Crazy tomatoes

Here we are in the middle of August and the produce at
the Union Square Farmers' Market practically
grabs you around the neck and says
"go ahead, say I'm beautiful!"....

I become a bit manic when faced with such overload.
I bought tons of tomatoes and some
loopy peppers and shot them in the studio. The heirloom tomatoes
(so hard to find just a few years ago)
are everywhere in the market. There must be an
Heirloom Tomato Public Relations campaign somewhere
because what was ugly to most of us a few years ago now is beautiful.

Here are a few pics.....

This is what a beautiful niece looks like...

A few weeks ago I was out in Southern California visiting my sister Kathy and her husband Steve and her great kids Hanna and Ben. A nice surprise was that my brother's daughter, Marisa, was there for the weekend. Marisa is a photographer and an actress and I spent a little time taking some pics of her.

Good to catch up with her and my family for a few short days.

Nice smells lurk everywhere at the Farmers' Market

My friend Jin who is a macro-biotic chef discovers something new in this
short little clip

http://vimeo.com/25663205

CitizenM

Jumping ahead before I am finished with the posts of my trip to Amsterdam.

The night before our flight back to NYC we decided to stay at Schiphol Airport.
I went to the internet and found CitizenM. It looked like fun and yet completely
functional. Two qualities I love. And it was. The rooms are small and designed like
the inside of a watch. Or those Russian dolls where something smaller
is inside the bigger one. This is a hotel where the bedroom is basically a place
to sleep. The bed and pillows were perfect and the sheets felt nice and crisp.
The public spaces in the lobby are where you would like to hang
out and have a drink and sit on their designer furniture.

I just decided I had to see if I could take some pics in the few hours before our flight.

The staff was great. The man behind the coffee machine at breakfast was
so much fun and he had everyone smiling. Check in was efficient and pleasant.

Even the three minute walk from the hotel to the terminal felt special
under a very well designed awning covering the walkway (in Amsterdam you
often need a little protection from Mother Nature's sprinkles).

&klevering

We bought these bisque porcelain tealight pieces at a store named &kleverling at 8 Haarlemmerstraat right up close to the Central Station. The colors are super saturated on the inside of the pieces and a wonderful soft matte white on the outside.

I liked them so much I made a little movie. Click the link or the pic to see it on Vimeo!

http://vimeo.com/25257500

Vivian Hann

We met Vivian Hann, well, when we stopped inside her store, Vivian Hann.
( Haarlemmerdijk 102 1013 JG Amsterdam, Netherlands 06 22049465 ).
Hann's fine curatorial eye and education in industrial design serve her well
here in this little jewel of a store stocked with classic and contemporary ceramics.
The store has a pan-global feel. A little bit of Asia, a little bit of Europe, a little bit of US.
The objects might be fine but the shop is not stuffy. Start a conversation with Hann
about design and her passion for beautifully made and fine crafted objects bubbles up.

Property of...

Amsterdam has handsome tiny little streets and hidden amongst the twists and curves of the canals are creative retails shops giving London and New York and Tokyo some first class competition.

Property of...™ is a store at Herenstraat 2 that sells superb bags and wallets and accessories. The typical customer might be a Monocle or Wallpaper reader but one less concerned if his shirt is a bit wrinkled or his shoe scuffed. The team out of Singapore designed a shop that makes you want to pull up one of their bentwood chairs and have a cup of coffee...and you can here. (Currently they are serving an organic espresso called Gayo Amaro from Ethiopia produced by that country's only female coffee farmer)

I made it out of the store without buying a handsome, waxed-cotton grey bag with a zipper on top (The Tommy) which would be ideal for popping up in the overhead storage on a plane. I might just have to order it online.

If you stop in you might meet Melvin (the store manager)
or Hendrik (marketing). These two are the sort of stylish, smart
and helpful guys we should all have as next door neighbors or friends.

A few June days in The Netherlands

Just back from a few days in Amsterdam. We became sort of the prop version of big game hunters.

Joe Maer and I thought The Netherlands might have great things for the prop house and I went too for taking pics of Amsterdam and its beautiful stores and markets and chic hotels. I'll be posting over the next day or so but wanted to start with where we stayed those first few days.

The Times Hotel is an affordable small hotel on the Herengracht canal in central Amsterdam. There is a lovely sitting room on the first floor with huge windows. You can sit and have one (or two or three depending on your jet-lag) delicious cup of coffee (the Dutch LOVE their coffee) and watch the locals bike by. The staff were friendly and efficient and well-informed. The location was not too far from the central station and far enough away from the super-commercial and touristic part otherwise known as The Land of A Thousand Stoned Teenagers.

Late spring Saturday in the city...Jim style

Just another random weekend day in the city. Started out early at the Union Square Farmer's
Market which is heading full-tilt into abundance.
The first strawberries are out and looking maybe just a little too proudthe last of the skinny asparagus
buckets of peonies with city-dwellers around the blossoms like some
flower-starved zombies
a crate of pears holding on from last fall hoping someone will want some
quiet autumn browns instead of the riot of bright spring pinks and greens
A quick run up to the brand new rooftop deck area at my apartment building.
Looks like the spot most made for a dusk-time glass of rose...
Over to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to take in the greens
and more greens...
and look at this crazy oak tree with the LONGEST branches I have ever seen
watch the tall grasses blow back and forth in the breeze
look at the clouds in the sky and the rippled clouds in the reflecting pool
and nearly pass out from the heady fragrance of the roses in the rose garden.

Sunny Florida

Here for a few days after a job in Birmingham. Decided to visit my brother and his
wife and his dog and his cat. I almost said children since they seem to consider
the animals family members...

It was hot and sunny. 97 degrees on Sunday. Had a chance to drive to
Cocoa Beach and jump in the ocean. Made me want to get to some
tropical island for a week and just sleep and swim and relax. But back
today to NYC to jump on the bandwagon again.

Here are somepics that for me sum up central Florida (used to live here for college).