Triangle: Remembering The Fire

Last night I watched Triangle: Remembering The Fire, an HBO documentary which commemorates the 100 anniversary of NYC's Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

The filmmakers interviewed many of the descendants of the victims/survivors of the fire - a tragedy that still haunts New Yorkers to this very day. Most memorable for me was a firefighter who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 and witnessed people jumping from the towers - just as his grandfather (also a NYC firefighter) had witnessed when his grandfather responded to the Triangle fire back in 1911.

Also interesting was the discussion of how relevant this century-old tragedy is today. Because of what happened in Greenwich Village on that horrible day, the labor movement was able to grow and increase their advocacy for worker's rights. The same rights that wingnut conservatives are trying to do away with at this very moment.

BTW - the building which housed the Triangle factory still stands (below) and is owned and used by New York University. Every year a remembrance ceremony is held at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place (outside the building), where local schoolchildren read the names of the victims and place flowers at a makeshift memorial.

Teabagging: The Movie

OMG - these losers are SERIOUS! Personally, I prefer THIS kind of teabagging ... courtesy of baseball hottie Grady Size(?)more:

Check UNDER that mug for a teabaggable delight!!

The Gates, Central Park, NY 1979-2005

Over the weekend I watched The Gates, Central Park, New York 1979-2005 - an HBO documentary about the art installation known simply as "The Gates". While watching the film I learned that artist Christo (below right) and his wife Jeanne-Claude had to fight with NYC officials for 25 years before they got the OK for the two-week project. Mayors Koch, Dinkins and Giuliani would not let them install the project in Central Park - but Mayor Michael Bloomberg finally gave the green light after he was elected.

After years of battling and planning, the artists - with the help of an army of volunteers - installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along 23 miles (37 km) of pathways in the park during the winter of 2005. It was paid for completely by the artists.

On February 12, 2005, volunteers and elected officials simultaneously released the saffron-colored nylon fabric which was rolled up in the top of the gates. When the nylon was unfurled, the fabric flapped and swayed in the winter wind for two weeks.

Some people HATED the project - calling it "The Gates of Hell" and comparing it to a automated Car Wash. I was skeptical, but the first time I entered Central Park and walked under the gates (it was nighttime and had started to snow), I was instantly enchanted.

If you get a chance, take a look at The Gates on HBO.

Grey Gardens

Did anyone else see Grey Gardens on HBO over the weekend? If not, you really should try to see it. Drew Barrymore portrays "Little Edie" Beale (Jackie O's cousin) - and Jessica Lange plays "Big Edie", Jackie O's aunt and Little Edie's mother.

However, you really should see the original documentary first. The original Grey Gardens was released in 1975 and showed the Beales living in their ramshackle East Hampton mansion - Grey Gardens. The house was falling apart and disgusting - filled with garbage, cats (and cat urine and feces), and even raccoons. The documentary is heartbreaking, bizarre, life-affirming and mesmerizing ... all at the same time.

The HBO version is just as entertaining and mesmerizing - and it contains some background information which shows how these women got into the situation they ended up in. Jessica Lange gives an AMAZING performance as the elder Beale who relies on her daughter for everything.

One of the things the ladies do (in the documentary and in the HBO movie) is sing and dance. In fact, Little Edie mentions she is putting together a cabaret act. Sure enough, after her mother died, "Little" Edith Bouvier Beale - then 60 years old - performed at a Greenwich Village Club called Reno Sweeney. She did 8 shows over New Year's week in 1978 - and received horrible reviews.

After her nightclub debut, Little Edie sold Grey Gardens and moved to Florida - where she died in 2002.

The current owners of Grey Gardens - journalist Sally Quinn and former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee - completely restored the mansion to its former glory. However, it is said that during long periods of rain, when the wood-framed home gets very wet, the smell of cat urine returns and they must vacate until things dry out.