Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is as much about being thankful as it is about traditions.  In NYC those traditions mean not only turkey but also Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  So of course, in true New Yorker fashion, we made our way out onto the streets by 7:30am (where people were already lined up 6 deep) to stake out our place to watch the parade.  Seeing the big balloons on TV doesn't give justice to just how big they are!  Enjoy some shots of the balloons and some of the guest stars of the parade....

Following the parade, we convened with some friends at our place to continue the traditional day with a full out turkey dinner + masala corn - for the Indian kick!

Finally, what Thanksgiving holiday would be complete without tackling the Black Friday crowds?  Apparently, there were 7,000 people lined up at Macy's at 4am for the opening!  We aren't crazy enough to compete with that, but did stop by around noon to see the crowds.  Wow is all I can say about that!

These are just half of the people holding down a balloon!

And what's a parade without some bhangra....

Thanksgiving

Black Friday



Film Shoot

So as posted before, I have found myself watching the filming of TV shows around the city.  Tuesday, November 9th was one of those nights, but this time a little different.  The Tower Heist starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Tea Leoni was being filmed around the Trump International Tower near Columbus Circle that evening and in particular that night was a scene with Tea Leoni out on the street.  As I was walking by at about 5pm, the area around the hotel was full of activity, people and equipment.  Across the street however, was one light and a reflector shield.  Once filming starts, the crew forms a perimeter where they ask the public to move across the street or stay down the block so not to interupt the shot.  So I thought I would be a little proactive and sit across the street, close to their light, but out of the way.  Turns out that "out of the way" was in fact where they were shooting.  About 20 minutes after I sat on a bench nearby, more people started to show up, then more equipment and more people.  Eventually, the director, Brett Ratner, ended up setting up his position about 5-6 feet in front of me, the video producer about 3 feet to my right and the film shoot location about 15 feet to my left.  I didn't move and no one asked me too, so I stayed! 

The scene they were filming took about 15 seconds.  I was there for about 2 hours, saw 12 takes and they still weren't happy with the shot, so were planning on doing it again!  It was incredible not only to see the behind the scenes workings and practice (there were about 400 people on the set at that time and the scene was practiced with an stand in actress for about 30-45 minutes so that the crew could get their positioning and lighting right), but the amount of perfection that was not only demanded but expected by Director Ratner and Tea Leoni.  The scene involved Tea walking up off the street and onto the sidewalk while talking on a cell phone.  Simultaneously, a horse drawn carriage started up the street and the intention was for the horse and carriage to pass behind Tea as she was finishing her phone conversation so that the clip clop of the horse could be heard in the background.  Meanwhile, the camera started perpendicular to the direction that Tea was facing (so it filmed down the street) but swung around as she walked so that it would finish directly pointing in her face.  Because she had to step up onto the curb and camera mounted on wheels wouldn't work, so they had to setup a boom camera on this frame which they had to basically construct for that scene.  The lighting required to be not only in front of her, but another light across the street on a crane that turned on as she climbed on the curb, reflecting off a huge reflector, to make it look like she walked into the light of a street lamp! To a viewer, such a simple scene of an actress walking 10-15 feet while talking on the phone, but watching all the moving parts was mind blowing!  If the timing was off on one even one of the parts, then the scene had to be re-done...hence the 12+ takes.  The camera wasn't exactly right, the horse didn't hit the timing right, the cars driving up the street took too long to move, the lines just weren't right....do it again!

Being as close as I was, I was also able to hear the banter between Tea and Brett before and after the shot....the perfection required was evident.  On one of the takes, Tea finished and claimed that she "nailed it", but Brett disagreed, showed her the play back and even though she claimed earlier she did it right, after watching the shot, she herself agreed.  Some scenes, she called a reset as soon as she was done cause she didn't like the way she delivered!  Now I watched all the replays (cause I was close enough to see all the monitors) and I did notice the difference on some, but others looked good to me.....but I guess that's why I don't get the big bucks!

the first half of the video is setting up, you can see the scene in the second half

Fall in Central Park

Fall colours in Central Park

3 weeks

Hi Everyone,

We are back in NYC and it's been awhile.....5+ weeks since last posting and almost 3 weeks since returning to NYC.  It's been pretty busy, hence the lack of posts, but now there is lots to post.  Some will be posted here, the rest in their own posts.  Will be here for a few more weeks before heading back to Burlington / Oakville, so will try to keep up...atleast for the next couple of weeks.

So, once returning back to NYC, it's been continuously busy - Hamidah's parents came to visit, the Rays of Light Exhibit stopped in New York, I ended up in a film shoot (behind the scenes, but very much "in" it), the start of the Christmas season around the city, Thanksgiving, and of course, Black Friday shopping. 

Couple of days after returning to NYC was the film shoot - will post that separately.  A couple of days later, Hamidah's parents came to visit.  Great trip, very relaxing, with one of the highlights being The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall - this definetely gets its own posting!  Following their visit, Hamidah's attention was focused on her homework, while mine turned to the Rays of Light exhibition.

The Rays of Light (ROL) exhibit is a multidimensional (pictures, video, music and text) tribute presented by the Ismaili community to the work of the Aga Khan during His Golden Jubilee celebrations.  The focus is on the work of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) but also reflects on His personal life as well as His relationship with Jamats around the world.  For those of you who have seen it, you will understand its magnificence, for those whom have not had the opportunity, hopefully it will be making its tour of Canada in 2011, so ensure that you take some time to see it.  ROL is open for everyone, not just Ismailis, so for the non-Ismailis receiving this - I mean you too!  My role for the event was as a tour guide for our External event - where the community had invited people from academia to NGOs to UN Ambassadors and Missons to business leaders from various companies to city officals to many people in between.  It was an amazing turnout, but you can imagine the pressures on the guides - highlight 50 years of exceptional work in a 30 minute tour!  It was a great challenge and even better experience for all those involved.

In between all these events and continuing to today and for the next 4 weeks, the Christmas season has begun to kick into high gear all across the city.  From tree lightings, to retailers launching Christmas display windows, Thanksgiving day parades, to Black Friday - the city has been a buzz with so many events, its hard to keep track, let alone know of them all.  However, in our travels, we managed to catch a couple of the events - namely Lord & Taylor's launch which featured the reason we went - a performance by Kristen Chenoworth (who has played roles on The West Wing and Glee, a number of films and even more broadway performances) and Bloomingdale's launch and also our reason for going - a performance by John Legend.  Who can complain about free performances / concerts?  Following the viewing of John Legend, we were on our way to help a friend move apartments, but decided to stop by Columbus Circle.  It was here that Hamidah got selected to be interviewed by HGTV for a christmas special, Holiday Inc., to be broadcast the week before Christmas.  We don't know if her clip will actually be included, but one of the producers said that they would email if her section is included, so we will let you know.  Just another day in NYC!

Finally we come to Thanksgiving and Black Friday - which I will also post separately, but in the meantime, some pictures and video....

Skating in Bryant Park



Kristin Chenoworth at Lord & Taylor

John Legend

(I don't know why the videos kept going in and out of focus, but you'll get the idea :))

Hamidah's interview for Holiday Inc.

The Rockettes

There really isn't much to blog about The Rockettes except to say that the show should be a must see for everyone atleast once in the lives.  You don't have to believe in Santa Claus or celebrate Christmas to appreciate the talents of this precision dance team.  Their synchronised movements are impeccable - and to think that over the holidays they will perform up to 5 shows per day!  I have included a couple of videos below that I pulled off of YouTube, but if you are really interested you can go here and the first 10 videos should be from newyorkreel - 10 Reasons To See the 2010 Radio City Christmas Show.  These videos are 10 of the scenes from the show.