Traveling

I'm back in the air again, this time on my way to Tokyo and Seoul.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, it's that time of the year again to stuff the fatted bird, mash the sweet potato, bake the pumpkin pie and give thanks to all the wonderful things that life has offered us since last November.

Tomorrow we will be a motley crew celebrating this most American of holidays. The lunch table will include a Zimbabwean Jew, a German, some South 'Efricans', a pom, an aussie - me - and I think there is one token American for good measure! Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke really.

I am in charge of table decorations given my cooking is so inconsequential ( I mean, really, who knows how to make pumpkin ice cream?!). I'm thinking simple autumn colors seeing this city explodes into orange at this time of year. White tablecloth, natural colored linen napkins, clusters of mini, mini pumpkins along the centre of the table with votives in between. Then a huge vase of wonderfully colored autumn leaves and berries in rusts, yellows, reds and greens. Of course this will have to go once the guests sit down, but a good dramatic effect, don't you agree? Then of course, after a long and hearty lunch, I am going to request parlor games. I'm thinking charades, Pictionary and perhaps a round of Twister to really break down those international borders!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and thank you to the turkey who so kindly donated his life for our pleasure.

Traveling

Off to Beijing for 5 days to launch some new products! Hopefully I will have time to see one of these.

Inner Illumination

"Music exists to elevate us as far as possible above everyday life"

Gabriel Faure

Have you ever had a transcendent moment when life is suspended and all that exists is the sound that surrounds you? I experienced that twice last night during a concert in the stunningly renovated Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Centre.

The White Light Festival is a new annual fall festival that according to its VP of programming, "explores music's unique power to illuminate an interior universe far larger and more fulfilling that the narrow strivings of our egos." It has provided 4 weeks of the most reflective and spiritual moments from different cultures and centuries. Judging by the near impossilbilty to get tickets, clearly these moments of mediation are needed for us frazzled New Yorkers! Last night focused on works by Bach and Arvo Part, sung by the Latvian National Choir and conducted by Tonju Kalijuste from Estonia.

I have been a huge admirer of Part's music for over a decade. Born and living in Estonia, his music has often been referred to as "mystical minimalism." He is a deeply religious man who often sets alot of his music to sacred texts, some of which include a Magnificat, Te Deum, Stabat Mater and De Profundis. He began composing in the 1950's and found his true compositional voice in the 70's when he introduced chant-like melodic phrases, heart wrenching and sometimes discordant harmonies and wonderful periods of silence. He relies on the power of the human voice to create different timbres, with a small string orchestra or organ to support but never detract or take over from the voices.

Last night the two Part pieces had their US debut. The first was Stabat Mater composed in 1985. The second was Adam's Lament, which was commissioned this year on the occasion of Part's 75th birthday. Deviating slightly from his usual Christian bent, Part created this piece with a ecumenical intent and an awareness that it would first be heard in Istanbul, still a predominantly muslim nation. "When composing this piece," he stated, "I only had one wish, and it was that the work should be something to address the Turkish culture. It must be something that connects us all together."

Part used a text written by the monk Silouan of Athos (1866 - 1938) as the basis for his lament. The versus combine the two concerns of Adam; losing the garden of Eden but more so the loss of God's love. It focuses on the suffering of humanity and a longing to reconcile wtih God. Part saw Adam, the first man, as symbolically joining two great religions, Christianity and Islam. "[Adam] is our common forefather. His name carries our human history and at the same time represents each one of us. He marked the tragedy of mankind; By committing a sin, he lost the love of God. And he is still suffering."

The composition was heard for the first time on June 7th 2010 in Hagia Irene, a formerly Eastern Orthodox church and now a museum in the Topkapi PAlace. The choir and orchestra were conducted by last night's conductor, Tonju Kalijuste.

I can't find a recording online of Adam's Lament for you to listen to. But if you want to be transported to an other-worldly agony and despair and at the same time be wrapped in the exquisite sound of the human voice, please go and buy it. Meanwhile, I have embedded the Stabat Mater to tempt you!

images: ltc4940, all the cool spots,  panoramio, history for kids, 

Pearly Whites

I went to the Dentist today (no, that is not my mouth above!) Normally this is an appointment of dread, but I have to admit I really like my dentist. He is a handsome New Yorker in his early 50's, tall, with George Clooney hair and a healthy laissez faire attitude when it comes to work versus play. He has a dental nurse who has the most magical hands. She rubs numbing gel onto my gums and no matter how long since I last flossed, the cleaning process is almost pain free. And her finale is a lovely cold spray of bicarb soda to make sure my ivories are sparkling white and super smooth.

All this made me realize how obsessed New Yorkers are with teeth. Almost to the point of derision. My insurance company actually gives me a hefty discount if I visit the dentist twice a year. Every second ad on TV and in magazines is for Crest whitening strips.

And every other ad is for invisalign braces.

In most neighborhoods there is a teeth whitening salon.

And even Anna Wintour commented on how bad Sienna Miller's teeth were when she was choosing the front cover for her famous September issue (New Yorkers are notoriously critical of english teeth).

According to the American Dental Association, in 2007, Americans spent $95.2 billion on dental care. Now I'm not good with numbers, but I am sure that is larger than some small country's economy. So now I keep thinking: are my teeth white enough and straight enough? Certainly not if I look too hard at America's perfectly perfect news presenters - and I swear they look like this on TV as well as in photos:

Courtney Friel, Fox 

Laurie Dhue, Fox

Alina Cho, CNN

Kiran Chetry, CNN

Katie Couric, CBS

I guess if I had the time I could always use the crest strips, sleep wtih Invisalign and schedule regular appointments at 'Brite Smile' (in betwen the manicures, hair, waxing and whatever else New York women do to stay looking perfect). Or I could just enjoy my grey-haired dentist twice a year and hope that the bicarb soda in Colgate keeps the dreaded yellow at bay. At a minimum I might look like a real person.

images: (1) best teeth whitening systems, (2) low price for home, (3) whistler dental, (4) woodfield, (5) Vogue, (6 - 7) fox, (8-9) CNN,  (10) media bistro

New Girl on the Block

Move over Christian, Manolo and Pierre. There is a new girl in town and she is going to knock your soles off.

Charlotte Olympia Dellal is a name that has been growing momentum for some time now. Her wonderfully quirky shoe label, Charlotte Olympia, is appearing on the perfectly pedicured feet of many a celebrity, It Girl and all those in between. I'm officially obsessed.

Olivia Palermo

SJP

street chic

Charlotte is no stranger to celebrity-dom herself. Born into prominent London It-Family, the Dellals, her sister Alice is a model and her younger brother Alex is dating Monaco beauty Charlotte Casiraghi. Her wedding last June was attended by the likes of Margherita Missoni, Vito Schnabel and Tatiana Santo Domingo.

Charlotte started her shoe line in 2006. Inspired by the glamor of the 1940's and 50's, her shoes make bold statements with blocks of color, vertiginous, decorated heels and her signature leopard print. And every sole features her spiders web logo.

Her inspiration for the fall collection was stain glass windows.  And every pair of colored shoes come with a matching pair of colored stockings. How old school and brilliant is that!

images: (1, 5) harpers bazaar, (2) brigadier, (3) orange, (4) everyone loves fashion,  (5) talk shoes, (6,7) a woman and her shoes, (8,9) shoe goddess

Fall Colors

Last weekend I went to the Catskills to catch the tail end of the fall foilage. "Leaf peeping" they call it here.

We were probably there a week too late, but there were still some gorgeous colors. There is nothing more beautiful than a clear blue sky, crisp air, the smell of damp earth and the autumn hues.

End of an Icon?

The Chelsea Hotel is up for sale. This news has angered some old timer New Yorkers and just made others really sad. The last great bohemian outpost being sold to make way for a slick, modern, soulless hotel? Let's hope not.

The Chelsea opened in 1884 as one of the city's first co-op buildings. It was turned into a 250 room hotel in 1905 and can boast a history as checkered, controversial and colorful as many of its inhabitants. It was a place of bohemian and artistic creativity whilst also being the home of bad behavior. Bob Dylan composed songs here, Alan Ginsberg wrote here. Dylan Thomas died of alcohol poisoning here and Sid Vicious allegedly murdered girlfriend Nancy Spungen here.

It has been the topic of many a book.

It has featured in art.

Room 100, Chelsea Hotel, Dexter Dalwood, 1999

It has been immortalized in songs by Nico, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

And it has been called home by Andy Warhol, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, and Arthur C Clarke, who wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey whilst in residence.

I have to admit that I have never suggested for one of my visiting friends to stay at this hotel, offering instead The Bowery or the Standard. But I do appreciate the history of the place and the fantastic urban myths and legends attached to its corridors and rooms. Let's hope the new owners try and leave some pieces of this infamous hotel.

images: outside left, nancy 110mb, hotel chatter, saatchi gallery, new york times, chelsea hotel blog,

The Lilting Lute

The Lute Player, Caravaggio

I went to a lovely lute recital on Sunday up in Harlem. I can't say I've ever really been a big lute fan, but after listening to recordings recently by lutenist extraordinaire Paul O'Dette, it seemed to be a sign when I saw a flyer promoting his concert in a church on West 121st Street.

O'Dette has been described as "the clearest case of genius to touch his instrument'" (Toronto Globe and  Mail) and certainly his fingers made the lute sing. The whole experience started me thinking about the history of the lute and how ubiquitous in has been in art, politics and everything in between.

The European instrument we know today derives both its name and form from the Arab instrument known as al 'Ud, which literally means 'the wood'. The Arab 'Ud was introduced into Europe by the Moors during their long occupation of Spain (711 - 1492), where it was played in the court of the Andalusian Emir.

Ivory Box, Louvre Paris

Since then it has spent centuries in the great courts of the world, appeared in art from Syria to Italy and beyond, had verse and subsequently songs written about it,  accompanied velvet-clad and buckle-shoed dancers and been played by gods and angels. In fact, Orpheus was never without his lute - sometimes lyre, but usually lute - and Masaccio's cherubs strummed gently to the Virgin and Child.

Young Orpheus, Henry Ryland 1901

Virgin and Child, Masaccio

During the Renaissance, the lute became the most prized instrument of the day and those who composed for or played the lute were considered rock stars. According to O'Dette, during the first half of the 16th century, three lutenists in particular were thought to be the living equivalents of Orpheus - Marco dall'Aquila, Francesco da Milano and Alberto Ripa da Mantova. They tended to play their own music which is still available today. Apparently Alberto was "headhunted" by the Ambassador of France  to come and play in King Francois I court. He was so highly revered that he was the second highest paid court member after the minister of defense!

Throughout history, the lute has been rich in symbolism. In the hands of angels it has represented the beauty of heaven, but in the hands of man, it has symbolised discord and division through a broken string (see Holbein's Ambassadors) or lasciviousness and scandal.

Angel with Lute, Fiorentino

Ambassadors, Holbein

A luteplayer carousing wtih a woman holding a roemer, Terbrugghen

Today the lute has waned in favor, but luckily O'Dette is keeping the music and instrument alive. I will leave you with him playing a piece by Alberto Ripa da Mantova.

Images: met museum, dsbx, art magick, artchive, flickr, artchive, hendrick brugghen