TheFitzyreport

Swimming up Park Avenue

Posted on August 10, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

The closest I came to Coogee Beach this summer was the seven block tunnel underneath Park Avenue. While there was no white sand, waves, or even water, there was plenty of sound, and if you closed your eyes long enough and really used your imagination, you could almost smell the sea at Sleaford Bay or see your toes in the glorious emerald depths of Cable Beach. The underwater sound installation is part of the much anticipated Summer Streets program where for a precious few hours on Saturdays in August, Park Avenue is open only to cyclists, skaters and feet. This includes the tunnel, which with limited lighting, created ghostly shapes around pedestrians pausing to listen to the long moan of a whale or the curious cry of a crustacean. The Dive was created by Norwegian artist Jana Winderen, who not only brought previously unheard sounds to NYC, but has a recording contract for her oceanic choir.

Up on street level the bubble boy was creating a colourful following with the hundreds of people taking advantage of the car free avenue. From 72nd to Brooklyn Bridge there was a tide of people in both directions, pausing only to jive as instructed or to take a lesson from Ben Franklin. He told me every event needs a historical presence and proceeded to list his achievements including being one of America’s founding fathers, inventing bi-focal glasses, discovering the kited connection of lightening and electricity and also being available for your next event, meeting or fundraiser. The only thing he didn’t do was sing, but maybe his style was land-locked. For me, I couldn’t stop thinking about the potential of White Pointers and the Port Lincoln Prawns…

Posted in art & inspiration, events, Uncategorized | Tagged Jana Winderen, Summer Streets | 2 Comments

Making history in NYC

Posted on August 10, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

I am very proud to share the news that The New York Historical Society has just acquired an original photograph from Sean’s Dayworker Collection. Last winter Sean accompanied a group of South American construction workers on their daily toiling underneath the city. Over a period of weeks Sean became so familiar in their workplace that he was part of the migrant world, sharing stories in broken Spanish and capturing lives in images that would be resent to southern homes. There was no self-conscious posing or preparation, and the outcome is a work of art.

The New York Historical Society was the first museum in New York, founded in 1804 to explore and record the rich history of the city and the nation. That’s 210 years of collecting manuscripts, photographs, artifacts and papers, from Ulysses S Grant’s terms of surrender for Robert E Lee at the end of the Civil War to Bill Cunningham’s iconic record of fashion on New York streets. Thousands and thousands of pieces which today share the space with jazz concerts, political debate, paintings and installations. And one Santos. What an honour!

Posted in art & inspiration, photo shoots, Uncategorized | Tagged The New York Historical Society | 9 Comments

Well MET

Posted on July 31, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

I missed out on Charles James the first time around, but sixty years later his style and technique could still help. This master couturier was credited with ‘help(ing) women discover figures they didn’t know they had’ and the current exhibition at the MET shows just how. Charles invented the puffer jacket and the Taxi dress ( so called because it was simple enough to slip on ( or off ) in a taxi… ) but the jewels in his crown were fabulous ball gowns. These works of art were designed around the shape of a woman with a layer of air between fabric and flesh that was inspired by sensuous rather than structural priorities. Add to this cross cutting techniques, elegance, and spectacular color, and voila, you have genius.

To show off the classic designs, the curators rigged cameras to sweep around the gown following the seams and so create a digital display of each cut piece laying flat. Simplicity itself. A pattern for fashion designers to follow. But Charles was anything but simple. His feathered fans and the artistry of his mood boards were inspired. He was driven by detail and the many quotes around the exhibition implied he was more a philosopher than a profiteer.

Charles was photographed by Cecile Beaton and Bill Cunningham. He designed pieces that were worn by Virginia Woolf and Princess Grace. The gowns on display were principally from his gifting to the Brooklyn Museum, but much of Charles’ life ended up on the street outside the Chelsea Hotel where he died in virtual destitution. The exhibition shows the grandeur without the pain, but perhaps that is how he would like to be remembered. He was a perfectionist after all, for in his own words ‘The artist himself is like the mud-soaked soccer player, for him, it is the game, even more than the victory, that brings consummate rapture and defies comparison with worldly success’…..

Posted in art & inspiration, Uncategorized | Tagged Charles James | 3 Comments

Ice cream artisans

Posted on July 27, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

The new face of ice-cream in NYC is as zany as the flavours on offer. A waxed mustache and flesh tunnel earrings seem almost compulsory when your special-of-the-day flavour is brunch. That is, brunch ice-cream – french toast, maple syrup and bacon. Or chocolate babka, or olive oil. But when one maker says “If I don’t make really good ice-cream, I’ll die” and another says quite emphatically “We make the best ice-cream in the world”, you know this is a serious business.

Common to both new creameries in the East Village is authenticity, everything is made from scratch including pasteurizing the mix and waffling the cones. Davey was an art director before becoming an artisan, where he now works farmer’s hours, but was still smiling as he unloaded his empty cart after a day at the markets. Perhaps he saw the food tour trailing out the door of his shop – or the satisfaction on our faces after polishing off his chocolate chocolate. It was a big decision after tasting almost every flavour in the fridge. Samples are readily given – nay, encouraged, and served on a metal spoon. No wooden disposables for this new fashioned foodery.

Oddfellows offers eight different flavours each day drawing from over 120 possibilities. Sean and I could have struck Tobacco, Smoked Chili and Huckleberry – as one flavor – but instead had not one but two caramels to consider. The burnt caramel was supreme, but the milk chocolate caramel was even more amazing, boasting chocolate bits in rich creamy ice-cream. It was as though the chef created my new favorite by doodling with the chocolate spoon over the tub of frozen ice-cream, drizzling shapes until they set. This is a dangerous thing to experiment with at home – especially when it could lead to a whole new world of adornment….

Posted in Food, Fun, Uncategorized | Tagged Davey's, Oddfellows | 4 Comments

Much Ado

Posted on July 26, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

Shakespeare would be delighted. Not even a pound of flesh could procure a ticket for his current season in Central Park. Entry is completely free of course, but the only way to join the 1,800 crowd in the open air Delacorte Theatre is by lining up hours in advance or by striking it lucky with the virtual lottery draw. Of the latter, I applied every day for weeks for the first billing of Much Ado About Nothing, and achieved just that. But for the opening night this week of King Lear, I really scored. Not only did I win two tickets, but the seats gave us an excellent vantage point, close enough to feel part of all the drama on stage and at the same time to join the whisperings of the trees surrounding us.

Tuesday evening was perfectly balmy. The stage was plainly set with lighting effects that transformed the mood as night descended. Little creatures scuttled under the stage, birds flew overhead and hip hop music from an outside party momentarily drew us to the present. But once John Lithgow appeared on stage guised as King Lear, we were spellbound. The whole performance was rich and recognizable, yet with a familiar rather than formal style that somehow gave hope against the inevitable. While ‘nothing comes from nothing’ the magic of the night suggested maybe this time the classic end could be contradicted, and tragedy averted.

Not being able to take photographs was like a royal decree, and the respect of the crowd for the performance and the privilege of being in attendance was evident. Even the weather paid homage. As Lear drifted in and out of madness, driven by the treachery of two daughters and his despair for the third, the breeze rose and rustled through the trees. The tempest swept around us, lightening flashed in the distance, and then suddenly, as if on cue, the wind dropped and all was perfectly quiet. Just at that moment the King took his last breath, and with the slain Cordelia clutched to his breast, they slumped together, dead in each other’s arms. It was absolute poetry.

Courtesy of New York Times….

Posted in art & inspiration, events, Uncategorized | Tagged John Lithgow, King Lear, Shakespeare in the Park | 1 Comment

Tap City

Posted on July 14, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

Tap City showed that you didn’t need two arms – or even tap shoes, to be part of the hoofers sharing rhythm in downtown Manhattan yesterday. Young people of all shapes and sizes clapped and stomped in a seemingly effortless display of coordination. The conductor, wearing tails and flip flops, and appropriately named Tony Waag, kept the pace lively but clearly had no problem with enthusiasm. Even in the dripping heat, the colorful crowd beamed energy from face to foot as the city elders looked on with approval. Tap dancing started on this very spot a couple of hundred years ago, when Irish and Africans and clog-wearing immigrants got in the groove to survive. The Snap, the Flap and the Shim Sham Shimmy were for many the beginning of their American dream.

I hip hopped on my bike intending to swing by my current favorite sculpture at Union Square when I was lured by the sound of belly dancing music. Astor place was full of fortune tellers, goth fashion stalls and witches waiting for center stage. The third annual Witch Fest was brewing, having cast a spell on local authorities to ensure their festival would proceed despite the lack of ‘indigenous content’ required for a street permit. Connections to the occult also gave them license to add a K to magick. The girls were having fun but I preferred flying on and taking inspiration from the dreams of ‘Think Big’ who will be looking to the heavens until October. In a city where anything goes, a double shuffle in those size 12’s will be fantastick enough…

Posted in art & inspiration, Fun, music | Tagged Tap City | 3 Comments

Moonshine & Moet

Posted on July 6, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

There were more fireworks than usual this forth of July in downtown Manhattan. Te’sa Love, married her love, Tom Ballanco, and together they formed TNT. No exaggeration, it was an explosive affair. James Brown rocked the welcome, platters of fresh crab and sushi sustained the guests while we waited ( 2 hours! ) for the bride, and champagne flowed as if trying to quench the joy of the moment.

Sean and I worked with Te’sa as our model on a fashion shoot a few years ago in an abandoned holiday village in upstate New York. In the middle of nowhere this village was overgrown and spooky, with racquets still on the tennis courts and hay in the barn as though waiting for horses to return from their ride and players to their match. Te’sa was an unforgettably energetic muse and the photographs went on to grace the Modern Art Museum in Beijing.

The wedding dress code on Friday was bohemian chic, and this turned out to be as much a state of mind as of dress. Models wafted by with enviable altitude, tattooed grandmothers posed freshly inked, the mother of the bride led a yoga chant, and people danced the tango with a passion you would only expect in the movies. It was fantastic. There were miniature jars of moonshine lined up with red and white wine glasses on the dinner table to reflect the extremes of taste. I spoke to a pink shoed southern belle who travelled to Byron Bay from Texas on her private jet and I met my first medical marijuana grower. But the most surprising job of the night went to the best man. He managed to disentangle the bride from her bridesmaid after a spontaneous hug, and to produce the ring when the script directed. Not bad for someone who usually gets to play the lead role…

Posted in events, Fun | Tagged 4th July NYC, Wedding Moonshine, Woody Harrelson | 1 Comment

Uzbekistan and back

Posted on June 29, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

It is not every day you get invited to a Sephardic wedding, in Queens, where Russian is the language of choice, men and women view the ceremony from different sides of the room, a highly charged DJ welcomes family members as though they were celebrities, and there are pyrotechnics on the dance floor. Not to mention money being showered over the bride and groom, and an absolute banquet of food. Two banquets in fact. I was convinced there was more than one wedding at the sparkling new wedding hall on Queens Boulevard when we arrived on Thursday evening. Ushered upstairs to the terrace for a snack before the marriage ceremony began, the platters of smoked fish, sushi, whole atlantic salmon, roasted meats and Middle Eastern dishes, with endless salads, vegetables and summer fruits were just a savored sampling of the ‘formal’ dining that would follow in the main hall after the nuptials.

Tradition was foremost in proceedings, much of which was mysterious to me, but clearly this was not a solemn affair. A video production team with the assistance of an overhead crane and lighting packs recorded every moment, from the smashing of glass to the breaking of bread to rocket fire launching through the fog of the dance floor. It was a staged ceremony, an unforgettable parade of glamorous corset gowns and gossamer. Uzbekistan may have been where the party began, but in anyone’s language, mazel tov was the order of the day…

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

( Chocolate ) Babka Yoga

Posted on June 22, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

The summer solstice breathed energy into the heart of Times Square at sunrise this morning with thousands of disciples inhaling the light and expelling the darkness. The instructor managed to focus the crowd and be almost oblivious to the surrounding neon extravaganza. It was a collective meditation that enthused me by proxy. Historically, my downward dog was never really up to scratch despite sporadic sessions of good intent, but the freshness of the morning and the celebration of the day gave promise of greater inspiration to come.

Breads Bakery is one of my favorite temples of indulgence that offers more physical sustenance than spirituality – although with chocolate these boundaries are not so clearly defined. For the solstice, Sean and I joined a tour of enthusiasts who were invited to share the specialness of ‘the back’ of the bakery. Here we found Adir, the chief pastry maker and his girlfriend Sharon, a mechanized rolling pin whose intimate time with the chef left no room for contenders. Days can start at one am, and with a record set of 530 chocolate babkas sold in one day, Sharon and Adir look to be an item for some time to come.

The secret of the chocolate babka is in the practice. The ingredients are important – the pastry must be many layered and baked with butter that will provide the right flavor and flakiness. Nutella is the proven spread that with just the right thickness and added chips will not fuse with the pastry during the baking process but provide rich ripples of chocolate under a crispy crust. But to reach true nirvana with the babka, the maker must have a generosity of spirit.

The passion of Adir for his craft was as obvious as his skill. Thanks to Sharon the pastry was a perfect thickness, Adir then lacquered on the nutella with lightening precision and an enthusiastic young adherent assisted with the sprinkles. The discipline of the roll was all in the wrists, with repetition guiding the energy flow from muscular to the metaphysical. Plaiting was a blur of consciousness but weighing meant every piece would bake to perfection. When you are making 160 of these a day there is no time to waste, especially when there are also croissants, pretzels, foccacias and bountiful breads to oversee. But the whole process was all the more interesting because of the openness of the instructor. There were no secrets and while this is not something I would necessarily try at home, I can imagine having a new mantra if ever I get back to the mat. In the meanwhile, disciples of the chocolate babka can practice at Breads Bakery every day…

Posted in bakeries, Uncategorized | Tagged Breads Bakery, chocolate babka, The summer solstice | 4 Comments

House Music

Posted on June 19, 2014 by TheFitzyreport

House Music took on a whole new meaning in Midtown Manhattan last night. I had the great privilege of being invited to a ‘small house concert’ by Rupert Boyd, who was playing classical guitar, accompanied by his fiancé Laura Metcalf on the cello. The last time I saw Rupert was at his performance in an extraordinarily charismatic church on the upper west side. It was a freezing night and there were hot pipes running under the pews to keep everyone warm – although the music, with it’s emotional Latino rhythms, transcended any earthly connection.

Just as the music was in consonance with the church, so did the 37th street residence fit the repertoire of last night. This was a very superior location for some very superior music. The hosts are patrons of the arts, inviting musicians to perform in their drawing room in the company of their friends. Each performer recommends the next in a constant stream of talent that enjoys the hospitality and generosity of the Nortons, people who would otherwise be strangers. Where else but New York?

The Steinway was pushed to the back so the duo could relax into the space. Bach was prominent in the program, not just for the beauty of the music, but with a sideways acknowledgement of the German favoritism to win the Cup. Also on the agenda was Rupert’s favorite composer, the very prolific Anonymous. The ease of Rupert’s manner and his casual humour was also in his performance. He didn’t read the music, it just channeled through his fingers, as though it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Perfection is a beautiful thing, and we should be very proud of this Australian artist. Rupert carries a famous name that his contribution will make even more-so, and that’s with his eyes closed….

Posted in art & inspiration, music | Tagged Laura Metcalf, Rupert Boyd | 3 Comments

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