I have a tradition of spending my last weekend of the summer on the beach taking it easy and today I went out to Fire Island. I always try to squeeze the last drops of summer out before school starts with some relaxation and reading. This year's end of the summer book is David Sedaris's "When You Are Engulfed In Flames". It seemed appropriate to beginning another school year and it hasn't disappointed.
Last night I took a stroll through hipster heaven also known in Manhattan as Ludlow Street. It was a regular haunt for me during my college days and there has been quite a bit of redecoration since but the spirit is pretty much the same. While there I had to grab a bite at the all-time classic- Katz's Deli. It didn't take long for me to remembered why it has remained so popular for so many years- The pastrami sandwich and knish were beyond fantastic with a Dr. Brown's Root Beer. It made me understand how Meg Ryan pulled off that great acting scene in Katz's years ago in "When Harry Met Sally".
I heard yesterday that the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will be taking down the enormous Sol Lewitt paintings including "Archs in Four Directions" (pictured above) that have adorned the lobby area next week. It's sad to see the iconic paintings leaving after so long (they went up in 2000 as part of a Lewitt retrospective).
Last night I had the chance to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet perform live right down the road from my house at the Brookhaven Amphitheater. Brubeck is one of my all-time favorite jazz musicians and it was amazing finally getting a chance to see him play. Sure he's 88 years old now and needed to be helped onstage but the moment he began to play he sounded as good as he did on all those classics albums. The musical vibrancy of the old foursome made me wonder if they had gone swimming in the pool from Cocoon with Wilford Brimley and Hume Cronyn before the show.Sunday is the last big Fresh art show of the summer at Painters Gallery and Restaurant in Brookhaven and here's a short preview of the new pixilated film I'll be showing. There are a huge number of cool local artists and musicians so come stop by and check it out!
Last night I stopped by Roseland for an excellent reggae-rock show featuring one of my favorite band's Slightly Stoopid. The band was joined by Hawaiian reggae trio Pepper and dub stars Sly and Robbie as part of the Summer Tailgate Tour. The show was packed tight with a crowd of young teens and more than a handful of drama as people were thrown (and dragged) out throughout the show.
Yesterday I arrived in Manhattan just in time to see one of my favorite bands The Walkmen perform at The Bowery Ballroom. I was immediately impressed with how good they sounded live and was awed with their ability to get such a raw "wall of sound" in a small club. The house was packed for the sold out show as they performed a number of new songs off their album You & Me which is released officially today . I bought the album as part of a special digital pre-sale yesterday which donated all the proceeds to Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center (from which my father was just recently released- so it seemed appropriate).
I made a detour into Cambridge and Boston during my rambling road trip home Sunday to revisit my old college hometown and grab a four star brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The city is always a great place to eat and on a weekend in the summer getting a table wasn't too bad. After adequately stuffing myself with eggs I strolled down Newbury Street to check out some galleries and shop. There were a number of galleries stocked with prints aimed to sell such as: Warhol, Haring, Picasso, and Chagall which are always fun but there were a few modern artists such as Laurent Dauptain that I haven't seen before at the Axelle Gallery. His work reminded me stylistically a bit of one of my favorite painters Jenny Saville just without the sexuality and skin. There were also a few pieces by Takashi Murakami that were pretty cool in the gallery next door.
I made it a point to visit Freeport on my trip downstate Maine because it was one of the few Starbucks in the State and I haven't had a cup in over a week. While there I had to check out the L.L. Bean flagship 24 hour store which is really more of a mall. The large "Bean Boot" outside the entrance represents Leon Leonwood Bean's first product which he created which the store was built on. The store itself was pretty interesting- it had a live trout pond in the center with large glass aquarium walls and the stairs rising above it- pretty entertaining, I now think every store should have live trout. After a quick look through the store I headed out because a major storm was overhead and I wanted to check out some of the art scene down in Portland.
Yesterday I happened upon the really funky Fawcett's Museum of Toys, Art, and Antiques while driving across Maine. The museum was in Waldoboro Maine just south of the famous Moody's Diner and had some great historic toys from the 20's - 50's and some excellent illustrations from comic strips of the past like Dick Tracy and Krazy Kat. It was like a history lesson told through toys and it was amazing to see the progression of characters and toys over the years. There was also some modern stuff such as a full collection of all the Star Wars toys from the 1980's and toys from the Simpsons and Futurama. The museum also had some old baseball memorabilia and some old nudes from the flapper days. It was nothing if not interesting and certainly worth a stop if you're ever heading up north.
Last night I participated in an art show which included a selection of work from the classes in film and photography at the Maine Media Workshops. The show had some really great work- some of my favorite pieces (in addition to my class) were from Joyce Tenneson's class in portraits and Dirck Halstead's Platypus classes in photojournalism.
It's my last full day up in Rockport, Maine and the classes at the Maine Media Workshops conclude tonight for the week. It's a bittersweet feeling being up here for the 3rd time- I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get as many great photographs as I would've liked and the experience wasn't what I've had in the past. Unfortunately Bob Sasha had to cancel and I would've loved to spend some time with him. 
Yesterday I set off on a two hour cruise along the coast of Maine on an 86 foot wooden windjammer called the Appledore. This is my third time up in Maine and I'd never been on a boat up here so I was glad to finally be out on the ocean with the sweet smell of the salt in the breeze. The trip was a well needed respite of relaxation and there were some beautiful views of the Curtis Island Lighthouse and the sunset of the mountains of Camden. The crew was a ton of fun as well and the ship was also a fully functioning bar so it was a fun ride.
I drove out to Elmer's Barn, a great antique and art barn in Coopers Mill, Maine yesterday to take some pictures. The barn is a well stocked 3 story shop loaded with an interesting collection of Americana and mementos. I spent over an hour looking through the never-ending piles of interesting stuff such as: ancient tools, 1950's family photographs, handmade sculptures cut out from steel saw blades, and 1970's soda cans. The place was pretty amazing but after an hour I was so dreary that if I had found Teddy Roosevelt's teeth for sale I wouldn't have noticed it.
I was only 14 miles out of the Capital City of Augusta so I thought I'd go and try to grab a Starbucks coffee and see the city. When I entered the city I thought I had made a wrong turn because no city- just a street with some nearly abandoned historic buildings. It felt like a city that had burned down years ago and no one mentioned it to the handful of residents that stayed on. There were barely even people but on the way back I did catch this magnificent photo of a guy mowing his lawn in what appeared to be a bathing suit?
I love spending time in a quiet, peaceful place like the sleepy town of Rockport, Maine because it makes me realize the insane pace of my life in New York. Everyone here is friendly, warm, and they all wake up and get going at 6am- it's confusing for a New Yorker. I opened the door in the coffeeshop down the street and people dove out of the way like I was robbing the place because of my hustle. 
Breakfast is great. That's why I had 3 of them today on the drive up to Maine from Boston. Pictured is the winning breakfast by a quick Tysonesque knockout- "The King Cakes". Named for Elvis these mammoth chocolate chip banana pancakes were sandwiched with a healthy portion of peanut butter inbetween and it was topped with some perfectly crisp bacon and homemade whip creme- amazing. I found this treasure in a quirky little eatery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Friendly Toast that is a little hipster paradise snugly wedged into the historic buildings on the main drag in town. My drive through northern New England was plagued by bad weather but I managed to snag a couple of interesting photos on the drive- my favorite is the motel offering Free Adult Movies to patrons on their sign- how weird is that?
I spent the day traveling through New England on the way up to mid coast Maine for a week long stay. I drove out to the North Shore of Long Island to grab the Orient Point Ferry to New London, Connecticut. I stopped out in Greenport to grab dinner and take a walk around. I love the North Fork of Long Island out on the east end in the summer and unfortunately I just don't get a chance to get out there much. I snagged a table at the classic Claudios restaurant but after waiting 15 minutes for service I left to try a new place in town BBQ Bill's, which was great.
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