Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 09, 2009
dream
I have been dreaming of alternate side parking, natalie merchant again and various woman who were looking for various sexual encounters. ...
These HRT are kicking in... and at least I am sleeping deeply and dreaming
These HRT are kicking in... and at least I am sleeping deeply and dreaming
Persons I fun into
I left work late yesterday after stopping to chat and as I was leaving the building, I ran into one of my current students. James works near me and was walking to the train. We talked about class, his social work experience and I supported his efforts. We talked about the daily articles I send out and how they are useful to him. He is not computer literate and is learning to read them on line.
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 8, 2009
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 8, 2009
John, a colleague of mine, is a skillful psychotherapist. His father is in a similar occupation, psychoanalysis. If you ask John whether his dad gave him a good understanding of the human psyche while he was growing up, John quotes the old maxim: "The shoemaker's son has no shoes." Is there any comparable theme in your own life, Capricorn? Some talent or knowledge or knack that should have been but was not a part of your inheritance; a natural gift you were somehow cheated out of in your early environment? If so, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to start recovering from your loss and getting the good stuff you have coming to you.
John, a colleague of mine, is a skillful psychotherapist. His father is in a similar occupation, psychoanalysis. If you ask John whether his dad gave him a good understanding of the human psyche while he was growing up, John quotes the old maxim: "The shoemaker's son has no shoes." Is there any comparable theme in your own life, Capricorn? Some talent or knowledge or knack that should have been but was not a part of your inheritance; a natural gift you were somehow cheated out of in your early environment? If so, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to start recovering from your loss and getting the good stuff you have coming to you.
john lennon birthday
imagine peace news
THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNEX NYC WILL OFFER FREE ADMISSION ON OCTOBER 9th AND 10TH IN HONOR OF JOHN LENNON’S BIRTHDAY
A SPECIAL GIFT TO FANS
NEW YORK, NY (October 7, 2009) – The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC will offer fans free admission on October 9th and 10th to provide the ideal place to pay special tribute to legendary artist, John Lennon on what would have been his 69th birthday. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC showcases rare artifacts from legendary artists including Springsteen, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and its featured exhibit, JOHN LENNON: THE NEW YORK CITY YEARS.
JOHN LENNON: THE NEW YORK CITY YEARS represents a decade of freedom in New York City during the era of love, peace and rock & roll. The exhibition was made possible through the generosity of Yoko Ono, the wife and widow of Lennon. The exhibit is on loan to the Annex by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. and was curated by Ms. Ono and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs, Jim Henke. The exhibit includes a selection of rare artifacts, films and photos as well as exclusive New York-centric additions provided by Yoko Ono.
The Annex is open Sun. – Thurs. 10am – 8pm and on Fri. and Sat. 10am – 9pm, with last admission one hour prior to closing. Admission is free on October 9th and 10th. For tickets on all other days, call (866) 9-ROCKNY or (866) 976-2569, go to www.rockannex.com or visit the box office located at 76 Mercer Street (between Spring & Broome Sts.), New York, NY 10012. For general information please call (646) 786-6680.
About the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC is an experiential, technologically advanced exhibition that focuses on the greatest moments in rock history and resonates with everyone from the casual music fan to the seasoned rock enthusiast. The Annex also showcases selected items on loan to the Annex by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. from the museum’s vast collection, including Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy, John Lennon’s Record Plant Piano, Elvis Presley’s motorcycle jacket, a handwritten poem by Jim Morrison and much more. The Annex offers six galleries including the Hall of Fame, the Immersive Theater, Roots & Influences, Moments to Movements, New York Rocks, the Cleveland Gallery and the Special Rotating Exhibit, highlighting rock and roll’s impact on music and allowing visitors to discover, or rediscover, their connection to it all.
About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. Located in Cleveland, it carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs. www.rockhall.com
For additional information on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, please contact Margaret Thresher at (216) 515-1215 or mthresher@rockhall.org. Media and fans can also learn more about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum at www.rockhall.com.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Dream
Dream in a deep sleep, had to do with lots of room, Stuff packed in ziploc bags. People going in and out of the room, People asking for things. I was there and asked some questions.
woke up with headache, went back to sleep into the dream. wished it continued.
woke up with headache, went back to sleep into the dream. wished it continued.
Train People
Yesterday, I saw a man who made me totally uncomfortable. He was crippled with palsy or a stroke. His body was contorted and he made his way through the door with jerky motions. He pulled himself through the train. His clothes were old but clean and sneakers were cheap but in good condition. I looked at him and looked away. He asked for money or for food. Not too ashamed or embarrassed he said. I found myself wanting to look away. I was the one feeling ashamed at my feeling of disgust and embarrassed that I would not give to him. I reached toward my bag to get out my phone and he thought I was reaching for something for him. I shook him off with a shake of my head. He again announced he would take anything, not ashamed or embarrassed. I started to think about what it must be like for him to be in his body. I also thought about his disability check and the benefits I know he receives. I know he is not homeless or without services, but still he begs.
I then saw an old Chinese woman who had on old sneakers that were 4 sizes too big. It was like an old woman playing dress up. They looked liked man sneakers on her small feet. She had too much room in the back. I watched her walk in those sneakers and wondered if she knew they were too big and why she had to wear those big sneakers.
I then saw an old Chinese woman who had on old sneakers that were 4 sizes too big. It was like an old woman playing dress up. They looked liked man sneakers on her small feet. She had too much room in the back. I watched her walk in those sneakers and wondered if she knew they were too big and why she had to wear those big sneakers.
Monday, October 05, 2009
original Oleanna Review
Review/Theater: Oleanna; Mamet's New Play Detonates The Fury of Sexual Harassment
PRINT
SAVE
By FRANK RICH
Published: October 26, 1992, Monday
A year later, a mere newspaper photograph of Anita F. Hill can revive those feelings of rage, confusion, shame and revulsion that were the country's daily diet during the Senate hearings on Clarence Thomas. Sexual harassment remains such a hot button that even at the height of a raucous Presidential and senatorial election campaign a new case involving a relatively obscure mayoral appointee threatens to sweep all other news and issues from center stage in New York City. What are the piddling disputes of Democrats and Republicans, after all, next to the blood feuds between men who supposedly "don't get it" and women who doubt they ever will?
Enter David Mamet, who with impeccable timing has marched right into the crossfire. "Oleanna," the playwright's new drama at the Orpheum Theater, is an impassioned response to the Thomas hearings. As if ripped right from the typewriter, it could not be more direct in its technique or more incendiary in its ambitions. In Act I, Mr. Mamet locks one man and one woman in an office where, depending on one's point of view, an act of sexual harassment does or does not occur. In Act II, the antagonists, a middle-aged university professor (William H. Macy) and an undergraduate student (Rebecca Pidgeon), return to the scene of the alleged crime to try to settle their case without benefit of counsel, surrogates or, at times, common sense.
The result? During the pause for breath that separates the two scenes of Mr. Mamet's no-holds-barred second act, the audience seemed to be squirming and hyperventilating en masse, so nervous was the laughter and the low rumble of chatter that wafted through the house. The ensuing denouement, which raised the drama's stakes still higher, does nothing to alter the impression that "Oleanna" is likely to provoke more arguments than any play this year.
Those arguments are more likely to involve the play's content than its esthetics. "Oleanna" can be seriously faulted as a piece of dramatic writing only for its first act, which, despite some funny asides about a "Glengarry Glen Ross"-like real-estate deal, is too baldly an expository setup for the real action to come. The evening's second half, however, is wholly absorbing -- a typically virtuoso display of Mr. Mamet's gift for locking the audience inside the violent drama of his characters.
This playwright does not write sermonizing problem plays. John, the professor, and Carol, the student, do not talk around the issues that divide them or engage in pious philosophical debates that might eventually bring the audience to some logical, soothing resolution of the conflict. Instead, John and Carol go to it with hand-to-hand combat that amounts to a primal struggle for power. As usual with Mr. Mamet, the vehicle for that combat is crackling, highly distilled dialogue unencumbered by literary frills or phony theatrical ones. (The production, directed by the author, makes do with a few sticks of standard-issue office furniture for a set.) Imagine eavesdropping on a hypothetical, private Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas confrontation in an empty room, and you can get a sense of what the playwright is aiming for and sometimes achieves.
If it is hard to argue with Mr. Mamet's talent, it is also hard to escape his tendency to stack the play's ideological deck. To his credit, the incident of alleged sexual harassment that gives the play its premise is ambiguous: Both Carol and John win scattered points as they argue, Rashomon-style, that a particular physical gesture or a few lines of suggestive conversation in their first office encounter may have been either menacing or innocuous. But once Carol inflates her accusations for rhetorical purposes before a faculty committee, Mr. Mamet's sympathies often seem to reside with the defendant.
John, an intelligent if harried and pedantic man, is given an offstage life that he may lose if found guilty. He is up for tenure, has just made a deposit on a new house and has an apparently loving wife and son. By contrast, Carol is presented alternately as a dunce and a zealot. Though she does not understand the meaning of some garden-variety 25-cent words, she all too easily wields such malevolent jargon as "classist," "paternal prerogative" and "protected hierarchy" once her cause is taken up by an unnamed campus "group." She is given no offstage loved ones that might appeal to the audience's sympathy and is costumed in asexual outfits that come close to identifying her brand of rigid political correctness with the cultural police of totalitarian China.
Like any other playwright, Mr. Mamet has no obligation to be objective. To demand that he come out squarely and unequivocally on the side of women is to ask that he write a pandering (and no doubt tedious) play that would challenge no one and would subscribe to the exact intellectual conformity that "Oleanna" rightly condemns. Nor can one glibly reject his argument against fanatics like Carol who would warp the crusade against sexism, or any other worthy cause, into a reckless new McCarthyism that abridges freedom of speech and silences dissent. Yet "Oleanna" might be a meatier work if its female antagonist had more dimensions, even unpleasant ones, and if she were not so much of an interchangeable piece with the manipulative, monochromatic Mamet heroines of, say, "House of Games" and "Speed-the-Plow."
Even so, it would be overstating the case -- and surely it will be overstated by some -- to suggest that "Oleanna" is sexist. By evening's end, Mr. Mamet has at least entertained the possibility that there is less to John and more to Carol than the audience has previously supposed. And the playwright is well supported by his able actors in this regard, for Mr. Macy's ostensibly benign professor and Ms. Pidgeon's humorless, vengeful student pass through a shocking final catharsis that throws any pat conclusions about either character into chaos.
The play's title, taken from a folk song, refers to a 19th-century escapist vision of utopia. "Oleanna" itself evokes, however crudely, what one might wish to escape from: a sexual battleground where trust and even rational human discourse between men and women are in grave jeopardy. No wonder "Oleanna" leaves us feeling much the way the Thomas hearings did: soiled and furious. If some of that fury is inevitably aimed at the author, no one can accuse him of failing to provoke an audience about a subject that matters. The wounds of a year ago have hardly healed. Mr. Mamet, true to his role of artist, rips open what may be his society's most virulent scab. Oleanna Written and directed by David Mamet; scenery by Michael Merritt; costumes by Harriet Voyt; lighting by Kevin Rigdon; production stage manager, Carol Avery. The Back Bay Theater Company production presented by Frederick Zollo, Mitchell Maxwell, Alan J. Schuster, Peggy Hill Rosenkranz, Ron Kastner, Thomas Viertel, Steven Baruch, Frank and Woji Gero, in association with Patricia Wolff. At the Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Avenue, at Eighth Street, East Village. John . . . William H. Macy Carol . . . Rebecca Pidgeon
SAVE
By FRANK RICH
Published: October 26, 1992, Monday
A year later, a mere newspaper photograph of Anita F. Hill can revive those feelings of rage, confusion, shame and revulsion that were the country's daily diet during the Senate hearings on Clarence Thomas. Sexual harassment remains such a hot button that even at the height of a raucous Presidential and senatorial election campaign a new case involving a relatively obscure mayoral appointee threatens to sweep all other news and issues from center stage in New York City. What are the piddling disputes of Democrats and Republicans, after all, next to the blood feuds between men who supposedly "don't get it" and women who doubt they ever will?
Enter David Mamet, who with impeccable timing has marched right into the crossfire. "Oleanna," the playwright's new drama at the Orpheum Theater, is an impassioned response to the Thomas hearings. As if ripped right from the typewriter, it could not be more direct in its technique or more incendiary in its ambitions. In Act I, Mr. Mamet locks one man and one woman in an office where, depending on one's point of view, an act of sexual harassment does or does not occur. In Act II, the antagonists, a middle-aged university professor (William H. Macy) and an undergraduate student (Rebecca Pidgeon), return to the scene of the alleged crime to try to settle their case without benefit of counsel, surrogates or, at times, common sense.
The result? During the pause for breath that separates the two scenes of Mr. Mamet's no-holds-barred second act, the audience seemed to be squirming and hyperventilating en masse, so nervous was the laughter and the low rumble of chatter that wafted through the house. The ensuing denouement, which raised the drama's stakes still higher, does nothing to alter the impression that "Oleanna" is likely to provoke more arguments than any play this year.
Those arguments are more likely to involve the play's content than its esthetics. "Oleanna" can be seriously faulted as a piece of dramatic writing only for its first act, which, despite some funny asides about a "Glengarry Glen Ross"-like real-estate deal, is too baldly an expository setup for the real action to come. The evening's second half, however, is wholly absorbing -- a typically virtuoso display of Mr. Mamet's gift for locking the audience inside the violent drama of his characters.
This playwright does not write sermonizing problem plays. John, the professor, and Carol, the student, do not talk around the issues that divide them or engage in pious philosophical debates that might eventually bring the audience to some logical, soothing resolution of the conflict. Instead, John and Carol go to it with hand-to-hand combat that amounts to a primal struggle for power. As usual with Mr. Mamet, the vehicle for that combat is crackling, highly distilled dialogue unencumbered by literary frills or phony theatrical ones. (The production, directed by the author, makes do with a few sticks of standard-issue office furniture for a set.) Imagine eavesdropping on a hypothetical, private Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas confrontation in an empty room, and you can get a sense of what the playwright is aiming for and sometimes achieves.
If it is hard to argue with Mr. Mamet's talent, it is also hard to escape his tendency to stack the play's ideological deck. To his credit, the incident of alleged sexual harassment that gives the play its premise is ambiguous: Both Carol and John win scattered points as they argue, Rashomon-style, that a particular physical gesture or a few lines of suggestive conversation in their first office encounter may have been either menacing or innocuous. But once Carol inflates her accusations for rhetorical purposes before a faculty committee, Mr. Mamet's sympathies often seem to reside with the defendant.
John, an intelligent if harried and pedantic man, is given an offstage life that he may lose if found guilty. He is up for tenure, has just made a deposit on a new house and has an apparently loving wife and son. By contrast, Carol is presented alternately as a dunce and a zealot. Though she does not understand the meaning of some garden-variety 25-cent words, she all too easily wields such malevolent jargon as "classist," "paternal prerogative" and "protected hierarchy" once her cause is taken up by an unnamed campus "group." She is given no offstage loved ones that might appeal to the audience's sympathy and is costumed in asexual outfits that come close to identifying her brand of rigid political correctness with the cultural police of totalitarian China.
Like any other playwright, Mr. Mamet has no obligation to be objective. To demand that he come out squarely and unequivocally on the side of women is to ask that he write a pandering (and no doubt tedious) play that would challenge no one and would subscribe to the exact intellectual conformity that "Oleanna" rightly condemns. Nor can one glibly reject his argument against fanatics like Carol who would warp the crusade against sexism, or any other worthy cause, into a reckless new McCarthyism that abridges freedom of speech and silences dissent. Yet "Oleanna" might be a meatier work if its female antagonist had more dimensions, even unpleasant ones, and if she were not so much of an interchangeable piece with the manipulative, monochromatic Mamet heroines of, say, "House of Games" and "Speed-the-Plow."
Even so, it would be overstating the case -- and surely it will be overstated by some -- to suggest that "Oleanna" is sexist. By evening's end, Mr. Mamet has at least entertained the possibility that there is less to John and more to Carol than the audience has previously supposed. And the playwright is well supported by his able actors in this regard, for Mr. Macy's ostensibly benign professor and Ms. Pidgeon's humorless, vengeful student pass through a shocking final catharsis that throws any pat conclusions about either character into chaos.
The play's title, taken from a folk song, refers to a 19th-century escapist vision of utopia. "Oleanna" itself evokes, however crudely, what one might wish to escape from: a sexual battleground where trust and even rational human discourse between men and women are in grave jeopardy. No wonder "Oleanna" leaves us feeling much the way the Thomas hearings did: soiled and furious. If some of that fury is inevitably aimed at the author, no one can accuse him of failing to provoke an audience about a subject that matters. The wounds of a year ago have hardly healed. Mr. Mamet, true to his role of artist, rips open what may be his society's most virulent scab. Oleanna Written and directed by David Mamet; scenery by Michael Merritt; costumes by Harriet Voyt; lighting by Kevin Rigdon; production stage manager, Carol Avery. The Back Bay Theater Company production presented by Frederick Zollo, Mitchell Maxwell, Alan J. Schuster, Peggy Hill Rosenkranz, Ron Kastner, Thomas Viertel, Steven Baruch, Frank and Woji Gero, in association with Patricia Wolff. At the Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Avenue, at Eighth Street, East Village. John . . . William H. Macy Carol . . . Rebecca Pidgeon
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Blog from NJ.com
The third show at Giants Stadium on Saturday night was a very good show and a fun show.
A lot of highlights including maybe the most memorable feat Bruce has ever done in a crowd, bodysurfing what had to be at least 30 yards from the back of the General Admission pit to the stage. People will be talking about it for years. A Hall of Fame moment.
Hearing "Born In The U.S.A." played in its entirety was pretty cool and for the most part made for a fun evening for the third show of the five-night stand.
Show began at 8:23 p.m.
Band came on stage starting with Nils and Roy. Bruce and Clarence entered from Clarence's side of the stage. Bruce walked Clarence over to his spot and Clarence gave Bruce a little kiss.
"Good evening New Jersey. You came out to help us shut the old lady down. Are you ready for the wrecking ball?"
1. Wrecking Ball
A good opener. Curt Ramm's trumpet playing really stands out. The lyrics were on the big screen one line at a time. On Wednesday the lyrics were off a bit at times and shown a few lines at a time, on Friday there were no lyrics and tonight they finally got it right.
"Bring it on!" Bruce yelled at the end.
2. Out In The Street
I always like hearing this song. Has a lot of energy. Bruce spotted a little girl (8-year-old Sammie from Philadelphia who has sang with him before) at the center extension and brought her onstage to sing with him. She was very good and Bruce was in a playful mood from the start.
The stadium was up and rocking.
3 . Outlaw Pete
Not sure what to say on this. One of only two songs that Bruce still plays from the Working on a Dream album. Been in this early spot in the setlist rotation for the entire tour. Does seem to work well in a stadium. Once again Western scenes were shown on the big screen.
4. Hungry Heart
Forget the song, what Bruce did in the middle of it is one for the ages. A legendary tale that people will be tellling their friends, "I was at Giants Stadium the night Bruce body surfed the crowd for 30 yards."
For the first two Giants Stadium shows, Bruce has been coming down from the stage and going around the huge general admission standing pit in front of the stage.
He starts out doing the same thing tonight, but when he gets to the center back of the pit, he decides he wants to body surf to the stage. It has to be 30 yards. "Can you get me back to the stage?" Bruce asks as he falls into the crowd.
The trust he has with his audience is amazing.
He hopped up and told the people to send him to the stage. I was in the center of the pit and one of the people who Bruce came right over top of. It was very cool knowing he was headed right toward us and we got our hands up and pretty soon he was right there. I held up his boot, leg and back as he came across. Many female fans in the audience were bragging they had their hands on his butt.
It all worked well and Bruce made a nice soft landing on the stage. He had two security guards who were trying to stay behind him and they had a look on their faces like "what he is doing?"
When it was over, the two guards headed back out right by me, both with smiles and just shaking their heads.
This will be one of those stories that will be talked about over and over in the history of Bruce Springsteen.
5. Working On A Dream
The only other song Bruce has been playing from the new album. "We're just getting started!" Bruce said.
Before starting the full Born In the U.S.A. album, he said how he wanted to make these Giants Stadium shows special. "First night we played all of Born to run. Second night was Darkness and tonight, this is Born In the U.S.A.
6. Born In The U.S.A.
I loved when this was the opener on this tour in 1984 and 1985. Very powerful and a classic that seems to have been lost for the most part over the past tours.
The line: "I'm ten years burning down the road" was changed to "40 years."
Tne entire stadium was up rocking to this.
7. Cover Me
Great guitar solos by Nils. Another song that has been mostly forgotton on past tours, although it has been played a few times on this tour.
8. Darlington County
"Let's go on a road trip!" Bruce said. He had the crowd sing the first verse.
Bruce came to the side extension of Clarence's side and a woman did a flash for the cameras. Yes, it was on the big screens.
Bruce and Nils sang together on the front-center stage.
Always fun.
9. Working On The Highway
As he has done in the past on this tour, they put a microphone on the front-center extension and Bruce sang from there. Soozie had a nice violin solo. There was a young woman who came onstage to play the tambourine next to Soozie on this song. Not sure who is was, maybe Garry Tallent's daughter?
10. Downbound Train
Another great song that isn't played enough anymore. I believe it was only played one other time this tour. Very nice to hear.
11. I'm On Fire
They brought a chair out to the center extension and Bruce sang the song from there. He reached out to touch several fans.
12. No Surrender
Kind of weird seeing this in the midset. Always gets the crowd going.
13. Bobby Jean
Oh well, guess he had to play it of course. Not a favorite of many fans. The crowd in the pit did sway their arms back and forth.
14. I'm Goin' Down
Been played a few times this tour. Very nice to hear it in this spot. Another fun song from this album.
15. Glory Days
Really strange to hear this midset although that's where it was in the setlist during the Born In the U.S.A. tour.
Had the entire stadium up. Not sure if it had the impact of where it's usually played in the encore, but again, it was fun.
Bruce was going "Wooooooooh!" and throwing his arms up in the air several times toward the end of the song.
16. Dancing In The Dark
Same comment as Glory Days. Very weird to see midset although it was played that way in 1984 and 1985.
Bruce brought up his favorite dance partner, Hannah from New York City who was celebrating her 13th birthday. She was wearing an orange Syracuse sweat jacket. She is great. This is the second or third time I've seen her dance with Bruce and it's always a treat.
She has great moves and she and Bruce have great chemistry.
Hannah had a sign that said "13th birthday dance?" as she was celebrating her special day.
"She's got the moves!" Bruce yelled out when she finished dancing with him.
17. My Hometown
I always remember when listening to this album, and all the fun, upbeat songs, how My Hometown sort of all brought it right back to our own little Main Street.
It hasn't been played too often the past couple of tours so it was nice to hear.
Bruce worked the crowd at the end, having them sing along on the "Your Hometown" part. it got louder and louder.
As he did the past two shows, Bruce brought Steve, Max, Garry, Roy and Clarence to the front center stage.
"These are the guys who made the record! And Phanthom Dan Federici," Bruce said.
This was a very touching moment at all three shows.
"That was so much better than I thought it would be," a friend said to me after the Born In The U.S.A. songs. I agree, it was pretty special.
18. The Promised Land
An audible. Waiting on A Sunny Day was on the hand-written setlist in this spot. Most fans were happy we didn't get "Waiting" here. The big screens were showing clouds and a green field.
19. Last To Die
A tour premiere. One of the anchors from the Magic Tour. Good to hear again. Curt Ramm came out to play the trumpet but I couldn't hear it in the mix.
20. Long Walk Home
Second straight show it's been played. Works well with Last to Die. And most importantly, we didn't get Lonesome Day!!!
21. The Rising
22. Born To Run
Stadium lights go on. And place goes nuts.
Encores:
Bruce collects request signs to the Raise Your Hand instrumental.
23. Jersey Girl (sign request)
Bruce held up three different signs and they all read "Jersey Girl."
Is there anything better than hearing Bruce play this at a New Jersey show? Charlie Giordano played the accordian.
He always starts to laugh at the "Wer're going to take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your Mom's."
"We have any Jersey girls oyut there?" Bruce asked toward the end.
24. Kitty's Back (sign request)
Curt Ramm back out on trumpet, which is a very nice addition to this. He had a solo as did Roy and Bruce did some great guitar work.
When Bruce sang "Who'se that coming down the alley," he added, "I mean way in the back!" several times and pointed up to the fans in the upper deck, way up opposite the stage. They even showed them on the big screens.
Was on the setlist Friday night but not played. It's another one that goes in the fun category.
25. Detroit Medley
"Are you ready?" Bruce asked before starting it. Curt played trumpet on this also.
May I say this was another "fun song?"
Very good way to start off the encores with these three songs.
26. American Land
Jeremy Chatsky from the Sessions Band came on stage to play the stand-up bass.
For the second straight night, Bruce mentioned "The Big Man author." And they showed Clarence's new book on the big screen. Bruce gave Clarence a pen and stood there as Clarence autographed the book for him. They showed Bruce on the big screen waiting with anticipation as any fan would when someone is signing something for you. Clarence handed Bruce the book and Bruce was very pleased.
"Coming to a Borders near you" Bruce said.
Once again fireworks were set off on "The E Street Band!" part.
27. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Well we were able to not have Lonesome Day not played and we thought we might night get this one. But Bruce played it in this spot. He had a little girl since with him as usual. She had a sign that read: "Give the Girl A Kiss" and Bruce gave her a kiss when she was done singning and posed for a photo with her.
"You've been a fabulous audience," Bruce said. "The first three nights were just fantastic.
"This is our home. So great to come here and thank you for supporting our music all these years."
28. Thunder Road
Nice song to close the show.
"Thank you Jersey. We love you!" Bruce said as they left the stage.
Over at 11:17 p.m. for a 2:54 show.
Handwritten setlist was pretty much followed, except Waiting on A Sunny Day was in the slot after "My Hometown." Also the Detroit Medley wa listed as Devil/Rosy.
Badlands was not played for the first time this tour and for the first time (outside of a 2007 Asbury Park rehearsal show) in years at an E Street Band show.
Good show, fun show but I would stop short of calling it a great show. It will go down in history of course for the full Born In the U.S.A. album and the incredible body surfing by Bruce.
Patti Scialfa was not at the show despite Bruce saying she would be there on Friday (she wasn't) and he said on Friday she would be there on Saturday.
Max Weinberg played the entire show on the drums.
Soundchecked were Downbound Train. My Hometown and Wrecking Ball.
Afterward, I asked several friends who attended all three Giants Stadium shows how they would rank them.
The general consensus was Night 2, Night 1 and Night 3, in that order. With all nights being very good and no one show really standing way out among the three.
A lot of highlights including maybe the most memorable feat Bruce has ever done in a crowd, bodysurfing what had to be at least 30 yards from the back of the General Admission pit to the stage. People will be talking about it for years. A Hall of Fame moment.
Hearing "Born In The U.S.A." played in its entirety was pretty cool and for the most part made for a fun evening for the third show of the five-night stand.
Show began at 8:23 p.m.
Band came on stage starting with Nils and Roy. Bruce and Clarence entered from Clarence's side of the stage. Bruce walked Clarence over to his spot and Clarence gave Bruce a little kiss.
"Good evening New Jersey. You came out to help us shut the old lady down. Are you ready for the wrecking ball?"
1. Wrecking Ball
A good opener. Curt Ramm's trumpet playing really stands out. The lyrics were on the big screen one line at a time. On Wednesday the lyrics were off a bit at times and shown a few lines at a time, on Friday there were no lyrics and tonight they finally got it right.
"Bring it on!" Bruce yelled at the end.
2. Out In The Street
I always like hearing this song. Has a lot of energy. Bruce spotted a little girl (8-year-old Sammie from Philadelphia who has sang with him before) at the center extension and brought her onstage to sing with him. She was very good and Bruce was in a playful mood from the start.
The stadium was up and rocking.
3 . Outlaw Pete
Not sure what to say on this. One of only two songs that Bruce still plays from the Working on a Dream album. Been in this early spot in the setlist rotation for the entire tour. Does seem to work well in a stadium. Once again Western scenes were shown on the big screen.
4. Hungry Heart
Forget the song, what Bruce did in the middle of it is one for the ages. A legendary tale that people will be tellling their friends, "I was at Giants Stadium the night Bruce body surfed the crowd for 30 yards."
For the first two Giants Stadium shows, Bruce has been coming down from the stage and going around the huge general admission standing pit in front of the stage.
He starts out doing the same thing tonight, but when he gets to the center back of the pit, he decides he wants to body surf to the stage. It has to be 30 yards. "Can you get me back to the stage?" Bruce asks as he falls into the crowd.
The trust he has with his audience is amazing.
He hopped up and told the people to send him to the stage. I was in the center of the pit and one of the people who Bruce came right over top of. It was very cool knowing he was headed right toward us and we got our hands up and pretty soon he was right there. I held up his boot, leg and back as he came across. Many female fans in the audience were bragging they had their hands on his butt.
It all worked well and Bruce made a nice soft landing on the stage. He had two security guards who were trying to stay behind him and they had a look on their faces like "what he is doing?"
When it was over, the two guards headed back out right by me, both with smiles and just shaking their heads.
This will be one of those stories that will be talked about over and over in the history of Bruce Springsteen.
5. Working On A Dream
The only other song Bruce has been playing from the new album. "We're just getting started!" Bruce said.
Before starting the full Born In the U.S.A. album, he said how he wanted to make these Giants Stadium shows special. "First night we played all of Born to run. Second night was Darkness and tonight, this is Born In the U.S.A.
6. Born In The U.S.A.
I loved when this was the opener on this tour in 1984 and 1985. Very powerful and a classic that seems to have been lost for the most part over the past tours.
The line: "I'm ten years burning down the road" was changed to "40 years."
Tne entire stadium was up rocking to this.
7. Cover Me
Great guitar solos by Nils. Another song that has been mostly forgotton on past tours, although it has been played a few times on this tour.
8. Darlington County
"Let's go on a road trip!" Bruce said. He had the crowd sing the first verse.
Bruce came to the side extension of Clarence's side and a woman did a flash for the cameras. Yes, it was on the big screens.
Bruce and Nils sang together on the front-center stage.
Always fun.
9. Working On The Highway
As he has done in the past on this tour, they put a microphone on the front-center extension and Bruce sang from there. Soozie had a nice violin solo. There was a young woman who came onstage to play the tambourine next to Soozie on this song. Not sure who is was, maybe Garry Tallent's daughter?
10. Downbound Train
Another great song that isn't played enough anymore. I believe it was only played one other time this tour. Very nice to hear.
11. I'm On Fire
They brought a chair out to the center extension and Bruce sang the song from there. He reached out to touch several fans.
12. No Surrender
Kind of weird seeing this in the midset. Always gets the crowd going.
13. Bobby Jean
Oh well, guess he had to play it of course. Not a favorite of many fans. The crowd in the pit did sway their arms back and forth.
14. I'm Goin' Down
Been played a few times this tour. Very nice to hear it in this spot. Another fun song from this album.
15. Glory Days
Really strange to hear this midset although that's where it was in the setlist during the Born In the U.S.A. tour.
Had the entire stadium up. Not sure if it had the impact of where it's usually played in the encore, but again, it was fun.
Bruce was going "Wooooooooh!" and throwing his arms up in the air several times toward the end of the song.
16. Dancing In The Dark
Same comment as Glory Days. Very weird to see midset although it was played that way in 1984 and 1985.
Bruce brought up his favorite dance partner, Hannah from New York City who was celebrating her 13th birthday. She was wearing an orange Syracuse sweat jacket. She is great. This is the second or third time I've seen her dance with Bruce and it's always a treat.
She has great moves and she and Bruce have great chemistry.
Hannah had a sign that said "13th birthday dance?" as she was celebrating her special day.
"She's got the moves!" Bruce yelled out when she finished dancing with him.
17. My Hometown
I always remember when listening to this album, and all the fun, upbeat songs, how My Hometown sort of all brought it right back to our own little Main Street.
It hasn't been played too often the past couple of tours so it was nice to hear.
Bruce worked the crowd at the end, having them sing along on the "Your Hometown" part. it got louder and louder.
As he did the past two shows, Bruce brought Steve, Max, Garry, Roy and Clarence to the front center stage.
"These are the guys who made the record! And Phanthom Dan Federici," Bruce said.
This was a very touching moment at all three shows.
"That was so much better than I thought it would be," a friend said to me after the Born In The U.S.A. songs. I agree, it was pretty special.
18. The Promised Land
An audible. Waiting on A Sunny Day was on the hand-written setlist in this spot. Most fans were happy we didn't get "Waiting" here. The big screens were showing clouds and a green field.
19. Last To Die
A tour premiere. One of the anchors from the Magic Tour. Good to hear again. Curt Ramm came out to play the trumpet but I couldn't hear it in the mix.
20. Long Walk Home
Second straight show it's been played. Works well with Last to Die. And most importantly, we didn't get Lonesome Day!!!
21. The Rising
22. Born To Run
Stadium lights go on. And place goes nuts.
Encores:
Bruce collects request signs to the Raise Your Hand instrumental.
23. Jersey Girl (sign request)
Bruce held up three different signs and they all read "Jersey Girl."
Is there anything better than hearing Bruce play this at a New Jersey show? Charlie Giordano played the accordian.
He always starts to laugh at the "Wer're going to take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your Mom's."
"We have any Jersey girls oyut there?" Bruce asked toward the end.
24. Kitty's Back (sign request)
Curt Ramm back out on trumpet, which is a very nice addition to this. He had a solo as did Roy and Bruce did some great guitar work.
When Bruce sang "Who'se that coming down the alley," he added, "I mean way in the back!" several times and pointed up to the fans in the upper deck, way up opposite the stage. They even showed them on the big screens.
Was on the setlist Friday night but not played. It's another one that goes in the fun category.
25. Detroit Medley
"Are you ready?" Bruce asked before starting it. Curt played trumpet on this also.
May I say this was another "fun song?"
Very good way to start off the encores with these three songs.
26. American Land
Jeremy Chatsky from the Sessions Band came on stage to play the stand-up bass.
For the second straight night, Bruce mentioned "The Big Man author." And they showed Clarence's new book on the big screen. Bruce gave Clarence a pen and stood there as Clarence autographed the book for him. They showed Bruce on the big screen waiting with anticipation as any fan would when someone is signing something for you. Clarence handed Bruce the book and Bruce was very pleased.
"Coming to a Borders near you" Bruce said.
Once again fireworks were set off on "The E Street Band!" part.
27. Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Well we were able to not have Lonesome Day not played and we thought we might night get this one. But Bruce played it in this spot. He had a little girl since with him as usual. She had a sign that read: "Give the Girl A Kiss" and Bruce gave her a kiss when she was done singning and posed for a photo with her.
"You've been a fabulous audience," Bruce said. "The first three nights were just fantastic.
"This is our home. So great to come here and thank you for supporting our music all these years."
28. Thunder Road
Nice song to close the show.
"Thank you Jersey. We love you!" Bruce said as they left the stage.
Over at 11:17 p.m. for a 2:54 show.
Handwritten setlist was pretty much followed, except Waiting on A Sunny Day was in the slot after "My Hometown." Also the Detroit Medley wa listed as Devil/Rosy.
Badlands was not played for the first time this tour and for the first time (outside of a 2007 Asbury Park rehearsal show) in years at an E Street Band show.
Good show, fun show but I would stop short of calling it a great show. It will go down in history of course for the full Born In the U.S.A. album and the incredible body surfing by Bruce.
Patti Scialfa was not at the show despite Bruce saying she would be there on Friday (she wasn't) and he said on Friday she would be there on Saturday.
Max Weinberg played the entire show on the drums.
Soundchecked were Downbound Train. My Hometown and Wrecking Ball.
Afterward, I asked several friends who attended all three Giants Stadium shows how they would rank them.
The general consensus was Night 2, Night 1 and Night 3, in that order. With all nights being very good and no one show really standing way out among the three.
Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen Wrecking Ball
springsteen wrecking ball video
Bruce Springsteen debuts new song, 'Wrecking Ball,' at Giants Stadium
by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Categories: Bruce Springsteen, Concert Reviews, New Stuff, News, Things That Are Awesome
There’s a certain magic in the night whenever Bruce Springsteen plays in his home state of New Jersey, but his concert with the E Street Band yesterday was bound to be extra special. The first of five Giants Stadium dates they booked for this week and the next — the final performances by anyone at the soon-to-be-demolished arena — would include a run through the entirety of 1975’s masterful Born to Run, as we learned earlier this week.
That’s not the only treat Springsteen gave me and tens of thousands of other fans last night (pictured), though. He opened the show with a brand-new song, “Wrecking Ball,” penned in tribute to Giants Stadium. “I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago,” he began, eliciting loud cheers while strumming an electric guitar alone. As he reached the chorus, Springsteen seemed to be taunting the eroding force of time itself: “Bring on your wrecking ball/Come on, take your best shot/Let me see what you got/Bring on your wrecking ball.” (And was he really just talking about the stadium, or did I detect a more personal note of 60-year-old rock’n'roll defiance in there too?) When the full band kicked in a few moments later, Giants Stadium went wild for one of the last times ever. It was an inspiring start to another of the marathon three-hour shows Springsteen still manages to put on night after night.
The Boss’ camp tells me they have no information on whether “Wrecking Ball” will see a proper release, but it’s a pretty great song regardless. Check out NJ.com’s high-quality clip of the first part of “Wrecking Ball” after the jump (h/t), followed by grainy fan footage of the full song. Then speak up: Were you at Springsteen’s show last night, or are you heading to any of his other Giants Stadium dates? What do you think of “Wrecking Ball”?
springsteen wrecking ball video
Bruce Springsteen debuts new song, 'Wrecking Ball,' at Giants Stadium
by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Categories: Bruce Springsteen, Concert Reviews, New Stuff, News, Things That Are Awesome
There’s a certain magic in the night whenever Bruce Springsteen plays in his home state of New Jersey, but his concert with the E Street Band yesterday was bound to be extra special. The first of five Giants Stadium dates they booked for this week and the next — the final performances by anyone at the soon-to-be-demolished arena — would include a run through the entirety of 1975’s masterful Born to Run, as we learned earlier this week.
That’s not the only treat Springsteen gave me and tens of thousands of other fans last night (pictured), though. He opened the show with a brand-new song, “Wrecking Ball,” penned in tribute to Giants Stadium. “I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago,” he began, eliciting loud cheers while strumming an electric guitar alone. As he reached the chorus, Springsteen seemed to be taunting the eroding force of time itself: “Bring on your wrecking ball/Come on, take your best shot/Let me see what you got/Bring on your wrecking ball.” (And was he really just talking about the stadium, or did I detect a more personal note of 60-year-old rock’n'roll defiance in there too?) When the full band kicked in a few moments later, Giants Stadium went wild for one of the last times ever. It was an inspiring start to another of the marathon three-hour shows Springsteen still manages to put on night after night.
The Boss’ camp tells me they have no information on whether “Wrecking Ball” will see a proper release, but it’s a pretty great song regardless. Check out NJ.com’s high-quality clip of the first part of “Wrecking Ball” after the jump (h/t), followed by grainy fan footage of the full song. Then speak up: Were you at Springsteen’s show last night, or are you heading to any of his other Giants Stadium dates? What do you think of “Wrecking Ball”?
Bruce Springsteen live blog: Night Three at Giants Stadium By Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
Bruce Springsteen live blog: Night Three at Giants Stadium
By Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
October 03, 2009, 12:59PM
springsteen-and-little-steven.jpgTONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGERBruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform with the E Street Band at Giants Stadium, Sept. 30.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band began the third of their five Giants Stadium concerts at 8:25 p.m., with "Wrecking Ball." This song, inspired by the imminent demolition of Giants Stadium, has opened all three shows. "Bring on your wrecking ball," sang Springsteen, repeatedly, in a challenging tone.
The second song, the always uplifting "Out In the Street," was a real crowd-pleaser, with Springsteen bringing a young fan onstage to sing along with him.
During "Hungry Heart," Springsteen started running around the "pit" section of the stadium floor, as he has on other nights. But instead of running all the way around, he leaped into the crowd at the halfway point, and crowd-surfed across the pit, all the way back to the stage. Unbelievable.
The "Born in the U.S.A." portion of the show began with the show's six song, the album's title track. The band is planning to perform the whole album, in its original order, for the first time ever, tonight.
This follows performances of "Born To Run" on Wednesday, and "Darkness On the Edge of Town," on Friday. Reprises of "Born To Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." are planned for next Thursday and Friday - the final two shows in the stand.
The band first performed at Giants Stadium in 1985, as part of its "Born In the U.S.A. Tour."
I enjoyed hearing "Cover Me," which Springsteen rarely plays live these days, as part of the "Born In the U.S.A." mini-set. I always liked the song, and don't understand why Springsteen has lost interest in it. It sounded very good tonight -- taut and soulful, with two emotionally wrenching guitar solos by Nils Lofgren.
NIGHT ONE VIDEOS:
Bruce Springsteen performs his new song 'Wrecking Ball' at Giants Stadium
Bruce Springsteen performs 'Seeds' at Giants Stadium
(THERE IS ALSO A VIDEO OF "WRECKING BALL" FROM NIGHT TWO HERE)
During "I'm On Fire," Springsteen sat on a stool, without his guitar, on a small stage that extends out into the audience. It was a nice way to make this dark, minimalistic song even more intimate.
He pulled a girl out of the audience at the end of "Dancing In the Dark," and the two danced together energetically.
After "My Hometown" he brought together all the current E Street Band members who played on the album, and had them take a bow with him. "These are the guys who played on the record -- and Phantom Danny Federici," he said. (E Street keyboardist Federici, nicknamed Phantom, died last year.)
I don't like "Born in the U.S.A." as much as "Born To Run" or "Darkness," and don't feel it's as cohesive as those two albums, lyrically or musically. It also has a few songs I've just never liked very much: "Working On the Highway," "Bobby Jean" and "Glory Days." But I do like most of it, and it's fun to hear Springsteen play a lot of songs that he hasn't played much in recent years.
After "Born To Run," Springsteen and the band took another bow, signalling the start of the encores, but did not actually leave the stage. Signs with fan requests were taken during "Raise Your Hand," and Springsteen started the request portion of the show with "Jersey Girl." The second request was an epic "Kitty's Back."
The show ended at 11:16, clocking in at two hours, 51 minutes.
Like first two nights, this was a very solid show. It's hard to pick a best or a worst night.
For the third straight show, trumpeter Curt Ramm has joined the band, and part-time E Street Band member Patti Scialfa has been absent, as she has been for much of the current tour.
Here is the setlist. Songs in bold are from the "Born in the U.S.A." album. Asterisks denote songs not played in the first two Giants Stadium shows.
"Wrecking Ball"
"Out In the Street" (*)
"Outlaw Pete"
"Hungry Heart"
"Working On a Dream"
''Born In the U.S.A." (*)
"Cover Me" (*)
"Darlington County" (*)
"Working On the Highway" (*)
"Downbound Train" (*)
"I'm On Fire" (*)
"No Surrender"
"Bobby Jean"
"I'm Goin' Down"
"Glory Days" (*)
"Dancing In the Dark"
"My Hometown" (*)
"The Promised Land"
"Last To Die" (*)
"Long Walk Home"
"The Rising"
"Born To Run"
"Raise Your Hand" (instrumental)
"Jersey Girl" (*)
"Kitty's Back" (*)
"Detroit Medley (*)
"American Land"
"Waitin' On a Sunny Day"
"Thunder Road"
By Jay Lustig/The Star-Ledger
October 03, 2009, 12:59PM
springsteen-and-little-steven.jpgTONY KURDZUK/THE STAR-LEDGERBruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform with the E Street Band at Giants Stadium, Sept. 30.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band began the third of their five Giants Stadium concerts at 8:25 p.m., with "Wrecking Ball." This song, inspired by the imminent demolition of Giants Stadium, has opened all three shows. "Bring on your wrecking ball," sang Springsteen, repeatedly, in a challenging tone.
The second song, the always uplifting "Out In the Street," was a real crowd-pleaser, with Springsteen bringing a young fan onstage to sing along with him.
During "Hungry Heart," Springsteen started running around the "pit" section of the stadium floor, as he has on other nights. But instead of running all the way around, he leaped into the crowd at the halfway point, and crowd-surfed across the pit, all the way back to the stage. Unbelievable.
The "Born in the U.S.A." portion of the show began with the show's six song, the album's title track. The band is planning to perform the whole album, in its original order, for the first time ever, tonight.
This follows performances of "Born To Run" on Wednesday, and "Darkness On the Edge of Town," on Friday. Reprises of "Born To Run" and "Born in the U.S.A." are planned for next Thursday and Friday - the final two shows in the stand.
The band first performed at Giants Stadium in 1985, as part of its "Born In the U.S.A. Tour."
I enjoyed hearing "Cover Me," which Springsteen rarely plays live these days, as part of the "Born In the U.S.A." mini-set. I always liked the song, and don't understand why Springsteen has lost interest in it. It sounded very good tonight -- taut and soulful, with two emotionally wrenching guitar solos by Nils Lofgren.
NIGHT ONE VIDEOS:
Bruce Springsteen performs his new song 'Wrecking Ball' at Giants Stadium
Bruce Springsteen performs 'Seeds' at Giants Stadium
(THERE IS ALSO A VIDEO OF "WRECKING BALL" FROM NIGHT TWO HERE)
During "I'm On Fire," Springsteen sat on a stool, without his guitar, on a small stage that extends out into the audience. It was a nice way to make this dark, minimalistic song even more intimate.
He pulled a girl out of the audience at the end of "Dancing In the Dark," and the two danced together energetically.
After "My Hometown" he brought together all the current E Street Band members who played on the album, and had them take a bow with him. "These are the guys who played on the record -- and Phantom Danny Federici," he said. (E Street keyboardist Federici, nicknamed Phantom, died last year.)
I don't like "Born in the U.S.A." as much as "Born To Run" or "Darkness," and don't feel it's as cohesive as those two albums, lyrically or musically. It also has a few songs I've just never liked very much: "Working On the Highway," "Bobby Jean" and "Glory Days." But I do like most of it, and it's fun to hear Springsteen play a lot of songs that he hasn't played much in recent years.
After "Born To Run," Springsteen and the band took another bow, signalling the start of the encores, but did not actually leave the stage. Signs with fan requests were taken during "Raise Your Hand," and Springsteen started the request portion of the show with "Jersey Girl." The second request was an epic "Kitty's Back."
The show ended at 11:16, clocking in at two hours, 51 minutes.
Like first two nights, this was a very solid show. It's hard to pick a best or a worst night.
For the third straight show, trumpeter Curt Ramm has joined the band, and part-time E Street Band member Patti Scialfa has been absent, as she has been for much of the current tour.
Here is the setlist. Songs in bold are from the "Born in the U.S.A." album. Asterisks denote songs not played in the first two Giants Stadium shows.
"Wrecking Ball"
"Out In the Street" (*)
"Outlaw Pete"
"Hungry Heart"
"Working On a Dream"
''Born In the U.S.A." (*)
"Cover Me" (*)
"Darlington County" (*)
"Working On the Highway" (*)
"Downbound Train" (*)
"I'm On Fire" (*)
"No Surrender"
"Bobby Jean"
"I'm Goin' Down"
"Glory Days" (*)
"Dancing In the Dark"
"My Hometown" (*)
"The Promised Land"
"Last To Die" (*)
"Long Walk Home"
"The Rising"
"Born To Run"
"Raise Your Hand" (instrumental)
"Jersey Girl" (*)
"Kitty's Back" (*)
"Detroit Medley (*)
"American Land"
"Waitin' On a Sunny Day"
"Thunder Road"
Friday, October 02, 2009
A good (new) place to sit and read
Welcome Home, Poets House
Glass-enclosed space’s opening was grand
BY MARCELLA VENEZIALE
After years in a cramped SoHo office, one of the country’s premiere poetry organizations has finally moved into its new home in Battery Park City.
Founded by the poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray in 1985, Poets House celebrated with an open house, readings and music last weekend. “This is the beginning of the true life of Poets House in this space,” said Executive Director Lee Briccetti.
The glass-enclosed, 11,000 square foot space boasts panoramic views of the Hudson, shows off its entire 50,000 volume poetry collection, and is eco-friendly. “Our goal was to make it a place that was cutting edge,” said architect Louise Braverman, “not a dusty old place, but at the same time with the warmth of the poets.”
Visitors enter on River Terrace and proceed through a double height foyer. Veer right and you’ll enter Elizabeth Kray Hall (which hosts readings, lectures and other programs). The high tech room can screen rare books on a projector, integrate sound into events and record programs digitally. Garage doors behind the podium open onto a small courtyard for outdoor programs. To the hall’s left is the Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room. Though it doesn’t open full-time until April 2010, it will host monthly programs this fall. The space is friendly and inviting — and, like the rest of Poets House, contains artifacts from Kunitz (including two of his typewriters, which rest on a library card catalog). A curtain of paper cranes from the former space hangs, and stuffed animals pose with books. “We want it to be very hands-on,” said Mike Romanos, the Children’s Room coordinator.
A curving staircase winds above the Children’s Room, with an Alexander Calder mobile at its base. It will be on loan to Poets House for the next two years. The oval, glass-enclosed Cheney Chappell Exhibition Space at the top of the stairs places visitors squarely in the spectacular expanse of sky, water and land across the street. A collection of vintage books by poets such as Dylan Thomas, e. e. cummings, Ted Hughes and an early edition of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” are currently on display alongside Kunitz memorabilia.
The Reading Room and Reed Foundation Library, which holds all of Poets House’s books and current literary journals, occupies much of the second floor. Tables, chairs and couches invite people to linger. The couches were of utmost importance to its member poets in recalling the coziness of the Spring Street location.
The library enforces silence more strictly as guests progress through, until the Quiet Reading Room, where it is mandatory. Black and white photographs of Gwendolyn Brooks, Adrienne Rich, Robert Pinsky and other poets who have read at Poets House, grace the walls.
The Stanley Kunitz Conference Room claims a corner spot at the end of the library, with sweeping views of the Irish Hunger Memorial, the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson’s expanse. Guests celebrated the opening of this airy, sunlight-drenched space. On Friday morning (sustained by complimentary bagels and coffee), they listened to readings by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins, several nearby Stuyvesant High School students, and two members of a Poets House workshop for senior citizens.
“This is a place in New York, and it’s a great, slick, modern place,” Collins said. “It balances the wrong image of poetry, that is something collecting dust on a shelf.”
The standing-room-only crowd applauded and laughed at Collins’ readings, particularly “Oh, My God!” which mocks the teenage girl’s colloquialism. The festivities attracted even newcomers. Mary Lou Wu lives in Chinatown and says the presence of Poets House peaked her interest. “I’ll come by when they have events and educate myself about poetry,” she said.
Silvia Gallo, a poetry lover, was visiting from Brazil on Saturday. “I knew there was a Poets House before this one, but I had never seen it, so I thought I would come,” she said.
Though clouds rolled in that day, a reading and performance by Natalie Merchant packed Nelson A. Rockefeller Park across the street. Seats filled quickly, and people spread out on the grass to watch. The poets Mark Dody, Philip Levine, Regie Cabico and Patricia Spears Jones, among others, read. Poet Marie Howe quoted Robert Frost, “Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to let you in.” Others read poems inspired by Poets House, particularly Michael Heller, who said, “The word that comes to me today is nourishment.” Crowd favorites Galway Kinnell and Billy Collins rounded out the series. Kinnell read his poem “Oatmeal,” and Collins closed, fittingly, with “Poetry.” Natalie Merchant performed selections of poetry she has set to music (including “If No One Ever Marries Me” and “Sailor, O Sailor”).
The organization’s new vitality inspired former member Esther Louise, a librarian and former writer herself, to become involved again. “I plan to use it a lot,” she said. “I will renew my membership.”
In the coming months, Poets House will host a variety of readings and lectures. In October, celebrate the life and work of poet David Bromige (who passed away this year) with poets including Gary Sullivan, Geoffrey Young and Nick Piombino. Later, John Felstiner (author of “Can Poetry Save the Earth?”) will hold a reading and two seminars on poetry and nature.
On November 14, kids can read, write and discuss poetry with Naomi Shihab Nye, author of the teen poetry collection “Honeybee.” On November 18, Cecilia Vicuña, co-editor of “The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry,” introduces a night of readings that span 500 years of Latin American poetry.
Poets House is already planning further, including collaborations with future neighbors like the New York Public Library and Museum of Jewish Heritage. Since it won’t have to fret about rent anymore, thanks to a yearly, one dollar lease with the Battery Park City Authority until 2069, director Briccetti was confident in the organization’s future.
“We have a sustainability we’ve never had before,” she said. “We have a permanency. We know we’re going to be here for the next 60 years.”
Poets House is located at 10 River Terrace. For information on upcoming events, call 212-431-7920 or visit www.poetshouse.org.
Welcome Home, Poets House
Glass-enclosed space’s opening was grand
BY MARCELLA VENEZIALE
After years in a cramped SoHo office, one of the country’s premiere poetry organizations has finally moved into its new home in Battery Park City.
Founded by the poet Stanley Kunitz and arts administrator Elizabeth Kray in 1985, Poets House celebrated with an open house, readings and music last weekend. “This is the beginning of the true life of Poets House in this space,” said Executive Director Lee Briccetti.
The glass-enclosed, 11,000 square foot space boasts panoramic views of the Hudson, shows off its entire 50,000 volume poetry collection, and is eco-friendly. “Our goal was to make it a place that was cutting edge,” said architect Louise Braverman, “not a dusty old place, but at the same time with the warmth of the poets.”
Visitors enter on River Terrace and proceed through a double height foyer. Veer right and you’ll enter Elizabeth Kray Hall (which hosts readings, lectures and other programs). The high tech room can screen rare books on a projector, integrate sound into events and record programs digitally. Garage doors behind the podium open onto a small courtyard for outdoor programs. To the hall’s left is the Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room. Though it doesn’t open full-time until April 2010, it will host monthly programs this fall. The space is friendly and inviting — and, like the rest of Poets House, contains artifacts from Kunitz (including two of his typewriters, which rest on a library card catalog). A curtain of paper cranes from the former space hangs, and stuffed animals pose with books. “We want it to be very hands-on,” said Mike Romanos, the Children’s Room coordinator.
A curving staircase winds above the Children’s Room, with an Alexander Calder mobile at its base. It will be on loan to Poets House for the next two years. The oval, glass-enclosed Cheney Chappell Exhibition Space at the top of the stairs places visitors squarely in the spectacular expanse of sky, water and land across the street. A collection of vintage books by poets such as Dylan Thomas, e. e. cummings, Ted Hughes and an early edition of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” are currently on display alongside Kunitz memorabilia.
The Reading Room and Reed Foundation Library, which holds all of Poets House’s books and current literary journals, occupies much of the second floor. Tables, chairs and couches invite people to linger. The couches were of utmost importance to its member poets in recalling the coziness of the Spring Street location.
The library enforces silence more strictly as guests progress through, until the Quiet Reading Room, where it is mandatory. Black and white photographs of Gwendolyn Brooks, Adrienne Rich, Robert Pinsky and other poets who have read at Poets House, grace the walls.
The Stanley Kunitz Conference Room claims a corner spot at the end of the library, with sweeping views of the Irish Hunger Memorial, the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson’s expanse. Guests celebrated the opening of this airy, sunlight-drenched space. On Friday morning (sustained by complimentary bagels and coffee), they listened to readings by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins, several nearby Stuyvesant High School students, and two members of a Poets House workshop for senior citizens.
“This is a place in New York, and it’s a great, slick, modern place,” Collins said. “It balances the wrong image of poetry, that is something collecting dust on a shelf.”
The standing-room-only crowd applauded and laughed at Collins’ readings, particularly “Oh, My God!” which mocks the teenage girl’s colloquialism. The festivities attracted even newcomers. Mary Lou Wu lives in Chinatown and says the presence of Poets House peaked her interest. “I’ll come by when they have events and educate myself about poetry,” she said.
Silvia Gallo, a poetry lover, was visiting from Brazil on Saturday. “I knew there was a Poets House before this one, but I had never seen it, so I thought I would come,” she said.
Though clouds rolled in that day, a reading and performance by Natalie Merchant packed Nelson A. Rockefeller Park across the street. Seats filled quickly, and people spread out on the grass to watch. The poets Mark Dody, Philip Levine, Regie Cabico and Patricia Spears Jones, among others, read. Poet Marie Howe quoted Robert Frost, “Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to let you in.” Others read poems inspired by Poets House, particularly Michael Heller, who said, “The word that comes to me today is nourishment.” Crowd favorites Galway Kinnell and Billy Collins rounded out the series. Kinnell read his poem “Oatmeal,” and Collins closed, fittingly, with “Poetry.” Natalie Merchant performed selections of poetry she has set to music (including “If No One Ever Marries Me” and “Sailor, O Sailor”).
The organization’s new vitality inspired former member Esther Louise, a librarian and former writer herself, to become involved again. “I plan to use it a lot,” she said. “I will renew my membership.”
In the coming months, Poets House will host a variety of readings and lectures. In October, celebrate the life and work of poet David Bromige (who passed away this year) with poets including Gary Sullivan, Geoffrey Young and Nick Piombino. Later, John Felstiner (author of “Can Poetry Save the Earth?”) will hold a reading and two seminars on poetry and nature.
On November 14, kids can read, write and discuss poetry with Naomi Shihab Nye, author of the teen poetry collection “Honeybee.” On November 18, Cecilia Vicuña, co-editor of “The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry,” introduces a night of readings that span 500 years of Latin American poetry.
Poets House is already planning further, including collaborations with future neighbors like the New York Public Library and Museum of Jewish Heritage. Since it won’t have to fret about rent anymore, thanks to a yearly, one dollar lease with the Battery Park City Authority until 2069, director Briccetti was confident in the organization’s future.
“We have a sustainability we’ve never had before,” she said. “We have a permanency. We know we’re going to be here for the next 60 years.”
Poets House is located at 10 River Terrace. For information on upcoming events, call 212-431-7920 or visit www.poetshouse.org.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 1, 2009
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 1, 2009
"The bear must deal with 20 obstacles, and each one of them involves pears," says the Sufi proverb, "because the bear adores pears." That's a twisty truth worth meditating on, Capricorn. I suspect that the gifts coming your way will bring their own unique problems; the dreams you're in love with will generate new dilemmas to solve. By no means does this imply that you should avoid accepting the gifts or pursuing your dreams. Part of the fun of doing great things is dealing with the changes they generate!
"The bear must deal with 20 obstacles, and each one of them involves pears," says the Sufi proverb, "because the bear adores pears." That's a twisty truth worth meditating on, Capricorn. I suspect that the gifts coming your way will bring their own unique problems; the dreams you're in love with will generate new dilemmas to solve. By no means does this imply that you should avoid accepting the gifts or pursuing your dreams. Part of the fun of doing great things is dealing with the changes they generate!
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