Calvin Klein | The New York Observer

Something Is Getting Between Him and His Calvins

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:44:35 -0400

Size matters. But if you don’t have it, just trick people into thinking you do with a little cleverly constructed fabric. That’s the promise of the new Body by Calvin Klein Jeans—retail price, $79.50—with their “body-defining fit for an enhanced profile.” With some padded-fly trickery, Body Jeans presumably gives guys the optical illusion of more horsepower underneath their hood.

As a loyal wearer of androgynous skinny jeans for five years now, I’m almost insulted...

Evalicious! Slick Looks at Calvin Klein

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:31:04 -0400

The VIP row at the Calvin Klein show on Thursday, Sept. 17 included actresses Kerry Washington, Rose Byrne, Thandie Newton and the brand's current poster girl, Eva Mendes.

Designer Francisco Costa sent out his models looking like futuristic newborns: wet hair in minimalist ponytails, bodies glistening with baby oil. They wore neutral-colored dresses in high-textured fabrics that had a predisposed shape entirely different from that of a woman's figure.

Afterwards, reporters surrounded Ms. Mendes to find...

Obama-rina! At Ballet Gala, Gals Bare Arms in Solidarity; Al Roker Stays Awake

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:23:36 -0400

At around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 18, a procession of women in billowing gowns was making its way in the courtyard of the Metropolitan Opera House for the American Ballet’s spring gala.

“I cannot wait to see Michelle Obama!” said the fit morning-talk-show host Kelly Ripa, adding that she was wearing fake eyelashes for the occasion. “I love her whole physicality—she’s so tall and statuesque and good-looking!”

Ms. Ripa was wearing a strapless navy Alberta...

Fearless Parsons Pupils Learn From the Best: Never Mind Industry Turmoil! Be Creative! Avoid Embarrassing Clothes!

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:18:33 -0400

The actress Eva Mendes arrived at Parsons the New School for Design 2009 Fashion Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street on Wednesday, April 29, in one of Calvin Klein's charcoal, minimalist dresses from the fall 2009 collection. Someone in the crowd had yelled out that they liked it. And Ms. Mendes, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and producing a playful wink over her left shoulder, said, "Thanks! I made it...

Calvin Klein's Triumphant Return to New York

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:59:12 -0500

There we were, lurking the front row about 20 minutes before the start of the Calvin Klein men’s show at CK Inc.’s West 39th Street headquarters on Sunday afternoon, when a storm of flashbulbs signaled what appeared to be the arrival of the first A-List celebrity. Um, is that Kurt Cobain?! the Daily Transom wondered for a split second, squinting its eyes in disbelief. Oh, never mind! It was just Jared Leto, with his...

Synergy by Calvin Klein: Design Icon to Unveil Furniture Line at Soho Development

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:05:02 -0400

Calvin Klein will launch a brand-new line of home furnishings by temporarily taking over one of the new Gwathmey Siegel-designed townhouses at Soho Mews. He’s dubbed it “the Calvin Klein Townhouse at Soho Mews.”

While the fashion house already sells linens, including its Organic Cotton Flowers and Petal King collections, this is the first time that Calvin Klein has ventured into the furniture business.

“For many years we’ve been wanting...

Fashion Week Hangers-On Make Birthday Wishes at Calvin's 40th

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:30:39 -0400

Last night’s Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary party was held in a John Pawson-designed, temporary structure on 10th Avenue and 30th Street built specifically for the event.

Adjacent to the space—fittingly, it seemed to be constructed from the same building material used to turn Manhattan living rooms into second bedrooms—was the new Highline Park, which guests were invited to tour during the party (the park is not yet open to the public).

Once inside,...

Fashion Roundup: Brad Pitt Turns the Camera on Angelina Jolie; Calvin Klein's New Online Store; Park Ave. Merchants Displeased

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:34:07 -0400

Brad Pitt personally photographed Angelina Jolie and their children for the November cover of W magazine at the Chateau Miraval in the South of France last week. [FWD]

Karl Lagerfeld has also decided to become a photographer. [Times UK]

Some shops on Park Avenue are not pleased with New York City's idea to block off whole stretches of major streets this summer to traffic. [NY Times]

Nolita boutique Seize sur Vingt is coming to...

Fashion Roundup: Betsey Johnson's Fling With Anna Nicole; Victoria Beckham Doesn't Take British Diet Pills

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:33:36 -0400

Betsey Johnson said she once made out with Anna Nicole Smith because she couldn't resist her post-Trim Spa slimmed-down bod and bullet bra covered in roses. [Vogue UK]

The shoppers of Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, and Kohl's reportedly favor John McCain over Barack Obama. [WWD]

Victoria Beckham is deeply offended at the allegation that her sister is sneaking her diet pills from the U.K. [SF Gate via The Cut]

David Byrne has designed a shoe-shaped...

Fashion Roundup: Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone's Vacation with Kate Moss; Eva Mendes' Topless Ad

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:04:39 -0400

Marc Jacobs and boyfriend Lorenzo Martone—whom we still think are not married—vacationed in Ibiza with Kate Moss and her mom, Linda. Ms. Moss's daughter, Lila Grace, was on hand to snap the party photos. [Fashionologie via The Cut]

Diane von Furstenberg is teaming up with the Andy Warhol Foundation to create a resort 2008 and pre-spring 2009 collections of swimwear and other pieces featuring the artist's prints. [WWD]

Eva...

Morning Memo: Mary-Kate Might Dish; the Jolie-Pitt Twins Show Their Faces; Paris Hilton Shuns McCain

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:23:15 -0400

Mary-Kate Olsen may speak with federal investigators regarding the January death of Heath Ledger, whom she was allegedly dating at the time, though she's reportedly requesting immunity from prosecution if she does. [NY Post]

The first photos of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins Knox and Vivienne have been published by People magazine. [People]

The photos sold for over $14 million; the money will go to charity. [AP]

Paris Hilton has no thoughts...

Calvin Klein, We Presume? Fashionable Foursome in Freaky Jungle Frolic

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:47:36 -0400

Since July 13, a steely group of distinguished New York fashionistas—clothing empress Donna Karan, newly appointed Vanity Fair editors Ingrid Sischy and Sandra Brant, and underwear genius Calvin Klein—have been traipsing through the deserts and jungles of Africa.

Longtime partners Ms. Sischy and Ms. Brant are old friends with Ms. Karan. Mr. Klein, 65, is a new addition to the BFF posse.

The foursome will be returning at the...

Morning Memo: Simmons Robbed; Runway Renovated

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:20:24 -0400

A suitcase filled with $15,000 worth of Russell Simmons jewelry was reportedly stolen when one of Mr. Simmons' employees left it in the hallway of a Bleecker Street building for about 30 minutes. [P6]

Heidi Klum says that Project Runway will get a facelift on Lifetime that will include some more catch phrases and a "Hollywood flair." [Forbes via The Cut]

Jennifer Lopez stopped by Obama's offices to talk about "matters close to her...

A Little Perfume That Couldn't

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:12:09 -0400

The newest fragrance called Secret Obsession from Calvin Klein is having a little trouble launching.

First Women's Wear Daily reported that television networks were refusing to air the provocative ads for the perfume starring Eva Mendes whispering something about having a very sexy secret. Then, last night's celebration in honor of the launching fragrance—which was perhaps doomed from the start when it was scheduled to take place at 421 Broome Street, the site of...

Calvin Klein Designer Francisco Costa Discusses Inspiration

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:40:49 -0500

Francisco Costa, the Brazilian-born creative director of Calvin Klein Collection, was all boyish grins—he somehow manages to make dental braces look cool—after his fall 2008 collection debuted yesterday evening. As soon as all the attendees had taken their places in an I.C.U.-clean, boxy space at 205 West 39th St., sounds of approaching footsteps and solitary piano notes entered the room through mounted speakers—a kind of sensual contrast to Mr. Costa’s pragmatic pieces and warm...

Lydia Hearst to Get 'Model of the Year' Laurels; Plus, Sneak Peek at Richardson Shoot for Perry Ellis

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:33:57 -0500

The Michael Awards—the big black-tie fashion-industry smoochfest that gives out awards and raises money for the National Children's Leukemia Foundation—won’t be held until May 7th, but at this early date! The Transom can now exclusively reveal 2007’s model of the year: Lydia Hearst.

“It’s basically the Oscars of fashion,” she said, while picking away at a lobster roll yesterday at a café in the Time Warner Center.

Okay so, had she prepared her speech?

“No, no,” said...

Fur Fashions Sneeze at Global Warming, Calvin Klein, Abundance of Red Paint

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:27:54 -0500

Despite what may sometimes seem like a growing anti-fur trend in fashion, the Times of London reports today that global prices for mink pelts have never been higher, reaching record levels over the last two years. The primary source of such growing demand reportedly comes from China and Russia, where the soft stuff is considered hotter than mod. But in North America, too, the cost of mink has more than doubled since the...

2007: The Year of Fashion's Desperate Death Wail

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:00:44 -0500

In the wonderful world of fashion, 2007 was the year designers sent up a collective chorus, begging, “Look at me!”—or, so says today’s Styles section in the Times. Revisiting disastrous runway trends that add up to a mere style-free cesspool, the piece points specifically to the hard-to-ignore lack of non-white models, Dolce & Gabbana’s atrocious “fantasy-rape” ad and a gaggle of designers who had cameos on lowbrow T.V. shows.

To Choo, or Not to Choo: That is Art Basel

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:41:25 -0500

There were so many parties riding on the back of Art Basel Miami Beach, according to the Times, that “anyone without a crib sheet, or the power publicist Nadine Johnson on speed-dial, was lost.” So legion were the corporate-scented art-design-fashion fêtes, in fact, that Manhattan socialite Lee Schifter’s speech pattern was reduced to something akin to gibberish. “Did you Pucci or Choo?” she asked at one point, referring to a pair...

Calvin Klein Prefers Bare White - Walls! And Rio ...

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:22:40 -0500

Nothing comes between Calvin Klein and his white walls. The 65-year-old fashion designer, whose clothes epitomize a clean, sleek aesthetic, has a new home in North Miami—and roughhousing is probably not allowed inside. “It’s all white, of course,” Mr. Klein told WWD on Saturday night at P.R. kingpin Paul Wilmot’s dinner party during Art Basel. “And there is no art on the walls, but a few people on Friday night said...

At Calvin Klein Party, Lance and Ashley Play Hide, No Seek, Maggie Teaches Julianne a 'Trick'

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:44:12 -0500

Lance Armstrong seems to be working very hard to snuff rumors of a fling with Ashley Olsen. Both guests were at last night’s Calvin Klein-hosted “First Look” party—held to celebrate the opening of the Bowery’s New Museum—but the once-lappy couple avoided each other like SARS. Sadly, we couldn’t be there to recoil. But Jim Shi was! The Fashion Week Daily reporter, who manages to be everywhere at once, offered a dynamic recap of the...

Style Blog Smells Fish at Barneys

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:09:56 -0500

In this week’s Observer, our very own Simon Doonan writes about how he was strongly encouraged by Barneys brass to lend the store’s holiday windows a “green” theme. But after style bloggers at Fashionista gave the street-facing displays the old once-over, they apparently became concerned about all the blinking lights, which, as they put it, “seem to suck energy the way we devour Skittles.”

“I don't know the specifics on...

Agyness Deyn: The New Kate Moss?

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:29:05 -0500

Overheard at the Chopard party last night (but not by us!):

Agyness Deyn and Jamie Burke, discussing an early call time this morning.

Could it be that Agyness has swapped out Lara Stone for the CK Jeans campaign?

If true, it marks the second time in a year that Ms. Deyn has replaced Kate Moss in a signature campaign (the first being Burberry).

And although we love Lara's face and amazing body, let's face it:

If anyone can make...

Jamie Burke's Music Overshadowed by Enormous Seminude Billboard

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:17:37 -0500

Jamie Burke, the Calvin Klein underwear model and Johnny Depp look-a-like, said he has a good time showing of his photogenic protoplasm for the sake of fashion, but music is his passion.

Mr. Burke, who is rumored to be dating naughty model May Anderson (“I don’t want to talk about that”), told us last night at the Chopard party what it was like to see his body...

Meet The New Guy In The $9.9 Million Klein/Geffen Duplex

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:47:42 -0500

Last month, The Post reported that Calvin Klein's daughter Marci (who's also a Playboy/Saturday Night Live producer) had sold her West Broadway penthouse for $9.9 million.
Mr. Geffen But there was no mention of who had bought the nine-room American Thread Building duplex. According to city records, the lucky guy is Lawrence Guffey, a senior managing director of the monolithic Blackstone Group. On the sales deed, Dreamworks mogul David Geffen happens to be listed as...

'An Educated Customer Is Our Best Customer'

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 08:30:52 -0400

ERICA: We've lived across the street from Syms for approximately two years now, and neither Greg nor I have ever stepped foot in the place. Frankly, I'm a bit confused by their "an educated consumer is our best customer" tagline. Do they mean generally well educated, as in a college education? Or educated about suits? Not sure and always wondered. Anyway, I was pretty shocked to hear Greg...

My Wedding Photos Need To Look Like a Calvin Klein Ad

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:36:18 -0400

AMANDA: "Now....what do you think of this one?" says our would-be wedding coordinator, her painted eyebrows arching up to meet her gigantic hair. My mom shoots me a look of terror. The wedding coordinator is wielding a "storybook" photo album, akin to my eighth-grade yearbook. Glossy, stilted photos of the lovely couple are accompanied by romantic quotes like "Love at First Sight" and "Together Forever" in an array of...

Is David Geffen Moving to Mercer Street?

Wed, 31 May 2006 19:00:00 -0400

158 Mercer Street. David Geffen has just dropped $10 million on a loft at 158 Mercer St, according to the New York Post. Indeed, city records reveal that Mr. Geffen is one of three trustees listed on the deed-transfer record. But today's issue of The Post doesn't report who will be living in the sleek, 11th floor apartment. It's strange because the newspaper already revealed the buyer in April: it's Saturday Night Live...

Calvin Klein Buys at Chelsea Arts Tower

Tue, 23 May 2006 06:43:26 -0400

Chelsea Arts Tower. Calvin Klein has just dropped $4 million on an 18th floor commercial condo in the Chelsea Arts Tower, according to WWD. Some other buyers grabbing full-floor units in the tower have included Adam Lindemann (who is currently selling his co-op apartment at 730 Park), collector Glenn Furman, and Marlborough Gallery. Coincidentally, tonight is also the topping out party for the Chelsea Arts Tower. It's being held at Cheim & Read...

Emotionally Withdrawn From My Wedding Presents

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 11:11:21 -0500

ERICA: I've completely lost interest in our wedding registry. I'm so disinterested, in fact, I don't even have it saved anymore under my "favorites" on my browser. It makes no sense to me at all, since shopping is truly one of my favorite sporting events. And to make a list of all the stuff I want with a virtual guarantee that people are going to buy it for me, well, this...

Monday Morning Roundup

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 05:18:00 -0400

With two $50 million mansions currently on the market, here comes the $50 million co-op, according to the New York Times. No stranger to high-end deals, owner Francesco Galesi sold Calvin Klein a $29 million beach house a few years ago. Kelsey Grammer purchased a new house in Bridgehampton, according to the New York Post. And, like many celebrities before her, Sarah Ferguson is heading to One Beacon Court. New York’s cover story looks at...

Globe-Trotting Chef's Detour Not Too Far Off the Fast Lane

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 20:00:00 -0400

The two men in black loitering outside Richard Meier’s glass tower, hard by the West Side Highway, sprang into action as soon as I reached the end of Perry Street: “The entrance is around the corner!”

They weren’t hustlers, but rather doormen directing customers to Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s latest restaurant. It’s on the ground floor facing the Hudson River across a roar of traffic, behind picture windows discreetly covered with silky white gauze. Mr. Vongerichten himself was...

Bare Toes Closing In … Feel Faint

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:00:00 -0400

The hot summer of 2005 is looking a lot like the hot summer of 2002--that’s when Observer society reporter George Gurley could barely leave his Central Park West duplex because of being stalked by female feet. This summer, he’s again refused to leave the house. Here’s why …. Girls, ladies, women of the city: I know you love your open-toe shoes, and so do I. They’re very sexy! Sex-y! I love everything about...

House-Sitting Politics: Food, Perfume, Dogs– All Mine! Or Is It?

Sun, 12 Jun 2005 20:00:00 -0400

I'm typing this on someone else's computer while listening to her PJ Harvey CD on her stereo, occasionally glancing out her window at her lovely Soho view. Taking a break, I pat her trusty golden retriever, who is lying at my feet. Deciding I need to stare at the cobwebbed crack in her ceiling a while, I plop down on her unmade bed, which I spent the night in. I'm in a tank top...

Book Review

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 19:00:00 -0500

About the bright orange gates that have lately been erected in a defenseless Central Park in the name of art, there are no neutral opinions. Everyone has either seen or heard about this massive assault on the most beloved of the city's parks, and everyone has formed some sort of opinion on the worth or worthlessness of this extravagant and somewhat absurd episode in our urban history. My own view is that the gates...

Saffron Succotash! Those Absurd Gates A Blight on Art, City

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 19:00:00 -0500

The Rules For An Affair

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 19:00:00 -0500

It always sounds clichéd: about to turn 40, married 15 years, two youngish children; just back from a family vacation in the Caribbean and starting a new job for a dot-com company; an artistic husband (is that a euphemism for non-supportive and non-supporting?) who many said looked like a Calvin Klein model.

I thought I was pretty happy, and though a life-long flirt, I'd never kissed anybody but my husband from the day I...

My, Oh Meier!

Sun, 30 Nov 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Universal Television chairman Michael Jackson has plunked down $2.6 million for a 1,808-square-foot eighth-floor loft in the Richard Meier–designed towers on Perry Street in Greenwich Village, city records show.

He joins a parade of better-known names marching into the twin glass towers, including Martha Stewart, Ian Schrager, Calvin Klein, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and, recently (though he's a renter!), Hugh Jackman, according to the New York Post . Mr. Jackson's Universal Television, part of the $14 billion...

A Good Story Botched: This Calvin's All Business

Sun, 19 Oct 2003 20:00:00 -0400

The House of Klein: Fashion, Controversy, and a Business Obsession , by Lisa Marsh. John Wiley and Son, 196 pages, $26.95.

Consider the extraordinary story of Calvin Klein. His father was a grocer; his best friend Barry's father was a grocer. Barry was a good boy, but Calvin had the devil in him. He hung out in the Big City and didn't even show up to get his picture taken for the yearbook. Barry graduated...

Biscuits Straddle 'Biscuit

Sun, 27 Jul 2003 20:00:00 -0400

On a balmy late July morning on Amsterdam Avenue, above the clicking heels of commuters rushing toward the subway, a louder clomp could be heard. Walking along the sidewalk were two bay mares carrying two women in their early 30's, outfitted in crisp beige jodhpurs and black velvet hard hats. Crops in hand, the women rode toward the Central Park Bridle Path. As passers-by swiveled to look, the women kept their eyes and noses...

'Love Is Not a Natural Thing,' Says the Flaming Lips' Leader

Sun, 11 May 2003 20:00:00 -0400

"It's weird to see an older guy in a suit, covered in blood," said Wayne Coyne, the 42-year-old singer of pop oddity the Flaming Lips. On Friday, April 25, Mr. Coyne was sitting backstage at the Roseland Ballroom, wearing his by-now-standard white Calvin Klein suit, the kind he wore in a recent magazine advertisement for Hewlett-Packard and on Late Night with Conan O'Brien .

The suit's tailored sleekness would later be marred by crimson blotches...

Eight Day Week

Sun, 08 Sep 2002 20:00:00 -0400

Wednesday 4th

Sayonara, summer! Wake up this morning and realize that the "season of frivolity" is basically kaput , that you forgot to get a tan and a boyfriend who doesn't wear big, clunky, shiny black shoes and dance around (hop, hop, hop, swoosh !) to MTV while he gets dressed , and you're still not sure whether Amagansett is a Hampton or not …. But on...

Bare Toes Closing In...Feel Faint

Sun, 11 Aug 2002 20:00:00 -0400

Girls, ladies, women of the city: I know you love your open-toe shoes, and so do I. They're very sexy! Sex- y! I love everything about you: the hair, the eyes, the lips, the shoulders, the arms-and you know I'm fond of the breasts, not to mention the belly, the curves, the hips, the rump, the Brazilian bikini wax, the buttery thighs, all the way down to the ankles, and oh-it is all good.

Except...

Eight Day Week

Sun, 10 Jun 2001 20:00:00 -0400

Wednesday 6th

Just when you thought we were in for a boring summer, it turns out the President's twin daughters are tequila-swillin' bar babes, giantess Brooke Shields is going to stomp and warble her way through the lead role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret, and the Mayor of New York has gone completely, utterly mad-any day now, they're going to send Martin Sheen up the East River to Gracie Mansion in a camouflaged boat...

Was There Something He Didn't Want Us to See?

Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:00:00 -0400

Among the most valuable information magazine publishers can have is to know precisely who their average reader is. One man may have helped the folks over at Vibe magazine answer that question when he was arrested for absconding with seven copies of the magazine on March 31.

The thief, who visited 1st Avenue News at 1275 First Avenue, was observed for approximately 10 minutes through a security camera as he took the magazines, placed them...

Cosmetics Case: Bare-Faced in a Sephora Society

Sun, 18 Mar 2001 19:00:00 -0500

I don't wear makeup.

Not in that sexy, Julianne-Moore-profiled-in- Jane kind of way, where she arrives at a coffee shop with a naked face and it's a testament to her cornfed beauty and earthy self-confidence. Nope. With me, it's just that I'm lazy and frankly a little scared of the stuff. Which goes a long way toward explaining my trembling as I emerged from Saks Fifth Avenue on a recent Sunday afternoon. I'd just come from the Calvin Klein makeup...

Boston's Todd English Extends Olives Branch to Union Square

Sun, 11 Mar 2001 19:00:00 -0500

Although it was a Monday night when I went to Olives in the new W New York Union Square hotel, the place was packed and our table wasn't ready. But the hostess, who was extremely sweet and even rather flirtatious, directed us to the bar, where she offered us drinks on the house. My friends were impressed by such friendly treatment, perhaps because they'd just come back from Paris. Their flight from Charles de...

Eager to Inhabit Jewel Home, Woman Loses Her Baubles

Sun, 18 Feb 2001 19:00:00 -0500

There are several steps a purchaser undertakes before moving into a multimillion-dollar condo such as 515 Park Avenue, the neo-preo skyscraper where $12 million is considered bottom-feeding for an apartment (were any left to be had). These steps include coming up with the cash or financing to purchase your pied-à-terre, settling on an interior decorator to redesign the space to your specifications, spending a few more million in the process, giving lingering contractors and...

What a Boar! Chic Sausage at Chinghalle

Sun, 03 Dec 2000 19:00:00 -0500

Soon, the men in white jackets pushing racks of beef around the streets of the meatpacking district will have become nothing more than a memory, even if the transvestite hookers are still swinging their handbags along 10th Avenue. Chinghalle on Gansevoort Street is the latest trendy brasserie to move into a former meatpacking plant in this rapidly changing neighborhood. The restaurant, which has a splashy bright orange and blue façade, opened just around the...

Summer's Final Frontier

Sun, 23 Jul 2000 20:00:00 -0400

"I remember the old days," the man said. "When it was beautiful. Before it was overrun by developers, celebrities and day-trippers."

It was dusk, and we were on the deck of his beach house, overlooking the water. There was a full moon directly above, and in the distance, just over the horizon, the other moon was starting to rise. "Mars is finished," the man announced. "It's just too damn crowded." What follows is 48 hours...