Cracks In Sidewalks

I need to apologize for not writing.  You are on my mind daily, but the twists and turns of life have gotten in the way these past several weeks.  Below are the few events and subjects I hope to share with you soon besides a new “My Cats Tail” photo and some new “Daily Cracks In Sidewalks” photo’s.

I went to a fabulous screening of “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.”  After the screening Spike Jonz interviewed David Fincher the director.  The movie is great and I highly recommend it!

I also went to the Neil Young, Wilco, Everest concert at Madison Square Garden this past week.  It was really special and a great show.  It started at 8pm and Neil didn’t get off the stage until 12:30am.

Tonight is the “Bev Leslies” at The Bubble Lounge in TriBeCa in NYC.  The band comprises some of the best studio musicians in the city including singer Elaine Caswell (has played with about everyone), singer keyboard player Bette Sussman (Bette Midler’s arranger), Shawn Pelton (drummer for SNL), and a host of other great players.  So expect some reports soon.

In the meantime I hope you are all well and I wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season!

Warm regards,

Audrey

Saturday night I had a pleasant surprise.  I was taken to an elementary school in Greenwich Village, led up some stairs to the school’s gymnasium, seated at a table looking up at a stage that had “Moonwork” painted in bold letters, and told I was now in on a well kept comedy club secret.  By the end of the evening I had to agree, and their next show is January 10th so now you’re in on this secret too.

The cost is $20 a person and it is my understanding that you have to be on an email list to find out about these performances.  Held at the Children’s Aid Society also known as The Phil Coltoff Center on Sullivan Street near Bleaker and W.3rd, this past Saturday’s line up included Andres Dubouchet, Tom Shillue, Hannibal Buress, Rachel Feinstein, Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra, and John Oliver (from The Daily Show.)  If you’re more up on comics and clubs you might be familiar with some of these acts.  Being a late night TV freak, I was only familiar with John Oliver whom I adore.

Set in the gymnasium with round tables for 4, candles, and this time of year, as it was close to Christmas, Hershey Kisses and candy canes on the tables as well; they also had beer and soft drinks available for sale in the back.  I would say in all there were maybe 100 people in the audience.

This portion of Moonwork’s mission is called “Evenings of Original Works,” of which they hold 15 per year and encourage performers to showcase their original work.  Besides the likes of John Oliver and Tom Shillue, they have in the past featured performers such as Janeane Garofalo, and Drama Desk and Obie Award winners.  It’s a good mix of high caliber talent.  They also have within the Moonwork organization an annual Shakespeare production, and a Kids Outreach Program that is tied to Shakespeare.  It’s here that they hope to instill and unlock a child’s love of learning and bring theater to kids.

Our Saturday evening at Moonwork was more than entertaining and well worth the $20 admission fee.  All of the acts were quite good in their own right with John Oliver being an added holiday treat.  The entire experience was positive.  If you live in NYC or have friends who do, I encourage you to check this organization out and if you can, attend their next “Evening of Original Work” in January.   I’ve included their website below to help you find out more about them.  Simply cut and paste the link into your browser.

http://www.moonwork.com/

I’m full of love and mischief too.  A perfect kitten!

Last Sunday I attended a benefit concert a composer friend of mine and his record producer friend put on in Williamsburg Brooklyn.  It was called, “For the Benefit of Mr. Buffett.”  The theme of the benefit was two-fold besides raising money.  One was to go through the entire Beatle’s catalogue all 189 original songs, and the other was to play all of the songs on ukulele.  There were other band instruments as well, but each song included a uke, as the ukulele is Mr. Buffett’s instrument of choice.

You might wonder why someone would sponsor a benefit for the richest man in the world?  My friends decided to give Warren Buffett all the money they raised because they figured he would know what to do with it where as they would just spend the money on cat food and Viagra.

A big treat was that Warren’s son Peter, a musician/composer, came to the benefit with Warren’s uke in tow.  Actually it was the same ukulele Peter said that Warren played, to put him to sleep when he was a child.  Mr. Buffett used to play and sing to him “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”

As Warren is known for giving his money away, (I think he gave 31 billion dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) for this benefit Peter chose to sing the Beatle’s song, “You Never Give Me Your Money.”  It was very funny!

All in all the whole event was quite entertaining with a variety of world-class male and female musicians and singers participating in a very loose, but full of love, good intentioned, big hearted Beatle’s Buffett Benefit extravaganza.

It’s been several busy days and this just covers one of the highlights.  Friday night was a screening for Sam Mendes’, (American Beauty), new directorial debut of his film “Revolutionary Road,” starring his wife Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kathy Bates, along with a line of well-seasoned stage actors Mendes deservedly added to the mix.  My favorite supporting character being the role of Kathy Bate’s son in the movie, John Givings, played by actor Michael Shannon.

The movie, a screenplay adaptation by Justin Haythe of the much loved classic book from the 50’s by Richard Yate’s, comes to life through the wonderful portrayal of its characters and the great set design.  The theme of the movie explores life, relationships, courage, dreams, and what one gives up of themselves and why they give these things up in the pursuit or lack of pursuit of their dreams and passions.  Who is truly brave is a question the movie addresses.

Set in the 50’s a Manhattan couple moves to the suburbs of Connecticut after marrying to raise their family.  All the while being there, they believe that they are different from the other couple’s and families who live and work nearby.  They not only think they are different, but their neighbor’s, friends, and co-workers think the same.  They believe they have freedom and choices in the decisions they make, and that they are a cut above the others who share their life.  This is a story about truth, and whose truth.  It’s about change, unraveling, disillusionment, and every day life.  It’s the story of one families experience living in the Connecticut suburbs on Revolutionary Road in the 1950’s and what befalls them, and how the choices they make affect not only each other but their friends, neighbors and co-workers.  It’s a look into living life differently, how it threatens those around you and yourself, and the cost both good and bad.   It’s a movie that requires reflection and is well worth seeing.