Craig Ferguson Week

Craig Ferguson
Originally uploaded by Mirka23.

Last week there was a lot of Craig Ferguson in NYC. First I saw him perform at Comix on Friday, April 13th. The show was hilarious - very autobiographical, very personal, much like his monologues on The Late, Late Show, but with more swearing! He cracks me up.

Some women came to the show in full-on kilts and gear.

The following Wednesday, Craig was doing a book signing for the paperback version of his novel, Between the Bridge and the River. He read a few passages, answered some questions, and joked that he'd be back next year to promote the book on tape. Then he signed copies of the book of course.

In between, he seemed to keep himself pretty busy appearing on lots of New York based talk shows.

Tribeca Film Festival 2007 tickets

It's the first day tickets are on sale for the Tribeca Film Festival. I went down to the box office and, after 3 hours of waiting (2.5 of which were outside in the freezing cold) I got almost all of the ones that I wanted. In honor of this, I brought over all my posts from 2005 from some other long-neglected blog. Most of them are about the films that I saw at the Tribeca Film festival that year.

People always ask me what I recommend. Well, here's what I'm going to see:
Blue State
Bomb It
Gardener of Eden
The Grand
Heckler
Planet B-Boy
The Power of the Game
Rise: Blood Hunter
A Slim Peace
Suburban Girl
Taken To Extremes
Watching the Detectives
West 32nd
Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist

Plus, I've got tickets to see the Narrative Emerging Filmmaker Award Winner and World Narrative Award Winner.

Taxi!

Checkered cab
Originally uploaded by Mirka23.

Today I was at the New York Auto Show. Saw lots of cool stuff, but I don't think I can talk about it yet.

At the end, Rohanna and I wandered into the "Future of the Taxi" exhibit. Lots of cool taxi models. I think some of them were historical vehicles, some were new models, and some were prototypes or proposed designs. Pretty cool.

There was a bar, and we had drinks in glasses that were glued to toy cars - the kind that rev up when you put it on a surface and pull it back. Very cool looking, but I think attaching a heavy glass to something that not only rolls but accelerates is an accident waiting to happen.

Grindhouse Overload

Grindhouse at the comic book store
Originally uploaded by Mirka23.

Yesterday someone asked me if I'm going to see Grindhouse. I said I felt like I had already been totally overexposed to it, so probably not. It seems like they're promoting it on every show on every channel. Not just with ads. Every show I watch seems to be leading into commercials with little snippets of Quentin Tarantino talking about the film and sneak peak clips that I've already seen.

Then, today, I was out and I went by the comic book store only to discover that there was a huge crowd outside and I couldn't get in to shop. Of course, it was a signing for Grindhouse! At first I was pissed because I didn't want to have to leave and come back later. But then someone told me it was almost over. So I hung out for a minute and the celebs came out and each got into their separate black SUVs. That caused some excitement among the crowd, and by chance I was actually in a good position to take some crappy pictures of Quentin Tarantino, Rose McGowan and Rosario Dawson with my cellphone, so it was kind of fun afterall.

I guess I have to admit, as sick as I am of hearing about Grindhouse, I do love the fact that NYC is the kind of place where you can stumble across something like this when you're just out walking around on a Saturday afternoon. Celebrity spotting is fun, as long as they don't interrupt my shopping plans.

New Whole Foods

This morning before work I stopped by the new Whole Foods that just opened a few blocks from my apartment. It had only be open for an hour, and everything was bright and shiny.

It was pretty empty, but I have a feeling the crowds will be forming soon.

I got a pumpkin muffin for breakfast.

Vox vs Blogger Continued: Vox... eh.

Vox seemed really easy and handy at first. After a couple weeks the charm has worn off. It looks busy. The things that they make easy to do are things I can work around (or do without). And the things it can't do (though they know about them) are really just too frustrating.

Blogger's looking pretty good. Got some other things to try too.

Ted Russell Kamp

My old school pal, Ted, is in town to play a show at the Rodeo Bar tomorrow. So tonight we had dinner and caught up. This is the first time we've seen each other in...damn, 15 years? We both felt that, although we had grown up (somewhat), we were also both very much the same. Pretty cool to see old friends after so long.

Today I got a check from a certain entertainment company for certain work that I did for a certain comedy group last month. I can't say any more about that, but I think it's pretty funny that, in theory, I am now a paid comedian. Not the kind of thing I would ever imagine myself being. The check is for such a small amount, I'm considering keeping it as a momento!