David's New Site

Norm Bendell


This is my rep, David Goldman.
This is his new web site, designed by me using Flash. The smooth actionscript is by Sally Cruikshank.
What do you think?

Returned to Sender

One of My Favorite Valentines

from my friend, Cheryl Phelps:

Linda, Yes you can post it:) I took the digital pic. It is a heart shaped potato that was in my Trader Joe's potato bag and I kept it and photographed it on my white art desk and color saturated it red in photoshop. I still have the potato but it's not doing too well now, sad tater is going South! I couldn't bring myself to eat it and guess when it fully bites the dust will have to throw it away:(
xo,
Cheryl

Gray

Nothing looks good to me right now. I slept 10 hours last night. I spent all day pulling weeds. We decided to go see In Bruges this evening, so I got in the shower. When I got out, Tom was talking to Barbara and Larry on my computer. (Using Skype, so they could see each other.) There was a huge pile of fruits and vegetables and cheeses by my keyboard and piled up under my desk. He had been to the farmers' market this morning, and had taken everything he bought out of the refrigerator to show them.

My Friend Jamie

The last thing Berlin needs is another fast food place, right? Well, not necessarily—there may be room for the aggressively-named Fat Ass Pizza, just-opened on Prenzlauer Berg’s equivalent of Restaurant Row at Oderbergerstraße 23.

Combining the efforts of New York’s Jamie Lipps and Berlin’s Marcel Hellstern, this smart-looking eatery serves up ridiculously huge slices—not squares, dammit—but real, honest-to-god New York-style slices.

“I remember reading an article in the Times years ago that said the best business ideas usually come from one thing: being in a new environment, and finding that something you had every day of your life back home is missing,” says Lipps. “I love Berlin, but for me that missing thing was pizza—I’ve been coming here since the early 90’s, and it always bugged me that I couldn’t get a slice of pizza on the street. I mean, that’s real NY food! It’s fast and filling and as good as it gets! And it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg!”

Hellstern, owner of the popular coffee bar Lass Uns Freunde Bleiben, also in Prenzlauer Berg, agrees: “It’s definitely a food idea whose time has come in Berlin. I mean, we have good Italian-style pizza here, but that’s a whole other thing, you know? With the brick oven and the goat cheese and the waiting and waiting? Fat Ass is different—big, thick, delicious slices with a crust that you really have to sink your teeth into, these babies are pretty much a meal in themselves. And the prices are extremely tourist-friendly, euro to dollar exchange rate be damned! Plus if you don’t want to hang out, you can take them with you in about two minutes flat.”

Although hang out you will—the cozy interior manages to walk the line between trend and tradition, taking a 1930’s Art Deco feel and jerking it rudely into 2008. Don’t expect photos of the Empire State Building, but enjoy the subtle references to the city’s rich history—an authentic tin ceiling, a lamp from a 1940’s elementary school—comfortably mixed alongside a sleek, ultramodern bar. And de rigueur for Prenzlauer Berg, a sunny area out front with strategically-placed tables to take advangtage of every available ray. Great food, great staff, great vibe.

But what do a bunch of Berlin boys know about NY style? “Plenty!” says Lipps, the lone New Yorker in the group. “In the beginning I thought I was the expert, having easily put away about 1000 slices back home. But these guys—Marcel, Flo, Andi, and our culinary specialist, Frank Bornemann—actually traveled to Manhattan and spent weeks researching the traditional pizza joints. They hung out all day at Papa John’s and Ray’s Pizza in the Village, Carmine’s on the Upper West Side... you name it. And they basically pestered the dudes working there until they got all the secrets they could get!”

So... why the name Fat Ass?

“Ah, geez. Everybody asks me that!” laughs Lipps. “Yep, there’s a real story behind it, but it’s not for the weak of heart—I’m not sure you can even print it. But I’ll tell you this much: it involves a pizza place way the hell downtown in Soho, some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life, and one employee who always sported a pair of spectaculary tight, white pants! Want the rest? Come to Fat Ass, buy me a beer, and we’ll talk.”

Happy Evening

Romance Tips

Valentine's Day is coming up. Here's a romance tip for guys, and one for girls.

Romance Tip for Guys
Scenario: An unidentified couple walks hand in hand on the beach. The sun is setting.

Unidentified Woman: I can't understand it. The scale says I've gained three pounds. Do you think the scale needs a new battery? Oh well. We did order that large vegetarian pizza with sausage last night. It's probably the pizza.

Unidentified Man: But how could that be? The pizza itself didn't weigh three pounds to begin with.

Guys, do not model yourself after this unfortunate unidentified man!

Romance Tip for Girls
As mentioned above, Valentine's Day is Thursday. How does one prepare for the sexiest night of the year? Lose the Green Eggs & Ham t-shirt, because this occasion calls for an even more sophisticated type of elegance than usual. Sleepwear with a sheer, forbidden, ineffable quality is a must (see glamorous unidentified model below).
p.s. What I'd really like to know is: What do you sleep in?

Our Friend Peter

Tom Takes a Photo Too

See Spots Fly

Granted, there are lots of great dogs in the world. But Spots. She's up there.

Still Life With Oranges

Does anyone out there love stickers as much as I do? It's a phase I've never grown out of. What kind do you like and what kind do you wish you could find? What do you stick them on?

When I was a kid, I was crazy about decals. You remember–you would soak them in water, and then slide them permanently and crookedly into place on your bedroom furniture. Or your parents' car.

Go Directly to Jail

Do you ever daydream about going to prison? Me too! Whenever I run past the concrete pier (above), I think about jail and imagine what it would be like to live there. Being able to read and write and work on my computer all day long. I just googled "Go directly to jail," and the following came up:

Fortezza Medicea in Volterra, Italy is a high-security prison restaurant. In order to get a reservation you need to plan pretty far in advance, generally a minimum of two months. It’s not so much that the tables are hard to come by, it’s the time needed for a background check and for the Department of Justice to issue a security clearance.

Approaching its second anniversary, the restaurant was conceived with the idea that reformed inmates, with proper training, could find work in the restaurant business upon their release. While it’s too soon to tell how Fortezza Medicea is doing in the job placement business (they have placed only four workers to-date), there’s no doubt as to the popularity of the restaurant.

Make no mistake about it, though, the waiters, sommelier, and even the piano player, are convicted murderers, armed robbers, and worse. The decor is wooden tables and benches, there is no art on the wall, nor flowers on the table. The tableware is common — paper plates and plastic silverware, a concession to safety — but the food is all southern Italian goodness.
–Mary Jo Manzanares