Frankie's partner Judy Pritchett was kind enough to share with me a high-rez scan of the lovely article and photo spread from the Jersey Jazz magazine about the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival that took place last May in New York City. Entitled "Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging" its one of the sweetest tributes to…
Second Life avatar actors perform Howard Barker’s “13 Objects” October 21-22
Second Life is not only a great place to be entertained, one can also find lots of "high art" from painting and sculpture to classical music and even ballet performances. Case in point, I just received news about a new theatrical production of the work of British playwright Howard Barker on October 21 and 22…
Lost Fingers awesome Django-esque cover of “Pump Up the Jam” (video)
Crank up your speakers and rock out / swing out to this awesome gypsy jazz cover of the 80s hit "Pump Up the Jam." Performed by the Lost Fingers of Quebec, Canada, these boys give the Technotronic classic new life and a swingin beat that works much better than it should. On September 27, the…
Good Riddance: the joys of packing up and leaving
This weekend and next are all about getting ready for my next move to my new apartment in Prospect Heights. Like most, I am usually less than excited about the prospect of packing up all my earthly possessions and trucking them off to a new home. In the past, it has been the subject of…
“Sit Down to Rise Up”: Support the Interdependence Project!
My buddy Rafi sends out word that his organization the Interdependence Project is sponsoring a "meditation marathon" for 24 hours on November 6-7 to raise funds for their innovative approach to activism: I’m asking anyone reading to sponsor me as I meditate for a full twenty four hours as part of the Fall fundraiser. I’ll…
COBU’s hoofer/drummers bring together Japanese and American beats
Last night my friend Joyce and I caught the latest show by the Japanese drumming / tap group COBU at the Theater for the New City in the East Village. They always put on an incredible show, and after 10 years of work, the depth and power of their performance just keeps increasing. Since the…
I’ve been to the coffee promised land: Ninth Street Espresso
As a coffee lover, I'm always on the lookout for the perfect "cuppa." I'm not a fancy coffee confection drinker: cappuccinos are too frothy, lattes too weak, iced coffee too sweet. I just like a plain old, well-made, robust and flavorful cup of coffee. That said, if I want to get fancy, I go for…
A Room (or 4) of My Own!
I just realized that my new apartment that I am moving into at the end of the month is the first place in my whole life that is exclusively my own, to furnish and decorate as I wish. This is kind of a big deal. So what kind of environment do I want to live…
Passing the Friend Test as a Known Sperm Donor
I'm in the Schipol airport in the Netherlands waiting for my flight back to the States, successfully completing my mission to help my friends conceive a child. The process so far was relatively painless and smooth, even though this was done at a large public Dutch hospital involving several departments. Pretty much everyone we dealt…
Dreaming of Dutch Living
As I write this, I’m eating brunch in an outdoor café on the corner of Oosterpark in the southeastern part of Amsterdam, imagining (again) what it might be like to live here. Tall blonde girls walk past me every couple of minutes, each one cuter than the last. A waiter serves me a perfect cup…