October 31, 2003
October 30, 2003
October 29, 2003
lovely music, but sometimes a challenge
sounds of the city: part of the audience for John Cage's "Music for Carillon" I love John Cage's music, always have, but even I understand that not all of it is lovable. Late Sunday afternoon it was totally delightful....
October 28, 2003
aliens and bullies will always lose - and always return
Virtually all nations, with the interesting and almost unique exception of ourselves, have had to deal with invading armies, but, whether initially successful or even when the conqueror seems to have prevailed, eventually what is alien is repelled or removed....
October 27, 2003
"Based on a True Story"
Some people would like us to think that it's all about the literature of literature, but the rest of us would probably rather read books than reviews, even if (or apparently for some, especially if) the pen is wielded...
October 26, 2003
October 25, 2003
surprising Morty, delighting John
It's a six-hour-long string quartet in one movement, but Morton Feldman's second is both greater and less than the sum of its parts. Greater because it's ultimately much much more than a succession of minimalist pings and rrrr's, and...
time for our own opera
Wonderful, wonderful theater. Music theater. Opera. Whatever. No, it's not a "musical". If it were, I would not have been in the audience tonight. It's pure art, especially if art must be both human and accessible to be truly...
October 24, 2003
Greeks bearing a real gift
AND THE CITY HAS MADE THE NAME OF HELLENES ATTRIBUTABLE NOT TO ORIGIN BUT TO THE MIND isocrates, athens, 380 bc Apropos nothing in particular, I wanted to record this wonderful legend we saw mounted on the wall of the...
October 23, 2003
why does Rumsfeld worry me?
Last night I wrote that I was scared after hearing that the Secretary of War is going around saying that we're losing the "war on terrorism". Why? It just can't be good news if it's coming from him. I can't...
they felt they couldn't complain, but they also didn't cry
These are thoughts of another war, and the state terrorism practiced by all combatants. Germans are finally coming out of their bunkers only decades after the firestorms of World War II. Jörg Friedrich is the author of a new...
Rumsfeld says we're losing the "war on terrorism"
I'm scared. What's he up to? I'm afraid I might know the answer, but I don't want to talk about that tonight....
October 22, 2003
the tapestry of empire
somewhat less than one half of Maria Marinelli's performance at d.u.m.b.o. Maria Marinelli was also a part of the d.u.m.b.o. festival this past weekend where she was represented by a performance of "Arazzo," one of the four parts of...
it's Wojtyla's ball, so we do it his way
The rules don't apply to the guy at the top. It's all so absurd, from top to bottom, but there's a reason we're so attracted to the details. Let's see, Roman Catholic Church rules require bishops to retire at the...
October 21, 2003
d.u.m.b.o. art - and real estate
There was plenty of art - and entertainment [is that a problem?] - at the d.u.m.b.o. art under the bridge festival this past weekend even for those who didn't make it into the many open artists' studios. Much of it...
October 20, 2003
the "one state" solution, still anathema?
[but surely more than two] At first I just wanted to post something about the latest horrors being visited upon Palestinians caught between the lines (the Green Line and the new Apartheid Wall line), but I didn't know where...
October 19, 2003
October 18, 2003
Rauschenberg
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, Autobiography, 1968 The three panels of this large offset lithograph by Robert Rauschenberg from 1968 titled Autobiography are displayed vertically and exceed 16 feet in height. They were printed with the type of press used to make...
"bobrauschenbergamerica" in tears
We went to a performance at BAM of Charles Mee's "bobrauschenbergamerica" tonight. Barry and I both found that like much of this wonderful man's work, which I've now been enjoying for several decades, this evening of theater, which was created...
October 17, 2003
it's official - it really is a religious war!
I haven't seen this anywhere else yet, so it must be an April fool's joke. But, wait, this is October! These people are definitely going to get us all killed!Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint...
October 16, 2003
dull straight white men with money and power score again
FOLLOW UP on "two shades of green" Yesterday it was an article in New York magazine which triggered my despairing post about developments at the World Trade Center site. Today it's the New York Times. Why are they getting upset...
October 15, 2003
Tim Rollins and K.O.S. at A.R.T.
Tim Rollins and K.O.S., untitled, from Prometheus Bound, 1997 [image not in the show at Art Resources Transfer] It's a gorgeous mini-retrospective, or, better, a retrospective of the smaller-scale parts of 20 years of collaboration. Tim Rollins's work with...
"marriage needs to be tickled until it screams"
Happy Marriage Protection Week! Yup, it's finally arrived. Our chief theocrat has decreed that this very week be so honored, in lieu of the threat posed by fags and lezzies. I don't think I've even alluded to the subject of...
two shades of green
Kelly and money. The results are in, ladies and gentlemen. Forget two years of agony and hopes for resolution, two years of arguments and competitions, two years of talk and spin, we now have an answer. The World Trade Center...
October 14, 2003
more of Phil Collins
Phil Collins, holiday in someone else's misery II 2003 Phil Collins, abbas amini 2003 These are two more images from the current show at Maccarone Inc....
misery likes faith
The NYTimes is talking about religion this week, in articles on two successive days. You needn't read all of what occupies more than two full pages in the print edition to realize that the conclusion is basically religion is down...
not commercially packaged
Kucinich. Anthing else is a compromise, or a disaster - almost all of it under corporate labels - and unfortuantely we've already tried that.Dennis J. Kucinich, the four-term Ohio Congressman, officially announced his longshot candidacy for president on Monday, laying...
October 13, 2003
Moshiach installed in city park
I don't get it. Who've they paid off? I walked into Washington Square Park this afternoon because I wanted to know why a construction shed had been installed at the edge of the central fountain area. It wasn't a...
he started it
Christofo Colombo Mysterious Biography Christofo Colombo was a hungry man, hunted himself halfway round the world; he began poor, panhandled, ended in jail, Christofo so hungry, Christofo so poor, Christofo in the chilly, steel bracelets, honorable, distinguished Christofo Colombo....
Phil Collins at Maccarone
Phil Collins, enduring freedom 2002 [the image is not part of the current NY show] Phil Collins, fov evevr 2003 [image currently at Maccarone Inc.] I've been very bad. Barry and I went to the Phil Collins show at...
October 12, 2003
"pixilated man"
Nineteenth-century German ceramic doll He made his own path. John Darcy Noble, noted eccentric and expert on playthings of all ages, a leading museum curator, theorist and collector and creator of toys as amusements and as art, died in...
October 11, 2003
October 10, 2003
DITCHs
DITCHs on Astor Place September 8th We spotted the elusive DITCH outside of Harvey Milk High School early in September. The acronym represents the "Dykes' International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell." the precise name still not settled just one month...
Nobel honors woman, Vatican pissed off
Shirin Ebadi arriving at a news conference in Paris today In a brilliant decision by the committee in Oslo, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to an Iranian lawyer and former judge, Shirin Ebadi, who becomes the first...
October 9, 2003
October 8, 2003
[you know what I'm referring to]
No, I haven't posted a thing on that subject today. In fact I've never posted anything on that subject. I find it unspeakable and in fact entirely beyond words. Although it's a luxury in which I will almost certainly regret...
thanks, I needed this today
Stealth disco! Via the newsletter from Mark Morford today, one of the most delightful links I've seen all year. Almost makes me wish I was back at work in an office. No, not my old office, but one more like...
October 7, 2003
COVERUP
And they're too stupid to be able to carry it off - unless we're equally stupid. Bush says we may never know who did it, but in the meantime the White House lawyers are going over every document before it...
October 6, 2003
October 5, 2003
October 4, 2003
secret war plans, still secret
Did Dick Cheney's secret energy policy task force meetings discuss an Iraq war? Former NJ governor James J. Florio suggests the possibility. Sure would help explain why the administration continues to fight so hard to keep the meeting records from...
UPDATE on Bush denial of American freedom
I've located the complete statement I described yesterday in which Bush announced that "Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." Silly us. After all the fuss it appears right on the White House website, in the section, "Jobs &...
Paris awaits liberation - ours
It's so refreshing to get a comment like the one at the bottom of this post which arrived today from "old Europe," after a couple of weeks of being inundated with the endless automatic mailgrams of littlegreenfootballs nuts:" . ....
October 3, 2003
coming home
A group of caskets moves up Broadway today, holding remains beyond just bones Yes, New York had slaves, and apparently they weren't all barbers and musicians. Some of them, all still anonymous, are being returned tomorrow to the downtown...
better lock that boy up, guys!
I haven't seen it yet in a written report from the commercial media, but according to Atrios, Bush said just moments ago, "Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." Apparently those who watched CNN couldn't have missed this one....
October 2, 2003
more things French
Le Scandale Plame: The Adventure Begins It's been a very good day. Technical note: Interestingly, the expression, "nonchalant," is no longer in the French language itself: Etymology: French, from Old French, from present participle of nonchaloir to disregard, from...
October 1, 2003
speculating about Coups de'Etat
Sometimes you just gotta speculate. Sometimes you just can't wait for others to get around to telling you what's happening. Besides, I admit I have some spare time. This comes from my brother in Washington, who writes, "Here is a...
hoping to make the world safe for our war crimes
CORRECTION (October 2, 2003): My friend James W reminds me, "Costa Rica has not had an Army since 1948. (That reason alone puts Costa Rica high on my Good List.)" Meanwhile, in other news [there's always other news], "US CUTS...
once again, this is very serious
And finally the country is beginning to understand why. The essential story to this day, of one very-developing White House scandal, from today's editorial of the Minneapolis Star Tribune via atrios.Call it Wilson-Plame-gate. It's not about cigars and blue dresses;...
