Interview

Last night the bold, the beautiful and the über-techy came together to toast online boutique SHFT, the brainchild of Entourage star Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer (in partnership with Lauren Gropper, Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield farm). SHFT carries products that are environmentally friendly, technologically advanced and visually pleasing—all of which sounds. Grenier described the challenge as such: "SHFT is a place where taste and ethics converge." The display at the pop-up Wired store in New York's Meatpacking District included items that can be purchased from the site, which launches today.
 
A fan favorite included re-furbished Boylan Soda bottles cut in half and shaped like drinking glasses (at a very reasonable $32 for a set of four) and a digital clock powered by fresh lemons and limes. Shepard Fairey designed what he calls "Klean Kanteen" (i.e. a water bottle with the words "Fill—drink—refill" stenciled on). If you never thought you could afford a Bentley, here's your chance-well, you can at least get a part. English Retread transformed Bentley tires into a messenger bag. SHFT will also include original content in the form of videos, short films and articles to educate and spread their tips and trades. Could it be the next wave for responsible consumption? Don't ask the event's organizers—there's not "I" in "SHIFT."

The SHFT pop-up is open through December 27. The Wired Store is located at 415 West 13th Street, New York.

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PHOTO BY CRAIG BLANKENHORN

Thanks to tax breaks, Greenpoint, Brooklyn got a real treat this year: Rather than film the upcoming Boardwalk Empire in overpriced New Jersey, HBO leased a New York City plot and literally laid down the sand to reimagine the Garden State's most beloved landmark. 

After extensive research and three months of labor, the studio that brought us the definitive vision of modern day Jersey with The Sopranos has resurrected the circa 1920 heyday of the Atlantic City boardwalk, complete with taffy stands and incubator baby exhibitions. Series creator Terry Winter said that, while he hasn't had a chance to sit down with Nelson Johnson, author of Boardwalk Empire, he used the book and its environs as a jumping off point, though he did fictionalize the characters. Steve Buscemi stars as Nucky Thompson, a character based on the Nucky Johnson of the novel. Buscemi is joined by Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Kelly Macdonald, and enough extras to fill even the most spacious speakeasy. Who wouldn't want to play a part in Prohibition?

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In The Prisoner, AMC's newest series, a man wakes up in a world he doesn't recognize.  This theme of disorientation seems especially relevant to the life of one of the show's female leads, British actress Ruth Wilson. Recently, she learned not only that her deceased grandfather had been both a novelist and a spy, but that he had lived as a secret polygamist, acting as the patriarch of four separate families. I spoke with Wilson about her family, filming in Africa, and the "completely mad" series on which The Prisoner is based. (PHOTO: RUTH WILSON AND JIM CAVIEZEL IN THE PRISONER)


REBECCA SINN: So how did you begin acting?
 
RUTH WILSON: Actually, one of the stories that's come up recently about my family was that my granddad was a spy in the war. I never knew him–he died when my dad was eighteen. Not only that, but he wrote twenty spy novels as a novelist.
 
SINN: Did you know about his secret life before?
 
WILSON: No, and not only that, but he had four wives and never got divorced, so he was a polygamist.

SINN: When did you find all this out?
 
WILSON: Two years ago, maybe? So my dad has all these new brothers and sisters from different families. They had a big reunion–it was insane!  But it turns out that one of my new uncles is an actor and his son is a director.

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Launch Mediaplayer »

Le Fooding, the Parisian signature food, music, and art festival, landed in New York on Friday and Saturday evenings at PS1 in Queens to benefit Action Against Hunger. In anticipation, I stopped eating on Thursday to give my palate a big rest and, of course, prepare for the caloric deluge.

The line around PS1 wrapped around the block–there seemed to be significantly more than the predicted 1000 guests–but things moved quickly and before I knew it, I was inside, surrounded by cavernous, Where the Wild Things Are-type structures. However, there were no monsters in sight here–or kids for that matter. Instead, Paul Sevigny was perched at the top of the stairs spinning for les foodies.

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