Todd Sokolove Presents - BEWARE OF THE BLOG - Blogging from New York City: August 2007

Just nominated for Five Gemini Awards (the Canadian Emmys) Answered by Fire is one of the better miniseries to hit television in a while (if I do say so myself).

You can check it out on Sunday on ION Television (check local listings). Starts at 7pm...

i want to believe...

I've been trying to do a little research on something that happened to us in Gettysburg. One of the most common photographic anomalies in common haunted areas is the Orb, in which a white/clear circle appears on your photo.

There are two schools of thought on this occurrence. Skeptics say it's dust, dirt, or moisture captured by the flash of a camera and enlarged by depth of field. Ghost hunters will tell you this is an energy sorce of a paranormal nature.

Let's just say that I have taken my share of night photos, but until the trip to Gettysburg, I have never experienced anything as downright freaky as this.

Hiking back to one of the most frighteningly gruesome establishments in the town (a barn that served as a makeshift operations center for amputees), Ann and I snapped the following photos...

red balloon, red balloon...

Rachel just called me and asked if I ever got sad as a kid when I saw a balloon float into the sky and drift away forever.

"Uh, no," I coldly replied, but I did see Le Ballon rouge, the 1956 Award Winning film that for some strange reason was shown in Hebrew school year after year. Nothing like introducing existential French New Wave cinema to a bunch of pre-teen Jews.

For your existential pleasure, all four parts of this landmark film...

part one

part two

part three

part four

juliet is a punk rocker...

Like Sid and Nancy?
Dig Shakespeare?
Live in New York City?

You MUST check out BEN, the punk skewed version of Romeo & Juliet being performed at The Ace of Clubs for only 10 performances (information below).

It's an extremely physical, sometimes funny, always heartfelt, and completely entertaining take on the Bard, and a hell of a lot more enjoyable than Kenneth Branagh's HBO disaster As You Like It.

My childhood pal Brian stars as Romeo, and his performance is much more intense than the last stage play I saw him do. Albeit he was, like, 8 years old and it was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

it's official...

MIKA has jumped the shark. Why did he, or anyone, think this was a good idea?

happy birthday rachel!

Today is Rachel's birthday, and she's feeling down. She thinks 36 is old, and it kind of is, but not at old as 86.

Rachel, everybody, it's a good thing.

If you're old enough to remember this clip, that's good...

sing it girlfriend...

I am becoming increasingly obsessed with Rihanna's Umbrella. I like it almost as much as the new High School Musical 2 soundtrack. Now in stores.

the end all, be all...

unhappy monday...

Tony Wilson
1950-2007

Download my continuous-mix
tribute to Tony Wilson here

TRACKS INCLUDE

Transmission - Joy Division
Otis - The Durutti Column
Temptation - New Order
Sensoria - Cabaret Voltaire
Flight - A Certain Ratio
Electricity - OMD
Harmony -Happy Mondays

summer road trip...

Spent the weekend in Gettysburg and in addition to eating way too much junk food, sweets, and high carb Southern cooking, Ann, Craig and I got a history lesson up close and personal. More on the ghost stories later.

Click here for the ghostless photos from the trip.

it's the little things in life...

It's funny how one little thing can bring such happiness to a crappy day. I loves me some ITO EN unsweetened iced green teas, and they have finally added MINT to their offerings. O Joy of joys.

Beware of the Babylon
The Father Democast

BEWARE OF THE BABYLON is live on tape this week from the new Father Demo Square in the West Village.

* Rachel unveils her naivety by dating older gay men.

* Todd unveils his concern for Rachel dating older gay men.

* The argument over the best pizza in New York continues.

* Shout out to hair products, never tested on animals.

* A rotating cast of characters in Demo square for support.

* What social networks are advancing our web status these days?

As always, this, and EVERY, BEWARE OF THE BABYLON podcast can be automatically downloaded from iTunes.

OR, just listen right here and now with the audio player below...

play it here sucka

the winner of the
john mcenroe temper contest...

This guy has always scared me, but this takes the cake, rips the frosting off, shoves it down your mouth, and doesn't even ask if you want ice cream on the side...

i learned it by watching youtube...

I've always been completely fascinated with those educational films we were forced to watch in elementary school. In college I would often dig through the library to find vintage 16mm reels of these films and those especially before my time and screen them for friends. Now that many are available on DVD, I've even collected hundreds of these things.

Thanks to YouTube, many of these great ephemeral films of days gone by are online.

So, I am proud to offer the holding ground for some of my favorite educational films, with new additions daily. Click below and add to your bookmarks...