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Saturday, March 12, 2005

Ex-Sepia-tional Exhibit

Go take an art walk off a short (covered) pier!

Gregory Colbert's stunning "Ashes and Snow," consists of mostly Himalayan humans sharing space with exotic fauna, especially elephants. These beautiful large sepia-toned photographs on parchment-like material are finished in bee's wax. They're on display in a hangar-like temporary "nomadic" museum on Pier 54th at 13th St & Hudson River, quite a sight in itself, built partly from the shipping containers in which the other materials are moved between exhibits. This wonderful exhibit is haunting, touching, and lovely - worth the $12 admission Make sure to bundle up when you go, since it's colder inside this museum than it is outdoors. My friend Peter suggested this visit, and also informed me that Pier 54 is where the Titanic was scheduled to arrive on the voyage in which it sunk. We also stopped by the nearby Riverside Hotel, a transient affair where many Titanic survivors were quartered while they recovered.

# posted by Aaron @ 2:53 PM

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Happy Birthday, Will !

A birthday salute to Will, one of the sweeter and more interesting people of my acquaintance, pictured here with his boyfriend Patrick at a dinner party last year.

Cartoon:

# posted by Aaron @ 12:01 AM

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Friday, March 11, 2005

Venice in rugged New Mexico? Indeed. Photographed beautifully by my pal Garth!

# posted by Aaron @ 9:54 AM

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Thursday, March 10, 2005

My server was down yesterday, but I did post this!

Translating It Was Somewhat Misplaced

Still in Argentina, Thomas is having fun and posting great pictures. He also called my attention to these Dancing Empanadas.

I'm always fascinated by how American movie titles get translated in foreign markets. Latin America is famous for altering the title to tell you more about the movie. "Rebecca - An Unforgettable Woman," "Shark" instead of "Jaws", and best of all, "The Powerful Head Of The Mafia," just to make sure Brazilians understood the Godfather wasn't about a baptism. : - )

More Recent Examples:
"Closer" became "Closer: Taken By Passion" and "Closer: Too Close"
"The Fockers" became "The Fockers: My Husband's Family" and "The Fockers: In Even Worse Trouble."
"Sideways" became "In Between Drinks" and "Sideways: Between Some And Others"
(that director's previous movie became "Confessions of Mr Schmidt" )
"Vera Drake" became "The Secret Of Vera Drake"
"Ocean's Twelve" became "The New Great Swindle"

Three glasses of plum wine, straight up, animated my Peking Duck dinner with old pal Patricia Stumpp, celebrating her new job at Citigroup.

Cartoon:

# posted by Aaron @ 9:42 AM

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Wednesday, March 09, 2005

From a recent issue of The Onion, my favorite feature, “What Do YOU Think?

Question: “The FCC is currently reviewing its ban on the use of cell phones during flights, but many passengers say they like the restriction. What do you think?”

Answer 1: "If they lift the ban on cell-phone use, they better lift the ban on passengers beating the shit out of each other, too."

Answer 2: "I don't know. Last year, the airlines lifted the ban on seat-kicking and look what happened."

Answer 3: "What an ideal marriage of the Wright Brothers and Alexander Graham Bell. And Kafka. And Pavlov. And Mengele."

Answer 4: "But...but...what about the disastrous effect cell phones could have on aircraft navigational systems?! Nooo!"

Answer 5: "Awesome! Now I can call my girlfriend and join the Mile High Solo club."

Answer 6: "Now the only thing left is to fill the cabin with ankle-deep brackish ice water, and air travel will be about perfect."

# posted by Aaron @ 8:46 AM

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Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Falls Well That Ends Well : - )

Ah, puns... Shakespearean wit or a form of aggression? The debate continues. I recently saw "Niagara," a 1952 Hitchcockean thriller nominally starring Marilyn Monroe, whose performance here is unusually vixenish and skimpy on screen time. Monroe got star billing, but she is neither the film's center (the falls themselves, presented in vivid toursitic splendor) or its heroine (that honor went to Jean Peters as the good-girl honeymooner staying at the same lodge). Joseph Cotton is quite gripping as Monroe's emotionally unstable husband, who she pushes over the edge (of insanity, not of the falls). You may remember Cotton's chilling work in Hitchcock's "Shadow Of A Doubt," the 1949 film of menace in Hometown, USA. I do recommend "Niagara, which delivers thrills, an unusual plot, vicarious über-scenery in Technicolor, and clocks in at an economic 89 minutes. Jean Peters, btw, was secretly married to Howard Hughes, one more reason that I still want to see "The Aviator."