About Town
24 Hours on Craigslist
Thurs., January 19-Weds., February 1
On August 4, 2004, Michael Ferris went onCraigslist, the ultimate electronic marketplace, and chose 121 postings ranging from the banal to the disturbing. Then he sent eight film crews around San Francisco (where Craigslist originated) to talk to the people behind the postings. His goal was to create, so much as it's possible, a portrait of the diverse, yet connected Craigslist community.
He interviews people looking for roommates, jobs or some specific kind of love. There's a guy who's trying to sell way too many surplus doors. There's the Ethel Merman impersonator trying to find himself a heavy metal backup band. A loser is trying to arrange an orgy. Others are looking for sperm doors, really large women or non-SAG actors. They all have stories to tell about their experiences on the site, and they all do some speculating about who or what "Craig" is.
To be honest, the prospect didn't sound too promising at first, but the final product is surprisingly entertaining. Taken together, the intercut interviews give form to what has become a brand new socioeconomic class-one that's created its own rules anonymously and under the radar. The only complaint I heard was that the filmmaker didn't venture into the Craiglist "Rants & Raves" section, which could've been scary as hell.
Pioneer Two Boots Theater, 155 E. 3rd St., (at Avenue A), 212-591-0434; call for showtimes, $6.50-$9.
International
Motorcycle Show
Fri., January 20-Sat., January 22
by Jim Knipfel
Remember the motorcycle show at the Guggenheim a few years ago? I'm not real sure what the hell that had to do with non-representational art (about as much as their Armani exhibition did, I'm guessing), but it sure was popular, wasn't it? Well, this show, which you've undoubtedly seen plugged on NY1 and Ch. 7, in the daily newspapers and on subway ads, is even bigger! After the car show and the boat show, consider it the third fix for a culture addicted to fossil fuel-sucking gizmos.
Jacob K. Javits Center, 655 W. 34th St. (betw. 11th & 12th Aves.), go to motorcycleshows.com for tickets; Fri. noon-9, Sat. 9 a.m.-9, Sun. 9:30 a.m.-5, $15/$5 ages six to eleven/free for children five and under.
by Jim Knipfel
Have you heard those radio commercials for the company that promises to use a DNA test to tell you about your heritage? Despite the loud claims, all they really promise is to find out if you're 1/25th Asian or Indian. Now as part of the Brooklyn Library's "Biology and Society" series, Megan Smolenyak, the author of Trace Your Roots With DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree explains how you can go do that. We can't say for sure if she promises anything more than that radio ad, but who knows? Certainly, if you're into genealogy, this is something you shouldn't miss. After all, it's getting the real scoop from an expert, and the advice is free.
Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, 718-230-2100; 2, free.
by Jim Knipfel
Film historian Robert Osborne and Al Hirschfeld's widow will introduce this screening of the Oscar-nominated 1996 portrait of the late artist. The film, which traces his career from his early years in the art departments of several major Hollywood studios through the nearly five decades he spent drawing pictures of celebrities for the Times, features interviews with Hirschfeld (then in his nineties), as well as several of the people he caricatured. After the screening, you might want to check out the exhibition of Hirschfeld's work in the Furman Gallery downstairs.
Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center (at W. 65th St. & Broadway), 888-778-7575; 2:30, $5.
by Jim Knipfel
While his younger brother Malachy was acting in films like Q: The Winged Serpent and The Orphan, Frank McCourt was an English teacher in the New York public school system. In fact, he was a public school teacher for 30 years before becoming a professional Irishman. Following the success of his first two well-regarded memoirs (Angela's Ashes and 'tis), McCourt is about to release his third, Teacher Man, about those years in the pits trying to pound some sense into the heads of hooligans-and finding his own voice in the process. A reading followed by a signing and reception.
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave. (at W. 103rd St.), 212-534-1672; 4, free with Museum Admission ($7/$5 st. & s.c.)
by Jonathan Leaf
The novelist most identified with New York, Tom Wolfe, and one of the columnists most identified with our city, Pete Hamill, square off in this latest of the 92nd St. Y's cage match debates. The question on the table this time: "Which New York is funnier-the mythological New York of Bonfire of the Vanities, or the mythological New York of the Post and the Daily News?" The referee will be Ken Frydman, a former Giuliani press secretary.
92nd St. Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. (at E. 92nd St.), 212-415-5500; 8, $25.