Saturday, September 18, 2004
A Bicycle Built For Eight...
With the pedallers in a circle, like spokes! Last night, met two of my newer friends for a scrumptious meal at Pam Thai on 49th and 9th, followed by a humid evening stroll through the Great White Way/Restaurant Row, where we saw the bicycle revellers. And on 42nd St! Looked kind of scary, but also fun... If only I'd had a camera. I can't even find a picture of these contraptions on line. I don't even know what they're called. I searched under 'multi-seat bicycles,' 'novelty bicycles' etc. My friends said they'd seen these in Central Park before. Here's a postcard from the Queens Library Collection: "In the 1890s, the bicycle craze swept the country. The new safety bicycle, with two wheels of the same size, replaced the big-wheeled velocipede, which was difficult to master. By the turn of the century, men and women had formed dozens of cycling clubs across the City. Wheelmen—and women—anxious to tour the countryside around the City pushed local governments for better roads long before the automobile age. "
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Friday, September 17, 2004
Want To See A Really Good Movie?
"We Don't Live Here Any More," a tale of infidelity and two marriages in trouble, offers complex characters, emotional truth, sharp observation, compelling acting, and deft directing. One-line summary: guy cheating with best friend's wife as both relationships hit the breaking point. Four amazing actors bring the two couples intensely to life and leave indelible impressions. These actors' credits are practically a compendium of this decade's most distinctive drama: Mark Ruffallo of "You Can Count On Me" and "Eternal Sunshine," Naomi Watts of "Mulholland Drive" and "21 Grams," Peter Krause, the emotional center of "Six Feet Under," and Laura Dern, whose slightly older masterpieces include "Rambling Rose" and "Blue Velvet." This unusual and interesting film was aptly described by NY Times as "an uncomfortable four-way game of envy, longing, and dissatisfaction."
French Fri-Days / Vendredi Français - after the cartoons - aprés les desseins
Happy Weekend, everybody!
weekly summary, en français, pour mes amis de la ville lumière:
Cette semaine j'ai eu mon jour aux tribunaux! Apres avoir attendu deux heures sur le trottoir devant la porte, on m'a conduit a la salle de justice, ou j'ai regardé un melange personne de different races et classes sociales. La moitie était lá accusés de petits delits, vol de marchandise chez Daffys, par exemple; l'autre moitié se trouvait lá a cause d'infractions civiles qui ne sont guere des crimes - jetter des ordures sur la route, faire la bicyclette sur le trottoir, faire du bruit insupportable a 3 heures du matin. Bref, la juge a regardé mon dossier et a dit a l'avocat que l'état m'avait fourni: 'ce dossier est annulé. le prochain, s.v.p.!' Donc issu de cette aventure, pas d'amende, pas de service communautaire, meme pas de dossier. Comme si ça ne s'était jamais passée. Ma vie en rose.... / Mardi j'suis allé avec Thomas (qui part ce soir pour San Francisco) á Irving Plaza voir 'Snow Patrol', qui font du rock intelligent et subtile a la Coldplay ou U2 et habitent Belfast. Ils étaient très sympa, l'humour modeste de l'irlandais de province. Leur tube 'Run' est une balade qui fair venir une tourbillon d'emotion, qui se deploie peu a peu... / Hier soir j'ai travaillé jusqu'aux 11h / Ce weekend, diner avec des copains de Denis et Chrisitian ce soir, diner avec Bart a Park Slope demain, des films, du dodo. A bientôt, j'espère..
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Thursday, September 16, 2004
Secrets of Lassie: Did you know that all nine Lassies were male collies? i.e., dog drag queens : - ) June Lockhart, who starred in the 1957-1964 TV show, told the NY Times that many Lassie episodes were secretly ghost-written by writers blacklisted in the McCarthy era, including one who wrote from his jail cell. this entry's permalink
The Great Beyond?
Or The 'Just OK' Beyond?
You can skip this paragraph if you have no interest in "Six Feet Under." I just watched the final ephisode (spelling intentional) of season 4. SFU is my favorite TV show in 25 years and the first since the 70s I have watched real-time. How did we feel about this season? I'm still digesting it - the show is still very good, but there were fewer amazing moments of emotional truth. The season was not well received critically. A few of the plot twists were hard to believe, including Keith's closety attitude as a bodyguard (he was out as a cop), Brenda's lightning transformation into a stable person and budding therapist, and, most of all, the bit about Lisa's brother-in-law. Do we think he killed Lisa? Why did he kill himself? The acting was astonishing, but it was still so bizarre I thought it was going to be a dream sequence. And why was the daughter Micaela upset before Nate arrived? And why would she have the photo, and send it to David... If you have any thoughts on this, please share them with me! And here's a great article on the topic.Now, chuckle your head off...:
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Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Happy Birthday, Denis !!! / Bon Annif !!!!Even If You Cannot Hear My Voice...
... I'll be right beside you, dear... Such are the heartfelt and tuneful sentiments of Northern Ireland's Snow Patrol, who Thomas and I had the pleasure to catch at Irving Plaza last night. With low key Irish charm and earnest self-deprecating humor, Snow Patrol are somewhere between Coldplay meaningful and arena-rock identification and catharsis. Their "cigarette lighter" song is the heart-tugging ballad "Run," so, on giddy impluse, while taxi-ing back home to pick up the tickets I'd forgotten (!), I ducked into a bodega and picked up two cigarette lighters. The first time this non-smoking boy has ever made such a purchase... But "Run" elicited more arm-waving and sing-along than butane combustion, despite its chorus of "Light up, light up / as if you have a choice." 
"This case is dismissed" With these words, the Honorable Eileen Koretz (pictured left at her law school reunion) closed the chapter of my High Line mishap of July 17, when a federal agent gave me a summons for trespassing on the former abandoned railroad and, hopefully, future elevated park. I arrived 9:30am sharp at the Midtown Community Court on W 54th in between 8th and 9th, 31 blocks due north of my home. The court shares a building with an off-broadway theatre company, drably painted in what Tom Wolfe described as 'good-enough-for-government green.' I waited on line to check in, was sent back to the street 'until they had room,' and waited for 90 minutes with New Yorkers from other walks of life. 
White professionals were a minority of one, but the rainbow of ethnicity around me (which actually does include an 'Aaron Holsberg' come to think of it) was very mellow. Real people with real families facing life's real frustrations. I listened to the "Superfly" soundtrack on my mp3 player, but its perfectly captured urban desolation didn't jive with the 2004 urban types around me, who are no strangers to cell phones or cable television. I was called in, frisked, sent in to the inner sanctum on the conveyor belt of justice. My fear kicked in as I realized that some of my fellow defendents were there for shoplifting and possibly faced 30 days in jail, which for my delicate person is exactly 30 days too many. I saw several defendents face the judge, and, despite poor acoustics, I saw that some people went free, others got community service, and a few petty thieves did win a trip to Rikers or somewhere. I realized then that I'd have to stand before the judge and a bunch of court types and guards. But then I noticed half the people were there for such minor offenses as littering, riding a bicycle on a sidewalk, and I knew it would be OK. A middle-aged spiffy Jewish-looking man called my name - he was my court-appointed lawyer. He basically said the trespassing charge would be dismissed pending 6 months of staying out of trouble, and that I'd get off with a 20 minute lecture. My name appeared on the closed-circuit TV as I was called to the defendent's table, but my lawyer went and talked to the judge - I heard the words 'photography' and 'hobby' - and she said 'this case is dismissed.' No fine, no lecture, no record, no informing my employer or the SEC that this Series-7-holder stood briefly accused of a misdemeanor. Now, I can go back to being the boy scout you all know and love. Peace, man. : - )
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Aaron Faces The Music...
Today I face the music both figuratively and literally. At left, my summons to appear in criminal court (!) for my recent escapade trespassing on the High Line (see my July 18 post), that great defunct elevated railroad that will probably become an elevated park within this decade.
I must show contrition. I must not only say, but exude, just how sorry I am, and how clueless I was, climbing up there just to take pretty pictures... I must not, under any circumstances, try to photograph the court proceedings for this blog. If I am a good boy, I'll get off with a fine, and will be feeling fine ten hours later as I....
...see Snow Patrol at Irving Plaza with my pal and fellow music fan Thomas. Snow Patrol, hailing from Northern Ireland, make pretty progressive music, like a slightly more pop Coldplay. They have a good site. They will be prominently featured on my Autumn Mix CDs, which are completed and will be shipping shortly!
Cartoons Du Jour
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Monday, September 13, 2004
Once Around The Block - Part One
Wow! Did Hurricane Frances reach Chelsea last Sunday while I was sleeping? : - ) Lately I've been hitting the street practically right out of bed on weekends, soaking up the morning sun with a latte, my mp3 player, stubble, and slept-on poindexter-type hair formations. The streets are nearly empty at 9am on Sunday morning... Some of neighbors are probably still dancing somewhere, or worse... : - ) I'm a blue-state boy, and the outpouring of anti-Bush creativity here warms the cockles of my heart (see photo below). I wonder how Bill Clinton's cockles are.. probably clogged. no more steamers, movie popcorn...
For some unexplained reason, somebody affixed a cooked ham to the posts of a local church gate. Atavistic ritual sacrifice? Abandoned leftovers? You be the judge! Note the flies on the smaller slice. Yuck. 
Now this is Wicked: 
Grim Reaper Humor: 
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Sunday, September 12, 2004
Don't Wanna Be An American Idiot...
At left, Towers Of Light, two blue beams into the sky commemorating the third anniversary of TDTCAF. (yes, TDTCAF! e-mail me if you don't get it.). I could see these beams last night from 23rd & 8th but could not capture them with my mid-line digicamera, so I took this photo from gothamist.com. As for "American Idiot," that's my new theme song, courtesy of Green Day. No offense meant to TDTCAF's victims, many of whom would certainly be appalled by the current administration. Anyway, some wonderful idiotlyrics follow today's cartoons...HumorRama:
American Idiot:
Don't want to be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America.
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Well that's enough to argue.
Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia.
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