Synchronicity watch: Bill Evans, Toni Frissell, Weeki Wachee

I adore Bill Evans. It doesn't get much better in terms of tortured, melancholy, painfully beautiful jazz on the piano. I also visited Weeki Wachee every spring with my grandma near were she lived in northern Florida when I was a kid. Then i would tie my legs together in the pool and pretend to be a mermaid myself, which, lemme tell you, is a workout. And slightly dangerous i guess, but so is swimming in a spring-fed pool with a stream outlet into the marshes of the Florida gulf coast; chock full of crocks. We saw a few every year.

It just seems a lovely coincidence that this beautiful cover for the album Undercurrent was shot at Weeki Wachee by underappreciated photographer Toni Frisell. It is a picture I never tire of looking at. Click on image for larger pic.

Part 2 of Mothers Day pics: back-story

The foxy pictures of my mom taken in Central Park back in hippie-times are special. Not just because of the foxiness, but my mom met the photographer, whose name has been forgotten, on a New York City bus when she noticed someone trying to pick his pocket. He wanted to reward her kindness and since she was an actress, they struck up a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Here's the strange part: Last summer I met a photographer named Judith Van Ijken who was visiting from Amsterdam to work on some projects. We became friends and she called me when she returned to Williamsburg in March to work on a different project, involving re-creating scenes from the life of a parent on their children, hopefully using the same clothes and location, if possible. I stumbled upon those pictures of my mom in a bookshelf at my dad's and realized it was perfect. Let's be honest, I wear clothes my family gave me all the time, almost everyday. My everyday belt was my dad's from 40 years ago. That belt probably saw Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore East.

Ok, so I show Judith the pictures and she is totally on board and we go to Belvedere Tower in Central Park, where I think my mom's pictures were probably done, and get some good shots in before the "rangers" tell us to scram; that it's too "dangerous" on the rocks. I tell them every inch of the park besides the cement paths wasn't roped off when I was a 4 years old and I used to play down there, which is true, and they shut up for a moment. Judith is a great photographer, and guess what? Yes, I met her on a New York City public bus. I wasn't saving her or anything, she just said hello.

Happy Mothers Day! one day late.

My mom was/is hot.

Picture in Village Voice from March 18

I took this picture last October and the band used it for a piece in the Voice. My buddy Hans is the one on the right. We call him HC, or HVAC, or HSBC.

Boys will be boys

Sam and one of his junior high friends, circa 2000

Song of the week: Chase the Devil

I've been running a lot. This is good for that. Max Romeo: Chase The Devil

Obama rides the subway

so does Mayor Bloomberg. That's one of the ways politicians stay connected with the voting public. Here he said he had just come from a campaign meeting at Dumont.

It's stressful running for president

you gotta let loose. leaving the bar with your beer, however, is not recommended. He crashed 10 minutes later.

Obama loves the environment!

It was on this hike in the Catskills last September (for Nat & Dave's wonderful wedding) that I really understood how fragile and beautiful our environment really is. I got up to the top of the mountain and was like, "hey, there's a shit ton of trees up here! no one needs to worry! alright!"
But Barack, was like, "hey, hey, now, listen, just because you SEE a lot of trees right now doesn't mean we don't have a problem..." He said a lot of other stuff too but I was winded and really really hungover, so I don't remember, but I think he knew what he was talking about.
(apologies to Jay and Bill)