vip in the city

Madonna art

After work, I stopped in at the W New York — Times Square Living Room for the new exhibit of Madonna art. Which is to say: paint embellished photographic canvases featuring Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, the pop — not religious — icon.

Prominent New York-based photographer Steven Klein has been called the “anti-fashion fashion photographer.” Interesting side note: Klein was the photographer behind the infamous Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie “Domestic Bliss” feature photo spread in the July 2005 issue of W Magazine, which prompted Jennifer Aniston to remark of Pitt to Vanity Fair, “There’s a sensitivity chip that’s missing.” I’d say so.

Jean-Baptiste Mondino is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He directed Madonna’s “Open Your Heart,” “Justify My Love” and “Don’t Tell me” videos, among many others. Mondino and Klein’s photos covered the span of Madonna’s career… well, more accurately, her post True Blue-career. Not a lace glove cutoff or wedding dress in sight.

The champagne was free-flowing, as was the music: all Madonna, all the time (natch), with focus on The Immaculate Collection singles, mixed — ineptly, as my tunes-sensitive companion pointed out — by the resident DJ.

Beauty’s where you find it
Not just where you bump and grind it

Sand n’ Surf… sorta

Decided today to head out to the Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City earlier this afternoon before the World Cup final party in Sunnyside. Intriguing little spot, perfect for beach-starved city dwellers who can appreciate the trippy, fakey nature of laying out on a Port Authority-owned wharf atop Jersey-imported sand, overlooking Midtown Manhattan… and without their toes actually touching any water.

Still, the sun shone hot and bright, and from the wooden picnic tables, we could sink our teeth into freshly grilled burgers while the seaspray (riverspray?) misted us off the New York Water Taxi ferries to 34th Street.

The burgers, by the way, are very good, as one would expect from a place run by Harry Hawk of Schnäck fame. According to the website, they’re crafted of 1/4 lbs of 100% Certified Black Angus Chuck, ground fresh daily based on the estimated need for the day, and once they’re out, they’re out. That credo seemed to apply to other menu items as well; by the time we arrived early Sunday afternoon, the tiki hut had run out of fries, chips and bratwurst for the weekend.

But the sangria and frozen margaritas were refreshing and tasty — dangerously tasty. Plus, how could we resist the DJ spinning his eclectic mix beach-ready tunes, ranging from The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” to Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy?” (Thanks, B!)

The chainlink fence separating us from the water somewhat detracted from the illusion of a true beach experience, but the sunbathers and volleyball players hardly seemed to notice or mind.

Such a beautiful day, and I ended up staying somewhat longer than planned. On the way to the World Cup Final party, I passed several cars, which suddenly exploded into a cacophony of horn-blaring and jubilant shouting, as jersey-clad passengers hung out of the open windows, waving their red, white and green flags in the air. Hmm.

And sure enough, by the time I arrived, the Italy v. France match was over — penalty kicks and all. Even missed the Zidane headbutt, though not the endless replays on the news later that night.

Main Squeeze

SYB rose bright and early on Saturday morning to wait outside the Public Theatre for Shakespeare in the Park tickets so I could attend one of the last performances of Macbeth that night. A valiant — and generous — effort, but perhaps due to the recent run of sunny, low-humidity days or to some “final reminder” writeup in one of the dreaded city-centric blogs, by 7:30AM, the line was 250+(!) deep for the 1:00PM ticket distribution. Got his text message shortly after 10:00AM regretfully informing me that he missed the cutoff by about 10 spots.

Meryl Streep’s run in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage begins August 8. Dare I try?

So after work that night, instead of watching Liev Schreiber perform (and instead of crashing D’s bachelor party), I strolled over to Riverside Park South to check out the tail end of the 1st Annual NYC Main Squeeze Accordion Festival on the newly opened Pier I at West 70th Street.

Good, goofy fun. As advertised, there was live accordion music and an accordion flea market. By 8:30PM the festival was winding down, but as the sun set in the west, the band musicians played on to a still lively crowd, several of whom were moved to their feet, dancing along the pier to “The Tennessee Waltz.”

View of West New York, New Jersey: