Monday, April 20, 2009

Early Austerities


Nice NY Times feature from 1999 on Paul Auster here. Found it on this amazingly comprehensive Auster site. Been making my way through The New York Trilogy, a collection of three early Auster novellas. Don't know if I enjoyed the first story, City of Glass, as much as another early Auster story it reminded me of, and actually haven't read the middle story, Ghosts, yet. I am most enthralled by the third story, The Locked Room, which reminds me of Leviathan, an Auster book that came soon after this trilogy was published, and placed very high on my top ten books read in 2008. As the Times feature alludes to, Auster became such a hit in Europe early on because of his allegiance to European existentialists, something European readers aren't used to in American authors. At the same time, his books are full of references to Poe, Hawthorne, baseball and Brooklyn. He manages to cover both sides of the pond.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Greenbelt Conservancy... Who knew?


Our friend Jonathan Goldberger recommended Staten Island as a destination for a day hike. So Sara and I spent a few hours today at High Point Park today, on of the many areas part of the 2800 acre Greenbelt Conservancy. I gotta say, it exceeded expectations. New Yorkers... if anyone is looking for beautiful (almost) pristine nature a few steps wilder than Central Park or Prospect Park and an hour less travel than the beautiful options upstate (at least if you're living in Brooklyn or lower Manhattan), the Greenbelt Conservacy is the place for you. Staten Island. Who knew?

Friday, April 10, 2009

Mad Men


A nice long article from last summer in The New York Times Margazine about the TV show Mad Men. Sara and I have been cracking out on it pretty hard.

I love this description of actors on the set:

"They’re all expert practitioners of the current flavor of show-biz persona: the down-to-earth, up-with-people next-door neighbor who soft-sells his or her obsession with stardust and self-interest with chitchat about, say, the kids, the brilliantine smile buttressed by the unspoken prayer, 'Don’t write me out!'"

Thursday, April 2, 2009

April Goings On



From Improvised Communications:

"After a four-week residency in March at IBeam with his nonet, Woodblock Prints, drummer/composer Harris Eisenstandt is taking a break from leading his own bands in April, but you can still catch him performing in New York with others throughout the month.

04/03: Saris, The Stone
04/05: Korea 21: Music Here and Now, Symphony Space
04/10: Jeremiah Cymerman Ensemble, Roulette
04/11: Aram Shelton Quartet, Chocolate Factory
04/18: Macroquarktet, The Stone
04/20: City of the World: Korean Traditional Music & Change, CUNY Graduate Center

April will also find Eisenstadt hosting The Musician’s Show on WKCR on April 8th and embarking on an extended UK tour with The Convergence Quartet."

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

"How About that Guy!"

My bro Jeremiah just told me our friend Chris Hoffman was on Letterman last night playing with Marianne Faithful. Killin' tune, killin' band - Greg Cohen, Joey Baron, Marc Ribot, Chris a.o. At the end Letterman points to Joey Baron and exclaims "How about that guy!" Check it out.