The Layover - San Francisco

Apparently Anthony Bourdain has a new show called The Layover, which premiers tonight. In a few episodes he visits San Francisco, and I was surprised to hear this born and raised New York chef say–to the New York Times, no less–that San Francisco is his favorite city in America for food:

Q. Favorite city for eating in the United States?

A. Anyone who doesn’t have a great time in San Francisco is pretty much dead to me. You go there as a snarky New Yorker thinking it’s politically correct, it’s crunchy granola, it’s vegetarian, and it surprises you every time. It’s a two-fisted drinking town, a carnivorous meat-eating town, it’s dirty and nasty and wonderful…

Take that, Nate Appleman! Go make a burrito.

Bike Lanes In NYC

Now I'm certainly not one to take the side of bicyclists, because I've had too many encounters with completely insane ones who have spoiled the whole bunch for me, but I love the way this video illustrates this man's point, and anytime someone illustrates how inept people who write tickets are I'm going to take the side of that person ten times out of ten.

Fight For Your Right (Revisited) - Full Length Version

From what I can tell, these are the folks appearing in this video. Did I miss anyone?

Rashida Jones, Danny Mcbride, Elijah Wood, Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Rainn Wilson, Seth Rogan, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Ted Danson, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Adam Scott, Orlando Bloom, Danny Masterson, Zach Galifianakis, Steve Buscemi, Roman Coppola, Laura Dern, David Cross, Jason Schwartzman, Orlando Bloom, Chloë Sevigny, Amy Poehler, Jason Bateman, Kirsten Dunst, Mary Steenburgen, Maya Rudolph, and of course The Beastie Boys.

Fight For Your Right Revisited

I'm not even totally sure what this is, but it's all kinds of right.

Terry's Diary

These are a few images I liked from Terry Richardson's blog "Terry's Diary". Hadn't been on there in a while. The last image is of Olive's in SoHo in New York. When I was an intern at NYLON magazine I used to go there for their amazing tomato soup on Mondays. Delicious sandwiches, as well. Highly recommend this spot if you find yourself in SoHo around lunch time.

The Tea Maker

By Yoko Ono

John and I are in our Dakota kitchen in the middle of the night. Three cats — Sasha, Micha and Charo — are looking up at John, who is making tea for us two.

Sasha is all white, Micha is all black. They are both gorgeous, classy Persian cats. Charo, on the other hand, is a mutt. John used to have a special love for Charo. “You’ve got a funny face, Charo!” he would say, and pat her.

“Yoko, Yoko, you’re supposed to first put the tea bags in, and then the hot water.” John took the role of the tea maker, for being English. So I gave up doing it.

It was nice to be up in the middle of the night, when there was no sound in the house, and sip the tea John would make. One night, however, John said: “I was talking to Aunt Mimi this afternoon and she says you are supposed to put the hot water in first. Then the tea bag. I could swear she taught me to put the tea bag in first, but ...”

“So all this time, we were doing it wrong?”

“Yeah ...”

We both cracked up. That was in 1980. Neither of us knew that it was to be the last year of our life together.

This would have been the 70th birthday year for John if only he was here. But people are not questioning if he is here or not. They just love him and are keeping him alive with their love. I’ve received notes from people in all corners of the world letting me know that they were celebrating this year to thank John for having given us so much in his 40 short years on earth.

The most important gift we received from him was not words, but deeds. He believed in Truth, and had dared to speak up. We all knew that he upset certain powerful people with it. But that was John. He couldn’t have been any other way. If he were here now, I think he would still be shouting the truth. Without the truth, there would be no way to achieve world peace.

On this day, the day he was assassinated, what I remember is the night we both cracked up drinking tea.

They say teenagers laugh at the drop of a hat. Nowadays I see many teenagers sad and angry with each other. John and I were hardly teenagers. But my memory of us is that we were a couple who laughed.

[via The New York Times]

"The Unseen Sea" - Simon Christen

It's reminders like this that just make it really hard for me to even engage in discussions over which city is more beautiful, San Francisco or New York.

[Thanks to Hello Yummy]

Ghosts In The Photograph

These are 34-month pinhole photos–the longest exposures ever–of the destruction and subsequent construction of the New York City Museum of Modern Art. Pretty gorgeous.

Click here for more.

The Lion

This is one of many lion images from a restaurant in NYC called The Lion.

My kind of place.

[Photo by Junna Matsuda via Hello Yummy]

The Strokes Make An Album

Here's a little behing-the-scenes footage from the recording process as The Strokes prepare their fourth album. These guys are actually pretty funny, but then again, they are like BFF with David Cross so they clearly have a good sense of humor. Recording is taking place at Avatar Studios in NYC and the album is tentatively set to be released this September.

Jay-Z | Alicia Keys - "Empire State Of Mind"

I like this song. Even if the chorus melody does rip off Coldplay's song "The Scientist".

The Return Of The Strokes

Things seem to be heading in the right direction, at least. They've booked their first show since October 2006, playing England's Isle Of Wight festival in June. They're also scouting studio locations in NYC to record an album and maybe even release it in 2010. About time, boys.

Brooklyn's Best Bands

Well, it's no secret that the days of Manhattan being the home to struggling artists and musicians are long gone. The city is now overrun with guys in finance, foodies, and rich Europeans.

Native New York City rocker Julian Casablancas even criticized his home turf in a recent Pitchfork interview, saying "New York is like one bar/restaurant/Whole Foods/Starbucks thing now. You used to have a range of neighborhoods but now there's like two cool streets in Manhattan."

Brooklyn's music scene, however, is pretty much killing it. New York Magazine has comprised a list of the top 40 songs from Brooklyn-based bands. Below are the top 10. Click here for the full list.

# 1 - Dirty Projectors “Stillness Is the Move”
# 2 - Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks"
# 3 - MGMT “Kids”
# 4 - LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends”
# 5 - TV on the Radio “Golden Age”
# 6 - Gang Gang Dance “House Jam”
# 7 - Vivian Girls “Where Do You Run to”
# 8 - Vampire Weekend “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”
# 9 - Yeasayer “2080”
# 10 - Animal Collective “My Girls”

Colette X Gap

As we anxiously await the opening of Colette X Gap on September 6, we’ve scored a few images from the collaborative, star-studded stash. Apparel will include this Gap denim “Dreamer” jacket by Olympia Le Tan, a customized trench by French graffiti artist André (the belt reads "Andre & Colette hearts New York & Paris"), and illustrated collaborative tees by a mix of French and New York artists and brands, among them Genevieve Gauckler, Jean-Philippe Delhomme, Peter Arkle, Claw Money, Miss.Tic, and Clements Ribeiro. Check out a smattering of accessories below, like this sweet Alexis Mabille clutch, neon-blue Asics sneakers, Oakley shades with star-printed plastic frames, and a tiny knit key ring from Anne-Marie Herckes. The final haul will include an expanded array of crowd-pleasers — a Hello Kitty watch and ties by Adam Kimmel. But we’ll be rushing the doors along with you opening day to get our hands on a Ruben Toledo tee (just part of our never-ending plan to stalk the Toledos. Sigh).

Need a Good Bathroom? Grub Street's Guide to Loos You Can Use

In these dark rooms we found jack-o-lanterns, volumes of existentialist literature, live fish, warnings against cocaine peddling, waterfalls, pachinko machines, S&M gear, and the city’s most expensive toilet. The only thing we missed was Larry Craig. We hope you enjoy the resulting compendium of loos you can use.

Flaming Lips' Christmas Gets Special NYC Screenings

Sure, breakfast is the most important meal of the day or whatever, but did the people who decided that have the option of viewing the Flaming Lips' audiovisual feast Christmas on Mars in the wee hours of the new day instead? Didn't think so.

You, however, will have just that opportunity, provided you reside in or around New York City or plan to visit the area in September. With Christmas on Mars' DVD release fast approaching (it's due in October from Warner Bros.), the Lips have announced plans to screen their opus at Manhattan's KGB Complex in typically extraordinary fashion. Not only have screening organizers Cinema Purgatorio prepared a special room for the showings-- complete with a "Zeta Bootis Mega Supersonic Super-Sound Surround System" of the Lips' own making-- but they've also scheduled several of these showings for hours of the day normally reserved for a groggy-eyed viewing of a bowl of corn flakes.

The screenings begin September 12 (at 7 a.m. sharp!) and conclude September 30. You'll find a full schedule here. "Get up early and go to Mars before you go to work," implores the Cinema Purgatorio website, and who are we to refuse?

If you realllllly want to in on the action, why not get a bunch of friends (or coworkers!) together and host a group screening? Cinema Purgatorio's site says, "The call is out to all roving renegade Santa-suit wearing gangs, cynical psychedelic rock groups, snooty music magazines, middle aged women's sewing circles, swarms of drunken old men, and other community and social groups whose members can receive discounts for buying in bulk." Those interested in mass mahem can get in touch here.

These also mark the first NYC screenings for Christmas on Mars, though Cinema Purgatorio suggests other events in the Northeastern United States will follow. If you haven't tripped to seen that trailer yet, do so now.

And there you have it! Christmas on Mars: the true breakfast of champions (and weirdos).

• Video: The Flaming Lips: Christmas on Mars trailer

Hot Property

Enthusiasts of the small luxury buildings in Manhattan have quite the selection this season.

Now They Pay Kids To Do Well In School?

The effort to reward city students for passing Advanced Placement tests is part of a growing trend nationally and internationally, and one of several new programs in New York, to experiment with using financial incentives to lift attendance and achievement.

David Byrne-designed bike racks installed in NYC

David Byrne has designed nine bike racks which have been installed at various locations around New York City. Byrne, who is regularly seen biking around Manhattan, designed each rack with it’s neighbourhood in mind.

The ‘Jersey’ is the shape of a car and is installed near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel which links Manhattan and New Jersey.

A dollar sign-shaped rack is situated in Wall Street and a guitar-shaped rack called ‘Hipster’ has been installed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

New York City has been progressively made more bike friendly in recent months, with many new bikes paths forged on the city’s streets.

David Byrne is currently rehearsing for his forthcoming world tour, kicking off September 16 in Bethlehem, PA.

A First Look Inside JetBlue’s JFK Food Court

JetBlue unveils its culinary mecca at JFK's Terminal 5 on October 1, and we've scored restaurant renderings designed by meatpacking-friendly firm ICRAVE (STK, Tenjune, One Little West 12). The designs are classy and varied: Alexandra Raij should be cozy in her warped tapas bar; Michael Schulson's Asian spot Deep Blue is meant to make you feel cocooned in water; and Mark Ladner's Aeronuova trattoria screens old Italian flicks. The Loft, which has no celebrity-chef affiliation, recalls a Soho apartment you can't afford. La Vie, the French café, isn't the most daring design-wise, but a menu from Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson could make up for it. Since you can't eat until you clear security, we're booking our tickets now.