50 Years Ago, The Freedom Riders Headed South

It was 50 years ago this month that a mixed group of activists, 7 black men and 6 white men, boarded a few Greyhound and Trailways buses in Washington, DC and headed on a journey into the segregated south.  Their trip into history ended in violence when the riders were attacked in Alabama and jailed, the tires of their buses slashed and one bus was even set on fire.

Their courageous exercise of civil disobedience is now the subject of a documentary that will be airing on PBS May 26th called FREEDOM RIDERS. A friend of mine, Alton Christensen, worked on this show and it looks like it's going to be good....you can watch some footage on PBS's website.  And you can read more about the Freedom Riders on the CORE website.

NYU HAWK UPDATE: Feeding Time & Rescue Mission

Below is an cute video of feeding time for Violet, the red tail hawk that has been nesting on a ledge at NYU library with her new baby hawk.  That's the good news.  The bad news is the swelling on Violet's leg from a wildlife band has gotten increasingly worse in the last week and there is now a plan to try and fix it.

Bird experts from the Bronx Zoo are planning to come in today and, with a baited trap, get Violet into their hands so that they can remove the band and treat her leg which seems to be infected.  Hopefully this will do the trick. But if not, then they will take Violet and her baby up to the Bronx Zoo where the eyeass will be raised in captivity, away from it's mother. Apparently, without the nest she built and instincts that come with it, Violet might not take care of her own kid.  Bizzare but fascinating.  And absolutely adorable too....

The Genre Mash-Up Goes Hollywood

This summer marks the start of a new mini-trend in H'wood; the extreme genre mash-up.  This concept started in the book world a few years ago with a novel called "Pride, Prejudice and Zombies", which had a big YA following.  This was followed by many imitators and sequels and, of course, Hollywood took notice.  This summer, a funny "little" movie (meaning it's not based on a comic, toy, or TV show) called "Cowboys & Aliens" is kicking things off with a bang it seems.  At least the trailer seems to indicate that.

Yesterday's TIMES reported on the next wave, specifically a movie about Abraham Lincoln's secret life as a vampire hunter.  Despite the sound of it, this is not some scrappy weird indie but a huge weird studio effort that FOX has put together for summer '12. The title?  Well, it's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" of course and has all sorts of history in it as well as the fact that the 16th president liked to slay the occasional blood-sucker.

I'm not sure if this genre has already jumped the shark with this title. But, if it hasn't, you can expect many, many more like it.

WTC VIEW in the NY TIMES Sunday Arts Section

I meant to put this up yesterday but got distracted by the exciting news in Ireland.  Anyway, over the weekend, WTC VIEW made the NY TIMES Sunday Arts section as part of a roundup of hot summer theatre happening across the country this year.  If you click here, just scroll down to the section about New York City and we got a nice mention.

In other WTC news, we got our poster/postcard art last week which looks great.  Tickets are now on sale for the run of the show....there are only 16 performances and seating in the theatre is limited (see "off-Broadway"). So if you're interested, I would encourage you to purchase your tickets soon at 59E59's website.  We will have a bunch of press coming out next week so this way you can avoid the rush!

Rehearsals for the show are continuing "every amazing day" (as Alex says) over in Long Island City while our set is being built upstate.  So it's all coming together!  Look forward to seeing it....and YOU at the theatre later this month  :)

Ireland Could Elect First Openly Gay President

Towleroad provides great world coverage of gay political news and, over the weekend, I spotted this story out of Ireland.  David Norris, a 66-year old out gay man in Dublin, is the front runner in the current race for Ireland's presidency.   While the election is still a a few months off in November, Norris who is a well-known Irish senator, has become the candidate to beat.  

The full story is over on Irish Central News, which notes that the Presidency in Ireland is not exactly the same as it is in other European countries.  There is still a separate prime minister who deals with more political issues but the presidency is a major position, the visibility of which has become increasingly important after two terms in which the current president Mary McAleese has made the job her own.  

I find this all very remarkable given Ireland's deep Catholic roots.  But Norris, whose popularity extends outside of urban Ireland, seems to transcend politics and sexual identity issues and has become the frontrunner due to the Irish love of outsider candidates who challenge the status quo.  It will be very  interesting to see how the rest of the campaign and upcoming election in the fall pans out. 

BREAKING NEWS: We Have A Baby Hawk In The Village!

After more than 5 weeks of watching, it appeared that the eggs that a Red Tail Hawk was sitting on high above Washington Square Park were duds.  Earlier this week, the eggs reached their so-called "expiration date" and professional hawk-watchers said there would be no baby hawks in this nest on a ledge of NYU's Bobst Library.

Well, lo and behold, this morning everyone got a big birthday surprise as the HawkCam showed a baby hawk in the nest.  The eyeass (which is the technical name for such a creature) had poked through its shell over the last 24 hours. Viewership on the HawkCam has nearly tripled with the news too.

So what's next? The hawks will be feed by their folks over the next few months. And what's on the menu? New York City rats of course! Fortunately, the hawk watchers have coordinated with the NYC parks department and the poison bait for rats left in Washington Square Park will be removed for the time being so that the young hawk can grow up nice and healthy in its deluxe nest in the sky.

Google Brings "It Gets Better" To Prime Time

During this week's episode of GLEE, Google aired an ad for it's Chrome browser which was also a beautiful PSA for the "It Gets Better" campaign that columnist Dan Savage started last fall with a video heard round the world.  The spot is really amazing...and a tear-jerker too. Bravo Google!

The #1 Movie Theater In America Is On 42nd Street

In 2001, AMC opened the Empire theatre, a 25-screen maxi-plex on what had previously been one of the seediest blocks in NYC; 42nd between 7th and 8th Avenue.  Today, AMC's Empire is the number one movie theater in America with yearly gross ticket sales around $25 millions dollars.  This week, the Hollywood Reporter has an extensive article about the theatre and the surprisingly important role it plays in the American film industry.

I remember when this theatre first opened nearly 10 years ago and I was a regular.  Not only was it easily the nicest theatre in the city, with big screens and large stadium seating (unique at that time) but, in addition to blockbusters, it showed indie films as well.  It was a vast improvement over the suburban shoeboxes that pass for cinemas at the Angelika Theater and I was a quick convert to going uptown.

However, due to the theatre's popularity, ticketing there in recent years can be a bit of a hassle.  Usually half of the automatic machines are out of order and the queue can back up to the door in the massive lobby. Often there are just two ticket sellers behind a counter that accommodates 12.  These glitches were not mentioned in THR but could go a long way to improving the experience at America's #1 movie house.

My Favorite Meme Re: The Death Of Osama

On TV, the networks have now branded Sunday's extraordinary raid "The Killing of Osama Bin Laden" and, two days later, keep promoting their "continuing coverage of the death of Osama Bin Laden".  Really?  Continuing?  I think he's still dead last time we checked. Meanwhile, over on The Internets, things are a little lighter as memes continue to grow in the wake of Osama's demise.

I think this one above is my favorite because it actually gets at something true.  Meanwhile, GhostOsama continues to rack up followers on Twitter and has surpassed the 40K mark.  Also on Twitter, the most popular retweet was something @Jesus had to say about the terrorist/mass murderer's death; "You're at the wrong gate, Osama."  Classic.

Osama's Death On Twitter--Real and Fake

Osama Bin Laden was killed yesterday in a U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan.  The top secret military action, though, was actually tweeted about for the world to read....except that no one knew exactly what it was at the time.  An IT consultant on vacation near Bin Laden's hideout unwittingly tweeted about the attack as the helicopters circled above....you can read his tweets on the Washington Post website.

In other Twitter-related news, following in the footsteps of that escaped snake from the Bronx Zoo, there is now a GhostOsama user (pictured here) that popped up last night shortly after the big news hit the airwaves at 10:45pm.   I found this stream last night around 11:30pm as I was following reactions on Twitter and Facebook....a lot more interesting than watching the networks I have to say.  Anyway, in less than 24 hours, the silly-sounding ghost of OBL has racked up nearly 40,000 followers.  Sample tweet: 70 Virgins Left...I need a cigarette and a nap. LOL.

Joking aside, the death of this mass murderer has been a long time coming and,in New York today, there is a general sense of communal relief.