Week of December 28th, 2015

Wednesday, December 30th: New Year's Eve Eve Swing Dance.
The New Year's Eve Eve party saw us gathered for the 10th+ year in a row. We enjoyed dinner beforehand at tasty Sauce restaurant and proceeded to the nearby DL to continue the revelries. See photos on Facebook here.

Sunday, January 3rd: "The Big Short"
Druce organized a movie outing to see "The Big Short" about the 2008 financial crisis. We proceeded to Ribalta Pizzeria on 12th street to discuss the film and its subject matter.

Week of December 21st, 2015

Monday, December 21st: Dinner with The Squad.
The old gang was back together while Micheline was in town for a visit. She organized a dinner at Pizza Beach, followed by very decadent dessert.

Week of December 14th, 2015

Monday, December 14th: Holy Hoot
A few of us took part in one of my favorite Christmas traditions: the Midtown Carol Sing-Along on St. Bart’s front steps. After singing a number of beloved carols, we warmed up inside with hot chocolate, cider and cookies.

Alex & Celia

Hallmark Christmas Shows

So along with AMC"s "The Walking Dead" and the best sci-fi series ever, "Firefly," I have another obsession: Hallmark Christmas movies. I love the heck out of these sappy specials and wait all year for Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas season. If you ever wondered which of these films are worth checking out, may I refer you to my handy database of specials. Click on an entry for a summary & review.

Week of November 16th, 2015

Sunday, November 22nd: In French With English Subtitles closing reception.
Following a dark and twisty film, "Boomerang," this annual NYC film festival celebrated with a closing ceremony at Florence Gould Hall. Actor / Director Clovis Cornillac won the Audience Appreciation award for his film, "Un Peu, Beaucoup, Aveuglément."

Week of November 9th, 2015

Sunday, November 15th: NYSDS with Tamar Korn and friends. NY's monthly Swing dance treated us to the music of the 20's and 30's thanks to Tamar and her ensemble. Our merry band took this opportunity to enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving Champagne toast together.

Week of November 2nd, 2015

Saturday, November 7th: Scottish Ball - One of the liveliest and loveliest events of the year took place at the Abigail Adams house. Proceeds from the event went to the NY Caledonian Club.

More photos on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/scottishball/10156275750420338/?notif_t=like

Week of October 26th, 2015

Friday, October 30th: Harvard Club Foundation Dinner Dance.

Saturday October 31st: Swing Dance Flash mob in Times Square.  Check the FB page for photos here.

Saturday October 31st: Halloween Stomp

More photos from the official event album here.

Week of October 19th, 2015

Sunday October 24th: Day-trip to Kykuit. We headed up to Sleepy Hollow, NY to enjoy the Fall colors and tour Kykuit, The Rockefeller family estate. Our turgid, Carol, was a sheer delight. Thanks to Stephen for the photos.

Week of October 12th, 2015

October 14 - 16: Trip to Greenport Long Island. Many thanks to Marguerite for organizing such a lovely get-away.

Friday, October 16th: Maurizio Pollini plays Chopin at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall.

Saturday, October 17th: Prayer for Peace Concert at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Jason Tramm. Months of work paid off as Maestro Tramm put together a fantastic musical program for all to enjoy, featuring pieces by composers of 3 different faiths. For more details, see press coverage and photos in Broadway World here.

Alex & the Maestro (photo credit John Gladitsch)

(photo credit: John Gladitsch)

Sunday, October 18th: Balanchine Black & White. NY City Ballet

Week of October 5th, 2015

Monday, October 5th: "Going, Going, Gone." The owner of Guernsey's auction house presented a lively and informative lecture on the highlights of his career.

Thursday, October 8th: Comic Con 2015. Our little band of heroes took on Gotham City at Comic Con.

The girls and their new friend, Michael Rooker

Friday, October 9th: Governor's Ball at the Princeton Club.

Week of September 28th, 2015

Friday, October 2nd: Playboy Swings at the Player's Club. Patrick Soluri's Playboy themed event brought revelers together at NYC's swanky Player's Club to experience a number of bands and dancers.

Saturday, October 3rd: The Met at the movies. Terry & I enjoyed the Met's live simultaneous broadcast at the movies of Verdi's Il Trovatore. Following Dmitri Hvorotovsky and Anna Netrebko's outstanding performances, we enjoyed a delicious early dinner at Barbetta Restaurant.  What a way to celebrate our combined birthdays!

Week of August 24th, 2015

• Friday August 21st: Venerdí. The only reason I can keep track of what day of the week it is is because of the rugs the Hotel thoughtfully changed every day in the Hotel elevator. So today is Venerdi.

You may ask why we choose to stay in a village requiring an Everest-like trek to the beach ever day.  Well, it's so as to work off a few small indulgences.

Ice cream counter, Buca di Bacco.

Week of August 17th, 2015

Monday, August 17th: The San Pietro Hotel. About 10 km outside Positano, the Hotel San Pietro sits perched upon a rocky cliffside.  The lush and verdant grounds are a perfect hideaway for its guests (like Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk) to enjoy privacy. The Hotel's most wonderful aspect is perhaps the elevator built into the rock that whisks guests away to a private beach down below.  The 90-second ride through solid rock is not for the claustrophobic, nor the faint of heart!

One of the Hotel's Terraces

Detail of inlaid tile work on a stone bench

Il Fornillo. Physicists like to say What goes up must come down. But in Positano, a more apt saying is What you go down, you must come up again. case in point, a staircase to the nearby Il Fornillo beach.

It is a ten minute hike, amidst very wild scenery punctuated by towers.

But it is all worth it to have lunch on the beach at this lovely spot.

Bar Bagni da Puppetto.

Next to this Face!

Michelangelo eating bread.

It is a good thing I fortified myself with lunch, so I am ready to face the trip back. Here is the same staircase, seen from the bottom.

Week of August 10th, 2015

• Monday, August 10th: Lemon Grove Tour. We took a boat to Amalfi and visited one of the area's oldest and most ilustrious family-owned lemon groves.  The lemons from this farm are used to make some of the most delicious Limoncello liqueur around. The owner maintains the highest standards of organic farming and his family has done much to preserve the traditional methods of lemon tree raising and maintenance.

Lemon grove

La Valle dei Mulini, Amalfi

Vilma enjoying lemon cake

Our tour group

A bus stop in Amalfi

Leaving Amalfi

• Monday, August 10th: La Notte di San Lorenzo (Night of the Shooting Stars).  This evening typically has the highest number of shooting stars visible. It is a longstanding tradition in Positano that young people go to the beach and stay up until the wee hours eating pizza and watching out for shooting stars.  Instead of shooting stars, we saw a wonderful lightning display over the sea, as a big storm front rolled in.

• Tuesday, August 11th: The highlight of the day was the birdbath full of risotto al burro e parmigiano that I ordered for dinner. Granted, it almost put me in a food coma, but it was delicious! Also wonderful was seeing an old friend, Carla Mastro at her family's beautiful store. We have known her father, Antonio de Luise for over 40 years! Mastro carries beautiful creations in linen designed by her husband and sold by her charming son, Ivan. If you are ever in Positano, check it out.

• Wednesday, August 12th: The day started for me at 5:45am with an impromptu Dawn Concert by a large brass orchestra featuring music from Swan Lake, Carmen and something by Verdi or Souza. It was hard to tell with all the tubas. The highlights of the day were an afternoon swim off Li Galli Islands and The Shrimp Tower for dinner.  It's a tower, made of Sicilian prawns, balanced precariously on top of a toast with baby shrimp tartare. What's not to love...

• Thursday, August 13th: Music on the Rocks.  Today was the birthday of a dear friend of long-standing, Martina. We celebrated on an idyllic rooftop crowning the seaside disco, Music on the Rocks, where we spent many an evening over the years.

• Friday, August 14th: La Vigilia. The eve of Ferragosto is a very important day in Italy. I know that because I awakened to another brass band and an excess of bell ringing in honor of La Santa Vergine Maria Assunta. It is the day when they raise (a replica) of a medieval painted icon of the Madonna and fly it between the church tower and the western side of the bay.