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Visual Supplement: Josh Soskin, The Untitled Underwear Project

Josh Soskin The Untitled Underwear Project“The Untitled Underwear Project is a photographic and cinematic exploration of the lives we lead in our underwear. It began simply, with the goal of capturing people in their more unguarded states in a way that felt real and intimate; moments normally reserved for your best friends, your lovers, your family.  I wanted the photos to be beautiful but also to eschew strictly traditional concepts of beauty, to find subjects spanning diverse ranges of age, race and gender.
I thought it would take a few months. It turned into a few years. As time went on it evolved and grew and what I hope it’s become is a celebration of humanity. Everything that being half-naked implies — the liberating, the banal, the romantic, the solitary, the sexy, the domestic, the moments we live for and the details in between.
I’m sure it’s not perfectly comprehensive, nothing ever is, but I’m happy with it.  And I’m happy for all that it’s taught me. This was my first photography project. And I don’t think it will be my last. Thanks for lending your eyes.” – Josh Soskin

You can check out more images from the project by clicking here. And just when I didn’t think the images couldn’t get any better, I saw the film…

Josh Soskin | Director | Photographer

Visual Supplement: Sally Mann

sallymann“I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need to travel, between the varied and seductive paths of the heart. The lessons of impermanance, the occasional despair and the muse, so tenuously moored, all visit their needs upon me and I dig deeply for the spiritual utilities that restore me: my love for the place, for the one man left, for my children and friends and the great green pulse of spring.” – Sally Mann

Visual Supplement: Parker Fitzgerald

“We do not want merely to see beauty, we want something else which can hardly be put into words —
to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to become part of it.”

Photographer Parker Fitzgerald & Florist Riley Messina  |  Overgrowth

A beautiful new addition to my bookshelf collection.

Visual Supplement: William Gedney

WilliamGedneyJournal entry by William Gedney, 1969…
There are two ways of looking at a thing.
Either you feel that a thing must be perfect before you present it to the public, or you are willing to let it go out even knowing that it is not perfect, because you are striving for something even beyond what you have achieved, but in struggling too hard for perfection you know that you may lose the very glimmer of life, the very spirit of the thing that you also know exists at a particular point in what you have done; and that to interfere with it would be to destroy that very living quality.
I am myself in favor of practising in public. There are, of course, those people who say, ‘But the public is not interested in watching people practice. It wants the finished thing or nothing.’ My answer is that if one does not practice in public in reality, then in nine cases out of ten the world will never see the finished product of one’s work. Some people go on the assumption that if a thing is not a hundred percent perfect it should not be given to the world, but I have seen too many things that were a hundred percent perfect that were spiritually dead, and then things that have been seemingly incomplete that have life and vitality, which I prefer by far to the other so-called perfect thing.
It is one thing to think about a piece of work as a scientific or objective entity that will stand up a hundred years hence, and another to think of a living quality of the person doing the thing and of his development. Is the thing felt – doesn’t it come out of an inner need – an inner must? Is one ready to die for it?… that is the only test…”
Alfred Stieglitz
Quoted by Dorothy Norman from America and Alfred Stieglitz, page 136-137, Doubleday, Doran + Company, 1934.

Visual Supplement: William Eggleston

“A picture is what it is and I’ve never noticed that it helps to talk about them, or answer specific questions about them, much less volunteer information in words. It wouldn’t make any sense to explain them. Kind of diminishes them. People always want to know when something was taken, where it was taken, and, God knows, why it was taken. It gets really ridiculous. I mean, they’re right there, whatever they are.”
– William Eggelston, always known in my book as the father of color photography

Sally Mann

“I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need to travel, between the varied and seductive paths of the heart. The lessons of impermanance, the occasional despair and the muse, so tenuously moored, all visit their needs upon me and I dig deeply for the spiritual utilities that restore me: my love for the place, for the one man left, for my children and friends and the great green pulse of spring.” – Sally Mann

A Photography Series: Staying true to the artist in you

Taste is not something you can teach, it’s just innate. I heard an interesting interview with Jerry Springer on a morning radio program a while ago. They were asking him about Kim Kardasian and why he thought she was so successful. Jerry went on to explain how the entertainment industry has become democratized. Stay with me, I’ll tie this all together. He said, back in the day, people used to listen to radio programs because of the DJ. Then people started calling in and all the sudden people were listening to the radio to hear what the callers were going to say. Then talk shows became big and people were, once again, watching to see how the audience was going to react. Then shows like American Idol came along and all the sudden the audience had complete control over who was going to be the next star. Gone are the days where a bunch of big-wigs sit around an over sized table and decide who the next big star is going to be. So, ya see, it doesn’t always have to do with talent (or taste) so much as it has to do with appealing to the masses. And in so many cases, especially in terms of art, the general public lacks taste. Hence, why Kim Kardashian is successful.
Let me digress again. I’ve done a lot of traveling to a lot of poor countries where people idolize me for simply being American. Then, when I return home and venture to the middle of butt-fuck-no-where I look around in disbelief at what makes up a HUGE core of the US… people like honey boo boo… I think about those people from those poor countries who have this fanatical ideal of the US and feel sorry for them… someone has obviously pulled the wool over their eyes. We aren’t all we’re cracked up to be.
Back to my point. I will always value quality over quantity. I may get 20 more photography gigs if I start posing newborn babies on lily pads with pearls around their necks. But it’s not my style. Someone else can do it better in me and see the beauty in it. I don’t. And I’m okay with missing out on those 20 clients for the 1 that respects my approach/style/taste/work. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and everyone is going to have different tastes. That’s what makes it all the more magical when you do find a client that is right for you. Like love, there is presumably someone out there for each of us. The debate then becomes are you willing to sacrifice your own taste to please a broader range of clients? What I’ve learned is that you have to follow your own instinct and try your hardest not to even look at what anyone else is doing, whether you like what they’re doing or not. Just do your thing.

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The Ma Books

…When I became a mother, I felt much of the same connection to a bigger whole. All mothers know the same agonies and achievements, the same triumphs and tears. No matter where we are from, we are bonded by our role in raising children…
You can read my full post over on The Ma Books, along with some awesome images from photographer Ken Heyman.

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A Photography Series: See it through your own eyes

I find myself often thinking either during a shoot or after a shoot how someone different may have shot the same scene. Was the lighting actually poor or was I not exposing the available light correctly? Would someone else have positioned a couple differently that would have been more flattering? Questions and doubt flood my mind until I have a harsh conversation with myself and tell myself to STOP IT already.
The thing I’ve learned is this: You can never duplicate. Not how you indended to, anyway. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been nervous heading into a shoot only to quickly look up other photographer’s work for a quick burst of inspiration or even a mental cheat sheet only to walk in to the shoot and find that duplicating does not work for me; it feels more like the first time I made out with a guy: awkward.
Before I crossed over from hobby to business, I used to ask my friends who allowed me to photograph them to send me ideas for their shoots. They’d send me images from pinterest, mostly, and I’d do my best to give them what they wanted. It didn’t take me long, however, to realize that it wasn’t me. I didn’t really want to be told what to do nor could I find inspiration in the images I was looking at. In hindsight, I had the vision but not the confidence. As I shot more, I gained more confidence and now, finally, I’m able to allow my own visions to come to life.
I could sit here in regret that I didn’t trust my own insights sooner, but we all travel a different road and so long as we get to a place where we trust and have faith in ourselves as artists than who cares?
I no longer ask my clients for ideas and find, more often than not, that they’ve hired me because they like my vision. And nothing feels as good as that.
“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.” -Steven Pressfield

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Portraits of my children

“the child must
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know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him” – pablo casals

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Old Pics for the New Year

Everyone tells you how fast time seems to fly when you get older. The speed seems to pick up somewhere in the mid-twenties and before you know it, you’re thirty and marveling at how fast the last ten years have gone. Childhood doesn’t seem to do us any favors in this category. Doesn’t it seem like childhood moved at snails pace? I remember summer vacations seemingly lasting forever. Now each day rolls into the next and with no distinguishable break, time just keeps on a’ truckin’.
When you have a baby, everyone tells you how fast they grow and change. These same people remind you to enjoy it. To soak it all in. But the truth is, I spent the last year enjoying our family and soaking in all the changes and excitement and well, it just isn’t enough. What they don’t tell is no matter how much you relish in the moment, the moments pass too quickly.
I imagine the sock monster that hides in the dryer and devotes his life to rearranging pairs of cotton booties must also hide behind clocks and play with those little dials when we’re not looking.
Because time moves too fast.
This past year, I’ve watched my baby grow into a boy. He started the year as a googly eyed bobble head and is closing the year out as a bull in a china shop with a mind all his own. See, it’s not only that time goes fast, it’s also that within a short amount of time a lot of change takes place. Imagine learning to roll, sit, crawl, walk, and run all in the same year. Imagine going from breastfeeding to spoon feeding yourself. A child’s development is incredible.
Anyway, here’s some of my favorite Hooper shots from 2011. I better put my running shoes on in 2012 if I have any aspirations of capturing the blur that is to be next year. And trust me, I do have aspirations.
Happy New Year!

The Highchair Series

I have a thing with highchairs. Okay, not really with highchairs, per say. More like against highchairs. And their bulkiness. And their gaudiness. So when we set out to decide on a highchair, we were looking for something simple and non-obstructing. I liked the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair… until I saw the price. Their whole premise revolves around the child eating at the table with you, in addition to the chair growing with the child. Then I saw this picture:

And thought: unt-aw, no soiree, not my child. Hooper will not be that over sized dorky kid still in a highchair at that age. So, I clung onto their other premise of having the child eat at the table with the parents. No bulky tray involved here. And I liked that premise. But again, the price. Ouch. So I stuck with the premise and looked instead at restaurant style highchairs and found just that, for $40. At Target.
Not only does it fit our home stylistically, but it also has become one of my favorite places to photograph Hooper. He’s contained, for one. And occupied with food, for two. And I can position it wherever I want, allowing for optimal lighting and background, for three. And by golly, those combined make for a successful photo shoot for an otherwise room wrecking, dog terrorizing, pulling-on-moms-pants one-year-old.
I present to you: The Highchair Series.


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Four file for mayor in Wood River

Council members Maguire, Miner joined by Kane and Levan in race for seat

By Alex Heeb - [email protected]

WOOD RIVER — Four individuals have put their names forward to become the next mayor Wood River.

Council members Cheryl Maguire and Scott Miner, former councilman Scott Levan and newcomer Tom Kane have all filed to be placed on the ballot when voters choose a new mayor next spring. Two more locals — Tom Stalcup and Gale Ufert — have stepped forward to run for city council. Gale Ufert was the wife of the late Mayor Fred Ufert.

Current Mayor Frank Akers was appointed to fill the remainder of Ufert’s term following his death in March 2015. Akers has said he plans to retire from city politics after his term expires.

Maguire and Miner both presently sit on the four-person council, with 16 and 4 years of service, respectively. Levan served as a member of the city council for eight years during the 1990s. For Kane, this is his first major foray into politics.

The Telegraph was able to talk briefly with each candidate on their hopes, if elected:

Tom Kane

Aside from serving on a storm water commission, Kane is new to city politics, but says he would bring blue collar “can-do” approach to the mayor’s seat. Problems with the rental properties, he said, are currently the city’s biggest problem. Kane, who is originally from Mississippi but has lived in Wood River for 30 years, said city housing has declined considerably from when he moved to the city.

“I call it the Bedford Falls of Illinois,” Kane said, referring to the film It’s a Wonderful Life. “Through the years, it’s begun turning into a Pottersville.”

Kane also cited drug users in rundown properties as a significant problem.

“If I am successful in my election they’re going to be gone,” he said, adding that this could be accomplished by increasing the strength of the police force. He hopes to do this without increasing taxes, noting that residents are “already taxed to death.”

Kane, who calls himself an outsider with a fresh mindset, said he thinks the landscape is ripe for candidates without prior political experience wanting to enter government and change things up.

Scott Levan

Levan, who served as a city councilman from 1991 to 1999 — which he called a time of significant growth for the city — said he believes Wood River is doing reasonably well economically in comparison to other local communities. The problem, he said, is the national economy lagging.

“Everyone wants a little bit more, and thinks that there’s more business opportunities available out there, but the economy in general is tough,” Levan said. “Corporations are not sticking their necks out to open franchises in every community anymore. I want to look at opportunities with existing businesses, allowing them to grow and stabilize our community.”

Levan said he works well with the current slate of city administrators, especially City Manager Jim Schneider.

“Presently, I believe the city is running very well,” Levan said. “(I want to maintain) the general aesthetics of the city and continue to work with small businesses and corporate businesses so we can maintain community that we are presently living in.”

Cheryl Maguire

Business growth will be a priority for Maguire, who said the loss of Mayor Ufert — and the knowledge that Akers was only going to occupy the office for a short term — has left city government without real direction.

“The last couple year’s we’ve just been maintaining,” Maguire said.

Maguire says she intends to focus on business development, and said she is familiar enough with the ins and outs of the city to recognize economic opportunities where others might not.

Maguire also said that her long tenure on the council has given her an “institutional knowledge” which will prevent old mistakes from being repeated, and allow the city to chart its best direction.

Scott Miner

Miner was the first candidate to announce his intention to run for the mayor’s office, doing so in April. Miner, who will be 22 at the time the polls open, could become the youngest mayor in Illinois’ history. His chief goal is also to attract new enterprise to the city, and make conditions better for existing businesses.

“Business growth is not where it needs to be,” Miner said, pointing out that aside from slow growth, existing businesses are facing economic challenges. “I would do anything I can to attract businesses. We need to explore ways to bring businesses, whether it’s with tax incentives or with marketing.”

Miner also said he wants to see the city’s infrastructure renewed.

“We have a lot of crumbling infrastructure, as evidenced by multiple sinkholes happening more and more frequently,” he said. “The sidewalks not up to par in my opinion, and general infrastructure needs to be rehabbed.”

One thing all the candidates can agree on — the ugliness of November’s election does not belong in Wood River politics.

“Yesterday when we all filed, we shook hands and wished each other well,” Maguire said. “I told them that we’ve never run negative, we run on issues, and everybody agreed.”
Council members Maguire, Miner joined by Kane and Levan in race for seat

By Alex Heeb

[email protected]

Reach Alex Heeb at 618-208-6451 or on Twitter @alexheebs

Reach Alex Heeb at 618-208-6451 or on Twitter @alexheebs

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T-Shirt Scarf

We are on Mr. Kate! And here's the story of how it happened. Way back at Thanksgiving, my sister and I wanted to do a craft project together. We thought it would be nice to do something creative while we are all sitting around and staring at each other in a trypotpaen induced haze. We decided to try the t-shirt scarf tutorial from Mr. Kate. It was super fun and easy.

The finished product definitely wins the prize for oddest variety of people complimenting it. The first day I wore it a woman who appeared drunk on the street stopped me to tell me how much she liked it. It was also approved of by a very stylish friend and the guy bagging my kombucha at Whole Foods gave me a , "Whoa, cool scarf!"

I typically stick to crafting projects that don't involving sewing or anything too complicated and this is one of those: an old t-shirt, some broken jewelry, scissors and and a glue gun is all you need. It's a great option for a present too!
We ended up sending a few pictures in to Mr. Kate and she just featured us on her blog! Check out the tutorial and pictures here.

  1. Wow, we were featured on Mr. Kate's blog, even Bethy, me and the kitty!

  2. I love the one I made. I wear it all the time, even to work!


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Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! I'm excited to be a guest at a wedding this weekend, it's always fun to get to wear a dress and eat lots of cake when you're so used to be the one taking pictures of all the action!

I have a few links for you, but not a ton. It's the time of year when we should all be outside and not indoors on the internet! I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Life goals.

Perfect summery salad that I want to eat right now.

Rank and Style's picks of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale for clothes and also for beauty.

Baby penguin!

Would you sleep in this hotel "room"?

40th anniversary of US Women's Basketball in the Olympics...

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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Caught Making Up Quotes, Author Quits New Yorker

Jonah Lehrer - Pop!Tech 2009 - Camden, MEJonah Lehrer  (Photo credit: poptech) Thirty-one-year-old wunderkind Jonah Lehrer, a Columbia grad and author of three best-selling books, this week resigned as staff writer for The New Yorker after admitting to a magazine writer that he fabricated quotes in his latest book.

Michael Moynihan, a writer for Tablet Magazine, which writes about Jewish life, confronted Lehrer regarding quotes Moynihan was unable to verify that Lehrer attributed to legendary folk singer Bob Dylan in his book Imagine: How Creativity Works (2012). Lehrer admitted fabricating the quotes, according to an account in The Huffington Post. "The quotes in question either did not exist, were unintentional misquotations or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes," Lehrer confessed.

Lehrer, author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist (2007) and How We Decide (2009), recently apologized to New Yorker readers for re-using his own previous work without attributing it. Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has pulled the e-version of Imagine and stopped shipment of the hardcover.

Things are not going well for Lehrer, as even fabricator extraordinaire Jayson Blair, who wrote fiction for The New York Times, unbeknownst to the paper, weighed in with an article in The Daily Beast on what may have prompted Lehrer to torpedo his own career.  The staff of "TUOL" is unsure whether laziness or just a lack of journalistic sensibilities is to blame, and puzzled as to how Lehrer could have believed his putting words in Dylan's mouth wouldn't be discovered, particularly because the quotes made sense, which would make any Dylan fan suspicious.

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Monday, July 30, 2012

St. Louis Post Journos Dispatched

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Thirteen proved an unlucky number for the Lee Enterprises-owned St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as four editors and nine newsroom staffers were pink-slipped last week, media Web site JimRomanesko.com reported.

Daily circulation at the Post-Dispatch, one of the region's largest dailies, declined from 213,472 to 191,631 last year. Lee purchased the paper from Pulitzer, Inc. seven years ago in a cash deal reportedly totaling $1.46 billion. According to Romanesko, the layoffs occurred in the same week as Lee CEO Mary Junck acquired 500,000 shares of Lee stock for zero dollars.

Economic conditions were blamed for the job reductions. Another 10 employees in the production and advertising departments, also lost their jobs last week, bringing the layoff total to 23.
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Friday, July 27, 2012

Teens Poke Classmate in Facebook Ruse; End Up in Pokey

Seal of Hood County, Texas(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports that two Granbury (Texas) middle-schoolers, ages 12 and 13, who allegedly created a false Facebook page about a 12-year-old classmate, have been charged with online impersonation, a third-degree felony, and face up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

The target of the false page does not participate in Facebook, so the false page flourished for a month and attracted 63 friends before it was shut down, the daily reports. The defendants allegedly featured a celebrity on the fake page who purportedly resembles the victim, and according to the Hood County Sheriff, the page contained profanity and alleged threats against other students that harmed the victim's reputation.

To combat cyberbullying, the Texas legislature passed the online impersonation measure in 2009. Free speech advocates, including the Student Press Law Center, have questioned the constitutionality of the law.
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WGBH Buys PRI: Larger Tote Bags in the Offing?

WGBH studio complex, 1 Guest Street, Brighton/... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The prospect of shared programming costs and launching new projects spurred Boston-based public broadcaster WGBH to acquire Minneapolis-based Public Radio International, the New York Times reports.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and P.R.I. will continue to operate under its own independent flag. Already Public Broadcasting System's (PBS) largest producer of television programming such as Nova and Frontline, WGBH taking on P.R.I. is expected to bolster the former's radio presence. For P.R.I., the presence of WGBH, with whom it already collaborates (along with the BBC) to produce The World, should help address its operating deficit.
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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Social Media Onslaught Causes N.D. Daily to Rethink Same-Sex Wedding Announcement Policy

Fargo Downtown(Photo credit: DaKohlmeyer)When the Fargo (N.D.) Forum said it would return the $25 publication fee to 31-year-old Fargo native Allison Johnson and declined to print her same-sex wedding announcement of her upcoming nuptials to 27-year-old Kelsey Smith, it touched off a social media firestorm, CNN reports.

After a four-year-long relationship, Johnson & Smith plan to marry in New York on August 1 and hold a reception August 4 in Fargo (parking is easier and those meaty smorgasbords and potato dumplings are hard to pass up). Johnson forwarded a screen shot of the Forum's e-mail rejection of her announcement to an online reporter buddy who posted it on Facebook, Twitter and other digital forums, according to the CNN story. The image was shared more than 600 times and triggered a petition on Change.org.

The couple has since met with the editor and publisher of the North Dakota daily, and the Fargo Forum's Facebook page indicates that its same-sex announcements policy is under review. Johnson has posted on Facebook her open letter to the Forum and Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker, which asks: "...WHY, in a city we call home, where we are days away from becoming homeowners in Fargo, where we support every person that does good for their community, are we excluded from being able to announce our wedding celebration? What makes two women or two men any different from other taxpaying married citizens of  Fargo, N.D.?"

It remains to be seen how far the Fargo Forum will go and whether it will forgo its policy which would go far toward answering the foregoing.
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Voluntary Buyouts Offered to Long-time Detroit Journalists

Detroit skyline(Photo credit: Bernt Rostad)Voluntary buyout offers have been extended to veteran reporters at the Gannett Co-owned Detroit Free Press and the MediaNews Group-owned Detroit News, the Associated Press reports.

According to the AP story, a spokesperson for the Detroit Media Partnership, which oversees the two dailies' finances, said fewer than half of the eligible 155 journalists are expected to receive the payout. To qualify, applicants must be at least 56 years old and have accrued 20 years of service at one of the Detroit dailies. Those who take the buyout will garner two weeks' pay for each year of service up to a maximum 52 weeks, and will continue to receive health insurance during the payout period.

Neither McLean, Va.-based Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper owner, nor Denver-headquartered MediaNews Group, publisher of The Denver Post and The Berkshire Eagle, among other newspapers, would address whether layoffs loom if the number of buyouts do not meet expectations, but given the current state of the industry, such a scenario wouldn't be surprising.

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France Soir Not 'Bon,' Soir, But Banqueroute

FranceSoir (Photo credit: Wikipedia)France Soir, a Paris daily newspaper that at its peak in the 1960s boasted a circulation of 1.5 million, will have its assets auctioned off per a court-ordered liquidation, The Guardian reports.

France Soir was acquired by Sergei Pugachvov, the scion of a Russian billionaire, in 2009, and converted to an online-only publication last December, before he jettisoned the paper in June, after reportedly investing more than 60 million pounds ($94 million) in it, according to the Guardian story. One-hundred eighty jobs were cut when the paper became a Web-only presence, and nearly 50 jobs, 42 held by journalists, will be lost because of the bankruptcy, according to the Guardian article.

France Soir, then called Defense de la France, launched in 1944, but had seen its circulation decline to fewer than 100,000 readers by the year 2000. It surfaced as a populist tabloid in 2006 before Pugachvov swooped in with a major cash infusion.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Failed Cong. Candidate Loses Libel Suit

Appellate Division of the New York State Supre...(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division (Second Department) has affirmed Westchester County Supreme Court Judge Sam D. Walker's dismissal of a defamation suit brought by James Russell, an unsuccessful 2010 candidate for the 18th District U.S. Congressional Seat, against journalists and politicos, the Courthouse News Service reports.

In Russell v. Davies, et al. (2012 New York Slip Op. 05507), Russell sought $1 million damages apiece from a half dozen journalists and three GOP party officials for comments they allegedly made about a 2001 essay Russell wrote for the Occidental Quarterly entitled "The Western Contribution to World History." The essay was assailed for its purported racist and anti-Semitic sentiments and prompted the Westchester County Republican Party to drop Russell from the ballot two months before the election. Specifically, Russell's essay criticized several recent Hollywood films that featured young white women involved in interracial relationships and cited T.S. Eliot's viewpoint that "reasons of race and culture combine to make any large number of free-thinking Jews undesirable."

Judge Reinaldo Rivera's decision agreed with the defendants' argument that Russell could not prove malice and that their remarks were opinions that were not susceptible to a defamatory meaning. "In distinguishing between fact and opinion," Judge Rivera wrote, "the factors the court must consider are (1)whether the specific language has a precise meaning that is readily understood, (2)whether the statements are capable of being proven true or false, and (3)whether the context in which the statement appears signals to readers that the statement is likely to be opinion, not fact."  Judge Rivera found the allegedly defamatory statements were opinions and that the defendants fully disclosed the facts supporting those opinions through express reference to Russell's essay.

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Appellate Court Grounds Airlines' First Amendment Challenge to DOT Rule

250 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)In its 21-page opinion in Spirit Airlines, Inc. et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Transportation (No. 11-1219), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided 2-1 to uphold the constitutional validity of a DOT rule that restricts how airlines can display a break down of how much of a passenger's airfare goes toward taxes and fees.

Judge David S. Tatel and Judge Karen LeCraft sided with the DOT in the opinion written by Tatel and Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote a spirited dissent. The DOT contended its rule requiring airlines prominently to display in advertised fare prices the full-cost of the ticket, including government taxes, was designed to eliminate confusion by informing consumers about their actual flying cost.

Plaintiffs, led by Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air and Southwest Airlines, alleged the DOT rule violated their First Amendment rights of political speech by impeding their ability to discuss the onus of airline taxation. Judge Tatel, however, wasn't buying the First Amendment argument, saying the speech at issue was not political speech, which invites strict scrutiny by the court, but rather, less-protected commercial speech, which warrants only intermediate scrutiny.

The DOT rule, Judge Tatel wrote, "does not prohibit airlines from saying anything; it just requires them to disclose the total, final price and to make it the most prominent figure in their advertisements."

(Tip of the hat to the Wall St. Journal Law Blog for initially landing this case.)

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

UPDATE: Sherrod Defamation Claim Moves Forward

English: Shirley Sherrod, a Georgia USDA emplo... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Shirley Sherrod, former U.S. Dept. of Agriculture director for rural development, is getting closer to having her day in court.

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the plaintiff's motion to affirm the trial judge's denial of a motion to dismiss Sherrod's defamation suit against the late conservative blogger/journalist Andrew Breitbart, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Web site (www.rcfp.org). The appellate court referred defendants' motion to dismiss to the merits panel assigned to the case. A year ago, United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Richard J. Leon, in Sherrod v. Breitbart et al. (Case No. 00015711), said defendants Breitbart, Lawrence O'Connor and their BigGovernment.com Web site could not rely on the District of Columbia's anti-SLAPP law ("Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation") [D.C. Law 18-0351]. (See "TUOL" post 8/1/11.)

Sherrod claims she was defamed by a YouTube video of a speech she delivered that she alleges was unfairly edited by the defendants to portray her as a racist. Her attorneys argue that the D.C. anti-SLAPP measure is inapplicable in federal court. The Court of Appeals ruling said the merits of the parties' opposing positions are not dispositive and do not warrant dismissal of the suit at the present juncture of the case.

The appellate court also refused to consolidate Sherrod's action with another defamation suit before the court that involves an anti-SLAPP defense.

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Globe Takes Turn for the Worst: Voluntary Buyouts Offered

English: Headquarters of The Boston Globe news...(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Forty-three Boston Globe workers, union members and management alike--including 20 newsroom staffers--have been offered voluntary buyouts, and another 10 employees were laid off, according to Globe Publisher and New England Media Group ("NEMG") President Christopher M. Mayer.

According to a report by the Globe's rival, the tabloid Boston Herald, the New York Times-owned broadsheet in May saw its daily circulation drop below 200,000 for the first time ever, fueling speculation that the Globe and another Times property, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, may soon be offered for sale. Reportedly, the Telegram & Gazette laid off one staffer and offered voluntary buyouts to another 10.

According to a report by the Poynter.org Web site, the T & G will eliminate slots and layoffs will ensue if the buyouts are not accepted.  The Globe, which boasts a work force of 1,881, does not anticipate universal acceptance of the buyout offer. As part of a cost-savings measure, the Globe reportedly plans to close its suburban bureaus.
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Monday, July 23, 2012

Sun-Times Media Photographer Exposed

Pioneer Press (Photo credit: Krista76)Sun-Times Media photographer Tamara Bell, whose work appeared in Pioneer Press publications, including the Morton Grove Champion and the Deerfield Review, has been fired for fabricating names and quotes, the Pioneer Press publisher has announced.

Sparked by a reader's complaint, the newspaper chain launched an internal probe that uncovered  43 photos and captions from the "Question of the Week" feature that proved questionable. According to Publisher Chris Krug, Bell, when confronted, admitted to 22 instances of faking names and quotes.

Hard to gauge which is more puzzling--that a professional photojournalist would engage in such conduct and not believe the fakery would be uncovered, or that, given the small-town nature of the papers that ran the "Question of the Week," it took so long for her superiors to discover the chicanery.
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Potboiler Publisher Won't Share the Pot, Romance Novelists Claim in Contract Suit

Français : Lot de romans de la collection Les ... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Expect plenty of bodice-ripping, burning eyes and flaming lips, and waves crashing against the ocean in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as three romance novelists have filed a putative class action breach of contract/unjust enrichment suit against Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. ("HEL") concerning E-book royalties.

The case, reported on by Courthouse News Service and the Wall St. Journal Law Blog, is Barbara Keiler, Mona Gay Thomas & Linda Barrett v. Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., Harlequin Books, S.A. & Harlequin Enterprises B.V. (Case No. 12-cv-5558). Toronto-based HEL, the subject of a copyright infringement suit earlier this year reported here (see "TUOL" post 4/23/12), reportedly cranks out 110 titles monthly in 34 languages reaching 114 international markets from its stable of 1,200 authors. As faithful readers of this blog no doubt know, lead plaintiff Keiler is the author of Right Place, Wrong Time and Blooming All Over, Thomas penned His Secret Duchess and The Heart's Desire, while the collected works of Barrett include Apple Orchard [not to be confused with Anton Chekhov's obvious knock-off Cherry Orchard] and Love Money and Amanda Shaw.

The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status that would cover Harlequin authors who penned books for the defendants overflowing with heaving bosoms during the period from 1990 to 2004. The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that they are owed royalties on E-book editions of their works because of a standard contract clause that pays authors 50 percent royalties on net receipts of the "publisher, from the exercise, sale or license of digital rights to their works."

The plaintiffs contend that defendants Switzerland-based Harlequin Books S.A. and Netherlands-based Harlequin Enterprises B.V. are HEL subsidiaries that perform no publishing functions and merely provide tax benefits to the parent company. HEL claims it had to obtain a license from its Swiss arm to publish the authors' E-books and that any royalty calculation should be based on the publisher Harlequin Switzerland license, or 6 percent to 8 percent of the E-book's cover price, which means 3 to 4 percent for the authors.

As set forth in the plaintiffs' complaint:

 "In 2011, Harlequin Enterprises sent written communications to plaintiffs and the other class members in which it took the position that royalties for e-books were covered by the AOR [All Other Rights] Clause in the Publishing Agreements and that the authors' 50% royalty was to be calculated based on the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland, from a 'license' that Harlequin Enterprises claims Harlequin Switzerland granted to it to publish the e-books," the complaint states. "Harlequin Enterprises claimed in those communications that the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland was 6% to 8% of the cover price of the e-books, and that the royalties owed to plaintiffs and to other class members were therefore 50% of that amount, or 3% to 4% of the cover price.

     Under the publishing agreements, defendants have been paying plaintiffs and the other class members e-book royalties of 3% to 4% of the cover price based on the net amount received by Harlequin Switzerland from the claimed 'license' granted to Harlequin Enterprises, far less than what plaintiffs and the other class members would have been paid if their royalties were based, as they should have been, on the net amount received by Harlequin Enterprises."

The "TUOL" staff can't help but wonder whether the judge hearing the case wears an eyepatch and has a handsome scar.

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The Weekly Reader Is Kaput--Run, Spot, Run!

Weekly Reader 1 (Photo credit: mahlness)Scholastic-owned The Weekly Reader ("TWR"), the Pre-K to 12th grade classroom magazine whose roots date back to 1902, is no more, The New York Post reports.

All but five of the White Plains, N.Y.-based TWR staffers will be pink-slipped, as its owner plans to fold the journal into its own Scholastic News, according to the Post article. What evolved from Current Events (1902) into My Weekly Reader (1928) (to which the literate staff of "TUOL" once eagerly subscribed) fell on hard times as it never entered the digital age.

The publication once boasted 13 million subscribers, but by 1990 was down to one million, and the Post article suggests its current readership was only a third of that. Scholastic bought TWR from the Readers Digest Assn. in February 2012, for somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

The "TUOL" staff is heartbroken by the news and wonders where it will go to try to find the spoon, hair brush and banana in the Hidden Picture.
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Friday, July 20, 2012

High Court Finds Two U.K. Dailies in Contempt in Murder Trial Coverage

English: Levi BellfieldLevi Bellfield (Photo credit: Wikipedia)In HM Attorney General v. Associated Newspaper Ltd. & Anor [2012] EWHC 2029, the High Court of Justice found The Daily Mirror and The Daily Mail violated the Contempt of Court Act of 1981 (Ch. 49) in their coverage of the trial of Levi Bellfield for the murder of Milly Dowler, The Guardian (www.guardian.com.uk) reports.

Coverage of the trial of Bellfield for the murder of Dowler and attempted kidnapping of Rachel Cowles began in early May 2011. Bellfield, convicted of the murder of two women in 2008, was found guilty of killing Dowler by the jury on June 23, 2011. While the jury was still deliberating on the Cowles kidnapping charge, the Mail and Mirror published articles on June 24, 2011, containing information not previously presented to the jury, the High Court found.

Specifically, the Mail article concerned Bellfield's alleged murder of another woman and the drugging and raping of schoolgirls, while the Mirror wrote about Bellfield's alleged mistreatment of his ex-wife and a former girlfriend, as well as the purported rape of a disabled woman.

The High Court, in a judgment by Sir John Thomas,  found both papers' articles "seriously prejudicial" as had the trial judge, who cited the prejudicial nature of the articles in discharging the jury before it decided the kidnapping allegation.

Although the High Court's decision is consistent with the strict liability provision of the Contempt of Court Act, it is arguable whether a jury that already knew of Bellfield's 2008 homicides and itself had convicted him of Dowler's murder could be prejudicially influenced against him by the Mail and Mirror articles.
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UPDATE: Change of Heart--Ill. Judge Says Tech Blog Covered by Shield Law

Image representing TechnoBuffalo as depicted i...Image via CrunchBase
Six months after deciding that a consumer electronics blog was not covered by Illinois' shield law [75 Ill. Comp. Stat. secs 5/8-901 to 8-909] (see "TUOL" post 1/23/12), Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Panter has ruled that Calif.-based TechnoBuffalo.com does not have to disclose the identity of the anonymous source who gave the blog images and instructional data about Motorola's Droid bionic smartphone before the product was released.

TechnoBuffalo, a three-year-old blog that reviews products and reports tech news, filed a motion for reconsideration after Judge Panter held it was not a news medium engaged in reporting. Pursuant to Section 5/8-902(a) of Illinois' shield law, "any person regularly engaged in the business of collecting, writing or editing news for publication through a news medium on a full-time or part-time basis" is a reporter. A news medium, as defined bySection 5/8-902(b), is "any newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals, whether in print or electronic format, and having a general circulation."

Judge Panter, upon further review, said under the Act, TechnoBuffalo is a news medium and its employees, reporters. '"News is defined by www.merriam-webster.com as 'a report of recent events' and 'previously unknown information,"' Judge Panter wrote. " Similarly, Dictinary.com [sic] defines 'news' as 'a report of recent events.' Under the ordinary meaning of 'news,' the article at issue presented a report on recent events, namely the upcoming release of a new Motorola smartphone. It also supplied previously unknown information. As such, TechnoBuffalo's article falls under the broad, plain meaning of 'news,'" Judge Panter concluded.

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

News Media Takes a Holiday from Fact-Checking

Image representing New York Times as depicted ...Image via CrunchBaseRyan Holiday, if one were to believe HARO (Help A Reporter Out), a Web site of source listings for reporters, is an expert in topics ranging from boats and vinyl phonograph albums to insomnia. It turns out, however, according to Poynter.org, that Holiday's expertise is in the field of chain-yanking media outlets, including ABC News, Reuters, and the venerable New York Times.

Holiday, author of Trust Me,I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, who is having a book release party tonight (if one can believe him), was interviewed by Forbes and the Columbia Journalism Review about his exploits, which involved misleading nearly two dozen journalists. Holiday said he wanted to illustrate online journalism problems caused by journalists' reliance on sites such as HARO for sourcing.

Reuters interviewed him as an expert on "Generation Yikes", Manitouboats.com sought his knowledge about winterizing watercraft, while the New York Times talked to him about collecting vinyl records, which he later confessed he doesn't collect.  Most of the snookered news outlets have since published editor's notes, corrections or retracted their Holiday content.

Seems as if the Holiday involved is April Fools Day.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Cincinnati Enquirer: More Portable, More 'Wallable"

English: Category:Newspaper logos(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Gannett Co.-owned Cincinnati Enquirer, which has endured newsroom cuts and shrinking ad revenues and circulation in recent years (see "TUOL" posts 2/18/11, 7/13/09), this fall will switch to a smaller format and erect a paywall to charge for online content, the business journal Cincinnati Morning Call reports.

Enquirer Editor Carolyn Washburn claims the changeover to a 10-by-14-inch format like the Columbus Dispatch, and imposing an as-yet-to-be-determined fee structure for its online edition will enable the daily to stave off financial losses and to retain its 150-plus journalists.

Apparently, Cincinnati's first-place baseball team isn't the only business in the city that sees "Reds."

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ethiopian Court Brands Six Journalists 'Terrorists'

Shaded relief map of Ethiopia, 1999, produced ... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Citing their purported involvement in Ginbot 7, an Ethiopian court has imposed jail terms on six journalists for alleged terrorist activities, The Guardian (www.guardian.com.uk) reports.

Five of the journalists targeted live in exile and were sentenced in absentia, but award-winning blogger Eskinder Naga, received an 18-year prison term for his link to the U.S.-based Ginbot 7, which the authoritarian African regime has designated a terrorist organization. Press freedom advocates and human rights groups are skeptical of the purported underlying terror plot that triggered the prosecutions, according to The Guardian article.

Naga, along with fellow journalists Mesfin Negash, Abiye Teklemariam, Abebe Gellaw, Fasil Yenealem and Abebe Belew, have denied the charges.
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Monday, July 16, 2012

Ft. Worth Editorial Massacre

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Newspapers don't re-shift their emphasis to digital media platforms without bloodletting, and according to media Web site Romanesko.com, pink slips are flying fast and furiously in the newsroom of the McClatchy Co.-owned Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.

A dozen editorial staffers, including several copy editors and Managing Editor Lois Norder, are the latest casualties in the daily's restructuring, according to Romanesko. Reportedly, Kathy Vetter, the paper's managing editor for digital, will be in charge of the paper's whole local news operation.
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Judge Stiffs Daily on Autopsy Record Request

English: Sumter County Courthouse in Sumter Co... Sumter County Courthouse (Photo credit: Wikipedia)South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman has ruled against The (Sumter, S.C.) Item's request for the release of an autopsy report under the state's freedom of information act [S.C. Code of Laws 30-4-30], the Associated Press reports.

The Item is weighing whether to appeal Judge Newman's refusal to order the release of the autopsy report involving the shooting death of a 25-year-old man by police. Judge Newman said the autopsy report was a medical record, which is exempt under South Carolina's public records law.
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Tribune Co. Bankruptcy Ordeal Ends: Whither Chicago Trib & LA Times?

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 07: A Chicago and a NATO fl... (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)It took three-and-a-half years and generated roughly $400 million in attorneys' fees, but Delaware U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey last Friday signed off on the restructuring agreement that will enable the Tribune Co. to emerge from Chapter 11 insolvency (In re Tribune Co., Case No. 08-bk-13141), according to an article in the Hollywood Reporter.

The Tribune Co., which last year unloaded the NL Central Division cellar-dwelling Chicago Cubs (see "TUOL" posts 11/1/11, 3/29/10), is expected to divest itself of ownership of its newspaper division, which includes The Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and Los Angeles Times. The Chicago-based media conglomerate's holdings, valued at an estimated $7 billion, include 23 television stations, such as WPIX in New York City and WGN in Chicago, nine dailies and several magazines.

Billionaire entrepreneur Sam Zell used a $13 billion leveraged buyout to acquire the Tribune Co., which entered bankruptcy in 2008. Senior creditors are the new owners, among them, Oaktree Capital Mgt., Angelo, Gordon & Co., and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (which in recent weeks has shown us how easy it is to lose $5.8 billion). The new dream team will need the FCC's blessings to transfer ownership of the entity's radio and television licenses.

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Friday, July 13, 2012

Mass.Town Won't Disclose Discrimination Suit Settlement Terms to Newspaper

West Bridgewater Town Hall, West Bridgewater, ... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The (Brockton, Mass.) Enterprise will look to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to obtain the release of the terms of a settlement agreement involving a discrimination suit brought by a police officer against the town of West Bridgewater, Enterprise.com reports.

Forty-eight-year-old Thomas Richmond, a full-time West Bridgewater police officer, sued the town in federal court in 2010, alleging disability discrimination, defamation and emotional distress, among other claims. The parties reached a settlement in December 2011, of the suit against the town, its police chief and two other supervisory officers.

The town's administrator would not disclose the lump sum amount paid to Richmond in response to a request from the daily, citing an agreement between the plaintiff and the municipality's insurance company. Likewise, Richmond's counsel would not disclose the sum to the Enterprise, noting he was bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Nondisclosure provisions are commonplace in settlement agreements, but that doesn't change the nature of the underlying claim.  When such an agreement involves a public employee, the agreement is a public record, subject to the Commonwealth's Public Records Law (M.G.L. c. 66, sec. 10). "TUOL" will be surprised if the Commonwealth rules otherwise.
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'Bought Out' Journalist Sues Paper for Fraud

The Star-Ledger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Advance Publications-owned The Star-Ledger has been sued by former deputy business editor and Essex County (N.J.) Bureau Chief Philip Read for fraud, breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing concerning his 2010 buyout, Romanesko.com reports.

Read, who joined the daily as deputy business editor in 1997, alleges that he was misled into accepting the voluntary buyout by purportedly being told editorial staffers would be pink-slipped if the paper didn't realize $10 million in savings, according to his complaint. As Bureau Chief, he was earning $109,000 in 2008 when he purportedly received memoranda from the Star-Ledger citing declining advertising revenues as the impetus for the daily needing 200 employees to accept buyouts.

According to his complaint, Read was told he would likely be laid off if he didn't take the buyout. He alleges the Star-Ledger did not achieve the $10 million cost reduction goal, yet did not layoff staff. (Disclosure: the tireless staff of "TUOL" grew up reading The Star Ledger once The Newark Evening News figuratively and literally folded.)
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Education Reporter Needs Educatin' About Conflicts of Interest

The Confederate Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia(Photo credit: DC Public Library Commons)Carla Branch, Alexandria (Va.) News co-founder and education reporter, was paid $11,000 as a communications consultant by the Alexandria City Public Schools system while covering the district for the paper, according to rival publication The Alexandria Times and media Web site Romanesko.com.

Branch reportedly was paid $75 an hour to write press releases for the school district and to advise the superintendent about improving the district's image, tallying about 150 hours of work besides her Alexandria News Web site duties, the Times reported. The Times article states Branch disclosed her consultant work after she learned a competing paper was going to write a piece about her second job.

Branch claims she avoided any conflict of interest by signing a confidentiality agreement with the school district at the outset of their contract in which she promised not to use information obtained during her consulting duties for any other purpose.

Sadly, Branch misses the point. She may not be betraying any confidences to the Alexandra City Public Schools working as a consultant, but are her Alexandria News readers getting objective "full picture" coverage of the district's performance, blemishes and all? Can the same person who is writing press releases praising the district criticize the superintendent's decision making at the risk of her $75-an-hour fee spigot being turned off?

The staff of "TUOL" isn't going out on a limb in asserting that Branch is mired in an untenable conflict of interest situation.
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text:
Monday, June 24, 2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Polignano a mare

a vignette of a coastal town in Puglia

polignano a mare
polignano a mare
puglia photography
polignano a mare

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Hello May

a big thank you to Hello May for featuring one of my favourite weddings of last year;
this beautiful couple in the sunshine on the great Victorian coastline

barwon heads beach wedding

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

After a few wrong turns, a fifteen-minute walk over rocky streams and a little determination,
we swam in probably the best place I have ever even thought about swimming.

A small pool built into the mountainside in the 1920s,
fed by piped-in, hot geothermal water and a rogue cliffside trickle, abandoned; except for the once a year clean.
abandoned pool iceland
seljavellir pool
seljavallalaug pool


text:
Saturday, October 29, 2011

Italian Food Festival at Blooms

What do you say when a friend invites you out for previewing an Italian Food Festival. You obviously confirm for it and not eat breakfast in the morning ;) We had a great time at Blooms, Eros Hotel managed by Hilton. They are on facebook too :)

Met a wonderful bunch of people, Parul of The shirazine, Apeksha of Veggiewiz, Sid of Chef at Large (whose pictures I've used in this post), Gary, Jaspreet, Prateek and Souvik of Belly Centric, Prerna of The Mom Writes and Chef Stefano Nicodemo from Italy (Little birdie who said Italian men are good looking was right ;) )

Pictures and food go hand-in-hand for all of us... We were clicking n eating n chatting.... The best part of eating out with food bloggers is that they understand your need to click pictures of everything before you eat.

The Antipasti was something which made me not just eat... It made me EAT-MY-WORDS... Being a self professed carnivore... I could swear by the vegetarian fare... If I could be made to take a second helping of Aubergine rolls... Roasted Aubergine slivers stuffed with sundried tomatoes and smoked cheese... It has to be fantastic... I was floored :)
The roasted baby potatoes, and bocconcini with roasted vegetables were nice. The mushroom topped Vol-Au-Vents tasted well, however would have been superb if served warm.

The non-vegetarian fare's best platter was the Ricotta stuffed Bresaola(a salted air dried beef). The melon n parma ham wrap was a wonderful idea for pairing the sweet n salt but using the sweet indian melon was interfering with the sweet n salt balance. The prawns were nice but I would have repeated the Ricotta stuffed Bresaola on my plate instead of these.

We were served nice champagne and white wine with our lunch.... Isn't that evident with all the glasses around me in the picture below ;)

In the main course there was Roasted Rack of Lamb, Pollo al Mattone — Corn fed chicken oven roasted with potato (the caramelized onions with potatoes were extremely nice). Yet again, it was the vegetarian fare which knocked me off my feet. The Spinach Flan with Parmesan Fondue (which we called spinach dhokla in zest) was amazing.... the firm crust yet melt-in-your-mouth insides was really worth writing home about..... The texture and flavour was abundant. The Saffron risotto was made just to my taste... Was again forced to take second helping of the vegetarian fare as it was just delicious.

The only thing which I can really complain about was the Tiramisu..... It was just not upto the mark..... Firstly the glass it was served in, then the huge out-of-proportion chocolate decoration. The sponge layer was almost missing and cream layer was over powering. Hardly any alcohol or coffee...
If it was an adaptation, then it shouldn't have been called a Tiramisu.....

We had a good time enjoying some not-so-regular Italian fare. It would have taken them some deliberation to not serve just a pizza/pasta sort of menu for an Italian Food festival, which is admirable. The vegetarian fare was superb. Dessert is not something I'll go back for.
The festival was a good experience over all.
About Rs. 1950 per head for lunch and two options for dinner — Rs. 2250 (includes one glass of house wine) and Rs. 2750 (unlimited house wine).


text:
Villager photos by Elisabeth Robert

Top, inside the side room at Beatrice Inn, from left: John Simon, Ed Gold, Diane Lebedeff, Arthur Stoliar, Dr. Robert Furey and Carol Feinman (at table in foreground). Above, waiter Alberto Virgiles serves the last supper. Below, the artist Jack Levine dined in the main room.

Last supper at Beatrice Inn is end of a 50-year run

By Ed Gold

The last supper. There was wine and there was bread.

But there was also lots of veal, filet of sole, wild salmon, spaghetti and meatballs, and chef Bruno Mazza’s final round of Friday specials, ossu buco and duck. And martinis, lots of martinis.

It was closing night at Beatrice Inn, the West Village eatery, steeped in history, which was ending a 50-year run, and closing its doors on anxious regulars who would be looking for a new home away from home that would be cozy, exhilarating and not very expensive.

Elsie and Ubaldo Cardia, who had married after a 10-day courtship, looked for a way to make a living and bought the restaurant on 12th Street near Hudson in 1955. Later, in the late ’60s, they wisely acquired the 12 apartments over Beatrice.

The couple were later joined by son Aldo and daughter Vivian in running the business. Ubaldo died in the ’90s and Elsie passed way earlier this year, and their offspring sold the building and restaurant some months ago and decided to call it quits at the end of October.

This past Friday, they were both at their posts as the end approached, Vivian, ever glamorous, as hostess and cashier; Aldo, looking like an overworked waiter — although he was probably one of the richest people in the restaurant — rushing from one table to the next in the face of an overflow crowd.

A large number of regulars turned out for this last meal, some filling the small side room where many of the most conspicuous Beatrice loyalists would frequently gather.

In the “saleta” for the final evening were the Gabels in the far corner, the mild-mannered insurance executive Dan flanked by the more animated Bunny, a teacher and West Village activist. Daughter Elizabeth, now 25, was also on hand and Bunny explained that “we first brought her here when she was 1 month old.” Two other regulars, the Shermans, Arthur, the teacher, and Barbara, the artist, later joined them.

The adjacent table was chaired by Civil Court Judge Joan Kenney, whose 20-month-old daughter, Grace Elizabeth Mahon, sat beside her, closely watched by her daddy, Patrick Mahon, who said the baby had been a Beatrice Inn regular since she was 12 weeks old. “She’s become my big occupation,” he added, “although I occasionally work as an electrical engineer.”

Other regulars at the Kenney-Mahon table were Carol Feinman, a former Community Board 2 chairperson now an administrative judge, who became a steady at Beatrice after attending Waterfront Committee meetings in the West Village; and Paula Feddersen, who once operated a bookkeeping consulting firm.

In the other corner, one of the six-days-a-week patrons, Arthur Stoliar, worried about where he would relocate for dinners. Stoliar, also a former chairperson of C.B. 2, a former engineer and a fly fisherman of note, was joined by Civil Court Judge Diane Lebedeff, who used to frequent Beatrice often when she lived around the corner 25 years ago, and this writer. Joining the Stoliar table later was Judy Maxwell, the jazz enthusiast.

The table near the door was occupied by another six-dayer, John Simon, self-proclaimed “atheist and red,” who has been a publisher, WBAI station manager and talk show producer on Channel 13. He held open a seat for his steady companion, Kathy Dubkin, who was tied up on her Channel 13 job and couldn’t make the closing.

Simon, like some of the others, is still looking for a suitable food haven, but he tried to rise above his anxieties. He was sorry, he mused, that “we’ll miss several days of good conversation about Gordon Liddy,” referring to Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, who had just been indicted in the C.I.A. leak case. He added he would miss seeing Grace Elizabeth, the Mahon-Kenney daughter, who had become something of a star at Beatrice.

While there was mostly light talk in the small room, with Kenney demonstrating a gift for ribald humor, one topic turned everyone sober when someone raised the issue of Hillary Clinton and the presidency, followed by a wild assortment of conflicting opinions.

In the main dining room, unlikely tablemates who were Friday regulars were having their usual enthusiastic get-together. Gloria Triano, who reveled in having been secretary to the famous Tammany leader Carmine DeSapio, clicked glasses with the influential artist Jack Levine.

A few notables couldn’t make it, including a Friday regular, George Arzt, former Mayor Ed Koch’s last press secretary, who recently steered Robert Morgenthau to a victory in the Democratic primary for Manhattan district attorney; also, Howell Raines, the former executive editor of The New York Times; Joel Pave, a longshoreman who usually sat in the side room where he bemoaned the low status of unionism in America; Gwenn Gorovin, the physician with special interest in nose and throat, who has treated such singers as Placido Domingo and other greats; and Andy Ward, owner of the P.E. Guerin decorative hardware store in the Village.

Vivian Cardia remembers well some of the special groups that used to gather at Beatrice.

Both the Italian Rountable and the Algonquin Roundtable held meetings at Beatrice, and printers from such companies as Superior Ink and John Swift & Co. would fill the place for lunch, make lots of noise, eat and drink heartily and at times engage in games of chance.

But there were also gatherings held by the Kiwanis Club and the Accordion Association and serious labor discussions by the Union of Operating Engineers.

Celebrities came as well. Charles Kuralt of CBS was a regular, and Jane Jacobs, the urbanist, was also seen frequently. Entertainers like Larry Adler, Larry Hagman and Lloyd Bridges ate there, and Paul Draper “would get out of his chair and dance on the tables,” Vivian recalled.

Two incidents stand out in her mind. “Mayor John Lindsay scheduled an inaugural dinner at Beatrice in the late ’60s and then couldn’t show up because he was tied up with a city subway strike.” And “Helen Gurley Brown of Cosmo came to lunch one day and said she was disappointed. She thought she was coming to a fancy joint.”

As the hours advanced on this last night, Beatrice began registering stock shortages. Aldo noted that they had run out of stuffed clams, then breadsticks and also fruit salad.

But he discovered a partially filled bottle of grappa, a wine made from grape discards, and offered it as a parting gift to side room regulars, who gratefully accepted it.

In a touching scene late in the evening, two fairly regular patrons showed up and tried unsuccessfully to squeeze into the saleta. But Wendy Doremus, who lost her husband on 9/11, and friend Christine Edonomos, who works at the Museum of Natural History, although very disappointed, showed good spirit, wishing everyone the best with hopes that they would all meet again.

Possibly the most impressive ambassador of goodwill was Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow, disc jockey and radio personality, a large, hearty man who shook hands at each table and said the Beatrice crowd had been “part of my family.”

Saddened by the closing, he asked all around: “Where will you refugees go?” But he was sympathetic with the Cardias. “Aldo,” he said, “just wants his own life.”

Aldo, in fact, isn’t sure what he wants to do. He is a Scrabble player at the national tournament level and will likely be seen at Scrabble tables in Washington Square Park, but he’s not ready to call that a meaningful career.

As for Vivian, she is taking on a new responsibility, and is in the process of adopting her 5-year-old grandson, Nicholas, whose mother — Vivian’s daughter — died last year.

Taking a short breather, Aldo mentioned the open house that was scheduled for Saturday, adding: “I think we’ll have mostly leftovers. It’s been so busy tonight”

Drenched but smiling, he took some satisfaction in the fact that Beatrice Inn was S.R.O. for the last supper.

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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Peggy's Cove: A lesson in Quiet

It was quiet.  Punctured only by the occasional conversation carried on the wind and the constant crash of the waves against the rocks.

We went towards the water, compelled by the rocks and the muddy, narrow path leading towards the water. One jump and then another and then another and we were there. Right on the edge.

6 inches separated me from the Atlantic Ocean.
It was awesome. In the truest sense of the word.
I could have stayed for a long time. I breathed in and out with the cadence of the waves, half in awe and half in delight. And then brought back to reality by the giggle of my two year old and the way she followed her uncle like a mountain goat over the rocks.
The mum in me got nervous and I told him to hold her hand. Always.

It's barren there. Rocks covered with red heather. Little pools of water. And all around you, the ocean. Demanding respect.

I tore myself away and we walked down to the village. Few words were spoken. We gestured when we wanted to stop and try to capture the scene before us. We wandered through a boathouse filled with old fishing paraphernalia and other interesting stuff like a whale's jaw bone. I wondered what use I would have for a lobster trap and how I would display it. And then I saw the shells, gathered up from the sea. Worth very little to the seller, but worth a great deal for me. I handed over my coins and he wrapped the shells up for me.

 We followed the twisting road up to the lighthouse and the throngs of people. It is after all one of the most photographed sites in all of Canada. We took some obligatory pictures as well and headed away from the people.
It was too noisy, too busy. Everyone caught up with too much noise, the bus schedules, the overpriced coffee served at the top, the perfect picture.

I wanted to capture it all with a film camera. Slow.

We wandered along the rocks, always making our way close to the edge, watching the water hit the rocks and create spray. Our faces were moist.
I found a house I wanted to live in, a little house by the sea. It's quiet and secluded. Simple and quiet.

I crave that in my life.

And so I build it in, one little bit at a time. And I keep my shells close to remind me.

How To Be Quiet

1. Take a deep breath.
No, seriously. It can't always have the sea tang but it can always help. Breathe in and then out slowly to the count of ten. It slows your heart rate down and relaxes your body.

2. Do the next thing.
So the house may be a mess, the laundry still needs to be folded and there's other nagging jobs. Just do the next thing: put laundry on, wash the dishes, breathe. Everything will fall into place.

3. Deliberately slow down.
Light a candle, put some calming music on, gather your littles or whoever is close to you and hug them.   Take time to figure out the reason why life feels so busy, so noisy. And then scale back.

4.  Take time to be quiet.
It may just be a few minutes standing on the back porch, or it may be longer. Leave your phone alone, actually leave all screens alone. Take the few minutes to regroup and then face your lists, your busyness, your day.

Where is your favorite quiet place?

Monday, October 29, 2012

Style Inspiration for a Tired Mum

For the days that just feel a little more then you can handle, like it's been one meltdown/tantrum/tears/mess too many and you're just done.

For the days when your big girl 'naps' with your little girl and changes the dirty diaper and it all ends in one big mess. I spare you the details.

For the days when bubble bath becomes so much more fun and sweet smelling when your shampoo is emptied into the bath water.

For the days when the questions, both yours and theirs, don't seem to end. And there really isn't an answer to satisfy 'why'.

 Be brave. Step out in another area. Let it change your perspective.
Get dressed, like really dressed. Put together an entire outfit. Try something new. For their sake as well as yours.
Know that this one thing you can do, and you can do it well.

And then, let yourself be changed. See yourself as the professional mother that you are.

See the endless questions of why as a thirst for knowledge and the budding of a curious mind.

Delight in the utter wonder that modern washing machines are. Dirty at naptime, clean and cozy for bedtime.

Revel in the cuteness of two little girls covered in bubbles. At least the shampoo was good for their skin and their hair and their tummies.

What new outfits are you trying out and rocking? (Because we all like inspiration and ideas!)

outfit details:
black and white striped tee: Joe (clearance)
shawl: gift
skinnies: Tommy Hilfiger
boots: thrifted
scarf: Mystique India (Edmonton)

Friday, October 26, 2012

Five Minute Friday: Finding my Voice

First time for everything, today I'm joining in the five minute Friday writing community over at Lisa Jo Baker's site  where we write for five minutes flat on the given prompt. Today's prompt: Voice

I don't always know what is, this voice of mine. I write in the quiet, in the stolen moments and the deliberate moments. A little oasis of calm and sorting of thoughts.
It doesn't seem to fit into any one catagory, and I don't know how to label it. The box lid doesn't always fit.
But I write still.
To capture the moments, if for no other audience then myself. To remember what they wore, how they looked and how simple yet complex life with two little girls can be.
I sort out my ponderings, many just sit in drafts, afraid to be that honest and real out in the big world of the published blog post.

But this is my voice. I can't not write.

I write to find clarity, to inspire others, to share snippets of life.

I write for myself, and in being true to myself I find my voice.

I listen to His voice, the still small quiet voice. And remember that to everything there is a season, it won't always be twisting thoughts and wonderings.

And through it all, I write. And I find my voice.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Don't Think. Just Breathe.

Sometimes I think too much, too much quiet pondering with not enough quiet around me. Sometimes I just need to close everything up and open the doors on a brisk autumn day and pick apples.

I could tell you about how the tide was out and the banks of the Cornwallis river were bare and exposed. Or how the farm was completely deserted except for our little band and that we just put our money in the honesty box. I could tell you all about the apples and how we taste tested to see which ones we wanted to bring home.

could tell you how the little one sat right down and ate apples and how the older one ran and ran. I could tell you how the clouds were brilliant, the sun so bright and all the leaves set aglow.

 I could tell how we filled our four bags in no time flat. And that I have no idea what I'll be doing with all the apples but they will be enjoyed.

I could tell you how the petting zoo was full of animals and one manical donkey who nibbled on everything, including us. And how Kilmeny knows exactly the sound pigs make and she will forever say that pigs are grumpy and that they don't say oink. It's more of a gutteral noise from the back of the throat, that makes us all laugh and laugh when she imitates it.

 I could tell you about the good it does one's soul just to stop thinking, to let all the wonderings be and fill one's lungs with fresh, brisk air.

I could tell you how we came home and made apple fritters and then ate them for supper with boiled eggs and tea, in true hobbit fashion.

I will wish you brisk autumn air, and clarity for all the thoughts swirling in your mind. And for you, the chance to let it all go and just breathe.

Monday, October 22, 2012

the gift of the hard times

Sometimes, the words come readily. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes there's time and quiet and a refreshed spirit. Sometimes there's not.

But, all of it. It is all a gift.

Sometimes you miss your own family so bad. And friends. And the freedom to cry and share and know that she will understand you whether it's teething or tantrums or late nights or style quandaries or emotional roller coasters.

And sometimes? You step out of your comfort zone and accept an invitation to a bonfire even though your husband is out of town and you have to be the parent, the extrovert, and yourself. Sometimes, you push the stroller all the way up the hill and join in celebrating a little friend's birthday. And through the laughter and sugar-induced excitement and the freedom of little children, you feel small roots going down and friendships becoming.

And it is all a gift.

p.s. I wrote this last week but never shared it, Jared is away again this week but I have my brother visiting. I'll share more from our adventures later this week. Thanks for being here.

Friday, October 19, 2012

How to Dress: Style Inspiration from the Little Ones for the Big People

1. Always have a great jacket.
It can be thrown over whatever else you're wearing, especially if it's running errands, and can make the simplest of outfits feel pull together.

2. Cute shoes
Always have a pair of cute shoes to go with your great jacket. The accessories can often make an outfit and don't require a huge closet or budget. Color pop, fashion trends, and seasonal statements are all easily achieved with what you're wearing on your shoes. Think ballet flats, boots, and red heels.

3. Never underestimate a good hat.
It can be a blah day, no time for a shower day, or changes in humidity. Choose a hat you like and looks good on you and don't be afraid to wear it! The British do it all the time and look fabulous.

4. Go for a co-ordinated look.
Jeans, hoodie, and runners can look super cute, sporty, and practical. For those days when you just need to wear something or you're outdoors or need some more practical clothes. Wear them and wear them on purpose. Throw your hair up in a ponytail, add a splash of color with a headband and go rock the playground/library/grocery store with a spring in your step.

5. Invest in some quality clothes.
The initial output may slow you down but if it's a pair of good shoes or nice jeans or good jacket (or glasses in my case, here) and you wear it every day, the price is averaged out and it makes a great buy. For example, I had a pair of jeans that I wore a lot. I wore them till they had holes. Price per wear: pennies. Totally worth the investment.

6. Mix and match
Don't be afraid to try something new. Play around with combinations in your closet to create new outfits, be inspired by others and then re-create your own version. It doesn't have to be costly or brand name or just like anyone else, it is you and your style. Wear it with confidence.

7. "Happiest girls are the prettiest."
Audrey Hepburn said this, she is one of my style inspirations but I appreciate this truth probably more then any outfit she wore. People remember a smile long after they've forgotten what you wore.

What inspires you?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

To the Ocean We Went

I put the girls in their carseats, and we drove, taking full advantage of the rental car for the weekend. Along the winding road, beside the blaze of glory that transforms the trees in autumn in Nova Scotia. One little girl slept, and the other talked. A lot. And asked questions. Mostly why questions.

I was exhausted and just wanting to be quiet. I stopped the car and took some pictures. The wind blew my hair and made the grass dance. It was beautiful.

And so is my life. I just miss it sometimes, chasing after perfection. Chasing after the ideal that doesn't exist for anyone.

Life is busy and full and so very precious.

We walked all over the beach, picking up shells, drawing in the sand and walking in the water. We ran and we sang at the top of our lungs. We took big gulps of fresh air. I let the breeze blow all the tension away. I let my girls be little and I let myself be their imperfect mum.

I answered endless questions of why, I danced the dance of the Ergo when my littlest one fussed and I memorized how the ocean calmed all of us.

We collected two more shells for our collection and headed home.

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