You may recall my piece on the wackiest travel accessories from the Condé Nast Traveler. That article is now syndicated on The Huffington Post.
I previewed summer events taking place at Governors Island, one of my favorite places in New York City.
Jazz Age Lawn Party
If The Great Gatsby
has you primed to take on the Roaring Twenties, this is the place to
break out your cloche hats and seersucker suits. With a backdrop of
tunes by Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra, you can shop for
vintage clothing, check out the Tin Lizzies in the 1920s car show
(which, this year, includes Gatsby's 1925 yellow Rolls Royce), take a
sepia-toned photo against a paper moon, and, of course, head to the
dance floor and show off your Charleston. Tickets cost $30 ($35 at the door if there's any availability).
Click through to read the full article at the Condé Nast Traveler's website.
Click through to read the full article at the Condé Nast Traveler's website.
Photo © Robert Quinlan / Alamy
'Dark Skies' Leans on the Right Nerve
Dark Skies follows Lacy (Keri Russell) and Daniel (Josh Hamilton), a typical small-town couple trying to make ends meet while raising their two sons, 13-year-old Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and six-year-old Sam (Kadan Rockett). Throughout the movie, two types of dramas unfold simultaneously within the family. The first is a suburban tale of a weakened marriage, with a husband and wife at odds with each other, threatened by outside forces and tested under the scrutiny of a close-knit (and judgmental) community. The second is a sci-fi/horror story about unknown visitors wreaking havoc in the homestead and menacing the children...
All of the suburban elements of Dark Skies work well, even when they don’t necessarily further the plot. The movie often goes on diversions with Jesse, delving into his best-friendship with a neighborhood thug (L.J. Benet) and his first romance with a girl (Annie Thurman). It might seem incongruous to insert in a coming-of-age subplot into a movie already stuffed with a broken marriage and supernatural beings, but these scenes don’t seem shoehorned in. They’re genuine and give an honest, nostalgia-free glimpse at what it’s like to be a new teenager, even if this is the last movie where you’d expect to find such sentiment.When the movie veers away from the naturalistic and towards the horrific, though, it starts to falter. Sure, the forces at work serve their purpose for the characters, driving a wedge between Lacy and Daniel. Taken on their own, however, the threats feel overly familiar. These forces cause clichéd ailments: birds crash into windows (didn’t we just see this in Red Lights?); noses become bloodied; time is lost; and rashes, bruises, and strange marks appear. Some of it is even captured on home-security webcams, just like in Paranormal Activity.
Click through to read the full review at PopMatters.
For the June issue, I produced a positively huge, 20-page feature on ways to have seasonal, summertime fun in Westchester County. Plenty of my own writing is sprinkled throughout. You can download the PDF, or see it online here.
It's time to tote those books to the parks and beaches. I got local indie booksellers to recommend the summer's biggest titles. You can download the PDF, or read it online here.
For the June issue, I produced a 24-page Health and Fitness Guide, conceiving, pitching, and assigning all of the s. Articles include:
-Doctors Ditching Medicine for Medi-Spas
-Meeting Non-Weight-Loss Fitness Goals (Running Faster, Toning Up, Decreasing Heart Rate, etc.)
-The Biggest Threats to the Health of High Schoolers
-One Local Girl's Success with Gene-Based Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis
-Fifteen Common Health Myths Debunked
-Five New Healthy Food to Eat in 2013
-Q&As with Westchester's Health Experts-Why Health and Fitness Should Be a Family Commitment
Of course, I couldn't resist writing of of my own, a slideshow gallery about gadgets and apps that can get people started on the road to fitness.
Gadgets and Apps to Get You Going
Here, my favorite:
THE RUNNING DEAD: Nothing motivates as much as sheer terror: It gets the heart pounding and the legs moving. Do you think you’d have as much trouble with your get-up-and-go if you were running for your life amidst the zombie apocalypse? The Zombies, Run! The 5K Training app deposits you in the middle of one of 30+ missions; you need to run (in real life) to avoid (virtual) zombies, all set to your favorite adrenaline-pumping music. You’ll also be sent to collect critical supplies and return them to your base to save civilization as you know it. Available for iPhones/iPads, Android, and Windows phones, $1.99; zombiesrungame.com.
Click on "Gadgets and Apps" to see the rest of the gallery, or check out the rest of the Health and Fitness Guide.
Even though the show is basically pre-cancelled by Fox, I reviewed it and found it entertaining.
First challenge: complete a game of Trivial Pursuit, with all the questions altered to cover family history. (Dare we call that “adorkable?”) When the trio returns to home to compete for the money, running into former best friends and ex-sweethearts, The Goodwin Games expands its focus beyond the borders of a family-based sitcom. Now it becomes part-homecoming, part-Parenthood, part-It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World, with elements of David Fincher’s The Game thrown in for good measure...
It doesn’t seem likely that the estate will be settled before the show goes off the air. Yet even though the show may never fulfill its central plot purpose, watching the reduced number of episodes may be like one of Benjamin’s challenges: a little silly, likely to conjure up a few heavy sighs, but ultimately an entertaining diversion.
Click through to read the full review at PopMatters.
Island Vacations: Car-Free Destinations for Your Big Summer Trip
Leave the traffic behind and blow all the gas money because, where you're going, you don't need a vehicle
Rottnest Island
Australia
Just a little more than 11 miles west of Perth is a sun-worshipper's haven, with beaches and bays ready for surfers, snorkelers, swimmers, and divers. The best views to be found are actually just off the island—and under the water. In addition to the tropical fish—and more than 130 species of tropical fish have been spotted here—there are a number of shipwrecks to be explored off the coast, including at least three that can be reached by snorkelers without a boat. The destination is popular with students partying to celebrate the end of their terms, so it's wise to book in advance.
Getting Around: You can rent a bike. You can hop on a bus. (Yes, cars are forbidden, but coaches are allowed to traverse the six-mile-long island.) Or you can do both with the combo Bike & Bus pass. For $30 to $40, you'll be given the use of a bike but, when the fatigue sets in at the end of the day, you can hop on any of the Bayseeker buses that run a regular circuit around the island. Just leave your bike at the bus stop, and it'll be collected for you.
Getting There: Rottnest Island has the requisite ferries, including the Rottnest Fast Express, from Fremantle and Perth City, and the Rottnest Fast Ferries, from Hillary. But there are also a few airlines that service the island without requiring an expensive private charter (and arriving by air gives you the chance to take some aerial photos). Check out the on-demand services of Rottnest Air Taxi or Ozwest Aviation.
FYI: The name Rottnest came to be when a Dutch explorer saw the island's native marsupials and thought they were rats. (The island's name translates to "Rats' Nest.") In fact, the animals he saw were not rats, but Quokkas. They look like crosses between cat-sized squirrels and mini-kangaroos, and they're adorable.
Australia
Just a little more than 11 miles west of Perth is a sun-worshipper's haven, with beaches and bays ready for surfers, snorkelers, swimmers, and divers. The best views to be found are actually just off the island—and under the water. In addition to the tropical fish—and more than 130 species of tropical fish have been spotted here—there are a number of shipwrecks to be explored off the coast, including at least three that can be reached by snorkelers without a boat. The destination is popular with students partying to celebrate the end of their terms, so it's wise to book in advance.
Getting Around: You can rent a bike. You can hop on a bus. (Yes, cars are forbidden, but coaches are allowed to traverse the six-mile-long island.) Or you can do both with the combo Bike & Bus pass. For $30 to $40, you'll be given the use of a bike but, when the fatigue sets in at the end of the day, you can hop on any of the Bayseeker buses that run a regular circuit around the island. Just leave your bike at the bus stop, and it'll be collected for you.
Getting There: Rottnest Island has the requisite ferries, including the Rottnest Fast Express, from Fremantle and Perth City, and the Rottnest Fast Ferries, from Hillary. But there are also a few airlines that service the island without requiring an expensive private charter (and arriving by air gives you the chance to take some aerial photos). Check out the on-demand services of Rottnest Air Taxi or Ozwest Aviation.
FYI: The name Rottnest came to be when a Dutch explorer saw the island's native marsupials and thought they were rats. (The island's name translates to "Rats' Nest.") In fact, the animals he saw were not rats, but Quokkas. They look like crosses between cat-sized squirrels and mini-kangaroos, and they're adorable.
Click through to read the read of the slideshow at the Condé Nast Traveler's website.
Photo: ADS/Alamy
As part of the Condé Nast Traveler's New York blog, I profiled 10 gardens.
New York City's Outstanding Urban Gardens
Wave Hill
Wave Hill is an interesting combination of historic home and nature conservatory. The mansion, set on a hill overlooking the Hudson River, has had several VIP residents: Theodore Roosevelt's family rented it for summers, Mark Twain leased it for a time, and Arturo Toscanini lived here from 1942 to 1945. After a two-year renovation, the house reopens this July 6 and 7, but you don't have to wait until then to enjoy the rest of this public garden and cultural center. Nab an adirondack chair on the huge sloping lawn; wander the aquatic, herb or flower gardens; hike a short nature trail; or take pictures of the Palisades from the Italianate pergola. If you're lucky you might spot a proposal or a wedding—Wave Hill is a popular place for both.
Click through to read the rest at the Condé Nast Traveler's website.
Photo courtesy of Wave Hill.
My guide to all of the great films that are coming out this summer. Download the PDF, or read it online here.