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Everyone has (and is entitled) to their own Kim’s Video story. I can think of a dozen off-hand; one which N.F. told me after Jimbo yielded an Ax at one of the employees who refused to lessen his late fee. This East and West Village icon served it’s purpose whether for the classics or the more smutty titles behind a curtain or just beyond that wall. IN 2008, The Daily News reported, ” The beloved movie shop Kim‘s Video will soon shut down its rental service on St. Marks Place and ship the store’s 55,000-title film collection to a new far-flung home – in Italy. And it’s been given away for free. A sign posted in the window states the last day for rentals is Dec. 31 – New Year’s Eve –and after that the films will be donated to the town of Salemi, Sicily – population about 11,000.”
For owner Yongman Kim, losing his video collection marks the end of an era. “I think my passion in loving film to share and introduce to New Yorkers is no longer valid,”he told the Daily News via e-mail.
Thanks to Netflix and the barrage of Direct TV and other do-dads; Kim’s is dust in the wind but not to be forgotten (WHAT A MAJOR COLLECTION, FOLKS). A colorful place and one well-known to all.
if you are still looking for gifts; i have a few more suggestions this week. Since they were released, City Secrets ($16.45 on Amazon) has compiled a great list of New Yorkers (neurologist Oliver Sacks, architects Richard Meier and Philip Johnson, MoMA director Glenn Lowry) and their secret picks (some not so secret to the already inside NY’er). London, Rome, Venice & The Towns of Italy have already been released. Paris is forthcoming. These are great gifts for those who think they know everything about a city. It’s not a guidebook but something to read slowly and savour. Like the cup of black French Press I’m about to drink.
A favorite except by Philip Johnson reads: “I still love the Fours Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building. At first, MIes I weren’t sure what would in those spaces. At one point we considered a care show room. Fortunately, that final decision was for a restaurant. I got to do the interiors since Mies was eager to get back to Chicago. The Grill Room and the Pool Room are different in feel, but they are two of the prettiest rooms in New York. More than 40 years later, these designs still please me greatly.”
twelve by nick mcdonell
the novel, Twelve, is another book I wish I wrote. The author, Nick McDonell penned it back in 2002 at the ripe age of 17. gee whiz. He grew up in Manhattan and threw down at Harvard, now he’s reporter at large and just finished An Expensive Education, which I didnt care for as much as his first effort.
Read it before the film which is slated for 2010 (Kiefer Sutherland aka Jack Bauer stars in some capacity).
What it includes: White Mike (brilliant character + name), Manhattan Prep School behavior, drugs, Park Avenue (baby!), sex and violence, Camus-reading + chess playing characters. Although the ending is a bit absurd, this book should be taken in for its utter groundbreaking narrative and sharp almost crisp writing. There’s pop culture sprinkled throughout and a fair amount of name dropping labels.
It’s a fast read…I usually read it once a year. The opening line is proof enough…”White Mike is pale and thin like smoke.”
Wednesday’s mark many things, a work week hump and my Friday…it might be my new favorite day.
Today, it marks the beginning of my book reviews on New York subjects and titles. Today, I’m telling you to read John Wray‘s LOWBOY (check out the great author’s site…really cool design). Not to mention, Adrian Tomine is responsible for the cover art…another dream.
Lowboy logline: Schizophrenic teen runaway travels around New York City on the subway system looking for someone to sleep with in order to save the world.
KBD thoughts: outstanding read which includes teenage angst + uncertainty, straight sharp dialogue and fast tounges, dark subway tunnels, subterranean vibe, downtown 6 train, strangers, Bellevue, motives, mangolia bakery cupcakes, hope, alienation, global warming, hope fades, death is certain. End of the world type stuff. Hope all over again.
I wish I could write like Lowboy. Or any boy.
Read this book. Quickly.
Many things have changed since I last lived in Los Angeles. Not the least of which is, I have Multiple Sclerosis now, and although I still can’t pronounce it correctly, it doesn’t slow me down as much as it should. I’m mildly regretting telling the whole town of Hollywood soon after I was diagnosed, three weeks after 9/11, when I still worked for the Famous Actress in New York City. Now that I’m job hunting, it has come up in some of my interviews and I’m quite certain nobody wants to hire the little MS girl. Hollywood is just like high school, full of gossip and cliques, and I’m still the weird girl who used to wear bows in her hair and sit alone at lunch. If only my potential employers could talk to Sarah, she would tell them I am too self-destructive to let an unpronounceable disease affect my life.
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I ♥ the D-Girl Diary. Read on her site tomorrow friends…read on. Guest Writer: D-Girl.
October 7th, 2009. The adventures of the D-Girl Diary. Today, a new excerpt, a small tingling of what is to come from the D-Girl every Wednesday on i loved new york. i know…i know…im a lucky duck even though sometimes it ain’t pretty. and yes, everything is relative to New York. (read on below)
Okay, I will admit I have a few regrets. It’s possible, possible I say, not definite, I burned a few bridges out here. It’s possible I got out a gasoline can, planted dynamite, and burned those freaking bridges to the ground. It’s amazing to me the selective memories of Hollywood people! Nobody out here can remember who won last year’s Academy Awards, but they all remember little D-Girl and her trail of lost jobs and broken friendships. Suddenly New York City seems warm and friendly and I miss the fact that nobody there cares about me at all. Seeing the look on Sarah’s face when I ran into her at Boulevard even made me miss watching the Twin Towers crash to the ground from my window as I sat in the Famous Actress’ production office that morning. I regret outing Streets’ small penis in a magazine that went out free with every issue of Variety that day, I regret not suing my ex-boss for sexual harassment, and I regret sucking the life out of all my relationships… But Hollywood changes you, it makes you talk too much, sleep around and not sleep, and we are all vampires making bad movies, all of us, not just little D-Girl and her gasoline can and her trail of dead d-people.
Read on tomorrow on @ http://dgirldiary.blogspot.com/
The ghosts of my past are not just haunting me. They are taunting me. In some garish cosmic test of my strength, it seems everything I have ever done, any job I ever had, any boyfriend I ever loved, any friend I betrayed, have all come crashing back into my life with unavoidable velocity, and I fear my hiding place has been discovered. Damn Facebook, and Twitter, and the social communication revolution for reminding me of all my mistakes and missed opportunities. Joy, euphoria, forward movement — I missed you most of all. I was trying to stay still, regroup, for years and years, and you’ve all interrupted my plan. So, my famous ex-bosses, infamous boyfriends, and indifferent best friends, you wanted me back, or feared I would come back, either way, you all know I’m here now, so I guess I’ll start telling my story…
D-GIRL was a development girl in Hollywood and New York City for many years. While finding projects for actors, directors and producers to make into movies, she amassed a number of salacious tales of questionable morality that became an internet column entitled “D-Girl Diary.” She left show business to become a full-time writer in 2001. Apparently, she is back….
