Roger & Me Screening At Lincoln Center

Filmmaker Michael Moore is a guy most people either love or hate, but I’ve never understood why or how anyone could hate his first film, Roger & Me. It’s basically the story of how Roger B. Smith, then the CEO of General Motors shut down plants in Flint, Michigan, moved the work to Mexico and  that move has cost about 30,000 jobs and pretty much ruined the town of Flint, Michigan. And the real kicker is that Smith shut the factories down and moved the labor out of the country when GM was making record profits. He didn’t need to do this, but he wanted to make even more money, so he destroyed an American city to do so.

Moore managed to document all this by filming the people left in Flint and by taking trips to try to get Roger Smith to atone for his actions. The film has equal parts humor, sadness and it shows how a greedy company just doesn’t care about the people working there who helped make it successful. It’s one of my favorite movies and I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it, but I’ve never seen it in a movie theater. So I was really excited when my friend and frequent TWM guest star, Shawn told me there was going to be a screening of the film at a theater in Lincoln Center and that Michael Moore was going to be there to speak about the film and answer questions. I plan my week’s worth of trips and had another plan for tonight, but seeing Roger & Me in a theater in Lincoln Center trumps that idea, so that’s tonight’s destination.

And here we are at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

And here's the famous fountain in the center of it. But we're not here to see tourist attractions, we're here to see...

A film. And from the looks of that sign, by George I think we've found it.

Yep, this is the place.

And it's just a short escalator ride, nothing as traumatic as yesterday's ride.

Shawn and I agreed to meet at the box office here.

Here's my ticket, now where's Shawn?

Here he is, decked out in a vintage Roger & Me t-shirt. Shawn grew up in Flint, Michigan, knows Michael Moore and saw the premiere there.

And it's into the theater we go.

Time to get a seat. I've watched Roger & Me many times, but this is the first time I've ever seen it on the big screen.

It's the 50th New York Film Festival this year.

And the movie begins...

Roger & Me.

It's funny, I've never seen this at the end of the movie. Usually when the credits start rolling I shut it off at home. But tonight I watched it till the end and after the credtis it reads: "This film cannot be shown within the city of Flint."

"All the movie theaters have closed."

Afterwards there was an onstage interview with Michael Moore. It turns out he financed Roger & Me by selling his house, holding bingo parties in Flint and from grants from the city. It was a big gamble and it paid off big. Roger & Me was the first documentary film to reach a huge mass audience and paved the way for documentary films to be thought of as mainstream movie entertainment. And I've had my own Michael Moore moment and you can read  about that here. It was a great night and thanks to Shawn for the hat tip!

Further Reading: My Upper West, Top Documentary Films and rogerebert.com.

And wouldn’t it be nice to live together,
In the kind of world where we belong.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Questionable Linkage!

Once again there's dueling questions between myself and DJ Gidget over at her blog, check it out, it's a lot of fun. And don't forget to tune in to the "Secret Weapon" on Woody Radio, where "Boris" picks the tunes and DJ Gidget spins them! It's on right now, so tune in! And check out the lawn jockey photo that Gidget sent in featuring her son Jack and the neighbors lawn jockey decked out for Halloween.

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'21' Club Photo From Biff!

Biff commented yesterday that she had lunch across from the '21' Club the last time she was in New York and here's a photo she took from the aforementioned lunch. Maybe on her next trip we'll have a drink in there together! Thanks for the photo, Bifferoonie!

'21' Club

I haven’t been out on a searching for a swizzle stick adventure since I started TWM, so I thought tonight I’d go out in search of one. One classic New York Bar I’ve never been to is the ‘21’ Club. The ‘21’ Club originally opened in Greenwich Village in 1922 and was called the Red Head. They moved to the current location at 21 West 52nd Street in 1929 and changed the name to Jack and Charlie’s 21 Club in honor of the new address and the two owners first names. As time wore on, it became simply known as ‘21’ Club. You’d think an iconic place like this would have swizzle sticks, let’s go and find out!

And it's down into the subway we go as we make our way to 21 West 52nd Street.

And just as I walk onto the subway stop, a train is approaching, one of the best feelings in the world!

And here's an iZombie texting her life away seated next to me. She never once looked up from that thing.

I hate this escalator at the Fifth Avenue subway station. It's the tallest escalator ever and it really fucks around with my fear of heights. I get vertigo just looking at this picture.

Okay, I made it up the escalator with only a minor anxiety attack and here we are. The '21' Club is about a block away.

And here we are. While there's no sign outside, one thing that gives it away...

Is the ceramic jockeys out front. Through the years, horse owners and breeders have donated jockey's to '21' Club and you can read about the history of that here.

Here's more of the jockeys leading you up the stairs in the front of the building.

And here's more on the top floor. Okay, enough of the jockeys, let's check out the bar and see if we can score a swizzle stick.

This is the bar, it's situated in the front of the dining area. it's a classic dark bar and so all the photos will be flashless and maybe a little on the dark side, but I didn't want to break the mood of this place by popping off a bunch of flash photos.

Here's a shot of the wooden bar from where I stand. There are no seats or stools at the bar. One thing that's cool about this place is the way its lit, small spotlights hang from the ceiling lighting up certain areas and leaving others dark. It really gives the place a cool ambiance. You kind of feel like you're in a movie in here.

I ordered a gin and tonic in a tall glass and was disappointed that there was no swizzle stick in it. I expressed my disappointment to the friendly bartender Anne-Marie (she's camera-shy and didn't want to be photographed) and she said she could fix me right up.

She summoned Michael, who's worked at '21' for over 25 years to come over with a '21' Club swizzle stick especially for me. It seems they are on short supply and are waiting on a new order to come in, but they dug this one up just for me! Very nice!

Houston, we have a swizzle stick! Very cool, now let's take a look around in here.

Here's a shot of the back of the classic, old school bar.

A glance of the circular wooden bar from the opposite end from where I was standing.

And here's the dining room behind the bar. Notice all the items hanging from the ceiling.

There's everything from model airplanes to trucks, to football helmets and basically anything you can think of dangling from the ceiling in here. It's really something to see.

There's also lots of pictures from the past and memorabilia on the wooden walls in here.

As the night wore on, some of the tables emptied out, here's a shot of some of the spot lit tables and the red banquette behind them.

And here's the new swizzle stick...

That is added to the collection. Thanks to Anne-Marie and Michael for making this a great night out at the '21' Club and a successful swizzle stick adventure!

‘21’ Club
21 W. 52nd St. (Near Fifth Ave.)
212-582-7200

Further Reading: Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, Wikipedia and Hub Pages.

Never 21 when everyone's a sailor,
Coming up strong at the animal bar,
Ever loving mug of Mr. Norman Mailer,
Turn another page at the animal bar.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Surprise Candy And Fear Of A Stalker!

Last week a mysterious package showed up in my mail from Vermont. I wondered what it was, as I don't know anyone in Vermont, so I opened it up.

Inside there was a gift box, but no card saying who it was from. I opened it up and inside...

It was filled with maple candy. I immediately remembered answering a question from Gidget in her questions post  at her blog about my favorite childhood candy. I told her it was maple candy that my grandma gave to me as a kid. I thought maybe the candy came from Gidget so I called her. She told me that she had planned to send me maple candy, but hadn't had time to do it yet, so now I was a little freaked out. Who had my address and was sending me candy? I immediately started looking both ways as I left my apartment, fearing a stalker. Then yesterday, TWM commenter, BBC member and friend, Gene sent me an email stating that he and Smoopy had sent me a package and wondered if it had showed up. It turns out he and Smoopy read Gidget's blog, sent the candy and the people in Vermont forgot to include a card saying who it was from! So a belated thanks to Gene and Smoopy for sending the candy! It was delicious and brought back fond memories of my childhood and my grandma!

Chris Erikson CD Release Party At Lakeside Lounge

Usually I stay home on Friday’s getting ready for the next week of TWM and planning out places to go and report about. But last Friday, my friend Chris Erikson and his band the Wayward Puritans were having a CD release party and show at the Lakeside Lounge to celebrate Chris’ new CD of original tunes called, Lost Track of Time. Chris and the Wayward Puritans have been featured on my other two blogs, 365 Bars and MAD and I wanted to include a post featuring them here at TWM. On a sad note, The Lakeside Lounge is closing next week so I also wanted to go pay my respects to this great East Village bar that has hosted so many bands and musicians through the years. Okay, let’s trip back in time to last Friday night. Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to April 20th, 2012!

Here we are, the Lakeside Lounge, sadly this will be the last appearance of this classic East Village bar on TWM. Let’s go in and have a drink and drown our sorrows.

As usual, I’m way early for the show, so there’s plenty of seats at the bar, let’s go snag one.

Lucy was the pretty bartender on duty and here she is serving up an ice-cold bottle of Budweiser.

Johnny was seated next to me and we had a nice conversation about music and New York City. And it turns out it was his birthday Friday night! Cheers and happy birthday, Johnny!

I always loved this sign and at least it will live on at this post.

The jukebox here is one of the best in town. Click here for a list of the diverse artists featured in this magical box of music.

Hopefully the Photobooth will live on after the Lakeside Lounge shutters. It’s not owned by the bar and you can read more about it at this post at EV Grieve.

Some photos taken in the booth decorate this lit up pole at the bar. I’m sure going to miss this place. I hear some commotion in the back, maybe the show is about to begin.

The band is setting up their gear and it’s a packed room for tonight’s show.

Here’s the set lists and some notes on the stage floor. I think it's just about show time!

Ladies and gentlemen...Chris Erikson and The Wayward Puritans, featuring...

Chris Erikson on lead vocals and guitar...

Jay Sherman-Godfrey on guitar and harmony vocals...

Jason Mercer on bass and...

Will Rigby on drums and percussion. These are the same musicians that played on the CD.

Chris and the band played the entire CD during the show. Other guests showed up as you’ll soon see.

I wasn’t the only one snapping photos in the crowd. I wonder if she has a blog?

As I said, the room was crowded, but I was lucky enough to squeeze into a space next to these two pretty and friendly women, Kamy and Alexandra. This was their first time seeing Chris and The Wayward Puritans and they were very duly impressed.

On the third song, Erik Della Penna got on stage and added some fine lap steel guitar to the mix. Erik is part of a two-man band called, Kill Henry Sugar. Erik plays lap steel on two songs on Lost Track of the Time.

Here Cliff Westfall joins in on harmony vocals and he’s sings harmony on a few songs on the CD as well. Cliff is the front man for a band called The Steamboat Disasters.

And last, but not least, in the lineup of guest stars at the show is Florence Dore singing harmony.

Chris and Florence have been friends for a long time. Chris played guitar and sang in her band when she lived in New York and she put out a CD called, Perfect City in 2002, which Chris played guitar on and sang (Perfect City was produced by Eric Ambel, who is the co-owner of Lakeside Lounge). Florence sings harmony on the song, “When It All Comes Down,” on Chris’ new CD.

Here Chris is belting out a stinging solo on stage as the show is coming to a close.

And here’s the band and guest stars singing one last encore. As good as the other shows I’ve seen by Chris and The Wayward Puritans, this has to be at the top of the list!

Chris Erikson
Lost Track of the Time
Lost Track of the Time starts off prophetically with a song called, “All I Need.” The rollicking number kicks off with the line, “All I need is a ticket and I’m ready to go,” and this collection of tunes fires up like an empty fifth of Jack Daniel’s being smashed against the concrete wall of a dive bar signaling the start of one rowdy, raucous party. Jangly, swampy guitar riffs are thrown out like party favors and the song chugs along like someone from the bar car has hijacked the train and is steering it towards Juarez, Mexico with a bottle of tequila in one hand. The next song, “Ear To The Ground,” keeps the party going with a catchy chorus that will be imbedded in your brain, but you’ll be thankful for the earworm.

The brakes get hit for, “Call It Even,” a country-flavored gem that brings to mind someone on a nine day bender telling the bartender at closing time how his woman skipped town with his best friend and his bank account. The honky tonk piano, pedal steel guitar and Chris’ wailing, plaintive vocal is enough to bring a tear to George Jones’ world-weary eyes. The tune “Guilty” conjured up the Rolling Stones circa “Beggars Banquet,” not in an imitative way, but with the same selling your soul to Lucifer spirit.

The core band on the CD is Chris and his band, The Wayward Puritans consisting of Chris on vocals and guitar, Jason Mercer on bass, Jay Sherman-Godfrey on guitars and harmony vocals and Will Rigby on drums. They play off each other like seasoned veterans because that’s exactly what they are. There’s also nine other guest musicians contributing, harmonies, piano, pedal steel guitar, organ, mandolin and harmonica. If you’re like me and you’ve been sick to your stomach from all the generic American Idol type music floating around, the remedy can be found within the grooves of Chris Erikson’s, Lost Track of the Time.

You can listen to samples of Lost Track of the Time and buy the CD or MP3's at the following online outlets:
iTunes
CD Baby (Note: CD Baby has a notice that the CD is out of stock, but Chris told me he sent them a new batch and they will be available within a few days, so if you order from them, be assured you will receive the CD quickly.)

Chris generously gave me a CD at the show, but I went over to CD Baby and bought one anyway to support this great and original music. So I’m going to give out the one he gave to me as a prize to the person who leaves the first comment today!

Further Reading: Time Out New York, The Sycamores and MySpace.

Perfect City by Florence Dore featuring Chris Erikson on guitar and vocals.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!