Author: harryhopbot

Cellure Skin Care Store

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If you’re looking for a new and interesting experience, pop into Cellure. This is a small shop on the block between Prince and Spring where DKNY, Missoni and Elie Tahari are also located. The US flagship shop for this Korea-based company sells “stem cell facial” treatment products.

While not harvested from embryos, these products come from adults who donate their tissues.

There are nine small booths here where customers can try on the products before buying them.  As Cellure COO Esther Chang, who has a PhD in education, explained,

“A venture capitalist who had almost invested in a stem-cell company came in and bought the entire line for himself and the eye serum for his girlfriend. Most of our customers are men. They get the science. Women want to know how this will fit in with their current regimen and mix with other products they use.”

You’ll find this location at 422 West Broadway and can try out their many products yourself.  They even have a short infomercial there where a woman will walk you through the product use from cleanser, toner and eye serum to day and night creams. Now that innovation at its best.

Picture from http://ny.racked.com/archives/2011/12/19/sohos_cellure_specializes_in_stem_cell_facials.php.

Chaucer Remake at the SoHo Playhouse

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If you enjoy one piece of entertainment this holiday season, make it “The Canterbury Tales Remixed” at the SoHo Playhouse, 15 Van Dam Street, South Village. This is an experience not to be missed. Baba Brinkman has managed to unlock the highly intimidating original version of “The Canterbury Tales” for his “The Canterbury Tales Remixed.”

The show includes original hip-hop songs and draws analogies between pop anthems and celebrities. A Canadian scholar of medieval literature, Mr. Brinkman sees clear parallels between the ancient text and modern day. He retells three of Chaucer’s tales (Pardoner, Merchant and Wife of Bath) and throws in some legends of Gilgamesh and Beowulf for good measure.

He wants to peak his audience’s curiosity. And he does so with a creative flair, using hip-hop to unlock Chaucer. Directed by Darren Lee Cole, the 85 minute show welcomes tourists, purists, Chaucer-lovers, hip-hop fans and everyone in between to come and enjoy something different this holiday until January 8th.

Picture by Ben Hider.

Ice Sculptures on Display at The James New York

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If you love ice sculptures, now is the time to head over to The James New York on Grand Street. Last week, the father-son team of Takeo and Shintaro Okamoto created a garden of frozen towers on the outdoor deck there.

Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Shintaro said,

“Not all Alaskans play with ice — but I did.”

And today, that playing has paid off. For the last two weeks, they’ve been preparing for this series of sculptures at their Long Island City, Queens studio, pre-cutting 75 pieces of ice into building blocks.

Then, it took them six hours to stack the 15,000 pounds of blocks into two 11 foot towers and one 9 foot tower.

Of course, no one predicted the 60 degree weather that is expected this week. But, as Shintaro said,

“The melting process is part of the art.”

Visitors will find the ice sculptures if they walk through the lobby of the hotel and the free exhibit will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to midnight until January 1.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWScAKZd0BY&w=560&h=315]

Tribeca Film Festival Gets New Artistic Director

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The Tribeca Film Festival is getting a new face, as Frederic Boyer is becoming the new artistic director.  Since 2009, Mr. Boyer has been the artistic director and the head of programming for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes; he has also been the artistic director of Les Arcs European Film Festival, held at the Les Arcs ski resort in France.

As Mr. Boyer discussed during a phone interview with The New York Times,

“What I want to bring to Tribeca are a lot of things: the desire of cinema, the pleasure to share, the generosity, the welcoming of filmmakers and maybe to bring more ideas for next year.”

He continued by explaining, “This is a very creative festival, they have a very open mind, and for them they wanted me maybe to bring some more European connections. I have some contacts they don’t have, they have some contacts I don’t have, and we will join our forces to do something very specific and very unusual. I have a lot to learn from the Tribeca Film Festival.”

This festival was started in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff. The 11th annual program will take place in New York from April 18 to 29.

Black Friday Madness Hits SoHo

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Black Friday has definitely gotten out of control – or perhaps is always has been.  On Friday, the Hollister clothing chain’s New York flagship store in SoHo didn’t seem to open fast enough for those waiting outside.  As a result, the crowd chose to crash through the doors, looting the place.

Some of the crowd has been waiting outside since midnight, thinking it opened at that out.  By 1:15 they had apparently had enough and they broke into the store and snatched up whatever they could find. The store had not actually been slated to open until 10 a.m.

As bystander Akeem Bridgeman explained, “There were a couple employees there [stocking shelves], and they were shouting at people, `Stop! You’re breaking and entering and breaking the law!’ But the people looting just ignored them.”

Unfortunately, this was only one of a number of crazy incidents that occurred around Black Friday.  People will, apparently, do anything these days for a deal.

REI Coming to SoHo

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Get ready SoHo – REI is coming to the neighborhood. With more than 70 years behind them in the business and 121 stores across the country, New York is finally getting its own REI store. The new store will be located in the Puck Building on Houston and Lafayette Streets with 35,000 square feet. It will be one of REI’s five largest stores and will have both REI-standard equipment and some special New York features, like a street level bike shop for New Yorkers to get their bikes fixed quickly.

REI plans to offer all sorts of hiking and other outdoor activities from the SoHo store. As J.J. Jameson, an instructor for REI’s outdoor school, said, “We’re also going to be appealing to a really broad segment of the market who’ve never been out of Manhattan, and we’re trying to make it really easy” to go out and explore.

REI certainly hopes to sell a lot of clothing and equipment, but they have a broader mission as well. REI’s chief executive, Sally Jewell, said that without more people who enjoy the outdoors and want to do outdoor training “as an industry we’re really in trouble in a generation.”

Zefrey Throwell’s Poker Message in TriBeCa

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If you’re into racy, on-the-edge art and societal commentary, you may want to get over to Art in General, the gallery at 79 Walker Street. This week, from November 12th through 19th, the gallery is showcasing a rather unusual exhibit. Called “I’ll Raise You One…” the installation includes a series of poker games that will each run seven-and-a-half hours each day for the entire week. A new game starts as soon as the last one ends…and all games include strip poker.

That’s right. These seven card players at a time will be baring it all at the TriBeCa storefront gallery. Aside from the simple shock value there is, of course, a more significant message being conveyed here.

Zefrey Throwell created the installation to create a metaphor for the economy. The clothing symbolize the money. Using strip poker, he’s trying to show that no one can control the luck of the draw; even if some people show up in the beginning with more clothes (or money) than others, we all have to play by the rules and we are all subject to luck in our lives.

As Throwell explained,

“Wealth is unequally distributed — yet we’re all expected to play by the same rules. It’s a political and economic criticism.”

Photo courtesy of Zefrey Throwell.

Chipotle Replacing McDonalds on Sixth Avenue

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If you’ve been dying for a burrito, you’ll soon have a new place to get one. A new Chipotle is opening at 405 Sixth Avenue, replacing the McDonald’s that closed in that location in August.

Chipotle founder, chairman and CEO Steve Ells said, in a statement about the new store, “There aren’t a lot of moving parts to our menu, so we can focus on grilling the perfect chicken, steaming the perfect rice, slow-cooking the best beans and finding the freshest avocados to mash into guacamole.”

Called a “quick-gourmet” restaurant, Chipotle will include an assembly line of tacos, burritos, blows and salads. In addition, they have a liquor license pending, according to the State Liquor Authority records.

Certainly sounds like a bit of a step-up from the health standards of McDonalds!

(Picture taken from DNAinfo.com by Andrea Swalec)

Warburg Realty Halloween Party for Kids

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For kids who want to enjoy being spooked today, on Halloween, there is no better place than the Warburg Realty Annual Halloween Party for Kids.  Today, from 3-6 pm at 100 Hudson Street @ Leonard Street, kids will enjoy a circus theme and an office that is completely transformed with games, prizes and treats.  The photography during the event is done by Rachel Hudgins.  See more about their famous event, in action, with this video.

 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7FbDXdpP7I&w=420&h=315]

Paypal Pop-Up Coming to Tribeca Neighborhood

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If you’re an online business owner in the New York area, you may want to pop into the new pop-up Paypal store after November 1.  Situated in the Tribeca neighborhood, the Paypal pop-up is supposed to help merchants to see hands-on demonstrations of the latest online payment technologies.

Those who are interested will be able to pop into the store to see product demos that could improve their business payment methods.  Paypal, in addition to their many services, as planning to launch a way for in-store owners to use an online system for mobile checkouts. This will ensure that business owners aren’t held hostage by their cash register.

Check it out in the Tribeca neighborhood after November 1!