VENU Magazine #12 Mar/Apr 2012

Contemporary Culture

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Contents 23 / Adventurer and Entrepreneur, Lauren Berger Combining the skills of daredevil and ballerina, Lauren runs a company baking and marketing a bestselling wholesome cookie!

28 / Intellectual Property Who owns The Artwork?

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30 / Gordon's Good Reads The place to find a good read 34 / What's In Your Cellar?

Enrich the mind, educate the palate 36 / Events + Gatherings 46 / Travel Letter from Rome: A Museum Without Walls...

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52 / Appetite One if by Land, Two if by Sea, New York's landmark Greenwich Village restaurant 56 / The Undersea World of Jason deCaires Taylor Redefining the underwater landscape with "eco-sculpture" 64 / Motoring Raging Bull – If Hemmingway were alive today he would have a Lamborghini man!

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March/April_CT-NY Edition $5.99

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Cover:

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Jason deCaires Taylor is a man of many identities whose work resonates with the influences of his eclectic life.

Growing up in Europe and Asia with his English father and Guyanese mother nurtured his passion for exploration and discovery. Carving cement instead of stone and supervising cranes while in full scuba gear to create artificial reefs submerged below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, the various strands of his diverse life resolve themselves convincingly in the development of his underwater sculptures. These ambitious, public works have a practical, functional aspect, facilitating positive interactions between people and fragile underwater habitats.

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Contents 70 / Boating The Ferretti Yacht 720 – Evolution meets Classic Ferretti Style 74 / Music The Zambonis Play To Win 76 / Art Five-Part All-Female Exhibition, Celebrating Women's History Month 80 / Decorative Arts On The Block 81 / Comic Relief Joan Rivers: A hilarious piece of work

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82 / Stage Broadway Comes To Main Street 84 / Fox On FIlm "The Skin I Live In" - Written and Directed by Pedro Almodvar

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86 / Fiction We All Fall Down

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Note: The images on pages 68-74 in the January February issue were photographed by Gus Cantavero. Sorry Gus!

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Showcasing local Arts, Culture, and Style without any contrived formality.

VENÜ is published six times a year as a fresh yet discerning guide to art, culture and style throughout Connecticut and beyond. Not too artsy or too fussy, we’re thoughtfully written for the curious, the acquisitive, and those devoted to the one-of-a-kind and hard-to-find.

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Artists, designers, photographers, writers, illustrators, etc., if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

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President, Creative Director: J. Michael Woodside Vice President, Executive Director: Tracey Thomas Copy Editors: Cindy Clarke, Michael Foley, Brian Solomon Senior Arts Editor: Philip Eliasoph Film & Entertainment Editor: Peter J. Fox Decorative Arts Editor: Matthew Sturtevant Publisher: Venü Media Company Art, Design & Production: Venü Media Company, Art Director: Asami Green Contributing Writers: Jenna Blumenfeld, Cindy Clarke, Laura Einstein, Jennifer Galluzzo, Nancy Helle, Sasha Ingber, Lorenz Josef, Mike Lauterborn, Kathleen Lucente, Ryan Odinak, Bruce Pollock, Bari Alyse Rudin, Lisa Seidenberg, Brian Solomon, William Squier Business Development: Shelly Harvey/Connecticut, Liz Marks/New York Legal Counsel: Alan Neigher, Sheryle Levine (Byelas & Neigher, Westport, CT) Distribution: Thomas Cossuto, Man In Motion, LLC

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The small print: No responsibility can be taken for the quality and accuracy of the reproductions, as this is dependent upon the artwork and material supplied. No responsibility can be taken for typographical errors. The publishers reserve the right to refuse and edit material as presented. All prices and specifications to advertise are subject to change without notice. The opinions in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright VENÜ MAGAZINE. All rights reserved. The name VENÜ MAGAZINE is copyright protected. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted without written consent from the publisher. VENÜ MAGAZINE does not accept responsibility for unsolicited material. This is a bimonthly publication and we encourage the public, galleries, artists, designers, photographers, writers (calling all creatives) to submit photos, features, drawings, etc., but we assume no responsibility for failure to publish submissions.

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19 River Street, Milford, CT 06460 (203) 783-3037 www.catherineh.com

PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

by Gordon Hastings

Adventurer & Entrepreneur, Lauren Berger To meet Greenwich Connecticut’s Lauren Berger at her regular Yoga class you would likely not guess that this mother of two, a daughter aged eleven and a son nine, was a start-up business entrepreneur.

If you watched her emerge from a helicopter atop one of the highest snow covered mountain peaks in British Columbia breaking a trail down a mass of treacherous virgin terrain, combining the skills of daredevil and ballerina, you would not recognize the Lauren who runs a company baking and marketing a bestselling wholesome cookie!

When Lauren removes her ski boots or steps back from her commitment to the PTA at her children’s school and the daily duties of motherhood, she adeptly assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer and founder of City Girl-Country Girl, LLC makers of a natural food line of healthy and equally great tasting cookies.

Lauren Berger’s business career blossomed long before City Girl-Country Girl came into existence. However, the idea of owning her own business dates back to her childhood. This is the story of a woman who made that dream happen with a recipe of pluck, imagination and belief in herself.

Prior to graduating from the University of Vermont with a BA in Economics and a minor concentration in French, she pursued her love of languages by studying at Lycee de Toulon in Toulon, France in high school and visiting with her family who lives in Paris. She then completed her MBA at Fordham but not before beginning her professional business career in New York City focused on marketing and product development.

Lauren started her career as a marketing intern at Revlon and following her college graduation she was invited to join the company as a full-time marketing assistant. Her first project was to help launch a new hair care line called Revlon Internationals. Her new product experience at Revlon became invaluable for the later launch of City Girl-Country Girl.

Lauren continued her upward spiral as a consumer product-marketing manager with Campbell Soup Company where as a newly appointed Assistant Marketing Manager on the Godiva Chocolate brand she was responsible for the development and execution of six new seasonal product lines including product development, package design and promotion.

Still very much a New Yorker and loving her life in New York City, Lauren’s next professional opportunity brought her closer to Connecticut when she was recruited by Bristol Meyers Squibb’s

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PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

The many worlds of Lauren Berger: Top left, No ski lifts here! Lauren Berger and guide Helio-Skiing in British Columbia. There is only one exit -- point and go! Bottom left, Lauren with her children, Diana and Ben at Stratton Mountain in Vermont.

Clairol Division in Stamford to become Senior Product Manager. She managed the re-launch of Ultress Custom Colour, which won the 2000 Glamour Magazine “Glammy” Award for Best Beauty Breakthrough and the Executive Women Beauty Awards nominated Ultress for Best Beauty Product.

Lauren Berger was a reverse commuter long before the trend became popular with the UBS move to Stamford. Decisive as always, despite her corporate business success, she decided the time was right for a family, left Bristol Meyers and the corporate world and moved to Greenwich.

Similar to Lauren’s other accomplishments including her pursuit of extreme skiing and her upwardly mobile corporate rise, she now focused all of her energy raising her children. She served on school boards, parent teachers associations, early childhood development programs and of course had both children on skis by the age of two! When the children grew and both went off to school each morning, Lauren felt the urge to return to the world of business. Her resume provided many opportunities, but balancing her parental responsibilities, lead her away from a return to the corporate world to again thinking about creating her own business.

How do you find foods in the local supermarket that “might” be good for your kids? That is a question asked by

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many parents but Lauren’s marketing background keyed her into the new trend of customers actually reading labels. A foray into her own anecdotal research lead her to the idea of creating a cookie that children might enjoy and at the same time pass the “also good for you test,” adhered to by discerning parents. Her “one person” research continued when she queried her own children as to what they were eating when they visited friends on play dates. Said Lauren, “Not to be judgmental but it shocked me to learn they were all eating sugar laden treats. I began to think about a healthy alternative treat that kids would actually prefer.”

These thoughts all came together during Thanksgiving 2006 when she was hosting her entire extended family, including a dozen small children. Lauren had been experimenting with a chocolate chip cookie that was made from all natural ingredients and she decided to make them for the holiday in hopes that everyone would enjoy them. It was a form of test marketing with her own family. It worked.

From then on every time the cousins and friends came to Lauren’s house, they asked for the “special” cookies. City Girl-Country Girl cookies are made from simple, natural ingredients. The flour is oat flour, the sweetener is pure maple syrup, and the cookies do not contain many of the common allergens. There is no wheat, white

sugar, eggs or dairy.

Lauren’s business experience at Clairol, Campbell Soups, Revlon and Godiva made it evident that baked at home chocolate chip cookies needed professional packaging and branding before approaching the marketplace.

The name City Girl-Country Girl came from a conversation with a friend combining the city and country lifestyles that they both personally enjoyed. Even though Lauren lived in Greenwich, the city was still very much a part of her persona.

At a friend’s suggestion, armed with six bags of cookies baked at home and placed in hand crafted City Girl-Country Girl mocked-up packaging, Lauren set out for the Whole Foods in Greenwich, Connecticut where she pitched the store manager and grocery manager. To Lauren’s astonishment, the answer was yes!

“Deliver to the Whole Foods loading platform 500 bags (6000 cookies) two weeks from today!” Lauren left the store, walked to her car and reality set in. “Five hundred bags of cookies in two weeks and I don’t have a place to bake them or the ingredients with which to make them!”

“From the moment I left Whole Foods that morning I just knew in my gut that I could make this work,” said Lauren.

“I had to take the chance to make it happen.

In a funny way, it was not unlike getting out of a helicopter at the top of a mountain

PEOPLE + IDEAS

ENTREPRENEUR

and for the very first time skiing down a virgin trail. If you didn’t do it then, you never would.”

Lauren co-opted her mother and immediately sourced all of the thirteen different ingredients for the cookies. Because of the volume required, they would have to come from a dozen different natural food stores in the area. Many of the retailers kindly sold the ingredients to them at cost either in sympathy or as a helping hand to the new enterprise.

The next enormous obstacle was to find a place to bake. As luck would have it, Lauren was organizing a school fund raising event. When visiting a florist to pick up the centerpieces she noticed that in the rear of the store there appeared to be a commercial kitchen, used by a co-tenant who ran a catering business.

In desperation she made an on the spot decision and negotiated with the caterer to share the facility. Returning home to retrieve 300 pounds of ingredients from her dining room she returned and spent three days baking the first shipment of 6,000 City Girl Country Girl Chocolate Chip Cookies. Fortunately for Lauren, six of her closest friends volunteered in

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the effort, formed an assembly line, and simultaneously hand packaged and labeled the cookies, literally, as they came from the oven.

City Girl-Country Girl grew quickly, expanding within the Whole Foods chain of stores on the East Coast and then beyond to Fairway Markets. The company outgrew its original production capacity and moved its manufacturing to New Jersey but never without Lauren being on site each day that the product was being baked and packaged.

Starting a new business is fraught with risk, and the failure rate for individual entrepreneurs in the food business exceeds seventy-five percent. What advice does Lauren Berger have for others considering taking the leap? “The most important thing for me was to have a very clear vision and goal. You need to see the forest through the trees, or I should say both the forest and the trees. It is equally as important to envision the longer-term, big picture goal, as it is to pay attention to every detail along the way.”

“You have to believe in yourself and the product. There will always be obstacles and you have to be flexible but

you can never lose sight of your original vision and you have to project yourself attaining your goal. Do not allow naysayers to derail your plans. Repeatedly things will go wrong but stay the course because problems can be corrected, adjustments made. Remember solid growth for an individually owned business comes slowly and that is OK. City Girl-Country Girl was created in 2007 and now almost 5 years later is only now beginning to reach its full potential.”

“Set a proper foundation. Remember, one cannot ski out of a helicopter without preparation, training, conditioning, clothing, and a support system. I would not jump over a cliff if I had no idea of the conditions existing at the landing. Do your homework, be decisive but in the end do not be afraid to go with your gut. In the end, the skis go over the edge, you go for it, and don’t look back.”

City Girl- Country Girl is now considering brand expansion. While the cookie business will continue to grow in sales and distribution, Lauren feels that until she can find a food product of equal integrity to the cookies she will keep her food product focus exclusively there. However, she is looking into a sports clothing line that is in keeping with the City Girl-Country Girl lifestyle.

Running a business and simultaneously raising two young children is not easy. “However, in many ways I think it is better if in fact you can operate your own business rather than taking the corporate route,” says Lauren. “Although you can never leave either of the responsibilities behind, you have more control over your work schedule when you own the business. Also, when it is a one person operation decision making is very quick, there is no corporate red tape!” However, the advantage of being a sole proprietor of what has been a cottage industry is about to change.

Future national distribution of the cookie brand and possible expansion into sportswear will require a larger infrastructure and staff. Lauren is currently developing the business plan for funding to take the company to its next level. Hundreds of thousands of cookies later her gut still says go for it!

For information visit City Girl-Country Girl at citygirlcountrygirl.net, or contact Lauren at lauren@citygirlcountrygirl.net

Symphony in G, Oil On Canvas, 36" x 60"

J U L I E S AT I N O V E R FLORALS . ABSTRACTS . PORTRAITS

www.juliesatinover.com

203.434.8655

jls@juliesatinover.com

intellectual property

Written by: Sheryle Levine and Alan Neigher Byelas & Neigher, Westport, CT

Who owns The Artwork?

Artists commonly loan their artwork to friends and other artists.

Frequently, the conditions of the exchange are unstated. In the minds of creative and friendly people, generous intentions are taken for granted. Sometimes too much is taken for granted.

In 2006, in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, the Court issued a landmark ruling on the ownership of three paintings by one of America’s icons - - Norman Rockwell. In case of Stuart & Sons, LLP, et al vs. The Curtis Publishing Company, Inc. and the Saturday Evening Post, et al, District Judge Alan Nevas determined ownership of three original oil paintings created by Rockwell: “The Gossips”; “Saying Grace”; and “Walking to Church”. Then paintings were created

by Rockwell for the covers of the Saturday Evening Post (“the Post”) in 1948, 1951 and 1953. Between 1916 and 1963, Rockwell created over 300 paintings which generated images that would appear on The Post’s covers. Incredibly, those paintings, after reproduction in the Post, were considered “expendable”; many simply disappeared from the Post’s storage facilities. The plaintiffs in this case were children of Kenneth Stuart, Sr., who was the art director of the Post from 1944 to 1962. Rockwell regarded Stuart as “a real friend” and “great impresario.” In 1952 and 1953, Rockwell gave the three paintings to Stuart, who openly displayed the paintings in his office, and then at his home. Stuart left the Post in 1962, and for the decades thereafter, Stuart’s ownership of the paintings was recognized by the media (generally, to the “Kenneth and Catherine Stuart Collection,” or by other acknowledgement).

In the summer of 2001, the Stuart's heirs negotiated with the Sotheby’s to sell the paintings. Sotheby’s requested certain information from Curtis about the paintings for its sales catalogue. In response, Curtis claimed to own the paintings.

Sotheby then cancelled the auction, causing the Stuarts to commence the original action.

Judge Nevas ruled in favor of the Stuarts and against Curtis/Saturday Evening Post. The essence of his ruling was this: Curtis was aware that Rockwell transferred possession of the paintings to Stuart in the early 50’s. Thereafter, Stuart and his family made no secret of their possession of the paintings, after Rockwell had made clear his high regard and personal affection for Stuart. The paintings were publically displayed and shown in catalogues and journals. In virtually every occasion, acknowledgments were to the Stuart family collection.

The timeline was critical for purposes of Curtis’ claim of “conversion” - - a legal term meaning wrongful claim of ownership. Curtis claimed that Stuart’s continued possession of the paintings was a wrongful taking for which it was entitled to equitable relief. Judge Nevas easily resolved that claim in favor of the Stuarts. Since conversion is a “tort” (a wrongful act such as negligence, trespass, defamation) which has been governed in Connecticut by a three-year statute of limitations, Curtis knew that Stuart and his family were in complete and notorious possession of the three paintings, yet did nothing about it for over 30

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

four decades. Accordingly, the statute of limitations ran, at the latest, during the 1960’s.

The Court also found in Stuart’s favor on the equitable doctrine of “laches” (no, it is not an insect). Laches means unwarranted delay. The Court had little trouble finding that there was unreasonable delay by Curtis, which prejudiced the Stuarts.

When a party waits for decades to assert a claim (and assuming the statute of limitations would not otherwise apply), records disappear, memories fade, witnesses die. In 1976, the Post published an article by Stuart, Sr. describing the circumstances of Rockwell’s gift to him of one of the paintings. Art Catalogues and books dating from 1970 to 1999 list the Stuarts as owners of the paintings. Accordingly, in light of Curtis’ unreasonable delay, and the prejudice to the Stuarts caused by that delay, the doctrine of laches applied and prevented Curtis from asserting a claim for equitable relief.

What does the Stuart case mean to artists (and their friends)? What happens when you exchange art work - - did you intend to bestow a true gift? Or was it a temporary loan, to cover up some wall space in an otherwise barren apartment, or to cheer up a friend during a crisis? Suppose someone allows you to store your artwork in a barn, attic or garage. Months or years pass; you forget about it. Your good-natured friends transfer your work to another friend. Or, taking the Rockwell example, you publish an image and you do not request the originals back. The magazine ceases publication, is sold, merged or truncated in some other way - - do you still own that original image? Does it matter if you were paid for the artwork, or if you did it only for credit? (Even if you copyrighted the image, the copyright would probably not apply to the original).

Answers to these and related questions would require much more space than available here. But you can do yourself an enormous service by a very simple act - - prepare an email, a letter or a one-page memo which, in simple and clear language, describes the terms of the transfer as intended by the person handing over the art. Simply stated: Jim/Jane, in light of our friendship, the enclosed [describe] is a gift from me to you, for you to own as long as you may choose. Signed... Or: Dear Jim/Jane: I am enclosing an original print of a Picasso which I am asking you to hold and display at your home while Boris and I are overseas. We will ask for its return when we move back to the U.S. Please pay the fine art premium to the insurance carrier on May1st. Signed...

The point is simple - - do not assume that a verbal understanding regarding possession of artwork without a written understanding will avoid trouble. Failure to take this simple step may involve tricky, difficult and expensive issues for friends and family of artists.

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PROMOTION

What Are You Doing for SWAN DAY?

With five popular burlesque acts on the bill – including don’t-miss performers like Dot Mitzvah, Lilly Le Vamp, and Vivienne LaFlamme among them - it will not be your grandmother’s feminist celebration.

by Lisa Seidenberg

I

n the mid-80s, a group called the Guerrilla Girls called attention to the limited opportunities for women in the world of visual arts by staging protests outside the Metropolitan Museum and other prestigious art institutions. Wearing rubber gorilla masks, they carried placards with the memorable question:

“Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get Into the Met Museum?”

Originally provoked by the exhibition, “An International Survey of Recent Painting & Sculpture” at the Museum of Modern Art, the women discovered of the 167 artists in the show, only 17 were female. They also pointed out that 83% of the women portrayed as artistic subjects at the MET were nude – hence the rallying cry.

Not quite three decades later, the legacy of that legendary protest lives on – softened and updated – in an international SWAN Day Celebration, organized in Connecticut by Jennifer Hemphill since 2008. SWAN DAY, an acronym for Supporting Women Artists Now Day, is an annual movement started five years ago by Woman Arts (a.k.a.

The Fund for Women Artists), an organization “celebrating women’s creativity in all its forms” according to the website, womanarts. org. Beside the annual SWAN Day festivities, Woman Arts is a clearing house for grants and job opportunities, as well as providing networking for women in the arts.

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viewer. (Note to self: do not SKYPE).

After a hectic few months of lining up participants and a location by Ms. Hemphill, SWAN Day Connecticut will kick off – or perhaps paddle off as Swans might – on March 31, 2012 at the Dirt Salon, 50 Bartholomew Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hemphill, who is also a musician and lead singer for Jennifer Hill & Co in which her husband is the drummer, says she first heard about SWAN DAY celebrations while looking for funding for her music projects.

Assuming it would be a one-time thing, “a lark” as she called it, she was able to attract an enthusiastic audience which has mushroomed from an initial fifty or so people to over 300 attendees last year. She expects even more at this year’s event.

With five popular burlesque acts on the bill – including don’t-miss performers like Dot Mitzvah, Lilly Le Vamp, and Vivienne LaFlamme among them - it will not be your grandmother’s feminist celebration.

She would be welcome, however, as well as anyone (that means men) interested in supporting women artists.

“We have many ages participating, from rockers in their twenties to folk singers in their fifties and sixties,” says Hemphill, thankfully not asking the age of the inter-

“And the artists are not just from Connecticut.

They are from Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, and there is a band coming from Montreal”, noting that not every state sponsors a SWAN DAY; in fact in the United States, there are only a handful, mostly in New York and California, where the organization is head-quartered. Relying entirely on small donations and the energy and initiative of individual “Swans” in each state or country, the SWAN Days are very much a self-starter type of event.

While the Hartford program is musically oriented, SWAN DAYs in other regions will have a different focus. The SWAN DAY in New York City is focused on theater productions; organizers in Bulgaria and Kenya plan more community-centered programs.

As a successful SWANtrepreneur – Jennifer Hemphill has even become recognized as a “SUPER-SWAN” for having an exceptional record of success. She has recently been invited by Woman Arts founder Martha Richards to participate in a sort of SWAN exchange where she might visit Bulgaria, for example.

“That would be amazing” she says but for now she has to concentrate on the big day in Hartford.

Check for updates at: swandayct.com

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BOOKS

GORDON’S GOOD READS The place to find a good read...

by Gordon Hastings

Yes, my friends all ask, do you have a Kindle? My answer is a quick no, and then unfortunately for the inquisitor, they have set themselves up for hearing my rationale! I love technology, and my children even call me an “early adopter!” That is what they engraved on the back of my new i-Pad, which is in constant use, and the daily New York Times is consumed before 7 A.M. Then why not E-Books?

For me reading a hard copy of a book is the antithesis of using an electronic device because it is an opportunity to remove the mind from the ever-present flow of instant information and recede into the imagination, time and space of the author. It is a unique experience and unlike reading the daily news on an i-Pad, a book is not to be consumed and then tossed aside waiting for the next edition.

A well chosen book is deserving of a permanent place on a shelf as a reminder of time well spent with a friend, something new learned, an adventure or even to prompt questions and conversations with visiting friends. The hard copy also offers the hope that some future family member will glimpse at the notes in the margin or comments on the inside cover.

I am a Red Sox fan and I once told a friend that reading a great book on a Kindle would be the difference between watching the Sox play on television or going to Fenway Park. It is an entirely different experience. An author’s word on the printed page, complete with binding and a colorful dust cover is the same reason a cook serves great food on proper plate or fine art is properly framed. Reading is more than sustenance or a picture. The words speak to me more vividly when set in the correct environment.

I will continue to read the daily news on my i-Pad and have the greatest respect for those who relish in E-Books.

After all, it is really about the reading. However, give me those printed pages anytime. Let me touch , hold, contemplate, make notes, and allow my book shelves to spark conversations and hopefully in the future speak of a part of who I was by what I read.

Non Zero Sum – We are all in this together!

Conversations with friends can quickly lead to book recommendations. A discussion of Tom Friedman’s That Used To Be Us, resulted in a recommendation and a gift copy of Robert Wright’s NON ZERO SUM THE LOGIC OF HUMAN DESTINY.

Heavy duty subject? Yes indeed! However, Wright presents the subject matter in a logical and understandable progression.

The basic premise is that throughout the development of civilization, Non- Zero Sum cooperation, just the opposite of Zero-Sum

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ARTS/CULTURE/STYLE//MAGAZINE

with only winners and losers, is what advanced our civilization from savages, barbarians, chiefdoms and tribes to a cooperative civilization. Take a look at this quote from Wright. “Judging by history, the current turbulence will eventually yield to an era of relative stability, an era when global political, economic and social structures have largely tamed the new forms of chaos. The world will reach a new equilibrium. Or on the other hand, we could blow up the world.”

Or, “As history progresses, humans find themselves playing nonzero-sum games. Interdependence expands, and social complexity grows in scope and depth.”

“Innovate or die! Population density drives technological and social development not by creating opportunities, but by creating problems. Problems that must be solved for the greater good!”

Not at all unlike many of Tom Friedman’s theories so ably expressed in The World is Flat, Hot Flat and Crowded, and That Used To Be Us. Wright, like Friedman has the ability to take sweeping concepts and break them down into logical elements.

He outlines how throughout history man has managed to turn acute need and chaos into opportunity, not with a Zero-Sum I win you lose approach, but with the concept of working together for a common good or what he calls Non-Zero!

Non-Zero is a tremendous exploration of how we have become who we are and the implication is clear that the evolution of our civilization as a cooperative society will play a key role in what we become.

Zero-Sum has no winners! With Non-Zero everyone can win.

There are many lessons here, especially in today’s political climate domestically and around the globe. If you have a friend in the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate send them a copy!

www.gordonsgoodreads.com

Income Inequality Threatens Capitalism – Who Said That? Surprise!

You might be surprised but here is the direct quote from none other than Andrew Carnegie who was one of the first capitalists, along with John D. Rockefeller Sr. to become American billionaires. Here is Carnegie’s exact quote from 1889: ”The gulf between rich and poor threatened the very survival of capitalism.”

You might not think that view was espoused by the self-made bobbin boy who came to America and worked his way into the founding of U.S. Steel! Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller Sr. competed daily to see who would become the wealthiest magnate in

Vox Populi Bill O’Shaughnessy’s books run the risk of unfairly falling into the category of vanity publications. The Westchester County radio broadcaster, who is equally prominent as a political insider dating back to the Rockefeller era, is out with his latest tome titled VOX POPULI the O’Shaughnessy Files, Fordham University Press, 2011.

His three previous anthologies are AirWAVES, It all Comes Back to Me Now and More Riffs, Rants and Raves.

Most who read Bill’s books go immediately to the index look for their name and quickly turn to those pages. There are very

America! Rockefeller with Standard Oil may have edged out Carnegie for the title but the great irony is that both men became two of the world’s greatest philanthropists benefiting nearly every conceivable worthwhile socially important endeavor. However, as both biographies clearly reveal, it was not pretty along the way. Just ask Ida Tarbell!

I write this post after reading in the New York Times the latest government figures on the distribution of wealth in America.

It ties in perfectly with my Occupy Wall Street post. In that post I commended to you Gretchen Morgenson’s Reckless Endangerment and Tom Friedman’s That Used To Be Us.

Why Carnegie and Rockefeller? If you want a solid historical perspective on the accumulation of wealth by two of America’s richest men, Ron Chernow’s TITAN The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. and Peter Krass’s CARNEGIE offer the reader tremendous insight.

Never before in the American capitalistic system had so much wealth been accumulated by just two industrialists. Both books are complete in their historical perspective of the personal lives of Carnegie and Rockefeller and admirably translate their personas into their business and later their philanthropic philosophy.

As I have read the daily accounts of Occupy Wall Street my memory clicked upon these two most worthy biographies. They provide a meaningful and necessary historical backdrop to the discourse of today. Chernow’s book was published in 1998 and Krass’s work in 2002.

If you have the time, these are wonderful back to back reads.

By chance, I read TITAN first and having done so would recommend that order. Each is of course deserving of a stand alone read.

few names from the New York media, political and social elite that are missing!

Turning through this fourth O’Shaughnessy volume (not easy at 700 pages) it is best to go directly to the content, and discover that time spent with VOX POPULI will be very worthwhile indeed.

While O’ Shaughnessy is himself an excellent interviewer, he has made a great effort to make this publication exactly what the title implies, VOX POPULI (The Voice of the People) with access through The O’Shaughnessy Files. (Thanks to Cindy Hall Gallagher, O’Shaughnessy’s right hand and the keeper of every detail for over thirty years).

Where else might you read THE UNDOING OF DON IMUS, (Page 5) written by Jonathan Bush, brother of President George W. Bush. A DAUGHTERS LAST BREATH by Jimmy Breslin (page 554) will uplift you. BRUCE SNYDER AT THE TWENTY-ONE CLUB about a special time and place.

VOX POPULI is abundant with O’Shaughnessy writings and musings about the famous. However, Bill is often at his very best when focusing upon the less known. MAMA ROSE MIGLIUCCI “The First Lady of Little Italy” (Page 524) is an excellent example of O’Shaughnessy empathy. His eulogy to “Mama Rose” of the famous Mario’s restaurant in the Bronx is extraordinary in its warmth and understanding of both his personal and the community’s feelings for this remarkable and legendary woman.

VOX POPULI indeed focuses a spotlight on Bill O’Shaughnessy’s writings but do yourself a favor and take advantage of the author’s generosity in sharing many of his radio interviews and the heretofore-unpublished works from his enormous community of friends.

If you have the time, the new volume will stimulate your desire to page back through his previous three.

VOX POPULI the book shares the same ethos and namesake as O’Shaughnessy’s radio stations WVOX and WVIP. The coupling of the two is no surprise.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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WINE

What’s In Your Cellar?

Enrich the mind and educate the palate

By Lawrence LaManna

The world of wine is endless and despite new technologies available, the fundamental practices and procedures that are still used today, designates winemaking as one of the most timeless industries worldwide. Rich in history and culture, the benefits of wine education expand far beyond the glass.

With over thirty years of expertise in the wine business, my experience has spanned across wine making, distribution, importing, marketing, sales, management and most acclaimed in wine education. Today, while utilizing my years of experience and passion for the industry, I continue to serve as wine consultant and educator.

Providing insight from my studies at the Grossmans Beverage Program, The German Wine Academy at Kloster Eberbach in West Germany and Center for Professional Development at Cornell University, I single-handedly founded the Wine School Ltd. Since its inception in 1981, the Wine School Ltd, recognized today as the Sommelier Academy, has provided over twenty years of leading industry education and instruction.

In the upcoming months I will be presenting vast insight into this timeless industry by profiling

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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

leading winemakers both locally and across the world, highlighting specific wine regions, showcasing the biodynamic movement of sustainable and organic vineyards, all while covering many unique and relevant topics related to the wine world.

You don’t have to be shindeep in grapes to become well versed in the industry. While that signature rich Bordeaux stain forever appears on the toes of wine professionals, I plan to imprint a similar mark as I enrich

your knowledge of the business through my collaboration with VENÜ Magazine. It is such a privilege to be writing for such an elegant and acclaimed publication and I look forward to the upcoming months.

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events + gatherings

FCBUZZ AT THE CONNECTICUT STRATFORD SHAKESPERE THEATER

by RYAN ODINAK

Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County

A

t the top of Fairfield County’s coastline you find Stratford, a town founded in 1639 by Puritan settlers who were undoubtedly drawn to its location on the mouth of a navigable river that today we call the Housatonic. Descendants of these founding families still reside in Stratford today, a testament to the town’s appreciation of history. One area of Stratford’s significant historical legacy is theater.

Clockwise from left: Katharine Hepburn and Alfred Drake in front of Stratford's American Shakespeare Festival Theater,1957; Katharine Hepburn as Portia in "Merchant of Venice" at Stratford's American Shakespeare Festival Theater; Shakespeare Crest sundial clock–a gift from Timex; “The White House” at the entrance to the Connecticut Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theater; Façade of the Connecticut Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theater.

Courtesy ASFTA Archives

Photo credit: Friedman-Abeles Courtesy ASFTA Archives

Enter the grounds of the Connecticut Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theater and you are met with signs that hint at a magnificent past. “The White House” stands sentry to the property, a Greek Revival home listed on the national register of historic places, but now survives in deteriorated condition. Drive further into the 14-acre property and you come to the theater itself, a gray octagonal 1500-seat house with a massive, colorful Shakespeare Crest sundial clock on its façade–a gift from Timex.

The theater, situated on the Housatonic River, opened in 1955 and became home to the American Shakespeare Theatre. Before long, the theater drew big-name actors like James Earl Jones, Katharine Hepburn, Jessica Tandy, Jane Alexander, Fred Gwynne, Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, Christopher Walken and Morris Carnovsky, to name a few. John Houseman worked as the theater’s artistic director for a time too.

Step inside the theater and you see what appealed to this talent; an expansive theater covered in gorgeous teakwood.

Here at this riverfront stage, American interpretations of William Shakespeare’s

plays were performed, and plays by other playwrights were occasionally produced beyond the judgmental eyes of New York critics. Young actors could cut their teeth here and blacklisted actors found work.

The theater served as an educational forum, sharing classical Shakespearean works with over 1.5 million students from 13 states.

Town residents remember days when actors would gather around the counter at ‘The Bard’, a local eatery now called the Blue Sky Diner. Some actors took up summer residences during shows, including Katharine Hepburn, who reportedly was once late to her performance because she had difficulty crossing the Housatonic in her rowboat.

Sadly, today the theater is closed. Its last season was in 1982, and since the mid1980’s, the building has been vacant. The Town of Stratford would like to see that changed, and in 2005 received the deed for the theater from the state. Since then it has taken steps to restore the building–a leaky roof was replaced, volunteers

removed over 20 tons of trash from inside, and over 400 new seats in cardboard boxes are waiting to be installed. The town contracted the New York based firm, Arts Consulting Group, to design a nonprofit business plan and fundraising program in an effort to revive the theater. The first step is conducting a needs assessment study to investigate what theatrical programs might be possible. Stratford’s mayor appointed a task force of local business owners and theatre experts to work with the consultants.

“We’re making our stand,” said Ed Goodrich, Chairman of the town’s Arts Commission. “It’s a world-renowned theater and it has to live. It’s a slice of America, something you have to fight for.” Ed shared his hopes to have tours and performances at the theater again and envisions a future even bigger than the theater’s past.

In the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question.’

The town of Stratford, theater-goers and history buffs alike are working towards the answer.

Looking to add a little culture in your life? FCBuzz.org is the place to go for news on theater, exhibits, music, history and more. Visit FCBuzz.org to enrich your life and benefit from all Fairfield County has to offer. Created by the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. www.CulturalAllianceFC.org.

For more information contact the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County by emailing info@CulturalAllianceFC.org, calling 203-256-2329 or visiting the Web site at www.CulturalAllianceFC.org.

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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE ARTS/CULTURE/STYLE//MAGAZINE

THE VERY BEST IN FINE AND DECORATIVE ART FROM ANTIQUITIES TO THE AVANT-GARDE

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW WEDNESDAY, MAY 2 A benefit for the ASPCA generously sponsored by 1stdibs

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION FOR COLLECTING AND DECORATING English, Continental and American Furniture, Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Ceramics, Glass and Decorative Arts • Asian Works of Art • Folk Art • 20th Century Decorative Arts • Aesthetic Movement and Arts & Crafts Furniture • Prints, Photographs, Maps, Posters and Wallpaper • Antiquities and Ancient Objects • Silver and Metalwork • Nautical Art and Objects • Jewelry • Garden Ornament • Books, Manuscripts and Autographs • Chinese Export Porcelain and Decorative Arts • Native American and Tribal Art • Carpets and Rugs • Tapestries • Textiles and Needlework • Clocks P LU S A L E C T U R E S E R I E S F E AT U R I N G L I V E LY D I S C U SS I O N S BY N OT E D M U S E U M C U R ATO R S , SCHOLARS AND PROMINENT INTERIOR DESIGNERS ALL INCLUDED WITH SHOW ADMISSION

S P R I N G S H OW N YC .CO M

events + gatherings

Inaugural METRO SHOW rolls into New York with great excitement and exuberance

D

espite the frigid temperature on the evening of January 18, a record attendance of 1,400 people streamed into the inaugural Metro Show opening at Chelsea’s Metropolitan Pavilion to preview the brand-new incarnation of the former American Antiques Show.

Throughout the exhibition hall, superlatives for the event reverberated from the 35 participating dealers, and everyone elsecollectors, contemporary artists, curators, and interior designers-all proclaimed the show a smashing success. In fact, the dealers declared the packed crowd to exceed any preview-show attendance they had witnessed in years. Over 6000 people continued to flow into the Metro Show right up to its close on January 22.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to establish a vibrant new fair like the Metro Show in this tight economy,” said Caroline Kerrigan Lerch, who worked with the original American Antiques Show for seven years and was delighted by the overwhelmingly positive outcome from the new Metro Show. “Many exhibitors had exceptional sales, many to new clients,” said Kerrigan Lerch. “This highly upbeat

development bodes well for the future!”

Among those spotted at the Metro Show were Jerry Lauren; Stephen and Wendy Lash; Mario Buatta; Mariette Himes Gomez; Jamie Drake; Ellie Cullman; Martin Wolf; Audrey Gruss; Christopher Boshears; Harry Heissmann, Jean Shafiroff; Victoria Wyman; Geoffrey Bradfield; Jack Lenor Larsen; artists Donald Sultan, Philip Pearlstein, Jene Highstein, Glen Goldberg, and John Newman; filmmaker Ken Burns; auctioneer Leigh Keno; Phillip Zea of Historic Deerfield; Lahikainen Dean of the Peabody Essex Museum; and Patricia Kane of Yale University.

In addition to the dealer offerings, private evening receptions for members of the Whitney, Cooper-Hewitt, and American Folk Art Museum took place. Booth talks and book-signings at the individual stands, where dealers discussed their specialties, were held throughout the duration of the Metro Show.

Collection of 24 Industrial Aluminium Repoussé Hard Hats Indonesia, 1960s-1970s Ricco/Maresca Gallery, New York

Next year’s Metro Show opens Wednesday evening, January 23, and runs through Sunday, January 27, 2013.

Wendell Castle More is More, 2011 stained Peruvian Walnut with oil finish Barry Friedman Ltd., New York NY

Dox Thrash Untitled (Strike) c. 1940 watercolor 17.25 x 12 Dolan/Maxwell

Tiffany Studios "Lily Pad" Lamp c. 1906 bronze and leaded glass 23 inches high, 20 inches diameter Lillian Nassau

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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Julius Melchers Polychromed Cast Iron Tobacco Store Trade Figure c. 1875 Allan Katz Americana

Henri MARTIN Garden Terrace signed, c. 1920 oil on canvas, 28 x 37 inches Framed: 37 x 46 inches Schillay Fine Art

AIPAD PHOTOGRAPHY

THE

SHOW NEW YORK

T

he Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) will hold the 32nd edition of The AIPAD Photography Show New York, one of the world’s most important annual photography events, March 29 – April 1, 2012, at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

More than 70 of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will present a wide range of museum-quality work, including contemporary, modern, and 19th-century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video, and new media. The AIPAD Photography Show New York is the longest running and foremost exhibition of fine art photography. The Show will open with a Gala Preview on March 28, 2012, to benefit InMotion, which provides free legal services to low-income women.

AIPAD 2012 will present four new member exhibitors: David Zwirner, New York; Sasha Wolf Gallery, New York; Paul Cava Fine Art Photographs, Bala Cynwyd, PA; and 798 Photo Gallery, Beijing.

“Numerous photography collectors have told me that they are marking their

Stephen Wilkes, Coney Island, Day To Night, 2011. Digital C-print, 40 x 80 inches Courtesy Monroe Gallery of Photography

calendars for AIPAD 2012 in March,” said Stephen Bulger, president, AIPAD, and president, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto.

“There is no question that AIPAD is a prerequisite for both new and established collectors.”

A wide range of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will exhibit at The AIPAD Photography Show New York. In addition to galleries from New York City and across the country, a number of international galleries will be featured from Germany, Great Britain, Argentina, Japan, and China.

An exhibitor list is available at aipad.com/ photoshow.

Founded in 1979, The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) represents more than 120 of the world’s leading galleries in fine art photography. The organization is dedicated to creating and maintaining the highest standards of scholarship and ethical practice in the business of exhibiting, buying, and selling fine art photography. More information is available at aipad.com.

The AIPAD Photography Show New York will run from Thursday, March 29 though Sunday, April 1, 2012, at the Park Avenue Armory at 67th Street in New York City.

90th Anniversary Exhibition: A Celebration of the Silvermine Guild of Artists MAY 9–JUNE 9, 2012

silvermine arts center 1037 Silvermine Road

New Canaan, CT 06840 Media Sponsor

203-966-9700

www.silvermineart.org

Magazine

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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events + gatherings

Spring Fashion Events with Carlisle & Per Se

S

pring is just around the corner, and with the change of seasons comes a flood of fun, fearless fashions to liven up your drab winter wardrobe.

Leading the charge into spring is George Brescia, a New York City based celebrity stylist and image consultant who made an appearance at the showroom of the Carlisle Collection last month.

The showroom is located on Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich, Conn. and is a must-see for any admirer of the respected brand, usually only available through seasonal trunk shows.

In his presentation, Brescia emphasized the importance of using clothes to create confidence and bring out your best self—using personal style to present the best version of you to the outside world, whether it be in an executive boardroom, at a garden party, or on the sidelines of a soccer game.

Utilizing some standout pieces from the Carlisle and Per Se collections, Brescia also highlighted his favorite spring trends that every woman can work into her wardrobe. Modernized lace, subtle leather, luscious metallics and three-dimensional color blocking were at the top of his list.

These trends were also in the spotlight at Richard Gere’s Bedford Post Inn in Westchester County, where Per Se designer Susan Klope, a fashion veteran and Larchmont resident, presented some of her spring collection’s hottest looks.

“Fashion at the Farmhouse” included a gourmet luncheon and a fashion show featuring four local businesswomen from Westchester and Fairfield counties modeling the Carlisle and Per Se garments. A dining room of 60 guests, all tastemakers from the Bedford community, looked on as they enjoyed a three-course meal from the menu of renowned Farmhouse chef Jeremy McMillan.

Photo s: Elaine Ubiña

George Brescia above, and Susan Klope left, with Carlisle Models

Alumni Art Show at the Arnold Bernhard Center Gallery, March 1- March 23, 2012 Join us for a Wine & Cheese Reception 5:30pm, March 1, 2012

Gallery hours: 9:30-5:00 Mon-Thurs, 10:30-5:00 Fri, 12:30-4:00 Sat Arnold Bernhard Center Gallery, University of Bridgeport 84 Iranistan Avenue, Bridgeport CT For more information about this exhibition and related programming: 203.576.4696 or mjfoster@bridgeport.edu

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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

Frontiers

NEW

IN C A NC ER C E L L A ND GE N E T HER A P Y

ALLIANCE FOR CANCER GENE THERAPY 10th ANNIVERSARY GALA

Current Breakthroughs In Cancer Treatment

Robert Bazell, NBC News Chief Science & Health Correspondent Dr. Dennis Clegg, University of California Santa Barbara

APRIL 19, 2012, 6:30 P.M.

Hyatt Regency - Greenwich, Connecticut For Further Information: 203.358.8000 Ext.750, or go to acgtfoundation.org CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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events + gatherings

Get Gallery-Going in Westchester

By ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam

Photo : Lynda Curtis

From top to bottom : ArtsWestchester’s White Plains gallery hosts “Piecing it Together,” an exhibition of the art of collage through March 17, 2012.

Luis Perelman – World without End 8 Bryan Michael Greene -- De Profundis (out of the depths)

W

hen you need of a dose of fresh art, you don’t have trek to Chelsea’s gallery district. Instead, bolt to downtown White Plains and ArtsWestchester’s gem of a gallery at the Arts Exchange building. Built as the city’s first skyscraper in 1929, the Arts Exchange provides a historic palette for modern art in Westchester. With 40-foot ceilings, cascading natural light and gilded accents, the gallery is a unique backdrop for a range of cutting-edge exhibitions.

And certainly, if a fresh perspective is what you crave, make time to visit ArtsWestchester’s latest exhibition, “Piecing it Together.”

Collage, the art of cutting apart and rearranging fragments into new wholes, is a favorite medium for artists aiming to unhinge our expectations. The eight Westchesterbased artists on display in “Piecing it Together” employ an amazing range of materials and techniques. These artists collect, cut, manipulate, arrange and rearrange to represent.

Working in the tradition of previous masters such as Picasso and Matisse, artists Natalya Aikens, Michael Albert, Glenn Fischer and Rima Grad use scissors and glue to fashion paintings out of scraps of found paper. Adding bits of vintage fabric or other embellishments, their works become like suggestive landscapes, recalling places lost but not forgotten.

Mary Ann Lomonaco, Jill Parry and Luis Perelman look to non-conventional materials for their creations. Ms. Lomonaco and Mr. Perelman raid their pantry, constructing whimsical creations out of aluminum cans and food labels. Clever and vibrant, their pieces take familiar items and iconic logos from everyday places and turn them from practical to provocative. Meanwhile, Ms. Parry layers torn fabric, fiber and pastels to make curly tactile artworks that transport viewers off into an imagined horizon.

Finally, Bryan Michael Greene’s photomontages bring into focus unexpected dreamlike sequences. Juxtaposing skulls against flowering orchids, Mr. Greene layers one digital painting over another to create imaginary scenes that are at once beautiful and unsettling.

“Piecing it Together” is on view at ArtsWestchester, 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 12-5 pm. An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 27, 2012, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, call (914) 428-4220 x 306 or visit www.artsw.org/ piecing-it-together.

Please take note: After the lights go dim on “Piecing it Together,” ArtsWestchester will reopen its gallery doors to an exhibition of Westchester sculptors. Among the artists who will be showcased are Gordon Feary, Sarah Haviland, Barbara Korman, Malcolm MacDougal III, Susan Manspeizer and Barbara Segal. An opening reception will be held on the evening of March 30th and work will be on display through May 21.

Be in the know! Visit www.artsw.org THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE ARTS IN WESTCHESTER Like us on Facebook

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THE INSIDE TRACK For Story and Cinematic Structure with Peter Fox at the Jerome L. Greene Space, New York, NY April, 14TH and 15TH

"Peter Fox has mastered the art of communicating the nuts and bolts of the screenwriting craft to all audiences. His seminars provide both the emerging writers, and the veteran talents, a purposeful forum wherein they can alloy their inherent talents with practicums that will jet-propel their work into the offices of agents and the hands of talented actors, producers, and directors. Don't miss his valuable seminars. They will launch you into another level of professionalism."

-Alex Rose, Producer Norma Rae, Nothing In Common

REGISTER NOW AT: peterfoxworkshops.com/thegreenespace

ENTER THE ARENA. MAKE THE ATTEMPT. ENDURE. ACHIEVE.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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events + gatherings

C

elebrity chef and former Greenwich resident Alessandro Stratta joined Greenwich Hospital officials, area restaurateurs and a few high school buddies on Tuesday to kick off festivities for the 27th annual Great Chefs set for Friday, March 2, at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich.

“It’s an honor to be part of Great Chefs and be back in Greenwich,” said Stratta, whose friends from the former St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich include Carolyn Crabtree, an event co-chair with Shelly Tretter Lynch, and Danny Gabriele, owner of Gabriele’s Italian Steakhouse hosting the media event. “To find ourselves after so many years striving to support Greenwich Hospital is wonderful,” he said. “It’s interesting how things in life come around.”

Outreach efforts serve thousands Great Chefs benefits Community Health at Greenwich Hospital, which offers education programs, health screenings and support groups to Connecticut and New York residents, said Frank A. Corvino, president and chief executive officer of Greenwich Hospital.

“Community health initiatives remain a priority at Greenwich Hospital despite the challenges posed by a tough economic climate,” he said. “Last year, Community Health provided services and seminars in English and Spanish to more than 26,460 residents from Connecticut and New York.”

Demand for free and low-cost healthcare services has increased as more people face economic hardships, said Kathy Carley-Spanier, RN, director of Community Health at Greenwich Hospital, which works with neighborhood and government agencies to address emerging healthcare needs. Last year, for example, 347 women (up from 204) received free mammograms through a collaborative effort between the hospital and the Breast Cancer Alliance. “We’re seeing many people lose their health insurance when they lose their jobs,” she said. “Proceeds from Great Chefs help Greenwich Hospital provide important programs that can build strong communities.”

Photo : Elaine Ubiña

GREAT CHEFS 2012 HONORS CHEF ALESSANDRO STRATTA

Celebrity chef Alex Stratta with event co-chairs Shelly Tretter Lynch and Carolyn Crabtree with Frank Corvino, president and chief executive officer of Greenwich Hospital.

Stratta will lead the festivities In the tradition of distinguished chefs honored before him, Stratta will be recognized at Great Chefs, which features dozens of restaurants, catering companies and wineries from Fairfield and Westchester counties. This year, guests will enjoy gourmet food, wine tastings, silent and live auctions, and dancing to The Short Bus. Known for his appearances on Iron Chef USA and Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, Stratta recently opened Bigoli Ristorante & Bar in Manhattan. The award-wining chef formerly showcased his talents at Alex Stratta and Renoir in Las Vegas. A graduate of the prestigious California Culinary Academy, Stratta is known for his seasonally inspired cuisine that combines quintessential French and Italian ingredients. A colon cancer survivor, Stratta is also working with the Cleveland Clinic to develop a diet focusing on brain health that could potential help people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Ticket and sponsorship information To purchase tickets or learn about underwriting opportunities for Great Chefs, contact the Greenwich Hospital Foundation at 203863-3863 or GHFoundation@greenwichhospital.org

Presented by M.T.Heads Friday, April 27, at 8:00 pm, Norwalk Concert Hall, 125 East Ave. Norwalk, CT 06851 Tickets are available online at www.MTheads.com

On Stage Together:

An Acoustic Evening with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin

L

ongtime friends Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin come together this spring for a special evening of storytelling and music. Two of America’s warmest and wisest songwriters perform their favorite songs in a distinctive hybrid of pop, folk and country. Mary Chapin Carpenter has won five Grammy Awards, and recorded 12 albums selling over 13 millions records to date. Her songs speak to the most personal

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and universal of life’s details. Shawn Colvin has won three Grammy Awards, released nine albums, appeared on countless television and radio programs, had her songs featured in major motion pictures, and created a remarkable canon of work. Shawn just completed a memoir, to be published by Harper Collins in May 2012, which is a natural extension of the personal and often-hilarious stories that she weaves into her live shows.

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Travel

letter from rome:

“A Museum Without Walls…”

b y P h i l i p E l i asop h , S e n i o r A rt s E d i to r 48

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Photo courtesy of Ristorante Baccanale, Campo de Fiori, Rome

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Photo courtesy of Ristorante Baccanale, Campo de Fiori, Rome

Just what flips a cosmic switch in my imagination once the Alitalia jet lands in Rome is one of life’s mysteries. Every time I slip inside the flickering luminescence of the Roman Pantheon, it seems to be déjà vu. This mighty antique vacuum of space – the greatest surviving domed vault of the Olympian heavens – always seems to bring one of the Grateful Dead’s lyrics into the recesses of my hyper-scenographic mind.

“In the attics of my life, full of cloudy dreams unreal,” they harmonized ever so sweetly on the 9th cut in that tour-de-force vinyl of 1970, American Beauty. “In the secret space of dreams,” Jerry’s velvety whisper keeps whirling inside my skull “when the secrets all are told, and the petals all unfold.”

That unfolding flower comes to mind spending a few relaxing days wandering aimlessly around Rome. This being my 50th trip to Rome, one would think I could begin to wrap my mind around it. Here I will resist quoting Latin scholars such as Livy, Ovid, or Plutarch to sing verses honoring Rome’s perpetual insistence. No. It’s best to take Tony Soprano’s elegant Jersey Shore advice: “forgettaaabout-it!”

With each visit, there’s no getting use to it – Rome is beyond earthly comprehension. The more you see – the more you submit to its seductive powers. By now I am fully alert to an ongoing condition. With episodic regularity, I have been stricken with a psychological malaise first identified by the Frenchman named Marie-Henri Beyle – better known as Stendahl. First arriving in Italy in 1817, Stendahl experienced a medical amnesia. Literally overtaking tourists sending them out of their minds – every first aid clinic in Rome and Florence knows how to treat the delightful deliriousness of “Stendahl Syndrome.”

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Upon contemplation of such sublime artworks as Caravaggio’s “Calling of Saint Matthew” in the Church of St. Louis of France, Gianlorenzo Bernini’s ballet of the gushing “Fountain of the Four Rivers” or Gabriele Valvasso’s “Gallery of Mirrors” – Rome’s miniVersailles in the private art gallery of the Genovese and Roman dynasties, within the inner sanctum of the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj.

(The family’s ancestors did exceptionally well – including Pope Innocent X, who was also the King of Rome in the 17th century).

Rome is not a string of galleries or monuments – it’s hands down, unquestionably, the world’s greatest “museum without walls.”

The first dozen or so times as a pilgrim to the Eternal City, I felt the necessity to take instruction from a library shelf of professional guidebooks. Back in the early 1970s I started my career as a tour director escorting busloads of dollar rich, pre-Euro, Americans on itineraries between Lake Como and Capri, from Venice to Viareggio.

This creates a permanent jet-lag of sorts. Often my mind is somewhere in a quattrocento chapel with Fra Aneglico frescos while I am sitting on the Post Road sipping my “café macchiato”.

My office is stuffed with dog-eared copies of those snappy English Blue Guides, which introduced Anglophiles to Italy’s wonders since 1918.

Over the next 30 or more trips to Rome, the obligatory walking itineraries became more burdensome and less surprising. Freed from the “must sees” I am liberated into an Italian insouciance. Instead of being over-programmed, we made it a point to simply roll out of bed and let a “capriccioso” serendipity blow us in whatever direction Zephyrus decides.

That wonderfully irresponsible sense of “dolce far niente” – the art of doing absolutely nothing is the order of the day. Returning back to suck an endless stream of milky formula, it’s fun to engorge in a delicious mixture of art, civilization, wine and culinary specialties. With eyes and mouth agape “alla Romana” – I am a latter day Romulus awaiting the artistic nourishment flowing from the teats of the legendary She Wolf.

Not only do “all roads lead to Rome” but the city is not really a geographical place or plane. It’s more a phenomenon of layered civilizations. So let’s start off by dropping into one little Google Earth grid for a ground level pedestrian experience. A good place to start is my favorite “borgo” – (neighborhood). Let’s draw a trapezoid with four points of the compass lying across the truly antica core of the city. Try to limit yourself to very “do-able” day walks between the Trevi Fountain, the Ara Pacis, the Jewish ghetto and central synagogue, and Capitoline Hill with its staggering view out in the eroding Forum Romanum.

Remember those Cinemascope “sword and sandal” Bible epics like Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Barrabas? Stand at the terrace looking out to the Arch of Titus and the Colosseo from the Capitoline Hill, designed by Michelangelo, and you’ll understand why we say the world will continue as long as all of these monuments remain standing. And be assured, this is no tacky, Las Vegas Styrofoam hotel lobby. The marble here was pulled from its quarry about the time Jesus was about to give a sermon on a mount.

A critical first decision: what’s an ideal hotel in the perfect location? Having stayed in almost every section of Rome’s sprawling perimeter – inside the Aurelian walls – the epicenter has to be the Piazza Pantheon. Stay away from the train station districts with its roving bands of street thugs and pathetic beggars. And don’t

plant yourself over by the Vatican. Makes sense to taxi over there for your pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica and that bric-a-brac treasure trove – about five times larger than the Metropolitan Museum – known as the Vatican Museum.

Antiquity caresses your face but boggles your mind under the Pantheon’s majestic façade. You know it’s ancient as the pavement actually sinks down below your feet. One understands the archaeological level of the city as the floor of this second century AD monument drops off like quick sand below the higher levels of the Baroque churches nearby.

Chalking up yet another “big zero” birthday and wedding anniversary, we abandoned all logic and decided to check in to the oldest hotel in Rome. The four star Albergo Del Sole al Pantheon [hotelsolealpantheon.com], opened its rooms in 1467. Right out of central casting, manager Sig.re Maurizio and movie star handsome concierge Sig.re Leonardo whooshed us up to one of Rome’s most coveted rooms.

A cherubic bellhop opened the shutters in the Royal Suite – residence of the great opera composer Pietro Mascagni was a “pinch yourself” temporary home. With its hand-painted ceiling, terracotta floors, luxurious Frette linens, and antique furnishings (alas, the genius composer was a rather short fellow and this ex-footballer did not squeeze too well into his mini- 19th century bed).

The breathtaking, bird’s eye view right down in to Pantheon’s never-ceasing circus of cafés, street musicians, and embracing lovers was an animated postcard. Difficult to pull away from the spectacle, we tumbled back out in the neighborhood to explore what we could find in no more than 20 minutes in each direction from the hotel. It would take a month to fully disclose all museums, churches, ancient ruins and wonders within easy reach.

We arrived a few days after the Feast of the Epiphany – when CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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official discounted sales begin in retail stores. A newly energized US dollar versus the crisis-driven Euro suddenly opened our eyes – and wallets – to leather boots, silk scarves, and designer goods all slashed at 50% off. It was like being at a big clearance sale at a local mall – but with products beyond one’s reach in the windows of Bergdorf’s or Barney’s. Nothing is standardized. Every shop seemed to have its own ‘hand- made’ line.

January is a perfect time to visit Rome. We counted only a few random tour groups with bargain-driven Russians [with their new wealth they wear big furs, lots of big, gaudy designer monograms, but the women use excessive amounts of peroxide]. Then we encounter stern, rather somber Japanese who slip silently through the museums as if on a reconnaissance mission. I like their quiet elegance – and with their gorgeously reflective black hair the Japanese women are perfectly garbed in Burberry raincoats with low-key, but very expensive Bottega Veneta or Prada bags. Even with the pervasive, intense anti-American attitudes in the post-Iraq war era, we sensed a new sense of welcome as if our Italian friends were saying: “welcome back – we have missed you Yankees.”

Here’s just a sample of how we spent two full days “on the ground.” As we were blessed with Primavera temperatures in the dead of winter, we quickly found lunch at the ever bustling Campo de’ Fiori. This has been an outdoor fruit and vegetable market since the time when Nero decided he liked his “carciofi” fried in extra virgin olive oil – about 2,000 years. With the low angle of the winter sun tilting over the animated piazza filled with locals and tourists from around the globe, we spied a perfect table at Ristorante Baccanale.

For starters we sampled the “Prosciutto di Parma e bufala” – deliciously sliced so thin, we could almost see through its veins.

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The all-important pasta course – the main event – was my favorite: “Bucatini all Amatriciana” – a hefty dry noodle in a tomato, bacon, and onion sauce, truly to die for. My bride went for the typically Roman “Carbonara” which sent shivers up her spine – exactly cooked with ample salt and lusciously drizzled eggs, bacon, pepper and pecorino cheese.

Already sated, we poked a bit of tasty lamb – “Abbacchio alla romana” – followed by the typical “contorni” (side dishes) of perfectly dressed “insalata”, “spinaci”, and “cicoria” – mixed salad, spinach, and chicory. No need to drink the far too thin and probably re-cycled “vino della casa” – we ordered a sturdy local “vino rosso”

from the nearby Roman countryside – which cost an eye opening $9 for the bottle – almost the cost of a bottle of San Pellegrino at the latest pricey, Fairfield County pseudo-ristorante.

After lunch we scooted over to the snow white marble “Ara Pacis” – the Augustean Altar of Peace – commissioned by the Senate in 9 BC. Clad in its new sleek glass box, architect Richard Meier has updated the original Fascist era housing. Then turned around, strolling up the Via Condotti towards the Spanish Steps, we actually spotted an Italian TV show hostess stepping out of the almost mystical Armani store. Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Italy, the city was ablaze with Christmas/ New Year’s lights which cost over $1million Euro in a red/white/green Italian flag inspired light show extravaganza.

The next morning we took a fascinating public tour of the central Synagogue along the Tiber River. Italian Jews – who are neither Ashkenazic or Sephardic – follow their own “Italian rituals” in special melodic incantations. A vibrant Jewish neighborhood – later “ghetto” – has existed in Rome since the second century BC; today they are woven into the fabric of the city’s spirituality. Making this visit even more special was being joined by one of our dearest Jesuit colleagues from the Fairfield University community. He has recently been assigned a high-level diplomatic position for interfaith dialogue at the “home office” of the Society of Jesus near the Vatican. We were all elevated in our hopes and prayers.

This mixing and blending – of ancient and new – of myriad traditions, faiths, is typical of Roman syncretism. If Jerusalem is considered the “navel of the world,” or Paris is a feminine, seductive “wink,” then Rome is its beating heart. Let’s face it: New York gets the prize as the cash register.

Over intoxicated with infinite art and beauty – our beings saturated beyond decency, it was time to pull the plug. Finally, we boarded our flight back to JFK, exhausted, inspired and exhilarated after our Italian sojourn. Leaving a poetic epitaph on my gravestone, I will chisel this reality: “the purpose of living is to spend as much time in Italy as possible.”

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APPETITE

One if by Land, Two if by Sea

Winston Churchill once remarked that “history is written by the victors” and after our 12-course chef’s tasting dinner at New York’s landmark Greenwich Village restaurant, One if by Land, Two if by Sea, we couldn’t agree more. But before we get to the meat of our feast, we think you might find the stories behind this iconic establishment almost as appetizing.

There’s a lot of history at the carriage house at 17 Barrow Street and it’s not over yet.

Built in 1767 as part of an estate for one of Britain’s powerful Tory elite before George Washington and his men claimed the property as America’s own, the mansion and carriage house were purchased in 1794 by Aaron Burr, then serving as Attorney General of the State of the New York. A statesman, politician and marksman, infamously renowned for his lifealtering duel with Alexander Hamilton, Burr is credited with saying “the rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business.” And while that duel sidelined him for a bit causing him to lose his home, the spirit of his life’s mantra, flavored with that always delectable taste of victory, stayed on Barrow Street.

After changing hands over the centuries – über successful socialite and multi-millionaire real estate mogul John Jacob Astor called it home in the 1830s, come-hither ladies of

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the night pleased patrons of the flesh when it was a brothel in the late 1890s, silent picture lovers lined up at its doors during its heyday as a movie theatre in 1910 – 17 Barrow Street served, in turns, as a bar or a restaurant.

Impeccably renovated and inherited by its current owners in 2000, One if by Land, Two if by Sea has reigned for decades as one of the most romantic restaurants in New York City. With a piano player, four fireplaces, antique hardwood floors, soaring ceilings, Palladian windows and a courtyard garden, lush with fresh herbs and lusciously manicured, some have remarked that the carriage house itself is so inviting that the food here is almost an afterthought.

To its devoted owners, however, those words were fighting words, worthy of yet another history-making duel. Here’s where the story gets even more tantalizing. In an attempt to find a chef who would honor the carriage house’s illustrious lineage and who

could restore it to its rightful place as a purveyor of dining pleasure, they put the word out to culinary pros across the land.

28-year-old Colt Taylor answered the call. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) – a bastion of tradition and epicurean excellence – and a classically trained protégée of the school’s professor of culinary arts, master chef Dominick Cerrone, Colt was working at the Fontainebleau in Miami when he was contacted about the opening. The owners, he was told, were interested in considering him as their new chef, but first he would have to win them over in an “interview with food.” He accepted the challenge with the fearless I-can-do-it-even-better attitude that distinguishes him as a rising star in the culinary world.

He made plans to fly into New York from Florida after working his dinner shift for his 9 AM interview. Like the world he works in now, where the unexpected can cause a

by Cindy Clarke

A succulent ballet of flavors played out before us in a Maine Lobster Bisque, cognac dancing ever so gracefully with leeks, chives, a burst of Meyer lemon and succulent pieces of lobster that melted seductively into our mouths.

So far, so wonderful.

soufflé to fold or a sauce to, heaven forbid, run wild, his turbulent flight delayed his arrival in the city until 5 AM, just four hours before his meeting with his prospective new bosses. Despite not knowing the kitchen, he wowed the table of discerning judges with a six-course tasting menu and culinary conversation that revealed in delectable detail his hands-on knowledge and cooking expertise, his taste for the good life and his nose for the perfect pairings of wine. He was offered the

job as Executive Chef via cell phone when he had gone just three blocks in the cab that was taking him to back to the airport for his flight back to Florida.

It’s been only eight months since Executive Chef Colt Taylor donned his hat and apron in the storied kitchen of 17 Barrow Street and he’s been making history every night since.

When Venü sat down for a tasting in January with Colt’s mother, Connecticut

muralist Melissa Barbieri who knows how to paint pleasure into every stroke of her brush, we readied ourselves for an impressive, albeit sinfully abundant, 12-course meal of the chef’s choosing. We received a taste of tradition, history and refinement in every bite.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Colt as he and his talented sous chef and fellow CIA classmate Adam Brick presented an amusebouche (literally translated to “mouth amuser”) with a glass of Italian cava sparkling wine that together put the first of many smiles on our faces. A succulent ballet of flavors played out before us in a Maine Lobster Bisque, cognac dancing ever so gracefully with leeks, chives, a burst of Meyer lemon and succulent pieces of lobster that melted seductively into our mouths. So far, so wonderful.

Next up was the Cured Fluke Crudo, which, after we devoured it almost instantly, was proof that Colt’s cooking expertise was no fluke. What helped make this white fish, cured in salt and sugar, so irresistible was Colt’s innovative blending of ingredients….

Sorrento lemon, mint broth, Castelvetrano olives – giant bright green olives with a fruity flavor that actually tastes like olive oil – bottarga, adding more sparkle in tiny explosions

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APPETITE

Just when we thought we couldn’t eat another bite out came delicate egg cups filled with vahlrona chocolate, crème fraiche and sprinkled with cayenne pepper. This Pot de Crème was nirvana for a chocolate lover like me and I was the only one to crack the eggshell it was served in as I tried to scrape up every last exquisite morsel. of briny, salty fish roe – crunchy, cake-like garlic chips, pignoles and slivers of artichokes.

The Santa Barbara Uni Custard sailed in next, shell and all, to the accompaniment of a Schramsberg Rosé that is the ultimate expression of artisan American wine. These neighboring natives of the West Coast sent our taste buds California dreaming every time we dipped our spoons into this cloud of cream puree. A collaboration masterfully created by Colt and Adam, the recipe consisted of sea urchin harvested from the ocean floor off Santa Barbara; a surprise hidden-in-themiddle bite of Alverta Presidente caviar, a true American treasure from the cold waters of northern California; sopressata, an Italian dry-cured salami accessorized in hot pepper and a healthy dose of garlic; Asian pear and crispy wild rice. One of our party lamented that he wanted to lick the spiny urchin shell that this dish was served in but he didn’t want to skewer his tongue in anticipation of the next course.

As our plates of Snake River Farms Wagyu Tartare were placed before us, Colt explained that Wagyu was similar to Japan’s prized Kobe beef, bred under strict qualitycontrol guidelines and Americanized for our pleasure so we could enjoy it in New York.

The tender slices of beef were served atop

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market herbs, vegetables and flowers, with winter miso, egg yolk and a toasted crouton baked black with squid ink in the dough.

Between courses, I asked Colt how, at the tender age of 28, he had acquired such impressive knowledge about his incredible techniques and flavor combinations. I didn’t know until a few days after our dinner that Colt’s great great grandmother was Amy Vanderbilt’s private chef back in the day, but I pretty much guessed where his talent for creating art on the plate came from, as he grew up under the influence of his very accomplished artist mother, also a wonderful cook I was told, and while they played with different

“palates,” the family talent for creating masterpieces was undeniable.

Explaining that a true chef is “always evolving, always growing and virtually never satisfied,” Colt said he had the good fortune of learning from the best chefs in some of the best kitchens in the world. He rattled off names of luminaries like Dominick Cerrone, his Culinary Institute mentor and the opening Chef de Cuisine of Le Bernadin, still #1 in New York City restaurants for French dining, and Mario Battali, who hired him to work at Babbo, renowned for redefining and reinventing the principles of Italian cuisine for 21st century America. He said his fellow

students were also an inspiration to him. In fact, Colt recruited Adam Brick, one of the CIA’s standout chefs, as an important member of his team today, a rare partnership in this highly competitive field. Positions at the Four Seasons, Gotham Steak House and the Fontainebleau helped ready him for his solo debut in New York City. “It’s my passion,” he said as he went off for course #5.

If you had given me a choice, I am not sure I would have had the courage – or foresight – to order the Charred Spanish Octopus on my own. My past encounters with this denizen of the deep were in paellas where they invaded my otherwise-tasty meal and seemed to virtually multiply with unwanted rubbery bites every time I moved my fork. I vowed never to make its acquaintance outside of the ocean waters again. Never say never.

Colt managed to not only tenderize this tentacled entrée into one of the most mouth-watering grilled seafood dishes I have ever tasted, he married it with a party of taste pleasers that included blood orange, fennel, smoked

avocado and chickpea puree. Seriously, this dish rewrote history at our table that night.

Mario Battali works wonders with pasta and his influence on Chef Taylor manifested in an Egg Yolk Raviolo that was oozing with flavor and culinary art. Nestled into ancient castelrosso cheese and gently wrapped inside a blanket of pasta, topped with freshly grated rare perigord black winter truffles, a quail egg, yolk unbroken, waited to please us with a bite of heaven. Now that’s rich, we all agreed. Forget that these aromatic truffles are priced at an extravagant $695 per precious pound and are only available for a very short time each year when highly trained dogs sniff them out from their underground homes in France and spirit them away to truffle hunters who must quickly hide them from potentially violent thieves. The dish itself was rich in taste and texture, made even more alluring by the Marsannay Blanc 2009 Domaine Bruno Clair the chef served it with. We all felt like we won the lottery with this course.

Dinner was only half-way done when we sampled the Wild Striped Bass, topped with a “potato chip” made from its own skin, draped over coriander infused sticky rice and seasoned with black garlic and lime beads that were heated by steaming thai chili coconut water that was deftly poured over the dish in front of us. This dish was “all over the map” according to one of our very happy dinner partners, who said it added just the right kick to this flavor tour. The rest of us summed it up in one very telling word: Wow.

“This is our Valentine’s Day lobster entrée,” said Colt as the next seafood delicacy was brought out. This was fresh-from-the-

ocean Maine lobster at its sweetest, a celebratory confit of cara cara blood oranges, earthy beets, nutty pistachios, and treviso, radicchio from northern Italy. The elegant salmon-pink Etude Rose of Pinot Noir 2012 perfectly complemented this course with fruit inspired flavors and a bright finish. I think we were all completely in love with Colt’s creations at this point.

The name of the restaurant suggests a masterful pairing of land and sea and our next dish certainly did justice to the bounty of local farms. Colt told us that the farmers markets at Union Square provide the fresh regional produce he uses in his kitchen, examples of which made it to our plates in the form of the crispy brussel sprouts, vanilla bourbon salsify, and the invariably sweet and sour flavor punch of agro dulce that was served with the Duo of Lamb Saddle. Each bite was rewarded with sips of La Columbera Barbera wine from Italy’s Piedmont region, brilliantly recommended by the chef and his staff.

Just when we thought we couldn’t eat another bite out came delicate egg cups filled with vahlrona chocolate, crème fraiche and sprinkled with cayenne pepper. This Pot de Crème was nirvana for a chocolate lover like me and I was the only one to crack the eggshell it was served in as I tried to scrape up every last exquisite morsel.

Of course, no one was looking at my cracked shell. They were enjoying savory sips of Sauterne Ondine Oriel 2003, a dessert wine from France’s Bordeaux region, as they eagerly looked forward to more sweet treats that included Dulce de Leche Fondant, with espresso and hazelnuts, a cake and ice cream combination that made us all feel like we were at our own birthday parties. The presents kept on coming, reigniting our youthful memories of campfire s’mores in a soufflé that welcomed toasted marshmallow anglaise and graham cracker ice cream into the fold while paying tribute to our grown up appreciation of the kitchen’s culinary genius.

Before we could protest that we had seriously reached our limit, Colt and Adam paraded before us a plate of petit fours, macaroons and lemon tarts among them, which they advised tasted even better when washed down with a sip of the vintage port they brought to our table. We were putty in their hands as we agreed that with Chef Taylor’s culinary victories One if by Land, Two if By Sea was the embodiment of Aaron Burr’s rule of life: to make business a pleasure and pleasure their business… and do it successfully.

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The Undersea Worlds o

All sculptures and photographs are by Jason deCaires Taylor, jasondecairestaylor.com

“ I am trying to portray how human intervention or interaction with nature can be positive and sustainable, an icon of how we can live in a symbiotic relationship with nature. Finally, I believe we have to address some of the crucial problems occurring in our oceans at this moment in time and by using human forms I can connect with a wider audience.”

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f Jason deCaires Taylor

by Lisa Seidenberg

M

arcel DuChamp annoyed the French art world of 1917 by exhibiting a urinal in an art gallery. It was removed faster than you can say pissoir. In the 1960’s, land or environmental works expanded on the idea of situating art in a non-traditional setting, where the natural elements may cause the art to evolve over time. Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty”, a massive whirl of gravel in the Great Salt Lake of Utah, Walter de Maria’s “Lightning Field” in remote New Mexico and “Cadillac Ranch” by Ant Farm in Texas, are examples of this art movement, works that are often in difficult to reach locales and subject to the vagaries of life outside the pristine walls of a museum.

No one, however, has produced aqueous art environments like that of Jason deCaires Taylor. His mesmerizing undersea sculpture parks allow submerged human figures to bizarrely mutate, sprouting plant life from their torsos. In busy clusters or in solitary meditation,

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many of them female, the colorful transmutation of his “people” is an eco-mirror of human aging. The effect is eerily exquisite owing to the strangeness of the setting, but the artist is clearly probing the deeper waters of humanity’s interaction - and interruption - of the delicate cycles of underwater life.

A

n avid scuba diver as well as an artist (Jason received a degree in sculpture and ceramics from the Camberwell College of Art Institute in London), London-based Taylor brings a global perspective to his work, having lived in Europe and Asia, the son of an English father and Guyanese mother.

Identified as an “eco-sculptor”, his website explains: “Taylor’s sculptures change over time with the effects of their environment.

These factors create a living aspect to the works, which would be impossible to reproduce artificially. As time passes and the works develop biological growth, they redefine the underwater landscape, evolving within the narrative of nature.”

In 2006, he created the world’s first public underwater sculpture park in Molinere Bay, Grenada in the West Indies, commissioned in 2006. More recently he has been constructing the world’s largest underwater sculpture museum called MUSA, Museo Subacuático de Arte, off the coast of Cancun, Mexico and the coast of Isla Mujeres.

Called The Silent Evolution, the exhibit features some 400 life-size figures submerged in shallow waters to make them at least somewhat accessible by scuba or glass bottom boat, although the work will

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mostly be viewed by the public through press reports and the ceaseless documentation he oversees. Taylor is a busy guy.

Intending to draw attention to endangered coral reefs, he has in effect created alternate coral reefs with his sculptures (they have been planted or embedded with coral encouraging tourism to these sites, which in turn demand proper care). A merger of art and science, the sculptures are composed of an especially durable cement mixed with re-bar, reinforced steel bars.

“I am working with scientists on propagating coral, where you take one species and use ‘cuttings’ like you would with a plant to increase overall biomass of the reef.” Taylor remarks on “Environ-

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mental Graffiti” (2010), a conservationist website. Thus, as a result of this deliberate propagation technique, his works evolve dramatically over time which is an important element of his vision.

Corresponding via email from London, Jason deCaires Taylor did a brief Q & A with Venü Magazine: You have received copious attention in the popular media. How do you feel about what has been written about your work, ie., do they “get it”?

Generally most people seem to see relationship between humans connection to nature and understand the conservational element behind to the work. However, I quite often find myself being referenced to historical clichés of Atlantis, lost cities and the confusion of future of archeologists, which can get repetitive and defer from the actual individual content of the work. As an artist opening myself up to public debate was one of the hardest challenges I initially faced .

How would you like to be perceived by the more critical art world? Where do you fit in?

Eco Art, Earthworks movement

I’ve seen photos of your underwater sculptures growing what appears to be algae & other plant life, which seems both beautiful and funny. How important is humor in your work?

Humor for me is a fundamental part of life and I try to reflect this as much as possible in the works. The underwater world for some people can have dark connotations and evoke images of drowning, sharks, loneliness etcetera. Humor can sometimes be a useful tool to dispel some of these notions whilst undermining our self-perceived importance in the grand scheme of things. I think it makes the underwater world more inviting to explore.

Do you consider yourself an activist as well as artist? Do you think artists should be engaged with pressing issues?

Yes, I believe artists have a valuable role to play in environmental awareness. Scientists and politicians can explain the facts but artists 64

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are able to engage people on many different levels and convey ideas or concepts which are quite abstract in nature.

Currently the problems we are facing with climate change are also so global and require such united change that artists can have the ability to transcend language barriers and simplify some very complex arguments.

In the future, do you think you will continue with underwater work or pursue other types of land-based or environmental projects, or even look to be shown in a traditional museum?

I am very much driven by exploration and new challenges. At the moment I still have some ideas that I am looking to develop underwater and almost everyday the complexity of nature pushes me in a different direction. However making large-scale underwa-

The underwater world for some people can have dark connotations and evoke images of drowning, sharks, loneliness etc. Humor can sometimes be a useful tool to dispel some of these notions whilst undermining our self-perceived importance in the grand scheme of things.

ter installations is very physically challenging, and after making 420 pieces in the last two years I am looking to scale down a little. Currently I am devising some pieces with live corals for glass tanks that can be shown in a Museum or public space. I also invest a huge amount of effort to the photographic/video side of my practice, so much so I would almost say it almost become as important as the work itself. In the future I would like to work more on the representational side.

Can you describe your current project (in Cancun) and what the current challenges are?

The idea in Cancun is to develop an underwater Museum that firstly creates a large-scale artificial reef, but also diverts the 750,000 annual visitors to the marine park away from natural reefs allowing them

space to rejuvenate. It also aims to create a rich cultural attraction and platform for social change in a largely commercial area. The greatest challenge here is the weather, besides being incredibly hot it is also situated on the hurricane belt, which means every piece has to be engineered to face a category 4 hurricane. And, as I cannot use metals (for corrosion/environmental reasons) it makes it an incredibly difficult site to install and secure the work. Once in the ocean you lose around a third of the weight of the piece which means you have to add extra weight in the construction phase. This in turn makes land based logistics very difficult and expensive.

What is one of your favorite pieces and why?

The Lost Correspondent, with many site-specific pieces you never quite know how it is going to look after installation, however after 10 seconds of placing this piece, it looked like it has been there forever and just “worked”.

You wrote that you and your partner are about to have a child (or have already) - how do you feel about the world - environmentally or other wise - that this child will inherit?

That is a good question and often runs though my mind and depending on how I am feeling ranges from hope to despair.

(Quite often reflected in my work, from the negative outlook of Inheritance to the more positive stance of Gardener of hope).

Sometimes I feel in the minuscule time I have lived on this planet it has changed dramatically, and natural sights I once saw when I was young, she will not. But on the other hand I also see how much attitudes have changed, how environmental conscious young people are and how public will and consensus can affect dramatic change. However, this balanced with rising populations and based on the current economic model of growth, the future can look extremely bleak.

I think instead of telling my daughter stories of Jack and the Beanstalk, I am going to invent a tale whereby a brilliant chemist invents a drug that can be added to the public water supply and suppresses human’s inherent desire to repopulate, consume and conquer.

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motoring

raging bull

by Lorenz Josef

F

or almost 50 years, Lamborghini has built some of the fastest sports cars in the world and if Hemmingway were alive today he would be a Lamborghini man!

One could easily argue that, to one degree or another, Lamborghinis are symbolic of all three sports of which Papa Hemmingway thought so highly. First, Lamborghinis wear a badge depicting the raging bull (more on that later). Second, although they are not Formula 1 competitors, Lamborghini’s automotive engineering is clearly race derived technology.

Finally, Lamborghini stands on the peak of sports car development.

Last fall, Paul Dumont from Manhattan Motorcars in NYC displayed several of the latest models from Lamborghini at the prestigious Westchester Concorso 66

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d’Eleganza in Tuckahoe, NY. What really intrigued me was a radical new model with an exotic sounding name, Aventador. After Paul taught me how to pronounce the name, he mentioned that it is named for a very famous and courageous bull, carrying on a naming tradition which goes back to the founding of Lamborghini in 1963.

It was that year when Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to build his own car in Sant’Agata Bolognese in northern Italy. Mr. Lamborghini had become very successful in Italy’s post-war economic revival by building farm tractors.

At that point in his mid-40s, Lamborghini reaped the fruits of his success and drove Italian cars from Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari, as well as other sports cars, such as Jaguars and

Mercedes. He liked Ferraris but, over time, became aggravated by his Ferrari’s temperamental ways and rough, race car like manners. He thought he could build a better mousetrap.

While he gathered some great engineers to help him with his project, he also thought about what symbol would be most representative of his new automobile. After all, Italian sports car manufacturers had for many decades used strong symbols to speak for their brands. Even then in the early 1960s, after only 15 years in business, Ferrari’s rampant horse logo was one of the most recognized icons in the world!

It immediately conveyed the image that it was very fast!

I don’t doubt that Ferruccio wanted a symbol which would not only be recog-

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."

– Ernest Hemingway nized around the world, but one which conveyed that his new car was powerful and tough as well. Having been born under the astrological sign of Taurus, the bull, it is no stretch to believe that Mr. Lamborghini quickly found the answer to his question about what to badge his cars... the Raging Bull!

When the Westchester Concorso attendees first saw this latest Raging Bull, the new Aventador, they were very impressed. Everyone we spoke to was particularly taken by its extremely aggressive styling. However, we all wondered if it could really deliver on the performance its styling implied.

The good news is that Paul Dumont recently invited us to Manhattan Motorcars’ showroom on 11th Ave (28th Street) in New York to take a closer look at this

latest in a long line of Lamborghinis.

As we walked around the Aventador in the showroom I was amazed at how long, wide and low (less than 45 inches high!!) this car is. Further, the flat black paint job and massive black 19” front and 20” rear alloy wheel rims made the car look even more sinister. The window sticker was equally amazing, reflecting a base price of $379,700 including gas guzzler tax, although with options and Lamborghini’s personalization program, “Ad Personam”, the final price can go much higher.

Upon closer examination, unlike other exotic cars we’ve studied, we noticed that there is not a round corner anywhere to be found on the body. Every single body panel is cut on an angle reminding us of a Cubist painting. Further, even

minor details mimic these sharp angles, including the front air intakes, headlights, taillights, side view mirrors, rear exhaust outlet, door handles, windshield wipers and even the gas filler door! As I stooped down in the showroom to see the front spoiler more clearly, I was struck as to how much this car reminded me of a Great White Shark on the attack!

This particular car also had the optional see through glass engine cover featuring 3 blades of glass... all cut on an angle. This feature allows the beautiful engine to be constantly on display.

Incidentally, the full name of this model is the Aventador LP 700-4 where the LP stands for the Italian words, “Longitudinale Posteriore” indicating that its engine is placed lengthwise and at the rear of the car (actually mid-engined). Further, CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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motoring

the 700 represents the horsepower of this all new 6.5 liter displacement, V-12 engine and the 4 indicates it has 4 wheel drive.

After my initial walk around of the Aventador, Paul introduced me to their Lamborghini Product Specialist, Jaclyn Johnston. Jaclyn is a wealth of knowledge having just participated in a factory training course on the new car. She was very animated as she described the highlight of her training where she experienced driving the new car on a private racetrack near Las Vegas. Jaclyn described how the car was very well balanced in the curves and demonstrated spectacular acceleration on the straights, “2.85 seconds from

0 to 60 mph”, she emphasized! When I asked about top speed, Jaclyn quoted the official speed of 217 mph, but then she said “I think it will do 220!”

I wondered out loud how such spectacular performance was possible and was quickly educated. First, the new engine delivers the highest horsepower and torque ever produced by Lamborghini and yet weighs only 517 pounds. Incidentally, it has 20% better fuel economy and 20% lower emissions than its predecessor.

Second, the Aventador has a unique carbon fiber monocoque body structure including aluminum front and rear chassis sub-frames resulting in a much lighter

(therefore quicker) and extremely rigid (providing better handling) platform on which the rest of the body panels of aluminum, composite and carbon fiber are affixed. To control quality, the main carbon fiber structure is handmade by Lamborghini in-house. The proprietary process combines different layers and weaves of carbon fiber cloth which are molded and impregnated with a resin and then baked at very high temperature to yield the fortress-like central tub.

Next, the Aventador has a race car proven suspension. The central feature is the Formula 1 style, push rod technology where the springs and shocks are mounted horizontally and away from the wheels in CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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The all leather interior was very comfortable and the fit and finish of this street-legal race car was downright luxurious in keeping with Mr. Lamborghini’s original vision to offer every client a civilized driving experience. a big departure from normal street cars.

The goal here is to reduce unsprung weight which directly improves handling. Weight saving was also the goal by using carbon-ceramic brake rotors (50% lighter than traditional iron rotors) with the additional important benefit of being able to reign in this 200+ mile per hour raging bull.

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Another key contributor to the Aventador’s acceleration is the unique, fastshifting, seven speed ISR or Independent Shifting Rods gearbox. It can be driven in automatic or manual mode by squeezing the shift paddles located on the right and left side of the steering wheel. Incidentally, the paddles also mimic the angular styling of the exterior! There are 3 different

driving modes which govern the engine, transmission and other driving dynamics: Strada (Street), Sport and Corsa (Race). In the latter mode, gear shift times are an incredible 50 milliseconds, which is 75% quicker than the previous Lamborghini.

Well, by now I was very much up to speed knowledge wise and ready to experience this car from the seat of my pants. Whoa!! Not so fast!! I quickly detected a change of plans was in the air.

Apparently, since I made my appointment the week before, the dealership had sold the vehicle and therefore, no one was allowed to take it on the road!

“What about driving another car” I instinctively said? Unfortunately, I was told that this was the only one in the dealership. I found out that it takes a full 60 days for the factory to build an Aventador from start to finish. Although not a limited production car (about 4,000 units will be built over time), there is already a 15 to 18 month waiting period.

My consolation prize? I was invited to sit in the car and start it. First I opened the iconic knife-edged Lamborghini doors.

However, these are different from the way previous Lamborghini doors work in that as they tilt forward, they also angle outward a bit. Next I spied the very low,

motoring

form-fitting leather seats and almost excused myself from the opportunity to get in due to my bad back. Luckily I decided to proceed, sat on the edge of the door sill, slid backwards into the seat and easily rotated my legs into the cockpit.

Once inside, I was amazed that the Aventador was so roomy. Outward visibility was actually excellent looking forward and to the sides. Rear visibility is admittedly limited, but still much better than I had imagined. The all leather interior was very comfortable and the fit and finish of this street-legal race car was downright luxurious in keeping with Mr. Lamborghini’s original vision to offer every client a civilized driving experience.

Next I received an orientation of the myriad of switches and controls. Every-

thing was within easy reach and logically laid out. Then I was directed to start the car. First I had to raise a small hexagonal shaped red lid in the center of the console which conceals the Start/Stop button. It reminded me of those old war movies where the pilot flips up a red cover and then presses the button to unleash the bombs. I pressed the Aventador’s start button and the engine awoke like a bomb!

After a few seconds the engine settled into a nice idle speed. That’s when I noticed the TFT-LCD dashboard which had come into view. Everything you can imagine is legibly projected onto the dash in beautiful and colorful graphic form like that of a modern aircraft. The central gauge is a large

round analog dial displaying the engine revolutions. The needle on the dial instantly responded to my slightest throttle input and rose and fell as if it were an actual old style tachometer.

A push of a button switches the main display to the Speedometer. I gave the gas pedal a few more kicks to hear the engine growl and then reluctantly pressed the start/stop button to kill the engine before I smogged up my hosts’ showroom... sadly my bull ride was over.

I think Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s President and CEO, summed it up best when he said, “The Aventador is a jump of two generations in terms of design and technology...” We completely agree!

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Boating

The Ferretti Yacht 720 Evolution meets Classic Ferretti Style

The Ferretti 720 provides the Ferretti Yachts range with a model that harmoniously combines Ferretti DNA with revolutionary features, both in her lines and the design of space.

Writer Jessica Cortada

Ferretti Yachts, an icon of Italian-made luxury and a historic branch of the Ferretti Group brand, presents the new Ferretti 720. This revolutionary model encompasses all of the classic Ferretti Yacht style and attention to detail, while increasing the size of its spacious interiors and adding sleeker and sportier design elements.

The new 720 was debuted at the 52nd Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, the largest boat show in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world, and prior to its U.S. debut received the prestigious honor of World Yacht Trophy in the Cannes boat show for best layout in the Fly Bridge category under 77 feet.

The Ferretti 720 is an evolution of the Ferretti Yachts range, resulting from innovative concepts developed with the Ferretti 800, creating a balance mixed between the classicalcontemporary style, typical of the brand and a modern taste of interiors, altogether with a striking exterior design.

“This project was also developed through our ability to further satisfy our clients’ demands, even the younger, international ones, who like the characteristics of Ferretti Yachts models, but are attracted by increasingly sportier, racy lines, too,” commented Alessandro Tirelli, Ferretti Yachts Brand Manager.

The 72 foot craft comes with a multitude of upgraded innovations, resulting from an innovative collaboration between the Studio Zuccon International Project, the AYT - Advanced Yacht Technology, the naval reproach and design center for the group, and the team of architects and designers of the Centro Stile Ferrettigroup. The new model features a winning and sleeker exterior line, a new concept roll bar with an integrated bimini

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top, and is characterized by an innovative design which makes this yacht particularly sportier. Large hull windows positioned so they light up the guest and VIP cabins at bow have been added to the open views fitted in the hull. The cockpit is a true outdoor salon, with teak flooring, and a large table with a bench and seating for 8-10 guests.

The fly bridge is reached using the stairs set on the portside, where a large dining area with U-shaped table is located, as well as a grill area and fridge. The davit enables ownersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to house the tender for which a special space has been reserved on the fly bridge, while a jet ski can be housed on the stern spoiler. The raised external steering position guarantees excellent visibility and is located starboard at bow along with another large sundeck.

Inside, the Ferretti 720 features generous spaces, further enlarged by the natural light which filters in through her large windows. Excellent livability characterizes the large salon, which uses the width of the hull, to offer an environment typically found in much larger yachts. The interior of the salon has been organized into living and dining areas. In true Ferretti style, the feeling of openness and close proximity to the ocean can

be felt through the entire salon. The living area accents the open air feeling produced by its large windows and features a refreshing natural color scheme with light colored leathers seen through seating spaces in the salon and cabinet accents.

Towards the bow, a dining area is located with a large custommade crystal table produced by Cantori, which features a CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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Boating

central base and an Omnidécor crystal glass top with a stained bronze-finish top. The lunch area is completed with Martha G model seats produced by O&G-Gruppo Calligaris, featuring a steel structure. Materials with a contemporary taste, such as lacquered elements alternated with leather and grey oak wood blend together to make this area warm, refined and welcoming.

Full and minimalist style spaces alternate elegantly, resulting in a well-balanced, lightweight appearance. The comfortable and uniquely designed low residing pieces of furniture are highly functional and allow ample views of the ocean. The salon wall towards the bow incorporates a beautiful designed collage and illusion of different materials, including oak wood and stained bronzed mirror, which also provides an innovative option to fit a sliding door to separate this area from the others on the main deck.

Continuing along the salon, an easily accessible, yet intricately designed access area leads to the galley and helm station.

A spacious, lacquered white, fully-equipped galley with Corian designed work top is an added feature to this functionally styled galley, which connects the helm station by means of a sliding door. The galley area also includes a charming and comfortable dinette with two small sofas that can be used as a common talking area, in direct connection with the helm station.

The innovative craft’s steering position is located portside and enjoys excellent visibility thanks to continuous side and bow glazing. On the portside, a door opens onto the exterior, so 74

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the crew can access the galley-pilot area without having to walk through the salon, guaranteeing maximum privacy to guests.

The stairs for accessing the area below deck are located on the starboard side.

Encompassed in the lower deck, which is traditionally reserved as sleeping quarters, volume and heights enhance a guest’s comfort and overall experience. The master suite is located full beam in the center of the yacht. Lit by means of large open view windows, it has been fitted with sleek furniture, and the bed is oriented in the cruising direction. The large head, located to the port of the stateroom, utilizes the entire length of the cabin, and is accessed through a sliding door. It houses

a leading feature of this area: a large shower with crystal walls.

A spacious walk-in closet unit with a built-in TV completes the furnishings.

A wealth of materials and natural shade also mark the distinct areas of the master cabin, featuring lacquered details alternated with wall paneling on the bed trim and head board, and a centered mirror. Two stained silver twin model Penta Light wall units complete the refined atmosphere of this environment.

Toward the bow, there are two comfortable twin-bed cabins, both encompassing en-suite heads and a large shower. The VIP cabin, located completely at the bow of the ship, is also equipped with a large head and separate shower. A system of sliding beds on tracks, or a queen size bed, can also be added to the portside guest cabin.

Ferretti Yachts pays great attention to the crew, as well. The crew area, accessed using the stairs located to the left of the cockpit, is completely separate from the owner and guest areas and is located astern on the lower deck. The utility room, equipped as a laundry area, allows for direct access to the engine room, two cabins and the head.

All décor and color palettes located below deck converge to create a coherent atmosphere throughout all the different areas of the yacht. Grey colored oak was chosen for all the furniture, in a lighter shade than the wood itself, in order to create a refined, modern atmosphere in which the style details mark the different areas. Natural colors are used throughout the interiors including the furniture accents, window frames, wall paneling, fabrics for the sofa, crystal for the table, and the sliding wall, which isolates the salon from the bow area.

The Ferretti 720 stands out for her ease of handling thanks to the innovative ZF SteerCommand system created in collaboration for Ferretti, developed by ZF Marine, a leading company in the production of marine propulsion systems. This system, supplied as standard on this new model, features independent steering and differentiated variable assistance turning which makes it possible to half the turning diameter and control reactivity, leading to a runabout experience which was previously unthinkable on a 72 footer, while still guaranteeing the very highest levels of handling, control and safety at any speed.

Ease of steering is completed through ZF’s innovative Joystick Maneuvering System (JMS), which can be fitted on request. The JMS electronically controls engines, inverters and

bow thrusters and makes it possible to move the yacht in any direction using the joystick. Approaching a wharf, 360° rotation on the spot and other maneuvers, which are complemented with the traditional control levers, become simple operations because the JMS electronic system divides the acceleration of the engines and enables gentle insertion of the transmissions.

Thanks to the ZF Joystick Maneuvering System (JMS), even on yachts with direct shaft line engines, there is an automated system for facilitating maneuvers in craft of all sizes. The system is, in fact, equipped with a control unit which reveals the effective direction of the bow of the yacht, comparing it with the direction requested by the captain who is using the joystick. The action of the engines and directional propellers are applied in the best way possible for each and every maneuver.

Ferretti 720 is fitted with twin 1381hp MTU 10V 2000 M 92 engines or, as optional 1524hp MTU 10V 2000 M 93 engine.

With the larger engine, the yacht can reach a top speed of 33.5 knots and a cruise speed of 30.

Ferretti Group of America (954) 462-5527 Ferrettigroupofamerica.com Ferretti-yachts.com CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE

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MUSIC

The Zambonis In a basement that could double as a pop-culture Play To Win museum (complete with arcade-style video games, a vintage jukebox, classic hockey items, pinball machines and curious antique musical instruments including three or four Hammond hockey organs), The Zambonis doggedly rehearse for an upcoming performance.

After a few tries, the band nails a challenging three-part harmony for their new original song, “Captain.”

written by Simon Lavis

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Y

ou’d think a band that only writes and performs songs about hockey would be more, uh, slap-dash in their approach, but founding member Dave Schneider proudly states the opposite. “We write songs only about hockey. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be really great songs only about hockey.”

And, great they are. “Captain,” just one of the 15 new songs on the band’s imminent new album, Five-Minute Major (In D Minor), is a tuneful, melodic toetapping sing-along. Other tracks on the band’s sixth full-length collection span a

range of musical styles all woven together with a common theme.

“I’m A Puck” (and its comic animated YouTube video) is a snappy skiffle tune featuring masterful reverb-drenched guitar parts. “Fight On The Ice” and “Power Play” are driving, amped-up rockers, while “I Got A Concussion (When I Fell For You)” sounds like a rave-up from 1966. The disc even features a surf-rock version of the Hartford Whalers’ theme song, “Brass Bonanza” (is that a sitar in the mix? For the record, yes).

Relaxing after rehearsal, Schneider admits his band “is a bit niche-y,” but fans of both music and hockey seem to enjoy the mix of sticks, pucks and guitars, as evidenced by nearly 2,000 followers on the band’s Facebook page.

“We say it all the time, but we’re the only band whose two biggest influences are The Beatles and Wayne Gretzky,” added Schneider. So, how in the world did The Zambonis start? (imagine here the screen blurs as the flashback sequence begins)…

It all began 20 years ago during a trip to the UK, where Schneider and original Zambonis, Peter and Tarquin Katis, wrote their first hockey song, the appropriately titled, “Away Game,” which came out on what they believed was just a one-off 7-inch single. “We got a ton of attention for the single…and even ended up with a ton of college radio airplay—without really trying. So, we decided to make a full-length album of hockey songs,” explains Schneider, who, naturally, has

also been the on-ice MC for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers hockey team for the past 11 years.

The band’s hockey-rock odyssey has taken them far and wide, “as well as some places I never knew existed,” injected Scheider. “Our theory is: Take the adventure. Which means, if someone asks you to perform at their on-ice wedding, a tractor-pull at Madison Square Garden, at a punk rock club in Latvia, or at the NHL All-Star Game, you do embrace the adventure and go for it,” he added.

When pinned down to name a truly odd adventure, Schneider takes a moment to ponder the bizarre twists of his band’s past. Finally, he shrieks, “I’ve got one! “So, we were calling ourselves The Zambonis for the first few years… until we received a cease-and-desist letter from The Frank J. Zamboni Company. The word ‘Zamboni’ is like Xerox, Kleenex and Google—brand names that have entered the language. But, you forget somebody owns that trademark, which The Zamboni Company protects as much as it can. So, we thought about it, and, instead of hiring a lawyer and trying to fight ‘em, we sat down and wrote a letter that said, ‘Please don’t make us change our band name to The Motorized Ice-Resurfacing Machines!’

They laughed at that and we ended up striking a licensing deal that allows us to use the name. I’m not sure, but I think we’re the only performers who are licensed to use a brand for its band name,” explained Schneider.

What Schneider fails to mention is the song “Hockey Monkey” became a semi-hit a few years back, spawning a Viacom-produced video that aired on Nickelodeon, topping Sirius radio playlists while nudging aside bands like Pearl Jam, The White Stripes and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and becoming the theme song for the Fox Television sitcom, The Loop, which aired for two seasons. He’s also coy about the band’s appearances in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal (the front page, no less), Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine as well as TV feature stories on CNN and ESPN. “Yeah, those were cool, I guess,” he understated.

Not only because of their name, but The Zambonis hold another unique place in the musical universe.

How many other bands have their own genre on Apple’s iTunes? Punch up The Zambonis, and you’ll see them

listed under the genre, “Hockey Rock.”

“Yeah, hockey and rock is an interesting combo,” admits Schneider, “It’s a cool yet fun mix…like a labradoodle,” he added, laughing.

“But, somehow, we make it work,” Schneider continued. “Hockey fans like us for the insider sports references and music fans like the style and the sounds.

Take our song, ‘Andy Moog Meets Robert Moog.’ Not a lot of people understand both sides of that title—but all of those people really appreciate where we’re coming from.” [Officially, for those scratching their heads, Andy Moog was a goalie for the Edmonton Oilers and Robert Moog is renowned for his eponymous synthesizer. Okay?]

Drummer Mat Orefice added, “If you only hear about our band, you might think, ‘Wow, that sounds like a shark sandwich’…but then you see us or listen to us and it’s much less egregious than you imagined.”

Many have jumped on The Zambonis’ ice-resurfacing bandwagon. Including some familiar names. Their press kit lists glowing quotes—everyone from Jonathan Richman and Ben Kweller to hockey legend Bobby Orr declaring them “wacky singing hockey nuts.” But the praise doesn’t stop there.

NBC Sports hockey host Bill Patrick is a big Zambonis fan. When reached, he commented, “I know they don’t have a lot of competition, but The Zambonis combine music and hockey with great finesse--like a perfect tape-to-tape pass

from Malkin to Crosby. Sidney Crosby, that is—not Bing. That would be stupid, and they are not stupid.”

The band Guster, who tapped The Zambonis to open for a recent Midwest tour, are also fans. Connecticut native Brian Rosenworcel, Guster’s drummer/percussionist, boldly proclaimed, “There’s simply no better hockey band than the Zambonis. Period.”

Speaking of fame, original Zamboni Peter Katis (also part of the phenomenal Philistines, Jr.) has become the “mainstream indie” producer du jour. From his local studio, Katis has worked with such acclaimed acts as The National, Interpol, Mates Of State, Frightened Rabbit, and, most recently, Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio. “The Zambonis were a little side project that took off in a very weird, organic way. The bottom line is they write great songs, they just happen to be about hockey,” commented Katis.

Other Zambonis include Jon Aley (who spent time in popular Fairfield County band Those Melvins with drummer Mat Orefice), bassist Tom Andrukevich, guitar whiz Cary Pollick and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Fogel.

With The Zambonis celebrating their 20th anniversary, look for a (Theo) flurry of activity in the coming months, visit www.bgcg.org for details.

Find the band online at TheZambonis.com Facebook.com/thezambonis Twitter: @TheZambonis

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ART

Annie's Soda Fountain, by Ann Chernow

Five-Part All-Female Exhibition

by Laura G. Einstein

In March 2012 Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, Connecticut, will hold a five-part all-female exhibition in celebration of Women’s History Month. The featured artists are Constance Kiermaier, Stephanie Joyce, Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong, Marilyn Richeda, and Ann Chernow. Executive Director, Leslee Asch states, “In honor of Women’s History Month, and our ongoing 90th birthday celebration, we are delighted to feature five extraordinarily talented women artists. Their ability to engage us in their unique vision of the world around us provides a compelling commonality to otherwise diverse work.”

Constance Kiermaier will exhibit Obsolete Elegance – A Tribute to JWK. This

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mixed-media exhibition includes prints, collages and constructions, each with a necktie included in homage to her late husband, Jack. Kiermaier looks at the loss of her husband through the assemblage of ties, a symbol for Jack of what it meant to be a gentleman at that time. Kiermaier uses phrases from Jack as titles for her works. They were found within the letters Jack wrote to her throughout their lifetime together. Phrases such as “As I have said, life is uneven,” “I was glad to come and glad to leave,” “Revere your personal freedom,” “I need a forum,” are all parts of Jack’s repertoire. Constance will also include a black tie and a white tie with the saying, “Nothing is ever black and white.” She states, “If you stick to one idea, you can become

enormously creative. For me, right now, that one thing is my ties. The more rigid the plan, the more creative...”

Constance received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Yale University’s School of Fine Arts, moving to New Haven from her farm in Hanover County, Virginia.

She recounts that her future husband was a student at Yale Law School when they met and that he knew early on the kind of life that they would lead together. He was very supportive of her life as an artist and she sports a wistful expression when she speaks of life with Jack.

Fellow exhibitor Stephanie Joyce was a student of Kiermaier who says, “Stephanie was the only person that I have met here

These five artists celebrate Women’s History Month.

At first, these individual artists seemed to have little to connect them together. Upon further reflection, the unifying aspects of each artist and their unique styles together create compelling exhibitions.

These exhibitions, spread throughout the galleries of Silvermine Arts Center, pay homage to this important historic month.

who grew up in the same Hanover County, Virginia, that I did. We often reminisced about our farms in Virginia.”

In her exhibition titled, Unfolding Stephanie Joyce looks at her own spiritual journey through sacred symbols and texts in painting, sculpture, and prints. Artist April Gornik states, “Stephanie Joyce’s work concerns itself with universal and archetypal themes, but what may be the most intimately universal human aspect is touch. Her work, in all mediums that I’ve seen her explore, has her impressive hand at its core, rendered with a surety and grace that reaches the individual as well as toward the archetypal.” Stephanie was a student at Parsons earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Following studies in Paris she explored the field of fashion styling and later worked as a designer and colorist.

A painter and printmaker, Stephanie grew up amid the natural beauty of the Little River in Virginia. She was influenced by her artist mother and her father’s love of nature developing a deep appreciation for the natural world and its quiet splendor.

Joyce credits Constance Kiermaier for introducing her to poetry and the uses of

poetry in art. Stephanie also got to know Constance’s son, Lock who shares with her a love of the poetry of Rumi, the renowned 13th century Persian mystic and poet. Joyce’s works, with titles such as Meditation #1, #2, #3 and so on, exemplify in her use of monotype, oil painting, graphite drawing and sculpture “the flow of life.” Joyce lives on the Rippowam River in New Canaan and incorporates Near Eastern mysticism and water ceremonies as part of her work.

Found objects such as snake skins, hornets’ nests and feathers in her monotypes allow her to enrich the textures of her work. In her sculptures, they create a sense that nothing in nature escapes her observations. Her twelve-part grid of oil paintings in the Meditation series incorporate meadow grasses along with ancient symbols from different cultures. These include the ancient Chinese character for life, mantra text from Buddhist meditation rituals, and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

For the first time, Joyce will exhibit a bronze sculpture that she cast in Silvermine’s foundry. This piece, Goddess of Wisdom, is named after her daughter Sophia. The bronze

is extraordinary as a first work in bronze.

It was made using the cire perdue process.

Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong examines issues relating to feminism in the past, present and future delving into the causes of gender-based violence and gender inequality in her signature porcelain sculptures and ceramic installations. Her exhibition is aptly entitled, I Am She. Her works of art, however, stand on their own, regardless of what the written or historical references are.

Five installations, five sculptures on pedestals, and two works on paper will be included in this exhibition.

Soul Sister is an elegant unglazed white sinuous porcelain torso of a woman. Her body is inscribed in graphite with phrases taken from the letters of Armstrong’s penpal Anga from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sophia Gevas, Director of Sacred Heart University’s Gallery of Contemporary Art, observes, “Jocelyn’s works skillfully bridge the sometimes delineated space between craft and fine art. Armstrong has a well-developed and playful sense of delicate spatial relationships. Her femaleinspired forms are joyful and sensuous, and

Unfair Trade, 2011, by Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong

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Travel ART

Untitled, by Constance Kiermaier

often indicate a sense of the powerful, in direct opposition to the fragility of the material.” Perhaps Armstrong’s nearly twenty years as a freelance fashion stylist/editor in Manhattan influence the elegant reach of her female figures, as a fashion drawing similarly depicts slender and elegantly elongated torsos.

Armstrong’s process in creating these porcelain sculptures involves cutting and fitting thrown pieces of clay together with slip and building them up using a process she has developed over a number of years. She works the moist porcelain clay, in a deconstructive and constructive manner. Forms are thrown, cut apart, altered and reassembled. Black slip is used to join the pieces together. Armstrong scores the black slip to create a stitched effect giving an impression of delicate line draw-

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ings on the surface of the porcelain figure.

The surface is then sponged, dried and then sanded to enhance the “stitched effect” that comes through from the black slip that was used to join the pieces.

Armstrong fires these unglazed pieces in her own electric kiln in one long and slow high firing of up to cone six that can last up to twelve hours. The slow single firing process reduces the stress on the clay, and allows the silica in the porcelain to melt and fuse together creating a nonporous surface.

Armstrong states that it is easier to form and balance the tall figurines than it is to balance her reclining figures.

Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong’s Unfair Trade looks at women’s issues in India such as the practice of dowries, and the horrific practice of bride burning that might occur

if the woman’s dowry is insufficient. She considers, through the process of ceramic sculpture, the patriarchal nature of Indian society and the custom of dowry that is fueled by consumerism.

Unfair Trade is a hybrid piece comprised of a black hand-built kneeling raku figure that is placed on top of readymade pieces of bisqueware (low-fired unglazed ceramic) in the forms of cell phones, cars and a treasure box that, to Armstrong, symbolize consumerism. Raku is a Japanese tradition from the 16th century developed by Raku Sonyu (16641716) and was used in tea ceremonies. Armstrong continues to build this assemblage by throwing new forms, and then deconstructing and building them up in her signature fashion. She uses sculpting tools and her fingers to scrape and carve the bodies. The

figures are hollow with one figure balancing precariously on top of the readymades. Other black clay female figures are suspended from the ceiling as they hover above this heap of goods. This assemblage of raku and readymade pieces sit on top of a circle of ashes that have been saved from the raku firing process causing an aroma of smoke to emanate from it. The black color comes from the carbon that is trapped in the clay during the raku firing process.

Marilyn Richeda, in Whispered Warnings, makes sculptural ceramic works with red earthenware clay. These humanoid or animal-like figures seem at first to be whimsical manifestations of figures that could have been included in the children’s books like The Velveteen Rabbit or Goodnight Moon.

These pieces, however, are more totem-like than mere whimsical creatures. Richeda states, “This series combines human and animal parts that you might see in your dreams. As in dreams, some of the figures are grotesque, some scary, some simply humorous. They represent my feelings worked in clay. My animated figures are not defined as male or female. They tell open-ended stories through pose, expression and brightlycolored surfaces. In many ways, color is just as important as the narrative. Each piece explores feelings of isolation, fear, strength and bravery and honors those elements of life that will remain mysteries.”

Richeda’s works explore pattern and color, and she believes that color is the most important part of each piece. She has over eight hundred test tiles where she has experimented with color, texture, and wax resist, ensuring that there will be no surprises in the fired ceramic sculpture.

Each of her totem pieces are fashioned both in coil building and slab building. She hollows out the legs once she knows the piece will withstand the weight of the upper body, and she allows the piece to dry as she builds it up. Once dried, Richeda uses a white base glaze without any colorant or oxides in it - she adds the color to this base, having tested it prior to glazing. She fires the piece all together in one firing rather than sequencing firing and glazing processes. The pieces are fired in oxidation in a gas kiln at cone 05, allowing for a low-fired texture to develop on the surface of the pieces. Richeda states, “It took me ten to fifteen years to find my love - - matte glazes on clay.” She will paint one of the walls Moroccan Sky, a cinnamon spice color for her installation piece of six totems,

on a tiered platform, creating an assemblage of otherworldly figures. The overall impression of totems, birds, and animal-like figures create a compelling exhibition for Richeda.

In Annie’s Soda Fountain Ann Chernow presents her signature prints and drawings reflecting the human condition through film noir-based images found in movies from the l940s and l950s. Hollywood, at that time, made iconic movie stars such as Lana Turner who personified a certain feminine mystique even as she sipped an ice cream soda at Schwab’s Drugstore. The prints and drawings in this exhibition are bits of actual films, studio publicity shots, fan magazines, and other memorabilia of the Hollywood era. Chernow states, “In blending past and present images, I try to create a sense of déjà vu, or nostalgia, without the sentimentality often associated with specific film references. Depicting a universal gesture and establishing dramatic moments are primary.” Chernow also states, “Once experienced, a movie is never totally forgotten. Memories from films can be channels, metaphor, and private reverie through which an artist can address the human condition.”

Chernow was raised in New York City, where she experienced much of the New York Art world of the 1950s and 1960s. She draws and works on prints, drawings and paintings or a combination of these each and every day. She is a superb draughtsman, creating the nuance of line and turn of stroke to evoke a certain respect for the human form. It is the conveyance, through her chosen medium, of that sultry passing glance of her sophisticated female subjects, in shades and nuances of wet blacks to gray, and the use of a smoky screen that creates Chernow’s unique mystery. This glimpse into the smoky veneer of Hollywood cinematography, capturing the wantonness and wanting-ness of the 1950s and 1960s still resonates in contemporary society. Ann Chernow reflects on life and the poignancy of the human condition Hollywood style.

There is no better archivist of 1950s and 1960s life than Ann Chernow.

These five artists celebrate Women’s History Month. At first, these individual artists seemed to have little to connect them together. Upon further reflection, the unifying aspects of each artist and their unique styles together create compelling exhibitions.

These exhibitions, spread throughout the galleries of Silvermine Arts Center, pay homage to this important historic month.

Top: Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom, by Stephanie Joyce Bottom: Whispered Warnings, by Marilyn Richeda

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Decorative Arts

ON THE BLOCK

by Matthew Sturtevant

Heritage auctions (HA.com) until recently a regional auction house run from Dallas, Texas, and specializing in unusual markets made the grade last year with a total sales record for the company of more than $806 million in sales. By specializing in the uncommon items such as coins, fine wine, memorabilia (sports, music and entertainment) and decorative arts, they have set themselves apart and have shown that even in a down market there is a way up.

E

ven this year they continue with fine results. On January 4th they offered and sold a one-cent copper coin from the earliest days of the U.S. Mint in 1793 has sold for a record $1.38 million at a Heritage Auction in Florida. The news release said the coin is known as a “Chain Cent” because its chain of linking rings was supposed to represent the solidarity of the states. The design was changed to a wreath after some critics claimed it was symbolic of slavery. Only an estimated few hundred remain out in the market. It is very likely that this will be another record setting year for Heritage.

Among the highlights of Sotheby's March, 2012 Asia Week sales in New York is to be offered one of the most significant paintings

by Sayed Haider Raza ever to appear on the market, “Village With Church” dated 1958. The painting was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III from the landmark 1958-59 exhibition Trends in Contemporary Painting In India and remained in their historic collection until 1994. Village With Church represents the apex of Raza’s early period and is estimated to sell for $1.5/2.5 million.

The painting will be included in Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art on March, 19th, 2012 and will be on view beginning March 16th.

John D. Rockefeller III, the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller Jr., devoted his life to the promotion of Asian-American relations.

Along with his wife he made several visits to India, meeting numerous artists, businessmen and politicians, including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi.

Perhaps his most notable achievement was the establishment of the Asia Society in New York - an organization that continues today with the goal of bringing ‘the peoples of the United States and Asia closer together in their knowledge of each other and each other’s way of life.’ Central to this mission was promoting cultural exchange and addressing the lack of exhibitions of Asian art in the US.

A One Cent copper coin dated 1793 record price $1.38 million, Heritage Auctions

s age Auction tesy of Herit Images cour

“The bottom line is that service and value will always sell, and Heritage specializes in the very best of both,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. “Collectors respond to that. They know us and they know we understand them. The result has been a decade of tremendous growth.”

Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Batman: "The Dark Knight #3 Batman and Robin", Iconic Splash Page 10, Original Art (DC, 1986), $448,000, World Record, Heritage Auction

The Rockefeller Raza "Village With Church" dated 1958 estimated $1.5-2.5 million, Sotheby's

Images courtesy of Sotheby's

As a follow up to my last column, Chinese Contemporary is as hot as their antiques. The Huffington Post's art column reports the Chinese artist Zhang Daqian has unseated Picasso as the highest grossing artist in a 2011 fetching a whopping total of $506.7 million.

Close behind the best-seller was another Chinese artist, Qi Baishi. Warhol was third ($324.8 million) and Picasso ($311.6 million).

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COMIC RELIEF

Joan Rivers: A hilarious piece of work!

by Bari Alyse Rudin

When Joan Rivers took the stage at the Stamford Palace Theatre this past November, she was the tiniest, yet most commanding, presence this audience had ever seen.

The hilarious, razor sharp Ms. Rivers came out filled with energy and decked in fabulous clothing and jewels that are her unique look. She was as physically strong as a young twenty-something beginning their stand-up career. Comedically, of course, she is much stronger than almost any of them.

Had she not brought it up, her age would be the last thing you thought about as you never stopped laughing through her instructions of who she allows and wants in her audience and what her rules are for her audiences during the first chunk of her set.

She’s funny. Not because she’s famous and you’ve seen her on talk shows, red carpets and QVC but because she is standing up there as a comic and she is hilariously funny.

Joan’s pacing the stage and she is physically taking over the stage, a style that not all comedians employ at any age. Watching Joan Rivers, full of life, humor and energy and moving all over the stage, even acting out parts of her act laying down on the floor, you can’t help but ask what she eats, what kind of exercise she does, how many hours a night she sleeps and how can I do whatever she is doing to look that great and have that much energy now, yet alone at age 78.

The other thing that strikes you is how relevant and current Joan Rivers remains, making jokes about everything from reality TV and the Kardashians to Facebook and Twitter. She is hipper than your parents and hipper than many of you! You think, boy is Melissa lucky, and wish you were Melissa Rivers. Imagine having Joan Rivers as your mom. Hilarious, smart, quick, hip, relevant great taste and a fashionista. She is one very cool chica, the girlfriend you wish you had that you’d want to get your nails

done with and talk and laugh about parties, shopping, pop culture, people, the news and your families.

As is trademark for Joan Rivers, no topic was off limits. While she can be downright mean in her criticism and putdowns of celebrities and famous people, she turns that same microscope on herself in her selfdeprecating jokes , her marriage to Edgar, his suicide, her dating as a more mature woman, aging, money, etc… She breaks all barriers and no topic is off limits. That doing away with any boundaries is part of what I find so fantastic about Joan Rivers.

She does vulnerable, autobiographical, real-life comedy and she did it and more honestly before many others. There is no artifice. She’s talking about her life and her views and framing them funny for you, the art and skill of a brilliant comic and writer.

I couldn’t watch Joan without thinking of the first times I had seen Joan Rivers, doing stand-up on the Tonight Show and later hosting it and her own daytime talk show.

She is one of the pioneers of stand-up and, for women, one of the few and early role models along with Phyllis Diller who young women could say “Look, there is a female standup comic, people care what she has to say and she is funny and she is being given the platform to do and say what she thinks, I can do that.” It’s still hard for women in comedy today and the industry is still biased and not set up for us to succeed.

You watch her and think of all she endured and still kept coming back to be up there.

After five decades in show business, Joan Rivers has come to embody what surviving means personally and professionally from her repeated and well known days of the Tonight show to her difficulties getting the bookings, to her husband Edgar’s suicide, career highs and lows – she is still here and better than ever. Her second season of Joan and Melissa premieres tonight on E! as Venü goes to press. She is busy with her product lines and QVC, and she is all over the red carpet events for E! and she is fun and entertaining in all.

But if you have the opportunity to see Joan Rivers perform stand-up live, you need to take it. She is not up there as some famous comedians are just waiting for you to laugh or love her because she is a big name and you’ve seen her on TV. Joan Rivers is writing and telling topical jokes. Setting up jokes and knocking them down with cutting, original punchlines, using language that is concise and to the point and blunt and goes with the character she has perfected over fifty years on stage and in front of the camera. She is at the top of her game and a legend in comedy for a reason.

I left the Palace saying “I heart “Joan Rivers and feeling inspired to keep going on my personal standup journey, twentyone years in progress, because I want another four decades of making people laugh and think. Joan Rivers reminds a comic that yeah it’s tougher for women and for anyone older, but so what? Doesn’t mean you ever quit. Her work ethic and drive could be applied to anyone and anything in life. An evening with Joan Rivers is absolutely an evening to remember. And by the way, she walks three miles a day, even if it’s at the airport.

Bari Alyse Rudin is a standup comic, writer, and television writer and producer. You can follow her on Twitter @BariAlyse

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Shoshanna Bean performs “Defying Gravity” with BDF Students.

Stage

BDF Founder Annette Tanner and Paul Canaan.

Written by William Squier

Andrea McArdle and BDF Students Perform Songs From Annie.

Broadway Comes To Main Street

Training the Next Generation of Musical Theater Stars!

When actress Jessica Dillan was growing up in Marlborough, Connecticut, she and her parents often trekked into New York City to see Broadway musicals.

The experience had a profound effect on her as a little girl. “I used to make up shows in my basement,” Dillan recalls. “Cats was the one big musical that I wanted to do, because it was so dance heavy.”

Flash forward years later to when Dillan landed roles in the Broadway casts of Cats and Thoroughly Modern Millie and its no overstatement to describe it as a dream come true. She was especially thrilled to be in shows with actors that she’d admired as a wide-eyed youngster. “I remember being on the stage of the Marquis doing Millie and thinking that I’d been in that same theater watching Damn Yankees,” Dillan says.

“That never gets old!”

So when, as a veteran of “The Great White Way,” Dillan was offered the chance to mentor the next generation of musical theater performers, she jumped at it. “That’s where I learned the most,” she points out.

“Working with people I looked up to.”

The opportunity presented itself last summer when Dillan was asked to join the teaching staff of the Broadway Dreams Foun84

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dation (www.mybroadwaydreams.com), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping aspiring Elphabas and Billy Elliots to realize their career ambitions. To do so, Broadway Dreams partners with performing arts centers to bring experienced professionals into communities across the country to teach musical theater classes. As a result, students in Atlanta, Omaha and Philadelphia have known the excitement of being trained by people they’ve heard on their original cast recordings.

The teaching staff regularly includes actors like Tony Award winners Jarrod Emick (Damn Yankees) and Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) and equally starry names like Jodi Benson (Ariel in the Disney film The Little Mermaid), Stephanie J. Block (9 to 5), Gavin Creel (Hair), American Idol’s Diana DeGarmo, Andrea McArdle (the original Annie), Broadway’s current Porgy, Norm

Lewis, and James Kinney (Fosse), who also serves as the organization’s Artistic Director.

“We already had our first student, Blake Daniel, who was in the first replacement cast for Spring Awakening on Broadway, come back to teach,” says the organization’s Executive Director, Annette Tanner. And not only do the fledgling actors get to meet and learn from their theatrical idols but, best of all, they appear along side of them in the performances that end most of the training programs.

The Broadway Dreams Foundation began, somewhat informally, in 2004 when Annette Tanner, an Atlanta-based casting director, and finance executive Farah Chapes were asked by a pair of actor friends, Dave Barrus (Les Miserables) and Adam Hunter, for help organizing a series of theater classes.

Barrus and Hunter had had success teaching in Los Angeles and thought a similar pro-

Tony Award Winner Alice Ripley and Nicholas Rodriguez perform a Number from Next to Normal

Andrea McArdle and BDF Students Perform Songs From Annie.

gram would work well in Atlanta. It was such a hit that Tanner says that the four of them immediately recognized the potential for turning it into a commercial venture.

But, Tanner adds that they also realized early on that the training would be of greatest value to those who could least afford it, lower-income students. So, to make sure Broadway Dreams was accessible to everyone, she and her co-founders decided to turn it into a non-profit organization. “The kids that I really want to impact are those who have the most talent, regardless of whether or not they can afford the program,” she feels. “So, 38 to

40% of the students who attend our programming are on full or partial scholarship.”

Talent isn’t the only factor that determines who gets into Broadway Dreams’ programs. “What we look for is passion and a real desire to do this,” Tanner explains.

“A sense that this is going to be a life-changing experience. Some of those kids have been the most rewarding to work with.” The foundation’s classes aren’t limited to a particular age group. “If you can be in a Broadway show, you can be in this program,” says Tanner. “Last year, the youngest student that we had was 7 and the oldest was 67!”

What sets Broadway Dreams apart from other professional training programs is a focus on not only honing the acting, dancing and singing chops of their students, but an effort to also give them insight into the business side of their chosen profession. The foundation’s signature program is the weeklong summer intensive, which begins with an audition and ends with a musical performance before an audience. In between, the students are offered a varied menu of skill-sharpening classes, with emphasis placed on those that will help you land a role in a musical.

“They learn the business of presenting yourself as a commodity so they can walk into an audition and nail it,” Jessica Dillan says. “I taught a class on how to go in, do 16 bars in a cattle call and pick up a dance combination really quickly. When I was starting out, it would’ve been great to learn how to “fake it ‘til you make it.” Students also leave at the end of the week with a rewritten resume, new professional headshots and advice about the best songs to include in their audition repertoire.

At the same time, Tanner stresses that Broadway Dreams’ objective is to help its

students to set realistic goals. “When kids come into our program, I say to them, ‘Broadway is not the end result,” she explains. “Only 2% will actually go on to Broadway shows.

So, let’s figure out what it is that you love and all of the other things that you can do that will give you the same feeling. That will use your talents in a way that will fulfill you.”

Often the instructors are as uplifted by the training program as their protégés.

“They’re impacted by each other,” Tanner feels. As recent proof, she mentions Quentin Earl Darrington, an actor who made is Broadway debut in the coveted role of Coalhouse Walker, Jr., in the 2009 revival of Ragtime. “Last summer he gave up an acting job to come out and work with us,” she recalls. “His high school teacher (Paul Hughes, whom Darrington gave a shout-out to in his Playbill bio!) changed his life in such a positive way that he felt teaching was more important than performing. Every rehearsal with him was so incredibly inspirational!

Those kids left walking on cloud nine and they can’t wait to come back!”

“One year there was a young boy who’d had a pretty tough life,” Tanner continues. “He’d been abused. He’d run away from home a couple of times. And he was a self-taught dancer with no training whatsoever.” He auditioned successfully, was admitted to the program and, after a week together, one of the teachers decided to take him under her wing. “She said to me, ‘I don’t want it to be announced or to have a fuss made about it, but I am so inspired by him that I’m going to pay for him to take four dance classes a week for one year,” Tanner reveals.

“Find a studio close to where he lives. I’ll call them every month with my credit card to see how he’s progressed.”

A year later, the actress returned and sang “Defying Gravity” from the Broadway musical Wicked while her young protégé danced. “And he’s now out there doing what he loves,” Tanner reports. “He’s been completely changed by this!”

“Most people don’t live to their full potential because society tells us no,” Annette Tanner says, summing up why she and so many other theatre professionals devote so much of their time to the foundation. “At Broadway Dreams we believe in the exact opposite of that.”

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Fox on Film... and Entertainment

Left to Right: Elena Anaya as Vera and Antonio Banderas as Doctor Robert Ledgard.

Photo: Lucía Faraig/© El Deseo, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

"The Skin I Live In" Written & Directed by Pedro Almodvar

Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya and Marisa Paredas. A Sony Pictures Classics release. 117 Minutes.

“The end of this is obscenity.

Let’s really see their genitals, let’s really endanger the actor through stunts, let’s really set the building on fire. Over the course of a movie, it forces the filmmaker to get more and more bizarre. Over the course of a culture, it forces the culture to degenerate into depravity, which is what we have now.”

– David Mamet, 1991

The crime of theft of the soul of a human being has been covered in dozens of films; The Exorcist and Angel Heart come to mind as examples. In each one of those examples, it is the catharsis of the terrible deed that brings the audience face to face with the value of the journey of the protagonist. Charles Bukowski

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once wrote, “What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” Some make it out alive, renewed, reborn and redeemed, but others do not. The point is that the film is brought into existence to illuminate how either conclusion is reached. Its purpose, its reason for being, is not solely to entertain with shocking imagery and graphic horror, but to illustrate how such horror can occur, and why some souls survive while others cannot achieve redemption. These are deep waters for any filmmaker to navigate.

The narrative must be cohesive, engaging and unflinchingly steady in its direction.

The Skin I Live In, adapted from the novel, Mygale, written by Thierry Jonquet in France during the nineteen

fifties, opens with great promise. Set in present day Spain, the opening sequences are seductive and ooze with sexuality as we meet Dr. Robert Ledgard, played by Antonio

Banderas. Ledgard is a worldrenowned plastic surgeon whose ordinary world is anything but ordinary. Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, the Doctor is obsessed with creating a new kind of human skin that could have saved her. Against the dissenters of the medical community, he experiments with mutating the cells of pigs with human beings in order to create the new skin. His human guinea pig, Vera, played

by Elena Anaya, is confined to the double-walled, hightech fortress that is Ledgard’s home. She is confined to a room and under twenty-fourhour video surveillance. His accomplice is Marilia, played

by Marisa Paredes, and is older than he. She has cared for him from the time he was born. To accomplish his goal of creating the new superskin, he needs Marilia to manage the complex comings and goings of his sinister lair, as well as a complete absence of scruples.

We come to learn more of Vera’s identity through a series of leaps forward and backward through time. After his wife’s death by suicide, (the result of viewing her charred flesh in the mirror for the first time), Robert then loses his mentally ill daughter by suicide. He discovers that her suicide, preceded by a complete psychiatric col-

Left to Right: Elena Anaya as Vera and Antonio Banderas as Doctor Robert Ledgard. Photo: Lucía Faraig/© El Deseo, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Film

Peter Fox

about.me/foxonfilm

Antonio Banderas as Doctor Robert Ledgard. Photo: Lucía Faraig/© El Deseo, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, the Doctor is obsessed with creating a new kind of human skin that could have saved her. Against the dissenters of the medical community, he experiments with mutating the cells of pigs with human beings in order to create the new skin. His human guinea pig, Vera, played by Elena Anaya, is confined to the double-walled, high-tech fortress that is Ledgard’s home. lapse, was in turn preceded by a rape at the hands of a local boy, Vicente, played by Jan Cornet. On a mission for revenge, he captures Vicente, drugs him and then ties him to a chain in the ancient basement of his palatial home.

After months of torture, he then performs vaginoplasty surgery on Vicente.

Over time, he transforms Vicente into Vera, the captive and increasingly beautiful woman of the manor. He begins to love his transformed victim. They have sex regularly...Vera using a black marker to record the date of each day spent in captivity on the large wall of her room.

The audience is required to take several large leaps through time, first backward, then ahead, and then back to the present to gain the history of the events. It is this structural flaw that undermines ability of the audience to experience Vera full circle, and dilutes the plot points of the previous two hours down

Left to Right: Elena Anaya as Vera and Marisa Paredes as Marilia.

Photo: José Haro/© El Deseo, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

to a series of beautifully photographed moments of sick behavior and unnecessary thematic tributaries. There must have been four or five shots of the Doctor arriving home in his late model top end BMW. Another sequence, in which Vera is raped by an intruder, who, dressed in a tiger’s costume, shows up at the estate and cons his way in, was perverse and did nothing

to push forward the main plot.

Close-ups of jazz musicians and a jazz singer come off as if someone were trying to promote the careers of those performers and, in the end, were effectual only in taking the audience out of the story.

It is the inclusion of the unnecessary, the omission of character illumination, and examples of wasted screen time mentioned above which

stifle the performances of the cast; all of whom were virtuoso, but blocked by Almodovar’s need to control his paper babies, (There is an old Hollywood saying: kill your paper babies-translation-they might look great on the page, but if they don’t work onscreen, get rid of them) and force them upon the audience. The end result is a tonally confused film that renders the journey taken not worth the time.

Underneath the beauty of its performances, art direction and cinematography, none are redeemed, and the plot is rendered depraved, sick and sinister.

The cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine, is breathtaking; the wall sized video screens inside of the Doctor’s home, brightly lit and photographed from obtuse angles, are expertly contrasted with soft brown hues of the estate’s living quarters and exteriors. The sets, designed by Antxon Gomez, are also quite beautiful.

Before watching The Skin I Live In, after studying up about the project’s origins and wonderfully talented cast, I was excited to finally see the film. But as I viewed the film, I was filled with the same sensation one experiences while reading a long book, whose meaning was irrepressively dark. Navigating through the shadows of the human heart is one thing, but unabashed depravity is another. The Skin I Live In may have begun, on some level, with the mission of broadening thought and insight into humanity and its darker places. But it did not turn out that way.

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FICTION

We All Fall Down Words and Illustration

by Joanne Hus

I

“Mom, you’re disgusting.”

gaze at my daughter over the rim of my glass. I’m annoyed with her because the scotch was just starting to have its mellowing effect, but now she’s ruined it. I am surprised, once again, at how much she looks like her father: the same strong jaw line, the same patrician nose, the same dark features. She even has that annoying cough of his, which I’ve always suspected was an affectation.

But it’s too late to ask him about it now.

“How’s Michael?” I ask, happy to see the storm front cross her face. She fusses with her hands, then takes the tray from the cocktail table and makes a show of being useful. I can hear her in the kitchen as she does the dishes. I’m sure they can hear her across town, she’s making so much noise.

I finish my scotch in peace. I look out the window. The colors still move me, even though I haven’t painted since Martin died. I am staring out the window when my daughter returns to the room, wiping her hands on a tea towel, the one with the rooster on it that I hate so much.

“I put the leftover stew in the fridge. You can have it for dinner tomorrow. There’s some apple crisp left over, too.”

I nod my comprehension. I need to fill my glass, but I’m waiting for her to leave.

I pretend not to notice that she’s staring at the glass in my hand.

“I’ll see you next Tuesday, okay Mom?”

“Ever the dutiful daughter, Marla.”

“I’m just trying to be helpful.”

“Nobody said you weren’t.”

She gives an exasperated sigh and the rote kiss on my cheek. For some reason, I am reminded of when she was about three, and she’d take my face in her two chubby hands and kiss me with extravagant affection. Now she’s as affectionate as a cactus, and I don’t know how we got here. Or maybe I do.

She leaves, and I pour myself another one, let the warmth slide down my throat and spread throughout my limbs, as if I swallowed the sun. But it’s not as satisfying as when she’s around, scolding me. Never mind. The scotch is good: smoky and potent.

A FEW DAYS LATER, I remember that Marla’s birthday is a week from tomorrow. I want to do something nice for her. The air outside has gotten crisp, what my mother would call “sweater weather,” and it gives me an idea. I grab my suede jacket, my blue Hermès scarf, my purse, and my keys, and drive half an hour to the only yarn store in the area worth the bother. I am greeted like an old friend. Gerald asks about me, how the needlepoint project I started five months ago is coming along. I laugh it off, tell him I’m on to the next project. I am utterly charming. He dotes on me like some courtier, brings all kinds of handspun yarn for my approval. I decide on a silk and wool blend, full of 88

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slubs, in enchanting shades of lavender and copper. Now Gerald brings me several pattern books, helps me choose the perfect one, calculates the yarn.

“Do you have number seven and eight needles, Mrs. G?”

“I’m sure I do, and I’m sure I don’t know where they are. Why don’t you be a love and grab those for me? Bamboo. I hate the metal ones.”

While he’s in the other room, I caress the skeins of yarn I’ve selected. Marla will love this! I can’t wait to show her.

“Here you are, Mrs. G. I got some markers for you, too. You’ll need them for the lace pattern.”

Gerald rings up my order, I hand him my credit card. He chats with me like a gynecologist using his best bedside manner.

On the drive home, I pass by several restaurants, which gives me another idea. I stop at my favorite and make reservations for the two, wait, three of us for next weekend. This will be one of our better celebrations. Hopefully, Marla will be satisfied. **** THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY NIGHT, I pull into the short gravel driveway at the restaurant, leave the car with the valet. This is one of those places where the serving sizes are in inverse proportion to their trendiness, and the waitstaff talk as if they’ve had their jaws wired shut. “Strictly top drawer,” as my mother would say. I am wearing my favorite little black dress and a strand of fresh water pearls, my hair drawn back in a French knot. My mother would be tsk-tsking that I failed to wear gloves, but really, who does that anymore?

The maitre d’ shows me to the table. I’m surprised I’m here first, but then Marla and Michael arrive, looking like landed gentry. He pulls the chair out for her, calls her “darling.” She fairly beams at him, as if no one else in her life had ever been kind to her. I want to like him, but he just rubs me the wrong way. When she turns toward me,

her smile freezes in place and her shoulders tighten. I am stung, but pretend not to notice. The waiter distributes the menus. I am grateful he is not one of those tiresome waiters who feels he must introduce himself, as if we wanted to know his name. We order drinks, and peruse the menus.

“So, Cynthia, have you painted lately?”

“Thanks for asking, Michael, no I haven’t. I’ve been busy with other…projects.” I take a sip of scotch and give him my sweetest look. I could kill him right here and now, and I wouldn’t care what anyone thought.

“It’s so nice of you to invite us to dinner, Mom. This is a beautiful place, don’t you think, Mike?”

Michael chooses this moment to take a sip of his mineral water.

At least he has the courtesy to nod. I am thinking of different ways to do him in. A blow to the head? A knife?

“What do you suggest, Mom, you come here more often than we do.” Marla really is trying hard. I should cut her some slack.

“The filet mignon is always outstanding, Marla. Michael, why don’t you try the Cajun catfish?” If I’m lucky, he’ll choke on a fish bone tonight.

“No, I think I’ll have the filet, too.” Damn.

“Whatever you like.”

The waiter takes our order, including a bottle of Cabernet, which I can already taste. My scotch is almost done, and I’m getting a little antsy for the wine to arrive. I do a reasonably good job of looking nonchalant about the whole thing.

Appetizers are painfully slow, although Marla seems happy for a change. Finally, the waiter prepares the table for the main course and leaves: the moment has come. With great ceremony, I hand Marla her gift.

“Oh, Mom, thank you. Why don’t I open this at home?” She starts to put it aside, but I insist that she open it now. To look at her as she unwraps it, you would think that the box was booby-trapped.

Now I am annoyed, and reach for my wine. Somehow, the half glass disappears in one swallow. I’m not feeling the way I expected to feel

“Stupid me, I really was expecting this evening to be about me and not you, for once. I guess I was expecting too much.”

“It’s never enough for you, Marla.”

“Mom, just once I’d like you think about someone other than yourself, something other than your next drink! What do I have to do to get your attention?”

“I don’t know what you’re so upset about.” I hold my purse as if it’s the only thing keeping me from drowning.

“Mom, another unfinished project? Is this like the bathrobe you gave me when I went away to college?”

“I finished that!”

“No, Mom. No, you didn’t. You never got around to sewing the hems and the cuffs, and it got frayed the first time I washed it. I looked like a fucking hobo.”

“I’ll thank you not to use such language! Anyway, I don’t know why you’re so upset.”

“Mom! How about the suit? Or every Halloween costume I ever wore when I was a kid? Or the trip to London?”

“I couldn’t help it that that idiot put me in the hospital!”

“Mom, the accident was your fault! You were drunk! God.”

“I certainly was not! But never mind. I’ll make the sweater for myself!”

“Good. You do that.”

I take out my compact to powder my nose. “We should go back to the table. Michael will feel neglected.”

“His name is Mike, Mom, not Michael. He’s going to be your son-in-law, so you can at least get his name right.”

I am taken aback. Let her think I am chastised; the truth is I’ve already forgotten they were engaged. I look at her hand. Curious how I hadn’t even noticed the ring all evening.

“You don’t have to be so prickly, Marla. I’m only trying to be polite. I only wanted to do something nice for your birthday. I don’t understand why you’re always so damned antagonistic.” I can feel the tears gathering, and I dare her to notice them.

“Mom.” She sighs, wipes my tears. I pull away. “Mom,” she says

Michael chooses this moment to take a sip of his mineral water. At least he has the courtesy to nod. I am thinking of different ways to do him in. A blow to the head? A knife?

as Marla opens her gift. I can’t tell what emotion is on her face when she sees the pattern book resting on top of the dozen skeins of yarn.

I come to her rescue, open the pattern book to the appropriate page.

“Look, sweetheart, isn’t it beautiful? I thought the lace pattern would be so flattering, and isn’t this yarn exquisite? The color really sets off your hair.” She flinches when I hold a skein up to her face.

“Mom.” She pushes my hand away, tears in her eyes and her mouth tight.

“Well, I can see that my gift is not appreciated.” With that, I throw the skein back in the box, and stand up. But my legs aren’t as steady as I expect, and I stumble a bit.

“Mom!” Marla hisses at me. Michael simply raises his eyebrow, which somehow makes me even more determined.

“Perhaps this dinner isn’t good enough either, Marla?” I sway a little and grab the back of my chair. A waiter materializes at my elbow. I shake him off. Marla is suddenly at my side, guiding me to the ladies’ room, tossing apologies over her shoulder, muttering to me under her breath. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

She closes and locks the restroom door behind us. I notice the fresh flowers, the scent of lilies.

“Well, Mom, yet another ruined birthday. Nice going.” I make no reply. She continues.

again, and puts her hand on top of mine. I am surprised by its warmth.

I cannot read the emotion in her eyes: is it contempt? Pity? I make no attempt to move my hand. The moment passes; she removes her hand.

We both exhale and look away. I reapply my lipstick. Marla looks bored. We say nothing as we return to the table.

The rest of the meal we are on our best behavior, rather like two reprimanded kindergarteners. Just before the coffee arrives, Michael excuses himself from the table. I take another sip of wine. Marla watches me as if I’m downing poison.

“What is it, darling?”

“Mom, you have a drinking problem.”

My hackles are up in an instant, but I am far too polite to let on.

“Really, Marla, what makes you say such a thing?” My smile is defiant, my next sip a taunt.

“Mom, every memory I have of you there’s a drink in your hand.”

“Must we discuss this here, darling? I assure you, I’m fine.”

“No, Mom. No you’re not. Don’t you see?”

Her eyes are earnest. For a moment I see her as a small child, the way she would search my face. It always made me feel uncomfortable.

I never knew then, and I still don’t know if she ever found what she was looking for.

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he’s annoying. The dessert and coffee arrive, the three of us chat politely. I want to go home; a scotch would do me good. As I gesture for the waiter to bring the check, Michael informs me that he’s already taken care of it.

“Why, Michael, that is too kind of you.” But I am furious. It doesn’t help that the wine is finished. This dinner has not been at all what I had planned. I can’t get out of the restaurant fast enough.

While we wait for the valet outside, we say our goodnights. There’s an awkward moment about who should take the box of yarn. I end up tucking it under my arm, more than a little upset. I do my best to be breezy, at least until I get into the car. But the entire drive home, I can’t stop crying. I very nearly swerve into a tree because of it. **** NOW IT IS TUESDAY AGAIN, and Marla called earlier to confirm that she’ll stop by for tea. I’ve picked up some shortbread cookies from Balducci’s, and I have a pot of Earl Grey tea ready to brew. I’ve taken out the Royal Dalton tea set that belonged to my grandmother. I don’t know why I’m making such an occasion out of Marla’s visit.

“Mom, I’m here!” she calls from the door as she comes in. I meet her in the foyer as she takes off her scarf. I play the part of gracious hostess in earnest, as if I’d never met her before in my life.

“May I take your coat? Would you like a cup of tea?” We make our way to the kitchen. She eyes the knitting project as we walk through the living room, purses her mouth, but says nothing. I chat with her as if I were running for office. She offers no resistance, but I take it at face value.

In the kitchen, I already have the teapot out and waiting. I enjoy the ritual of putting on the kettle, hotting the pot, counting out the bags (one for each cup plus one for the pot), putting on the cozy, letting the brew steep. One of the advantages of having a Canadian mother is learning how to brew a proper pot of tea. I arrange the teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, cups, saucers, and spoons on the silver tray.

“Marla, dear, would you be kind enough to bring that plate of cookies?”

I take the tray and lead our little parade to the study, where a charming fire crackles in the fireplace. The mantel clock strikes four at precisely the moment I pour a cup for Marla, and I am inordinately pleased at our punctuality. I hand it to her so she can fix it to her own liking. I pour one for myself, stir in the skim milk. I offer the plate of cookies; she takes one and puts it on the dessert plate I’ve given her.

Her hands are like tiny birds. They remind me of my mother, and how she would serve tea precisely at four o’clock. I smile at the memory, glad that I could at least uphold that one tradition today.

“Did you see the beginning of your sweater, Marla?”

“Yes, on the way in.” She continues munching on her shortbread, takes a sip of tea, looks out the window, frowns.

“Well, don’t you think it’s coming along nicely?”

She swallows, rather indelicately.

“Sure.” She reaches for her teacup again, as if to take another sip.

“Mom, we have to talk.”

Ah. Here it comes.

“I thought we already were conversing, darling.”

“No, I mean…”

“What, dear?” I am ready to bolt, but feign boredom. Maybe she’ll leave it alone. She fiddles with the edge of her sweater, reminding me so much of her first grade play, when she botched her lines. She takes a deep breath.

“Mom…it really upset me when you gave me that box of yarn.”

I bristle. “Yes, I remember.” I get up, pour myself a glass of scotch.

“Well…see…it’s just that…it made me feel so…unimportant to you, as if…”

“Unimportant? Really. Well, I can see why you think you’re so 90

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unimportant to me.

I mean, I didn’t even remember your birthday!” I take a deep sip.

“Mom, you don’t have to get sarcastic. You didn’t let me finish what I was going to say.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of doing anything so…belittling, darling.

Do go on.” I raise my glass to her.

“Mom, don’t. Please.”

“What dearest? Have I hurt your precious feelings? Did I not validate you? My goodness! I suppose the riding lessons, and the painting trip to Taos, and the semester in Florence, and the car weren’t enough?”

“Mom, for God’s sake, we’re not talking about my childhood!”

“It seems to me that’s all we ever talk about, Marla, and what a completely inadequate job I did raising you!”

“Mom, I wasn’t saying that!”

“Oh, indeed! Well, I’m sorry if your childhood was a such disappointment to you, but it was a disappointment to me, too!”

“Mom!”

I lean in, my face just inches from hers, nostrils flaring. “A bitter disappointment,” I almost hiss.

Instead of retreating as expected, she pushes me away, knocking me off balance. My glass shatters on the floor and the scent of good scotch blooms in the air. That does it.

“Get out! Get out of my house this instant!” I am trembling; it is all I can do to keep from striking her.

“Don’t worry, I’m already gone, you bitch!” She grabs her purse, turns on her heel.

“Your father always wished you’d been born a boy, did you know that?” She spins around.

“Yes, Daddy’s Girl, you should have been born a boy, if at all!

Don’t look so shocked. It’s true! Oh, he was resigned once it was clear that no other offspring were forthcoming. And I made damned sure of that! One mistake was quite enough, thank you!”

She stares at me for a long moment, breathing hard.

“Fuck you, Mom. Fuck you and your scotch, fuck you and your propriety, fuck you and every unfinished project, every broken promise you ever made. You’re so full of shit!”

“Marla, your language!”

“Yes, Mom, my language! It’s more alive than you’ll ever be!”

And with that, she storms out of the room. I flinch as the front door slams, then turn around and get some paper towel to wipe up the mess. Such a waste…

I throw the sopping towel in the trash, pour myself another drink, and walk to the living room window. I watch Marla doing her best to remain dignified as she opens her car door. It’s no use, of course.

Her face is contorted and blotchy, her hands shake as she fishes her keys out of her purse. The engine turns over. Her face is shiny with tears. She throws the car into reverse, turns and looks behind her, one hand on the back of the passenger seat, the other on the steering wheel. She glides down the driveway, avoids the lilacs and the wall her father built, backs into the street. Now the car is in first gear, and she is heading down Perry Street. She turns the corner and is gone.

She doesn’t wave goodbye. I stare after her, at the stand of pines that block my view of the rest of Perry Street, as if she has somehow melded with them. I notice the yellow needles, the ripe cones, how scraggly the trees have become over the years. Our neighbor planted them soon after Martin and I moved into this house. They were nothing but shrubs then, really. All fluffy and pert, like green squirrels’ tails.

Now they are leggy and ugly, several branches broken, their crowns ungainly and twisted. I don’t know why this makes me so sad. But I stare at the trees and let the tears fall, the shape of these awkward trees blurring and blending until all I see is green. I feel the glass in my hand.

I know the scotch will help me feel better. But for now, I continue to gaze at the trees, and mourn their misshapen lives.

A brasserie in France is a place where people meet for lunch, dinner or even just catch up with a friend over a glass of wine and a snack. It is more casual with daily specials and tapas. Our menu is affordable to ensure that we will not only be a place for special occasions, but for every day dining as well.

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