Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Frog Sunbathing on front-yard pond of home in Staten Island, NY

June 7th Marks the 45th Anniversary of Dorothy Parker’s Death

Dorothy Parker’s Poem of the Month from the Dorothy Parker Society May 2012 e-newsletter.

Bohemia
By Dorothy Parker

Authors and actors and artists and such
Never know nothing, and never know much.
Sculptors and singers and those of their kidney
Tell their affairs from Seattle to Sydney.
Playwrights and poets and such horses’ necks
Start off from anywhere, end up at sex.
Diarists, critics, and similar roe
Never say nothing, and never say no.
People Who Do Things exceed my endurance;
God, for a man that solicits insurance!

Welcome!

This month the Dorothy Parker Society is busy with the biggest push since the DPS began in 1999. We also have a party with a fantastic band and a walking tour to tell you about. Don’t forget that June 7 is the 45th anniversary of Dorothy Parker’s death. Raise a glass wherever you may be! Please read on!

Dorothy Parker News

Subway Voting Open!

I hate Books; they tire my eyes.

Last month we began the campaign to get a Dorothy Parker

a blend of traditional and contemporary botanicals including juniper and elderberries, citrus, cinnamon, and hibiscus, Dorothy Parker American Gin made by Brooklyn Distilling Company.

poem into the New York City subway system. For National Poetry Month we had a fantastic kick-off event at the New York Distilling Co. in Brooklyn, where the red carpet was rolled out for us.

More than a dozen members read Parker poems, many submitted via Facebook and Twitter. We narrowed down the list of 40 Parker poems to 12 finalists. You can read about it here and if you have not voted yet, click here. To date, more than 250 people have cast their votes. Voting will close on May 31. On June 1, the DPS will send the top three picks to the Poetry Society of America. It is the PSA that recommends poems to the Metropolitan Transit Authority; it runs the Poetry in Motion Program. If the DPS is successful, a Parker poem could be on thousands of subway posters and on the reverse of millions of MetroCards. Vote today!

Hotel Ready for Business

The Algonquin Hotel has been closed since New Year’s Day for a multi-million dollar renovation. It will re-open on Thursday. The hotel was kind enough to grant me total access a few weeks ago to see the work underway. I got a private tour from general manager Gary Budge of every floor. I think the work looks spectacular and was long overdue. The hotel is also re-committing itself to be New York’s top literary hotel and work more closely with publishers and authors. The wraps come off this week. Have a read here. (The first Algonquin Round Table Walking Tour of the year is May 26. See below)

Edna Ferber on U.S. Postage Stamp

Congrats to Edna Ferber

Last year Dorothy Parker was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. It was the biggest honor bestowed on Dorothy Parker since she was honored with a U.S. postage stamp on the 100th anniversary of her birth in Long Branch. Next month, Edna Ferber will join the third class of inductees, including Washington Irving, Henry James, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, E.L. Doctorow, and Pete Hamill. The DPS has been invited to attend the gala at the Princeton Club New York City on June 5. It is nice that two members of the Algonquin Round Table are in the hall of fame. Now we need to work on F.P.A., Robert E. Sherwood and Robert Benchley. Info here.

Dorothy Parker Society News

Take A Walk

Algonquin Round Table Walking Tour, Saturday, May 26, Noon-2 p.m.
Location: Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St (bet 5th and 6th Avenues)
Cost: $20

See the hotel that just had its biggest renovation since it opened in 1902. Walk in the footsteps of the Vicious Circle in the only walking tour dedicated to the city’s greatest literary friends. See the places where the Round Table, lived, worked, played and drank. You’ll visit the former homes, theaters and speakeasies associated with Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Franklin P. Adams, Heywood Broun, Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman and many more. The walk begins and ends in the landmark Algonquin Hotel.

The founding members of Algonquin Round Table: (l-r) Art Samuels, Charlie MacArthur, Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott

The walk is led by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, president of the DPS and author of “A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York” and co-editor of “The Lost Algonquin Round Table.” RSVP to kevin@dorothyparker.com. Buy tickets in advance via TicketWeb.

Salute to Vaudeville

Wit’s End Party with Gelber and Manning, Saturday, May 26, 7 p.m.-Midnight
Location: Flute Midtown, 205 W 54th Street (at Seventh Ave)
Cost: $12

If you like old vaudeville then don’t miss this party as we salute The Palace, Manhattan’s greatest vaudeville playhouse. Our monthly party with Wit’s End on May 26 will have hot jazz all night. The live music will be from Gelber & Manning, one of the premier jazz duos in the region. This couple has played many of our parties and they are fantastic. Joining them will be special guest Kimberly Kate Greenberg, who will be performing as Fannie Brice! Come in your finest 1910s-1940s vintage/vintage-style outfits or evening attire to spend a night in vintage speakeasy style with us! Doors open at 7; Free dance lesson at 8:30 from our pals Jeri Lynn Astra and Neal Groothuis. More information here and follow on Twitter @clubwitsend Buy tickets in advance via TicketWeb.

West Coast Connection

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Dorothy Parker Society is holding two great events in July for all fans of Mrs. Parker and her friend F. Scott Fitzgerald. On July 22 is a free walking tour of Parker and Fitzgerald’s local haunts; on July 23 at Musso & Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Boulevard, is “That Side of Paradise: Dorothy Parker & F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Garden of Allah,” a dinner and talk with writers Adrienne Crew and David Kippen. Advance tickets are required for the dinner. Event info and tickets here. Why not join the LA Chapter on its Facebook page.

Thanks for reading!

Staten Island’s Rock Sculpture Garden Demolished

Today I visited the Lemon Creek Fishing Pier with the intention of visiting a rock sculpture garden that was a short walk away on what is called the Mount Loretto Shoreline.  The last time I visited the beautiful rock sculptures was in 2007.  The sculptures were made by Doug Schwartz.  He had been working on the garden for 15 years.

Rock Garden on Staten Island’s shoreline in 2007 with my dog Mary.

I was totally amazed today to see that the rock sculpture garden no longer existed. I thought it was one of the most creative and beautiful works of art in Staten Island. I just can’t believe what happened. See this article about how Schwartz was ordered to tear it down–DEC rids Staten Island Beach of rock sculptures

Rock Garden on Mount Loretto Beach, Staten Island in 2007

Rock Sculptures

Below:  This is what the rock garden looks like now.  It’s not an area of beach that many people ever go to. The only reason people ever went there was to see the rock sculptures. It’s just a short strip of rocky sand, as you can see in my photo with my dog at the top. It’s too rocky for swimming or sunbathing.

Present Site of Rock Garden

I just can’t believe that the most interesting artistic work on Staten Island was torn down because a few people said it compromised the inconsequential Staten Island coastline.  There are still rocks along the same shoreline.  They look like debris.

Charles G. Hogg, aka Staten Island Chuck

Below is a video of Doug Schwartz in his job at the Staten Island Zoo. He handles Staten Island Chuck at the Staten Island Zoo.

This is a photo of a tower on the beach next to where the rock garden once existed. The DEC doesn’t think that this tower ruins the integrity of the coast line, but a work of art like the sculpture garden does. Kids like to climb on the tower, which seems dangerous to me.

Check out a previous post I did (October 2007) on the Rock Sculpture Garden that is on another blog of mine.  It has many more photos of it.  I loved to take my dog there to walk around.

Weekly Photo Challenge

Weekly Photo Challenge.  This week’s theme:  Blue

House on the Canals in Venice, California (photo taken September 2010)

Staten Island’s Purple Martin Habitat

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Purple Martins are the largest variety of swallow. Staten Island’s  Purple Martin Habitat, located in Lemon Creek Park in Prince’s Bay, Staten Island, is the only sanctuary for purple martins in the 5 boroughs of New York city.  Prince’s Bay, the name itself, has a history. … Continue reading →

The Great Blue Heron

This great video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on The Great Blue Heron blew my mind, so I had to put it on my blog.  A bird close to my heart.  We have quite a few of these in Staten Island where I live.

Adult herons can be up to 4.5 feet tall, with a wingspan that ranges up to 6 feet. Despite their large size, they typically only weigh around 5 pounds.

Dig This: Click on link below to see  a webcam embedded on a great blue heron nest near the Cornell Ornithology Labs in Ithica, New York.   In this nest are some newly hatched Blue Heron chicks.  When you go to this site, see that there is another live camera that gives a different view. 

Watch live streaming video from cornellherons at livestream.com

Below is my photo of Spring Pond in May at Blue Heron Park in Staten Island where lots of Blue Herons like to hang out. They have good taste in their environments.  The Lily pods will soon be bright white and completely cover the pond.

 

This is my own photo taken on Spring Pond at Blue Heron Park of an Egret with a young blue heron below it.  However, I don’t think this is a great Blue Heron.  If it is, it must be a baby.  You can also see a turtle to the right of the Blue Heron.

Spring Pond is a kettle pond, formed when the Wisconsin Ice Sheet left a large piece of ice that melted and formed a bowl-like depression, called a “kettle.” Rainwater and run-off filled the depression to form the pond. This is where the blue herons like to hang out in Blue Heron Park in Staten Island, NY.

Check out my post entitled “Staten Island’s Blue Heron Park.”

Staten Island’s Blue Heron Park

This gallery contains 15 photos.

One of my favorite places to visit in Staten Island is Blue Heron Park.  If you are coming from Manhattan and using public transportation, after getting off the Staten Island Ferry in Staten Island, take the #78 bus and get … Continue reading →