The Electric Egg Cream

The above photo is of a tornado that recently formed over the Bulls Head section of Staten Island, submitted to the Staten Island Advance by a reader. It’s a great shot: very impressive and very threatening of a sight that, for most New Yorkers, was once confined to the THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Tornadoes are not a common part of life in NYC. Nevertheless, they have been occurring here with growing frequency and strength over the past decade. Last summer, a minor but relatively forceful twister touched down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, causing some moderate damage there. Indeed, summer weather in general has become more turbulent and unpredictable in the New York metro area; the severity of thunderstorms has intensified and it’s not unusual for many of these storms to contain hail and gale force winds. The world appears to be getting smaller everyday and in every way: even the weather has grown more cosmopolitan.

Photo source:

photos.silive.com/cgi-bin/mte/mt…

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Munchkin Land

Framed Sign
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Far be it from me to rain on any of my fellow Americans’ barbecues and fireworks (even parades), but ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happened in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776.  Aside from minor discussions concerning the Declaration and its publication, only John Hancock, the Congressional President, and Secretary Charles Thomson signed their names to the newly-created document on the fourth.  Thus, (for those who didn’t know but care to know) the day we celebrate as the Fourth of July was a routine day, not one of drama and lasting fame. It wouldn’t be until August 2 that the actual signing took place.  Nevertheless, the precise date was bound to become lost in the revolutionary haze: signing such a document was an act of treason and every effort to keep it secret for a certain period of time was maintained (with the British army just outside of Philadelphia, to do otherwise would have been risking certain death).

Even though both men never mentioned it earlier, in their old age both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson would cling to the mistaken belief that the Declaration’s signing was on July 4; despite the fact that a few people knew them to be wrong, who would argue with such esteemed personages?  In one of the most remarkable coincidences in history, both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. The date JULY 4 was accordingly set in stone and would be celebrated as the Fourth of July or Independence Day; hence, it joined the list of numerous other American Revolution misconceptions, ranging from the tyranny of King George (who was NOT a tyrant) to Paul Revere’s Ride (who did little riding and was even less a hero).

Nonetheless, I continue to quietly observe the Fourth of July; no longer shooting-off fireworks and no longer lighting-up barbecues, rather observing its legacy.  I remember stories my grandfather told of how he had fought at the Somme during WWI and stories from my father who had fought at Normandy during WWII (in both wars, it should be respectfully acknowledged, alongside our former adversaries in the Revolution)…and I, who had fought nowhere but on the “battlefield” of my often demon-besieged mind, could better appreciate their stories and the stories of millions like them.

Today’s news, reeking with the disappointment and deceit of empty suits with their empty promises, fades into the brightness of American history (the myth only serves to enhance it) when I escape into its allure. The Promise that stood behind the Spirit of Independence becomes somewhat easier to believe in…and of its Document that was so heatedly signed, so proudly sealed, so courageously delivered, and somehow became so feebly and carelessly remembered.

Source: David McCullough’s  JOHN ADAMS (I highly recommend this work)

Declaration of Independence

Art Print
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Few people would argue that nearly a hundred dollars is a little too much to pay for a glass of beer. Even the most insanely frivolous or just simply insane, captivated within the glow of their night on the town revels, wouldn’t cavalierly include such a high-priced brew on their tab. However, here in NYC, strange and unique incidents have been known to occur…as if you didn’t know that.

In the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, a tavern called Beer Table caters to (or maybe exploits) the financial abandon of its patrons. They sell a beer called “Baladine Xyauyu” (an Italian concoction that’s more a wine than a beer) which, for a 17-ounce serving, costs $95.00. Now that must be one helluva an enchanting elixir!!!

“You’re getting a truly hand-crafted product instead of an industrial one,” said Beer Table owner Justin Phillips. “It’s something that’s made by one man over two-and-a-half years. It’s a totally different animal.”

Even though the bar rotates its variety of beers, allowing for affordably-priced and drinkable beverages for lesser mortals (like myself), their “Baladine Xyauyu” takes the cake…along with the peanuts and pretzels. Nonetheless, the BX does make for a nifty sideshow attraction.

Source: The Brooklyn Paper’s “Cheap Beer!” for more…

brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/26/…

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Tournée du Chat Noir, c.1896

Poster
Steinlen,…

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Paloma Herrera has graced the company of the American Ballet Theatre with her beauty and versatility since 1991. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 21 December 1975, she studied with Natalia Makarova at London’s English National Ballet, then moved on to New York’s School of American Ballet. So impressed was the staff with Herrera that they immediately cast her in the lead role of “Raymonda” at the school’s annual workshop performance. After joining the ABT’s corps de ballet in 1991, she was soon promoted to soloist in 1993 and to  principal dancer in 1995.

In contrast to many ballerinas (either factually or stereotypically) whose figures border on the anorexic, Herrera is a full-bodied woman; and, because of her built, more powerful and dynamic. Her uniqueness may, at times, get the better of her because critics allege that she tends to “dance for herself” when she should be dancing within the choreography. In any event, she is superb: a step apart from many dancers…she probably steps apart a little too often.

palomaherrera.compalomaherrera.com

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Ballerina

Giclee Print
benet, tara

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Over the past 10-15 years, summers have been arriving earlier and earlier in New York City. Of course, June becomes the default pivotal month for the city’s premature heat with spring suddenly transforming itself into summer during the last week of May, effectively canceling out spring.

The four-day heat wave at the beginning of the month, coupled with extremes of humidity and related stretches of warm weather, have made this June one of the ten warmest on record. It’s not only the early arrival of summer-like weather that’s noteworthy, but the high temperatures that go along with it. Temperature waste little time in reaching the upper 80s/ lower 90s by the first week of June and generally remain there.

Each year, the atmosphere grinds to a moisture-drenched halt, in which intervals of oppressive air hover on the unstable edge of constant cold fronts and inevitable thunderstorms; this cycle continuously repeating itself throughout the entire summer.

Many summer days in NYC have equaled or surpassed Miami’s summer temps and it often feels more tropical here than in the tropics. I’m awaiting the day that I see a row of palm trees that have taken root within the asphalt-laden ground of my Brooklyn neighborhood…quite suddenly, like summer in this city.

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Summer Sunset I

Art Print
Seslar, Lin

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A very attractive and quaint but, unfortunately, unprofitable curiosity has bitten the dust and has been consigned to the realm of yesterday’s endless assortment of neat ideas. Visitors to the city were underwhelmed with the “tourist trolleys” that offered free yet uninteresting rides to and from Brooklyn cultural institutions; unfortunately, limited to mainly Park Slope, Brooklyn.  While local residents (including my wife and I) enjoyed the free rides through their own neighborhoods, visitors preferred the cramped buses and noisy trains that most New Yorkers hope to avoid. After all, the point of visiting New York City is in being able to travel into the city, not cruise around it on a replicated trolley through one of its boroughs. However, the final and determining factor why these imitation blasts from the past had to go was that they were gas guzzlers: the ultimate kick in the head.

Even though it’s back to the drawing board for city masterminds, paid to dream up schemes in attracting tourists,  they must have had an alternate plan already on the board. Whereas the last trolley will complete its run on July 1, a more practical and contemporary idea will replace it. A bus service that will shuttle visitors to such places as the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Times Square, the South Street Seaport and Museum Mile along upper Fifth Avenue in Manhattan (to name some of the hot spots) will begin service in late summer or early fall. These will not be novelties but actual modern day buses that will be available for visitors and residents alike; including shuttle routes to various NYC free cultural events for people lacking convenient transit access to these destinations.

In any event, I’ll be sorry to see the tourist trolleys go (and NOT just because of the free ride): they added a soft touch to a town that’s often so culturally high-tech and, as a result, hardened.

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Trolley tracks

Photographic Print
Tozier, Frank

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