Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:43:59 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Simon van Booy :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Simon+van+Booy istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/dining-well-at-disney/79731/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Every parent, no matter how cultured or sophisticated, will one day succumb to a child's pleas to visit Walt Disney World Resort. And when that day comes, the parent in question will be delighted to know that the dining options are better and broader than ever before. Much of the food at the restaurants rivals Manhattan bistro fare and the healthy fast-food choices throughout the parks are worthy of any Whole Foods. A stay at Disney's luxury hotels, such as the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa or... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/arts/story-time-in-central-park/57145/ Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST For four decades, storyteller Diane Wolkstein has kept alive the oral tradition of telling tales to adults and children in Central Park. And in recognition of her 40-year storytelling crusade throughout New York City's parks, Mayor Bloomberg has proclaimed Friday, June 22 as Diane Wolkstein day. Ms. Wolkstein is a storyteller in the Homeric tradition. With words and expressions she tells animated tales ranging from the spiritual to the epic. Her work began in 1967, when she heard a rumor there... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/taste-of-french-country-living/51171/ Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Disappear to a French village in the Dordogne and you might feel like you've slipped into an open-air scene painted by Renoir. Days are spent sipping wine in gardens, cycling along winding lanes past white horses and ancient stone walls bursting with wildflowers, and exploring the region's vineyards and medieval towns with their colorful markets. There's everything to do and there's nothing to do — depending on your mood. The pace of local life appears to have remained unchanged in hundreds of... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/arts/art-of-saving-art/47087/ Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Hippocrates's dictum Ars longa, vita brevis could be applied to the work of modern art conservators and preservers. Like surgeons trying to save a life, the conservators and preservers at New York City museums dedicate themselves to ensuring the longevity of works of art for public view. The chief conservator at the Museum of Modern Art, Jim Coddington, is currently working on restoring Matisse's "The Piano Lesson." An average day for him includes dusting, checking light levels, and ensuring... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/haute-village/47119/ Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Extraordinary cities compel us to explore them on foot — to discover the secrets hidden for centuries in the architecture and the rolling maze of streets and alleys. Exploring old Quebec City's snowy streets is like being inside an elaborate model Christmas village, where the shopkeepers have come to life and wear their breath like beards and the freezing air holds the scents of wood smoke and the local aged wine, Caribou. Listen carefully and you'll also hear the hollow clap of hooves on... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/arts/thrill-of-discovery/45604/ Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Museum exhibits can recreate ancient worlds and kingdoms, but a new photographic exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art goes one better. "Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton" creates a visual first-person narrative of one of modernity's greatest archeological finds. This exhibit gives viewers the feeling they're standing with art photographer Harry Burton as he chronicles the exploration and discoveries of more than 5,000 objects from Tut's tomb in a series of quiet... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/arts/please-do-touch-the-art/40762/ Tue, 3 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST Jorge Paez, age 11, sat at a banquet table at the Jewish Museum running his fingers tenderly over a brass reproduction of an ancient menorah. That he was encouraged to ignore what amounts to a commandment — "Please do not touch the art" — is, in this case, understandable: The museum's goal is to help the visually impaired experience the joy of art. The goal is met this month — which is Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month, an international initiative to make art more accessible to those with sight... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/catskill-paradise/28214/ Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST The main reasons to book a spa vacation at the Copperhood Inn & Spa aren't the spa treatments and fine dining - you can get those in the city, where spas are the domain of men waxed to perfection and women with Prada fetishes. Copperhood, however, is in the middle of nowhere, a two-hour drive from the city through rolling countryside. And a short hike in a musky forest can do for your mind and spirit what a botanical facial will do for your skin. The idea of the spa goes back to the Romans... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/run-for-the-border/24655/ Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The Border country of southern Scotland is friendly, relatively inexpensive, and boasts some of the most beautiful countryside in the northern hemisphere - in short, it's perfect for a family vacation. There's a plethora of family-oriented activities, many of which take place on rolling hills dotted with historical ruins and secret rivers where children can run (and scream) with impunity. The Scottish Borders on the east side and Dumfries and Galloway to the west are the southernmost regions of... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/southern-exposure-2005-11-28/23605/ Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST For seasoned world travelers, taking a cruise is often regarded as something to save for the twilight years, when cycling in the Dordogne is replaced with shuffleboard on the upper deck. But Cunard Line, founded in 1835 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, is set to reinvent a vacation genre in January with a 38-day South American Odyssey maiden voyage. It takes passengers to culturally stimulating destinations while re-creating Old World elegance on a ship that... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/northern-exposure-2005-10-24/21952/ Mon, 24 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EST It's not the expense of an Alpine ski vacation that prevents many New Yorkers from slipping across the slopes at Chamonix Mont-Blanc several times a season, but that rare commodity called time. While most ski enthusiasts spend long weekends in Vermont and New Hampshire, Quebec is a relatively untapped paradise for the New York skier, despite having the largest concentration of ski-able hills in North America. The flight to Tremblant, Canada's first international resort airport, will land you... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/travel/catskill-chic/20509/ Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EST John Keats wrote that autumn is a "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness." It's an apt description for the drive north toward the Catskill Mountains from New York along I-87, which splits miles of rolling hillsides transformed by fall into a profusion of gold and brown. If you don't want to stray too far from the city for the weekend, it's true that the Hamptons are temptingly close. They're also expensive and crowded, even as the season now stretches into Thanksgiving. Spending a weekend... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/new-yorks-answer-to-santa-monica/14796/ Thu, 2 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST LONG BEACH, N.Y. - Most people's idea of Long Island living doesn't involve cycling on a boardwalk between luxury beachfront condos and miles of white sand peppered with surfers peeling off wetsuits. Long Beach, however, is not your average Long Island city, and shares more with California than just a name. "Long Beach attracts people who are interested in exercise and good health," said a 12-year resident of Long Beach, Patrick Clark. "In many ways, it's similar to Manhattan because it has a... SIMON VAN BOOY http://www.nysun.com/real-estate/living-the-high-life/13723/ Thu, 12 May 2005 00:00:00 EST As you approach the three towering sentinels that make up the North Shore Towers complex, you'd be forgiven for dismissing them as examples of bland 1970s residential architecture. However, appearances can be deceptive. While North Shore may not be New York City's most beautiful trio of towers, it just might be the most well-appointed. North Shore Towers contains 1,800 co-ops of various sizes. It is a small city with its very own ZIP code, and perhaps the wealthiest community in New York. The...