Results tagged “southafrican”

London-based solo musician Yoav is a singer/songwriter who works hard to go beyond the usual “man with a guitar” conventions. By looping beats created with his voice and acoustic guitar, his songs are often inflected with an unusual drum 'n' bass flavor. His debut album Charmed & Strange crystallizes this aesthetic with an effect he describes as “DJ-ing with my guitar.” Yoav plays Mercury Lounge Saturday night at 7:30; tickets cost $10.

The police have charged Michael Cordero in the murder of his girlfriend, Boitumelo McCallum. Police sources tell the Daily News and Post that Cordero admitted to confronting McCallum on Friday. From the Post:

Cordero told cops he visited McCallum, 20, a day after she threw a party there without inviting him, authorities said. After his arrival, the two lay on her bed and watched a movie he had brought - but Cordero was in a foul mood, sources said.

Continue reading "Victim Was Strangled, Smothered by Boyfriend"

Now that Tiki Barber is working for the Today show, it looks like the producers are all up in his business. Well, at least when Tiki's bags get lost. On his way to South Africa for the show's "Where in the World" gimmick, Barber missed a connecting flight and his bags got lost in the shuffle. And since the former NY Giant was traveling with just "essential toiletries," Sean Reis, producer for Today, purchased almost everything else for the former Giants running back.

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists.

EVENT: As the Sopranos prepares to reach its end, creator David Chase will discussing "the fine art of whacking". Joining him will be many of the characters who have been whacked on the show, including: Steve Buscemi, “Tony Blundetto”, Drea de Matteo, “Adriana La Cerva”, Vincent Pastore, “Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero” and many more.

Yesterday, officials welcomed Barclays as the winner in the $400 million naming rights derby for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. The NY Times reports that the Nets looked at various entities to pitch the idea of becoming lucky one to pay lots of money to have its name on the Frank Gehry-designed arena and decided Barclays Bank "needed a game changer, that they don’t have as big a presence or brand recognition here as in the U.K." As they say, a sucker is born every minute!

Two quite controversial and buzzed about movies hit New York theaters this weekend. So far the critical opinion of raving lunatic Mel Gibson's new foreign language feature, . Now we finally get to see the film they thought was going to be such a public relations nightmare. Leo plays a South African diamond smuggler who teams up with a Sierra Leone farmer (the always excellent Djimon Hounsou) to outwit a syndicate of businessmen. From the trailers it looks pretty heartpounding, and not just because the lovely Jennifer Connelly is also in it.

The city's new health curriculum will require teachers to start to explain what HIV is to their students starting on Monday. Even kindergarteners will be learning that HIV is a "germ" and "not easy to get," per the Daily News. If the city has figured out a way to make children understand that HIV is not necessarily a death sentence and may just be another illness that people can live with, way to go - there are a ton of other places that learning needs to go. Some teachers are concerned that younger students won't understand (one tells the Daily News, "You can tell a second-grader there are different illnesses, colds and viruses, and they'll understand. But they don't understand the difference between cancer and HIV.") but perhaps the city is taking cues from Sesame Street, which created an HIV positive muppet, Kami, for the South African version of the show, Takalani Sesame, in 2002. Parents can let their children opt out of the projects and discussions - it should be interesting to see how this goes.

A single lampost illuminates the sidewalk outside of the recently opened currently offers five white wines including a smattering of South African to German to Spanish, and a dozen reds, dominated by Italian and Spanish wines, but offering tastes of a spicy Chilean Carmenere and a selection of California Pinot Noirs all in either carafes or bottles. A reasonable selection of bottled beers is also on stock, though corked bottles of wine behind the counter hint that the well-studied selection is the optimal choice.

Gothamist has been on a Bordeaux kick lately. Perhaps it’s because we overdid on the Spanish Riojas, but lately the rich, complex notes of a great Bordeaux have us longing for just one glass more. And perhaps one more after that, but then we swear we’re moving on to South African wines (Mmmm…Pinotage). There seems to be a misconception that you have to pay a lot to get a good Bordeaux, and while some of the great wines of Bordeaux cost hundreds of dollars, there are quite a few out there that are great bargains. Here are our favorites, from budget to splurge…

Pinot Noir has captured the hearts and tastebuds of all of us. The soft velvet texture, the bright raspberry fruit, a touch of earthy notes – it’s pretty much perfection. Some may ask, how could you ever improve on Pinot? Perhaps the answer is you can’t, but South Africa has found a way to kick it up a notch. (We promise, no more Emeril references).

In addition to the two great events we mentioned earlier, there are also a number of other worthwhile art happenings going on this week. Plenty in fact to satisfy even the most dedicated fine art junkie.

He may not be anchor anymore, but Dan Rather did get a kiss from the HIV-positive Sesame Street muppet, Kami, at the Peabody Awards event last night. Awww, but alert Ken Tomlinson - this must be evidence of the so-called liberal bias of PBS! Rather received a Peabody for his 60 Minutes II report on the prisoner abuses at Abu Gharib; a one-hour documentary for South African Sesame Street to encourage adults and children to discuss AIDS and HIV received a Peabody as well. [Related: An interview with the director of content for Sesame Street.]

While we waited for our food we were curious as to whether the culinary aspect of this restaurant would live up to the mood that had been set, and we're happy to report that while Peque�a wasn't the best Mexican food we had ever experienced, it was respectable-to-good across the board. On two visits we sampled guacamole and chips, fish and chicken tacos, black beans and rice. The flavors were clear, the food well presented and tasty, and the service was attentive.

So the next time Gothamist is in the neighborhood to see a film at BAM, we'll definitely keep this place in mind.

Peque�a, 86 South Portland Ave. (at Lafayette), Fort Greene, (718) 643-0000

Manhattan User's Guide has a nice roundup of some new and old places for a drink. Gothamist is most interested in Shebeen (202 Mott Street) - "Irish name, South African owners, in the middle of Chinatown and Little Italy, occasional African music played."

The MTA and the People (as represented by the Straphangers and the Automobile club) go back to court to debate whether or not fare increases should be rolled back. The big issues are how the MTA deliberately misled everyone to believe that they were in financial dire straits and that the MTA is providing a costly service that probably will need some sort of fare and toll increases some point soon. More coverage from NY1.