Double Feature

Twenty Feet from Stardom
Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's

What do sensible people do when the thermometer spikes and the city is in the throes of a heat wave? Go to the movies, of course!

Air-conditioned theaters have provided respite from the summer heat for generations. This posting inaugurates our foray into movie reviews. We're expanding our horizons to give you our take on two recent documentaries. Here we are at the start of our adventure. (Don't worry.  We do remove our hats when the previews start.)

First up? "20 Feet From Stardom", a wonderful documentary about back-up singers, which features not only reminiscences by the back-up singers themselves, but also of those in the spotlights.  Among them: Sting, Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen.  The title refers slyly to how physically close the back-up singers are to stardom, but the stories they tell reveal how hard it is to move out of the shadow and into the light that's only twenty feet away.  Concert footage interspersed throughout the film kept it fresh and moving forward. Darlene Love's career is one of the movie's leitmotifs. However, it is a revelation to learn about many of the other singers, whose voices are imprinted on our brains even if their names are not.  One of those is Merry Clayton. Who hasn't been electrified by her astonishing back-up vocals in The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"?

Here are some of the major players: Judith Hill (who was scheduled to tour with Michael Jackson), Merry Clayton (who was eight months pregnant when she sang Gimme Shelter), Darlene Love (who was forced to record under many pseudonyms before she finally had the chance to record under her own name), Tata Vega and Lisa Fischer (who has a fascinating unearthly voice). (Photo by Associated Press from naplesnews.com)

We viewed the movie at the Angelica Theater on Houston Street in Soho which features a bright, airy, spacious cafe with coffees, sodas, pastries and snacks and comfortable seating to pass the time while waiting for our film to begin. Chairs and tables are arranged for maximum people watching.

Check out Valerie's very Andy Warhol soup can shoes - and matching red and white Coca Cola bottle. Um, can. Um...

If you're accustomed to dark theater lobbies with velvet curtains, inch thick blood red carpet and rococo wallpaper, you can see the Angelica is a pleasant change from all that.

Above, Jean and accessories; Below, we thought you'd like a close-up of how a master matches the colors of her bracelets with the colors of her dress. Caution! Experts at work!

Our Rating? Jean gives it 5 out of 5 Silver Stars! It was an utter delight: well paced, beautifully edited, tremendously entertaining, Didn't want it to end. What more could anyone want in a movie? Valerie's new at this ratings thing, and happily agrees with Jean, although she suspects she should be furrowing her brow (oh, wait, no, that's how you exacerbate your wrinkles; never mind...) and saying something deep about the cinema verite, or commenting on the high profiles of documentaries these days, and how they're less costly to produce, but also harder to fund in today's Bottom Line world.

Would you like to see the official preview? (Film producers are no fools. See whose face they've put on a preview about women (and men) whose faces and names most of us don't recognize?)





Second Movie:
On the Fourth of July holiday, along with our friend Sara Bacsh, in from Israel, we went to the East Village to see "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's", a film by Matthew Miele that brought to the screen the book "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf Goodman" by Sara James Mnockin and Holly Brubach. Cinematography and editing by Justine Bare were top notch.

Sara made the necklace she's wearing in the photo below. Hard to tell, but it's a garland of miniature corks, all attached by hand. There must be four hundred of them. (Just guessing.)

Recognize any of the interviewees below who appear in the film?

In the lobby of the theater, while waiting for Valerie and Sara, Jean snapped this picture of these two ladies dressed patriotically and quite stylishly for the holiday in red, white and blue.

What began as a delightful trip down memory lane by members of one of the original founding families (the Goodmans, who long ago bought out the Bergdorfs), the documentary provided an insider's view of the behind-the-scenes workings of a store that has been called America's premier emporium. A number of designers (Tom Ford, Thom Browne, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Jason Wu, Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta), stylists/designers (Rachel Zoe and Patricia Field), customers (Joan Rivers, Nicole Richie, Iris Apfel) and writers (Amy Fine-Collis) all weigh in on what Bergdorf Goodman means to them. Reading between the lines and sometimes hilarious quotes are the politics of the fashion world with de facto head Linda Fargo (her official title is Senior Vice President, Fashion Office and Store Presentation), who can make or break a designer's career. We have to show you a picture of Linda, because not only is she gorgeous, she also has fabulous gray hair. (This photo from Getty Images.)

"If your clothes are not at that place, then they have no future. Sorry.", says Isaac Mizrahi in the film. Fargo, by all accounts, is portrayed as the polar opposite of the aloof Anna Wintour. As the 800-pound gorilla in New York retailing, Bergdorf Goodman requires exclusivity of their designers in the New York market, which over the years caused some heavy hitters like Dolce & Gabbana to pass on Bergdorf's, and to be rejected, as in the case of Halston, who started designing an economical line for JC Penney. (Below, Bergdorf Goodman wrapped like a gift. Photo from prweb.com)

In the lobby of what is now a modernized multiplex theater is the wonderfully ornate ceiling, which, like Bergdorf Goodman, harkens back to an earlier era, which in this instance was as a single-screen cinema.

Octogenarian personal shopper Betty Halbreich (below) stole the show. She was all business, as serious as a heart attack, and is still one of the store's highest earners, benefitting both her own and the store's bottom line. Another Mizrahi line is a quote from Betty's appraisal of one of her customer's clothing choices. "Oh, that's terrible, really terrible", he quotes her as saying to the client. "But buy it, because it's not as terrible as what you came in wearing." Stories about Yoko Ono and John Lennon's Christmas Eve purchase of dozens of fur coats, and Elizabeth Taylor's order of 200 pairs of mink ear muffs are the stuff of legend. Such extravagances made the difference between ho-hum and spectacular year-end sales figures.

Since we have covered the Fifth Avenue store windows several times in our blog, we especially appreciated one of the many story lines woven throughout the movie, which followed the design and execution of the five 2010 holiday windows over the course of several months. From visits to the design showrooms where the various components were assembled to the final product, no detail was overlooked by window designer/magician/cheerleader David Hoey (below, third figure to the right). Anyone who has walked by a Bergdorf window must have one time or another asked, in awe, "Where did they get that [fill in the blank]? The answer is, if they don't have it made, they find it in their vast (VAST!) storehouse. Everything you could ever, and never, possibly imagine seems to be in there.

Oh, and we learned that the Goodman family used to live in the penthouse of the store. (It has since been sold to Neiman Marcus.) Zoning laws made it illegal for people to live on the store premises, so the family members were listed as janitors.

Would you like to see where the title comes from? It was this New Yorker cartoon by Victoria Roberts.

And would you like to see the preview? Don't panic if it's not coming to a theater near you - it looks like you can view it online (for a price).



Our rating? Jean gives it 3 1/2 out of 5 Silver Stars, but feels compelled to warn that while it started out as a very entertaining history lesson, the film eventually deteriorated into what felt like a beautifully shot and written commercial. Valerie agrees with Jean's assessment, but still managed to very much enjoy the movie, although she took issue with the theater itself. As tradition demands, all three of us bought brimming bags of popcorn before making our way to our seats. When Valerie asked for a bag to put over the popcorn, so it didn't spill all over the place, the young woman behind the counter was about to oblige, but her manager stopped her, saying no additional bags would be given out, unless the price of the popcorn had been paid. (Popcorn itself optional.) Valerie's worse angel stirred from slumber and suggested that Valerie pretend to trip and then spill all the popcorn all over the red carpet. Valerie's worse angel is 15, but her better angel is 115, and the better angel suggested that Valerie behave better than the jerky manager, and not worse. This is always a struggle for Valerie, but this time it worked. Another problem is that all three of us were frozen moments after walking into the little tiny theater, and felt like popsicles by the time we walked out. So Valerie thinks she enjoyed the movie enough to give it 5 stars, but she was a bit focused on keeping warm, so she's not entirely sure. The theater gets a rating of 2 stars, for the two very nice employees. The manager counts as -2, and the cold counts as -1.

We Can Do It!

While Jean is on a well earned vacation, Valerie would like to tell an inspiring story of personal triumph over inanimate objects.

In one way, at least, I have become my mother.  I have a transistor radio that I carry around the house with me.  This one does its job perfectly well, but is very badly designed.  If I hold it on the left side, I muffle the speaker.  If I hold it on the right side, I accidentally change the channel or turn it off.  But worst, as you can perhaps see, is that I have had to permanently remove the cover to the battery chamber on the bottom because I just about need a pair of pliers to pry it loose every time I want to change the batteries.  Leaving the chamber open creates additional problems because with the slightest touch the batteries come loose or fall out.  And just like in the movies, it always happens when the speaker is going to reveal the name of the killer.  By the time I put the battery back in, they're announcing today's sponsors.

One recent day, I had carried the radio to the bathroom so I wouldn't miss the killer's name while I was washing my face.  I put it on the side of the sink to keep the audio close to my ear.

In the quintessential demonstration of Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong will), just as I had a faceful of soap, the radio went flying into the sink (did I touch it?  was it poorly balanced on the sink?),  AND lost its battery, probably just as they were about to reveal the name of the killer.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that in picture two above there is no filter in the drain.  Usually there is, but that day there wasn't.

Uh-oh!

Well, you know what that means.  The battery has gone down the sink, and is probably stuck in the elbow of the drain.  Now I'll never find out who the killer was.

The first thing I did was to take out my trusty tool box.  There's a big bolt at the bottom of the elbow of the drain.  I've unscrewed it before, so I figured I'd just do it again.  But it didn't matter which of my tools I used, I couldn't even loosen the bolt.  Nothing seemed quite big enough.  I thought maybe my tools were getting old and losing their traction.













Time to bring out the big guns. I asked the doorman if he had a wrench larger than mine. He had two! But they were too big to fit under the narrow sink AND allow for turning.

Da Da Da Da Da Da You Say It's Your Birthday

Da Da Da Da Da Da It's My Birthday Too, Yeah!

Well, it's happened again.  Valerie's gone and gotten older.  She does that every year about this time. Some people go on vacation around the fourth of July. It would be better for Valerie to do that too, but she stubbornly has a birthday instead. There's a nice big one inexorably hurtling this way, but it's not expected to hit till next year. For this birthday (and for many another birthday), what could be better than bespoke cocktails?

The weather behaved all day, but when it came time for us to meet, the heavens opened and we both got drenched, despite our umbrellas. That we managed to flag down an empty taxi (not the one pictured above) in a downpour was a birthday present in itself. The taxi driver pulled right in front of Second Floor on Clinton, but even so we got drenched just running to the entrance.

This year, for Valerie's birthday, we went retro -- all the way back to the roaring twenties! Lucky for us, her birthday fell on a Wednesday, because every Wednesday is "Prohibition Night" at 2nd Floor on Clinton. Presented by Art & Spirit Mixology, these events feature specialty cocktails using ingredients from the era, live piano music, delicious snacks and a wonderful atmosphere. Mixologist Ektoras Binikos works his magic, and together with magician's assistant - sorry, associate mixologist - Sarah Miller, serves from the award winning Prohibition Cocktails list.

As the evening continued, as the lights were low and flickering, the atmosphere was definitely 1920's speakeasy. You could almost feel former occupant Marcus Tauster - banker, bootlegger and fraudster - walking around his building as the melodies from the live piano mingled with the hushed tones of prohibition drinkers. While the bar just downstairs was throbbing with music and the sound of a million competing voices, we could have (had we been indiscreet) heard the voices of the people at the table several feet away. (Who did their soundproofing?!)

First, a toast to birthdays, as Jean samples the French 75, with gin, champagne, lemon, gum arabic and lemon bitters. Note Jean's new Amy Downs hat.

And then the festivities begin. Valerie dressed for the occasion wearing one of Jean's favorite hats: a yellow straw disk with a v-shaped velvet space that resembles a Pac Man! Here is the birthday girl herself, ensconced against the banquette, ready to celebrate. But where was Valerie's stylist when she needed her/him, or at least her professional full length mirror holder? Note the hat and the hair are both askew and the lapel (with the Victorian coral Turk's knot boutonniere) turned inside out. All this, of course, was due to the undignified dashing through the rain, but still! One only gets one birthday annually, and one should look birthday-ready.

On to the prezzies!  Knowing how much Valerie loves polka dots and the color red, Jean had purchased these round red and cream polka dot earrings at the Metropolitan Vintage Show in April when Valerie's back was turned. She "tucked them away in a safe place" until the birthday. And there they sat for months. Needless to say, a mad scramble ensued as the birthday rapidly approached and Jean realized she couldn't remember in which little nook or cranny she'd stuck them. As fate would have it, just the weekend before, in a search for her sister-in-law's birthday present, also safely tucked away somewhere for safekeeping, Jean found Valerie's gift! Halleluja. (It took quit a bit longer to find the other present, but it did eventually materialize.)

As Valerie checks the heft of this wonderfully wrapped gift (from Chaos, aptly named for the likes of us), you can definitely see how the Pac Man hat got its name.

For some reason, at least a week before Valerie's birthday, Jean dropped several of the birthday gifts off at Valerie's house. Not one to ruin her own surprise, Valerie saved them for The Day (such will power!), but thinks her stylist or professional full length mirror holder should have been responsible for transporting them. (That way when they got wet in the rain, she could have blamed somebody!)

What was inside that black polka dot wrapping? Why, a striped rubber bracelet in electric blue, pink and yellow, of course! We both had versions of this in black and white. But in color, it is a different thing entirely! As we've said before, don't try this at home! We love all the items shown here, but they mustn't compete with one another. Each one needs its own forum.

Ektoras and Sarah made the evening more special still when they presented us, in the midst of all the fun, with two miniature birthday cupcakes - the Dark and Stormy and the Bees Knees - from the Prohibition Bakery (the Bakery motto: eat responsibly), and sinful chocolate birthday truffles from Roni-Sue, a bespoke chocolatier at the nearby Essex Street Market.  Later, they bowled us over with marvelous complimentary cocktails scheduled for a future menu.

Another colorful, similarly wrapped package.

Valerie models her necklace of woven turquoise rubber cording.

But wait, there's more!

Why, silly, it's a turquoise sea anemone-like felt pin.

There's nothing like a little frivolity to build up an appetite. Valerie had the charcuterie plate and Jean, the cheese plate. Delicious!

Looking like the cat who swallowed the canary, Valerie savors a tasty treat. (Remember: you are not supposed to photograph members of the royal family while they're eating. People who are not members of the royal family are fair game, as shown here.)

Eventually, we wended our way down the very narrow and charmingly skewed staircase that brought us back into the bar on the main floor (remember? the one with throbbing music and a million competing voices?). Jean led by about two steps, and in that short amount of time managed to tell this handsome devil that it was Valerie's birthday. Whereupon the HD (check out the sharp haircut, tan and buff muscle tone!) whipped out his silver hip flask and offered Valerie a birthday swig. Must've been The Pac Man hat.  Gets 'em every time!

Closer to the door, we ran into Tony, the jack-of-all-trades owner of Barramundi and 2nd Floor on Clinton, showing off his newest creation -- sausage sandwiches grilled on the spot and available at a walk-up window right on the street. A perfect outdoor summer treat.

A short distance north on Clinton Street was a storefront whose entire front window was filled with little blue plastic sharks. Since Shark Week is one of Jean's favorite summer TV specials, she had to take a shot through the security grating.

As we headed out into the night, Valerie found this eye-popping wall of graffiti, which stopped us in our tracks. Who comes up with these things, and why can't we confer knighthoods on them for service to their country? As always, we had neglected to take a picture of ourselves together to commemorate the evening, and this vast yellow wall saved the day. Uh, night. We waited, like angler fish, for unsuspecting prey to come along, and then pounced, crying out "Would you please take a picture of us with our camera?" And once we had our victim, we continued "And can you please be sure to get the feet in?
"

We would have had to step out into the street to give you a full shot of the mural, and that wouldn't have worked either because of the parked cars in the way.  These two angled shots are the next best thing.  The Big Yellow Taxi (raise your hand if you get the reference to musical icon You Should Know Who) was fabulous, the last of a series of wonderful birthday presents, and the perfect end to the evening.

Little Bonus: