I experienced yesterday, my first day of non work at Friends. With a lot of time on my hands, I decided to use the bank branch in Bed-Stuy for some banking. It is on Bedford and Fulton Street. After I did my banking, and had a nice tuna fish sandwich at the Corner Grind (Bedford and Jefferson) I took the 25 bus back to the Gotham Market. What did I see as the bus moved west? At least three empty block long spaces on which will soon be built more luxury housing. Its amazing! A whole neighborhood reconstructed with most of the housing being for the wealthy. It is like watching a juggernaut take the place of everything that was there in the past. What a frightening message this sends to the "average" New Yorker. And how can this homeless crisis which so dominates the talk of the city be solved if the real estate industry cannot be kept in check. Hopefully the next mayor will have a different vision then the current one, and the next City Council members will be free of real estate money. Maybe then we can see some change. Anyway, those are my feelings about this crisis.
Not much else to report--- last Saturday seems like a long way away---I saw a very tepid play at Abrons Arts---supposedly about race, but which largely avoided the problem. I was really disappointed by this. Still, I wanted to see it. Today, with no work and just a Friends basketball game in the afternoon, I thought of seeing the Pink Chair, a tribute to a major Polish theater director by the Wooster Group. Went to TDf, looked at it, reasonable price, but simply could not pull the trigger. So I am not sure what I will do after the game, with plenty of time on my hands.
Since I am at Lincoln Center Library, after I finish at the computer, I hope to look at some commentary of Timon of Athens, the play that I saw at TFANA last Friday. Should be interesting, will report soon.
Friday, January 31, 2020
Saturday, January 25, 2020
three days at Friends...
now over, kind of exhausted. Some sessions afterwards, one of them in the snack bar at the park on the west end of 145st street. A sports center among other things, open until 11:00. Lots of action. I had a nice blt at the snack bar. Kind of frenetic, yet it is always interesting to see what is happening in places I have not yet visited.
Yesterday evening, despite being tired I went to see Timon of Athens at the Theater for the New Audience. They now have a massive theater near BAM---again, as with so many other not for profits their list of donors is very strong. Where do all these people with money come from? Why are they so willing to give to this theater--whose work, in my opinion is "spotty" but this year has made some pretty daring choices in their projects. Timon is very rarely presented---the last production that I saw of it was at the Public, somewhere in the low 2000s, and featured a really good performance as Titus by Richard Thomas. This production, first done in England a few years ago, has a female Titus---A wealthy woman courted by all of Rome, until it is found out that her investments have faltered, then she turns to the friends who flattered her and finds out that they will not help her. In Act II (actually the second part of the play) she lives in a cave on the outskirts of Rome as a penniless homeless person. Now she hates everyone, and expects nothing from anyone. A tough contradiction between the two acts, the other two productions that I saw recently (the one with Thomas and one in Central Park that starred Michael Cumpsty) stressed the first act, and made the second a little more then an intellectual contrast to the first. This production tries to take the second act head on---the result is a very strong vision for that act, and a strong performance by Ms. Hunter in the title role. She is an English actress, surrounded by American actors in the ensemble. The ensemble is, for the most part, very strong--sometimes Ms. Hunter's acting seems a bit to intellectual and studied, compared to their more visceral approach, but she has strength and power in Act II. A very strong decision by her and her director to make this act the dominant one. Like I said, the ensemble around Ms. Hunter is very strong---some quibbles but basically I was glad that I saw the play. A lot to think about---written about the same time, I think, as King Lear, but its vision is more stripped down and it lacks the passion of Lear.
Not much else to report. Tonight I think I will go to the Abrons Arts Center and try to see a project there---a two character discussion about race between a white man and a black women. Then probably stop off at La Flaca to hang out. Tomorrow is totally free, at this point, I like that, and there are no football playoffs to build the structure of the day around. That means I can do as I please, after I spend a little bit of time at Cobra (at least that is the plan now). Will report soon.
Yesterday evening, despite being tired I went to see Timon of Athens at the Theater for the New Audience. They now have a massive theater near BAM---again, as with so many other not for profits their list of donors is very strong. Where do all these people with money come from? Why are they so willing to give to this theater--whose work, in my opinion is "spotty" but this year has made some pretty daring choices in their projects. Timon is very rarely presented---the last production that I saw of it was at the Public, somewhere in the low 2000s, and featured a really good performance as Titus by Richard Thomas. This production, first done in England a few years ago, has a female Titus---A wealthy woman courted by all of Rome, until it is found out that her investments have faltered, then she turns to the friends who flattered her and finds out that they will not help her. In Act II (actually the second part of the play) she lives in a cave on the outskirts of Rome as a penniless homeless person. Now she hates everyone, and expects nothing from anyone. A tough contradiction between the two acts, the other two productions that I saw recently (the one with Thomas and one in Central Park that starred Michael Cumpsty) stressed the first act, and made the second a little more then an intellectual contrast to the first. This production tries to take the second act head on---the result is a very strong vision for that act, and a strong performance by Ms. Hunter in the title role. She is an English actress, surrounded by American actors in the ensemble. The ensemble is, for the most part, very strong--sometimes Ms. Hunter's acting seems a bit to intellectual and studied, compared to their more visceral approach, but she has strength and power in Act II. A very strong decision by her and her director to make this act the dominant one. Like I said, the ensemble around Ms. Hunter is very strong---some quibbles but basically I was glad that I saw the play. A lot to think about---written about the same time, I think, as King Lear, but its vision is more stripped down and it lacks the passion of Lear.
Not much else to report. Tonight I think I will go to the Abrons Arts Center and try to see a project there---a two character discussion about race between a white man and a black women. Then probably stop off at La Flaca to hang out. Tomorrow is totally free, at this point, I like that, and there are no football playoffs to build the structure of the day around. That means I can do as I please, after I spend a little bit of time at Cobra (at least that is the plan now). Will report soon.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
the weekend (long)
Saturday---came back from my sessions---pooped! Could not do much. All plans for movies or plays scrapped. But did finally eat a nice salad at the hotel bar on 77th and Broadway, while I watched the end of the Knick game. I like that place---lots of energy, even if this time, no conversation. Still, it made me feel vital and alive. Other choices, a few Greek diners that are left (and overpriced ) in the area, would have been cheaper, but I just did not want to sit there. So the hotel was a good choice.
Sunday---a nice day---as I expected, went to Cobra for the first playoff game---had a chance to read Michelle Alexander's interesting piece on page 1 of the News of the Week in Review. Enjoyed my stay at the bar---some good conversation---afterwards watched the first part of game 2 at La Flaca. The bar was filled at the time I came in, so I sat at a table---very rarely do that, but enjoyed watching the first part of the game. I knew it was all over by the first half, so I stopped off at the newly created big center near the restaurant and had a really nice ice cream cone. The returned home.
Monday, perhaps the most interesting day of the three.Around 9:30, left the house for Brooklyn to participate in an action against a landlord being cruel to tenants in a changing neighborhood on Dean Street in Crown Heights. Joined the group on this very cold day. We marched (about 20 of us) to the subway and arrived at the landlord's office in about a half hour. On the train, I had an interesting talk with a tenant at another building in the area---who says her landlord withholds heat and installing a new gas line is leaving a forever hole in her kitchen. Disgraceful! For about a half hour in the cold, we marched outside the landlord's office, around Kings Highway and Avenue P. I noticed a few new buildings being built around the neighborhood---I was surprised---I did not think that gentrification was coming this far south. I assume most of these buildings will be market rate. During the march had an interesting conversation with a fellow marcher named Grace. The group returned to the Crown Heights neighborhood---I left them early---got off the Q train at Cortelyou Road. It is right near a school, P.S. 139, that I subbed in from 02 to 04. A very diverse group of students, I really enjoyed my time there---sometimes I miss subbing in the public schools. Hard to believe that my last day there was in November of 04. Seems like a very short time ago. At Cortelyou I grabbed a pizza slice that was really good and then went to the neighborhood Connecticut Muffin for a coffee and (of course) a muffin.
Still, it was early, so after a stop at the Fiction Center then decided to go to the Film Forum. The movie that I saw there was called Mephisto. Made in 1980, it was about an actor who becomes hot in the early days of Nazi Germany. As the Nazis become more powerful, he is forced to make more compromises in the name of his own survival--so he supports them. His reward is to head the German National Theater in Berlin. But what is the reward worth? The movie unfolds like a garish nightmare--full of amazing off kilter colors. Intense but very glad that I saw it.
Then I returned home--nothing more to say---will report soon.
Sunday---a nice day---as I expected, went to Cobra for the first playoff game---had a chance to read Michelle Alexander's interesting piece on page 1 of the News of the Week in Review. Enjoyed my stay at the bar---some good conversation---afterwards watched the first part of game 2 at La Flaca. The bar was filled at the time I came in, so I sat at a table---very rarely do that, but enjoyed watching the first part of the game. I knew it was all over by the first half, so I stopped off at the newly created big center near the restaurant and had a really nice ice cream cone. The returned home.
Monday, perhaps the most interesting day of the three.Around 9:30, left the house for Brooklyn to participate in an action against a landlord being cruel to tenants in a changing neighborhood on Dean Street in Crown Heights. Joined the group on this very cold day. We marched (about 20 of us) to the subway and arrived at the landlord's office in about a half hour. On the train, I had an interesting talk with a tenant at another building in the area---who says her landlord withholds heat and installing a new gas line is leaving a forever hole in her kitchen. Disgraceful! For about a half hour in the cold, we marched outside the landlord's office, around Kings Highway and Avenue P. I noticed a few new buildings being built around the neighborhood---I was surprised---I did not think that gentrification was coming this far south. I assume most of these buildings will be market rate. During the march had an interesting conversation with a fellow marcher named Grace. The group returned to the Crown Heights neighborhood---I left them early---got off the Q train at Cortelyou Road. It is right near a school, P.S. 139, that I subbed in from 02 to 04. A very diverse group of students, I really enjoyed my time there---sometimes I miss subbing in the public schools. Hard to believe that my last day there was in November of 04. Seems like a very short time ago. At Cortelyou I grabbed a pizza slice that was really good and then went to the neighborhood Connecticut Muffin for a coffee and (of course) a muffin.
Still, it was early, so after a stop at the Fiction Center then decided to go to the Film Forum. The movie that I saw there was called Mephisto. Made in 1980, it was about an actor who becomes hot in the early days of Nazi Germany. As the Nazis become more powerful, he is forced to make more compromises in the name of his own survival--so he supports them. His reward is to head the German National Theater in Berlin. But what is the reward worth? The movie unfolds like a garish nightmare--full of amazing off kilter colors. Intense but very glad that I saw it.
Then I returned home--nothing more to say---will report soon.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
a long week for cityboy...
four out of five days at Friends---the other day had many sessions. So here I am, Saturday, pretty exhausted, yet still with a few more hours of work to go. No social life, no night life--just coming back to the apartment and taking it easy. Will I make it out tonight? Hope so, but you never know---I had to examine my "tired quotient" before I make a decision. Lots of options---too many to go into now.
Tomorrow is the day of the two playoffs that lead to the Super Bowl (way overhyped, I know) and I hope to watch both of them, probably will begin at Cobra (just thinking of being there relaxes me) and possibly end up at La Flaca. Or perhaps remain in Bushwick. Monday, I have just found out has a demonstration in Brooklyn at 10A.M. that I would like to join. After that...?
Missed Wozzeck last Thursday, I was far too tired to see it; now I have only one more choice, next Wednesday--it remains elusive. But on Thursday I bought a book that I had been thinking of reading for a long time---a novel by John Williams called Stoner. Brilliantly written, it is about the life of a college teacher from his birth to.....? Don't know, have not got there yet. Stoner comes from a closed, non feeling family---he enters and accepts a loveless marriage---and devotes most of his time to teaching and what he really loves, exploring the classics. A strong affair with a younger student, beautiful at moments, is finally stymied, leaving him with...? Don't know, that is where I have stopped. The narrator (omniscient) relates the story in a cold, bloodless tone. But every word is focused---the vision is tight and really draws one in. Really glad I found this novel, even though its pessimism, (so far) falls hard on my feelings. But it really is a great piece.
So, the rest goes on...will report soon.
Tomorrow is the day of the two playoffs that lead to the Super Bowl (way overhyped, I know) and I hope to watch both of them, probably will begin at Cobra (just thinking of being there relaxes me) and possibly end up at La Flaca. Or perhaps remain in Bushwick. Monday, I have just found out has a demonstration in Brooklyn at 10A.M. that I would like to join. After that...?
Missed Wozzeck last Thursday, I was far too tired to see it; now I have only one more choice, next Wednesday--it remains elusive. But on Thursday I bought a book that I had been thinking of reading for a long time---a novel by John Williams called Stoner. Brilliantly written, it is about the life of a college teacher from his birth to.....? Don't know, have not got there yet. Stoner comes from a closed, non feeling family---he enters and accepts a loveless marriage---and devotes most of his time to teaching and what he really loves, exploring the classics. A strong affair with a younger student, beautiful at moments, is finally stymied, leaving him with...? Don't know, that is where I have stopped. The narrator (omniscient) relates the story in a cold, bloodless tone. But every word is focused---the vision is tight and really draws one in. Really glad I found this novel, even though its pessimism, (so far) falls hard on my feelings. But it really is a great piece.
So, the rest goes on...will report soon.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
two full days at Friends....
very hectic---followed by two trips to the library on 160th and Saint Nicholas, followed by a walk to the other library where I have my sessions on 145th and Amsterdam. Well, I did it. Yesterday at the school, got some really good help from the seventh and eighth grade science teacher---very timely, and I am very appreciative. Monday night, returned to the apartment and within a less then an hour was fast asleep---spent most of the night resting, but got a lot of sleep. Yesterday, feeling much more satisfied that this marathon was over, I had a lot of trouble sleeping, my body just did not want to do it. Maybe it was because I had a strawberry shake protein drink, right after supper. Who knows? But, satisfied as I was, I was also surprised that sleep did not come so easily. However at this moment, (around 11) I am fully awake. I have probably three sessions today--will see how I feel after they are over.
Not much else to report. Saturday turned out to be a bit of a wash---instead of a movie, came fatigue, probably from the intensity of the three sessions I had had before. Slept a bit, then had a meal at the hotel restaurant-bar around the corner. I like the place, it is very mellow--people (mostly tourists) are talkative. Had a nice salad, though it took a long time to come. Saw first half of the Ravens-Titans game; like everyone else, I was stunned by how poorly the Ravens played.
Sunday was nice--my Brooklyn day---spent much of it at Cobra and then returned to the city to watch one of the games at La Flaca. Glad to be out---as usual, once I hit Brooklyn I felt invigorated---just love wandering through the different neighborhoods and looking at the architecture--old, and new (yes, I know, the new is a little gross and represents displacement). Hope to do more of it as the weather improves.
Tonight after sessions--not sure, ,maybe a movie---or a trip. Will report soon.
Not much else to report. Saturday turned out to be a bit of a wash---instead of a movie, came fatigue, probably from the intensity of the three sessions I had had before. Slept a bit, then had a meal at the hotel restaurant-bar around the corner. I like the place, it is very mellow--people (mostly tourists) are talkative. Had a nice salad, though it took a long time to come. Saw first half of the Ravens-Titans game; like everyone else, I was stunned by how poorly the Ravens played.
Sunday was nice--my Brooklyn day---spent much of it at Cobra and then returned to the city to watch one of the games at La Flaca. Glad to be out---as usual, once I hit Brooklyn I felt invigorated---just love wandering through the different neighborhoods and looking at the architecture--old, and new (yes, I know, the new is a little gross and represents displacement). Hope to do more of it as the weather improves.
Tonight after sessions--not sure, ,maybe a movie---or a trip. Will report soon.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
return to Williamsburg....
after the Friends basketball game---I decided to take the L to the Bedford Avenue stop in Brooklyn, then see if I could find a place at the bar at Sweetwater's, a friendly restaurant (more then a bar) on north 6th street near the subway stop. But when I got to the restaurant, the place was filled---no room at the bar---in fact no room anywhere, so I got out of there quickly. Still hungry, so where could I go, I walked south on Bedford, then came to the Whole Foods very large store--wandered around and chose the chicken pot pie soup---really beautiful, then five pieces of roasted chicken, not so beautiful for my stomach. I have to remind myself to stay away from cooked foods; I don't think my stomach can handle them anymore. After whole foods, felt it was best to return to Manhattan, to the Essex market for my final stop before going home. So I hopped on the J and went the one stop from Marcy into Manhattan. As I walked south on Bedford, I realized that I had not been there for a while---remembered a time, not so long ago, when South fourth was still in operation when I walked that trip sometimes every day. It seemed then that Williamsburg was my "second home". But no more--soouth fourth is gone, and I have no other regular eating or drinking place in the area.Every bar and restaurant seemed packed as I walked my walk---where do all these people come from? Finally arrived at Essex street, stopped a bit at the Market, chilled out and returned to the apartment.
Today, after some sessions will try to watch the first of four football playoff games and since the second one is not that interesting (at least not yet) might want to see a movie later tonight. The Metrograph has High and Low, a Kurosawa film that is supposed to be amazing but that I have never seen. Well...maybe tonight...
Today, after some sessions will try to watch the first of four football playoff games and since the second one is not that interesting (at least not yet) might want to see a movie later tonight. The Metrograph has High and Low, a Kurosawa film that is supposed to be amazing but that I have never seen. Well...maybe tonight...
Friday, January 10, 2020
Not the greatest of mornings..
although sitting in the 42nd street library, I am kind of mellowed---the morning began with my coffee at the place connected to the hotel on 77th and Broadway. I usually then take the coffee and grab a Times, (there are about 20 of them) and read. Today, some security person met me as I was about to take a paper and told me I could not read the paper, since I was not a resident of the hotel. I explained to him that this is something that I do every day, but he insisted that I could not get a paper and read. He then said I couldn't even sit in the hotel and drink the coffee. So I left---feeling very put out. I should have checked this with the coffee proprietors next door (they know me well) but I just returned to the apartment. I don't know if it is even legal to not allow me to sit in the hotel lobby. Next I decided to see if I could get a rush ticket for the tonight's performance of Slave Play, and arrived at the theater about 9:10. There were already twenty people ahead of me; I thought my chances would be slim, and they were. Stayed on line until the box office opened but many in front of me were turned away. All they had were very expensive seats. It is ironic, during the last few months, $39.00 tickets to the play were very accessible---now they are impossible to get. If I try to rush again next week (the final week) I will probably arrive around 8, or even, earlier.
I had ambivalent feelings about seeing the play, not shattered that I won't-it will probably be in the regionals in a year or two.
Those comprise the problems befalling me today----nice to have the day open. Yesterday, completed my second day of work at Friends, afterwards just returned home--plain tired. On Wednesday a full day at Friends and three sessions at the library---of course yesterday I felt played out. Mostly just listened to classical music on my radio, then headed to a Greek diner for a blt--not the greatest, but I did not feel up to hanging out in a bar last night..
So what happens today now that I will not be seeing Slaveplay? Not sure. Lots of choices, and I just remembered there is the basketball game at Friends this afternoon. So as the weather warms up, perhaps more positive events will prevail. Will report soon.
I had ambivalent feelings about seeing the play, not shattered that I won't-it will probably be in the regionals in a year or two.
Those comprise the problems befalling me today----nice to have the day open. Yesterday, completed my second day of work at Friends, afterwards just returned home--plain tired. On Wednesday a full day at Friends and three sessions at the library---of course yesterday I felt played out. Mostly just listened to classical music on my radio, then headed to a Greek diner for a blt--not the greatest, but I did not feel up to hanging out in a bar last night..
So what happens today now that I will not be seeing Slaveplay? Not sure. Lots of choices, and I just remembered there is the basketball game at Friends this afternoon. So as the weather warms up, perhaps more positive events will prevail. Will report soon.
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