2008: Year of Culture in Review

Each year, I like to track what I've seen, read and experienced. 

It's a great way to share ideas with others, not to mention capture the year that was.  Especially if you don't have a great memory like me. (It's more of a list than commentary, but a few things have ** were just terrific. Things with a ^ were awful.) I also put in some links to some I have on my Amazon store if you wanna buy them directly.

BOOKS

Fiction:
Family and Other Accidents, Shari Goldhagen

Mergers & Acquisitions, Dana Vachon, silly novel
Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahihi's new book of stories**
I Just Want My Pants Back, David Rosen
Music Through the Floor, short stories, Eric Puchner**
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories, Yiyun Li**
The Secret Servant, Daniel DiSilva** (now I'm into this genre)

Big Slick, Eric Luper*
The City of Your Final Destination, Peter Cameron
The Indian Clerk, David Leavitt^

Exiles in America, Christopher Bram

NonFiction:
Fair Game, Valerie Plame Wilson

Hot, Flat & Crowded, Thomas Friedman**
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, Tony Judt**
When You Are Engulfed In Flames, David Sedaris**
Have You No Shame? essays, Rachel Shukert**
I Was Told There'd Be Cake, essays, Sloane Crosley*

Things In My Life I Have Learned So Far, Stephen Sagemeister
If You Want to Write, Brenda Ueland
No Plot? No Problem, Chris Baty
What's That Job and How the Hell Do I Get It?, David Rosen
Pay It Down, Jean Chatzy* (for one of these type of bks, it's pretty darn good)
Camp Camp: Where Fantasy Meets Lord of the Flies
Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business
Radical Careering: 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career, and Your Life, Sally Hogshead**

FILM
Sweeney Todd (better on bway)

Iron Man

The Savages (weird to watch on a plane)

Persepolis*

Sicko
No Country for Old Men**
The Other Boleyn Girl
Sex and the City
John Adams miniseries on HBO**
Helvetica
La Vie En Rose**
Mama Mia!^
Religulous* (Bill Mahr's piece de resistence)
W (James Brolin vehicle)
Quantam of Solace (not as good as Casino Royale)
Milk (Yes, Sean is great; narrative a bit halting)
Slumlord Millionaire** (utterly stunning)

Gosford Park (again, Maggie's great)

Casablanca (again)

It's a Wonderful Life (again, oddly timely)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*

Lust, Caution (Ang Lee)

ART & ARCHITECTURE
What I Would Rather Be Doing Exhibit, One Club (January)

Murakambi, Brooklyn Museum

DaDa at the MoMA

Brooklyn Designs exhibit, DUMBO (April)

Interesting New York (Bryan spoke)*

Musee Quai de Branly, Paris

Musee Orangerie, Paris (Monet Waterlilies)**

Foundation Cartier, Paris (Migrants exhibition)

American Cemetary, Normandy** *(Nov)

Gilbert & George Exhibit, Brooklyn Museum (November)

THEATRE/MUSIC
August: Osage County** *(probably the best theatre I've seen in a decade)

South Pacific**

James Blunt, The Beacon (February)**

Rufus Wainright, Radio City Music Hall (February)

James Taylor, Tanglewood (July)

Paul Simon with appearance by David Byrne, BAM

Charlie & Chocolate Factory (Sam's musical)**

NYC Gay Men's Chorus Christmas Concert at Carnegie Hall (bit of a downer this year)

David Sedaris, Avery Fisher Hall**

New Angle of Paris

Returned from our Paris annual trip. 

Usually, we go towards the end of the week for our traditional Thanksgiving, with our friends Alain and Ann and 15-20 of their friends. 

Bryan has a lot of great pictures from this past week, which I'll link to where appropriate. He's become quite a good photographer.

This year, we rented an apt in the 3rd right near them and had a full week in Paris instead. We started with a weekend in Normandy to see the D-Day beaches, American Cemetery and museum and stayed at an inn in Bayeaux. 

Then, during the week, we organized each day around lunch, of course, and found new things to see and do that we haven't done or seen. New restaurants, museums and walks in the city we've gotten to know so well.

Monday evening, we went back to our favorite English-speaking bookstore, Shakespeare & Company, which is in the 5th, though this time for their Monday night reading upstairs by a Shakespearean expert with a new book out. We also finally found The Village Voice, another good bookshop, in the 6th on Rue Princesse.

Tuesday evening, we met a childhood neighbor and her boyfriend who live in Paris for dinner, and a few other nights we just brought in dinner at our friends. All breakfasts started at charming and beautiful Cafe Charlot on Rue de Bretagne in the 3rd, where we became quite regulars, some days visiting 2 or 3x. Friday night at Alain and Ann's was the 5th annual Thanksgiving feast, Le Retour V. Each year we add a new dish or decoration (last year Pilgrim hats, previous year sweet potato pie). This year we revised the toast and speech ("le discours"), to the delight of the crowd, to include the Hugenot story in St Augustine FL.

Some more highlights of specific spots if you're lucky enough to go to Paris soon:

New neighborhood explored: Canal St-Martin. Even after 15+ trips to Paris, never realized there was a working canal running through the city just to the east of Republique.

Best meal: Lunch at Le Cave Gourmande du Marc Singer (10 rue du General Brunet) out in the 19th. Not usual place most people go but worth it out there. 

Other Best Meal: Le Timbre, 6th. British chef, French fare. 

Most disappointing meal: Chez L'Ami Jean in the 7th. Great soup (emulsion) but crappy service and overpriced.

Best new sight: Foundation Cartier, 14th. Jean-Nouvel designed exhibition building, currently showing footage and studies of migrants. Compelling.

Best old sight: Waterlillies at L'Orangerie, 1st. Seeing them especially in this space is pretty incredible in the oval room, just as Monet wanted, with no end or beginning.

Best outside, worst inside: Musée du Quai Branly. Another Jean-Nouvel building is the enormous and dramatic Branly on the Quai Branly, just east of the Eiffel Tower in the 7th. Walking up to it is really exciting since it's glass and grass design and landscaping are so cool and innovative. Inside is a huge collection of artifacts from Pacific Rim, Africa, Asia and North America. The thing is, it's so overdesigned that it's really dark and not to be an old person complaining, but I could barely read the descriptions.   

Worth seeing though crumbling a bit: Musée Rodin, 7th. Bryan had never seen the Rodin so we went to see The Thinker and see the other great sculpture in this big place. It's in crummy shape though.

Neighborhood not worth walking around: The 1st, near Place de la Madeline and Opéra. We tried to do a walking tour but got really bored fast. 

Favorite new wine I have to find here: Brully. Light, white, quite delicious.