Craft Liquor and The Return of the Cocktail
Liquor is a recession-proof commodity; but until fairly recently, its manufacture has been limited by Prohibition-era laws so that only big producers could get in on the action. Bill Potter of New York Distilling Company talks about why he thinks craft liquor is coming back, and why it’s here it stay.
note: video is only 2:28, not 5:29.
Maurice Sendak: Menorahs at the Jewish Museum
Maurice Sendak, author of Where The Wild Things Are, children’s book turned movie, is also an avid supporter of Jewish heritage and a scholar of Jewish history. Sendrak has collaborated with the Jewish Museum in past years, and has returned in 2011 to help create an exhibition of historical menorahs.
The Sculptor
The annual Winter’s Eve Festival at Lincoln Square celebrated its twelfth year on Monday. Just days before the Rockefeller Center lighting commences Christmas season in New York, this less known festival kicked off the holiday season with a tree lighting of its own.
From Lincoln Square to Columbus circle the festival incorporated live bands, ice sculpting and food tents, which sold everything from hot-chocolate to spicy crunchy tuna rolls.
Among the performers was Ben Grasso, sculpting a giant nut-cracker. Grasso, 27, studied painting at CUNY Hunter before he began a five-year stint carving ice. He acknowledged the difficulty of his trade, but said he would rather create something expressive. Or at least something more intricate than a nutcracker. Nevertheless, Grasso is a quality craftsman who wields a motorized ice-pick with exactitude and precision.
Gibson: More Than Just a Guitar
Emanuel Gibson at home with his guitar. (Photo: Christine Streich)
Brooklyn may have a reputation for being home to fledgling musicians, but Clinton Hill resident Emanuel Gibson, 28, isn’t just another wannabe rockstar. It may be a coincidence that he shares his surname with a world famous guitar company, but Gibson’s golden voice and skilled guitar-playing fingers would make the Gibson Guitar Corporation proud to share its name.
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“We’ll Never Go Away Until There Is Justice”
On November 17th, thousands marched in Lower Manhattan to mark the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It was also an opportunity for the demonstrators to show their anger and determination after the NYPD shut down Occupy Wall Street’s headquarters in Zuccotti Park. But some of them, like Mighty Xee, think this was inevitable, and even desirable. Xee believes the now famous movement against corporate greed will only get stronger, despite Mayor Bloomberg’s tour de force.
Good with paper
Jerome (pronounced ‘Jeremy’) Walker has been selling his origami creations in New York for 23 years. He used to sell his work in Union Square, but relocated to Park Slope after police officers at Union Square controversially arrested him for selling his art next to the weekend farmers’ market. Continue reading
Winter is Coming to Brooklyn
The thermometers drop, the days are shorter: winter is near. It is time to turn on the heaters, show off new coats and indulge in pumpkin lattes.
But these winter luxuries have not always been around. So what did people do a hundred years ago to prepare for the lower thirties? Continue reading
Money Worries? Try Stress Relief
As the economy continues to stagnate, stress stands as the leading cause of long-term sickness absence, according to an article on the Cambridge News website. Much of the economy-induced stress relates to job security. Unfortunately, job security continues to elude many recent graduates.
There are many ways to reduce this stress, including the following video.
I Surf from Kevin Reilly on Vimeo.
Global Family Shares Thanksgiving at International House
Many graduate students will travel home for Thanksgiving but the majority of students at International House, a graduate housing program located in Morningside Heights, will stay in New York City. Students from all over the world have celebrated the holiday with their new friends. They enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with all of the traditional fixings, played board games by the fire and watched a holiday movie marathon.
During Fireside Fun, students explained what they have learned from their new friends since they entered International House. According to the students, Pakistanis and Indians don’t have to be “mortal enemies” and an Israeli student acknowledged that International House has taught him the similarities between Israeli and Palestinian culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6JbGHfmSh4