Summer Fun At The MCA Denver!

The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA Denver) explores the art and culture of our time through rotating exhibitions and public educational programs. Featuring regional, national and international artists, MCA Denver offers a wide range of exhibitions promoting creative experimentation with art and ideas. Through adult and youth education programs and other creative events, the museum serves as an innovative forum for a culturally engaged community.

MCA Denver is a non-collecting institution acting as an incubator for art and ideas, artistic exchange, and dialogue. In 2007, eleven years after its founding, the museum opened a new David Adjaye-designed building in Lower Downtown Denver. MCA Denver presents exhibitions featuring local, national and international artists, as well as offering ongoing public programs that explore the relationship between art and contemporary life. MCA Denver has a robust youth program, with a focus on teens.

The MCA has a fun Summer Camp With Adult Drinks program running through August with Bartender-in-Residence on Wednesday Nights
from 5–9PM where Denver’s top bartenders drop by to counsel campers on the art and craft of a tasty cocktail. Each beverage counselor will create signature drinks on the outdoor rooftop bar on Wednesday evenings from 5–9PM. During June the Beverage Counselor is from Steubens. In July, the Beverage Counselor is from The Kitchen, and in August, the Beverage Counselor is from Coohills.

Also, on Thursday nights, The MCA hosts “Mixed Taste”, Tag-team lectures on unrelated subjects, such as Sinkholes & Wormholes or Draft Beer & Draft Urbanism. The Mixed Taste series runs until August 29, 2013. Visit mcadenver.org for more information.

To The Brink: JFK And The Cuban Missile Crisis At The JFK Presidential Library And Museum

It was a close call—maybe the closest call in human history. For two weeks in October 1962, the world teetered on the edge of thermonuclear war and the end of civilization as we know it. Earlier that fall, the Soviet Union, under orders from Premier Nikita Khrushchev, began to secretly deploy a nuclear strike force in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States, with missiles that could reach most major U.S. cities in less than five minutes. President John F. Kennedy said the missiles would not be tolerated, and insisted on their removal. Khrushchev refused. The stand-off nearly caused a nuclear exchange and is remembered in this country as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“To the Brink” is a look back at the crisis from the 50-year mark, which is drawn mainly from U.S. sources and presents a U.S. viewpoint. Pieces of the story that appear hazy now may come into sharper focus over time; others that are now clear will blur as the episode recedes further into history. Unbeknownst to almost all the participants, JFK recorded those White House meetings. Excerpts from the 43 hours of secret recordings relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis are presented in the gallery and form the centerpiece of this exhibit. Original documents, artifacts, and photographs from the National Archives and the Kennedy Library complement the tapes in a dramatic presentation that draws the visitor into this milestone 20th-century event.

The JFK Presidential Library and Museum is located at UMass-Boston. “To The Brink” will be on display at the Library until December 1, 2013. Click here for more information.

Taste of summer at Sardinia Enoteca

On the quieter side of South Beach, away from the clubbiness of Washington Avenue and the hawkers on Lincoln Road, many restaurants are popping up along Purdy Avenue in the Sunset Harbor neighborhood. Purdy is where the Italian eatery Sardinia Enoteca can be found, as well as their summer lunch and dinner specials running June and July.

Mimicking the popular early fall Miami Spice deals, Sardinia is offering a prix fixe $23 lunch and $39 dinner menu for the two months.

Owner Antonio Gallo and Executive Chef Pietro Vardeu have concocted several delicious choices. For lunch try their spaghetti carbonara, housemade potato gnocchi or Sardinian tuna fish as an entree and delicate mussels or a fresh caprese salad as an appetizer. Dinner selections include a few creative octopus appetizers and choices of housemade rigatoni or diver scallops as entrees. The Wine & Dine Special as they’re calling it, also includes 40% off select wine bottles.

In addition, they’ve launched happy hour specials on drinks available Monday through Friday from 4-7 p.m. They include $7 wines by the glass of Bianchi, Rossi or Frizzante or well and featured Stoli cocktails. Corona, Miller Lite, Stella Artois, Heineken or Peroni are all $3.

Sardinia Enoteca is located at 1801 Purdy Ave., Miami Beach. Visit their website at sardinia-ristorante.com for a complete list of what’s available.

Pops For Champagne For Jazz And Champagne

Pops for Champagne is the nation’s most acclaimed champagne bar and one of Chicago’s top night clubs. For more than 30 years, Pops has strived to present an unrivaled champagne list (now at nearly 200 selections), as well as a complete bar selection, live music, and a seasonal menu of champagne-friendly small plates and shareable items. Located in the River North entertainment district, Pops attracts local guests, visitors, and business clientele and is considered a perfect locale for social events or after work gatherings. Whatever the occasion, grand or intimate, Pops for Champagne is where Chicago celebrates.

Find The Cutting Edge At The MIT Museum!

The MIT Museum invites you to explore invention, ideas, and innovation. Through interactive exhibitions, public programs, experimental projects and its renown collections, the MIT Museum showcases the fascinating world of MIT, and inspires people of all ages about the possibilities and opportunities offered by science and technology.

Follow In The Footsteps Of History On The Boston Black Heritage Trail

The Black Heritage Trail is a walking tour that explores the history of Boston’s 19th century African American community.

Guided walking tours are offered by the National Park Service daily, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, and other times by special request. A self-guided walking tour map and guide is also available. For more information on the tour, please contact the museum at afroammuseum.org

The first Africans arrived in Boston in February of 1638, eight years after the city was founded. They were brought as slaves, purchased in Providence Isle, a Puritan colony off the coast of Central America. By 1705, there were over 400 slaves in Boston and the beginnings of a free black community in the North End.

The American Revolution was a turning point in the status of Africans in Massachusetts. At the end of the conflict, there were more free black people than slaves. When the first federal census was enumerated in 1790, Massachusetts was the only state in the Union to record no slaves.

The all-free black community in Boston was concerned with finding decent housing, establishing independent supportive institutions, educating their children, and ending slavery in the rest of the nation. All of these concerns were played out in this Beacon Hill neighborhood.

The Grotta Ristorante Italiano in Atlanta is not to be missed!

The Grotta Ristorante Italiano in Atlanta is an Italian eatery not to be missed. La Grotta Ristorante Italiano, an Atlanta tradition since 1978, offers fine dining in an intimate ambience overlooking a beautiful garden located in the heart of Buckhead. La Grotta has been voted the Best Italian Restaurant by Atlanta Magazine for 18 years in a row.

The Grotta Ristorante Italiano is also open at the Ravinia complex in Dunwoody.

The primary focus is Northern Italian and regional cuisine with some global influences. The dishes are inspired by the very old traditional family recipes yet are innovative enough to meet today’s sophisticated expectations. Menus are continually updated, providing Atlanta with the most interesting Italian cuisine. Among the selections you will find high quality vegetarian, cholesterol-free and grilled specialties along with unique pasta dishes and a wide variety of meat and fish dishes.

La Grotta Ristorante – Buckhead ٠ 2637 Peachtree Road NE ٠ Atlanta, GA
La Grotta Ravinia – Dunwoody ٠ 4355 Ashford Dunwoody Road, NE ٠ Atlanta, GA

Visit lagrottaatlanta.com for more information.

The America’s Cup Comes To San Francisco This Summer

The 34th AMERICA’S CUP will be contested in San Francisco Bay this summer!

The America’s Cup is oldest trophy in international sport, first contested in 1851.
The 34th America’s Cup is an umbrella term that covers several events: the 2013 America’s Cup Finals, the Louis Vuitton Cup, the America’s Cup Challenger Series, the America’s Cup World Series and the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup.

The 2013 America’s Cup Final is scheduled Sept. 7-21, 2013, in San Francisco. The final, also known as the Match, will feature the defender, ORACLE TEAM USA, against a challenger that will have won the Louis Vuitton Cup which goes to the winner of the America’s Cup Challenger Series. The Louis Vuitton Cup series to determint the challenger, begins on July 4, 2013 and runs until August 30.

The America’s Cup is the most difficult trophy in sport to win. In the more than 150 years since that first race off England, only four nations have won the coveted trophy.

Throughout its history the America’s Cup has attracted the tycoons of business and industry, flamboyant, outspoken and demanding characters who are often successful in their career, but rarely successful in the America’s Cup. They’re attracted to the Cup because of the demands required to win the trophy, but only four nations have hosted the trophy: the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Come see sports history in San Francisco this summer! Visit americascup.com for more information.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Batter Up! The Texas Rangers are currently in first place in the American Leagues’ Western Division. Some of baseball’s most exciting players are in the Rangers uniform, such as Yu Darvish, Ian Kinsler, and Adrián Beltré. Catch all the Major League Baseball action by the boys of summer and nab a hot dog and some peanuts while you’re at it.

Click http://texas.rangers.mlb.com for more information.

Under The Sea at Fernbank

Dive into an IMAX® adventure to explore some of the ocean’s most exotic and isolated undersea locations and experience face-to-face encounters with the mysterious and unusual creatures found under the sea.

Just in time for summer, Fernbank Museum invites you to enjoy an underwater IMAX® adventure! Under the Sea explores some of the ocean’s most exotic and isolated undersea locations and is narrated by Jim Carrey. You’ll come face-to-fin with some of the planet’s most extraordinary marine creatures—from the exquisitely stunning to the downright deadly.

Under the Sea offers an inspirational look the impact that global climate change has had on our ocean wilderness, combining stunning underwater cinematography with state-of-the-art digital surround sound.

Click here for more information.

Lucky Chengs For A “Unexpected” Evening

Lucky Cheng’s is the Drag Queen Capital of the Universe!

Outrageous drag queens serve up dinner and a show featuring interactive cabaret, comedy, and karaoke at the infamous Lucky Cheng’s Restaurant. The drag staff turns up the fun as your bartenders, waitresses and performers. After a 19 year run at its downtown location, the dinner show moved on up to its new Times Square Theater District location in the fall of 2012.

See the one hour show during a delicious 3-course Asian Fusion dinner packed with flavors, textures and aromas from all of Asia. The show is included in the dinner price, but menu surcharges, drinks, tax, and gratuity are not. Expect to see several talented performers and don’t be afraid to participate in the show. Tips for the show performers are optional, but greatly appreciated. This additional gratuity can be paid in cash or by credit card when paying your check.

Plan your evening so that you can stay for our notorious drag hosted karaoke after last show. And don’t forget, the more you drink, the better you sing. Visit luckychengsnyc.com for more information.

Head Out To The Dead Rabbit For An Old New York Evening

The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog embodies the conviviality of Old New York and the Irish-American tradition.

Our ground-floor Taproom offers an informal setting for the enjoyment of craft beer, bottled punch, and whiskeys of the world, with lunch served daily.

Upstairs, our sumptuous Parlor focuses on small plates, communal punch, and 72 historically-accurate cocktails dreamed up by the nineteenth century’s most celebrated bartenders.

The Dead Rabbit is dedicated to advancing the art and practice of hospitality, as it was understood then and as it is understood now, for all residents of and visitors to this great metropolis. Visit deadrabbitnyc.com for more information.

Pop In To DreamDry For A Quick Style!

DreamDry isn’t just a salon — It’s a destination.

They have made it easier than ever to express your personal style — and keep your style evolving. They’ll go above-and-beyond to ensure that every visit is consistently exceptional — and exceptionally consistent.

Step through the doors, and you’ll be greeted with a smile & a personal iPad — yours to enjoy, throughout your entire DreamDry experience. Catch up on your favorite magazines and flip through the latest red-carpet hair trends. Or simply relax with a fresh beverage & do nothing at all: serenity is always in vogue.

After a quick consult with your stylist, you’ll be escorted back to the wet space to get all lathered up, and then it’s over to your styling station for the ultimate blow dry: faster than you’d ever dreamed possible, with impeccable attention & care.

Ready to check out? A concierge is waiting at your styling station to complete your check to and ensure that you’re utterly delighted with your experience.

Who says luxury has to cost an arm & a leg — or take more than an hour?

Pressed for time? With our Express Service, you can get a legendary look in a New York minute (Well, 20 minutes, to be precise…) Visit dreamdry.com for more information.

Stop By Salon AKS For NYC Styling!

Salon AKS is staffed with hair experts, many of whom have established themselves in the world of fashion and beauty designing looks for Vogue, W, Allure and countless others. We cover every area of expertise and our team of dedicated professsionals is ready to assist you with the utmost care and attention to your needs. Visit salonaks.com formore information.

Visit Resurrection For The Best In Vintage Designer Wear

Check out Resurrection for great vintage designer duds. It is like a fashion museum inside. They carry vintage designer items from the 60’s through the ‘90s. The shop is stocked with hard-to-find items, that it is known throughout the fashion stylist industry as a go-to place for just the right item.

Vintage clothes shopping doesn’t get any better than Resurrection. Check out resurrectionvintage.com for more information.

Find Pop Up Pianos All Over NYC!

This summer, from June 1st through June 16th, the Sing for Hope Pianos return to our city streets. In one of New York City’s most vibrant public art installations, 88 artist-designed pianos (one for each key on a piano) are placed in parks and public spaces throughout the 5 boroughs for anyone and everyone to enjoy.

Visual artists from Sing for Hope’s roster of over 1,000 Volunteer Artists and local community members were selected through an open application process and donate their time and talent to create this beautiful gift to our city: 88 unique and interactive piano artworks.

Once on the streets, neighborhood associations and community organizations serve as “piano buddies” and supervise each piano throughout the duration of the project, making sure they are protected from inclement weather. The Sing for Hope Pianos unite our city, as artists from all walks of life create daily spontaneous concerts and neighborhoods come together around the shared gift of music and art.

After their public residency, the pianos are donated to under-served local schools, healthcare facilities, and community organizations, where Sing for Hope artists continue to bring the pianos to life year-round through classes, performances, and workshops.

Thanks to the generous support of Chobani, Inc the Sing for Hope Pianos are back in 2013 better than ever. The pairing is a well-suited partnership as the two like-minded, entrepreneurial organizations align in the mission to provide access to all – whether that access is rooted in the arts or good food.

To find a Sing for Hope piano near you visit singforhope.org.

Visit The Past At The American Museum Of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.

The Museum is renowned for its exhibitions and scientific collections, which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of the world’s cultures.

Current exhibits include Whales: Giants of the Deep which transports visitors to the vibrant underwater world of the mightiest animals on Earth. Also visit Frogs: A Chorus of Colors where you can explore the rich diversity of frogs and learn about their evolution, biology, and the threats they face in the world’s changing environments. Also Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture where you can take a journey around the world and through time. Stroll through an ancient market, cook a virtual meal, peek inside the dining rooms of illustrious individuals—and consider some of the most challenging issues of our time.

Visit amnh.org for more information.

Visit The New Museum

Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. It is Manhattan’s only dedicated contemporary art museum and is respected internationally for the adventurousness and global scope of its curatorial program.

The New Museum is devoted entirely to contemporary art from all over the world. Its exhibitions are often shocking, controversial, and they attract great criticism. But isn’t this what contemporary art is all about? The building of the New Museum, located on Bowery and Prince, is a contemporary art piece in itself. The Japanese architecture firm designed the building as a series of gigantic boxes, the museum’s galleries, placed on top of each other. It is truly a monument of contemporary art. Located in the Lower East side, where most buildings are old and poorly maintained, the building of the New Museum definitely stands and makes a strong statement – contemporary art exist, and it matters. The New Museum seems to reject everything that is bourgeois or old, making space for a new direction in art and culture – modernity.

This summer, the New Museum will present the first major New York museum exhibition of the work of Ellen Gallagher. Spanning the past twenty years, “Don’t Axe Me” will provide one of the first opportunities to thoroughly examine the complex formal and thematic concerns of one of the most significant artists to emerge since the mid-1990s. The title of the exhibition, “Don’t Axe Me,” evokes her radical approach to image, text, and surface—drawing equally from modernism, mass culture, and social history. This focused survey at the New Museum will run concurrently with Gallagher’s exhibition at the Tate Modern, London (May 2013).

Visit newmuseum.org for more information.

Be On The Floor At The Cutting Room

The Cutting Room opened at 44 East 32nd Street in NYC in January of 2013, Compared to the old space, this “new” Cutting Room is bigger, with a better location and better food. The old one had a New York Rock ‘N Roll feel, and things have changed for the better. The Rock ‘N Roll feel is still here, but with a touch of a supper club ambiance.

There’s quality on every level, good food, good drinks, good entertainment, good sound. Check out the menu and the upcoming calander on the website at thecuttingroomnyc.com

Rooftop Fun At The Vertigo Sky Lounge

Ranked in the Top 3 of Hotel Bar of the Year Awards 2012 by the Nightclub Bar Awards, soaring 26 stories above the city, Vertigo Sky Lounge is on top as Chicago’s premiere party lounge and bar.

The only year-round, indoor/outdoor lounge in Chicago, we feature live DJs nightly, an outdoor fire-pit for added ambiance, and in the colder Chicago winter months – the city’s only OUTDOOR ROOFTOP ICE BAR. Named 2009’s Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List, VSL is the ideal spot for one-of-a-kind special events or to turn it up for a night out with friends. You can start your night at VSL or better yet, make it your night.

Check out vertigoskylounge.com for more information.

The Boarding house… mammoth wine selection! Even a wine chandelier!

The Wine Bar at The Boarding House | First Floor
The first floor of The Boarding House serves as the restaurant’s main bar. Enjoy a selection of 20 wines by the glass, 450 wines by the bottle, custom cocktails, specialty spirits and craft beers to pair with Chef Gosselin’s menu of traditional wine bar provisions, including cheeses, charcuterie, shellfish platters, and artisan pizzas. The First Floor Wine Bar menu is distinctly different from the The Dining Room menu. Seating in The Wine Bar is available without reservations.

The Dining Room at The Boarding House
The main dining room at the Boarding House is located on the third floor, featuring exposed beams, inlaid hardwood floors and tables, large bay windows, plush banquettes and an impressive ceiling installation made from more than nearly 4000 wine bottles. The menu features a mix of small, medium, large, and shared plates. Enjoy Chef Gosselin’s wine inspired cuisine, including braised short ribs, chicken three ways, and citrus poached salmon with a 450 bottle wine selection.

The Cellar at The Boarding House | Lower Level
Ideal for sophisticated, late-night revelry, The Cellar at The Boarding House includes an intimate cocktail bar and comfortable lounge seating. Cap the night off with wine or cocktails after your dinner. Experience 450 wines by the bottle, exclusive, high-end wines by the glass, classic cocktails, and luxury spirits, all available with the same menu as featured in The Bar. For more information, click over to boardinghouse.com .

Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair

The Ebony Fashion Fair began in 1958, and over the next 50 years the traveling fashion show blossomed into an American institution that raised millions for charity and helped Johnson Publishing Company reach audiences.

Show organizers overcame racial prejudice to bring the pinnacle of Europe’s premier fashion to communities that were eager to see, in real time and space, a new vision of black America that was the hallmark of Ebony and Jet magazines. Eunice Johnson took over as producer and director in 1963, and under her direction, the traveling show took on new heights as she expanded her cachet and power within fashion circles.

Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair recreates the experience of the Ebony Fashion Fair through the story of Mrs. Johnson and more than 60 garments from icons of the fashion industry such as Yves St. Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Lacroix, and Patrick Kelly among others. Click here for more information.

Music lovers rejoyce! Dave’s Records: Vinyl utopia with NO CDs!

The sign on the door says it all- NO CD’s!! Never had ‘em!! Never Will!! Dave’s Records is totally devoted to vinyl.

Dave’s Records carry all speeds (33,45,even 78), all formats (7”, 10”, 12” single, EP , LP), and all styles (rock, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, house, disco, reggae, blues, folk, country, vocal, soundtracks, show daves_records tunes, classical, indie/alternative and every sub-genre you can imagine). If it’s on vinyl, it’s here now or it’s passed through the doors and in to someone’s crate. On any given day, there are at least 40,000 titles to choose from. Every day new titles freshen the racks. Dave’s Records sell both new and used. You’ll find both import and domestic new vinyl. You’ll find a wide assortment of new reissued vinyl. You’ll find out of print used vinyl that you’d thought was long gone. No matter what it is, you’re likely to find it in their bins. If you come to Chicago, check them out.

Archive for June, 2013