Space is a commodity in New York. So, it’s interesting to see this stop-motion video showing how photographer James Burger transforms his Park Slope studio apartment into a photo studio and back again. Not to mention, the great photo of the duck. (PS James writes: “The footage was shot entirely with digital still cameras and the music was made exclusively with vocals.”)

The NYT has a nice bit of color on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court:

President Obama announced on Tuesday that he will nominate the federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, choosing a daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in a Bronx public housing project to become the nation’s first Hispanic justice.

Judge Sotomayor, who stood next to the president during the announcement, was described by Mr. Obama as “an inspiring woman who I am confident will make a great justice.”

[...]Judge Sotomayor’s face tightened with emotion as the president introduced her. In the front row of the East Room, her mother, Celina Sotomayor, wept. Her stepfather, Omar Lopez, also was on hand along with her brother, Juan Sotomayor, sister-in-law, two nephews and a niece.

“My heart today is bursting with gratitude for all that you have done for me,” she said to her family, describing her selection as “the most humbling honor of my life.”

“I stand on the shoulders of countless people,” she said. But towering above all, she said, is her mother, who raised her alone after her father died. “I am all I am because of her,” Judge Sotomayor said, “and I am only half the woman she is.”

It’s strange to see politics at an all-time low in the UK with the current MP’s expenses scandal, while the political narrative in the United States continues to go from strength to strength.

Obama Hails Sotomayor as ‘Inspiring’

Following my recent article bemoaning the state of British sandwiches, an American in Liverpool writes that she too finds British sarnies a little hard to swallow:

Head to a New York deli and your sandwich will pretty much be the size of a hamburger. The overwhelming flavor comes from the filling, not the bread. Here it seems to be the reverse, where one or two slices of ham qualifies as finished. I remember my dad talking about a friend of his who used to travel to England a lot for work and whenever he would order a sandwich, he would ask for it “American style” so that there’d be lots of meat in it.

Maybe having less meat filling makes more room for condiments like coleslaw, but that’s also something new to me. Growing up, coleslaw was just eaten on the side, with a fork, rather than being put in the roll (bap).

In the meantime, pass the butter. I need it to help coat my esophagus and move the bread along.

I Dream of Boar’s Head (Liverpool Echo)

Spotted in Polis, Cyprus.

…for the prolonged pause. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks in England and Cyprus. Lots of deadlines this week and a work trip to Panama beckons on Monday.

I had a couple of stories published while I was in Europe. My profile of Arthur Laurents, for The Stage is, unfortunately, not available online. But, if the humble sandwich is a subject dear to your heart (or stomach), you may be interested in this piece in the Times.

Trashy – Episode 1: The Invitation from William Levin on Vimeo.

An eco-friendly New York love story. Whatever will William and Jesse think up next?