Remembering Remembered

The Daily Show's first broadcast after 9/11 begins with an unforgettable tribute and appeal by John Stewart. It remains well worth remembering, so I am linking it in here.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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It's all about liberty !

Don't forget what happened ten years ago today.
And remember, the attack was against LIBERTY, your freedom and mine to be whatever we are, to say and write and read any opinion we wish, to live freely with each other in an atmosphere of respect and true tolerance, to cast off the chains of any and all religious fundamentalism.
We still have a lot to do to push back what encroached on our liberty that day as two towers burned and collapsed. All too often since then we have witnessed the tower of liberty collapsing for "security" or for "religious reasons" at different spots around the globe, and we must do all in our power to strengthen the tower of individual liberty everywhere.
With liberty and justice for all, we may be able to make this world a better place for all and finally witness the smoke of 9/11 lifting to reveal the blue sky once more.

That was my city...

...and ten years later, that is still how I remember it.

Twin Tower Cameos from Dan Meth on Vimeo.

New York Makes a Former Citizen Happy!

New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, Becoming Largest State to Pass Law
The New York Times, June 24, 2011

ALBANY — Lawmakers voted late Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, making New York the largest state where gay and lesbian couples will be able to wed and giving the national gay-rights movement new momentum from the state where it was born. [...]

Dozens more states have laws or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. Many of them were approved in the past few years, as same-sex marriage moved to the front line of the culture war and politicians deployed the issue as a tool for energizing their base.

But New York could be a shift: It is now by far the largest state to grant legal recognition to same-sex weddings, and one that is home to a large, visible and politically influential gay community. Supporters of the measure described the victory in New York as especially symbolic — and poignant — because of its rich place in the history of gay rights: the movement’s foundational moment, in June 1969, was a riot against police inside the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the West Village.

In Albany, there was elation after the vote. But leading up to it, there were moments of tension and frustration. At one point, Senator Kevin S. Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat, erupted when he and other supporters learned they would not be allowed to make a floor speech.

“This is not right,” he yelled, before storming from the chamber.

During a brief recess during the voting, Senator Shirley L. Huntley, a Queens Democrat who had only recently come out in support of same sex marriage, strode from her seat to the back of the Senate chamber to congratulate Daniel J. O’Donnell, an openly gay Manhattan lawmaker who sponsored the legislation in the Assembly.

They hugged, and Assemblyman O’Donnell, standing with his longtime partner, began to tear up.

“We’re going to invite you to our wedding,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “Now we have to figure out how to pay for one.”

This is truly good news, well-timed to crown Christopher Street Day celebrations and parades around the world, including the one in Berlin today. Gay Pride has been served, and those who love and commit to each other have been recognized in yet another jurisdiction. May the rest of the USA and the WORLD follow suit forthwith!

In Hommage to Liz

An evening of ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House in summer, 1981.

"Nureyev was expecting Elizabeth Taylor at his performance at the MET as his guest, and we had reason to believe she might try to cause a scene. It seems that he had gone to her play the night before, as her guest, but he arrived late. Quite late. Halfway through the second act. Since his seat was in the front row, he created a bit of a stir when he entered. Practically stopped the show! She had to restart her monologue. Needless to say, Liz Taylor wasn't too pleased. So there was concern that she might try the same stunt at the MET. I arranged a seat for her on the Parterre, where she could enter late without being seen. Also, I didn't want a fight with her either, and that's the only place latecomers are allowed to take their seats during the performance. The private boxes, you know..."
"Yeah, I know. Go on."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to explain the obvious. Anyway, I thought all was settled and relaxed. Sure enough, she arrived late, about thirty minutes late. She seemed a little disappointed that this caused no problem and looked around the lobby forlornly. No one was there to see her. She couldn't do her scene. And she was ready for one. She was playing Elizabeth Taylor: her famous purple mascara, bright red dress short enough to show off her knees, and an escort or two in tow. But she went on to her seat to watch the ballet."
"So what? That's nothing unusual. What's the big deal?"
"That was only the prologue. Then came the main act, during the first intermission. Finally, there were people around. The lobby was packed. Of course she could have remained in the Parterre's private lobby, where there's everything she or anybody could ever need. Except one thing: her public. So, she came bouncing out into the main lobby, and headed straight for the main entrance, looking for downstage center, obviously. Already I could hear the wave of whispers surging through the crowd: 'There's Elizabeth Taylor. Look, Elizabeth Taylor.' She glowed with glee. She had been noticed."
"Is that all? Every actor wants to be noticed. Or did she cause a hassle somehow?"
"You'll soon hear. Of course, she had passed countless members of the staff before reaching the entrance, but she strode straight up to one of the ticket-takers and asked him a question. Nothing ever flusters Nick, but whatever she said made him turn as red as her dress. The commotion among the spectators around him grew to a roar. He pointed out his superior, and she marched over to him. The same reaction, and even more commotion. On to his superior she pranced. I watched intently, because I would be the next, the final arbiter, if Michael couldn't handle her problem. Well, he couldn't, but he had sense enough to escort Miss Taylor over to me. The crowd was buzzing by now. Michael opened his mouth to explain the situation, but Miss Taylor launched into an oration in her newly acquired Southern drawl.
"'Hi, sweetie. Ain't you cute? I was wonderin'. I hope maybe you can help me. You see, I have to pee.'
"I'm sure my mouth must have fallen open, though she didn't seem to mind at all. Now I could understand the words whispered all around me in the crowd: 'Elizabeth Taylor has to pee. Elizabeth Taylor has to pee.'
"'You see, sweetie,' she continued, 'the thing is, I have to pee, and every time I pee in a public room, it causes such a hubbub. People sort of stand there and listen, like. So I have to pee, and I was wonderin' if there was some place private I could go to pee. Maybe you could take me?'
"To calm down the scene as quickly as possible, I gave Michael the keys and told him to take her to the bathroom in the executive office area. I also suggested that he then take her from there directly back to the Parterre, the back way. It worked.
"'Thanks, cutie,' she called back to me, as she followed Michael with a big grin on her face."
"What a hubbub!"
"Oh, but there's more. There's the epilogue."
"Great!"
"After the performance, she went backstage with Nureyev for some photos. I was there, too, of course, doing my duty. When she passed me to leave, she turned back and said, 'Sweetie, thanks for helping me pee. Listen here, do you ever get a night off?... Good, here's two tickets to my show next week. And if you have to pee, you tell them I said you could use my room. See you soon, honey. Tata!'"
He pulled the tickets out of his pocket. But Little Foxes had a hard time topping this night's show.
[excerpt from The Unspoken, by Richard Gardner, all rights reserved]

ELIZABETH TAYLOR, 1932-2011

No Revolution Without Dancing

Who else remembers this fantastic series from the open channel on Manhattan cable TV in the late 1970's? If I Can't Dance You Can Keep Your Revolution!

I continue to adhere to that principle, as a princple-less principle, that I want to dance at the revolution or miss it. May I also dedicate this odd post to Christa Wolf and her poignant and wise new book Stadt der Engel, oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud. If you care to think, read that book and rewatch the episodes of IICDYCKYR. Experiments are worth it; learning is perhaps the ultimate goal.

A Memorial for the WTC & Philippe Petit

One of the memories connected with the World Trade Center in my own mind which make it always tower high into the sky... 1974...

A Parade you can be thankful for

Thanks, NYTimes, and thanks, Macy's for letting us see this parade everywhere! And thanks, New York City, for being, thanks from a former New Yorker and current Berliner, thanks, merci, grazie, danke!

NYTIMES: Photographs from the 81st annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.