Venus or bust

I was walking to the grocery store late yesterday afternoon when I spotted a group of dining room chairs right there on the curb of 57th Street. Someone was obviously throwing them out. They weren't that attractive, a blonde wood Bob's Furniture kind of take on Windsor chairs, not for me. But sitting right on top of one was the amazing looking bust. I walked up to take a quick glance and it looked to be in good condition. It was so cold out I wanted to get to the store right away--I was only wearing a sweatshirt and it must've been around 30 degrees--and it's only one block away. I said to myself, "I'll quickly grab my groceries and if, on the way back home, the bust is still there, I was meant to have it." Sure enough, 15 minutes later there sat my bust. Because it was somebody's trash I thought it must be chipped, or badly cracked, why else would someone get rid of it? But no, it was in perfect condition, only slightly dusty. I stuck it under my arm and skedaddled up to the apartment. I cleaned it up with dampened paper towels and Q-tips to get into the crevasses and it looked good as new. At first I thought it would look good on the fireplace mantle but the base is too large. I ended up putting on the windowsill next to the bed and added one of my bandanas, a gray one, to add a little whimsy and to make it less formal to fit the style of the apartment.
I love it.
The big question is whether it's a bust of a woman...or a man? It could go either way, it's very neutral. I'm leaning slightly in the direction of woman because the hair looks like it's in a bow...but that's no real indicator. So with that I'm calling her "Venus". She's the new denizen of The Beautiful Wreck.

My "Digital Pochade Box"

Lately I've grown very fond of my iPad again.
I got to where I barely used it, I had stuck it in a drawer and forgotten about it.
But the other week I pulled it out and downloaded an update to a drawing app I used to play around with, Paper53. They had made several improvements to the function and it's really a joy to use now.
I noticed, though, that I didn't really love drawing on the pad when it laid flat on my desk (or lap). I really needed it to be tilted up for better viewing.
Well, necessity is the mother of invention as they say.
I decided to make my own iPad "easel", or to get really fancy with the description a "pochade box".
A pochade box is essentially a small box, usually made of wood, that has 3 unique properties:
--it has a hinged lid that acts as an easel and holds your canvas or board for painting on
--it has a palette contained within it
--it has a storage space for all of your brushes, paints, thinners, etc.

A typical pochade box

Now, this being the 21st Century and The Digital Age, i've got my palette and brushes contained in my iPad app, now all I needed was the easel part.
I sketched out a design and whipped it up in my handyman's basement at the house out of some scraps of old wood and nails. Sanded it, primed it, and painted it a nice charcoal gray to fit in with the apartment decor and--voila!--problem solved. It sits right on my desk next to my computer.
I'm pretty happy with it. The easel makes drawing so much easier. I even designed it to hold my drawing stylus to the side when it's not in use...making it a true pochade!
Here are some pics:

The port cochere: truly finished?

I was out of town for a couple of weeks and when I got back they were putting the finishing touches on the port cochere. I've written numerous postings about the painstakingly SLOOOOW process of re-doing this entrance to the front of the building and--I hope, I hope--this will be the last one.
By all accounts it looks to be finished...and it looks really good. The curb height issue has been rectified and they've even filled the triangular planter with shade plants, mostly large hosts, that look fine.
Here are a few snaps. Whew!!

The boys in the neighborhood

I've written several times about how my neighborhood has figured prominently in some famous Hollywood films.
Ever since I saw the film version of Mart Crowley's stage hit "The Boys in the Band" I've wondered about the location of the apartment where most of the movie's action takes place. It's indicated that it's on the Upper East Side and the exterior shots of the apartment building always looked very familiar. A lot of the early scenes take place on location in a roof terrace on top of a brownstone. The apartment used was owned by Broadway star Tammy Grimes who was friendly with people in the production. With some diligent internet sleuthing I discovered that the apartment in question is very near my building. It's on East 61st Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Here's a still of the movie and a closeup:





And here are some shots I took of the street today. Look at the building across the street from the scene.You can see the Baptist church that's still there and it's brick detailing on the left of the movie frame, there's no mistaking the shapes of the windows.



You can also see that the brownstones across the street haven't changed much, except for the colors!



Here's a shot of the apartment building from street level, you can still see the various aluminum vents off the side.





Compare them to the movie still:



In the movie the apartment belongs to the main character Michael. He's shown arriving and going through the street level front door. Here's a still of that scene:



This is NOT the building on East 61st Street. For this scene they used a different location, an exterior on East 65th street between 3rd Avenue and Lexington.
Here's how that building looks today, a lot has changed in almost 50 years. There's enough detailing here, especially around the windows, to see that it's the same location.



Coincidentally that East 61st Street block is also the street where the famous (and doomed) Hollywood star Montgomery Clift lived. You can read about that building here.

The Millers on 8

I ran across this cool photo of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller today. Perhaps it was around the time they lived in my building (on the 8th floor). If only their ghosts would tell me, I'll be sure to ask them if ever they're spotted ;)

The better the cushion

I went up to the roof terrace yesterday to just take it easy and enjoy the afternoon breeze and saw that the new cushions for the outdoor furniture had arrived (we had been given a heads up that they were being made). I think they're awfully smart looking, a white and taupe stripe, and a vast improvement over the mottled and faded floral pattern on the previous cushions. They weren't cheap; I think they cost several thousand dollars...so let's hope they last a very long time.

Where the sidewalk ends

This is a 'good news/bad news' post.
First, the sidewalk in front of the building has been FINISHED! At last! I guess they were able to fix the street lamp on the corner (freshly painted with a nice high-gloss black paint), so that enabled the completion of the sidewalk. Freshly poured concrete in front and to the side of the building. It looks very nice.





Now for the bad news: the port cochere is STILL under construction. But they're making progress. The "mold" for the new inside sidewalk has been formed, and it looks like they're taking no chances on it being perfect, especially with the height and depth of the curb since that what was the big boo-boo last time. It's got a plastic lining and looks to be ready for the new concrete any day now. So stay tuned for the final reveal. One of the porters told me this week that it's supposed to happen today (Friday), but I'll believe it when I see it!