Greenwich Roundup: Bill Clark

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

05/07/08 - The Raw Greenwich News Feed For Wednesday (Updated)

TOP STORY

Scouts to work within limts set by Sternberg

By Neil Vigdor
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

The Boy Scouts withdrew their request yesterday to be allowed back inside classrooms at Greenwich Public Schools for recruiting, saying they would work within limitations set by educators to avoid disruption.

The turn of events came after meeting of Scout leaders, education officials and PTA officers hastily called by First Selectman Peter Tesei to douse the flames of controversy created by the youth organiza tion's banishment from classrooms, school assemblies and lunch periods...

...Sternberg and Tesei, who serves on the board of the Greenwich Council and is the town's chief elected official, have been engaged in a public war of words over the policy. Tesei said he called the meeting to try to broker a compromise.

"I think it's important that there be a direct dialogue," Tesei said. "I also want to lower the tension and focus on what the issue at hand is."...

...Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler said that while administrators are responsible for determining access, she planned to discuss the issue with her colleagues on the board.

Open houses and parent conferences have been mentioned as possible venues for recruiting presentations. The parties who met yesterday plan to hold more meetings before the start of the traditional recruitment period for the Scouts, which runs from September through December...

THE RAW FEED

Today's Greenwich Library News

Where: Greenwich Library at Children's Constellation Room Drop-in story time for 2 and 3 year olds with a caregiver. Program includes stories, songs, movement and finger plays. No registration required but space is limited. ...

Tag: Community Event

Greenwich Cardinals Have Huge Win Over Westhill

Greenwich Wins Easily

Greenwich 21, Westhill 2 - Tucker Stafford scored five goals while Clay Graham, Jim Dunster and James Kiernan had three apiece to lead the Cardinals to the ...

Tags: Sports

The Bird Report From Greenwich Point

Remember Usenet - Greenwich News Group Report

From: Meredith Sampson w/ "First Sundays" Birding Group.

Tags: Birding

Tropicana Chap. 11 Filing Details Downfall

GlobeSt.com

... says the company has secured $67 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Silver Point Finance, LLC of Greenwich, CT that should allow it to continue operations while maintaining current staffing levels and paying vendors for current services. ...

Tags: Atlantic City, New Jersey, Aztar, Gaming

Productivity in U.S. Rises 2.2%, More Than Forecast, as Companies Cut Jobs

Bloomberg

... 2008, the pace of efficiency gains does not appear to have faltered,'' Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut, said before the report. ``A weaker economy will likely keep compensation costs from ...

"Go Red" luncheon set for Friday

Connecticut Post

The American Heart Association's third annual Fairfield County Go Red For Women Luncheon will take place Friday at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Combining a reception, silent auction, lunch ...

Tags: Fairfield County, Conneticut

Captain underdog

NewsTimesLive.com

... the school's young program. The pair often suffered tough losses against FCIAC powerhouse such as Darien, Greenwich, Wilton and Ridgefield while trying to establish a winning tradition. "Every game was a challenge," Skarda said. "But it's that much ...

We Must Keep These Subversives Out !!!!

Is The Greenwich Diva Next To Be Put On The List For Criticizing The List?

Why didn't someone take Mr. Mendela off this list years ago? ...

Mauldin's Blackwell to compete in tournament for blind

GreenvilleOnline.com

... Kisco Country Club in Mount Kisco, N.Y., the Whippoorwill Club in Armonk, N.Y., and the Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Conn.

You Can Be A Virtual Super Delegate In Greenwich

We Need Change says....

Democratic delegates will soon be making a clear choice about the type of leadership they want to see from their government, and the type of new direction they want to see their country take...

Did You Know That Greenwich Gossip Webmaster Bill Clark Had Been Banned By The Yellowich Time

The Local Rag Starts to Clean Up Its Act

As faithful readers of this column know, the Local Rag, aka Yellowwich Time, has had a pretty poor history of truth-telling and fact-reporting in recent decades. The reason was not far to seek: it was locally owned, locally run, and well versed in the mythology that Greenwich is Disneyland East, where nothing nasty or dishonest or untoward ever occurs. And if it does, the theory went, their readers certainly didn't want to know about it....

GOP lawmakers struggle for budget debate

Connecticut Post

... spent an hour honoring longtime lawmakers who are planning to retire, including Sen. William H. Nickerson, R-Greenwich, and Rep. Christel H. Truglia, D-Stamford. "You know what? We have very important people in that chamber that we wanted to say ...

Don't Say Ommmmmmm......Say Amennnnnnnn...

GREENWICH - Christian yoga will be held on Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. and 10 to 11 a.m. Saturdays at Father O'Connor Center, 4 Riverside Ave...

...Next week there will be a special Hindu Communion Service

Followed By The New Age Hindu Confessional

Fairfield Ludlowe shows effort in loss to Wilton

Connecticut Post

... they lost to the lacrosse perennial that had coach Chris Parisi at least a little optimistic. "We were pounded by Greenwich (14-0). We were pounded by Darien (16-2)," Parisi said. "I think we had our character tested. I really have no explanation ...

The high risks of low interest rates

MSN Money

... of equity, and if one or two deals blow up, you are still guaranteed to make enough money to buy a new house in Greenwich, Conn., every few years or so. The only market participants who suffer in this case are once again the "sucker" savers. What a ...

US dollar falls on Fannie Mae loss

The Age

... assets. ''This dollar rally has run out of gas,'' said Alan Ruskin, head of international currency strategy at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. ''People have underestimated the potential for losses'' among financial ...

Grady reaches new heights despite dig from principal

New York Daily News

... the rough times began when she approached principal Carlston Gray about traveling to a non-league tournament in Greenwich, Conn. , this spring. She met with Gray in his office back in February, asked for a bus, and was shocked by the principal's ...

Tags: Sports

Sprint May Get $5 Billion for Nextel After $36 Billion Acquisition in 2005

Bloomberg

... Journal's report. Sprint spokesman James Fisher said the company doesn't comment on speculation. Miller, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, said the unit may be worth as much as $10 billion. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Jason Armstrong in New York ...

Betty Sterberg accused her critics of playing politics In The Greenwich Time. Did she mean Tesei, Crumbine, Dadaks And 75% Of RTM?

The Unspeakable Betty Sternberg Strikes Again

Probably no Town employee is as wildly unpopular as the unspeakable Betty Sternberg, who continues to make new enemies at every turn. Now she has managed to p*ss off the Boy Scouts - the organization, the kids, and the parents. What will she pick on next, one wonders? Motherhood? Apple pie? When, oh when, dear reader, will the Board of Ed finally get the message and fire her, as they should have done many months and many millions of wasted dollars ago?

Shift Control Media Wins Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Coca-Cola Games

Business Wire

... keting and communication. Its clients include AKQA, Barely Political, Coca-Cola, NBC Universal and Yahoo! Based in Greenwich, CT, with a game development studio in Vancouver, BC, Shift Control is privately held.

Hello, Cupcake book

WLS-TV Chicago

... publications, including Woman's Day, Family Circle, Gourmet, Real Simple, Bon Appetit and Nick, Jr. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and will embark on a national author tour. Alan Richardson is a critically acclaimed food photographer and is ...

Tags: Chicago, IL, Life, Food, Recipes

BUSINESS: Oil hits record above $121 on supply woes

NJ Biz

Jersey City-based financial services firm Knight Capital Group, Inc. today announced it has agreed to acquire Libertas Holdings, LLC, an institutional fixed-income brokerage firm based in Greenwich, Conn., for ...

News Links From Today's Greenwich Post

Commissioner of public works resigns

Breaking News

Joking that he had the urge to “Go West, old man,” town Department of Public Works (DPW) Commissioner Lloyd Hubbs has resigned and will return to California.

Mr. Hubbs, 62, was hired in the winter of 2005 after years working in San Diego, Calif. He had six months remaining on his three-year contract and said it was time for a change. His last day at work will be May 27, and he will be succeeded, for now, by Deputy Public Works Commissioner Amy Siebert....

Planners, neighbors want definitive plans for steakhouse

Web Exclusive

The Planning and Zoning Commission is looking to get definitive answers from Luca’s Steakhouse before moving forward with its application to expand and renovate the Church Street restaurant.

Himes, Shays set to get nominations for fall battle

Web Exclusive

When Cos Cob resident Jim Himes is officially nominated on Monday as the Democratic candidate in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District he will do so as the party’s best chance ever to unseat longtime Republican incumbent Rep. Christopher Shays, according to the recent nonpartisan Cook Political Report that ranks Mr. Shays at the top of its list of “2008 Politically Vulnerable Incumbents.” The report is said to be based on past election results, party registration in the district and current fund-raising totals for both opponents.

UBS not discussing cuts at HQ

UBS AG officials would not specify how many jobs will be cut at the company's U.S. investment banking headquarters in Stamford after announcing yesterday that UBS expects to trim 5,500 jobs globally through mid-2009.
Full Story

Six get distinguished teachers honor

For Christine Kovac, teaching children is all about helping them to become active participants in their lives rather than passive observers.
Full Story

Scouts to work within limts set by Sternberg

The Boy Scouts withdrew their request yesterday to be allowed back inside classrooms at Greenwich Public Schools for recruiting, saying they would work within limitations set by educators to avoid disruption.
Full Story

Dershowitz vigorously supports Israel's actions

Arguing that Israel has been persistently miscast as a bellicose ogre oppressing Palestinians, lawyer Alan Dershowitz defended the country for its reserve and measured response to rocket attacks and suicide bombings during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Full Story

Police cracking down on cell phone users

Greenwich cops are handing out $100 tickets for cell-talking while driving.
Full Story

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Monday, March 3, 2008

03/03/08 - Bill Clark At Greenwich Gossip Speaks Out

Same Old, Same Mold

The boondoggle that ate Greenwich, laughingly known as the Hamilton Avenue "building" project, is reaching new heights - or is it depths? - of depravity. The latest news is that the modular buildings are infested with mold. Since mold was one of the purported reasons (accounts of its factuality differ) for closing and renovating the old building, it is ironic but totally in keeping with the project's horrendous karma that mold is once again driving the students from their classrooms.

So far none of the local media have mentioned - if they even know - that these modular units were originally intended to be leased by the Town. But the Board of Education, in its infinite wisdom (yes, folks, the same board that brought you the Larry Leverett follies and the Betty Sternberg non-stop train wreck), persuaded the Town Fathers to buy the suckers instead. So now we're stuck with millions of dollars' worth of useless mold-infested junk. Just to get rid of them will cost us all hundreds of thousands more.

In any other community, heads would have rolled long before now. In Greenwich, of course, the taxpayers are the ones being rolled.

The unspeakable Betty Sternberg has given the Ham Ave students a week off while she and her lapdog Board of Ed try to do damage control. What does this mean for the working parents of the Ham Ave community, dear reader? Disruption, unexpected day care costs, and the knowledge that unlike all the other kids in Town, theirs will not be allowed to take the Connecticut Mastery tests this week. As always, it seems, the victims will be paying the price for Betty and the Board's sheer and utter incompetence.

There is little doubt around Town that the Ham Ave "building" project is the most notorious disaster in our community's history. Inept planning, lack of oversight, huge overruns in costs and enormous delays - it's a blueprint of how to do everything wrong. But Betty and the Board of Ed roll on as before, oblivious and clueless about every aspect of running a school system.

Greenwich used to have one of the best school systems in the state, if not the country. It wasn't broke, so the Board of Ed decided to fix it. They hired Leverett, and then Sternberg, to oversee the wholesale multilation of a once-fine program with their ignorance and incompetence. And, of course, they will want us, the taxpayers, to come up with the money to pay for their blunders, even as they continue to ask for more money to add more positions to an already top-heavy bureaucratic empire.

Is it time for a taxpayer revolt? Should we sack all the feckless administrators and give their salaries to the teachers instead? Well, why not? The teachers are the ones who get the job done, while the administrators sit around all day throwing roadblocks in their way and digging ever-deeper financial holes for the Town. Who needs them?

Small wonder that a group of Ham Ave parents and students were picketing the Board of Ed building this morning. The general message was shame on Betty and shame on the Board of Ed. In your scribe's opinion, that about sums it up.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

02/28/08 - Greenwich Gossip - If you've been looking with a house with a separate closet for your belts

Tommy Hilfinger Sells a House

Well, at least he put it on the market. When and for what price it sells remains to be seen. The initial asking price is $28 million.

As faithful readers of this blog will recall, it was less than ten months ago that Tommy was planting trees. Click here 4/14/2007 09:56:00 AM to read the story, and here 5/01/2007 01:57:00 PM to see the pictures. Today, the trees look as though they've always been there. By the time spring gets here and the house-lookers are out in force, they should be pretty handsome.

What does 28 mill buy in this Town these days? The mandatory minimum of 20,000 square feet which all serious home-buyers are looking for, of course; an "infinity-edge" swimming pool; a tennis court; a basketball court (Tommy plays basketball?! That's new news to your scribe!); a pool pavilion; a 2,000-bottle wine cellar; a sauna and massage room; a suede-lined home theatre for two dozen of your closest friends (popcorn machine included); and "lush gardens". Oh, and let's not forget the allee of instant trees.

For those who may not yet know what an "infinity-edge" swimming pool is, it is a pool at the far end of which the water seems to fall away over the edge of the pool in an apparent drop into the landscape beyond.....

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

02/27/08 - Bill Clark of Greenwich Gossip Asks - Why Would You Buy A Landmark House Just To Tear It Down

Rape and Pillage Come to Greenwich

Cultural vandalism is nothing new in this Town, but it's always disheartening when a fresh and particularly egregious example rears its ugly head. The historic McCutcheon/Malley house at the entrance to Belle Haven, an outstanding example of the Richardsonian-Romanesque style of the late nineteenth century, has been posted for demolition. The Historical Society has filed an objection, but this will only delay the process for ninety days.

Only ninety days to save 120 years of history. Can Rene and Marie-France Kern be persuaded to reconsider this folly? Why, in heaven's name, did they buy such a historic house only a couple of months ago when there are lots of other places on the market that would never be missed? Is this some kind of perverse Gallic "in your face, America" gesture?

If an American couple tried to commit a similar atrocity with a historic French home, it would quite likely become a national cause celebre. Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Le Canard Enchaine would all get into the battle, and pretty soon the hapless American couple would probably find that none of the merchants in the local village would supply them, none of the neighbors would speak to them, and their residency papers would suddenly become entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare of red tape.

Here, of course, they will probably be admitted to the once-prestigious Belle Haven Club, where they will find many of the more recent members avidly waiting to swap house project stories. The object of these stories, of course, is to try to outdo your neighbors in tales of extravagance and expense - which is how the nouveau-riche play "keeping up with the Jonses" these days. The destruction of a historic mansion will become fodder for bragging rights around the bar.

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you no sense of shame?" With these words Joseph Welch pricked the bubble of the infamous McCarthy hearings, and began to bring a national nightmare to a close. Your scribe poses the same questions to M. and Mme. Kern. Why would you buy a landmark house in order to tear it down? Can you perhaps find some other piece of property that will suit your needs without vandalizing our community? How would you react to an American behaving like this in France? And do you, at long last, have a sense of decency?

If so, please change your plans. Refurbish the house, as you originally planned to do - you will get your money back, and more. And you will also earn the gratitude of the local community.

How say you, M. et Mme. Kern? Nous attendons votre reponse avec hate et avec espoir. Soyez bien de nos amis, non pas de nos ennemis. Que dites-vous?

Thursday, February 21, 2008

02/21/08 - Another Greenwich Gossip Post From The Amost Amazing Bill Clark

Why the Town Fathers Won't Allow a Holiday Inn in Greenwich

by Bill Clark

Your scribe has a number of favorite blogs he enjoys visiting, and on one of them he found the following, which he hastens to share with his readership:

NO NURSING HOME FOR US

Guess what, Holiday Inn offers 24 hour service 7 days a week around the clock!!!!!

How is that compared to Nursing Homes rip off??????

No nursing home for us. We are checking into the Holiday Inn!

With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old & feeble. We have already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount, plus senior discount, it's $49.23 per night. That leaves $138.77 a day for: Breakfast, lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc. Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap. $5 worth of tips a day will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. They treat you like a customer, not a patient.

There is a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. The handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp). To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays. For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there. While you're at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up. It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today. And you are not stuck in one place forever, you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city.

Want to see Hawaii? They have a Holiday Inn there too.
TV broken?
Light bulbs need changing?
Need a mattress replaced?
No problem!
They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience.

The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they will call the undertaker or an ambulance. If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life. And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation. The grand kids can use the pool.

What more can you ask for?

What more, indeed? Sounds like a great idea to your scribe! Unfortunately, there is no Holiday Inn in Greenwich, nor is there likely ever to be one. Why?

Well, just think, dear reader: all those retirees would jam the place and use the local address to get beach cards, vote in Town elections, and perhaps even run for the RTM! Or perhaps some political wannabe will get all his retired friends to move here and vote him in as First Selectman, or State congressperson, or even run against Chris Shays for Congress. Heaven forfend!

No, gentle reader, you may be quite sure that the Town Fathers will never allow a Holiday Inn here in Greenwich. The would-be interlopers will have to make do with Stamford or Mount Kisco instead, which are the only HI's in our immediate vicinity. Whew! Another crisis averted in Town!

Greenwich Gossip - http://greenwich-gossip.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 11, 2008

02/11/08 - Bill Clark Remember's A Wonerful Greenwich Woman

Elizabeth Watson 1944-2008

by Bill Clark

This afternoon the sanctuary at the First Presbyterian Church was just as full as it had been for the regular morning service. We were there to honor our beloved friend Elizabeth Watson, who was killed in a tragic accident a week ago Thursday.

Elizabeth stood only about four feet tall, but her physical stature was no measure of the huge impact she had on those who knew her. For some forty years she sang in the church choir, and rarely if ever missed a Sunday. Her enthusiasm for everything was infectious. She was child-like in her simplicity. Her emotions were nothing if not genuine. She loved life.

Elizabeth, you see, was slightly impaired. Not retarded - that's too strong a word, although those who didn't get to know her might have labeled her as such. She hobbled rather than walked; she was hard of hearing; she came right out with whatever she was thinking; and on a scale of prepossessiveness running from 1 to 10 would probably have come in at about 0.5. But none of that really mattered.

Outwardly unemployable, Elizabeth found work at three of our Town's best-known commercial institutions: D. W. Rogers department store, which went out of business after Elizabeth had worked there ten years; F. W. Woolworth's, which was sold to an upscale chain store after Elizabeth had worked there for ten years; and Mead's Stationery Store, which went out of business after Elizabeth had worked there for ten years. She outlasted them all.

Her final job was at the Pet Pantry, where she loved working with the animals and gave them all pet names - "my babies", as she called them. She was on her way to work at 6:30 AM that Thursday morning, on foot as always, and heading for her morning cup of coffee at Starbucks. In an alleyway less than fifty feet from the coffee shop, a large dump truck was backing out. Elizabeth, slight of stature and hearing-impaired, was as unaware of its presence as the driver of the truck was of hers. She was crushed to death.

Everyone in church this afternoon was crying. When we were with Elizabeth, we saw life through her eyes: simple, bright, and beautiful. Everything was wonderful - wonder-full - to her, and through her we all learned how beautiful life really is. She was a walking sermon; she was a real sweetheart in the truest sense of the word.

There will be an empty chair - hers - in the choir loft for the remainder of Lent. On Easter, it will be filled by someone else. But we will carry Elizabeth in our hearts as long as we live, mindful of her pluck and joy; and if sometimes life tries its best to get us down, we will remember her bright soprano voice saying, as she so often did, "Isn't it wonderful?"

Greenwich Gossip - http://greenwich-gossip.blogspot.com/

Saturday, February 9, 2008

02/09/08 - I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading Bill Clark's posts! How much sooner one tires of anything than his blog!

Musical Magic at Christ Church

by Bill Clark

Last night saw the continuation of the "second Friday" organ concert series at Christ Church, and it was a doozy. Not one, not two, but THREE organists participated, all somehow squeezing onto the same organ bench for the grand finale. Of which more anon.

It was pleasing to your scribe to see perhaps the largest turnout yet to date for one of these concerts. He wishes that the right hand and left hand of the Christ Church bureaucracy would function as smoothly together as the six hands and six feet of the organists did; the front-office publicity for this series has ranged from spotty to inaccurate to non-existent (which is why your scribe missed the last concert). C'mon, folks, how hard is it to put a sentence or two in the weekly newsletter and the incessant e-mails? And let's get the time right: the programs begin at 7:30, but are preceded by a short introduction at 7:15. So why not just tell everybody to be there by 7:15, not 7:00 or 7:30? It doesn't take an S.T.D. (doctorate in Sacred Theology) to figure that one out.

And thus it was that at 7:15 Organ Scholar Isabelle Demers stepped before us to deliver the preview of coming attractions. She gave us a run-down of each piece in her charming French-Canadian accent, full of anecdotal and incidental information much of which was new to your scribe. Look for portions of her commentary interspersed below.

The first piece, by the prolific English composer John Rutter, was based on the medieval Easter hymn, O Filii et Filiae ("O Sons and Daughers of the King"). Associate Director of Music James Kennerley, the Wunderkind from across the pond, and Organ Scholar Enrico Contenti, a student at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale, played the theme and eight variations. James obviously enjoyed belting out the triumphant notes of the stately hymn on the trompette en chamade, located on the gallery organ at the rear of the church and the organ's loudest and most brilliant stop. Meanwhile Enrico's brilliant and flashy fingerwork on the chancel organ provided a sparkling counterpoint in full stereophonic sound. The two of them shared the pedalboard, as their four hands and feet showed off the various tonal colors of the organs' palette. It was a virtuoso piece, exquistely performed by two virtuoso organists.

According to Isabelle, Rutter even worked in some musical jokes, such a theme from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess; John remains, in your scribe's opinion, the finest composer of choral and organ music alive on the planet today. For more about the connection between him and Greenwich, click on the following link:

http://greenwich-gossip.blogspot.com/2007/12/holiday-choral-concert.html

Next followed Cesar Franck's Piece Heroique, ably performed by Enrico. Once again, Isabelle helped to put this bravura composition into context for us: it was written by Franck at the end of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, in which France came out on the short end of the stick (end of the Second Empire under Napoleon III; start of the Third Republic). The sombre military bombast of the beginning eventually gives way to a softer, more lyric theme which ultimately prevails, along with dying drumbeats in the pedal as the clouds of war give way to an apotheosis of the French soldiers who died on their country's behalf. For all the times your scribe had heard this piece before, this time he heard it with new ears. Enrico's rendition was awesome.

Gustav Merkel's Sonata in D Minor for Four Hands and Feet was, for this listener at least, the high point of the program. As Isabelle told us, this work was composed for a competition, in which it took first place. Rarely heard - after all, as Isabelle said, how many churches have two organs and two organists? - it is nonetheless a classic of the Romantic movement. Redolent of Mendelssohn and Rheinberger, it is a work of brilliant sonorities and mile-a-minute fingering and footwork. The opening Allegro Moderato makes use of the dominant seventh as though it were going out of style, filling the air with the musical equivalent of ear candy. The gorgeously lyric Adagio milks the sentimental possbilities of the organ for all they're worth (which in this case is quite a lot). The final Allegro con Fuoco and fugue offer more breath-taking bravura playing, with - surprise! - more dominant sevenths at the end. One can hardly call Merkel a giant of the world of organ literature, but if you ever have the chance to hear this piece, dear reader, you will no doubt enjoy it as much as your scribe did.

A word about the performers: James and Isabelle did the musical equivalent of the Vulcan mind-meld on Star Trek, and played as if their two bodies were governed by a single mind. Their faultless technique, their total synchronicity as fingers and feet and notes were flying in all directions, were truly wondrous to behold. Another reason why this was the high point of the evening for your scribe.

Another musical curiosity, though much more pedantic than the Merkel, was Samuel Wesley's Introduction to the Grand Fugue in E Flat by Johann Sebastian Bach. The title is almost longer than the piece itself, and of course the question that raises itself is Why? Why write an introduction when Bach himself had already written one, which he called a Prelude? Perhaps the answer is that Wesley was trying to do a Reader's Digest version so he could get straight to the fugue and not tax the patience of his Regency-era audience; or perhaps he found his own notes easier to perform than Bach's. In any case, his piece is no sooner heard than forgotten, although at least your scribe can now say he has heard it.

Wesley was an odd duck. His father, Charles Wesley, was one of the great hymn-writers of the Christian church ("Christ the Lord is Ris'n Today," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"), and with his brother John founded the Methodist church. Samuel, on the other hand, seemed not to hold much stock in religious niceties; he cohabited with his wife without benefit of clergy for a lengthy period, and after siring three children with her moved on to the below-stairs maid, with whom he had another seven illegitimate children, the best-known of whom is Samuel Sebastian Wesley ("Lead Me, Lord," "Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace"). It would seem he made up in his colorful personal life for the rather pallid quality of his music.

OK, with the Introduction out of the way, the glorious Fugue itself naturally followed. Again, James and Isabelle did the honors, although they eschewed the four-hands four-feet version by Wesley's friend, Ivor Novello. Instead, they just shared Bach's solo version, handing off the three fugal subjects to each other one by one. Why three subjects? Well, the Saint Anne Fugue, as it is also known, is based on William Croft's well-known hymn tune, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"; this theme represents God the Father. A more sinuous theme represents God the Son, weaving between heaven and earth, as it were. The final ebullient theme, dancing like tongues of fire, represents God the Holy Spirit. Bach weaves them together one by one, until at the end all three are playing in joyous counterpoint together, a musical dramatization of the Trinity. Isabelle reminded us of the reason Bach chose the key: it has three flats.

James then did a bravura performance of Marcel Dupre's Prelude and Fugue in C Major. Never one to use a single note where a dozen or more would do, Dupre quite probably did just what Isabelle suggested to us: compose a piece of such "fearsome techical difficulty", as James put it, so that he would be the only one capable of performing his own work. Well, if that was his intent, he reckoned without the awesome skill of James Kennerley, who played the whole thing masterfully without even breaking a sweat. Your scribe thinks that old Marcel is probably turning over in his grave with envy.

A two-organ concert would hardly be complete without the work of Antonio Soler, who was the pioneer in this rather abstruse field. James went up to the balcony console, while Enrico played at the main one, and we were treated to a pleasing antiphonal rendition of the Concerto I para dos organos.

And then it was time for all three organists to play at once. Isabelle was the monkey in the middle, with James on her left and Enrico on her right. They played the Allegro con Brio, the final movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Once again Isabelle's opening words were very insightful: she told us how at the first performance the audience reacted negatively, likening the music to "drunken carousing". So once again your scribe heard a familiar piece with new ears, and realized that they and Isabelle indeed had a point. Closer to our town time, as James' program notes informed us, Sir Thomas Beecham said, "What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about."

Well, there was indeed a lot of jumping about, but the three organists of Christ Church were infinitely more graceful than yaks as they energetically performed this most energetic of works. It's a pity that Beethoven himself could not have been there, with his hearing intact, of course; he would undoubtedly have cried tears of joy at hearing his music so gorgeously performed.

Afterwards, we all traipsed into the Family Room for the traditional wine and cheese afters. Your scribe would like to note that there were actually five performers last evening: the three organists, and Neil and Joanne Bouknight. Neil ran the audio-visual setup that enabled us all to watch the action at the console on a large screen, while Joanne did the camera work to bring us the picture. And as if that weren't enough, they also set up, hosted, and cleaned up after the reception as well. In the pantheon of candidates for sainthood who daily inhabit Christ Church, Neil and Joanne are high up on the list.

Once again, we here in Greenwich were treated to a world-class musical performance, right here in our own Town. Some people move here for the beaches, some for the schools, some for the beautiful neighborhoods, some for the nature preserves; but whatever the reasons people give for living here, dear reader, your scribe hopes you will always be quick to add another: "I live here because of the fabulous music in this Town." Your scribe certainly does.

Greenwich Gossip - http://greenwich-gossip.blogspot.com/

Monday, February 4, 2008

02/04/08 - Here is some lengthly election blogpistle from Bill Clark at the Greenwich Gossip Blog

Super Tuesday Comes to Greenwich

In a couple of days we here in Greenwich may have helped to pick the winning candidates for each party in the next Presidential election. As Greenwich goes, so goes the nation, right? Well, our Town has produced more US senators, ambassadors, vice presidents, and presidents than any other town in the country, so it makes perfect sense that this should be the case.

Meanwhile, the local political landscape is changing as well. Skippy Snickerson and the Doll have both announced their long-awaited retirement plans, and there is dancing in the streets at the opportunity to send some fresh blood up to Hartford. Former State Rep Janet Lockton is itching to get back into harness, and would be a natural to replace Skippy. Ed Krumeich nearly beat the Doll last time around, and after many years of yeoman service to the Town on the BET and the DTC, would make an ideal replacement for her. As mentioned before in these pages, Ed's prowess on the stage as seen in numerous local Gilbert & Sullivan productions would make him well-suited to tap dance his way though the political tripwires up in Hartford.

Moreover, Ed being a Democrat, he would quite likely have more influence for good in our local area as a member of the majority party in the House. Why the local voters have never focused on the widsom of sending a strong Democratic candidate to the House is a mystery to your scribe, but maybe that will change this time around. As for Republican candidate Janet, her district would include part of north Stamford and New Canaan (remember, dear reader, the State Senate is much smaller than the House of Representatives), which is pretty much dyed-in-the-wool Republican territory. Her experience and contacts in Hartford would be certain to prove beneficial to all of us here in the local area.

Meanwhile, Skippy is still very much on the scene, alas. Your scribe was walking peacfully down Greenwich Avenue the other day when he was accosted by Skippy, who waved his arms wildly like semaphores and exclaimed, "Hi! How are you? Great to see you!" Your scribe had to duck under the flailing arms in order to get by him and proceed on his way. (As long-time readers of these pages will recall, Skippy is well aware of your scribe's allergic reaction to him, and loves to make a game of it; he has been known to sneak up behind your scribe at the library and say "Hi, Bill" in order to elicit a "Hello" in return - which actually worked once, much to your scribe's embarrassment.)

So change is in the wind, and our Town has its part to play in bringing it about. Which, of course, means YOU, dear reader. The polls will be open from 6 AM to 8 PM, so be sure to do your civic duty and VOTE. No, I know the party machines in Town no longer reimburse you in cash for your trouble, as they did in the early decades of the last century, but that's no reason to stay home. Remember, people tend to get the government they deserve. Indifference breeds business as usual. If there's one thing on which all the candidates seem to agree right now, it's the need for change. So let's all do our part to bring it about.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

01/31/08 - The Greenwich Blog Wire - Greenwich Gossip

Bill Clark Hard At Work In The Greenwich Library

Manuscript Mavens Come to Greenwich Avenue!

Well, not exactly, but you can be the first to walk down Greenwich Avenue with a bright green MaveFave button. Actually, you can't, inasmuch as your scribe has already ordered his, and thus expects to be the first. He will wear it with pride to all his book signings and other literary events, and thereby look to start a fashion trend among the literati of Greenwich.

For those who wish to order a similar fashion accessory, you may visit this link. Be the first on your block to own a piece of official MaveGear or Mavenabilia!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

01/24/08 - Greenwich Gossip Blogs About CVS Comming To Cos Cob

Ave atque Vale, Cos Cob Food Mart

As regular readers of these pages know, your scribe is fond of quoting Heraclitus to the effect that change is the only constant. "You never step in the same river twice," the old bird said, and he was right. The water is always rushing by, and the river changes from nanosecond to nanosecond. And thus it is here in Greenwich.

Your scribe was in the Cos Cob Foot Mart yesterday, and it looked like a war zone. Acres of empty shelves and miles of empty aisles. The former hub of "The Hub" (as Cos Cob is known), where you could be sure of meeting all your friends and neighbors, is no more.

Many (but not all) of the staff have been relocated to the Old Greenwich store. TAG (the Transportation Association of Greenwich) will run a twice-weekly round-trip shuttle from the old location over to the OG store, for the price of a buck and a pocketful of patience. This is meant to help the elderly and infirm who used to walk to the store. The actual cost of the service is $3 per person, but the Porricelli family is kicking in the other two bucks, no doubt figuring that it's good PR as well as a smart business move.

It's sad to think that the grocery store that has been there for over half a century, under different names, is no more. It survived fire (1983) and flood (it sits smack dab in the Strickland Brook flood plain), but not an offer from CVS to take a long-term lease. As the AuthorBabe has already said in an earlier comment thread, that's about the last thing we need in this town.

Your scribe would venture to guess that the new CVS - assuming it gets approval from the Planning and Zoning board - will not be nearly as popular among the locals as the Food Mart was. He will further venture to guess that many locals, he among them, will come in out of curiosity when it first opens, and then never darken its door again. His final guess is that the parent corporation will wind up subsidizing a money-losing operation for years to come rather than losing face by admitting they've oversaturated the Greenwich market.

But the river is still a-changing, dear reader, and it may be that when CVS finally bails, some smart cookie with an MBA from Harvard will do a fancy-pants study and come to the conclusion that this is the ideal location for a supermarket. Well, duh! We all coulda told him that years ago.

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