Good Morning & Hello Friday!

• Great week (with the sole exception of STILL no Green Card Renewal). However, I’ve been extremely lucky when it comes to random run-ins with all things creative and cool — people, places, events. It’s almost as though the universe is trying to make amends for the way they’ve let the green card situation play out.
• My best discoveries this week range from the K-Pop Random Dance Challenge (#5), Eitan Baron’s CapitalistMan Performance Pop-Up (#4), and John Crist’s driverless Waymo (#3) – that’s an absolute must-watch!
• I also have another trip booked. Heading to Nashville in July!! Big birthday celebration for one of my besties.

And with that, please scroll down and enjoy this week’s Top 10.

1. Video: The Weekly Recap

2. HOTTEST NEW CONTENT HOUSE (and it’s in NYC)

Colin and Samir’s podcast keeps getting better and better. It’s become one of my go-to’s, a top source for interviews and insights on up-and-coming creators and their creative journeys. If you’re at all interested in that topic, I highly recommend you subscribe.

• This week’s podcast was with Ur Moms House which consists of a group of 4 lifestyle vloggers. Their YouTube channels act a bit like a deconstructed sitcom. And all 4 have seen their subscribers grow exponentially as they live and work together, e.g., up over 4000%. Colin and Samir call it a new, more viable co-working model for content houses.
• I also re-discovered Justin Kan (he created Twitch which he then sold to Amazon for $970MM). Kan’s creative journey has been well-documented but I had not heard of his life-changing Ayahuasca trip until he talked about it on Colin and Samir’s podcast.
• Another new discovery: Emma Chamberlain, who both Kan and Colin and Samir hold in the highest regard (she has 11MM subscribers on YouTube and 15MM on Instagram). They also get into the weeds on how YouTube uses algorithms to manipulate creators into posting more often – turns out it’s really stressful and it’s why so many YouTubers take breaks! I mean can you imagine having every minute of your life assessed and rated by an algorithm.

#MyTake: As I’ve said before, the best thing to come out of COVID, for me, was giving up TV (cable/network). In its place, I discovered the CREATOR COMMUNITY doing (free) podcasts on YouTube. It started with Rogan whose guests ranged from academics to entrepreneurs to creators esp. in the entertainment space. Each one of them has introduced me to people in their network. Totally dialed up my curiosity and exposed me to so many more perspectives.

3. JOHN CRIST TAKES A DRIVERLESS WAYMO IN PHX. it’s bonkers!

• First saw this on John Crist’s Instagram account. Now he’s posted it on YouTube. It’s worth watching -hysterical.
• Phoenix is the only market where Waymo One is currently available to the general public (but test rides are available in San Francisco).

4. Meet Eitan Baron aka Capitalistman aka Israeli Performance Artist aka real estate developer

• This is one of the strangest (but most intriguing) things I’ve seen at the pop-up space next door (2 Rivington Street).
• At first I thought OxyVest was just another tech or “green” startup.
• Everytime I walked by I wondered about the guy hired to sit and watch TV 24/7 (while attached to some weird oxygen tank).
• One day, the guy looked different and I realized I had been watching a dummy (pic above left). Now, the real Capitalistman was on the job (pic right).
• I did finally meet him and learned that the pop-up exhibition will be up for another 2 weeks. But, I’m still uncertain what Eitan Baron is really about.
• There has been relatively little about him in the media since he got kicked out of Art Basel Miami Beach (2 years ago) for walking around with a see-thru briefcase filled with $500K dollar bills that he wanted to sell for $1MM ($500K for the money, $500K for the concept). He called it “performance art”. Organizers disagreed, saying he “was detracting from the artists who had paid to exhibit their works.” This was the same art fair where Maurizio Cattalan’s Comedian — a banana taped to the wall — sold for $120,000 before someone ate the banana. (Source: Forward.com)
• For more info, check out his site: Capitalistman.com

5. K-POP RANDOM PLAY DANCE CHALLENGE: washington Square Park

Stumbled across this last Saturday.

• The earliest mentions of Random Dance Challenges online were from 2019. And then Covid put the kibbosh on it. But now it is back on a GLOBAL SCALE. Seeing videos from all over the world.
• But what is it you ask?
• K-Pop Random Play Dance is a mix of various K-pop choruses, both old and new, stitched together and played out loud. Everyone can join the challenge and find a spot, online or physical! Listen to your favourite choruses being played and if you know the song, get up, dance and perform!
• As of this writing, I found the below premiere video from the Washington Square event I attended. Organized by the Not Shy Dance Crew and sponsored by Mercy Cosmetics.

6. A free (BUT TICKETED) immersive Korean pop culture experience coming to NYC May 2-14. 100% SOLD OUT ☹️

• So bummed. I’ve known about this for a while but did not get a move on to get tickets until now. You snooze, you loose! However, I am planning to get over to Chelsea on Monday and see if I can talk my way in.
• “Korea: Cubically Imagined” is organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency, alongside the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Korean government.
• The exhibition includes seventeen distinctive Korean Wave presentations at the forefront of the nation’s creative talent including performances by BTS (virtual, not IRL); a reproduction of the Parasite film set; and an augmented reality installation inspired by Korean folklore and the city life of Seoul. 
• The exhibition will move to Washington, DC after its New York run. The show has been touring the world since 2021 including stops in Paris, Hong Kong, Moscow and Beijing.
• Once again, totally bummed to be missing this. If anyone has snagged tickets elsewhere, let me know what it was like.

ONE MORE Hallyu MUST-SEE: the upcoming Hallyu! The Korean Wave exhibit at London’s V&A. It will explore the makings of the Korean Wave and its global impact on the creative industries of cinema, drama, music, fandom, beauty and fashion. Opens in September. If my green card is renewed by then, I am 100% checking this out!!

7. Pier 57: spectacular addition to NYC waterfront! Kudos to Google!

• This 2-acre space is NYC’s largest rooftop park. (Source: newyorkyimpy)
• Pier 57 also offers 350,000 square feet of office space with Google as the anchor tenant.
• The building also includes 50,000 square feet of ground floor amenities including a food hall curated by the James Beard Foundation, and an outdoor screening space for the annual Tribeca Film Festival.
• Besides Pier 57 which will be home to 450 Google workers, the company also snapped up a 1.3 million-square-foot waterfront building further downtown at Hudson Square for $2.1 billion last September.
• Google also owns two smaller buildings in Chelsea: 111 Eighth Ave. and the Milk Building at 450 W. 15th St.
• Earlier this month, Google asked employees to return to the office three days a week as part of its new hybrid model. (Source: NY Post)

8. Drag is blowing up. Even Taco Bell wants in.

• Las Vegas is getting Taco Bell’s first-ever Drag Brunch Experience with host Kay Sedia kicking off a five-city tour starting Sunday, May 1, at the Taco Bell Cantina. (The concept came from Taco Bell’s own LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, Live Más Pride.)
• Phoenix Pride’s 2022 Rainbows Festival is happening on Saturday and Sunday, April 30-May 1. Throughout the weekend, the newly crowned Miss Phoenix Pride Desiree DeMornay and Mister Phoenix Pride Roman Holiday will perform. Sponsors include Bud Light, Tito’s, Nissan, Embry Health, among others.
• Phoenix is also hosting WrestleDrag – a fundraiser that fuses an entertaining evening of performances by pro wrestlers and drag queens (separately, not together).
• New Orleans (of course), hosts one of the wildest events of the year: drag wrestling where drag queens smack each other down in front of 400 screaming fans. (Source: Thrillist)

9. First we cut cable, now streaming’s getting the axe. And I predict Amazon Prime will be next!

• Anecdotally, several friends have been talking about not only cutting cable but also cutting their spend on all those streaming services they’ve signed up for over the years. Reasons are many but most people have noticed the impact of inflation whether it’s at the gas pump or at grocery checkout or at a restaurant. Everything’s gotten way more expensive!
• For me, Amazon Prime is the next to go. It’s a total waste of money. I use it at Whole Foods but over the course of a year, I’ve probably saved no more than $50 and I rarely order from Amazon anymore (I prefer Walmart or shopping in person at Chinatown markets). I’m over gifting Bezos $139 a year; I don’t think he’ll miss it.
• So come July, it’s bye bye Amazon Prime.

10. heading to Nashville in July (staying at another fab Soho House)!

Celebrating Jourdan’s birthday with a whole posse of friends. Besides the birthday festivities, here’s what I’m super excited about:

• The Wash. The bays in this former East Nashville car wash have been turned into restaurants and bars. Looks absolutely amazing, especially keen to check out Bay 6 Cocktail Bar.
• Buck Mason 12South (the biggest store opening in the brand’s history). LOVE this brand and love the look of this store – especially the 1968 Porsche 912 Targa parked inside!
• Frist Art Museum to see Light Space Surface which features work by many of my favorite artists including James Turrell and Doug Wheeler. The show was organized by LACMA.
• Hillsboro Village, an urban, youngish and walkable area between Belmont and Vanderbilt Universities.
• Cheekwood Live Outdoor Music Series with Nashville-based artists, local food, lawn games, and evening strolls through the gardens. The Thursday I arrive JESS NOLAN is playing.
• Also interested in revisiting Pinewood Social, Patterson House, and for the first time in Nashville, NYC’s Attaboy.
• And finally, really looking forward to staying at the Nashville Soho House.

And that’s a wrap for this week, my friends.

But not before I do a rave review for a new restaurant in my neighborhood. KYU (from Miami) just opened on Lafayette in the old Gato (Bobby Flay) space and I checked it out last night. It is phenomenal. Staff, ambiance, food (I only tried 4 dishes but each was great). I met the chef, Chris Arellanes. He was previously at Narcissa with John Fraser. I will definitely be back. Based on my experience on Thursday, I recommend all my friends check it out on the early side (6:30-ish) before it gets crazy and they pump up the music in true Miami-style. I’m also into being seated at the chef’s table. Here are a few pics:

I also have a big weekend ahead: On Saturday checking out Robot Heart Fare Forward in Central Park (did not bother to get tickets, primarily interested in checking out the crowd and hoping to get a glance at the Art Car originally created for Burning Man!). And on Saturday night, I’m checking out my friend Panos Kourakos’ brand new restaurant, Marylou. It’s an intimate little French spot in the East Village.

And next week, Brad is back in NYC. Here, btw, is the most recent Artsy article featuring him and his two museum shows in AZ.

And with that, my friends, all that is left to do is to wish you all a wonderful weekend!