NYMysteries Jan. 26

January 19th was the best afternoon of my life. A friend took me to the Joyce to see the Irene Rodriguez Company. It’s a small Cuban company: six dancers, six musicians and Irene Rodriguez the director and principal dancer and choreographer. The first dance was a teaser. The curtain was raised only to the dancers’ knees. We watched twelve very agile feet glide, twist, dance. No way of distinguishing female or male. Eight dances followed. Have you ever seen a dancer dancing in a gown with a train? Rodriguez and the other women turned their trains into part of the dance. Every  dance was a delight visually and choreographically.

The next afternoon I went to a Frick concert, Trio Karénine. It was the ensemble’s New York debut. The musicians, a violinist, cellist and pianist treated us to a somber rendering of Shostakovish, Ravel and Schubert. Afterwards, we went to Via Quadronno where I had one of my favorite desserts: affocato al caffe (vanilla ice cream with espresso).

Speaking of food, a few friends came to Friday night supper. For dessert I served plumbing supplies made of chocolate. United Chocolate Works makes these eye catching treats. 

 

 

United Chocolate Works chocolate tools

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

United Chocolate Works Chocolate scissors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Confession: I am a Draino junkie. As friends or partners provide opiates to their loved ones, I douse my Harry Pottery toilet, it’s magical, with Draino. Since Nov. I’ve put up with weekly overflows. Plumbers have come and gone, each stating that the toilet was fixed.

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NY Mysteries Jan. 19, 2019

 

I have friends on the west coast who are dedicated film buffs.  They go to Sundance every year. They see every nominated film and watch The Golden Globes and the Oscars . I decided that I’d emulate them, sort of. I saw The Favorite, not a favorite. Next was Bohemian Rhapsody. Has too much been written about Rami Malek’s prosthetic teeth? Even so, you can’t take your eyes off them. They are far more interesting than most of the other parts of the movie. Queen is lauded for its music. Maybe so but the actors who played the band were dead in the water. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury tried hard. His grappling with being gay was forced. His wandering in and out of his marriage was  unrealistic and boring. His wife, played by Lucy Boynton, smile sweetly through it all. 

 

 

 

 

The Sisters in Crime had an Open Mike at The Mysterious Bookshop. The shop is a beauty, wall-to-wall books. About ten of us read from our stories. We had five minutes which was long enough. Such fun hearing what others were writing.  Afterwards, everyone was invited to an Indian dinner. A lovely evening. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mysterious Bookshop

 

 

 

 

 

 

A thought:  is the iPhone going the way of the digital camera, the calculator, the pager, Sony’s Walkman and the Palm Pilot? 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Graphic Lessons: Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries 1/11/19

 

Last Wednesday The Mystery Writers of America New York Chapter had its first 2019 meeting. It was lively. No one has ever accused mystery writers of being shy. MWA was founded in 1945. It presents a bust of Edgar Allen Poe to mystery or crime writers every year. Throughout the year there are readings by members at various venues, mentoring programs and scholarship programs. The Communication Committee announced that the club’s newsletter, The Noose, was having its name changed. The associations with the word noose concern some members and so we are changing it to….who knows? A friend suggested Arsenic and Old Lace.  

Edgar Allen Poe

 

 

 

 

 

I watched Eight and a Half, Federico Fellini’s 1963 fantasy with Nino Rota’s haunting music. It’s glamorous and mysterious as we wander through the past and present with a film director played by Marcello Mastroianni.  Eight and a half refers to the eight and a half movies Fellini had directed before Eight and a Half. The black and white images by cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo are stunning. There are parades of course, a Fellini hallmark. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Time has weight it down with immense respectability. Even the Vatican considers it one of the best films made before 1995. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook? 

NYMysteries  – January 5

 

The Favorite movie is not my favorite.  I know it’s garnered lots of praise: Olivia Colman as Queen Anne is up for an Oscar for gaining a thousand pounds and having an on screen orgasm, courtesy of Rachel Weisz (Lady Sarah). Emma Stone (Abigail, the favorite) rolls her eyes to indicate she’s going to betray Lady Sarah by replacing her in Queen Anne’s bed. Daring, eh? Throw in lots of profanity, 2019 jargon, lovely food and furniture and you’ve got a script. When are we Americans going to get over our fascination with the past and present English royal family ?

So far, Maria by Callas has been the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.

 

When our government goes back to work…..

 Did you know that…

 

Children of Congress members do not have to pay back their college student loans.

 

Staffers of Congress family members are also exempt from having to pay back student loans.

 

Members of Congress can retire at full pay after only one term.

 

Members of Congress are exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment.

Don’t just sit there. Run for Congress.

 

 

 

Graphic Lessons: What do a thirty-four-year old, a nine-year-old and an eighteen-year-old have in common? Murder. 

Millie Fitzgerald applies for a private school teaching job, faints on a  dying man in the school kitchen, deals with a troubled nine-year-old and with the eighteen-year-old niece of the murdered man.

Graphic Lessons: Nine-year-old Dana is the only witness who overhears a person fighting with George Lopez, the soon to be stabbed Windsor School kitchen worker. Who can she tell? Her mother who never listens or accuses her of lying? Her father who’s started a new family in Singapore? She tells Millie. 

Graphic Lessons: NYPD Detective Steve Kulchek is assigned the murder case at the prestigious Windsor School. What’s bugging him? His partner being stabbed ?  His hated boss, Captain Dick Holbrook, being a trustee of the Windsor School?  Losing his girlfriend to Holbrook?