Welcome to the Big Apple Blog Festival (BABF) for August 7, 2005, a representative roundup of the last week’s posts by NYC bloggers.
Ay Caramba! We thought this was going to be a slow week being August and all … thank goodness sliceny is closed until August 8 for renovation or we would have had even more …

NYC Stories has a roundup with links of “Outdoor Summer Film Series”
The Apiary links to some comedy news you probably didn’t know about in “The Weekend News Sting”
Even though Amy Langfield just got back into town, she has a link-fest called “A Happy Happy food roundup” … plus much more on her site newyorkology.com
Charlie Suisman of Manhattan User’s Guide writes about a commune on Staten Island that runs three thrift stores, where “the prices are always low – really low.”
BounceFM has news of the next 718 Sessions, on August 14th.
The Malcontent declares “I have fallen out of love … with TiVo. I would like to say that ‘it’s not him, it’s me,’ but I know that would be untrue. The fact is, he has refused to change. Not only that, but he has become passive-aggressive at best, and actively neglectful at worst.” … you’ll have to read the whole thing to understand the “dysfunction that I call ‘YABS,’ or the ‘Yet Another Box Syndrome.’”
Alarming News notes: “The Politicker is running a ’10 most beautiful people in City Politics’ contest. Having seen people in NY City politics, I can’t imagine they’ll come up with 10.” … can you help out? … we can’t …
If you like Scott Sandell’s art, LENNDEVOURS tells how you can collect it … and drink wine at the same time in “Twenty Square Inches of Art“.
Yanksfan vs Soxfan asks, “Would you pay $125 bucks to sit and listen to design book editors prattle on about our national pastime?” … our answer: No …
VerboseComa has a post on the “Nacho’s Unofficial Guide: The Mexisexual” … and Gabriel is selling his bed
MurrayHill5 has started a series on lost shoes, “Lost Soles” … with photos … let her know if any of the shoes are yours …
gothamist‘s Corporate Graffiti, Take 2 is a post on Hummer “street art” … with photo
CityRag has some great photos of walk lights we haven’t seen yet (from Thundercut) .. and we clearly don’t know the right kids …
Best food-related one-liner on Overheard in New York this week: “Hobo: Can you spare some change? Or a pineapple?” –4th Avenue & 8th Street
dailyheights reports that “people talking on cell phones are being targeted [for mugging] for a couple of reasons, one, to get the cell phone, and two, people are easier to mug while talking on the phone because they are not paying attention. They mentioned that this is happening all over the city but particularly in [the Prospect Heights, Brooklyn] neighborhood.” … talking on a cell phone distracts you whether standing on the street or driving … pull over into a safe spot …
Englishman in New York thinks “NY tap water tastes great.” … so do we …
Slant Point has a quick entry about Scoopt: “Get Paid for Your Photos”
KesherTalk has a link to a petition objecting to the executions of homosexuals in Iran.
In “Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father,” Clarified posts that “God so knew what he was doing by making that a commandment. Otherwise, our parents would all end up buried in cement with a shovel in their heads.” … we heard that’s why grandparents and their grandkids are often so close … they have an enemy in common …
New York City Boys say that “Italian scientists have come up with a way to test the rivers in Italy and get a sense of the cocaine usage in the area.”
Speaking of Italy … The Food Section has some interesting photos of prosciutto and biscotti for Italian babies in Baby Gastronomy
And since we’re talking about NYC blogs that are out of the country, Greg Allen is in Tokyo and has a post with photos about a gravestone shop that “offers cute gravestones as an alternative to the traditional obelisk variety.” … in which he compares Hello Kitty to Degas … (check out his main page for more Tokyo blogging)
Roaches in your Frappucino? … Eater has the low down … and also reports that The Spotted Pig [a ‘gastropub’] will be closed for 3 or 4 weeks starting August 13 – they are expanding upstairs …
Alarming News has a post that is instructive about why when you book a hotel room for early tomorrow morning, there’s a good chance you’ll have a reservation for one year from today …
The (Vast) Right Wing Conspiracy reminds us of something John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” in “Major Allegations from Major Carr”
A Socialite’s Life cites a bizarre AP story about a store cashier who helped random people steal clothing from the store where she worked … got nothing in return … and asks, “Why doesn’t that ever happen at Gucci?”
Megan McArdle at Asymmetrical Information is “Taking recommendations … for campsites within reasonable travelling distance of New York City.” … help her out in the comments …
NYC Stories says of Shima (188 Second Avenue, at 12th), “This was probably some of the freshest sushi I have had in NYC.”
OK, even though it’s from last week, New York City Boys post on Vertical Fashion has a nice pic of models descending the face of a building, i.e., a “vertical runway”.
And another from last week but it’s worth it: Cornelius Bear of Drones Club declares, “If I am served another heirloom tomato dish I shall quite simply die.”
Cornelius probably won’t want to look at Debbie Koenig’s “Tomato Tomato Tomato (A Week of Vegetables)” at words to eat by.
A Guy In New York posted their roundup of restaurant reviews in “This Week in Reviews”
We agree with Lindsay Robertson that “Like all borderline-OCD handwashers, I get especially annoyed when I get sick because it means that a major security breach has occurred.”
WhiteTrashBBQ has good photos and several posts (keep scrolling) about Long Island GrillKings 2005, where his team came in 4th, and also Guitarbeque 2005 (held in Asbury Park, NJ), where they came in 3rd … Congratulations Robert!
Yanksfan vs. Soxfan writes in Friends in High Places that Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles “may want to start pulling in those political favors right about now, considering his explicitly defiant congressional testimony.”
jewschool wonders if the U.S. is building a military base on the West Bank border
dailyheights.com reports on the new prix fixe restaurant, Sorrel, at Carlton and St. Mark’s in Brooklyn.
The Tin Man links to a worthwhile photo from 2004, “Beautiful panoramic view from the top of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building, the tallest building in Brooklyn.” … 1 Hanson Place, Brooklyn
MetroBlogging NYC‘s “Fireworks at Coney Island,” makes us want to see the Brooklyn Cyclones play at KeySpan Park in Coney Island … take me out to the ballgame …
Maud Newton had her weekly upcoming events list, “The Smart Set,” which is compiled by Lauren Cerand … these show up on Mondays in the Events category …
mole333 reviews Al Gore’s new cable channel, Current TV, in The Daily Gotham

Listed on the ÜberCarnival page.
If you have a NYC blog and want to see something in the next BABF, send us a short write up and a permalink to aguyinnewyork [at] gmail … see you next week …
If you made it all the way down here … do you know why New York City is called the Big Apple? Here are explanations from … The Society for New York City History (entertaining, but a hoax – see this) … wikipedia … New York Public Library … Barry Popick …