Michael Bloomberg's Idea of a Mayoral Campaign

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While Dan Radosh Was Away...

...Deborah Grumet and I were among those who acted as "guest bloggers."

Once again, we worked on Family Circus panels: here and here and here.

And Deborah contributed excellent solo efforts here and here and here. Check 'em out!

Cartoon Caption/Anti-Caption Contest Continues!

The winner of Caption Contest 196 (lab professionals observing rodents attired like lab professionals)—the first caption contest with a nominee from Canada—is

"O.K., let's slowly lower in the grant money.”
Todd Bearson (Arlington, MA)

As noticed previously, this wasn't far from my own

"We've been using the Nobel Prize instead of cheese."

Anyway, Massachusetts now has 10 wins, tying it with Illinois.


The nominees in Caption Contest 198 (P. C. Vey's men driving car with bound man on roof) are

"The instructions should have mentioned that you need a body of water."
Peter Bleyleben (Chestnut Hill, MA)

"That’s smart, Eddie. The first place cops look is in the trunk.”
David Wilkner (Pawtucket, RI)

"What do you mean you don't remember? Either he sleeps with the fishes or he don't."
Tim Wibert (Okemos, MI)

My loser:

"Let's see if you can switch lanes without any jerky motions."

As far as I can tell, this is the second nomination for Contest 99 winner David Wilkner.


Cartoon Caption Contest 200 is here. Anti-Caption Contest 200 is here.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all (almost) mapped out here.

33 New York (28 from the Big Apple, where Lynn Tudor has won twice)

32 California

14 New Jersey

12 Virginia (six from NOVA, two from Richmond, one from Charlottesville, one from Newport News, one from Roanoke, one from Stanardsville)

10 Illinois (eight from Chicago including three captions by Lawrence Wood)
10 Massachusetts

7 North Carolina (two from Charlotte)

6 Connecticut (two from New Haven, four not)
6 Pennsylvania
6 Texas (three from Houston, one from Austin)

5 Maryland (none named Mary)

4 Arizona (two from Tucson)
4 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
4 Ohio
4 Washington

3 Michigan
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 Rhode Island

2 Alaska
2 District of Columbia
2 Florida
2 Mississippi
2 Missouri
2 Nevada (Las Vegas 1, Zephyr Cove 1)
2 New Hampshire
2 Oregon (both named Eric, both from Portland)
2 Utah
2 Vermont

1 Alabama
1 Arkansas
1 Delaware
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Louisiana (New Orleans)
1 Maine
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Wisconsin

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Parodic The Gothamer illustration realized by Deborah Grumet from concept by David Marc Fischer

"No Sail" (1945)

In Which Donald Duck Grows Beak Hair



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Free Outdoor Screening: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

The Original!

I can't enthuse enough over the original Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

I love the suspenseful plot, I love the Peter Stone screenplay, I love the gritty New York City feel, I love the David Shire score, and I love the cast, which includes Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, James Broderick, Tony Roberts, Doris Roberts, Jerry Stiller, and Lee Wallace as The Mayor. This had to have inspired Tarantino—I mean, really inspired him.

It's showing Monday night, July 13, at 8pm at the Elevated Acre, which has been one of the better, more "civilized," venues for outdoor summer screenings in the city.

And look at what's coming up: West Side Story (July 20) and The Sweet Smell of Success (July 27). Excellent!



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Billboard Synergy

Hey—look what Debbie noticed—a Vivienne Tam billboard imagine "reaching" into an HP billboard! By way of partial explanation: Click here. And I suspect the Harry Potter font must connect the tech "HP" with the wizard franchise.

The magic angle is on a line with the front of the Palace Theatre, so the image greets alert audience members leaving West Side Story who aren't too distracted talking about the show. Also visible from Duffy Square, it's a conversation piece for discount-seekers lined up for TKTS.


























Photo: Debbie Glasserman

Mary Stuart

Attend—through August 16!

Are you, by any chance, prejudiced against plays about British royalty? Are you afraid they'll be stuffy and stodgy? I know I am!

And that means that I'm often pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy plays about British royalty. I mean, the reality is that "stuffy" and "stodgy" aren't usually the kind of adjectives playwrights, directors, and producers want to see in reviews. And that certainly seems to be the case of the revival of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart currently running on Broadway.

This fact-based story of political intrigue between Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I—cousins with competing claims to the British throne—remains one of history's most fertile and fascinating episodes, retold again and again over the centuries. For this Broadway production, director Phylidda Lloyd and her company (featuring Janet McTeer as Mary and Harriet Walter as Elizabeth) keep things moving at a fast clip right from the start. It took some getting used to, but after about 15 minutes I was won over and caught up in all the plots and schemes. This made for about two very stimulating hours of theater sandwiched between the build-up and the denouement.

Discounts to this excellent production (which almost makes me forgive Phylidda Lloyd for the movie Mamma Mia!) should be available through sources such as Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, and TKTS.

Breaking: Governor Paterson Appoints Lt. Governor

In a formal address to New York State, Governor David Paterson has named Richard Ravitch to fill the vacant spot of Lt. Governor.

Blithe Spirit

Classy Comedy Closes July 19!

I say! These have certainly been the veddy best of times for me and Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit—the comic story of a man haunted by the spirit of his first wife. Back in September I saw David Lean's movie version; more recently I fulfilled my longtime desire to see the musical version, High Spirits, during its short, sold-out, Musicals in Mufti run.

And just last weekend I got around to seeing and enjoying the current Broadway production of the play (which Coward wrote during a visit to, sigh, Portmeiron). Yes, Angela Lansbury does good work in the role of the eccentric Madame Arcati—I liked how her character seemed to have an arbitrary dislike of the doctor's wife, Mrs. Bradman (Deborah Rush, bringing winning energy to this supporting character). But ultimately the strength of the production is in the depth of the entire company, performers and non-performers alike. Rupert Everett does a fine job as the haunted husband; Jayne Atkinson and Christine Ebersole as the wives contrast each other but also reveal more and more facets of their characters as the play unfolds. Complementing their work is the subtle costume design of Martin Pakledinaz and some clever blocking, especially in the final scene.



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"Black or White"

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"The Love You Save"

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Anti-Caption Contest Continues

The winner of Anti-Caption Contest 199 (Michael Crawford's snorkeler in court) is

"Court is a depressing place, where the permanent regime reinforces its absolute power with a due process charade that no longer bears even the appearance of legitimacy."
J.D.

My loser:

"Judge, you've got to believe me! I'm from a distant planet where everybody wears snorkel gear unless they're going snorkeling!! Something must have gone wrong with the man who was snorkeling at the transporter!!!"

Things are pretty quiet at The New Yorker this week, but you might (or might not) still be able to enter Caption Contest 199.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all (almost) mapped out here.

33 New York (28 from the Big Apple, where Lynn Tudor has won twice)

32 California

14 New Jersey

12 Virginia (six from NOVA, two from Richmond, one from Charlottesville, one from Newport News, one from Roanoke, one from Stanardsville)

10 Illinois (eight from Chicago including three captions by Lawrence Wood)

9 Massachusetts

7 North Carolina (two from Charlotte)

6 Connecticut (two from New Haven, four not)
6 Pennsylvania
6 Texas (three from Houston, one from Austin)

5 Maryland (none named Mary)

4 Arizona (two from Tucson)
4 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
4 Ohio
4 Washington

3 Michigan
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 Rhode Island

2 Alaska
2 District of Columbia
2 Florida
2 Mississippi
2 Missouri
2 Nevada (Las Vegas 1, Zephyr Cove 1)
2 New Hampshire
2 Oregon (both named Eric, both from Portland)
2 Utah
2 Vermont

1 Alabama
1 Arkansas
1 Delaware
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Louisiana (New Orleans)
1 Maine
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Wisconsin

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Parodic The Gothamer illustration realized by Deborah Grumet from concept by David Marc Fischer

Paul Ben-Haim (July 5, 1897-January 14, 1984)

I've been meaning to note how impressed I was by the U.S. premiere, on May 31, 2009, of Paul Ben-Haim's Second Symphony (1945) courtesy of conductor Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO).

That's right: It took nearly 65 years for this work to receive a live performance in the United States.

Paul Ben-Haim, born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, served as conductor of the Opera in Augsburg from 1924 through 1931. (As such, he might have had an influence on my own musical tastes, as my own mother enjoyed the opera in Augsburg as a child, though probably after Frankenburger's departure.) In 1933 Frankenburger fled the Nazis and moved to Palestine, where he changed his name. His First Symphony (1940) apparently expressed his angst over the growing Nazi threat. I was surprised by how optimistic the Second Symphony (1945) turned out to be, but I suppose that Ben-Haim felt happy over the collapse of the Nazis and looked forward to new beginnings.

Ben-Haim received awards and other recognition throughout his career and apparently enjoyed the friendship and support of Leonard Bernstein, but he remains largely unknown. Two strikes against him must have been his relative isolation in Palestine/Israel and his conventional compositional approach (at least as heard in the Second Symphony and his 1950 Fanfare to Israel, both performed at the May concert). Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra made a very good case that the Second Symphony deserves more performances (and recordings), and made me wonder how a Ben-Haim tribute concert might be programmed. It seems that, in addition to the Second Symphony and the Fanfare to Israel, the First Symphony and the admired Sweet Psalmist of Israel might make for an impressive orchestral program.

Ben-Haim's Second Symphony turns out to be the second rarely performed symphony I've heard recently that I think deserves more attention. The other is Amy Beach's "Gaelic" Symphony (1896), which I heard performed in March by Alondra de la Parra conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA).

For a sample of Ben-Haim's work, here's the song "Hashaon."



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The Speech Turns 70

Seven decades ago, Yankees star Lou Gehrig—diagnosed with ALS, gave his famous "Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at Yankee Stadium.



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Breaking: Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaskan Governor

Presidential Campaign Expected Possible but Not Necessarily Inevitable

It's Christmas in July for Tina Fey! Sarah Palin has announced that she will step down as governor of Alaska on July 26. That's the date of a picnic when lieutenant governor Sean Parnell will take over the responsibility of defending Alaska from the Russkies. [NOTE TO ALASKANS: Make sure there are provisions for full succession, or you might end up with something like the New York State senate, which is stuck in Albany on July 4. And that's no picnic!]

The next Presidential election is scheduled for November 2012, so that gives Palin more than three years to sell herself to the American public by embarking on a Clinton-style "listening tour" and accusing late night talk show hosts of being perverts! [On the other hand, there are also reports that Palin has dropped out of politics, possibly with some negative publicity hanging over her head. At any rate, she could probably find a very lucrative niche on the conservative/right-wing circuit and avoid a lot of the hassles of politics.]

Let the fireworks begin....

Photo: David Marc Fischer

The Norman Conquests

See All Three by the Scheduled July 26 Closing

If there's a conventional way to approach the three plays comprising The Norman Conquests, directed on Broadway by Matthew Warchus, it might be to see them in one "trilogy day" starting with "Table Manners," proceeding to "Living Together," and finishing with "Round and Round the Garden."

But that's not at all how I went about it. I saw "Round and Round the Garden" first, on April 13, when the infamous Mr. Purple was in the audience. Then it was "Table Manners" on April 29. And I only completed the cycle last night with the relatively elusive "Living Together."

Now that I've finished seeing all three parts, you can count me as a satisfied customer (who, admittedly, managed to see all three at significant professional and consumer discounts, including a $59 per play ticket available through July 10 with the code JULY09).

Written by Alan Ayckbourn in 1973, The Norman Conquests involves three men and three women, three of them siblings, two others related by marriage, whose paths cross and recross during their stay at an English estate. Annie (Jessica Hynes), the primary caregiver to her mother, hopes to get away for the weekend while her brother Reg (Paul Ritter) and his wife Sarah (Amanda Root) take over her responsibilities. Also present are Annie's dim veterinarian neighbor Tom (Ben Miles), her rakish brother-in-law Norman (Stephen Mangan), and, eventually, her sister Ruth (Amelia Bullmore), Norman's wife.

Will Annie get away? Will Reg and Sarah be able to manage things? Will Tom come up with something interesting to say? Will Ruth put on her glasses? Will Norman behave himself? Those are some of the questions that arise as the characters interact over the course of the weekend in three distinct locations: the dining room ("Table Manners"), living room ("Living Together"), and garden ("Round and Round the Garden").

After I started with "Round and Round the Garden," The Norman Conquests struck me as great light summer fare. But in "Table Manners" I saw some of the relationships and dialogue taking on more substance—still great light summer fare, but more substantial. Ultimately, after seeing "Living Together" (which strikes me as the quirkiest and most playful of the trilogy), I was impressed by Ayckbourn's skill at fleshing out his comic situations with passionate outbursts indicating his characters' personal and family dilemmas. The more you see of the trilogy, the more you can appreciate different facets of the characters as they try to get through what turns out to be an awfully complicated weekend.

Do you remember the television version of The Norman Conquests? Here are three excerpts—of course, you can pick the order in which you view them! I'm struck by how Beatles-y Tom Conti's Norman comes across. It explains a lot about those times.

ROUND AND ROUND THE GARDEN



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TABLE MANNERS



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LIVING TOGETHER



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NYC's June 2009 Rainfall: The Results!

So all of that rain...and what do we have to show for it? An "almost."

June 2009's overcast skies dropped 10.06 inches of rain on Central Park—00.21 inches short of the 2003 record of—quick, figure it out!—10.27 inches.

Oh well. Better luck next time? I should have made this a BAT Challenge....

Anyway, here's the commemorative article from Ralph Blumenthal at The New York Times. And Gothamist has a fun graphic.

May 2009 Photograph by David Marc Fischer

Breaking: Norman Coleman Concedes MN Senate Chair to Al Franken

Always the gentleman and a true patriot, Norm Coleman has gracefully conceded the Minnesota Senatorial election to Al Franken—nearly 8 months after Election Day!

What remains to be seen: Minnesota's Republican governor Tim Pawlenty certifying Franken as the winner. And then, when/if Franken enters the Senate, we will see whether the national Senate can keep itself from imploding like New York's horrible State Senate....

Photo: David Marc Fischer

Cartoon Caption/Anti-Caption Contest Continues!

Bring out the ticker tape! New York has retaken the lead in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. The last time New York owned the first-place position was April '05—Caption Contest 1!

So, yes, the winner of Caption Contest 195 (Danny Shanahan's housewife confronting haloed man with stigmata and tiny cherubim in doorway) is

"Which part of 'till death do us part' didn't you understand?"
Caroline Johnston Polisi (New York, NY)

Huzzah, Caroline!


The nominees in Caption Contest 197 (Drew Dernavich's airplane with high heel landing gear) are

"She thinks her bomb bay makes her look fat."
Eric Schares (Portland, OR)

"It's a pretty good aircraft, except that it keeps nagging you to ask for directions."
Adam Pfeffer (Boca Raton, FL)

"She's a lover, not a fighter."
Robert McLean (Tampa, FL)

My loser:

"They're stylish but not very functional."

The Radosh.net Anti-Caption contest goes on under the jurisdiction of guest blogger Harry Effron. The winner of Anti-Caption Contest 198 (P.C. Vey's bound-and-gagged man atop moving car) is

"I think the guy on the roof farted."
The Confidence Man

My loser:

"He's Michael Jackson's doctor. Okay, switch lanes now."

Caption Contest 199 is here. Anti-Caption Contest 199 is here.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all (almost) mapped out here.

33 New York (28 from the Big Apple, where Lynn Tudor has won twice)

32 California

14 New Jersey

12 Virginia (six from NOVA, two from Richmond, one from Charlottesville, one from Newport News, one from Roanoke, one from Stanardsville)

10 Illinois (eight from Chicago including three captions by Lawrence Wood)

9 Massachusetts

7 North Carolina (two from Charlotte)

6 Connecticut (two from New Haven, four not)
6 Pennsylvania
6 Texas (three from Houston, one from Austin)

5 Maryland (none named Mary)

4 Arizona (two from Tucson)
4 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
4 Ohio
4 Washington

3 Michigan
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 Rhode Island

2 Alaska
2 District of Columbia
2 Florida
2 Mississippi
2 Missouri
2 Nevada (Las Vegas 1, Zephyr Cove 1)
2 New Hampshire
2 Oregon (both named Eric, both from Portland)
2 Utah
2 Vermont

1 Alabama
1 Arkansas
1 Delaware
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Louisiana (New Orleans)
1 Maine
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Wisconsin

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Parodic The Gothamer illustration realized by Deborah Grumet from concept by David Marc Fischer

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Prepare for Total Hilarity

Thanks to Matt for the lead!



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