Me Feeling Fire: NYC's Hot, Hot, Hot Summer Heads Toward Record

"If it feels hotter than it’s ever been in New York, that’s because it is, reports Bloomberg media:

"New York’s Central Park is heading toward its warmest July on record after two heat waves this month, the National Weather Service reported. Extreme heat pushes aging power systems to their limits, increasing the odds of breakdown, according to grid monitors.
“The grid system was built a long time ago, and the population has increased dramatically across this part of the country, and energy demand has gone up accordingly,” said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. “July may not be the top, but it is going to be in the top five, and this is over 130 years worth of observation, so it is outstanding heat.. The system generally works, said Apt, who is also professor of technology at Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and its school of Engineering and Public Policy.

“The chances of it not working are very small, and even on a hot day they are very, very small,” he said. “But they are slightly higher on a hot day with lots of demand than they would be on an April day where it is nice and cool with the windows open.”

A heat advisory was issued for New York City today, where the temperature in Central Park was 90 at 3 p.m. after three straight days above 90, according to the weather service. The definition of a heat wave is three consecutive days with temperatures of 90 degrees or higher.
“We have been well above normal for the month,” said David Wally, also a meteorologist in the Upton office. “We will have above-normal temperatures through the week.”

The water authority set a record for usage of 500,000 gallons per minute when temperatures reached into the 100s two weeks ago, said Chairman James Gaughran.   “Which is huge,” Gaughran said. “There seems to be a psychology to water your lawn more when it gets hot outside."

Details here

The New Normal -- Outtake from Cartoonist Tom Toles in the Washington Post

(c) 2010 Washington Post Company

From the Washington Post/blog here

Step Right Up (Before it's too late): Tom Waits Muses from the Gone World

The 200th issue of British music magazine MOJO has been on the stands for a few weeks now, and it is a classic. It is the July issue and the MOJO Website is already featuring the August issue, so better move fast.  To celebrate the mag's 200th issue, Tom Waits was invited to guest edit the issue which he does with style and grace. His interview with Hank Williams III, his music picks and faves, and other wry and interesting  comments and musings, along with dispatching Joe Henry to interview legend Harry Belafonte, make really interesting and fun reading.

And, if that isn't enough, Tom has programmed the audio CD,which is a regular and delightful feature of MOJO magazine. Tom's picks on this exclusive CD include some amazing roots classics -- Son House ("John the Revelator"), Big Mama Thornton, Ray Charles, Cliff Edwards, The Prisonaires, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters,  Tennessee Ernie Ford ("Sixteen Tons"), William Seward Burroughs, Jr. (performing a classic rendition, auf Deutsch, of "Falling in Love Again"), Paul Robeson, among others, and last but not least, even personally ringing up the artist to arrange for inclusion of Bob Dylan's "I Was Young When I Left Home."  The CD alone, in all of its roots and rock glory, personally selected by Tom Waits, is worth the cover price. Get it before it's gone, gone, gone.

                                     

                                                    Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits

Tom Waits web here

Mojo here

--Brooklyn Beat

Henri Matisse as Radical Inventor @ MoMA

 

The Moroccans by Henri Matisse 1916

 

The Piano Lesson 1916

On Sunday, The Museum of Modern Art will open what appears to be one of the extraordinary shows of the summer: “Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917.” The exhibit focuses on a tumultous and extraordinarily dynamic and fertile period in the career of Henri Matisse, 1913-1917. The exhibit, curated by John Elderfield, chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture at MoMA and Stephanie D’Alessandro, Gary C. and Frances Comer curator of modern art at The Art Institute of Chicago, features more than 110 of his works, and is closely intertwined with the upheavels brought about during those years by the start of World War I and the early years of surrealism.

Much has been made, in the NY Times and other publications, on the exhibit's use of recent art-history research and scientific/technological investigations to explore the evolution and development of the artist's work. X-ray and laser analysis lead to discussions of the artist's use of brush handles and palette knives to scape away paint, revealing complex colors below.

At a preview on Friday morning, I was drawn to the color and complexity of his work, but more the continued pressing forward of experimentation with materials and technique.

From MoMA: "In the time between Henri Matisse's (1869–1954) return from Morocco in 1913 and his departure for Nice in 1917, the artist produced some of the most demanding, experimental, and enigmatic works of his career—paintings that are abstracted and rigorously purged of descriptive detail, geometric and sharply composed, and dominated by shades of black and gray. Works from this period have typically been treated as unrelated to one another, as an aberration within the artist's development, or as a response to Cubism or World War I. Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917 moves beyond the surface of these paintings to examine their physical production and the essential context of Matisse's studio practice. Through this shift of focus, the exhibition reveals deep connections among these works and demonstrates their critical role in the artist's development at this time. Matisse himself acknowledged near the end of his life the significance of this period when he identified two works—Bathers by a River (1909–10, 1913, 1916–17) and The Moroccans (1915–16)—as among his most "pivotal." The importance of this moment resides not only in the formal qualities of the paintings but also in the physical nature of the pictures, each bearing the history of its manufacture. The exhibition includes approximately 120 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, primarily from the years of 1913–17, in the first sustained examination devoted to the work of this important period.

The technological analysis has its place in art history, but despite all of that, Radical Invention is a  complex, demanding, and  enriching show, exposing the patient viewer to colors, techniques and forms at a pivotal time in the development of modern art, and the development of an artist. Matisse as radical inventor and art explorer at this time, for whatever the reasons, clearly seems to rush quickly beyond the reach of any well-meaning efforts to track the painterly techniques that he used much less apply analysis. After awhile, the explanation of the paint scraping, the repriming and repainting, all seem to be a wan effort to understand an artist confronting himself and his expression during a complicated era. Ultimately, the artistic explosion leaves the art historians in the dust. For this viewer, it seems we can only look on as the artist takes risks and pushes ahead in an effort to give expresion to the workings of his eye and mind, and absorb this progress with joy.

MoMA here (note: timed tickets required).

--Brooklyn Beat

Joyeux Quatorze Juillet

Bastille Day is the French national holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic. More here

Mid Summer, Clinton and State: July 13, 4:30 PM

Photo by Brooklyn Beat/TN

The Roots Film A Music Video @ Brooklyn Borough Hall

Fresh off their Celebrate Brooklyn performance this past weekend, celebrating the World Cup games in South Africa in "OkayAfrica" with Talib Kweli and others, as well as their new album, How I Got Over, in stores now, The Roots film a music video on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall. The Roots are also in the studio working with John Legend.  The Roots, and Brooklyn, so cool.
--Brooklyn Beat

Around noon - July 13, 2010

Photos by Brooklyn Beat/TN

NY Times Analyzes Stop and Frisk as a Crime-Fighting Tool

A New York Times interactive graphic and accompanying article by reporters Ray Rivera, Al Baker and Janet Roberts explores the effects and impact of the controversial but growing use of stop, frisk and question by the NYC Police Department as a crime fighting tool. The interactive map which provides statistics on violent crime, provides detailed information on stops, frisks, whether force was used, and resulting arrests, as well as the race/ethnicity of the individuals stopped for questioning by the police. This is the type of complex and frankly "arresting" story, with best-of-intentions laced with moral ambiguity on all sides that makes the NY Times the great American newspaper.

The NY Times interactive map is here.http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/11/nyregion/20100711-stop-and-frisk.html?ref=nyregion

Excerpt from the NY TIMES article: “…a former professional basketball player who runs the Brownsville Recreation Center, said the rising tide of stops had left many who wanted a strong police presence here feeling conflicted.



“Do we welcome the police?” he said, “Of course I do. Ninety-nine percent of the people in the area do. But they also fear the police because you can get stopped at any time.”


New York is among several major cities across the country that rely heavily on the stop-and-frisk tactic, but few cities, according to law enforcement experts, employ it with such intensity. In 2002, the police citywide documented 97,000 of these stops; last year, the department registered a record: 580,000.


There are, to be sure, plenty of reasons for the police to be out in force in this section of Brooklyn, and plenty of reasons for residents to want them there. Murders, shootings and drug dealing have historically made this one of the worst crime corridors in the city.


But now, in an era of lower crime rates, both in this part of Brooklyn and across the city, questions are swirling over what is emerging as a central tool in the crime fight, one intended to give officers the power to engage anyone they reasonably suspect has committed a crime or is about to.

Full NY Times article here.

From Off the Streets of Cleveland: R.I.P., Harvey Pekar, An "American Splendor"

Harvey Pekar

Comic book writer Harvey Pekar, whose "American Splendor'' was made into a 2003 film (starring

Paul Giamatti), was found dead in his home early Monday, authorities said. He was 70.

Paul Giamatti and Harvey Pekar

AP reports: Officers were called to Pekar's suburban home by his wife about 1 a.m., Cleveland Heights police Capt. Michael Cannon said. His body was found between a bed and dresser.

Pekar had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression, according to Cannon. Pekar had gone to bed about 4:30 p.m. Sunday in good spirits, his wife told police.


An autopsy was planned, said Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner's office in Cleveland. He had no information on the cause of death.


Pekar's "American Splendor'' comics, which he began publishing in 1976, chronicle his grousing about work, money and the monotony of life. His quirky commentary developed a cult following and his insights and humor were often a bit on the dark side.


In 2003, the New York Film Critics Circle honored "American Splendor'' as best first film for the directing-writing team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. Part feature and part documentary, with animated elements added, the film starred Giamatti as the disgruntled Pekar. Pekar told The Associated Press in a 1997 interview that he was determined to keep writing his "American Splendor'' series.

"There's no end in sight for me. I want to continue to do it,'' Pekar said. "It's a continuing autobiography, a life's work.''

More here and here  .

Wishes & Dreams at the New Museum

Eu desejo o seu desejo / I Wish Your Wish (2003) is installed in the lobby gallery as part of the exhibition "Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other". Visitors are invited to select ribbons printed with a wish to tie around their wrists. When the ribbon falls off, tradition has it that one's wish will be fulfilled. Visitors may write another wish and place it in the empty hole. This work of art is based on a similar practice that takes place at the church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Our Lord of the Good End) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

You can participate in the "I Wish Your Wish" online here
Also, a forensic artist can draw a portrait based on your description of your "First Love." You can particpate online here

Through September 19.

Brion Gysin introduced William S. Burroughs, Jr. to the "Cut Up" Method. Brion Gysin, born John Clifford Brian Gysin, 19 January 1916, Taplow, England, Died July 13, 1986 (aged 70), Paris, France . Gysin was

a painter, writer, poet, and performance artist. With Ian Somerville he invented the Dreamachine, a flicker device designed as an art object to be viewed with the eyes closed. It was in painting, however, that Gysin devoted his greatest efforts, creating calligraphic works inspired by Japanese and Arabic scripts. Burroughs later stated that "Brion Gysin was the only man I ever respected." Although the "Dream Machine" exhibit feautres many of Gysin's paintings and drawings, works produced by the  "cut up" method -- and by extension, William S. Burroughs-- loom large here.

In a 1966 interview by Conrad Knickerbocker for The Paris Review, William S. Burroughs explained that Brion Gysin was, to his knowledge, "the first to create cut-ups":

INTERVIEWER: How did you become interested in the cut-up technique? BURROUGHS: A friend, Brion Gysin, an American poet and painter, who has lived in Europe for thirty years, was, as far as I know, the first to create cut-ups. His cut-up poem, Minutes to Go, was broadcast by the BBC and later published in a pamphlet. I was in Paris in the summer of 1960; this was after the publication there of Naked Lunch. I became interested in the possibilities of this technique, and I began experimenting myself. Of course, when you think of it, The Waste Land was the first great cut-up collage, and Tristan Tzara had done a bit along the same lines. Dos Passos used the same idea in 'The Camera Eye' sequences in USA. I felt I had been working toward the same goal; thus it was a major revelation to me when I actually saw it being done.

The exhibit also includes films, such as Antony Balch's notable 1963 film Towers Open Fire, and, 1966, The Cut Ups which use the cut up method (and feature a brief clip of street signs from Clark and Hicks Streets, circa early 1960s).


The exhibit also features a working model of Gysin's and Somerville's Dream Machine. The full experience of The Dream Machine is gained kneeling on a cushion in a darkened room, staring with closed eyes, 5"-8" from the device. After a few moments, you may begin to experience some eyelid patterns based on the movement of the device and the light source. To get a flavor of the Dream Machine, check this link

More on Gysin here. Through October 3.

The New Museum. 223 Bowery, at Prince Street, New York, NY

A Narrows Escape

A long post-prandial Friday walk on a hot summer day along the Narrows, from Caeser's Bay to the Verrazano. Preceded by a fabulous sandwich lunch at the legendary Royal Crown bakery's restaurant. We strolled along the Verrazano Narrows, finally  reaching the bridge, our goal.  We sat for awhile on the grass in the shade of the bridge, enjoying the breezes, watching the flight path of airplanes in the distance coming in from the Atlantic, crossing over the bridge, on their way to JFK airport.

Enjoying a vacation day, ordinary yet out-of- the-ordinary, in Brooklyn, USA. 

Photos   by Brooklyn Beat/TN

Hot Enough to....

The Times City Room threw caution to the wind and tried to fry an egg on the sidewalk.  I have to give the reporter Andy Newman credit for venturing outside on a day when only Mad Dogs, Englishmen, and the kebab and felafel carts venture out. While the experiment resulted in some lightly cooked tuna, the eggs proved less than satisfactory. Based on our extensive Google research, the Library of Congress reports that, yes, it is theoretically (damn their eyes - there is that word again) possible to cook an egg on the sidewalk, but it is unlikely that the sidewalk would get hot enough.

LoC reports: An egg needs a temperature of 158°F to become firm. In order to cook, proteins in the egg must denature (modify), then coagulate, and that won’t happen until the temperature rises enough to start and maintain the process.

The City Room was on the right track using a frying pan, since metal is a better conductor of heat than just plopping the egg on the concrete. But wo-be-tide to we New Yorkers should it ever approach that chilling temperature. But standing around trying to fry an egg  at 103 degrees Fahrenheit just ain't gonna cut it.

Once, when our kids were younger, I amused them on a long car ride home from upstate by making nachos: melting little bits of cheese on Doritos using the car cigarette lighter. Now that's entertainment!  (My Better Half was suitably unimpressed.)

Interesting that the heat always seems to bring out the frying-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk gambit, but there appears to be no widescale effort to commercialize on solar cookery in New York City. It seems like it would be much easier (and more fun) for backyard cooking than lugging those 40 pound propane tanks to run the gas grille. When I was in elementary school, a science and engineering nut, bakelight eyeglass frames, pocket protector and all, I built a solar oven for a science project that managed to produce a moderately good melted cheese sandwich (although my intention, unfortunately, was grilled cheese.)  But solar cooking kits are on the market place, and no doubt would cook an egg (and probably bacon) very effectively on a 103 degree NYC afternoon.

More on the LoC research here

More on solar cookery here

Frida Kahlo de Rivera: July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954

Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick - Frida Kahlo. 1954.

Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954; born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón) was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán. Kahlo painted "pain and passion" using intense, vibrant colors. Her style "close to folk art" was influenced among others by indigenous cultures of Mexico, European Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits. Kahlo was married to Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

More on Kahlo here

Self Portrait, Frida Kahlo

My New York times--- 4th of July @ the Hudson RIver

A flotilla of small craft made their way south on the Hudson. From our vantage point, the red tailights of no doubt irritated motorists backed up far beyond what the eye could see on the West Side Highway. The 4th of July fireworks had shifted from East to west, and we, happily, received an invitation to a gathering on the upper west side where we could see the sparkling displays from a 23rd floor rooftop  overlooking Riverside Drive. It was 90+ on the street, but the breezes at rooftop overlooking the Hudson River were positively refreshing. It is summer in NYC so we had the rare luxury of finding a spot right in front of our host's building. After the fireworks, the flotilla of small boats made their way northward, safety lights blinking. Sally the Dog scarfed up someone's red velvet cake. The humidity returned to the penthouse level, while(somewhat) cool breezes had made their way back down to the street. With the middle holiday of the season done, it was clearly Summer in New  York City.

Photos by Brooklyn Beat/TN

The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America: July 4, 1776

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.


After finalizing the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed