Photos for Saturday & Sunday Here
Saturday
I got the to Javits Center on Saturday morning just after 10 AM, and pretty quickly I realized that I should have gotten up earlier. There was an insane amount of people milling around, and the lineup in the Queuing Hall (still love that they actually call it that) was huge.
On Friday, I had noted that there were large gaps of space between the areas the line was moving in, making for about five columns of people snaking their way around the room. On Saturday, there were no gaps, and there were probably at least eight or nine columns, and they were moving veeery sloooowly. It took 46 minutes from the time I entered the Queuing Hall to the time I stepped onto the floor of the convention. On reflection, I guess that's actually not too bad, given the numbers.
The first thing I did was go straight for the Oni Press booth: I had decided to get the Scott Pilgrim books, having heard enough good things about them to want to give them a go. I ended up buying all five, after a moment's hestitation. The guy at the booth said "Just so you know, we'll probably be completely sold out of the newest volume before the day is out." I'm betting he was right. I did some looking online later, and apparently the newest volume is basically selling out everywhere.
After a few more minutes of wandering around, I hustled down to the panels area for my first panel of the day, which was "Writing for Comics and Other Media". I got there early to make sure I'd get in, plonked myself down on the floor beside some other folks, and pulled out the first Scott Pilgrim volume. I burned through it in the 25 minutes or so before the panel, and quite enjoyed it. Weird and funny -- perhaps a bit "indie cute" at times --and just overall entertaining.
Once we got into the room and got settled, the moderator spouted off some snappy patter and plugged his series of photo reference books for comic artists; a bit of verbal spam, but I didn't fault him, since, as he said, he was doing the panels for free, and the books are what lets him come to conferences and feed his kids. Also, he was short and to the point, and frankly the books looked good.
Once the panel itself got going, we were introduced to Christos Gage (who had been on the other Comics Writers panel on Friday) and Marv Wolfman, comics legend; Crisis on Infinite Earths, anyone? Heh. Anyway, it was a great panel, and a took a lot of little notes here and there with some good tips and information.
Once that panel was over, I stayed where I was, since the next panel in that room was the Comic Editors Panel. It was moderated by Glen Heardling, a Marvel and Wizard Magazine editor, and on the panel was Mike Marts (Batman editor for DC), Nick Lowe (Marvel editor), Scott Allie (Dark Horse Comics editor), and Rob Levin (VP of Editing at Top Cow). This was also a great panel, full of great info about how to approach editors, good ways for both artists and writers to present their work, and even some tips for those who are interested in becoming editors themselves. Lots of notes taken.
After the editing panel, I wandered the floor for a while again, going up and down the aisles of Artists' Alley, and trying (successfully) to keep myself from dropping a lot of money on commissions and original comic art pages. It wasn't easy, as there were some fantastic pieces both on display and in-progress.
I went back to the panels area for one last session that afternoon, "Breaking In and Staying In". This panel was held by Andy Schmidt (former Marvel editor, current IDW editor and the guy behind Comics Experience classes) and Michael Siglain (mondo DC editor). It was pretty good -- not quite as great as the editors' panel, but part of the reason for that was because the editors' panel had covered a lot of the same ground. That said, these two guys certainly had some great tips and suggestions for the audience. More notes!
It was just before 6 PM when the panel ended, and I was going to head home at this point, but decided to hit the floor for one last swoop. I ended up going by the Marvel booth, where they were just about to start a big giveaway session. There was quite a crowd shouting and waving for the items as he hadned them out. I didn't get any really cool stuff like figurines or shirts, but did get several comics, so cool enough!
Sunday
On Sunday, the line was a lot shorter, but it still took almost thirty minutes to get inside. There were tons of people with little kids, many of whom were in costumes. Lots of tiny superheroes, and even one wee Optimus Prime. Heh.
When I got inside, I wandered the floor for a bit, and while I was walking past the Penny Arcade booth, I stopped and said hello to Tycho, since I had scurried away without speaking to him after getting my sketch from Gabe on Friday. I told him the strip was great, and that I liked his writing, he said "thanks" and off I went.
I went by the EA booth and hopped on a Dragon Age demo again, this time playing all the way through the sequence they had set up. What an awesome game. I can't wait for it to come out this fall. The rep wouldn't, of course, commit to any specific release info, but he did say that if I can run Fallout 3 pretty well, that I "should" be able to play Dragon Age just fine. Yay!
I went downstairs for the writing panel, and got right up front so I'd be able to hear (this was a bigger room than the other I'd been in). As the various authors showed up, one suddenly caught my attention: Amber Benson, aka Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Cool. I had read on Twitter that she was coming to the convention, but hadn't realized that she'd be on one of the panels I was going to (this one didn't list participants). It was a good panel, in general, and as usual I got some good notes, but having a huge panel of eight authors can be a bit detrimental ... too many people answering questions sometimes. Still, lots of notes again.
From that panel, I went to a Marvel 70th Anniversary panel tha was supposed to be about upcoming projects. There were a lot of Marvel creative types there, though mostly writers I think. One project that got mentioned early on was one called Pet Avengers, written by Chris Eliopoulos, all about various Marvel animals... wacky! The other highlight of the panel for me was that Bill Hader and Seth Meyer of SNL showed up as surprise guests: they're writing a Spider-Man one-shot called "The Short Halloween". At the end of the panel, I went up to Hader and told him that I really liked the Vicent Price Special skits, and hoped to see more. He and Meyer shared a look and a chuckle and he said "You might get one next week." Keen.
After that panel, I gave one last cruise around the show floor, and stopped by the Marvel booth for another crazy giveaway time, but ended up pushing my way out of the madness, as it got a little too intense for me to take, for the sake a free comic or two.
Anyway, it was a great weekend, and I had a lot of fun. My resolutions for next year's NYCC (October 2010) are to either get some of the guys from SJ to travel down here for the show so I've got some nerds to wander around with, and/or to have made some headway about getting some work in the industry so I can get in with a Pro pass. ;)
That's it for me from the NYCC!
New York Comic Con: Day 1
Photos for Friday Here!
To get to the show, I took the subway to Penn Station and walked down 34th St, heading for the Jacob K Javits Center. As I got closer to the Center, and further away from the main Midtown area, the crowds on the sidewalk started to thin out, and eventually, once I was a block or so away, I noticed that aside from one solitary woman, everyone walking the way I was were guys, in ones and twos, and all of them carrying backpacks or messenger bags. Clearly, the geeks were converging on their Mecca.
Once I got around the corner and saw the Center, I was pretty immediately impressed: The place is huge. I got inside, and found my way down to the main Attendee lineup, at around 11:20. The lineup was enormous, and it snaked around the room. I saw a few interesting costumes in the lines, including one rather well-done Kid Flash costume. Nice.
At one point, the crowd went nuts, and I looked around and saw that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were up at a window overlooking the queuing area. They came down later and did some sort of acrobatic fight demo in between a couple of the loops of lines, but I couldn't really see them...
Once the line had finally started to move slowly toward the door leading up the convention floor, a group of faux-leather-and-chainmail-dressed ladies swooped in on the geeks to hand out cards promoting some odd-looking Comedy Central show that seemed to revolve around some sort of generic fantasy setting. Hmm.
Finally getting in to look at the show floor was pretty cool. It's huge, colorful, and pretty overwhelming to the senses. I spent a good while just sort of wandering around, looking at various company booths, before finding my way to the booth shared by PvP and Penny Arcade. I stood by the PvP side of the booth and watched Scott Kurtz do a sketch in a guy's book, and then bought a Skull plushie and snapped a pic of Kurtz with it. I moved around to the other side of the booth to check out the Penny Arcade goodies, and ended up buying a "I Roll 20s" shirt. I then asked Gabe for a sktech, and totally failed to talk to Tycho.
Which brings me to an aside: I had a terrible tongue-tied shyness problem all day. I could barely stammer out "I like your work" to Kurtz and Gabe, and didn't even manage to say anything to Tycho. I had similar problems in the Marvel and DC booths, where I completely didn't talk to anyone, except when I got a sketch from Jim Starlin (a Darkseid face!), when I managed a quick "Love your work. Can I have a little Darkseid sketch? Thank you!" Sigh. It was like being a teenager again. I'll try to be more forward for the rest of the con.
Anyway, I did another sweep of the main "big company" area of the hall, and stopped at Rockstar's display to try GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS. It was pretty cool! Very much like an old top-down GTA game, but with slightly nicer graphics, and a gameplay sensibility more like the modern ones. I could see getting it, if I still had a DS.
Next up, I headed downstairs for my first panel of the weekend, which was about the business side of Webcomics, and featured Scott Kurtz, of PvP, and Robery Khoo, the business manager for Penny Arcade. It was quite interesting, though admittedly pretty far outside my area of knowledge. I just read webcomics, and don't really have any great desire to make one. Still, Kurtz and Khoo were both good at speaking on the subject, and Kurtz especially is a funny and charming speaker as well, so it was just fun to listen to him. I did enjoy it especially when the subject turned to webcomics vs print comics, and the idea that some "old media" artists have the opinion that making money from advertising or merchandising is somehow "cheap": Kurtz made the point that whether you're making your money by getting a pay cheque from a publisher or a comic syndicate, or from ads and merchandising directly, ads and merchandising are coming into play at some point. As Kurtz put it: "There's only one way to make money directly from your art. It's called counterfeiting."
After that panel, I got a tiny, expensive, but luckily pretty good, pizza, and then wandered the show for a little while again before the next panel I wanted to go to. During this short wander, I saw a lot of the dealers. They were selling a mind-numbing amount of comics and toys, and some of them had some crazy deals on trades and back issues. I might have to pick some stuff up; I think I'll wait until Sunday though. The other thing I saw at this point was the EA booth, where I found a playable demo for Dragon Age! I didn't have too long to park myself there, but I did fiddle with it for a few minutes, and it was pretty cool. Very Baldur's Gate with nice graphics, which is not a bad thing at all.
I got down to the Comic Writers on Comic Writing panel in time to get a seat near the front, and then we had to wait a bit for the writers to assemble, as some had to escape other panels and signings to get there. It was moderated by Peter Sanderson, a comics scholar, who works with the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Present at the panel were Tom DeFalco, Jimmy Palmiotti, Colleen Doran, Christos Gage, and Louise and Walter Simonson . It was a great panel, though I would have liked to have seen more time given to questions -- Sanderson had several questions that he asked each panel member to weigh in on, and with six of them, most of the hours went to answering 4 or 5 questions. Still, it was cool and I jotted down some notes about different comic writing styles, and a few helpful hints about dialogue writing.
By the time the writing panel was over, it was nearly 7:00, which was closing time for the main hall that evening. I was tempted to hang around for a DC Universe panel, and maybe even for the screening of the new Wonder Woman animated feature, but I quickly decided that it had been a long day, and it was time to head home. After all, the show runs from 10 AM until 8 PM on Saturday!
To get to the show, I took the subway to Penn Station and walked down 34th St, heading for the Jacob K Javits Center. As I got closer to the Center, and further away from the main Midtown area, the crowds on the sidewalk started to thin out, and eventually, once I was a block or so away, I noticed that aside from one solitary woman, everyone walking the way I was were guys, in ones and twos, and all of them carrying backpacks or messenger bags. Clearly, the geeks were converging on their Mecca.
Once I got around the corner and saw the Center, I was pretty immediately impressed: The place is huge. I got inside, and found my way down to the main Attendee lineup, at around 11:20. The lineup was enormous, and it snaked around the room. I saw a few interesting costumes in the lines, including one rather well-done Kid Flash costume. Nice.
At one point, the crowd went nuts, and I looked around and saw that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were up at a window overlooking the queuing area. They came down later and did some sort of acrobatic fight demo in between a couple of the loops of lines, but I couldn't really see them...
Once the line had finally started to move slowly toward the door leading up the convention floor, a group of faux-leather-and-chainmail-dressed ladies swooped in on the geeks to hand out cards promoting some odd-looking Comedy Central show that seemed to revolve around some sort of generic fantasy setting. Hmm.
Finally getting in to look at the show floor was pretty cool. It's huge, colorful, and pretty overwhelming to the senses. I spent a good while just sort of wandering around, looking at various company booths, before finding my way to the booth shared by PvP and Penny Arcade. I stood by the PvP side of the booth and watched Scott Kurtz do a sketch in a guy's book, and then bought a Skull plushie and snapped a pic of Kurtz with it. I moved around to the other side of the booth to check out the Penny Arcade goodies, and ended up buying a "I Roll 20s" shirt. I then asked Gabe for a sktech, and totally failed to talk to Tycho.
Which brings me to an aside: I had a terrible tongue-tied shyness problem all day. I could barely stammer out "I like your work" to Kurtz and Gabe, and didn't even manage to say anything to Tycho. I had similar problems in the Marvel and DC booths, where I completely didn't talk to anyone, except when I got a sketch from Jim Starlin (a Darkseid face!), when I managed a quick "Love your work. Can I have a little Darkseid sketch? Thank you!" Sigh. It was like being a teenager again. I'll try to be more forward for the rest of the con.
Anyway, I did another sweep of the main "big company" area of the hall, and stopped at Rockstar's display to try GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS. It was pretty cool! Very much like an old top-down GTA game, but with slightly nicer graphics, and a gameplay sensibility more like the modern ones. I could see getting it, if I still had a DS.
Next up, I headed downstairs for my first panel of the weekend, which was about the business side of Webcomics, and featured Scott Kurtz, of PvP, and Robery Khoo, the business manager for Penny Arcade. It was quite interesting, though admittedly pretty far outside my area of knowledge. I just read webcomics, and don't really have any great desire to make one. Still, Kurtz and Khoo were both good at speaking on the subject, and Kurtz especially is a funny and charming speaker as well, so it was just fun to listen to him. I did enjoy it especially when the subject turned to webcomics vs print comics, and the idea that some "old media" artists have the opinion that making money from advertising or merchandising is somehow "cheap": Kurtz made the point that whether you're making your money by getting a pay cheque from a publisher or a comic syndicate, or from ads and merchandising directly, ads and merchandising are coming into play at some point. As Kurtz put it: "There's only one way to make money directly from your art. It's called counterfeiting."
After that panel, I got a tiny, expensive, but luckily pretty good, pizza, and then wandered the show for a little while again before the next panel I wanted to go to. During this short wander, I saw a lot of the dealers. They were selling a mind-numbing amount of comics and toys, and some of them had some crazy deals on trades and back issues. I might have to pick some stuff up; I think I'll wait until Sunday though. The other thing I saw at this point was the EA booth, where I found a playable demo for Dragon Age! I didn't have too long to park myself there, but I did fiddle with it for a few minutes, and it was pretty cool. Very Baldur's Gate with nice graphics, which is not a bad thing at all.
I got down to the Comic Writers on Comic Writing panel in time to get a seat near the front, and then we had to wait a bit for the writers to assemble, as some had to escape other panels and signings to get there. It was moderated by Peter Sanderson, a comics scholar, who works with the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Present at the panel were Tom DeFalco, Jimmy Palmiotti, Colleen Doran, Christos Gage, and Louise and Walter Simonson . It was a great panel, though I would have liked to have seen more time given to questions -- Sanderson had several questions that he asked each panel member to weigh in on, and with six of them, most of the hours went to answering 4 or 5 questions. Still, it was cool and I jotted down some notes about different comic writing styles, and a few helpful hints about dialogue writing.
By the time the writing panel was over, it was nearly 7:00, which was closing time for the main hall that evening. I was tempted to hang around for a DC Universe panel, and maybe even for the screening of the new Wonder Woman animated feature, but I quickly decided that it had been a long day, and it was time to head home. After all, the show runs from 10 AM until 8 PM on Saturday!
Fleur de Sel, Hedda Gabbler, and the freedom to be wrong
So we went to Fleur de Sel for lunch for restaurant week, and it was awesome. I would love to do more during restaurant week, but they often have the deals only for lunch service, and not at all on the weekend. Some places are doing 3 course recession specials on an ongoing basis, or doing pre-theatre specials, if you are seated before 6:30. All worth checking out...
We saw Hedda Gabbler at the Roundabout Theatre and man, did it stink. I do like Mary Louise Parker, but the play seems so unremittingly bleak. We got discount tickets thank God, but I'm still happy I saw it - you learn as much from bad theatre as you do from good, and the actors certainly did a valiant job. Can't wait to see William H Macy in Speed the Plow, apparently he's replaced Jeremy Piven until March. That play was great with Piven, but I am so excited to see it again with a new spin!
I got some headshots done this weekend, and I'm really happy with them so far. The woman was very gracious and patient, and made a huge effort to put me at ease. She also took some handsome shots of Baxter, and he's now booked for a spot on Law & Order with his headshot. Kidding, but she did get some fun shots of the kitties. I don't think I'll ever forget her out on the street with me, camera in hand, singing "oh, we got trouble, right here in river city!" and Nelly's Hot in Here. Demented sense of humour, I loved it...
School has been pretty liberating in some respects. I've learned that it's okay to suck at some things, to stumble and make mistakes. I was in dance class yesterday, and the instructor made us get up and demonstate some steps. I was counting out loud while doing them, and everyone started giggling. I told them all to simmer down, and then we had a good laugh. I don't get uptight about struggling through things as much now, and a lot of freedom comes with that. I don't turn myself inside out when my acting teacher doesn't like what I do, because we both know that this is the place to experiment and fail, and take risks, and eventually succeed. It is by far the best thing I've learned at school, or anywhere for that matter, in a long time.
We saw Hedda Gabbler at the Roundabout Theatre and man, did it stink. I do like Mary Louise Parker, but the play seems so unremittingly bleak. We got discount tickets thank God, but I'm still happy I saw it - you learn as much from bad theatre as you do from good, and the actors certainly did a valiant job. Can't wait to see William H Macy in Speed the Plow, apparently he's replaced Jeremy Piven until March. That play was great with Piven, but I am so excited to see it again with a new spin!
I got some headshots done this weekend, and I'm really happy with them so far. The woman was very gracious and patient, and made a huge effort to put me at ease. She also took some handsome shots of Baxter, and he's now booked for a spot on Law & Order with his headshot. Kidding, but she did get some fun shots of the kitties. I don't think I'll ever forget her out on the street with me, camera in hand, singing "oh, we got trouble, right here in river city!" and Nelly's Hot in Here. Demented sense of humour, I loved it...
School has been pretty liberating in some respects. I've learned that it's okay to suck at some things, to stumble and make mistakes. I was in dance class yesterday, and the instructor made us get up and demonstate some steps. I was counting out loud while doing them, and everyone started giggling. I told them all to simmer down, and then we had a good laugh. I don't get uptight about struggling through things as much now, and a lot of freedom comes with that. I don't turn myself inside out when my acting teacher doesn't like what I do, because we both know that this is the place to experiment and fail, and take risks, and eventually succeed. It is by far the best thing I've learned at school, or anywhere for that matter, in a long time.
Upright Citizen's Brigade, Chinatown, Doubt
So here I am with my first post! (This is Suzy btw). Last week I did a 4 day intensive course at Upright Citizen's Brigade, their intro to improv 101. I learned a lot, but man, was it tough. You have habits all your life, and then someone asks you to break them to do a scene. At the start of the course all our scenes were combative, fighting scenes, where each person was struggling for status, or control. By the end, though, I think we all learned to open our minds a bit, let go of our agendas, and just wing it. Improv is a fantastic skill to have, but it's not easy. As part of our course requirement, we were all asked to attend UCB improv shows during the week. I saw 5 long-form improv shows on the Tuesday night, and found it phenomenal. Having done my own improv before, I saw their struggles and appreciated all the fantastic work they did. Those people were really creative, really in tune with each other. The way they picked up on each other's ideas was amazing. I will definitely see more UCB shows in the future.
After our own student UCB show (so nervous, but so glad I did it) Chris and I headed to Chinatown, in search of good takeout. As insane as it sounds, we can't get good chinese takeout in Brooklyn Heights. Wo Hop was good, but I think the search is still on for great takeout. We just haven't hit enough Chinatown places yet :) Also of note; when walking through Chinatown, several people would come up to us and just murmur different sales pitches, in these crazy low key voices. For example: "Gucci purse, Fendi purse, Coach purse?" or "Perfumes, Men's cologne, scarves?" So weird!
On Monday, I went to see a matinee of Doubt by myself. It was fantastic. Not the type of movie for everyone, but I loved it. Just watching the actors spin circles around each other in different intricate scenes had me totally mesmerized. The technical level of their performances was pretty inspiring. It made me want to study and learn more in my own courses. Speaking of which, they start next week. And so does NYC restaurant week. We've got reservations at River Cafe and Fleur de Sel for lunch... I think it's $26 for 3 courses prix fix at lunch... can't wait!
After our own student UCB show (so nervous, but so glad I did it) Chris and I headed to Chinatown, in search of good takeout. As insane as it sounds, we can't get good chinese takeout in Brooklyn Heights. Wo Hop was good, but I think the search is still on for great takeout. We just haven't hit enough Chinatown places yet :) Also of note; when walking through Chinatown, several people would come up to us and just murmur different sales pitches, in these crazy low key voices. For example: "Gucci purse, Fendi purse, Coach purse?" or "Perfumes, Men's cologne, scarves?" So weird!
On Monday, I went to see a matinee of Doubt by myself. It was fantastic. Not the type of movie for everyone, but I loved it. Just watching the actors spin circles around each other in different intricate scenes had me totally mesmerized. The technical level of their performances was pretty inspiring. It made me want to study and learn more in my own courses. Speaking of which, they start next week. And so does NYC restaurant week. We've got reservations at River Cafe and Fleur de Sel for lunch... I think it's $26 for 3 courses prix fix at lunch... can't wait!
Lucali's
Finally, after several attempts, some lousy results and some decent-but-not-amazing results, Suzy and I have found a really fantastic pizza place in our area: Lucali's at 575 Henry Street.
We walked the fifteen minutes or so to the restaurant around 7pm on a Saturday night, only to find a small group of hopefuls standing around outside. In January. In temperatures well-below freezing. Yikes. On the one hand we were worried about a long wait, while on the other hand, we were hopeful that this meant the pizza was good.
We managed to get the attention of the hostess, left a name and cell number, and were told it would be "about an hour". We opted to wander the area a bit, rather than just stand there in the cold. We decided to get a bottle of wine to have with supper (Lucali's sells no alcohol, but has a reasonable $4 corking fee). We got a bottle of Spanish Rojo, the name of which escapes me, on the recommendation of the store owner as a good rustic wine to have with pizza.
After a lengthy wander through the aisles of a nearby market to kill some time (and warm up), we headed back to the restaurant around 8pm, roughly 45 minutes after we left our name. As we approached, we could see that the crowd out front had gotten bigger. We settled onto a bench to wait, hoping that the estimate we got from the hostess would be accurate. It was not.
Several groups of 4 or 5 were hustled in over the next twenty minutes, including one group that was under the name "Uncle Joe". A group of four who were huddled near us (and had been waiting there outside since 7pm, after calling ahead at 6!) said that they were pretty sure that the "Uncle Joe" party had shown up spur-of-the-moment, but had gotten in nearly right away anyway. That Uncle Joe must have some pull...
Anyway, after finally getting inside at around 8:40 (so cold!), we were seated at a nice table near the back, well away from the door and the icy wind, which was nice. We were right in front of the--well, I wouldn't call it a kitchen, per say ... how about "work area"--where the pizzas are assembled. Three or four guys were making pizzas and calzones and sliding them in and out of the large, wood-fired brick oven. The place has a nice atmosphere, simple but not cheap, and the whole room was lit by a couple of dim ceiling lights, plus candles on the tables and on the counters of the cooks' and servers' work areas. It was dim, but not at all unpleasant.
Our server opened our wine for us, and proceeded to give us the low-down on the food -- no menus here (which I guess is part of why the dim lighting wasn't an issue). Lucali's serves one size of pizza: a large thin crust jobbie that's enough for two; and two sizes of calzone: a "smaller" one that's enough for two, and a large one, which is apparently for bigger groups to share. The server also rattled off a respectable, if not overly large, list of toppings, most of which are $3 per to add and a few (like artichokes) that are $8 per. We ordered a pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, garlic, and artichokes.
We had a little wine, and our pizza arrived very quickly, probably no more than ten minutes. They have meetal racks that let them put the metal pizza trays over the candles on the tables, to help keep it a warm, and to free up some real estate on the table, no doubt.
The pizza was absolutely fantastic. It was, of course, hot but not so hot that the cheese was in danger of doing damage to my mouth. It was very, and no matter which topping(s) I was getting with each bite, it was great, simply because the basic pizza itself--the crust, sauce, and cheese--was incredible. The sauce had a great, balanced flavour, with noticeable Italian spices that were never being overwhelming to the rest of the pizza. And though it was a thin crust, there was still a hint of chewiness, even around alot of the edges. Suzy said instantly "This is it." adn I knew what she meant: We have finally found the great pizza we were looking for since August.
In the end, the meal ended up costing $42 dollars with the corking fee, tax, and tip, which would put the pizza itself at around $30, I guessed. So, while it was almost certainly the most expensive pizza I've ever had, it wasn't a bad price for a great meal for two, and realistically it was only about 50% more than a large pizza with several toppings from any random pizza chain, and it was, conservatively, 500% better. Only the deep dish we had in Chicago comes close (but they are such different approaches to pizza I'd hesitate to compare them directly).
So in summary: We walked for thirty minutes and waited for an hour and a half (half of that outside) in January to eat a $30 pizza at a restuarant that doesn't sell alcohol -- oh, and only takes cash. But, man, we will be going back there again while we are living in NYC, no doubt many, many times.
That said, next time, we'll call to put our names down before we get there. Especially in the winter. Brr.
We walked the fifteen minutes or so to the restaurant around 7pm on a Saturday night, only to find a small group of hopefuls standing around outside. In January. In temperatures well-below freezing. Yikes. On the one hand we were worried about a long wait, while on the other hand, we were hopeful that this meant the pizza was good.
We managed to get the attention of the hostess, left a name and cell number, and were told it would be "about an hour". We opted to wander the area a bit, rather than just stand there in the cold. We decided to get a bottle of wine to have with supper (Lucali's sells no alcohol, but has a reasonable $4 corking fee). We got a bottle of Spanish Rojo, the name of which escapes me, on the recommendation of the store owner as a good rustic wine to have with pizza.
After a lengthy wander through the aisles of a nearby market to kill some time (and warm up), we headed back to the restaurant around 8pm, roughly 45 minutes after we left our name. As we approached, we could see that the crowd out front had gotten bigger. We settled onto a bench to wait, hoping that the estimate we got from the hostess would be accurate. It was not.
Several groups of 4 or 5 were hustled in over the next twenty minutes, including one group that was under the name "Uncle Joe". A group of four who were huddled near us (and had been waiting there outside since 7pm, after calling ahead at 6!) said that they were pretty sure that the "Uncle Joe" party had shown up spur-of-the-moment, but had gotten in nearly right away anyway. That Uncle Joe must have some pull...
Anyway, after finally getting inside at around 8:40 (so cold!), we were seated at a nice table near the back, well away from the door and the icy wind, which was nice. We were right in front of the--well, I wouldn't call it a kitchen, per say ... how about "work area"--where the pizzas are assembled. Three or four guys were making pizzas and calzones and sliding them in and out of the large, wood-fired brick oven. The place has a nice atmosphere, simple but not cheap, and the whole room was lit by a couple of dim ceiling lights, plus candles on the tables and on the counters of the cooks' and servers' work areas. It was dim, but not at all unpleasant.
Our server opened our wine for us, and proceeded to give us the low-down on the food -- no menus here (which I guess is part of why the dim lighting wasn't an issue). Lucali's serves one size of pizza: a large thin crust jobbie that's enough for two; and two sizes of calzone: a "smaller" one that's enough for two, and a large one, which is apparently for bigger groups to share. The server also rattled off a respectable, if not overly large, list of toppings, most of which are $3 per to add and a few (like artichokes) that are $8 per. We ordered a pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, garlic, and artichokes.
We had a little wine, and our pizza arrived very quickly, probably no more than ten minutes. They have meetal racks that let them put the metal pizza trays over the candles on the tables, to help keep it a warm, and to free up some real estate on the table, no doubt.
The pizza was absolutely fantastic. It was, of course, hot but not so hot that the cheese was in danger of doing damage to my mouth. It was very, and no matter which topping(s) I was getting with each bite, it was great, simply because the basic pizza itself--the crust, sauce, and cheese--was incredible. The sauce had a great, balanced flavour, with noticeable Italian spices that were never being overwhelming to the rest of the pizza. And though it was a thin crust, there was still a hint of chewiness, even around alot of the edges. Suzy said instantly "This is it." adn I knew what she meant: We have finally found the great pizza we were looking for since August.
In the end, the meal ended up costing $42 dollars with the corking fee, tax, and tip, which would put the pizza itself at around $30, I guessed. So, while it was almost certainly the most expensive pizza I've ever had, it wasn't a bad price for a great meal for two, and realistically it was only about 50% more than a large pizza with several toppings from any random pizza chain, and it was, conservatively, 500% better. Only the deep dish we had in Chicago comes close (but they are such different approaches to pizza I'd hesitate to compare them directly).
So in summary: We walked for thirty minutes and waited for an hour and a half (half of that outside) in January to eat a $30 pizza at a restuarant that doesn't sell alcohol -- oh, and only takes cash. But, man, we will be going back there again while we are living in NYC, no doubt many, many times.
That said, next time, we'll call to put our names down before we get there. Especially in the winter. Brr.
Late Autumn Update
This is a big update, and late in coming, so just highlights for now. A work in progress...
Nov 14 - 16
Nov 14 - 16
- Josh Brolin (Inside the Actor's Studio)
- Stand
- Rachel Getting Married
- Conan O'Brien (Inside the Actor's Studio)
- Astor Place talk, Sous Vide, Thomas Keller
- Butter (restaurant)
- Thanksgiving in Queens
- Anthony & Kristi visit
- BLT Burgers & Shakes
- Clark Street Cafe for breakfast
- August Osage County, second viewing
- Saul for dinner once again
- Getting ready for Christmas visit to SJ
- Shopping in NYC
- Dinner at Park Avenue Winter for Suzy's birthday
Speed the Plow, Dovetail, Central Park, Zack and Miri
On Saturday, we headed for Times Square in the late morning to see about getting some tickets to see "Speed the Plow", the David Mamet play starring Jeremy Piven, Raúl Esparza, and Elisabeth Moss. We had read online that the show has Student Rush tickets on sale, starting two hours before show time,a dn Suzy's Pace ID would get us two for 26 bucks each. We got to the theatre right around noon, and there were already people in line for student tickets. We had no problem getting ours though, and ended up with tickets about ten rows back on the main floor, though way off to the right side, against the wall. However, as we discovered once we got in there, they were still great seats in general, plus it really seemed to me like the three actors were very good at opening themselves up to the sides, and not just playing to middle of the audience.
The play was fantastic, with Esparza probably being the best of the three. Piven was great, and it was good to see him play a character that wasn't as brash as most of his roles, while still being an arrogant go-getter of a character. Moss was good, and had very strong moments, though she just didn't have as strong a performance as either of the two men; she's great on Mad Men, so I'm inclined to blame the script more than her. Mamet's shows (and movies) tend toward the World of Men, and I wonder just how well he can write a female character... Hmm. But I really enjoy the Mamet dialogue when it's done well, and Esparza and Piven do it well. The plot may be a bit thin, but I certainly didn't care at the time, and though the show was ninety minutes with no breaks (other than two black-outs that were just long enough for set-revolves and costume changes) it really flew by. As I was realizing in the final minutes that the show was wrapping up, I was shocked that it was done already. It really clipped along!
After the bows, Piven announced that Esparza and Moss would be waiting by the main exits with buckets for some sort of Broadway AIDS fundraiser, and they bolted off the stage to man their positions. As we filed out of the theater, I pulled some change and my sole dollar bill out of my pocket, and looked around to see where the actors were. Sadly, the flow of the crowd was forcing us out Esparza's door; no offense to him, but I was hoping to go by Ms. Moss so I could make some sort of Mad Men fanboy comment.
We wandered around Times Square for a little while, then hopped a subway to the Upper West Side to make our dinner reservation at Dovetail.
I had crab ravioli appetizer, and an entree that consisted of a cube of sirloin that was seared on all sides and amazingly uniformly medium rare inside, along with a small square of beef cheek lasagna. While the lasagna was good, if unremarkable, the steak was phenomenal, probably one of the best pieces of beef I've ever had: flavourful, tender, and again, perfectly cooked. I don't recall what Suzy had for an appetizer, but her main course was a duck dish, and the taste I had was very good. We both immediately went for the same desert: Brioche bread pudding with caramel-glazed banana and ice cream with candied bacon. It was really good; chalk up another one for the quest to find restaurants whose desserts live up to their savoury dishes.
Sunday was a crisp but not too cool fall day, and sunny, so we headed over to Central Park for a walk. It's no wonder that there's so much hype about Autumn in New York: It was insanely pretty there with the changing trees and the leaves on the ground, and a very pleasant day to walk around. The park was, of course, a popular spot on a nice fall Sunday afternoon, and there were people and dogs everywhere.
We took a subway to Union Square after our walk and headed to a movie theatre to see "Rachel Getting Married", or at least that was the plan. At about fifteen minutes before the movie started (at 5pm on a Sunday, and it being one a 6 showing of the movie that day) it was sold out. So we went to see "Zack & Miri Make a Porno" instead.
It was pretty funny, an odd combination of the View Askew movies, thanks to Kevin Smith writing and directing, and the Apatow comedies, thanks to Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, and others being present. It was cool to see some of the Askew-niverse people like Jay Mewes and Jeff Anderson playing new roles.
This movie was so very raunchy, as is typical of a Smith comedy; but the biggest change, thanks to this being a movie about people having sex, rather than just talking about it, was that there is a huge amount of nudity in the movie, and a couple of "gross-out" or shock comedy moments that were never really common to his movies. But my biggest complaint is probably the ham-handed way that Smith resolves the romantic plot ... he was reaching a little too hard for the emotional conclusion. Luckily, thanks to some great stuff with Mewes, the comedy returned for the final bits. All-in-all, an ejoyable movie experience.
The play was fantastic, with Esparza probably being the best of the three. Piven was great, and it was good to see him play a character that wasn't as brash as most of his roles, while still being an arrogant go-getter of a character. Moss was good, and had very strong moments, though she just didn't have as strong a performance as either of the two men; she's great on Mad Men, so I'm inclined to blame the script more than her. Mamet's shows (and movies) tend toward the World of Men, and I wonder just how well he can write a female character... Hmm. But I really enjoy the Mamet dialogue when it's done well, and Esparza and Piven do it well. The plot may be a bit thin, but I certainly didn't care at the time, and though the show was ninety minutes with no breaks (other than two black-outs that were just long enough for set-revolves and costume changes) it really flew by. As I was realizing in the final minutes that the show was wrapping up, I was shocked that it was done already. It really clipped along!
After the bows, Piven announced that Esparza and Moss would be waiting by the main exits with buckets for some sort of Broadway AIDS fundraiser, and they bolted off the stage to man their positions. As we filed out of the theater, I pulled some change and my sole dollar bill out of my pocket, and looked around to see where the actors were. Sadly, the flow of the crowd was forcing us out Esparza's door; no offense to him, but I was hoping to go by Ms. Moss so I could make some sort of Mad Men fanboy comment.
We wandered around Times Square for a little while, then hopped a subway to the Upper West Side to make our dinner reservation at Dovetail.
I had crab ravioli appetizer, and an entree that consisted of a cube of sirloin that was seared on all sides and amazingly uniformly medium rare inside, along with a small square of beef cheek lasagna. While the lasagna was good, if unremarkable, the steak was phenomenal, probably one of the best pieces of beef I've ever had: flavourful, tender, and again, perfectly cooked. I don't recall what Suzy had for an appetizer, but her main course was a duck dish, and the taste I had was very good. We both immediately went for the same desert: Brioche bread pudding with caramel-glazed banana and ice cream with candied bacon. It was really good; chalk up another one for the quest to find restaurants whose desserts live up to their savoury dishes.
Sunday was a crisp but not too cool fall day, and sunny, so we headed over to Central Park for a walk. It's no wonder that there's so much hype about Autumn in New York: It was insanely pretty there with the changing trees and the leaves on the ground, and a very pleasant day to walk around. The park was, of course, a popular spot on a nice fall Sunday afternoon, and there were people and dogs everywhere.
We took a subway to Union Square after our walk and headed to a movie theatre to see "Rachel Getting Married", or at least that was the plan. At about fifteen minutes before the movie started (at 5pm on a Sunday, and it being one a 6 showing of the movie that day) it was sold out. So we went to see "Zack & Miri Make a Porno" instead.
It was pretty funny, an odd combination of the View Askew movies, thanks to Kevin Smith writing and directing, and the Apatow comedies, thanks to Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, and others being present. It was cool to see some of the Askew-niverse people like Jay Mewes and Jeff Anderson playing new roles.
This movie was so very raunchy, as is typical of a Smith comedy; but the biggest change, thanks to this being a movie about people having sex, rather than just talking about it, was that there is a huge amount of nudity in the movie, and a couple of "gross-out" or shock comedy moments that were never really common to his movies. But my biggest complaint is probably the ham-handed way that Smith resolves the romantic plot ... he was reaching a little too hard for the emotional conclusion. Luckily, thanks to some great stuff with Mewes, the comedy returned for the final bits. All-in-all, an ejoyable movie experience.
Crocodile Lounge, Jack the Horse, IKEA, Laura Linney
On Friday night, Suzy and I headed over to Manhattan to the Crocodile Lounge, to meet up with some of Suzy's classmates. It was an interesting place. It seemed very pub-ish, though with a heavily 20's-aged crowd. The really unusual thing about the place is that with every drink you buy, you get a ticket. With the ticket, you can get a free 7- or 8-inch fresh-made pizza. For free, it's just a cheese pizza, but if you like, you can add toppings for $2 a piece. There were two guys in a back room of the bar (where we actually hung out all evening) that are constantly making pizzas. It's quite something. Anyhow, it was nice to get out with the Pace crew again -- having some socialization outside of work is good, and they're a nice crew.
Saturday was relatively quiet during the day, as once again Suzy had a lot of reading and course work to do. I frittered away my afternoon trying to make a PC game work on my laptop (still to no avail -- oh well, it's basically a pastime in and of itself at this point...). We headed out for dinner to a nearby restaurant, the Jack the Horse Tavern. It was a nice place, and definitely hopping, but not noisy or crowded. There were lots of families there, which is the first time I've seen that at any of the sit-down restaurants we've tried out.
I opted for a "comfortable" meal, with a mac and cheese appetizer, a burger, and a glass of Honkers Ale. It was all really good. The mac and cheese was made with a very rich, creamy cheese sauce -- I don't remember the cheeses, but they were more on the gourmet end of the cheese spectrum -- over-baked with some bread crumbs on top, and really good. The burger was also really good, on a ciabatta bun with cheese (again, not sure what, but it was white and sharp) and pickled onions, which gave a tangy, relishy taste. Suzy had crispy oysters, which were very different, but quite good with the tangy greens they were served with, and a beef short rib main course that was fantastic. Feeling pretty good about the place, we opted for dessert, and while my ginger and pear upsidedown cake wasn't the best thign ever, it was quite good and, unlike many resturant desserts, it didn't disappoint or bring the feeling of the meal down. Suzy had a tiny chocolate cake, but I don't recall what the verdict was. All in all, Jakc the Horse was definitely a Will Go Again experience.
On Sunday, after the usual ritual of the laundromat for me, we braved the crowds to go to IKEA to pick up a few more odds and ends for the aparment, like more wine glass racks and a new floor lamp for the spare bedroom. Suzy's mom is visiting this week, so we wanted to square a few thigns away in advance of her arrival. I will say that, while the crowds were thick, the cashs were quick and once we had what we wanted, wewe were able to get out easily.
On Monday, I worked through lunch and left the office early so I could get to Pace before the 7pm start time for Inside the Actors Studio. This time around it was Laura Linney. Suzy was quite excited for her, and I was looking forward to it as well. Once things got started I was actually amazed at just how many shows and movies she had been in once Lipton started to list them. Whithough going on and on about it (watch the episode!) I'll just say the Linney is an amazingly professional and dedicated actor, aside from simply being a great one (which I already knew). She had some incredibly interesting and insightful things to say about how to approach roles, how to use your time to great advantage, even if you're stuck in a bad job, and from it all, you could realyl see how she would be a fantastic person to work with. She was simply great.
Saturday was relatively quiet during the day, as once again Suzy had a lot of reading and course work to do. I frittered away my afternoon trying to make a PC game work on my laptop (still to no avail -- oh well, it's basically a pastime in and of itself at this point...). We headed out for dinner to a nearby restaurant, the Jack the Horse Tavern. It was a nice place, and definitely hopping, but not noisy or crowded. There were lots of families there, which is the first time I've seen that at any of the sit-down restaurants we've tried out.
I opted for a "comfortable" meal, with a mac and cheese appetizer, a burger, and a glass of Honkers Ale. It was all really good. The mac and cheese was made with a very rich, creamy cheese sauce -- I don't remember the cheeses, but they were more on the gourmet end of the cheese spectrum -- over-baked with some bread crumbs on top, and really good. The burger was also really good, on a ciabatta bun with cheese (again, not sure what, but it was white and sharp) and pickled onions, which gave a tangy, relishy taste. Suzy had crispy oysters, which were very different, but quite good with the tangy greens they were served with, and a beef short rib main course that was fantastic. Feeling pretty good about the place, we opted for dessert, and while my ginger and pear upsidedown cake wasn't the best thign ever, it was quite good and, unlike many resturant desserts, it didn't disappoint or bring the feeling of the meal down. Suzy had a tiny chocolate cake, but I don't recall what the verdict was. All in all, Jakc the Horse was definitely a Will Go Again experience.
On Sunday, after the usual ritual of the laundromat for me, we braved the crowds to go to IKEA to pick up a few more odds and ends for the aparment, like more wine glass racks and a new floor lamp for the spare bedroom. Suzy's mom is visiting this week, so we wanted to square a few thigns away in advance of her arrival. I will say that, while the crowds were thick, the cashs were quick and once we had what we wanted, wewe were able to get out easily.
On Monday, I worked through lunch and left the office early so I could get to Pace before the 7pm start time for Inside the Actors Studio. This time around it was Laura Linney. Suzy was quite excited for her, and I was looking forward to it as well. Once things got started I was actually amazed at just how many shows and movies she had been in once Lipton started to list them. Whithough going on and on about it (watch the episode!) I'll just say the Linney is an amazingly professional and dedicated actor, aside from simply being a great one (which I already knew). She had some incredibly interesting and insightful things to say about how to approach roles, how to use your time to great advantage, even if you're stuck in a bad job, and from it all, you could realyl see how she would be a fantastic person to work with. She was simply great.
Nam, Horror Directors, Atlantic Antic, Anthony LaPaglia
While I started the weekend with a quiet night on Friday, Suzy got to go to a talk with Alice Munroe, part of the NewYorker festival, which she said was quite enjoyable.
Saturday started quietly as well, since we had plans for the evening. In the late afternoon, we took a train over to Manhattan to have dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Nam. Since we were going to an event at 7:30 that evening, we got to the restaurant for a 5:30 reservation, and when we arrived, they were just opening for supper. The server seemed to think it was funny we were eating so early -- and we were the only people in the restaurant the entire time. It made us think that we're not quite into the NYC groove ... New Yorkers who are out-on-the-town for an early show probably tend to go eat afterward, I think.
Anyhow, we each had a drink (the mohitos are very good) and for appetizers we had a dish of beef and greens (lettuce of some kind and cilantro) in rice paper wraps with peanut dipping sauce, and a dish with spicy grilled shrimp on a bed of vegetables in a vinegar sauce (sort of pickled, but fresh and crisp). Both were very good. For entrees, I had a crispy duck breast, with jasmine rice on the side. Suzy had a dish with grilled pork in a dark broth with noodles, veggies, and leafy greens on the side. Hers was definitely the better dish (though I liked my duck, it wasn't very crispy). All-in-all, Nam had very good food, and very reasonable prices. I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than the Vietnamese place we went to in China Town last month. I think we'll definitely go back.
After Nam, we headed to the IFC Center for another New Yorker Festival event: A panel on horror movies with directors Wes Craven and Hideo Nakata. It was really interesting, hearing both of them answer the same questions about making movies, what inspired them, the differences between horror movies and traditions in the East and West, and so on.
Poor Hideo Nakata had some stumbles with the language barrier at times, but he was still very interesting. The highlight moment for him was after the moderator asked the directors something along the lines of "How young is too young to watch your movies?". Hideo talked briefly about the cultural differences between Japan and the US, but ended up telling a story about how a friend of his watched Ringu (or part of it anyway) while holding his one-year-old son, and the child was frightened by one of the visuals in the movie. This lead to Hideo finishing his story by proudly proclaiming that "it was so scary it even scared a little one-year-old child". Hee hee.
Wes Craven was also fascinating, of course, but one thing I noticed about him is that I think he has a bit of a cheesy sense of humour. He'd often answer the moderator's questions with some sort of fake-out answer or gag. He even stuck a corny, setup-and-punchline joke into one of his answers. It was pretty funny to have this legendary guru of scary cracking goofy jokes like a kid. But he did say at one point that he was a class-clown in school...
There were only a few questions at the end, and one was posed by a woman who sounded extremely eager to talk to Wes. She gushed about how brilliant Scream was, then once he had answered her question, she (having stayed hovering bythe mic apparently) thanked him for his answer and then mentioned how she was writing a script for something similar right now. Heh. I think she was hping he would say: "Well gosh, let me read it!" Anyway, it was cool evening.
Sunday was a another quiet day, with school work for Suzy and, uh, work-work for me. We did go out to see some of the Atlantic Antic street fair that was taking place not far from us. We walked around and had a bite to eat. It was interesting to see. It was sort of like the Canada Day street market in Saint John, but with a lot more people, a lot more food, and less of a giant yard sale vibe.
We headed over to Pace at around 6:00 to see a taping of Inside the Actor's Studio. Thsi first one (for us) was going to feature Anthony LaPagila. Once we got there, Suzy headed in with the other students, while I took my freebie balconey ticket and went in to find a seat. As luck would have it (well, for me, if not for the show) it was a quiet night, and they told the balconey-dwellers that we could go sit in the downstairs audience. I took a seat a few rows back and off to the side at first, but then one of the show-runners came around asking us to move into the center section to fill empty seats in ones and twos. I ended up sitting in the front row of the regular seating, just behind the chairs where many of the students were seated.
Once thigns got rolling, I found it quite interesting, however Anthony LaPaglia, though he certainly seems like a nice guy, had a tendancy to ramble on in his answers, going of on tangents, or giving multiple answers to the same question. It ended up making the taping drag on a bit, and by the time the main segment was finished, we had been there for three and a half hours! They took a short break, then returned for the 10 questions, and the student Q&A. Once again, LaPaglia had some interesting things to say, but tended to take too long with each of the 10 questions. Again, he tended to give multiple answers and change his mind, etc. Then due to the late time (I think), James Lipton cut things off after probably only 5 or 6 questions from the students.
In the end, despite the length of the taping, and a few times where things really dragged*, I found hearing what he had to say interesting for the most part. I'll be interested to watch the finished show, and see how they edit it. I wonder if many guests are really long-winded, rambling, distracted, or otherwise bad at impromptu public speaking, but then end up being saved by editing? Still, cool to be there for a taping.
*The dragging pace wasn't entirely LaPaglia's fault either; the clips they used weren't always the best. They probably showed three or four just from Without Trace, and they were almost all of him getting angry -- hardly demonstrating his range. Plus, the clip they showed from his upcoming movie avout East Timor, called Balibo, was a scene where his character is seeing fields of dead people, victims of genocide, and he is crying and breaking down. The thing is, for a scene like that, you can't got to extreme emotion without the context; it just seemed weird and goofy without any lead-in beyond a brief description.
Saturday started quietly as well, since we had plans for the evening. In the late afternoon, we took a train over to Manhattan to have dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Nam. Since we were going to an event at 7:30 that evening, we got to the restaurant for a 5:30 reservation, and when we arrived, they were just opening for supper. The server seemed to think it was funny we were eating so early -- and we were the only people in the restaurant the entire time. It made us think that we're not quite into the NYC groove ... New Yorkers who are out-on-the-town for an early show probably tend to go eat afterward, I think.
Anyhow, we each had a drink (the mohitos are very good) and for appetizers we had a dish of beef and greens (lettuce of some kind and cilantro) in rice paper wraps with peanut dipping sauce, and a dish with spicy grilled shrimp on a bed of vegetables in a vinegar sauce (sort of pickled, but fresh and crisp). Both were very good. For entrees, I had a crispy duck breast, with jasmine rice on the side. Suzy had a dish with grilled pork in a dark broth with noodles, veggies, and leafy greens on the side. Hers was definitely the better dish (though I liked my duck, it wasn't very crispy). All-in-all, Nam had very good food, and very reasonable prices. I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than the Vietnamese place we went to in China Town last month. I think we'll definitely go back.
After Nam, we headed to the IFC Center for another New Yorker Festival event: A panel on horror movies with directors Wes Craven and Hideo Nakata. It was really interesting, hearing both of them answer the same questions about making movies, what inspired them, the differences between horror movies and traditions in the East and West, and so on.
Poor Hideo Nakata had some stumbles with the language barrier at times, but he was still very interesting. The highlight moment for him was after the moderator asked the directors something along the lines of "How young is too young to watch your movies?". Hideo talked briefly about the cultural differences between Japan and the US, but ended up telling a story about how a friend of his watched Ringu (or part of it anyway) while holding his one-year-old son, and the child was frightened by one of the visuals in the movie. This lead to Hideo finishing his story by proudly proclaiming that "it was so scary it even scared a little one-year-old child". Hee hee.
Wes Craven was also fascinating, of course, but one thing I noticed about him is that I think he has a bit of a cheesy sense of humour. He'd often answer the moderator's questions with some sort of fake-out answer or gag. He even stuck a corny, setup-and-punchline joke into one of his answers. It was pretty funny to have this legendary guru of scary cracking goofy jokes like a kid. But he did say at one point that he was a class-clown in school...
There were only a few questions at the end, and one was posed by a woman who sounded extremely eager to talk to Wes. She gushed about how brilliant Scream was, then once he had answered her question, she (having stayed hovering bythe mic apparently) thanked him for his answer and then mentioned how she was writing a script for something similar right now. Heh. I think she was hping he would say: "Well gosh, let me read it!" Anyway, it was cool evening.
Sunday was a another quiet day, with school work for Suzy and, uh, work-work for me. We did go out to see some of the Atlantic Antic street fair that was taking place not far from us. We walked around and had a bite to eat. It was interesting to see. It was sort of like the Canada Day street market in Saint John, but with a lot more people, a lot more food, and less of a giant yard sale vibe.
We headed over to Pace at around 6:00 to see a taping of Inside the Actor's Studio. Thsi first one (for us) was going to feature Anthony LaPagila. Once we got there, Suzy headed in with the other students, while I took my freebie balconey ticket and went in to find a seat. As luck would have it (well, for me, if not for the show) it was a quiet night, and they told the balconey-dwellers that we could go sit in the downstairs audience. I took a seat a few rows back and off to the side at first, but then one of the show-runners came around asking us to move into the center section to fill empty seats in ones and twos. I ended up sitting in the front row of the regular seating, just behind the chairs where many of the students were seated.
Once thigns got rolling, I found it quite interesting, however Anthony LaPaglia, though he certainly seems like a nice guy, had a tendancy to ramble on in his answers, going of on tangents, or giving multiple answers to the same question. It ended up making the taping drag on a bit, and by the time the main segment was finished, we had been there for three and a half hours! They took a short break, then returned for the 10 questions, and the student Q&A. Once again, LaPaglia had some interesting things to say, but tended to take too long with each of the 10 questions. Again, he tended to give multiple answers and change his mind, etc. Then due to the late time (I think), James Lipton cut things off after probably only 5 or 6 questions from the students.
In the end, despite the length of the taping, and a few times where things really dragged*, I found hearing what he had to say interesting for the most part. I'll be interested to watch the finished show, and see how they edit it. I wonder if many guests are really long-winded, rambling, distracted, or otherwise bad at impromptu public speaking, but then end up being saved by editing? Still, cool to be there for a taping.
*The dragging pace wasn't entirely LaPaglia's fault either; the clips they used weren't always the best. They probably showed three or four just from Without Trace, and they were almost all of him getting angry -- hardly demonstrating his range. Plus, the clip they showed from his upcoming movie avout East Timor, called Balibo, was a scene where his character is seeing fields of dead people, victims of genocide, and he is crying and breaking down. The thing is, for a scene like that, you can't got to extreme emotion without the context; it just seemed weird and goofy without any lead-in beyond a brief description.
Neil Gaiman & the Graveyard Book
Tuesday night I went to the Teacher's College at Columbia University to see Neil Gaiman -- one of my favourite writers -- and to hear him read from his new novel, the Graveyard Book.
I got there at 6pm, and followed a long line for about 45 minutes to buy a copy of the new book (pre-signed in redish ink by the man himself); I also picked up a graphic novel of his as well (1602). After getting my books, I headed inside. I lucked out and grabbed a single seat in the middle of the auditorium, about four or five rows back.
I sat there and read my new copy of 1602 for a little while, and then Neil came on at about 7:10, did a hello and a bit of an intro, then stood behind a podium and read the first chapter of the new book (which is the benefit of it being the launch of the tour -- we got to hear the beginning). He was a great reader, very good at the narration, and doing voices (but not too broadly, just right) for most of the characters, including little gestures sometimes to match what they were doing. It was really good, and I can't wait to read the rest of it...
After a short break, they showed a five-or-so-minute-long trailer for the upcoming Coraline stop-motion movie, then Neil came back out to answer questions that people had written down for him.
There was some good stuff in there, such as talking about Doctor Who (with coy answers that he'd love to write an episode if the show-runner asked him, and then saying he'd had a recent conversation with said show-runner, but not what it was about -- "many things" he said).
Due to several similar questions, he said that he had lots of stories floating around about characters or settings that are fan-favourites, from the likes of American Gods, to Stardust, to Neverwhere. Whether they ever get written depends on what else he has going though, but the ideas are there...
He talked a little bit about his recent trip to China, where he had broken his finger, hence no personal signings or hand-shaking that night. He declined to explain how he broke his finger, but did tell an amusing story about a very bad haircut he got -- bad, but mercifully cheap.
He also let slip that there is a Coraline musical being worked one (not connected to the film) and that it should be opening in Brooklyn next year (May, I think?). And that the man behind it was also interested in doing a Gaveyard Book musical now as well.
A funny moment came when gave a girl a hug, after her friend wrote that securing said hug would be the best birthday present she could give, but he also mock-admonished the writer for being cheap and told her she would still have to buy a present.
A somber moment came when someone had written asking if he would collaborate with Terry Pratchett again, which lead to a short, wistful discussion of TP's Alzheimer's. He basically said that he'd love to, that they'd even talked about it, but that it rather depended on how much time there was, what with TP wanting to get as many stories of his own out while he still can ... so sad.
Anyway, wistfulness about one of my other favourite authors aside, it was great time, and very cool to see someone like Neil in the flesh. I'm really glad I went.
I got there at 6pm, and followed a long line for about 45 minutes to buy a copy of the new book (pre-signed in redish ink by the man himself); I also picked up a graphic novel of his as well (1602). After getting my books, I headed inside. I lucked out and grabbed a single seat in the middle of the auditorium, about four or five rows back.
I sat there and read my new copy of 1602 for a little while, and then Neil came on at about 7:10, did a hello and a bit of an intro, then stood behind a podium and read the first chapter of the new book (which is the benefit of it being the launch of the tour -- we got to hear the beginning). He was a great reader, very good at the narration, and doing voices (but not too broadly, just right) for most of the characters, including little gestures sometimes to match what they were doing. It was really good, and I can't wait to read the rest of it...
After a short break, they showed a five-or-so-minute-long trailer for the upcoming Coraline stop-motion movie, then Neil came back out to answer questions that people had written down for him.
There was some good stuff in there, such as talking about Doctor Who (with coy answers that he'd love to write an episode if the show-runner asked him, and then saying he'd had a recent conversation with said show-runner, but not what it was about -- "many things" he said).
Due to several similar questions, he said that he had lots of stories floating around about characters or settings that are fan-favourites, from the likes of American Gods, to Stardust, to Neverwhere. Whether they ever get written depends on what else he has going though, but the ideas are there...
He talked a little bit about his recent trip to China, where he had broken his finger, hence no personal signings or hand-shaking that night. He declined to explain how he broke his finger, but did tell an amusing story about a very bad haircut he got -- bad, but mercifully cheap.
He also let slip that there is a Coraline musical being worked one (not connected to the film) and that it should be opening in Brooklyn next year (May, I think?). And that the man behind it was also interested in doing a Gaveyard Book musical now as well.
A funny moment came when gave a girl a hug, after her friend wrote that securing said hug would be the best birthday present she could give, but he also mock-admonished the writer for being cheap and told her she would still have to buy a present.
A somber moment came when someone had written asking if he would collaborate with Terry Pratchett again, which lead to a short, wistful discussion of TP's Alzheimer's. He basically said that he'd love to, that they'd even talked about it, but that it rather depended on how much time there was, what with TP wanting to get as many stories of his own out while he still can ... so sad.
Anyway, wistfulness about one of my other favourite authors aside, it was great time, and very cool to see someone like Neil in the flesh. I'm really glad I went.
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