Marco Polo Festival in Little Italy/Chinatown New York City!
October 22nd, 2012 by Mr. C
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The Marco Polo Festival in NYC celebrated the harmonious co-existence of the Italian & Chinese communities in the Little Italy and Chinatown sections of Manhattan for over 100 years now! Outdoor cultural performances throughout the day lined the Hester Street stage located between Mott & Mulberry streets. Performances included traditional chinese opera (Chinese Opera Society), Italian tarantella folk drumming and dance, chinese folk music, traditional and modern chinese dance routines (NY Chinese Cultural Center), and classical/modern violin by the amazing Corin Lee! The 4th Annual Marco Polo Festival was sponsored by the Two Bridges Neighborhood council led by Victor Papa. The emcee of the event was John Leo, a representative from Con Edison and a former Director of Outreach/Relations at the Chinatown Partnership Development. Leo also provided excellent and comedic chinese (cantonese) translations for the chinese audience in attendance but John…stay away from the singing…please! It was such a beautiful day to celebrate Italian and Chinese cultures in the Big Apple! Thank you to the Two Bridges Neighborhood council for organizing such an event to bring people together to acknowledge & show appreciation for the rich and dynamic heritage of our communities!
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(Victor Papa – organizer of the festival – President of Two Bridges Neighborhood Council)
(John Leo – host of the Marco Polo Festival)
(Red Mike Festival Band)
(Chinese Opera singing)
(Chinese Folk music)
(Tarantella drum and dance)
(NY Cultural Center-Chinese & Mongolian traditional with modern dance techniques)
(Corin Lee -Violinist phenom)
Tags: chinese, culture, italian, marco polo festival, new york
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More New York Comic Con Cosplay 2012
October 18th, 2012 by chocko
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Tags: comic books, cosplay, fanboys, fangirls, movies, new york comic con, nycc
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New York Comic Con cosplay
October 16th, 2012 by Mr. C
The New York Comic Con came in on a quiet tip like Mary had a little lamb on preview night Thursday and went out with a bang like Dwight & Marv from Sin City! In between that was filled with a fun performance by Ben Folds Five, a band that I haven’t thought about since the late 90s and two panels that we attended which had the common denominator of being represented by musicians. Kirk Hammett (Metallica) was on hand for a discussison about his new book ‘Too Much Horror Business’ & obsession with collecting Horror memorabilia! The other panel was a very fun & informative panel: Hip Hop and Comics – combining cultures! Guests included Adam “Illus” Wallenta, Darryl DMC McDaniels, Eric Orr, Jean Grae, Johnny “Juice” Rosado, Kagan McLeod, Patrick A. Reed, Pete Rock, Ron Wilson, & Ronald Wimberly. Each guest talked about the meshing of Hip Hop culture with comics! We will provide more photos and information on these two panels that we attended later.
The real rock stars that made the comic con fun was the attendees who were adorned in their cosplay outfits! Most of the costumes we witnessed were amazing as well as the people & personalities behind the them! Enjoy, y’all!
Tags: cosplay, new york comic con
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Tinkertown Museum
October 11th, 2012 by chocko
On a recent journey to New Mexico, a definite highlight was a visit to Tinkertown Museum located on the Turquoise Trail in Sandia Park just 20 minutes from Albuquerque. Tinkertown features the amazing life work of the late folk artist Ross J. Ward. His wood-carved figures, animated miniature displays and impressive collection of circus and western memorabilia will take you back in time. The 22 room roadside attraction features walls made out of 50,000 bottles and if you explore it’s winding hallways, you will discover some of the residents such as Esmerelda the Fortune Teller and Otto the One-Man-Band. For a quarter, you can have your fortune told or be entertained with an old timey tune. The artist’s workshop can also be seen within the museums walls where countless hours must have been spent mastering his craft. Tinkertown is also home to a 35 foot antique wooden sailboat which went on a ten year voyage around the world. It was a real pleasure to chat with the friendly staff and especially to meet Carla Ward, Ross’ wife who continues to operate their museum which is a true testimony to an artist’s boundless creativity and imagination. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to stop by. Happy Trails!
“If you can dream it, you can build it and Tinkertown is my proof”
~ Ross J. Ward
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many people need it sorely. Broad, wholesome, charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one’s little corner of Earth.” ~ Mark Twain
Tags: albuquerque, folk art, ross j ward, santa fe, tinkertown museum, turquoise trail
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Suzanne Vega at City Winery
October 10th, 2012 by Mr. C
One of NYC’s most underrated folk/pop singer/songwriters of our time- Suzanne Vega two stepped into the City Winery on Tuesday night for two performances to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of her most well known album – Solitude Standing. Vega’s vocals can be described as being gentle & soft, yet firm and clear to the bone. Some might even describe her voice as being monotone and boring but those who say that don’t truly understand the mood & artistic expression that she is trying to relay through by the use of her colorful palette amongst the words, metaphors, melody, & rhythm in order to paint a picture of her stories.
Suzanne Vega, an urban poet with clever uses of linguistics is not afraid to tackle topics like child abuse (Luka) or depression (Night Vision). She displays a side of humor and whim with Tom’s Diner and is not scared to show her softer side with a tribute to her love who moved back to England with the tune Gypsy. Another great song – Ironbound expresses her views on being bound and chained in the urban environment. Vega celebrated the Solitude Standing album by playing it in it’s entirety in the same order as released on the album. My favorite performances of the night included Tom’s Diner in the jazzy-funky arrangement, Queen and the Soldier, Solitude Standing, Gypsy, and Left of Center (Soundtrack from Pretty in Pink).
Some funny stories that Suzanne told that night included when the artist formerly known as Prince came to checkout her performance in the 1980’s at a club called 1st Avenue in Minnesota. Prince danced & pranced around to Luka which was the 4th song that she played that night and then Prince left the scene after Luka. Prince had asked later on if Vega wanted a private tour of his mansion!
Another story had Lenny Kaye (former guitarist of Patti Smith) and producer of Vega’s 1st two albums, trying to push Suzanne into finishing the writing for the Solitude Standing album in which he offered to write lyrics to some of the songs. Suzanne mentioned the lyrics he wrote were so bad, it motivated her to finish composing the album!
It was also very cool to hear SV belt out a song of her’s from the Breakfast Club soundtrack – Left of Center and another soundtrack (Tombstone) that she worked on in Eddie Murphy’s movie Haunted Mansion! These 2 tracks were some of the most fun and upbeat of the night!
Stephany Winters added a nice dimension to the sound with the cello and it was very cool to see/hear Hollywood actress Jil Hennessy providing backup vocals with one of the tunes! The guitar player was phenomenal turning it out on the remix of Tom’s Diner with some ambient and funky sounds coming out of his geeTar!
Big thanks to Jersey JoelNJdev for scoring some tickets to this celebration & benefit concert!
Set List
Tom’s Diner (acapella)
Luka
Ironbound
In the Eye
Night vision
Solitude Standing
Calypso
Language
Gypsy
Wooden Horse
Tom’s Diner (jazzy-funky remix)
Marlene on the wall
Left of Center (Breakfast Club)
Tombstone (Sound track from Eddie Murphy’s Haunted Mansion)
Blood Makes Noise
Some Journey
encore
Queen and the soldier
Rosemary
Tags: city winery, folk, suzanne vega
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10th annual Open House New York
October 9th, 2012 by Mr. C
Last Sat/Sun was the 10th annual Open House New York event! OHNY weekend is a time when NYC including the 5 boroughs opens up access to historic buildings, architecture and design, walks and talks of history in the city, and just to celebrate NYC culture in general! From private residences and historic landmarks to rooftop farms and sustainable skyscrapers, OHNY is a time to enjoy & reflect on what a great city and resource the big apple truly is! And the best thing of all, most of the events are FREE! There are some programs that require reservations and cost $5 per person.
On Saturday, I was able to attend 3 open house NY events. The 1st was a walk through Chelsea to rediscover old NYC and the fading ads that silently adorn to the buildings as people passby without ever noticing them. The handpainted signs/ads that cling onto these old buildings tell a great story on the history of our city! Photographer, author, and NYC Historian – Frank Jump led the talks and walks with much enthusiasm & knowledge! Checkout Frank’s book & blog called ‘Fading Ads of New York City‘. He seems to have a great passion in unearthing the New York of yesteryear by discovering and examining old signs and the businesses they were representing.
The 2nd OHNY stop I made was located at a street or alley I should say that I passby literally thousands of times enroute to chinatown. The destination was a freight elevator on Cortlandt Alley off of Canal Street. This former elevator shaft-way is now home to NYC’s smallest museum which contains 150 artifacts of overlooked humanism and treasure from the streets of the world. The museum is FREE and made possible by the support of Kate, Andy and Bea Spade.
The last stop I made was located in a chinatown loft in a building dating back to the 1920s. It was a former tenement home which is now privately owned. This loft on Forsyth Street was converted from a 3 bedroom apartment to a sun-drenched 750 sq. ft apartment with the space utilized in the most ingenious of ways. The exposed brick and the retro wallpaper seemed to be a nice blend of the old with the modern. The resident and architect of the apartment was gracious enough to share his loft with the public and provide a personal tour as well.
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(The enthusiastic Frank Jump leading the talks & the walks on Fading ads in NYC! He takes us to a few signage gems in the Chelsea/Flatiron area.)
(Miss Weber’s Millinery Shop on 48 W.22nd Street)
(Phillip Morris – America’s Finest Cigarette)
(Griffin Shears – nailfiles*Tweezers*nippers*manicure sets)
(A. Steinhardt & Bros. – 860 Broadway)
(Crown Coat Fronts by Union Square)
(An example of when a building uses handpainted signage for each floor of the building)
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Museum
Cortlandt Alley between White & Franklin Streets
NY, NY
(Cortlandt Alley)
(The Museum in the elevator shaft is the actually storefront!)
(Some interesting artifacts from around the world)
(The dominatrix elixir!)
(The shoe thrown at President Bush)
(old nyc weapons of mass destruction?)
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(A tour of a loft in Chinatown – Forsyth Street – a former tenement building)
Tags: open house new york, photos, travel
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Asbury Park zombie walk
October 8th, 2012 by Mr. C
My office space co-worker shared a few photos that he took from the 5th Annual Asbury Park Zombie Walk last Saturday! Thanks J-Strongbow! The Zombie Walk is a peaceful? gathering & rising of the undead to wreak havoc on the city of living namely Asbury Park!
(Superheroes can get infected too!)
(Sherlock Holmes?)
(Till death do us part…)
Tags: asbury park zombie walk, cosplay
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Kama Sutra & the art of knit — sock it to me!
October 7th, 2012 by Mr. C
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I went strolling down Crosby Street – south of Houston, a cobblestone street that we normally haunt for two reasons,Housing Works bookstore & cafe and Lahore Deli, a hole in the wall NYC taxi cab driver favorite for cheap Indian eats which is open 24 hours a day!
While doing my street tour of duty, I noticed that the taxi cab mechanic garage located across the street from Lahore Deli & next to the gas station had been closed down & replaced by a Benetton pop up shop with one of its garage doors propped open for business! While most of us don’t give a hoot about the United Colors of preppieness, I noticed a really neat looking display of man/woman sized knit dolls covered in wool performing various poses of passionate embrace! It turns out that these installations, dubbed ‘Lana Sutra‘ were created by cuban artist, Erik Ravelo. As per Benetton, the art pieces embody the idea of colour and of a woollen thread linking all humankind. The knit display also pays homage to love and is dedicated to the desire for an equal and sharing society. Benetton is making the preppy, sexy?!
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Benetton Pop-up Shop (from 9/6-12/01/12)
135 Crosby Street
SoHo – New York NY 10012
Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe
126 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
Lahore Deli (Open 24 hours)
132 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
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Mic Mania at The New York City Graffiti Hall of Fame
October 5th, 2012 by chocko
Afrika Bambaataa
Special K
A couple of weekends ago, we stopped by the New York City Graffiti Hall of Fame in East Harlem for the Mic Mania Event which featured an all day hip hop art and music event. We didn’t expect to run into the legendary Afrika Bambaataa when we hopped out of the spaceship. For all you new jacks…Bambaataa is the Godfather of Hip Hop who was once the leader of a gang, The Black Spades. Today he is the leader of the Zulu Nation, spreading hip hop culture and knowledge throughout the planet and outer galaxies. All you extra-terrestrials know him for his many electro funky records such as Planet Rock, Looking For The Perfect Beat and Renagades of Funk. Special K, a legendary MC, was also in the house. Special K along with Kool Moe Dee and L.A. Sunshine formed the well known lineup of the highly influential rap group, The Treacherous Three. Their songs Feel The Heartbeat and Body Rock still sound funky fresh!
The Captain of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Caz!
DJ Eclipse (Check him out on The Halftime Radio Show Every Wednesday Night 10:30-1 AM EST 89.1 FM . and on USTREAM) and DJ JS-1 representing Rock Steady Crew. DJ JS-1 (aka JERMS) hasn’t painted at the Graffiti Hall of Fame since 1992! Welcome back. Be sure to check out his Ground Original albums for dat real hip hop from the underground!
Peace to NIC ONE, a prolific graffiti artist, former head curator of 5Pointz and photographer of hip hop culture. The man in the shades is an original graffiti outlaw from Spanish Harlem , Lava 1 & 2 (a.k.a. Straight Man).
DJ JS-1 (aka JERMS) at THE GRAFFITI HALL OF FAME 2012
PHOTOS by CHOCKO, VIDEO courtesy of DJ JS-1
Tags: afrika bambaataa, DJ Eclipse, dj js-1, graffiti, graffiti hall of fame, grandmaster caz, harlem, lava 1 & 2, new york city, nic one, nyc, photos, special k
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All chile peppered out in New Mexico!
October 2nd, 2012 by Mr. C
(green chiles roasting on the fire at the farmers market on Cerrillos Road & St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe)
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Last week the Planet Chocko raggamuffin crew flew out to New Mexico for a little excursion hoping to get abducted by a UFO in order to find out more about our martian ancestry. We bounced from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Taos with no such luck on discovering our family tree. Instead we got molested, slapped in the face, and burnt in the mouth by New Mexico’s roasted chile peppers! We went to a whole host of cheap eats throughout our travels in New Mexico and every single establishment had remnances of red/green chile peppers as their defining influence in their foods! Apparently, green chile is a popular ingredient added to everything including burgers, fries, enchiladas, burritos, pizzas, potato chips – I think you get the idea! Even Mcdonald’s had a green chile double cheeseburger on their menu! We snapped a few photos and provided some captions on some noteworthy cheap and good eats in New Mex below!
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El Modelo Mexican foods
1715 2nd St SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
El Modelo was located in an industrial looking area and definitely off the beaten path of wandering tourists. That didn’t stop us though as we stood in line with the locals as everyone was getting food to go for dinner. El Modelo was strictly takeout with no tables inside but there were picnic tables located across the parking lot. The restaurant was run by ladies from the back of the house to the front and they served up some serious down home Mexican eats with ginormous portions! The food was delicious and the chile chorizo sauce was on fire if you know what I mean! Overall, I gave the food 4 out of 5 chile peppers for taste and heat!
(The Mexican Plate – tamale,taco,enchilada,rice,refried beans,chile chorizo sauce,spare ribs,tostadas, & sopaipillas! This plate could feed 4 people. Loved the enchilada,tamale,spare ribs,rice,sopaipillos, and chile chorizo sauce. Didn’t care too much for the taco and tostados.)
(chile cheese fries)
(Sopaipillas soon to be taking a bath in some honey & chile chorizo sauce!)
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Frontier Restaurant
2400 Central Ave SE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Next up to the plate residing from Albuquerque is the heavy hitting Frontier Restaurant conveniently located across the street from the University of New Mexico! The Frontier looks like it feeds the local masses, students, & tourists with the utmost efficiency! You line up to order, get your receipt, find an open table, & then pickup your order by number which is posted on an lcd screen. Breakfasts, burritos, burgers, roasted green chiles, homemade flour tortillas, their famous sweet rolls, & freshly squeezed orange juice can be had here. The sweet roll or what we call cinnamon rolls back home was delicious and not as sweet as the cinnabon variety. Overall the food was good and the spice level of our carne adovado was pretty tame. I was expecting some more heat but the strands of pork stewed with the red chile was flavorful. Buggy said the Fiesta Burger was delicious albeit a bit sloppy with the red chile sauce. Heat was not an issue as well. The Frontier is a great place for decent-homestyle cooked food for a person on a tightwad budget. I gave the Frontier a 3 out of 5 chile peppers for taste/convenience/price and a 2 out of 5 chile peppers for heat.
(Breakfast Burrito – one egg, hash browns, carne adovada, cheddar cheese and green chile)
(Breakfast platter – carne adovado, eggs, hashbrown, & flour tortilla.)
(Fiesta burger with red chile + cheese fries)
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Blake’s Lotaburger
404 North Guadalupe Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
The next cheap but good eats spot landed us into Blake’s Lotaburger in Santa Fe. Blake’s is a New Mexico only burger chain that started in Alburquerque in 1952. Now, they have over 70+ stores in New Mexico! All their burgers are of the angus variety and very tender to boot! Lotaburger is a fast food joint, sort of. They cook all their burgers to order so it’s not really fast, but it is tasty! The green chile on the burger definitely got up and slapped my face and my tastebuds quite a few times! I ordered the fries, shake, the green chile burger and never looked back. The shake provided a nice cool down period for the green chiles! I give Lotaburger a 3.5 chile peppers for taste and 3.5 chile peppers for heat!
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Bobcat Bite
420 Old Las Vegas Hwy
Santa Fe, NM 87505
And now batting cleanup – hailing from Old Las Vegas Highway in Santa Fe – Bobcat Bite! If there is one thing that you must order from here, it’s the green chile burger. Actually, I ordered the bacon green chile cheeseburger for added insult to my heart and arteries! The bun was airy & was toasted nicely on the grill – lathered with butter. The bread offered as a nice pillow to sop up the burger juices and green chile! The burger meat, a mix of sirloin and boneless chuck was a nice blend of fat to beef. The meat was juicy and thick in all dimensions! It was cooked to about a medium to medium well I would estimate. I almost had lockjaw trying to clamp down on my bobcat bite burger! The burger was delicious in all of its parts including the bacon, cheese, the green chile, burger meat, and bun. Suffice to say as big as the footprint was of this green chile cheeseburger, I had no problems destroying it! My only gripe was that the green chile was not as smoky nor as spicy as I would of liked. But overall, Bobcat Bite’s Cheeseburger was one of the better burgers that I have ever had! I give Bobcat Bite a 4.5 out of 5 chile peppers for taste and 2.75 out of 5 chile peppers for heat/smoke. I so wanted Bobcat to take a bite out of me with some heat!
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Michael’s Kitchen – Cafe & Bakery
304 Paseo Del Publo N
Taos, NM 87571
And if things couldn’t get any heavier in the heart, we continued onwards up north to Tao’s. Michael’s Kitchen was highly recommnended to us by our flight attendant on our travels from Denver to Albuquerque. Michael’s is a bakery/cafe/rustic diner of sorts with homestyle new mexican cooking. The food here was hearty, heavy, and fit for the long haul truck driver. That’s a compliment by the way! I’m not sure if I would travel long distances like that 4 hour drive the flight attendant would make but if you are in the neighborhood, this is definitely a great option to fuel up. I ordered from the local favorites category on the menu, the poor man’s eggs benedict with a side of hash browns. The eggs were done over easy nestled on top of a few slices of shaved ham and a toasted english muffin layered with a generous portion of green chile and melted cheese!
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Zia Diner
326 S Guadalupe St
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Now back in Santa Fe after some consignment store shopping and milling about we ended up at the Zia Diner which is less of a traditional Diner and more of a Bar and Grill. Being all chile peppered out, I decided to order a salad. What? At least it was a Southwestern grilled chicken salad with romain lettuce! The salad was actually quite fresh and tasty with the orange-chipotle vinaigrette! The grilled chicken was on the dry side but the components of the corn, avocado, slivers of tortilla chips, and orange-chipotle dressing picked up some slack. Our server disappeared like Houdini at times but was friendly at the very least. I would place Zia as a decent safe option if you get tired of the Cowgirl BBQ joint across the street.
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Last but not least we had a delicious homemade Southwestern omelette a la Roseanne made by our friend and travelmate – Roseanne! The omelette was started by sauteing diced onions and peppers in butter before the freshly whisked eggs were married into the mix. The omelette was accompanied by a jalepeno corn bread with two healthy dollops of salsa and green chile! Yum! Thanks Roseanne!
Tags: eats, food, new mexico
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Giallo Fever!
September 24th, 2012 by chocko
It’s hard to believe that the Giallo genre has not received its own showcase in NYC, but it’s here now and 10 Italian thrillers from the late 60’s and 70’s are being screened until September 30 at the Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Ave, NYC). Malastrana Film Series and Anthology Film Archives have curated an excellent series of films shown in glorious 35mm that needs to be experienced in a movie theatre with a roomful of fans of this overlooked genre of movies. You want to see psycho-killers in leather gloves, gorgeous women, bloody stabbings, soundtracks by the likes of Ennio Morricone and Goblin? Come on down to Anthology Film Archives for some of the best films by Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci. Check out the Giallo Fever teaser below!
Tony Musante, star of Dario Argento’s Bird With Crystal Plumage made an appearance last week at opening night of the festival. He introduced the film about an American writer who witnesses a beautiful woman stabbed by a mysterious figure in a dark raincoat and leather gloves. Musante’s character obsesses over the bloody attack and gets involved in solving the mystery only to become the killer’s next target. Check out the fun and informative Q&A following last week’s screening below.
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Tags: anthology film archives, dario argento, giallo, giallo fever!, italian cinema, malastrana film series, new york city nyc, tony musante
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Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrations!
September 24th, 2012 by Mr. C
The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the most festive & celebratory holidays in chinese culture sitting right behind the Lunar new year blastoffs! The Moon Festival is a time to reflect back upon the thankings for the summer’s harvest, the fullness of the moon, and to pay respects to the folklore of the goddess of the moon. Eating and sharing Moon Cakes as well as lighting candles and lanterns are a few ways to celebrate the occassion with your loved ones. Many compare the Mid-Autumn festival as the chinese thanksgiving of sorts because of giving ‘Thanks’ to the abundance and generosity of food! Moon cakes are symbolic to this holiday of gratitude.
I started off the mid-autumn moon festivities by attending the 10th annual Autumn Moon Festival & Children’s Lantern Parade at Sara D Roosevelt Park in NYC’s Chinatown by Canal Street. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for very long but I was able to catch a few plates of ‘Dim Sum’ for the soul as the celebrations will continue onwards until September 30th. The event program included performances of traditional lion dancing, ballet, the children’s lantern parade, modeling, an Acrobatic Troupe, a modern dance troupe, Kung Fu demonstrations, singing, & a hip hop martial art dance troupe!
Get down with some moon cake today and celebrate like there’s no tomorrow! Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival!
(Hosts – Jesse Chow & Mr. Wang(singer))
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