Another example of great suffering caused by military governments after the great pain already inflicted by a natural disaster... Here's an extract from Avaaz.org, - they do great direct action. Makes sense to donate via Avaaz if you want to help.

«The cyclone that ripped through Burma left tens of thousands dead and a million homeless--a natural disaster made much worse by the failure of the military junta to warn or evacuate its people.

Now, the government has slowed the urgent process of providing humanitarian relief--so Avaaz is raising funds for the International Burmese Monks Organization and related groups, which will transmit funds directly to monasteries in affected areas.

In many of the worst-hit areas, the monasteries are the only source of shelter and food for Burma's poorest people. They have been on the front lines of the aid effort since the storm struck. Other forms of aid could be delayed, diverted or manipulated by the Burmese government--but the monks are the most trusted and reliable institution in the country.»

Visit Avaaz.org for more information

This is the place to go for a hang over brunch (it's quite noisy though ). In this traditional french restaurant you can everything from a seafood platter to a soft boiled organic egg. Bread and pastries (croissant, scones, pain au chocolate and so on) come from the beautiful next door balthazar bakery.

It's quite packed and sometimes you have to queue for a table.
It's also a go place for homesick europeans, c'est tres francaise.

"Balthazar serves traditional bistro meals from breakfast through late-night supper. Opened by Keith McNally in the spring of 1997, Balthazar offers a French menu prepared by chefs de cuisine Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson. Diners can also choose from an extensive wine list, a raw seafood bar, and breads and pastries from Balthazar bakery.
Balthazar is renowned for its exceptional design. The building was converted from a leather wholesaler's warehouse to an airy space that can accommodate over 200 people in the dining room and at the zinc bar. "

80, spring street, Soho New York, ny 10012


BREAKFAST Mon to Fri: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Sat & Sun: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
BRUNCH
Sat & Sun: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
LUNCH & LATE LUNCH
Mon to Fri: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

www.balthazarny.com/

If you want to eat some truly outstanding food go to Blue Hill.
They have to restaurants, one in New York and one where they have their farm, in pocantico hills, some 40 minutes out of town.

"with Dan Barber, chef and proprietor of Blue Hill in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills. Stone Barns is only 45 minutes from Manhattan, but it might as well be a whole different universe. A model of self sufficiency and environmental responsibility, Stone Barns is a working farm, ranch, and a three-michelin-star-worthy restaurant. (Note to Michelin: limiting your guide to the five boroughs means you've missed out on perhaps the most interesting and unique restaurant in all of New York.)

Dan's commitment to the environment is well known, but he is hardly a die-hard radical. He is a businessman determined to find a way to be both environmentally and economically sustainable - now that's the way of the future."

We actually wanted to go to Blue Hill farm but then we were running out of time and decided to go to the one on washington place.

Let me tell you we ate the most outstanding food.

www.bluehillnyc.com

Blue Hill Restaurant
75, Washington Place
Greenwich Village
New York

Schiller's is a very nice restaurant in the Lower East Side. The perfect place for a brunch, a lunch, or just a latte and some good newspapers (they offer a very wide selection of nice magazines and newspapers).
It looks like an old butchery or so. We had a lovely tuna burger and a Guinness - nice!

131 Rivington Street
10002 New York
Phone:  212 260 4555

www.schillersny.com

Hours
BREAKFAST & LUNCH MON to FRI
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

BRUNCH SAT to SUN
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

LATE LUNCH MON to FRI
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

DINNER MON to SUN
6:00 PM - 12:00 AM

LATE SUPPER
MON to WED: 12:00 - 1:00 AM
THU: 12:00 – 2:00 AM
FRI and SAT: 12:00 –3:00 AM
SUN: 12:00 – 1:00 AM

Some of the most beautiful plates from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory are made by Hella Jongerius.
Designer Hella Jongerius (1963) has become known for the special way she fuses industry and craft, high and low tech, tradition and the contemporary.
After graduating Eindhoven Design Academy in 1993 she started her own design company, Jongeriuslab, through which she produces her own projects and projects for clients such as Maharam (New York), Royal Tichelaar Makkum (The Netherlands), Vitra (Basel) and IKEA (Sweden).
Her work has been shown at museums and galleries such as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (New York), MoMA (New York), the Design Museum (London), Galerie KREO (Paris) and Moss gallery (New York).

There is a whole series of animal plates - absolutely outstanding, check the fine pattern the bunny has on the belly and in his ears!

PS Jonsberg, Date: 2005, Commissioned by: IKEA, Sweden

Colored Vases, Date: 2003

Repeat, Date: 2002, Commissioned by: Maharam, New York

Soft Urn, Date: 1994

It's interesting how new passions can start out of almost nothing. I wasn't interested in ceramics or porcelain to long ago. And then a visit at linck ceramics atelier got me started. Our linck collection quickly grew from a single vase to a nice little collection.
Last year we got a beautiful vase made by Christine-Ann Richards as a present.
Last month in New York we went to Moss. The whole shop is filled with nice things. But most impressive was their porcelain and ceramic selection.
They had lot's of beautiful things from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory.
I'd love to have one of these!

Hella Jongerius plates

Atlas  service                                                          Service Zauberwald

Service by Konstantin Cricic

Global Service by Barnaby Barford

Read more on the Nymphenburg Parcelain Manufactory on wikipedia

www.nymphenburg.com

Moss I guess is THE New York concept store. It's  a strange shop though. In the beginning I did not like it too much. It's just too stylish. A huge room, everything in white, one huge table in the middle of the room and from the celling hang just a few glass display boxes. Don't touch and don't take pictures everywhere.

But while lingering through the 4 rooms (7000 square feet) I started to really like this shop. It's all in the selection of the products.
"Furniture, especially from Italian manufacturers, lighting, watches and jewelry, books, and a significantly increased focus on tabletop. Today, Moss offers one of the world's most sophisticated selections of porcelain tableware, crystal and cutlery, contextualized in presentation by association with furniture and lighting from some of the greatest designers of the 20th century.

The furniture and objects offered at the shop deliberately blur the distinctions between production and craft, between industry and art, and more recently, between industrial and decorative arts. One may find, for instance, a Hella Jongerius embroidered ceramic pot next to a stainless steel Fisher space pen next to an Edra pink leather Flap sofa. The intention is to force a view of each piece based on the context of its presentation, rather than its function or material."

The prcelain and ceramics selection is really outstanding but they also had a huge selection of Maharam textiles which a have seen nowhere else before and a selection of beautiful kitchen products.

I recommend Moss to everybody who likes to get inspired. The products unfortunately are way above a normal budget.

Some Moss products to give you an idea what to expect:

Moss

150 Greene street
New York, NY 10012
(866) 888-6677
To call them from outside the US:
(212) 204-7100

Mon to Sat 11am to 7pm est
Sun noon to 6pm est

www.mossonline.com

Home grown Art Toys made by Buro Destruct.
Edition of 4000 pieces. Finest Hong Kong Vinyl.

The stifles are little creatures who spend all of their time kneeling
and watching human activities. their favorite spots are public spaces
like coffee bars, windows and shop displays. but they also love to get taken around
by you since they won't move by themselves. it is not known where they originally
came from, but they seem to have adopted certain aspects of human culture.
the first series reveals 8 from an unknown amount of different species to be uncovered.

Right now exclusively available at Kitchener .

Buy the stifles

www.stifles.org
www.burodestruct.net

April 4 - May 3, 2008
The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 6pm
www.cohanandleslie.com

138 Tenth Avenue
New York, New York 10011

«... the US debut exhibition of Swiss artist Uwe Wittwer, including large scale watercolors, paintings and unique inkjet prints.
While the works are figurative, Wittwer is more accurately a painter of images. His source material is chosen from the overwhelming sea of digital representations - images of images - found on the internet. Wittwer’s dominant interests are old master paintings and vernacular photographs of families and soldiers.

The show is centered on two massive watercolors based on 17th Century paintings by Nicolas Poussin. Their size and strength upend the typical prejudice towards watercolors as small and delicate. Across the gallery a group of 5 medium sized watercolors are based on photographs from family albums dating from the 1940s-60s, which suggest subtle narratives when seen as a whole.

The back gallery will feature large scale, black and white inkjet prints based on photographs by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Although entirely digital from beginning to end they are undeniably painterly, and rely on formal conventions similar to those of the watercolors. Usually rendered in negative, the watercolors and inkjet prints share a sinister sense of confronting memories or a history that may be difficult to face.

Wittwer denies the conventional hierarchy of media in favor of his engagement with images. Similarly, through the filter of the internet a painting by Poussin enjoys no hierarchy over an anonymous snapshot. The compositions found in a soldier’s photograph are as valid as the classical structure of the Old Masters. Both are representations of history with blurred, and possibly irrelevant, distinctions between ‘reality’ and fabrication.

Uwe Wittwer was born in 1954 and is based in Zurich. His work has recently been the focus of solo exhibitions and publications by Haunch of Venison Zurich, the Ludwigforum Aachen, and the Kunstmuseum Solothurn.»