Mystic Seaport 2: Moon River

What can I say? I had more pictures. Yes Moon River is lame, but not necessarily in the hands of Nelson Riddle.

Mystic Seaport 1: Into The Mystic

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic
Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it
I dont have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home
And when thst fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it
I dont have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic
Come on girl...

You're A Rich Girl

I doubt whether Mayor Mike is happy about this article.

"My dad has changed a lot since he became mayor seven years ago," she says. "When he was just a businessman, he was pretty egotistical. People were telling him how great he was every day. Politics has humbled him. Now he seems to really want to hear what I have to say, and I wouldn't have said that a few years ago—but I've also become less of a brat."

How does someone make a living (evidently a pretty substantial one) as an equestrian?

"For me, it's about the competition," says Georgina, who had her first riding lesson at 4. "I love horses, but if I couldn't show I wouldn't ride." (Today she spends her summers competing in Germany and touring Europe. In the winters, she's showing in Florida.) As a professional equestrienne, she's sponsored by Audi, the clothing company Ariat, Heritage Gloves and County Saddlery. (Marty Bauman, PR director for the Hampton Classic, notes champion riders can earn as much as $60,000 per event.) And Georgina says she's proud to have her own income.

This strains the limits of credulity unless Mayor Mike is.....

When Georgina was 7, the Bloombergs moved to a townhouse on 79th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, where the mayor still resides today. Mike and Susan divorced in 1993, after 17 years of marriage. "The divorce was the best thing that ever happened," Georgina says with a warm chuckle. "I went from having parents who didn't get along and never wanted to be around each other, to having parents who are friends." The split was so amicable, in fact, that the Bloombergs all continued living under the same roof for a year after the split, until Susan started dating property mogul Richard Chapman and Georgina, then 10, moved with her mom and Emma to his home on 67th Street. When Susan and Richard broke up in 1996, the family moved back in with Mike. "My mom's boyfriends would come and pick her up, but it seemed normal," she recalls.

ATR Rally At City Hall: November 24, 2008

Stills and audio from a portion of Marjorie Stamberg's speech at City Hall 11/24/08
Letter from Marjorie Stamberg and John Powers to UFT President Randi Weingarten and and Executive Board Members that was posted on the ICE blog

We have been informed that the November 24 Rally to Defend ATRs is now to be officially a "candlelight vigil." We strongly object to this change. The motion passed at the UFT delegate assembly October 15 said that "the UFT will organize a mass citywide rally to show our unity and strength." Instead of a show of strength, this turns it into a toothless gesture of "bearing witness" or silently standing by and observing as a travesty is taking place.
Furthermore, we were not consulted on this change, which was made without our knowledge, despite assurances from Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew that we would be included in the planning. The first we heard of this was in a changed rally leaflet we received this morning.
A candlelight vigil is a silent "protest at the suffering of some marginalized group of people, or in memory of lives lost to some disease, disaster, massacre or other tragedy."
We want to make precisely the opposite point -- that ATR teachers are not marginalized, that we stand by them, and the UFT will fight to ensure that they do not become "lost lives," a "massacre," a "disaster" or other "tragedy." We can "bear witness" all we want, but it won't stop Joel Klein from trying to drive out our colleagues. And it won't stop the likes of the New York Post from vilifying them and our union.
We will continue to plan for a mass citywide rally as "a show of our unity and strength" as the motion called for. I think many teachers will feel as we do that we need strong powerful action, and will not stand by in silence.
In the words of Joe Hill, the famous labor organizer, "Don't Mourn For Me--Organize!"
That is what we will continue to do and we encourage the UFT leadership to reconsider its plan.
John Powers
Marjorie Stamberg
for the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend ATRs

Teacher Protest

Signed Sealed Delivered, I'm Yours

Stevie Wonder on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. August 11, 1970.

Like a fool I went and stayed too long
Now I'm wondering if your loves still strong
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Then that time I went and said goodbye
Now I'm back and not ashamed to cry
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Here I am baby
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby,
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours)
Ive done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean
Hey, hey, yea, yea, didn't I, oh baby
Seen a lot of things in this old world
When I touched them they did nothing, girl
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours, oh I'm yours
Oo-wee babe you set my soul on fire
That's why I know you are my only desire
Oo baby, here I am, signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours
Here I am baby
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby,
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours)
Ive done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean
I could be a broken man but here I am
With your future, got your future babe (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby, (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)
Here I am baby, (here I am baby)
Here I am baby (signed, sealed delivered, I'm yours)

You Can't Take It With You 2

The same scene as the previous one except done with stills

You Can't Take It With You

A scene from a school production of the 1930's Kaufman/Hart play I saw recently. "You can't take it with you Sol," was a phrase often said to my father from my mother.

Return To Sender

Hopefully the result of the petition drive will result in such a scene

NYC Suffers For The Betterment Of A Nation

Parents and educators speak out against Joel Klein. Read the passionate letters and statements, and sign the PETITION to stop yet another corporate coup.

Leonie Haimson's letter, a the driving force of a petition drive:
The Department of Education under Joel Klein has been run like a ruthless dictatorship – with no input from parents or educators, and no thought of how the policies he has imposed on our schools have been destructive to our children and their futures.
He has consistently ignored the crisis of overcrowding in our schools, that in many neighborhoods has gotten worse because of rampant residential development, as well as a result of his insistence to insert hundreds of new charter schools and small schools into existing, overcrowded school buildings. In a recent survey, half of all principals say that the overcrowding creates unsafe conditions for students or staff, 29% said that lunch starts at 10:30 AM or earlier, 25% said that they have lost their art or music rooms in recent years, and 18% said they had classrooms with no windows. Thousands of children are being given special services in hallways or in closets.
He has put almost no effort in building new schools, and under this administration, twice as many new seats have been created in new stadiums than schools. The city’s investment in school construction as a percent of its total capital spending is at an historic low, and will drop even more precipitously in the future, if the DOE’s proposed school capital plan goes through.
Joel Klein has refused to reduce class size, despite repeated audits and reports from the State Comptroller’s office and the State Education Department showing how under his administration, hundreds of millions of state dollars meant to provide smaller classes to NYC students have been misused. As a result, 86% of NYC principals in a recent survey have said they are unable to provide a quality education because of excessive class sizes.
Similarly, he has argued that even under Mayoral control, the Department of Education is not subject to city law, and thus he continues to defy laws passed by the City Council over the Mayor’s veto, requiring him to take measures against bias crimes and bullying in schools, to allow students to bring cell phones to school, and to obey the recycling laws required of every household and business in NYC.
The Chancellor has moved to eliminate the authority of school leadership teams –made up of half parents, half staff – to have decision-making authority over school budgets, contrary to the state law that created these teams. He has continued to shut out parents from having any input whatsoever, at the school, district, or citywide level.
He has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts, and rather than decreasing the bureaucracy, the number of highly paid bureaucrats at Tweed continues to grow --- most of whom have no background in education. To counter a recent article by a Daily News reporter pointing out the personal wealth of many of the top education officials, who are former business executives and corporate consultants, the DOE press office responded in defense that two out of twenty of Klein’s top advisers were long-term educators. (This article was killed in the middle of the night, and removed from the Daily News website after complaints from the DOE; but we posted a copy of it on our blog here.)
The only educational philosophy of those running the system is based on trying to improve standardized test results, no matter how much cheating and test prep that involves. Whatever the rise in state test scores that has resulted is not matched by improvements in the more reliable national assessments called the NAEPs. In fact, NYC was 11th out of 12 urban school districts in terms of its gains in the NAEPs over the course of this administration, and there has been no closing of the achievement gap in any subject tested.
Indeed, Joel Klein’s insistence on basing all decisions on high-stakes tests has led to racial disparities growing in many areas – with far fewer children of color admitted to gifted programs and to our selective high schools, and a declining number of Black and Hispanic teachers in our teaching force.
In short, he has been a disaster for our schools, and Barack Obama should be forewarned not to name him to any position of authority in his administration – as much as we would like to get rid of him!

Kleinstoppers: Norm Scott and Leonie Haimson On WBAI

Esther Amah, of WBAI's Wake-Up Call, interviews Norm Scott and Leonie Haimson on the state of public school education in New York and the effort to stop Joel Klein from becoming the Secretary of Education. From 11/13/08

Hopelessly Devoted To Screw (Up)

The original lyrics

Guess mine is not the first heart broken,
my eyes are not the first to cry I'm not the first to know,
there's just no gettin' over you
Hello, I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around
and wait for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you
My head is saying "fool, forget him",
my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you

The Special Joel Klein Edition-btw the "up" is necessary, just Joel Klein and the word screw?-an image too unbearable to consider

Guess yours is not the first school broken,
your eyes are not the first to cry, you're not the first to know,
there's just no gettin' over what I do
Hello, I'm the a fool who's looking for a job
and waiting for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly destroyin your schools
Hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
My head is saying "fool, forget schools",
my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
Hopelessly devoted to screw (up)
hopelessly devoted to screw (up)

Hopelessly Devoted To Incompetence

from my choice for the next NYC Public Advocate, Leonie Hamison

There have been repeated rumors in the media that Joel Klein is under consideration for Secretary of Education in an Obama administration; see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/obamas-secretary-of-educa_n_139775.html and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110404573.html.
On Monday, The Nation is going to post on their website the observations of NYC parents, advocates and other stakeholders about what they think of this possibility.
This is a rare opportunity to have your voice heard in the national media.
Please email comments ASAP the nation and copy me at leonie hamison
My comments are below.
Have a good weekend,
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
The Department of Education under Joel Klein has been run like a ruthless dictatorship – with no input from parents or educators, and no thought of how the policies he has imposed on our schools have been destructive to our children and their futures.
He has consistently ignored the crisis of overcrowding in our schools, that in many neighborhoods has gotten worse because of rampant residential development, as well his insistence to insert hundreds of new charter schools and small schools into existing, overcrowded school buildings. In a recent survey, half of all principals say that the overcrowding creates unsafe conditions for students or staff, 29% said that lunch starts at 10:30 AM or earlier, 25% said that they have lost their art or music rooms in recent years, and 18% said they had classrooms with no windows. Thousands of children are being given special services in hallways or in closets.
They have put almost no effort in building new schools, and under this administration, twice as many new seats have been created in new stadiums than schools. The city’s investment in school construction as a percent its total capital spending is at a historic low, and will drop even more precipitously in the future, if the DOE’s proposed school capital plan goes through.
Joel Klein has refused to reduce class size, despite repeated audits and reports from the State Comptroller’s office and the State Education Department showing how under his administration, hundreds of millions of state dollars meant to provide smaller classes to NYC students have been misused. As a result, 86% of NYC principals in a recent survey have said they are unable to provide a quality education because of excessive class sizes.
Similarly, he has argued that even under Mayoral control, the Department of Education is not subject to city law, and thus he continues to defy laws passed by the City Council over the Mayor’s veto, requiring him to take measures against bias crimes and bullying in schools, to allow students to bring cell phones to school, and to obey the recycling laws required of every household and business in NYC.
The Chancellor has moved to eliminate the authority of school leadership teams –made up of half parents, half staff – to have decision-making authority over school budgets, contrary to the state law that created these teams. He has continued to shut out parents from having any input whatsoever, at the school, district, or citywide level.
He has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts, and rather than decreasing the bureaucracy, the number of highly paid bureaucrats at Tweed continues to grow --- most of whom have no background in education. To counter a recent article by a Daily News reporter pointing out the personal wealth of many of the top education officials, who are former business executives and corporate consultants, the DOE press office responded in defense that two out of twenty of Klein’s top advisers were long-term educators. (This article was killed in the middle of the night, and removed from the Daily News website after complaints from the DOE; but we posted a copy of it on our blog at) http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/
The only educational philosophy of those running the system is based on trying to improve standardized test results, no matter how much cheating and test prep that involves. Whatever the rise in state test scores that has resulted is not matched by improvements in the more reliable national assessments called the NAEPs. In fact, NYC was 11th out of 12 urban school districts in terms of its gains in the NAEPs over the course of this administration, and there has been no closing of the achievement gap in any subject tested.
Indeed, Joel Klein’s insistence on basing all decisions on high-stakes tests has led to racial disparities growing in many areas – with far fewer children of color admitted to gifted programs and to our selective high schools, and a declining number of Black and Hispanic teachers in our teaching force.
In short, he has been a disaster for our schools, and Barack Obama should be forewarned not to name him to any position of authority in his administration – as much as we would like to get rid of him!
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
classsizematters@gmail.com
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/

The Wasila Hillbillies

from newsweek

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

The Party's Over

Above images Zina Sanders (copyright 2008) You can see more of her artistry here.. Audio from Blossom Dearie
I got an email from Zina Saunders about the publication of her new book, "The Party's Over,McCain/Palin Art Book." I promptly bought one.

I've gotten a lot of emails from people wanting to buy a collection of all my McCain/Palin campaign pictures, so I've created a book, "The Party's Over", which is 40 pages in full color: The website offers a preview of the first 15 pages of the book, and the actual book includes 25 more pages featuring 20 of my campaign paintings, all of which you can see in this gallery.

Zina's work is outstanding. I had come across her brilliant "Playing House" caricature previously and knew the illustration had a familiar look. I used one before in a posting at Knickerbocker Village on the Pickle Guy Alan Kaufman of Essex Street Much of her art draws inspiration from the Lower East Side.
from her bio

Zina is the daughter of pulp magazine artist Norman Saunders, who painted some of the most popular bubblegum cards from the 60's and 70's, including Mars Attacks, Batman, and Wacky Packages. As a child, she got her first taste of being a professional illustrator when she would "correct" her father's paintings, when he was away from his drawing board. Many an eyelash on Norm Saunders' damsels in distress was painted by a nine-year-old Zina. Zina lives and works in New York City, where she grew up and attended Music and Art High School and The Cooper Union. She left Manhattan in her 20’s to be a levitating lady with a traveling circus in upstate New York, but eventually returned to her senses and her beloved city.

Pumpkins In New York

Autumn Leaves version by Si Zentner

Our Gang In WW2

An interview with Andrew Marcus at the opening of a new exhibit at Kehila Kedosha Janina honoring congregants who were veteran's of World War II. Andrew and his father Marvin, a JHS 65 graduate and a "distant" Delancey Street fan of Knickerbocker Village's King Heroes, did an excellent job.
From the Kehila Kedosha Janina newsletter, written by Museum Director, Marcia Haddad-Ikonomopoulos.

When the United States officially entered World War II on December 7, 1941, of the 133,402,471 individuals living on the soil of the United States, under 5 million were Jews (less than 3% of the total population), but 550,000 would serve in the armed forces of the United States from 1941 to 1945 (4.3% of the total armed forces). About 11,000 would die in battle and more than 40,000 would return wounded. Among those brave men who served were many of our own. Many would be wounded. Ralph Battino would receive the Purple Heart for his injuries at Okinawa. There would be those who were taken as prisoners of war, including Isaac (Pat) Nachmias of 279 Broome Street (Max Nachmias’ older brother) and there would be those who would not return. Arthur Rubenstein, son of Stella David and Harry Rubenstein, would be shot down in the Pacific in 1944 at the age of 19. His body would never be recovered. Nissim Attas would die in Europe, buried in Henri-Chapelle Permanent Cemetery in Belgium. This exhibit is dedicated to “Our Gang,” Greek Jews, most sons of immigrants from Ioannina, many from the Lower East Side, who proudly fought to defend their country. Jews by faith, Americans by nationality, Greeks by ethnicity, they would make us all proud. Join us for the opening of this exhibit on November 2, 2008 at 1:00pm.

Softball At Coleman Oval

The World Series is over but serious softball is still being played at Coleman Oval on the former site of PS 177.
from Joe Bruno, with his own editorial comment :)

NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW, BUT JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. USED TO PLAY SOFTBALL IN COLEMAN OVAL IN THE LATE 1980'S AND EARLY 1990'S. HE PLAYED FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ON CENTRE STREET. THEY PLAYED WEEKDAY NIGHTS. AND SOMETIMES THEY STOPPED AT PATRICK HENRY'S PUB AT 27 MONROE STREET (FORMERLY RAMOS'), AFTER THE GAME FOR A FEW DRINKS. I KNEW JFK JR. A LITTLE FROM WORKING OUT IN THE SAME GYM WITH HIM AT THE DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB AT 19 WEST STREET. HE USED TO HANG OUT AT THE 3RD FLOOR BAR AT THE DAC, WHICH WAS AT ONE TIME, THE LONGEST BAR IN NY CITY. HE WAS A LOUSY SOFTBALL PLAYER. AND A LIGHT BEER DRINKER. NOT A HARD BOOZER LIKE HIS OLD MAN AND UNCLE TEDDY. HE USED TO JOG ALONE AFTER WORK AT THE DA'S OFFICE PAST MY PARKING LOT AT 31 MONROE STREET, THEN UNDER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE. I TOLD HIM ONCE, 'YOU'RE CRAZY JOGGING UNDER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE. IT'S DANGEROUS THERE." HE JUST SHRUGGED AND LAUGHED. LIKE HE DIDN'T HAVE A CARE IN THE WORLD. TRULY, ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. NOT LIKE THE REST OF THE KENNEDY'S. OBVIOUSLY, HE TOOK AFTER HIS MOTHER.

Wishin And Hopin

Images from the village voice

Spoofing Shepard Fairey's Obama "Hope" Posters
Shepard Fairey's Barack "Hope" design might be 2008’s most seminal image—his nomination in TIME's Top 100 Most Influential People poll is most certainly forthcoming. But the poster's also become a hugely popular design to lampoon. Here're the best 25 parodies out there.

The original Dusty Springfield version

Wishin' and hopin'
And thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin'
Each night of his charms
That won't get you into his arms
So if you're looking
To find love that you can share
All you gotta do is
Hold him and kiss him and love him
And show him that you care
Show him that you care just for him
Do the things that he likes to do
Wear your hair just for him
Cause you won't get him
Thinkin' and prayin',
Wishin' and hopin'
Just
Wishin' and hopin' and
Thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin'
His kisses will start
That won't get you into his heart
So if you're thinkin'
Of how great true love is
All you gotta do is
Hold him, and kiss him
And squeeze him and love him
Just do it
And after you do
You will be his
Show him that you care
And just for him
Do the things that he likes to do
Wear your hair just for him
Cause you won't get him
Thinkin' and prayin'
Wishin' and hopin' just

High Hopes

As we move into the presidential stretch run we have high hopes. Notice that in this early 1960's clip there are no black kids.

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around
Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can’t
Move a rubber tree plant
But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your gettin’ low
’stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant
When troubles call, and your back’s to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall
Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he’d punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin’ that dam
’cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your feelin’ bad
’stead of feelin’ sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam
All problems just a toy balloon
They’ll be bursted soon

Sarah Palin Prank Call

from justiciers.tv

MONTREAL — A Quebec comedy duo notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state has reached Sarah Palin, convincing the Republican vice-presidential nominee she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

I added some images from my Sarah Palin collection