All kinds of things happening

Sunday in Central Park. 3:00 PM. Photo: JH.

April 21, 2009. Rainy day, all day, and a cold rain harder into the night. The kind of night where you’d think people would stay home.

Although in New York there were all kinds of things happening. Over in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza, Ballet Hispanico held its annual gala Black Slipper Ball with a special appearance by the company.

Down on the Chelsea Piers at 23rd Street, there was more dancing (and dining) with the American Ballet Theatre hosting its thirteenth annual Culinary Pas de Deux. The program included “Dancing with ABT Stars” along with demonstrations of salsa, hop-hop and tango.

The soiree also featured sampling the culinary delectations of some of New York’s finest chefs -- Matt Hoyle of Nobu Fifty-Seven, Martin Howard of Brasserie 8 ½, Samuel Freund of One if by Land, Two if by Sea, Brian Young of Tavern on the Green, Larissa Raphael of Telepan, Joseph Paulino of Café des Artistes and mixologist Albert Trummer of Apotheke.

Tina Ramirez, Dance Inspiration Award recipient and Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet Hispanico.

American Ballet Theatre's thirteenth Culinary Pas de Deux, an evening of dining and dancing, at Pier Sixty.

Marvin Hamlisch leading the New York Philharmonic at last night's New York Moments.

The African Rainforest Conservancy held its 18th annual Artists for African Rainforest Benefit at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Center at the Stephan Weiss Studio on 711 Greenwich Street.

There also was the compatible wines from several premier wineries to go with those samplings, as well as Mr. Trummer’s specially designed cocktails.

ABT’s Principal Dancer Marcelo Gomes and Soloist Craig Salstein hosted. The money raised benefits the ABT’s Spring Season which opens with their annual Spring Gala on May 18th with Honorary Chairmen President and Mrs. Barack Obama. I hear there is at least a possibility that Michelle Obama will grace the evening with her presence.

Also for those running from the rain last night in New York: Up at Lincoln Center at Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Philharmonic celebrated its 2009 Spring Gala with New York Moments, a concert of memorable moments from Broadway and the movies with Marvin Hamlisch leading the New York Philharmonic and performances by Ashley Brown, Maria Friedman, Joel Grey, Jennifer Holliday, Liza Minnelli, and Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot (who are currently starring in “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center; and a 15-year-old up and comer, Nikki Yanofsky. Everyone on the bill but Maestro Hamlisch and Ms. O’Hara were making their New York Philharmonic debuts.

And down at The Box on Chrystie Street, Kevin Spacey, Sally Greene and Simon Hammerstein hosted The Old Vic at the Box, an evening of “fun, frolic and song” to benefit the American Associates of the Old Vic Theatre in London. Co-chairs for the evening were Dina DeLuca Chartouni and Marsha Nuriya Lee.

But wait, that’s not all. Down at Studio 450 on West 31st and 10th Avenue, Anne Bogart, Eric Bogosian, David Henry Hwang, Michael John LaChiusa, Suzan-Lori Parks, Marian Seldes and Lindy Zesch participated in the American Theatre Magazine’s 25th Anniversary Benefit. Drinks, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment and before you knew the night had flown by. You know how it is with those theatre people; never a dull moment.

There were other New York moments too, though hardly the live/love and laugh kind. The African Rainforest Conservancy held its 18th annual Artists for African Rainforest Benefit at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Center at the Stephan Weiss Studio on 711 Greenwich Street.

The honoree was Dorjee Sun, the carbon credit pioneer. Mr. Sun, a dynamic young entrepreneur, is CEO of Carbon Conservation. He is causing an international stir with his ground-breaking carbon trading plan to end forest devastation—by demonstrating that forests are worth more to farmers and companies if left standing. Farmers and companies should be paid to protect the forests instead of clearing them to plant cash crops.

Mr. Sun has pointed out that “Every day we lose 71,000 football fields of pristine rainforest by forestry companies. We can continue to kick around on the fringe of irrelevancy, or step up to the plate and make a real difference."


Byron.

For the stay-at-home’s among us: My Dogs Stories. Missy and Byron. She’s about six and he’s about two and three quarters. So she’s twice his age, and knows it. He’s crazy about her, really attracted to her and it’s so obvious. It’s obvious to her too, and she likes the attention but after awhile ... ehh.

A little nip in just the right spot after horsing around with her will send him yelping and crying, like a little kid who fell of his bike and scraped his knee. She just sits there and looks at me. She could care less. I have to go and stroke him until he calms down.

Missy has been in residence since she was six months old. She joined us after Boyzie Woyzie died – the last of the three dogs that came with me from California in 1992. Someone didn’t want her because they had an older shih=tzu and she bugged him. I can understand.

She wags her tail more than any dog I’ve ever known, and that is not an exaggeration. She looks up at anybody -- stranger, friend, anybody -- and wags her tail. Like: oh –I’m-crazy-about-you, take me home! However, as much she’s sincere, the tail wagging is part of the act. Part of the charm that gets her whatever she wants (something to snack on). Byron is charmed too but he still doesn’t appear to get it's an act.

We call him Byrone. He joined the household last October after the death of my beloved little Buster (who came ten years ago from the CACC on 110th Street to live with us after Mrs. Fa Fa passed away).

Missy and Byron.

Byron came from the Humane Society on East 59th Street. Someone didn’t want him any more because he was “too much….” Or something along those lines. I have a hard time with that kind of thinking about a dependent creature we have chosen to bring into our lives. A really hard time. I didn’t like Byron’s name because it reminded me of someone unknown who would annoy me at best. I wanted to change it but was too lazy so I just changed the pronunciation.

Byron had some health issues when we got him. I think his diet and the daily attention he gets (mainly my presence; I’m not always cuddling with my pals) has improved his health markedly. He’s a little guy compared to Madame (a/k/a Missy). He’s lower to the ground and kind of roly-poly. It’s evenly distributed so I tend to think it’s the way he is. I don’t overfeed. They eat their main meal around midday. A half a can of Science Diet garnished with chopped up chicken and diced canned string beans. They don’t get much more over the course of the day. Except for occasional (daily) treats.

Enter your email address below to subscribe to NYSD's newsletter. It's free!

I had a vet in LA years ago named Dr. Kerry Willetts came to the house with her medical bag in the trunk. A wiry, bony woman with short naturally blonde hair, probably in her fifties, she was almost like an older farm girl in her rolled up cuff dungarees, sneakers and a denim jacket over a white shirt. She also had a Midwestern schoolmarmish manner of speaking, and a gentle manner with the quadripeds.

Common sense was her approach. Once on a visit, first spotting one of the dogs as she came into the house, she said: “Lean dog, long race; that dog’s too fat. Eh-yup.”

The solution? Feed them less. Guess who I think of everytime I see a fat dog on the street? I don’t know what happened to Kerry Willetts. I called her number several months ago. Years had passed. I got an out-of-service. She might have retired. She loved racing stockcars on the weekends. Driving them; every weekend. Lean dog, long race.

Comments? Contact DPC here.