RED & YELLOW & GREEN & GOLD & PURPLE &...: NYC's Gay Pride Parade

We took in Gay Pride this year at the coaxing of some good friends. In the past decade or so, to avoid the parade was to love the parade. As it has grown longer and longer over the years (this one clocked in at just over 6 hours!) our ability to deal with the mirth and mayhem has grown less and less. And our attendance this year has not changed our minds in the least. Being caught in a massive block of people who are pushing and shoving and yelling is not our idea of fun. Of course our friends placed themselves down in Greenwich Village where the parade ends and things tend to bottleneck.

The parade had the institutions and social centers that have been participating for years. But the pack of political people and candidates pandering for our vote went on endlessly. And we couldn't help but notice that the general complexion of the parade has darkened quite a bit, just like the city that hosts it (someday all New Yorkers will be the color of cafe con leche). There were gay Iranians, gay Israelis, and gay representatives of practically every country south of our border.

Which leads us to wonder......

There was a military coup that overthrew the President of Honduras on Sunday. Could it be that all the president's men were in NYC parading?

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

AND AWAY WE GO: Disney/Pixar's "Up"

It occurred to me more than halfway through the latest film from the brainchildren of Pixar, "Up", written and directed by Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, that our unlikely 'hero', Carl Fergusson, retired balloon salesman (and given voice by the talented Ed Asner) had quietly acquired a nice face full of stubble. To most of us, an old man with a face full of stubble wouldn't be a big deal. Because Carl is digitally composed like everything in the movie, it once again shows Pixar's attention to 'the little' stuff' in these modern day fairy tales. Seeing "Monsters, Inc." for the first time on a digital hi-def monitor, I suddenly was possessed by the flow and bounce of James P. Sullivan's blue hairy body. It is these small details that push this production company's fare beyond mere family films.
Don't misunderstand; I believe a lot of the success of the Disney/Pixar collaboration had to do with the writers, who are able to balance their new moral tales between sophisticated humor an adult can enjoy with simpler, silly humor (a mean doberman pincher who 'speaks' in a high, almost pre-pubescent voice) that kids delight in.
Carl's story begins with him as a child at the movies, watching a newsreel about Charles Muntz, a Lindbergh-like famed adventurer and explorer, who disappeared after doubt is cast on his discovery of a large flightless bird in the wilds of South America. As young Carl wanders home afterwards he encounters a brash, energetic young girl named Ellie, a fellow "adventurer". Carl and Ellie's fate is sealed soon after and the film provides a lovely wordless montage of the life together.
Carl has grown old and cantankerous , watching the neighborhood around his house disappear to some alien-looking developer. When Carl gets angry at a construction worker's disregard for his property, he hits him in the head. That's when things go truly bad for Carl. On the day he is to be shipped off to some retirement home, Carl decides he must keep the promise to his late wife and take their house to the top of a huge waterfall in the South American wilds. Carl makes his escape with the help of innumerable helium-filled balloons. Sitting to enjoy the peace and quiet he find in his air born state, the silence is broken by a knocking at the door! Carl quickly discovers there is a stow-away on board, young Russell (voice by Jordon Nagai), a Roley-poly wilderness scout determined to get his merit badge for helping the elderly. As his house finally comes down after a storm, Carl discovers himself in the vicinity of the Falls he and Ellie dreamed about. Determined to get his house to the top of the falls, he and Russell walk the house to its destination. Lost in the wild forests, the two go astray only to stumble upon the explorer Muntz, determined to located and capture his mysterious bird, a large colorful creation with a weakness for chocolate. Admiration turns to fear as he discover that Muntz is determined to let NO one obstruct his pursuit.
The film a real charmer, providing laughs for everyone, as well as some nice thoughts about old age and extended families. Well worth seeing, but if you can catch it in 3-D, do. Seeing Carl's house float above your head, balloons gleaming in the sun, is wondrous to see and a dark brooding storm reminiscent of "The Wizard of Oz" is magnificently rendered.
Take the kids. Or don't. But go.

Memento Mori

Michael Jackson
Farrah Fawcett
Ed McMahon

You shall be missed!

REVIEW: LISTEN, MY CHILDREN AND YOU SHALL HEAR: The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

There has been over the years a trend to tell the history of man through a specialized or specific subject matter: salt, dirt, the chair. But to reflect on the dizzying scope of 20th century classical music within the context of history and the effect of that history on the art of composition makes my head spin!

Which is why my hat is off to Alex Ross and his magnificent opus "The Rest is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century". Mr. Ross attacks this material with relish, hitting the high points (riots at "The Rite of Spring", the persecution of Shostakovitch by Stalin) but also shining lights into some of the lesser known corners of music history (the American composer William Marion Cook, the Information Control Division of the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) and its effect on post-war European music).

Though his writing can get a bit bogged down with 'tech talk' (tritones, diminished fifths, etc), he has the ability to tie these changes in sound, tone, and harmony into a reflection of change in a rapidly changing era.

And for us dilettantes of classical music ("I may not know what it means, but I know if it hurts my ears!"), Mr. Ross has made available an extensive selection of music to which he refers in the book! Musical samples are accompanied with page references, as well as supplementary materials, like a copy of the original cover of the score to Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time". The website is an invaluable partner for anyone taking the time to read the masterful piece of writing.

Take it to the beach with you... You can surf the web on your phone (can't you?).

http://www.therestisnoise.com/audio/

REVIEW: WHAT HAPPENED? WHO CARES!: The Hangover

Let's keep this brief.

This film makes "My Life in Ruins" look like Oscar material.

If you need me to go on further I will simply say that this "comedy" tries desperately to bank on the quirkiness of the neo-buddy flick that has been manufactured with steady regularity by the Rogen/Apatow machine. A bachelor party to Vegas goes terribly wrong when 3/4s of the party losses the groom in a drugged out, drunken debauchery of one evening in Sin City. A dentist with a missing incisor, a probable pedophile with a Rain Man-like ability to count cards, and a naked Chinese sissy man with a crowbar are all here trying desperately to try and arouse a laugh, but alas, it is not to be. This pathetic piece of 'entertainment' wallows in mediocrity, misogyny and homophobia.

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

Book Review Update

We are happy to announce that we have finally finished Alex Ross' epic history of 20th century classical music "The Rest is Noise". More to come....

15 Albums That Changed My Life

Dedicated to Billy Biondi:

I elect for my 15 Albums the following;

1) Dinah Shore, "Buttons & Bows"
I have very fond memories of listening to this album in the office/den of our home in Edison, NJ while standing on my head. A seminal moment when I discovered I was an unconventional consumer of popular culture.

2) Original Cast Album, "Jamaica"
Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne & calypso music!! Few songs have reverberated with me over the years as "Push de Button" sung by a young vibrant Lena Horne.

3) Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
I had my first (drunken) sexual encounter to this album with my best friend growing up, Ira. Life would never be the same and neither would that album. Ah sweet memories!

4) Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, "Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band"
It's high school. All the anxiety, all the peer pressure. In a small private school filled with deadheads, potheads and head bangers I discovered that I was in Philadelphia right at the height of disco and TSOP. I would bring this album to school and have impromptu dance parties at lunch.
Also help teach me the art of a good hook.
Some of the best times of my life!

5) David Bowie, "Young Americans"
The Jean Genie comes to Philly and does Frank Sinatra! A great band backs up one of the most original artists in popular music. Great lyrics, great hooks and David Sanborn on sax!!

6) Talking Heads "Talking Heads '77"
Introduced to me on my first day freshman year in my college dorm by the woman who would go on to be my best friend in the entire world, Lydia. It's jerky spastic rhythms and sing-song lyrics appealed to everything quirky and queer in me. "There's really no hurry, I'll eat in a while" a bit too Anglo-protestant for this Jew ("We're Jews, we eat!) but enlightening!

7) Patti Smith, "Horses"
No one said rebellion at that time like Patti. The mystical crossed with the perverse. And live was always the best; would she fall off the stage again? Throw up all over?
My uniform for several years was the cover of this album: white shirt, suspenders and a military jacket over the shoulder.
Nobody mixed the energy of Rock n Roll with ecstatic poetry like Patti! As fresh today as it was back then.

8) Ornette Coleman, "At the Golden Circle Stockholm Vol 1"
A jazz original that appealed to me with its oddball rhythmic changes and simple melodies. I would play the "European Echoes" cut over and over. Foreshadowed a lot of downtown music to come.

9) John Coltrane, "My Favorite Things"
Another jazz original doing what I loved so much in my life; show tunes!! As a musician and an artist it is great to hear another extremely talented artist take something familiar and make you hear it again in a whole new way. A desert island album for sure.

10) Phillip Glass/Robert Wilson, "Einstein on the Beach"
Who ever thought an opera about nothing could be so fascinating. And sing-able. A quotable!! An early Glass masterpiece helped by the masterful staging of Wilson.
"I was in this prematurely air-conditioned supermarket and there were all these aisles and there were these bathing caps that you could buy that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded that I had been avoiding the beach."
Everyone hit the beach!!!!!

11) Laurie Anderson, “United States Parts I-IV”
I couldn't let this list go by without this seminal work by America's foremost artist/musician. A four disc compilation recorded live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It documents one of the most amazing performance works I had the privilege to attend. With her droll wit, her onstage techno-wizardry and her keen eye for observation, it still amazes and moves me today.

12) Steve Reich/The Kronos Quartet, "Different Trains"
Another moving masterwork from one of the fathers of Minimalism. Reich demonstrates his uncanny ability, like Janacek, to use the cadence of ordinary speech to drive the music behind it. Partially auto-biographical, here the artist ponders what trains he might have been riding in the 40's if he had been in Europe and not America at that time. Haunting, powerful, uplifing.

13) Brian Eno, "Music for Airports"
Probably Eno's initial Ambient record, this music has an austere Feldman-like openness that made one rethink the concept of Muzak. This album helped me drift off to sleep after many a wild night.

14) Henryk Gorecki, Symphony #3 (Sorrowful Songs)"
I am referring to the London Sinfonietta and Dawn Upshaw version. Of the eastern European "mystic" composer to emerge towards the end of the 20th century, Gorecki seems to have found his way out of the high-brow European avant-garde and actually created beautiful music you want to hear. Of course the lovely clarion tones of the soprano Dawn Upshaw don't hurt this masterwork of modern music. A guaranteed tear-jerker.

15) Gavin Bryars, ""The Sinking of the Titanic"
There had to be a Bryars piece on my list but which one? "Jesus Blood never failed me Yet" with its neo-minimal use of taped voice, musical ensemble and singer (Tom Waits!!)? "A Man in a Room, Gambling" the series of short works he did for BBC Radio which has the audio commentary teaching the listener how to do card tricks and to cheat at the card table, set to short sharp string accompaniment? But after much deliberation I had to choose "Titanic". From the opening crash in the bass, this piece has a haunted, eerie watery quality that is a marvel to hear. Creating a aural sensation of drifting through water, we catch bits of words, tunes (Amazing Grace, played by a string quartet as the ship sank), and noise that add up to one of the most intense, interesting and satisfying audio experiences I have ever had.
Note: not to be played late at night with strangers in the house!!

GREECE OR BUST: "My Life in Ruins"

With any luck, the new Nia Vardalos comedy "My Life in Ruins" has already left your cineplex to journey forth to fulfill its natural function as DVD fodder for your local 7-11.

It seems to be another one of those situation where pedigree doesn't amount to a hill of beans. It looked good on paper. The charming, funny Nia Vardalos, the big, fat movie star from her first film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Donald Petrie, a fine director of many comedies such as "Miss Congeniality" and "Grumpy Old Men" was at the helm. A more than capable supporting cast, topped off by Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss. But somewhere, somehow the whole thing didn't add up. Not even with the help of visual eye candy like the Greek Islands and Alexis Georgoulis. As Irv, Mr. Dreyfuss' on-screen character might proclaim, "It's a shanda!"

I guess the powers that be thought it would be a good idea to play off Ms Vardalos' success. But then its not often that lightening strikes twice. That movie was a charming, family comedy which was a re-telling of the Cinderella story. Trying to bank on another modern fairy tale, this twisted take on Beauty & the Beast makes us wonder: who's Belle? This visually obvious beast is the stunning Mr Georgoulis, who arrives early on the scene as a hairy mop of a bus driver for the tour the that Georgia (Ms Vardalos) is 'forced' to lead. A smart knowledgeable academic of ancient history, Georgia finds misery everywhere. Her international group is a set of stereotypical tourists, her bus has no air conditioning and no one is interested in hearing her prattle on about Greek history. Any iota of charm is devoid in her character. So we have the Beast & the Beast.
Of course as this predictable tale chugs along towards it happy ending (Georgia gets her groove, or 'kefi' back. This is done by having sex. Big surprise.) Georgia is faced with the monumental decision; stay in Greece leading tours with her new hunky lover of a bus driver or go teach in Michigan?
In the immortal words of the Divine Miss M: what kind of asshole question is that?
Stay away and save your money!

Hommage to JC

Dedicated to one of our favorite artists!