hear a little song: a christmas carol

just so you know...i don't really dance like this in real life.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! from me and from all the funnies i work with at phoebeworks and phoebetv.

thanks for stopping by the blog...

CHAOS: christmas and the hard luck kid

the holiday episode--christmas and the hard luck kid--is live. this one has some of the usual chaos (use the mace! use the mace!), but it has warm and wistful moments, too.

i just went through the stills--shot on 3 different days this fall. it seems like so long ago.

my hope is that the photos will start to provide, apart from a view of the production, a sense of who the actors and producers are. i loved watching everyone play, plot, and choreograph, work through lines and angles and action, but i loved the quiet moments too--how they look at each other, how they watch, how they listen. i tried for those...

ms. jessica, as dena.

paul and lauren (stewart and jess)

ms. cara (sarah)

maestro mike

oh, and me, in a favorite shirt.

here's a link to the full set aaaand...the episode.

cheers!

all photos © anita aguilar

pretty sweets

a buffet brunch is never a proper test of a kitchen's talents--it's basic fare (breakfast sausages, mini flapjacks, a tray of shiny pink lox, cold and warm salads, an omelette station, a carving station, assorted breads and breakfast pastries...). you always hope for surprises under silver warming trays, but usually the surprise is that a dish can survive well those swampy conditions. there is something to be said, though, for having many opportunities to fill clean plates and satisfy multiple cravings.

i'll tell you what i liked at brasserie 8 1/2--the brussels sprouts salad, the roasted cauliflower salad, and the creamy polenta with truffle oil. and they make a very good brioche. but the buffet was really a big tease--thin strips of lean beef swam in a zing-less barbeque sauce; bountiful shrimp cocktail, in a silver bowl as big as my bathroom sink, were undersized and various shades of over/under cooked pink and grey. the sweet crepe, made to order, with slices of strawberries, bananas, and chocolate sauce and finished with orange liqueur was a gloppy mess.

the desserts were good and sweet, but maybe more decadent for the eyes...i did have fun taking these photos.

all photos © anita aguilar

pretty city: when the storm hits

all photos © anita aguilar

pretty city: the high line

quiet, before the storm.

my handsome writer friend observed that the city sounds different from up here...
i wore my hood to protect from the cold and occasional sharp wind, but it meant i did not really notice this for myself.
i hope one day he'll write about what i missed.

can you even seen the snow? click to enlarge the image, you'll see a few snowflakes...

all photos © anita aguilar

hear a little song (a very little one)

morning, january in paris.

what do you think of this sondre lerche number? for me, this is like turning the blinds, letting morning light in. or it's morning light somewhere, anywhere.

but i've wondered, is a minute and a half long enough for this to count as a song? is it ok to end it right when you think it might or should take off? and what of the title--why not just call this barely-a-song "interlude"? or since it leads nicely into the next, "prelude"?

i played it for my dad in the car once--i thought he'd appreciate the simple melody, the layering in of strings and horns, but i also wanted to see what he thought of the abrupt ending. he said, that's it? like he got gypped. or someone got lazy. we didn't into a long discussion about it--no need--he liked it, but it wasn't enough for him to bowl him over. i guess in the end, it's a matter of like/not rather than right/wrong.

i love it.

i listened to it one night, at about 2 am, about 30 times in a row. it--and i--were not going anywhere, but i wanted keep soaring...

(the title fits, after all.)

whilst walking on wooster...

i saw and liked this...


i think the artist is stephanie brody-lederman, who's showing now at ok harris.

shadows and tall trees

i don't know about this one, but it's what madison square park looked like today, at the noon(ish) hour. so i'm posting it.
hooray for the weekend.

read a good poem: morning

tree, by robert stivers. via photoeye.

seems like a good day to stay home...

***

morning

why do we bother with the rest of the day,

the swale of the afternoon,

the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,

his many-pointed stars?

this is the best—

throwing off the light covers,

feet on the cold floor,

and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,

a palmful of vitamins—

but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,

the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,

a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows—

trees fifty, a hundred years old

out there,

heavy clouds on the way

and the lawn steaming like a horse

in the early morning.

by billy collins
via the poetry foundation

how i spent my summer vacation (and the fall season, too)

as some of you know, i've spent a (very) good part of the last several months working on an online comedy series, called chaos theory. it's been live for about a month at phoebetv.com. so far the word is good! people seem to be finding it as funny as it was fun for us to shoot.

there are 11 episodes up now, and we'll be premiering a new one every tuesday for the the next few months. i'll likely be posting links here but there are plenty of ways, if you're so inclined, to keep up: become a fan on facebook, follow the show on twitter, sign up for email alerts, bookmark phoebetv...

and as of tonight, we're on youtube, though there are only a couple of videos up at the moment...

we also now have a little "bonus material" in the form of still photos (which i took) and a gag reel.

***

who doesn't love a gag reel? this one is funny and, dare i say, sweet?
i was hovering around behind the camera for almost every one of these bloopers, and i laugh just has hard now as i did then. and i sort of well up a bit, remembering how much fun it was.

lauren and casey (from city and the sex)

paul and lauren from office politics (one of my favorites)

rachel seducing paul (episode forthcoming!)

deleted scene from "dinner parties"--emily, eating chocolate cake that i picked up from sarge's deli...doug and kari on the couch--my couch.
the shoot was a nice distraction from that day's sporting news --nadal had just lost at the french. oof.

the blanketed fellow (with the dress shoes) disrupted the shot on lex but it was worth it, just to see his get-up ("homeless" episode forthcoming)...

check the bloopers on youtube or on the phoebetv site...

***

here are a few stills (MANY more on flickr or on the phoebetv site. and more to come).

cara (dinner parties)

rufus (dinner parties)

rehearsing the dance sequence (old married couple)

the dancers, after the shoot (old married couple)

assistant choreographer, gabrielle (old married couple)

mike, lauren (cupcake)

lauren and kenneth, who wowed us with his "crying" (cupcake)

lauren and all the stuff you need when you're getting over a bad breakup (jess grows a pair)

emily (jess grows a pair)

lauren (jess grows a pair)

casey, lauren, and jim (city and the sex)

jim and lauren, reliving the magic (city and the sex)

all photos © anita aguilar

art shots: do you see what i see?

jon stewart?
aidan quinn?
actually...
vsevolod mikhailovich garshin (1855-1888), 1884. by ilia efimovich repin.

apolo anton ohno?
noooo. an egyptian peasant woman and her child, 1869-70. artist: leon bonnat.

dc: sweep (confetti, too)

after (and before!) the sweep. photo by denis doyle/getty images via yahoo sports

nadal d. berdych: 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
ferrer d. stepanek: 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6
lopez/verdasco d. stepanek/berdych: 7-6 7-5 6-2
nadal d. hajek: 6-3, 6-4
ferrer d. dlouhy 6-4, 6-2

art shots: have a look

andy warhol. nine jackies, 1964. acrylic and silk screen on canvas.

paul gaugin. la orana maria, 1891. oil on canvas.

marco breuer. spin (C-283), 2008.

chris mccaw. sunburned, gsp #166, mohave/winter solstice, 2007. gelatin silver prints.

tom friedman. untitled, 1998. chromogenic print.

pertti kekarainen. tila (passage 1), 2006. chromogenic print.

all photos © anita aguilar

blue...

sunday in madison square park, nyc. december 6, 2009.
photo © anita aguilar

am i?
not so (anymore).

pretty city: free skate

the pond at bryant park, nyc. december 4, 2009.

the pond at bryant park, nyc. december 4, 2009.

the pond at bryant park, nyc. december 4, 2009.

the pond at bryant park, nyc. december 4, 2009.

the pond at bryant park, nyc. december 4, 2009.

all photos © anita aguilar