Curious in Jersey City

I received an intriguing invitation to an art exhibition entitled "Poison" to be held in a little gallery called Curious Matter in Jersey City. I say intriguing because the flyer described the theme of the exhibit thusly:

Poison has captured the imagination for millennia. It appears in folk tales, fairy tales, opera and murder mysteries. Poisoning has been the clean, classic way evil characters subdue and eliminate a rival without the use of brute force. But poison is not just a substance used to remove inconvenient competition. It is more than our romantic notion of hemlock and horror, and the artists of Curious Matter's POISON exhibition have sensitively distilled the tincture to its purest forms.

Well put, don't you think? I was reminded of the drugged possets in Macbeth, and the apple in Snow White. I knew nothing of the gallery Curious Matter, and less of the neighborhood, but with directions, I found my way to the vernissage on Sunday afternoon. (I'm allowed to call it that because of my six years in Geneva, where an art opening is known as a vernissage.)

Curious Matter is on the parlor floor of a brownstone on Fifth Street. It is a tiny space, made smaller by the crowd, but very pleasant, and its curators, also artists, are eager to make new guests feel at home. I had a nice chat with Raymond E. Mingst, gallery owner and artist, and I enjoyed the artworks on display. It is not a dark and poisonous show, but rather an inspiration based on the many ways we deal with the poisons that surround us. Andrew Graham's bold oil paintings of toxic maxims from a local church caught my eye. Roaming around the room I was drawn to the tiny goose-stepping geese on Kara Smith's Green As Goslings, little ones whose minds were clearly being poisoned by their adult leaders. Whimsy came forth in Mingst's own You're Not Out of the Woods Yet, Dearie, a clear resin sculpture of a hand the size of a teaspoon sticking out of the wall, offering the possibility of any number of possible life-threatening substances.

The show is small, but full of food for thought. It will run until May 17 on Sundays from noon to 3 P.M. or by appointment.

I found the visit so pleasant I became curious myself about living in Jersey City. Not that my bags are packed, but with the better weather, I'm going to explore.

Guys and Dolls, Hoboken Style

I was as excited as if I were going to a Broadway show last night when I walked two blocks to Hoboken High School to take in opening night of their excellent drama department's production of Guys and Dolls. I've seen one show there and knew to expect a lot of talent and enthusiasm on the stage and a noisy, excited audience.

I wasn't disappointed for a minute. Behind me in line were kids talking about "Big Jule," the big, tough Chicago gangster character in the show, and I could tell we were all anticipating a great evening. As I got to my seat and saw in the program that the one bit of truly non-traditional casting was that Big Jule was to be played by a girl, I worried for my friends who might not be prepared for such a choice.

The program notes made my heart sing. Director Jared Ramos wrote, "It was 13 years ago when, as a junior in high school, I received my first lead role in a musical, that of Nathan Detroit in a production of G & D staged at A.J. Demarest High School." He wisely cast the up-and-coming star Saquan Williams in the role, who, also a high school junior, is apparently serious about a career in the theatre and obviously has a shot at the big time.

I had not quite realized that, familiar as I am with Guys and Dolls, I had never seen the show on stage before. My parents, on a trip to New York in the 1950's, saw it on Broadway, and we owned a 33-RPM recording of the cast album. I knew all the songs by heart, and as the production went forward, I found myself mouthing the words of every ballad and comic number. I enjoyed the life the young actors put into their roles--it was as if they were creating the characters, not basing them on stereotypes or previous performances.

Don't forget, I grew up in Alabama, where the denizens of Runyonland were as exotic as martians. To these kids, the accents were natural and the situations were fresh and fun. Nobody had to listen to a cast album--or God forbid, watch the movie version--to grasp the scene. What emerged was a full-blown, innocent version of an American classic, in the hands of a very competent and engaging cast. Many of the boys had no stage experience, but they were cool and coordinated and had no trouble with the dance or with playing their roles.

Miss Adelaide (Kristin Santiago) had me totally convinced of her upper-respiratory problems, and in her duet with Nathan, her line "I could honestly die," she held that last note every time, bringing a poignancy to the song that Vivian Blaine completely missed. The Hot Box Girls, her back-up chorus line, were beautiful and delicious, almost overshadowing their star in their sheer joy of being where they were. They were convincing as 1950's chorus girls, dancing and singing and looking for their big break, and they were cute as kittens all the while.

Sky Masterson, as played by the smooth athlete Joshua Delgado, was sincere and cocky at the same time, and handled the love songs (and kisses) with the kind of poise rare in a 17-year-old, making us root for him from the first line of "I'll Know."

I loved Bianca Jade Alvarez as Sarah Brown, especially in "If I Were a Bell," although on opening night the song was marred by a microphone malfunction. Ricardo Cruz was a very sympathetic Arvide, delicately handling one of the prettiest songs in the show, "More I Cannot Wish You." Daniel Velez was a fine Benny Southstreet, leading a thrilling "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"--a song I had never appreciated before. And Shannon Jones did the role of Big Jule proud, remaking it into her own.



The orchestra was full of verve and added excitement to every minute. The dance numbers created perfect stage pictures reflecting a frenetic Times-Square energy. My dark snapshot doesn't do the show justice. In addition to the professional-level choreography, the inventive sets and all the backstage functions were executed smoothly and all together contributed to a wonderful night in the theatre.

There will be matinee performances today and tomorrow at 2 and one more evening performance at 8 tonight. If you're anywhere near Hoboken, you'd be crazy to miss it.

Intravenous Movies

When she was a young teenager my daughter did a drawing she called "Intravenous TV" which was a figure of a man lying on his back with a television set on the wall. He was covered with wires and tubes connecting him to the set, just passively receiving by the hour. It was a stunning picture. I still have it, tried to upload it to the blog, but it didn't come clear. So I'll have to use this little cartoon which doesn't quite say the same thing, but goes to the point of all humanity, young and old alike, glued to the tv, drinking in the messages, whether we like it or not.

I'm something of a television addict myself, but more than tv I like movies on tv; movies without commercial interruption. For years I would browse the local DVD rental stores and come home with a few I wanted to try. Friends urged me to order them online, and finally about two months ago I followed up on one of those ads for Netflix offering one month free service.

It didn't take any time for me to get hooked. I browsed their selection and rated the ones I'd seen, and began ordering. Once I got the hang of the handy little packages (I know, I know, they're easy, but I had to figure out how to dismantle them without destroying the return envelope) and got used to the website recommending the same movies time and again (Why do I seem like a The Treasure of Sierra Madre type? As a matter of fact, I am, and it's been on my to-see list forever, but I'm waiting until I'm in the mood. For 30 years I haven't been in the mood.)

I think my queue is eclectic. It contains not only There Will Be Blood but also Enchanted and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I just viewed Lars and the Real Girl (excellent little dark sweet film), and Babel is on my coffee table waiting to be unloaded tonight. Next to come will be Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I've seen the first season of Arrested Development (hilarious!) and Mad Men, both of which I'd only heard about.

The options are staggering. I can watch every movie ever made, some I've never heard of. It's like having them in my veins.

Hello Hunger

I wasn't going to tell you this, but this is the month I'm gonna reinvent myself.

I got the idea, I guess, from my blog friend Steve, who started reinventing himself a month ago. He had been writing a spiritual blog for some time, sharing his readings and ruminating on the thoughts of great minds. There was always a slightly depressive tone in Steve's blog, a feeling that he wasn't quite up to the tasks of life, but a unquenchable thirst for truth and a yearning to understand the reasons he was put on this earth. He represented the very spirit of human nature to me, striving to do the right thing and always questioning himself and his own ability to grasp the meaning of things.

Then one day he announced he was going to reinvent himself. He had lost his job, which he never much liked anyway, and he wasn't going to let it get him down. He was going to give himself the job of becoming a more balanced, upbeat person. He was going to pursue his interests in a positive way. Steve is nothing if not a brave soul. Making this announcement, abandoning his old blog and starting a new one for the purpose of reinventing himself seemed admirable and even doable. I commended him for doing this.

Then I watched Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about the people who go on the Calorie Restricted Optimum Nutrition Diet, a diet based on very low calorie, nutritious food. People on this diet expect to lower their risk of many diseases and extend their life span. I had heard of this process before, and it always sounded a bit crackpot to me, but the way it was explained made sense: with the body in survival mode it doesn't make excess fat or excess anything, and every bit of food is utilized to the max. The antibodies and stem cells go to work; the body tends to heal itself.

I thought I should recommend this to Steve for part of his reinvention. I thought if I were reinventing, I'd certainly consider starting there. Come to think of it, the closest I've ever come to reinventing myself was to go on a diet.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided it was time for me to go on a real diet anyway. You've seen the videos--I could stand to lose a little weight. If I really could stick with this one, I'd lose more than a little.

I emailed Steve, and told him I was thinking about the CRON diet, and suggested maybe that could be a part of his reinvention plan. He looked it up, pronounced it interesting and wished me well, but seemed a little dubious about the efficacy of including this in his own makeover. He suggested that if I were to go through with my own reinvention I should share it on the blog as a way to solidify my commitment and benefit from the support of readers. I said something like, "Oh, no, I'm not ready to do that. I'll just casually go on a diet as of April 1 and see how it goes. I'm not ready to share it with the world, in case I don't go through with it. I'll conscientiously stick to the low calorie thing for a month, and then if I feel like it on April 30, I'll just stay on this 'diet' for the rest of my life and consider myself pretty much secretly reinvented."

But I couldn't not tell you. I woke up this morning slightly hungry, and with the refrigerator stocked with high quality, high nutrition foods. Breakfast will be a soft-boiled egg, a kiwi fruit and two slices of Kavli crackers. It felt good to be a little hungry. I said to myself, "Get used to it."

Here's My Home

The Street Where I Live

After fussing with a couple of brief videos I made on the streets of Hoboken two weeks ago, I tried to compress three or four of them into a five-minute video for the blog. Lo and behold, the video is too big to post! So I've broken them back apart, and this, the first, will be part of a series--a series of short shots of my neighborhood. Hope this will work--there's more to come.

March in Different Places

It was warm and sunny the other day, and the birds were singing like maniacs. Spring was just about to break forth in full blossom, and it felt good to be alive.

I walked to the gym in just a light jacket, not my usual sweatshirt, heavy coat, and gloves. I saw a few crocuses in somebody's tiny front garden. It's March in the Northeast--which means a little more cold weather, some nasty rain and wind, but the promise of spring in the offing.

I left Lower Alabama a year and a half ago, where March is spectacular. It's too soon to be really humid, and the azaleas and Japanese cherries are in full bloom. Temperatures are in the 70's. Everybody is happy.

I used to hate March when I lived in New York City in the 1960's and 70's, because I was haunted by memories of glorious March in the South. I couldn't get used to the rain here. Rain in Alabama is gentle and almost warm; it doesn't hit like icy bullets whipped from one side to the other. It just surrounds you, lazily, like a veil of benign moisture, saying, "Pardon, me, ma'am, I'm just here for the grass and flowers." The azalea bushes, big as small buildings, are covered in their bright pink blossoms. Here and there are blooming trees--redbuds, dogwoods, and fruit.

March brings bitter-cold rain here. But as you acclimate to the change of seasons, you appreciate March in particular. It will be spring tomorrow. (I know, they say the 20th is the first day of spring, but I remember when it was the 21st and it will always be the 21st to me. Besides, it won't really begin to warm up until next week.) We have had some pleasant days already. The leaves on the trees seem to be thinking about breaking out. Those crocuses have already made their statement. And March is almost over.

But I just looked out the window, and it's snowing!