It is so very nice...

...to sleep with an open window.

Unlike those who would prefer a constant 'comfortable' climate, I must have all of my seasons. It helps me experience a year in a way that looking at a calendar does not.

Yes, there may be times where the weather can become intolerable but it makes me appreciate the stretches of sheer bliss. Contrast always helps to achieve a healthy perspective - balance. The universe functions as a result of balance and our experiences, personal or collective, reflect that. This past week has sadly been one of an abundance of tragedy, fear and stupidity - a display of things out of balance.

Yesterday, the Senate failed to pass a measure that expanded background checks for gun purchases despite support for said measure by an overwhelming majority of Americans including gunowners themselves. Special interest (or fear of special interest) won the day over compromise, logic and the duty to "establish Justice" and "insure domestic Tranquility." Even if the measure may not have been the best it could be, it would have been one step. It mattered not as those individuals who have been elected opted to side against the will of the people, to side with those who feel the right to acquire firearms of any kind should not be fettered.

Where is the compromise? Where is the balance?

17th century Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi wrote, "Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful."

"...beyond what is useful."

Is that really asking for too much?

I guess it is...

Opening Day 2013

The 2013 Major League baseball season began last night as the Houston Astros hosted the Texas Rangers. The Astros defeated the Rangers by a score of 8-2 thanks in part to Rick Ankiel's three-run homer in sixth inning.

Now you're probably asking yourself, "Wasn't this an exhibition game? I mean, for it to be part of the regular season, isn't this too early for an Inter-League game? I don't understand. Have the schedule makers lost their minds? Again?!" The answer is no as the Houston Astros are now part of the American League West. There is indeed no more a constant thing than change.

The rest of the openers will take place today and tomorrow. And of special note, New York City will be host to two openers on the same day since April 17, 1956. On that day, the New York Giants beat the Pittsbugh Pirates 4-3 at the Polo Grounds while the Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 8-6 at Ebbetts Field - the Yankees host my beloved Red Sox (I don't expect much this year but I'll be here for them) while the Mets host the San Diego Padres.

Both parks are gone now and in their place, apartment buildings. And the teams have called California home since 1958. And for you, a then-and-now comparison as offered by the New York Daily News:

Number of baseball teams in New York:
1956: 3
2013: 2

Hot dog:
1956: 5 cents
2013: $6.25

Most expensive seat:
1956: $3 (Ebbets Field)
2013: $300 (Yankee Stadium)

Highest paid player:
1956: Duke Snyder, $44,000 (Brooklyn Dodgers)
2013: Alex Rodriguez, $29 million (New York Yankees)

National League leader in innings pitched:
1956: Bob Friend, 314.3
2012: R.A. Dickey, 233.7 

Play ball!

16 January 2013, 5:37pm

I was running late. So much so I nearly ran over a woman heading down into the subway at the same time. In my defense, she had decided to walk down the center of one of those narrow subway entrances that allow for only two to pass by without issue. What compels someone to occupy the whole of a space unnecessarily?

And as it happens, my Metro card failed on the first swipe but it mattered not as there was no train to rush to. Second swipe - success. Now, to make it to the desired waiting place. Yes, I am aware of which car to get on to facilitate the fastest egress from both the train and station - I am one of those.

I approach my spot and after a few seconds hear a sound. Wheeling around, I see two of the big dark-colored garbage bags set against the wall and both are tied up well. A quick focus shows me the ground in the space in front of where the bags meet is wet. I look up and think to myself there must be a leak as the intermittent sound continues. It was then that I noticed out of my peripheral vision that one of the bags shuddered.

I look down and see the bag move again. The movement subsided. Then again. This time, the movement revealed itself as bulge making its way to another section of the bag. It was indeed a rat for sure and from the size of the bulge, a rather large, one roughly seven inches in length (18-19 cm for you metric readers).

The immediate thought that entered my head as I looked on was that this particular rat was carrying on foraging for whatever food it could get as opposed to what would have been the natural human instinct to escape from a similar predicament. Did this rat actually not have situational awareness? I then pondered how long it would take for this trapped rodent to switch from feed to flee.

And for whatever reason, it reminded me of a woman I had, kind of, started to see that for me seemed like another life ago. She literally could not see 'the trees for the forest.' At a early enough age, I realized I had situational awareness and could maneuver through crowds. She, sadly, could not and I freely admit that I could not spend any time with a woman like that no matter how cute she was. Yes, I stopped seeing her because she couldn't walk through a crowd. Seems petty but what if we needed to get out of a place fast? That's important to me. You might think me shallow to conjure up a character defect like that but it does speak to fundamental analytical processing. And, yes, I am most certain I have failings others have observed...

She laughed off her cluelessness with what seemed almost zen. I had wanted to admire her for that except that in a very short time, this clearly annoyed me. And for whatever processing I engaged in at the time, I found this life-threatening. How insane that thought? Maybe this woman will be the death of me!

The blow of the train's horn broke my connection to that memory. I looked at the bag to see one last shake of the bag. Odd that I didn't hear the oncoming rumble.

Odd that I remembered her.

Odd what triggers specific memories.

I board the train to carry me on nearer towards my intended destination and I think that trapped rat is a survivor and will make it out of the bag. Maybe not in the station but maybe at the landfill which for a rat might be Shangri-La.

Then I think, "Better in a subway station than my home."

A non-random find

It is something

A nothing and everything

A thing without form

A sense of something

Perhaps that which to hold on

Never, never there

Absence - no such thing

Emptiness cannot exist

Always the other

Do or not - a choice

Yes, the simplest of all

No, par to the task

Now a present breeze

Not all leaves go the same way

Always moving, always

Then each comes to halt

Not nothing ceases at being

A state of change

In a truth, a point

Then noise returns in whisper

And motion again

I found this scribbled in a small notebook I used as a phonebook back in the late 80's. But it is in my hand; I don't know...

The recollection of the moment fails me...

REVIEW: "Hyde Park on Hudson"

I thought, rather foolishly, that I would be able to watch "The Hobbit" on Christmas Day. Instead, I enjoyed my stroll to the theatre only to find it was sold out (and very busy) but along my 1.7 mile trek happened to pass the Cobble Hill Cinemas. I turned around and headed back home. On my return, I  thought, "What's playing there?"

Retracing my steps, I discovered a crowd like the one I encountered at the not-quite-megaplex for "Les Miserables" and "Django Unchained." Thankfully, "Hyde Park on Hudson" did not attract the same attention and I was able to settle in.

A curious film directed by Roger Michell, it tells the story of an affair between President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his sixth cousin, Margaret Suckley (Laura Linney). The story is built around Suckley's private journals and diaries which were discovered after her death in 1991. Up until then, there had been no evidence that an affair took place unlike Roosevelt's affair with Lucy Mercer during World War I.

Set in June 1939, Suckley is called to visit Roosevelt and provide him company at the family country estate in Hyde Park, NY at the insistence of FDR's mother. While FDR and Margaret, who's nickname is Daisy, grow closer, the major event to fall upon them is the visit by King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Consort Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). This was the first time a British monarch had visited the United States - ever.

Roosevelt's mother, Sara Delano (Elizabeth Wilson), and Eleanor Roosevelt (Olivia Williams) duel over the control of many of the activities of the house including details of the state visit. One item of contention is the famous serving of hot dogs to royalty that Ms. Delano finds completely unfathomable. In the film, the hot dog is a matter of great discussion between the King and Queen. While the matter is very serious to all the parties involved, it is very humorous to watch. (The menu of that picnic can be found here.)

The film is balanced between the story of the romance between FDR and Suckley and the almost separate movie of the royal visit but I never once got the sense that it didn't work. To me it plays very much like a diary entry except that there's a small stretch there where Suckley has no presence which does take a bit away from her as an observer. There is also the growing relationship between FDR and the King. One scene after a dinner, the King tells FDR that he was not wanted by the people. FDR's responds, "I did not know they voted for that."

This is a quiet, curious, enjoyable movie to watch and while not nearly as compelling to view as "The King's Speech," the performances are very good and you believe these characters as they are. Murray is really impressive as FDR. And while Samuel West will draw comparisons to Colin Firth's George, it is truly of no matter. I can't leave out Ms. Linney - she is wonderful to watch.

For my part, the hobbyist historian in me will want to see this again. And I hope you do too.

"Hyde Park on Hudson"
Director: Roger Michell
Writer: Richard Nelson
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson

Rineke Dijkstra

As someone who has fairly recently taken their interest in photography to the next-ish level, I was curious to check out "Rineke Dijkstra: A Retrospective" on exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. This was also my first visit to 'the Guggenheim.' Hey, the Upper East Side is kind of annoying commute-wise.

Ms. Dijkstra photographs using a 4x5 large format camera (a type of view camera) which is not much different than the first commercially available cameras back in the mid-19th century except with the obvious technological advancements. Her work is primarily portraiture especially as a series.

The exhibit is spread out over several galleries within the museum and first series one encounters are the Beach Portraits she began in 1992. Others who were in attendance seem to be taken by them but I was not among them - I found this group of portraits lacking. Perhaps they looked too much like a straightforward vacation photograph where the subject is dead center and not much going on anywhere else. And I was also reminded of the disturbing American Apparel advertising campaign(s). Even as I write this, I still struggle with how to convey my lack of connection to these images - there was just  'something.'

But I must tell you that the other series on display are very compelling. Olivier follows a young French male taken over four years and his enlistment in the French Foreign Legion and subsequent postings. Almerisa chronicles a Bosnian refugee over a decade and a half beginning as a child of six transitioning to motherhood. The bullfighters who have just emerged from the ring with blood on their clothes and faces. Young Israeli soldiers from their civiliam lives to induction. I was intrigued by the park series taken in Amsterdam, Brooklyn and Madrid especially the Tiergarten series taken in Berlin.

Dijkstra has also done video work and some of these are also on display in various rooms. One series depicts teenagers at dance clubs in which they simply dance in front of the camera. Grumpy Old Man alert! My lack of tolerance for what passes for dance music these days precluded me from giving the video the attention it deserved but still not enough that I cared for it. That being said, one series of videos was displayed split screen so the added information of 'change' allowed me to take it in further than I would have.

Another series of videos involved school children at the Tate Liverpool. Ruth Drawing Picasso, a schoolgirl really zoned in on her sketching of Picasso's Dora Maar Seated - watching her refocus after various distractions is endearing. Another video, I See A Woman Crying, captures the observations of a group of schoolchildren as they look upon Picasso's Weeping Woman - it's really fascinating as well as entertaining.

Overall, very interesting. And, indeed, something to be experienced especially the large format portraits - viewing the images online simply cannot provide the grandeur of the moments captured. Unless, of course, your display is a 60"high-definition television.

"Rineke Dijkstra: A Retrospective" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, June 29 -  October 8.

A new season...

The 2012 Major League Baseball season is in full swing (officially started last week with the Opening Game played in the Tokyo Dome, Japan).

Lots of interesting changes in the off-season including the managerial change for my Red Sox. Taking over is the ever-entertaining Bobby Valentine. The only thought that runs through my head is what disguise will he assume when he's ejected from a game?

I don't expect the Red Sox to do well this season. The Yankees are the Yankees but... Tampa Bay will be tough - some writers are saying they have the best starting rotation in the AL East. Still, predictions are that calling for the Sox to contend. I'm a realist so this is one where I will be pleasantly surprised if they do indeed make it - still can't erase the memory of the nightmare double-feature of Sept. 28, 2011 (and still, I wasn't that surprised).

But it was great baseball/theatre!

A few new things for 2012:

• Expanded post-season with two wildcard teams; the respective division winners will get a bye as the two wildcards play a single-elimination game to decide who moves on.
• The Florida Marlins are now the Miami Marlins in brand new Marlins Park and they have a new look - the jury (read: my eyes) is still out.
• Jonathan Papelbon is closing for the Phillies - I'm okay with that one.
• The American League will now feature two prolific sluggers in Albert Pujols with the Los Angeles Angels and Prince Fielder with the Detroit Tigers - that should drive attendance and fear.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers have new ownership - I still think they should be moved back to Brooklyn and how awesome would that be?
• A new five-year labor agreement - pretty straightforward if you care to read it.

And close to my heart, Fenway Park turns 100 years old. I mean, that's pretty cool that Fenway's still around. Hell, Yankee Stadium was euthanized at 85!  So the oldest ballparks?

• Fenway Park, Boston - 1912
• Wrigley Field, Chicago - 1914
• Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles - 1962
• Angels Stadium, Anaheim and Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland - 1966
• Kauffmann Stadium, Kansas City - 1973

Also at 100 years old? The sinking of the Titanic.

Just thought you should know.