outweighed all of that.

Chilling with Comfort Food at Wonjo
23 W 32nd St. New York
http://newwonjo.com/
After a night of happy hour specials, I had the idea to get some good hearty food. While I’ve been to Wonjo for Korean BBQ a million times, I stayed from that this time. Cold noodles in beef broth was just the right dish for hot summer nights. I probably should have ordered the regular bibim bop instead of the cold veggie version (which was more like a salad with rice…) Made the right call to order a small seafood pancake for a group of four, just enough food to get people interested but not so much to get all greased out from them. We also ordered the tofu… (I still prefer BCD tofu house but found out they moved recently).

Waving to Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry
White Hall Terminal
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ferrybus/statfery.shtml

Midtown Night from Brooklyn Bridge
Look for the benches near the middle and enjoy the skyline and the cool evening breeze. There’s nothing quite like crossing the bridge at night. It’s a completely different experience from the day.

Walking together on Summer Streets
This is a NYC city sponsored event where an entire stretch of the city becomes car-free, and the streets are clear for biking, roller-blading, and walking. My two favorite sections of the entire walk were the roadway leading up to Grand Central and the entire downtown section (below Astor or thereabouts). First Saturday I took the entire route from City Hall to 72nd (around 2.5h). Second Saturday I went with T., H., and S. and we had a blast walking south from 51st to 23rd or so. We also tagged on other activities along the way.

 

Eating Brunch at Spoon
17 West 20th street (between 5th and 6th avenues)
http://www.spoonnyc.com/
Three of us ordered the Hungry Man Special, which consisted of two sunny side up eggs, blueberry pancakes with the best syrup ever, toast, bacon and shitake hash browns (the best!). While I didn’t realize this at the time, Spoon is actually my first proper Manhattan brunch after I moved into the city. I guess this is what people call one of the essential city experiences, hanging out with good friends and catching up over good food. I liked it even better since I didn’t have to wait in a long line or anything.

Browsing Books at the Strand and the B&N
Strand 12th Street and Broadway.
http://www.strandbooks.com/index.cfm
B&N Straight on Union SQ north side
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2675/

Lounging at Ginger Man
11 East 36th Street
http://www.gingerman-ny.com/
Every bar should have comfortable couches in dim-lit corners and 60+ beers on tap. Feel so incredibly spoiled! Before you order any bottled beers, read this wise quote we found at the entrance:



Walking up the steps of NY Public Library at Bryant Park

Taking a break with Ginger and S’Mores Gelato from Ciao Bella in GCT

Admiring the Cloud City exhibit of the Metropolitan Museum
http://www.metmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/listings/2012/tomas-saraceno

Obviously the complete Met experience also included American Wing, Egypt Temple, the Knights and Armor Room, Chinese Garden, and even sitting on the front steps. Pleasantly surprised that T. liked this museum as much as I do.

Just an appetizer from Ooki Sushi
1575 3rd Ave. New York NY 10128  ( between 88th - 89th Street )
http://www.ooki-sushi.com
I can definitely recommend the tuna tataki here (next time will try toro) and it impressed both people in the table next to us (awesome!)

New York kind of weekend

Friday Evening
Smorgas for dinner with J. to celebrate my move. Traditional smorgasbord with Mikkeller beer, and lingonberry crepe for dessert. All recommended for future visits. My favorite part of the bord was probably the gravlaks and potatoes. Herring is still an acquired taste for me, I really had to get used to the texture. Random thought while eating crepe: if lingonberry were more popular in the U.S., would we still obsess over it as much?

Saturday Afternoon
New Museum Block Party with S. Creative crafts to start out the afternoon (orange colored sunglasses rocked my world. I need to find a pic of the magnetic poetry that S. made), followed by a view of the new Ghosts in the Machine exhibit which emphasized machinery/optical art/geometric shapes. I didn’t take a photo of this one particular object so I will try to describe it. Basically the artist started out with a square/rectangle piece of gossamer fabric, then tied four small weights to its four corners. A fan is set below the center of fabric and blows in different directions. The result is the fabric moving in a wave-like manner, while being suspended in mid-air. It’s simple yet so creative at the same time. I found it quite relaxing to watch, compared to some of the other objectives they had on display. A photo of some crazy looking animal sculptures from the Parade exhibit below, in the neighboring studio.

Saturday Evening
Prospect Park Jazz Concert. Part of Celebrate Brooklyn concert series (suggested $3 donation). Featuring Arturo Sandoval / Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Gotta love summer concert season, especially in New York.

Sunday Afternoon
Destination was set to be High Line park but the way there was anything but direct. Since the subway is hot in the summer, walking and bus all seem better modes of transportation. I wandered through Chinatown and SoHo before getting on a bus to the street near the park. On the way, I admired the sunroof of the Apple Store in SoHo and some new games and apps on the new ipads. Just in case you don’t need more apple devices and don’t find yourself visiting frequently, the store also features performance/talks series. This upcoming week they have Kenny Garrett and Martha Stewart. Look forward to exploring some of these in the future (note to self, add calendar to already long calendar of book events at B&N and Strand…)

Sunday Afternoon/Early Evening

High Line. This deserves its own entry. Link here: TBD

Museum Hopping

Back when I went to school in DC I always hopped around museums on the Mall. This usually occurred on a nice weekend afternoon or perhaps a break between intense library sessions during my reading days before exams. If the exhibit at the National Gallery didn’t last all day, I’d skip over the Freer/Sackler or Sculpture Garden or Natural Science Museum. After DC, I was a grad student in NY,  also free admission with my ID which was a luxury. If you ever look at suggested prices for museums in NY, you know they’re not cheap. I suppose becoming a member would make sense if you love one museum enough to go more than a handful of times.

Then I started working for a place that sponsors museums, which meant my badge always came with free admission (plus guest admissions) to various cultural institutions. In short, I’ve been a privileged and spoiled person indeed. Just to show you that tax dollars and corporate donations are not wasted, I do frequent museums very often and contribute to the museum cafes, gift shops, and nearby restaurants. My trips serve to enrich my limited art history knowledge which really came out of a combination of one art class in high school and random artwork in history books. The best way to learn is if there’s an exhibit featuring one artist and his/her different styles spanning a lifetime. Or perhaps an exhibit featuring various artists during a specific era.

V. and I decided to take a day off from work last week to catch up on our museum exhibits. It ended up being quite an adventure. Note for readers, don’t even think about taking the bus (no synchronized lights uptown) or subway (walking from MoMa to Lex just to go from Lex to Met again, ave walks, really?). You might as just walk and window shop! The two museums we had in mind were MoMa and Guggenheim but we ended up swinging by the Met too. Of course, as N. said later, we probably didn’t spend enough time at each location. Truth is, nobody can spend enough time at the Met. Guggenheim is focused on one special exhibit at a time so it is made for a cohesive trip. MoMa’s special exhibit on de Kooning is good but we also took time to walk by the room of Monets and Van Gaughs and Picassos. The most surprising exhibit was probably the Guggenheim Cattelan one. My favorite new artist John Marin was found and admired while visiting the Met exhibit featuring Stieglitz’s various artists.

Sound Bites
Sum of Days (white fabric tent/maze, microphone, and ambient sounds):
me- at least the fabric is nice and you can touch it, unlike other museum exhibits.
V-it reminds me of a sanitary napkin.
other museum goers: *glare

de Kooning:
me-I’m a bit scared of the teeth (on the women in some of the more abstract paintings)

Kandinsky Painting with White Border:
me-I don’t get it (and I love Kandinsky)
V-(reading the commentary next to the painting) “and it tortured me for five months!” and I just added the border because it looked nice. no social commentary!

Cattelan:
there’s way too much going on in this exhibit. I think our favs are between the Pope and the Musicians (stack of animals). or maybe Pinocchio? read the catalogue book on the various descriptions too! pigeons…enough said. and the giant foosball table. everything really!

John Marin:
me-(after seeing his earlier and later works)I like his earlier works better. although as an artist, he should be able to do different things and styles and evolve.

Rothko: (not really featured in an exhibit but came up as we were debating what kind of art to hang in our dream mansions)
me- the floating squares are quite peaceful, especially if you have nice walls
V-I’m going to get Rothko for my apt!
N-you should get the black/white one

Random fun:
Rothkomatic
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rothkomatic-for-ipad/id474351284?mt=8
If you like Rothko, check out the free ipad app that allows you to create your own Rothko. so brilliant and soothing too!

Art History Online
http://www.khanacademy.org/#smarthistory
I know everyone loves Khan Academy for math, but how about art! the Guggenheim museum video was quite informative.

All over NYC

Midtown
Kati Roll Company
http://www.thekatirollcompany.com/
//unda beef, shami kabab. if you haven’t tried Kati rolls yet, next time you find yourself in the Bryant Park area, trek a couple of streets down to 39th and check it out. I like how spicy and flavorful everything is. definitely take them up on the 2 roll deal and split with a friend so you can try more than one flavor!

Uptown
The Met
http://www.metmuseum.org/
//Egypt (they’ve figured out fashionable beads, sandals, and eyeliners while you’re trying to figure out hieroglyphics), Chinese Garden (relaxing), and Goddess in Indian painting, Summer/Spring in Japan. they introduced a touchscreen system for many of the period rooms so you could browse the various objects inside the room. most impressive one was the hot water urn (kept warm by a piece of hot iron). that’s how they do tea service…

Downtown
MacBar
http://www.macbar.net/
If you want seating, you should go next door to the restaurant. but if you just want a quick bite, order at the counter here.
//I ordered the primavera which was good but I think the artichoke hearts were somewhat overwhelming. J. had the chicken diablo (mayan chipotle) which was just as good as they advertised. may try the duck one or the cheeseburger one next time.

America’s Beloved Capital: Day 2

A continuation of my Oct post [link to day 1].

Stamps and letters
Next to Union Station, there is a Post Museum [link] that I managed to miss during my four years of living in DC. Beautiful space with plenty of educational and fun exhibits for kids and adults alike.
My family has always enjoyed collecting stamps so I grew up saving and looking at different stamps. I suppose this museum will be equally fascinating and mysterious for kids growing up today without knowing anything about snail mail or stamps.

Some exhibits that I enjoyed:
-Victory mail: You’ve probably heard about war time letters between soldiers and their family/sweethearts, but did you know they had developed vmail in order to reduce the amount of cargo weight? Reading their letters made me nostalgic for the days when people captured their feelings through handwritten letters, and waited quite a while for a response. Receiving a letter then must have been an exciting event and a relief. With technology today it is possible to text/call/tweet/IM/Skype but people find it harder to express their feeling in coherent ways.

-International stamp gallery [link]: Ever wondered what kind of stamps other countries used? This small room with pull-out plates holds a vast amount of stamps. If you want to see everything you may need a day. I recommend Italy, France, Japan, and Spain. They had really unique and artistic stamps.

-Stamps A-Z: Educational but such a short-lived exhibit! I wish they had made a book or a pamphlet of the alphabet.

The souvenir store also has many goodies for stamp lovers. I bought a series of travel related stamps for my parents: trains, ships/boats, planes, and overall transportation (including hot air balloons!)

A little bit of art
I dragged T. to the National Gallery of Art [link], mostly for the Edvard Munch exhibit [link]. Besides his famous Scream painting, he’s done plenty of other works that deserve attention. I liked all of the prints where he depicted people and their interactions in a fluid manner. The way people curved and surrounded each other was interesting. He also captured red flowing hair of the female subjects that is both dreamlike and dynamic.

T. recommended that we check out the Arcimboldo exhibit [link]. How do you merge people and fruit/vegetables? He’s found a way, even as early as the 16th century. My favorite series was the 4 seasonal one. Four different portraits with seasonal produce! Below is a statue someone built in his style.

I tried to introduce Rothko to T. without too much success. I don’t even remember when I started to appreciate Rothko’s works. Most likely after seeing enough exhibits in MoMa and Whitney and realizing that although abstract, those paintings had a certain mood and texture that was not found in other works. 

New find
Every time I find a new space somewhere in DC and NYC I’m always wondering why it took me so long to discover it. T. and I both enjoyed photo ops in front of the Capitol Building (my favorite in DC), Library of Congress, Archives Building, and more. In any case, the Navy Memorial Plaza [link] gave us a chance to rest our feet and enjoy the autumn weather. Note to self, check out the heritage center next time. One of the buildings also had intricate and navy themed stained glass window art.

Tapas and sherry to end the day
After much walking and adventuring, T. took me to Tasca [link], a tapas restaurant. I would do a full review but of course I’ve since forgotten what we’ve ordered. I do remember Serrano ham, fig and cheese, tomato garlic toast and grilled octopus…along with some others. They had a wine special that night and sherry was included. We had a bottle that we couldn’t finish…I hope T. found a way to use it in her cooking or entertaining. I’m pretty sure we got the sponge cake for dessert which was just perfect. How can you go wrong with condensed milk and evaporated milk? The place also gets bonus points for great decor and ambience. I loved the framed mirror and lighting.

Awesome weekend spent in DC. Looking forward to (re)discovering more places next time I visit.

NYC in Winter

How do you enjoy NYC in the winter? It's too cold to walk up and down long avenues. It's too cold to shop outdoors. It's too cold to even wait for the subway underground. After staying out of the city for most of the holiday season, J. and I finally got a chance to venture outside.

We started out with a trip to the Natural History Museum which is always packed but fun. I'm not sure when they put up the space center because I don't remember it at all. It's the first section we stumbled upon after entering the museum from the subway. One of the fun features that we got a kick out of was the "weight yourself on __". Apparently we're incredibly heavy on Jupiter but super light on the Halley Comet! J. says he doesn't remember the whale room. I've always liked that ocean room so he clearly missed that section when he was younger. The museum is incredibly big and most kids probably only remember the dinosaur room (my favorite!).

Some of my favorites at the museum are:
gem and minerals hall - dazzling rocks and gemstones. I've always loved the star sapphire there.
meteorites - one of the few museums that lets people get a hands-on experience on meteorites
north american forests - look for the giant tree trunk cross section.
ocean hall (whale room) - almost as good as an aquarium. impressive displays.
fossils (top floor, dinos) - stegosaurus (see pic)

Not sure where everyone else goes for food after the museum, we decided not to go for dino-nuggets (even though we were both very fond of them when we were younger) at the museum food court (do they still have them?) If you walk west you can find the Upper West Side Shake Shack (all indoors). If you walk west and north you can find plenty of diners (very crowded for weekend brunch as expected) and other eats. Note to self, there is a Hale & Hearty's nearby if I crave soup one of these days. J. and I went to Arties and ordered a pastrami and corn beef sandwich each. Also enjoyed the potato pancakes with apple sauce immensely. Their pickles were as good as I remembered but the pickled tomato wasn't as impressive. We really wanted to split a huge poppy hamentashen for dessert but they only had prune flavor that day. Have to wait for Purim...

After the last snow storm that came through midweek, most of NYC already melted and cleared up. Luckily Central Park still stayed cold enough to keep its beautiful winter scene. We walked along a path on the west side and saw a bunch of kids with sleds. Apparently the park offers some nice slops. If the path got icy, I would go on the main road (along with runners/bikers etc) which had been cleared much better. Most people probably visit the park during summer (great concerts) and autumn (famous orange leaves), we actually have seen the park in winter for the past two years. When there's snow on the branches and ice over the lakes, it's very easy to forget that we're in the middle of the city. 

When we reached Columbus Circle to catch a subway downtown, I found the best booth in the park: Ferrara! Who knew they had a outpost in the park? A chocolate cover cannoli was a real treat after walking in the cold. If I wasn't freezing my fingers off eating the cannoli, I would have gotten a latte or something warm too. 

Go out and enjoy the sunny and icy winter!

Free NYC Stuff 2009

special days:

//Brooklyn Botanical Garden (Tuesdays, weekdays during winter are free, Saturdays from 10-noon unless there's a special event)

//Bronx Botanical Garden (Wednesdays, Saturdays from 10-noon unless there's a special event, grounds only, doesn't include special exhibits)

//MOMA (Fridays 4-8pm)

//South Street Seaport Museum (Third Friday of every moth 6pm-closing)

//Brooklyn Museum (First Saturday of every month)

//Jewish Museum (Saturdays)

note: I didn't include "suggested donation" museums like the Met because I never seem to be able to pay less than suggested price there. Maybe the people there are good at guilt-trip me into paying. Some other museums also have special days where you can pay a "suggested donation".

always free:

//Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology (small but well put together exhibits)

//Brooklyn Bridge (I usually make fun of the tourists for walking across this, but really, it is awesome. try it, and do help the tourists out by taking their group photos. put a smile on someone's face, and they can take a pic for you too)

//Governor's Island (Summer only. biking, walking, they even have plays in the summer. oh, did I also mention it's a great place for photos?)

//NY Public Libraries (Always free, you should check out their exihibit schedules)

//Central Park (probably the best place for those warm sunny days, keep an eye out for free summer symphony concerts)

//Forbes Galleries (awesome collection of toy ships and toy soldiers. convieniently located near union square too!)

//Nicholas Roerich Museum (free classical concerts, check listing)

//Natural Museum of American Indians (also check out Bowling Green and Battery Park nearby)

//Brooklyn Heights Promenade (haven't been there but sure looks nice)

//Astor Wines & Spirits Wine Tasting Calendar (the list always look great but I have yet to go!)

//More Parks: http://gonyc.about.com/od/outdooractivities/tp/nyc_parks.htm

tours:

well they're free but please tip the tour guide!

//Central Park Tours (Various dates/times, see link)

//Grand Central (Fridays 12:30pm, not for working people I guess)

//Flatiron Tour (Sundays 11AM). and you can pick up something from the Shake Shack afterwards!

//Union Square Tour (Saturdays 2pm)

//Wall Street Tour (Th/Sat noon)

//Lower East Side (Sun at 11am)

//Brooklyn Brewery Tour (Saturday)

//Chelsea Brewery Tour (Saturday, check website for details)

//Columbia University Tours (link) Well, the campus is quite famous and worth the time for photos. Also you can walk across Broadway to Barnard College which is even more scenic.

music:

mostly during the summer, keep an eye out for the following sites for updates

//brooklyn $3 concerts. prospect park. very very energetic venue. I liked it much better than central park summer stage. probably your best bet for getting someone who you first heard from SXSW or wfuv alternate side or your friend who can't stop gushing about the indie scene.

http://www.briconline.org/celebrate/

//river to river free concerts. well organized. utilizes variouis locations in the city. a great chance to hike to parks you've never visited before. I didn't always know the band but you can't beat a free live performance in the summer!

http://www.rivertorivernyc.com/home.php

//summer stage concerts. inside central park. mad crowded. must remember to bring towel and forget going into the venue. You can still hear plenty outside.

http://www.summerstage.org

//Hudson River Park. good view of skyline. summer concerts/outdoor screenings.

http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/index.asp

//South Street Seaport. yes, it's touristy but I still like the ships as a backdrop to any summer outing. some concerts too. good happy hour specials for the selected restaurants.

http://www.southstreetseaport.com/html/index.asp

links:

GO NYC Deal Listing http://gonyc.about.com/cs/museums/a/museumdeals.htm

GO NYC Summer Concerts http://gonyc.about.com/cs/music/a/summermusic.htm

Free NYC Events Listing http://freenyc.net/

NYC Citywide Events (mayor's office) Calendar (includes parades, music, etc)

NY Arts Listing http://www.nyc-arts.org/
Woody Allen tour http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/80697/woody-allens-manhattan

On Art Nouveau

Louis Comfort Tiffany is my hero.

My favorite art period has to be Art Nouveau for its flowing wrought iron works and connection with nature. There's also something to be said for clean and curved lines. Yes, sometimes the details in architecture seem too complicated and overwhelming even, but I enjoy that more than the so-call minimalist approach to modern buildings.

I don't claim to be an art historian but I do think New York is full of arts. Just walking around the city, you can find many interesting buildings and objects. Even the subway stations has plenty of art. I know New York is well known for its Art Deco (i.e. Chrystler Building), but if you look closely, you'll find plenty of Art Nouveau as well.

Why the sudden post on art? I was looking at the MET website and remembered how much I enjoyed the Tiffany exhibit, which is still running until May. The MET and MoMa are my favorite museums in New York, although I haven't been to that many. I used to love the dinosaurs and gemstones of Natural History but who can resist going back to the knights and armor room at the MET? Am I the only one who always ends up in that room when I get disoriented by the massive MET?

For those of you who have some time to learn about art, the MET has a wonderful art history timeline which I should take note. I probably would have enjoyed an art history class at college, except for all the people who complained about the endless slideshows in a dark room where 90% of the class would fall asleep. Needless to say, I was not overjoyed to test my ability to stay awake. Funny enough, most of my art history comes from gallery visits and this art project assigned to the class back in Painting 101 in high school. Everyone picked an artist, prepared a brief biography, painted a work in that artist's style, and presented the art and bio to the class. I really had my heart set on Cézanne but ended up taking Chagall. The students who picked impressionists actually did a great job with the style. Looking back, I think I would have had a lot of fun doing research and imitating Amano.

Let's hope I get to visit more galleries and museums soon. New York days and nights go by way too quickly.