Welcome to the Sugary Scoop, my free weekly newsletter where we help you see and experience the magic of NYC that I love so much through curated events, experiences, artists, and community stories.

Let’s get to this week’s Scoop!

Ho ho ho…So Santa came early this year.  And by Santa, I mean an Asian lad in his mid 40s with no facial hair to speak of save his life and a disinterest in dressing up.  

Yes… I know Christmas has yet to occur, but I think we’d all be lying if we acted as if the holiday season is not fully upon us already and if Mariah Carey can do it, so can I.  

Yes, they say you’ve gotta spend money to make money though in my case it’s more the fact that you’ve gotta spend money to make content…quality content.

That’s right…I’ve made a decision to invest in myself and have made several significant purchases for the Sugary brand that hopefully will become our one-stop shop podcast studio!

Yes, it’s consumerism at its finest, and my finest I mean practical, necessary and well thought out of course.  

Our podcast studio is meant to be self-sustaining and mobile so with what I’ve invested in, we can pretty much deploy anywhere and have a fully running studio with both recording AND editing capabilities.

Anyways, this is all super exciting and DK and I are looking forward to taping more episodes before year’s end as we try to get 8-10 episodes in the can before we launch the podcast.

Alright…enough with the updates…imma go play with some of my shiny new toys now…

🍬 Sugary

Perpetuum Mobile

Some weeks back I attended a special 4 city sold out premiere for an independent film that I’d learned about that had made its way to NyC.

The film was entitled “Two Sleepy People” and it was the brainchild of TikTok creator American Baron (real name Baron Ryan) and an Austin based artist collective called Creator Camp.

Baron, who manifests creatively as somewhat of a cross section of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen has amassed millions of followers online through his incredibly witty and thoughtful content that plays around with life observations and prose with effortless ease.  

Armed with a ticket in hand, I made my way through to my seat and when I stopped to take in the theater at El Museo Del Barrio, I noticed something immediately…

… I was clearly the oldest person in the room…by far.

There within the sea of eau de fading scents, facial blemishes and ill-fitting semi-formal I sensed a crackle of energy and anticipation that was completely unadulterated.

As the MC took the stage, the youthful crowd lit up with enthusiasm as we were regaled with the story of the project.  

In just 100 days, Baron and Creator Camp wrote, shot, acted, directed, produced, edited, color corrected, crowd funded, promoted and secured distribution across 30 screens nationwide for this project achieved with the precision and experience of…

…EXACTLY ZERO.

That’s right, you heard correctly, the entire team had a big ‘ol goose egg of experience when it came to putting together a movie of any sort. 

Beyond their own short form content creating skills, they learned everything they needed to learn sourced online and “figured everything else out along the way”.

Did the movie have its moments?

Yes.  

Was the movie great? 

Objectively mediocre.

But it just doesn’t matter. 

It’s the fact that they made it at all.

And when the screening concluded, the MC revealed an Easter egg for the audience.  

While the movie was screening, the creators were taking content they had captured throughout that exact evening and spliced it in real time backstage into the official promo clip for the film, as a way of thanking everyone for being part of the journey.

The audience rose in immediate standing ovation.  The triumph of bringing this project to life WAS the win for everybody to celebrate on screen, amongst each other and in living color.

Afterwards, the cast and crew had a red carpet meet and greet…outside in the cold.  Throngs of audience members lined up anyways to congratulate the filmmakers and not a single person complained.

I’ll bet you any amount of money that while industry insiders analyze and pick apart the hard metrics of the aftermath, this creative collective is wasting no time and is already working on their next few projects…simultaneously most likely.

Eventually something is gonna hit, and when it does, these creators will be positioned as the heir apparent of an industry starving for creative originality.

This experience made me reflect on our own creative journey and how all too often we get into our own heads and allow “perfect” to get in the way of progress.

At what point do we cede the intrepid spirit that is the birthright of our youth and adopt a more ego-driven agenda often masked under the guise of discernment and taste.

I am certainly guilty of this at times.

It’s as if we hit some veiled point where we no longer allow ourselves permission to dare as freely.  True, the motive may be self-preservation, but result ends up being self-destruction.

The evening was beautiful and an important reminder of the power of possibility if we would just allow ourselves that feeling once more.

If you’re focusing on the end product in a certain sense, you’ve lost the narrative.

It’s ALWAYS been about the journey.  

And I think the older we get, the more we need to be reminded every now and then to take that first step…

…again.

🍬 Sugary

Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Sweet List—our newly standardized events newsletter built with complete with a color-coded Trust System, clear Time & Place formatting, crystal-clean social-battery icons, concise one-line value props, bite-sized “Your People” profiles, Free 🆓/Ticketed 🎟️ markers, and curated experience icons to help you zero in on the perfect vibe.

Sam Smith: The Warsaw Residency

An elegant boy from London town has taken root here in NYC and is celebrating it with an intimate concert series that is nothing short of stunning.

Sam Smith has blessed this city with an incredible residency at the 1000 cap Warsaw concert hall in Greenpoint that has been running since October 8th and will conclude with it’s final shows December 10th, 12th & 13th at the time of this newsletter’s release.

Why did it take so long to write about this residency? Because it took me this long to finally attend in person. And why am I writing about the final 3 shows?  

Because it’s THAT good. 

Among my top 5 concerts this year.

And tickets are still available at expensive yet not impossible prices.

For the price of what you would pay to see Smith at the 300 level ring inside MsG 200+ feet away, you get a chance to see him less than 20 feet away in all his vocal glory.

The uber talented Smith claims that his decision to do the residency was because he has been touring at stadium level capacities since his early 20s and he was exhausted from all of the production, run around and disconnection with his audience.

Said Smith, “…I miss actually looking into your eyes and being able to see and appreciate each and every one of you and the support you have given me all these years.”

Based on my own experience, I can tell you that it seems like Sam says means it.  He seems genuinely happy in this intimate setting, and there is a quality of freedom to his movement as well as his singing that gives you that sense.

And of course the songs. My God to hear so many familiar tunes up close and personal is really such a gift for anyone into Smith’s music.

I sincerely hope that this writeup will reach some of you in time.  It really is a privilege to experience such brilliant artistry up close and personal so may all of you be so lucky as to snag the last few tickets for the conclusion of Smith’s glorious residency.

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