from Boblinks...
Bob Dylan Set List from Pimlico Race Course. Next stop: Brooklyn USA Next
Baltimore, Maryland
Virgin Mobile Festival
Pimlico Race Course
August 10, 2008
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Bob on keyboard)
2. It Ain't Me, Babe (Bob on keyboard)
3. Rollin' And Tumblin' (Bob on keyboard)
4. Spirit On The Water (Bob on keyboard)
5. High Water (For Charlie Patton) (Bob on keyboard)
6. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
(Bob on keyboard)
7. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
8. When The Deal Goes Down (Bob on keyboard)
9. Summer Days (Bob on keyboard)
10. Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob on keyboard)
(encore)
11. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)
(Thanks Don Mitchell for the email)
Band Members
Bob Dylan - keyboard, harp
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel
http://www.boblinks.com/081008s.html
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Richie Havens at Metrotech
Richie Havens. Another legend playing in Brooklyn. A wonderful show for a lovely summer afternoon, as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's summer long "R & B Festival at Metrotech." Kudos to BAM. Richie Havens' mellow voice and intensively rhythmic guitar with that unique thumbed open fret playing style. Tales of growing up in Bed-Stuy and playing stickball on Howard Avenue drew cheers from the lunchtime crowd. Great show, what a wonderful, diverse crowd. Amazing that the iconic Richie Havens, so associated with the 1960s, would draw such an appreciative crowd of kids, young adults, boomers, older folks.
Mr. Havens, occasionally accompanied by an electric guitarist and a cellist, played "My Love is Alive," "All Along the Watchtower," "Dreams," "Woodstock," and more. He was joined onstage for two numbers by Marcus Franklin, a young performer who appeared as the youngest metaphorical reincarnation of Bob Dylan in the recent film "I'm Not There," who sang Dylan's "Hour That the Ship Comes In" and "Tombstone Blues" with a little energetic tap dance thrown in.
Mr Havens' stories were funny, sometimes veering off into mystical head scratchers, such as the tale of watching a press conference where it was announced that Pluto was no longer a planet, and he wondered what would become of all of those folks born under the sign of Pluto ? But that voice, that voice that is so familiar and warm and wise, immediately brought back thoughts, memories and reflections of the Woodstock era and its many hopeful iterations. His version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", simply, gave chills.
Richie Havens forthcoming album on Verve Forecast is "Nobody Left to Crown." Richie Havens, still performing worldwide, is an icon of an era. While he is known more as an interpreter than a songwriter (his more recent albums have included many original compositions), his original style and unique artistic identity retain an important and enduring place in American popular music.
Richie Havens website: http://www.richiehavens.com/
Youtube: Where the Legend Begins: Richie Havens at Woodstock 1969:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1pMeyy__r0
Mr. Havens, occasionally accompanied by an electric guitarist and a cellist, played "My Love is Alive," "All Along the Watchtower," "Dreams," "Woodstock," and more. He was joined onstage for two numbers by Marcus Franklin, a young performer who appeared as the youngest metaphorical reincarnation of Bob Dylan in the recent film "I'm Not There," who sang Dylan's "Hour That the Ship Comes In" and "Tombstone Blues" with a little energetic tap dance thrown in.
Mr Havens' stories were funny, sometimes veering off into mystical head scratchers, such as the tale of watching a press conference where it was announced that Pluto was no longer a planet, and he wondered what would become of all of those folks born under the sign of Pluto ? But that voice, that voice that is so familiar and warm and wise, immediately brought back thoughts, memories and reflections of the Woodstock era and its many hopeful iterations. His version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock", simply, gave chills.
Richie Havens forthcoming album on Verve Forecast is "Nobody Left to Crown." Richie Havens, still performing worldwide, is an icon of an era. While he is known more as an interpreter than a songwriter (his more recent albums have included many original compositions), his original style and unique artistic identity retain an important and enduring place in American popular music.
Richie Havens website: http://www.richiehavens.com/
Youtube: Where the Legend Begins: Richie Havens at Woodstock 1969:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1pMeyy__r0
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Change, Yes. But Hope ?: The Road to Reform on Wall Street
Facing a virtual meltdown of large segments of the financial, banking and investments industries, a Wall Street consortium led by Goldman Sachs managing partner E. Gerald Corrigan recommended new standards Wednesday for monitoring and managing risk. The report issued by the study group indicated that the financial industry must be better equipped to contain the potential for apocalyptic aftermaths potentially caused by irrational exuberance. (I said that, they didn't.)
The group's report, addressed to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Mario Draghi, chairman of the international Financial Stability Forum, suggested that big investment houses regularly perform "liquidity stress tests" to measure their expected flexibility in the face of a crisis. It also urged firms to make sure they have accurate snapshots of their exposures to institutional trading partners, with the ability to compile detailed reports within hours if necessary. The report suggests that this will likely require extensive expenditures on "infrastructure" (i.e., human capital and technology)on the part of the financial industry which will no doubt be good news for many in the industry who have found themselves on the street (or, rather off The Street) following this chaotic financial year.
One cherce nugget: "...As discussed elsewhere in this Report, throughout the credit market crisis, the behavioral characteristics of several classes of structured credit instruments have accounted for a significant fraction of the write-downs and losses incurred by large integrated financial intermediaries, hedge funds, specialized financial institutions and other market participants. Moreover, there is almost universal agreement that, even with optimal disclosure in the underlying documentation, the characteristics of these instruments and the risk of loss associated with them were not fully understood by many market participants. This lack of comprehension was even more pronounced when applied to CDOs, CDOs squared,4 and related instruments, reflecting a complex array of factors, including a lack of understanding of the inherent limitations of valuation models and the risks of short-run historical data sets. As a consequence, these instruments displayed price depreciation and volatility far in excess of levels previously associated with comparably rated securities, causing both a collapse of confidence in a very broad range of structured product ratings and a collapse in liquidity for such products."
Translation: Despite all of the legal gobbedlygook issued by financial firms in support of some of the complex equity and investment products issued in the past several years, investors were not fully aware of the level or potenial of risk that these items faced. Like the ads that promise results, accompanied by a counterpuntal voice saying "Prior experience does not guarantee future earnings". But it was a bull market. You have to be in it to win it, etc. Until it fails. Irrational exuberance indeed.
The bottom line? Addressed as it is to Treasury Secretary Paulson and Mario Draghi of the "Financial Stability Forum," it seems Reform is the Better Part of Valor. Or, the mantra on Wall Street, for now, Better to Self-Regulate Than Be Regulated.
One wonders how the outcome of the November 2008 elections will further determine the future direction of regulation on Wall Street, and how that might impact individual and institutional investors, borrowers, and the near term and future growth of the American economy and the global economy at large.
To whit, the decision by some banks and investment firms to freeze home equity loans for customers deemed to be at risk of default (see link below).
Containing Systemic Risk: The Road to Reform here:
http://www.crmpolicygroup.org/docs/CRMPG-III.pdf
Wall Street Advises on New Risk Regulations (Washington Post):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080601646_pf.html
Some Banks, Equity Firms, freeze Home Equity Withdrawals:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afQ0PVYvOgzI&refer=home
The group's report, addressed to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Mario Draghi, chairman of the international Financial Stability Forum, suggested that big investment houses regularly perform "liquidity stress tests" to measure their expected flexibility in the face of a crisis. It also urged firms to make sure they have accurate snapshots of their exposures to institutional trading partners, with the ability to compile detailed reports within hours if necessary. The report suggests that this will likely require extensive expenditures on "infrastructure" (i.e., human capital and technology)on the part of the financial industry which will no doubt be good news for many in the industry who have found themselves on the street (or, rather off The Street) following this chaotic financial year.
One cherce nugget: "...As discussed elsewhere in this Report, throughout the credit market crisis, the behavioral characteristics of several classes of structured credit instruments have accounted for a significant fraction of the write-downs and losses incurred by large integrated financial intermediaries, hedge funds, specialized financial institutions and other market participants. Moreover, there is almost universal agreement that, even with optimal disclosure in the underlying documentation, the characteristics of these instruments and the risk of loss associated with them were not fully understood by many market participants. This lack of comprehension was even more pronounced when applied to CDOs, CDOs squared,4 and related instruments, reflecting a complex array of factors, including a lack of understanding of the inherent limitations of valuation models and the risks of short-run historical data sets. As a consequence, these instruments displayed price depreciation and volatility far in excess of levels previously associated with comparably rated securities, causing both a collapse of confidence in a very broad range of structured product ratings and a collapse in liquidity for such products."
Translation: Despite all of the legal gobbedlygook issued by financial firms in support of some of the complex equity and investment products issued in the past several years, investors were not fully aware of the level or potenial of risk that these items faced. Like the ads that promise results, accompanied by a counterpuntal voice saying "Prior experience does not guarantee future earnings". But it was a bull market. You have to be in it to win it, etc. Until it fails. Irrational exuberance indeed.
The bottom line? Addressed as it is to Treasury Secretary Paulson and Mario Draghi of the "Financial Stability Forum," it seems Reform is the Better Part of Valor. Or, the mantra on Wall Street, for now, Better to Self-Regulate Than Be Regulated.
One wonders how the outcome of the November 2008 elections will further determine the future direction of regulation on Wall Street, and how that might impact individual and institutional investors, borrowers, and the near term and future growth of the American economy and the global economy at large.
To whit, the decision by some banks and investment firms to freeze home equity loans for customers deemed to be at risk of default (see link below).
Containing Systemic Risk: The Road to Reform here:
http://www.crmpolicygroup.org/docs/CRMPG-III.pdf
Wall Street Advises on New Risk Regulations (Washington Post):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080601646_pf.html
Some Banks, Equity Firms, freeze Home Equity Withdrawals:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afQ0PVYvOgzI&refer=home
The Late Dr. Bruce Ivins: Not the Anthrax Suspect ?
A very sobering article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal suggests that the late government scientist Dr. Bruce Ivins, was not in fact "Dr Anthrax", despite the fact that he was believed to have committed suicide because the FBI was closing in on him as the chief suspect in the anthrax letter attacks that frightened the country in December 2001. In addition to making Dr. Ivins, who may or may not according to subsequent press accounts have been marginally but non-lethally loony, an Enemy of The State, the investigation, as the article states, does not appear to add up. Clearly, this also raises questions as to the identity of the actual perpetrators, and whether they are still At Large.
Paging "V for Vendetta", "The Matrix", Jean Baudrillard, Slavoj Zizek, and all of those other sub-textual analyses of politics, totalitarianism, terror and reality. As the Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the Unibomber showed, enemies of American democracy are homegrown as well as foreign. However, perhaps The Disjuncture in American Life, both subtle and profound, that the September 11, 2001 attacks represented, seemed to create a brief vacuum, a window of opportunity.
A Pandora's Box that creeped open with terror attacks on U.S. personnel and embassies for the past several decades, opened wide on 9/11, unleashing all manner of extremists. If the analyst's article is correct, what is most sobering and clear is that with the death of Dr. Ivins the anthrax killings may be far from over,
Wall Street Journal on the Dr. Bruce Ivins Story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789293570011775.html
Significant Terror Incidents: 1961-2003
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5902.htm
Paging "V for Vendetta", "The Matrix", Jean Baudrillard, Slavoj Zizek, and all of those other sub-textual analyses of politics, totalitarianism, terror and reality. As the Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the Unibomber showed, enemies of American democracy are homegrown as well as foreign. However, perhaps The Disjuncture in American Life, both subtle and profound, that the September 11, 2001 attacks represented, seemed to create a brief vacuum, a window of opportunity.
A Pandora's Box that creeped open with terror attacks on U.S. personnel and embassies for the past several decades, opened wide on 9/11, unleashing all manner of extremists. If the analyst's article is correct, what is most sobering and clear is that with the death of Dr. Ivins the anthrax killings may be far from over,
Wall Street Journal on the Dr. Bruce Ivins Story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789293570011775.html
Significant Terror Incidents: 1961-2003
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/5902.htm
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Louise Bourgeois: Life in Art/Art in Life (and, of course, a Brooklyn connection)
This is proving to be a great summer for Art in New York City. Hot on the heels of the Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, they have come up with another engrossing, provocative show, an enormous exhibit of the works of Louise Bourgeois. Louise Bourgeois is widely considered to be one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. Although it could appropriately be called a retrospective, Bourgeois was already the subject of a previous retrospective, in 1982. Louise Bourgeois’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York was the first retrospective given to a woman artist at that institution. According to the current exhibit's notes, the artist took the MOMA retrospective as a challenge since she did not wish to be categorized by her retrospective as being at the end of her career. So, at age 71, Bourgeois changed direction and began exploring new subjects, new materials, new media and new ideas, absorbing from the changes occurring all around her in the art world so that she could head off in new directions.
Among these new directions was her move, in the early 1980s, to a large studio space in Brooklyn. Louise Bourgeois began working in a studio in a converted garment factory at 475 Dean Street, between 5th and 6th avenues, near Flatbush Avenue. An interesting choice, since her family in France had been involved in a tapestry restoration business for many, many years. (See"Art kaleidscope" link below for more details.)
She will celebrate her ninety-seventh birthday on December 25th, 2008. She still holds Sunday gatherings with emerging artists and remains as demanding and challenging to younger artists, as she has been toward her own work.
Through September 28, 2008.
On Louise Bourgeois:
http://artkaleidoscope.org/lbpresskit.pdf
Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim Museum:
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/exhibition_pages/bourgeois/index.html
Louise Bourgeois: A Life in pictures - from the Sackler Library at the Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum:
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/sackler_louise/index.html
Among these new directions was her move, in the early 1980s, to a large studio space in Brooklyn. Louise Bourgeois began working in a studio in a converted garment factory at 475 Dean Street, between 5th and 6th avenues, near Flatbush Avenue. An interesting choice, since her family in France had been involved in a tapestry restoration business for many, many years. (See"Art kaleidscope" link below for more details.)
She will celebrate her ninety-seventh birthday on December 25th, 2008. She still holds Sunday gatherings with emerging artists and remains as demanding and challenging to younger artists, as she has been toward her own work.
Through September 28, 2008.
On Louise Bourgeois:
http://artkaleidoscope.org/lbpresskit.pdf
Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim Museum:
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/exhibition_pages/bourgeois/index.html
Louise Bourgeois: A Life in pictures - from the Sackler Library at the Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum:
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/sackler_louise/index.html
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
School Construction: New PS 8 Annex in Brooklyn Heights to Be Built; Will Create New Classrooms and Alleviate Overcrowding
The NYC Department of Education reported that Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced plans to build an annex at PS 8 in Brooklyn. The annex will give the school additional capacity, alleviating overcrowding at the Brooklyn Heights elementary school. The School Construction Authority (SCA), which will oversee the project, will scope out the work and design the annex in the next year before it seeks bids for the construction of the facility. The Department of Education expects that the annex will open in September 2011.
The Department of Education indicated that, at the announcement, Chancellor Klein was joined by Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, Chief Family Engagement Officer Martine Guerrier, SCA President Sharon Greenberger, Department of City Planning Director Purnima Kapur, PS 8 Principal Seth Phillips, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Councilman David Yassky, State Assemblywoman Joan Millman, State Senator Martin Connor, PTA co-President Tim Eldridge, Superintendent James Machen, PS 8 Assistant Principal Robert Mikos, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Joe Chan, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Deputy Director Nancy Webster, and Community Education Council representatives for School District 13.
"PS 8 has gone from a poor-performing school to a powerhouse, and enrollment interest has skyrocketed,” Councilman David Yassky said. “We have to recognize the tremendous amount of work done by the parents and administration of PS 8 to make this a first-rate school. If we have great schools but it takes a miracle to get in, we haven’t really advanced our core mission. What we’re trying to do today is make a PS 8 education available to as many of our kids as possible to make sure that this school can serve the community that saved it.”
“The PS 8 Annex is great news for PS 8 and for its broader school community,” Chancellor Klein said. “The annex will allow PS 8, which has grown in success and popularity in recent years, to continue growing, providing more children with the top-notch elementary education they need and deserve.”
"The Department of Education will fund the design work for the annex to PS 8 in the current Capital Plan and will include funding for the construction in the next Capital Plan, which begins in July 2009. The current Five-Year Capital Plan is in its last year and will create 63,000 new seats throughout the City. For the next Five-Year Capital Plan, which will be made public in November, the Department of Education plans to look at the potential need for school construction based on demographic patterns within districts and the accessibility of existing schools."
The Department of Education indicated that, at the announcement, Chancellor Klein was joined by Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, Chief Family Engagement Officer Martine Guerrier, SCA President Sharon Greenberger, Department of City Planning Director Purnima Kapur, PS 8 Principal Seth Phillips, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Councilman David Yassky, State Assemblywoman Joan Millman, State Senator Martin Connor, PTA co-President Tim Eldridge, Superintendent James Machen, PS 8 Assistant Principal Robert Mikos, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Joe Chan, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Deputy Director Nancy Webster, and Community Education Council representatives for School District 13.
"PS 8 has gone from a poor-performing school to a powerhouse, and enrollment interest has skyrocketed,” Councilman David Yassky said. “We have to recognize the tremendous amount of work done by the parents and administration of PS 8 to make this a first-rate school. If we have great schools but it takes a miracle to get in, we haven’t really advanced our core mission. What we’re trying to do today is make a PS 8 education available to as many of our kids as possible to make sure that this school can serve the community that saved it.”
“The PS 8 Annex is great news for PS 8 and for its broader school community,” Chancellor Klein said. “The annex will allow PS 8, which has grown in success and popularity in recent years, to continue growing, providing more children with the top-notch elementary education they need and deserve.”
"The Department of Education will fund the design work for the annex to PS 8 in the current Capital Plan and will include funding for the construction in the next Capital Plan, which begins in July 2009. The current Five-Year Capital Plan is in its last year and will create 63,000 new seats throughout the City. For the next Five-Year Capital Plan, which will be made public in November, the Department of Education plans to look at the potential need for school construction based on demographic patterns within districts and the accessibility of existing schools."
One Bourbon. One Scotch. And One Beer: "W" by Oliver Stone: First Trailer
As Oliver Stone proves, it isn't a far leap from Frat Boy to Leader of the Free World. The first trailer for Director Stone's bio-pic of George W. Bush, 42nd and 43rd President of these here United States of America has been released, starring Josh Brolin, and it promises to be a hoot. Stone's "Nixon" came out well after the fact; that "W" treads so close to the real story, coming at the end of one of the most controversial Presidencies, perhaps, since Richard M. Nixon, seems a story in itself. When Bush pere tells the Once and Future President "Who do you think you are? A Kennedy? You're a Bush. Act like one" -- well, then you can tell we are on to something special.
Scheduled for limited release in the US October 17.
Trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEyJ2kdaaTQ&eurl=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/07/w-trailer-walk.html
An interesting preview and L.A. Times Article by Filmwriter Patrick Goldstein here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/07/w-trailer-walk.html
Scheduled for limited release in the US October 17.
Trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEyJ2kdaaTQ&eurl=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/07/w-trailer-walk.html
An interesting preview and L.A. Times Article by Filmwriter Patrick Goldstein here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2008/07/w-trailer-walk.html
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Update: BWAC Red Hook Art Show: Meditations on Art and Reality -- Life & Death at Kings County
The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition opened its HOT! Summer Art Exhibition this weekend at the BWAC exhibition space at 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook.
With the sturdy waves of New York harbor lapping against the waterfront shoreline, the BWAC summer show drew a good crowd all weekend.
Some highlights:
-Artist Dawn Robyn Petrlik's installation "The Lonely Death of Esmin Green" which combines the artist's sculpture of a woman's body, collapsed face down on the floor, along with chairs and a video monitor, to create a meditation on the death of Esmin Green, a patient at Kings County Hospital, who died on June 19 in the waiting room, after convulsing on the floor. Ms. Petrlik's notes on the installation indicate that it is her attempt to address the simple important fact of Ms Green's passing, not as "some woman", or "some immigrant" or some "crazy person" but this person."
The audience becomes part of the installation as you walk through the space and see yourself, along with the sculpture, in a video surveillance monitor. Ms. Petrlik indicated that the sculpture, which is not for sale, will "naturally dry out and crumble over the course of the show in a symbolic ashes to ashes gesture." Viewers are invited to make repeat visits to review this process and to remember this story, and this person "with her name and dignity intact."
The late Ms. Green, 49, was the mother of 6 children, ages 14 - 31, in Jamaica. Ms Green came to the US, a church-going member of her community,and was working in day care in order to support herself and her family at home. According to CNN, previous psychological problems may have been exacerbated by loss of her job and apartment, which led to her admission to Kings County, where she died, neglected by staff at the hospital's psychiatric emergency room. A very powerful, provocative and thoughtful work.
For more on this installation: http://www.dawnrobyn.com
For more background on the life and death of Esmin Green: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/hospital.woman.death/
-Red Hook Cine Soiree! On Sunday, July 27th, guest programmer Joel Schlemowitz presented a salon of experimental and underground films from a band of intrepid, avant-garde cine-artists . The program opened with recorded music - 1920s foxtrots played on a wonderfully low-tech, hand-cranked, Victrola. The films ranged from the sublime to the sublimely ridiculous and somewhere in between. Cats and Pants by Jennifer Matotek, featuring, whatelse, cats and pants, proved to be a big crowd pleaser. Robot Movie, by Fabio Roberti, featuring a dancing robot, a circa 1980s guitar player, and a sound track of electro-madness was described by one critic as "Alien Transmission" and there's not much more to say than that, although I for one am a better person for seeing it. Five Haikus for the NY Subway by Zaza M. was sensitive and humorously brilliant. Sometimes, while 8 hours of a camera focussed on the Empire State Building as Andy Warhol did, might make a statement, a couple of others showed that there is art in brevity, notably, Faces in the Flowers by Jennifer McMillan, which was lovely if a bit twee and just a bit too long for this viewer, but with an affecting soundtrack, while Spidery, by Bradley Eros, films of the micro-natural world backed by a score by Karlheinz Stockhausen, clocked in at 5:55 minutes and, while Lord knows I tried to embrace the aesthetic, it just made me think "I'd Rather Be Waterboarding." But Stan Brakhage, for all his avant-brilliance, can test the soul, too, so, there ya go. Despite my facile comments, clearly every filmmaker here had something to say, something worth saying and therefore worth seeing.
Overall a great program on an alternately steamy then stormy Sunday afternoon. More films and programs to come. Visit the BWAC site. Fine programming by Joel Schlemowitz, guest curated by Mike Olshan. More on the films and the programmer: http://www.joelschlemowitz.com
-Music Saturday by the Big Bang Big Band, a large, percussive and groovy orchestra and blues vocalist, and Sunday by Le Nozze de Carlo, a gentle, thoughtful, and tasteful Latin-tinged pop and jazz ensemble, were highlights of the weekend. More performances to come. Again, check out the BWAC site.
BWAC proves to be a great place to be for art, provocations and entertainment on weekends 1 PM - 6 PM though August 17.
More on BWAC: http://bwac.org
With the sturdy waves of New York harbor lapping against the waterfront shoreline, the BWAC summer show drew a good crowd all weekend.
Some highlights:
-Artist Dawn Robyn Petrlik's installation "The Lonely Death of Esmin Green" which combines the artist's sculpture of a woman's body, collapsed face down on the floor, along with chairs and a video monitor, to create a meditation on the death of Esmin Green, a patient at Kings County Hospital, who died on June 19 in the waiting room, after convulsing on the floor. Ms. Petrlik's notes on the installation indicate that it is her attempt to address the simple important fact of Ms Green's passing, not as "some woman", or "some immigrant" or some "crazy person" but this person."
The audience becomes part of the installation as you walk through the space and see yourself, along with the sculpture, in a video surveillance monitor. Ms. Petrlik indicated that the sculpture, which is not for sale, will "naturally dry out and crumble over the course of the show in a symbolic ashes to ashes gesture." Viewers are invited to make repeat visits to review this process and to remember this story, and this person "with her name and dignity intact."
The late Ms. Green, 49, was the mother of 6 children, ages 14 - 31, in Jamaica. Ms Green came to the US, a church-going member of her community,and was working in day care in order to support herself and her family at home. According to CNN, previous psychological problems may have been exacerbated by loss of her job and apartment, which led to her admission to Kings County, where she died, neglected by staff at the hospital's psychiatric emergency room. A very powerful, provocative and thoughtful work.
For more on this installation: http://www.dawnrobyn.com
For more background on the life and death of Esmin Green: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/hospital.woman.death/
-Red Hook Cine Soiree! On Sunday, July 27th, guest programmer Joel Schlemowitz presented a salon of experimental and underground films from a band of intrepid, avant-garde cine-artists . The program opened with recorded music - 1920s foxtrots played on a wonderfully low-tech, hand-cranked, Victrola. The films ranged from the sublime to the sublimely ridiculous and somewhere in between. Cats and Pants by Jennifer Matotek, featuring, whatelse, cats and pants, proved to be a big crowd pleaser. Robot Movie, by Fabio Roberti, featuring a dancing robot, a circa 1980s guitar player, and a sound track of electro-madness was described by one critic as "Alien Transmission" and there's not much more to say than that, although I for one am a better person for seeing it. Five Haikus for the NY Subway by Zaza M. was sensitive and humorously brilliant. Sometimes, while 8 hours of a camera focussed on the Empire State Building as Andy Warhol did, might make a statement, a couple of others showed that there is art in brevity, notably, Faces in the Flowers by Jennifer McMillan, which was lovely if a bit twee and just a bit too long for this viewer, but with an affecting soundtrack, while Spidery, by Bradley Eros, films of the micro-natural world backed by a score by Karlheinz Stockhausen, clocked in at 5:55 minutes and, while Lord knows I tried to embrace the aesthetic, it just made me think "I'd Rather Be Waterboarding." But Stan Brakhage, for all his avant-brilliance, can test the soul, too, so, there ya go. Despite my facile comments, clearly every filmmaker here had something to say, something worth saying and therefore worth seeing.
Overall a great program on an alternately steamy then stormy Sunday afternoon. More films and programs to come. Visit the BWAC site. Fine programming by Joel Schlemowitz, guest curated by Mike Olshan. More on the films and the programmer: http://www.joelschlemowitz.com
-Music Saturday by the Big Bang Big Band, a large, percussive and groovy orchestra and blues vocalist, and Sunday by Le Nozze de Carlo, a gentle, thoughtful, and tasteful Latin-tinged pop and jazz ensemble, were highlights of the weekend. More performances to come. Again, check out the BWAC site.
BWAC proves to be a great place to be for art, provocations and entertainment on weekends 1 PM - 6 PM though August 17.
More on BWAC: http://bwac.org
Friday, July 25, 2008
HOT! BWAC Red Hook Art Show Opens Saturday, July 26
The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition will present its HOT! Summer Art Exhibition beginning Saturday, July 26 through August 17 at the BWAC exhibition space at 499 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook.
I spent a few hours over a couple of weekends helping My Better Half, Judy Tantleff-Napoli, a BWAC member and artist/educator, set up her sculptures for the exhibition, and had the chance to preview some of the other work that will be on display in this show situated in this great pre-Civil War warehouse space right by the waterfront. Based on my preliminary view, it promises to be another wide-ranging, inspiring and provocative exhibition. Setting up the work was "fun" in a manner of speaking because the warehouse is always such an intriguing space and the BWAC folks were very spirited and easy to work with.
Saturday's opening 1 - 6 PM will feature the Big Bang Big Band performance at 3 PM. Sunday will feature Le Nozze di Carlo (which translate's roughly as "Carl's Wedding", I'll bet there is a story there)
Although the show opens tomorrow, as a blogger, I couldn't resist and took a few photos posted at right. Lots of great work. Among the many interesting works in all media, I thought Brian Keogh's sculpture could serve as one of the signature pieces for this 2008 Brooklyn artists show (which actually seems to attracts artists from all over).
For more information and directions visit: http://bwac.org
P.S. - In our travels we also got a look at the Ikea complex. Didn't visit or shop this time, but if you want to see the corporate urban renewal process in the works, mosey on down to this Big Store site after the show.
In any case, cmon down to Red Hook
I spent a few hours over a couple of weekends helping My Better Half, Judy Tantleff-Napoli, a BWAC member and artist/educator, set up her sculptures for the exhibition, and had the chance to preview some of the other work that will be on display in this show situated in this great pre-Civil War warehouse space right by the waterfront. Based on my preliminary view, it promises to be another wide-ranging, inspiring and provocative exhibition. Setting up the work was "fun" in a manner of speaking because the warehouse is always such an intriguing space and the BWAC folks were very spirited and easy to work with.
Saturday's opening 1 - 6 PM will feature the Big Bang Big Band performance at 3 PM. Sunday will feature Le Nozze di Carlo (which translate's roughly as "Carl's Wedding", I'll bet there is a story there)
Although the show opens tomorrow, as a blogger, I couldn't resist and took a few photos posted at right. Lots of great work. Among the many interesting works in all media, I thought Brian Keogh's sculpture could serve as one of the signature pieces for this 2008 Brooklyn artists show (which actually seems to attracts artists from all over).
For more information and directions visit: http://bwac.org
P.S. - In our travels we also got a look at the Ikea complex. Didn't visit or shop this time, but if you want to see the corporate urban renewal process in the works, mosey on down to this Big Store site after the show.
In any case, cmon down to Red Hook
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Dark Knight: Good, Evil and Something in Between
Dark indeed. The Dark Knight explores psychology, abnormal and otherwise, and resonates with the mysteries of post-9/11 urban life. Wiretapping. Terror. Chaos. Anarchy. This is not the Batman of Adam West and the comic book, zap-pow-bang, of the late 20th century. In this era, filmmaking-as-entertainment has morphed into something completely new and different, since virtually everyone on the planet (at least who was within sight of some form of communications media) has been exposed to the darkness of 9/11 and the other assorted forms of violence and terror that erupt from dark corners, inhabit our dreams, and form our nightmares of a future un-perfect. There is a lot to chew over here. It is a 2-1/2 hour film that never drags.
My kids saw it at a midnight screening in a crowded theater; we stragglers caught it at a local, more outlying theater, comparably empty at 6 PM on a Monday. Great cast, great script, great action. Christian Bale was fantastic. Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhall, Gary Oldman: the cast members are, in major and supporting roles, uniformly stunning. And, of course there is not much else to be said about Health Ledger. I could only juggle in my memories the much more understated performance Ledger gave as the Counterculture figure of the 70s with a crashing marriage in "I'm Not There" with this over-the-top, shattering, transporting performance of a character who is as frightening and repellant as he is irrestistable. You cannot take your eyes off of Ledger while he is on the screen. This is the movie of the summer with some of the performances of the year. And the creation of a strange sort of legend for the late Heath Ledger.
My kids saw it at a midnight screening in a crowded theater; we stragglers caught it at a local, more outlying theater, comparably empty at 6 PM on a Monday. Great cast, great script, great action. Christian Bale was fantastic. Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhall, Gary Oldman: the cast members are, in major and supporting roles, uniformly stunning. And, of course there is not much else to be said about Health Ledger. I could only juggle in my memories the much more understated performance Ledger gave as the Counterculture figure of the 70s with a crashing marriage in "I'm Not There" with this over-the-top, shattering, transporting performance of a character who is as frightening and repellant as he is irrestistable. You cannot take your eyes off of Ledger while he is on the screen. This is the movie of the summer with some of the performances of the year. And the creation of a strange sort of legend for the late Heath Ledger.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Coda: More Ruminations on American Western Mythos, Bob Dylan, and "Pat Garrett"
Since it's Friday and the summer, or perhaps for no good reason at all, I wanted to add another note about Bob Dylan's performance on the "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" soundtrack. This moody, meditative album, so American and artful, has been keeping me musical company this week as I make my way through the mid-July, NYC haze.
The Pat Garrett soundtrack includes the all-time classic, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", which in the film, serves as the background to the sad, slow demise of legendary actor Slim Pickens's character, as he watches the sunset, a bullet in his belly, and his devoted wife looks on. An archetypal but surprisingly moving moment in the film. The tune, which ends too quickly, but feels like a song that you could sing absolutely forever, besides the great vocals, includes organ by Booker T ("Time is Tight").
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Pat Garrett soundtrack, while its focus is folk and cowboy music, is the Basement Tape-ish aspect to the production, in that it contains three distinct versions of the thematic tune "Billy": Billy, Billy 4, and Billy 7...... In this one tune, the tempo, rhythm, style of performance, and even timbre of Bob Dylan's voice is wildly divergent, song by song, from high-pitched and up-tempo to cowboy-weary-on-the-trail (maybe following seven takes of the tune) that seems to pre-sage the mature voice of "Modern Times" and " "Love and Theft." "
In these explorations of the American West, an interesting link back to the 1970s, where the classic Western cinema and the counterculture finally intertwined, like some double helix. Dylan and the Band represented their own meditations on American music, Black and White, away from the psychedelic era, that seemed to represent an effort to recapture the soul of America through its history and culture, despite what was happening at the time in the Executive Office (sound familiar?) A number of films from the era, McCabe and Mrs Miller, Jeremiah Johnson, Bad Company (the original, about Civil War soldiers on the run), which explored these themes especially come to mind. Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett seemed to represent a more formal rapprochement between Hollywood, the classic cowboy actors, individualist directors, and musicians, who, in their different ways, served as avatars of the popular and countercultures of their own eras. Bob Dylan seemed firmly planted, then and now, in the midst of this creative exploration of "America" and what it means to be "American."
The Pat Garrett soundtrack includes the all-time classic, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", which in the film, serves as the background to the sad, slow demise of legendary actor Slim Pickens's character, as he watches the sunset, a bullet in his belly, and his devoted wife looks on. An archetypal but surprisingly moving moment in the film. The tune, which ends too quickly, but feels like a song that you could sing absolutely forever, besides the great vocals, includes organ by Booker T ("Time is Tight").
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Pat Garrett soundtrack, while its focus is folk and cowboy music, is the Basement Tape-ish aspect to the production, in that it contains three distinct versions of the thematic tune "Billy": Billy, Billy 4, and Billy 7...... In this one tune, the tempo, rhythm, style of performance, and even timbre of Bob Dylan's voice is wildly divergent, song by song, from high-pitched and up-tempo to cowboy-weary-on-the-trail (maybe following seven takes of the tune) that seems to pre-sage the mature voice of "Modern Times" and " "Love and Theft." "
In these explorations of the American West, an interesting link back to the 1970s, where the classic Western cinema and the counterculture finally intertwined, like some double helix. Dylan and the Band represented their own meditations on American music, Black and White, away from the psychedelic era, that seemed to represent an effort to recapture the soul of America through its history and culture, despite what was happening at the time in the Executive Office (sound familiar?) A number of films from the era, McCabe and Mrs Miller, Jeremiah Johnson, Bad Company (the original, about Civil War soldiers on the run), which explored these themes especially come to mind. Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett seemed to represent a more formal rapprochement between Hollywood, the classic cowboy actors, individualist directors, and musicians, who, in their different ways, served as avatars of the popular and countercultures of their own eras. Bob Dylan seemed firmly planted, then and now, in the midst of this creative exploration of "America" and what it means to be "American."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
"Gypsy Queens Will Play Your Grand Finale": More Ruminations on Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan and Band will be performing at a number of venues in the metropolitan area in August, although Prospect Park is the only NYC location. Bob may have rankled under the mantle placed upon him as "spokesman for his generation" etc., but there is one appellation that has to stick -- he is a musical legend, hardworking touring musician and the quintessential interpreter and reinterpreter of American Music. Whether it is folk, R&B, jazz, rock n roll, bluegrass, country & western, minstrelsy, cowboy, or any other forms of American popular music, he has explored it, and may be why he is so endlessly, musically creative and listenable. His ability to reinvent and change direction creatively, investigate and take risks in new forms, in itself, is inspirational.
Here, a lyric from the classic Sam Peckinpah film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson, featuring Bob Dylan as knife-wielding, stock boy "Alias", with a great soundtrack featuring classic songs by Bob Dylan drawing from music of the American west..
BILLY 4 (from the soundtrack "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid")
There's guns across the river about to pound you
There's a lawman on your trail like to surround you
Bounty hunters are dancing all around you
Billy, they don't like you to be so free.
Camping out all night on the verandah
Walking in the streets down by the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill THEY'D like to send you
Billy, don't you turn your back on me.
There's mills inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles in their cases
There is always one more notchin' for more aces
Billy, and you're playing all alone.
Playing around with some sweet SENORITA
Into her dark chamber she will greet you
In the shadows of the maizes she will lead you
Billy, and you're going all alone.
They say that Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open, when you wander
IF every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun.
There's always another stranger sneaking glances
Some trigger-happy fool willing to take chances
Some old whore from San Pedro'll make advances
Advances on your spirit and your soul.
The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they've hired mister Garrett, he'll force you to slow down
Billy, don't let it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend.
So hang on to your woman, if you got one
Remember in El Paso once you shot one
I'll be in Santa Fe about one
Billy, you've been running for so long.
Gypsy queens will play your grand finale
Way down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in La Rio Pecas valley
Billy, you're so far away from home
Billy, you're so far away from home
Copyright 1972 Ram's Horn Music
Here, a lyric from the classic Sam Peckinpah film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson, featuring Bob Dylan as knife-wielding, stock boy "Alias", with a great soundtrack featuring classic songs by Bob Dylan drawing from music of the American west..
BILLY 4 (from the soundtrack "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid")
There's guns across the river about to pound you
There's a lawman on your trail like to surround you
Bounty hunters are dancing all around you
Billy, they don't like you to be so free.
Camping out all night on the verandah
Walking in the streets down by the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill THEY'D like to send you
Billy, don't you turn your back on me.
There's mills inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles in their cases
There is always one more notchin' for more aces
Billy, and you're playing all alone.
Playing around with some sweet SENORITA
Into her dark chamber she will greet you
In the shadows of the maizes she will lead you
Billy, and you're going all alone.
They say that Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open, when you wander
IF every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun.
There's always another stranger sneaking glances
Some trigger-happy fool willing to take chances
Some old whore from San Pedro'll make advances
Advances on your spirit and your soul.
The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
So they've hired mister Garrett, he'll force you to slow down
Billy, don't let it make you feel so low down
To be hunted by the man who was your friend.
So hang on to your woman, if you got one
Remember in El Paso once you shot one
I'll be in Santa Fe about one
Billy, you've been running for so long.
Gypsy queens will play your grand finale
Way down in some Tularosa alley
Maybe in La Rio Pecas valley
Billy, you're so far away from home
Billy, you're so far away from home
Copyright 1972 Ram's Horn Music
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Presidential Politics Comes to Brooklyn ?
Since NYC is considered so strongly, traditionally, Democratic, despite our Republican Mayor, I wondered how much Presidential campaigning of any kind would occur in New York:
Tuesday, July 15: Corner of Court & Joralemon Streets, about 1:15 PM. A person holding up a hand-written poster, covered by the poster up to the eyes, the poster stating: "McCain Loves America, Vote for McCain." A crowd gathered, hooting. The McCain supporter is Black.
Voices from the crowd, "Are you even legal?" "Are you an American Citizen? You are not a citizen!" More incredulous hooting. "How much are they paying you to hold up that sign?"
An NYPD officer came by, standing by. A young woman, probably an office worker on lunch break, held up a hastily-written sign on looseleaf, "We (love) Obama." The crowd grew, becoming more animated. More shouts. The McCain supporter stood there meekly, almost completely hidden up to the eyes by the homemade sign, but yielded no ground. The crowd became even more excited, keeping their distance, but loudly hooting at the McCain supporter. Finally, the NYPD officer led the McCain supporter away, probably to another corner, to prevent the situation from escalating any further. Interesting that the McCain campaign itself appears to have virtually no campaign presence in Brooklyn, or NYC for that matter.
There was an interesting article in Salon.com about the absence of humor on the liberal-left, as reflected in the hostile response to the New Yorker magazine's Obama cover this week. Did that same cover, or media coverage of it, prompt this homegrown McCain activist to venture out into the hustings on behalf of the GOP's nominee? Just a thought.
Salon Here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/07/15/new_yorker_cartoon/?source=newsletter
Tuesday, July 15: Corner of Court & Joralemon Streets, about 1:15 PM. A person holding up a hand-written poster, covered by the poster up to the eyes, the poster stating: "McCain Loves America, Vote for McCain." A crowd gathered, hooting. The McCain supporter is Black.
Voices from the crowd, "Are you even legal?" "Are you an American Citizen? You are not a citizen!" More incredulous hooting. "How much are they paying you to hold up that sign?"
An NYPD officer came by, standing by. A young woman, probably an office worker on lunch break, held up a hastily-written sign on looseleaf, "We (love) Obama." The crowd grew, becoming more animated. More shouts. The McCain supporter stood there meekly, almost completely hidden up to the eyes by the homemade sign, but yielded no ground. The crowd became even more excited, keeping their distance, but loudly hooting at the McCain supporter. Finally, the NYPD officer led the McCain supporter away, probably to another corner, to prevent the situation from escalating any further. Interesting that the McCain campaign itself appears to have virtually no campaign presence in Brooklyn, or NYC for that matter.
There was an interesting article in Salon.com about the absence of humor on the liberal-left, as reflected in the hostile response to the New Yorker magazine's Obama cover this week. Did that same cover, or media coverage of it, prompt this homegrown McCain activist to venture out into the hustings on behalf of the GOP's nominee? Just a thought.
Salon Here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/07/15/new_yorker_cartoon/?source=newsletter
Monday, July 14, 2008
Court Street Construction Mayhem -"Hey, Dude, Where's My Bucket?"
At around 12 noon, a bucket that apparently dropped from the repair and construction work occuring at 66 Court Street (at Livingston Street) crashed through the roof of a NYC Department of Environmental Protection vehicle parked in front of the building. It appeared that the bucket contained construction mortar and demolished the roof of the car. It further appears that no one was hurt. Spectators, under the nearby scaffolding, gathered round to view the accident. Construction workers continued to do their job, apparently unaware of the mayhem the bucket drop had caused.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Waterfall at Brooklyn Heights
I first saw the Olafur Elliasson's Waterfalls in action from the FDR Drive as my son and I were driving through Manhattan in early June. It was before the official starting date so I guess it was being tested. I saw it again while I was in motion, travelling upstate and then back again. Until today, I realized that I had always only seen it on the go. After today, I realized that seeing it in motion was kind of like seeing it on television. It was a technologically-mediated experience. Impressive but not quite real.
Today was the first day that I was able to see the Waterfalls first hand. I had seen Elliasson's work at the Museum of Modern Art, but despite all of the media coverage, I hadn't yet formed a sense of what The Waterfalls are really about. So this afternoon, I left my office to take a brief hike. A very refreshing breeze was blowing down Remsen Street, the first day in a while where the sunlight and humidity felt tolerable, and you could enjoy summer again.
There is no doubt there are many ways to see The Waterfalls. There are 8 in all. The view from Manhattan of the waterfall pouring down under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side is certainly somewhat surreal, forcing you to see the Bridge in a completely different way.
But the view on foot of the Waterfall at the waterfront, on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade at Remsen Street, is dramatic and more.
As you reach the end of Remsen Street, where it loops around to the Promenade, you can see the formidable, dramatic superstructure of the waterfall and you get a meta-architectural view since the water isn't pouring at you, it is pouring away from you. The day I visited, you could feel the breeze and a little of the resulting falls' mist as it cascaded down into the bay and was blown back over the promenade.
There is certainly something techno and post-modern about these waterfalls, and, just as we read about the anticipated collapse of another huge ice shelf in Antarctica, something sad, beautiful and almost powerfully primitive as humankind strives to create simulacrums of the same natural world that we are pushing off the page.
Through Monday October 13th
7am to 10pm (except Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am to 10pm)
They will be lit up at night.
For locations of all of The Waterfalls and more information see here:
http://www.nyfalls.com/nycwaterfalls.html#When
Today was the first day that I was able to see the Waterfalls first hand. I had seen Elliasson's work at the Museum of Modern Art, but despite all of the media coverage, I hadn't yet formed a sense of what The Waterfalls are really about. So this afternoon, I left my office to take a brief hike. A very refreshing breeze was blowing down Remsen Street, the first day in a while where the sunlight and humidity felt tolerable, and you could enjoy summer again.
There is no doubt there are many ways to see The Waterfalls. There are 8 in all. The view from Manhattan of the waterfall pouring down under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side is certainly somewhat surreal, forcing you to see the Bridge in a completely different way.
But the view on foot of the Waterfall at the waterfront, on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade at Remsen Street, is dramatic and more.
As you reach the end of Remsen Street, where it loops around to the Promenade, you can see the formidable, dramatic superstructure of the waterfall and you get a meta-architectural view since the water isn't pouring at you, it is pouring away from you. The day I visited, you could feel the breeze and a little of the resulting falls' mist as it cascaded down into the bay and was blown back over the promenade.
There is certainly something techno and post-modern about these waterfalls, and, just as we read about the anticipated collapse of another huge ice shelf in Antarctica, something sad, beautiful and almost powerfully primitive as humankind strives to create simulacrums of the same natural world that we are pushing off the page.
Through Monday October 13th
7am to 10pm (except Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am to 10pm)
They will be lit up at night.
For locations of all of The Waterfalls and more information see here:
http://www.nyfalls.com/nycwaterfalls.html#When
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