July 25, 2008
Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
Produced by Win Rosenfeld and Zena Barakat
Thanks, everyone, for being part of the Bryant Park Project . Look for us here .
-- Laura Conaway
3:58 PM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP , Too Beautiful to Live
-- Win Rosenfeld
3:57 PM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
The cast of the BPP.
Zena Barakat
These are just a few of the people who made the Bryant Park Project such an amazing place to work. Last night I left our office knowing that I had just one day left with everyone here, one more day to make the show that we all love so dearly. I was depressed, and I knew there was only one thing I could do -- bake.
There is something about measuring, mixing, and frosting that I find incredibly soothing. My mom always baked for me when I was young, and I remember watching her take the time to paint the food coloring on the apple cut-outs on top of her pie. It was like edible proof of how much she loved us. Last night when I was carefully mixing and coloring my third batch of homemade butter cream frosting, I was just overwhelmed with feelings for this group. I leave the BPP with a final batch of baked goods, 24 ice cream cone cupcakes filled with all my love.
-- Caitlin Kenney
12:00 PM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
Just a short post to thank everyone here for making me a part of the BPP family. Having started working for the show in June, I think I was perhaps the most recent addition to the staff, but I'm grateful that I had the time here that I did, however brief. It was much more than just a job.
I read somewhere recently that the average person laughs 17 times a day (all right, a depressingly paltry amount of laughter to begin with) but I know that I met my daily quota at our morning meetings alone, and exceeded it many, many times over throughout the rest of each day here. Being at the Bryant Park Project was like being part of one big continuous postmodern vaudeville show, with routines both comic and serious, whose stage extended virtually everywhere and could include anything.
Thanks for letting me in on the act.
-- Paul Hechinger
11:48 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Stuff We Love
This post has nothing to do with the fact that we're being run out of the building.
Anthony Famiglietti.
Photo Credit: New York Road Runners
-- Ian Chillag
11:30 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP
A long time ago I attempted to create a story that would make it to #1 on the NPR.org Most E-mailed List . To accomplish my goal I studied the list, and created a story that included elements commonly found on the list. Back then I peaked at #2. The #1 story got linked on Yahoo.com, and that was that. So I'm making one more attempt. Go to the story and e-mail it to everyone you know. (Keep in mind that when you enter a list of e-mail addresses separated by commas, the site only counts it as one e-mail. You have to enter one address, hit send, then go back and do the process again.)
Now get e-mailing. Use this version of the story from today's show. This is our lasting legacy on NPR!
-- Dan Pashman
10:41 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
Our table is now piled with sweets -- three different kinds of cupcakes, plus donuts and a pair of cheesecakes. Now, thanks to our friends at WNYC's Takeaway , we've got healthy food, too. They sent us fruit, lovely fruit. Thanks, guys. Keep the faith.
-- Laura Conaway
9:48 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today , Too Beautiful to Live
When Web editor Laura Conaway proposed doing a mashup of the five stages of grief with the "Best Song in the World Today," I immediately called dibs on stage five: acceptance. It probably wasn't my smartest move, as it turns out. I thought I was well into acceptance, and then found that in the middle of doing the segment I couldn't even talk. Apparently that's the big misconception about Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's groundbreaking research. You don't just move through the stages in order. You go back through them again and again, and you never really finish.
I want to reiterate that I do have a sense of perspective and that although this is a profound loss for me -- personally and financially -- it's not all that bad in the grand scheme of things. We are all healthy people, we have the ability to work elsewhere, we will all be just fine.
But to help us accept the loss of the show and the Web experience we all loved (I mean ACTUALLY LOVED -- how rare is that?) I picked the song "Smile Smile Smile" by Dan Zanes. It's about loving simple things about other people, and about how that love ripples and expands and eventually circles the world. Enjoy.
-- Tricia McKinney
9:03 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
As the BPP posse wraps up its final show, I just wanted to hijack their blog for a moment and ask all of you to raise a glass and join me in a toast.
From start to finish, through thick and thin, the Bryant Park Project team has been innovative, entertaining, informative and a class act. You've created more than a show, more than a community - you've created a family, and for that I thank each and every one of you.
Cheers, BPP, and thank you again - it won't be the same here without you.
-- Andy Carvin
8:42 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
The wonderful Revolution 21 fired over this clip from our earliest, earliest days.
-- Laura Conaway
6:07 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
A family court judge in Wellington, New Zealand, made Talula Does the Hula a ward of the court so that her name could be changed. "Violence" is still permissible as a first name.
It's the BPP's Most .
Why McCain and Obama are causing marital tension / An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant / Northern lights mystery exposed / A germ-zapper's guide to clean / Fan injured, 17 ejected in Ohio baseball brawl
-- Laura Silver
6:04 AM ET
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07-25-2008
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July 24, 2008
Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP
-- Meena Ramamurthy
3:49 PM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Slideshow
Click to view
Photos courtesy of George Horner
After walking by these pithy posters for seven years, I finally slipped a note under the door asking the poster maker to get in touch. George Horner e-mailed me and invited me to see his collection, from the inside.
-- Laura Silver
1:58 PM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
Over the next few days, we'll be packing up the Bryant Park Project. The last broadcast is Friday morning. As for the other parts of the show:
The last blog post happens on Friday. BPP friend and NPR guy Andy Carvin has agreed to handle comments through the end of Monday, wherever you are.
The Facebook page will remain live. The main Twitter stream will freeze at some point on Friday. Twitter.com/bppdiner will stay live, collecting updates that mention "BPP." We'll also watch for replies through Summize .
And now, thanks to Rob Paterson , we're building a whole new town . It's on Ning, it's free, and all the cool BPP kids are doing it.
Blink three times and we'll have a staff blog. We'll post it on Ning and Facebook and the Twitter Diner account, so you'll know where we are.
But remember, you were always a part of the show. And you still are. Keep the lights on, will ya?
After the jump, a list of places to find BPP staff and friends.
Continue reading "Where To Find Us Now" »
-- Laura Conaway
12:38 PM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Video
Those scrawls on the wall and glimpses of art on the street corner are looking for a new home, and New York's Alphabeta is giving it to them. Awhile ago, I went out with reporter Margot Adler to this graffiti shop that's going beyond selling spraypaint and into creating a community space. The result is a place where graffiti and live art collide. Curious? Check out Margot's story , and this video:
-- Meena Ramamurthy
12:22 PM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
The cure: friends, plus finely crafted anaesthetics
iStockPhoto.com
We're holding a Tweet-up, which is the 2.0 way of saying we're gathering in a bar with anyone willing to be seen with us.
It's happening Friday, July 25, the last day of our show. We're meeting at 6 p.m. (sharpish) at D.B.A. in the East Village. We'll probably be there until 9, maybe 9:30.
The bar's at 41 First Avenue in Manhattan, between 2nd and 3rd streets. Subway directions here . We'll be the unemployed ones. You'll know us when you see us.
-- Laura Conaway
11:09 AM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
You know when you're miserable or happy, every song sounds like it was written about you? I've spent a lot of time in my record collection since NPR told me it wanted to just be friends last week, and I'm finding every song has a little something to say about it.
This made doing my Best Song in the World Today pretty hard. There were a lot of contenders that didn't make the cut. I pulled a few aside, and here you go: a tiny breakup mixtape.
1)As Long as You Tell Him -- Faces
What's your sad song?
-- Ian Chillag
9:13 AM ET
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07-24-2008
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Filed under: Too Beautiful to Live
Wait a minute, Mr. Postman.
From DMOtech
You want to know why we love you so much? Check out this post from listener Daniel O'Toole .
-- Laura Conaway
6:53 AM ET
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07-24-2008
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comments (28)
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