Sculptor J. Seward Johnson Judges Marilyn Contest

Dudes, I am so breaking this story! There was media everywhere at the Marilyn contest- J. Seward Johnson was one of the judges- but I’m putting it up first, because I’m competitive like that.

The contest, in honor of Stamford Downtown's outdoor exhibit of JSJ's sculptures, was hilarious- see all pics at my flickr site. I got to meet and see some of Stamford’s glitterati: the SDSSD staff including their cool bloggers, the head of Keep Stamford Beautiful, a guy on the board at the Avon Theatre, and... the sculptor himself!

A friend’s husband peer pressured me into saying hi to J. Seward Johnson. I do not like to bother celebs, but he said JSJ is really nice and likes talking to people. On the way out, I happened to pass JSJ just as he finished signing a Marilyn’s book, so I said, “Hi, I have a website about Stamford, and I have a silly question. Do you have a message for Stamford?”

JSJ actually took some time to think, and he looked me in the eye and said something to the effect of, “Stamford is going places. There are many sides of it, and every time I come, I see a different side.”

Cool.

Sandy Goldstein, head of SDSSD, said she was proud of us for coming, and proud of the Marilyns... I am too. Life can be so shittily dull, and we’ve got to spice it up by putting on wigs, drinking wine, and taking pictures of each other.

GO SDSSD and Avon, for putting on this cool event! Now I’m expecting more amazing ones... please!

I regret that I left too soon to get a photo of the winning Marilyn, in fuchsia satin, petting a white pit bull. Dammit!!! I saw the shot as I drove by the Avon on the way home. I am sure someone else got it. News 12 was there, a photographer for SDSSD, and a guy doing a documentary on JSJ.

Here all the judges, Marilyns, and important people who made the event/exhibit happen:



Click here to read more.

Let the Statue Parade Hi-Jinx Begin!

I was downtown today for the first time since the human statues went up, and I was not disappointed. Driving up Atlantic, I was thrilled to see a statue of a little girl swinging on a stop sign who looks like she might fall into the road. That's gonna fool some people and give them a scare, and that's my favorite part of the human statue parade. I love having my mind messed with; I love a shot of drama on a hum-drum drive around town. (No, Trump Crane, that's not a hint for you to mess with me by tossing chunks of metal down at me. Stay the F away from me.)

Outside the Ferg, I saw my first instance of people playing jokes with statues. A man crouched behind the statue of the guy with the camera, made bunny ears, then sprinted back across the busy intersection to a large crowd of his laughing friends! Yes! Mayhem! Danger! Statue Parade, you rock!

Downtown again later today, at the same Ferguson intersection, I saw a person sitting on a bench who I was sure was fake. Nope, he was real. A moment later, on my green light, five people jaywalked right in front of me by the camera guy. I actually honked at them because they were ambling and sipping sodas as if they were at a carnival, rather than jaywalking in one of the busiest intersections in the city. I swear, with the line between fake and real being so blurred, pedestrians feel they can do whatever they want. I like this element of chaos even though it's annoying.

I passed the Marilyn Monroe statue outside the Avon Theatre. Don't forget the Marilyn Monroe Look-Alike Contest Tuesday, June 10. Round up your friends, talk a few of them into wearing a halter dress and a blond wig, and meet at Capriccio at 530 for dinner and drinks. Pre-contest party at the Avon at 615, contest at 7, then a showing of the movie Some Like It Hot. Only complicated thing: you have to submit a contest application by June 4, but you can do it online. Go to the Stamford Downtown website, click "Event Calendar", and scroll down. I think there is a singing portion of the competition, so it's pretty involved, but there are cash prizes! I'm going to try to get some friends to do it. I have one friend who I think might do well.

As I left the downtown area, a banner announced the Live at Five Thursday concerts coming up. Stamford, I feel you gearing up! I'm hearing non-residents talk about the concerts, and Stamford, we are getting so famous!

Related Stamford Talk Posts:

--March 27, 2008- "Human Life-Sized Art Downtown," in which I tell you why the human statues are too much for me to handle.

--May 26, 2008- "Stamford, NYC, Trump's Looming Cranes," in which Stamford residents weigh in on our very own Crane of Danger.

--May 23, 2008- "Falling Metal at the Trump Parc Site: I'm Angry," in which our very own crane finally attacks

--April 5, 2008- Sat AM: "Looming Crane and Road Closings," in which I take another swipe at the crane

--December 6, 2007- "Target Under Attack by Trump Parc?" in which I first bring up the possible danger of the Stamford crane


This guy on the bench is the one I thought was a statue, because he was sitting very still, and his skin tone looked a little odd, just like the statues.
Click here to read more.

Weekend Planning: Yours, with the Fairfield Weekly

I tell ya, the Fairfield Weekly is where you need to go to plan your weekend. It's the most efficient way to find great events and the best resource for the local music scene.

I check the Weekly every Thursday. During the dark days when I first lived in Stamford, it was my lifeline to music, culture and creativity- the young kind. The FW led me to Green's, which led me to good music and all sorts of other things that are better off forgotten.

Scroll down a little bit to the "Leisure" tab on the right-hand side, and click on "7 Days: The Week That Is." The feature lists the top entertainment choice for each day of the week, which might be a lecture, concert, art show, or... any type of event you can think of that is legal. The wide variety of events means that you aren't only reading about things that cost 50 bucks, like tickets to shows at SCA. Click here to read more.

Human Life-Sized Art Downtown

I am against this project! Bring back the cows!

This line in the Stamford Times was bad news for me: The annual sculpture and photography exhibit, "Art in Public Places," will be on display this summer in the streets of downtown Stamford, featuring life-size sculptures of artist J. Seward Johnson.

I had a disturbing experience with the human statue parade a few years ago. I was driving on Main Street in front of the Ferguson and was startled to see a man in a suit leaning out into traffic... to realize a second later that it was a statue.

What the- don’t they realize we are all distracted drivers? Why place a statue of a businessman who looks like he's in a rush right by a busy street? At least have him turned away from the road, gesticulating to an invisible friend, so no one slams on the brakes because they think he's about to jaywalk.

A few weeks later, in the little park across from the Avon Theatre, I saw a statue of a black man with white albino patches on his face, again leaning into traffic and wearing a business suit. That’s an odd choice for a statue, I thought, but it's cool that the human statue parade has a variety of types of people. Just after I passed the statue, he waved to his friend and crossed the road. Geez Louise. It’s a good thing that person wasn’t banking on me stopping to let him cross, because I would have run him right over.

The line between reality and fantasy is not clear enough in my mind to be able to handle the life-sized people statues. In the past week, a pregnant Angelina Jolie and scenes from Battlestar Galactica Season One have appeared in my dreams. Two months ago, I was dreaming about Sawyer from Lost because I was stressed out that he was stuck in the cage in season three.

For people with overactive imaginations, the human art is not the cute, clever experience it’s meant to be! Let’s bring back the Cow Parade. The colorful cows are more obvious works of art, so no one’s going to mistake them for real animals about to wander into a busy street.

What I do approve of is a photography competition associated with the human statues. See the Downtown Events website for more info and an application. The general idea is to take photos of people in Stamford that are "full body shots of ordinary life and people that reflect Johnson’s Classic series." I can handle photos. They're flat pieces of paper I'm not likely to mistake for real people.


Consider this post your warning to pay more attention when driving in downtown Stamford. Let's just hope they don't place this statue by a road. Click here to read more.

Connnecticut Film Festival in Norwalk

The CT Film Festival continues into May; this weekend, movies are in Norwalk.

See the CFF homepage for movies and times. I learned about the Stamford dates too late, although I did read about it in the Fairfield Weekly. A reader emailed to tip me off to this weekend's movies, so thank you!

I love film festivals. The most amazing one I ever went to was the Documentary Film Festival in Greenwich in the Fall of 2004. I haven't been able to find it since, though. Click here to read more.

Urgent: March Madness Restaurant Week(s)!!!

Stamford Downtown's website brings fabulous tidings of affordable food. Yes, it's Restaurant Week(s)!

Essential info: A Winter Restaurant Celebration in Stamford Downtown will take place Sunday-Thurs, March 2- 6 and March 9- 13. Restaurants will have special prix-fixe deals during the week, meaning you can try out new restaurants without going broke. We need to hit this event full force and eat our faces off.

The poster calls the event "March Madness," which is pretty clever, since it will be a feeding frenzy. I'll post prices below, but visit Stamford Downtown Special Services District's site for more info.

SDSSD does awesome events like Resto Weeks and the Alive at Five summer Thursday concerts, but I am having significant trouble mastering their name. I suppose we can shorten it to "Stamford Downtown Association" or "Stamford Downtown Services," but those names don't reflect the entertaining nature of the concerts, parades, farmers markets and street celebrations. I'm going to humbly suggest "Stamford Downtown Entertainment." Their blog is called "Stamford Downtown Events," so that could work , too. Even "Stamford Downtown Events and Entertainment" (SDEE) would be a big improvement. Sure, people want services, but entertainment usually wins out!

Speaking off entertainment, I'm off to another day of the Avon's Oscar Film Fest- as usual, I am proudly supporting SD!

- - - - - - -
March 2nd – March 6th & March 9th – March 13th
(Sundays through Thursdays only)
Prix-fixe lunch & dinner at these incredible restaurants

$10.08 LUNCH & $15.08 DINNER
Black Bear
Fin II Japanese Restaurant
Kujaku Sushi & Hibachi
Remo's Brick Oven Pizza Company

$15.08 LUNCH & $25.08 DINNER
122 Pizza-Bistro
Capriccio Cafe**
Duo
Plateau
Republic Grill Asian Bistro
Tigin Irish Pub
Zody's Café

$25.08 LUNCH & $35.08 DINNER
Bennett's Steak & Fish
Columbus Park Trattoria
Dragonfly Restaurant & Lounge
Emme of Capri
Ferrante*
g/r/a/n/d
Il Falco Ristorante

*Lunch only **Dinner only Click here to read more.

Avon Film Festival Continues, and Into the Wild

The Avon’s Oscar film festival was glorious. On five different days, the Avon is showing various Oscar-nominated films, two at a time. I went last Saturday. The first film at 9:30 was Sweeney Todd. It was OK, but after he cut the 15th throat, I was ready to move on to the next film.
Into the Wild is the best movie I’ve seen in a while. Despite the unbelieveably lumpy, uncomfortable seats, the entire audience was spellbound and still for over 2 hours. Warning: slight spoilers are coming up in the next paragraphs, so stop reading if you want to keep a clean slate.

The movie tells the true story of 23 year-old Christopher McCandless, played beautifully by Emile Hirsch. After college, he picks up everything, without a word to his family, and heads for Alaska. It takes him almost a year to get there. He kayaks from California to Mexico, harvests wheat in South Dakota, and lives with hippies in… Nevada?

He lives in the freezing cold of Alaska—

Ok here comes the only real spoiler. If you read Jon Krakauer’s acclaimed book on the subject, you know the kid ends up dying, but I want to give you one heartbreaking detail.

After a couple of months of surviving in Alaska, he decides to go home. And even though you know this kid ends up dead, you think he might make it. You want him to get home to his sister, whose voice-overs describe how much she misses him and how his asshole parents are changing for the better because of their grief and shock at his disappearance.

So. He packs up and starts walking. When he comes to the stream he crossed in the winter, it’s now, in the spring, a raging river. I felt the whole audience think to themselves, shit. At this point in the movie, you love him, and now you know why he’s going to die. He can’t get home. He’s going to starve, or freeze. You so badly want this kid to live.

Sean Penn directed the film. Visually it’s stunning, the actors are great, and even Vince Vaughan is passable as a wheat farmer- I know, weird. Outrageously, neither Penn or Hirsch are up for an Oscar. The only reason I didn’t immediately run out and buy Krakauer's book is because I wanted to savor the memory of the movie.

The next films are this Wednesday—film shorts—and Saturday— Lars and the Real Girl and I’m Not There, the Dylan biopic. I’m going to both. You should go, too. I thought it was 2 movies for ten bucks, but I think you’re supposed to pay for both. If you don’t leave the theatre between films, you can get away with only paying for one movie. I didn’t do that though! No way! Click here to read more.

Stamford Calendar of Events

I'm continuing to keep the calendar to the right updated, culling through local websites so you don't have to! I don't put every single event up, just the ones I find appealing or ones I think will appeal to many people. If you think I have missed something, please email stamfordtalk at gmail.

I don't include meetup.com events on my Stamford calendar, but that's really where you should go if you are looking for fun activities in Stamford!

I don't have ongoing events listed, like Tuesday's Trivia at Tigin, because I don't want to jam up the calendar. I'm debating making a separate calendar for ongoing events, but for now, I'll add the Trivia to the Events calendar since it's the only ongoing activity besides karaoke that's worth going to on a weeknight.
Online sources I use are the Stamford Times, Stamford Advocate, Fairfield Weekly, Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Avon Theatre, Yahoo events, um.... I think that's it! Click here to read more.

Pete Seeger Documentary at the Avon

You missed it. This entry is just an excuse to talk about myself and tell you to pay better attention to the Avon Theatre's special events listing.

I like my alone time, but I'm so funny that it's a real shame no one is around to appreciate all of the cinematic moments that I generate on a regular basis. For example, Tuesday night, as I waiting for the Pete Seeger documentary to start, I was eating Sour Patch Kids while reading Eating Well magazine. Oh, the irony! I can only hope the people behind me noticed and had a chuckle at my expense.

I don't only use my friends as an audience, I use them as inspiration. If a friend had been at the movie with me, I would have had the moral support to shout something silly in the post-film discussion with the director.

When the director said, "We did a limited theater release so we could get it out on DVD, and get it viewed as much as possible before the election," my interest antennae went up. Before the election? Why? Was Pete's antiwar message going to encourage folks to vote for... Obama? I felt my face turn warm, and the urge grew to shout, "Who's Pete voting for?" If a friend had been with me, I would have yelled my question and gotten some laughs, and perhaps even an answer.

My friends inspire me to make bold, confident choices. If I'd had a friend with me at Meli-Melo today, I would have had the courage to order a second bowl of soup. But you know, we all have our travails in life, and I guess going alone to movies and cute French bistros is my cross to bear.

FYI Pete is a total badass. Like me, you probably didn't know that. It's too complicated for me to go into, so see the glowing New York Times review for a description of the movie that does Seeger justice.

Visit the Avon Theatre's site for a listing of future special events. Click here to read more.

My Singer-Songwriter Friend's New CD

My friend Beth January just released a great CD. She’s not a Stamford resident, but I met her in Stamford, and she’s part of the Stamford Talk inner circle. Beth sings and plays piano beautifully. Here’s her myspace page, which has song clips and her tour dates. Make sure to play 2 of my favorites, “Laugh” and “Happy Ending.”

Does anyone else totally hate their talented friends? Maybe 'hate' isn't accurate. Maybe I mean, 'disbelief that people can be so talented, gratitude that I know them, and slight jealousy.' Click here to read more.

Events Jan 8-10: School Redistricting Meeting, Russian Movies, and A Pretty Voice

Tues Jan 8, 7pm: A School Redistricting Hearing will be held tonight at Cloonan Middle. Stamford wants to redistrict the elementary schools so they’re more socio-economically balanced (Supreme Court recently ruled that race can’t be a factor). The meeting ALSO involves discussion about which elementary school will be closed, since OOPS, Stamford committed to building a new magnet school in the Cove before they realized the school population wasn’t increasing like they predicted.

Tues, Jan 8, 6:30 pm: Russian Film Festival at the Ferguson. We're lucky to have events like this. I bet Darien doesn't, and they also don't have the Haitian Book Festival. Grab a friend, get dinner at Capriccio, and walk over to the library.

Wed, Jan 9, 8:30: My friend Beth January is playing at Las Vetas lounge. That's in Fairfield, but I met Beth in Stamford, and she's in the Stamford Talk inner circle, so drop by if you're in the area. You can hear samples at digstation.

Thurs, Jan 11, 6:30: The Ferg is showing Sicko by Michael Moore. I dozed off halfway through, but my friend Keya loved it. Movie will be shown in the Third Floor Auditorium.

I’ll post more events later if I find them! Click here to read more.

Check Out the Library's Flickr Site!

Verrrrrrrrry cool: the Ferguson has a Flickr site! There are photos of the Haitian book Festival, wrestlers from WWE visiting for a book event, and a therapy dog listening to a little girl read. I commend you, Ferg, for getting with the program in a visual, fun way. Our library is making a splash on the modern frontier! Click here to read more.

Weekend: Kwanzaa, Dancing, Santa Rappels

There are a few things happening in Stamford this weekend:
Saturday Dec 1, noon: 11th Annual Kwanzaa Awareness Festival at the Ferg. Crafts, African drumming workshop, candle lighting ceremony.
Sunday Dec. 2 at 1:30: Israeli Dancing with Leng & Yigal at the Stamford JCC, 1035 Newfield Ave. They do many types of dance, from Irish to Salsa to hip hop, so it's really international dancing. All ages are welcome. It's only 10 bucks for four hours of dancing, and they serve refreshments. Beginners start at 1:30, Intermediate at 2:30, ending at 5:30.
Now THIS sounds insane: Sunday Dec 4 at 4:30 pm: Santa Claus is going to rappel down Stamford Tower, the tallest building in Stamford, then walk up Bedford to do the Tree Lighting Ceremony. The Stamford Times has more details and a listing of many more weekend events, from concerts to holiday gift drives to activities at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. The Times also has a Fairfield County Calendar. Click here to read more.

South End Library Book Group: Awesome

On Monday I sped-read Barack Obama's memoir for the book discussion at South End Library. The book was much better than I expected. Obama wrote it 12 years ago, when he had just finished up being president of the Harvard Law Review, so it isn't a smarmy political rah-rah book. It's a memoir, written before thoughts of Presidency, so it is incredibly* honest and revealing. I only got to p. 70 ish, but I'm continuing to read it each night... at regular speed.

The book discussion was awesome. There were 16 or 17 of us total, the perfect number. I was a little anxious because I was late (got lost), and it's embarrassing to walk into a group that's already seated and talking. Well, I got there, and there was food! The group does a little potluck, um, yum, so I'll know to bring something next time. We got settled and jumped right into reactions to the book. Like the best book groups, people were opinionated but respectful, full of humor, and willing to address complicated issues. The discussion leaders were excellent moderators and kept the discussion lively yet focused. It was like being in a really cool English class.

Obama's book was part of the South End Library's "African and African-American Authors at the South End Branch" series; the next book is Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas on Dec 17. I don't like fiction, but I'll read it so I can be part of this group again. By the way, the Ferg is retooling their website, so maybe in the future there will be a way for me to give you the calendar link and have the info about the event show up without you having to click dates or links yourself.

If you go to the library, be aware that it's in the CTE Building. When I drove up at night, the place did not look like a library. It was dark out, and the library is set back from the road, in what looks like an industrial building. All I saw was a tall chainlink fence and a blocky building. I was confused, but then I spotted the CTE sign, which the South End library site had mentioned. The library itself is quite cozy.

*When I say "incredibly" honest, I'm not using that adverb (it is an adverb) lightly. I mean to say that it's hard to believe that such a book exists, that a politician exists who would share ideas about himself like this. It's like... I actually know what he believes in. How's that for a novel idea?

Speaking of novels, here's a description of the next book from the Ferg site:
"Celeste Tyree, a young black collegian, leaves Michigan for Mississippi in the summer of 1964 to help found a Freedom School and a voter registration project. As Freedom Summer unfolds, Celeste confronts not only the political realities of race and poverty in this tiny town, but also truths about herself and her own family."
and, "New participants welcome. No registration necessary." It's at 7 pm! Click here to read more.

Discussion: Barack Obama's Memoir

I can't blog long, because I have to finish a whole book before tonight's book discussion at South End. It's Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father." I have two things to say about this.
1. The book was written twelve years ago, so it's not some goody two-shoe memoir to prove what an angel he is. I respect that it's a book that was written not necessarily from the perspective of, "I better write this in such a way that it makes me look like I should be the President." I gave it a quick skim and it looks like an authentic memoir rather than a, "Here's what I learned growing up that pointed me toward my destiny as President."
2. I'm officially declaring my support for Obama. We know it's going to be a Democrat, and I'd rather see Obama than Clinton. I'm officially "interested" in politics now. Click here to read more.

Weekend Events Oct 12 and Scoop on SCA

I honestly could not find many interesting events happening in Stamford this weekend. I myself am attending the Ralph Stanley bluegrass concert at Stamford Center for the Arts (SCA) tonight, and the Haitian Book Festival on Saturday. I was going to complain about SCA being expensive, but my Ralph Stanley tix were only 36 $. Still, the Stamford Symphony Orchestra tix are 70 $ for good seats and 60 for OK seats… and they wonder why young people don’t like classical music?

Maybe I’m spoiled because in college the orchestra was basically free- 5, 10 $ ? And I know many of SSO’s musicians come from NYC, and they are professionals. I get that it’s their job, and they need to be paid. That’s why the well-to-do old people subscribe to the season. But what about the regular people who just want to hear beautiful music live and don’t want to pay 1/10 of their weekly salary?

SCA does have some cool shows. There’s Last Comic Standing in 2 weeks, and speaking engagements by Ira Glass and Dave Barry next spring. George Winston and the Irish Rovers also perform this spring. I’d get tix for all of these soon if I were you.

Photo of Ralph Stanley courtesy of John Edwards 2008 on Creative Commons. Click here to read more.

Haitian Book Festival in Stamford

I'm excited about the Haitian Book Festival this Saturday, Oct 13. It's held from 12-6 at the South End branch of the Ferguson and includes music and refreshments. I had a little scuffle with the Ferg because in late September, the event wasn't on the October calendar. The calendar was there, as were the children's story hours, but no Book Festival! Evidently the system doesn't easily let them add events until the actual month. If you ask me, they need a new system. Cool events like this need all the publicity they can get.

I was a French major, so I'm psyched to hear French and Creole, and probably understand it. If not, I'll still enjoy the sound of another language flowing past my ears. It's such a nice change to not get every word. Exercise for the ear and mind. I'd invite you to go with me, but this is the kind of event you need to go to alone, so you'll have more motivation to speak the language. You don't want to have the crutch of clinging to another English speaker, or have that person cling to you. Click here to read more.

Salute, Amici! Italian Cultural Week

The Ferguson, in conjunction with the Italian Center of Stamford, is sponsoring Italian Cultural Week- check out the flier- wow! I'm irate that I'm out of town for this event, which includes a few of my faves: food, wine, and ogling nice cars. Highlights that I’m missing are:

--Friday, September 28: Homemade Italian Wine Contest at the Italian Center of Stamford, 7pm. Reserve a space at 847-0713.
-- Saturday, September 29: Display of different types of Ferraris on Bedford St., right near Capriccio and Tigin. 3-8pm.
--Wednesday, October 3: Pastry sampling and film ”Italians in America.” 6:30pm, Italian Center. Reserve space: 322-6941.
-- Tuesday, October 2: Italian Antipasto Table with wine tasting. 6:30 pm at the Harry Bennett Branch of the library (on Vine Rd. off High Ridge). 351-8237 for more info.
Thank you to Lanamaniac for the Vespa photo. Click here to read more.

Hispanic Heritage Month at the Ferguson

The Ferguson has a decent website that book and culture lovers should check regularly. Not only are there book clubs and film screenings, there are events such as Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15-Oct 15) and Italian Culture (end of this month). Highlights of the Hispanic Heritage celebration include a showing of Pan's Labyrinth Thursday the 27th at 6:30 p.m, and a family-oriented program Saturday the 29th at noon at the South End Branch- music, arts, crafts, and a panel discusssion. Oddly, food wasn't mentioned... most cultural events have fun food. Speaking of food, more on that Italian event very soon. Click here to read more.