Fun New York Christmas-Related Events

I want to go to both of these!!!! Who's in?

The House of Yes Christmas Spectacular in Williamsburg and The Hard Nut at BAM in Brooklyn!





December 16th, 17th and 18th

THE HOUSE OF YES CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR: Xmas Around the World

House of Yes is at it again, with the second annual House of Yes
Christmas Spectacular! This year, producer duo Anya Sapozhnikova and
Kae Burke are bringing audiences “Xmas Around the World”, a
delightfully offensive celebration showcasing different cultures and
their customs of Christmas joy.

Featuring more talent than that other “Christmas Spectacular”,
this show will be overflowing with festive theatrics including racist
reindeer, Chinese elves, holiday aerialists, and international Santas!

Performers from the Lady Circus, Dead Bunny Burlesque, Spazz Hands,
Desert Sin, extra special guest Miss Rosewood and many more will be
bringing Christmas cheer to the stage this year guaranteeing that this
will really be the Most Wonderful Show of the Year.

Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm

$20-$40 sliding scale. Limited number of $15 tickets will be available
for the Thursday show, first come first served basis.

Tickets will only be available at the door, cash only please.

(PG13: strong language, drug references, nudity(full frontal, male and
female), sex, racial profiling, strobes.)

House of Yes Theatre

342 Maujer Street (near Morgan Ave)

Grand St. L train

All proceeds go to benefit House of Yes theatre improvements for 2011!

www.houseofyes.org/events

and ...

The Hard Nut

Part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival

Dec 10, 11 & 15—18, 2010, 7:30pm
Dec 12 & 19, 2010, 3pm

The Hard Nut is the annual Richard B. Fisher Next Wave Presentation, which receives special support from the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.

Presented by BAM and Mark Morris Dance Group

Featuring the MMDG Music Ensemble with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Conducted by Robert Cole
Choreography by Mark Morris

"Morris' choreography is formally dazzling, uproariously funny." —San Francisco Chronicle

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Mark Morris Dance Group reprises its irreverent and much loved The Hard Nut, a retro-modern take on the holiday favorite The Nutcracker. Morris’ rendition—which has won Ovation TV’s Battle of the Nutcrackers contest for three years running—transplants the story from the decorous 1890s to the swinging 1970s, a freewheeling era realized with panache and wit. Inspired by the E.T.A. Hoffmann story, Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score, and the comic book art of Charles Burns, Morris captures the beauty and tenderness of this classic while infusing it with supreme musicality and raucous humor.

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
120min with intermission
Tickets: $25, 45, 60, 70

Appropriate for ages 4 & up

Set design by Adrianne Lobel
Costume design by Martin Pakledinaz
Lighting design by James F. Ingalls
Based on the novel by ETA Hoffman, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Away from NYC!

I am spending the "holidaze" in my hometown of Pittsburgh, dubbed "America's most livable city" by its official city website, Pghgov.com. A much quieter, quainter city than the Big Apple, it has nonetheless been an interesting time here so far.

An excursion downtown (the so-called cultural district of the city) on Christmas Eve made for a festive merry-making night at half the cost of NYC standards.

On Christmas itself, I walked around my neighborhood with my friend to see what would be open, looking in hopes of finding some brunch options. The neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, is predominantly Jewish, so we felt assured that we would encounter several open stores to explore. Lo and behold, the two open stores we found during our 20-minute walk: Starbuck's and Rite-Aid. After standing in the winding line at Starbuck's for 10 minutes and barely moving an inch ahead, we gave up and continued our search, to find that Rite-Aid was open all day on Christmas. Here we bought a dozen eggs, iced tea and other amenities; and upon check-out, we had a distinctly Pittsburgh experience wherein the cashier related a significant, summarized portion of her life story in explanation of why she didn't mind working during the afternoon on Christmas. Oh, Pittsburgh.

I also rode on the Pittsburgh Port Authority (the public transportation system) here on Christmas, which was surprisingly in use on this holiday. My favorite experience of the public transportation here was the light-rail system, the T, which is a two-car train that goes through downton Pittsburgh and neighborhoods south of the city. It is, frankly, adorable compared to NYC. That about sums up Pittsburgh. Most livabe city? I'm not sure about that, but it is laidback and a nice occasional getaway from NYC.

NYC Christmas Prep and Bright Bikes

I missed Santacon last night. And despite all of my efforts, I was not able to get in touch with any of the participating Santas to at least observe their ruckus-making debauchery around the city. Well, at least I'll be able to find pictures of their "conference" online. (Here, in fact, is one flickr site that features 2008 NYC Santacon pictures.) And I had several other worthy causes that took precedent over Santacon. Yes, I did just day that.

I went to the Eyebeam workshops in Chelsea yesterday afternoon after a delicious brunch. There, I was able to observe and partake in strange and unusual workshops, where adults and children alike were busily engaged in their crafts and electronic projects. Workshops included snowglobe-making, Tickle-Me-Elmo reconstruction (minus the fur, a scary sight...!), and tranformation of standard bicyles into "bright bikes." I didn't have my actual bike with me, but I purchased a large strip of reflective vinyl (that tapes right onto the bike), which effectively makes your bike exude a glow-in-the-dark white light when under the glare of a bright light. This is exactly the kind of bicycle bling I need to stay visible when riding at night! Also, I enjoyed a long interlude at Eyebeam in the "video womb," a little installation room with full carpeting that offered a meditative, trance-like experience with live video projections from the fabric screen above.

Pictures of Eyebeam below:

(The "elves" at work making the re-furbished Tickle-Me-Elmos without fur)

(the Elmos without the fur, rolling around, psychotic robotic laugh machines)

(Yes, that's Elmo on top of the tree. At Eyebeam)


(a Bright Bike above; when not looking directly from the light source, the bike appears black; the vinyl tape makes it reflectively shine white!)

I gallery-hopped for a bit in Chelsea after the Eyebeam extravaganze. One interesting exhibit featured photography from China, with citizens wearing t-shirts with "Chinglish."
Oh, the United States, with our cultural and linguistic imperialism. Isn't it jarring how the political statement of this t-shirt clashes so much with the colorful image?

And, finally, to end on a positive (?) note: my night yesterday ended with a chocolate party. Being the (quasi-)vegetarian that I am, I didn't try the centerpiece chocolate of the evening:

Holiday Cheer - From Crafts to Santacon

I am not sure where my Saturday will take me, but here are some holiday possibilities:

- The Secret Project Robot Gift on Grand holiday sale. This holiday craft fair from local designers will be held at Secret Project Robot, at 210 Kent Ave, at Metropolitan. Why is it called "grand" if it's on Metropolitan and not Grand St.? Touché. Their blog provides pictures of some of the wares and links to the designers who will be present. The event is going on from 11 am-7 pm.


Eyebeam, an arts organization in Chelsea, is hosting DIY holiday workshops from 1-6 pm Saturday, as well as a holiday bash starting at 6 pm. From their calendar:

December 13, 2008
Sat., Dec. 13, 1PM – workshops | 6PM: Holiday party

Cost: Free. Calling all makers, residents, fellows, and friends … If you haven’t yet experienced everyone’s favorite holiday gift-making event, here’s the scoop: For one day and one day only, Eyebeam becomes an all-ages, mutl-workshop electronic craft-making fair, with entertainment, decorations and plenty of holiday spirit.

I hear there is going to be a workshop where I can apply unobtrusive-looking stickers to my bike, which glow in the dark when a light shines on them. I may just have to bike over here...

And, last but not least, is Santacon: a so-called convention open to the public, starting at 10 am. The catch is that you must dress up in a Santa or holiday theme, come prepared with money, your ID and metrocard, and be ready for a holiday ruckus-making time with hundreds of other Santas. The secret meeting location will be announced Friday, December 12th at 10 pm. I would like to at least run into this mass Santa spectacle at some point on Saturday...