the bowery hotel

two great bloody mary spots. cafe gitane at the jane hotel, and tiny's, in tribecca

 tiny's, in tribecca, is very cute.  the bloody marys are traditional house mixed and good!  they look so pretty on the gold leaf tables.  no horseradish, but surprisingly they didn't seem to need it.  tasty food.

cafe gitanne at the jane hotel. link. the jane hotel is the cutest most charming place!  built on the tip of the hudson river at the turn of the 19th century it housed the surviving crew of the titanic in the months following it's sinking.  now it's full of arty in the know types, hipsters and arty celebrities.  the cafe serves a delicious "moroccan" bloody mary with harissa sauce, ground almonds and peanuts, cilantro and olives.

the occupy wall street library

zachary, the dickensian librarian.

reverend billy here
and at the mermaid parade here

strange bin fellows

 ann coulter seems to peacefully coexist with james carville, and cozies up to wade rathke, founder of acorn...

but, forced to share the same plastic container, andrew jackson and the dali lama turn their backs on each other.

lisa simione, occupy.

i heard on the news this morning that a broadcaster has been fired from an npr affiliate because she's been acting as a spokesperson for occupy dc.  saw the story again in the daily beast and i was surprised to learn it was "world of opera" host lisa "the voice" simione, who i knew in annapolis 30 years ago.  she had conspicuous star quality- smart, beautiful, vivacious, fun.  a chic, brainy glamazon- obviously destined for an interesting life.

more- great hufpo coverage: link

bread and circus. good bloody marys and violin. prune, occupy wall street and carnegie hall

"mayor bloomberg" opened snl this week: link.  he suggested those attending occupy wall street make some time to go out to dinner or enjoy a broadway show.   this was a joke on snl, but it sounds like  real life to me.  hey- why shouldn't the 99% have some fun?! in between visits to liberty park i hit carnegie hall and had brunch at foodie/bloody mary mecca- prune.  we got cheap same day last row seats for this:

gil shaham was mesmerizing.  the times reviewed it here

prune's bloody marys are legendary, and of all i've tried in new york, i think prune's may be my very favorite.  there are 10 different kinds, they make up a whole section of the menu!  the ones in the picture are "green lake" and "chicago matchbox" bloodies. the green lake has absolut, wasabi, and a beef jerky swizzler.  chicago has handmade lemon vodka and pickled baby veggies.  i also love the "danish" made with aquavit, fennel and a citrus cured white anchovy.  served with a beer chaser!

free libya!

this morning it appears muammar gaddafi is dead.

libya is free!

another popular uprising is triumphant, and ecstatic people are streaming into the streets of tripoli.

may democracy, free of retaliatory violence, ensue!

aljazeera has coverage. it's graphic and unpleasant: link

update: now that more information has surfaced about gaddafi's death, my comment about retaliatory violence seems so inappropriate.

william burroughs suits occupy wall street

 william burroughs appeared at occupy wall street this morning with a half a dozen racks of suits and ties and a group of tailors and barbers.  they measured occupiers for suits and fitted them, doing alterations on the spot.  burroughs himself took up trouser legs and occasionally offered pins bearing his image and advice: "always look better than the man you're trying to con."

explanation here: link