Big Gay Ice Cream Guys of the East Village

Just before Christmas, I finally made a trek to the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop in the East Village on an unusually warm December night.  The store was started by the couple who drove the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck to fame over the past couple years, tweeting their locations around the city and developing a loyal following for their take on soft-serve ice cream.

At the store, I ordered a "Bea Arthur" cone, which is vanilla with dulce de leche swirled up the sides. Then the whole thing was rolled in crushed Nilla Wafers.  Wow.  It was delicious and the store was so friendly too; not only the help behind the counter (who gave me a sample of this crazy cinamonn/peanut butter spread called Biscoff) but the other customers too. I chatted with a nice young college student who told me she didn't know who Bea Arthur was so I schooled her on the unique genius of Bea, directing her to "Maude" and "Golden Girls" reruns via Netflix.

Anyway, the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop reopens today after a 2 week-long holiday hiatus. Here's a cute video I found about the store's owners/partners, courtesy of the NYTimes/NYU collaboration East Village Local.  What a sweet couple...and making such sweet treats! :)

NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL: A Final Look Back At 2011

In my final post for 2011, I wanted to share this year's zeitgeist video made by the folks at Google which looks back on the past year in a musical and moving way.  I know it's basically an ad for Google and it's web services....but it's a damn good one!  I especially love the inclusion of the gay solider Randy Phillips telling his dad he's gay from back in September, just hours after Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed.

Anyway, 2011 was a clearly momentous news year in many ways that will not soon be forgotten, from the triumphs and tragedies of Arab Spring to the Occupy movement this fall.  In little under 3 minutes, this video captures the emotions of a remarkable year...

The Top Grossing Films of 2011 Are All Sequels

There was a somewhat disturbing article in the NY Times yesterday reporting that, to date, 7 of the year 10 top grossing films were sequels.  The third TRANSFOMRERS movie dominated the summer and the box office too, landing at number 2 for the year with 352 million dollars. With the release of more sequels hitting holiday screens (i.e. SHERLOCK and MI4) its possible that 2011 may go down in history as a year in which all of the top 10 grossing films were sequels.  Unbelievable.

Sequels have been around for decades in Hollywood but the pace has picked up to a distressing degree in recent years.  And then studios wring their hands and wonder why people are not going to the movies?  The answer is simple: give the audience something new to see.  In 2010, original films like INCEPTION and TANGLED were in the top 10.  Let's hope that the new year brings more truly new films to the theatres and get the sequels going on a downward trend.

The Year In Words From Webster's Dictionary

Continuing this week's year end roundup, I present the year in words courtesy of Webster's.com.  Each week, the dictionary's website highlights a word that has shown a big surge in search requests on the site.   For example, "zany" was the word of the week for December 14th after Mitt Romney used it to describe his then-surging opponent Newt Gingrich.   There was "mercurial" the week Steve Jobs died and "lewd" back in June when the Anthony Weiner scandal peaked.

Their list for the entire year reads like something of a snapshot of 2011's language zeitgeist. As a writer, I visit the site often and I always enjoy reading about Webster's word of the week while sometimes getting clarification about meaning and/or usage of the word of the moment.   My personal favorite entry for 2011?  Haboob, the usage of which caused a bit of a political storm this summer.  Don't know what it means?  Well you can actually see one in one of the big holiday movies out now.

A Trailer Mashup/Recap Of The Films Of 2011

More year end madness--today, a mashup of the movies of 2011.  Scenes from the trailers of the years films have been expertly edited together by the SleepySkunk to remind us how a lot of things blew up this year and, amidst all the destruction and carnage, there were even some beautiful cinematic moments worth remembering as well.  Can you name all the pictures?  (Hint: the list of films is here.)  Music by Lords of Acid and Randy Edelman, from the DRAGONHEART soundtrack.

My Nomination for Photo of the Year

In the year-end countdown to the last days of 2011, there are lists everywhere.  Top 10 movies, songs, political stories and even over at Instyle.com, the top 10 celebrity hair makeovers of 2011!  One list I've seen a few places which I always enjoy is the top 10 photographs of the year.  National Geographic has some typically stunning photos in their gallery whereas Time.com has a more newsy gallery with 40 pics.

But my personal favorite photo of the year is one that I didn't even see until a couple days ago.  It's a stunning picture of the space shuttle's final voyage last May.  The picture  also has an unusual story behind it because it was not taken by a photojournalist, or even with a real camera.  It's a snapshot from the iPhone of a passenger on a commercial flight who happened to look out the window and see the Endeavor climbing towards space on the long, sinewy trail of its white exhaust.  Not only is the photo historic for capturing the last trip of the shuttle but it is simply beautiful as well, revealing an angle on spaceflight that had never been seen before.  At least not by me....

Stephanie Gordon, from Hoboken, NJ, shot the photo and didn't think too much of it until, after sending it to a friend.  That day, it went viral and she became instantly famous.  The picture also amped up the debate about photo rights and copyright on the the Internet.  But despite all that it is still a remarkable image and it has my vote for photo of the year.

Merry Christmas From New York's Central Park

No, you're not dreaming.  It's not a white Christmas this year.  This photo is from January 12, 2011, of one of this year's many winter snowstorms.  However, despite the freak snow of October 29th, there hasn't been a flake since.  So I thought I'd make this my "online" Christmas post in hope of some of the white stuff this weekend.  Wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

25,000 Christmas Lights Synchronized to "Firework"

OK--I know that Katy Perry's "Firework" is not a Christmas song. But the listentoourlights.com guys in Austin, Texas have done a spectacular job synchronizing their 25,000 exterior holiday lights display to the song's incessantly catchy and triumphant beat.  I have to stay that, at this point in the season, I'm pretty played out on all the Xmas standards but this really put a smile on my face. Truly a joy of the season.

So, these guys have to be gay, right?  I mean seriously....Katy Perry? "Firework"?!  Well, they do live in Austin.  ;)  You can check out their Facebook page here and maybe more will be revealed....

The Cinematic Phenomenon of the "Spielberg Face"

This week, two Steven Spielberg movies will hit theaters; THE ADVENTURES OF TIN-TIN and WARHORSE.  So it seems a fitting time to consider what is it about Ameria's auteur that makes him such a master of the movies.  Well, one answer could be the "Spielberg face."

A video essay has been making in Internet rounds in the last couple weeks which dissects the "emotional closeup" which is a common thread in Spielberg's blockbusters over the last 30 years.  The creator of the video is Kevin B. Lee and he acknowledges his inspiration was an article by Matt Patches earlier this year about the "Spielberg face".  

If you can get past the semi-funny sounding name of this phenomenon, it's a truly fascinating look at Spielberg's signature move and even how it has even evolved in his films post-9/11.  The piece also offer a spirited argument in favor of the director's much-maligned A.I., a film which I also would argue is the director's misunderstood masterwork.  

Summer Trailers and Trailers For Trailers

The Christmas movie season is becoming just as well-known for the actual films that screen during this time of year as it is for the previews of next summer's coming attractions.  

There was a lot of "buzz" this weekend as the trailer for the new and supposedly final Christopher Nolan Batman movie THE DARK KNIGHT RISES came out on Friday in theatres only, as a preview attached to the new MI:4 movie. Of course, it took only hours for it to leak all over the Internets so the studio released the trailer online late yesterday afternoon.  Traffic to the Apple website was so heavy they seemed to experience a mini-crash. Anyway, you can watch it a littler easier here on FirstShowing.Net. It looks pretty impressive and even has a note of Occupy Wall Street in it (with Anne Hathaway as Catwoman representing the 99%).

In other trailer news, a new phenomenon in movie previews hit this week as a trailer for the trailer (!) of Ridley Scott's outer space epic PROMETHUS was released on YouTube. This 30 second tease features some scenes from the ALIEN-esque film as well as quick quotes from the director himself.  Release date for this film is June 8 and for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, July 20.  It's looking like a hot summer at the multiplex!