December 29th - Hilary Garner, an old friend of cineclectic from back in the day, arrived in New York from her home in Canada.  Hilary was my housemate back in 2000 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was great to see her.  She is affectionately known as Spacecat and for good reason.

December 30th - Had some great ham and eggs in the Kellogs diner in Williamsburg.

In the afternoon I took Hilary to meet with Justin Bolognino for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the Brooklyn Bowl. It was/is mind-blowing. 16 full lanes of bowling, a state-of-the-art live music venue with full recording facilities and a Blue Ribbon restaurant - all under one roof!  They’ve been working on this place for 2 years, right next to Brooklyn Brewery.  When it opens later this year it will be phenomenal.  Serious attention to detail has been the main characteristic of this project.  The media deck is very impressive and well thought out, the bowling lanes are visible through a window from urinal #3 in the men’s room and there’s even a Ladies Lounge with one-way glass so that women can chill out and spy down on their cheating boyfriends.

In the evening I went to Upper West Side NYC to meet with Hilary’s friends Janeth Quintana and Andreas Llanos, a recently engaged couple from Colombia.  I took some photographs from the roof of their apartment and we had Italian food in Manhattan.

December 31st - Brought in the New Year in style by going to see a live video mashup set from Eclectic Method at Love NYC.  Eclectic Method are definitely worth watching.  The music was great and the use of mashup technology was mesmerizing.  To date their talents have been employed by U2, Fatboy Slim and Public Enemy and they have headlined the closing parties at both the Cannes and Sundance film festivals.  I have seen people use video turntables before but never quite like this.  What’s even more impressive is that they are genuinely nice guys with none of that typical UK DJ attitude.  Jonny Wilson from the band even invited us back to his house where we talked about future Eclectic Method & Cineclectic collaborations.  It’s great to meet like-minded people!