Happy Birthday Will!

Yes, I've been a slacker blogger, but to this, attention must be paid.

And yes, I know that we're not really sure what Shakespeare's birthday was in 1564, and that the April 23 thing is probably just a too-tidy parallel to his April 23 death date in 1616.  (And I'm not even getting into the question of whether Shakespeare was really Shakespeare.)

But come on - a 450th birthday party?  It's worth a mention.

To the Prince of Cambridge

Because, why not?

Gray Day in Chelsea

The precursor to the holiday weekend is a gray and rainy one.  

To add to the celebration-worthiness, it's also Bob Dylan's birthday.  The good people at Slate added to the festivities with this nifty map with a pin on (they claim) every location Dylan mentions in any of his songs.  There is definitely some fun to be had playing with that.

If you zoom way in on the NYC area of the map, you'll eventually land on this location, where he claims in this great song, that he wrote this other, even greater, song.

[There is some vintage video and some interesting lyric changes in that live version of Sara linked above.  In case you are interested in that kind of thing.]

Took that shot in front of one of our favorite coffee shops.  Then turned west and took this shot of an even bigger, if less historic, proclamation of Chelsea.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend, everybody.  And happy birthday Bob.

Long Week

Which included Cory's birthday, and the birth of this little one.

And now there's a little extra-special Friday-ness in the air.

Off to rehearsal.  Have a good weekend.

Birthday in Hotlanta

For those keeping score at home, last week was Jules' 7th Birthday.  Cory gets down to Atlanta for the kids' birthdays pretty much every year, and I join in when I can.

Saturday was the Big Day - not her actual birthday day, but the day of her big party (which involved karaoke, a scavenger hunt, a piñata, and a dancing video game I don't remember the name of.)

She's a lot happier here than she looks.  A fierce dancer for sure.

As if that weren't enough, in the morning was also a basketball game for Joe.

Here he is, rockin' the D.

He claims he had an off-day, but he was pretty amazing for an 8-year old.  And you ain't seen nothing till you've seen this kid play pop-a-shot.

Fun from the World of Audio

Taking a break from working on a voiceover project (mostly involving putting together emails, demos and letters to send to agents - send good mojo to the casting gods!) to have lunch and bang out a post for your reading and listening pleasure.

First of all, Happy Birthday Chris Knox! I've written about him before here, and on the occasion of this, his not-quite-60th birthday, feel free to take a look at this article from Pitchfork which looks back at some music Chris enjoyed at 5-year intervals in his life.

And not only that, here's a pre-stroke video from a show that I don't remember existing called Recovery (I guess) that seems to have had The Fauves as its house band. (it did? shouldn't they have told us about this?) Chris' performance is superfab, and shows how much fun can happen when things go wrong.

As chance would have it, Jeff Mangum (who figured so prominently in the Chris Knox benefit last year) has been leaking some un-or-barely-released Neutral Milk Hotel tracks as teasers for the big boxed-set coming out later in the month. Click here to get a taste. Down on the right, to the side of Jeff's always-interesting curated playlist, is an unreleased version of Engine. The regular playlist is worth a listen too!

In case you're wondering what I'm listening to now as I do my thing in the Hoboken kitchen of random magic - we've got Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights going on, vaguely in anticipation of seeing Richard at Town Hall in October.

What I would love to do but have not figured out how to do is attach my VO Demo to this post without making it into a movie. Why should it be hard to share an audio file? Can anyone help with this?

Stay tuned for photos from the Vineyard. Meanwhile, happy long weekend, everybody!

Happy Birthday Bob!

And not just that, but happy 70th birthday to the singing cowboy who wrote the number that gives this blog its name. Very exciting, and there are some good events to honor the occasion.




First, and most immediately I suppose, is that WBAI is devoting the whole day to archival interviews, studio sessions, and Dylan-related audio artifacts. You can listen to 99.5 FM or stream by clicking the link above. It's their semi-annual beg-a-thon too, so be warned about that. Small price to pay. (Hey, a station's gotta make a living. Especially a station full of dissenters, most of whom volunteer their time.)

Film Forum is showing a couple flicks documenting the early days. Don't Look Back, the D.A. Pennebaker doc that's been around since '67, and Murray Lerner's The Other Side of the Mirror, which covers the performances at the Newport Folk Festival from '63-'65, but was just released in '007. They're playing through June 2, so don't delay too much if you want to catch them.

And, of course, there is no shortage of ways to celebrate online. Articles, editorials, shoutouts, discussions, suggestions, photo essays, tributes, and of course blog entries...

Have at it!

Season of Tennessee

Maybe you realize that Saturday was Tennessee Williams' 100 Birthday. Maybe you don't. The fact that it's an open question is something of a problem, in my view. This is one of those things that should be cause for a year-long celebration of National Pride, festivals on the White House lawn, parades in Memphis and New Orleans and New York, marathon readings and TV specials and Oscar-worthy biopics devoted to the life of this man, the Great American Dramatic Poet.

What we do have is a few more productions of Tennessee's shows. So that's, well, something.

Scott Brown wrote an article for New York Magazine a few weeks ago discussing Williams and the neglect his centenary is suffering. He does a pretty good job of opening up some of the issues that may have stood in the way of the celebration Tenn deserves, most especially this maddening sense that he stopped being good somewhere around 1961 and that the last 20 years of his life were just wasted, which pushes me around the bend a little bit. What do you people want? Even if it were true (which it is not) that everything after Night of the Iguana sucks, what would you have preferred? That Tenn had died in a James Dean-esque car crash so we could cast him in the Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die role? That perversion aside, I think that 'bad' Tennessee Williams is a little like the 'bad' Shakespeare plays and the 'bad' Dylan records - you may have to dig a little deeper and open up a little more, but I still don't want to live in a world without Titus Andronicus, or Saved. And in terms of history, the night is pretty young for Signore Williams. Just as people have come around on The Tempest (and, it's worth mentioning, have turned away from the Henry VI plays to a certain extent) I wouldn't be surprised if people learn how to see and hear Small Craft Warnings over time .

By the way, I didn't catch Vieux Carré (quelle domage! For reals. I'm borderline despondent to have missed that, but the tix were elusive.) but I did see the Michael Wilson-directed The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore at the Roundabout, and I may see it again. And so should you. 'Twas most worthy.

I have to include this last one, from the 1959 film of Suddenly Last Summer, for Elizabeth Taylor. We'll miss you, Liz.

Even yet still more birthdays

"What?" you say, "Haven't we had enough of these incessant birthday celebrations you keep babbling about? Is nothing going on in the world besides celebrations of the day somebody happened to be born? Because, you know what? I think a few other things are going on!"

Yes, you may say that, and you'd have a point. But let's look at the data from another vantage: today is not simply the birthday of Ira Glass of This American Life. It's not just the birthday of actresses Miranda Richardson and Jessica Biel and the 100th birthday of Jean Harlow. It's not only the birthday of inventor Alexander Graham Bell and athletes Herschel Walker and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Nay - it is also the birthday (and not just any birthday, but his 13th birthday: that luckiest of numbers and his entree to the world of teenagedness) of my very own nephew Sam, who's way out in Phoenix and I won't be able to see him, but it's worth celebrating anyway, wouldn't you say?

Happy Birthday, Sister!

In honor of what I hope is a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY for one of my favorite women - my sister Lori - here's an article from Gloria Steinem in today's Times Style Magazine. As reproductive rights, health care, and women's rights in general have been taking some punishment lately (that's putting it lightly) we can take some small comfort (while continuing the resistance to such hideous attempts) that the Senate and White House will surely stifle the attacks (right??) and that there is also some really good news out there in terms of women in politics and policy that should not be allowed to be buried under the depressing weight of "reality" TV.

I have some mixed feelings about the fact that this piece ended up in the Style Magazine, but no matter what ads surround it, this reminder is welcome and overdue. Thanks, Gloria.

Happy Birthday Lori!!

And Speaking of Birthdays...

Yesterday was James Dean's 80th. Which is worth mentioning.



I don't know where this photo is from or what photographer to credit, but I love it.

And tomorrow is JP's b-day. And Laura Dern's. Pretty good company, friend.

Zoo Time

As you know, my sister's family moved to Long Island a few weeks ago. Their first visit to the city since that move came a couple weekends ago, when they drove in to celebrate Mary's 11th birthday.

The current vagaries of my life are making it tricky to devote sustained time to creating a post, so for now, enjoy this mini-series, shot by Cory, detailing our side-trip with Anna and Jason to the children's zoo:


Anna trying to feed a llama. He was pretty blasé.


She had a little better luck with a sheep.


The sheep thanking me with a nuzzle to the noggin.


Cory's closeup of a llama.

There was much fun that day. Maybe I'll get to posting more about it later.

But first... I'm off to Paris. Au revoir for a few days!

Happy Birthday Andy

Today is Andy Warhol's birthday. Maybe you knew that; maybe you didn't. I don't know your life. And I don't know how you feel about Mssr. Andy, and I don't have anything particularly Warholian planned for today, but I did want to dash off a few words and tuck in an image or three.

I found this one connected to the DeVorzon Gallery, which is selling the Sunday B. Morning series of the Marilyn and Flowers prints, but I can't figure out whom to attribute the photo to (maybe Warhol himself?) Anyway, I really love the frame play here: says a lot about an artist who knew how important framing is, who understood the sufficiency of simply employing the notion of a frame, of simply using the conceptual frame of saying "this thing is art." And in this image (the notion of the image being another that Warhol explored beyond thoroughly), we've get mileage on a number of levels: the wooden frame within the photo frame; the artist holding the frame around himself, this singular artist who created his own public image on virtually a daily basis; the cockeyed angle of the frame, projecting a continual impulse to skew art or turn it inside out; the corner of the wooden frame extending just out of sight beyond the margin of the photo's frame. Kind of perfect.

I was not an instant fan of Andy when I was a kid; I loved a lot of the people and things he influenced (especially musicians) before I came around to loving him. But the appreciation did come on eventually, and took root pretty strongly.

So it's only right to give him a little attention on his birthday day. There was a good segment on WYNC this morning. Covered the celebrations that his friends still hold almost every year on this day (including seances, according to the report) at Serendipity 3, where Warhol drank coffee and ate ice cream (and that frozen hot chocolate!) and gathered with friends and sometimes worked in the early years. If you have 8 minutes, it's worth a listen.

When I got to Chome this afternoon (right around the corner from the Chelsea Hotel, another important location in the Warhol Universe) I had some food on Cory's Warhol/Marilyn plates. Andy would be pleased, I think, at the utilitarian application of his work, and also with its ubiquity.

And ubiquity is the right word, I think. Even this computer, with the touch of a few buttons, lets you - nay, encourages you; practically defies you not to - make a little birthday card of your own to Andy.

So now Cory and I are off to catch some Brazilian music and great companionship. Maybe afterward we'll listen to Songs for Drella. Or at least have some frozen hot chocolate...

Pix

Ok, not really an expansion of the Hotlanta post, but I uploaded a bunch of shots (mostly from Atlanta, with a couple others thrown in just to confuse you) to a flickr page. Enjoy, if you're up for that sort of thing.

Oh, all right, here's one for the time being. For your trouble.

Hotlanta

I'm back from the conference in Orlando. (Dayjob stuff. Lots of work and no small amount of pressure this year for a variety of reasons. It went well enough, all things weighed.) Between there and here I stopped in Atlanta for a visit with Cory's family on the occasion of Cory's nephew Joe's 6th birthday. We stayed with her brother and his wife and kids. I'll see if I can muster a full-on entry about that mini-trip, but for now, here are a few shots documenting the festivities.

We'll start with a shot of the birthday boy:

There was a smaller family party on Saturday. Cory and I gave presents to her niece and nephew and a couple of their cousins. We gave harmonicas to the older kids, but baby Maya really took to the instrument...

Kind of amazing how thoughtfully she treated it - sounded great! I swear she was even bending notes a couple times - that open channel of breath in natural action.

On Sunday, a bigger group joined us at a minor league baseball game. We had a picnic, and the group all joined in on a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Joe's sister Jules got into the game too. Here she is with her cousin Ryan and her uncle John.




I like this shot of Joe a lot.

And here are a couple of the family dogs. Nothing earth-shaking here, just a young dog Blondie with a LOT of energy...



...and an older dog, Joplin, who gets a lot of rest.

I know she looks a little, um, hungry there. She's an Italian Greyhound - they all sort of look like that. And Joplin, well, she's sort of losing interest in food. Cory thinks maybe she's trying to do that thing where you lower your calorie intake so you live longer. I don't know. Could be.

Each is extremely sweet in her own way. Glad I got to know them.

Behind

Way behind in blogging, on levels large and small, for a bunch of reasons, good and bad.

But also, and nigh unforgivably, I missed Gustav Mahler's 150th birthday yesterday. Oof. Oy. Yikes.

It was Chagall's birthday too, which is big. But missing Mahler's 150th? Sorry 'bout that.

Not to worry - I'll have a Mahlerthon tomorrow. Das Lied von der Erde coming up.

Oh yeah, and LeBron picked Miami. So be it.

Happy Birthday Pete

Pete Townshend's 65th birthday today.



This event more or less speaks for itself.

However, as a treat to those who care about such things, Pete released the last installment of his 6-part "fan interview" over the weekend. (I think they might make you set up a profile to get to read that copy.) Was the timing of that release intended to coincide with the birthday? How would I know?

Anyway, the interview is LONG, and I haven't had the time to make it all the way through yet. Here's one little tidbit, in response to a question about how his Lifehouse project foreshadowed the internet phenomenon.

Lifehouse was written in 1971. The smallest music computer at that time filled a huge shed. But anything we imagine will become reality sooner or later. I’m a sucker for the online world, but what I foresaw in Lifehouse has actually turned out to be far worse in real life. There is no way to truly lose yourself on the internet, you are not really safe there, you are not protected, you are merely overlooked and exploited as a resource for banks, businesses and of course moral or political dictatorships.

And that's the way it is...

Why is it that the people that make the most political sense these days are comedians?

Oh yeah, it's always been that way.

Happy birthday a little bit late, George. Hope you're watching over the primaries some.

Birthday at Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Much to share. Not much time. SO - I'll put together bit by bit as I can, and post it when it's some kind of finished.

Last weekend was Cory's birthday. Which is, of course, one of the most festive occasions of the year. How fun that it coincided, this year, with Passover and Easter. AND the Final Four!

So we did all kinds of things, the grandest of which had to have been our trip to Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Which was, in a word, amazing.



I'll start with a shot of my three lovely companions. Yes, I felt pretty lucky to be traveling in that company. Someone mentioned that this shot has a sort of Sex in the City vibe. Or maybe Sex in the Country is more apt, since we were on a farm, after all.

The restaurant is set up on the grounds of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and Dan and David Barber grew up near the original Blue Hill farm in the Berkshires. The intent is to provide astounding food, expertly prepared from natural/organic ingredients and served in a beautiful setting by people who know how to take care of you. And that's what we got.

First we took a walk around the farm, which operates year-round, partly thanks to a vast greenhouse which provides yields throughout the year. This shot is a little still-life from within that greenhouse.




And here is a shot of some of the denizens of the pig barn.



And one of the chickens who was strutting her stuff. This barn had egg-laying hens; the barn with the roasters wasn't open when we were there.



Nice profile of the lovely Miss Kim.



The light in the back blows out this shot, but who doesn't like a sheepdog and his sheep?

Now this photo does not do justice to this sow. The hugheness of that animal just does not translate. We saw a number of these hogs on our walk through the woods.

Kristin and Kim laughing beatifically.

When we finished our walk we stopped by the gift shop and made our way to the restaurant, which, as promised is a (beautifully) refurbished barn.

I have been insanely busy with the show I'm working on (opens next weekend, ladies and gentlemen) so I don't have it in me to write the food porn that this meal deserves, but I'll paint some broad strokes.

We were met by the hosting team, who showed us into a spacious, airy room, where we were attended by a crew of the best servers I've had the pleasure of experiencing. As far as we could tell, every single one of them had seed-to-plate knowledge of the food, and took their jobs very seriously without being overserious in their attitudes. In addition to the general knowlege, flashes of true expertise came through as well - for instance, the Captain was a trained somelier; he isn't the somelier of Blue Hill, but his knowledge is such that he handled general and specific questions in a way that someone who isn't a real oenophile (like, say, me) knew what he was in for, and was better able to appreciate it as a result. Across the board, the service was very formal and precise, but without any touch of the pretension or snobbery that can sometimes take an otherwise excellent meal to a place that's less comfortable than it wants to be. On the contrary, everything that happened while we were there seemed designed to increase our comfort level, from the space, to the pace, to the seasonal cocktails, to the knowledge and demeanor of the waitstaff, to the wine, to the food.

To the food:

Omigod omigod it was good. Everything local, everything fresh, everything amazingly delicious.

I'm not going to break it down course by course (there were many courses), but believe me, this was a meal I'll remember for a long long time. Rather than present a traditional menu, they give you a list (updated daily) of dozens (hundreds?) of ingredients and then follow up with a series of questions - about preferences, allergies, sensitivities: the Captain knows what to ask and how to ask it, and having done so, works with the kitchen to bring dish after dish of just what you want, whether you knew you wanted it or not.

When we mentioned to the waiter during one of Cory's trip to the ladies' room (this meal took well over 4 hours, without dragging for a second) that we'd like a candle placed in her dessert to celebrate her birthday, he looked at us with patient tolerance and explained that of course he'd heard us wishing her happy birthday and everything was taken care of. As it had been taken care of all along.

Kim grabbed this shot of the candle moment. It's a train wreck by real photographic standards, I suppose, but I really like it.

So there that is, at long last. More birthday fun to come...

100!

Happy 100th Birthday Akira Kurosawa.



What the hell else do I really have to say? He was one of the great minds/eyes of his time - but you already knew that. So just go out and watch Rashomon, or Yojimbo, or The Seven Samurai, or Ran, or Throne of Blood, or any of his films. And then, maybe don't see any 'regular' studio movies for a little while - they'll seem kind of silly.