INSIDE: St. Ann & The Holy Trinity

I've walked by it every day for a decade, never realizing the majestic beauty and historic significance inside St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church—declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987—and mere blocks from my home here in Brooklyn Heights.

Fortunately, while working for the U.S. Census Bureau, I stopped in to solicit space to conduct training, so was able to grab an insider's view of the guts of the place. Aside from the main sanctuary, there are offices and a choir rehearsal room upstairs, as well as the Museum of Toys. Our coop has held its annual meeting in the large (barren) meeting room beside the worship area for years.

The Church of the Holy Trinity was completed by Brooklyn paper merchant Edgar Bartow in 1847, designed by noted architect Minard LaFever in the Gothic Revival style. By the 1960s, the church had severely deteriorated and was closed, until the oldest Episcopal parish in Brooklyn, St. Ann’s, relocated in the building as St. Ann & the Holy Trinity in 1969. Below, views of the church in 1910.Sadly, the structure is in need of major renovations, which are ongoing at a crawl, but the sanctuary remains a site to behold—and continues to hold weekly services and recitals. I was able to photograph inside with gracious permission from the choir director.The windows of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church were executed between 1845 and 1848. The six sets comprising 7000 square feet of stained glass by William Jay Bolton total 54 glass installations today. One remaining is on display in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bolton’s organ loft window is on permanent exhibition in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Below, the curved mahogany staircase that climbs to the organ above the sanctuary; and a look down the curved stairway from the top.
The Peabody Memorial Organ, completed in 1925, located in the rear of the sanctuary, has five keyboards and 4,718 pipes. I bet Partridge Family songs kick ass on that mother! The landmark-designated organ is the largest and most complete of Ernest M. Skinner's existing works in New York City.

Labor Day... I Wish

What the hell is Labor Day, anyway, other than one of 10 annual U.S. bank and postal holidays—and an excuse for kids to get out of school after barely returning? Observed on the first Monday of each September, it was founded in 1882 and became a federal observance two years later to promote the achievements of American workers toward the “strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.”

The celebration took on the form of nationwide parades and picnics (the first, in 1882, pictured above in NY's Union Square) to demonstrate "the will of trade and labor organizations.” Blustery political speeches were included, before it softened into more of an economic and civil jubilation by 1910.

More so, Labor Day is regarded as the end of summer—and for heaven's sake, the last day of the year for decent Yanks to be seen in public wearing white.

But I wonder what there is to celebrate this Labor Day 2010, as the nation remains awash in an endless recession, with the latest uptick to 9.6% national unemployment. For many of us, it's like Valentine's Day when you have no lover—almost a slap in the face, and at best, just another self-defeating day to comb the job listings, as we did the preceding Monday. I wonder whatever happened to the "strength, prosperity and well-being of our country," and if we will see it en masse again. Labor Day... I wish.

Comfort Food: Blue Willow

Sometimes there's no better comfort than revisiting the past. In June, I became obsessed with the finest piece of audio equipment I ever owned, a computerized cassette deck made by Sharp in 1979. Sure enough, I found that baby on ebay and now it's mine again... can't say I use it for much of anything, but it sure sits pretty on the shelf.

This time, I'm fixated on something more utilitarian: dinnerware! When I was a kid, the family often dined off the classic Blue Willow plates that so many families have coveted over time. These were the real thing: made in England by Johnson Brothers, and even had little cracks from so much usage.

Josiah Spode first perfected the process of blue underglaze printing in Staffordshire, England in 1790 and created a hit with Blue Willow earthenware, whose pattern supposedly tells a story of young lovers who risk everything to be together, meet a tragic end and are transformed by love or the gods into a pair of soaring birds.

Sadly, when I moved to Washington into my first home, I had no sentimentality for mama Evelyn's pattern and eventually she sold the set to a friend who obviously had her own memories. Over time, I managed to find a Blue Willow coffee mug, which I adore... and that was it, until this month.

Searching the web, I found that the stuff is wickedly expensive: except for one vendor. Of all merchants, Walmart offers a 20-place setting for an amazing $55. Come to me, my Willow. Natch, I used some points to chop down the price and am now waiting for a $10 gift card I achieved through filling out surveys to buy a second set. It's as beautiful as I remember, manufactured in Columbia, which I suppose is better than China? And let me assure you, everything tastes twice as good on this dinnerware.

Blue Willow gives new meaning to comfort food.

God Bless The USA: Beauty In The Beat

Thank you, Lady Gaga. Not since Madonna catapulted on the scene nearly 30 years ago has a single artist had such impact on popular music. In the early 1980s, however, Madge was riding an already bombastic wave of joyously uptempo music (Michael Jackson, Wham! Thompson Twins, Duran Duran), whereas it took Gaga to convince radio—like it or not, still the dominant force field in determining pop trends—that young ‘uns would adore pop and dance, if only given an opportunity to hear it. By god, it’s a battle cry I fired on deaf ears for a good five years as Billboard’s Singles Reviews Editor.

Certainly, Rihanna deserves an equally robust round of applause, for following her producers’ cues with such finger-snapping fare as “Umbrella” and “Don’t Stop the Music”—but then she turned dark on us, remained in an unhealthy relationship and tarnished her pop tiara.

In any case, at last, the decade-plus dominance of homogenized rap/hip-hop has been forced to share the air, thanks in large part to Gaga’s cascade of dance hits. Following surprise breakthrough “Just Dance,” in 2008, the hooks kept coming: with “Poker Face,” “Paparazzi,” “Bad Romance” and “Alejandro” (I’m forgiving hideous misstep “Telephone,” with Beyonce shrieking alongside). Collectively, Lady Gaga has not only become the biggest-selling female of the day, but a blessed love-her-or-hate-her-but-you-know-her pop culture phenomenon.The bigger picture here is how she has returned uptempo, unashamed dance rhythms to critical mass. The singles charts today reflect a gorgeous, brave new world.
Mike Posner’s breakthrough “Cooler Than Me” is a merry melodic romp; “Bulletproof” from La Roux offers an overt tribute to ‘80’s synth duo Yaz; Enrique Iglesias has his first top 10 hit in nine years with the bumpin' “I Like It”; and Bruno Mars—another shining new star—makes magic with Travie McCoy on reggae-splashed “Billionaire.” Adam Lambert has been allowed multiple hits, I'll be damned, staying true to his brand of rapid-fire dance fare.

Even Ke$ha, the most ham-handed gimmick since rotten-to-the-core Black Eyed Peas, is handing out hooks that one can’t help but sing along to. “TiK ToK” may belong at the trailer park block party—but I’ll take some more fried chicken, please. And “First Kiss,” in which she sings with newbies 3OH!3, is simply Sugar Ray reincarnated: fine frat party music with a giddy beat.

God bless me, I’ve even taken to Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie,” with Rihanna. It’s the beat, baby. Maroon Five, Jay Sean, Kevin Rudolf, David Guetta, Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Robyn… keep it coming.I’d love to think that now, with this new vibe pervading radio and the web, there’s finally no room for the likes of Black Eyed Peas' silly goo-goo output. Enough with the vocoder trend. Christina Aguilera and Shakira, sex without hooks doesn’t cut it anymore (though the former’s ballad “”You Lost Me” is lovely); and I will never understand Justin Bieber. Ever.

It’s a new world order out there. And you can dance to it. God bless America… for finally sounding like Europe.

"The Illuminated Crowd": Montreal

One of the most enlightening public art works I know is "The Illuminated Crowd," in Montreal. Permanently located along McGill College Avenue, the sculpture is flanked by the tall glass-blue BNP Bank Tower.

Created in 1985 by Raymond Mason, the imminently disturbing work shows a larger-than-life-size crowd facing light—illumination brought by some cataclysmic event (likely the latest 9.6% U.S. unemployment rate).

The 66 faces react with a gamut of human emotions: hope, hilarity, rowdiness, disorder, violence, irritation, fear, illness, murder and, as we move to the back of the fiberglass figures, death." Fun!

I took these picolas during two separate trips up north: one in 2009, the other in 2007 (with rain on the statue). Every time I'm there, I stop to see the "Crowd," wondering if Celine might be hiding in there somewhere.

Celine Preggers Pics

7 Jours has Celine Dion on the cover with the family, and inside, her first "exclusive" pregnant pics. Celine is due in November with twins. Godspeed to the queen!(Thank you Jimena!)

(Ruby) Tuesday With Trix

On Monday, Aug. 16, with my 30-year high school reunion packed away in the history books (and the pages of Facebook), I could put away the girdle and eat, baby, eat! Oh, all right, so it's not as if I was on a celery mesquite and vodka & watermelon diet in the weeks preceding... but I was ready to meet Trix Moose for a feast fit for two queens: the salad bar at Lynchburg's Ruby Tuesdays.

Salad bar? Feast? Yes ma'am. Ruby Tuesday offers one of the nation's only remaining
all-you-can-eat throw-downs, and I know how to put it away, one plate after another, oh, yes. It may look petite, but by the time I load up on greens, eggs, peas, croutons, carrots, cheese, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and a smite of dressing, only a fool would dare deem this a dietary delight.

Duty done, with a major chat-fest served on the side, Trix and I waddled our way to discounter Ollie's, where we giggled until we belched salad bits... grand time.On another occasion during the week in Lynchburg, I must admit I sinned—big-time. With Donna Mae Moose, I could not control my impulses to indulge in that which does not exist in New York: Long John Silvers!

Two chicken planks, hush puppies, fries and crumblies—with god almighty free soda refills. That is elation of the fast food kind.

Yentl

That's that... 20 minutes, 15 dollars and a new me, thanks to Alex's Barber Shop on 100th at Broadway. Perhaps without that heap of hair atop my noggin, I can figure out who I'm going to be next. Why, I think I'm a 'thinkin' clearer already!