Italian diversions

Magnet #927 - Il Duomo & Campanile

This is one of my favorite images of Florence - ever. I think the reason why, is because Il Duomo and its Campanile was built between the 1200s and the 1400s, and still, more than 600 years later, I can take the very same picture - without meaning to!

I'm using it for a couple of reasons, first, because I finally went to go see The American, mostly set in the Italian countryside.

Gravy, is my boyfriend George Clooney superduper pretty. But, definitely drink some coffee before you head into the theatre.

Oh, even though I should have known it from the get-go, it was definitely not the action flick I was anticipating. It's quiet. It's tense. It's quiet. No. I mean, seriously, George's dialogue had to have been less than 10 pages overall. Even as he came off as a model for designer sunglasses and wardrobe, George was fabulous in it - there was definitely no sign of George playing George.

The camera work is beautiful, and you can tell that the director is really a photographer. But ya'll know how I hate overdirected movies? This would be one of them. My biggest pet peeve with this movie.

"Here. Look at this beautiful roadside with a car driving down the left side. This movie (not car commercial) is set here. Here. Look at this beautiful Italian countryside. This movie (not NatGeo photoshoot) is now set here. Here. Look at George look beautiful in this doorway. He's worried someone's after him. Here. Look at George. He looks really hot in sunglasses. You can't see his true thoughts."

Oiy. Moving on.

The other reason I picked Florence because I picked up a new favorite show called Art of the Heist - all about famous art heists through history. Pretty cool stuff. Like the guy who walked into the Louvre and walked out with the Mona Lisa, and tried to sell it back to the Uffizi in Florence three years later. Really? You didn't think they'd notice?

Or, how some family started forging masterpieces and selling them. And getting away with it!

Or how the Hermitage in St. Petersburg did a standard inventory and found that more than 200 pieces in their collection were missing. Missing, I say!

I swear, most of these stories are fodder for White Collar on USA. Even so, now, I'm now totally planning my trip to the Hermitage in 2012.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Magnet #837 - Mr. Goodbar

I think I after this magnet, I have one more chocolate miniatures magnet left to go. And then I might have to head back over to Hershey (either Pennsylvania, or you know, Times Square) to see what new magnets they might have.

Man, I used to hate when my dad would buy Hershey's Miniatures. Sounds crazy, no? Why hate those bags of chocolatey goodness?

It's because they were the hardest bags to eat at my house. First, everyone ransacked the bag for their favorites - usually the Krackel, and then Mr. Goodbar. Then, when pickings were slim (or you weren't fast enough), we'd go for the regular milk chocolate.

Finally, when all the other kinds were gone and we were just left with a bag of Special Dark - and it's been determined that there wasn't another bag of chocolate somewhere in hiding - then, we'd eat that last bunch of chocolates.

And? It always felt like they made more of the Special Darks, versus all the other flavors! Ugh!

What, it took me a while to appreciate dark chocolate!

Why'd I pick this magnet for today? It was the first title that came to mind, when this post was gonna be all about how I saw pretty Matt Bomer and the cast of White Collar last night at the Paley Center.

Then I actually looked up the movie, and if Matt resembles Mr. Goodbar. Uhhh, yeah, thank goodness I looked it up!

Made in....wherever has the best incentives, I guess

Magnet #609 - Made in New York

I love this logo. Seriously - I've kept their collateral pieces at my desk because of this logo. I've gone to seminars in Queens because of this logo.

So when I saw this magnet in Times Square on Julie Andrews Day, I was all over it! Then earlier this week, I saw this Crain's New York article about how the Made In NY program was struggling, I knew I had to use it! So here we are.

One of the best things I love about NYC is its shared devotion to the entertainment industry. I love that you can walk home to the subway and see three different productions shooting. I love that you can shoot New York for almost anything (except desert, I guess), as evidenced by many of Scouting NY's blogposts. I love that I can (try to) stalk George Clooney. I guess I just love that this little program, and the work they've done, seems to have fostered the entertainment community so well.

I remember when the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting first launched the program five years ago, and you could gradually see the tide turn as awareness grew. The results were amazing. More productions were coming to the state to take advantage of the tax credits, instead of heading abroad to Canada or the left coast or anywhere in between On the streets, production crews were everywhere. Production houses were hopping. At some point, the city had almost 35,000 shooting days! Whoa!

On the screens, big and little, you'd see more and more of this logo. For me, there was a little sense of awww, yay, that was done here!

And what genius, to brand the program with this little stamp. A cool little logo to make people aware the production they just saw was at least 75% produced in New York.

But the boon mic is staring to fall (see what I did there?), the program's out of money, budgets are being slashed, Albany's not sure if they want to extend the incentives even if their site says otherwise, and it's getting tougher to make the numbers work. The city's being forced to find things to start charging productions for, even charging for previously free permits, slowly but surely, making other cities seem more affordable.

The exodus already started. No more running into my Joshua Jackson's Fringe. (Ok, that was once. And then, not even me.)

I hate seeing us lose productions - the trickle-down effect is astounding - lost productions means lost production jobs, but also lost revenue for all the local businesses the productions frequent. Argh.

Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!

And while I'm dead serious about my Fix it plea, pay no attention to the fact that I'm still hoping to finally run into a George production on the streets.

What? I'm just saying. Fix it!

eta:
Huh. Ironic that I was writing this up while watching White Collar, the new USA show that debuted tonight...shot right here in town. That's two for USA - along with Royal Pains. Yay for USA keeping its productions here.

Also? Sucked in. Me. Totally gonna be watching White Collar. Well played, USA, well played. It's been a while since a show hooked me in from the pilot. And not just for the cuteboy!