sock

2003 Best Films - list #1

The editors and writers at the venerable IndieWire have released their picks for top films of the year.

For my money, you just cannot beat "Lost In Translation". It was the most profound movie experience I have had in a long time.

indieWIRE's Favorite Films of 2003

Agent X Redux

Agent X has had an uncanny ability to find himself in the midst of the Freedom Tower festivities. Last night at a belated birthday celebration at Wallse, the exquisite West Village Austrian/German eatery, Agent X and his friends sighted David Childs, the second architect of the soon-to-be eyesore, the Freedom Tower. Childs and his dinner companion didn't appear to be in quite as festive a mood as Liebeskind and his dinner companions were on Sunday night, but with the media blitz that he had this week, he was probably in a mellow mood.

In other news, blowhard architecture critic for the New York Times, Herbert Muschamp, is insisting that New York deserves better than the Liebekind/Childs collaboration, even though he admits that it could be worse. He's campaigning for greater abstraction and less "figurative symbolism", a la Brancusi's "The Bird".
Huh. Not bad.

I'm going to be OTR (on the road, obvs.) for the next few weeks, so posting may be sporadic, even though you'll always be in my heart.

Agent X Activities: My Love Don't Cost A Thing

Agent X treated Sock to lunch yesterday at Sarabeth's in the Whitney Museum (What? Did you think we actually worked?).

Chicken Pot Pie and Crab Cakes. I think the Chicken Pot Pie, a "Twenty-Year Classic" as described in the menu, was really the best choice. It was very wine-y, which might explain Agent X's largesse.

We were there to see and discuss the John Currin exhibit, filled with buxom, long-limbed women and a biting, though not un-warm, subtext.

While we were both delighted by the exhibit, Agent X acknowledged that it was "upsetting" that Currin, as talented and accomplished as he is, was born as recently as 1962. We have a lot of catching up to do. And you know what else about Currin? He cute.

Agent X, and I'm not just saying this because he bought me lunch, I'm not!, is quickly becoming a very valuable associate. Not only is he responsible for bringing "Diver" to the MOMA (see below), not only is he the co-father of Edie, he also has this very significant update to the Freedom Tower story:

"A little scoop on the Liebeskind announcement. N. and I were having dinner
with my sister at a Korean restaurant on 32nd St. on Sunday night and who
should arrive with a large party, including his wife, but the very same
black-turtlenecked, bespectacled Mr. Liebeskind. He and his party, who
seemed to consist primarily of architectural underlings (I say that based on
the way they were dressed, the way they deferred to him, etc.), were in a
VERY VERY celebratory mood, ordering bottles of champagne (Moet Chandon) and
soju (Korean saki). Perhaps they were celebrating the final melding of their
"creative genius" with that of the other architects. Or, perhaps they were
just psyched to meet Katie and Matt...."

Agent X, *sigh*, is there anything he can't do?

Today's Links:

"Billd It Or Move! Stuped People!" Found letters: Royal Journal [via TMN]

Design by Committee

The new Freedom Tower (who comes up with these names? It sounds like a porn movie) was just unveiled. This building is JUST AWFUL. Gov. Pataki, at the unveiling on the "Today" show, called it "a melding of two very, very talented creative geniuses."

(What is more tacky - that it was unveiled on the "Today" show, or that it will be 1776 feet tall, to commemerate the date of America's independence?)

from NY Newsday:
"The new plan -- which comes after months of contentious negotiations between designers Daniel Libeskind and David Childs -- retains many elements of Libeskind's original plan but appears to smooth out many of its most angular elements."

Not to worry, though. I have a sense this debacle is not over.

New York City - Architects Release Revised WTC Tower Design

UPDATE: For an excellent and much more articulate review of the proposed building, go here: felixsalmon.com

6 Hostages Held at Gunpoint, and an Angry Cat to the Rescue

Today in the New York Times, this local feel-good story:

"[On Nagle Avenue in upper Manhattan], a man had barged into Apartment 10G, demanding money, and forced six people to strip naked. They were saved, one of the victims said, by a cat named Booboo Kitty.

"I really think that cat saved my life," said Leonard Rzepnicki, 58, who shares the apartment with his wife, Cheryl Walker.

It all began around 7 p.m., when Mr. Rzepnicki, Ms. Walker and three friends were gathered around the kitchen.

"We were just sitting around cooking a pot of neck bones and beans -- you know, a poor man's meal," said Mr. Rzepnicki, who is unemployed.

Suddenly, the attacker was knocking at the door with another man, whom one of Mr. Rzepnicki's friends recognized. Not knowing that the attacker was armed and holding the other man at gunpoint, Mr. Rzepnicki allowed the two into the apartment.

Then the gunman rounded all six people up and demanded money, said Mr. Rzepnicki, who told him he had none to give him.

"Then he said strip and everyone stripped," said Mr. Rzepnicki, who said he had recognized the gunman from the neighborhood. The man ordered Mr. Rzepnicki into his bedroom and pointed the gun at his head, he said. At that moment, Booboo Kitty approached the gunman, Mr. Rzepnicki said.

Mr. Rzepnicki said he asked him not to hurt the cat, but the gunman picked her up, he said. She hissed at him and scratched his hand. He dropped her and then chased her into the living room, at which point Mr. Rzepnicki made his escape, running naked out of the apartment and down to the eighth floor, where he called the police from another apartment, he said."

For those of you who can read the New York Times online, here's the article: 6 Hostages Held at Gunpoint, and an Angry Cat to the Rescue

Defining Your World

I hope you all appreciate that I am willing to embarass myself just so you don't have to. Last night, as I was threatening to bitch-slap my friend, I realized that I don't know the exact meaning of the term. I thought it meant to slap someone with the back of your hand. Everyone at the table had a slightly different idea of what a bitch-slap is. Here's what the authority, UrbanDictionary, says:

Prospect Park attacks

In the last 24 hours, there have been three attacks in Prospect Park. Two were robberies with box cutters (yikes) and a jogger was beaten yesterday near the skating rink (story here).

Over the past few months, there have been at least four other attacks (beatings and rapes) on women in the park, usually during the day. This kind of news scares the bejesus out of me and keeps me from running there, which is an outrage considering it's one of my favorite things to do and one of the benefits of living in Brooklyn. After the summer ended, the police force in the park was cut by almost half. Let's hope they reconsider. In the meantime, be safe, brothers and sisters.

Today's Links:

I see myself losing a week to this site: Rate My Kitten
Holiday party tips:The Onion | Drinking Responsibly During The Holidays
Prank:Penguin

The Scoop

The New York Times published a story today about the Museum of Modern Art's recent acquisition of a Jasper Johns drawing, "Diver", worth "well over $10 million." The Times says that "Diver" is "widely considered to be one of the most important works on paper of the 20th century" -- a major coup for the MOMA.

Well, the New York Times is okay when it comes to news and all, but only SOCK can bring you the story behind the story. I have landed a coveted interview with Agent X, the museum official chosen to oversee the pick-up of the drawing in L.A. and its safe transport to the museum.

This hair-raising mission took place over the course of three and a half days of non-stop driving in an 18-wheeler across the country with two "professional" drivers - a married couple by the name of Ted and Alicia. According to Agent X (as he asked me to call him), he "would not have been surprised to hear that Ted was plucked right off the Bowery". He also acknowledged that Ted "had an odor about his person."

As soon as he got in the truck, Agent X headed towards the back of the cab, through a green vinyl curtain yellowed from the endless cartons of Dorals that Ted and Alicia smoked. In the back of the cab, Agent X sat on the bed and started to take in his surroundings. There was a little cooking area, and also a bathroom that appeared to house a shower and a toilet in the same spot. Apparently, Ted and Alicia stored food in their bed. Agent X spotted a pack of bacon sticking out from under the sheets, as well as "cookies" and "candy".

Agent X, who never went to the back of the cab again, attempted to engage Alicia and Ted in a conversation about art. He learned that Alicia has a painting of wolves in the snow that she "really likes."