Monday, February 28, 2005

the snow....

as much as i complain about the shovelling and stomping and comuting and driving and parking and riding and sliding in snow, i couldnt live without at least one snow storm a year.
This years perfect storm came on thursday. It was bitter cold and i walked the brooklyn bridge to get to school. I have never walked the bridge in cold windy weather where the temperature sign you can see from the bridge read 27 degrees. i have walked the bridge in summer, on a night when the sunset over manhattan and in spring with the melting of the snow and buds blooming and the fall.. with the crispness of an autumn night. But never in winter.. so i braved the cold and headed towards the bridge. My face burned with the wind but manhattan was covered in grey... snow was expected... the cold continues.. whipping around my head, burning my sinus and nasal cavities and making it hard to breath( the knapsack of school stuff didnt help)
when i reached the other side, i had succeeded and walked up to starbucks to reorganize..
off to chinatown and school... as i entered the school, it started to snow..

while students whines of being let go, i admired the falling flakes as they asked me to release them and as i taught on... more "can we go" more teaching and the holland tunnel was clear, the roads were clear... no chairs or plows.. SChool was called at 720 and we were on our way... I stopped to talk to an ex student and headed down to the train.. CANAL street was empty and i spoke to a student who had an 8pm that was cancelled, she wondered if the trains would be packed.. I didnt care.. I let her walk on.. and walked in the quiet of canal street... where there are usually cars and trucks and street sellers and cops... that night it was white and silent and just a few lights shone.. very few cars and me walking on in the night..

i got on the train to my stop and got off and the same.. it was quiet.. Newkirk ave with its hip hop and spanish and cat calling kids and cars, was still.. not a peep.. but the street lights shone with snow falling.. i walked to the avenue and there were two cars not the 12 i expected... and up my block.. no one was stirring.. the street was empty and silent.. and all mine..
i revelled in the snow falling and entered my apartment to warm up and looked out the window to admire the falling snow..

I got up in the middle of the night, and looked out the window to see the white world all asleep but the street light let me know it was still snowing

friday morning, i cleaned off the car and took my usual route..through the park.. no one was behind me, just one car speeding ahead so i slowed down to 15 miles and hour and toured the park.. the lake with ducks- the snow covered path, teh few runners or walkers... but mostly to see the scenery that looking like a postcard... i slowed down and admired the view til the cars who thought they were late all raced by me.. they raced and missed the beauty of the snowstorm...
it was not a burden last week... but i found the joy in the 4-6 inches that were a gift


i walked in the snow tonight, my usual 4 mile walk while the snow fell, warm at first and then whipping around my head, all drenching my hair and running my mascara.. when it started to get cold.. i came home ... its still snowing as i write and i can see the cars and street becoming that blanket again

people i meet along the way

I was on the train headed to Manhattan to see Jessica Lange in Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie (no it lacked emotional depth) and i sat next to a boy who i found out was 12 and his dad. The boy was reading a book on Duke Ellington. I asked him about it and thought he may be interested in listening to ellington. I found out that this young man listens to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis. he was aware of Thelonius Monk, and COltrane and one of his favorites Bob Dylan. we talked about music and how his tastes will change and how he raids his dad's collection for new music.

Then there was the French fashion designer who was over the USA. she was earning money to get back to France. She couldnt say enough negative things about how AMericans live. African by birth, French in culture living in NYC. She told me a story about her sister who bought a cartier watch on the street and took it to the Cartier store to have the battery replaced. they confisgated her watch.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Yoko Ono wish for her 72nd birthday

This weeks Village Voice had a full page advertisement that said:

"on my seventy-second birthday I sent you love

The Twentieth Century was a century in which human experiement in cruelty reached a height. We as the human race are wise enough to not have to be cruel to each other anymore. Still, the tremendous anger for each other and the resulting need to be cruel to one another was passed on to us from the prior centuries and acted on repeatedly, in fact, we created the most savage century in the history of the human race, as if to prove to our fathers how much better we could be in tbeir game. We are all suffering it's consequence.


Let's wake up to the fact that our anger is an inherited emotion, and the resulting cruelty is also what we are learned from our ancestors who expressed violence as bravery. Lets wake up to the fact that we are not them, that we dont have to prove our bravery by being cruel to each other. Once we realize it, it is very easy to release our anger and free ourselves from the vicious cycle of anger and abuse, and destruction. We should not waste our time in repeating what was them, and lead our own lives, the live we really want and deserve a life of love, joy and lots of fun.

We are still steeped in the heavy psychodrama created by our ancestors, we cant see our own reality. Our reality is very different from theirs. With so many recent discoveries made by our scienctists, all of use are more able to have a life of healthy, youth and joy if we focus our attention and energy on it. Our ancestors were never able to have what we have now. Lets not let the memory of their suffering lives control us and be repeated by us.

I say. Let Love Flow
Give Peace a Chance
Give Peace a Chance
Give Peace a Chance

yoko

nyc
February 18th 2005

Friday, February 25, 2005

the cold wind, the blue night and full moon

the february nights have been cold, the kind of cold that burns your cheeks, and nasal cavities and gives you a headache. The nights have had a deep blue sky with the stars shining brightly in the night. The moon has been full. I noticed it on my drive through the park, and no one seems to be aware of the moon's shape or majesty. I pulled up in front of my house and pointed out the moon to neighbors including a woman who walks her blind and deaf dog. She was not aware of the moon or didnt care. The other people i saw didnt seem to care. I walked while the moon was full and I was full of the moon in all its glory.

the moon added a bright light to the cold night.

sr rose thering- another hero

I heard an npr interview with Sr Rose Thering who is subject of a documentary being nominated for an academy award. The film called Sr Rose's Passion is about her lifelong work as a nun working on reviewing the literature taught in church classes to kids that speak negatively and are antisemitic to Jews. She began to work on the myths and undocumented history that JEws killed Jesus and all extension of that teaching

Sr Rose lives in a metro jewish assisted living center in NJ and was appointed by Governor Keane to a commission that recommended Holocaust education mandatory in all NJ schools. Sr Rose has a "jewish heart" in her midwest Wisconsin 84 year old body...

she has a center at seton hall named for her...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0502250171feb25,1,3971159.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_2577695

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2NTU2MTAmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3

Her 50-year battle to combat anti-Semitism in Catholic doctrine, chronicled in "Sister Rose's Passion and this is nominate for an academy award...

This woman has changed the world......and is a saint... and a jewish one at that

every grain of sand -bob dylan

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.

Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer.
The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.

I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me.
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Capricorn Horoscope for week of February 24, 2005

Capricorn Horoscope for week of February 24, 2005

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Are you familiar with the revolution that was hatched on a toilet? Famed theologian Martin Luther (1483-1546) didn't suffer from writer's block so much as chronic constipation. He formulated much of "The 95 Theses," the tract that launched the Protestant Reformation, while sitting on a stone commode in his home. Be inspired by Luther, Capricorn: Turn a place where you feel limited into a power spot. You don't have to be feeling peppy and chipper in order to light fires under everyone's butts, including your own.

fiddler on whose roof???

I went to the Mishkoff theater last night to see Fiddler on the Roof. Oy, i forgot it was school vacation week so all the jewish suburban families were out for a midweek break to take in a show..(why werent they at Grandma's in florida- like the rest of the Jews..maybe NY suburban jews dont got to florida for break?)

so i was being pushed and shoved by eating disordered girls and boys in Juicy Couture shirts and Million dollar pants and coats.. MOthers with face lifts and everyone had a cellphone.. Teenagers can be so grumpy... What is the equivilant to smoking pot? smoking pot? these kids looked like they would rather be out at the Mall or smoking pot.

then i hear a woman....NOT the woman behind me who kept screaming BRAVO, but a woman reporting that "she married Bobby Flay... you know one of the judges on the wickedly ....show...i start to think... that same bobby flay who is the head chef at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay, who gives a scholarship to kids in LIC to got to culinary school like joe allen did for him. Bobby Flay who eats his way across the country (not like al roker) but more sophisticated and mostly barbeque... Bobby Flay... IRON CHEF...
the suburbs were showing all over the theater...

there was a little boy in the end seat in the 3rd row with his dad.. I went over to him and asked him what i should look for because he looked liked a theater expert... he looked at me.. with distrust and shrugged.. His dad explained this was his FIRST show..Oh..i said, i thought you have been to many many shows and asked how old he was 7 1/2 he said proudly... well i advised him to look for singing and dancing tonight..

the music swelled in a beautifully staged set... and i started to cry.. most of the music made me cry...I cried for my dad never being a rich man, i cried for the husband that the Good Lord hasnt brought to my sphere, i cried for my grandparents who left russia under similiar conditions, i cried because i am part of a community of jews, my small town with its antisemitism, my adult community of NY where Jews are as common as Goldberg....i cried through most of the play....maybe it was just a release...

as for harvey fierstein...I think his performance lacks the emotion the connection to TEvye...he plays a duller man who in shining moments you see his heart.. a tevye with a different voice... A voice that doesnt reach into your past and rip out your heart, a more modern voice... A tevye who doesnt make you believe he lived it.. Harvey baby REaCH into the sexism you have faced as a gay man... and make me believe you know the pain TEVYE faces... Harvey...make me believe that you have lived with a fiddler on your roof....

the staging was excellent and use of space was great.. teh orchestra sat in the right back corner of the stage and the design was one of the best i have seen.. its a three hour play... so why did i go on a work day and school night... well 33.50 tickets that is why... i sat in the TDF braggers section... why flaunt your good fortune in the face of others paying 150.00 for orchestra seats...

what would the good book say... what would tevye say....

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

the new phone book

why is it on the day that the new phone book comes, i feel like a somebody?

Monday, February 21, 2005

$40 dollars a day

Does Rachel Ray ever go over her $40 a day limit????

not in salem, oregon, not in vegas, not in NYC, not in NC, not in the grand canyon, not in mystic CT, not in Nantucket, Not in portland Me...

i bet she can get three meals and more in Madison Wi....or in Bayfield WI where the salmon was fresh from the great lakes or Michigan or IOWA...

why wont rachel ray go to the midwest...

the OCD bag lady

i was on the Q train on saturday, tuned out, tuned in as usual and i was listening to my IPOD and click click click...the blackberry, cleaning email, checking email.. writing some guy in oklahoma who wrote to thank me for something i sent him and how it jazzed his valentines day... when i looked over to see a woman...

she was petite and had a load of shopping bags, each filled separately.. paper, plastic and assorted found objects... why did she need all those papers, or scraps of potato chip bags...she had about 10 bags and there is no way she could cart em around... so she sat in her black coat..a mans XXXL and she was smaller than a small and she was starting to fall asleep...

knowing it was cold out at night... i started to think... did she stay up all night at coney island or whereever she hides...she started to doze but forced herself away.. was she just on the move... was she homeless.. i looked closely at her hair under her wool hat and saw that she had not cleaned her face for a while.. there was a layer of dirt and grime if you looked close that revealed that she could not or would not wash...

the train kept moving, people on .. people off.... i clicked clicked clicked and between canal and my destination of 14th street, i stood, put on my backpack and reached in my pocket... I pulled out a bill.. i never saw if it was a 5 (oh my merch 5s) or a 10 or 20... i pulled a bill folded it over and asked her if she needed it...

she looked at me without looking at me in my parka and electronics and took it without a word...

a man standing at teh door looked at me and shrugged.... i shrugged back and went on my way to buy too much stuff....

the violinist

my neighbor is a concert violinist.. she attended Julliard and i see her often carrying her violin in and out of the apartment.. Last Friday, i was home for Lincoln's bday and decided to go out midmorning.. I had worked out and had the stereo up pretty loud...

i got the elevator which was about 10 feet from her apartment when i heard the VIOLIN playing.. i remarked... Oh, i had never heard my neighbor practice and when i had asked her about it, she told me she practices at Juilliard and lessons and doesnt need to do that at home...

Sunday, Yesterday. same routine for me... papers, coffee, workout to Joni Mitchell.. i have been stuck on Blue and Ladies of the CAnyon (again) and realized i had em cranked so i left my apartment to hear the violin music....

i wonder if she could drown out Joni Mitchell...

Sunday, February 20, 2005

little green joni mitchell

Born with the moon in cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters cannot fade her
Call her green for the children who’ve made her
Little green, be a gypsy dancer

He went to california
Hearing that everything’s warmer there
So you write him a letter and say, her eyes are blue.
He sends you a poem and she’s lost to you
Little green, he’s a non-conformer

Ch0rus:

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There’ll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the northern lights perform
There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there’ll be sorrow

Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You’re sad and you’re sorry, but you’re not ashamed
Little green, have a happy ending

Chorus:

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There’ll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the northern lights perform
There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there’ll be sorrow

Conversation joni mitchell

He comes for conversation
I comfort him sometimes
Comfort and consultation
He knows that’s what he’ll find
I bring him grapes and cheeses
He brings me songs to play
He sees me when he pleases
I see him in cafes
And I only say, hello
And turn away before his lady knows
How much I want to see him
She removes him, like a ring
To wash her hands
She only brings him out to show her friends
I want to free him

Secrets and sharing soda
That’s how our time began
Love is a story told to a friend
It’s second hand
But I’ll listen to his questions
I’ll give my answers when they’re found
He says she keeps him guessing
But I know she keeps him down
She speaks in sorry sentences
Miraculous repentances
I don’t believe her
Tomorrow he will come to me
And he’ll speak his sorrow endlessly and he’ll ask me why
Why can’t I leave her?

He comes for conversation
I comfort him sometimes
Comfort and consultation
He knows that’s what he’ll find

all i want joni mitchell

I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some
I love you some
Oh I love you when I forget about me
I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living
Alive, alive, I want to get up and jive
I want to wreck my stockings in some juke box dive
Do you want - do you want - do you want
To dance with me baby
Do you want to take a chance
On maybe finding some sweet romance with me baby
Well, come on

All I really really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you too
All I really really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you
I want to talk to you, I want to shampoo you
I want to renew you again and again
Applause, applause - life is our cause
When I think of your kisses
My mind see-saws
Do you see - do you see - do you see
How you hurt me baby
So I hurt you too
Then we both get so blue

I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Looking for the key to set me free
Oh the jealousy, the greed is the unraveling
It’s the unraveling
And it undoes all the joy that could be
I want to have fun, I want to shine like the sun
I want to be the one that you want to see
I want to knit you a sweater
Want to write you a love letter
I want to make you feel better
I want to make you feel free
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm,
Want to make you feel free
I want to make you feel free

Saturday, February 19, 2005

batali is the best iron chef

Mario Batali is my favorite Iron Chef America.... I used to admire the artistry of Bobby Flay til i saw Iron chef america Chocolate and coconut... in this episode, Mario- now deemed the BEST Iron Chef America...was full of personality. he chatted with the announcers when he could add to their play by play.. Batali worked hard and exemplified the iron Chef moniker. He worked the kitchen stadium while sticking to his specialty. batali is the italian chef but he extends to the whole meditarean area.. he is at his best with the flavors of italy.. Tuscany, Scilian and the rest.. that is why Batali is hte best

Mario Batali
True Italo-philes know Molto Mario is the king of authentic Italian eats.

Stats
From: Seattle
Restaurants: Babbo, Lupa, Otto, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Bistro Du Vent
Cuisine: Italian, Spanish, and French
Interests: Family, travel, golf
Ideal secret ingredient: Seafood
Culinary inspirations: Alain Ducasse, Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, Jeremiah Tower, Alice Waters
Ideal judge: Bart Starr or Jeremiah Tower, two of my heroes
Culinary secret weapon: Vin cotto or balsamic vinegar
Favorite restaurant: Pearl Oyster, Mesa Grill, or Gray’s Papaya
Favorite food: Anything anyone else makes
Food you won’t go near: Durian
Weirdest thing you've ever eaten: Fried grasshoppers
Favorite food destination: Bologna for lasagna, Brodo for tortellini
Alternative dream job: Pool boy in Malibu

Bio: Bobby Flay

"I'm going to put a new and colorful twist on southwestern cuisine," said Bobby Flay, host of Food Network's Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay,FoodNation, and Boy Meets Grill, just before the 1991 opening of the now-celebrated Mesa Grill. Since then the flame-haired man from Manhattan has earned critical acclaim, including Gael Greene's choice of Mesa Grill as best restaurant in 1992. Mesa Grill's two-star review in The New York Times reported that "the sassy fare at Mesa Grill surpasses anything of its kind elsewhere in New York."

The recognition that Bobby has gained at Mesa Grill for his mouthwatering dishes has built his reputation as a major force not only in New York's culinary scene but also nationwide. In May 1993, Bobby was voted the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year, an award that honors the country's most accomplished chef under the age of 30. The French Culinary Institute, his alma mater, honored him in 1993 with its first-ever Outstanding Graduate Award, which recognizes the school's most accomplished alumni. And his first book, Bobby Flay's Bold American Food (Warner Books, 1994), won the 1995 International Association of Culinary Professionals award for design. Not one to rest on laurels, Bobby has authored three more cookbooks:From My Kitchen to Your Table (Clarkson Potter, 1998), Boy Meets Grill (Hyperion, 1999) and Bobby Flay Cooks American (Hyperion, 2001).

Bobby fell into cooking at the age of 17 when he took a job at New York's Joe Allen restaurant. Eventually, he so impressed the management that Joe Allen paid his tuition to the prestigious French Culinary Institute. But French cuisine was not to be Bobby's destiny. After restaurateur Jonathan Waxman introduced him to southwestern ingredients, Bobby -- instantly drawn to indigenous American foods such as black and white beans, chiles and avocados -- was determined to explore the possibilities of southwestern cuisine as an important and distinct culinary style for America.

From 1988 to 1990, Bobby experimented with his new culinary passion at New York's Miracle Grill, where his colorful southwestern creations earned him something of a cult following. When Bobby's own Mesa Grill opened its doors in 1991, his reputation as a major New York chef was sealed. He continued to soar with Bolo, his second New York restaurant, which Bobby (Bo) and partner Laurence Kretchmer (Lo) opened in November 1993. Dedicated to exploring Spanish cuisine, Bobby's innovative menu at Bolo dazzles adventurous palates daily.

Bobby's latest restaurant, Mesa Grill Las Vegas, will open in summer 2004 in Caesar's Palace. His newest cookbook, Boy Gets Grill, will launch this spring.


Bio: Masaharu Morimoto


Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Iron Chef Japanese Masaharu Morimoto trained in a sushi restaurant before moving to the US in 1985 at the age of 30. After working in several restaurants, he joined the highly acclaimed Nobu restaurant in New York City.

Morimoto polished his craft in New York's melting pot and became a state-of-the-art world chef. His cutting-edge cuisine attracted the attention of Iron Chef's producers, who invited him to become a Japanese Iron Chef. His skill, which outshines the trademark diamond stud in his left ear, has been recognized all around the world. While his cooking has Japanese roots, it's actually "global cooking" for the 21st century. His unique fusion cuisine takes advantage of Japanese color combinations and aromas and uses Chinese spices and simple Italian ingredients, while maintaining a refined French style of presentation.

"Cooking is entertainment," proclaims the revolutionary. Morimoto's attitude is evident in his dishes, which retain a sense of fun and a bit of spice.

Morimoto opened his own restaurant, Morimoto, in Philadelphia in 2002.

Gates week 2

Here are some great gates pix taken by Neil Litt

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/iddiot_tree/gates1.html

Neil gave me permission.... the Times has not but i thought these were a great take on HOW NOT TO YOURSELF, YOUR CITY or YOUR gates too seriously

THen the NYTIMES has a great take on the anti gates:

With $3.50 and a Dream, the 'Anti-Christo' Is Born
By SARAH BOXER

Published: February 19, 2005

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 18 - You've seen Christo's "Gates" in Central Park. But what about Hargo's "Gates" in Somerville, Mass.? Sure, Hargo is unabashedly riding on the coattails of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. But it did take him some time to make his gates: 0.002 years, he estimates. That's a good chunk of a day. You may as well take a look: www.not-rocket-science.com/gates.htm.

Just who is Hargo? Is he some kind of genius wrapper? His name is Geoff Hargadon, he is 50 and, in a telephone interview, he would only say, enigmatically, "Art is not my profession." His last installation was a studio full of discarded ATM receipts. The show was called "Balance." It was about "people, privacy and money," he said, adding: "You want to know how much people have? Here it is."

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Like Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Hargo used recyclable materials for "The Somerville Gates." Unlike them, he accepts donations to defray the cost of his installation, which was $3.50. The mayor of Somerville did not come to the unveiling, on Valentine's Day.

Does Hargo have a Jeanne-Claude at his side? His cat, Edie, is a redhead, like Jeanne-Claude, he said on the telephone. But his partner in art is his wife, Patricia La Valley. Together they installed "The Somerville Gates" at their home on Monday night, while watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on television. They took pictures, posted them on a Web site and sent the link to 30 friends by e-mail. Within 24 hours, the site had 99,000 hits.

"The Somerville Gates" has now become, Mr. Hargadon said, "the anti-Christo."

Each saffron-colored gate that makes up "The Somerville Gates" is a 3.5-inch-high structure made of wooden dowels, cut-up roof shingles and clear corrugated plastic, all painted with orange tempera. (Hargo made 16 individual gates and moved them from room to room, following Edie's footsteps.)

On the Web site, the installation begins with the Door Gates, then moves on to the Poopatorium Gates, the Fridge Gates, the Table Gates, the Feeding Gates, the Tub Gates, the Fluffy Rug Gates, the Desk Gates, the Media Gates and finally the Stairway Gates.

There are some obscure parts to the installation, at least as it appears on the Web. You can't really see where you are when you approach the Poopatorium Gates. The sinuous path of the orange flags seems to run alongside a bed, or perhaps it is a hallway. What is that black thing looming in the distance? Where is the kitty litter?

A few passages of "The Somerville Gates" sound as if they're going to be repetitive. Did Hargo really need to have Fridge Gates, Feeding Gates and Table Gates? But if you spend some time on the site, you will see that each passage has its own aura. The Fridge Gates have an airy feel while the Feeding Gates have a finality to them, dead-ending at a blue bowl and a hungry cat. The Table Gates passage is ominous, with dark table and chair legs dwarfing the little orange structures.

For pure beauty and rhythm, you can't beat the Stairway Gates. But the Media Gates are the most suspenseful and loaded with meaning. At the tip of a V-shaped arrangement of orange gates sits a television screen. On the screen is a baleful looking dog. (He was one of the contestants in the Westminster dog show.) You can see Edie the cat looking over the gates and staring down the dog. The situation cries out for a mouse to run the gates' gantlet.

Mr. Hargadon said he had told his friends not to call him Geoff or Mr. Hargadon anymore. It is just Hargo. But he doesn't go for bombast. "I like the idea of 'The Gates,' but maybe something smaller, something more subtle." Something more like "The Somerville Gates."

"There are no invitations," Hargo says at the Web site. "There are no tickets."

"If anyone tries to sell you a ticket, do not buy it," he continues. "The Gates are not for sale. Neither is the cat."

"Signed photos, however," he writes, "are available directly from the artist in limited editions."

There is no wind blowing these gates, no matter what the weather. So you don't have to pick your viewing date. And the Web site will stay up for a long time. The Somerville installation itself, though, is ephemeral. It goes down when "the cleaning lady comes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/arts/19bgate.html


RELATED Published: February 19, 2005


Another heir to Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Gates" has just hit the Internet. Meet Chris and Jane, creators of "The Crackers," an installation of orange cheddar-cheese-and-peanut-butter crackers poised like dominoes on a Central Park footbridge. On their Web site, www.smilinggoat.com/crackers.html, Chris Cunniffe, 34, who works in publishing, and Jane Hanstein Cunniffe, 44, an advertising copywriter for Verizon, say, " 'The Crackers' is as much a public happening as it is a tasty snack." For more than 26 minutes on Thursday during lunch hour, they "poured their hearts and souls into the project," assembling some three dozen crackers over nearly 23 inches. Jane took pictures, posted them and fed the installation to the ducks.

Bookends

Time it was and what a time it was it was,
A time of innocence a time of confidences.

Long ago it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you”

Friday, February 18, 2005

gates from the sky

here's a photo
http://www.spaceimaging.com/gallery/spacepics/central_park_12Feb05.jpg

from Gary Price (lib'n)'s Resource Shelf blog:

Just Released, Satellite Image of The Gates Project in NYC's Central Park
"The image was taken Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005, the same day that The Gates
were unfurled. At a cost of $20 Million, The Gates was conceived by artists
Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The image shows all of Central Park the gates
geometrically placed throughout the park...Space Imaging decided to
commemorate this environmental art exhibit by tasking its IKONOS to share
its bird's eye view of the 7,500 gates with saffron-colored fabric panels.
From 423 miles in space moving over the Earth in a north-to-south orbit at
17,000 mph, this perspective showcases the size and scope of 23-mile-long
The Gates project."

Thursday, February 17, 2005

a place in the world

I dont know if i have found my place in the world but i have found my way in the world. i have found a way that i want to be in the world but i am not sure that i am where i need to be or want to be but i know HOW i want to be......

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Iron Chef

my cable company F*&)&in Cablevision, whore of all NYC, just gave us Food Network and i got hooked.. so hooked, i didnt know about the Tsunami all day.. Aaron Brown told me about me..
back to food network.... I absorb this channel... Bobby Flay, Food Nation. unwrapped, rachel ray and 40 clams a day...and IRON CHEF....

the gladitor show with pagentry and style and food, lots of different food and a secret ingredient and 2 chefs squaring off for 5 dishes....

i cant get enough.. i love Iron Chef America but its on opposite desparate housewives .. s i see teh repeats on saturday.... I love the commentary and play by play.. watch those sous chef in the background doing some real work...


sakai, the greatest japanese chef is like Johnny cash.. he uses simple things and has the most stunning knife skills

then there is Bartali... with his italian american nouveau cuisine...

and Bobby Flay, like larry bird, he can trash talk and put up when it counts..
he hits the threes...over and over but you have to tolerate him...

how come

How come i work my butt off and the agency i work for screws it up?

How come i eat healthy and walk 13,000 steps aday and i dont lose any weight?

How come few see the things that i see?

view on the wall

I walked by the parking lot on my way to work and saw a sign that read

"what if you were guarenteed to fail."

Capricorn Horoscope for week of February 17, 2005

Capricorn Horoscope for week of February 17, 2005

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
If you try to operate a chainsaw or backhoe before you've been trained in its use, you might hurt yourself or others. That doesn't mean the chainsaw and backhoe are evil. Now let's apply this idea as a metaphor for a situation you face right now. I believe you are at the earliest stages of your relationship with a freshly discovered potential. You've realized the benefits that it can ultimately offer you, but you're nowhere near being able to wield it safely and effectively. Having sounded this warning, however, I want to encourage you to begin learning how to use it immediately.

license to kill bob dylan

Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will.
Oh, man has invented his doom,
First step was touching the moon.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
Then they bury him with stars,
Sell his body like they do used cars.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there facin' the hill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused,
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill.
All he believes are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.

But there's a woman on my block,
Sitting there in a cold chill.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker,
Heartbreaker, backbreaker,
Leave no stone unturned.
May be an actor in a plot,
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled.
Oh, man is opposed to fair play,
He wants it all and he wants it his way.

Now, there's a woman on my block,
She just sit there as the night grows still.
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

valentines day 2005 version 2

my day began with the brake light on in my toyota so i pulled into my mechanic who diagnosed it with possible master cylinder problems?
so i left my car and got on the commuter train.. so i started to hand out hershey's kisses to my ticket clerk and the conductor..i then had to meet with Mr Sellack, so i gave him some kisses (i bet he ate then after i left) and then i handed the kisses to my staff of 30...and then to the postoffice clerks.. I had to go back to Hammond to get my car..

Minor cylinder problems on the right rear, new brake shoes on the rear and after 106,000 miles and summer on the horizon..I called in a tune up..so i postponed it a little too long (that was risk taking) so in Hammond, i got my car and treated the shop to the rest of the kisses... all the married men got hershey's kisses from me.. and i left my Valentines Day 492 dollars in the shop..
Gerry.. love your car and it will love you back, mile after mile after mile..

when i got home, i ran into my 5 year old friend Eddie. Eddie has a new baby brother who he wants to send back.. but last night he was going to the dentist to have a tooth pulled. He even showed me the jiggling one in the front... i didnt have any chocolate left so i gave eddie a dollar, for the ice cream man.. his mom reminded me it was february..but Eddie and i knew that April will be here soon and you can never be TOO ready for the ice cream man...

so the point is, love is where you make it and love is where you find it...and sometimes love just finds you- You cant force it but you can create it...(I had a good therapist!!!)


well i celebrated valentines day tonight at joes pub with the velvet voice of Raul Malo previewing his new cd.. Its a cover Cd produced by Peter Asher
that was a valentines day night...

so gerry postpone your valentines day til you need one...maybe June or August or maybe the next time I see your face, i will have chocolate kisses for you....

Monday, February 14, 2005

valentines day 2005

my day started with my brake light lit up in my car. so i took it pronto to the mechanic... with the usual antipation, i got the call that told me that i needed a brake cylander and because of the leaking brake fluid. i needed to replace the back break pads.. i knew i had done them 3 years ago or never since i have done the front ones twice.. dad's rule... two fronts to one back...so it was time for ONE back..

then i knew i was tempting the fates by going 107,000 miles with no tune up.. so i ordered up a tune up and oil change... i caught them on a slow day and ended with a brake fluid D&C on top and recommendations for new tires and new wipers.. Both of which i need... the wipers may be more pressing than the tire...

so i took the train to the LIRR to work and came in late, on a day when a new staff member started.. NOt my best of choices and i left the cup of coffee in the cup holder.. not enough coffee and too much stress

on top of that my cellphone wasnt getting service for about a week ..so a call to T-mobile to explain.. i had a car emergency and had to use a payphone - after a free month of service -6 months from now... i got to Blackberry and they reset my network settings and i am back in blackberry phone business....live and learn and call and question...dont wait two weeks without phone service..

then i headed home by train.. i think i missed the 412 but got the 427 and on the mechanic... so why was my check engine light on... all that engine work...if it didnt shut off, bring it back...

in the mean time... susan called and offered me her second ticket to raul malo at joes pub for tomorrow... so i am off to hear the sexiest voice and hte real valentines day show...

i walked in the rain.. and it was the beautiful rain to return home wet and sat down to my school work...

oh, yeah.. everyone i saw ... and knew.. even the train conductor got hershey's kisses today... a gift of valentines day...and i got a 426 dollar car repair bill..

.but my car is one of my loves and safety is worth the price...and my travels PRICELESS...

happy vday....anyway

More on the Gates

happen to agree with brooklynboy Dave on the Gates. this brooklyn girl
has been long waiting the Gates project to come to fruition. It has been
changed by Christo and Jean Claude so that it will leave NO permanent
effect on central park.

THe gates are up for 2 weeks, originally to be a fall project, i am not
sure why it was moved to winter... it appears that there were alot of
compromises on both sides to make this come off.. Jean Claude has been
vocal about tackling resistance on all the projects they have done...

The gates are stunning.. when i exited the train at 57th, i saw the
beginning of the park and my first reaction was OH MY G-d... the gates
are all different based on the light and on the wind.. so each the same
is actually different. They will change with the rain and snow(?) and it
just art for art sake..

there are no hidden meaning or understandings to be had or corrected or
to be defined.. The gates have brought over a million people to the park
in two days,

parents and kids, older americans and many many foreigners and tourists
to see the project...

i loved the linear nature of the gates and the symatry while seeing each
differnce...

THe Gates Rock in my book.... I want to see them everyday or again from
a different side of the park...

it was interesting to see the summerstage set surrounded by Gates or the
delacourt theater with Gates.. or all those places like the great lawn
or sheep meadow... only now they look a little different.. so i have
gained a new appreciation for the park and will look at differently
withouth THE Gates

sharon

Sunday, February 13, 2005

the gates

with much anticipation, i have been following the Gates project of Christo and Jean Claude as they drape Central Park in saffron curtains for two weeks. I decided not to go on the first day when they were unfurling the GATES but rather go on sunday, a day when the installation was complete and it was warmer..

when i got off the train at 57th, i could see the lower park and my first reaction was "OH MY G_D" the gates were beautiful. There was no breeze immediately and the curtains were still. As my walk continues there was a sense of festivity in the air. There were many languages and there were all sorts of people out in the park. There were families, older ameicans, young kids who didnt understand, lovers holding hands, people with cameras . There were lots of cameras and it was really and event. I saw lots of middle teenage kids and i thought that was cool that they were interested in the Gates. The installation is all over the park..

Then a parade of cop cars and a few limos riding down roads that cars cannot travel towards travern on the green.. Someone said Christo and Jean claude were in the limos and the park goers started to clap for the them as they passed... an act of appreciation for adding color to a drap february...

i may go see the gates again, they are different every day from every part of the park and when it rains or snows..The color of the saffron changes with the sun..
it really is stunning....and special

Friday, February 11, 2005

my favorite things

Reads:
http://www.alternet.org/rights
NYtimes.com
TimeoutNY.com
villagevoice.com
the new yorker
ny magazine
boston.com


listens:

wfuv.org
airamericaradio.com
therandirhodesshow.com

frequents

suzannevega.com
darwilliams.net
marychapincarpenter.com
rosannecash.com
johngorka.com

watches:

the apprentice
surreal life
strange love
desparate housewives
foodnetwork.com
iron chef america is the best
unwrapped
goodeats

Aaron brown is the best at 10pm
jon stewart and the daily show
david letterman is supreme
sometimes i find Imas in the morning.. sometimes i dont

get ye song lyrics

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/

i found the rosanne cash lyrics here but also....

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/carpenter-mary-chapin.htm

for Dar ... just got to Darwilliams.net

and please ask me who dar williams is????

44 stories- Rosanne Cash

Baptize her with bitter tears till she knows your pain is real.
Next time you see her on her knees, don't try to make a deal.
Don't stare her into silence, with frozen point of view.
'Cause she's got 44 stories: she wants to tell them all to you.

Welcome her to all your fears and trust that she will cope.
Give her one day of satisfaction for a thousand years of hope.
Don't turn to dry your eyes, and lose your chance to look.
'Cause she's got 44 stories: she wants to write them in a book.


Wait until your mem'ry clears, then welcome her to Rome.
The desert of your misspent years that led you to her home.
Don't hold her up to sunlight, she'll melt into the blue.
Don't make her shout through static if you want hear the truth,
'Cause she's got 44 stories;
She's got 44 stories;
She's got 44 stories: she wants to tell them all to you.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Horoscope for week February 10th

Capricorn Horoscope for week of February 10, 2005

Happy Valentine Daze, Capricorn! After careful meditation about what advice would be most likely to energize your love life, I've decided to make three suggestions. First, bring more boldness and daring to the part of your life where intimacy is of crucial importance. Second, take to heart the idea that loving another human being is an epic, heroic, monumental enterprise. Third, write down this quote from poet Delmore Schwartz and carry it with you for the next 14 days: "Love is the most difficult and dangerous form of courage. Courage is the most desperate, admirable, and noble kind of love."

Monday, February 07, 2005

angels on earth or whatever

i went out for my nightly walk and i walked and walked and walked down the parkway, on my way back up the parkway, i saw a shiny new big big black mercedes benz.. I looked at the benz and it caught my eye because the light was on inside. I looked for an owner near by and looking at the HUGE homes across the street. There were drive ways attached to the homes, so i thought, why would the owner park on the street. so i stood there looking and thinking, then i thought.. call the police, what should i do?

i opened the car door to see that the belt got caught in the door and gently shut the door and the alarm was set... A simple act may have saved the owner a battery or not having their car stolen...

then the next night on my standard walk... walk .. walk... i walked by the St Rose of Lima church like i always do and next to the church is a statue of st rose of lima..
next to the statue was a man with a backpack...

he was standing facing the statue.. many nights there are roses or flowers left in tribute to st rose of lima... so i looked her up on line

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13192c.htm

i said to the man, St ROse of Lima was an interesting woman, you should do some research on her..

He said...mary is with my exgirl friend and iam trying to get to them.. my girlfriend died 5 years ago and i am trying to get to see her face..

I said, I hope you are not thinking of killing yourself... HOW would you know that you would be with Mary or your girlfriend..

he said when you are saved or whatever then you know what happens after...and he wanted to see his girlfriend...

He said he just wanted to be with them and did i mind if he spent a few minutes speaking to hte statue...

I said... be my guest and i kept walking home and i turned the corner and as i looked back around the corner... He was gone...

sometimes its only chasing your own tail

http://muttscomics.com/art/dailyarchive.asp

january 24 2005

Saturday, February 05, 2005

I will

I Will

Who knows how long I’ve loved you.
You know I love you still.
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to – I will.
For if I ever saw you
I didn’t catch your name.
But it never really mattered
I will always feel the same.
Love you forever and forever.
Love you with all my heart.
Love you whenever we’re together.
Love you when we’re apart.
And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it so loud I can hear.
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me
You know I will.
I will.

Friday, February 04, 2005

week of feb 3

ome of my best meditations unfold as I'm mountain biking in the wilderness. Today, for example, I channeled your horoscope while struggling up a steep patch of craggy mud in the chilly drizzle. In the early part of my ascent, I cursed my stupidity. Why was I forcing myself to endure this ordeal? But soon I lifted my gaze from the ground and noticed how the mist swathed the top of Mt. Tamalpais in the distance. A bird began singing a deliriously cheerful tune. I realized that I wasn't really that cold, and that the light rain felt sensual, not uncomfortable. I was surrounded by beauty and my body felt invigorated by the exertion. That's when I thought of you, Capricorn. My situation, I knew intuitively, was a perfect metaphor for your life in the coming week.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

nanci griffith -BEFORE

This is a snippet from the Heart in Mind cd and the song Before that caught my ear when she played it live from FUV...

I dreamed of Manhattan
In a time before this war
It was snowing down on Bleecker Street
It was before you were a star