Puzzle

Puzzle undone

I got a great gift for the Christmas season. When Grandma went into St.Barnabas Nursing Home, it was clear that she was not returning to her house. She collected creches over the years. The only one I wanted was one that my father made. My mom sent it to me. As you can see, it's a puzzle. I always liked it.

We have a small tree this year. We thought Hazel might grab at ornaments so we went tabletop.

I love it when you get sent truly funny ones

Bush’s Brain Game 

 

Click it to play

So, I have been personally affected

 

My complaint about the transit strike.

 

 

Happy Holidays etc

The tree guards that Jack designed got a nice opening last week. We had our block association holiday party where we unveiled the tree guards.
C. Virginia Fields (Manhattan Borough President), Keith Wright (Assemblyman), and our new councilperson Inez Dickens came to wish our block well and congratulate us on the project.
It also gave us a great opportunity to discuss some other issues we feel are threatening Harlem revitalization; namely harassment of tenants by unscrupulous (greedy) building owners and the new practice of advertising air rights to prospective buyers. There was good talk and I was especially proud of Jack's contribution.

scp

French Buffet

We’re selling a buffet on craigslist.  Now that the curtains are done, the buffet no longer fits.  Check out the piece here http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/117485013.html.  NYC locals only.  I can’t arrange shipping right now.

Got these curtains hung in the bedroom. Now, I just have to hem the bottoms...and clean the room!

Jack designed uniform tree guards for our block. The first sample was installed today. It'll be great when they're all in.

Callaboo in a sorta front pic

Nanny tapes

I think these tapes were made in 1973 or earlier. 

 

My father’s mother, who we called Nanny, was quite a storyteller.  She loved telling Bible stories and family history full of blood and guts.  As a child, I was terrified of her stories.  My mother would have to calm me down after visiting Nanny because I’d been subjected to Civil War stories of amputated gangrenous feet and Jesus on the cross bleeding water from open spear wounds.  After some time my mother asked Nanny to refrain.  But she would have none of it.

 

She did however, record at least three audio cassettes of her oral history.  My brother Justin recently digitized them and I’ve been listening on my iPod.

 

They are fascinating.

 

It’s like she’s right here telling tales again.

 

I’ve cultivated a darker sense of humor since I was 3 years old.  So, now I listen with rapt attention.  The gangrene still freaks me out a little.  But, what a treasure to have this history.

 

Callaboo got a new one too! But she wouldn't sit still!

Callaboo and Sean

I finally finished Hazel's new sweater.

Grünz, where are you?

Uzi in Blue

I bought this in Asbury Park a few years ago. I love the colors and the composition. The artist, Grünz used to have tons of grafitti all over Asbury Park. But, he's been hard to find since.

Found a poster in the garbage yesterday

So, yesterday I went out for lunch, passed a bunch of garbage dumpsters, and right on top was a framed "Follies" poster.

The above image is similar to the poster. However, the poster I found has the Broadway credits on it.

A friend on Finishing the Chat sent me some information about these posters. I'm pasting what he wrote:

The color process was so expensive and delicate that blanks were printed first (with no credits). While this was started, David Byrd worked out that Triton Gallery would be permitted to sell some posters too but on paper with their trademark on them.

So the first black plate had just the cast credits with 5 supporting stars underneath (not counting Yvonne) on cardboard.

The 2nd printing was on paper for Triton and was the same except for the Triton trademark in the lower right.

You can see my #2 in the lower left corner of the photo. The rest are in order on the wall.

#3's black plate was printed after the reviews--they decided to include Arnold Moss and Sheila Smith on the supporting line as well. As well they should, why should Michael Bartlett as Roscoe have a credit when Dimitri doesn't? And I think Sheila as understudy moved up quite a bit so that was a gesture.

#4 was after the NY Drama Critics Award for Best Musical. I think the producers had SOOO many posters printed that were so expensive (like the show) and wanted to get people in by adding award credit. BUT they spelled Time Magazine Richard Kalem's name wrong on the mini-quotes above.

So #5 fixed that and added Terry Saunders to replace the left Ethel Barrymore Colt.

#6 has the same quotes but has Marion Marlowe in for Sheila Smith.

#7 has NO SUPPORTING CAST underneath but has a sticker about winning 7 Tony Awards.

There is a blank poster issued as a poster set by Byrd that included his other "head" posters like Godspell.

After the Triton paper posters were starting to sell well, they decided to print onesheets in a cheaper fashion.

Ok, so I'm late on the friendster thing

Every once in a while I get hooked on things.  Even though I set up a friendster profile a couple years ago, I never visited the site.  Recently, an email came from friendster (damn that spam!) and I checked it out.  Well, as corny as the concept is, I found several friends who I hadn’t known their whereabouts. 

There were a couple of guys I knew about 10 years ago or so, Mark and Skip.  I had an address for them in Brooklyn but attempts to send mail were thwarted.  “Forwarding Address Unknown,” etc. 

So, there I am on friendster, poking around, and I see Skip’s face.  And subsequently found Mark’s too. 

Anyway, I’ve now become a little obsessed with it, like a new toy.  I found an old room-mate and others.  So, until it wears out its novelty, I’ll be checking it often.

 

 

 

Hazel dressed as a can-can dancer for her Frenchie Halloween meetup party.

Margo was an extremely special person. She taught watercolor in my visual arts department for several years. This was a terrible loss.

http://bearcreeknyc.com/Turtleshellhalloween.htm

5 TALES OF THE UNTOLD

General Interest Meeting for our new Resident Company - THE DRAMA CENTER!

http://www.playbill.com/jobs/find/job_detail/8977.html

blue doggie

Our great friend Glenn died a few weeks ago. He was a well-loved man, who taught tennis, smoked cigars, and read EVERYTHING with the same relish. He was my favorite ex-pat. He'd been in the U.S. for 30 years. He still sounded like a Brit (probably not to other Brits though.) We loved him and now miss him terribly.

I had a hard time writing about Glenn when he died. I got to see him a few days before he went.

I stopped going to visit with groups of friends months before. I had decided to only visit him one-on-one. Since he couldn't speak well, I found that if we visited in pairs or groups, we'd visit over him instead of with him. By going alone, I knew he couldn't speak but I could just hold his hand and give him a drink when he wanted it.

Jack went to see him the Saturday before he died. He came home and said that if I wanted to see Glenn again, I'd better go soon. Jack felt that Glenn would only be around for another month or so. So, I went and saw him Sunday, next day.

Glenn asked me to "end it," in his raspy, barely audible gasps. I told him I couldn't but that he wouldn't have to wait long. I told him he didn't have to be responsible for anything and that even the tennis match on the television didn't need his attention.

When I left I asked the nurses and attendants to not encourage him to hold on. You see while I was in with him, one of the nurses came in and kept saying, "Don't give up. Hold on. Fight the good fight." I felt that that must be the way the staff deals with all this death in the hospice. But, it was not what my friend needed. He needed to be released from his bodily obligation. By Tuesday he was gone.

I still miss him so much.

Dubya

Q: What is George W. Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people get out of New Orleans.

Calendar details

Great review in Timeout NY this week and a decent one in Variety. Come see the production

Jack's client sent him down to the Jersey Shore by helicopter yesterday. I told him to take pix.

Bailey, the little 12-week old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. My sister and brother-in-law just adopted this sweetie.

Jack, Hazel, & I just got back from Martha's Vineyard. We went out there with our friend Audrey. Here we are on Lambert's Cove, a pristine beach where all the dog owners show up at 6:30 to give their pooches a chance to run around in the sand.

The definition of irony

*****DISCLAIMER***** DO NOT CLICK THE LINK IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH!

The following is one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever seen. IRONY  The thing that really pisses me off about this is, what kind of hubris makes anyone feel like they’re immune to accidents?  Furthermore, when are we going to do something about gun control?  This is fucking crazy.

Well, apparently....

The RENT trailer was taken down.  Apparently, it was supposed to be an AOL exclusive and someone robbed them of it.  Oh, well, sorry for the bad link. scp

First trailer for the film of RENT

For those who haven’t seen RENT, why haven’t you?  I got to see the B’way production on press night years ago.  I had heard all the hype about it and the detractors.  But it moved me tremendously.  And this fall Chris Columbus’ film will be released.  The trailer has been posted here RENT trailer so take a look.  scp

The PostSecret Project

This is the best blog I’ve read.  http://postsecret.blogspot.com/.  The author has created a pretty terrific work of art by having people send in postcards to anonymously confess to their secrets.  I haven’t read any that really shock yet.  However, they are full of secrets that expose the whole range of emotions.  Take a read.  scp

Ain't she gorgeous?

This cormorant was sitting in a wildlife sanctuary in Morningside Park the other day. It's so wild that this occurs in NYC.

Apartment

Rental available in our building. Check out the listing on Craigslist. http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/abo/76228801.html

My ex-shrink and his partner have just written a children’s book about a pair of Central Park Zoo male penguins who raise a chick as a couple. It’s a sweet story. And the sweetest thing is that it’s a true story. Pick the book up for the kids in your life….even if that kid is you!

Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith

I left work early yesterday to see Episode III.  It was certainly redemptive in reference to the first 2 episodes.  There were some surprises which you'd think wouldn't be possible in this franchise.  A few problems that I continue to have with the series (and I include the "special editions" here) are again present.  I don't like how much SFX traffic there is.  Why are there so many machines flying around every city?  Why is every inch of the screen populated with something moving?  As far as shot composition goes, there's very little negative space.  I find this kind of grandstanding annoying.

 

I also find the CGI machines to have very clean looking dirt on them.  The rust and other wear looks too perfect.  I remember one thing that blew me away with "A New Hope" in the 70's was the grime that seemed natural on the futuristic machines.  Landspeeders got dinged up like Chevys.  It made the fictional worlds seem accessible.  These new CGI creations don't have "real" flaws.

 

If you're a fan of the series, you'll go no matter what.  But if you've been disappointed to the point of not wanting to go, don't skip this one.  It has a heart much more akin to the original film.

Visual Arts: Classical Imagery Revisited in a Modern Format

Friday June 3

6-8 p.m.

 

Viewing & Reception at The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park

 

Born in France and raised in New York City, Jonathan Solomon Bressler was exposed to the art world in early childhood. His parents (both of them painted) would often take him to The Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit the Egyptian, Roman and Greek galleries. These images of ancient art as well as trends in art, like pop art and op art during the 1960’s would leave a lasting impression on him as he grew up. Today, Jonathan’s work is a culmination of those early influences. A graduate of the High School of Music & Art, he went on to receive an associate’s degree in illustration from The Fashion Institute of Technology. He currently teaches art at the New York School of Interior Design, which he has done for the past 15 years.

 

If you do not know Jonathan Bressler’s work, you should.  Jack and I have one of his pieces that blends a watermark image of Alexander the Great’s head with faux technique butterflies.  If I had a scanner big enough to do it, I’d include a picture.  It’s one of our favorite pieces.  Because Jonathan is such a brilliant artist photos of his work could not do justice to them.  He has a sense of depth and trompe l’oeil trickery that could never be captured properly.

Today's sitings

Spotted in the backyard today:

 

American Redstart

Common Yellowthroat

Grey Catbird

European Starling

Northern Cardinal

American Robin

Rock Dove

 

There was a gull that flew overhead but I couldn’t tell what type.  Also, even though there are numerous sparrows to be seen everyday, I’m not very good identifying the different ones.

Avian wildlife

Spotted in the backyard today:

 

Common Yellowthroat

Ovenbird

Grey Catbird

European Starling

Northern Cardinal

Monk Parakeet

American Robin

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

 

I wasn’t home for much of the day so I didn’t see many other species I usually see

Sylvia in the background

Jack looking on while Eric chats about the film

PlanetOut Short Movie Award WINNER Best Documentary

Yesterday afternoon Jack and I attended the New York premiere of our friend Eric Smith’s short documentary

Irene Williams ... Queen of Lincoln Road , Dir. By Eric Smith, US, 2005, video, 23 min

 

Over nine years, self-defined hag fag Eric Smith documented his friendship with an extraordinary elderly lady, Irene Williams, a public stenographer, and eccentric fashion fixture on South Beach.

 

Go to the website to order a copy of the DVD.  The film won this year’s PlanetOut Short Movie Award for Best Documentary.

 

http://www.worldloveproductions.com/irene/

 

Some of those in attendance were artists John Pirman (love those great graphics!) and Jonathan Bressler.  Bressler will have an independent show on June 3^rd.  More information soon.  And the ever-present Sylvia Miles was there of course.

 

 

 

FESS/Sept/Turb or is that Sept/Turb/FESS?

Last week I had surgery to hopefully correct my sleep apnea and chronic sinusitis. There were 3 procedures; Septoplasty, Turbinectomy, and Functional Endoscopic Sinus. The septoplasty aligns the cartilage that separates the nostrils. It’s pretty common to have a deviated septum. Usually it doesn’t require doing anything about it. The turbinectomy was the most important of the procedures. The turbinates are chambers that connect the nostrils to the rest of the sinuses. In my case the turbinates had no openings to the sinuses at all. So when I had infections, I couldn’t really get rid of the fluid. Blowing my nose used to cause air to escape my eye sockets instead of my nose. At 38 years old, I’m looking forward to finally being able to blow my nose.

Waiting

Fridays are usually lousy with waiting.  We don’t have any regular programming during the day on Friday.  So, we really just play catch up on paperwork and watch the clock run out.

Hazel's Ovariohysterectomy

Hazel was spayed this morning.  I kept telling Jack not to worry, that she’d be fine.  But when I dropped her off, I got a little teary.  Fortunately, her vet called and said she was a perfect patient.  She was a little groggy after the surgery.  I’ll pick her up tomorrow.

 

Renal stones.........

I’ve got a 4mm renal stone that’s killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Iken's Perversion

Come see this very exciting new work!

New Center Stages in association with.The Writer's Voice & Turtleshell Productions present a staged reading of

IKEN'S PERVERSION

A new play written and directed by Diana Amsterdam

A famous painter with a strange perversion meets his artistic and emotional match in a tough young poet from the ghetto when she insists on having his affection.

Featuring:

ROBERT CLOHESSY as Iken (OZ, Twelve Angry Men, The Interpreter)

Monday May 23 at 7 p.m.

Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater West Side YMCA 5 West 63rd Street (enter on 64th St) between Central Park West and Broadway

-Wine and refreshments-

-Free admission-

RSVP. 212-252-2154 or email: info@newcenterstages.org

NEW CENTER STAGES is the new theater company associated with the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA. Artistic Directors: Charlie Schulman and Diana Amsterdam. Producing Director: Jason Kaminsky Producer, Turtleshell Productions: John Cooper Special thanks to Sean Pollock and Glenn Raucher, and to our community of artists and students who make this possible.

A Sondheim Study Guide

I’ve been working on the Study Guide for a while.  My assistant, Blake, loves music like PsychicTV and opera.  But he joins the majority of people who just don’t like musicals.  Whenever I talk about Sondheim, he always gets interested in how passionate I get.  He wanted a way to be introduced to Sondheim so that he could appreciate it.  He asked if I would put a program together for him.  The link to the left takes you to some of my musings on the subject.  I’m no expert.  In fact, some experts have blasted my opinions.  But, I come to the work from several points of view.  I hope you’ll take the time to read the pages and let me know what you think.  Later….scp

The theater renovation

I just came from a meeting in which we’ve decided to postpone reading our contractors’ bids.  This $1.8M project has had lots of setbacks.  Fortunately, the setbacks have always been development and not financial.  Updates as they happen…..forthcoming.

Topaz with her wedding bouquet

Tulips

See, they're pretty nice.

The Garden

Living in NYC can be a little overwhelming.  You can find yourself surrounded by concrete and steel so much that you don’t get a feeling of any nature.  We are so fortunate to have the back yard.  What is astonishing though is that very few of our neighbors actually spend any time in their own back yards.  The area has gotten so overgrown in some of the yards that wildlife has checked in.  I’m not talking city rats and pigeons.  I’m talking mini-eco-system.

 

I’ve identified at least a hundred species of birds that regularly visit.  A colony of monk parakeets has created a huge nest about 5 houses east of us.  I think there are 4 or 5 pairs of them.  One chased a Northern Harrier away last Friday.  Amazing! 

 

We’ve been trying to plant the garden successfully too.  I’m extremely patient.  Jack is not.  I like to plant from seeds.  Jack wants to hire someone to plant fully grown plants.  Well in the 3 years that we’ve had the garden, my seeds are doing great.  We now have moth mulleins, rattlesnake master, bee balm, ox-eye sunflowers, astilbe, ironweed, sedums, and many others.  I did give in to some non-native plantings this year.  I planted tulips.  I’ll admit they are nice. 

 

The ferns I started from spores are starting to take off.  We have marginal shield ferns and Christmas ferns.  They are native to New York soils but I collected the spores from Bear Creek Farm.

 

C’est tout!

Always depended upon the kindness of strangers....

I saw the new B'way revival of A Streetcar Named Desire this past evening. I don't recommend it.

Natasha Richardson's Blanche DuBois is devoid of fragility. You never feel for her. John C. Reilly's Stanley is an interesting portrayal. Unfortunately, there are no sparks between the two of them, leaving the play's center unsupported.

The actors playing Stella and Mitch (Amy Ryan and Chris Bauer) are the best in the show...and they are remarkable.

But the one thing I couldn't stand was the "soundtrack". When Blanche was going nuts trying to call Shep, there were weird sounds playing over speakers. Do they think audiences are that stupid? Talk about trying to beat someone over the head with your concept. The "cat" sounds also sounded really fake.

One thing that really pissed me off about this production is how Blanche's intrusion into Stanley and Stella's world didn't spark anything dramatic. In the past, I've always felt that Stanley's brutishness and violent nature must have always existed. But I also believe that he has been trying to suppress it. Stanley has cooked it up in his head that Stella looks down on him for his "common-ness." He aspires to be more than what he should be for that expectation. He is the only one amongst his mates who seems to be advancing in his career.

Now, Stella's sister shows up spouting statements about him as a commoner, giving voice to what he perceived Stella as thinking about him as well. Thus, the violence erupts. He even hits Stella. We have no reason to believe that his emotional rises ever came to blows in the past. Stanley, a much more evolved man than we assume him to be does not like what Blanche brings out in him. And he must remove her to return to the path he had dreamed of for his wife and the baby they are expecting. He buys Blanche a bus ticket. He rapes her. He must destroy the thing that makes him brutish.

In this production, you get the feeling that Stanley always beats Stella. The stakes are not high for him. He becomes blase to Blanche instead of determined to rid his home of her.

The psychological complexity is missing here....and that's too bad. For such an important entry in American Drama, Streetcar deserves better treatment.

Great news for Harlem!

I was just walking on 125^th Street to get groceries at Fairway Uptown.  And what should I pass?  Citarella is finally opening in Harlem!  For those who don’t know Citarella, one of the best markets on the Upper West Side (along with Fairway) has been indicating that they will open a store in Harlem for years.  They’ve been printing on their shopping bags “Harlem” as if it’s already a location for them.  I guess they finally realized that Harlemites will shop at quality stores.

All screwed up!

The new posts are really screwed up on this blog. I'm trying to work out the kinks.

At the watering hole

I thought I'd post a picture of Topaz with me at the watering hole near Bear
Creek Farm

What an upsetting day

I got a very sad call this morning from my brother Justin. Topaz, my parents’ 13-year old golden retriever died in her sleep last evening. I’m so sad about it.
Topaz had a very good life. Despite some allergies, her health was reasonably good. She loved my parents and she also loved my grandmother. What’s especially touching about her relationship with Grandma is that she got to see her yesterday.
When Justin called I had actually expected him to say that Grandma had passed. Her health has declined since last November. Now, after a few strokes, she is in a continuing care facility. Justin and his girlfriend Nina took Topaz to the home to visit Grandma and the other residents. Topaz walked through and got lots of lovin’ from everyone.
Last night, as my Dad put her in her bed, he felt that she wasn’t holding herself right. She must have been releasing herself.
Today, Justin and my Dad will bury her at Bear Creek Farm.

Grandma's knitting

Sweaters from my childhood and my afghan

Knitting skills

My grandmother was a very stereotypical grandmother.  She knitted afghans, and sewed clothes, and baked cinnamon rolls.  My mother also sewed all of our clothes when we were kids too.  This was mostly out of necessity as 3 quickly growing little boys would probably have really stretched her budget.  It was a lot easier to have constantly adjusting hemlines in the homemade hand-me-downs.

 

Anyway, we were always fascinated by my grandmother’s knitting.  She could knit anything.  When I was about 6 or 7, I asked to learn how to knit.  She fashioned needles out of city chicken sticks for me.  City chicken was a Pennsylvania thing; veal and pork cubes sold with wooden skewers*.  My little hands learned to knit.  I made many white floss bandages that were donated to our church.

 

Nothing much really came of my ability to knit though.  Years later, I was in a college production of The Crucible.  The director wanted all of the women in the cast to have handcrafts.  Lo and behold I taught some of them how to knit just as I had been taught (we used real knitting needles though.)  I remembered the basic skills from 15 years earlier.

 

Again, nothing really came of the skill…until recently.

 

My grandmother is still alive but can no longer knit.  We had her 90^th Birthday celebration in 2004 and a large part of the weekend was a gallery of work she had done over the years.  We assembled needle work from friends and relatives that she had made.  Wedding quilts and afghans were hung around her church’s fellowship hall with tags describing their histories.  My own fisherman’s afghan with its intricate cabling and honeycomb patterns had its place next to baby sweaters and booties that my mother saved.

 

Something was missing.  My sister got married a week before the birthday celebration.  In this vast gallery of needlework her wedding afghan was not there.  Each of us (17 grandchildren) received an afghan as a wedding present or similar event.  My sister being the youngest granddaughter should have received one too.  Apparently, my grandmother started the piece but her concentration had diminished too much.  Stitches were missing as well as other mistakes.  I thought, “What a sad ending?”  I wished that my sister had the same opportunity that the rest of us had.  Even though my sister understands that this expectation of her grandmother would be selfish on her part, there’s something that still hurts from a missed opportunity.

 

I picked up needles and yarn and began knitting swatches, just to practice.  Maybe I could be the one to pick up on this tradition that my grandmother started.  I’ve learned to bake her cinnamon rolls, why couldn’t I learn to knit like her?

 

I can no longer sit next to Grandma and learn the stitches.  But I’ve been stitching away!  And now I’m on my way to carrying on the tradition.  Hopefully, my sister will be pleased when she receives her afghan (if I can actually make one)….and my dog is already pleased to wear her new sweaters.

 

 

*Recipe

City Chicken   (not really chicken at all)

1/2 lb. pork
1/2 lb. veal
1 egg, beaten
Bread crumbs (seasoned if you want)
1 c. milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut pork and veal into 1" cubes. Thread on bamboo or wooden skewers, alternating chunks of pork and veal. Dip the skewers in the egg, then the bread crumbs, to coat. Saute until browned. Put skewers in a baking pan, and add milk. Cover in foil, and bake about 1 hour. During the depression, chicken was more expensive than pork. So pork and veal were substituted for and "passed off" as chicken. The pork and veal are alternated on a wooden skewer such that it resembles a chicken leg.

 

Apartment Vacancy

After 2 great years, our tenants have decided to move on. One is getting married and the other thinks the apartment is too big for one person. So we're looking for a new tenant. The apartment is listed on www.newyork.craigslist.org as well as our website (www.bearcreeknyc.com/apartment.htm) . If you know of anyone looking for a great place send 'em our way.

Justin and Phoenix with Sean and Hazel 

Is it really March?

Here it is March 2nd and what're we to do? Many of you may not know this yet....but we adopted a little French Bulldog back in January. She's 14 weeks old now. Her name is Hazel........to go along with Mr. B, our 17 year old cockatiel.