weather girls

no one expected "rain and snow" in the forecast for the urbanathlon. 
t & i had to gear up:

@ city sports, 48th street, nyc

 (the sad truth: i'm going to look way sillier than this on saturday.)

pretty city: posers

guess whose pose i like best?

23rd/broadway near mad square park

sept 30, 2011

inspiration: goings on about town

a floating screening, part of the rooftop films series. august 29, 2005. photo by sylvia plachy via thenewyorker.com

every week, when the new yorker arrives in the mail, the first thing i look at is...

the critics section. but the second thing i look at is the photo that opens the "goings on about town" section. and i admire. and dream...

elisabeth biondi, who has been the "visuals editor" since 1996, a couple of years after photography first started appearing in the magazine, is leaving to pursue curatorial projects.

the new yorker put together a tribute and slideshow, highlighting her favorites. i haven't pulled together my actual new yorker favorites yet (that should be a fun exercise) but i have loved sylvia plachy's work...and her book's been on my wish list for a while. have a look at the small selection here.

i'll leave you with these tonight...

“Jomama Jones * Radiate,”/Daniel Alexander Jones. photographed by Lisa Kereszi. via the newyorker.com

“new york city, 1953,” by elliott erwitt’s, which was part of a wonderful exhibition that i actually caught at the edwynn houk gallery a couple of years ago.via the newyorker.com

this one is for my sister...

carla bruni and comtesse jacqueline de ribes, in venice, italy. photo by jean pigozzi. 1991. via the newyorker.com

see fine pictures: marilyn monroe

the writer's almanac informed its devoted readership that today is the birthday of marilyn monroe (who never really vaults to mind when i think of my favorite actresses, but stars winningly in films that i really enjoy--how to marry a millionaire, all about eve, the seven-year itch, and especially niagara. if you've only been exposed to small clips or photographs, it would seem easy to decry her talent. can that breathy, overdrawn style really work? surprisingly, yes. can you forget, for the duration of a film that you're watching marilyn monroe? mmmm....maybe not, but maybe that's because you're thinking, hey, this marilyn monroe? she's pretty good).

twa is commemorating what would be her 84th birthday with this literary note: she was the subject of more than 300 biographies, and inspired significant works of fiction, including joyce carol oates' blonde, which was a finalist for a national book award in 2000. (the film version of blonde is in development, with naomi watts slated to play ms. monroe).

other folks are marking the occasion by unveiling this photo, which strikes me as a titanic non-event. is this photo proof of an affair? (and really--do people still need it?) is it even a great photo? i see her fabulous figure in a fabulous dress--and lots of hair and ears. yet, appraisers expect someone will pay $23K for this "very significant piece of american and celebrity history, and fine art photography." which just sounds like a whole lotta monkey business to me.

i prefer these shots, with ms. monroe looking casually glam, her soulful eyes looking bright.

all images courtesy of doctor macro.

AMO the ARG: on the street where you "live" (day 1)

the bumpy flight from bogota to buenos aires left me sick--incapacitated, really--for a few hours after our arrival. z went off exploring on her own, while i took a recovery nap. by the early afternoon, i was able to hit the streets outside of our rented apartment in search of something light and argentinian to eat.

we stayed a two-bedroom, duplex apartment in a recoleta, not in the section of town where tourists would typically stay, but in a residential neighborhood off a busy main street, avenida pueyrredon. i loved watching people go through their every day lives, going to and from work, picking up their kids from school, walking their dogs, meeting for coffee...

these photos will not be the best of the bunch-- i struggled to take photos at first, i hadn't adjusted to the tight, busy corners and the bright sun-- but i'm sentimental about them as they mark the very first things i saw and loved and would sort of set the stage for the rest of the week.

a cafe on "our" corner, avenues berruti and pueyrredon...

the festive buses...i soon found out that each line has its own design....

portenos, waiting for the bus...

i loved the architecture...and the power lines that cut across the streets...

and duero, the euro-style coffee shop where i had my first meal, on the corner of avenidas pueyrredon and santa fe.

since i was still recovering, i had tea with milk (te con leche) and toast with dulce de leche.
duero would become our regular breakfast stop, with only a couple of exceptions.
and i basically always ordered this (but with coffee...good, strong coffee)

two of the fine staffers at duero...


all photos © anita aguilar

stock images

the photographer dennis stock passed away last month at the age of 81. i heard the news about a week afterwards, and have spent some hours since touring various online galleries devoted to his work. if you have been a fan of hollywood and its stars of the 1950s and 60s, or if you're a jazz enthusiast, you may find many of these images wonderfully familiar. if you have time in the coming days, i'd encourage taking a look at a multimedia presentation, the self-assigned photographer, that mr. stock himself narrates. or if you'd rather move through the images at your own pace, here's a link to his gallery on the magnum site.

back in high school (or freshman year of college) i bought james dean revisited, and until very recently, it had been sitting on the shelf in my bedroom at my parents' house (gathering no dust, thanks to mom).

i remember my favorite images (the whole series of him taking katherine dunham's dance class, him with his bongo drums --did his bare feet make him seem more real to me? one of him, in his sailor-striped shirt, standing in his west side apartment, so tiny, like ship's quarters. and one of him, in indiana, reciting the poems of james whitcomb riley at the dinner table (i still love that one). but in essence, i really only cared about what james dean was "doing" in the photos. but i seem now to be looking at them, trying to imagine mr. stock himself--what he was thinking, doing, saying, even where he was standing. (it would probably do me good to try to figure out his settings.)

in any case, now i see the awesome tree, the reflection in the ice, the tubas and the music stands. i see geraldine page for the first time, really. and his shoes.

dennis stock/magnum. james dean, nyc. 1955.

i like some of mr. stock's california images, too.

dennis stock: corona del mar, 1968. via wink magazine blog

dennis stock/magnum via time.com

of his jazz photos, this might be my favorite...


i hope you find some that you like too.

(the new york times also has a nice short piece on their "lens" blog, which mr. stock himself followed. i love that he would take the time to offer encouragement and praise to his colleagues via the blog.)

mind over matter. fight on

my first ever hot toddy. courtesy of the perfect pint. (east 45th)

i'm not sick.

i'm not.

i've been good and healthy all season (apart from some wooziness on christmas day, attributed to the large bag of buttered popcorn that i gluttonized at the matinee showing of nine). i'm not about to start the decade on a sickbed.

but i was kissed awake this morning by a cold wind blowing through my bedroom.
i did not love it.

and the day progressed with me feeling out of sorts: a little congested, the merest itch in my throat, hot forehead, cold hands. worst of all, i couldn't get warm.

i planned a full-on assault with vitamin C and fluids and good food.
i made ginger tea and tom yum soup from scratch. no recipe--all the ingredients: lemongrass, lots of fresh lime, sriracha sauce (as a substitute for red chili pepper), a bit of fish sauce, sugar, and a full bunch of fragrant cilantro went into a big pot for about 20 minutes. it would seem a perfect remedy, no? a hot/spicy/sweet/salty broth?
and i chased it with some advil (just in case).

i ate something more substantial before my sister came over in the late afternoon, and was still feeling a little dodgy.
but--i still had to get to happy hour with my gals, t and z! i couldn't miss them...
(a good girl would have stayed home, but a clever girl knows that she can get a hot toddy at the bar.)

and this is where clever girl gets hers.

i went to the perfect pint on east 45th street, and ordered a hot toddy (nicely done!), and waited and waited...while my gals were enjoying a cold beer and conversation at the perfect pint on west 45th.

guess who screwed that pooch by not carefully reading her IMs this afternoon? ugh.
i'd blame it on being sick and all. but i'm not sick.

i'm not.

night in the city

bryant park, 1:57 am

pretty city: the baby it's cold outside edition

we were on a shoot yesterday, in picturesque irvington, ny.

the light was gorgeous.
and oh the winter wind, blowing off the hudson...
(it was damn cold! a third or fourth layer of clothing would have been a wise idea. it took about 6 hours on the couch, wrapped in fleece blankets, and entire pot of ginger tea for me to defrost.)

but it was worthwhile...

rufus.

jim.

rufus and jeff.

miss elizabeth.

CHAOS: christmas and the hard luck kid

the holiday episode--christmas and the hard luck kid--is live. this one has some of the usual chaos (use the mace! use the mace!), but it has warm and wistful moments, too.

i just went through the stills--shot on 3 different days this fall. it seems like so long ago.

my hope is that the photos will start to provide, apart from a view of the production, a sense of who the actors and producers are. i loved watching everyone play, plot, and choreograph, work through lines and angles and action, but i loved the quiet moments too--how they look at each other, how they watch, how they listen. i tried for those...

ms. jessica, as dena.

paul and lauren (stewart and jess)

ms. cara (sarah)

maestro mike

oh, and me, in a favorite shirt.

here's a link to the full set aaaand...the episode.

cheers!

all photos © anita aguilar

read a good poem: morning

tree, by robert stivers. via photoeye.

seems like a good day to stay home...

***

morning

why do we bother with the rest of the day,

the swale of the afternoon,

the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,

his many-pointed stars?

this is the best—

throwing off the light covers,

feet on the cold floor,

and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,

a palmful of vitamins—

but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,

the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,

a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows—

trees fifty, a hundred years old

out there,

heavy clouds on the way

and the lawn steaming like a horse

in the early morning.

by billy collins
via the poetry foundation

dc: sweep (confetti, too)

after (and before!) the sweep. photo by denis doyle/getty images via yahoo sports

nadal d. berdych: 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
ferrer d. stepanek: 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6
lopez/verdasco d. stepanek/berdych: 7-6 7-5 6-2
nadal d. hajek: 6-3, 6-4
ferrer d. dlouhy 6-4, 6-2

art shots: met museum

the charles engelhard court, in the metropolitan museum of art's new american wing.
december 3, 2009.

the charles engelhard court, in the metropolitan museum of art's new american wing.
december 3, 2009.

the charles engelhard court, in the metropolitan museum of art's new american wing.
december 3, 2009.

the charles engelhard court, in the metropolitan museum of art's new american wing.
december 3, 2009.

all photos © anita aguilar

saturday, at saturdays

saturdays, on crosby street. photo © anita aguilar

more boards...photo © anita aguilar

i spent saturday afternoon down in my former neighborhood, walking around in the sunshine (with a scarf, but sans coat!), brunching on spring street and checking out the very handsome goods at the pop up flea. (oh, give me money and a man to shop for and i know where to go and do some damage.)

but my favorite part of the day, not surprisingly, revolved around the discovery of a new coffee place.

saturdays, on crosby street, is a small coffee bar attached to a small surf shop, and it appears to cater exclusively to men and the women who love to see them in only the finest surf gear. among their offerings: hullabaloo boards, alex knost wetsuits and lightning bolt shorts, select dry-land goods (i especially like their ties) and surfing-related miscellany (wax, books, dvds, best made axes - not sure what the axes are for? but i like them). some of the brands are a mystery to me (a non-surfer) but my friend (a surfer in his soul) was agog. he took a careful, admiring eye to and for pretty much every single piece in there.

i fancied the lattes, made artfully and strong by josh, one of the owners.

as we sat with our lattes on the wooden bench in the front of the store, across from a row of surfboards and i talked about my week, it was impossible not to notice my friend's eyes widen and gleam--he was mesmerized by the surfing movie that was being projected on the wall behind me. i knew that he was dreaming about the next time he could hop on a train to long island to see if the surfing would be as perfect as josh had described it minutes before, that he was longing not to be in that very cool shop, drinking perfectly nice coffee with a perfectly nice girl, but out on the ocean, alone and at peace on his board.

and i laughed to myself because i found it impossible to blame him.

***
saturdays is every day at 31 crosby st (between grand and broome streets), nyc.
m-f: 8am-8pm
sat: 10am-5pm
sun: 11am-6pm

greatness: andy warhol's polaroids of athletes...

i love this picture of dorothy hamill, though i remain haunted by that haircut.

faded, but still great.

one of my idols. and my first racquet.

warhol.
polaroids.
athletes.

done.

on view at danziger projects, until december 12.