Category: Chrono

Moonlight Sonata

The Humble Fabulist2 Comments

Let me come with you. What a moon there is tonight!
The moon is kind – it won’t show
that my hair turned white. The moon
will turn my hair to gold again. You wouldn’t understand.
Let me come with you.

When there’s a moon the shadows in the house grow larger,
invisible hands draw the curtains,
a ghostly finger writes forgotten words in the dust
on the piano – I don’t want to hear them. Hush.

Verses long forgotten come to mind. From the poem by Yannis Ritsos (1909-1990), Η σονάτα του σεληνόφωτος / Moonlight sonata.

As always in poetry, nuance is lost in translation. But it is this or none at all.

October 16th, 2016

Squeezed

The Humble FabulistLeave a comment

~ tightly. Riding the New York City subway during rush hour feels like…

Back on the surface, this bulbous structure attracted much criticism when it was erected in 1902. Built by Philip Braender, a German-born developer-cum-automobile tyre manufacturer, and designed by architect Frederick C. Browne in a mix style with French Renaissance, Spanish and Baroque influences, the Braender should have really stood out. Instead, it was criticised for being one of the same, similar to a dozen other buildings in the area.

”One of these things makes you yawn. A mile of them gets on your nerves”, wrote the critic Montgomery Shuyler in The Architectural Record, in January 1902.

The difference a century and a major renovation makes! Who’s yawning now Mr. Shuyler?

There is an interesting article from 2006, by Christopher Gray in The New York Times about the Braender and one of its famous residents, Mrs. Winifred Sackville Stoner, which you can read here.

418, Central Park West

October 16th, 2016

279 Central Park West

The Humble Fabulist3 Comments

The one on the right. Designed by Costas Kondylis, one of the most prolific architects in New York. Over the years, Mr Kondylis has helped shape the cityscape by designing numerous well-known buildings. He has worked closely (moral sensitivity alert!) with the Trump Organization – Trump World Tower in the UN Plaza is his design (end alert). He became known for his preference in no-frill ”boring” structures earning the trust of the city’s developers for getting the job done i.e. delivering on time and within budget.

There is nothing boring about 279 CPW. Looking at the tiered upper floors with penthouse apartments and large wrap terraces, I wouldn’t mind calling one of them home. 

W88th St.

Central Park West

October 16th, 2016

Turning Page

The Humble Fabulist7 Comments

Proud to have been present, among representatives of the entire world, at the historic moment when the United Nations General Assembly appointed by acclamation the former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Guterres, as the next United Nations Secretary-General, succeeding Ban Ki-moon when he stepped down on 31 December 2016.

An emotional moment for everyone present including Mr. Guterres himself, who addressed the General Assembly in English, French and Portuguese.

‘‘I have faith in the United Nations because I believe in the universal values it stands for: peace, justice, human dignity, tolerance and solidarity. Based on these values, I believe that diversity in all its forms is a tremendous asset, and not a threat; that in societies that are more and more multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious, diversity can bring us together, not drive us apart.”

An extract from Mr. Guterres’ speech which I found particularly resonating.

António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations

October 13th, 2016

No more photos, please…!

The Humble Fabulist2 Comments

Giraffe
Fortune

Baked enamel on steel plate, granite, 2014

This diva is part of A Fancy Animal Carnival, a series of eleven bronze animals by Taiwanese artist Hung Yi. Every animal is painted in colourful folklore patterns and represents a narrative, expressed through traditional Taiwanese symbols and motifs believed to bring luck.

I didn’t know that giraffes bring good fortune, did you?

Hung Yi

Artwork on 37th St. & Broadway (until April 15th, 2017)

October 9th, 2016