"Art and MTV — hey, don't stay home without them," commands a baby-faced Richard Prince, holding a cone of vanilla soft serve in front of the Guggenheim, in his Art Break from the eighties.
"Instead of placing my gender in front of me, I'll place who I am and what I do, and who I serve in front of me," she said in an interview.
Pre-dinner drinks are served in front of a roaring fire to a soundtrack of music from the 1930s, and after dinner, guests are encouraged to dance in the hotel's party room.
There are Moroccan breads and pastries for breakfast every morning – guests can watch them being made in the open kitchen – and in the evenings market-fresh fare is served in front of a log fire.
Although Martin steadied himself to hold serve in front of a crowd that stirred each time Agassi was in peril, he couldn't hold it together through the end.
A light salad with sliced chicken breast may have cost 90 kroner, but was served in front of picture windows with fjord views in a room packed with fascinating old stuff, including a 1960 edition of Arthur Frommer's "Europe on $5 a Day" on the shelves.
Even in Britain, where the tradition of walking as a penance is deep-rooted (thanks John Bunyan, or was it bunion?), you can now arrive to smiles and the announcement that tea and homemade cake or scones will be served in front of the log fire.
But how many of us stop to consider what is served in front of us and how it got there?
It's all very well saying "anyone is welcome", but this morning I had to wait while four people were served in front of me in Pret.
Even today it's hard to describe, but if you've ever heard RuPaul's popular dance track "Sissy That Walk" you'll have some idea of the performance John was serving in front of the entire school on the football field that day!
