Dear all,

We never planned to go to the Frankfurt International Book Fair. It just happened that way. We were flying in and out of Frankfurt on Singapore Air (which is a great flight, by the way). While trying to book accommodations, I noticed that hotels were very expensive and almost completely sold out. I finally managed to find a hotel in Offenbach, a nearby suburb of Frankfurt. What was going on? We were flying in during the Frankfurt International Book Fair. We knew this fair was a big deal, but we had no idea. It draws almost 300,000 people, including over 12,000 accredited journalists. There has been a book fair in Frankfurt for over 500 years. The vast grounds of the fair stretches over 2 subway stops and contains about 9 mammoth convention-type buildings.

Hey, we're publishing some books, admittedly limited edition artist books with edition sizes of about 20 or so. Let's check out the book fair. Later, when I had to change our trip around, we were locked into the expensive hotel in Offenbach, so it was book fair, here we come. Found out the hotels triple and quadruple their rates during the book fair.


Our hotel turned out to be an impressive building, a former factory, beautifully remodelled. When I asked the man at the front desk what type of factory it used to be, he replied "A Slaughterhouse."


Frankfurt public transportation is impressive. Took the subway from Offenbach directly to the book fair, and I do mean directly. The subway exit and escalators went directly to the book fair entrance.

Many vendors have their booths set up as little cafes, where one can sit and have some refreshments, gratis. We didn't take advantage of this too often, feeling a bit too much like outsiders. This fair draws folks from all over the book world, making connections, wheeling and dealing, signing contracts.


One booth on a floor of probably 500 booths, no exaggeration, in a building of 5 floors, which was one of 9 or 10 buildings. The catalog for the fair was 3 inches thick with listings of the different vendors. It's book city.

Both Peter Koch and John Yau gave us names of friends to look up at the book fair. We were only able to find one of about 8 of them, and he, Despalles, was so busy that we didn't even greet him. The fair goes on for 5 days. One day was more than enough for us. 5 days must be exhausting.



By far most of the vendors handled new publications, but this is an example of one of the antiquarian books also for sale at the book fair.

That evening, following a recommendation from Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat Winery, who we met at the aforementioned BayWolf Double Duck dinner, we dined at Goldman's, a restaurant located on the outskirts of Frankfurt, towards Offenbach. Very good food and wine.

Stuffed and rolled pheasant at Goldman's Restaurant, Frankfurt, Germany. A number of book fair people eating there.
Intolerance Strikes Again!

With the US State Department issuing warnings about threats to Americans traveling in Europe from Islamic religious extremists, back home on our own soil we are experiencing attacks on our first amendment rights and violence by American religious extremists. Most of you have probably heard about the destruction of Enrique Chagoya's piece while on display at a museum in Loveland, Colorado. We copy below a letter from Enrique:

Dear Friends,

Sadly, today in the afternoon a woman armed with a crowbar attacked my book "The Misadventures of the romantic Cannibals" at the Loveland Art Museum, in Loveland, Colorado, and apparently broke the plexiglas box, took the book and tore it to pieces. Luckily the book is a multiple hand made lithograph and although there are only limited copies of the book it can be replaced by an equal print. The book is included in a group exhibition with the prints published by Shark's Ink (see sharksink.com)

I am worry that our first amendment rights are also attacked by the same crowbar. I am in shock, and fear for the personal security of the museum's staff, publisher, and myself since this has been an orchestrated attack by a national religious organization with fanatics everywhere.

There was a great article from this morning (Wednesday October 6) at the Huffington Post by Leanne Goebel that was the most balanced piece done so far. The rest of the media (with few other exceptions like A.P. which also has been balanced) has been demonizing the piece with complete fabrications and false descriptions. Just google it to read more about it (my name and Loveland) and check the Huffington Post article by Goebel. There is already some late news about the vandalizing, and by Thursday there will be more about it. As I said to the press, my book is a critique to institutional and spiritual corruption in religious organizations and not an attack on anybody's beliefs and opinions which I respect, and I been keeping my hope that people will respect mine (but clearly it has not been the case).

I don't take our rights for granted, and I will keep exercising my freedom of speech right by replacing the work with a similar copy in the show in spite of all this extreme reactions (and I hope the museum agrees).

Thank you all for your supportive e-mails. They are a relief in the middle of all the hate/racist e-mail I keep getting. Luckily I also got much support from artists, art professionals, and even a Pastor in Loveland who agrees with my explanation of my work who is inviting me to do a painting for his Church. There is hope.

Enrique

And an excerpt from the George Adams Gallery in NYC:

According to Loveland Cultural Services director Susan Ison, the museum is being inundated with negative emails protesting the display of Enrique’s work. “The people who support the exhibition and support the museum are the ones who aren’t very vocal. It might be a call to attention for them.”

Please take a moment and send an email isons@ci.loveland.co.us to voice your support.

George Adams

A STATEMENT BY ENRIQUE CHAGOYA ON THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS CODEX PROVIDED TO FOX NEWS ON OCTOBER 7, 2010

I feel sad that our First Amendment right was also attacked by the crowbar that destroyed my book. Should we as artists, or any free-thinking people, have to be subjected to fear of violent attacks for expressing our sincere concerns? I made a collage with a comic book and an illustration of a religious icon to express the corruption of something precious and spiritual. There is no nudity, or genitals, or explicit sexual contact shown in the image. There is a dressed woman, a religious icon's head, a man showing his tongue, and a skull of a Pope in the upper right corner of the controversial page. I did not make a picture of Christ. I used symbols as one would use words in a sentence to critique corruption of the sacred by religious institutions.

Institutions need to be criticized when they get corrupted. If people don't like my way of saying it, it is their right, just as it is my right, to express that. Violence is the opposite of what Jesus, Mohammed or Buddha taught. I am amazed that some of the followers don't adhere to the teachings. Agree to disagree and love thy neighbor. Only totalitarian societies are ruled by extreme rules. Do we want to live as if under Stalin or Hitler who censored not only the arts but all levels of thinking? This is America, but I don't take my rights for granted. I know they can easily be taken away by hate and extremism. Lets exchange ideas not insults, or labels. We all want this world to be a better place to live in, not a place where we live in fear of angry disagreements that will take us nowhere.

If you feel strongly about this, as we do, consider sending an email of support to Susan Ison, the Loveland Cultural Services director (see above).

Thank you,

Era and Don

Dear all,

Awoke to what sounded like heavy chains being dragged up an endless flight of stone stairs - maybe the Duomo? It turned out to be some of those food and souvenir carts rattling their way across the stone-paved passageway in front of our building.

Don approached me a touch sheepishly (for Don) and said he realized that now we had to climb up the Campanile (Bell tower) so he could get some good shots of the Duomo from a higher level. So that's how we started out our day. It's not as high as the Duomo.


I find myself being very selective in Florence. It's just not like it was in the 'sixties when there were very few tourists, when almost none of the Italians spoke English, when you looked around the beautiful streets and piazzas and almost everyone was Italian, and stylishly turned out. When the signs and marquees were tasteful and discreet, designed only to instruct Italians. As our friend Inez describes: The men come there like beautiful peacocks with their coats over their shoulders...such prima gorgeous donnas! She may (I don't know) have been describing a more recent Florence, but it conjures up Florence of the 'sixties to me. However, also in the 'sixties, you rarely saw young women on the streets, and then only holding the hand of their mother or an aunt who had joined the nunnery. The men were so starved for female companionship that they would follow us down the streets in a small horde, which actually became very annoying after the initial flattery wore off in about 10 minutes, maybe 5. Actually, Florence was not as bad as Rome that way. Now there are so many young Americans doing their study abroad and tourists that English is heard as often as Italian. It is a wonderful experience for these young people, though. I think it is great and life changing; I just wish there weren't quite so many of them.

Of course, I'm one of them (one of the tourists, not one of the young people), and I'm happy to be here. But I do view Florence through a selective filter; I do my best to screen out those tourists, to recapture the past, which I think is rather a dangerous activity. It's probably one of the first steps to growing old, so I don't do it in general; only in Florence because I loved it so much, when I was 17. In fact, I avoided returning here for many years because I didn't think I could bear to see the changes. But it's not so bad; it's still beautiful, it's still worth visiting. However, it is a little like seeing your once very stylish and glamorous aunt, become a little tawdry, even though she still tries to follow the fashions. She appears at a function with her garishly colored lipstick and black eyeliner applied crookedly, a few soup spots on her clothing. You still love her, of course, but you feel a little sad. (Of course, this is probably how people have been feeling about Florence and other great cities for centuries.)

Speaking of visiting Florence, we were amazed at how many of our friends and family have actually lived here. People have been writing in with all sorts of suggestions, many of which we were not able to follow, although they sounded amazing. So we thought we would compile them here for those who are lucky enough to come to Florence in the future.


ou have to cross the Arno to get to some of the recommendations (Osteria del Cinghale Bianco and La Specola).

So pretty much in order of receipt, dinner suggestions from Brian Caraway (long-time Magnolia employee who spent a semester here). He even includes web sites.

Trattoria ZaZa

right on the piazza del marcato centrale (plaza of san loranzo market)
inside the market, there is a duck ragu that is simply to die for. once you enter the market go to the back left corner on the bottom floor. along that aisle, on the right hand side, just before you would have to turn right, at the back. try that and a plate of the pepe al pomodoro. possibly the best lunch (and least expensive) you'll have while you are there (oh yeah, only open for lunch).

on via santo spirito: il Cantinone enoteca and restaurant
and borgo san jacopo: Osteria del Cingale Bianco

hope this finds you well.
can't wait to hear some more stories.
bacci e abbracci

We did go to Osteria del Cinghale Bianco. Very, very good. We are not big meat eaters, but we did split a Tuscan steak there with porcini mushroom risotto, grilled vegetables, and the Florentine crostini (chicken liver pate on toast) - all related to you in reverse order. The proprietors are very warm and welcoming.

Trattoria Za Za is outside the central covered market (plaza of san loranzo market), which we did not have time to try, but the people eating there looked very happy.

We did go into the central market and tried the duck ragu, or some sort of ragu they were serving. Brian's right; it was fabulous. The pepe al pomodoro I thought was less fabulous, but still good and much lighter, so it was great to split these. The stall and seating area is a mad house. Very popular and chaotic.

Both Inez Storer and Squeak Carnwath recommended the museum La Specola, which is a fascinating place, but not for the weak of stomach. A huge number of stuffed animals and then the most amazing wax figures of dissected human bodies (mostly young and lovely women). I read that Goethe went to see these when he traveled to Italy and that they were a favorite of the Marquis de Sade (not surprising).

Sorry, we did not get any photos of the dissected women. We were edging towards nausea and there was a lot of reflection on the glass cases. I did get a snap of the veins of a leg, which was pretty interesting, but I will spare you. Also the lymphatic system was quite fascinating. Have no idea if it is accurate.


This artist, whose name I unfortunately do not recall, lived through one of the horrible Florentine plagues. There were several of these pieces, wax miniatures, which give you a sense of what it must have been like to live during the plagues, minus the smells and the terror, of course. We spent a morning at La Specola, and fortunately were still able to enjoy our lunch at Osteria del Cinghale Bianco.

Inez also recommended we go to an old apothecary near Santa Maria Novella. In fact, it was the official pharmacy of the Santa Maria Novella church and convent back in the days:

Hi You Two: Duomo looks splendid and did you notice that the tall wing or appendage or very narrow building on left is leaning to the left? You MUST fix it and report it to the CHURCH! Just for sheer indulgence if you can, wander over to the Santa Maria Novella (by railway station) and go to the grand old pharmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on Via della Scala, 16. You will see the most beautiful light and old apothecaries in the room to the right. Be sure and get the astringent lotion...it takes years off your lives. You can send it or get a plastic bottle and decant it. And the box of soap is the most beautiful of boxes.

After arriving, I realized that I had been there, probably 40 years ago. It is a truly gorgeous place. We inquired about the astringent lotion, as we were fairly sure Inez meant that it took years off our appearance, and not off our lives. We had to chuckle when they explained to us that they no longer carry it and this was a lotion for adolescents, to prevent pimples.


The apothecary near Santa Maria Novella.





Is this Morocco, or perhaps Turkey? No, it's part of Santa Maria Novella. Someone returning from the Crusades must have had a hand in this.


From David Linger, a former intern at Magnolia, who was helping us with a ceramic project:

Since you are nearby, go to Robiglio, my favorite, old pastry shop on Via dei Servi - which is near Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, where Ospedale degli Innocenti is. The piazza has significant, early Renaissance buildings faced with gorgeous 15th Century plaques by della Robbia - who was my first hero in ceramics.
I was going to tell you to see the science museum, but you found it on your own. It's one of my favorites, and never has anybody in it.

We did go to Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, a handsome plaza, and we got biscotti at Robiglio.


From Anthony Holdsworth, who has lived in Florence, and fearlessly returns with groups of plein air painters and his wife and fellow painter Beryl, every year or so:

Era,
I'm enjoying your blogs. Thanks!
While you're in Florence you might want to check out my video of my recent trip there:  www.anthonyholdworth.com   And for something really different take the bus to I Gigli where the Florentines do all their serious shopping. It'll blow your mind and you will discover much better prices. It's a twenty minute ride into the periferia west of the city. There's a special bus that you pick up on Via Nazionale (to your right as you face the Santa Maria train station) just before via Fiume. You buy tickets in the office on the corner. The correct bus will be posted 'I Gigli'

Also Anthony and Roxane Schlumberger recommended Piazza Santo Spirito (across the Arno), which we somehow always forget to visit. It sounds great, but unfortunately the email came too late for us to fit it in. (We're not actually still in Florence, left 2 days ago)

Even if you don't visit I Gigli, do visit Piazza Santo Spirito some evening and have a glass of wine at the Pop Caffe this is where young Florentines hang out. For the price of a class of wine or beer you get all the food you can eat (though you'll need many tiny platefuls). Lunchtime this cafe offers delicious light lunches. Its a great antidote to the tourist saturated culture.
Ciao,
Anthony

Love from

Era and Aldo

Dear friends and family,

Let's see, yesterday (Saturday) we changed apartments. This apartment changing is the result of making such last minute changes to the trip, but the new apartment might be even better than the last. Both were great, but this one has internet! It's also between the Palazzo Vecchio and Via de Tornabuoni, actually not far from the Ponte Vecchio. I took some photos of this apartment before we flung our stuff all over and messed it up.


Apartment #2 has a washer and dryer. Apartment #1 only had a washer; one reason the apartment looked so messy (with clothes hanging up to dry).

We went to a farmer's market Saturday morning, or more like a specialty produce fair. Got an absolutely delicious truffle spread, seriously addictive. Also some nice bottles of wine and cheese. There is a wine show going on in Florence this weekend, tastings in different museums and other venues. It would have been very tempting, but we already had these lovely bottles we simply must drink.

It was a lovely day so we decided to climb to the top of the Duomo, something I can't remember ever doing, although it is possible I may have done it when I was 17 and touring with Deborah Hoffman (then Mann) and Erica Lennard. Maybe they can remember. We walked by several ambulances parked in the piazza. There are many, many steps; overweight tourists must pass out all the time.





































Here is a fabulous composite photo which Don took and then auto-pano'ed of the views we had when we would come out of our little narrow steep and close stone stairway for a more expansive view and breath of fresher air.


The stone stairs climbing between the famous 2 dome construction, an engineering feat devised by Brunelleschi which made this huge dome possible. Finally, panting and gasping, we made it to the top.


You'd probably look a little hesitant also if you climbed to the top of the Duomo and had a visitation from Johnny Cash. Would he just pose nicely, or would he try to carry you away, and perhaps not be able to hang on to you, regrettably dropping you on the beautiful city of Florence? I'm reading The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie, the perfect book to read while visiting Florence or Northern India. However, it is perhaps making me a bit fanciful.  (In criticism of my blog, Aldo points out that he doesn't see the resemblance: He doesn't have a guitar, he doesn't have a black cowboy hat, he's only wearing half black, and he doesn't have a craggy face, but his hair is sweaty from climbing almost 500 rather high steps.)


View from the top. 13 photographs stitched together. The full-size has incredible detail.

Love from

Era and Aldo

Dear all,

Have to relate another story about Ryanair from Ms. Georgina Esch of mainly Southern France these days, I think.

One of our female friends, a 5 foot 10 redhead, was pushed by a Ryanair official in the Perpignan airport.  So she decked him.  And was arrested.   Wonderful.  She dined out on it for months.

Good for her, I say. I think that would be a very appropriate use for our $100 fine. Though perhaps, being American, I am jumping to the conclusion that she sued Ryanair. Perhaps she had her meals paid for by people who appreciated a good story and sympathized with her more than they sympathized with Ryanair.


As I mentioned, we have no internet in our apartment, so we are forced to go to this cafe every morning and sometimes during other times of the day and have cappuccini.

Lots of museum hopping. We are definitely up for it. Went to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (History of the Duomo), which was our main reason for coming to Florence. Don is doing research for a project. Took tons of pictures, which they do allow.


Part of the research, getting a sense of scale. This picture serves a dual purpose: Always make note of the toilet location.


Era at Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, sitting under a Donatello choir balcony - young boys frolicking. Not on a cell phone; listening to the Museo's spiel. We heard how various seriously wealthy people, like the Medici, would have different pieces torn out of the Duomo to update it for their son's wedding, or bar mitzvah, or some such event.

Then went to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi which has a lovely 360 degree fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli (photos not allowed), and a couple of the most incredible ceilings. Fantastic. One of many Medici palaces in Florence and its surrounds.





































Through the Looking Glass at Palazzo Medici Riccardi.





































Room with a Ceiling

 
Another room with a ceiling at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Today we went to a new museum, Museo Galileo, or the Instituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (history of Science). Absolutely fantastic. We loved it. So inspiring. Beautiful old instruments and equipment, almost all Italian, so they were exquisitely beautiful. Little movies throughout which explained the different inventions, their basic science and how they worked. Everything was explained visually with very minimal subtitles in Italian and English. Very cleverly done. The exhibits and the inventions and machinery itself were beautifully presented. We spent the whole day there, except for a break for soup (Ribollita), salad, porcini mushrooms, grilled vegetables and shrimp pasta, wine, of course. They wouldn't let us take photos, but they did have beautiful catalogs for sale. We bought half a dozen very heavy ones. Now must find FedEx.

Living around the corner from the Duomo you begin to notice certain things. Do you see how the sky shining through the rosettes is so enamel blue? When I first saw them, even though I knew better, I thought the rosettes were enameled. Also, almost all the elements in the building are not identically matching. The windows are all different, the decorative elements in the archways at the top of the building, under the rosettes are all different. The four petalled rosettes to the right of the picture are pretty similar, but the similarity is an oddity in this building.

While enjoying a glass of wine yesterday at a neighborhood cafe with wireless (same cafe as first photo of this blog), Don spoke to an artist friend on his cell phone (using Skype), as the friend was speeding on a  train to Virginia (sounds like a math problem). So, Don was in Florence, using Skype, and speaking to someone who was traveling to Virginia. Sorry to repeat myself, but I just can't get over these newfangled ways. The down side - a supplier called Don's cell in the middle of the night to inquire about an overlooked/unpaid Magnolia bill ($100) - oops.

More coming up.

Ciao, ciao,

Era and Aldo

Dear friends and family,

We are kicking ourselves that we did not see Enrique Chagoya's etchings at the Met, displayed alongside Goya etchings. A little intimidating, he says. I guess, but still quite an honor. Those of you in NY may still have a chance.

Frankfurt must have been a good 20, 25 degrees cooler than NY. We landed in mist and then light drizzle. At first it felt wonderful, but after a couple hours out walking we started to get cold. What soft, fickle creatures we are. Stayed in a wonderful boutique hotel, Villa Oriental. All done in a Moroccan style with beautiful craftsmanship throughout. A Persian restaurant next door with great food. And what I was probably most excited about, I got to remove the 2 "A Child's Vi[r]gil" by Norbert Prangenberg and John Yau from my luggage and we actually mailed them at a Frankfurt post office to Norbert's agent. It was so easy! Let's hope they get there, but somehow the young efficient postman at the Frankfurt Hautbahnhof (main train station) inspired great confidence. German efficiency. The package took up at least half of my suitcase, so the relief is immense.


Travel is not boring, especially when you take Ryanair. The Frankfurt-Hahn airport is about an hour and 45 minutes from Frankfurt. It is an old military airbase which is now used for mainly budget airlines (Still has a Circa 1960 building/control tower with giant words "Flight Operations"). To get out there, one must drive, or the easiest way is to take one of the airline shuttles. These leave every hour from close to the Hautbahnhof. Ryanair is inexpensive and very reliable, but fraught with all sorts of strict pitfalls and a policy of zero tolerance. (Quite a difference from Singapore Air on our flight over, where you feel that you can do no wrong. At Ryanair you almost feel that everything you do is wrong.) You break the rules, you pay ze money, or maybe you don't even get on the plane. They close their flight desks I believe 30 minutes before the flight, so if you haven't checked in and dropped your luggage, you are out of luck. If you haven't declared your luggage and paid for it beforehand, it will cost you. And if you haven't printed out your boarding passes, within a window which closes 4 hours before your flight, it will really cost you. We forgot to print ours out and it cost us about 100 bucks.


We took a walk along the River Main (pronounced "Mine", sort of).

We got off the bus and straggled into the airport. Some of our fellow travelers were greeted with a notice that their flight had been cancelled. Was this some new Ryanair thing? No, it turned out all flights into anywhere in Spain and Belgium were cancelled on all airlines, because of a big strike in those countries. We spoke to 3 young Germans, who had been on their way to Valencia, now waiting in line to get their refund, and hoping to get tickets to Portugal. Travel is not boring, they said. We later saw them, all smiles. They had managed to group together with 2 other formerly stranded travelers, one of whom had rented a car, and they were all going to drive to Spain.


While standing in line in the waiting room, we couldn't help but notice a disturbance. A  couple had gotten into a screaming match with one of the Ryanair hostesses. The man, who was trying to get some long rolls of something onto the plane (eegads, he was probably an artist), completely lost it and started to make threatening gestures directed towards the hostess. She shouted "That's it! He's staying here. He's not getting on the plane." The female side of the couple started a screaming and shouting episode, which lasted a good 20 minutes. It was impressive. The man planted himself in the passage, doing his best to block the entry of those of us who were allowed to board the plane. I don't think they ever made it onto the plane. I was relieved to discover that they did not appear to be Americans. At least one can take pleasure in the fact that this couple managed to find each other; clearly meant to be together.

An hour and a half later, and we landed in a different world, a world of perfect weather, for one thing. Actually landed in Bologna, made our way to Florence, and to the most fabulous spacious, luxurious apartment, around the corner from the Duomo. Went to a neighborhood restaurant with a proprietor who broke into song on a regular basis, mostly opera arias. Shades of Lady and the Tramp and their spaghetti dinner, if you can remember that far back. The food was delicious. Wonderful pasta, good wine, fresh veggies. Don had a grappa to fight off a cold that was coming on. The only thing not great was the limoncello, but that was on the house.






Maintenance never ends on these older structures. (Auto Pano - 8 photos stitched together with Era editing - orig = 200MB. Don catching up on his sleep and attempting to shake the cold.)

The astounding Florentine Duomo, the result of many competitions over the centuries, with entries from some very big names in art. Michelangelo was one of the losers. The maestro commented that the winning design for the top dome and facade looked like a cricket cage. One can imagine the Maestro making this comment somewhat bitterly, after some good, or bad, Italian wine. Sour grapes. We don't agree, and the newly cleaned and replaced white arches at the top look fabulous.

We will soon venture out to discover the best cappucino/internet cafe in Florence.

And we must apologize if we are not answering your emails quickly or at all. Our apartment is an elegantly restored medieval building with very high ceilings, new kitchen and bathroom, spacious, all of that, but no internet. So we would have to be extremely efficient to answer everything at an internet cafe, and it just isn't going to happen. So if it's important, and we haven't answered in a few days, please re-send. We do love getting your responses, but we may not have the requisite time to respond back, at least not right away.

Love, Ciao,

Era and Aldo (Don)

Hi all,

Went to the Neue Galerie and ate at Cafe Sabarsky; the first recommended by my high school buddy, Deborah Mann, and the second by restauranteur Michael Wild (Baywolf). Fortunate that they are in the same building. The Neue was having an amazing exhibition of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's character head sculptures. They looked so contemporary, but Messerschmidt was alive and producing in the 18th century. John Yau says Arneson loved Messerschmidt and we can see why. Cafe Sabarsky served a lovely lunch, but nothing to touch the Double Duck dinner at BayWolf we had the night before we left. Those of you living within driving distance of Oakland should not miss going to at least one of these. They are fabulous!! A yearly event, end of September.

Also saw the Matisse show at MOMA; skipped Big Bambu at the Met as our ex-son-in-law, Kevin Rowell, has been building mammoth bamboo sculptures all over this land and in some foreign lands for years. (That is before he started helping on the Haiti reconstruction efforts.) They look just as awesome as the pics we have seen of the Starn twins' structure, but that is good that the Starns are jumping on the bamboo wagon. Also walked to the Asia Society, but we skipped the Yoshitomo Nara exhibit. Not our favorite.





































Era with Guardian

Saturday evening was unwholesomely hot and humid. We walked through Times Square, which was crowded with fevered people who seemed to be barely moving. We did snap this Where's Waldo type picture of a giant billboard of the crowd. (picture taken another cooler evening)


We are standing at a small round table, close to a woman sporting a bright red jacket. Or right above where life.forever appears.





































Unidentified tourist, getting into the spirit of the good ol' USA.

Had dinner at John Yau and Eve Aschheim's house. These generous friends have had us over for dinner almost every trip we have taken to NY. Poor John cooked in that heat while Eve de-loused the head of a neighbor child. As the Japanese say, Thank you for exhausting yourselves.





































John, daughter Cerise, and new dog Charlie. Eve upstairs de-lousing a neighbor kid.

We mentioned our ex-son-in-law, and yesterday morning we got an email from Kevin in response to the travel blog you all received. He was in NY for 1 day, meeting with people from the Rockefeller Foundation and the UN, fundraising for the re-construction efforts in Haiti. He and some other good people are putting together a program which will teach people in the Haitian community to build both sustainably and safely.


We had a great dinner with Kevin and our lovely niece Kate Hamaji, also working for a non-profit. Very fun!


We just about did it all (actually that's impossible to do in NY in less than a week), but did not manage to meet with artist Katarina Wong, fortunately we will see her in Stockholm. Also couldn't meet this trip with my cousin's daughter, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, who is now a prize-winning author, but we'll probably see her in the Bay Area when she goes on her book tour. She has written a book on Hiroshima. She interviewed my mom for it, and Rahna said Mom figures prominently in it, so I am excited to read it.

Now at JFK, waiting to catch a Singapore Airline flight to Frankfurt. (Now sending from Frankfurt).

Love to all,

Era and Don

Hi friends and family,

Everything going smoothly here, although it is still quite hot and humid. Many NY'ers walking around in short shorts and flip flops.

Arrived very late Tuesday evening. Wednesday had a very good meeting with Chuck Close at his studio. Some promising projects and new ideas. Got a tour of Chuck's apartment and tasted some delicious Sweet 100 baby tomatoes he is growing on his rooftop deck. Lunch at Chuck's studio; delicious sandwiches from The Smile. The executive chef is Melia Marden, Brice Marden's daughter. Keep it in the family.

We met two lovely women at Chuck's Studio, one being the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She's a very attractive and pleasant woman named Cecile Richards, who is also the daughter of Ann Richards, former governor of Texas. They loved the tapestries hanging in Chuck's studio.

Went to the Rubin that afternoon; we were pleasantly surprised to run into Tsherin Sherpa, a Tibetan artist who lives in Oakland and visited Magnolia along with Katie De Tilly, Hung Liu's Hong Kong dealer, and Gonkar Gyatso, an artist who shows at Katie's gallery, 10 Chancery Lane. Tsherin Sherpa and  Gonkar Gyatso  are currently in a very interesting show at the Rubin called Tradition Transformed. All the artists are living Tibetan artists and looking at Tibetan imagery from a contemporary or Western perspective. Two of the artists, Losang Gyatso and Tenzing Rigdol, have works in The Missing Peace. Tsherin Sherpa gave a talk, which Don and I crashed, to a group of students from The New School. He spoke about his struggles and doubts while learning traditional thangka painting and then breaking with tradition. He is a lovely man with an open-hearted demeanor.

Tsherin said that he tries to paint happy paintings, and that is always his original intent, but somehow they all end up being dark. He got a sympathetic chuckle from the audience.


Tsherin Sherpa at the Rubin. We love his deities in gas masks. We were stopped from taking pictures by museum officials.

We're staying in Brooklyn and took a walk Thursday thru Prospect Park. Don't know if you heard about the tornadoes which ripped through Brooklyn and the Bronx about a week ago, but the devastation was shocking. So many stately old trees blown over. Paul Discoe, our daughter, Marisha, or many of our environmentally active friends would know what to do with these trees. I hope they're not wasted.



Broken Tree, Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Finally arrived at the Brooklyn Museum after walking in circles and dodging fallen trees. Loved this stained glass gypsy carriage in their lobby. Reminded me of Romania.


That evening we went to Thierry Despont's opening at Marlborough Gallery on 57th Street. Magnolia had produced 9 mammoth tapestries for Thierry. They looked stunning against Marlborough's gigantic walls. The whole effect was otherworldly. I'm afraid our pics of the opening are not great.


Era, Thierry Despont and unidentified art lover at Marlborough



More later; Love,

Era and Don