NYDiscovery

Todos Mienten - All Lie

Yesterday, I attended MoMA's Young Directors series, and watched a movie of the young Argentine director Matías Piñeiro called TODOS MIENTEN and absolutely loved it!

It has quite a compelling story, combines 19th with 21st century, lots of young people, who all lie and play tricks on each other. Beautiful girls, and less attractive guys (sorry, that's how I feel about it!) who read a book to each other, record stories, play guitar... it's very intellectual but highly entertaining.

After the movie, Matías Piñeiro stayed around for Q&A and he was especially delighted about the question I asked, which in return delighted me! All in all an evening well spent despite the cold that's currently bugging me! It was such a pleasure to listen to Matías Piñeiro's past and future projects. I enjoy people with lots of energy and creativity and he has it both. Kudos! And much success!!!

-- By Elke

Photo taken with the iPhone Hipstamatic app.

It Might Get Loud and it Will Be Pleasure!

While still in limited release, New York and Los Angeles only, I so badly wanted to see It Might Get Loud and did so yesterday!

This is a MUST SEE for everybody who loves rock music, and for every guitar player anyway. But also people who are simply interested in a good movie and crafted film making would be the target audience. 

The Oscar winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim knows exactly what he's doing. The vision he comes up with is fantastic. Every moment is a new surprise supported by great old footage and new material. From the first moment on I was in awe and a big fat smile settled on my face and did not leave until the film was over.

My only critique, which hardly isn't any, would be that I would have loved to see Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White jamming a bit more together. While their screen time seems to be well balanced, their jamming sessions are only a few but when they do, the screen is smoking!

It Might Get Loud is a masterpiece and a movie for the ages. Definitely worth to buy on DVD (or download from iTunes) and watch it more than once. Timeless gem!

-- By Elke

Photo picturing Josette, July 2007 c/o nysdiscovery.com

Waste Not!

A visit at the MoMA is always inspiring: we went there for the member preview of the Ron Arad exhibition - a retrospective of a designer, whose name I haven't know yet, but whose designs are pretty familiar - many of them can be bought as high-end furniture and accessories. 

Also on display: An installation of the Chinese artist Song Dong. It is pretty moving and sad, but the description says that it had a very positive effect on the artist and his mother, whose belongings are spread out. 

Don't miss any of those two, if you can.

Words do matter: What do online communication and Adam Lambert's lyric modification have in common?

There are still a lot of people out there who believe that the assumed anonymity of the Internet would protect them. Some go even great lengths in creating a 2nd persona so that they can speak their minds freely without fearing to get discovered.

I am not just referring to leaving rude or insulting commentaries, a behavior which I see in my job on a daily basis. I am also referring to the assumption that nobody would care or this is all one big game anyway. When the realization kicks in that words do in deed matter, then people want to hastily erase all their online traces which by then have long been picked up by Google's spiders. So it's too late!

And yet it doesn't have to be that way and it's not complicated either!

It is possible to have fun in life, on- or offline, without having to hide your true self. This is 2009. You can show who you are without the need to hurt others or the fear for rejection (this goes at least for democratic societies).

In the more than 15 years that I am professionally online, I've very well learned what I can say online and more importantly even what I want to say online. For me, it's okay to show passion and tell a little bit about myself because that's art of my life and that's what gets me going.

Somebody else who seems to stay true to himself despite some entertainment industry craziness is American Idol's Adam Lambert. Have you listened to the "Tracks of My Tears" original version from Smokey Robinson? And then Adam's Studio version with the original Motown soundtrack? He modified the lyrics slightly. They are no longer gender specific, which in a way makes him even more believable and definitely very contemporary.

It is possible to be honest and sincere and yet believable and charming! And the same is true for everybody who's socializing online be it on twitter, facebook or Fotolog. If we treat each other with respect, a lot is possible. While some might think that my thoughts here are a bit far fetched, let me tell you that this in deed is a topic that I am dealing with day by day and if it is Adam Lambert who inspires me to blog about it, so be it. It's all good.

 -- Elke

Wrong Time to Chicken Out (part 2) and Right to Listen to "Wrong"

Over the last couple of years, U2 and Depeche Mode have been releasing their albums around the same time and so there's not only U2's Get on Your Boots but also DM's Wrong which sounds very much like the early DM and is actually pretty awesome.

I am looking forward to listening to the whole album and not just the single!

Like with Bono, whom I saw sitting in a cafe one day, I once passed by Dave Gahan on a very empty street on a Sunday afternoon in Tribeca. And like with Bono, there was an incredible energy around Dave. Very exciting.

Possibly exciting would have been my encounter with a potential Fotolog member, at the very least with somebody who dresses in "estilo flogger" (Flogger Style) like many Fotolog members in Argentina do.

Sadly, I chickened out and didn't ask him - the guy in green & black - where he's from and if he's a Fotolog member (Check out the picture behind that link).  Next time, I'll do!

-- Elke

No return to sender necessary

There are many cool things about living in New York City! One has to really try hard to ever being bored. As a matter of fact, this still would have to happen to me. There's always something to do and to explore. Every street corner holds plenty of opportunities ready to be discovered.

And sometimes those fun curiosities land in your mail box, your real postal mail mailbox that is. Who would have thought that I can go on a first name only basis like Beyoncé or Madonna?! The first letter of the still rather New Year that I received was sent by Lani and Richard and was addressed to Elke and Oliver plus our address. No last names and yet it reached us. Love it! This makes me want to try out the first name basis only for friends and family in Germany as well...

Staying healthy in 2009 with superfoods from A to Z

This is the time of the year when magazines and newspapers look deep in their drawers, respectively hard drive directories to shell out some "foods that are good for you". Nothing wrong with that! I want to know what's good for my body and my soul and if it helps me loosing weight, even better!

What these articles usually lack though are recipes or easy to follow ways how to incorporate these good-for-my-body-foods into my every day diet. To make matters worse, a simple list of 20 great foods is as appealing as a slice of 9 days old bread regardless the toppings!

That's why it occurred to me, in order to get something out of these lists and knowledge hat I've collected over the years, I have to take matters in my own hands. That's what blogs are for. And so I announce the start of SUPER HEALTHY FOODS FROM A to Z. The year's still young, resolutions haven't been broken yet and so my goal is to keep this going throughout the year. One letter at a time - even if I have to borrow it from another language. [In my case from German because "zuchini", the usual English "z" is not exactly a "superfood" but "Zitrone" (lemon) and "Zwiebel" (onion) are!]

What to expect?

• A fun overview about natural food in alphabetical order that distinguishes itself from the rest by being especially effective for staying healthy and loosing weight.*
• Tips on storage and preparation.
• Intelligent and meaningful serving sizes, calories, nutrition facts and health benefits.
• Easy recipes for breakfast, snacks and dinner.
• In a 2nd run-through, more sophisticated recipes and combinations of these extra healthy foods.
• Lots of food pictures where I'll try some things out.

Coming next: Superfood that starts with "A"!

* DISCLAIMER: I am not associated with any weight lost plan or particular research. This all is based on life long experience and gained knowledge!

Good-bye 2008, you were a good one!

With less than 8 hours to go, 2008 is clearly winding down, making room for 2009. Looking back, I'd say I particularly liked that one despite my  accident.

We were off to a rough start, 2008 and I, as it is usually the case, because I dislike January and February that much. For 2009, January is filled with already 5 concerts to hopefully ease the pain a bit, but January 2008 was the usual crappy, cold winter month with the exception that I could finally hire Ninash which still makes me happy.

In February, Oliver and I took on a gigantic project: remodeling our master bedroom! We got rid of our old sleeping sofa, painted the room ourselves - bright yellow! Bought a very nice new bed, a mattress, a new desk, chair, etc. and completely remodeled the room. It was so worth it and still is! So, February with all the yellow was already brighter than usual.

However, I didn't like my job situation too much. Jobwise okay but not the office politics and the general outlook. So I was pursuing a couple of opportunities...

In April, you can tell that Spring is in the air and by then, my mood changes and everything's getting better again.

May comes and we're going to a lot of concerts, traveling to Germany and preparing for Oliver's birthday. We had a big party on June 1st and all friends - with the exception of a few - were in New York, including his Dad, to celebrate with him.

We're digging summer. June, July, August - lots of concerts, open air dinners, some brief vacation at the beach in Montauk. Oh, not to forget our old friend Volkmar's visit who was on a business trip in New Jersey for 3 weeks, which gave us plenty of opportunities to hang out together. It felt so good to do things with an old friend!

September comes and with that not only the US Open (I've seen a Roger Federer game!!!) but some guests from Germany: Chrissi und Janina from Hamburg and Mandy and Jacko from Berlin. What fun it is to show friends our city! It's also fun to hang out with friends in Montauk, even though it's rainy. We've had a great time with Sue & Pete and Bill & Mike.

While it usually is my favorite month of the year, October turned out to be a bit too adventurous! The days up to my birthday were fantastic, then some big news, then my birthday and the day after my accident! While my head - thank the Lord! - is healed again, my right shoulder isn't yet. The comforting news however is that it's getting better. Slowly. But steadily. Yes, a lot of things happened in October and most of the events were positive like a having been promoted to Head of Community for fotolog.com, the company I am with and the community I am caring for more than 4.5 years.

November held probably the biggest highlight of 2008: our wedding anniversary cruise! 8 days on board the QM2, starting from New York City, cruising the Caribbean with final destination Fort Lauderdale. We loved it so much that we're determined to not only do this cruise every milestone anniversary but in 2009 - if in any way possible! There was another highlight of course: the election of Barrack Obama as the next US president. Let's get back the good things that America and its people stood and hopefully soon again stand for!!!

Always a fantastic month is December and this time especially with my Dad's 70th birthday surprise party! Not only did we have a great time with my family in the South of Germany but with our friends in Munich too. It felt so good to see everybody again: my sister Biggi, her boyfriend, Andrea, Elena, Fiona, Martina, Liza, Nicole, Volker, Oliver's Mom and as said my Mom and Dad.

The last couple of days in New York City could not have been any better. Oliver and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve where we dressed up nicely and had a fun picture session. The next day, we were partying at Yvette's place with Melissa, Itzik and other friends. The day after that, Lani and Richard had dinner with us. Yesterday, we might with Jennifer and Bryan from Hong Kong who were on a short visit in New York and tonight we'll celebrate with Bill and Mike at Rosa Mexicano.

So, when I say that 2008 was particularly nice, then because of all of the above and so much more that I currently cannot think of.

Thanks and good-bye 2008. Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year everybody!

Change We Need

I am amazed of how much of a pop star he is! Not surprised, because it doesn't come as a surprise, but it's astonishing and sooo cool!

Somebody from MY generation! As I've just learned (again) today, somebody who's a "baby boomer" like me. Granted, I am only a "baby boomer" by 2 months and he's full 3 years into it but that's besides the point!

He's young! Hell yes! 47 IS young! It's especially young for a president. And his face is everywhere: on stickers, on t-shirts, on buttons, on books, on magazines, name it, he's on it! Since I am living in this country, the United States hasn't seen such a phenomenon. He's unique and ground braking and he's not being left alone. Each of his steps get tracked and analyzed. Must be tough to live with all the attention.

And so he makes me believe in a better tomorrow. And he makes me read his second book - Audacity of Hope. I like it, I like it a lot. Cheers to our president elect! Now we all must work together and help to turn this ship around.

Photo Update: New York City Waterfalls

We took more than 300 pictures of the four waterfalls that Olafur Eliasson installed along the East River. This is, actually, not much, but it took still a while to sort through them and select the best ones. Please have a look at the final selection on Photrade.