Who Asked Me?

I got a kick out of this article today about a thirty-something lawyer couple in my Brooklyn locale who have installed an adjunct to their townhouse with a large, clearly visible glass shower where they lather up in full view of the neighbors. The tipster reporting the story described the two as “not unattractive,” which I think should be a minimum requirement for anyone filing for such an exhibitionist permit. “The City of New York requires that the installation have proper drainage, be adequately sealed, and never be utilized by anyone failing to meet established, not-unattractive standards ..” This would have gone a long way toward solving last year’s controversy in San Francisco’s predominantly gay Castro district, where some flabby, middle-aged dudes fought for their right to parade about publicly in their birthday suits. The gentleman in question were also said to have engaged in sex acts and flaunted their goods adjacent to a local elementary school (as reported by area Supervisor .. wait for it .. Scott Weiner.) This is about where Brooklyn draws its line with San Francisco and had they tried the same here, odds are it would have resulted in a day-old loaf of lard bread being placed in a highly-awkward location. (Which in turn might have prompted the eastward migration of numerous middle-aged Castro district residents, but this is another matter.)

While most would agree that there’s something shaky about naked, older men setting up camp next to a schoolyard, things get a bit less well-defined with broader issues of public exposure. Particularly in New York City, where population density and proximity to one’s neighbors’ windows make it nearly impossible to remain entirely oblivious to what’s going on across the way. Case in point, an 81st Street Upper West Side studio that I lived in for six months back in 2004. My window stood directly opposite those of an exceptionally not-unattractive, tall, young blonde who had a fondness for neither shades nor clothing. This was something straight out of a George Costanza fantasy sequence – if she wasn’t a model she’d missed her calling, and it wasn’t merely a matter of being careless about who could see in. The amount of time she spent right by her window, well-lit and engaged in particular .. activities .. more than suggested that this was an audience-friendly affair. That said I’m both open to and inclined to agree with all accusations of hypocrisy and perversion. What the hell – I was relatively new to the big city and largely alone. If any crime was committed it was the fact that I never thought to send her an anonymous Christmas gift .. well, this and not extending my lease. From there I moved to 86th and Riverside, and a third floor walk up. Nice place but it overlooked a nursing home. Either way, you’ve got to love this city.

McSorley’s Bar, 1912. John Sloan.

Hot in New York. It’s never good when you’re looking toward the weekend, anxiously anticipating the ‘relief’ of a 93-degree day. But that’s what the city is in the summer, and running from it only takes more out of you. I made this observation with Tom Myers, who was out from Northern California last week: you have to get some of New York ‘on you’ this time of year. And we did, traipsing through Williamsburg in the afternoon sizzle-sweat. Could there be a more effective getting-it-on-you spot than this wonderfully oppressive Brooklyn stretch of Hasids, Homeboys and Hipsters? Mid-afternoon, July, in Williamsburg .. the definition of masochism. And yet it places a premium on every gentle breeze that passes; a buck-fifty bottle of water seems like the deal of the century. Two dollars and fifty cents for a brief ferry ride with the cool off the East River is like trading beads for Manhattan. An ice-chilled, air conditioned subway train .. off the charts.

People complain about the ‘Disneyfication’ of New York City, but those people are some of the biggest pussies going. Yeah it costs a small fortune to rent or own here, but for every across the pond import up-pricing apartments and scouring private schools for their kids, there’s someone scraping by on their fifth or sixth decade, too wrapped up in the day to day to recount old stories of CBGB or Bernhard Goetz. Or someone on their seventh or eighth decade with enough New York under their belt to put Bernie in the ‘current events’ file. It isn’t rocket science. New York is New York because of the people, in all of their voluminous, newcomer, old-timer, reviling, adoring, old money, new money and no money glory. It’s the women in the summertime, elegant in age or effortlessly beautiful in youth, a real-time reminder of nature’s ‘refresh’ key. It’s the boatloads of new arrivals landing on frantic Manhattan intersections with their wheeled suitcases, looking both overwhelmed and like there’s no place they’d rather be. You don’t need a personal guide or pricey ticket to experience it .. two dollars and fifty cents, again, will do. Go underground at the nearest subway station and purchase a one-way ride, then spend a few hours traveling aimlessly and observing before coming up for air. It might not register through the initial sensation, but you’ll have experienced something unique to precious few urban centers. If New York is losing its authenticity it’s only because we’re doing the same as a people. Personally I’m not buying it and suspect it’s the age-old standard lament of the uninspired, unimaginative, and terminally dissatisfied. Hell, half the people here on any given day are from somewhere else anyway.

Which brings me back to Myers and the summer of 2013. We got corned beef sammis at Katz’s deli (my second in recent months for those counting) then nursed a mild hangover from the previous evening over two light and two dark at McSorley’s Ale House. Tom recounted a visit to said tavern in his youth, walking through the door with his travel duffel still in hand to the welcoming strains of “they’ll let any asshole in here now ..” from a couple of old-timers. I cooked a Newport steak on my roof one night in the rain while we caught up with Mark Street – another Monaco Labs veteran from the Days That Used To Be – in my apartment below. We hit the George Best Irish soccer bar slash taco place down the block for a late-night meal and tequila and watched There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men on my new flat screen. We rode the A, F and G and we watched the people – those glorious New York denizens – do their thing. And we never even thought to thank them.

The word ‘everyman’ has been used a lot to describe James Gandolfini’s portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano, particularly in the hours since the actor’s death Wednesday night in Rome. Physical descriptions – ‘balding’, ‘overweight’ – pop up in attempt to explain his accessibility, how what he did spoke to so many people. But there are legions of fat, balding actors who couldn’t hold a candle to Gandolfini and dozens of more conventionally-styled leading men who might have taken an admirable run at his defining role but ultimately ended up looking like soulless hacks in comparison. As great a show as The Sopranos is on so many levels, there’s only one inextricable piece. Without Gandolfini the whole thing comes crashing down.

I’ve watched The Sopranos so much, particularly in the six years since the final episode, that entire chunks are lodged in my subconscious. While picking up groceries or out for a run my mind will inevitably drift to a Tony-line. It’s usually the more mundane, seemingly throwaway ones too – ‘the hell with heating it up, it’s good like this‘ when Carmela offers to microwave a bowl of cold pasta for him. “Ah – a roller ball,” unmoved upon receiving the pen as a gift from Ginny Sac’s brother, the ‘Lord of the Lenses.’ This character was no ‘everyman’ but in fact an exceptionally violent mafioso with a huge appetite for food, sex and ego gratification. As expressed by Gandolfini, Tony Soprano was equally compelling in his bathrobe, holding a carton of with-pulp orange juice while standing in his driveway. David Chase has commented on the expressive powers of Gandolfini’s sad eyes but his breathing, hunched movement, large, fat fingers and powerful, borderline nasal voice were all solid, too. Everything about the guy was solid. There might not be a more appropriate word to describe him.

There was complexity to Tony Soprano’s potent appeal. Cinematic violence is so commonplace that its often rendered ineffective. Gandolfini had no such problem. His violent scenes were so real that the catharsis of the act seemed to evolve quickly into something that left him spent and that had the same impact on the viewer. Watching him curb-stomp Coco Cogliano, put a football helmet through the windshield of AJ’s SUV, or put his fist through the wall while fighting with Carmela, it was difficult to imagine much levity on the set when the director yelled “cut.” But violence was just a small part of his range on the show. Gandolfini could do boredom like nobody else. He was the Houdini of Irritation, the Van Gogh of genuine sentiment. This begs another point: some have suggested that he was merely playing himself; that so much of his New Jersey, Italian-American upbringing was Tony Soprano. That it wasn’t acting. No doubt this was the role of a lifetime and one he was made to play. But this overlooks the much larger point that he both won and nailed this part. Every successful actor peaks, declines and eventually dies. Given the quality and duration of the production, hour for hour he had more effective screen-time than DeNiro. He wasn’t simply playing himself and anyone questioning his acting ability need only watch the quieter moments with his family or even his ailing racehorse. Actors talk about how to deliver a line but it was in silence that Gandolfini was often most effective. His facial expressions could make a scene without him saying a word.

I’ve watched the Sopranos enough to know that it can’t be narrowed down to a favorite episode or handful of scenes. There were over eighty installments and I’ve never tired of watching them repeatedly. Draw from this whatever conclusions that you will. There are two non-verbal Tony Soprano moments running through my head as I type this. One is an episode where he’s rejected by his shrink for endangering her life and practice and then returns home to his wife in the middle of the day. She’s surprised to see him and they sit together at the dining room table – she opening the mail and he again eating leftover pasta – without saying a word. The other is an episode where he walks into his mother’s house to find Richie Aprile dead on the kitchen floor where his sister Janice has shot him. He rubs his mouth momentarily, taking in the scene, and his expression – over in a split second – is priceless.  I won’t attempt to convey what’s being said with either look but would suggest that there aren’t many actors who could pull it off. David Chase deserves every bit of credit for conceiving, creating, and writing the best television show in modern history but it was James Gandolfini who embodied the deal and put it over the top. He will be missed but Tony Soprano lives forever.

My long-standing Scottish friend Denis Munro was in town last week completing the final leg of an Atlantic cruise with a short stint in Manhattan. Denis isn’t what you’d call a “man of excess.” His rule of thumb for both food and language is the same: keep it simple. ‘Exotic cuisine’ includes anything with salt or more than two colors. He rejects any added dressing or condiment as suspicious. Trying to put it democratically he explained “to me sauces are like children; I quite understand that other people want them but I don’t see the point.” Some might expect such dietary restrictions to hamper one’s enjoyment of life but Denis proves otherwise. Once he determined that ‘oatmeal’ was the same thing as ‘porridge’ it was smooth sailing to New York.  He met a gaggle of Mexican chiquitas on the ship and quickly charmed them with his Sean Connery accent, stumbling only slightly when they suggested dinner at an on-board sushi restaurant called Raw Food.

Luckily, Denis fits my description of an ideal visitor. I have neither time nor taste for most ‘must-see’ restaurants in New York or anywhere else. I love to eat but would just as soon do so amid a pack of well-behaved schmucks instead of rubbing elbows with Beyoncé or Bruce Willis. I think it’s largely a female-propagated phenomenon, this idea of favoring exclusive eateries with long waiting lists and celebrity clientele. I don’t get eating somewhere to be seen. If I’m at a Lakers game and Jack Nicholson is sitting three rows in front of me, that’s something. But paying a premium to see him fork his vegetables at a nearby table doesn’t make my food taste any better. Most women leave half their meal on the plate at these restaurants anyway. But I’ve gotten off-topic .. back to Denis. We did end up at one exotic bistro, at least by his definition: Katz’s Delicatessen. It was by his request though; he wanted to see the place where ‘Meg Ryan faked it with Billy Crystal’ in the movie. This was probably my fifth time in the famed Lower East Side establishment, enough to know the routine of securing a ticket at the entrance and having it marked off as you order. We kept it simple, splitting a corned beef sandwich on rye. Our carver asked how I wanted it and I requested mostly lean. There was a perceptibly relieved expression on Denis’s face when he tasted the sample and found it suitably palatable. It was a proud moment upon completing his unadorned, half-sandwich and he emailed a before-meal photo of the plate to all his friends.

Denis doesn’t drink either yet was perfectly comfortable sipping a sparkling water as I tipped a pint of Stella in various local bars. We even ate a meal one night, Denis a salad and I spring rolls, in a typical Irish tavern south of 14th Street.  We sat on a couch directly under a huge TV projecting the Rangers playoff hockey game and he explained how his ‘Aunty High Street’ back in Perth would take him to the hockey matches and poke the referees with her hat pin if displeased with the officiating. The noise level in the bar increased as the game wore on but when I asked Denis if he wanted to leave he requested staying until the end to see who won. The evening ended well with a Rangers victory followed by a young dude from the bar chasing after us on the street to return Denis’s hotel umbrella, thus saving him a $75 charge.

We covered the city and Brooklyn on foot most of the time he was here. I’m a firm believer that, if you’re able, this is the only way to see New York. It comes at you by the minute in faces, body types, and conversational snippets. I was more attuned to this when I first arrived but these days it takes a visitor to bring it back to the forefront. We walked the High Line on his last full day in the city, an elevated west side railway line turned in to a lush, linear park. My feet were sore from the miles we’d covered but Denis didn’t complain. The sun was setting on the Hudson River and he got some good photo shots with his trusty, treasured iPad. It was a brief visit and we didn’t fit in everything I’d planned but in the end its success could be marked by the soles of our shoes. Denis seemed satisfied with his stay and particularly a follow-up email that he received from one of cruise line señoritas urging that he keep in touch. I’m with her: garlic phobia not withstanding, he’s welcome back any time.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert. I’m not a big fan of list-writing but in this case it seems appropriate. Ebert will be missed for the following five reasons, and more.

1) He was an excellent and prolific writer who never over-wrote. Ebert’s ideas and interest in his subjects were paramount but his prose was accessible. If you could read and think, you could gain from whatever he had to say. Even if you disagreed with him you had to admire how he put it.

2) He had passion. I’ve been going to the movies since I was six years old but long ago developed a sense of cynicism for the experience. I can recall seeing The Poseidon Adventure and Dog Day Afternoon as a kid (despite being too young for the latter) and feeling transformed, like I’d been taken to another place. Ebert watched five hundred movies a year, many of them crap, yet never lost touch with this magic potential. His passion wasn’t limited in scope; he wrote with equal enthusiasm about everything ranging from life and death to Steak N Shake burgers. Which leads me to #3:

3) He was a good fat guy. Ebert had the kind of self-confidence that transcended physical appearance and actually allowed him to make his weight work for him – no small feat considering modern society’s contempt for the corpulent. He had that rare combination of humor and practicality when it came to his size, allowing himself to be weighed on The Howard Stern radio show yet never being overly-compliant about it. He was unapologetic about his physicality and owned it. When he became thin in later years due to a cruelly ironic condition preventing him from eating solid food, he still retained his life-long fat guy sensibility. His memoir is filled with countless references to the meals he’d eaten in his lifetime.

4) He adapted and excelled with the times. Ebert began his career in the print industry applying inked words to pulp with a manual typewriter about movies that originated on celluloid. As those mediums evolved he wrote intelligently about what was being lost at the same time as he embraced change. He knew instinctively that content trumps all and that his own skill – an ability with words – never grows old. A good movie transcends both film and digital and good writing presents on both page and screen. His most prolific output came later via blog posts and tweets and the quality never suffered.

5) He faced age, illness and death bravely. This was a man of substantial ego, and yet when it came to the subject of the cessation of Self he never flinched. His writing about death has a matter of fact eloquence to it and stresses his enjoyment of being present and gifted with the ability to communicate. He could neither eat nor speak yet maintained not only the will to live but a genuine excitement for the world around him. He was an enthusiastic intellectual, which is a rare and potent combination.