The Real Story of Mary Ellen Wilson
The sufferings of the little girl, Mary Ellen, led to the founding of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the first organization of its kind, in 1874. In 1877, the New York SPCC and several Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from throughout the country joined together to form the American Humane Association.
The following is Mary Ellen’s story, which marked the beginning of a world-wide crusade to save children. It is extracted from American Humane’s Helping in Child Protective Services: A Competency-Based Casework Handbook.
Over the years, in the re-telling of Mary Ellen Wilson’s story, myth has often been confused with fact. Some of the inaccuracies stem from colorful but erroneous journalism, others from simple misunderstanding of the facts, and still others from the complex history of the child protection movement in the United States and Great Britain and its link to the animal welfare movement. While it is true that Henry Bergh, president of the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), was instrumental in ensuring Mary Ellen’s removal from an abusive home, it is not true that her attorney—who also worked for the ASPCA—argued that she deserved help because she was “a member of the animal kingdom.”
The real story—which can be pieced together from court documents, newspaper articles, and personal accounts—is quite compelling, and it illustrates the impact that a caring and committed individual can have on the life of a child.
Mary Ellen Wilson was born in 1864 to Francis and Thomas Wilson of New York City. Soon thereafter, Thomas died, and his widow took a job. No longer able to stay at home and care for her infant daughter, Francis boarded Mary Ellen (a common practice at the time) with a woman named Mary Score. As Francis’s economic situation deteriorated, she slipped further into poverty, falling behind in payments for and missing visits with her daughter. As a result, Mary Score turned two-year-old Mary Ellen over to the city’s Department of Charities.
The Department made a decision that would have grave consequences for little Mary Ellen; it placed her illegally, without proper documentation of the relationship, and with inadequate oversight in the home of Mary and Thomas McCormack, who claimed to be the child’s biological father. In an eerie repetition of events, Thomas died shortly thereafter. His widow married Francis Connolly, and the new family moved to a tenement on West 41st Street.
Mary McCormack Connolly badly mistreated Mary Ellen, and neighbors in the apartment building were aware of the child’s plight. The Connollys soon moved to another tenement, but in 1874, one of their original neighbors asked Etta Angell Wheeler, a caring Methodist mission worker who visited the impoverished residents of the tenements regularly, to check on the child. At the new address, Etta encountered a chronically ill and homebound tenant, Mary Smitt, who confirmed that she often heard the cries of a child across the hall. Under the pretext of asking for help for Mrs. Smitt, Etta Wheeler introduced herself to Mary Connolly. She saw Mary Ellen’s condition for herself. The 10-year-old appeared dirty and thin, was dressed in threadbare clothing, and had bruises and scars along her bare arms and legs. Ms. Wheeler began to explore how to seek legal redress and protection for Mary Ellen. Click here to read Etta Wheeler’s account of Mary Ellen.
At that time, some jurisdictions in the United States had laws that prohibited excessive physical discipline of children. New York, in fact, had a law that permitted the state to remove children who were neglected by their caregivers. Based on their interpretation of the laws and Mary Ellen’s circumstances, however, New York City authorities were reluctant to intervene. Etta Wheeler continued her efforts to rescue Mary Ellen and, after much deliberation, turned to Henry Bergh, a leader of the animal humane movement in the United States and founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). It was Ms. Wheeler’s niece who convinced her to contact Mr. Bergh by stating, “You are so troubled over that abused child, why not go to Mr. Bergh? She is a little animal surely” (p. 3 Wheeler in Watkins).
Ms. Wheeler located several neighbors who were willing to testify to the mistreatment of the child and brought written documentation to Mr. Bergh. At a subsequent court hearing, Mr. Bergh stated that his action was “that of a human citizen,” clarifying that he was not acting in his official capacity as president of the NYSPCA. He emphasized that he was “determined within the framework of the law to prevent the frequent cruelties practiced on children” (Mary Ellen, April 10, 1976, p. 8 in Watkins, 1990). After reviewing the documentation collected by Etta Wheeler, Mr. Bergh sent an NYSPCA investigator (who posed as a census worker to gain entrance to Mary Ellen’s home) to verify the allegations. Elbridge T. Gerry, an ASPCA attorney, prepared a petition to remove Mary Ellen from her home so she could testify to her mistreatment before a judge. Mr. Bergh took action as a private citizen who was concerned about the humane treatment of a child. It was his role as president of the NYSPCA and his ties to the legal system and the press, however, that bring about Mary Ellen’s rescue and the movement for a formalized child protection system.
Recognizing the value of public opinion and awareness in furthering the cause of the humane movement, Henry Bergh contacted New York Times reporters who took an interest in the case and attended the hearings. Thus, there were detailed newspaper accounts that described Mary Ellen’s appalling physical condition. When she was taken before Judge Lawrence, she was dressed in ragged clothing, was bruised all over her body and had a gash over her left eye and on her cheek where Mary Connelly had struck her with a pair of scissors. On April 10, 1874, Mary Ellen testified:
“My father and mother are both dead. I don’t know how old I am. I have no recollection of a time when I did not live with the Connollys. …. Mamma has been in the habit of whipping and beating me almost every day. She used to whip me with a twisted whip—a raw hide. The whip always left a black and blue mark on my body. I have now the black and blue marks on my head which were made by mamma, and also a cut on the left side of my forehead which was made by a pair of scissors. She struck me with the scissors and cut me; I have no recollection of ever having been kissed by any one—have never been kissed by mamma. I have never been taken on my mamma’s lap and caressed or petted. I never dared to speak to anybody, because if I did I would get whipped…. I do not know for what I was whipped—mamma never said anything to me when she whipped me. I do not want to go back to live with mamma, because she beats me so. I have no recollection ever being on the street in my life” Mary Ellen, April 10, 1874 in Watkins, 1990).
In response, Judge Lawrence immediately issued a writ de homine replagiando, provided for by Section 65 of the Habeas Corpus Act, to bring Mary Ellen under court control.
The newspapers also provided extensive coverage of the caregiver Mary Connolly’s trial, raising public awareness and helping to inspire various agencies and organizations to advocate for the enforcement of laws that would rescue and protect abused children (Watkins, 1990). On April 21, 1874, Mary Connolly was found guilty of felonious assault and was sentenced to one year of hard labor in the penitentiary (Watkins, 1990).
Less well known but as compelling as the details of her rescue, is the rest of Mary Ellen’s story. Etta Wheeler continued to play an important role in the child’s life. Family correspondence and other accounts reveal that the court placed Mary Ellen in an institutional shelter for adolescent girls. Believing this to be an inappropriate setting for the 10-year-old, Ms. Wheeler intervened. Judge Lawrence gave her permission to place the child with her own mother, Sally Angell, in northern New York. When Ms. Angell died, Etta Wheeler’s youngest sister, Elizabeth, and her husband Darius Spencer, raised Mary Ellen. By all accounts, her life with the Spencer family was stable and nurturing.
At the age of 24, Mary Ellen married a widower and had two daughters—Etta, named after Etta Wheeler, and Florence. Later, she became a foster mother to a young girl named Eunice. Etta and Florence both became teachers; Eunice was a businesswoman. Mary Ellen’s children and grandchildren described her as gentle and not much of a disciplinarian. Reportedly, she lived in relative anonymity and rarely spoke with her family about her early years of abuse. In 1913, however, she agreed to attend the American Humane Association’s national conference in Rochester, NY, with Etta Wheeler, her long-time advocate. Ms. Wheeler was a guest speaker at the conference. Her keynote address, “The Story of Mary Ellen which started the Child Saving Crusade Throughout the World” was published by the American Humane Association. Mary Ellen died in 1956 at the age of 92.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Man sues after getting stuck on toilet
DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Home Depot was sued by a shopper from a Colorado store who claims he got stuck to a restroom toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.
Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told The Daily Camera, of Boulder. "They just let me rot."
The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the store in Louisville, Colorado, on the day before Halloween 2003.
A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said store officials called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes.
Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and Dougherty, "frightened and humiliated," passed out as they wheeled him out of the store, court papers said. The toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
"This is not Home Depot's fault," Dougherty said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.
"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told The Daily Camera, of Boulder. "They just let me rot."
The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the store in Louisville, Colorado, on the day before Halloween 2003.
A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.
Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit said store officials called for an ambulance after about 15 minutes.
Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and Dougherty, "frightened and humiliated," passed out as they wheeled him out of the store, court papers said. The toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.
"This is not Home Depot's fault," Dougherty said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
the mother of the settlement movement
my friend Chris recently went to Chicago and he went to hull house, the place where the settlement house movement began. this woman Jane Addams is considered the mother of modern social services and social worker, opened a home where immigrants and needy chicagoan could get a vast number of needs met. it was the original One stop of services. day care, education, after school, recreation, literacy, vocational...etc
so i decided seeing Chris went there to look up the website for HULL HOUSE
Hull House has a website
so i decided to blog about jane addams
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JANE ADDAMS
Born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860 and graduated from Rockford College in 1882, Jane Addams founded the world famous social settlement Hull-House on Chicago's Near West Side in 1889. From Hull House, where she lived and worked until her death in 1935, Jane Addams built her reputation as the country's most prominent woman through her writing, her settlement work, and her international efforts for world peace.
Around Hull-House, which was located at the corner of Polk and Halsted Streets, immigrants to Chicago crowded into a residential and industrial neighborhood. Italians, Russian and Polish Jews, Irish, Germans, Greeks and Bohemians predominated. Jane Addams and the other residents of the settlement provided services for the neighborhood, such as kindergarten and daycare facilities for children of working mothers, an employment bureau, an art gallery, libraries, and music and art classes. By 1900 Hull House activities had broadened to include the Jane Club (a cooperative residence for working women), the first Little Theater in America, a Labor Museum and a meeting place for trade union groups.
The residents of Hull-House formed an impressive group: Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Julia Lathrop, Ellen Gates Starr, Sophonisba Breckinridge, and Grace and Edith Abbott among them. From their experiences in the Hull-House neighborhood, the Hull-House residents and their supporters forged a powerful reform movement. Among the projects that they launched were the Immigrants' Protective League, The Juvenile Protective Association, the first juvenile court in the nation, and a Juvenile Psychopathic Clinic (later called the Institute for Juvenile Research). Through their efforts, the Illinois legislature enacted protective legislation for women and children and in 1903 passed a strong child labor law and an accompanying compulsory education law. With the creation of the Federal Children's Bureau in 1912 and the passage of a federal child labor law in 1916, the Hull-House reformers saw their efforts expanded to the national level.
Jane Addams wrote prolifically on topics related to Hull-House activities, producing eleven books and numerous articles, as well as maintaining an active speaking schedule nationwide and throughout the world. She also played an important role in many local and national organizations. A founder of the Chicago Federation of Settlements in 1894, she also helped to establish the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers in 1911. She was a leader in the Consumers League and served as the first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections (later the National Conference of Social Work). She was chairman of the Labor Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, vice-president of the Campfire Girls, on the executive board of the National Playground Association, the National Child Labor Committee and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (founded 1909). In addition, she actively supported the campaign for woman suffrage and the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union (1920).
In the early years of the twentieth century Jane Addams became involved in the peace movement, becoming an important advocate of internationalism. This interest grew during the First World War, when she participated in the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915. She maintained her pacifist stance after the United States entered the war in 1917, working through the Women's Peace Party, which became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919. She was the WILPF's first president. As a result of her work, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Jane Addams died in Chicago on May 21, 1935. She was buried in Cedarville, her childhood home.
more on jane addams
so i decided seeing Chris went there to look up the website for HULL HOUSE
Hull House has a website
so i decided to blog about jane addams
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JANE ADDAMS
Born in Cedarville, Illinois on September 6, 1860 and graduated from Rockford College in 1882, Jane Addams founded the world famous social settlement Hull-House on Chicago's Near West Side in 1889. From Hull House, where she lived and worked until her death in 1935, Jane Addams built her reputation as the country's most prominent woman through her writing, her settlement work, and her international efforts for world peace.
Around Hull-House, which was located at the corner of Polk and Halsted Streets, immigrants to Chicago crowded into a residential and industrial neighborhood. Italians, Russian and Polish Jews, Irish, Germans, Greeks and Bohemians predominated. Jane Addams and the other residents of the settlement provided services for the neighborhood, such as kindergarten and daycare facilities for children of working mothers, an employment bureau, an art gallery, libraries, and music and art classes. By 1900 Hull House activities had broadened to include the Jane Club (a cooperative residence for working women), the first Little Theater in America, a Labor Museum and a meeting place for trade union groups.
The residents of Hull-House formed an impressive group: Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Dr. Alice Hamilton, Julia Lathrop, Ellen Gates Starr, Sophonisba Breckinridge, and Grace and Edith Abbott among them. From their experiences in the Hull-House neighborhood, the Hull-House residents and their supporters forged a powerful reform movement. Among the projects that they launched were the Immigrants' Protective League, The Juvenile Protective Association, the first juvenile court in the nation, and a Juvenile Psychopathic Clinic (later called the Institute for Juvenile Research). Through their efforts, the Illinois legislature enacted protective legislation for women and children and in 1903 passed a strong child labor law and an accompanying compulsory education law. With the creation of the Federal Children's Bureau in 1912 and the passage of a federal child labor law in 1916, the Hull-House reformers saw their efforts expanded to the national level.
Jane Addams wrote prolifically on topics related to Hull-House activities, producing eleven books and numerous articles, as well as maintaining an active speaking schedule nationwide and throughout the world. She also played an important role in many local and national organizations. A founder of the Chicago Federation of Settlements in 1894, she also helped to establish the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers in 1911. She was a leader in the Consumers League and served as the first woman president of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections (later the National Conference of Social Work). She was chairman of the Labor Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, vice-president of the Campfire Girls, on the executive board of the National Playground Association, the National Child Labor Committee and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (founded 1909). In addition, she actively supported the campaign for woman suffrage and the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union (1920).
In the early years of the twentieth century Jane Addams became involved in the peace movement, becoming an important advocate of internationalism. This interest grew during the First World War, when she participated in the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915. She maintained her pacifist stance after the United States entered the war in 1917, working through the Women's Peace Party, which became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919. She was the WILPF's first president. As a result of her work, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
Jane Addams died in Chicago on May 21, 1935. She was buried in Cedarville, her childhood home.
more on jane addams
i woke up singing "when heros go down"
When Heroes Go Down"
suzanne vega
When heroes go down
They go down fast
So don't expect any time to
Equivocate the past
When heroes go down
They land in flame
So don't expect any slow and careful
Settling of blame
I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance
For last respects
You feel the disappointment
When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
You can't expect any kind of mercy
On the battlefield
I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance for last respects
You feel the disappointment
When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
Do you show any kind of mercy
On the battlefield?
When heroes go down [X3]
suzanne vega
When heroes go down
They go down fast
So don't expect any time to
Equivocate the past
When heroes go down
They land in flame
So don't expect any slow and careful
Settling of blame
I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance
For last respects
You feel the disappointment
When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
You can't expect any kind of mercy
On the battlefield
I heard you say
You look out for the feet of clay
That someone will be falling next
Without the chance for last respects
You feel the disappointment
When heroes go down
Man or woman revealed
Do you show any kind of mercy
On the battlefield?
When heroes go down [X3]
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Capricorn Horoscope for week of November 3, 2005
Capricorn Horoscope for week of November 3, 2005
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker recently told the San Francisco Chronicle about her new perfume, Lovely. It's "a fragrance that has social skills," she said. "It doesn't dominate a room. It doesn't cling to a person who hugs you. It's sexy, but not 'of-the-moment.' It's a timeless thing." This is a perfect description of your assignment in the coming days, Capricorn. Be like a memorable but subtle fragrance that has social skills. Work every room you're in, but do it with understated grace. Give every person you encounter a strong impression of your uniqueness, but without hitting them over the head with it.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker recently told the San Francisco Chronicle about her new perfume, Lovely. It's "a fragrance that has social skills," she said. "It doesn't dominate a room. It doesn't cling to a person who hugs you. It's sexy, but not 'of-the-moment.' It's a timeless thing." This is a perfect description of your assignment in the coming days, Capricorn. Be like a memorable but subtle fragrance that has social skills. Work every room you're in, but do it with understated grace. Give every person you encounter a strong impression of your uniqueness, but without hitting them over the head with it.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
to blog or not to blog
there have been so many things that i could be blogging about...
do i want to blog about the how the legal system in Philly revictimized me as an accident victim ( remember i was the passenger) or i chose to get up at 4am and leave Brooklyn at 6am and get to Philly by 8am. and how glorious the world looked as it waking up on the NJ turnpike. or how i was done at 2pm and nothing was done so i came home to go to bed at 830pm only to do it all over again the next day. Then there was the matter of waiting all day and picking a jury and deciding not to exercise my rights for a few grand and go home. Its all so scripted and a charade between lawyers. Except for mine, i really hated one of them. I didnt let my stubborn feelings guide my actions and didnt take a risk, i just took the thoughtout calculated route and went home.
I went to see Suzanne Vega last week at Zankel Hall and i love the poetry of Suzanne Vega. On the way, i saw Huey Lewis and thought what the hell is he doing in NY coming out of whole foods. Sunday i saw in the paper that he was playing in Chicago. I went to Zankel and i turned around and there was lou reed. little did i know he and suzanne go way back to 1987 when she said at the Bottom Line "sometimes i wish i was lou reed"
Suzanne is a poet who uses words and sounds to create pictures. her direct songs or her more metaphoric ones just kept me captivated- she did a setlist of standards SV songs- Caramel, pentitent, gypsy, in liverpool, queen and the soldier, luka, tom's diner with a reluctant NY audience singing along, marelene on the wall, solitaire, i wont be your maggie may, when heros go down, left of center, small blue thing and then she did My favorite plum, sand and song, and have your seen sir jones.
i just wanted more suzanne..
Suzanne Vega's website
saturday, i got a much needed oil change and went up the hudson to see the leaves of gold and red and brown and yellow and ended up in peekskill. On the way, i heard a tale on the radio about paul robeson and the Peekskill riots and how he was stoned out of peekskill and there i was going to that town to see the peace loving, joan Baez
i met a man with two women from ireland and i had coffee with them before the show and then i took my seat. I spied a small grey haired man go talk to the tour manager and lo and behold it was Mr Williams, Dar's dad. I went over and got my hug and Mrs W was at the merch table so i missed her. the lights started to dim so i went to my seat
Joan sang Drove old dixie down, joe hill for cindy sheehan, xmas time in washington, Finlandia, jerusalem, caleb meyer, diamonds and rust, gracias de la vida, baby blue,
hard rain is gonna fall, Long black veil, Carrickfergus, with g-d on our side, silver dagger, stand by me, coconuts, scarlet tide by elvis costello and tbone burnett,
joan had Graham Maby on bass and erik della pena on everything else. and the set list was great, Joan was relaxed and asked for scarves so she got some from teh audience and wore her winter coat, a great military style coat with gold styling. SHe read poetry when her guitar was having problems.. it was a great show that left me flat.
i dont know if it is because i have lost interest in her music for music that is more meaningful or cutting edge. I am not sure why i did get jazzed for the show or left fulfilled
i went back to the DR yesterday and i am released from his care. I dont have to ever see my surgeon again. he hugged me and i thanked him and he told me that i had to SUNSCREEN my scar for a year. Whenever i went out in the sun, SUNSCREEN the SCAR or i will have a black line down my arm...
so festivals, daily travels.... sunscreen the arm....the banter of the summer, sunscreen the arm
i got a call that a far away friend is sick and has been in the hospital and has recently also lost one of her dogs.. I was called because this friend wanted me to know directly. i am awaiting a return call so i can provide this friend with some support and try to help her through a trying time..
i am sick of my staff skirting around the issues adn doing the minimum or not acting or not taking responsibility. its time that they move forward and not wait for me or allow me to take the heat... i am working harder than i have worked at CMS, pulling up two computer systems similateously.
my students are not bright. Their midterms were below my expectations. THeir grades reflect it. I am worried for them as professionals. i teach again tonight..
fall is in the air and i love autumn, the chill, the leaves, teh need for a jacket and heat..
sunday, i went to queens to get a hair cut...and then walked to park slope and the park to see more leaves..
soon it will be thanksgiving
i guess i have lots to be thankful for this year
do i want to blog about the how the legal system in Philly revictimized me as an accident victim ( remember i was the passenger) or i chose to get up at 4am and leave Brooklyn at 6am and get to Philly by 8am. and how glorious the world looked as it waking up on the NJ turnpike. or how i was done at 2pm and nothing was done so i came home to go to bed at 830pm only to do it all over again the next day. Then there was the matter of waiting all day and picking a jury and deciding not to exercise my rights for a few grand and go home. Its all so scripted and a charade between lawyers. Except for mine, i really hated one of them. I didnt let my stubborn feelings guide my actions and didnt take a risk, i just took the thoughtout calculated route and went home.
I went to see Suzanne Vega last week at Zankel Hall and i love the poetry of Suzanne Vega. On the way, i saw Huey Lewis and thought what the hell is he doing in NY coming out of whole foods. Sunday i saw in the paper that he was playing in Chicago. I went to Zankel and i turned around and there was lou reed. little did i know he and suzanne go way back to 1987 when she said at the Bottom Line "sometimes i wish i was lou reed"
Suzanne is a poet who uses words and sounds to create pictures. her direct songs or her more metaphoric ones just kept me captivated- she did a setlist of standards SV songs- Caramel, pentitent, gypsy, in liverpool, queen and the soldier, luka, tom's diner with a reluctant NY audience singing along, marelene on the wall, solitaire, i wont be your maggie may, when heros go down, left of center, small blue thing and then she did My favorite plum, sand and song, and have your seen sir jones.
i just wanted more suzanne..
Suzanne Vega's website
saturday, i got a much needed oil change and went up the hudson to see the leaves of gold and red and brown and yellow and ended up in peekskill. On the way, i heard a tale on the radio about paul robeson and the Peekskill riots and how he was stoned out of peekskill and there i was going to that town to see the peace loving, joan Baez
i met a man with two women from ireland and i had coffee with them before the show and then i took my seat. I spied a small grey haired man go talk to the tour manager and lo and behold it was Mr Williams, Dar's dad. I went over and got my hug and Mrs W was at the merch table so i missed her. the lights started to dim so i went to my seat
Joan sang Drove old dixie down, joe hill for cindy sheehan, xmas time in washington, Finlandia, jerusalem, caleb meyer, diamonds and rust, gracias de la vida, baby blue,
hard rain is gonna fall, Long black veil, Carrickfergus, with g-d on our side, silver dagger, stand by me, coconuts, scarlet tide by elvis costello and tbone burnett,
joan had Graham Maby on bass and erik della pena on everything else. and the set list was great, Joan was relaxed and asked for scarves so she got some from teh audience and wore her winter coat, a great military style coat with gold styling. SHe read poetry when her guitar was having problems.. it was a great show that left me flat.
i dont know if it is because i have lost interest in her music for music that is more meaningful or cutting edge. I am not sure why i did get jazzed for the show or left fulfilled
i went back to the DR yesterday and i am released from his care. I dont have to ever see my surgeon again. he hugged me and i thanked him and he told me that i had to SUNSCREEN my scar for a year. Whenever i went out in the sun, SUNSCREEN the SCAR or i will have a black line down my arm...
so festivals, daily travels.... sunscreen the arm....the banter of the summer, sunscreen the arm
i got a call that a far away friend is sick and has been in the hospital and has recently also lost one of her dogs.. I was called because this friend wanted me to know directly. i am awaiting a return call so i can provide this friend with some support and try to help her through a trying time..
i am sick of my staff skirting around the issues adn doing the minimum or not acting or not taking responsibility. its time that they move forward and not wait for me or allow me to take the heat... i am working harder than i have worked at CMS, pulling up two computer systems similateously.
my students are not bright. Their midterms were below my expectations. THeir grades reflect it. I am worried for them as professionals. i teach again tonight..
fall is in the air and i love autumn, the chill, the leaves, teh need for a jacket and heat..
sunday, i went to queens to get a hair cut...and then walked to park slope and the park to see more leaves..
soon it will be thanksgiving
i guess i have lots to be thankful for this year
Sunday, October 30, 2005
it used to be Gershwin
i used to be all about George Gershwin. I loved the idiosyncratic piano stylings of George and IRA and now i am all about rogers and Hart
i listened to John Platt pitch for $$ on the sunday morning breakfast and he played
trios today.. all about the THREE
We're about 9 followed by Girlyman
doing covers but none the less WA9 and Girlyman on FUV
have you seen Sir Jones ????
i listened to John Platt pitch for $$ on the sunday morning breakfast and he played
trios today.. all about the THREE
We're about 9 followed by Girlyman
doing covers but none the less WA9 and Girlyman on FUV
have you seen Sir Jones ????
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 27, 2005
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 27, 2005
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
"Happy the person who can endure both the highest and the lowest fortune," said the Roman writer and orator Seneca. "He who weathers such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power." According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Capricorn, you are currently having an encounter with the first thing mentioned in Seneca's formula--the highest fortune. May you navigate your way through this phase of lucky abundance without falling victim to arrogance, carelessness, or insensitivity. Halloween costume suggestion: a lottery winner doling out gifts.
Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
"Happy the person who can endure both the highest and the lowest fortune," said the Roman writer and orator Seneca. "He who weathers such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power." According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Capricorn, you are currently having an encounter with the first thing mentioned in Seneca's formula--the highest fortune. May you navigate your way through this phase of lucky abundance without falling victim to arrogance, carelessness, or insensitivity. Halloween costume suggestion: a lottery winner doling out gifts.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
third according to the NY TIMES
As Feminism Ages, Uncertainty Still Wins
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By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: October 25, 2005
An urgent bulletin for baby boomers who regard the work of Wendy Wasserstein as their own personal timeline: Heidi is having hot flashes.
O.K., so the name of the brow-mopping heroine of "Third," the thoughtful and imbalanced new comedy by Ms. Wasserstein that opened last night at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, is not the same as the title character of "The Heidi Chronicles," Ms. Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize winner from 1988. But it's easy to see Laurie Jameson, the lovably perplexed 54-year-old college professor portrayed by Dianne Wiest in "Third," as a reassuringly familiar cousin to Heidi, the lovably perplexed 40-ish college professor first played by Joan Allen 17 years ago.
Like Heidi, Laurie is a strong and vulnerable, independent and emotionally needy woman. She is, in other words, a feminine feminist of the stripe that has endeared Ms. Wasserstein to many theatergoers over the years, starting in 1977 with her "Uncommon Women and Others," a portrait of bright college chums contemplating their place in a world where fixed gender roles are coming unglued.
Since then Ms. Wasserstein has shepherded her fearful brave new women (who have usually been roughly the ages of their creator when she conceived them) through single motherhood (with "Heidi"), lonely peaks of success ("The Sisters Rosensweig") and the fishbowl of national politics ("An American Daughter"). Now this cozy alter ego to the generation of women who came of age amid the tumult of the late 1960's is hitting menopause. And she's still having problems figuring out who she is.
It's the certainty of uncertainty in life that makes "Third," directed by Daniel Sullivan, so affecting despite itself. Using the hot button of academic plagiarism to trigger the plot, "Third" suffers from problems common to Ms. Wasserstein's plays: an overly schematic structure, a sometimes artificial-feeling topicality and a reliance on famous names and titles as a shorthand for establishing character. Less typically, this play's central figure is its least believable, both as written and as acted by the wonderful but miscast Ms. Wiest.
Yet "Third" exhales a gentle breath of autumn, a rueful awareness of death and of seasons past, that makes it impossible to dismiss it as a quick-sketch comedy of political manners. A gracious air of both apology and forgiveness pervades its attitude to its characters, as Ms. Wasserstein, who has described herself as a typical "New York playwright liberal," dares to wonder if liberals now require a few lessons in tolerance.
Like "Heidi," "Third" begins with a teacher putting forward views with a corrective feminist slant. "Rest assured this classroom is a hegemonic-free zone," Laurie announces to her English literature class. In introducing "King Lear," she states that the play is less the tragedy of its title monarch ("the ultimate privileged paternal white male") than that of Goneril and Regan, the "girls with guts." Cordelia is just a girly wimp.
"Lear" hovers over "Third" the way Chekhov's "Three Sisters" haunted "The Sisters Rosensweig." Laurie has an aged, senile father, Jack (a bracingly humble Charles Durning), given to Lear-like rantings (including a scene set during a rainstorm). And since the role she plays to Jack's Lear is basically that of Cordelia, she would seem to suffer from a Lear-like lack of self-knowledge.
Shakespeare's bleakest tragedy is also the subject that jump-starts the play's pivotal confrontation - between Laurie and Woodson Bull III (Jason Ritter), nicknamed Third, a Groton graduate on a wrestling scholarship whom Laurie instantly classifies as a child of patrician privilege and a distasteful emblem of the age of George W. Bush.
As Third says, he is in her eyes "a living dead white man." He would seem to threaten every victory Laurie has won as a pioneering female professor at the small New England college she had joined three decades earlier. And when Third turns in a well-written, intelligently argued paper on "King Lear," Laurie is quick to accuse him of plagiarizing.
This face-off never gathers much dramatic tension. First of all, it taxes credibility that an academic standards committee would pursue such charges without evidence. More important, though, Ms. Wiest is simply too much of a sweetheart to convey the requisite hostility.
Hers is, by nature, a melting presence. (Think of her delicious studies in crinkly-eyed insecurity in Woody Allen's movies.) And she is truly touching in the scenes that show Laurie's inner anxieties about her place in a world in flux, especially in a bravura monologue on a psychiatrist's couch. But it is essential that the outer Laurie be a woman of steel and of a willful shallowness, evident in her exaggerated obsession with intellectual brand names. ("How could you have a problem with Rena? She's a Guggenheim poet.")
The supporting characters feel more convincingly drawn. Amy Aquino is terrific as Laurie's sardonic, cancer-plagued best friend and fellow academic, a finely gauged portrait of wryness as the best defense in the shadow of death. Mr. Durning movingly underplays geriatric dementia.
Ms. Wasserstein's younger characters also register with impressive restraint and credibility. Mr. Ritter's scenes with the disarmingly dry Gaby Hoffmann (as Laurie's younger daughter, a student at Swarthmore, natch) and Ms. Aquino are the play's sharpest and most subtle.
Indeed, such an appealing case is made from the beginning for Third's not being the "walking red state" Laurie mistakes him for that she seems grotesquely deluded. And while "Third" would seem to be striving for the he-said, she-said ambiguity of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt," the easygoing direction of Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Wasserstein's frequent collaborator, lacks the tautness to sustain any suspense.
Yet "Third" ultimately registers as more than the fractured sum of flawed parts. And on one level, its defects - Ms. Wiest's palpable soft-heartedness, Mr. Sullivan's contemplative pace - work to its advantage. For Ms. Wasserstein is politely asking audiences who have grown older with her to acknowledge their fears, their limitations and the possibility that they might be wrong on subjects they were once sure about. In taking her uncommon women through the decades, she sweetly but shrewdly suggests that life is an unending identity crisis.
Third
By Wendy Wasserstein; directed by Daniel Sullivan; sets by Thomas Lynch; costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser; lighting by Pat Collins; original music by Robert Waldman; sound by Scott Stauffer; stage manager, Roy Harris; director of development, Hattie K. Jutagir; director of marketing, Linda Mason Ross; general manager, Adam Siegel; production manager, Jeff Hamlin. Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten. At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center; (212) 239-6200. Through Dec. 11. Running time: 2 hours.
WITH: Dianne Wiest (Laurie Jameson), Jason Ritter (Woodson Bull III), Gaby Hoffmann (Emily Imbrie), Charles Durning (Jack Jameson) and Amy Aquino (Nancy Gordon).
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By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: October 25, 2005
An urgent bulletin for baby boomers who regard the work of Wendy Wasserstein as their own personal timeline: Heidi is having hot flashes.
O.K., so the name of the brow-mopping heroine of "Third," the thoughtful and imbalanced new comedy by Ms. Wasserstein that opened last night at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, is not the same as the title character of "The Heidi Chronicles," Ms. Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize winner from 1988. But it's easy to see Laurie Jameson, the lovably perplexed 54-year-old college professor portrayed by Dianne Wiest in "Third," as a reassuringly familiar cousin to Heidi, the lovably perplexed 40-ish college professor first played by Joan Allen 17 years ago.
Like Heidi, Laurie is a strong and vulnerable, independent and emotionally needy woman. She is, in other words, a feminine feminist of the stripe that has endeared Ms. Wasserstein to many theatergoers over the years, starting in 1977 with her "Uncommon Women and Others," a portrait of bright college chums contemplating their place in a world where fixed gender roles are coming unglued.
Since then Ms. Wasserstein has shepherded her fearful brave new women (who have usually been roughly the ages of their creator when she conceived them) through single motherhood (with "Heidi"), lonely peaks of success ("The Sisters Rosensweig") and the fishbowl of national politics ("An American Daughter"). Now this cozy alter ego to the generation of women who came of age amid the tumult of the late 1960's is hitting menopause. And she's still having problems figuring out who she is.
It's the certainty of uncertainty in life that makes "Third," directed by Daniel Sullivan, so affecting despite itself. Using the hot button of academic plagiarism to trigger the plot, "Third" suffers from problems common to Ms. Wasserstein's plays: an overly schematic structure, a sometimes artificial-feeling topicality and a reliance on famous names and titles as a shorthand for establishing character. Less typically, this play's central figure is its least believable, both as written and as acted by the wonderful but miscast Ms. Wiest.
Yet "Third" exhales a gentle breath of autumn, a rueful awareness of death and of seasons past, that makes it impossible to dismiss it as a quick-sketch comedy of political manners. A gracious air of both apology and forgiveness pervades its attitude to its characters, as Ms. Wasserstein, who has described herself as a typical "New York playwright liberal," dares to wonder if liberals now require a few lessons in tolerance.
Like "Heidi," "Third" begins with a teacher putting forward views with a corrective feminist slant. "Rest assured this classroom is a hegemonic-free zone," Laurie announces to her English literature class. In introducing "King Lear," she states that the play is less the tragedy of its title monarch ("the ultimate privileged paternal white male") than that of Goneril and Regan, the "girls with guts." Cordelia is just a girly wimp.
"Lear" hovers over "Third" the way Chekhov's "Three Sisters" haunted "The Sisters Rosensweig." Laurie has an aged, senile father, Jack (a bracingly humble Charles Durning), given to Lear-like rantings (including a scene set during a rainstorm). And since the role she plays to Jack's Lear is basically that of Cordelia, she would seem to suffer from a Lear-like lack of self-knowledge.
Shakespeare's bleakest tragedy is also the subject that jump-starts the play's pivotal confrontation - between Laurie and Woodson Bull III (Jason Ritter), nicknamed Third, a Groton graduate on a wrestling scholarship whom Laurie instantly classifies as a child of patrician privilege and a distasteful emblem of the age of George W. Bush.
As Third says, he is in her eyes "a living dead white man." He would seem to threaten every victory Laurie has won as a pioneering female professor at the small New England college she had joined three decades earlier. And when Third turns in a well-written, intelligently argued paper on "King Lear," Laurie is quick to accuse him of plagiarizing.
This face-off never gathers much dramatic tension. First of all, it taxes credibility that an academic standards committee would pursue such charges without evidence. More important, though, Ms. Wiest is simply too much of a sweetheart to convey the requisite hostility.
Hers is, by nature, a melting presence. (Think of her delicious studies in crinkly-eyed insecurity in Woody Allen's movies.) And she is truly touching in the scenes that show Laurie's inner anxieties about her place in a world in flux, especially in a bravura monologue on a psychiatrist's couch. But it is essential that the outer Laurie be a woman of steel and of a willful shallowness, evident in her exaggerated obsession with intellectual brand names. ("How could you have a problem with Rena? She's a Guggenheim poet.")
The supporting characters feel more convincingly drawn. Amy Aquino is terrific as Laurie's sardonic, cancer-plagued best friend and fellow academic, a finely gauged portrait of wryness as the best defense in the shadow of death. Mr. Durning movingly underplays geriatric dementia.
Ms. Wasserstein's younger characters also register with impressive restraint and credibility. Mr. Ritter's scenes with the disarmingly dry Gaby Hoffmann (as Laurie's younger daughter, a student at Swarthmore, natch) and Ms. Aquino are the play's sharpest and most subtle.
Indeed, such an appealing case is made from the beginning for Third's not being the "walking red state" Laurie mistakes him for that she seems grotesquely deluded. And while "Third" would seem to be striving for the he-said, she-said ambiguity of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt," the easygoing direction of Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Wasserstein's frequent collaborator, lacks the tautness to sustain any suspense.
Yet "Third" ultimately registers as more than the fractured sum of flawed parts. And on one level, its defects - Ms. Wiest's palpable soft-heartedness, Mr. Sullivan's contemplative pace - work to its advantage. For Ms. Wasserstein is politely asking audiences who have grown older with her to acknowledge their fears, their limitations and the possibility that they might be wrong on subjects they were once sure about. In taking her uncommon women through the decades, she sweetly but shrewdly suggests that life is an unending identity crisis.
Third
By Wendy Wasserstein; directed by Daniel Sullivan; sets by Thomas Lynch; costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser; lighting by Pat Collins; original music by Robert Waldman; sound by Scott Stauffer; stage manager, Roy Harris; director of development, Hattie K. Jutagir; director of marketing, Linda Mason Ross; general manager, Adam Siegel; production manager, Jeff Hamlin. Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten. At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, Lincoln Center; (212) 239-6200. Through Dec. 11. Running time: 2 hours.
WITH: Dianne Wiest (Laurie Jameson), Jason Ritter (Woodson Bull III), Gaby Hoffmann (Emily Imbrie), Charles Durning (Jack Jameson) and Amy Aquino (Nancy Gordon).
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
when its great to be a teacher
i returned to my class last night after a two week absences ( we had a jewish holiday break) and i was surprised to find almost all the students there. I began with a discussion of Capote as a study of Narcissism and other students piped up with Movies they have seen and could explain how they fit in the field of social work. They are able to apply the theory to practice. I remarked, "look how far you have come in a few weeks?" " when we started this class, you scoffed at me when i applied social work to popular culture, now you are bringing me instances where social work is found."
"congratulations, you are seeing the world differently and i must have done my job"
i then pulled out some articles from the two weeks- One on the child welfare system in NJ, a few on medicaid cuts, some on the custody battle over the 4 year old left on the streets of Queens, only known as VALERY, and other assorted related articles. One student brought her own in to share. " again, i said when we started this class, you scoffed at me when i applied social work to the news paper, now you are bringing me articles where social work is found."
"congratulations, you are seeing the world differently and i must have done my job."
i left school knowing that i have changed the way they see things, how they view the world and will have a greater impact on their seeing things than before they took my class. They may not learn a whole lot about Children and Adolescents, though i think they will, they have begun to learn how to view the world as a social worker. I guess, i have taught them some thing.
"congratulations, you are seeing the world differently and i must have done my job"
i then pulled out some articles from the two weeks- One on the child welfare system in NJ, a few on medicaid cuts, some on the custody battle over the 4 year old left on the streets of Queens, only known as VALERY, and other assorted related articles. One student brought her own in to share. " again, i said when we started this class, you scoffed at me when i applied social work to the news paper, now you are bringing me articles where social work is found."
"congratulations, you are seeing the world differently and i must have done my job."
i left school knowing that i have changed the way they see things, how they view the world and will have a greater impact on their seeing things than before they took my class. They may not learn a whole lot about Children and Adolescents, though i think they will, they have begun to learn how to view the world as a social worker. I guess, i have taught them some thing.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 20, 2005
Capricorn Horoscope for week of October 20, 2005
To be completely aligned with cosmic rhythms in the coming weeks, you'd arrange for rose petals to be thrown at you each time you opened a door. A gourmet cook would provide a steady stream of tastes you've never experienced before. A great band or chamber orchestra would come to your home to play for the best party you've ever thrown. A friend would read you stories that deepened your appreciation for how courageous you've been in dealing with your own struggles. And you would enlist the services of your own royal fool, who'd be responsible for telling you jokes, identifying incongruities, and keeping you flexible.
To be completely aligned with cosmic rhythms in the coming weeks, you'd arrange for rose petals to be thrown at you each time you opened a door. A gourmet cook would provide a steady stream of tastes you've never experienced before. A great band or chamber orchestra would come to your home to play for the best party you've ever thrown. A friend would read you stories that deepened your appreciation for how courageous you've been in dealing with your own struggles. And you would enlist the services of your own royal fool, who'd be responsible for telling you jokes, identifying incongruities, and keeping you flexible.
dreams
my dreams have been all over the place in the last few weeks. There are themes of moving, dreams of moving, Dreams that contain steak vs Boca burgers. i have had dreams about packing my belongings and moving. There was a dream with two cats, one being mine and a jet black pug. i dreamed of having one jewel earring and one gold earring. More than once i am moving in the dreams
Last night, i had a dream that i was driving a car not my own and i was with william ferebee- the building manager that i work with who is an ex vietnam vet and junkie and a chronic liar who robs peter to pay paul - william was in a different car on the left with an older woman. I was in another car, a beat up light blue car. we both went forward going about 40 and rammed our front ends into a post office. but the building was protected by cardboard. I knew i did some damage to the car in the dream but i kept going. I was dragging cardboard but rode on. i knew i would look at it later. it was not my car. I saw william on his cell phone making a cocaine deal. or was it the next scene
i also dreamed that i got a call about two jobs that i applied for. One located in a library and the other as a senior analyst. I tried to explain to the man on the phone that i had no experience as a libarian or paralegal as the clerical job was law related. I kept telling him,"as you can see from my resume" he was trying to make it fit.
i told him to submit my resume for both jobs and if i needed to send him another i would and i took down the name and address. as i was writing it down in the dream, my alarm clock rang. i knew in the dream that if i didnt have a job that this job would be great but i have a job therefore i need to take care in taking a new job
Last night, i had a dream that i was driving a car not my own and i was with william ferebee- the building manager that i work with who is an ex vietnam vet and junkie and a chronic liar who robs peter to pay paul - william was in a different car on the left with an older woman. I was in another car, a beat up light blue car. we both went forward going about 40 and rammed our front ends into a post office. but the building was protected by cardboard. I knew i did some damage to the car in the dream but i kept going. I was dragging cardboard but rode on. i knew i would look at it later. it was not my car. I saw william on his cell phone making a cocaine deal. or was it the next scene
i also dreamed that i got a call about two jobs that i applied for. One located in a library and the other as a senior analyst. I tried to explain to the man on the phone that i had no experience as a libarian or paralegal as the clerical job was law related. I kept telling him,"as you can see from my resume" he was trying to make it fit.
i told him to submit my resume for both jobs and if i needed to send him another i would and i took down the name and address. as i was writing it down in the dream, my alarm clock rang. i knew in the dream that if i didnt have a job that this job would be great but i have a job therefore i need to take care in taking a new job
Sunday, October 16, 2005
a positive review of Capote
Reviewed by Lexi Feinberg: 2005-09-28
The thin line between right and wrong is examined in Capote, a compelling biopic about the famous author during the time he wrote “In Cold Blood.” Truman Capote, played to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman, was a fascinating figure with equal layers of talent and flaw. He could own the spotlight and make anyone laugh with his effeminate nature and clever jokes, but underneath he was a truly tortured and dependent soul. The world loved him after “Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and he became an accomplished writer that yearned for a change of pace. After reading an article about a slain family of four in Kansas, his life and the face of American literature were forever altered.
“In Cold Blood” is a non-fiction novel about 2 scumbags that murdered a family in their own home in 1959. The killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) committed the crimes for thousands of dollars, which they never actually found. They ended up leaving with $50 in their pockets, not quite the big lottery they were looking for. Capote goes to research the case, and along with him is his childhood friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. He’s drawn to and bewildered by the violent murders, noticing in the crime scene photos that the young boy’s head was tucked nicely onto a pillow, before being blasted off by a shotgun. Why would someone care enough to make someone comfortable before sending them to an early resting place?
Perry Smith is not your average criminal, and that is part of the horror of the whole thing. He likes to read, keeps personal diaries, and has the soulful eyes of Robert Downey Jr. Capote (a gay man), in his own way falls in love with Perry, but his desire to spend time with him is at constant odds with the need for him to be executed so he can finish his book. He finds the killers a lawyer, delaying their death sentences, and he visits regularly, even feeding Perry baby food when he is starving. They have an extraordinarily moving and confusing bond, leaving Capote torn between caring for Perry and wanting to exploit him for a story.
Capote is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, and there is not enough praise to shower upon it. It works on every possible level, with strong performances and believable dynamics that creatively bring a tragic story to life. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most talented actors working today, and if his performance in the film doesn’t earn him an Oscar, then the voting committee has clearly undergone a lobotomy. Rather than doing a deadpan impersonation, Hoffman encompasses Capote’s every movement and emotion, from his flamboyant persona to the wounded, spoiled child inside of him.
Unlike most biopics that scan the course of a person’s life without ever allowing us to truly know them, Capote revolves around a few crucial years in the turning point of Truman’s life. Not since Dead Man Walking has a movie been able to delve as deeply into the lives associated with a horrific criminal act, and realistically show the impact it has on the people involved. Different angles are told, but there is not a clearly mapped out path of who to like or dislike. These are well-rounded, flawed, real people, without a caricature in sight. Nothing is black and white as Capote beautifully expresses the multiple shades of grey people try to ignore. It’s more than just a movie; it’s an experience, and one you won’t want to miss.
The thin line between right and wrong is examined in Capote, a compelling biopic about the famous author during the time he wrote “In Cold Blood.” Truman Capote, played to perfection by Philip Seymour Hoffman, was a fascinating figure with equal layers of talent and flaw. He could own the spotlight and make anyone laugh with his effeminate nature and clever jokes, but underneath he was a truly tortured and dependent soul. The world loved him after “Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and he became an accomplished writer that yearned for a change of pace. After reading an article about a slain family of four in Kansas, his life and the face of American literature were forever altered.
“In Cold Blood” is a non-fiction novel about 2 scumbags that murdered a family in their own home in 1959. The killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) committed the crimes for thousands of dollars, which they never actually found. They ended up leaving with $50 in their pockets, not quite the big lottery they were looking for. Capote goes to research the case, and along with him is his childhood friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. He’s drawn to and bewildered by the violent murders, noticing in the crime scene photos that the young boy’s head was tucked nicely onto a pillow, before being blasted off by a shotgun. Why would someone care enough to make someone comfortable before sending them to an early resting place?
Perry Smith is not your average criminal, and that is part of the horror of the whole thing. He likes to read, keeps personal diaries, and has the soulful eyes of Robert Downey Jr. Capote (a gay man), in his own way falls in love with Perry, but his desire to spend time with him is at constant odds with the need for him to be executed so he can finish his book. He finds the killers a lawyer, delaying their death sentences, and he visits regularly, even feeding Perry baby food when he is starving. They have an extraordinarily moving and confusing bond, leaving Capote torn between caring for Perry and wanting to exploit him for a story.
Capote is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year, and there is not enough praise to shower upon it. It works on every possible level, with strong performances and believable dynamics that creatively bring a tragic story to life. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of the most talented actors working today, and if his performance in the film doesn’t earn him an Oscar, then the voting committee has clearly undergone a lobotomy. Rather than doing a deadpan impersonation, Hoffman encompasses Capote’s every movement and emotion, from his flamboyant persona to the wounded, spoiled child inside of him.
Unlike most biopics that scan the course of a person’s life without ever allowing us to truly know them, Capote revolves around a few crucial years in the turning point of Truman’s life. Not since Dead Man Walking has a movie been able to delve as deeply into the lives associated with a horrific criminal act, and realistically show the impact it has on the people involved. Different angles are told, but there is not a clearly mapped out path of who to like or dislike. These are well-rounded, flawed, real people, without a caricature in sight. Nothing is black and white as Capote beautifully expresses the multiple shades of grey people try to ignore. It’s more than just a movie; it’s an experience, and one you won’t want to miss.
capote
i want to see the movies that will showcase the "oscar" award winning performances. Phillip Seymour Hoffman will be nominated for his portrayal of CAPOTE.
I went to the angelika to see this movie. I walked in at 150pm for a 2pm show and there was almost an empty theater.
The movie depicts Capote, after he wrote Breakfast at Tiffanys, but while he was writing for the NEW YORKER. Nellie Harper Lee has not completed To kill a mockingbird and then the movie covers the next 5 years.
Capote find a TIMES article about the killing of the Cuttler family in Kansas and goes to Holcolm Kansas to write about the impact on this small town. This article becomes a book and becomes an obsession. This movie is actually about a Narcisstic man who had tremendous demons and the other people around him. The two killer, one who he befriends and uses to get his book. HIS book, he is destined to write. The Book that he will be his downfall. the movie is a character study and a historical biopic of Capote taken from the Book of the same name.
the movie, interrepts capotes role in NYC literary community and how IN COLD BLOOD changes the way books are written and adds a new genre to Literature, Fictional nonfiction. or historical fiction. the book, the making of the book. Capotes relationship to his editor, his partner (though its not specific) to Harper Lee and to Perry Smith, the killer is explored in length leading the audience to interrept them for themselves..
Capote has some precious lines, like when he enters the police station in this small town and swing his scarf and annouces it is a Bergdorfs.. One policeman gets it and responds, tipping his hat- sears and robucks. Capote is always out of place or the center of his place.
In cold blood destroys him and watching this is as disturbing as watching the crime. The movie is disturbing but so isnt the book and movie. the crime is heineous and only Capote can write it without camp or scare. He reports the destruction and the violence. He makes its as disturbing as it was was.
the performances are excellent. It was hard to remember Phillip Seymour Hoffman was capote and his clothing is impeccible. the character is a liar and manipulative and Hoffman has captured his mannerisms to a tee. Hoffman nails it.
Capote is about capote as was Truman Capote.
I went to the angelika to see this movie. I walked in at 150pm for a 2pm show and there was almost an empty theater.
The movie depicts Capote, after he wrote Breakfast at Tiffanys, but while he was writing for the NEW YORKER. Nellie Harper Lee has not completed To kill a mockingbird and then the movie covers the next 5 years.
Capote find a TIMES article about the killing of the Cuttler family in Kansas and goes to Holcolm Kansas to write about the impact on this small town. This article becomes a book and becomes an obsession. This movie is actually about a Narcisstic man who had tremendous demons and the other people around him. The two killer, one who he befriends and uses to get his book. HIS book, he is destined to write. The Book that he will be his downfall. the movie is a character study and a historical biopic of Capote taken from the Book of the same name.
the movie, interrepts capotes role in NYC literary community and how IN COLD BLOOD changes the way books are written and adds a new genre to Literature, Fictional nonfiction. or historical fiction. the book, the making of the book. Capotes relationship to his editor, his partner (though its not specific) to Harper Lee and to Perry Smith, the killer is explored in length leading the audience to interrept them for themselves..
Capote has some precious lines, like when he enters the police station in this small town and swing his scarf and annouces it is a Bergdorfs.. One policeman gets it and responds, tipping his hat- sears and robucks. Capote is always out of place or the center of his place.
In cold blood destroys him and watching this is as disturbing as watching the crime. The movie is disturbing but so isnt the book and movie. the crime is heineous and only Capote can write it without camp or scare. He reports the destruction and the violence. He makes its as disturbing as it was was.
the performances are excellent. It was hard to remember Phillip Seymour Hoffman was capote and his clothing is impeccible. the character is a liar and manipulative and Hoffman has captured his mannerisms to a tee. Hoffman nails it.
Capote is about capote as was Truman Capote.
third
I got a chance to see the newest offering by wendy wasserstein last week. Kol Nidre is hte best time to see the hardest ticket shows in NYC. Thanksgiving weekend, fridays in summertime,superbowl sunday and jewish new year.
i went to Lincoln center to see another Production that they put on. Dianne Wiest plays a college professor at an IVY league New England School. She is teaching Shakespeare from a feminist perspective and speaks some of Wasserstein's best and witty lines. The college professor meets a Midwest wrestler who went to Groton, who refers to himself as Third. As he is one. This young man challenges her sense of balance, even though he doesnt do anything directly. Except write a midterm. His midterm is on Lear and she questions whether he wrote it or plagerized it. She confronts him and he reports he is the author. She takes him up on charges and loses.
he believes she is discriminating against him because he is a jock and her steroetype that he is a rich kid from a private school who plays sports cant possibly write a publishable paper on LEAR.
THird is not wealthy, his grandfather was and he is a wrestler and challenges the establishment in his vegan, bisexual, global issue, protesting college campus. he is white boy from the midwest that takes all the Transgendered, gender bending courses
to expand his horizons and for the love of learning. he works his way through school and eventually transfers to Ohio State.
THere are other plots. Her struggles with her daughter, her absent non accomplished professor husband. Her references to her Lesbian daughter who lives in Vermont making organic cheese with her rhodes scholar, fullbright partner ( who cheats on her). the tension with her family is around her father, Played brilliantly by charles durning who has alsheimers and her daughter who wants to leave swarthmore and run off with a bankteller from trenton.
then there is her peer professor played by Amy Acquino. i am not sure why this character is there. her cancer comes out of remission and after the Main character, calls her doctor to control her treatment, they part ways. they are reunited at the end of the play.
this is an overcomplicated play that tried to do too much. There are too many conflicts, too many topics. The main character is addicted to watching CNN and cursing out the current administration. Though it makes for some good lines, it will date the play and the whole scene is needless. There are other scenes that dont move the play forward.
the tension builds like a Mamet play in the first act and really tried to do too much.
I love wendy wasserstein but this play does quite meet her usual standards. AR Gurney was in the audience the night i was there and my seatmate and i wonder HOW different authors would handle the same characters and topics.
i wanted to love this wasserstein but liked it well enough....but couldnt like the main character.
____________
from Playbill
Third is a full-length expansion of a one-act that had its premiere at Theatre J in Washington, DC, in early 2004. At the time, it was paired with another one act, Welcome to My Rash. In the one-act version of Third, Laurie Jameson, a veteran professor at a private liberal arts college, and Woodson Bull III (as in "the Third"), her conservative, wrestling-jock of a student, face off in a series of confrontations over politics, Shakespeare, and campus culture. Meanwhile, Laurie fends off hot flashes as well a challenging relationship with her college-age daughter.
i went to Lincoln center to see another Production that they put on. Dianne Wiest plays a college professor at an IVY league New England School. She is teaching Shakespeare from a feminist perspective and speaks some of Wasserstein's best and witty lines. The college professor meets a Midwest wrestler who went to Groton, who refers to himself as Third. As he is one. This young man challenges her sense of balance, even though he doesnt do anything directly. Except write a midterm. His midterm is on Lear and she questions whether he wrote it or plagerized it. She confronts him and he reports he is the author. She takes him up on charges and loses.
he believes she is discriminating against him because he is a jock and her steroetype that he is a rich kid from a private school who plays sports cant possibly write a publishable paper on LEAR.
THird is not wealthy, his grandfather was and he is a wrestler and challenges the establishment in his vegan, bisexual, global issue, protesting college campus. he is white boy from the midwest that takes all the Transgendered, gender bending courses
to expand his horizons and for the love of learning. he works his way through school and eventually transfers to Ohio State.
THere are other plots. Her struggles with her daughter, her absent non accomplished professor husband. Her references to her Lesbian daughter who lives in Vermont making organic cheese with her rhodes scholar, fullbright partner ( who cheats on her). the tension with her family is around her father, Played brilliantly by charles durning who has alsheimers and her daughter who wants to leave swarthmore and run off with a bankteller from trenton.
then there is her peer professor played by Amy Acquino. i am not sure why this character is there. her cancer comes out of remission and after the Main character, calls her doctor to control her treatment, they part ways. they are reunited at the end of the play.
this is an overcomplicated play that tried to do too much. There are too many conflicts, too many topics. The main character is addicted to watching CNN and cursing out the current administration. Though it makes for some good lines, it will date the play and the whole scene is needless. There are other scenes that dont move the play forward.
the tension builds like a Mamet play in the first act and really tried to do too much.
I love wendy wasserstein but this play does quite meet her usual standards. AR Gurney was in the audience the night i was there and my seatmate and i wonder HOW different authors would handle the same characters and topics.
i wanted to love this wasserstein but liked it well enough....but couldnt like the main character.
____________
from Playbill
Third is a full-length expansion of a one-act that had its premiere at Theatre J in Washington, DC, in early 2004. At the time, it was paired with another one act, Welcome to My Rash. In the one-act version of Third, Laurie Jameson, a veteran professor at a private liberal arts college, and Woodson Bull III (as in "the Third"), her conservative, wrestling-jock of a student, face off in a series of confrontations over politics, Shakespeare, and campus culture. Meanwhile, Laurie fends off hot flashes as well a challenging relationship with her college-age daughter.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Friday, October 14, 2005
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