Cooler but overcast

Water tower. 12:00 AM. Photo: JH.

August 14, 2009. Yesterday was cooler but overcast in New York, with a mild threat of rain (a drop). But it was an absolutely beautiful day because of the light and how it affected all of the colors of the city. By early evening the air was moist and cool, and the heavy cloud cover obscured the sunset except for bright sunlight on Queens just across the river. It was one of those moments when I wished I had my camera just to remember the splendid beauty.

At 8 o’clock I was waiting on the corner of 83rd and East End for a cab, and I did have my camera.

Twilight on East End Avenue and 83rd Street, looking north and then south, at 8 PM.

The headline news yesterday was: Bernie Madoff once had an affair with some woman who wrote a book about it. She also lost money with the man. A book about an affair with Bernie Madoff? I guess it’s safer than a sleeping pill. And maybe even more effective.

Letters. Jazz guitar virtuoso Les Paul died yesterday at 94 here in White Plains, New York.

Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Except for jazz and guitar aficionados and enthusiasts, and those over sixty, Les Paul is not a well known name. However, in the 1950s, he and his wife Mary Ford were hit recording artists (as Les Paul and Mary Ford) with a string of huge hits including “How High the Moon” which was the last moment before the onset of Elvis and rock and roll. Listen to it sometime and you’ll see its tremendous influence on popular music thereafter.

My friend and neighbor Charlie Scheips sent me this email and photo last night about the man.

Dear David--I was so sad to hear tonight that Les Paul died. I loved him and went to see him many times with my brothers as well as a couple of times with my father.

The last time was a couple years ago. My jazz guitarist brother Ted got up and played with Les at the Iridium. Afterwards he played “Sweet Georgia Brown” and Les said: "you play real pretty" and asked for another. He was great!

Apparently he played every Monday night up until 8 weeks ago. My brother Peter was his real friend though. I am sure he is heart broken. This pic is with Les and my Dad about four years ago in October in the green room after the performance.

Cheers,
Charlie

Charlie Scheips with Les Paul and his father, Charles Scheips Sr.

Alexandra Lebenthal’s piece in yesterday’s NYSD on the kids in Bellport vis-à-vis the kids on NYC Prep elicited a lot of comment. Reality TV shows and their principals are easy targets for criticism. They demonstrate and articulate perfectly what H. L. Mencken referred to as the “booboisie” of the American scene as it exists today, although at the time of Mencken’s creation (early 20th century) he was referring to what was once referred to as the working class. What I find truly funny about all of the “reality” shows is how cookie cutter ordinary most of the characters are. All any of them seem to want is attention and money. And then some more. It’s hilarious.

Then there are other thoughts such as this from a reader in Southern California:

What an uplifting article about the kids in Bellport and their unique way of making people smile again. I, of course, had to watch that awful show on Bravo (does anybody remember when the Bravo Channel showed only foreign films?) and those obnoxious kids attempting to be adults. About halfway into it I wondered about their parents. Who would let a kid do that?

CLAIRE and GEORGIA READ (in 11713 and FLOC).

In the case of the kids in "Laguna Beach" I wondered the same thing. MTV offered our local high school $50,000 to shoot the thing on campus and the school passed on that. But the parents of those kids allowed them to be followed and filmed. I wonder if the town will ever live that down.

Everybody doesn't live in a McMansion, drive a Mercedes, belong to a private club. etc. However when we go East or South or travel in Europe, etc., someone is always introducing us and the end result is that we are defending Laguna Beach, pointing out that the kids in the television show were not the mainstream. I wish that parents would learn how to say no to the children. Early notoriety seems like a prelude to a miserable life.

Hooray for Ms. Lebenthal.

Last letter for the day. Carol Joynt’s Washington Social Diary column last week about the secret drugging of women in the community provoked an enormous amount of mail of all sorts, ranging from praise to experiences of addiction with oneself or a family member, to suggested solutions to this insidious menace to the public health and safety. Then there were many who attempted to explain or draw understanding about the matter. The following letter was particularly thoughtful as well as controversial. It’s deadly serious and doesn’t take this heavy matter lightly, and it places the blame squarely on all of us, the Self. We are not identifying the writer because we did not seek permission. Nor do we know the writer except to know that the writer reads the NYSD.

Hello-

It's very late, and I just got in from a concert and a very late dinner. I have been unable to stop thinking about this horrific accident, and the 4 children who died as well as the little boy who survived.

I know many people who rely on mind altering ingredients, let's say to face their day. Some rich, some average and some struggling. I wouldn't say this affliction is more prevalent in any of the financial stratospheres.

Rather, I think it is a by-product of the enormously unfulfilling lives so many of us lead. One can also look at the life of Senator Sanford as an example. An American Governor, husband, father. Yet, with all of the power, prestige, affluence, love of family, he still strayed and was probably fulfilling his "sexual" addictions.

It's one thing to dedicate a column to these poor individuals, yet I do think you are missing the larger point. I think we as humans, living in the early 21st century are extremely lost and stuck in a void of sorts. This phenomenon (drinking, drugging, cheating, lying, stealing) is a reaction to the state of our lives. So many things to be unhappy about. With all of the technology we enjoy, we are now "wired" 24 hours a day. No down time. The media portrays these perfect lives, perfect bodies, perfect thoughts and then we look at the fabric of our own personal "day" and nothing seems right. Being a great Mom, looking great, being a great wife, having exciting friends, on and on. How does one even find the time in a day to do even half of that?

Money, power, prestige, position are all barometers that few can master. Yet, we idolize these few and create a living hell for the others. And the others number in the 10's of millions, maybe hundreds here in America.

When you have a short period of time that produces the likes of Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay, Michael Milken, etc., as well as the sub-prime mortgage mess and all of the other thievery we've seen recently amongst leaders of government, finance and the like, you must ask what about our society is driving disproportionate amounts of people to do things that are counter to the health and well being of our citizens?

Well-bred young ladies doing "street" drugs, CEOs stealing all of the money, Bernie Madoff crippling charities and individuals to fuel his "lifestyle", banks, investment houses and the like "tricking" ordinary citizens out of their hard-earned funds. Who is connecting the dots here? Who is asking the important question of "what is going on here"? The road we have taken as a society is fueling this breakdown of ordinary individuals. When you have mothers, trusted wives, community leaders and the like resorting to artificial stimulants just to complete the day, something is rotten in Denmark, as they say.

The media, magazines, and Madison Avenue ads are literally driving people mad. Let us not forget that the bottom-line of life is relationships. Everything that happens under the Sun is about people and their relationships towards one another. I do not feel sad for Diane Schuler and the circumstances of her life that compelled her to drink and drug her way to some equilibrium (or so she thought) in her life. Rather I blame her for not being stronger and seeking help before she took the lives of 4 innocent, young children. We are all fooling each other these days and society is slowly crumbling.

Society crumbling? When the government is broke, the banks are broke, the auto industry is broke, retail is dying, newspapers and print media dying, still no health care, foreclosures, outsourcing, aggressive financial institutions, wars based on admitted "faulty intelligence", crumbling infrastructure, crumbling schools, persistent poverty right here in America (remember it's 2010), I wouldn't say we as citizens of this planet could rest on our laurels at this point in time, or any time soon. So many messes to handle. Overwhelming, if you ask me.

As a society, we need to look further than getting help for these women's addictions, and take a good look at where we are going as people, and what we are doing to help each other and create a world that all can live happily and comfortably. All who are alive now, live amongst great wealth, yet are individually dying slow deaths while wearing masks and masking the truth that will set them free.

Thank You.

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