Film: The Art of the Steal

This is pretty much as exciting as it gets: a documentary about art, theft, money, and court cases determining how culture gets managed. This is a story about the Barnes Foundation, whose owner arranged and created a museum and left legal instructions on the management of the institution and its operation. Unfortunately those instructions aren't oriented towards profit, or the "revitalization" of Philadelphia - so the wishes of the collector and owner have been overrun by trust lawyers, and other plans.
Can't. Wait.


See the trailer here.

This Week in Brooklyn: More Snow!

I think the first one kind of looks like a Monet. If Monet painted the New York City skyline in the background...(the view from our roof!)

Film Review: A Serious Man

The film A Serious Man concerns itself with the details of a middle aged American life (circa 1967). Directed by the Coen brothers, the film offers its audience the standard Coen dry humor. The main character, Larry, a Jewish physics professor, suffers from a divorce, funeral, disobedient teenagers, work problems with tenure and misbehaving students, and a sick brother (I think that's all...). Larry searches for advice from friends and rabbis, trying to deal with his life as it continues to devolve. Like the rest of us, Larry can't seem to catch a break and all the metaphorical shit hits the fan simultaneously. The Coen brothers never give the audience quite what it expects, subverting our expectations. It would be easy to be frustrated with the film's inconclusive ending and walk away unsatisfied. The end can also be read as an attempt to break the audience of its desire for neatly answered, tied up endings, for stories that are coherent with happy endings rather than reflecting the world we live in and life as we experience it.

A Serious Man offers a glimpse of the rarity and humor in everyday life and breakdowns, and in purposely failing to give us the ending we want, reminds us that the best part of life is that we don't know what's coming next, but we are seemingly always blessed with second chances.

Final February Days: Lap Assistants & Slush

These past days have consisted of writing my thesis (with assistance, see photos) and hibernating from the snow/slush. The latest storm brought the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen.

In Search of Sweets

A recent teachers' seminar, organized by me for NYU, focused on immigration issues by visiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and then making a trip to Paterson, NJ. We just happened to eat delicious Arab food.

The sweets, including multiple different kinds of baklava, are from All My Sweets at Main Street and Crooks in Paterson, NJ. They do deliver.

February Nights in NYC

Tuesday night was the final night of my internship with AICA, an art critics association. We held an awards ceremony for 22 winning exhibitions at the Guggenheim. The snow kept a lot of people from coming, but it made for a gorgeous night for those who did show.

President's Day in Prospect Park

Days with ice skating in them are pretty much always good days.

Bitty & Bruno At Play!

Bitty and Bruno tried to catch the reflection off Emile's watch (unsuccessfully). Their other habits include: sleeping, eating, and staring out the window. Also a favorite: chasing dust/furballs.

Winter Food!

Given that the cars on our street are still beneath 2 feet of snow, we figured it was time to do some serious cooking. Greek omelettes (top), homemade beef and veggie stew are a good way to fight the winter doldrums. Pierogis too! (I recommend: http://freshpierogi.com/)

And of course, a shot of my fabulous adorable co-chef.

Brooklyn Blizzard

On Women & the American Media

Recently I watched the Superbowl. I have long believed that American advertising and media is terribly hostile to women, portraying them consistently as the housekeepers and stay-at-home moms (have you ever seen a Lysol or Johnson&Johnson ad featuring a stay-at-home dad using cleaning wipes, brooms, or washing dishes?).

The ads during the Superbowl were more of the same, but with a sharpness I wasn't expecting. Especially for the largest televised event in America, and seen by millions and millions of Americans. You'd think these major companies would realize that women not only enjoy sports too, but are watching, taking note, and still constituting 52% of the consumer base in this country.

A Bridgestone ad shows a band of bandits on a dark road that stop a car, and the bandits shout, "Your tires or your life." A few seconds later, a woman is shoved out of the car. Disappointed, the bandits yell, "I said your life, not your wife!" as the car screeches away. Women aren't worth a set of tires here.

A Dodge ad portrays headshots of silent, straight-faced men while a narrator announces, "I will get up at 6am. I will be at work by 8:30am. I will walk the dog. I will say yes when you want me to. I will rinse my shaving particles from the sink. I will carry your lip balm." As if it is beyond reasonable to ask a man to work for a living (after all, we have to as well) and earn their keep, or clean up after himself, or occasionally request a favor. It's all these ridiculous demands women make.

Another ad, for FloTV, shows a man being dragged around a mall by his woman. She makes him stand in the bra section, and the narrator announces, "Girlfriend won't let you watch the Superbowl? Take off the skirt, man." The narrator then exhorts him to get FloTV, a mini portable tv, so he can constantly be around his sports. Here again, women are the burden, women make life hell...

These make me angry, because these images are subtle and rude and demeaning and are being broadcast to a younger generation that will imbibe them without questioning. My feminist anger is full and furious.

But my partner (a man) reminded me of something key. He said, "You know, these ads make me mad too. They don't portray a good image of men either: that we're all lugs who just are pretty dumb, watch sports, and can't get ourselves together."

Ya know, the man's got a point.

Reminiscing: cold Seattle