cityrag

night light
hot lights on a cold night in the lower east side, ny

why film production companies SUCK
using today's filming of Love Monkey in the LES as an example…

1) craft service tables out in the open on NYC streets ARE DISGUSTING. put them in a trailer. having seen many people vomit in the street in front of Arlene’s (in this the exact spot), watching bacon and eggs being fried there this morning really fucked with us. and it’s sad watching the neighborhood homeless people walk by them.

2) yo film crews - GET OVER YOURSELVES. people walking by are looking to see ACTORS, not your self important, clip board carrying, free crap food munching, asses.

3) stop fucking with what little parking we have! the no-parking signs gave Wed’s date 3/30, but said THURSDAY (which is actually 3/31), and on top of that the filming is really today, Friday 4/1 – April fools everyone! (car towing started last night, if you know anyone in the LES who had their car towed in the last 24 hours tell them to email us.) and the production companies take over tons of streets/blocks, many more than they’ll use to be sure they have plenty of parking. we’ve often moved our car to see the block remain empty.

4) they may bring money to the city, but they don’t bring it into our neighborhoods. over the years we’ve had many shop owning friends complain that film crews block access to their stores and take up all the parking – killing sales while they’re around (and they bring everything with them so they do absolutely NO shopping in the area, not even a bottle of water.)

Footnotes:
- photos above were shot walking Buddy this morning through the filming of Love Monkey, but the comments are true for just about every filming we've walked through on the streets of NY (dozens over the years)
- does anyone know the name of the actress above that we snapped this morning? is Judy Greer. thanks Nick for solving that!! (she was very nice when we snapped the shot and smiled at Buddy)
- none of the comment's above apply to our friends who work in film

nailed
a little round up of some of our favorite gossip of the week, nailed shut by some of the web's best bloggerz...

Avril writes "Japan is the Best" on her arm for a Hong Kong concert!

brilliant Chasing Farrah review: "Watch Farrah chastise the tabloids then snap into business mode as she proudly reports that the cover announcing her and Ryan's split was the second-highest-selling issue ever. Watch the psychologically abused makeup artist on her hands and knees scrubbing the beige carpet. Yes, watch closely and you will see how damaging celebrity can be."

Angry Cameron Diaz Trippin’ On Her Big Head

the answer to those scary crop circles that have formed on Arnold's flabby belly

"how does Russell live with her?" Kimora Lee Simmons is INSANE and quite a low life

Mad Fug - garunteed to make even the worst dresser feel superior

Justin Timberlake's hose

Barf Personified (for hard core Idol fans - so funny!)

nothing like a good bathroom stall drug story, especially when Paris is in it

Madonna is a selfish, heartless, BITCH (the very sad outcome of 3 chihuahuas she abandoned via aSociaitesLife)

cry baby
it happens (and even then, he's still so cute)

mmmm burgers
as we count down the hours until the Shake Shack reopens this coming Monday, it seems like a good time to follow-up on Epstein's Bar, the burger joint/bar that opened on the corner of Allen and Stanton a couple months ago. and we're happy to report Epstein's serves a dam good burger!...

the meat is very flavorful and has that juicy, melt in your mouth quality. comes with nice pile of lettuce, tomato and onion (and fries.) AND they toast/brown the bun on the grill! (one of the secrets to an outstanding burger! a very important touch also done by Shack Shake.) the fries aren’t anything special and service there can be so-so (we usually order ahead and then pick em up to take out, while we walk Buddy) but the burgers are always great!

to the good life
cityrag loves stories of rescued animals in happy new homes...

here's a little of Bessie's great story from her wonderful owner Erika...
"I too have a formerly orphaned dog. Her name is Bessie and she is some kind of a corgi mix as well. She is such an amazing and strange dog. I found her when I was visiting a friend in Puerto Rico. She would have been euthanized there since she had contracted heartworm disease. Now she is cured, living with me in Brooklyn and being the nuttiest dog ever."

healthy insanity
more from the cool site rock on lock (that Tiger Lilly introduced us to.) this is freakin' fabulous!... some dam funny stuff that's had us laughing all morning. here's a couple of our favorites from 19 ways to maintain a healthy level of insanity...
- At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
- Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.
- Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.
- Sing Along At The Opera.
- Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.
- When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

and don't miss this!

hey K-Smokes - step away from the pregnant lady
while the world tries to figure out if Britney Spears is pregnant (and it's looking like a yes)... we'll jump ahead to the next question: is Kevin Federline going to make a good Dad?... and we gotta say, all signs point to NO...

picked this idea up from LilLaaady of the JJB board, here's her sweet note: "I hope she's not pregnant if he's just going to smoke in front of her. Second hand smoke could be just as damaging for a baby."

check out PinksTheNewBlog for some great pics and commentary about Kev's recent trip to Vegas and what might be going on in this photo and the rest of the series (let's just say lots of apologizing.)

and via Gawker: Brit opens a can of whoop-ass on "false tabloids"