" ... gradually I became aware of the old island here
that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new
world. Its vanished trees ... had once pandered in whispers to the last and
greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have
held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an æsthetic
contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time
in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." - F.
Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
"It's an art, not a science," is an oft-used expression but why can't it be both?
Starting today through March, in Brooklyn, the two will triumphantly merge.
The BioBAT center is a reconfigured factory at the Brooklyn Army Terminal that leases lab and office space to emerging science and technology companies. This week marks the center's inaugeral art show, The Spontaneous Emergence of Order, at its new Art Space (curated by previous Mr NYC interviewee Elena Soterakis, one of our most popular interviews and others).
The works in this show are based on scientific disciplines that gives us, the laypersons, a greater understanding of how these disciplines operate in reality -- specifically, how the chaos of the natural world finds its order through scientific principles. Through the beauty and creativity of art, one learns more about the central realities of science.
It's a fascinating, groundbreaking exhibition and one you should definately check out!
Son of NYC, brilliant author, and legendary recluse J.D. Salinger turned 100 yesterday.
Yes, he's been dead for almost 10 years but his work (Catcher in the Rye, the Glass family stories, etc.) will live forever.
What made Salinger's writing revolutionary at the time it was published in the late 1940s and early 1950s was how raw and fresh it was -- he wrote about deeply flawed, unapologetically awful people in a prose style that was unsentimental, totally modern, and shockingly real. His characters were repellent yet deeply sympathetic at the same time, and he was really the first author whose writing spoke to the post-World War II, rock'n'roll generation. Holden Caufield, nearly 70 years old now, remains an iconic characters of rebellion -- the ultimate NYC teenager.
And if J.D. Salinger was alive today, he'd probably love the TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as much I and so many others do -- a show about a foul-mouthed NYC female comic in 1950s NYC. This big interview with the show's star about how this should could only be done in NYC is fascinating -- and how this city gives her the right access to "the rage" needed to play a trailblazing character.
Holden would probably have gone to one of her shows.
Last night a huge bright glow lit up the NYC sky, a gorgeous yet disturbing burst of blue clashing with the darkness.
It wasn't the rapture or the apocalypse or a nuclear explosion or an alien mothership coming to invade our fair city (or perhaps rescue us from Donald Trump's America) -- no, it was a power plant in Astoria that went kablewy, a transformer explosion producing an "electrical arc." Thankfully, miraculously, there were no injuries or deaths and not even any long lasting power outages.
It was a true freak occurrence, a momentary flash.
I was watching the electric TV-machine (last Sunday's episode of Ray Donovan, not yet viewed by moi) when the screen blacked-out and my cable went down (then quickly rebooted itself, thank gawd). I jumped up and looked around to see what else had happened (again, amazingly, no alarm clocks were blinking, no other electrical systems hit). Then, in my backyard, I saw the blue haze, the "arc" in the sky, accompanied by a hum. I went outside and jumped up, trying to see more over the houses and trees, but saw nothing. Soon thereafter, the blue vanished. A crises had ended. And that was it.
This incident is being investigated so hopefully we'll know more soon about how it happened. Needless to say, social media had a field day with jokes about the whole thing. Hardy-har-har.
Perhaps the blue was a symbol of Democrats taking complete control over the New York State government in a few days. For my money, it was, as David Bowie sang, "blue, blue, electric blue", a real rhapsodic moment for the city.
2019 is shaping up to be a big year in NYC theater. After the ball drops and the champagne bottles pop, the stages of this city will be the real New Year's party.
On and off Broadway, we'll see the likes of Glenda Jackson (again), Annette Bening, Hugh Jackman, Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenthal, Daveed Diggs, Alan Cumming, Isabelle Huppert, Kelli O'Hara -- even John Larroquette! -- and so many more in a variety new plays and musicals and revivals.
I already have tickets for Glenda Jackson's King Lear in March and cannot wait! Needless to say, a review will follow on this blog, so stay tuned.
I love movies, including many old ones, but there's nothing like seeing great live theater. The emotional impact of brilliant dramaturgy is searing. This is especially the case when it comes to seeing legendary actors on stage -- unlike movies, where you can see the likes of Gary Cooper or Spender Tracey or Katherine Hepburn giving classic performances decades after their deaths -- you can only see, say Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, on stage only a few times in a lifetime. Great actors, like all human beings, won't live forever and, one day, you won't be able to see them on stage ever again. (My mom once saw Vivian Leigh on stage!). That's why I was touched to read this obituary of a Japanese-American dancer who was in the original Broadway version of On the Town -- during WWII no less. She lived an amazing, trailblazing life, ending at the age of 99. Her life, her story, have an "only in America" theme -- and it's a reminder that great talents' appearances on the stage are fleeting, and should be appreciated when they are.
Most news is "news" because it's bad news so, during this holiday season, it's heartwarming to read stories like this one -- about a non-profit group that saves leftover food from NYC restaurants and supermarkets and literally delivers it to homeless shelters and food kitchens.
At first, when I read this story, my cynicism was activated: oh great, another story of a tech start-up that's "doing good" by scraping literal crumbs off the table for the poor, yet another example of our weak social safety net being substituted by a well-intentioned but inadequately resourced charity, yet glaring another example of our broader societal failure to take care of the least amongst us.
The failures of our collective societal action remains but, as I kept reading this story, my cynicism gave way to admiration. There really is a lot of food waste everywhere, it's basically an unavoidable problem, so the fact that these people are transforming leftovers into literal meals for the destitute -- and doing it with great speed and efficiency -- is an amazing thing.
If only we could get this kind of ingenuity into our government, and if only our society and policies were this generous, our country and our world would be a better place. At least here in NYC we're giving it an admirable try, one saved meal at a time. The name of the organization is Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and here's a talk the founder gave at Google earlier this year.
