RIP Joe Ades
His was a particular kind of street theater in a city that delights in in-your-face characters who are, and are not, what they seem. For he was the sidewalk pitchman with the Upper East Side apartment. The sidewalk pitchman who was a regular at expensive East Side restaurants, where no one believed his answer to the “So what do you do?” question: “I sell potato peelers on the street.” Mr. Ades (pronounced AH-dess) died on Sunday at 75, said his daughter, Ruth Ades Laurent of Manhattan
When I first moved to NYC I saw Mr. Ades on 86th and 3rd. I remember having this just-moved-to-new-york-city-and-my-new-city-is-so-cool smirk on my face when I saw him. He was selling the hell out of carrot peelers. Since that moment I have seen Mr. Ades no fewer than a bunch of times all over manhattan. He truly had a presence and drew crowds easily. Most recently I saw him this fall in his usual union square perch, lively as ever. It was then I realized that more than just this city, Joe Ades was what was cool - I instantly had a different kind of smirk on my face.
I had no idea he was sick, but then again, why would I? An extremely public person that nobody knew. Read this article for more on the life of Joe Ades
The Inauguration in Times Square
Jan 20th Amy and I were able to sneak away from work and hit up Times Square to see Barack Obama be sworn into the presidency. In Times Square a number of the bigger screens were tuned into the event as well as some fairly large make-shift screens. Like for many people I know, this political cycle brings with it a high level of excitement and new hope. The feeling was electric, fun and cold.
Finally Fios!
The internet connection is completely night & day and the TV service is also top notch, much better than our - shaky at best - time warner setup.
Star Magazine - My Paparazzi photo
As you probably know, mainly b/c I am telling everyone I see on the street, I took a photo of american idol vote off - jason castro shopping for an engagement ring with his girlfriend. Below is a quick scan from the August 6th editoin of Star Magazine.
For the full resolution version see my flickr
Sound of Silence
Sound of Silence from Jim Crews on Vimeo.
As I was escaping a hot summer saturday I ducked into the NY public library. I took a seat in the back of an exhibit hall. As I was sitting down the Simon & Garfunkels song “Sound of Silence” came on and the scene above unfolded. I thought it was pretty neat and decided to film it.
See larger version here