Welcome to the Weekend After

Which started yesterday, with the day after (try to follow along, would you please?)

On said day, Black Friday, Cat, Rich and Cleo went to Macy's Santaland for a visit to old Saint Nick. Afterward, Rich had to go to work, but Cat and Cleo went to a Chinese place on 8th Avenue for lunch with Uncle Mick.



'Twas most fun - Home on 8th provided some decent, no-frills (and 'no-frills', as Cat pointed out, often equates to 'kid-friendly') food, and Lia joined us a little later.

Before C&C took the train back out to the Island we stopped in to Penn Station for a cup of coffee, which event I documented in this next chapter of my videography career.



Ok, I know - Orson Welles I'm not. Hey, I'm learning the tricks of this trade as I go along. Cleo is so damn cute though!

Then it was out to Hoboken for a mostly relaxing night (my building still smells like smoke, and it's seeping into my apartment in spite of my best efforts - I'm calling the an advocacy office on Monday to see what my options are. If there are any tenants' rights experts out there, feel free to offer suggestions too.) Watched part of the James Bond marathon, listened to some music, called Grandma and Grandpa (their phone was down on Thanksgiving), did some reading and writing and actor homework. Stayed up later than I thought I would, but in the middle of a holiday weekend, why not?

This morning I went to the gym for the first time in a while (remember that cold I got a while back?) and made a yummy breakfast: spinach, tomato and Stilton omelette; baguette with cream cheese and olives; French press coffee. Huh - had a French theme going on there without knowing about it. Listened to the radio and did some more reading and tonight I'm going to see From the House of the Dead with Annie. And tomorrow morning, Cory comes back from Colombia! Talk about things to be thankful for!

How Many Words?

Yes.

Great Gratitude

Yes, it's the day after all that turkey and stuffing and potatoes and gravy and pie. I was and am very thankful for the many blessings which grace my life, including such a wonderful family of friends. I didn't take still photos at the Great Feast in Queens yesterday - decided to go the video route instead.


That would be Annie and Sherin there in the kitchen, and Deric in the living room. Take note of the fact that Annie's TV has been painted red to match the walls. Pretty rad.

Next up is a little bit of kitchen magic as it happens:



It was a fun day/night, with a great group of people. Cory called from Cartagena during the afternoon, which was a great treat for me. We finally sat down to dinner and engaged in what would seem to be a ritual of holiday dining, circa 2009:



There's more where this came from. But for now, let me just say how unbelievably grateful I am that I'm able to get together with friends and enjoy events like this.

Crazy Christians

Not to be confused with 'regular' Christians, or any of the vast majority of Christians who hold beliefs that contain a striking amount of diversity but that don't fall into a category I'd call Totally F*cking Whacked Out.

Nope. Not them. I'm talking about Crazy Christians. The ones who are apparently out there praying for Obama's death. (and, it seems plausible to construe, praying for all kinds of other nutty things too.)

There's an article in Salon that pursues this notion further, and looks into the actions of a few choice zealots of hate (or intolerance, or fear, or whatever they are), but this Frank Schaeffer quote from the first piece I linked to seems worth repeating:

"And what surprises me is that responsible, if you can put it that way, Republican leadership and the editors of some of these Christian magazines, etc. etc., do not stand up in holy horror and denounce this. You know, they're always asking 'Where is the Islamic leadership denouncing terrorism? Why aren't the moderates speaking out?' Well, I challenge the folks who I used to work with... I would just say to them: 'Where the hell are you? This is not funny anymore. And be it on your head if something happens to our President..."

Sunday

Cory is in Cartagena until next weekend. This is more or less what today looks like so far.

Had to do SOMETHING on my sick day

Self Portrait

Continuing the Debate(s)

Nicholas Kristoff in the Times

Why is it broadly accepted that the elderly should have universal health care, while it’s immensely controversial to seek universal coverage for children? What’s the difference — except that health care for children is far cheaper?

Keep up the pressure against Stupak-Pitt, people. This thing can work out.

It's Fun to be Right

Or at least to get some validation.

A little while ago, I sent y'all in the direction of the Brother/Sister plays. Well, the press opening was this week, and the Times gave it the kind of rave you don't see too often. So that's good news.

This is NOT to say that the critics are to be trusted. They are not to be trusted. But a good review can do a whole lot for an artist's career, and McCraney deserves it, as does the whole company. Kudos, and Mazel Tov.


(photos from the Times online by Sara Krulwich and Joan Marcus)

Reeling a little...

...from T-Day, as expected. Getting through the day job in a butter-induced coma of sleep deprivation. Nothing to complain about, it's just how it is.

This year we had the extra fun of a medical procedure in the family to get us going early on Friday morning. All is well, so don't worry about anyone's health. A short pudding recovery later, we finished loading up the car and picked up Susan and Daniel and hit the road. Slogged through some traffic & grabbed a case of wine on 9th Avenue (only some of it was for the party) then kept slogging for a while until we got north of the city and were free to pursue happiness in the form of lots of friends and food.

So that's what we did. A stop at a diner in Connecticut (with one of those fun little in-the-booth jukeboxes) and we hit the Revels in Roslindale (part of Boston) at around 4. Reunited with the whole crew, had some food, went out to Somerville to see My Own Worst Enemy play an amazing set, hit a crazy little party in Lower Allston hosted by a friend of Sue B., then back to Rozzy. While we were out Sue K. revealed the little detail that she is expecting another baby! Holy procreation, Batman!

Next day was an orgy of cooking. So. Much. Food. The Main Feast had about 28 people, including the little kids, and we baked I think 10 apple and 4 pecan pies. Do the math - that's a pie for every 2 people. And yes, some other people made their way in over the course of the weekend, but this still gives you a sense of the scale of food we're talking about. We were set with 3 turkeys - one brined with a sausage stuffing, one basted with 'regular' stuffing, and one de-boned (way to go Tamiko!), stuffed with an entire loaf of jalapeno corn bread, and covered in a spicy wet rub. Pike had his own stuffing recipe, and didn't want to settle for baking it in a casserole dish. So the way he solved this dilemma was... he went out and got another turkey. Yup. Homemade everything - roasted veggies, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli & cheese (oh, Tamiko hosted a fresh mozzerella-making party too), salads, cranberry sauces, cakes, and of course those pies. AND - Lia made homemade grapefruit sorbet, and Tamiko made some homemade honey apple ice cream. [Tamiko wins the Culinary Queen award for this year's fiesta for sure.] The food went on for miles. Also the wine, beer, cider, Kentucky Chocolate, grapefruit sorbet daquiries, etc.

The video game Rock Band took center stage at portions of the party for the first time this year. I was not as obsessive as some of the peeps, though I did get in my licks (including a rendition of Spinal Tap's Stonehenge that I was rather proud of.) Also, lots of playing with the kids (I was one of Cleo's favorites this year, which was a pleasantly surprising development) some wordy games, and of course plenty of pinochle.

Sunday was leftoverfest, natch, and some stragglers made their way over too. There was a field trip to the Boston ICA, which I skipped in favor of lazy socializing and an epic game of pinochle worthy of ESPN Classics. Then, I made risotto...

Ok, here's a thing that it's important to know about making risotto for a large group: it takes a lot longer than making enough for, say, 4-6 people. It seems that when you double the recipe, you quadruple the time it takes. I mean, not quite that, but - oh my Cory and I had some stirring to do to bring our butternut squash and shitake mushroom extravaganza to completion. Still, it was rather good, if I may say so myself. Oh, and remember all those pies? Add to them another half dozen turkey pot pies. You're starting to see where that butter-induced coma came from.

Then on Monday (virtually EVERYONE was able to stay until Monday this year! A couple sadness-making exceptions, but it was a good crew.) we had some sourdough pancakes and did our Yankee Swap. That went well, with the comedy of parents using their children to manipulate the transactions, no shortage of grotesque, glorious gift items, and suspense right up until the end, including the last-minute twist of Beth taking the hideous necktie and pumpkin spice liqueur (no kidding) voluntarily, nay - actively. As Kevin said, "That's a smelly hangover waiting to happen." All went well from our end - Cory provided the party with a near-mint-condition 5 iron and a vintage Trivial Pursuit game, got a box of tea she's looking forward to, and gave some Christmas ornaments to our hosts Molly & Rudy; we found a happy home for the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer light that lived in my kitchen once upon a time; and I took home a super-secret surprise that may end up in one of your stockings if you're very, very lucky...

Then the goodbyes started trickling in and eventually we had to hit the road too. A good day for a drive, other than the sun in my eyes heading west on the Mass Pike. And after some passenger shuffling and luggage unloading I even got a minor parking miracle in Chelsea. And after a few nights on an air mattress, we were able to extra-special enjoy the magnificence of sleeping in a real bed again.

So that's it. That's the story. 'Twas a fab and fooderiffic affair.

New York November

There's been a lot going on so far this month, and we're just getting going.

Rehearsed for a reading on All Saints' Day (nothing like seeing the 'walks of shame' the morning after a New York Halloween.) The reading happened last Wednesday - a very academic play, but I was happy to do it, and got some really good response, including from the playwright, and one person who may make use of my services as a voice teacher.

The next night I saw Broke-ology, which features a friend of mine, at the Mitzi Newhouse. Then on Friday Cory and I met some friends for dinner at Westville East (wrap your mind around that.) Saturday was an engagement party for a friend in the afternoon, and Armitage Dance at BAM that night - got mixed response from the critics and from our group, but I quite liked it. Was especially apt to hear music by Lukas Ligeti after having seen Morphoses dance to music by his father the week before. (Oh yeah, I probably should have posted about that... we saw Wheeldon's company the week before. Wow, that was a really good show!)

THEN - I taught a voice class on Sunday (I'm teaching voice classes these days - feel free to send people my way) after which Cory and I went to the Giants game in Meadowlands. Oy. For lessons in how to lose a football game, check out the highlight reel from that disaster.

Monday was the Major Cultural Event of the New York Neo-Futurists Benefit performance/party. It's hard to believe that I've barely written about them here, since they've been kind of a big part of my life for a while. The event was good, and they raised some good bucks. Good food and drink; a fun, abbreviated performance; I won one silent-auction item, and donated another.


This photo is totally purloined, and kind of out-of-date, I think, but I need to give these guys the emphasis they deserve!

Went to a brilliant Schubert concert with Terry on Tuesday, and we hit a good new spot in Hell's Kitchen afterwards to talk about some potential projects for both of us. The place is called Stecchino, and I had a very nice cocktail and a good bowl of carrot orange soup and Terry had an anchovy appetizer and a beer. Liked it a lot. It's still really new, so get in on it to be ahead of the curve. Or something.

And tomorrow, we leave for T-day in Boston. Which is, of course, the most - won-der-ful time - of the year...

Talk to you when I get back.

The Governator

Alright, this is sort of another political entry, but this info is straight outa Comedy Central, so... not really.

Here's the memo that Governor Schwarzenegger sent to accompany his veto of a bill unanimously passed by the California Assembly having to do with allocating funds for the Port of San Francisco. See if you can catch his secret message...



Thanks to Think Progress for pointing out this little Da Villain Code.

Ok, he's vetoing a rather straightforward finance bill that's actually pretty good as far as I can tell. And he's doing it by means of a clever (by Dan Brown standards) but petulant tantrum over the Assembly having skipped over legislation he'd rather be signing, and a dig at bill sponsor and sometime nemesis Tom Ammiano (who recently bellowed a Wilsonesque "You lie!" at Arnold and told him to "kiss my gay ass") . I mean, it's petulant even if you believe his staff's contention that it was a "strange concidence." Which, if you do believe that, I have a stadium in the Bronx to sell you. So why am I still laughing at Governor True Liar?

Because it's funny, that's why. Even if it's cheap. And, without meaning to deride the sanctity of the Legislative Process (heaven forfend!) I should think it's fairly harmless: of course the California Assembly has recourse to veto override, which, I hope, should be easy enough to effect in the case of a unanimous vote.

If they don't override it (and maybe get in a few digs of their own), shame on them.

Assuming they do... hehehe.

Health Care and that pesky majority...

Ok, we've got this:

The amendment will prohibit federal funds for abortion services in the public option. It also prohibits individuals who receive affordability credits from purchasing a plan that provides elective abortions.
However, it allows individuals, both who receive affordability credits and who do not, to separately purchase with their own funds plans that cover elective abortions.
It also clarifies that private plans may still offer elective
abortions.

On some level, I don't care about the nitty-gritty details of this amendment. This isn't just about how the money is allocated or what workarounds exist. This has me so incredibly infuriated because it further segregates abortion as something different, off the menu of regular health care. It is a huge backward step in the battle to convey -- not just politically, but to women in their everyday lives -- that reproductive health care is normal and necessary, and must be there if (or, more accurately, when) you need it.

This also sets apart women's rights from the Democratic/progressive/whatever agenda. As something expendable. But fundamental rights for women are not peripheral. They are core. And not just because of so-called "progressive" values. In a political sense, too: Seeing as how the Democratic party relies on women voters to win elections, you would think they would have come around to this no-brainer by now.

And this:

The House passed its version of health-care legislation Saturday night by a vote of 220 to 215 after the approval of an amendment that would sharply restrict the availability of coverage for abortions, which many insurance plans now offer. The amendment goes beyond long-standing prohibitions against public funding for abortions, limiting abortion coverage even for women paying for it without government subsidies.

"There's going to be a firestorm here," (Colorado Representative Diana) DeGette said. "Women are going to realize that a Democratic-controlled House has passed legislation that would prohibit women paying for abortions with their own funds. . . . We're not going to let this into law."

But then there's this:

Essentially, the Health Care bill passed by Congress...

• Expands Medicaid "to reach a wider range of poor households up to 150% of the federal poverty level. 36M additional Americans will now be eligible for Medicaid."


• Bars discrimination in health care on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.


• Ends the "unfair practice of taxing employer-provided domestic partner health benefits, allowing thousands upon thousands of LGBT people to obtain domestic partner health benefits for their partners and families without having to pay a tax penalty through the nose."

Which is good.

So tell me, movementarians, what the next actual move to make? Where do you draw the line? How do you draw it? What are you willing to risk losing by drawing it? Or by not drawing it...

For your inner Lisa Simpson...

You may or may not have been aware that today is Saxophone Day. But you know it now.

Yes, we're here to honor the birth of Adolphe Sax, the Belgian phenom who would have been 195 today if he hadn't been carried off by typhus in 1894.




There are a gajillion ways you can acknowledge it (say hello to the intersection of saxophones and the internet) but see that you celebrate it somehow, or risk the wrath of the Ghost Trane.

SO - spin some Sonny Rollins, play old Lester Young, dig some Coleman (Ornette- or -Hawkins), embrace A Love Supreme, I don't care what you do as long as you get your sax on.

Do not delay

Go see this play.

Take it from me

These plays you should see

The Meaning of Life

What is life all about? Why are we here? Is it to seek truth? To gain wealth and status? To create beauty? To propagate a religion? Reduce suffering? Devote yourself to your family? What do all those things mean?

Those deep questions are best addressed by someone a lot smarter than I am. But it occurred to me today that it might be interesting to consider how various civilizations, cultures, nations answer the question of the Meaning of Life. I thought it would be fun to look at it from the point of view of individual cities: what they really have say about the Meaning of Life, and what they say they say (for instance, I'm guessing that the denizens of Washington D.C. would claim to be dedicated to things like Freedom and Equality, when I think the reality of the matter is more along the lines of manipulation of wealth. But that's another box of wine.)

I'm on the subject, because I think that Miami Beach would freely acknowledge, if it thought about such matters, that the meaning of its life has to do with the celebration of eroticized beauty and sensual pleasure. Which, for the last grand gesture of the Month of Mick, is just fine with me.

Now you might be thinking that I'm about to hit you with a bunch of spicy and saucy photos. Well, that ain't gonna happen. There are plenty of places on the internets where you can see that stuff. But I do have some pix from our stay for your amusement.

For instance, check out the Fontainebleau, Morris Lapidus' masterpiece.

And a shot of its tower, the edge slicing into the sky.

A couple days were windy enough that the parasurfers were out in force.

Thought I had more and better shots of these guys, but here's one catching a little air.

While the sort of philosophical questioning I was referring to might not exactly reach its fullest flower in Miami Beach, there is certainly some artistic expression. These are from the apartment where we stayed.

I like this one because it shows a chunk of the place, our gear thrown all over. Hey - it was meant to be a relaxing visit, right? Also, if you close up a little, you can see Cory tucked in behind the sculptures.

Here's a shot of the view from our balcony.

As if this weren't luxurious enough, I also had a spa day (!) as a birthday present, at this place:

Can't take credit for that photo, but I certainly enjoyed the day! A workout, a steam shower, some time at the pool, a Balinese massage, then out to the beach. Amazing. Mmmmmm... Balinese massage...

'Twas a good few days.

And back in New York, of course, we just had Halloween. This guy on Cory's block looks like he's had a rough time of it.

Think it's too late for a massage for him...

Happy Halloween

The Hoboken version of Halloween Parade (an extremely child-friendly event) has pretty much happened by now. Very cute stuff.

But Halloween is about scares too, and I just heard a scary thing on TV. I'm watching an interview with Carlton Fisk, and they discussed how he made $11,500 in his rookie season in 1972. That's eleven thousand bucks, people, not one hundred eleven thousand. Then, after he won the AL Rookie of the Year, he had to fight for an extra 5 grand.

Carlton Fisk?!?! The Carlton Fisk - one of the great catchers of all time, the guy whose signed photo is framed on my living room wall, maybe the best catcher the Red Sox ever had (sorry Jason, but I'm guessing even you would agree with that.)

Yes, that was before free agency. And yes, I know that there's an argument out there that pro athletes get too much money. But holy crap - that's less money than you'd have made working in a gas station in 1972.

Alright, you been waiting for me to post it... here it is: Harry Cabluck's iconic shot of Fisk waving that fly ball fair over the Green Monster in the 12th inning of game 6 in 1975

Back from the Beach

Ok, I've been a less-than-religious blogger lately. Part of the reason was that I was down in Miami Beach for four fun-filled days in the sun. I'll post some pix from that trip before long. Suffice to say it was a fab trip.

There was one little wrinkle...

Late Monday night/Tuesday morning, there was a small fire in the store on the ground floor of my apartment building. Nothing too serious, as these things go, but still - a lot of smoke, people were freaking out, the cops called my cell in the middle of the night (I didn't get the message until the next morning, which is actually a good thing) and the firefighters broke my door down. They actually broke down a bunch of doors in my building - it's just what they do when people evacuate without leaving their doors open (a number of people have doors that just lock automatically when you close them - those got busted into too.)

Sooooo... that'd be the other reason I haven't been so attentive to this blog. I've got a bit of a mess to clean up, and my place smells like smoke a bit. All tolled, things could have been a LOT worse. We're all pretty lucky.

On the other hand, what is it with me and vacations and fires?

tick... tock...

What are you doing this weekend?

Saddest. Picture. Ever.

I hate that agony of defeat shit.

Bernstein on Bach

You can't really ever have too much Bach in your life, as far as I can tell.



This is part of his Omnibus Series, which was on TV in the 50s. Really really good TV. I think that at least some of those shows will be available on DVD later this year. Or, of course, you can just go to this guy's YouTube page and watch them right now...

Love this stuff. It reminded me of an ensemble I was part of at one point, where the conductor was telling the story of the Voyager Space Capsule that was loaded with sonic artifacts from around the world. The way he told it, the project involved a lot of international vying for hand ("put our guy in their" kind of thing) and a particularly 1970s-ish effort at multicultural sensitivity (not that there's anything wrong with Pygmy songs, Navajo chant, or meditative brain waves, but I do think that their inclusion tells us something about the time in which that probe was launched.) Amidst all those debates and deliberations, there came one voice of agreement from all nations: "Well, of course we're going to put Bach on that record." It was unanimous - it would be unthinkable not to include it in the representation of humanity being sent to worlds beyond. It was, as the best music usually seems to be, inevitable.

Treehouse of Horror

Did you see it last night? The 20th installation (count 'em, 20!) of the Simpson's Halloween Specials. Not the best ever, but the first couple segments were pretty effin hilarious. Kind of thought they'd make something out of it being rated XX, but guess we'll have to wait for the 30th incarnation for that joke to surface.

One of my sister's fave lines came from Bart in the brilliantly titled Hitchcock Homage Dial M for Murder (or Press # to Return to the Main Menu) segment: "Ding dong ditch means you kill her and throw that ding dong into a ditch!"

And I thought one of the best jokes came from Mr. Burns as an into to the preview for the new Jim Carrey Christmas Carol "The story is about a successful business man who is tricked into being nice by three socialist ghosts."


That is a pretty priceless commentary, but while we're on the subject, do we really need/want A Christmas Carol to be amped up for the action movie crowd? I'm not convinced.

Furthermore, it's too early for Christmas stuff to be out there! Too. Early. Yes, yes, I know Dylan released his Christmas record last week. And I'll buy it, but not until after Thanksgiving dammit.

More Ways to Dismantle Atomic Bombs

Here's yet another article on Obama's Nobel Prize, which would seem to be my new hobby. This one is by Bono, renowned international policy maven that he is.

In dangerous, clangorous times, the idea of America rings like a bell (see King, M. L., Jr., and Dylan, Bob). It hits a high note and sustains it without wearing on your nerves. (If only we all could.) This was the melody line of the Marshall Plan and it’s resonating again. Why? Because the world sees that America might just hold the keys to solving the three greatest threats we face on this planet: extreme poverty, extreme ideology and extreme climate change. The world senses that America, with renewed global support, might be better placed to defeat this axis of extremism with a new model of foreign policy.

Optimism? Sure. But I'm willing to go with that for a while. These lessons can be applied to other areas too - anything where some cooperation would be useful.

More on the Peace Prize

Here's another view on Obama's Nobel Prize, from Matt Taibbi.

You never, ever get a true dissident from a prominent Western country winning the award, despite the obvious appropriateness such a choice would represent. Our Western society quite openly embraces war as a means of solving problems and for quite some time now has fashioned its entire social and economic structure around the preparation for war.

I am all for encouraging the administration to work toward peace, and disarmament, and reasonable, productive foreign policies. But, while I think it is ludicrous to compare Obama's Peace Prize to Kissinger's (Really Matt? Really?) I also think it is very good to keep a watchful eye on the big picture.

In other news, how does this kind of thing still happen?

Pheeeeeeeeeeuuw!

Rocktober in Boston

This has been a busy month for me. Mostly in good ways, but it's kept me from this outlet more than I expected.

So - broad strokes of last weekend in Boston:

Went up on Saturday - crap traffic. On a Saturday. Why??

Met with Sue and Steve in Somerville. Splendid, as always.

Went with them to the Cask 'n' Flagon near Fenway Park. Not for a Red Sox event, but because Sue and Steve were meeting friends there before going to a show featuring the Psychedelic Furs and the Happy Mondays. A whole bunch of friends, as it happened. Who knew that indie rock from the 80s would draw such a crowd? One of them had gone to a high school near where I grew up, and knew my school because we were competitors. I was all "I don't remember you guys being in our conference." And she said, "Well, I guess we didn't play football against you, but we'd go to your school for the one-act play competitions." She remembered being impressed by/jealous of our drama program. How funny is that?

As they went to the concert, I drove out to Allston for Chris and Tamiko's annual "Fat and Happy" pasta party. They make 4 giant pots of sauce from veggies and herbs they grow in their garden, they make appetizers, Tamiko even made fresh mozzarella for the occassion. Holy moly it was fun and yummy. Or, should I say, Fat and Happy.

Next morning I went to brunch with the Somervillains then met Molly at the Huntington to see my friend Brandon in Fences there. Holy shit what a good show! Really really well done - brilliant script, of course, and a solid production expertly acted. Kudos to those guys. And it was their closing performance, so we got to hang out backstage with them afterwards. Wine, cheese, noshes and rum. Fun.

The following day, Columbus Day, Brandon, Molly, Chris and I had brunch at Deep Ellum, a cool place in Allston that wasn't there when I lived there. Very good food and bloody marys.

Then Brandon and I drove back to NYC - first time we've had that much time to talk in a LONG time, which was cool. Talked shop, strategized, and just caught up. I took him to his place in Brooklyn, saw his place and said hi to Crystal, then headed back to Hoboken, where I have taken up residence once again (though to tell the truth I was only there for a little while before I came back in to the city to welcome Cory back from her Convergence in North Carolina.

I left the camera at home, so no photos. Just take my word - it was another good October weekend.

Birthday Bruce

So, ok - you've heard of Cory, right? Well, she takes really good care of me for my birthday. (My birthday was October 7, for those of you who pay attention to such things.) This year the first way that took shape was in the form of tickets to see Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium.

This, it bears noting, is a pretty good gift. A pretty AWESOME gift.

He did a series of five concerts to close the stadium, which is getting demolished to make room for a shiny new stadium next door next season, so these are special, historic shows. And these were field tickets, which unless you have a broken leg or something are so the way to go. To get the best spot on the field you have to show up early, so it takes a pretty good chunk of day to do it. And we had to miss my good friend Lia's birthday party in the Bronx, which was sad in its way, but everything lined up so amazingly as to make up for all else.


It was predicted to be a really rainy day, so we weren't going to go for the extra special super early version of tailgating in the parking lot. Instead we went the the gym and then hit the grocery store to grab some provisions and Cory went uptown to get the tickets from her friend and to pop in on the Dan Graham exhibition at the Whitney (Cory got soaked on the walk from her friend's place to the museum. That would be one way the stars didn't actually line up too well.) Meanwhile, I put the cooler together with beer, soda and food, and eventually the weather cleared up as we hit the road.

Comedy of errors with the parking staff, and we found ourselves in a less-than-ideal lot, but after a little bit of E Street shuffling, we ended up in a great spot and had some food and drinks and took in the scene. The sun was even kind of shining by this point, and it turned into a pretty nice afternoon. A couple things I wasn't prepared for in today's world of tailgating: the amount of fairly professional sound systems people brought for sharing their tunes with the world; and more surprisingly - the proliferation of professional-looking beer pong tables.

Who knew?

At around 6 we went to the gate - they weren't letting people in yet (other than the first thousand, who'd been there since about midday to get the spots RIGHT up against the rail.) It wasn't that bad a line, and they let us in at about 6:30. We got wristbands of our own, which let us go up to the front portion of the floor they'd laid down on the field. We had a great spot! 20 yards or so from the stage, close enough that we didn't need those jumbotrons to see what was going on.

And what a show!!! The Boss knows how to do it up. Such an artist; such a showman. I didn't bring my camera, natch, so was limited to what I could catch on my cell phone.

As I said, these shows are going to be the last concerts that happen in Giants Stadium before they tear it down, so Bruce wrote a song for the occassion.


We got to be among the first to hear it! Ok, among the first several thousand.

For this series of shows, the band is playing albums in their entirety. We got to hear Born in the U.S.A., which of course was the record that took Bruce from stardom to Monster Mondo Mega Stardom. It was fantastic - of all his albums, this is probably the most stadium-friendly, the one that was kind of built to fill these ginormous venues. Here's the setlist, with the U.S.A. songs shaded red.

Wrecking Ball
Out in the Street
Outlaw Pete (does anyone else think the riff on this song sounds dangerously close to the Kiss song "I Was Made for Lovin' You"?)
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Born in the U.S.A.
Cover Me
Darlington County
Working on the Highway
Downbound Train
I'm on Fire
No Surrender
Bobby Jean
I'm Goin' Down
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
My Hometown
The Promised Land
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
The Rising
Born to Run
Raise Your Hand (instrumental version, while he went out into the crowd to pick up request signs)
Jersey Girl
Kitty's Back
Detroit Medley
American Land
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Thunder Road

Do you see that?? The first request he played was "Jersey Girl," which was AMAZING because a) he hardly ever does that song, b) hello - it's just a-ma-zing, and c) hel-LO? - I was there with my Jersey Girl! And then he did another rarity in "Kitty's Back" that completely blew me away, really let the band stretch musically: solos from Charles Giordano (rest in peace, Danny Federici) Curt Ramm (a phenomenal trumpeter who joined them for these shows) Roy Bittan and Bruce himself (people still underrate his guitar playing, in my opinion) just took the show way over the top. No Rosalita that night, but Thunder Road brought things home very very nicely.

One more blurry photo before I go. When he does "Dancing in the Dark" he usually brings someone up on stage to dance (a la Courtney Cox in that video way back when the song came out.) For this show he brought up this teenage gal who looked nervous for about a half a second and then totally tore it up with the Boss!


After they finished the song, Springsteen let her friends (her mom?) take their picture, then he showed us the sign that she'd held up to get his attention: "13th Birthday Dance?" Pretty rad.

Potential vs. Accomplishment?

Gotta admit I didn't see this coming.

In the wake of the announcement, on the other hand, this aspect of it is entirely unsurprising.

Good Vibes to Grandma

There is a lot for me to write about this week, including some amazing shows and an incredible early birthday celebration yesterday, but for now I want to devote some attention to my grandmother, who had a couple of TIAs ("mini strokes") within the last several days.



Here's a shot of her at home on the farm from the trip we took to visit them last month. She's doing very well under the circumstances, and we all have plenty of reason to be optimistic; I'm just putting out some good vibes and would be happy for you to do the same. She's an amazing woman, and super strong - please send some thoughts and wishes and prayers or whatever fits your worldview in her direction.

Much much love to her and grandpa and the whole family.

More Texas

But then there's this, which would seem to be an improbably forward-thinking decision, and reason for (very) cautious optimism. Even in Texas.

I don't understand anything.

Texas

Once again, injustice has been taken to a level that defies my comprehension.

I really feel like I don't know how to live in the world sometimes.

More Fun with Music and Art

Hanukkah it was not, but between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Yo La Tengo played a big ol' show at the Roseland Ballroom. Bigger venue than they usually play (in my experience, anyway) and it was packed with 3,000 of us. We got there too late to enjoy the musical stylings of the Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., but I hear they did a fun set in the lobby area. We did catch most of the Black Lips set, which was good for some good-n-loud.

Then came the main event: Yo La Tengo themselves, rocking in their own inimitable way. They gave us a healthy dose of the best material from their newest, Popular Songs. They rocked their classics (ok to call them 'classics' right?) including taking "Blue Line Swinger" to heights only dreamt of in your mythology.

They were introduced by the Daily Show's John Oliver, who had his work cut out for him trying to focus that many hipsters. They had visual stimulation provided by the Joshua White and Gary Panter Light Show.

The light show was a show of its own. Joshua and Gary are visual artists from the original psychedelic rock era. Nary a computer in evidence. Just some guys with projectors, colored oils, spinners and slides working a visual counterpoint to the music.


A microcosm of the reactions of our little group to this phenomenon:
Sherin: I love how old-school this light show is - analog everything!

Cory: You can see the hand of the artist, like with Jackson Pollock.

Frank: I feel like I'm at Iron Butterfly.

Amanda: Why isn't anybody dancing?




I don't know who shot this video (though I think it probably was Qbertplaya) and it seems possible that it'll be pulled down off the internets at some point. But for now, enjoy - string section and all.

Performing Arts City

Ok, as promised, more today about New York's Performing Arts season.

Going backwards a bit, last night Cory and I went to the new Anna Deavere Smith show at Second Stage - it's in previews and therefore still under construction, but it's already a brilliantly developed piece in Anna's signature vein: an amalgam of characters she interviewed herself and embodies live on stage. These people range from the famous (Eve Ensler) to the very famous (Lance Armstrong) to the not famous at all (Anna's aunt) and Anna of course inhabits them amazingly: physically, vocally, holistically. Eve Ensler has a riff about women who do or do not live in their vaginas - good stuff, funny and telling. Along those lines, it's fair to say that Anna lives and works in her whole body. Which can be a deceptively difficult thing to do, and most actors aspire to get better at it. I know I do.



I could go on and on about this show, but I have a lot of ground to cover.

Last weekend, I did the 4 shows in 3 days thing. Love it. So, to continue the backward path...

Sunday night Cory and I met with Richard, a director I've worked with a few times, and a couple of his friends to see a Fringe show called Powerhouse. It was about the life and work of Raymond Scott, who wrote the piece of music that shares its name with the play, and which was featured in tons of Warner Brothers cartoons you've probably seen. It featured some pretty well-worn notions but also some interesting staging and puppetry, and a shout out is due to Eric Wright for some good voice acting and puppet skillz.

Sunday afternoon was a show on the good ol' Broadway with my dayjob co-worker Kendra. We caught After Miss Julie, which is Patrick Marber's new take on Strindberg's classic set in post-war England. It's also in previews (and making good use of them, I hear) and offers up some Star wattage in the form of Jonny Lee Miller (whom you may know from the brilliant Trainspotting movie) and Sienna Miller (whom you probably just know, but if you don't, check out Factory Girl.)

Less well-known to movie audiences is the fantastically talented Marin Ireland, whom I saw earlier this year in Reasons to be Pretty and who burned it up in this show too.

Yay for you!



Saturday night was dance-y theater (or theatrical dance) at BAM. In-I, which was conceived and performed by Akram Khan with Juliette Binoche. Also worth mentioning is the score by Phillip Shepard. He's a composer/educator/musician who scores bunches of films and viddies and events and rocks an electric cello.


Before the show, we'd been to early dinner at the delicious Olea and had some fab java at Tillie's (both of those = yum yum yum!) as well as a long walk in Manhattan and a brunch with a friend of Cory's. It was a GORGEOUS late summer weekend and we tried to make the most of it.

Lastly/firstly - on Friday night I was at the Brick in Billyburg to see my friend and colleague Brad Fraizer in a clown show called Schaden, Freude and You. It was part of a larger clown festival and it was, as promised, very funny. I ran into a guy I know from the show I did with Brad, so that was a plus; and we got to see some good clowning. You may not think you like clowning, but remember that when I talk about this I'm not usually talking about some guy in whiteface with a red nose, but a more universal brand of physical comedy. And let me tell you guys - to do it really well is hard. And funny.

So there that was. Another weekend starts now. Tonight I'm gonna rock it.

YLT-minus one day

Tomorrow is the one and only Yo La Tengo show in the Greater Big Apple Metropolitan Area for the rest of this year. Woo Hoo! Very very excited. Frank and Amanda are making the trip down for the occasion, and Sherin will also be joining us. I've pretty much given up on the idea that The Minus 5/Baseball Project/Steve Wynn will show up as special guests - I let myself fantasize for a few minutes, since they were at Bowery Ballroom last night and they seem to be the kind of band that would LOVE to turn up at an event like this, but it turns out that they're going to be down south by the time tomorrow rolls around.

Oh well. There will be other fun in store, I'm sure.

Tonight will be the amazing Anna Deavere Smith at Second Stage in Let Me Down Easy which, from what I understand, is about American Health Care, sort of. But not really. Maybe I'll have something a little more enlightening to say about it tomorrow.

Magic 8 Pod

I haven't played Magic 8 Pod lately, so let's give it a whirl today.

How will this upcoming Big Weekend of Theater go? Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever Happened to My Rock & Roll

Well, it's true that this weekend promises to be a little highfalutin, with the Clown Show, the BAM dance performance, plus Strindberg redux and heady fringe. Maybe I have been neglecting the rockin' side of things. But I am not ignoring it! Let this lead me to my next question, but let me also take this opportunity to mention that B.R.M.C. will be releasing a new batch of live music and video this fall.


What about next weekend's Yo La Tengo show? Johnny Cash - Country Boy

This may not seem to rock all the way out at first, but it's a good sign for the show. A boom-chicka-boom early Cash song, simple in a way that YLT would love, and the kind of song they might cover. "When it's quittin' time and your work is through/There's a lot of life in you."


Will my dad be out for that visit next month? Paul Westerberg - Things

Huh. Umm... well... Paul's a great songwriter and musician. This song doesn't really illuminate anything. It's kind of a love song. Or an "I love you but never know how to say it right" song. Guess dad's trip will remain a mystery for the moment.


What about the work on my apartment? Alanis Morissette - Ironic

This has kind of come to pass: they stripped the paper, fixed the walls and repainted, which is great BUT now there's a leak in one of the pipes. Let's call this one a prophesy that's been altogether, completely fulfilled already and move on. (Yes, yes, I have Alanis Morissette on my iPod. Get your laughter out of the way.)


Will I be making a trip to Boston this fall? For, you know, the right reason?? Elliott Smith - Almost Over

Aha! This is a deceptive one. It looks like bad news for the BoSox at first glance, until you realize that the gist of this song is that the worst part's almost over. Not the season. That part of the season where it's increasingly clear they won't win the division and they're in trouble for the wild card. Yes. That's definitely what this is saying.

How this factors in to me getting tickets to the postseason at Fenway is less transparent...

This Week in Health Care Reform

In case you're looking for some reading material, here's Paul Krugman on the question of what direction Max Baucus's health care reform bill will go as the Senate revises it over the next few months.

A telling line: "The insurance industry, of course, loves the Baucus plan. Need we say more?"

OH, and if you live in New York...

... don't forget to vote today in your local primary election.

Cow Country II

Couple additions to the 'sconnie blog, thanks to my sister, who is a better photographer than I, but with the disadvantage of having to use me as a subject.


Anna was pretty equal-opportunity when it came to letting people push her on the swing. Never really got tired of it.

This one I really love. We're roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Check out the light from the fire that Lori was able to capture glowing in Anna's hair.

Thanks sis!

Cow Country

Which is where I'm from originally. "Cow Country" is not a pejorative term, or it shouldn't be; it's just an accurate one. I also sometimes refer to it as "Big Butt Country" which is more pejorative I suppose, but it's also, well, pretty accurate.

The point is, Wisconsin is the place where I was born and raised, and I love it a lot, although I'm very happy in my choice not to live there currently. Cory and I flew out there last week for a kind of a reunion with my family/birthday party for Grandma. So to get things rolling, here's a photo of Grandma.


There's the guest of honor with my newest cousin, Jacob. One of my aunts is only a few years older than I am, and she and her husband adopted this little guy at the end of last year. He was getting over a cold last weekend, which made Grandpa not want to have anything to do with him, but Grandma was uncowed.


Irrespective of his fear of baby-borne illness, Grandpa was in pretty good spirits. Ornery to the last, of course, but doing just fine. He walked Cory and me around his squash garden and apple trees - including challenging me to throw a blemished apple over the fence into the pasture beyond the lawn that he, at 92 years old, still mows twice a week. I made it (barely), thank God.

The little ones were having a great time, of course. The big party was at my cousin Kari's farm.


There's Cory pushing Anna on the swing with Alex, who is her, what, second cousin once removed I guess.


Here's Alex focused on his driving. This little John Deere is like a kiddie golf cart: brakes automatically when you take your foot off the "gas" pedal, so it doesn't require all that much in the way of coordination, but it zips all over the place. 2 years old this kid is, driving around a farm...


And here's his big brother Jack concentrating on his task at hand. This one is 4, and he has better focus than plenty of grown-ups I know.

They are all children of the corn, of course.


This is my dad and Kari's husband Chad overseeing Alex as he gives Annie a driving lesson.


And last but not least, here's Anna trying to figure out what the hell to do with that larger-than-life creature before her. If you click on the photo, you can make out the dreadlock-ish thing Lady has going on behind her ear.

And then there was the food... For Grandma's birthday party, Mom made spiral ham with all the fixins and then some, and Grandma herself provided brownies, carrot cake, apple pie and ice cream. And beer. The night before, we had pizza at the old family favorite in Madison. With sangria and beer. Then the night after, we stayed in what has to be the most Norwegian town in America and had breakfast there (I had a scrambled egg concoction wrapped in lefse, which is actually one of the few things that it's hard to track down a good version of in New York.) We had another family gathering at Chad & Kari's place again the next day - Anna had gotten sick, so Lori had to take her back to our aunt Jane's place in Madison, and she entrusted me with her Secret Lasagna Recipe. It was a big hit! Good going Lori. We also had mom's skillet zucchini dish. And beer. Then it was back to Madison to meet some of my old high school friends at The Old Fashioned, which has a fantastic selection of Wisconsin foods and cheeses. And beer. Finally, we had a gathering of the other side of the family on Labor Day: Burgers, Brats, Beans, Potato Salad and Cole Slaw, etc. And beer.

Because that's what it's all about.

Did I mention that this is sometimes known as Big Butt Country?

Dear President Obama

Your next Big Speech is tonight. How exciting for you! Everybody's back from summer vacation and ready to roll up their sleeves and work together for a better future for everyone, without the faintest whiff of partisanship or political maneuvering. It's the American Way!

I understand that the first item on tonight's agenda will have to do with Health Care. Good thinking! Permit me to mention a few ideas on the subject: think of them as Talking Points if you like (I'm told that people like Talking Points.) Feel free to refer to any or all of them in your speech if you like. You probably shouldn't feel totally free to avoid mentioning at least one or two of them...

• Health Care is a point of National Pride.
  The World Health Organization ranks the overall quality of the U.S. health system at 37th in the world: a little better than Slovenia's, but not quite as good as Costa Rica. That isn't really good enough for a place that still runs around claming to be the Greatest Country in the World.
  
  
• No One's Health should be compromised for the sake of Anyone's Bottom Line.
  In the face of your less-than-scrupulous adversaries' reckless talk of death panels, you may want to point out that their precious Private Insurers have been denying care to Grandmas and Grandchildren willy nilly, in the form of widespread rejection of claims, and systematic cancellation of policies, even long-standing ones, when the patient's needs become too expensive. Yes, they are accusing you of what they have been guilty of for years. And I do mean guilty: this situation would appall the people who built the insurance industry in the first place - which, after all, is supposed to, um, insure that people get health care, not withhold it from them at just the moment they need it most. The practice is wrong, cruel, and greedy. And it should be illegal.
  
  
• The Whole Point of Insurance is to Spread Risk.
  Not to make a gajillion dollars for companies and their stockholders. You may have to tweak this one, or people will start screaming about Socialism. To do this, I'd refer to the previous point. Assure people that there is not one thing wrong with making a good living - a really good living - providing health care. It's a very important job, and it should be richly rewarded. Profit motive is not necessarily a bad thing, but when we're talking about people's lives and health, I'd think that profit could be a secondary consideration rather than an all-powerful one. And anyone who gets filthy rich by gaming the system - and in the process making the system worse, keeping quality care out of people's reach - is just that: filthy.
  
  
• Catastrophic Care is not good enough for the Poorest of the Poor.
  I'll buy the argument that if you make a decent living and just don't believe in Insurance, for whatever reason, you shouldn't have to get too much of it - coverage for only the severest illness and injury might be enough for you (though you really do need to be covered for that, or the potential costs are too great for you and eventually for the rest of the country.) There is some debate as to whether preventative care is much of a long-term cost saver, but it is universally acknowledged that it helps maintain long-term health. Whatever plan is put into place must provide for an affordable option of ongoing heath care, not just Castastrophic coverage.
  
  
• Core Costs must be held in check.
  Here's a point where you can completely agree with your opposition! Pretty much everybody acknowledges that overall health care costs have skyrocketed and need to be managed. (Well, except for those who will insist on disagreeing with you no matter what you say. Come to think of it, that may be a bigger group than you'd like to admit.) Article after article has been written on the subject, and some of the better ones even discuss some possible solutions. I'm talking about creative solutions, based on experience, with the actual goal of reducing costs, not kneejerk conservative calls for Tort Reform that are actually just gifts to big business (with an assault on the environment thrown in for good measure) disguised as social justice. That transparent maneuver aside, the Conservatives are right, and you probably should grant as much - any real reform MUST address overall costs head on.
  
  
• We need to develop a Culture of Health.
  You're going to need to phrase this better - people get freaked out when you use the C word. Get Jon Favreau to help. But what I'm talking about is spreading actual patterns of healthy behavior (as opposed to lipservice about healthy behavior) across the breadth of society. Getting people to DO the healthy thing more often (nothing crazy - eat better, don't drink too much too often, get enough sleep most nights, exercise a few times a week.) Talk about your easy and obvious ways to improve health care while reducing costs. But to actually put it across? That will take your best effort. And, you'll be criticized for it, just as you were run through the wringer for (even I have a hard time believing this) telling kids to stay in school. Oy.
  
  
• Fight back.
  This stems from the previous point, and again, you'll need smarter people than I to help you finesse it. But please, please go after these dipshits when they say stupid things, and especially when they lie. Which they have done, are doing, and will continue to do until you stop them. You will be called a Socialist when you try to improve health care. You will be compared to Hitler when you advocate education. You will be called a Harbinger of Doom when you engage in diplomacy. Most people (I hope) know that this is crap, and those that don't aren't going to change their minds no matter what you say, so GO AHEAD AND CALL IT CRAP. I know that sometimes it's hard for Democrats to call people out because they don't want to look like hypocrites when they're shown to be sitting in the same corporate pockets as Republicans. Which the Dems should, you know, stop doing. But even before that Hailstorm in Hell, you should give yourself permission to call the truth the truth and call a lie a lie. We'll respect you more for it. Really. Continue to rise above their tactics, by all means, but don't just stand there when they get together to bring you down. Be like a master martial artist and use their own momentum against them. The wackos (and the charlatans who guide them) have been nasty and don't show any signs that they will slow down. What they have shown is that they can be counted on to go to extreme, even absurd, lengths to stand in the way of policies that change some perceived social status quo (or that might cost the richest of the rich a little bit of money.) Reveal their arguments for what they are, and they'll wind up tangled in their own rope.
  

There we go. We did it. We solved health care! Good for us. Tomorrow maybe we can get together and figure out how to get me an agent...

Super Tuesday

New Yo La Tengo record out today. It's called Popular Songs and it's good, of course - at first listen it seems to be more an example of the 'sonic exploration' version of YLT than the "straight-up rocking" version. Let me know if you want to hear it, and we'll have a listening party.

Today also sees a rare release from New Zealand power popsters The Clean. This one is called Mister Pop, fittingly enough, and I haven't heard it yet. So if you have it, remember: sharing is caring.

Tomorrow we'll get Obama's big Health Care speech to Congress. I have a few ideas for the President, and with a little luck I'll be able to post them in time for him to put them in there. Because he's a big follower of mine. I hear he's also looking forward to pictures from the trip out west...