Bush in the Boro

President George W. Bush visited my hometown today to campaign for a Republican congressman. Aside from the Georgia-Florida game, it’s all my mother has been able to speak about for the past week. When you live in a rural area, it’s pretty exciting to have a sitting president hanging out in your town. (As opposed to NYC, where Presidential traffic snarls and heightened security are upsetting and annoying.) I suppose I can understand the Republican political agenda of trying to maintain control of Congress in next week’s elections. However, Bush already spoke at a fundraiser for this candidate in Savannah after Labor Day. Which makes me wonder: how is the leader of our county able to fly to Southeast Georgia twice in two months to stump? Maybe I am missing something, but does it make sense for him to prioritize his time this way? Perhaps this explains why the Gulf Coast is still in ruins 14 months after Katrina and the US is woefully underprepared for and underprotected from another terrorist attack.

Random, or just another Sunday in NY?

Met Clara and some of her friends for dim sum at Jing Fong. Chinatown is always rather hectic, but never boring.

Then I perused sex shops (sorry, I meant to say "adult novelty stores") in the West Village to buy stuff for Shani's upcoming bachelorette party. I went in 5 different stores. The people who work in these places are so blasé; surely they've witnessed some freakish stuff... so me buying Pin the Macho on the Man wasn't exactly earth-shattering. Most icky moment: seeing a 50-something hetero couple browsing in a store on West 4th St. Glad they still want to spice things up, but they were probably someone's parents. Eww.

Spotted: Mike Myers sitting on a bench on Spring St. in NoLita.

Friday night fun

Saw 51 Birch Street last night. It's a new documentary about the film-maker's parents. 3 months after this guy's mother dies, his dad marries his former secretary. Through reading his mother's diaries and chatting with his dad, he discovers that his parents really didn't love each other (but stayed married for 54 years). Well-done, but totally depressing.

Grabbed a bite after the show at Cedar Tavern with Robyn. Earlier we'd popped into the new, large Max Brenner chocolate store/restaurant off Union Square. Pretty intense. Paradise if you love chocolate (but I don't, so it was kinda creepy).

Then I went to Erik's birthday party at Summers. TP and Gail joined me there, and somehow we wound up closing the place down.

It's all relative on stage

Saw the play "Ascension" last night. My cousin Stephen is one of the lead actors. The piece is getting good press, including a NY Times review. Therefore the run has been extended, and there's talk of the show moving to a larger theatre. The script is good - you're never sure exactly which (if any) of the characters are telling the truth, so the audience can draw its own conclusions about what really happened. It also doesn't hurt that the other male actor looks like Brad Pitt circa Legends of the Fall, and he appears completely naked during Act II.

Spotted: Tom Colicchio walking through the Union Square Greenmarket on Monday.

Hamptons, off season

Took the Jitney to East Hampton Sat. morning. Saw Guy's film "Holly" screened at the Hamptons Film Festival. After working on the Red Light Children campaign and hearing so much about the K11 project, it was good to finally see the film on a big screen. The lead actor, Ron Livingston, joined the director and producers after the film for Q&A.

Marina met me after the screening, and we took the ferry to the North Fork to visit Gary at the winery where he's working this fall. Spent the rest of the weekend in Sag Harbor. I'm not a big fan of the Hamptons, but I guess Sag Harbor is my favorite spot out there. It's a charming village, and we hung out & did a fair amount of shopping. Was a really relaxing weekend.

It's never too early to start learning about wine 

Sunset on the Shelter Island ferry 

Pumpkin fest

Ab, Rick and the birds.

Well, fall is officially here. It's in the 50s in NY now instead of the 70s. Rick got the gang together tonight to celebrate Ab's birthday and cooked up a seasonal feast. For that, I got off my chaise. We had pumpkin & yam soup, roasted chicken, carmelized corn, pumpkin pie and a lot of prosecco.

Falling off the horse and getting trampled

Hit a wall and was too sick/tired to go to work this past week. Of course, I was still conducting business from my bed via Blackberry, cell phone and wireless connection. But it was better to work for 7 hours a day from my apt. than 12+ hours a day in the office.

Getting back on the horse

Because I've been sick, I haven't gone out since I've been back in NY. Have just been working and sleeping. Which makes for a boring blog. Last night I met Duck at Boqueria, a new Spanish/tapas place off Union Square. After dinner I went to the Cutting Room to see Bryan, who was in town from LA playing a show with a guy he's been collaborating with out there. Yet another musical evolution for Bryan. After their set, I stuck around to hear Bryan's friend Don "Big D" McCloskey. That was the 2nd time I've heard him play. He is quite talented, in a really cracked-out way.

Spotted: Josh Brolin at the Cutting Room bar.

Easing back into NY

Walking around the city over the past week, I've made some observations: NYC is dirty and noisy, the buildings are old, and the people are pushy, neurotic and have a weird way of defining "personal space." After being away for weeks, I notice these things... and realize how absolutely beautiful it all is. I live in an incredible place and am happy to be back.

If you think I get around

Check out the travel blog of a guy I met, who's just back from Spain, Greece & Germany.