Train Station (photos)

Sometimes the grime of the subway is beautiful and mysterious.  One day I was down the train station waiting for the number 1 and happened to have a camera with me.

Tragedy Beyond the Story

Anyone that knows opera, and even those that don’t, have a sense of the tragedy that surrounds the stories. Though recently real misfortune has hit at the Metropolitan Opera.

I wonder if there is some sort of taboo on certain productions. The Mets’ run of Tristian and Isolde has been fraught with problems. From the illness of the first choice, Ben Heppner, then the poor performance of his replacement John Mac Master, and finally the other night’s nasty fall of Gary Lehman.

The again the actual tale of Tristan and Isolde is horrible tragic. But as one of my professor says, “three times a trend.”

Skyler Chen

Skyler Chen’s “Republic of Norman” opened March 18th at Doma Cafe and Gallery in the West Village. Chen’s characters show distress in their sad eyes and droopy mouths. Many of his paintings feature young men and woman in red and white striped party hats with smeared, tired looking clown make-up on their lips. The titles are, “Unspoken Words,” “Eyes That Know Me,” “Til Kingdom Come,” among others.

I particularly liked “Isolated,” which showed a young girl with long brow hair looking very much alone. At first glance she seemed to have a chunk of her head missing, but upon closer inspection, it was actually a small bowler hat that blended into the dark background.

While some of the images were sloppy, there were other gems in Chen’s work. My roommate loved the picture below, though the title escapes me.