Thursday, 1 January 2009
New York welcomes 2009
New York welcomes 2009
January 01, 2009 00:09 EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- They're celebrating in New York and the Eastern time zone, despite bitter cold and uncertainty about 2009.
Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton helped Mayor Michael Bloomberg lower the ball atop 1 Times Square for the 60-second countdown to midnight.
Hundreds of thousands of revelers packed a frigid Times Square for the descent of the famous Waterford crystal ball. They were eager to say goodbye to 2008 and hoping to put the nation's economic troubles in the past.
The wind chill made it feel like 1 degree in the area, but that didn't deter the throngs who were bundled against the cold.
At the stroke of midnight many cheered and swayed to the recording of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York."
January 01, 2009 00:09 EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- They're celebrating in New York and the Eastern time zone, despite bitter cold and uncertainty about 2009.
Former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton helped Mayor Michael Bloomberg lower the ball atop 1 Times Square for the 60-second countdown to midnight.
Hundreds of thousands of revelers packed a frigid Times Square for the descent of the famous Waterford crystal ball. They were eager to say goodbye to 2008 and hoping to put the nation's economic troubles in the past.
The wind chill made it feel like 1 degree in the area, but that didn't deter the throngs who were bundled against the cold.
At the stroke of midnight many cheered and swayed to the recording of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York."
Mayor Bloomberg
Mayor Bloomberg declares Times Square 'safe as can be' for New Year's
By ADAM LISBERG and JONATHAN LEMIRE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, December 31st 2008, 6:57 AM
Officials look up in wonder as the 6-ton Waterford crystal Times Square News Year's Eve ball is illuminated and raised over 1 Times Square Tuesday. Hermann for News
Officials look up in wonder as the 6-ton Waterford crystal Times Square News Year's Eve ball is illuminated and raised over 1 Times Square Tuesday.
Bill, Hil, Mike - and the Jonas Brothers!
A former President, a would-be President-turned-future-secretaryof state, the mayor and the hottest boy band in the nation will help ring in 2009 Wednesday night. And so will thousands of cops.
Bill and Sen. Hillary Clinton will stand with Mayor Bloomberg in Times Square and lead more than a million merrymakers in saying goodbye to a trying year.
The Clintons will push the button that lowers the sparkling New Year’s Eve ball during the final 60 seconds of 2008, setting off wild celebrations.
With the Clintons, the Jonas Brothers band and the mayor on hand, not to mention the crush of revelers, cops will have their hands full.
Bloomberg said that the NYPD is ready.
"Times Square is so secure, it’s the last thing to worry about," he said. "There'll be a lot of police that you see [and] there’ll be a lot of police that you don't see."
All 1,129 cops who graduated from the Police Academy Tuesday will be deployed in Times Square, as well as counterterror teams and Secret Service agents.
Neither backpacks nor alcohol will be permitted in Times Square, where temperatures could plummet to just 17 degrees by midnight.
Five minutes before midnight, 1,000 balloons with the words "Joy," "Hope" and "2009" will drift down onto the Times Square crowd. The 12,000-pound crystal ball will hit bottom at the stroke of midnight.
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest will oversee the night's musical program. Longtime emcee Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke four years ago, will make a cameo.
jlemire@nydailynews.com
By ADAM LISBERG and JONATHAN LEMIRE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, December 31st 2008, 6:57 AM
Officials look up in wonder as the 6-ton Waterford crystal Times Square News Year's Eve ball is illuminated and raised over 1 Times Square Tuesday. Hermann for News
Officials look up in wonder as the 6-ton Waterford crystal Times Square News Year's Eve ball is illuminated and raised over 1 Times Square Tuesday.
Bill, Hil, Mike - and the Jonas Brothers!
A former President, a would-be President-turned-future-secretaryof state, the mayor and the hottest boy band in the nation will help ring in 2009 Wednesday night. And so will thousands of cops.
Bill and Sen. Hillary Clinton will stand with Mayor Bloomberg in Times Square and lead more than a million merrymakers in saying goodbye to a trying year.
The Clintons will push the button that lowers the sparkling New Year’s Eve ball during the final 60 seconds of 2008, setting off wild celebrations.
With the Clintons, the Jonas Brothers band and the mayor on hand, not to mention the crush of revelers, cops will have their hands full.
Bloomberg said that the NYPD is ready.
"Times Square is so secure, it’s the last thing to worry about," he said. "There'll be a lot of police that you see [and] there’ll be a lot of police that you don't see."
All 1,129 cops who graduated from the Police Academy Tuesday will be deployed in Times Square, as well as counterterror teams and Secret Service agents.
Neither backpacks nor alcohol will be permitted in Times Square, where temperatures could plummet to just 17 degrees by midnight.
Five minutes before midnight, 1,000 balloons with the words "Joy," "Hope" and "2009" will drift down onto the Times Square crowd. The 12,000-pound crystal ball will hit bottom at the stroke of midnight.
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest will oversee the night's musical program. Longtime emcee Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke four years ago, will make a cameo.
jlemire@nydailynews.com
New Year at Times Square
Crowds cheer in the New Year at Times Square despite the cold
BY EDGAR SANDOVAL and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, December 31st 2008, 11:51 PM
Braving the bitter cold, thousands of revelers from across the globe flooded Times Square Wednesday to ring in the New Year at the biggest party in the world.
"This is something you do once in your life," crowed an excited but frigid Brian Arnone, 44, of Orlando, Fla., as he huddled next to his wife, Kelli.
"I said to myself, 'I better do this before I have kids. I need to scratch that off my list.'"
The Arnones joined a buoyant throng of merrymakers, many of them tourists in brightly colored party hats and oversize 2009 sunglasses, gathered around 1 Times Square to take in the festivities led by Bill and Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg.
David Hubin, 23, drove out from Columbus, Ohio, with four pals to see the city and ring in the New Year.
"We were all on break from school and we'd never done anything like this," said Hubin, who was in the thick of the crowd last night. "I've never seen anything like this.
"I love New York," he added. "It's amazing."
Ken and Lisa Mills saved up some cash and also traveled with their three teenage daughters from Ohio to New York to watch the 12,000-pound crystal ball touch down at the stroke of midnight.
But after a few hours of withstanding wind chill temperatures that plunged below 10 degrees, Lisa Mills, 44, was wondering if she could take any more of the cold.
"I'm wearing a sweater, coat, scarf and gloves and I still can't keep warm," Mills said. "I hope to make it through the night."
Still, she remained positive.
"We are looking forward to 2009," Mills said. "It's going to be a great year."
Wearing red and green oversize 2009 glasses and layers of sweaters, her three daughters, Shelby, 17, Kendra, 18, and Kara, 16, cheered with the crowd as they battled to stay warm.
"I hope to graduate from high school this year and hope all my friends graduate too," Shelby said. Her sister, Kara, had a different set of hopes for the New Year: "I want to make more money," she said.
Other cheering revelers had equally modest goals.
Friends Soo Hyun Lee, 26 and Jewon Lee, 23, students from Korea, cheered passersby and embraced each other to keep warm as the temperatures plummeted.
Reflecting on their goals for the New Year, they looked at each other before saying, in unison, "We want to find boyfriends!"
"It's hard to find a good man in Korea," Soon Hyun Lee said.
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest was set to oversee the night's musical program, which includes a performance by the Jonas Brothers.
Longtime emcee Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke four years ago, was expected to make a cameo.
All 1,129 cops who graduated from the Police Academy Tuesday were deployed to monitor the crowd, which was expected to swell to more than a million people.
The officers were joined by counterterror teams and Secret Service agents.
Taylor Patton, 17, and Cate Carl, 18, both from Middleton, Md., did not seem to notice anything - or anybody - other than each other as they waited for midnight.
Their bodies wrapped in a thick, red blanket, Patton and Carl stared into each other's eyes, oblivious to the excitement around them.
For the New Year, more money, a new career or other life goals took a back seat to love, they agreed.
"In the New Year we just want to be together," Patton said.
"I just want to spend more time with him," echoed Carl.
Ashley Cormier, 16, and her friend Zoe Jourdain, 16, of Owings Mills, Md., were also huddled together and covered with a red blanket in the hours before the ball dropped.
"I'm gonna stay in my blanket the whole night until I see a famous person, then I'm gonna come out," Ashley said.
And so she looked around and waited, and waited.
BY EDGAR SANDOVAL and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, December 31st 2008, 11:51 PM
Braving the bitter cold, thousands of revelers from across the globe flooded Times Square Wednesday to ring in the New Year at the biggest party in the world.
"This is something you do once in your life," crowed an excited but frigid Brian Arnone, 44, of Orlando, Fla., as he huddled next to his wife, Kelli.
"I said to myself, 'I better do this before I have kids. I need to scratch that off my list.'"
The Arnones joined a buoyant throng of merrymakers, many of them tourists in brightly colored party hats and oversize 2009 sunglasses, gathered around 1 Times Square to take in the festivities led by Bill and Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg.
David Hubin, 23, drove out from Columbus, Ohio, with four pals to see the city and ring in the New Year.
"We were all on break from school and we'd never done anything like this," said Hubin, who was in the thick of the crowd last night. "I've never seen anything like this.
"I love New York," he added. "It's amazing."
Ken and Lisa Mills saved up some cash and also traveled with their three teenage daughters from Ohio to New York to watch the 12,000-pound crystal ball touch down at the stroke of midnight.
But after a few hours of withstanding wind chill temperatures that plunged below 10 degrees, Lisa Mills, 44, was wondering if she could take any more of the cold.
"I'm wearing a sweater, coat, scarf and gloves and I still can't keep warm," Mills said. "I hope to make it through the night."
Still, she remained positive.
"We are looking forward to 2009," Mills said. "It's going to be a great year."
Wearing red and green oversize 2009 glasses and layers of sweaters, her three daughters, Shelby, 17, Kendra, 18, and Kara, 16, cheered with the crowd as they battled to stay warm.
"I hope to graduate from high school this year and hope all my friends graduate too," Shelby said. Her sister, Kara, had a different set of hopes for the New Year: "I want to make more money," she said.
Other cheering revelers had equally modest goals.
Friends Soo Hyun Lee, 26 and Jewon Lee, 23, students from Korea, cheered passersby and embraced each other to keep warm as the temperatures plummeted.
Reflecting on their goals for the New Year, they looked at each other before saying, in unison, "We want to find boyfriends!"
"It's hard to find a good man in Korea," Soon Hyun Lee said.
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest was set to oversee the night's musical program, which includes a performance by the Jonas Brothers.
Longtime emcee Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke four years ago, was expected to make a cameo.
All 1,129 cops who graduated from the Police Academy Tuesday were deployed to monitor the crowd, which was expected to swell to more than a million people.
The officers were joined by counterterror teams and Secret Service agents.
Taylor Patton, 17, and Cate Carl, 18, both from Middleton, Md., did not seem to notice anything - or anybody - other than each other as they waited for midnight.
Their bodies wrapped in a thick, red blanket, Patton and Carl stared into each other's eyes, oblivious to the excitement around them.
For the New Year, more money, a new career or other life goals took a back seat to love, they agreed.
"In the New Year we just want to be together," Patton said.
"I just want to spend more time with him," echoed Carl.
Ashley Cormier, 16, and her friend Zoe Jourdain, 16, of Owings Mills, Md., were also huddled together and covered with a red blanket in the hours before the ball dropped.
"I'm gonna stay in my blanket the whole night until I see a famous person, then I'm gonna come out," Ashley said.
And so she looked around and waited, and waited.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Saturday, 20 September 2008
Crunch time for sweet lovers
4:00AM Saturday Sep 20, 2008
By James Ihaka
The curtain call for iconic movie treats Snifters, Tangy Fruits and Sparkles has incurred the wrath of lolly lovers the nation over.
Along with Sunday double features, halftime intermissions and smoking in auditoriums, the once-popular sweets are doomed for the nostalgic movie time waste basket with Cadbury Schweppes' last batch in June.
But the decision, blamed on steadily decreasing sales, has irked many sweet-toothed fans.
One person suggested the New Zealand Warriors wear black armbands in remembrance of the Snifter during their match against Sydney City last night while an Australian fan said its demise was a "sad day indeed" on a website, savethesnifter.co.nz.
By James Ihaka
The curtain call for iconic movie treats Snifters, Tangy Fruits and Sparkles has incurred the wrath of lolly lovers the nation over.
Along with Sunday double features, halftime intermissions and smoking in auditoriums, the once-popular sweets are doomed for the nostalgic movie time waste basket with Cadbury Schweppes' last batch in June.
But the decision, blamed on steadily decreasing sales, has irked many sweet-toothed fans.
One person suggested the New Zealand Warriors wear black armbands in remembrance of the Snifter during their match against Sydney City last night while an Australian fan said its demise was a "sad day indeed" on a website, savethesnifter.co.nz.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Apron Strings
http://blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/film-reviews/2008/8/14/apron-strings/?c_id=None
The role of food in expressing and shaping cultural identity has long been a preoccupation of this film's co-writer, Shuchi Kothari, on whose original idea it is based. But in asking the idea to sustain a dramatic feature, she stretches it a little more than is comfortable. Apron Strings is, to use its own idiom, overspiced, but the taste is not as rich as it should be and is ultimately a little unsatisfying.
This is not to say it is devoid of pleasures, many of them rather tasty.
What's more, it is imbued with a refreshing, distinctly feminine sensibility which recognises that, in real life, resolution occurs more often in small, barely perceptible steps than with major dramatic crises and Big Speeches. But it's hard not to conclude that it's a lesser movie as a result.
The two parallel and occasionally intersecting storylines concern mothers and their sons (the absence of fathers hints at one of the great social malaises of our age, a more widespread form of deracination, perhaps, than the immigrant experience). Lorna (Ludlam) is the proprietor of a classic Kiwi cake kitchen in a part of town whose ethnic makeup, to her distinct chagrin, is changing. Her son Barry (Wills) is a 35-year-old layabout loser, living at home and sponging off Mum, who is also under pressure from a creditor.
Elsewhere, the gorgeous Anita (Rouass, from Footballers Wives) is the host of an Indian cooking show on TV (never mind that she doesn't much like Indians or even Indian food) whose carefully constructed life starts to crumble when her son Michael (Whitaker), begins to explore his Indian roots and gets a job in an authentic curry house. But this is not just any curry house.
There's a slightly plodding deliberateness to this set-up, although the film carries it off with more aplomb than that outline suggests. The script's insistence on constantly underlining its Key Points and explicating characters' interior lives ("You don't know what it's been like not knowing about a whole side of my life!") is faintly insulting too. But as overwrought as it is, it's like a classy soap opera, set in a multicultural New Zealand seldom seen on screen.
Thanks to Rewa Harre's luscious camerawork, it certainly looks mouth-watering (if you go on an empty stomach, you won't get through the opening credits) and the cast is more than competent, though the excellent Ludlam is the only one of whom we always believe there is more than meets the eye, and her experience gives the film much-needed gravitas. (A bouquet, too, for the evergreen Kate Harcourt as Lorna's mum; she shows the youngsters a thing or two about line-reading).
With a bit of luck, it will be the first of many movies that grapple with our changing ethnic identity. If only for that reason, and for all its faults, it deserves attention.
Peter Calder
and you tube
The role of food in expressing and shaping cultural identity has long been a preoccupation of this film's co-writer, Shuchi Kothari, on whose original idea it is based. But in asking the idea to sustain a dramatic feature, she stretches it a little more than is comfortable. Apron Strings is, to use its own idiom, overspiced, but the taste is not as rich as it should be and is ultimately a little unsatisfying.
This is not to say it is devoid of pleasures, many of them rather tasty.
What's more, it is imbued with a refreshing, distinctly feminine sensibility which recognises that, in real life, resolution occurs more often in small, barely perceptible steps than with major dramatic crises and Big Speeches. But it's hard not to conclude that it's a lesser movie as a result.
The two parallel and occasionally intersecting storylines concern mothers and their sons (the absence of fathers hints at one of the great social malaises of our age, a more widespread form of deracination, perhaps, than the immigrant experience). Lorna (Ludlam) is the proprietor of a classic Kiwi cake kitchen in a part of town whose ethnic makeup, to her distinct chagrin, is changing. Her son Barry (Wills) is a 35-year-old layabout loser, living at home and sponging off Mum, who is also under pressure from a creditor.
Elsewhere, the gorgeous Anita (Rouass, from Footballers Wives) is the host of an Indian cooking show on TV (never mind that she doesn't much like Indians or even Indian food) whose carefully constructed life starts to crumble when her son Michael (Whitaker), begins to explore his Indian roots and gets a job in an authentic curry house. But this is not just any curry house.
There's a slightly plodding deliberateness to this set-up, although the film carries it off with more aplomb than that outline suggests. The script's insistence on constantly underlining its Key Points and explicating characters' interior lives ("You don't know what it's been like not knowing about a whole side of my life!") is faintly insulting too. But as overwrought as it is, it's like a classy soap opera, set in a multicultural New Zealand seldom seen on screen.
Thanks to Rewa Harre's luscious camerawork, it certainly looks mouth-watering (if you go on an empty stomach, you won't get through the opening credits) and the cast is more than competent, though the excellent Ludlam is the only one of whom we always believe there is more than meets the eye, and her experience gives the film much-needed gravitas. (A bouquet, too, for the evergreen Kate Harcourt as Lorna's mum; she shows the youngsters a thing or two about line-reading).
With a bit of luck, it will be the first of many movies that grapple with our changing ethnic identity. If only for that reason, and for all its faults, it deserves attention.
Peter Calder
and you tube
Friday, 29 August 2008
Ugly fish, tasty dish
1:48PM Friday August 29, 2008
By Martin Hickman
If the seabed had mirrors, the gurnard would surely swim by without a glance.
Throughout history, the public has felt the same way: trawlers catching gurnard in their nets tossed it back into the sea; lobstermen used it to bait their pots.
Recently, though, chefs have championed this most ugly of fish and it is being served up by cooks seeking sustainable alternatives to overfished species.
The first signs that the fish was becoming a favourite came last year when its price leapt from 25p a kilogramme to £4 (NZD$10.41). Sales figures this week show sales of gurnard have jumped from £17,000 in the year to July 2007 to £181,000 for the same period this year, a rise of more than 1,000 per cent.
Although from a low base, the surge suggests that cooks are heeding the message to give under-pressure fish a break and experiment with lesser-known species such as sprats, pilchards and pollack.
Where gurnard differs from some of these alternatives is that it is especially tasty, according to food critics.
"Most of the substitute fish are garbage. But here we have a real hero n it's got a stunning flavour and a good texture," said Terry Durack, The Independent on Sunday's restaurant reviewer.
AA Gill of The Sunday Times described gurnard as "the Amy Winehouse of battered fish" because it provided "a sonorous bluesy mouthful".
Celebrity chefs, too, are enthusiastic. Rick Stein, who serves gurnard cooked in beef dripping at his fish and chip shop in Padstow, has a recipe for gurnard with sweet and sour onions in his book Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes.
Samantha Clark of Moro recommends gurnard with sweet onions, ginger and saffron, while Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cooks gurnard whole with winter vegetables, because "it's cheap, delicious and looks amusing".
Gurnard is a bottom-dweller that uses its legs to stir up food on the seabed. Three species swim in British waters: red; grey, and yellow (also called tub). Until recently, if used gastronomically, it was slipped invisibly into Mediterranean fish stews, stocks or soups.
"Since being championed by celebrity chefs such as Rick Stein and Tom Aikens, gurnard has been appearing on menus at top restaurants all around the country," said Philip MacMullen, of Seafish, the seafood industry body, which released the sales figures.
"This backs up other research showing that consumers are becoming more confident in trying alternative seafood, which takes the pressure off more traditional species," he said.
The rise of gurnard has not been universally popular, however. In a recent interview with the BBC, Rick Stein remarked: "A lobster fisherman had a go at me for having gurnard on my menu. It used to be lobster bait but he said he can't afford to put it in the pots anymore because I've made it too expensive."
By Martin Hickman
If the seabed had mirrors, the gurnard would surely swim by without a glance.
Throughout history, the public has felt the same way: trawlers catching gurnard in their nets tossed it back into the sea; lobstermen used it to bait their pots.
Recently, though, chefs have championed this most ugly of fish and it is being served up by cooks seeking sustainable alternatives to overfished species.
The first signs that the fish was becoming a favourite came last year when its price leapt from 25p a kilogramme to £4 (NZD$10.41). Sales figures this week show sales of gurnard have jumped from £17,000 in the year to July 2007 to £181,000 for the same period this year, a rise of more than 1,000 per cent.
Although from a low base, the surge suggests that cooks are heeding the message to give under-pressure fish a break and experiment with lesser-known species such as sprats, pilchards and pollack.
Where gurnard differs from some of these alternatives is that it is especially tasty, according to food critics.
"Most of the substitute fish are garbage. But here we have a real hero n it's got a stunning flavour and a good texture," said Terry Durack, The Independent on Sunday's restaurant reviewer.
AA Gill of The Sunday Times described gurnard as "the Amy Winehouse of battered fish" because it provided "a sonorous bluesy mouthful".
Celebrity chefs, too, are enthusiastic. Rick Stein, who serves gurnard cooked in beef dripping at his fish and chip shop in Padstow, has a recipe for gurnard with sweet and sour onions in his book Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes.
Samantha Clark of Moro recommends gurnard with sweet onions, ginger and saffron, while Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall cooks gurnard whole with winter vegetables, because "it's cheap, delicious and looks amusing".
Gurnard is a bottom-dweller that uses its legs to stir up food on the seabed. Three species swim in British waters: red; grey, and yellow (also called tub). Until recently, if used gastronomically, it was slipped invisibly into Mediterranean fish stews, stocks or soups.
"Since being championed by celebrity chefs such as Rick Stein and Tom Aikens, gurnard has been appearing on menus at top restaurants all around the country," said Philip MacMullen, of Seafish, the seafood industry body, which released the sales figures.
"This backs up other research showing that consumers are becoming more confident in trying alternative seafood, which takes the pressure off more traditional species," he said.
The rise of gurnard has not been universally popular, however. In a recent interview with the BBC, Rick Stein remarked: "A lobster fisherman had a go at me for having gurnard on my menu. It used to be lobster bait but he said he can't afford to put it in the pots anymore because I've made it too expensive."
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