Thank godness British TV isn't like THIS- you never hear Jon Snow or Jeremy Paxman or even Paul O'Grady or Graham Norton default to 'is this good or bad'. Maybe because the Brits always expect the worst and hope for the better and are blessed with the middle.

Banksy deemed more damaging than Banks!

Banksy captivates New York with guerrilla graffiti art blitz

Mayor Bloomberg on Wednesday said: "Graffiti does ruin people's property and it's a sign of decay and loss of control...Nobody is a bigger supporter of the arts than I am. I just think there are some places for art and some places where-no art." Doesn't the NYPD have far better things to do with its time than hunt for Mr. Banksy? Hmmm. One might also argue that GREED is a sign of decay and loss of control. No shortage of that in the last New York decade now was there? Not too many of THOSE were arrested were they?! Want help with a list of names as a reminder or perhaps even an eye-opener Mr Mayor? (Well that is ex-Mayor after the election on Nov5, 2013. But you do officially get to keep the title).

You kinda wished, though, that the anti-Goldman Sachs protesters outside Trump Tower (formerly the Gulf &Western building) were a little better dressed. One stopped at offering each $50 (actually you could do a nice job for $40- can I have the 'tenner' back please? ) to buy a new wardrobe at one of New York's plentiful thrift shops. And one also wanted to hand them each a copy of Steven G. Mandis' What Happened to Goldman Sachs. (good Mary Kissel review- sorry about the pay wall- but there are other reviews;) History is a little more complex than most wish to believe. 

JPMorgan Chase to settle for $13 billion allegations surrounding the quality of mortgage-backed securities sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. (Well-worth watching the Alan Greenspan interview on The Daily Show)

Getting so much better all the time....

and if you thought that there was only one Downing Street (and yes there is indeed another No.10-cheaper than renting in most accessible London boroughs) with problems, then read the right of Yoko Ono's NY apartment HERE. 

Oh: and did we recommend go see Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine!  Of course we did. You just weren't listening carefully enough. OK! It's maybe not that subtle, or that clever, or that anything - and that goes for the cinematography too. Let's be honest. But: I DEFY you to say it does not have heart in spades! And I defy you to claim who has done a better re-working of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire in recent or ever memory? And if Cate Blanchett isn't nominated for an Academy Award for her role then I will publicly eat my $100 bill! (It is an open bar at that party now isn't it...? :) Let alone Sally Hawkins in her role (who knew but Woody Allen (and Mike Leigh) ...!...come on) And while we are on the subject of mass-debating the future of our planet go see Woody Allen's Whatever Works - a film that NO HUMAN critic seemed to like (Warner Brothers the Brit distributor relegated it to a tiny screening room at the press show- not worthy of the big man seats of the 'lush' theatre!- I feel echoes of Charlie Chaplin in Limelight)- Sony in the States were a bit more enthusiastic- come on. Ha, ha HE proved you wrong with Blue Jasmine!  Didn't have anything to do with the fact that:?  Whatever Works  refused to have a political or socially redeeming theme of any sort except- excuse me- perhaps; sometimes real life has a far happier ending than utter planetary bullshit!
(p.s.- NASA is back online. However, unconfirmed reports reveal how signals from a distant galaxy indicating a 'reaching out' were not reciprocated by us during the government shutdown. Most worrying thing about that report is that alien life forms use 'reaching out' in their vocabulary seeming only conversant with C21 CRM. And here we were expecting a 'twitter' in algorithm. Back to amoeba one and Walmarts of the cosmos. (p.p.s.- if you wrote 'reaching out' to a Brit they wouldn't know what you were talking about except perhaps assuming that you were another shyster after their tiny jug of pennies. So: not much difference in definition there really....)

Life as a capsicum in the Big Apple HERE.

[ Oct 13]- is the truth always stranger than the fiction?:
Nine missing episodes of 1960s Doctor Who have been found at a TV station in Nigeria, including most of the classic story The Web of Fear.
Can we look forward to a Rembrandt in a Mongolian cave?  A Mozart minuet in a Mexican hacienda? Or in 2077 a rusty box of USB sticks with episodes of The Daily Show in the dusty throne room of Buckingham Palace? [p.s.- contrary to some popular opinion The Daily Show is not some Left-wing conspiracy. Remarkably balanced given the 'crazy' goings-on it has to cover] And who has a problem with THIS story from Tahoma High School in relation to civil liberties? We don't agree with the 'Confederates' view on this website but should displaying 'their' flag be treated any less a civil liberty? Is it an issue of bullying, intimidation, racism? Is it tantamount to displaying a representation of hate?

One of the funniest (though they wasn't much competition;) quotes of this year's New York Film Festival came from Steve Coogan after a screening of Alan Partridge: "The Bolsheviks had the right idea when it came to Royalty." I'm sure Coogan's remains will be in a Tibetan cave by 2077 so no need to panic Captain Mainwaring! Coogan was asked about his phone being hacked and the scandal. And the prospects of his film and his anti-hero/loser/'greedy git' character in America. He wasn't very optimistic given the probable response from the average 'Joe": "That guys a douche-bag why would I want to hang out with him? !"

p.p.s- re: the American govt shutdown- everyone bemoans the closure of The White House tours and free Cookies (hello The Butler) and hugging young otters in National Parks but HELLO! noBODY ever mentions the fact that we can't go online and see what NASA is doing! I guess that really is the last word on how this planet sees itself my fellow aliens...tant surprise! YES they speak French in outer space- where the fff French have you being livin' all these years. Under a cuuunnnnn mugeoning conveyer belt!

last woof standing

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I happened to look up and there it was. All over and done with, at last. I sat on for a few moments with the ball in my hand and the dog yelping and pawing at me. (Pause.) Moments. Her moments, my moments (Pause.) The dog's moments.
― Samuel Beckett, Krapp's Last Tape 

However, can one ever silence an 'old dog' ? (Start the Week, Oct 4)
and who ever thought Alpha Papa would be called to The White House!
love me tender, love me sweet, all our dreams come true...

Ah, but for a Hollywood movie..

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, P.G., S.D. and an endless array of initials...............

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dogs do what they do as you do do so well...

Did the great and good get an enema the other night at Carnegie Hall in New York? Should the unions learn that terminology? Enemas don't really bare comparison though do they? having said that we just had a fascinating conversation with an a**hole from.....

btw:

Have any of Westminster's political parties actually read any Marx? Or did they just read the Wiki entry? Be careful what you wish for PM! We know everything...at 17 the world is one's oyster nesse dorma pas...and it just depends how much sand is in that hourglass. Are there any 'appropriate' jobs for those on benefits who you are trying to get back to work? Maybe you should start at the top and work you're way down. That's what we are doing. And it is not a very happy tale...

This site don't need luck it leaks talent. And IT has a tale to tell. And you are all really fucked if it is told to its fullest. Oh, I'm sorry is that not Steve Coogan enough? Indiewire wrote "we just wish it was less painful to watch" Did we mention that colleagues in NYFF industry/press screenings are stabbing each other for chewing popcorn too loudly? Sorry: those reports are unconfirmed and witnesses NYFF Fest Director Kent Jones and 'friend' Martin Scorsese (who he? after Shutter Island) are now resting comfortably after being intimidated by '5 year old' something Lincoln Center staff. Sorry what does NYT stand for?

nyt are debating Sunday's arts headline:
 

Full house for mediocre talent! Ex- New York Fest director refused entry to his own Festival.

Anything to do with Richard Peña being refused entry to a 9am screening of , sorry what was the name of your film ...?. Surely not. Not. 

Who? What? New York lives only for today. We gave up trying to figure out what London lived for. I guess London isn't JP Morgan Chase and Co's favorite restaurant on the planet anymore. Wanna feed somewhere else...?

ahh soylent green were art thou...in a goody bag no doubt very near YOU.