Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address by Stephen Birmingham

Beautiful music by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen.

 



Life at the Dakota: New York's Most Unusual Address by Stephen Birmingham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Life at the Dakota provides a good history of the apartment building the Dakota that stands in Gothic glory across the street from West side Central Park on 72nd street.

I love reading the histories of these famous buildings and this book did not disappoint.

We see how the builder Edward C. Clark had vision when everyone else saw the area north of 53rd Street as a barren wilderness (hence the name Dakota, after the Dakota Territories) because there was nothing up there but country.

Clark met up with a poor Jewish immigrant who fixed sewing machines and developed a better one, but no one took seriously. Except Clark. As a Lawyer, Clark patented it and made a serious advertisement campaign, changing the image of sewing machines as a poor immigrant laborers work tool, to a machine every lady must have in her home.

Thus the inventor Isaac Singer and Edward Clark made millions off of the Singer Sewing machine.

This happened when Clark was a younger man. He didn't begin to imagine the Dakota until he was in his seventies. However, the money he made off of Singer's sewing machine gave him the money to embark what what everyone else considered a crazy scheme to make an apartment building in no man's land.

This was during the 1880s. At that time New York was clearly divided between the American Aristocracy, the Waldorfs, the Astors, etc...and everyone else. They all lived below 53rd Street on the East Side. No one worth knowing lived anywhere else. Clark decided he was going to provide living space for the middle rich and the up and coming rich. Rich people who had not inherited their wealth but actually earned it. Shocking!

Stephen Birmingham gives lively descriptions of many of the better known occupants of the building, from the Steinways (of grand piano fame) to various actors and actresses such as Lauren Bacall, Music conductor Leonard Bernstein, all the way to the sixties and seventies when the first black woman moved in (Roberta Flack) and also the rebellious, peace activist turned hauteur-bourgeoisie ex-Beatle, John Lennon with Yoko Ono.

This book was published in 1979, shortly before Lennon's death so it doesn't include his murder right outside the Dakota Building, which sadly, is why most people not from New York City know about the building. It provides a unique insight as to how John Lennon had largely disappeared from sight in the 1970's and Birmingham clearly saw him as a has-been musician who could be heard from the other floors "playing lonely little melodies on his guitar in his living room on the seventh floor."

While this tells me the author belonged to an earlier generation who did not have much use for rock musicians, it also shows his lack of foresight. Around the time the book was published John Lennon had released a magnificent album with some of his most mature music to date. The songs revealed a man who had matured and mellowed and who knows what he had in store for us if his life had not been dreadfully cut short.

I suppose I'm showing my own bias there. Nevertheless, I recommend this book as a great addition to anyone's library of historical buildings.



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I'd Rather Be The Devil: Skip James and the Blues by Stephen Calt; Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death; Death of a Greedy Woman, a Hamish MacBeth mystery by M.C. Beaton; Josephine Tey: a Life by Jennifer Morag Henderson

 I was listening to meditative music as I wrote this review, because it doesn't draw my attention away from the task at hand.

Here is another group of short reviews.  I read or listened to all of them on Hoopla, except the last, so I don't have any photos of the books.  So instead, here is a lovely, yet random  photo of a postcard I sent.  I'd like to paint it in acrylic.

 

Fascinating, if unflattering narrative on the life of Skip James, but also other blues performers of the early part of the century, their comeback in the 60s as white audiences discovered their love for the blues and their impact on the history and culture of American and also global music.

The author met with and befriended Skip James and was intimately involved with the Blues revival of the sixties. He reveals that many of these musicians led extremely rough, even lawless lives. Their relationships with white people throughout the South was far more complex than how it is often portrayed in today's media.

The author also showed how the Blues Revival of the sixties wasn't necessarily profitable for these blues musicians. Many of the managers and record companies took advantage of them, making money for themselves, but not the blues musicians themselves.

I'd Rather be the Devil, not only provides a historical chronology, but delves into the rich, old culture of the South and Southern black people, combining their religious beliefs, intertwined with superstitions that preceded the introduction to Christianity and the hard determined grit the was necessary for survival in those pre-civil rights days.

I have really grown to like Agatha Raisin. She's so human, yet so likable. I have not read these books in order, but this is the first mystery. Agatha Raisin moves from London, her job in advertising, to the Cotswolds for a peaceful life.

It does not turn out as she expects. The people of the village are politely cordial, but nothing else. No one befriends her and soon Agatha is homesick and lonely. She decides to take the bull by the horns and get involved in village society. She begins to attend church, largely because the vicar's wife, Mrs. Bloxby has been the only person to show genuine friendship to her. She then becomes involved in several church functions.

This brings her to the Quiche competition. Agatha can't boil water, so she decides to cheat. She goes out and buys a quiche and presents it to the judges. It doesn't win, but the judge and his wife offer to take it home and finish it off. Agatha, disappointed and depressed, shruggingly lets them.

The next day, the judge is found dead. Poisoned by cowbane that was found in the quiche. Now what is Agatha to do? Admit she cheated, or be suspected of murder?

The mystery is fun, but so are all the characters as Agatha gets to know her neighbors and they get to know her. Many of the characters travel from book to book with Agatha, so they become like old friends to the reader.

 

 

It's funny, but with Beaton's Hamish MacBeth mysteries, one knows who is going to be topped off almost from the get go. It's the most odious, disgusting individual who acts in a way that makes everyone want to kill them.

From this foundation, one then has to get to know all the suspects and find out who ultimately did it and what their reasons were for doing so. As in previous MacBeth mysteries I've read, even though the murder victim may be obvious, the murderer is not, nor are their reasons.

In Death of a Greedy Woman, a group of tourists come up from England to take a holiday at the local hotel. They are not just any group of tourists, but clients of Checkmate, a match up site. An equal number of men and women are going to spend the week together and hopefully pair off.

The monkey wrench is that one of the partners, Peta, of Checkmate is an ogre. Or at least her eating habits are ogre-ish. The other partner, Maria, actually was hoping to pull the gathering off without Peta's knowledge. Peta finds out however, and joins the group at Priscilla Halburton-Smythe's father's hotel and restaurant. The group, which was already disliking each other, find themselve in solidarity in their disgust of Peta.

In addition to the murder we see the ongoing relationship between Hamish MacBeth and Priscilla. There are bumps along the road as they continue to misunderstand each other, but I suppose that is what keeps the reader coming back. Will Hamish and Priscilla ever meet each other half way?

There is very little known about Josephine Tey, but Henderson does a good job gathering what facts are available and intertwining them with an analysis of her work, both as a playwright, historian and mystery writer.

 

In the Dark, Soft Earth; poetry of love, nature, spirituality and dreams by Frank Watson

 These Bach Baroque Suites for guitar go perfectly with these sublime poems.

 

I would like to ask everyone to pray for all the people in the northwest who are experiencing the fires.  This includes personal family members and blogging friends and their families.

 

 

And while we're at it pray for the people on the Gulf Coast.  

Hopefully Hurricane Sally will become depressed, lose her will to survive and give up, like Marco did.

 

 

 

This is an embarrassingly late review.  I was given this collection of poetry months ago and time got away and then I flat out forgot.   I am actually not a fan of poetry, I don't know why.  Takes too much discipline to read. 

 

 Poetry isn't meant to be gulped, but savored.  I feel so overwhelmed with Mount TBR that I find myself reading non fiction and mysteries just because they're easy to devour.

However.

I really enjoyed this book of poetry.  Maybe it is the minimalism.  One thing that does appeal to me in poetry is the painting of visual imagery through power of expressive words.  Frank Watson's words wash over me in rich, deep yet cool colors.  I am going to post a couple of the poems because they can speak well enough for themselves.

 

 origins 

 to the poet there

is a love for beauty

 in all its terrifying forms  

 

in the quiet 

 stirrings before 

 the world wakes

 when even the night  

creatures cease to speak  

 

with distant sands 

 turned white as flecks

 on wild black hair I follow the Northern Winds 

 to where the world begins

 

  before Creation

 cast in stone 

 we built this world 

 on what was sown 

 

 since all eternity is rest

 why not use this

 time to do our best? 

 

 adrift

pallid and hollow
we’ve drifted
through this town
for centuries
and no one’s home

her words
strung up
on stranded hair—
blown away
in the winter wind

smoke gun
thoughts in the air—
these words sit silent there

the naked despair
of a people
without courage
who wander
another’s land

walking
in breathless prayer
for centuries
without imagination

where flames drive me deep
into the song of sleep
and the narrow road
that carries me off somewhere

 

 

And finally, one short one:

 

spoken word

 
fit into a cube
and packed, as is,
into another dimension
where the spoken word
shall never leave

 

I had a hard time formatting this.  Google decided to become more sophisticated and I'm struggling to catch up.

 

The collection has ten section, each on a different theme, introduced with a famous poem and beautiful paintings from Europe and Asia, from the Middle Ages to modern.

 

Finally, this is my honest review in exchange for an Arc copy.  I think I am legally obligated to say that.

 

I wish Frank Watson all the best and that many, many people enjoy his beautiful word painting. 

 

Gulf Coast at a more peaceful time.

 

 

 

The Moth Presents: Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible edited by Catherin Burns

Listening to Michael Pretorious.

I read one of the stories in a Readers Digest lying around my parents' house. It intrigued me so I found the book in my local library.

What I liked about it was the personal story aspect. I love reading or hearing people describe their lives, or certain experiences in their lives.

Most of the stories' topic matter was predictable since it is put out by NPR: people of minority races, homosexual, or female overcoming oppression by the evil white society.

However....

There were some real gems nestled in their midst. Stories about people whose hardship in their own countries led them to this country to escape persecution and to gain opportunities denied them in their own country of origin. Their gratitude is palpable.

And there were a couple I appreciate by women who decided that having a baby did not interfere with fulfilling their personal dreams, in fact, having children turned out to be a greater dream than personal ambition.

One particular story was quite powerful. A woman became pregnant and due to her age and early sonograms was told she needed to abort, first because the baby had Downs Syndrome, then later because, actually, the baby had Edwards Syndrome and was going to die anyway.

Her response was unforgettable: Since he was going to die anyway, couldn't she at least meet him first?

The pressure to abort was intense and my hat is off to her determination. Then she had her baby. In her own words:

"He. Was. Perfect."

Her son was ten years old at the time of the story and a perfectly healthy baby boy.

Which begs the question, how many other perfectly healthy babies have been aborted due to pressure by health professionals based on faulty testing?

There were a couple of other gems: The man remembering his time with friends playing poker until five pm, the next day. All of his friends have passed on, but he has his memories of them and it's good.

The story that led me to checking the book out was about a young boy taken from his home in Alabama by his mother and stepfather to live in California. Severely homesick, in Junior high, fat and awkward, his misery is alleviated by his grandmother back in Alabama who sends a giant Christmas package via Greyhound Bus, which brought home to him. She did this every year until she died.

Even though I know most of the stories are going to be stamped with NPR approval, I still want to read the other volumes because human interest stories are wonderful and I love reading them, regardless of who puts them out. 

 

 

A Cotswold Ordeal by Rebecca Tope

I'm listening to Dvorak's New World Symphony.  This work got me through the wee hours of the night at college.

My efforts at chipping away at Mount TBR.  This is my bedside reading pile.

A Cotswold Ordeal by Rebecca Tope

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I usually like to spread out the stories by authors I enjoy, but I jumped right into this one after reading the first and plan to start the next one in the series tonight.

In A Cotswold Ordeal, Thea has just left her last house sitting job, staying in a house for an uptight couple that swiftly embark on a vacation that takes them away from England. Naturally a murder happens in their back yard. In one short week, Thea meets a variety of village people and one police inspector in particular, although only barely.

In this second mystery, Thea is once again house sitting, in a neighboring village, this time for a hectic blended family (his kids, her kids) who are rushing off to Ireland and don't contact them! Thea is left with a small farm, which includes rabbits, guinea pigs and an old pony, suffering from Laminitis.

It is not long before Thea is up to her ears in the same old trouble. She finds the pony won't go in her stall and for good reason. There's a body hanging in it.

As all mysteries go, who is it? Why are they hanging in the barn? Suicide or murder?

This time we have a couple of sub plots going. Lieutenant Hollis plays a much larger role in the investigation and also in Thea's life. Plus, once again, Thea gets to know a variety of the town folk. Are any of them involved?

And just to further complicate things, Thea's youngest sister arrives. She has decided to leave her husband and five children.

How does the story develop? Very well. I have grown attached to Thea and now must see what happens to her in the next novel.



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The Pianist from Syria by Aeham Ahmad

 

I am listening to Adagios, The Best Classical Relaxing Music.

 

 

This is one of the most poignant, painful and necessary reads for everyone who lives in the First World.

Aeham Ahmad starts the book describing his life as a Palestinian refugee in Yarmouk, a suburb of Damascas. Life isn't easy with a scary government, and corruption in every facet of life. Even getting a decent schooling is extremely hard to attain. Even if you are rich and can afford the best schools, many of the teachers there got their positions by means other than ability, so good luck with that.

On top of that, Ahmad, coming from a lower class, is treated with contempt. Nevertheless he and his father, both musicians, are determined to pursue Ahmad's dream of being a concert pianist.

After school, Ahmad, with his father start a musical instrument business where they provide both instruments and lessons. He gets married, has children.

As a Westerner, I found Ahmad's descriptions of his life and culture, how he met and married his wife (very different from here) interesting from a cultural point of view. His family immediate and extended live in the same apartment building. Life without your family members is unthinkable.

Life in Yarmouk is walking on eggshells to make sure you do nothing to tick off the government and end up in one of their torture chambers, conveniently located beneath the government capital. This is normal. His brother disappeared for an unknown reason and has never been seen again.

As difficult maintaining this balance is, it all comes crashing down as war between Isis and the government escalates. By the end of a year, Yarmouk is a pile of rubble. People are eating grass to survive.

Yet, Aeham Ahmad is determined to continue his life as a musician as much as possible. Their store is demolished, but no one can afford lessons or instruments anyway. Aeham salvages one piano, beat up and out of tune, and with his friends, they push it around the city and sing and play. They write songs, other citizens give them poems that they put music to. They start a children's choir.

Then one of their singers, a little girl, is shot down by a sniper. Snipers are everywhere. Some are Isis, some are the government's snipers. Lines a mile long snake around an area where the UN is providing food baskets, but only old people and children may get in line. If a young man gets in line, he is in danger of getting shot down by a sniper.

Does anyone in the West know what this is like? Trying to travel anywhere involves checkpoints and lots and lots of money to grease hands. If a soldier is in a bad mood, he won't let you pass. If you're belligerent, or if the soldier doesn't like your face, you're taken away, sometimes never to return or to return a battered shell of what you once were.

Finally, Aeham was able to leave Syria and move to Germany, but that journey is a harrowing read all by itself. He had to leave his family, some of them permanently, others, his wife and children were able to come a couple of years later.

I am looking at what is going on in my country with looting and rioting, tearing down statues of men long dead. Maybe those disgruntled First Worlders need to go live in a country like Syria for a while and get some perspective. Maybe even some gratitude for living in a country where you're not in fear all the time.

I wish Ahmad all the best and my prayers go out to every person living in such sad situations around the world.

 Here is a link to Aeham playing in Syria.  The video is in German, but you can see him playing on the streets in Yarmouk.

 

The Pianist from Syria 

Darwin: Portrait of a Genius by Paul Johnson

Here are the Sonatas by Johannes Brahms.

Darwin: Portrait of a Genius by Paul  Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I never thought I'd read a book about Darwin, but I'm glad I did. This was a good biography, although not exhaustive.

Johnson describes Darwin's family background, his devotion to his wife who was a committed Christian, as well as his reluctance in telling her he was not a believer. It turns out her love was unconditional and he needn't have worried.

Several interesting points. First Darwin's travels to the Galapagos island, his observations of plant life and small animal life, how there seemed to be a gradation in life form from simple to complex and his conclusion that the simpler forms must have developed into the more complex.

While he does not cite anything he actually observed, such as life forms in transition from one to the other, he jumps to this conclusion. He does not explain why, if this were so, why the simpler forms still existed. He must have concluded that only some of the simpler forms evolved while others remained. Or perhaps that there were even simpler life forms invisible to the eye. Ironically, his book "Origins" does not address the origin of all life form.

His theory of evolution involves the process of natural selection. Weaker life forms are destroyed by stronger life forms, thereby directing the development of genes into stronger, more adaptable life. Darwin saw natural selection as cruel and savage and also absolutely necessary for evolution.

Furthermore, Darwin did not stop with animal life. He concluded that this was the process by which man survives. He based this observation on the "savage" life style of the primitive tribes he encountered and also the brutal methods used by European colonialists on less developed people groups. He concluded that since they were less developed in technology, culture and morals they must also be simpler and less evolved and therefore, the process of natural selection, the stronger destroying the weak was inevitable.

Darwin was against birth control and the advancement of medicine because he believed it interfered with this natural process.

The author takes an interesting, if inconsistent stance. While he agrees with Darwin's theory of the evolution of animal life, he draws the line at man's inhumanity to man, but why? Isn't that the logical conclusion of such a theory?

Hitler, Nietzsche and Mao Zedong thought so. So did Pol Pot.

"Pol Pot, introduced by his professor Jean-Paul Sartre to the idea of evolution to higher forms, translated the theory in terms of Cambodia into an urban-rural struggle in which one fourth of the population died.

In the twentieth century, it is likely that over 100 million people were killed or starved to death as a result of totalitarian regimes infected with varieties of social Darwinism.

But then Darwin himself had always insisted on the high percentage of destruction involved in breeding, whether of seeds, embryos, births, of even mature birds, mammals and species in general.

Nature, he believed, is always profuse, in death as well as life, and if he had been asked to reflect on the human toll of 'struggle' in the twentieth century, he would certainly have pointed out that the world population nevertheless dramatically increased throughout the period." (pg. 158, Chapter 7)

I have to quote an enlightening passage on pg. 132:

"It is curious that, although sterilization has been practiced on a large scale all over the world, especially in Scandinavia, no investigation has been made to discover whether national dysgenic programs have had any statistically discernible effect on societies. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia all passed laws, and Sweden actually sterilized 65,000 people....Except for Canada, the British Empire rejected sterilization, thanks largely to a vigorous campaign conducted by G.K. Chesterton...he was helped by Aldous Huxley in 1932 (who wrote) Brave New World, which pictured a 'dark Utopia' in which science was used in innumerable ways to create a hygienically perfect but docile and submissive population."

Johnson continues on pg. 133 to describe George Eliot's concern that,

"Darwinian natural selection was a dangerous form of determinism, which would extinguish free will and the human instinct for freedom. It was also a sally against the bright utopia preached by H.G. Wells, in which science was king. Wells, George Bernard Shaw and many other socialist intellectuals favored both eugenics and dysgenics and would have condemned to sterilization or even death all the mentally unfit if they could have brought to power a government to their taste."

Good old Chesterton. I always knew I loved that guy.

As a Christian, I believe God designed us perfectly, with the fall of man entered corruption both physically and mentally and I think that anyone who could justify murdering even one person regardless of the health, mental abilities or in utero believes so because their minds are depraved and only reinforces my belief in the veracity of Scripture "The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can discern it?" Jeremiah 17:9

Next on my list is Origins. I'm eager to read it now.



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                  Oil on wood.  I had a lot of fun making this.




And when, as a joke, I showed how I got blue paint in my hair to friends, they all complimented me on my hair streaks.