NY Mysteries May 25, 2019

An anglophile friend and I saw the movie, Tolkien. At the box office we were shown a diagram and asked to select seats. We asked which ones were available. The ones in white, we were told. They were all in white. When we arrived at Studio 5  where the movie was being shown we were the only ones there. A few people trickled in. So glad we reserved seats, 

 Tuesday evening I saw a delightful program at the New York City Ballet. As is often the case, the first ballet, Judah, was a warmer upper. It was followed by Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering. This is its 50th Anniversary and it’s still lively and lovely. It was an audience favorite then. To judge by the Tuesday night applause, it still is. Stars and Stripes, the last ballet of the evening was lots of fun. The music was John Philip Sousa’s marches. 

Don’t miss the CAMP exhibit at the Met. It’s giddy with crazy, beautiful costumes. For example:

CAMP exhibit, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
CAMP exhibit, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
CAMP exhibit, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
CAMP exhibit, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

 

CAMP exhibit, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 May 17

I’m going to reminisce about architecture. Dance, art, writing, architecture, cinema are among my favorite art forms. You may have opera, although I’m fascinated about everything about opera except opera and you may have modern day theater.

One of the reasons I love architecture is because a building in one part of the world will remind me of another, distant building, often in locations that are seemingly disparate. Chavez Community Center on Rodeo Road in Santa Fe is a beautiful, enormous modern sporting complex. It has Santa Fe’s only ice skating ring, four pools – one of which is an indoor Olympic-size pool, slides and a water basketball court. The Chavez Center’s vastness, exposed machinery and light reminded me of the

Centrale MonteMartini

Annex in Rome. Like the Chavez Community Center, it too is vast and debated in light. The MonteMartini annex is a former power plant. The early twentieth century machinery is a backdrop for ancient sculpture and friezes from the Capitoline museums. Both buildings, one in Santa Fe and the other in Rome, have in common the sturdy beauty of exposed industrial machinery. In the foreground of the Chavez Center are pools and slides. In the foreground of the MonteMartini annex are masterpieces of classical Greek and Roman art. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chavez Community Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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? 

Since it was my birthday, I’m offering you some cupcakes. 

Help yourself!

NYMysteries – May 11

Since it’s my birthday, I’m going to give you photo presents. 

Can you name the country in which each one was taken?  IMG_0077

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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? 

The last Frick concert, Tamsin Waley-Cohen, violin and Huw Watkins, piano was held on Sunday. Joyce Bodig is a long time Frick employee and a one woman organization who arranges all the concerts. We were treated to Watkins’ composition, Spring, Beethoven and Debussy sonatas and an encore of “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.  An odd choice, I thought. I never appreciate opera singers singing jazz and I don’t appreciate classical musicians swinging through popular music.  

On Wednesday, a friend and I went to Alice Elliot’s documentary, “The Collector of Bedford Street”. It was shown at the Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St. The Collector is Larry Selman, a neighborhood character. He’s endearing and helpless, a great one for making many phone calls. The community united in caring for him since his elder brother was failing. We follow Larry through his day, often collecting money for various charities. His NYC sense of humor is appreciated by neighbors and tradesmen. It’s a close knit community.  In a Q & A, after the screening,  Alice praised her

The Collector playing Santa with help from Engine Company 225 Photo by Deb Brozina.

neighbors, giving them a great deal of credit for the  documentary’s success. She talked about the heavy equipment that was and is still used to label the film industry as a guy’s world. Women couldn’t lift and lug the gear. No more! With the small digital cameras, women have as much opportunity to making a film as a man does.

 

Down Memory Lane: Being on Barrow Street which is next to Bedford, is where my old friend Kit Davidson had lived. Kit made documentaries and like Alice Elliot, one of his, 3rd Ave. El , was nominated for an academy award. 

I wanted to see Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth so off I went to The Morgan. It was much less crowded than the opening celebration which was filled with hobbits, elves, dwarves and wizards. The second floor exhibit has lovely original Tolkien drawings. The Morgan has a Gilbert and Sullivan Collection. These posters are part of the archive. A plus is a light airy lunch space: divine lemonade spiked with ginger and scrumptious avocado toast. But they have to bring back the deviled eggs!

J. R. R. Tolkien
Alder by a Stream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruddigore
Morgan Library and Museum Gilbert & Sullivan Collection
The Pirates of Penzance
The Morgan Library and Museum Gilbert & Sullivan Collection

 

 

 

The Sorcerer, Gilbert and Sullivan Collection
The Morgan Library and Museum

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?