Rockaway Beach

If it wasn't for my Celtic skin and the sun I would live at the beach.  Rockaway was our family's summer retreat.  We rented a cottage or shared a house with friends and spent summer vacations there in the sand and sun.  What I remember is the smell of salt water, the taut skin after my body had dried from a day of swimming, and sand everywhere: bed, clothes, in-between my toes.
Can't forget the sun burn and the blisters.
So this is how I dress when I go the beach today:

But I still got into my bathing suit and swan around for awhile.  I couldn't resist.

Betty didn't go in.  She stayed on the Boardwalk.  No sand in her shoes.

Some more photos:

Oh when the sun beats down and burns the tar upon the roof
And your shoes get so hot, you wish you're tired feet were fire-proof

I should have moved that garbage can. 
& After a swim:

Margaritaville.




 

Saturday

That's me, Frank and Roger at a French restaurant in Soho, last night, Sunday.  Saturday, of today's title,  is the title of a book by Ian McEwan that I just finished reading.

Ian McEwan, 6/21/48 has written numerous novels, short stories and children's books.  He has won many prizes, the most prestigious being the Man-Booker prize for 'Amsterdam'.

Saturday "follows an ordinary man through a Saturday whose high promise gradually turns nightmarish" [from the back cover].  The man, Henry Perowne, is a neurosurgeon and father of a son and daughter.  The daughter is a poet and the son a blues guitarist.  So the author includes discussions of neuroscience, literature and music.  Some things that caught my eye and ear:
His daughter, Daisy, in an attempt to interest her father in her favorite writers gives him Henry James' 'What Daisy Knew'.   McEwan writes: "... poor Maisie soon vanished behind a cloud of words, and at page forty-eight, Perowne, who can be on his feet 7 hours for a difficult procedure, who has his name down for the London marathon, fell away exhausted."  
And 100 pages later:  "When this civilization falls, when the Romans, whoever they are this time round, have finally left and the new dark ages begin, this will be one of the few luxuries to go.  The old folk crouching by their peat fires will tell their disbelieving grandchildren of standing naked mid-winter under jet streams of hot clean water, of lozenges of scented soaps and of viscous amber and vermilion liquid they rubbed into their hair to make it glossy and more voluminous than it really was, and of thick white towels as big as togas, waiting on warming racks." 
The first is how I and a lot of us 'Tackle' the great books.  The second is how to enjoy them ... cascading streams.
".. a record Theo [Perowne's son] brought into the house years ago, Chuck Berry's old pianist, Johnnie Johnson, singing "Tanqueray", a slouching blues of reunion and friendship.
It was a long time comin',
But I knew I would see the day
When you and I could sit down,
And have a drink of Tanqueray."
And towards the end of the novel.  "...the brain's fundamental secret will be laid open one day.  But even when it has, the wonder will remain, that mere wet stuff can make this bright inward cinema of thought, of sight and sound and touch bound into a vivid illusion of an instantaneous present, with a self, another brightly wrought illusion, hovering like a ghost at its centre.  Could it ever be explained, how matter becomes conscious?"
The explanation if it happens will come from a great writer like Ian McEwan.

And on the street, a tile mosaic at an Eighth Ave. local stop: Spring Street in Soho:

America's iconic brew

Last night I went as a guest to the weekly Budweiser Happy Hour.

Adolphus Busch, one of the founders of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company was a great brewing and marketing innovator.  Over 120 years ago he used new ideas such as pasteurizing beer and refrigerated rail cars for transport that made his brew the first national beer.  While touring Europe in the 1870's he studied the changes taking place in brewing and was impressed by the success of pilsner.  A new method using bottom-fermenting yeasts which improved clarity and shelf life.  On his return to St. Louis, Missouri in 1876 he introduced Budweiser beer and in 1896 they began producing Michelob.
In 2008 InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch and added Beck's, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Bass, Labatt, and Brahma.  Anheuser-Busch InBev was now number one in the world and are now known as AB InBev.
They continue innovating with brews such as Margarita, a malt brew very similar to the cocktail.  A very nice alternative to hard liquor and my favorite.
And with innovative marketing:

The famous Warhol self-portraits used as labels.

And on the street or more exactly 'tar beach', someone who would love one of those Margaritas:

     

Prada and Schiaparelli

Went to the Metropolitan Museum to see this exhibit and was able to take some photos.

 

Walked to the museum and was pretty tired.  So I was lucky to find a comfortable couch.  That's Goya behind the couch and a Rembrandt and 2 El Grecko's around the fireplace.

 

West 10th

 One of my favorite streets in New York.

 

A famous resident.

What's been happening in my world?  This may explain:

Why should not old men be mad?
Some have known a likely lad
That had a sound fly-fisher's wrist
Turn to a drunken journalist;
A girl that knew all Dante once
Live to bear children to a dunce;
A Helen of social welfare dream,
Climb on a wagonette to scream.
Some think it a matter of course that chance
Should starve good men and bad advance,
That if their neighbours figured plain,
As though upon a lighted screen,
No single story would they find
Of an unbroken happy mind,
A finish worthy of the start.
Young men know nothing of this sort,
Observant old men know it well;
And when they know what old books tell,
And that no better can be had,
Know why an old man should be mad.
W.B. Yeats

Lives of the Artist

I became interested in Frank O'Hara through his poetry.  I read that he and Larry Rivers, the abstract painter, had an affair.  So I picked up Larry Rivers autobiography "What did I Do?"  One of the most irritating books to read.  I imagine he thought he was abstracting his life in words.  What a life: a wife, step-child, biological child and mother-in-law all left behind while he plays his saxophone on the road and explores sex and drugs to the point of addiction. 
He met Frank O'Hara at a party of John Ashbery's in 1950.  They had an affair and Larry Rivers goes on for almost a chapter on whether his affair with O'Hara was because he was gay or ambitious.  Frank O'Hara knew a lot of people.  He was very personable.  He also worked at MOMA.  Rivers concludes that the affair came out of his "need for attention".

The major relationship in Frank O'Hara's life was Joe LeSueur.  They lived together for ten years  and split up one year before Frank's death.

Joe LeSeeur

His book, and from the book:
"Grace, Frank and I had left a party that was going nowhere and were walking across Eighth Street, heading for the Cedar, when Grace suddenly decided she'd had enough of the wimpy little guy who was tagging along. ... he was an abstract painter with a pathetically small red mustache and dim little eyes, and like a number of downtown artists and would-be artists, he never had a one-man show-in short, he was a loser. ...   He was staggering, slobbering, slurring his speech from having drunk more than he could hold.  Do you think Grace felt sorry for him?  No way.  Without warning, she hauled off and hit him so hard on the side of the head that he landed in the gutter.  "Hey Grace why did you do that?" I asked.  "I can't stand a man who doesn't act like a man."  She said.  I complained about Grace's behavior though I was more amused than appalled.  "What are you talking about?"  Frank said.  "The guy was asking for it." 
I'll stick to the poetry.  Familiarity breeds contempt.

Basketball

In New York there are a number of sports groups.  There is the New York Urban Professionals Athletic League with 2500 teams in basketball and men's, women's, and co-ed volleyball.  But this isn't that group.  There's the NYC Basketball League which the founders Ben and Josh say is the best.  Nope not them.  Also the New York Knicks Corporate league, which has basketball, volleyball, softball, indoor soccer, and dodge-ball.  On opening day of the Corporate basketball league they had 32 teams playing.  Not them either.  Now there are others leagues but they all play in gyms with refs and probably some gator aid.

This is the West Fourth Street "Streetball" amateur basketball tournament.  Founded by Kenny Graham, a limousine driver, it has carved its own place in asphalt history.  Among the "graduates" are Dr. J. Walter Berry, Jayson Williams, Anthony Mason, and Smush Parker.  West 4th street's talent is big but the court is too small to contain all the flying elbows.  Hence, its other name.

The Cage.
 

Annie Ross

Of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.  Saw her at the Metropolitan Room.

With my friend Sandra:

Annie Ross was born on 7/25/30 in England.  At an early age  her family visited the US and Annie appeared on the Paul Whiteman radio show at which she won a "token" contract with MGM.  At age 8 she sang " The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond" in "Our Gang Follies of 1938" and played Judy garland's sister in "Presenting Lily Mars".
In 1952 she wrote the lyrics to "Twisted" and recorded her first album with The Modern Jazz Quartet.  With  Lambert Hendricks and Ross she recorded 7 albums.  By 1960 she was addicted to heroin and when the group performed in London in 1962 she left the group to kick the habit.  There, in London, she opened her own Jazz Club.  She has been in many movies, notably Robert Altman's "Short Cuts", and many shows, notably "The Threepenny Opera" with Vanessa Redgrave.
Tonight she was accompanied by Tardo Hammer, piano [Sandra's favorite], Neal Miner, Bass, Tony Jefferson, drums, and Warren Vache, [my favorite] on flugelhorn.  The evening was a most welcome diversion. 

Second Street

Located on the corners of 2nd street and 2nd Avenues are 2 buildings.  One is our neighborhood Catholic High School, La Salle Academy.  In 1856, Bishop Hughes invited 4 De La Salle Christian Brothers from France to open a High School In New York City.  161 years later it is still in operation.  The faculty now is 95% lay teachers.

The 2nd Ave. entrance

The property was purchased from the novelist Washington Irving and, interestingly, Eugene O'Neill was a student at the school.  He didn't graduate but one of their famous graduates was Patrick Hayes, class of 1886.  He became Cardinal Hayes, and Cardinal Hayes is the name of my High School.  I like being connected to Washington Irving and Eugene O'Neill.  In 2000 La Salle Academy received recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.  Well there's no connection there between me and the school.   

 
This is directly across from La Salle Academy.  

The Anthology Film Archives. 
Initially the building was Manhattan's Second Avenue Courthouse.  Anthology was founded in 1969 by Jonas Mekas, Jerome Hill, P. Adams Sitney, Peter Kubelka, and Stan Brakhage.  It is the first museum devoted to film as an art form.  They have over 900 programs a year, and  have preserved over 800 films.  Today as a part of their Women's Filmmakers series they are screening "Wonder", described as: "one script, seven directors".
The founders wrote: "Fueled by the conviction that the index of a cultures health and vibrancy lies largely in its margins ... Anthology strives to advance the cause and protect the heritage of a kind of cinema that is in particular danger of being lost, overlooked, or ignored."  "The Margins" ... at one time that would have been the perfect description of the East Village.   Protect and preserve "The Margins".

Man and Superman

Another great production by the Irish Rep.

And another great cast of which I was only familiar with one, namely, Brian Murray.  The lead actor Max Gordon Moore is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Janie Brookshire is the female lead.  Both are exceptional.
The public in Victorian England opted for a light hearted  evening at the theater.  They are infamous for changing the ending of  'Romeo and Juliet' to something more uplifting.  The star crossed lovers live.  The artistic taste of empire is towards the sacchariferous.
So Shaw did not expect his plays to be performed and he wrote them as short stories.  To perform Man and Superman as written would take 5 hours.  This performance was 2 and a quarter hours.

Around the house:
I've painted the bedroom and hall and bought some new furniture and gotten rid of some of the old.
The heavy Danish modern pieces have been removed.  The living room looks so much bigger.

And the new for the  bedroom:

I've always liked Art deco and when I saw these it was love at first sight.
I call her Gypsy Rose Dee.

Can a cat explode?

At least now that he's off his diet I can sleep through the night without being scratched all over my legs.

Busy

I've had a request for a photo from my friend Chuck and have realized with all the photos I've been taking of the city I'm not in any of them.  I found one of Peter Thomas and me from Thanksgiving 2008 at his then home in Rhode Island.

I'm in the middle of redoing the apartment,and I've finally found the art-deco chifferobe I've been looking for.  So today we're painting.  This is what it looked like yesterday.

                                       Come back in a couple of months and it might be completed.

This week I went to the Shaw Symposium with Frank at The Players Club.  It was a 2 hour discussion with the actors,  producers, & the director of  'Man and Superman' which is now at the Irish Rep.  There was also a biographer of Shaw and a writer who has critiqued the plays from a Freudian view point.  It's been so long since I've heard someone take Freud's theories seriously that it was hard to keep a straight face.
[In the second act the feet sticking out of the car is a sexual symbol.  Who knew?]
My favorite came from a member of the audience, also a writer of Shaw.
Shaw to Cedric Hardwick 'Where's the horse'.
Cedric: 'What horse?'.
Shaw: 'The horse that isn't dead'.
Cedric: 'The live horse?'.
Shaw: 'Pronunciation!  The line is "the life force".'

The players club, exterior and interior is one of the most handsome of brownstones.  It was Edwin Booth's home on Gramercy Park.  Done very much in the Victorian style.

 The theater audience is aging as quickly as the 'Highlights In Jazz' audience.  That's Frank [in the second photo] enjoying the buffet.  [all free: snacks and talk].  Behind Frank are paintings and sketches of former and current members, you can see Peter O'Toole and Christopher Plummer.  I've blogged about  the club before when Carole, who is a member, took me to lunch. 

Back to the painting: 'Busy hands are happy hands'  

Pride 2012

Sunday was the Gay Pride Parade.  Early in the day I took a walk around the neighborhood and this is what I saw.

Then I stopped off for some frozen Margaritas to toast all those proud men and women.

Check out you tube's "we all wear green carnations" it's from Noel Coward's 'Bitter Sweet' with Hugh Laurie of 'House', and 'Ain't no sweet man worth the salt of my tears' by Bix Beiderbecke and Bing Crosby.