For a week, staying in a small, built-in-1841 hotel in the Village. I’m going to Book Expo America and while I’m there, exploring this most fabulous of all cities. I’m really excited. Got a first class ticket with Visa/frequent flyer awards; my MO is to take the red eye, arrive at JFK around 7AM Sunday, stay up all day (no naps), go to bed by midnight, which eases me into eastern time. I usually go to Washington Square on Sunday afternoon to see the acrobats, music groups, skateboarders, then wander the streets, gawking and shooting photos.

Any tips on cafes, restaurants, venues, unique places to visit?

Ground Control to Major Tom,

Commencing countdown, engines on…

Kirsten Dirksen is a filmmaker with Fair Companies, a bi-lingual media operation that she and her husband Nicolás Boullosa run out of Barcelona. Kirsten is a former TV producer for MTV and the Travel Channel who now focusses on “…community and access to tools on sustainable culture.”

She has produced almost 600 videos, an amazing body of work when you consider that it’s the editing, not the shooting, that is so time-consuming. I don’t know how she does it.

We’ve had a bunch of people shoot film (OK, OK, video) around here and they generally take a long time to get set up, then follow a pre-conceived series of shots and questions.

Kirsten walked in the first time and within 5 minutes, was shooting. We were comfortable with her. She winged it, seeing what we were doing, following us around. On one of her visits, her two little long-haired girls explored the garden and chickens and Nicolás shot photos.

One thing I love about this video is that she recognized what Lesley is doing in her life and with her garden, her art, and her attitude towards a home. Often that gets missed in people coming here to see me.

The last part of this cracked me up.

Kirsten posted it earlier today.

https://faircompanies.com/videos/view/lloyd-kahn-on-his-norcal-self-reliant-half-acre-homestead/

Check through the other films at Fair Companies.

Photo of Kirsten by Nicolás Boullosa 

Article in New York Times article on Joey May 13, 2015 by Nate Chinen: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/arts/music/joey-alexander-an-11-year-old-jazz-sensation-who-hardly-clears-the-pianos-sightlines.html

(I’m not sure if you can access all NYT articles without being a subscriber.)

“…Joey began playing piano at 6, picking out a Thelonious Monk tune by ear, which led Mr. Sila, an amateur pianist, to teach him some fundamentals. Beyond that, Joey recalled, ‘I heard records, and also YouTube, of course.’

He played at jam sessions in Bali and then in Jakarta, when his family moved there. At 8, he played for the pianist Herbie Hancock, who was in Jakarta as a Unesco good-will ambassador. (‘You told me that you believed in me,’ Joey recalled last fall, addressing Mr. Hancock at a gala for the Jazz Foundation of America, ‘and that was the day I decided to dedicate my childhood to jazz.’) He was 9 when he entered the first Master-Jam Fest, an all-ages jazz competition in Ukraine. He won its grand prize.

Soon one of his YouTube videos caught the notice of Mr. Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, who invited him to appear at the organization’s 2014 gala. Joey played a solo version of the Monk ballad ‘Round Midnight’ as the finale, earning a standing ovation, glowing reviews and some influential supporters.…”