Today, most hotels are owned by chains that provide a predictable and safe level of service.
Although the Hotel Elysee is owned by hoteliers who manage other properties as well, it is an
experience like no other.

Born in the 1920s, the Elysee began as a residence hotel, whose long terms guests have
including the likes of author William Faulkner and actress Tallulah Bankhead. It still feels that way,
with a suite that was, for all intents and purposes, a beautiful apartment. Despite its 1920s origins, the
décor gave the hotel more the feel of an old-school club, with crystal lighting fixtures, bookshelves
with a remarkable selection of books in both residence suite and common area, and framed art that
forwards the late nineteenth century look. The suite I found myself in included a dining table,
bookshelves, couches, fireplace, and walk in closet. In particular, the Chinese style small paintings
gave the suite the feel that a person with taste had actually thought about designing a place people
would want to spend time in.

Outside the suite itself, the hotel hallways featured elegant chandeliers and tasteful oil paintings

One day someone will come up with a metaphor richly descriptive enough to accurately describe Simon Schama’s writing. Until that day comes, and let us all hope it comes sooner rather than later, we’ll have to make due with imperfect descriptions. For instance, for me to say his latest book, American Future is staggering in the depth, breadth and detail of its discussion, and that it weaves a beautiful narrative tapestry of American history, is, largely, inaccurate because it doesn’t praise the book enough.

Diana West's The Death of the Grown Up is the kind of book about which the phrase "preaching to the choir" was invented. The author, a columnist whose first foray into writing full-length books this volume represents, does not seem to be especially interested in convincing her readership of her point of view, such as it is. For a book such as this, that is a cardinal sin. Instead, she offers a disorganized collection of complaints loosely connected with a perceived greater trend towards the glorification of the so-called juvenile and the dismissal of the so-called mature in American society over the past few decades. A reader already predisposed to grumble over the decline of American culture and the childishness that makes itself felt in the public sphere will find plenty in this book over which to grumble loudly and righteously. That reader will feel a mounting sense of vindication and justification, and he or she will be supplied with 256 pages worth of anecdotal cannonballs to fire at his or her ideological opponents.

The Hotel Casablanca is in that area of Manhattan, off Times Square, where it’s hard to tell where one building ends and the next begins. Space is TIGHT. That’s why it is so amazing to find a place like Hotel Casablanca. Tucked off Times Square and 43rd, it is another beautiful building on a street full of them. Most are office spaces, gyms, restaurants, high-end housing and the like. The hotel can be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it, the only clue a modest awning labeled “Casablanca”.

The building itself is gorgeous, most likely built around the turn-of-the-last-century expansion. The lobby is small, but well attended. There are usually two or three employees waiting to assist you. The walls are Moroccan wood grain, the floor tiled. It all has the feel of the Gilded Age.

Peter Raaymakers and Ben Myers talk about the state of the Ottawa Senators, the future of Martin Gerber, and much more in our third weekly Blogcast about the big brother team of the Binghamton Senators up in Ottawa.

To read the regular blogging of Ben Myers and Peter Raaymakers you can visit their website at: http://sensarmy.blogspot.com

To those of you who don’t know the plot of Joss Whedon’s newest show, Dollhouse, it is as follows: there is a secret organization called the Dollhouse, where, if you have enough money, you can pay to have an empty shell of a person (or “doll”) mind wiped into any person you want for a few days. FBI badass Paul Ballard is trying to uncover this place and bring them to justice.

The first episode was solid enough. It pulled the classic Whedonesque move of leaving more questions than answers. What was Echo’s (the main character played by Eliza Dushku) life like before she volunteered to become a doll? Where did the Dollhouse’s doctor get those scars on her face? Why is FBI badass Paul Ballard naked in a room full of murdered people? Classic Whedon.

However, the show was lacking in the trademark comedy fans of Joss have become so accustomed to. No snarky remarks, no fun ironic twists. The closest thing the show has to a comic-relief character (i.e. Wash from Firefly or Xander from Buffy) is Topher Brink, the Dollhouse’s computer whiz. And even with him, the vibe doesn’t lean towards “funny guy” as much as it does towards “responsible douche”.

Governor David Paterson is holding a Town Hall Meeting at Broome County Community College on Wednesday, February 11, 2009. This is a live blog, detailing the proceedings of that event. Governor Paterson is expected to discuss budgetary issues, including those concerning the SUNY System of schools.
*Please note that this is a continuous live blog, and is therefore subject to errors in spelling or grammar.

4:53 The East Gym of BCC is beginning to fill, floor seating is taken and bleacher seats are nearing capacity, however the predicted overload does not seem likely to occur. Governor Paterson has yet to arrive.

5:08 Questions have been selected to ask of those submitted (duplicates have been regarded, and those which are most representative of the situation to be addressed were chosen), those asking questions are to be given priority aisle seating. Many questions are in relation to Natural gas drilling, and other local matters. Those questions pertaining to issues in localities farther from Binghamton, have for the most part, been differed.

5:30 The Governor has entered the building.

Featuring poor writing, fruitless cinematography, shoddy acting, annoying plot gaps and semi-awesome battles, Push is a movie with nothing to its credit but some cool ideas. Push is sort of about psychic warfare but more about random bad actors that have superpowers. There is a cliché government agency called the Division (I wonder if movies like this are running out of stupid 1 word names for government agencies?) who are out searching for a girl who managed to live through their attempt at a super-psychic-power-improve-serum-or-whatever and decided to run away. Again, very cliché. Then we see our hero Nick (Chris Evans) attempting to roll dice using his telekinetic powers. He can barely do it but decides to go out and bet thousands of Hong Kong dollars on a dice game that he loses because he can’t roll dice in a stressful situation apparently.

Peter Raaymakers and Ben Myers talk about the state of the Ottawa Senators, the future of Martin Gerber, and much more in our first weekly Blogcast about the big brother team of the Binghamton Senators up in Ottawa.

To read the regular blogging of Ben Myers and Peter Raaymakers you can visit their website at: http://sensarmy.blogspot.com

There is a book coming out called Impossible Man by Michael Muhammad Knight. Buy it and read it. That’s all there really is to it.

If you must know more, the book is a memoir of Michael Muhammad Knight’s youth. It tells of him, a caucasian American, growing up, living through an incredibly difficult childhood, finding Islam, embracing it wholeheartedly and then slipping away from it while still being Muslim. It’s worth every second of reading it. Not that that will take long, the book doesn’t seem to flow as it does to gallop before you, dragging you behind it until you finish it. It will not let go of you, and you will not want to let go of it either. Along the way you experience four times the meaning of Catcher in the Rye, with none of the tedious whining and complaining, you will find all the pain of A Million Little Pieces, with none of the outright fabrication. You will, in short, read one of the best books of recent years, and certainly one of the best coming of age stories ever written.