NYMysteries June 8, 2019

It’s been a busy week.

It began on Monday, June 2. I went to The Bowery Poetry Club to hear a reading by Laura Catherine Brown who read from her delightful, off-beat novel, Made by Mary. She was followed by other prominent female writers.  Such fun to be in the new and old Bowery.

Next day I went to Washington D. C. to visit my Washington family. I hadn’t been in the capitol in years and felt like a hick coming to the

View from the Court of Appeals chambers 
View from the Court of Appeals Chambers

big, beautiful, clean city with a metro that was so efficient it might have been Swedish. I visited the open court of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to witness my nephew, a judge, who was appointed by President Obama in 2013. The two mornings I was there the different judges discussed patent cases, a veteran who claimed his healthcare benefits were inadequate  and the building of a road from a private New Mexico property across federal land. Although this court deals primarily with patent law its case load is hodgepodge. My nephew said this was done so that the judges did not develop too narrow a focus. 

The 70th Anniversary of D Day came up. I recalled going to Omaha Beach. Have you been there? It rubbed me the wrong way. It was gaudy, triumphant, very much in the MGM musical mode. I expected Gene Kelly to tap dance out of a grave. My friend and I then went to the nearby German military cemetery. As dark as Omaha Beach was light. From MGM to Dante’s Inferno. It reeked of defeat and death. It’s near Mont Saint-Michel.

Back in NYC, a friend and I went to a trendy East Village restaurant, Van Da. Its specialty is modern Vietnamese cuisine. It’s new, in the toddler stage with lots of explanation about the menu and philosophical musing, “Our culinary journey just began.” I give it a year. 

On Friday, yet another friend and I went to Hearth. I admit I entered with a chip on my shoulder because of the signs stressing the freshness of their food/ how to treat the earth etc. Surprise, surprise, the food and wine were delicious.  

 

 

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 June 1, 2019

 

 

May 29 was smothered in rain and gusty winds. It was also the day of The Frick Collection’s annual garden party.  A friend and I have attended and enjoyed the party for years. Given the weather, I emailed him: Are we crazy? I was angling for him to suggest we not go. I’m so glad he didn’t. The Frick came up trumps. The Collection was turned into a vast indoor party. We parked ourselves on a bench in the Garden Court, under the gaze of a statue of a nymph and ate delicious hors d’oeuvres. Like most museums the Frick doesn’t serve red wine because it stains. So we made do with champagne.  

 

 

 

A Welcoming Sight
Help yourself.
What might have been.  The Frick Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Garden Court
The Frick Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 30 was another rainy day. I waded through a gutter or two to keep a dinner engagement at the National Arts Club. Once there, it was worth it. The Club has a warm, luscious atmosphere, especially welcoming on a cold, wet night. Lovely art work in the dining room, in addition to fine food and wine. Is there anything more conducive to interesting conversations?

 

 

 

 

The National Arts Club
Bust of Michalangelo by Sergio Rossetti Morosini

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 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? 

NYMysteries – April 27

 

 

A Judson Easter: music, food, fellowship: It was a zinger this year. Judson Memorial Church has wonderful music, a wonderful choir and a wonderful Music Director, Henco Espag. We had a feast of music. There was an original Easter Cantata by Rev. Micah Bucey and Henco Espag and sung by the choir, The Gardener’s Dance choreographed and performed by  Brandon Kazen-Maddox, traditional hymns including The Old Rugged Cross, The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done. Afterwards, we had our shared, pot luck feast and lots of reminiscing and greeting old friends.  

 

 

 

Music Director Henco Espag
Brandon Kazen-Maddox performing The Gardener’s Dance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soloist Michelle Thompson and Henco Espag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite shows is Project Runway. One of my favorite places is F. I. T. Fashion Institute of Technology has great fashion exhibits. So with this in mind, let me present a chic NYC dog who’s sporting sunglasses. 

 

 

 

Fashionable NYC Dog
Fashionable NYC dog doing runway walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 – April 20

Joyce DiDonato Master Classes Part 2  My friend and I had attended the Friday session. There was a soprano, Alexandra Nowakowski and a mezzo-soprano, Maya Amir, one countertenor, Keymon W. Murrah and one tenor, Aaron Crouch. They would not have been chosen for the Master Classes if they hadn’t had wonderful voices. Joyce DiDonato was very level headed and articulate about the tough and rewarding profession they’re pursuing. She nailed their individual foibles. One of the sopranos thought too much. One of the tenors was told that the last thing the world needed was an opera singer. What is needed is someone who interprets every part individually. We returned for the final session Sunday. It was thrilling to witness the confidence the artists had gained.  People flew in for the Master Classes. We sat with a German woman who tracked previous singers. Earlier, a woman from Quebec told me that she followed DiDonato. The singers were accompanied by the gifted pianists Justina Lee and Shannon McGinnis .

Joyce DiDonato Master Classes 2019: Justina Lee, Shannon McGinnis, Keymon W. Murrah, Alexandra Nowakowski, Maya Amir, Aaron Crouch, Joyce DiDonato

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received a blackmailing scam email earlier that day and was on paranoid alert. What an invasion of privacy!  My computer guy calmed me down. He’d heard it all before. I did not reply or answer the email. A picture was attached, supposedly of me whiling away the time watching porn. 

 

Rev. Micah Busey posted the following on Facebook: 

Reminder to Christians that Holy Week is actually about the government-sanctioned assassination of a queer migrant organizer, the collective trauma and resilience of an activist community on the margins, and the triumph of communal, cooperative, hopeful, resistant, persistent, radical love over racist, hateful, fear-filled empire.

Resurrection always was and still is political.

So there! A very Happy Easter and Passover!

 

 

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 – April 13

 I saw Francesco Rosi’s 1975 film at the Film Forum. It’s four hours long. A friend warned me to eat ahead of time. The film is based on Carlo Levi’s 1945 memoir about his one year exile, Christ Stopped at Eboli. The setting is Basilicata, a region in the Italian boot tucked between Puglia, Campagna and Calabria. The title suggests that nothing – hope, prosperity, fairness – goes beyond Eboli, the last train station in Basilicata.  The film director was the esteemed Ruggero Mastroianni, brother of Marcello. The film reminded me of Roberto Rossellini’s Stromboli (1950) and of Franco Brusati’s Bread and Chocolate (1975). The three films shine an unwavering light on Italian foibles.If only the U. S. A. and Israel had the Italian ability to examine their characteristics with a critical eye. 

I sat in a row in the middle of the theater. Staring at me from the  back of seat, second one from the aisle,  was a plaque dedicated to Elia Kazan. 

 

Elia Kazan’s plaque at the Film Forum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever have this happen with a friend? You’re convinced you gave her the tickets and she’s convinced you didn’t? That’s what happened  to our tickets for Joyce DiDonato’s Master Classes on Friday and Sunday. Who came to the rescue? Carnegie Hall! I called their help number and got help. I was instructed to show up at the box office with my printed-out tickets. I did. The clerk looked at my ticket. Unlike me, he could read. He pointed out very politely that I had two tickets, front to back for both Friday and Sunday. I met my friend in line. She was feeling guilty about having lost her tickets. And I was tempted. Yes, tempted to let her stew. What the hell, I told her I’d been a dope and case solved. We stood in line, jammed ourselves into a tiny elevator to the 10th floor. Raced gracefully into the enormous room decked with two funereal bunches of flowers and grabbed two perfect seats in the second row center. The magic began. Joyce DiDonato entered with four accomplished singers. She manhandled them one by one. Alexandra Nowakowski, soprano, Maya Amir, mezzo-soprano, Keymon W. Murrah, countertenor and Aaron Crouch, tenor. They trusted her. We trusted her. It was two hours of rich, professional advice coupled with affection and respect. Talk about living in the moment. I love everything about opera except opera.

Joyce DiDonato
April 12. 2019
Maya Amir
Aaron Crouch, Tenor
Keymon W. Murrah, Countertenor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 – April 6

A busy week…

EXPERIENCE THE PRESENCE OF GOD THROUGH THE SOUNDS OF JAZZ. In caps, the Emmanuel Baptist Church on Brooklyn’s Lafayette Avenue announced its twin loves: God and music. 

Nedelka Prescod gave a spirited and spiritual performance at the Sunday afternoon jazz vespers. She was accompanied by family, friends and a lively congregation. 

Jazz Vespers – Emmanuel Baptist Church
Nedelka Prescod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday evening, the calm before the storm: A delicious dinner at Scandinavian House around the corner from the Morgan.

 

Scandinavian House’s Restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Followed by an evening at the Morgan party celebrating the exhibit, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth.

A Fair Maiden
Fair maiden’s arsenal
I fear the front
Tolken’s Shire at Thirty-Six Street and Madison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest Footwear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Followed by a talk about Judson Memorial Church’s architecture by Francis Marrone. 

The Architecture of Judson Memorial Church, a lecture by Francis Morrone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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? 

Mary Jo Robertiello's mysteries and life