Tag Archives: Art

So Far …

20 Thursday Feb 2014

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life changers copy

BY WS50

A small window into the passage so far, midway to 100:

Breathing, crying, separation, family, learning, playing, growing, spirit, school, sports, friends, parties, puberty, sex, college, work, studying, disappointment, fear, enthusiasm, joy, apathy, drinking, drugs, freedom, fun, travel, independence, decisions, passion, money, marriage, no-marriage, no-kids, kids, responsibility, exhaustion, love, standards, scrimping, saving, pride, toiling, debt, windfalls, goodbyes, letting-go, crises, beginnings, changes, moving, buying, selling, weddings, births, grandma, grandpa, divorced, thinking, loss, arthritis, wisdom, cancer, heart, satisfaction, acceptance, astuteness, focused, happy, scared, Botox, fillers, wrinkles, flab, exercise, doctors, death, betrayal, beauty, parent-less, appreciation, pain, care-giving, chance-taking, don’t-give-a-damn, determination, unknown, reality, anticipation, unbridled, unchartered, burdened, alive, breathe …

‘Lovin50’ Plate: Vanity? Revelry? Polygamy?

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

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loving 50 plate

BY BOB SMITH

I saw this vanity license plate (LOVIN50), while driving on Route 66 the other day. Is it a confession of polygamy? If so, this guy (or gal) would rival Brigham Young, who, according to some sources, reportedly had up to 55 wives. Then again, even if you had 50 spouses, would you really be “LOVIN50”? You’d probably be indifferent to at least a few, and downright dislike another dozen or two. It’s also been reported by some sources, that even Brigham Young had divorced 10 of his 55 wives by the time he died (stone deaf and exhausted, no doubt).

Or is the license plate a commemoration of 50 years of marriage between Loretta (LO) and Vincent (VIN)? That’s a stretch. Besides, the car wasn’t going 15 in a 55-mile-zone with a little white head, and glasses, peering over the steering wheel.

The most likely explanation seems to be that the driver recently rolled the birthday odometer over from 4 to 5, and is reveling in this happy decade after youthful insecurities have mostly melted away, and before outright decay entirely sets in – Whoopee! I’m 50 and LOVIN’ it!

At age 20, or even 30, I would have been nauseated at the thought of proclaiming my age like that. But once you’re in your 50s, you gain valuable perspective – namely, who gives a crap what other people think? You’re mature enough to sport a vanity license plate that shows both humility (admitting advancing age) and chutzpah (and I’m just fine with that).

I wonder if the driver has reserved LOVIN60 against the day when he or she rolls up to the next decade? Then again, by then, maybe they’ll just be LIKIN’ it.

Hurry Up, Spring. The Theater Beckons

30 Thursday Jan 2014

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theatre2

BY ANITA JAFFE

It’s a long cold winter. I have found when the weather is not cooperating because ice slicks the street, or the high temperature for the day is 11 degrees, my 85-year-old body controls my 50-year-old head, and tells me I best be homebound with a book. This is not a problem, as I have been a life-long reader, but I am looking forward to spring, when I can walk about and see theater without worrying whether the weather will permit me to get out the door. So, for now, I’ll muse on last season.

I am a member of the Signature Theatre– it’s an off-Broadway venue located west of the Port Authority on 42nd Street. Way back in 2012, I was thrilled with their production of Edward Albee’s play “The Lady From Dubuque.” In fact so thrilled, I saw it twice.

That the great Jane Alexander, a mere septugenarian, was starring in it, not as the Lady from Dubuque, but the woman that the lady from Dubuque visits, just made it all the better. And really, you cannot imagine how a great playwright can convert death into entertainment. My 2013 subscription kicked off with “Old Friends,” by Horton Foote, and as we all know, there is nothing like “old friends.” It was a really wonderful play – real family, real problems and super performances.

Not to be overlooked was the small, but heartwarming and heartbreaking, Samuel Beckett play “All That Fall,” with a couple of more great actors in their 70s – the beautiful Eileen Atkins, and the magnetic Michael Gambon. It is quintessential Beckett in that nothing happens, except he has managed to capture all that is poured into the daily ritual and banality of life into a one act play.

Meanwhile on a pragmatic note, I have learned that the best way to get a seat is to head over to the theater. I can pick my seat, and avoid those awful ticket charges. So when I read the accolade-ridden review at 10:00 a.m., I immediately headed over to the box office. And glad I did, because I got the very last ticket! It had sold out!

Rounding out my choices was “Murders For Two.”. I was not too keen on seeing it. But while seeing “Richard III,” I mentioned to my friend that my nephew planned to see it, and lo and behold, the woman sitting in front of us turned around and said I am a friend of the playwright. Well, I had to buy a ticket, and reluctantly went.

Quel surprise! It was delightful in every way. A totally different moment than all the other plays I had seen. An ingenious musical that plays like old-time vaudeville. Hilariously funny, and brilliantly conceived.

Okay that’s the good stuff. The bad stuff was “Betrayal.” I was betrayed by this insipid, awful presentation of Harold Pinter, one of my very favorite playwrights. Let me just conclude here.

The Saturday Blog: Sala Seller

25 Saturday Jan 2014

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Sala seller Yogyakarta, Java

Fruit seller in Yogyakarta, Java.

Sala is an indigenous fruit of Southeast Asia. The starchy, crunchy, edible part of the fruit is protected by a leathery brown skin. (Sala, or sometimes known as salak, translates as “snake fruit.”) This photo of a sala seller was taken inside one of the many markets that line the main road in Yogyakarta.