Recent Riffs

And So It Goes

Twins Diary

NY Theater Spring ’25

New York Art Notes

Eddington

Brian Wilson

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 ’24

Year after year I say it wasn’t a great year for movies, and the fact that I can’t find ten titles for this list reinforce that view for 2024. On the other hand, the industry’s policy of withholding prestige films until December makes it hard to catch up with everything, and there are two possible nominees, The Brutalist and The Seed and the Sacred Fig, that are still on our to-watch list.
1. Green Border. This documentary-like story of refugees trying to reach Europe made you feel and made you think like no other movie this year. The characters were vivid and compelling, their plight all too realistic, the plot unceasingly gripping.

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,”