Recent Riffs

Marty Supreme

Vikings Finale

Arts

Lumen at the Getty

As the overall sponsors, the Getty undoubtedly had a leg up on creating an exhibition that fit into PST’s “Art & Science Collide” theme, and they took advantage by pulling together “Lumen: The Art and Science of Light.” There was one remarkable object after another, a plurality from England but extraordinary loans also from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and U.S. museums in New York, Washington, Cleveland, San Diego and nearby Los Angeles. The least impressive loans were actually from the Getty as, aside from illuminated manuscripts, the “Long Middle Ages” of 800-1500 isn’t in their wheelhouse.

Music

Billy Joel

From the Piano Man album in 1973 through Glass Houses in 1980, with a quick step back to 1971’s Cold Spring Harbor, each Billy Joel release was a marker in time in my Young Adulthood. Piano Man itself was wonderful, and was undoubtedly my introduction, but hearing Captain Jack and Ballad of Billy the Kid first on late-night radio then on my turntable hooked me, just as Bruce Springsteen had earlier the same year with Greetings from Asbury Park. (Living in Westchester County I felt equidistant from Billy’s Long Island and Bruce’s New Jersey.) Streetlife Serenade, Joel’s followup album, was a disappointment,

Movies

Top Ten ’25

How to pick a Top Ten–and what does “Top Ten” mean, anyway? I’m in no position to pick the “best” movies; so my choices must be personal favorites and, on a further level of subjectivity, on the particular day I saw them. Some would question how I could pick Americana., a film that was barely noticed and poorly reviewed, but not Sentimental Value, the kind of quiet, interpersonal film I usually champion, with award-worthy performances throughout. Here’s my explanation: I had heard so much positive chatter about SV before I saw it, and I had so loved Joachim Trier and Renata Reinsve’s previous collaboration

Sports

Minnesota Fans

It is well known that Minnesota sports fans expect the worst when it comes down to a big game for their team. Whether this stems from the Vikings’ 0-4 record in early Super Bowls or a general Midwestern lack of self-confidence, I don’t know. Nor do I know whether this defeatism is at all unique to Minnesota or is typical of small-market cities. I do know that, in contrast, New York fans expect championships from their teams, even when the Giants, Knicks and Yankees are clearly performing at sub-par levels. It was, therefore, a rare case of “euphoria,”