It has been summer in these parts and I have been busy with relaxing and catching up on my VHS watching.   I have done some traveling this summer, and everywhere I went was very hot.

At the top of this list I put New York, which was an inferno, but I’m sure it’s all different now.  Trudging through the sweaty streets it occured to me that L.A. has made me soft.  New York is a constant marathon, a battle for survival.  After a week in NY this summer I was physically exhausted.  Now, some weeks later, I have finally regained the composure to send a few notes.

While there, a friend took me to one of the hidden gems of the city, the Neue Galerie.  This little museum dedicated to German and Austrian art, is one of the many great small museums that the city has, that I had never been to.

The Otto DIx show there was by far the best art show of the week.  Dix’s amazing etching collection “Der Krieg” (War, 1924), perfectly captured the way I felt poaching on the subway platform.

I highly recommend this museum for a classy date!

I got a great souvenir of my trip.  While in town, a New York living friend, Ken Habarta, gave me a copy of his book “Bank Notes.” It is a fascinating collection of real bank robbery notes culled from the files of some law enforcement agency that Ken wouldn’t specify.  Each page has different note, and each one has personality, humor and lots of pathos.

A favorite of mine is   “I know where you live and my friends know where you live.”

Ken also has a blog where he publishes a note per day and where you can buy the book!

I also had the chance to visit the New Museum for the first time.  I was able to see the Rivane Neuenschwander. Say that 10 times fast!

Before even talking about the show I have to complain about the architecture.  If you have been there you know what I mean.  It is a vertical stack of seven floors that get smaller as they rise.  It looks cool from the street, but the coat check is bigger than any of the galleries.  The is too slow.  I foolishly decided to take the stairs.  I saw the show hyperventilating and sweating.  Lovely show by a great artist though.  I particularly liked the small sculptures made of scraps of everyday objects, paper and trash.