Reclaiming Beauty Newsletter: New York in Spring

Below is the email newsletter I sent out for March 15, 2014. If you would like to be included in the list, please send me your email to cameralucidas@yahoo.com.

Kidist

March 15, 2014 Dear Friends of Western Civilization, Thank you for those who made my upcoming trip to New York possible. I will spend six days in New York City from March 17 - March 22. Actually, it will be four days, since on two of the days I will spend travelling from and to Toronto, a 12-hour trip by Greyhound. And before you feel sorry for me, it is a wonderful ride through western New York, parts of Pennsylvania, crossing New Jersey, before reaching Port Authority. The ride is mostly through rural and farm land, and we pass by some small towns. I blog about the route here at Camera Lucida in 2009. Here is post I did with photos I took of the mountain ranges I travel through. And here is a poston the Finger Lakes, with photos of Lake Cayuga. Customs at the American border is at Buffalo, and I am always surprised at the grand buildings in the center of the city. In New York, I will join the roundtable group I mentioned in my last newsletter for dinner and discussion. I will spend most of my time at the New York Public Library to continue with my research for my book Reclaiming Beauty: Winning Back Our Civiliztion. I am also going through various guides to find exhibitions that would be worth visiting (some might even be "essential viewing"). Two so far: - Radiant Light: Stained Glass from Canterbury Cathedral At the Cloisters, Feb 25-May 18 - The History of the Dressing Table At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through April 23 And Lincoln Center. When I was a student in New Jersey (in Rutgers) I used to make day trips to New York to listen to the free concerts. Actually, they were rehearsals open to the public. It was very intereting to see how the pieces were put together, and how the condictor went about doing so. Now, these rehearsals (called Open Rehearsals) cost $20, and the reviewer at the New York Philharmonic site agrees with me, saying:"An Open Rehearsal is a fascinating opportunity to watch the New York Philharmonic at work, and see how a piece of music is shaped and polished by the conductor and the musicians." There's an Open Rehearsal on Thursday, March 20, at 9:45 am, at Avery Fisher Hall for: - Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major - Weill: Symphony No. 2 - Gershwin: Concerto in F With Jeffrey Kahane conducting. I had mentioned (in passing) on my blog that I had been through a long series of medical tests this past year. My latest doctor's visit (two days ago) showed that I have a clean bill of health. This is great news, and I believe that St. Michael, of St. Michael's Hospital, where I have been going through most of my tests, is watching over me. St. Michael Slaying Satan  St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto [Photo by KPA]