One Hundred Miles

Sam Presser: With Heart in the Lens

2011-08-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

The Jewish Historical Museum is presenting a retrospective of Sam Presser (1917-1986) who specialised in documenting the daily life of regular people in the Netherlands. The archive is made up of over half a million negatives that essentially document a large portion of the last century by 'being at the right place, at the right time'. His most famous photos are perhaps those he made as a Jewish fugitive during World War II.

Downstairs at the King's Head

2010-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

2 Crouch End Hill, corner of The Broadway, N8 (020 8340 1028/admin 01920 823265)

Finsbury Park tube/rail then W7 bus. Performances 8.30pm Wed-Sun. Admission free-?7; free-?6 concs.

One of the oldest clubs
in the capital and deservedly popular as the emphasis is on providing
the best possible conditions for performers. Resident host is Huw
Thomas, and there's a try-out night every other Thursday.

Racing: NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals

2010-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Celebrate America's fascination with fast cars, as well as the 50th anniversary of the National Hot Rod Association, at the NHRA Nationals held on the stunning new Strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Drag racing may be a sport born at the stoplights of America's 1950s past, but today's race cars are far more exotic, expensive and explosively fast. Classes include Top Fuel Dragsters and the cartoonish alcohol-burning Funny Cars, so witnesses to this spectacle of sound and speed can expect 300 MPH passes down the quarter-mile strip.

Gumboots

2010-07-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

It began in the gold mines of South Africa. The miners would dance in their wellington boots, as a means of escaping the danger and drudgery of their work. 'Gumboots', as it was called, is now an international sensation, thanks to a group of young dancers from Soweto. This production is not performed solely by South Africans, however. Included are artists from all over the continent. A hit in Europe, it was the cast's dream to perform in the United States. It should be well worth seeing their dream come true.

Burning Spear + Culture + The Wailers

2010-07-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Let down your dreadlocks and get ready to groove at the biggest reggae festival to hit Africa. The headlining acts at 'Home to my Roots' are all genuine reggae acts direct from Jamaica. Burning Spear (aka Winston Rodney) is a compelling live performer, while seven of the original band members that toured with Bob Marley are here as part of The Wailers, now on their 30th world tour. Lead singer Gary 'Nesta' Pines is widely regarded as the their best frontman since the late, great Bob himself.

Modern Art and America

2010-07-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Alfred Stieglitz is among the handful of truly seminal figures in American modern art, and the three New York Galleries he ran - 291 (1908-1917), the Intimate Gallery (1925-1929) and An American Place (1925-1929) - were at the heart of his activities. This National Gallery show will be the first to examine Stieglitz's accomplishments as gallery director alongside his photographs. His images will be seen with the work of some the artists he championed - Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Brancusi, and close friends Georgia O' Keefe and Marsden Hartley.

Couture Locale

2010-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

This multimedia exhibition will display 50 years of fashion from Amsterdam, Clothes, shoes, handbags, hats and fabrics from established names like Max Heymans, Frank Govers, Fong Leng, Frans Molenaar, Edgar Vos and Mart Visser take up one space, while up-and-comers like Aico, Analik, Aziz, Saskia van Drimmelen, Niels Klavers and Wees Meester en Vormgever van Jezelf will take up the other. As the exhibition is so well organised, the only thing to worry about it was to wear...

El Gato Tuerto

2010-07-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Calle O #14, entre 17 y 19 (662224)

Open noon-6am daily. Admission $5 drink minimum.

The One-Eyed Cat used to be the place where young intellectuals and artists hung out in the 1970s and early '80s. It reopened recently after 12 years of closure, restored, revamped and redollared with pleasant, post-modern decor. Filin and bolero are still the main genres to be heard here, with near-legends such as Elena Bunke (Friday nights) and César Portillo de la Luz playing on an almost weekly basis. There's also a restaurant upstairs.

Katia and Marielle Labèque

2010-07-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Following some fairly heavy-going operatic repertoire in the Maggio Musicale festival, the Labèque sisters piano duo offers some light relief in a programme of music for two pianos. Schubert's beautiful F minor Fantasia opens, before they play a selection of Brahms' rousing, gypsy-like 'Hungarian Dances'. The second half consists of Saint-Saens much-loved 'Carnival of the Animals'.

Sun Rays in the Vatican

2010-07-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Man in a Hong Kong Basement

2010-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Rock 'n' Roll is Here to Stay

2010-07-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

For a supposedly visceral art form, rock music inspires an amazing amount of intellectual writing. Journalism professor William McKeen has seemingly read through all of it to produce 'Rock'n'Roll is Here to Stay', an expansive yet shrewdly edited anthology. It includes the standard rock critics (Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau) and includes iconic pieces such as Joan Didion on The Doors and Tom Wolfe on the Beatles. McKeen will discuss the book and his adventures in rock rocking at Octavia Books, the new Uptown literary shop.

London Aquarium

2010-06-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

County Hall, Riverside Building, Westminster Bridge Road, SE1 (020 7967 8000)

Westminster tube or Waterloo tube/rail. Open 10am-6pm daily (last entry 5pm). Admission ?8.50; ?5 3s-14s, ?6.50 students, OAPs; ?24 family; free under-3s, wheelchair-users. Credit MC, ?TC, V.

Website: http://www.londonaquarium.co.uk

A three-level display
of hundreds of varieties of sea life and fish - from huge to dinky -
from around the world. It's a hit with children - who especially love
the touchable rays - although adults will be far from bored. The
interactive displays and nod to environmental awareness (information
about endangered species such as the nautilus, the tiny poison dart
frog and coral reefs - the latter is part of the new Coral Reef Conservation Experience )
are laudable, if, frankly, rather overshadowed by the most popular
residents, the sharks. One word of criticism, though - it's a bit
cheeky to charge extra (albeit 30p) for a leaflet about the exhibition.

blessing from above

2010-06-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Venetian Navigator

2010-06-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Only a year ago there were just two internet cafes in the whole of Venice - since then a dozen or so have opened up to service the needs of an increasingly cyber-reliant tourist clientele. Some are better than others, and the general rule is to head as far out from St Mark's Square and its silly prices as possible. The only exceptions, however, are the two newly-opened branches of Venetian Navigator. Central, inexpensive and run by friendly, bilingual staff, they are among the best internet sites that Venice has to offer.

Don't Make Me Look Too Psychotic

2010-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has endured a bad relationship will appreciate the wit in Bruce Pachtman's small-scale comedy, 'Don't Make Me Look Too Psychotic'. The story of a playwright who dates a woman that coaxes him to write a show about her. The play is a funny look at what it means to be a dysfunctional couple, as each person takes turns controlling each other with sex, mind games and alcohol. Pachtman's dialogue is funny and insightful, and his play is one of the most refreshing romantic comedies to come along in some time.

Symphony from the Wild World (Symphonie aus der wilden Welt)

2010-06-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

This unusual multimedia event is inspired by the way Berlin has changed over the past decade. The brainchild of two young German jazz musicians, 'Symphony From The Wild World' merges electronic samples of cacophonic 'city noise' with the more traditional sounds of the double bass and the oboe. As the music unfolds, a torrent of visual images is projected onto the stage, allowing the audience to catch a glimpse of nocturnal Berlin with its 24 hour building sites, deserted subways and techno club culture.

Toro

2010-05-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Calle O #206, entre 23 y 25 (333740)

Open noon-midnight daily. Main courses $10.50-$38.

Air-conditioning.

Not for veggies this one. This first-floor, mirror-walled steakhouse in the Hotel St John's imports all its meat from Canada, and is embarrassingly proud of the fact that it doesn't use Cuban beef. Prices range from $5 for a burger to $18 for a 12-oz ribsteak to $25 for a T-bone, and higher still; each main dish comes with a jacket spud or rice with veg. If you're feeling carnivorous go for the all-you-can-eat roast beef special for $9.90. This will also get you a free beer or a glass of wine. A good choice of fish and a healthy wine list keeps everyone happy (well, except the veggies.)

P1040835

2010-05-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

Enotria

2010-05-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

A short walk west of the Porta Il Prato and located on a rather noisy, arterial road, this new Wine Bar is a pleasant surprise once you get inside. Wine bottles, labels, books and magazines are everywhere and the warm, wood-rich interior incorporates both bar and restaurant. The menu changes regularly, but there are certain standards; grilled vegetables, a delicious spelt and porcini mushroom soup, Argentian fillet of Angus cooked in house style with a rich wine and coffee sauce and a marvellous selection of French and Italian cheeses. The wine list is excellent and covers the whole of Italy.

Teatro Mella

2010-05-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

L'nea #657, entre A y B (38696/35651)

Open Box office 10am-5pm daily. Admission $5-$10.

The Teatro Mella is home of the Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba and is mainly used for dance performances. However, rock and trova concerts are also often held here.

Hacken Lee and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

2010-05-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Canto-pop singer Hacken Lee makes a departure from the norm. Instead of simply churning out saccharine love songs in the Canto-pop tradition, Lee has reworked his tunes and will perform for the first time with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra - currently in turmoil after it was revealed 16 musicians face the sack. Whether these arrangements help save the material from being any more than dross remains to be heard.

La Tribune

2010-05-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

If you've been to the Cinquantenaire to have a look at the Musée Royal de l'Armée et d'Histoire Militaire or just to stroll in the park, La Tribune is a good place to have a bite to eat afterwards. Recently refurbished, there's always a good lunch menu and the moules come in all shapes and sizes. You can also drop in for a coffee or a beer at anytime of the day.

Felsenkeller

2010-04-24T09:01:00.000-07:00

Furnished simply with heavy wooden tables and beautiful oak-panelling, this bar in Schöneberg has a rustic, olde worlde feel to it. However, there is more to the Felsenkeller than initially meets the eye. Devoid of themes and music, it is one of those rare venues that manages to attract a genuinely mixed crowd of people - from quiet pipe-smoking locals to S&M fetishists who are on their way to one of the area's many underground clubs. And there is schnapps on tap.

The Ruffnecks

2010-04-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Every city has a band like the Ruffnecks - hard working blue collar players who keep grinding out the good stuff for what seems like an eternity. As the music world continues to tease Las Vegas and its potential as 'the next Seattle', the Ruffnecks simply do it for the love of music. A Las Vegas blues-rock outfit that has played steady gigs for the better part of nine years, the 'Necks consistently offer an energetic show. Recording contract or not, these guys obviously love what they do and that should be enough for anyone.