For a new feature, we aim to broaden your horizons by bringing you some of the great writing our blogger friends do on their own sites. Teri Tynes of WalkingOfftheBigApple recently visited the current Tim Burton retrospective at MoMA and we enjoyed reading it so much, we asked and she very kindly let us repost it here for you below. Check out her site for suggested walks around NYC, upcoming city events and overall tips about how to get the best out of the Big Apple. Oh, and she’s suggested LOADS of her favourite places here on Metrotwin, so check ‘em out too.

In the midst of the crowded galleries devoted to filmmaker and artist Tim Burton, surrounded by adults still stuffed inside their winter coats and besieged by their young children, I inadvertently became another object of curiosity. Not that I resemble any of Burton’s creatures. No, when the guards kept shouting “No pictures!” to those who thought they could sneak in a cellphone picture of a Batman cap or a drawing of a Ghost Dog or a statue of Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands, I simply pulled out a small notebook and started sketching. This act of a lady sketching the small models of Burton’s balloon-headed, big-eyed creatures seem to excite the youngest museum attendees, and one or two offered favorable remarks for my efforts. Their parents, on the other hand, seemed less engaged with my activity, perhaps thinking the medium a form of juvenilia or a province of weirdo artists. Kids totally get it.
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Never ones to spend the first days in the office drinking copious amounts of tea and dissecting Xmas tv *ahem* we have started things here with a bang here at Metrotwin and have not one, but two new lists for you!

New Yorkers should definitely check out  NYBarfly’s list of Hipster Bars. The nightlife expert has selected ten hot bars where the cool kids gather to drink beer, pose with pool cues, play arcade games and ironically bowl to their hearts content. Personally I think you can only bowl ‘ironically’ as it is NOT A SPORT, but as you can see, I might be a bit biased in this regard…

The S stands for ’sucksatbowling’

For the Londoners amongst you, I suggest a perusal the profile of Bon Vivant. The luxury concierge and lifestyle management service are our newest partners; based in London, they offer a highly personalised service  at competitive prices that make the concierge industry more accessible to prospective members. Obviously working in this field means they know the hottest new places to be seen in the capital, so have compiled a  list of The Top 10 Restaurant Openings of 2009 – perfect if you have a date you wish impress, or simply want to check out some of the newer places that might have passed you by rather than endure yet another business lunch in Strada.

If you disagree hideously with NYBarfly or Bon Vivant’s lists, want to recommend places for Metrotwin yourself or simply want to tell me how much better than me you are at bowling,  do drop me a line at editor@metrotwin.

Happy New One!

AnyaD

We’re back once again with the Metrotwin 15, and this time it’s the turn of Sharon Florin, artist, blogger and theatre buff to be put in the hotseat to answer fifteen fundamental questions of international importance.

Name: Sharon Florin

Profession: Artist

Neighbourhood: Manhattan and Long Island City, Queens

Favourite city smell: Baking bread

Tell us a London/NYC pop fact: Broadway runs from the southern tip of Manhattan up into northern Bronx and was once an Indian trail

Favourite bagel filling: Plain old cream cheese

Opinion of pigeons: Rats with wings

Currently reading: “Below Zero” by C.J. Box

Skins or Gossip Girl?: ??? Guess I’m a little over the hill

Law and Order or The Bill? Law and Order

Items that are always in your grocery basket: Chicken, salad fixings, herbal teas, cookies!

Favourite building/monument/statue/tree/shrub: Soooo many favorite buildings, but I’ll go with Alwyn Court on 58th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. The Daniel Chester French statues in front of the Old Customs House downtown and of course the Lady in the Harbor. Cherry blossom trees. Hydrangea, is that a shrub?

Chat us some slang: Where ya headed.

Favourite cuisine and where you satiate your lust: Always enjoy good Italian food and Manetta’s in LIC is a favorite restaurant.

Local drinking hole: Can’t answer this one, I’m not a drinker

We continue our Metrotwin 15 feature with EmilyJ – frequent flyer across the Atlantic and soon-to-be guest blogger (watch this space!)

Name: EmilyJ

Profession: A closely guarded secret (but like, not in a sleazy way)

Neighbourhood: ditto

Favourite city smell: Pretzels

Favourite bagel filling: Smoked salmon and cream cheese

Opinion of pigeons: Unnecessary

Currently reading: Out of Africa

Skins or Gossip Girl?: Skins

Law and Order or The Bill? This is a joke right?

Items that are always in your grocery basket: London – jasmine tea, New York – are you suggesting I might actually cook something?

Chat us some slang: What am I, chopped liver?

Favourite cuisine and where you satiate your lust: BBQ. Fette Sau in Williamsburg.

Local drinking hole: Auction House.

You might have heard of Jake. The social network for gay professionals has over 30,000 members worldwide and has written some great recommendations and lists for our site in their time too.

They hold monthly networking get-togethers in exclusive venues as it is, but November’s gathering is particularly special as it is their 10th birthday.  It’s being held at private member’s club Quintessentially in London’s Soho on 8th November, and is hosted by Sir Ian McKellen, with Boy George and Fat Tony lending their DJ skills to the event too. Oh, and in contrast with most 10 year olds’ birthday parties where it’s all ‘Me! Me! Me! Presents! Cake! Jelly!’ It’s all in aid of Albert Kennedy Trust, a great charity that helps homeless LGBT teenagers.

You can buy tickets from their website, and don’t say we haven’t given you enough warning to get that suit pressed, shoes shined and dig out those lovely taxidermy cufflinks….*

*I think most of London, both overground and in the sewers are glad I was born female…