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Thoughts of a Random Nature
Sep. 30th, 2002 11:24 am1. There is a new show opening here next week, and we in the Pr department are not ready. The final release has not been written, let alone mailed. My boss is dragging er feet, which is usually a sign that the show is not that good. The topic, in case you ask: the second-tier Absratct Expressionist painter, Adolph Gottlieb. Anyone out there even here of him?
2. The Museum pulled off something of a coup. We have a screening this Thursday night of a forgotten Orson Welles film called The Trial. Some - Ebert, for one - consider it a classic. But we are having trouble sellng tickets. Lo and behold, and I don't know how this happened, we landed (at the last minute) the director and Welles expert Peter Bogdanovich. Problem is, it's way too late in the game to get the press coverage this deserves. Still, it's unusual for us to have that caliber speaker. However, the draw for me, if I had the time, would be the other speaker, Stuart Klawans. Stuart is the erudite and iconoclastic film critic for The Nation, and also a PR consultant who worked with us last spring. He is a good man, and got us through some rough work with a strong sense of humor and a brain. He deserves more of a following, fellow film buffs.
3. I received an honor in my synagogue yesterday. The day was Simchat Torah, when we finish the annual cycle of reading the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) with the death of Moses, and immediately begin it again with Genesis. It's a big honor to be called to the Torah for either end or beginning, but before that, there is a ceremony in which all the children under bar/bat mitzvah age are called up en masse and one adult leads them in the blessing. Guess who got that honor?
In some synagogues, this honor is not such a big deal, and is a hassle if you have a lrage, young congregation. In my synagogue, which is young but smallish and which puts a high priority on educating its kids, it's not a hassle and it is honor enough that your name is listed with the other honorees. I really didn't want the honor. I'm not the most active member in the synagogue, and the reason I got it, while something I will not say out loud even here, bothered me. I'm not the most modest of men, but I like to think if I get an honor, I should have earned it.
But then the moment came. I was surrounded by 75 or so kids of all ages, including two of Toon's cousins (in the neighborhood for the holiday). I looked around and saw what I hope and expect to be the future. Wow. I'm still not sure I did much to earn this yet - I think it should be given to someone who has done good work for the youth in the synagogue - but maybe the idea is that this should inspire me to do more, to live up to the expectations these kids have of all us adults.
But now, the fun part. The honorees have to co-sponsor a "hot kiddush," a collation after service one Shabbat. Guess I'm not eating out this month.
4. The regular baseball season is over. If you're like most New Yorkers, the fun is just beginning since the Yankees are off on another run to win it all. If you're like me, you're relieved that misery of the 2002 Mets season is done. $100 million payroll, and nothing to show for it but a bad, and boring, team of badly mismatched players, led by a manager who seems to need a month in a rest home. I don't think I've ever been happier to see a seaosn end. Trouble is, the team cannot afford to change much as most of its high-priced duds are too expensive to trade or cut. But I'm still a Met fan, and that means being hopeful at least until the first boneheaded play of the spring.
In the meantime, I root essentially for any team that is not the Yankees of the Braves - nothing personal, it's just a Met fan thing. My pick? The Yankees and the Giants, with the trophy coming home to NY.
2. The Museum pulled off something of a coup. We have a screening this Thursday night of a forgotten Orson Welles film called The Trial. Some - Ebert, for one - consider it a classic. But we are having trouble sellng tickets. Lo and behold, and I don't know how this happened, we landed (at the last minute) the director and Welles expert Peter Bogdanovich. Problem is, it's way too late in the game to get the press coverage this deserves. Still, it's unusual for us to have that caliber speaker. However, the draw for me, if I had the time, would be the other speaker, Stuart Klawans. Stuart is the erudite and iconoclastic film critic for The Nation, and also a PR consultant who worked with us last spring. He is a good man, and got us through some rough work with a strong sense of humor and a brain. He deserves more of a following, fellow film buffs.
3. I received an honor in my synagogue yesterday. The day was Simchat Torah, when we finish the annual cycle of reading the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) with the death of Moses, and immediately begin it again with Genesis. It's a big honor to be called to the Torah for either end or beginning, but before that, there is a ceremony in which all the children under bar/bat mitzvah age are called up en masse and one adult leads them in the blessing. Guess who got that honor?
In some synagogues, this honor is not such a big deal, and is a hassle if you have a lrage, young congregation. In my synagogue, which is young but smallish and which puts a high priority on educating its kids, it's not a hassle and it is honor enough that your name is listed with the other honorees. I really didn't want the honor. I'm not the most active member in the synagogue, and the reason I got it, while something I will not say out loud even here, bothered me. I'm not the most modest of men, but I like to think if I get an honor, I should have earned it.
But then the moment came. I was surrounded by 75 or so kids of all ages, including two of Toon's cousins (in the neighborhood for the holiday). I looked around and saw what I hope and expect to be the future. Wow. I'm still not sure I did much to earn this yet - I think it should be given to someone who has done good work for the youth in the synagogue - but maybe the idea is that this should inspire me to do more, to live up to the expectations these kids have of all us adults.
But now, the fun part. The honorees have to co-sponsor a "hot kiddush," a collation after service one Shabbat. Guess I'm not eating out this month.
4. The regular baseball season is over. If you're like most New Yorkers, the fun is just beginning since the Yankees are off on another run to win it all. If you're like me, you're relieved that misery of the 2002 Mets season is done. $100 million payroll, and nothing to show for it but a bad, and boring, team of badly mismatched players, led by a manager who seems to need a month in a rest home. I don't think I've ever been happier to see a seaosn end. Trouble is, the team cannot afford to change much as most of its high-priced duds are too expensive to trade or cut. But I'm still a Met fan, and that means being hopeful at least until the first boneheaded play of the spring.
In the meantime, I root essentially for any team that is not the Yankees of the Braves - nothing personal, it's just a Met fan thing. My pick? The Yankees and the Giants, with the trophy coming home to NY.
