1. law, govt and politics
2. government

PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Cratered!
Vol. X, No. XII
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
Thursday March 26, 2015 • $1.00
Our
Our Streets
Streets Are
Are Pockmarked
Pockmarked With
With Potholes
Potholes
By Stephen Mayo, Page 3
WWW.WESTCHESTERGUARDIAN.COM
Page 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Government/CommunitySection
COMMUNITY
New Rochelle’s Capital Budget, Eminent Domain and More
By Peggy Godfrey
In a somewhat brief
discussion at the March
10, 2015 New Rochelle
City Council Meeting,
Mayor Noam Bramson
asked questions about the City’s Capital
Budget. Supplementary figures for this
item had been placed on the council’s
agenda. Mayor Bramson asked how the
city sets its capital budget goals, including improvements that may be needed
and for economic growth. This year,
funding went mainly for equipment,
with 40% allocated for repairs. In his
view, next to nothing was budgeted for
capital improvements in the city. He
questioned whether there was “some
imbalance” and suggested putting more
money into permanent infrastructure,
stating he was not looking for an answer
that day.
City Manager Chuck Strome suggested the city’s equipment has a heavy
use load. He felt the capital budget was
woefully inadequate and amounts to
less than what the city actually spends.
Priorities should be equated with a
budget. According to Bramson, the
capital budget won’t increase unless the
economy is growing and he invited
council to consider possible action that
evening. Trangucci stated that he felt he
had addressed this problem by questioning the “pay back or revenue generation”
of budget items, and prioritizing, especially when there are items that “don’t
require payback.”
The city council’s agenda items
listed the accompanying breakdown for
these capital budget items. Equipment
totaled $2,895,000; also on this list were
DPW (Department of Public Works)
trucks, a tower ladder and traffic signal
replacement, community infrastructure repairs and maintenance totaling
$425,000; public building updates of
$189,000 and economic growth costing
$331,000 for transit area improvements,
downtown and general economic
growth. When questions arose about
whether there was any science for
economic growth or how other communities were addressing this issue,
Bramson cited the Nelson Nygaard
Study that has been used for traffic
analysis computer modeling, and intersection analysis.
This discussion was followed up
at the March 17, 2015 City Council
meeting with another discussion of
future capital budgets by Luiz Aragon,
the Commissioner of Development. He
Season Opens for New Rochelle Community Gardens
A limited number of garden plots
are now available at New Rochelle’s
two community gardens: Ward Acres
Community Garden and grow! Lincoln
Park Community Garden. All plots will
be assigned on a first come/first served
basis with first preference to returning
gardeners. Applications for both gardens
are available on the City website www.
newrochelleny.com/parks. For more
information, contact the Department of
Parks & Recreation at 654-2087.
Ward Acres Community Garden
Located in Ward Acres Park, the
Ward Acres Community Garden offers
full and half plots for the 2015 growing
season. Full plots are 10’x12’ and are $50
each. The growing season begins March
1 and ends November 30. www.newrochelleny.com/wacg .
said grants could be sought in the future
for this funding. The resolution in the
present plan supports effective strategies
of economic development.
Another item was brought up
on March 10 by Councilwoman Shari
Rackman, who felt that a homeowner
in her district who rents a room should
be required to supply a parking space
for that tenant on their property. She
introduced a discussion on this problem
because she felt home owners were not
allowing these renters to park in the
driveway on their property, thus creating
parking problems in some neighborhoods. Mayor Bramson thought it was
not a matter of the number of cars, but
the number of occupants in the house.
Councilman Fertel stated in his district
people rent to college students and
some homes have no driveways. He
Grow! Lincoln Park Community
Garden
Plots at grow! Lincoln Park
Community Garden are now available
for residents, community organizations and churches to lease for the 2015
growing season. The rental fee is $25/
season for individuals or families for a
single (50 square foot) plot and $50/
Government............................................................................5
Creative Disruption.................................................................6
Profile.......................................................................................7
Travel-Levy.............................................................................8
Eye on Theatre.......................................................................10
Cultural Calendar..................................................................11
Dog Ownership....................................................................12
Calendar................................................................................14
Legal Ads..............................................................................14
Cultural Perspectives.............................................................15
Mary at the Movies...............................................................16
season for a double (100 square foot)
plot for organizations. The growing
season begins in April, weather permitting. Contact grow! Lincoln Park
Community Garden directors for information at [email protected]
or call (914) 979-1657. Facebook: www.
facebook.com/growlincolnpark.
Mission Statement
Table of Contents
Community.............................................................................2
thought each situation should be treated
individually. Bramson questioned
how many cars will be impacted and
thought this proposal legislation could
create a hardship for the homeowner.
Councilman Ivar Hyden felt parking
was already tight in many places. Fertel
also felt tandem parking could be a
concern with this legislation. (Tandem
parking occurs when cars are parking in
a single row in a driveway, thus requiring
any car behind it to be removed before
that car can come out of the driveway.)
However, Rackman still felt this is a
concern when a single family, owner
occupied building, does not provide
parking for people who rent a room in
a house in her district.
The City Park eminent domain
resolution was rescinded unanimously
because using the City Park site would
be too costly to be used to relocate the
city yard, at the March 17 meeting.
Sam Zherka, Publisher
Mary Keon, Acting Editor /Advertising
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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Page 3
COMMUNITY
Cratered: Our Streets Are Pockmarked With Potholes
By Steve Mayo
“Potholes: everyone
complains about them;
nobody seems to do
anything about them.”
Indeed. Anyone driving this week
will be required to dodge, swerve or take
heroic measures to avoid depositing
one or more wheels into the numerous
caverns, voids or pavement irregularities plaguing local streets (and to a
lesser extent, county, state and interstate
highways). The alternative is to ignore
conditions and pray for the best. The
best being your car not: bursting a tire,
bending a wheel, fracturing an axle or
a tie rod. Also, not: losing control of
the two-ton or so conveyance, sailing
into any nearby pedestrians or inflicting
insult or injury to yourself or any passengers, property or payload.
A pothole encounter of any kind
is a shocking and sobering experience.
It causes you to wonder whether your
vehicle is still road worthy. And while
you are distracted by such existential
concerns, you risk re-delivery of your
wheel or wheels into additional potholes
up ahead. After all, these mishaps of
design, construction and upkeep do not
appear in solo performance. They break
out in patterns, proliferating upon the
road scape as reliably and predictably
as blackheads and blemishes on a teenager’s face.
I have never been fully incapacitated
in this manner, but I can imagine the
terror of “sitting duck” in the middle of
the street, hobbled by a ruptured tire, a
disjoined rear axle, or even one or more
of the wheels slotted below road grade
by nearly the full circumference of the
tire, barred from escaping the asphaltic
trap by your engine’s insufficiency of
“brake horsepower torque.”
And what about the risks behind
you? If you have traveled along thoroughfares like Weaver Street or
Pinebrook Boulevard, you will be
familiar with the tailgating practices of
commuters, harried hockey moms, and
eager, newly minted teenage frolickers.
The risks of chain-reaction pileups can
never be far from your mind.
But worse than the physical hazards
is the disconcerting feeling that local
government is not looking out for your
wellbeing. In a city of nearly 80,000
residents and a county of 969,000, of
course police patrols and road worker
diligence can never be taken for granted.
But whatever became of our local government’s commitment to the “general
welfare,” written into the preamble to
the Constitution of the United States
and echoed in Article 1 Section 8 of
the Constitution? This mandate is also
repeated or at least referenced in several
state constitutions, as well as in many
local charters of villages, town and cities
around the nation. After all, following
national security, border defense and
public safety, a proper regard for the
citizens’ “general welfare” is probably the
highest purpose of the existence of government at all its levels.
That singular cringe-worthy thud of
your front wheel making its descent into
the crevice and then uneasily struggling
to escape is indeed the most unpleasant
part of the experience. The physical jolt,
the worrying psychological reflection,
and then the “little voice” murmuring
inside you “someone in city hall is taking
you for granted!” And, “Westchester
residents with the highest property tax
bills in the nation shouldn’t be subjected
to this!” The embarrassment, the “ego
bruise” of being the “chump” for a bunch
of career politicians is usually worse than
the physical jolt. Even my youngest
son, who is generally immune to the
blandishments of politics (unless his
social life might somehow be affected),
finds the neglect of sworn obligations
to adequate and safe public works by
politicians to be an “outrage!” I know of
upstate New Yorkers, as well as Carolina
and Florida residents who pay one-fifth
our tab for local services and get shiny,
spanking new public schools, spotless
streets and sidewalks and well-maintained roadways.
The revolting feeling of the thud as
your tire hits the pothole, sending shock
waves through your car is instantaneous
and fleeting – but profound enough
to take your attention off the obstacle
course, risking subsequent injury by
the next road peril. And therein is the
compound, secondary hazard in driving:
it is impossible to predict the adequacy
of the approaching roadway and so one
must drive with eyes glued 15 to 20
feet in front, in anticipation of the next
void. Definitely not good for traffic flow
and not conducive to safe navigation of
road hazards MORE than 15 to 20 feet
ahead!
The broadcast, cable and social
media press coverage has been universal for catastrophic events, followed
by thunderous orations of the nearest
politicians. If this didn’t compel corrective measures, popular protest would
certainly follow. So, processes for the
preservation of the citizenry’s “general
welfare” following the most extraordinary catastrophes already are in place:
what seems to be missing is a similar process
covering the more mundane daily hazards
that plague us on the local level.
Does it seem indulgent for one
to complain about Westchester road
conditions with so much poverty and
oppression in the rest of the world? Or,
is someone who pays his taxes, obeys
the laws of the locality, county, state
and nation of his residence not entitled
to expect the accustomed system of
modern transportation to perform as
designed? Should not a long-established
network of automobile and truck travel
work as intended and not put at risk of
harm one’s self, vehicles and personal
property, as well as family and strangers?
Is one supposed to accept without complaint the imposition of even minimal
personal responsibility for thus endangering the welfare of neighbors and
strangers perambulating or motoring in
his path?
It does not require too much
imagination to picture the potentially
tragic outcomes of driving public safety
vehicles over potholed, patchwork and
“washboard,” and rubble-strewn thoroughfares. Would you want your sick
or elderly relative to have to endure the
swerves and dips down these paths? Our
police men and women, firefighters and
EMT professionals face enough perils;
they should not have to endure such
demolition-derby encounters in the
course of performing their jobs. What of
the cost to individuals, businesses, local,
state and federal governments in ruined
equipment, injuries to personnel, inefficiency and waste of effort and time?
As the Europeans have much to
teach us about ecological conservation
and stewardship of natural resources,
we can also learn much from them
about safe and enduring roadway construction. The German federal system
of high speed, high volume vehicular
intercourse, the “Bundesautobahn,”
certainly can be emulated by implementing a customary 27-inch road
Continued on page 5
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Page 4
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
COMMUNITY
The Revenge of The Pothole Killer:
Local Communities Pool Resources To Fund The Pothole Killer
The Pothole Killer has been on
the loose in the Villages of Ardsley,
Dobbs Ferry, Elmsford, Hastings-onHudson, Irvington, Sleepy Hollow and
Tarrytown, thanks to a joint venture
of the Greenburgh Village Officials
Committee. The Board of Trustees of
each village approved a contract for a
pilot project with Patch Management,
Inc. of Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, in
January, to fill potholes for a total of 80
hours in these communities for a total
of $18,500.
Local residents will see immediate
results from this program when their
potholes are filled with a more permanent “hot mixture” of materials instead
of the temporary cold patch previously
used. Local officials will be looking
beyond the filled potholes to see if the
Pothole Killer can save the residents
money, too. If the patches do, in fact,
last longer than cold patch, then there is
potential for real savings for these local
communities. It is also possible that
the Pothole Killer will prove to work
at a much faster rate than conventional
methods, resulting in better roads, more
quickly.
Because cold patch often only lasts
a matter of a few weeks, reapplication is
necessary until the weather warms and
more permanent hot asphalt can be
applied, a labor intensive process that
could be drastically reduced by the use
of the Pothole Killer.
Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell
noted that “the Pothole Killer was able
to fill potholes at an exceptionally high
rate. My car’s suspension is happy. My
local residents are happier. I’m anxious
to see if this can save us all real money in
the long run.”
The joint venture was necessary to
achieve volume pricing, as it would be
impossible for one small community to
rent such a large piece of equipment for
just a few days. By combining the needs
of seven different communities, volume
pricing and rental of the equipment
became a reality.
“I’m pleased that I was able
to partner with my colleagues in
the Greenburgh Village Officials
Committee to undertake this small,
yet important experiment. This is just
a small example of how we have been
working together to save money for our
taxpayers for the past 12 years, “Ardsley
Mayor Peter Porcino stated.
Over the next few months,
the Greenburgh Village Officials
Committee will determine how effective this program was, see how long the
pothole repairs last and determine future
use of the Pothole Killer.
April’s Child Walk-a-thon, Sunday
April 26th at Rye, Playland
Strengthening Families One Step at a Time
About Village Officials
Committee
The Greenburgh Village Officials
Committee is an award-winning joint
venture that was created in 2003. Mayors
from the six Villages in the Town of
Greenburgh formed this Committee to
discuss and address matters of mutual
interest. Over the years, it has become
a collaboration of ideas, resources, and
efforts by the Villages toward providing cost effective and efficient services
to their citizenry. In 2010, the Village of
Sleepy Hollow in the Town of Mount
Pleasant was invited and joined the
Committee.
Contact:
Lawrence Schopfer
Village Administrator
Village of Irvington
Tel: 914-591-4358
E-Mail: LSCHOPFER@IRVING
TONNY.GOV
April’s Child’s “Strengthening
Families One Step at a Time
Walkathon” will be held at Rye Playland
Sunday, April 26. Children, families,
friends and colleagues will have a lot
of fun at a 5K walk or a 1/2 mile stroll,
enjoying activities and entertainment.
Registered walkers will get a tee shirt, a
goody bag, refreshments, and prizes.
This event raises awareness about
preventing child abuse and neglect
in Westchester County for April’s
Child Abuse Prevention Month. Our
agency’s new name “April’s Child” (previously the Child Abuse Prevention
Center) emphasizes the 90% success
rate we have in helping parents create
a loving and nurturing environment for
their children.
Proceeds from the Walk-a-thon
go directly to help fund April’s Child’s
programs and services, which include
a home visiting Parent Aide Program,
a 24/7 Parent HelpLine, Parenting
Groups and Workshops, and a Speaker’s
Bureau.
All community members are
encouraged to participate and make a
difference in a child’s life by walking,
creating a team, donating or sponsoring the event. For more information
see our walk website aprilschildwalk.
dojiggy.com, call 914 997-2642 or email
[email protected] with any questions
or ideas.
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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Page 5
consumed with shuttering its operations.
Small wonder that much of the
world thinks the United States is incapable of governing itself. I know that
the politics of Capitol Hill are difficult
right now. But they’ve been troublesome
for years, and legislating is about getting
things done in a difficult environment.
Congress is designed to be an institution
where the dilemmas of the moment can
be overcome by skillful legislators. We
need a Congress that can address its
problems before a crisis comes up.
What will it take to do so? Part
of the answer lies in dedication to
Congress’s job. Its members need to
work at legislating every day — not
just the three days in the middle of the
week. Its leaders need to make clear
their determination to move legislation through in an orderly fashion. The
so-called “Hastert Rule” — that the
Speaker of the House will not allow a
vote on a bill unless he has a majority of
his own party behind it — needs to be
jettisoned for good, not just in extreme
circumstances. Allowing a majority of
the House and the Senate to work its
will, whatever the partisan alignment,
would do wonders.
And perhaps most important,
the tactic of tying two unrelated issues
together in order to force an opponent’s
hand needs to be rejected. The parade
of make-or-break issues that Congress
faces this year presents myriad opportunities for legislative mischief. If all we see
before us is one government-shutdown
threat after another, the remaining faith
Americans hold in our chief lawmaking
body could disappear altogether. And
deservedly so.
the local ward healer will wail about
the nasty winter, a scarcity of road salt,
DPW hiring freezes, global warming,
climate change and Polar Vortices. But
a comprehensive critique and action
plan is nowhere to be found.
What are we facing here: a
“Conspiracy of Silence” by the majority?
Perhaps. Those in charge love taking
responsibility for the good things that
happen and never the bad: but what of
GOVERNMENT
Governing By Crisis Isn’t Governing At All
By Lee Hamilton
Great
democracies do not veer from
one doomsday moment
to the next, nor do they
fund government on a
week-to-week basis. Yet that is precisely
the habit Congress has developed. It’s
embarrassing.
After Congress came a hair’s
breadth from shutting down the
Department of Homeland Security a
few weeks ago, members of the leadership tried to reassure the American
people. “We’re certainly not going to
shut down the government or default
on the national debt,” Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell declared on
CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Congress, he
said, would not lurch from crisis to crisis.
I wish I could be so confident.
Because if you look at the year ahead,
the congressional calendar is littered
with opportunities to do just that.
Next month, unless Congress acts,
doctors will see a steep cut in Medicare
reimbursements. In May, the Highway
Trust Fund runs out of money, meaning
that infrastructure projects all across
the country could grind to a halt. The
following month, the federal ExportImport Bank’s charter runs out. By the
end of summer, Congress will need to
raise the debt ceiling. Then it will have
to find a way of funding the government
for next year, deal with across-the-board
spending cuts that are scheduled to
take hold, and make it possible for the
Treasury to continue to borrow money.
I don’t know about you, but my bet
is not on smooth sailing.
This is a huge problem. Great
democracies do not veer from one
doomsday moment to the next, nor do
they fund government on a week-toweek basis. World superpowers do not
risk their creditworthiness or threaten
to strangle their own agencies or force
them to plan repeatedly for shutdowns.
Yet that is precisely the habit Congress
has developed. It’s embarrassing.
Why? Look at what happened with
Homeland Security. The issue, essentially, was that members, unhappy with
President Obama’s plan to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation,
tried to use the DHS funding measure
to force him to back down. In other
words, they tied two unrelated issues
together. The solution ultimately lay
in separating them, allowing a vote on
each.
But during the weeks Congress
spent arriving at this commonsense
approach, DHS had to get ready
for roughly 30,000 employees to be
furloughed, arrange to wind down
administrative support functions,
prepare law enforcement across the
country for the loss of training funds,
and ask crucial employees to be willing
to work without pay — we’re talking the
border patrol, Coast Guard, screeners at
airports, cargo inspectors...the people on
the front lines.
The impasse threatened ongoing
research and planning on making the
country safer and grants to local communities to pay salaries for emergency
personnel. At the very point when
terrorism overseas was consuming
the attention of our national security
agencies, the department charged with
protecting the nation at home had to be
Lee H. Hamilton is Distinguished Scholar,
Indiana University School of Global and
International Studies; Professor of Practice,
IU School of Public and Environmental
Affairs; Chairman, Center on Congress
at Indiana University. He served as
U.S. Representative from Indiana’s 9th
Congressional District from 1965-1999.
For information about our educational
resources and programs, explore our
website at www.centeroncongress.org. Go
to Facebook to express your views about
Congress, civic education, and the citizen’s
role in representative democracy. “Like”
us on Facebook at “Center on Congress
at Indiana University,” and share our
postings with your friends.
COMMUNITY
Cratered: Our Streets Are Pockmarked With Potholes
Continued from page 3
thickness as well as Teutonic attention to maintenance and order. “Crews
inspect every square meter of the
system periodically using vehicles with
high-tech road scanning equipment.
If a fissure or other defect is found, the
entire road section is replaced,” according to www.German-Autobahn.eu.
Today, it seems, local politics is a
curiosity in the face of unprecedented
coverage of international and national
affairs by cable transmission and new
social media. Daily newspapers disappear at a geometric pace, leaving local
radio and broadcast coverage confined
almost exclusively to the bloodthirsty,
garish and gaudy.
Constituent residents and property
owners scantly attend city council and
county legislative gatherings. Only the
most dramatic instances of governmental waste and misconduct (such as
the besotted Echo Bay development
boondoggle on the New Rochelle
Sound Shore last year) have attracted
more than a modicum of voter attention and city council “citizens-be-heard”
complaint.
One misbegotten local radio host,
for years ignored chronic issues of
municipal neglect, downtown decay
and the sorry record of a nearly onequarter billion-dollar school system in
New Rochelle. One morning, without
citing any evidence, he pronounced the
pothole blight solved and left town!
And where are our local citizens’
representatives in all of this? Take
yourself down to the next council
meeting; listen closely to citizens’ reactions and comments. Wait in vain
for official acknowledgments of the
wretched state of public streets. Hold
your breath for robo-calls by a titular,
ceremonial mayor acknowledging the
problem and offering a scheduled course
of improvement.
The council Democratic majority
is mum. That is to be expected; they are,
after all, responsible for the mess. But
why is the enfeebled Republican loyal
opposition silent? This should be a time
for good old-fashioned partisan fisticuffs: demands for reallocation of funds
and budgeting for capital improvements, personnel shifts, managerial
initiative and improved maintenance
and planning. But we hear nothing.
The local governmental Leviathan
prefers a studied silence. If cornered,
Continued on page 9
Page 6
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
CREATIVE DISRUPTION
March Madness In The johnmac Technology Cave
BY John F. McMullen
Things continue to
go somewhat awry in
the “johnmac technology
cave!”
When we were last
in touch, I wrote that while I was very
impressed by Optimum’s “Freewheel
WiFi,” I felt that the actual WiFi telephone system was short on performance
in that everyone that I called reported
that they constantly heard echoing
of their own voice. In some cases, the
person on the other end was so distracted by the feedback that he / she
wanted to end the conversation.
So I got in touch with the
Freewheel help staff and spent a few
hours across a number of days talking to
customer service and engineering personnel (it may have helped that I dropped
the “press card” whenever possible) until
it was finally decided that that I had a
faulty Moto G and the engineer I was
speaking to set up the shipping of a new
unit to me.
The new Moto G arrived a few days
later but I waited still a few more days
to set it up – I wanted to have the time
to have a customer service representative
on the phone with me to ensure both
that I would lose no data in the transfer
and that I would be able to scrub the
original phone completely of all my data.
After taking what felt like a week
going from the Optimum phone
system to a real Optimum person to
the Freewheel phone system to a real
Freewheel person, I was able to make
the transfer smoothly. I then asked him
to call the new phone and tell me if there
was an echo on his end. He did and told
me that everything was loud and clear to
him – No echo! Great – I thanked him
and was elated.
“News about Open Salon
Elated, that is, until I called my wife
a bit later and told her that the problem
was solved – only to be told “No it isn’t. I
still hear an echo.”
So, there is more to be done.
But that problem pales by comparison to my new problem. For over the last
five years, I have been a regular contributor to “Open Salon,” the blog maintained
by the Salon on-line publication. I have
posted poetry, articles, my columns,
information about my radio show, and
general information and observations. I
regularly have people, some as far away
as Norway, commenting on postings. I
also have an automatic feed from my
blog to my Kindle publishing site from
where my Kindle subscribers receive
my regular commentary. In short, I am
heavily invested in Open Salon.
When I went to sign on to my
account last week, I was unable to sign
on and after being somewhat perplexed
that the sign on tab had disappeared, I
went to the general help site and read
the following:
Thank you so much for being a
part of Open Salon
for the past 6 years.
We have appreciated
every personal story,
every joke, every
anecdote and every
conversation within
the
community.
However, due to the
changing landscape
of blogging, we have
made the difficult
decision to close this
site. Starting today
you will no longer
be able to log into and, consequently,
to upload, update or edit information
within your Open Salon account. For
the next 14 days you will still be able
to view your profile page and all the
content stored therein.
We remain dedicated to facilitating
discussion around the issues and events
you care about on Salon.com, and to
deliver thought provoking, passionate,
content.
Thank you again for being a part of
our journey.
Regards,
Open Salon Staff ”
14 days? 14 days to figure out
how to retrieve 5 years of material
from a service that I trusted to hold
my material. Some may feel that the
Open Salon message reads like a cordial,
respectful message. Not to me – to me it
is an attempt to smoothly say “Five years
of material, while promoting and publicizing Open Salon all the time. Well, that’s nice
– but don’t let the door hit your assets on the
way out.”
Much of my problem may be
attributed to lack of foresight in not
having all of my written material over
the last 30 years backed up and all in one
place – but, during that time, I’ve written
on Apple IIs, Windows machines,
UNIX systems, Chromebooks, and
Macintoshes – and multiple computers of each type (the computer that I’m on
right now is, in all probability, my tenth to
twelfth Mac). Further, most of the older
machines were of a pre-Cloud generation so there was no central place for
storing all my writing.
I am reminded of a comment that
accomplished photographer, technology
writer, and novelist Sally Wiener Grotta
made while a guest on my radio show
earlier this year (http://blogtalk.
vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/6/823/
show_6823253.mp3). She said that
she first got really interested in photography when she was able to go through
collections of photos going back to her
grandparents’ days. She pointed out that
now “those days are over. People have their
photos all over the place – up on an on-line
service, on Facebook, in their digital camera,
or on hard discs, CDs, DVDs, even floppy
disks – and usually with no index of photo
inventory.”
I’ve heard analogous comments
from literary critics and older writers
about writing, as they bemoan the fact
that “there are no drafts of books and articles
anymore. People edit on the computer,
simply writing over and over material …
until they are satisfied.” Some critics have
built careers on analyzing the growth of
an Updike or Hemmingway based on a
review of their working drafts en route
to a novel or short story.
So, there is a general problem that
we all face in keeping track of our work,
words, music, photos, and videos – and I
won’t solve that problem today; I’m too
busy trying to save this data.
After rabble rousing on Facebook
and sending notes to everyone I could
think of, I sent the following e-mail
to Jacob Sugarman (jsugarman@
ADVERTISE YOUR DISPLAY HELP WANTED ADS IN
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN!
Do you have jobs available at your business?
The Westchester Guardian
publishes every Thursday and we would love to run your
Help Wanted Display Ads,
due Wednesday one week prior to publication date.
Call today to reserve
Display Ad Space in our next issue:
914.216.1674
salon.com), Open Salon’s Editorin-Chief (with a copy to Joan Walsh,
a founder of Salon and a previous guest
on the radio show (http://blogtalk.
vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/7/185/
show_7185497.mp3)):
“I am johnmac13 on Open Salon
and have been a contributor for over
five years. I am also a writer, weekly columnist for a New York area newspaper,
and a radio host (Joan Walsh has been
a guest). I often refer to the Open Salon
archive of my postings to review past
positions on issues and subject matter
written about. It is an invaluable tool
and it is not an overstatement to say that
I was “shocked” at the announcement of
the abrupt closing of the site.
Please arrange for a DVD of my
personal archive to be send to me.
I will, of course, pay for the DVD
and the cost of shipping.
Yours truly,
John F. McMullen”
Will this do any good? I have
no idea – and readers are welcome
to both comment to me, here or on
my blog, “johnmac’s Rants” (http://
johnmac13.johnmacrants.com/)
and / or to make their opinion known
to Salon.
Comments on this column to johnmac13@
gmail.com
Creative Disruption is a continuing series
examining the impact of constantly accelerating technology on the world around us.
These changers normally happen under our
personal radar until we find that the world
as we knew it is no more.
John F. McMullen is a writer, poet, college
professor and radio host. Links to other
writings, Podcasts, & Radio Broadcasts at
www.johnmac13.com, and his books are
available on Amazon.
© 2015 John F. McMullen
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Page 7
Miyazaki’s
flute
solo emerges gently
like the voice of
a small child in a
large room filled
with light and
movement. It interjects its soft, playful
tone intermittently,
almost shyly at first,
and gradually blends in
with the harmony of the
rest of the orchestra.
The response that the
very lovely arrangement
evoked in this listener, just
as the cover art and photograph did, was that in this
big, busy, and often scary
world, there is still innocence, and a small child
within each of us, which
needs to be nurtured and
encouraged—indeed,
that we are all children
of this universe.
Miyazaki’s traveling and performing
in different cultures
remains one of her
greatest passions.
“It’s so enriching.Fairly recently,
I decided that,
instead of
trying to
achieve
fame, big lights, Broadway, I chose to
take a different path. I’m trying help
create social awareness and change,
especially that which could impact the
minds of our youths and children. That’s
what I’m trying to do with my new
album—even in New York, as I love
New York!” said Miyazaki
Nobuko Miyazaki’s album release
concert will take place at Renee Weiler
Concert Hall on Sunday, March 29 at
7:30 p.m., 46 Barrow St., New York,
NY 10014. For ticket information,
please visit: http://caffevivaldi.com/
event/nobuko-miyazaki-at-reneeweiler-concert-hall/
To purchase a CD and/or learn
more about the stories behind the compositions, visit www.nobuflute.com.
A portion of the sales will be donated/
used for children’s causes. Those who
reserve tickets in advance are entered
into a lottery to win a free CD.
PROFILE
Artist Profile: Flutist Nobuko Miyazaki
By Lee Daniels
Originally
from
Chigasaki, Japan, Ms.
Miyazaki moved to
California with her
family at age eight.
After completing her undergraduate study at Indiana University with
a major in classical flute performance, she studied at the University
of London’s prestigious School of
Oriental and African Studies at
(SOAS), where she earned a Master’s
degree in Ethnomusicology.
Following her graduation from
SOAS, Miyazaki stayed in London
for three more years before moving
to Manhattan, which she has called
home ever since.
Dividing her time between
teaching flute and shinobue—a
Japanese flute made from bamboo—
and performing in Manhattan,
Westchester, upstate New York,
and New Jersey, Miyazaki, a former
teacher at the renowned Music in
Chappaqua music school,
also frequently travels
overseas. She
completed a
2-week tour
in 12
cities
in China
during
2013. Last year, Miyazaki
spent a week performing in
Beijing and a total of six weeks in
Lebanon, on two separate trips.
Having just returned from
a 10-day performance tour in
Guatemala, Honduras, and Uruguay
last month, Miyazaki is celebrating a landmark year. She has just
released her debut album, a collaboration with pianist and close
friend Emi Inaba, koto player Sumie
Kaneko, cellist Andrew Janss, guitarist Toru Takiguchi, and conductor
Gregory Singer, with the Manhattan
Symphonie.
“Emi, whom I met while performing in London ten years ago, was
instrumental in helping me realize this
dream. It was she who encouraged me
initially to compose an album,” said
Miyazaki in a recent interview in
Manhattan.
The album is Inorikaze, which
means “prayer wind.”
The album cover—designed by
close friend Shelley Revill—depicts
a small girl playing flute in a field
of flowers, which, according to
Miyazaki, are visual metaphors
for prayers spreading around the
world on the wind.
Inside the cover is a photograph of an identical girl
wearing a backpack and
walking across a wide, barren
ground, over which hangs
ominously grey cloud cover,
toward what resembles
a colorful festival in the
background.
“The picture is taken
in Rikuzen Takata, IwatePrefecture, one of the
coastal villages in Japan
where the 2011 tsunami
hit the hardest. I spent
some time
volunteering in the
area back in 2012. The
area in the picture used to be a town,
but everything got washed away. The
picture was taken the day before a
big festival the village was putting
on to celebrate all its hard work to
rebuild itself. The girl is playing
with a piece of festival streamer
called azafu, which must have
fallen off one of the big floats. She
was the inspiration for the track
on the album entitled “Azafu,”
said Miyazaki.
When a singer, writer,
painter, sculptor, photographer
or musician succeeds in striking
a deep emotional chord in a
viewer or listener, she has accomplished her task as an artist. And
that is exactly what this correspondent
e x p e - rienced when listening to the
title track.
In
the
recording,
Lee Daniels, a former reporter for the
Journal News and Reuters, is Arts
& Leisure writer for the Westchester
Guardian. His work has appeared in
the Danbury News-Times, Litchfield
County Times, and Orlando Sentinel.
He is the winner of the first-place prize
in Non-Fiction in the 2013 Porter
Fleming Literary Competition, and an
M.F.A. candidate at the School of Letters
of the University of the South.
Photo by Maru Mochon
Page 8
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
TRAVEL
Amsterdam: Venice of the North
By Richard Levy
Only one city has the
most Van Gogh’s,the most
canals, the most bridges,
the most Rembrandts,
the most windmills and
most of just about everything you’d ever
want in one place: Amsterdam. So for
the “most” vacation you’ll ever take, you
must consider going to Amsterdam:
the perfect city for an unforgettable
one-week vacation and one of my favorites. In fact I could see myself living there
if I could just find an old windmill that’s
been converted into a cozy condo. (Hard
to find and very expensive, once you do.)
I’ve been to Amsterdam many times,
but I’ll never forget my first visit, in the
summer of ’75. I was in my twenties,
had just graduated and needed to let
my hair down. So of course, I went to
Amsterdam. A Dutch hippie sold me a
half-price ticket to the Dutch production
of the Broadway musical, Hair, while I
was hanging out in the Leidseplein, the
main square, on my first day there. Since
I never saw Hair in NY, I was thrilled
and totally mesmerized for the next three
hours, without understanding a single
word of the songs, probably because they
were singing them in Dutch.
Over the next ten days I discovered
that Amsterdam had much in common
with the vitality of Hair. Amsterdam
and its people, no matter their age,
seemed to possess the same irreverent
and inspirational vibes which Hair” had
so dramatically projected. I lost myself
in one of Amsterdam’s chaotic, booming
underground discos, where in the wee
hours, I met a lovely Finish architectural
student, with whom I spent the rest of
my vacation. In fact, I still remember
how to say: “I love you” in Finish: “Mina
rakastan sinua”.
Whatever your age, Amsterdam will
make you feel young, alive and optimistic;
it is a place where you feel anything is
possible --and it usually is. Amsterdam is
a place that is old and new at the same
time; traditional and groundbreaking;
religious, yet very liberal. Amsterdam is a
bustling modern city.Shops are filled with
fashions by acclaimed Dutch designers,
product design worthy of MOMA, galleries with artwork and architecture that’s
20 years ahead of its’ time.
The Dutch love food. The city has
eight Guide Michelin restaurants and
the Dutch appear to be snacking all day
long. Their favorite snacks are “Flemish
frites” served in paper cones with mayo.
Residents of this city by the sea also
love their herring, sold from small street
carts. FEBO vending machines are
everywhere, filled with delectable and
affordable snacks, their favorite being
Kroketter: breaded and fried doughballs or croquettes filed with a variety
of delicious things. (Try to eat just one.)
The Dutch also adore their stroopwafels,
delicious waffles filled with caramel and
cinnamon syrup. For breakfast, Dutch
kids still eat an old-fashioned favorite:
bread and butter smothered with chocolate sprinkles. For charming Dutch cafes,
you can’t go wrong with any of their very
old Brown Cafés, where local folks have
been stopping by for a beer and good
conversation for over 300 years.
Vacationing in Amsterdam is easy:
the Dutch all speak English. Friendly
and hospitable; they will stop to help you
--or even take you to where you are going.
I was surprised to learn that Amsterdam
has more “canals” than Venice and so is
referred to as, “The Venice of the North.”
Not surprisingly, this city of canals also
has more bridges than any other city in
the world.
Amsterdam boasts more paintings
by Van Gogh and Rembrandt than all
the of the world’s museums combined.
They also have the largest Red Light
Leidseplein, Amsterdam
Oude kerk
District of any city, but it is not as the Check out his other renowned painting,
name suggests. Amsterdam’s Red Light The Jewish Bride, showing a couple’s
District is the very charming historic part intimate caress. This painting so much
of the city where almost nothing’ has impressed Van Gogh, he reportedly told
changed since the 1700’s. The district is a friend, “I would give ten years of my life
filled with wonderful little restaurants, to be allowed to sit before this painting for
intimate bars, boisterous cafes, coffee 14 days with just a crust of bread to eat”.
shops serving marijuana, lovely little Afterwards, visit the “Stedelijk Museum,”
hotels and unusual boutiques. Of course, one of the world’s best collections of
since it’s the Red Light District, you’ll modern masters like Picasso, Mondrian
find working girls on display in windows and Warhol. And finally, take a taxi to the
of small shops, but only in one small area. other side of town and visit the Museum
You must rent a bike to experience Het Rembrandthui, the ancient house
Amsterdam the way the locals do, but be
sure to follow all the bike-traffic rules, by
watching how the natives ride and they
don’t wear helmets. You will find bike
rentals in main squares for 14 Euros a day
and for memorable bike tours, check out
“Orange Bikes”. Be sure to take a bike
tour to the huge, stunning tulip fields
outside of Amsterdam.
If you are not an art lover, you will
be one, after a visit to the Van Gogh
Museum, home to more of Van Gogh’s
paintings,than all of the world’s museums
combined. Not far from the Van Gogh
Museum is the Rijksmuseum, one of the
finest museums in the world. Spend at
least 20 minutes admiring Rembrandt’s
Self Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh
magnificent painting, Night Watch.
Design, Amsterdam
on a canal where Rembrandt lived and
painted from 1639 to 1658. His studio
looks exactly the way it did when he
was alive. In fact, you can imagine him
coming right back at any moment. Be
sure to visit Amsterdam’s most popular
tourist attraction and one of the grandest
buildings in Europe, The Royal Palace
built in 1665, when Holland was of
the wealthiest countries in the world.
Amsterdam’s oldest building is the Oude
Kerk, a magnificent church built in 1300.
Where should you stay in this living
museum of a city? I strongly suggest, that
since you are in “the Venice of the North,
you must stay in a charming, small hotel
next to one of its canals. My favorite is the
Seven Bridges, but you might also enjoy
the Canal House or the “Seven-onSeven Hotel, which is not on a canal but
definitely the most romantic place to stay.
On your first night in Amsterdam,
make reservations at a restaurant right
on one of the many canals. The Cafe
Restaurant Open, sits on top of an
old railway bridge and De Belhamel
offers stunning views of the canal.
On a sunny day stroll through beautiful Vongelpark, the largest park in
Amsterdam, filled with flowered paths
and street musicians: a destination for
lovers and a great place to mingle with
the local folks.
I suggest that you plan to visit the
“Anne Frank Huis”late in the afternoon
when the long lines are a bit shorter.
Once inside the house you’ll walk up
a flight of stairs and on the landing will
be a bookcase; actually it’s a revolving bookcase and then you’ll walk up
another very steep, narrow flight of
stairs into the dark, damp, cramped
living quarters where Anne Frank and
her family lived and hid until she was
eventually betrayed by a neighbor and
sent to Bergen-Belsen Concentration
Camp, where she died. You’ll see the
bed she slept in and her precious diary,
enclosed in a glass case. A very moving
Continued on page 9
Tulip Fields
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
TRAVEL
Page 9
COMMUNITY
Amsterdam: Venice of the North
Continued from page 8
experience for anyone, but more so for
me, you see my relatives in Hungary
were taken away by the Nazis and exterminated, just two weeks before the war
ended. As you can imagine, tears filled
my eyes as I peered into Anne’s brief
sanctuary, imagining what a strong,
brave young woman Anne must have
been.
Be sure to take a boat trip around
the canals in an open boat so wind can
rush though your hair. You will be awed
by the spectacular houses that line the
canals. Many houses are hundreds of
years old and leaning every which way,
requiring support beams to keep them
from toppling into canals.
As for my favorite restaurants, for
authentic Dutch cooking try, La Falote
and order their stewed fish or meatballs
with endives, or “Gebr Hartering” for a
full menu of Dutch favorites. At Buffet
Van Ordette, order the old-fashioned,
but popular, Dutch dish stamppott, or
“steam pot” which is potatoes mashed
with veggies and served with smoked
sausage.
One night, splurge and go to one
of Amsterdam’s eight Guide Michelin
restaurants, my favorite is, Ciel Bleu,
23 stories above Amsterdam offering
spectacular food and panoramic vistas.
(If you are trying to stretch your budget,
just go for drinks, take in the great
view and order their Guide Michelin”
bar snacks.) Ron Gastobar is another
Guide Michelin restaurant famous for
its Dutch tapas, or try De Kas, famous
because it is a greenhouse that’s also a
restaurant, serving only what it grows:
Vegan Heaven. Also consider dining at
Pont 13, a charming restaurant nestled
in an old car ferry on a canal. For
Indonesian food (the Dutch occupied
Indonesia for years), go to Sama Sebo,
and order their delicious rice table or
riptafel: 17 small dishes filled with beef,
chicken, fish, veggies and rice for about
$30 (enough for to share). For the very
best frites in Amsterdam, it’s worth
the wait on the long line at the famous,
Vleminick, hole-in-the-wall frite stand.
Which airline should you take
to Amsterdam? I’d consider KLM,
the Dutch airline, they have most
non-stop flights and you’ll also get
fabulous Dutch hospitality. Research
the best fares for dates you’re considering at KLM.com. (For a rate
comparison, go to google.com/
travel.) Save some shopping money
for Shiphol Airport on your way
home for great savings on Duty Free
shopping. Allow plenty of time to get
there so you have time to really shop.
Bring home some Delft plates for
your mother-in-law, wooden shoes
for your kids or grandkids, prints of
your favorite Van Gogh paintings,
Mills, Zaanse Schans
Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ, Amsterdam
Cratered: Our Streets Are Pockmarked With Potholes
Continued from page 5
Statue Rembrandt, Amsterdam
Stroopwafels, bottles of “Jenever”
Dutch Gin, some Dutch Tulip Bulbs
(check to see if US Customs will allow
you to bring these into the country),
and a wheel of “Dutch Cheese”. (You
can only bring back “hard cheeses”.)
For more information about Amsterdam go
to Holland.com. To send an email requesting information send to: information@
Holland.com.
215 Park Avenue South New York, NY
10003 212.370.7360 www.holland.com/
us/tourism
All photos except, Amsterdam Central
Train Station courtesy of The Netherlands
Board of Tourism. 215 Park Ave S, New
York, NY 10003 (212) 370-7360
Central Train Station Amsterdam David Bouw VisitFlanders .com
Open Garden Days, Amsterdam
the out-of-power Republicans? What
is their excuse for silence and inaction?
Have they nothing to offer?
Herein, the inherent weakness of
the modern democratic model: minority
party legislators (and in New Rochelle,
they are lucky to hold even one seat,
never mind two) are obsessively concerned with retaining their precariously
held offices. So nervous are they that
the majority faction, or just an unprofessional civil servant in the normally
professional city hall bureaucracy will be
incensed at their criticisms of the city’s
precarious state of health and the condition of its physical plant, that they would
rather be silent when constructive voices
of protest are needed most!
How has the state of our democracy gotten so bad? Little is reported
on the issue and few seem to really
care. As noted earlier, print coverage,
has decreased with the proliferation of
cable and social media. Westchester’s
slenderized daily newspaper devoted
a cover story to the deterioration of
our roadways recently, but it focused
mainly on the futility of seeking
county and state compensation for
related property damage; left unmentioned was the perversity of so much
infrastructural squalor in the midst of
so much private wealth and possible
means of redress.
Ultimately, the fault lies with an
electorate that accepts the status quo,
party machine domination, (usually
Democratic party-based, but not exclusively so), and general and widespread
public complaisance.
There are some “swells” in my
neighborhood who would refuse a
sirloin steak served two degrees too cold
at their favorite restaurant, but who have
no opinion on the sorry state of governance and livability in their hometown.
Few have a clue that they are paying
double for the over-funded Department
of Public Works collection of garbage
and recyclables thanks to an unprecedented and sleazy (but so-far NYS
Supreme Court sanctioned) three-year
old garbage tax. Most couldn’t name
their local councilperson, county legislator or state or federal representative (but
likely know the identity of the mayor
courtesy of city hall and public school
press operations).
Until the local gentry become sensitized to the issues of municipal safety,
living quality and governance, there
seems to be little prospect for improvement on this year’s abominable driving
landscape, next winter. The DPW
budget of some $22 million already
strains New Rochelle’s ability to pay,
and as-yet uncalculated millions more
(certainly an appropriate future research
project) will be required for the men,
women and materials necessary for
improved planning, maintenance and
reconstruction.
But the public is not powerless
and palliative measures are available.
In government as well as in business,
economic conditions change, “Acts of
G-d” intrude and environmental conditions vary which might justify increased
funding of one department,
The last Republican Senator from
New York, Alphonse D’Amato, was
often dismissed by the fancy pants
of the Democratic and (now extinct)
Liberal parties as “Senator Pothole.”
This was no compliment of course; the
elitists were simply trying to portray
this assuredly non-intellectual Long
Island pol as a mere doer of deeds,
instead of an advocate of airy rhetoric
like the hallowed Governor Mario
Cuomo. After this season’s disgraceful record of roadway maintenance
and repair, however, what wouldn’t
New York State voters “give” to find a
modern day “Senator, Congresswoman,
Assemblyman or councilor Pothole?”
Call your nearest elected representative; inform him or her of the parlous state
of ‘the community’s “public works”(as if he
weren’t aware of it himself!).Let him know
how your locality’s “value proposition”
stacks up against that of a neighboring
town or village, and how this reflects upon
his abilities as a public servant.
If he or she is flummoxed by your
charge or does not comprehend potholes
to be this year’s most serious threat to
community safety and public health,
commit yourself to voting the laggard
out of office at the next opportunity.
Stephen I. Mayo is an attorney, owner of
Mayo Linoleum Works, LLC, a resident of
New Rochelle and host of “The Steve Mayo
Show” with Cornelia Mrose on WVOX
radio, 1460 AM; Mondays from 6 to 7
PM. www.thestevemayoshow.com
Page 10
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Arts/EntertainmentSection
EYE ON THEATRE
Bumpy Ride
By John Simon
It helps a musical
to be the product of
an established writercomposer team. Thus
came
about
such
reliable trademarks as Rodgers and
Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein,
Lerner and Loewe, and Kander and
Ebb. Unattached composers had a
somewhat harder time of it, which
may be why Cy Coleman isn’t such a
household name.
So it may come that his greatest
hit, “City of Angels” (1989, 875 performances) is almost unique among
masterpiece musicals still awaiting
a revival. Now, at any rate, we get a
revival of another one of his hits, “On
the Twentieth Century,” and more
power to it.
Like “City of Angels,” it is about
show business, its intrigues and stratagems, its comedic bell curve and curve
balls. To quote my original 1978
review of the premiere production
(inexplicably only 449 performances),
“it has pizzazz and razzle-dazzle,
bursts of energy and invention, music
and laughter, and good, expensive production values.” Amen to that, for so
Kristen Chenowith (Lilly Garland) and Peter Gallagher (Oscar Jaffee), Mark Linn-Baker (Oliver Webb), Michael McGrath
(Owen McNalley), Mary Louise Wilson (Letitia Peabody Primrose) and Andy Karl (Bruce Granit) ) in Roundabout Theatre’s
production of On The Twentieth Century. Photo © Joan Marcus 2015
it has once again. And further: “It falls
somewhere between high and low
camp . . . always brash, often funny,
sometimes vulgar [and] occasionally
inspired,” and today ditto.
It is also a case where too many
cooks did not spoil the brew. It began
with a play by Bruce Milholland,
which was completely rewritten by
Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur,
on which, in turn, the musical with
book by Betty Comden and Adolph
Green, and music by Cy Coleman is
based. What may be rare in theatrical history is that
Peter Gallagher (Oscar Jaffee), Michael McGrath (Owen McNalley), Kristen Chenowith (Lilly Garland),
Mark Linn-Baker (Oliver Webb) and Andy Karr (Bruce Granit) in Roundabout Theatre’s production of On
The Twentieth Century. Photo © Joan Marcus 2015
play and musical based upon the
same material coexist peacefully; each
getting its share of revivals.
It is the story of a trip from
Chicago to New York City, on the
1930s crack train, the Twentieth
Century Express. On it, the same
sixteen hours, by chance or strategy,
are passengers Oscar Jaffee, a wily
producer down on his luck with
four consecutive flops; Oliver Webb
and Owen O’Malley, his two trusty
henchmen, often reduced to consolatory booze; Lily Garland, the
Hollywood superstar, formerly a lowly
pianist-accompanist Mildred Plotka,
whom Oscaar plucked out of obscurity, making her his mistress and a
star; and Lily’s current boy toy, Bruce
Granit, a would-be actor and jealous
guardian of his position on Lily’s
skirt tails. Also a religious fanatic
and presumed millionairess, Letitia
Peabody Primrose, who goes around
pasting posters reading “Repent” on
every conceivable space, including the
backs of unsuspecting victims’ attire.
She is the prospective producer who
signs for Oscar a check starting with
two and continuing with five zeros,
the only trouble being that she is a
nutcase escaped from the bin.
Oscar Jaffee has wangled a suite
next to the one he sniffed out would
be Lily’s, who he thinks may harbor
embers from their old passion and
sign a success-guaranteeing contract,
though she may rebuff him as a cheat
and a leach. So, even while involving
a few others—a train conductor, a
Continued on page 11
Kristen Chenowith (Lilly Garland) and Peter Gallagher (Oscar Jaffee
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
EYE ON THEATRE
Bumpy Ride
Continued from page 10
philandering congressman, and a
female physician, all of them proffering unwelcome scripts to Jaffee—the
nub of the show is the Oscar-Lily
love-hate contest, as epic as that of
Rhett and Scarlet in “Gone With the
Wind, but much funnier.
The show is fortunate in its wonderful cast. Peter Gallagher is an
irresistible Oscar, oozing simultaneously genuine and phony charm, part
aging Romeo, part ageless worm. He
acts, sings, and schemes with unholy
inspiration and demonic persistence.
Kristin Chenoweth, a diminutive
stunner of a singer-actress, is marvelous even in the grandeur of her
delusions, as when heroically fantasizing herself as Mary Magdalen, with
which (in a nonexistent play) Oscar
tempts her.
There could not be two more
devious yet dedicated accomplices
than Mark Linn-Baker (Oliver) and
Michael McGrath (Owen), who, with
Oscar, form the three Os as real as
Page 11
CULTURAL CALENDAR
the five zeros are not. As Bruce, Lily’s
desperate, demanding lover—a role
that in the original made Kevin Kline
famous—Andy Karl is likewise all
over-the-top gymnastics and spectacular pratfalls. James Moye does nicely
by Max Jacobs, Oscar’s former disciple
and now dreaded rival producer,
threatening with real money to snatch
Lily away.
But everyone else is no less on
target. Which goes in spades for
David Rockwell’s opulent sets, the
inexhaustibly imaginative costumes of
William Ivey Long, as well as the exuberant manifold lighting of Donald
Holder. Crowning it all are the perfectly wedded staging of Scott Ellis
and choreography by Warren Carlyle,
which combine to make frenetic
dynamism and dreamy lingering as
spontaneously natural as an after-dinner constitutional.
The quartet of tap-dancing
porters execute their intricate dances
with such fearful symmetry as if
they were a single eight-legged and
four-headed fairytale creature, fully
eliciting our fascinated fealty. They
are Rick Faugno, Richard Riaz Yoder,
Phillip Attmore and Drew King.
Only Mary Louise Wilson, as
the crazy Letitia Primrose, is not
as humorous and well sung as she
might be. I wonder: were not Andrea
Martin or Julie Halston available?
It is a part well worth setting other
commitments aside, and immortalized by Imogene Coca in the original
production, whom audiences, I wrote,
were lapping up like cola. But everything else the show has got, including
an ample roster of delectable songs,
melding operetta and jazz, to one of
which, “Because of Her,” Amanda
Green, daughter of one of the coauthors, has added condign lyrics. See
it: good time guaranteed.
John Simon has written for over 50
years on theatre, film, literature, music
and fine arts for the Hudson Review,
New Leader, New Criterion, National
Review, New York Magazine, Opera
News, Weekly Standard, Broadway.
com and Bloomberg News. He reviews
books for the New York Times Book
Review and for The Washington Post.
To learn more, visit his website: www.
JohnSimon-uncensored.com
Peter Gallagher (Oscar Jaffee), Michael McGrath (Owen McNalley) and Mark Linn-Baker (Oliver Webb) in Roundabout
Theatre’s production of On The Twentieth Century. Photo © Joan Marcus 2015
Cortlandt Chamber
Orchestra Concert
The
Cortlandt
Chamber
Orchestra under the direction of conductor Richard Milan Simons will
present a concert of Mozart’s music on
Saturday, March 28th at 7:30PM. The
concert will take place at Holy Name of
Mary Church, 110 Grand St., Crotonon-Hudson, NY 10520. The concert
will feature violinist Nicholas Szucs
and violist Amy Selig, performing the
Sinfonia Concertante, as well as a performance of the Exsultate Jubilate by
soprano Deborah Horne. The concert
is free. CortlandMusic.org
YOFI Fest Commercial
Receives Emmy Nomination
The 58th annual New York
Emmy® Award nominations have been
announced and the broadcast spot for
the film festival created by Numeric
Pictures has been nominated by the New
York Chapter of the National Academy
of Television Arts and Sciences in the
Commercial category. The spot, featuring Alicia Rafferty,
was written, directed, produced and
lensed by Dave Steck,and shot entirely on
location in Yonkers’ beautiful Untermyer
Garden. Additional credit and many
thanks go out to Patty Schumann for
her editing, Yon Zweibon for her styling
work, Joe Zito and John Miller for their
color grading, Rich Spooner for his
sound design and Tim Stevenson for
his art direction and enthusiastic on-set
support. Besides being broadcast on
multiple Cablevision networks, including IFC, AMC and RNN, the
piece has also been recognized with
the Videographer Award of Excellence,
a Gold AVA Award, a Gold Hermes
Creative Award and a Silver Telly
Award (their highest honor). Page 12
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
Dog Ownership 101
By Robert Scott
In the dim, dark,
distant past of Europe
some twenty thousand
years ago, an event
happened that would change relationships between primitive humans
and animals. A hunter stumbled on
a den of crying wolf puppies whose
mother had been killed. Wolves
were humans’ natural competitors
for food.
Instead of killing the pups, the
hunter carried them back to his
cave dwelling to try raising them.
Nurtured with human milk, one
or more wolf puppies survived and
became attached to the hunting
band, taking part in each hunt and
sharing in the meat of the killed
prey.
It marked the start of the
human-dog relationship. The link
is not conjectural. It has been confirmed by DNA evidence.
Today, the American Kennel
Club recognizes 175 separate and
distinct breeds, all tracing their
origins back to a common ancestor.
And an uncounted number of local
breeds are not yet recognized.
Every dog breed today owes
its existence to that cave dweller’s
decision to try to raise a wolf pup.
The AKC classifies its recognized dog breeds into seven groups
that will be familiar to everyone who
watches the Westminster Kennel
Club judging that takes place
every February in Madison Square
The German Shepherd’s
legendary traits of intelligence,
loyalty and adaptability to
many tasks continue to make
it a popular breed.
Garden. These are:
Sporting Group: 28 breeds, including pointers, retrievers, setters
and spaniels .6 developed to assist
hunters in locating and retrieving
game.
Hound Group: 26 breeds developed to hunt using sight or scent.
Working Group: 28 breeds intended
to guard property or livestock.
Terrier Group: 28 breeds to hunt
vermin and dig them from their
burrows or layers.
Toy Group: 21 breeds that serve as
companions or lapdogs.
Herding Group: 25 breeds originally intended to herd livestock:
Non-Sporting Group: 19 miscellaneous breeds not classifiable above.
Every would-be dog
owner contemplating the
acquisition of a dog faces
a series of questions and
decisions:
The first hurdle should be whether
or not you should even own a dog.
Examine your lifestyle. Is it appropriate for undertaking the responsibility
for a living, breathing animal?
For example, if you live alone
and your daily schedule takes you
away from home from 8 in the
morning until 6 at night, it is cruelly
unrealistic to expect a companion
animal like a dog to remain alone for
ten hours, especially as a puppy. And
do not make the beginning owner’s
mistake of getting two dogs so “they
can keep each other company.”
Ruger carried the unwieldy stick in the photo below, everywhere in our fenced in yard.
Ruger, the German Shepherd that chose my wife and me to adopt him. Who could resist such sweet innocence
Training a single dog is enough of
a challenge.
Unlike children, dogs never
acquire a measure of independence.
Some dog breeds may live as long as
15 years. From the day you acquire
it until the day it dies, your dog will
be totally dependent on you for its
food, water, shelter and exercise. In
addition, you will be responsible for
such services as regular veterinary
care and, for some breeds, grooming.
The latter will have to be performed
by a professional.
If your job or profession requires
you to travel away from home, you’ll
have to arrange for the care of your
pet while you are gone. Unless you
have the temperament or the time
to properly train your puppy, the
services of a trainer can be an additional expense.
It is estimated that some 83 million
dogs are owned in the U.S. today. There
is no central agency collecting data on
the traffic in and out of animal shelters,
but estimates are that 6 to 8 million
dogs—and cats--enter the 3,500
animal shelters in the U.S. annually.
Some 30% of dogs are reclaimed by
their owners; the percentage of cats
reclaimed is much smaller.
Dogs and cats that do not find
new owners (as many as half the
dogs received and a much higher
percentage of cats) are eventually euthanized--a shameful and
sobering statistic.
To counter the burden of
responsibilities incurred by you
as a dog owner, you will receive
many intangible benefits. First and
foremost, you and the members
of your family will be showered
with companionship and love. The
effusive joy expressed by a dog when
its owner returns home is unlike any
other experience. And when you
have a dog, if you are home alone,
you’ll never have the feeling that you
are alone.
For children, having a dog can
teach them that we share this planet
with other forms of life. Especially
for children, a dog’s utter joy of
living and unbounded love can ease
many of the problems of growing up.
Here are some of the other
questions you should be
asking yourself:
Should it be a purebred or
mixed-breed dog? The term “mixedbreed” is a modern euphemism
intended to avoid the traditional
terms of “mongrel” or “mutt.” Strictly
speaking, all dogs are members of the
same species. Although it may be hard
to believe, the tiny Chihuahua and
the giant Mastiff are both members
of one species. Each such individual
breed was created by repeated mixed
breeding to achieve the unique qualities each breed now exhibits.
There is evidence that mixed
breeding, such as the abandoned
accidental mixed-breeds at the local
shelter, can yield desirable outcomes,
including improvements in health
and in qualities like intelligence.
In fact, every modern dog breed
has been created by interbreeding with other breeds to bring
into the lineage certain desirable
qualities or abilities. Such selective
mixed breeding has resulted in the
improvement of each breed’s ability
to perform assigned tasks, even if it
was only occupying a royal lap.
Should it be a large or a
small dog?
The most important factor governing the size of the selected puppy
or dog is the size of the home in
which the animal will live. If you
live in an apartment you should
probably be looking at one of the
smaller breeds or at a small dog
from a dog shelter.
Strangely enough, large, easygoing breeds like the Irish Wolfhound,
Scottish Deeerhound or Great
Continued on page 13
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Dog Ownership 101
Continued from page 12
Dane, all of which are fairly inactive
indoors, have been kept in city
apartments. The usual excuse is “to
discourage burglars.” Unfortunately,
none of these three breeds makes a
good watch dog or guard dog. And
the problem for their owners is that
such big dogs require long walks
every day. If you are such an owner
and you cannot do the walking,
you’ll have to employ someone to do
it for you.
What kind of coat should
the dog have?
With purebred dogs, the coat is
pretty much dictated by the breed
standard. Most breeds can do with a
grooming varying from once a week
to once a day for heavy shedders
like the Dalmatian and the German
Shepherd. Maintaining the coat of
some breeds requires professional
skill at trimming and could represent an extra expense. Such breeds
include the schnauzers and several
of the wire-haired terrier breeds.
Most breeds shed their whole coat
once or twice a year. Most dogs like
having attention paid to them and
enjoy being groomed.
Should it be a male or a
female dog?
In the dog world, male dogs are
called “dogs”; females are referred
to as “bitches.” Males are generally more protective than females
but usually do not wander or fight
unless they belong to a wandering
or fighting breed. By nature, females
are usually more docile than males.
Males, which tend to be larger than
bitches, are more aggressive, but
many dog owners will recall owning
bitches that could intimidate any
male. Mature males also lift a hind
leg when urinating, which can wreak
havoc on your or your neighbor’s
shrubbery. It costs more to spay a
bitch than to alter a male dog.
What’s the best age at
which to adopt a puppy?
When a puppy is part of a litter,
it learns many valuable lessons,
including important life skills
from its mother, such as eating
and grooming. Its litter-mates will
help teach it socialization. If taken
from its mother too early, the pup
will miss these lessons and may not
thrive or socialize well with people.
For the first month the pups
will be on diet of mother’s-milk. At
three to four weeks, they will begin
to be weaned from their mother.
By eight weeks they will be completely weaned, eating only puppy
food. Many breeders offer them
for adoption at eight weeks. Other
breeders tend to keep puppies until
they are ten weeks old to ensure that
they get a good start in life.
The older the puppy is at
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
adoption, the better you will be
able to see what it will look like at
maturity. The risk with puppies that
remain too long with their mother is
that they develop a “kennel personality” and have difficulty making the
change to human ownership.
My wife and I acquired our
German Shepherd from a kennel
in Putnam County that had two
litters simultaneously, so there was
an abundance of dogs from which
to choose. We began by watching
the puppies in each litter at play,
observing their interactions with
one another. We finally narrowed
our choices down to one puppy from
each litter and took them outside.
Setting both puppies down on the
wide grassy lawn, we walked away
from them.
One pup wandered around
smelling the flowers. The other pup
followed close behind us. When
we stopped, the puppy stopped and
looked at us quizzically, as if to say,
“What do we do next?” Making a
decision was easy. One might say
that the puppy chose us.
He loved children and recognized them as different. On walks as
an adult, little kids would greet him
effusively, mauling him with hugs
around the neck without causing
us to worry. He still occupies a big
place in our hearts.
Where can I get a dog or a
puppy?
If you decide to get a mixedbreed dog or puppy, there are
pounds and shelters in every locality
with purebred dogs and mixedbreed puppies available for a modest
fee. You do an animal and yourself
a favor by adopting from a shelter.
Not only do you save a life, you gain
a grateful friend and companion.
If you have a particular breed of
dog in mind and you want a puppy,
most breed associations publish lists
of breeders on the Internet. Most
breeds also have “rescue” Internet
sites from which you can adopt an
older purebred dog.
In buying a purebred puppy, you
should know that there are many socalled “puppy mills” that breed dogs
indiscriminately and under unsanitary conditions. These are usually
breeds that are enjoying popularity
at the moment.
One point to remember is that
the little ball of fur you saw in the
pet shop window and bought impulsively will grow into a much larger
mature specimen of the breed.
What equipment will I
need?
First, get a collar of appropriate size and a leash of appropriate
thickness. You’ll also need an untippable water dish and a food dish,
which can be an adult dog size.
Many owners provide a crate,
Page 13
usually a wire cage in which the dog
can be locked at night. A crate also
provides the dog with a place that it
can consider its own.
It’s always a good idea to
accustom your puppy to your taking
food, bones or toys from its mouth
as a precaution against the day
when it has its jaws clamped down
on something you don’t want it to
swallow.
You should also socialize your
puppy by exposing it to a great
many people so that it doesn’t
become overly protective.
And don’t forget a training
manual that will enable you to
teach your puppy more than the
basic commands, come, sit, stay,
down and heel. Many manuals are
available in your local library or on
the Internet.
Whether you train your dog
yourself or have it done professionally, the point to remember
is that it is best done when your
dog is young. Dogs respond poorly
to training that is inconsistent or
abusive, and to trainers who are
indecisive or unjust.
Regrettably, a dog’s life is comparatively short—between 10 and
15 years— but they can be great
years for you and your children, and
the source of many happy memories
and family reminiscences.
Diana O’Neill
Holistic Health Services
I will journey with you during challenging times such as
grieving the loss of a loved one or recovering from a negative relationship.
Counseling • Energy Healing • Hypnotism • Spiritual & Psychic Healing
By Appointment, Only.
Free consultation given on first visit.
914.630.1928
Holistic Health Services • 212 North Ave. Suite 204 A, New Rochelle, NY 10801
• 914.630.1928
COMMUNITY
Page 14
Westchester Community College Unde
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
By NANCY KING
CALENDAR
News and Notes from Northern Westchester
By Mark Jeffers
NCAA’s
hoop
tournament, March
Madness is under
way, it is estimated
that employers loose
$1.9 billion dollars in workers time
checking their brackets and crying.
Not to worry, my team is already
out, so I was able to finish this
week’s “Bracket Buster” edition of
“News and Notes.”
While I think this activity
was designed for children in preschoole and kindergarden, I may
just have to try this at home!
On April 4th from 11:00am to
1:00pm the Mount Kisco Library
is sponsoring engineering with
marshmallows. First up “Sky Boys:
How They Built the Empire State
Building” by Deborah Hopkinson
and James E. Ransome will be read
followed by a discussion of what
architects/builders consider when
building a structure. Then a hands
on activity of creating a structure
MIGHTY SYSTEMS, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State
(SSNY) 1/29/15. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent
of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail
copy of process to The LLC 11 Forest Ct Larchmont, NY 10538.
Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of formation of DNR EVENTS, LLC. Articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on
3/2/2015. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY has
been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process
against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the
LLC, 1457 Elm Street, Peekskill, NY 10566. Purpose: Any
lawful activity.
303 TOWER DRIVE, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of
State (SSNY) 1/23/15. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY
design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.
SSNY shall mail copy of process to Mr. Luis Otero, C/O SKD
Capital Corp. PO Box 1311 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.
Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Ruth DeLuca, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State
(SSNY) 01/28/15. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design.
Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to The LLC 3 Lincoln Ave. E. #2,
NY 10604. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC).
Name: STAY PRAYED UP, LLC (stayprayerful.org).
Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of
State of New York (SSNY) on 02/02/15. Office location:
Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as
agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be
served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: C/O STAY
PRAYED UP, LLC, 77 Locust Hill Ave. Apt. 329, Yonkers NY
10701. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.
using jumbo marshmallows, plastic
& mini marshmallows and toothpicks. Here’s an idea, how about
build one, eat one…
The same group that dazzled
us with the Great Jack O ’Lantern
Blaze will produce a new light
show featuring colorful creatures
and fantastic flowers that come to
light at night. Lightscapes will be
held during the month of May in
Croton-on-Hudson.
The White Plains Library is
holding a Drop-In Computer Help
session on April 1st…these one-onone sessions will cover everything
from basic tasks, such as setting up
files in your computer and using
the Internet to uninstalling applications and optimizing Windows 8.
Bring your laptop, tablet, phone, or
use one of the library’s computers.
A half-day workshop titled
“New York State’s New Invasive
Plant Species Regulations: Impacts
and How to Adapt” will be held
on Thursday, April 2nd, at the
LE G A L N O T I C E S
SHOP THE NEST LLC Authority filed with Secy. of State of
NY (SSNY) on 8/15/14. Office location: Westchester Co.
LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 4/7/14 SSNY designated
as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be
served. SSNY shall mail process to The LLC 20 Purchase
ST Rye, NY 10580. DE address of LLC: 3411 Silverside RD
#104 Wilmington, DE 19810. Arts. Of Org. filed with DE Secy.
of State, PO Box 898 Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: any lawful
activity.
PALMIERI ARMONK, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of
State (SSNY) 11/26/14. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY
design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.
SSNY shall mail copy of process to C/O Anthony Palmieri
820 S Fulton Ave Mt Vernon, NY 10550. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
SIMON PRODUCTIONS, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of
State (SSNY) 1/6/15. Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design.
Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY
shall mail copy of process to The LLC 200 West End Ave Apt
19B New York, NY 10023. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
STARLIFTER 6TH PROPERTIES LLC Articles of Org. filed NY
Sec. of State (SSNY) 11/24/14. Office in Westchester Co.
SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be
served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to The LLC 14 Burling Ave White Plains, NY 10605. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
149 LOCKWOOD AVENUE, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY
Sec. of State (SSNY) 2/5/15. Office in Westchester Co.
SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be
served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to C/O John Flannery 19 Gray Rock Lane Chappaqua, NY 10514. Purpose:
Any lawful activity.
WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN LEGAL ADVERTISING
[email protected]
914.216.1674 • M-F 11A- 5P
Westchester County Center in
White Plains. The workshop,
offered by Westchester County’s
Department of Planning and Soil
and Water Conservation District,
will address the portion of the
state’s new regulations intended
to help control invasive plants by
reducing the introduction or spread
of new and existing populations of
these species.
Good luck and best wishes go
out to Flexjet as the jet charter
company is relocating their operations to the Westchester County
Airport along with 40 new jobs.
ArtsWestchester’s latest exhibit
“Crossing Borders: Memory and
Heritage in a New America” is a
celebration of all that the United
States, a nation of immigrants, is
built on. The show features 10
artists from Iran, China, Israel and
South Africa who have struggled
with issues of assimilation, heritage
and divided identities. Their work
explores universal concerns of
Westchester
Community College is the
memory and
cross-culturalism
latest public
institution to
within NewcomeYork’s
immigrant
under scrutiny
of the
community. “Crossing
Borders”
is
New York State Inspector
free.
It
will
through
Saturday,
May
General when it was revealed that a former
2assistant
in the
Peckham
Shenkman
basketball
coach &
falsified
academic
Galleries at ArtsWestchester in
transcripts
and
forged
an
administrator’
s
White Plains.
signature.
As
a
result,
the
community
college
Here’s
an
informational
has canceled
its 2014-2015
event
from the
good folksBasketball
at the
season. However
doesn’t26th,
stop
Somers
Librarytheonstory
March
there, because
many
student athletes
use
Andrea
Elam,
Community
Health
Westchester for
Community
CollegePoison
as a
Educator
the NYC
springboardCenter
to play at
four-year
Control
willNCAA
discuss
the
“Three-legged
stool
of safety:
colleges; the scandal has
now spanned
several
safe
storage
statesusage,
and several
teams. and disposal of
potential
poisons
andHigh
medications”.
Former Mt. Vernon
School star,
The
presentation
will
include:
an
Jamell Walker was a star player
for WCC
overview of the poison center, the
and was at the school on a full basketball
hotline # and its services, how to
safely store potential poisons and
medications in the home, how to
understand medication labels &
recommendations for safe disposal
of potential toxins and unused/
expired medications. There will be a
Q&A at the end of the presentation.
By NANCY KING
Are you tired of your daughter’s old Prom On
dresses atakingfrigid
up
room in the closet?
Although,
she
November evening, a
says she will wear it again, trust me
vigil was held in front
she won’t… I know this for a fact
COMMEMORATION
scholarship. He played on the award winning
team and was granted, upon completion of
what was thought to be a two-year stint with
WCC, a full scholarship to play ball with
as I have three post-prom daughnationally
ranked Florida A&M University.
ters, still with their dresses! The
Not
long
after
his arrival at Florida
A&M,
Northern Westchester
Community
an
anonymous
tipster
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THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Words and Pictures
By Sherif Awad
The art of caricature goes back to the day
of Leonardo da Vinci
and artists of the 18th
century who also criticized social and
political matters by drawing exaggerated pen and brush sketches of public
figures. Caricatures and cartoons have
grown up since then, maturing to have
greater impact and effects than words in
columns and articles in major publications. The recent terrorist attacks of the
French satirical Charlie Hebdo illustrate
the power of cartoon and its reach.
Egyptian cartoonist Yasser Hussein
exemplifies new creativity, not only in
cartoons, but also in the comics and storytelling. He left Egypt in 2004 to work
in Kuwait, seeking greater freedom and
financial reward. However, Hussein
never lost touch with the continuous
changes in Egyptian society, which he
documents with his colorful drawings
and funny cartoons. Making use of
classic tools like pencils and watercolors,
he also injects 2D and 3D effects into
his work utilizing tablet technologies
and Photoshop.
Born 1972, caricature artist Yasser
Hussein started to draw when he was ten
years old. Like many Egyptian kids, he
was influenced by the Egyptian editions
of Mickey and Tintin magazines, that
were popular in the 1970s. Through a
friend of his father, artist Sayed Badawy
of the al-Ahram (Egypt’s largest daily
paper of record and the second oldest
in the country), Hussein was first introduced to the term “caricature”. When
Badawy took a glance at my drawings,
he told my father that the quality of
my lines exceeded quality of typical
drawings made by kids at that age”,
remembered Hussein. “It was the first
time, I heard that I am actually drawing
caricatures and not just some childish
hobbies”. Badawy urged Hussein to its
follow the work of artists like Salah Jahin
in al-Ahram and Mostapha Hussein in
al-Akhbar to learn and to seek inspiration. “While growing up, I continued to
draw and get guidance from Badawy
and other artists until I enrolled in the
Fine Arts Department of the Faculty of
Specific Education”.
Hussein was nineteen years old in
1993 when the specialized magazine
Caricature, headed by its chief editor
Mostafa Hussein, started to appear on
the newsstands. “I was recommended
by my professors to join the artistic
staff. At the same time, I started to
contribute to many other publications
like the Egyptian Sudanese magazine
Ikhaa, al-Nabaa newspaper: al-Ahram’s
Friday supplement. I also drew portraits
of celebrity interviewees in the sports
newspaper al-Kora wee al-Malaeb”.
However, Yasser Hussein rarely
drew politically driven caricatures until
the revolution of January 25th. “I always
believed that, in Egypt, all our social
problems are related to politics,”revealed
Hussein. “But before the revolution, we,
as cartoon artists, couldn’t caricaturize
the president or the prime minister
to a certain extent and so caricature
was somewhat tame at that time.”
Hussein, who has the same name
as late artist Mostapha Hussein,
though thy are not related, confesses that he was influenced by
Mostapha Hussein’s caricatures
and characters that used to
appear daily on the last page
of the Al-Akhbar newspaper. “Lot of people, when
seeing my works, thought
that I was Mostapha
Hussein’s son,” laughed
Yasser who knew the
late artist when he
used to contribute to Caricature
Magazine.
“During
my
early career, some
people claimed that I try
to copy Mostapha Hussein’s but I
think that is a common accusation for
emerging artists”.
The other challenge for caricature
artists is that, unlike other types of visual
arts and their practitioners, their work
does not sell in exhibitions like paintings or drawings always do. “In the early
years of my career, I used to join group
exhibitions in Egypt but I did manage
to have a solo exhibition in Cairo before
I moved to Kuwait,” said Hussein. “The
best thing that can happen to caricatures after being published in magazines
and newspapers is have them collected
inside one book following solo exhibitions.” Hussein effectively published his
first book in 2010 “Like Old Sayings”
gathering a handful of his drawings and
cartoons from the past twenty years.
The book was on bookstands during
a solo exhibition by the same name in
Cairo as well. Last January, Hussein
issued his newest book, Hawadity (My
Own Story), in which he adapted incidents that happened to him into 24
stories, through words and illustrations.
“I think this book marks my transition
from being a cartoonist into becoming
a satirist,” comments Yasser, who has
another dream project: to create an
academic book that guides young talent
into careers as cartoonists and
illustrators.
Yasser
Hussein’s works can
be found on his Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/Yasser.Hussein.
Cartoons
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a
film/video critic and curator. He is the film
editor of Egypt Today Magazine (www.
EgyptToday.com) and the Artistic Director
for both the Alexandria film Festival ,
and the Arab Rotterdam Festival in The
Netherlands. He also contributes to Variety,
in the United States and is the Film Critic of
Variety, Arabia (http://amalmasryalyoum.
com/ennode189132 and The Westchester
Guardian: www.WestchesterGuardian.com
Page 15
Page 16
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
Thursday, MARCH 26, 2015
MARY AT THE MOVIES
Review: Chappie
Chappie, based upon Tetra Vaal,
the book by Neill Bloomkamp, is a sci-fi
thriller set in a dystopian Johannesburg
where the crime rate is so high that the
police department has purchased a small
army of robot-cops to combat street
gangs. The titanium-plated robot force
is virtually indestructible and very effective in reducing the crime rate.
The robot-cops, designed by Deon
Chappie (Sharito Copley – Voice and motion Capture)
Dev Patel and Chappie (Sharito Copley – Voice and motion
Capture)
Wilson (Dev Patel) are nimble, human
sized, offer just the right amount of firepower and are controlled by humans.
Deon works for Tetra Vaal, an internationally traded weapons manufacturer
whose fortunes are on the rise, thanks
to the success of the robot-cop line.
Meanwhile, in the cubical across the
room, rival engineer, Vincent Moore
(Hugh Jackman) has designed his own
robotic cop, dubbed “The Moose,” a
gigantic and terrifying creation that is
airborne when needed and can take out
long-range targets but the company is
not investing in this, since the prototype
can’t inspire any interested customers.
While Vincent tries to figure out
a way to sabotage Deon’s product line,
thus creating a need for the Moose,
Deon is staying up late at night trying
to create a sentient AI Robot who
can think independently, rather than
relying upon human commands.
Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) is
Transvaal’s CEO who refuses to green
light Deon’s research pointing out that
everyone is very happy with the robots
already in use. Just as Deon succeeds in
creating a sentient AI robot, three gangsters kidnap him and when they find an
AI robot in the back of his car, they force
Deon to boot him up. The problem is
Hugh Jackman (Vincent Moore) and Sigourney Weaver (Michelle
Bradley)
Chappie (Sharito Copley – Voice and motion Capture) and Yolandi Visser (Yolandi)
that the robot is like an infant learning
how to explore and interpret the world
although he assimilates information
very quickly. Now named “Chappie,” by
Yolandi, one of the gansgters, he receives
a crash course in Gangbanging 101, Jive
and the Art of the Heist, but Chappie is
in conflict since he promised Deon he
would never commit crimes.
If you loved the “Rockem-Sockem
Robots” when you were a kid and are
still sad that Battlestar Galactica has
ended, Chappie is the ticket for you this
weekend. But this is not just a lightweight shoot-em up-flick; the script
poses more ethical questions than it
answers as the gang bangers manipulate
the initially ethical Chappie into a crime
spree to pay off their debt to a rival gang.
There is plenty of action all around and
solid performances from Patel, Jackman
and Weaver, who do the best they can
with fairly one-dimensional, stock
characters. Yolandi Visser, as Yolandi,
and Ninja (“Ninja”) are standouts as
two of the gangbangers. Though there
are some holes in the script, namely an
alarming lack of security in this “publicly
traded international weapons company,”
so much so, that engineers can spirit
out critical components and damaged
androids slated for the compacting heap,
without so much as a second glance. Yet
Chappie is still an entertaining movie
that holds your interest to the end.
Chappie: Directed by Neill
Bloomkamp; Written by Neill
Bloomkamp and Terri Tatchell;
Produced by Simon Kinberg. Based
upon Tetra Vaal by Neill Bloomkamp.
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