Armond White’s Film Capsules
By Armond White
50/50—The buddy comedy genre faces cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is helped through crisis by Seth Rogen. Decent emotions get cheated of depth by blithe, nonspiritual approach. Dir. Jonathan Levine.
Read more
Loyal Listeners, from Garbage Men to Celebrities
A gay ‘View’ from Uptown
By Mark Peikert
The Upper West Side has long been home to funny people—everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Elisabeth Hasselbeck—and comedian Dave Rubin is the latest in that long line.
Read more
Making Art Out of the Dark
By Penny Gray
Upper East Side poet Anna Rabinowitz has much to smile about these days. Most poets are grateful to have a collection of poetry published; few can boast that their words have been set in an opera, and even fewer can say that the opera has been successful enough to warrant a CD release. But Rabinowitz can.
Read more
Biographer Mines F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Life
By Aspen Matis
Sheila Schwartz has lived passionately and with intention. In addition to writing 19 books, she’s had a life of adversity, including the death of her 28-year-old daughter of a brain tumor in Hollywood while Schwartz herself worked on a book about the Hollywood Blacklist. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, also died in Hollywood—of alcoholism. Schwartz has now written a biography of the voice of the Lost Generation called F. Scott Fitzgerald (Haus Publishers), available from amazon.com and other booksellers.
Read more
City Tardy With East Side Solutions
Parents feel stymied as overcrowding answer remains out of reach
The parents in Community Education Council (CEC) District 2 are not happy. They came out en masse on a school night this week to express their displeasure to the council and Department of Education (DOE) chancellors, Marc Sternberg and Kathleen Grimm.
Read more
Tapped In: A Passel of Santas
Notes from the Neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Finnegan Bungeroth & Aspen Matis
A little boy stops to find out what all the hullabaloo is about as the Sidewalk Santa Parade marches down the West Side. Budding Santas took part in the event Nov. 25 to raise money for the Volunteers of America’s Holiday Food Voucher Program. These vouchers allow families in need to shop for a holiday meal special to them, rather than relying on a food pantry.
Tapped In
Notes from the Neighborhood
Compiled by Megan Finnegan Bungeroth & Aspen Matis
GET YOUR PET BLESSED
Hurry down with your furry (or feathered, finned or four-legged) friend to the ASPCA’s third annual Blessing of the Animals, a holiday gathering at which Senior Minister Stephen Bauman and Senior Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein will bless New York City pets. The pet-blessing session will be hosted by New York Post society columnist Cindy Adams Dec. 11 from 2-3 p.m. The Brooklyn Youth Choir will perform hymns and holiday anthems for attendees, both human and creature. The blessing will take place at Christ Church, 520 Park Ave.
Read more
The Overachieving Overnighter
Is there such a thing as being too great a guest?
Recently, friends from Montreal, a married couple, came to stay with me for one night on their way to see relatives in Virginia. When they called to let me know they were running late due to a delayed flight, I said to them, as firmly as I know how, “Now, listen guys, I have gin in the freezer. Your martini glasses are chilled and waiting, so don’t stop for anything. Don’t buy me anything. Just come directly here.” I said this because they visit me often, and I know their houseguesting M.O. all too well.
Read more
Losing Papa, But Keeping New York
My father dies, but not before giving me the gift of home
I looked out at the Hudson River from his room at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia, his body lying next to me. The gray weather. The awful, post-stroke writhing finally over after a few horrible days. I thought so many things, including that he had managed to die in a town he loved. Oh, and what a great view.
Read more
Sorry for the “Inconvenience”
To the Editor:
Regarding an “Open Letter to OWS” (Nov. 24), I guess Mrs. Merkl has forgotten that real change is not easy, that it’s messy and that sometimes people are unintentionally hurt, yes, and even inconvenienced along the way.
Read more
