Onassis Cultural center of NY

Did not know there was such a place until it advertised in the NY Times.  The exhibit is entitled Transition to Christianity: Art of Late Antiquity, 3rd-7th Century AD.  I love classic works of art: tile, painting, and statuary, especially the Paul Newman lookalikes.  I was looking forward to the show but The Met has more interesting objects and when you've been to Greece, Athens, Delos, Mycenae, Crete, Istanbul, Ephesus, and the British Museum it's pretty hard to be impressed.  The lobby entrance had copies of the Elgin Marbles: four images hanging about 15 feet on a wall.  They did not allow photos so all I have is the brochure cover to show.
I did learn something new.  I have read that a lot of statuary from the classic age was decapitated by the Muslims.  They were cleaning the land of Idolatry.  Today, I found out that the early christians disfigured a great deal of statues by carving crosses on them and defacing the eyes and mouth, in the belief that the image of pagan gods were sources of evil.  
The Center is at 51st Street and 5th Ave.
I walked.  It's cold.  They said it was 11degrees.  I don't know what the wind chill factor was but it was a brisk walk.  I have this down coat with hood that covers almost my entire body.  I got it out of storage and will be wearing it.  I don't even care if it makes me look like the green Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Library

The main branch of the New York Public Library is celebrating it's 100th birthday this year.  Actually it is 42nd street building that is 100 years old.  The library itself was established in 1895 when the Astor and Lenox Libraries with the Tilden Trust were consolidated.

 Often referred to as the Main branch, it is the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.  Mr. Schwarzman, 2/14/1947, is the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Investment Group.  Worth $5.9 billion, he has compared President Obama's plan to raise carried interest taxes, share of profits paid to an investment manager, as equal to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939.  He gave the Library $100 million, hence the name change.
Designed and constructed  by Carrere and Hastings, the Beaux-Arts building is the largest marble structure ever attempted in the U.S.  It stands on what used to be the Croton Reservoir.  500 workers spent 2 years dismantling the reservoir and preparing the site.

 More than 15 million items are in the library and they include the Gutenberg Bible and Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Declaration of Independence.  While it is called the public library and is open to the public it is funded by private contributions.

Happy Birthday!

Maurizio Cattelan: All

 That's the artist, in bed with himself, talking to himself.  Witty man.

 The show is at the Guggenheim through January.
 He's retiring and has decided to hang it all up at the Museum.

 There are life size horses, mules, the pope, etc.  He does taxidermy, no not to the pope, the animals.  His first show at a gallery consisted of locking the front door and hanging the sign: "Be back soon".
 

My favorite piece is called La Nona Ora [The Ninth Hour] and it depicts Pope John Paul ll being felled by a meteor.
Cattelan was born in Padova, Italy on 9/21/60 and is now based in New York.  Jonathan P. Binstock curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery says Cattelan is "one of the great post-Duchampian artists and a smart ass, too."
Duchamp is fascinating.  Would like to see more of his work and read a good biography.  He renounced making art in the 1920's when he was about 40.  Cattelan says he is 'retiring' from making art at around 50.  Is this exhibit an homage to Duchamp?

Cymbeline

Went to the Barrow Street Theater to see the Fiasco Company's production of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline".
The critics are right.  This is a complicated and strange play but the Company does a great job making it fun and interesting.  I agree with everything the critics say about it.  The actors include their own music, sometimes a cappella, and sometimes accompanying themselves on their instruments.  Very talented actors and remarkable work by the two actors who also directed.
 Barrow Street Theater is a small, intimate space that has shown some great work.  A couple of years ago I saw "Orson's Shadow" and "Our Town", both excellent.

Afterwards we went to a local Greenwich Village bar.  Nancy had wine; Sandra had bourbon. Frank had a Martini.  I had a Manhattan.

 

The Village Vanguard

Went to the Village Vanguard with Sandra to hear Bill Frisell, one of Sandra's favorite guitarists.  Performing with him was Jenny Scheinman on electric violin, and Brian Blade on drums.  Mr. Frisell, unfortunately took a back seat to Ms. Scheinman who gave a mixed performance.  Two early pieces, one of which was written by Mr. Frisell called 'Rag', were very good.  She played it in what I would call a Celtic style.  Building to a very quick raised finish with all three players.  The last piece, 'Embraceable You' was so slow people were nodding off.  $25 admission, $16 for one drink [tip included] so so value.
The Village Vanguard was opened on 7th Ave. South 2/22/35 by Max Gordon.  At first it included folk music and beat poetry.  It became an all jazz venue in 1957.  Over 100 live jazz albums have been recorded there.  The first one in 1957 was Sonny Rollins.  Some other artists who have performed there: Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Wynton Marsalis, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Chris Connor, Gerry Mulligan and Barbra Streisand.

Hide/Seek

Yesterday, Sunday, I went to the Brooklyn Museum.  The Museum has an exhibit from the portraiture galleries of the Smithsonian.  David C. Ward and Jonathan Katz are the original curators and Tricia Laughlin Bloom coordinated the project for the museum.  It is called 'Hide/Seek Difference and Desire in American Portraiture'.  The exhibit has had some controversy.  A piece depicting a crucifix with ants walking over it stirred up some "christians" [no spell check, I meant a small 'c'].  There are some wonderful sites, The Brooklyn Museum, The Smithsonian, and You Tube that will give you a very good view of the exhibit.  The theme is gay and lesbian artists as subjects of gay and lesbian artists.
Then  refurbished subway station at the Museum.

 and then the Museum

 Minor White's 'Tom Murphy' and the exhibit's image.
When you first walk into the room you hear Ma Rainey singing: "Prove it on Me Blues".  When she was arrested in 1925 for hosting a lesbian orgy she released that song.  She also made more than 100 other recordings between 1925 and 1928.   She is the premier blues singer in music history.
The exhibit is divided into 7 periods:
1.  Before Difference ...  Thomas Eakins' "Salutat"  "the male body as object of admiration by a male audience."
2.  Modernism ... "Portrait of Marcel Duchamp" by Florine Stettheimer,  and Berenice Abbott's photo of Janet Flanner in which she has two masks on her top hat.
3.  1930's ...Photo of Lincoln Kirstein by Walker Evans.  Kirstein was about 18 and in college.
4.  Consensus and conflict ... Rauschenberg's and Jasper Johns' pieces as a response to the breakup of their relationship, Alice Neal's portrait of Frank O'Hara.  O'Hara's poem 'In memory of my feelings' is the title of Jasper Johns painting.  Rauschenberg's is titled 'Canto xiv' from Dante's poem.  It's the canto of the placing of the 'Sodomites'.
5.  Stonewall and after ... Warhol's 'Camouflage Self-Portrait' 
6.  Aids ... A.A. Bronson's  'Felix June 5 1994'
7.  New Beginnings ... Annie Leibovitz's photo of Ellen Degeneres.
Many great artists were gay; celebrated being gay; formed relationships with other gay artists, sexual and otherwise.  It was through their work and open lives that has helped move society's attitudes and brought us to where we are today.

Man and Boy

Went to the Roundabout Theatre Company's proiduction of Terence Rattigan,s 'Man and Boy'.  It's at the American Airlines theater on 42nd Street.  Frank Langella gives a great performance.  I also enjoyed the actor who played his son, Adam Driver.  It is directed by Maria Aitken who did 'The 39 Steps' on broadway and a lot of other work in New York and London.
Terence Rattigan, [6/10/11-11/30/77] who was gay and out only to his close friends, has also written 'The Winslow Boy', 'Separate Tables', 'The Browning Version', 'The Deep Blue Sea', and the screenplays for 'The Prince and the Showgirl', 'The VIPs', 'The Yellow Rolls Royce' and 'Goodbye Mr. Chips'. 

At the movies I saw 'Tree of Life', not my cup of tea.  I watched one hour and it was like watching clips from the TV show NOVA without dialogue.  One scene has Sean Penn walking through the corridor of a large corporation in a big city like Chicago.  Then next time you see him he's walking through the desert.  No dialogue, no explanation.  Maybe it was supposed to be an homage to Michelangelo Antonioni. 
Also not for me is Clint Eastwood's 'J. Edgar'.  Too long, too slow and most importantly it's dishonest.  He makes him sympathetic.  No way that the man who kept secrets and who used those those secrets to destroy innocent people like Jean Seberg is a sympathetic character.
What I did like very much was 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'.  It's a documentary about a homeless man who becomes interested in a group of wild parrots.  He befriends the parrots, feeding and caring for them, and they give his life purpose.

Saw and heard Christine Ebersole and the Aaron Weinstein trio at Birdland.  Wonderful!!  He plays the violin to accompany her as she sings.  First time I've heard them together.  He's 26 and remarkable.  Bought Ebersole's new CD of Noel Coward songs.  She has 2 tony awards for 'Grey Gardens' and '42nd Street'.  
I'm feeling much better the last couple of days.  Finally, after weeks, I got around to cleaning the house.  Really gave the bathroom a good scrubbing.  When I finished both boys went to their kitty litter and then laid down on the bathroom floor and stared at me.  I guess they were relieved in more ways then one.

Town Hall and OWS

 
Town Hall in NYC is a broadway theater.  Not the kind of town hall in some cities where they actually have town meetings.  Last night our town hall had a show: 'Broadway Unplugged'.  Great voices singing without the use of amplification.  It was excellent, especially the duet 'All the Things You Are'.  The program did not list the performers but I know Terri White from 'Follies' and Bill Daugherty and Nancy Anderson from other shows.  The artists who did the duet I do not know.  I am sure I will be seeing them again, soon.

Today's walk took me to Chinatown.  Then across the Brooklyn Bridge to my pension office.  I went to change banks for my direct deposit.  On the way back I decided to walk by Occupy Wall Street.  I heard the police had emptied it and arrested a couple of hundred people.  There were a lot of TV News people hanging around, waiting.  Maybe, because a number of OWS demonstrators were talking about taking back the park.  Does OWS mean to stay until every goal is met?  I support their goals of accountability for the fiscal collapse, but the odds are against it.  Getting the park emptied was a lot easier. 

Iphigenia in Tauris

A production under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs is playing at the Lion Theater on Theater Row.
The good news:  they have cut Euripides 4 hour play down to 1 hour.  My seat was on the aisle with lots of leg room. It costs $20.  Iphigenia and Orestes have a moment of reunion that is moving.
But, the acting is over the top which is OK for something that is the inspiration for Opera but the actors aren't consistent.  The actor playing Orestes does it as though he had Turret's Syndrome.  Being pursued and driven from every town by the Furies would cause some physical and psychic reaction but how he has chosen to play it is too distracting.  I'm glad that I went because it brought me back to my Freshman Lit. class with Mr. Christ.  He was an exceptional teacher and the best I've ever had.  It was a great course and reading classic literature with Mr. Christ is still one of my most cherished memories.

The Bridge

We called it the 59th Street bridge but it was actually the Queensboro Bridge, which has since been named the Ed Koch bridge.  But everyone calls it the 59th Street bridge.  When I and my friends in Queens were teenagers this was our bridge.  We, who rushed with adolescent excitement into the "city" called it the 59th Street bridge because that's where it left us off.  The 'City" was Manhattan and specifically downtown.  The village, Greenwich Village.  This was the early 1960's.  You could get served as a  17 y/o  in bars.  The beats were reading their poetry that spoke of sex, straight and gay.  The music was just as free form, be bopping  off cafe walls all for the price of a cup of coffee.  Streisand, Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary might be in a club performing .  Tomorrow's star might be in Washington Square Park strumming and singing for spare change.  Maybe Lanford Wilson's new one act would be at a club or we could go see Jason Robards, directed by Jose Quintero, in 'The Iceman Cometh'.  So what part of that great art did I get to.  We went to whatever bar would serve us.  Hey, I was 17, but I'm making up for it now.

Fashion

New York is ranked with Paris and Milan as one of the fashion capitals of the world.  I don't know anything about fashion, but it is indicative of the importance of fashion in our society that I can probably name as many designers as I can current movie directors, and I love movies.  We used to have a garment district and during the day on 7th Ave. there would be men pushing racks of clothes up and down the avenue.  I don't know what happens in regards to fashion on 7th Ave today but those racks are being pushed on other streets.  We do have a lot of schools of fashion, many of them prestigious: FIT, Parsons, Pratt Institute, NY School of Design, Art Institute of NY, Berkeley College, and LIM which is the only school in the country solely focused on fashion.

Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street which began 9/17/2011 has been criticized for not proposing an agenda.  It has been reported that the man who gave the movement its name and has been instrumental in its organization is an English professor and an anarchist.  So some believe there is a lack of organization and an agenda.  However,  Occupy Wall Street, Dallas has called for a general strike for 11/30/2011 from 12:01 AM to 11:59 PM.
1.  Refrain from buying any goods or services including but not limited to petroleum products, consumer goods or bank transactions.
2.  Refrain from working for a wage excluding those who provide emergency and necessary functions.
3.  Join or form local groups to peacefully protest.

House of Worship

 The Cathedral of St. Sava, on West 25th Street, is the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of NYC.  Designed in 1851 by Richard M. Upjohn it was initially Trinity Chapel, the uptown branch of Trinity Church on Wall Street.  At that time it was the church of Edith Wharton who wrote about the church and its congregants in The Age Of Innocence.  In 1944 it was consecrated as the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.
St. Sava [1174-1236] is the patron saint of Serbia.  He was born a Serbian Prince and became a monk.  He was the country's first Archbishop and also wrote the first Serbian constitution.

More Photos from the Met

Out

                                                                          My Brain.
When you get to my age doctors want you to get a flu shot because getting the flu is dangerous.  People die each year from the flu.  So I got my flu shot and then I got the flu.  But before the flu my brain was already going in circles.  Saturday I had tickets to Lincoln Center's new play Blood and Gifts.  One for me and one for Sandra.  It snowed.  Really, a lot.  So Sandra wasn't coming into the city.  She gave her ticket to her daughter who gave it to her neighbor.  The subway had a power failure at 59th street.  I gave myself an hour of travel time when it usually takes 20 minutes.  It took one hour and twenty minutes.  I found out later that my guest made it in time by taking a cab.  She waited 15 minutes and left.  We missed each other.  I was too frazzled to stay. 
Then, Monday was Halloween.   I hate big crowds but since I'm writing about the city I felt I should include some of the big events.  This is what the Halloween Parade looked like:

I assume the parade was where everyone was facing.  Saw nothing but peoples backs. 
But then Tuesday was a great day.  I was invited by my neighbor, Carole, to the Players Club for lunch.  That opening photo is of their staircase.  It is a beautiful building, designed by Stanford White.

It costs $2000 to join and $1500 a year in dues but is open for lunch and dinner.  It was formed in 1888 by Edwin Booth and 15 others.  Modeled after London's Garrick Club, The Players Club was the first "Gentleman's" club in America.

Mike Daisey's Monologue

Saw this at the Public Theater last night.  It is funny, thoughtful, and disturbing.  Mike is a self-described geek.  He believes Steve Jobs to be a showman and a genius.  Steve Jobs partner, Steve Wozniak is the geek in the partnership and another genius.  There is a great deal of humor in the show.  I doubt that I could have sat for 2 hours, without a break, if it wasn't very funny and provocative.
To paraphrase Mike:
if you control the way people view and interact with the world, you control their world
having Google to find out something for you doesn't mean you're smart, you get smart by using your head and digging in with both hands
everyone complains that nothing is hand-made, whereas everything is handmade and some of those hands are bloody and deformed from making the stuff we use everyday.
Mike Daisey loves technology and what Steve Jobs and his partner Steve Wozniak created at Apple.  The two of them started out as rebellious, counterculture entrepreneurs.  Their first creation was a pirate box to make long distance phone calls, stealing from A T & T.  The first call on the box was when Jobs had Wozniak call the Vatican to tell them that Henry Kissinger, at the White House, wanted to speak to the Pope.  The Cardinal, or whoever it was that answered the phone, said the Pope was asleep but he would wake him up.  Wozniak freaked and hung up the phone  They sold hundreds of those boxes.  Then they got a job from Atari to make an easily programmable computer game in 2 months.  The job paid $700.  But if they made it especially easy to program and in one month they would get $1000.  Steve Wozniak, the geek in the partnership, did it.  They split a $1000.  Wozniak later learned that Jobs was paid $5000 and there were no requirements about the time frame or the programing.
About 10 years ago there were reports of numerous suicides at a technology assembly plant in China.  So Mike Daisey posed as an American businessman so he could get access to the workers and some of the bosses.  Workers were as young as 13.  They would spend at least 14 hours on line doing the same robotic movement.  Probably the reason for the suicides.  One worker died after being at his work station for 34 hours.  The company is Foxcomm in Shenzhen, China.  440,000 thousand people work there.  They have 25 cafeterias and  each one can sit 20,000 people.  The plant assembles technology parts for Apple and many other companies.  Because of the robotic working conditions, joints in the workers hands disintegrate.  To shift workers around to other lines would easily alleviate those joints, but they don't.  The liquid used to clean the face of the iPhone causes neurological injuries in the workers' hands.  They were using plain alcohol, but the new solution cleans faster.  Many workers are let go at 25 years of age because by that time they're not able to keep up the pace.   
Steve Wozniak saw the show and wept.  He told the NY Times that he would never be the same.
At the end of the show Mike Daisey says he hasn't really told us anything we don't already know.  What he hopes he has done is plant a virus in our consciousness.  Can we buy more stuff without thinking "who made that"?

P.S.  There is some controversy about the show.  His interpreter during the visit contradicts some of his statements.  But what I have written here has been checked and deemed accurate.

Movie house

 Went to the Sunshine Movie House on Houston to see, "The Skin I live In".  Pedro Almodovar's new movie.  Many of his movies have won awards and been critical successes.  I've seen Volver, Talk to Her, All About My Mother, Live Flesh, High heels, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Matador, and Dark Habits.  I love movies.  A lot of his films are about the battle between the sexes.  However, in an Almodovar movie the gender of the sexes can not be taken at face value and the battles are with knives and guns.  His plots are often about seeking revenge.  Some of them are very good, as is All About My Mother and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.  The Skin I Live In is a typical Almodovar movie but not one of his best.

The Sunshine was built in 1898 as a theater and Yiddish vaudeville house.  It was known as the Houston Hippodrome.  For 50 years it was a hardware storehouse.  On 12/21/2001 it opened as an art-house film showcase with 5 screens, stadium seating, and Dolby digital surround sound.  The renovation and interior design were done by Pleskow and Rael. 

House of Worship

 The Buddhist Association of New York is located on Elizabeth Street just above Canal Street.

. 

 Some facts about Buddhism:
It is a system taught by the Buddha, and it originated in the 6th century BCE in Northern India.  There are 376 million followers; so it is the fourth largest faith.  Main sects are Mahayana,  northern Buddhism, and Theravada, Southern Buddhism.  The sacred texts are Pali Canon,Tripitaka and Mahayana Sutras in the  original language Pali.
Basic beliefs:
There are 4 truths:
all life is marked by suffering-
suffering is caused by desire and attachment -
suffering can be eliminated -
suffering is eliminated by following the noble eightfold path.
The eightfold path is: right beliefs, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditational attainment.

Philharmonic and King Lear

Went to the Philharmonic at Lincoln Center this week to hear Lorin Maazel conduct.  The program in the first half consisted of two pieces by Mozart, Symphony No. 38 in D major, K.507 [1786] and Concerto In C major for Flute and Harp, K.299/297c [1778] with Robert Langevin on Flute and Nancy Allen on Harp.  The concerto was an audience favorite, while I enjoyed the symphony more.  The second half had two pieces by Debussy, Jeux: Poeme danse [1912-13] and Iberia, from Images for Orchestra [1905-08].  Images is a good description.  I had images of Hollywood westerns of the 1950's.

Friday was King Lear at the Public with Sam Waterston [Lear], Enid Graham [Goneril], Kelli O'Hara [Regan], Kristen Connolly [Cordelia], Michael McKean [Gloucester], Bill Irwin [Fool] and John Douglas Thompson who was excellent as Kent/Caius.  My favorite moment of the night was Lear's curse on Goneril. Waterston does rage very well.  Many in the audience gasped when he gave the curse.
Here it is.

Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful!
Into her womb convey sterility!
Dry up in her the organs of increase;
And from her derogate body never spring
A babe to honour her!  If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen; that it may live,
And be a thwart disnatured torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth;
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks;
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt; that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!  Away, Away.

Salmagundi Club

The Club is having its Fall Auction and my neighbor Carole Teller has the above painting "The High Line" in the auction.  A salmagundi is a salad of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions on lettuce with oil and vinegar.  Whereas the Salmagundi Club is an artists' club on Fifth Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets.  It was founded in 1871 and is located in one of the finest 'double-wide' brownstones in the city.  There are 850 members, comprising artists and patrons.  Some of their famous members have been Thomas Moran, William Merritt Chase, Louis Comfort Tiffany, N. C. Wyeth, and Childe Hassam. 
Other works: