Went to a fun theremin workshop at WFMU’s Monty Hall in Jersey City with the lovely Dorit Chrysler. I’ve had a fascination with this instrument since I first heard of it in the late 80s — but it always seemed so mysterious and I never had the slightly clue how to navigate playing one. The class opened with Ms. Chrysler playing a piece of her music, which was really moving. After a short talk, she invited folks up to fumble around the 6 thereminis that they had around the stage (each with a pair of earbuds attached) a few times. One interesting point Dorit made was that both trained musicians and non-trained everybodies would be in the same boat playing the theremin for the first time. The one question I had was in relation to Chysler saying she was a “lefty,” so the tone arm of the theremin was on left. This confused me because I couldn’t really comprehend which side of the instrument (the volume or the tone) would be considered the “main” side (e.g., like the frets of a guitar). She confessed that it really hard to say and that you “really need both hands equally”. It was just a matter of what feels right. There were about 60 people in attendance but they said they’ll be doing smaller workshops (one person per theremin) throughout the year 2025.
The Flatbush neighborhoods of Ditmas Park and Midwood are a bit of a food wasteland compared to the rest of NYC. The highest quality restaurant is a pizza and whiskey place, the incredible Wheated — but you’re not going to find that much else. But there is one exception: middle eastern food. Here’s a quick list of the best options I’ve tried to date:
The unfortunately named Istanblue Kebab House on Avenue J a few doors down from the legendary but now fallen-from-grace DiFara Pizza (RIP Dom!) is a surprisingly great Turkish option. The lahmacun is just absolutely phenomenal but you really cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. The lamb chops, adana kebabs and the like are all grilled to perfection. The times I’ve gone with my girlfriend and/or others they always bring out free extra stuff (e.g., puffy lavaş bread, Turkish tea, desserts). There are numerous locations across Brooklyn but I cannot speak about the others.
Lahmacun from Instanblue
Ayat is a Palestinian restaurant with a number of locations across the region and an understandably activist bent (the seafood section of their menu is titled “From the River to the Sea” !!). The best options here are the Palestinian dishes like Lamb Ouzi Royale (a bit like a lamb biryani), Zahr Ma Laban (cauliflower/lamb stew) and Mansaf. As great as it is, I feel like they’ve had some staffing issues because the quality varies from visit to visit.
A range of goodies from Ayat
Dunya Kebab might be my favorite of the three, at least currently. I’ve kept it pretty simple here as my first order here, the basic chicken breast kebab with qabeli-topped rice was is cooked so perfectly each time, I don’t want to stray. The mantu dumplings are also exceptional. I’ll eventually branch out and try more stuff.
Mantu (beef filled dumplings) from Dunya
This shouldn’t be a surprise but all three use a bit too much sodium in their cooking. I always find myself guzzling water all night after eating at any of the three. So I can’t partake TOO often but they are all great.
16 days in Provence in September was a good idea. Here is a recap of the top 10 places we visited, as well as a few things to avoid. Overall, it was a good itinerary. We drove around a lot and lucked out with a hybrid vehicle, so the gas bill was cheap. Photo slide show below.
10 Locations Worth Visiting in Provence
Avignon: Stayed here for the duration of the trip. We got an apartment with a parking garage and a balcony with a nice view of the Palace of the Popes. The town is very low-key in a great way. It’s a little bustling around the palace and bridge but never got that bad. Great restaurants and market, good record store. Close to a lot of other great things. What more do you need?
Roussillon: Gorgeous. Ochre overload. Ochre-load. The ‘Le Sentier de Ochre’ hike around rich hues. The ochre buildings in the town are beautiful. Can’t miss.
Around (but not) St. Remy de Provence: The St. Paul’s asylum, where Vincent committed himself to with Van Gogh walk, completely fascinating. Next to it is Glanum, Roman ruins from the first century BC (with Gaul/Salyen roots from 6th century BC). it was destroyed in a mudslide and apparently Van Gogh was painting olive trees there without any idea there was a buried city beneath. Also behind the asylum is the excellent vineyard/olive oil maker Domaine De Métifiot. Top shelf 00 and Rosé.
Pont du Gard / Uzès: First century roman aqueduct in VG+ condition. Kids playing in the water beneath it. A stunning hike up, over, and back. Nearby Uzès is as charming a French town as you could want. Had a fantastic 3-4 course dinner for next to nothing. Would probably be worth staying only there for a week. We returned for the market day, which was the best of the markets we visited.
Arles: Unexpectedly my favorite city of the trip. Spent two days there. Just beautiful. Adorable micro-Coliseum and other Roman goodies. Stylish old streets. Art everywhere. We were there during their annual photography fest, art photos all over town. Van Gogh painted here a lot, and they kept the square of his first post ear slash hospital garden looking more or less the same as in his paintings. There’s also an excellent sprawling art complex LUMA. Frank Gehry tower, choice exhibitions, places to hang and chill.
Swipe below (captions are basically impossible to read. Sorry.) More destinations below
Saignon
Cassis street
Cassis harbor
Cassis
Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard
Roussillon
Le Sentier des Ocres, Roussillon
Behind the Saint Paul asylum
Puppetheads at flea market, Avignon
Bourgeois on an infinity lake, Château La Coste
Château La Coste
Les Baux de Provence
Les Baux de Provence
Fougasse in Uzès
Arles Arena
Arles Arena
View of square, Arles
The Pont Saint-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d’Avignon
3 old benches in Avignon
Calanques National Park
Calanques National Park
Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt
Saignon
Les Baux de Provence
View from our flat in Avignon
Les Baux de Provence
Arles
LUMA, Arles
LUMA, Arles
Château La Coste
Avignon
Le Sentier des Ocres, Roussillon
Avignon from the across the Rhône river
Uzès fountain close up
Uzès
Saignon rock
Saignon
Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt
Madelines de Christophe, Aix-en-Provence
Hospital in Arles; Vibe with (swiped) souvenir Van Gogh
Uzès Castle
Arles
Les Baux de Provence
Château La Coste
Avignon on our final night.
Aix-en-Provence: From the Cezanne paintings. Famous Madelines and excellent Corsican food. Great market (not as great as Uzès). Cool streets and squares. Overpriced LPs at the flea market.
Cassis: had to see the sea so we went to Cassis. Great location, with many of the usual downsides associated with great locations. Thought about a hike in next door in gorgeous Calanques National Park – but decided 2 hour hike to get to one beach seemed extreme — so we took a nice boat ride from Cassis to see more calanques in less time. I took a dip in the Mediterranean. Had a hot dog with French fries, both on a baguette. We also had to park up the hill and take a bus down/up.
Saignon and Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt: 2 quiet villages of the Luberon that are not too far from each other and both are excellent destinations. Saignon is just gorgeous and the “Saignon Rock” was built by Paleolithic people and was used as an observatory. You can walk up! Photos in slide show. The town Saint Saturnin is low-key and wonderful but at the top are amazing roman castle ruins, an old damn, etc. Visiting these two towns will make for a perfect Provencal day.
Les Baux-de-Provence: rock plateau village, former brutal medieval stronghold and Bronze Age troglodyte village before that (habitation dating to 6000 BC). The town is touristy AF but worth it for the incredible views and wild old ruins
Château La Coste: Winery and art/architecture destination with incredible location/views and a somewhat suspicious array of 50+ works from seemingly every famous living (or recently deceased) sculptor. Very cool, though easy to imagine the evil billionaire owner (hotelier Paddy McKillen) checking off a list. Art…what a racket. Tons of great works but none of it beat the views. Funny that there are works famous sculptors Bob Dylan (I enjoyed his rail car) and Michael Stipe.
Perhaps Avoid in Provence
La Isla de La Sorgue: was very irritating during their overpriced market day. Not that much to see. Everyone takes the exact same Instagram photo in the one picturesque corner. The Venice of Provence? Definitely not.
Gordes: I don’t know. Shrug. Crowded parking lots. Not that interesting. Maybe we didn’t walk down the mountain far enough.
St. Remy old town: Over the top touristy. A few nice fountains, including one dedicated to native crackpot Nostradamus. However, the nearby stuff mentioned above is awesome. Spend your time there. Les Baux is great and not that far, either.
I first saw kalkmalerier, chalk-painted church frescoes, on Bornholm, a Danish isle in the Baltic Sea (south of Sweden and north of Poland) in 2023. The Østerlars round church had some frescoes from the 1100s and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They all had a comic “Sunday Funnies” sort of vibe and illustrated sometimes brutal, violent scenarios in a light, whimsical way. igh art. I soon learned that there were 600 churches across Denmark adorned with kalkmalerier and I needed to see as many as possible during our 3 weeks across the 3 peninsulas of the kingdom, which is about the size of Colorado.
The frescoes date back to the 1100s and were created through the 1600s — but they were covered up after the reformation with lime wash and were hidden until they were discovered and restored in the late 1800s. After 14th century were in more of a gothic style.
That first trip in 2023 we saw kalkmalerier across the 3 of the 4 round churches on Bornholm (Østerlars, Olsker, Nylars), then the Lygby church north of Copenhagen, then the Bellinge church near Odense on Fyn. When we went back in 2024 (my girlfriend is Danish), we visited the Aarhus Cathedral and traveled south of Copenhagen to the isle of Møn to see the most famous and possibly best examples of kalmalerier. These frescoes were created by the anonymous “Elmelunde Master” in the late 1400s/early 1500s across 3 churches on the island (Elmelunde, Keldby, Fanefjord). This guy was kind of an early Warhol, replicating work across the different places of worship, with some sick, violent variations. We will be visiting DK again this summer and will be seeking out new and wild kalkmalerier examples once again.
Swipe for photos (apologies that the captions with locations are basically impossible to read):
Elemunde Church, Møn, Denmark
Keldby Church, Møn, Denmark
Østerlars Church, Bornholm
Nylars Church, Bornholm
Keldby Church, Møn, Denmark
Bellinge Church, near Odense, Denmark
Bellinge Church, near Odense, Denmark
Elemelunde Church, Møn, Denmark
Fanefjord Church, Møn, Denmark
Elmelunde Church, Møn, Denmark
Lyngby Church, Lyngby, Denmark
Østerlars Church, Bornholm
Nylars Church, Bornholm
Lyngby Church, Lyngby, Denmark
Fanefjord Church, Møn, Denmark
Elmelunde Church, Møn, Denmark
Elmelunde Church, Møn, Denmark
Bellinge Church, near Odense, Denmark
Store Heddinge Church, near Stevens Klint, Højerup, Denmark
2 images from Aarhus Cathedral, Aarhus, Denmark
Aarhus Cathedral, Aarhus, Denmark
Keldby Church, Møn, Denmark
Keldby Church, Møn, Denmark
Keldby Church, Møn, Denmark
Vibe’s dad’s book on Kalkmalerier from mid and east Jutland
I heard Al Gore talk about the “information superhighway” and I was intrigued. Not a joke. I didn’t even own a computer until I was 30, in 1996 (a Mac Quadra) but I was interested in the idea of putting my xeroxed zine CapSoul Reviews online. A year or so later, I shared an idea with my friend Dan Cook of Gimme Gimme Records (ex-NY, now LA). I thought we should take his rarest records and post them to the internet, promoting his store in the process. Was it mainly a plan to get my hands on some holy grail wax? Probably. He curated the playlists amazingly, maximizing elite record collector interest. I found a piece of code that embedded “Shockwave Audio” (which later evolved into Flash). I just needed to change the file name and it streamed the song and it was smoother and sounded better than other stuff out there (like RealAudio). I digitized some incredible vinyl. I wrote some funny blurbs. Made some primitive web graphics.
I was working at a public relations agency at the time and they had “Bacon’s” books with contacts for every editor in every newspaper and magazine in the US. I began faxing the URL to various tech and music beat writers. I dropped little postcards with the URL at Kim’s Video on St. Marks. The site was written up or mentioned in Details, the Rotterdam Dagblad, USA Today, etc – as well as popular web-based link portals like Suck.com, memepool (which now has a cryptocurrency named after it), and others. The Beastie Boys heard it, through future Grand Royal CEO Ian C Rogers. Grand Royal. RareMusic would eventually become a streaming channel on GrandRoyal.com. I was also approached by the fine people at Word magazine, which was a really cool site, to do a monthly playlist with blurbs for what they called “Junk Radio”
Image via Archive.org ‘Wayback Machine’. I updated the site monthly for at least a year but this is the only version of the site they have.
I ended up getting a job as a web producer at Comedy Central and I didn’t feel like coming home at night to work on yet another website. The channel was live on Grand Royal, until they went bankrupt, and that was the end of RareMusic.com. I stored the files on Iomega Zip drives lol. All gone. I do have CDs of the music we posted though. I’ve been making my way through lately, which is why it’s on my mind.
Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark is one of the best and weirdest museums I’ve ever been to. It started as a place they transported really old buildings that were being torn down, rebuilding them into an old town, brick by brick. Cool enough, but they added a concept of recreating stores and apartments from 3 random years in history into neighborhoods: 1927, 1974, and for some baffling reason 2014. Exact replicas based on actual places. The execution is outrageously good. The level of detail, down to the olfactory variety, astonishing and sometimes really hilarious. From 74: A hippie communal apartment, a gynecologist office, a book store with a porno mag rack behind beads next to the children’s section. By the way, they don’t shield the kids from anything in this country and they mostly seem to turn into sensible adults. From 2014: a lesbian family, a single woman’s apartment, a Blockbuster Video that’s closing down. Funny. Tons and tons of random replicas. Actors in the stores and around town engage with you. There are period-correct phones in the rooms and you can call the other stores apartments and have conversations with visitors. Vibe’s niece Ida fooled me good in the paint shop calling from the butcher shop, asking if we had red paint to cover the blood on the walls. Had no idea it was her. Solid fun for 4 hours.
Sometimes when you’re a kid you don’t recognize when you’re emotionally moved by something. You may scoff at an astonishing sight. I remember going on a camp trip to Niagara Falls in the late 70s and asking a counselor: “what’s the big deal?”
“Are you kidding? It’s incredible,” he responded. Which made me question my tween perspective. It was a moment that still periodically enters my mind to this day, so it must have been an important one.
45 years later I can now officially report that Niagara Falls is a million times better as an adult than as an ungrateful little shit. Nothing about it is underrated. Yes, the park is touristy and the surrounding area isn’t particularly gorgeous. But holy shit, those falls are going to move you. My girlfriend wept on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat – another fabulous must do.
Go back. Or just go. See it for yourselves. Stay overnight and stop in Buffalo the next day like we did. The Albright Knox museum is excellent. Get a beef on weck for the road. Do it.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Forest Hills Stadium. Photo: James Prochnik
Neil Young with Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot, the heaviest living rhythm section in rock, with second guitar from Willie Nelson’s nepo-baby Micah Nelson, dba Crazy Horse, played 2 nights this week at the Forest Hills Stadium, formerly known as the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. I saw the first night.
It was a rainy day so I packed my nice umbrella but hired goons made me throw it into a box with hundreds of other nice umbrellas. It was rainy both nights.
We stopped by to say hi to Bill Sullivan, the Stadium’s kind creative director whose beautifully illustrated graphic portraits of past star performers (Beatles) and tennis greats (BJ King) who played there adorn the walls, along with plaques with bios that attach stylishly to the steel beams that hold the place up. He also does all the concert posters for the stadium and they are available on the first level (and online) at The Kiosk. There’s still a big tennis vibe to the place. Why would they play down its history as the original home of the US Open? It’s hard to think of another venue with such a deep music and sports history.
Bill Sullivan’s poster for Neil’s Forest Hills Stadium shows
Our seats were in the middle of the floor, probably 20-25 rows back. There was an entire row in front of us that seemed like they were a cult of some kind. They all did a rain dance/chant and the rain actually stopped for a while! I found out later they were connected to the opening act, Rev Bill, which is some kind of anti-consumerist performance group or association and/or actual cult.
Neil and Crazy Horse came out and immediately launched into ‘Cortez the Killer’ and then hit after hit. I want to say, there is not anyone living or dead who I’d prefer to hear play the electric guitar than Neil Young, especially in this maximum rock context. His playing was as gorgeously unhinged and heavy as ever. We got ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ extra-extended guitar insanity on ‘Like a Hurricane’. ‘Don’t Cry No Tears’ (I felt like he played the suspended chord in reverse for a bit, intriguing, but I may have been hearing things). ‘Everybody Knows This is Nowhere’ and I might as well be on my knees but I’m still on my feet. ‘Powderfinger’ – the song with my favorite NY riff, the one he closes the verses with. ‘Vampire Blues’ from On Da Beach. Hyper-speeded out approach during the fast part on ‘Sedan Delivery’.
Neil Young Crazy Horse Forest Hill’s Tennis Stadium. Photo: James Prochnik
He also did a 3-song acoustic set. I nearly wept quite literally during ‘Heart of Gold’. I am, indeed, getting old.
There was an issue during the big finale, ‘Hey Hey My My’ (!!) where they sound kept going out (!!). You could only hear the stage monitors, barely. It would stop right before a rippin guitar solo but it would come back. I’m not sure why but I was completely convinced that this was a gag, as Neil seems capable of that kind of prank. I probably just wanted that to be true. I’m thinking it probably wasn’t.
“What’s your favorite planet?”
Neil repeated this a number of times throughout the set. Each time he would get a pretty weak “EARTH” from the 13,000 (sold out) fans. He shared some jolly disappointment as he said that he had been practicing to get the maximum audience response. He said very little else. He mentioned Bill’s work and talked about how the Monkees played there with Jimi Hendrix opening.
Photo: James Prochnik
The venue is all around great with some of the usual challenges of big chaotic rock events. Mainly extremely large numbers of slow moving people, etc. Pretty poor design on some of high end portajohns, which feel like coffins. They gave me anxiety. You have to step up on a ledge inside the porta-coffin.
Had some slices at Austin Street Pizza beforehand. Pretty good, a solid choice for quick pre-show grub at the Forest Hills Stadium.
I decided to pre-game my birthday this year with a half-day course and guided meditation on death. It seemed appropriate and also the topic seemed next -level from the usual helpful classes on emptiness at Kadampa on 24th street. I hadn’t slept well the night before and I’m not sure I got the most out of the meditation – but my girlfriend bought the recording and I’m looking forward to giving it another go. The Buddhists know the score.
When I was asked what I’d like to on my actual birthday, I considered asking her to drive me to Staten Island for some of the city’s best pizza, but I knew I also wanted something sweet with a candle in it, so I settled on the East Village outpost of Staten Island’s Joe & Pat’s, since it was around the corner from the fabulous Danish bakery Smør.
When I noted there was a Joe & Pat’s on First Avenue I was slightly perplexed. From my understanding Rubirosa on Mulberry Street was supposed to be the Manhattan version. I was a little suspicious at first, thinking at perhaps it was fakery along the lines of Patsy’s or Totonno’s, where the only true outlets are the original. However, an internet search confirmed it was real and that Rubirosa was opened by a son or grandson of the original family. Regardless, the cracker thin vodka sauce pizza at First Ave J&P’s slayed. I basically downed the entire large (but thin) pie, as my girlfriend Vibe was avoiding carbs that day and only nibbled. Glorious.
Joe & Pat’s large vodka pie.
Smør Bakery is part of Smør, the restaurant, 2 doors down on E. 12th Street between First Ave and Avenue A. I’m not exactly sure why they need separate websites and Instagramaccounts. Run by two Danes named Sebastian, the baked goods are completely outrageous. The cardamom buns are their incredible signature. They may give you cardamom burps for the rest of the day, which is very much not the worst burp situation you can experience. I ate half a birthday bun and then half of the rhubarb mint cream danish, before devouring the second halves of both immediately. They also have Danish doughnuts (Berliners) and the best Rugbrød I’ve had, which includes any I’ve had on my 3 trips to the Kingdom so far. The restaurant is also A+ with Danish hotdogs, pandekager, an array of smørrebrød, and other scandi treats.
There’s a big, shocking reveal in the Redd Kross documentary. Something that I don’t think people generally know about. I’m not gonna spoil it but check it out when you can. It was a fun screening last night at Nighthawk Prospect Park with a Q&A with director Andrew Reich, the former executive producer on the television sitcom ‘Friends’! He did a great job of capturing the dynamic between brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald, and also communicating the macro and micro about Redd Kross, the subtle and unusual reasons they’re such a great rock n roll band. I have a deep love for Redd Kross and so many amazing memories of seeing them play during their peak with Robert Hecker on guitar in the late 80s and early 90s. I’m s fan of their “sell out” period (‘Phaseshifter’ etc ) and I feel like this was semi glossed over, only covered as part of being “out of place in the industry.” But maybe there’s not much more to communicate about how deeply and uniquely they did not give a fuck. I think back to seeing them to seeing them during this period at Maxwell’s and mentioned that someone in the industry called them “the alternative Nelson.” Amazing. Long live Redd Kross.
Born Innocent Director Andrew Reich
Coincidentally, strangely and sadly, the @reddkross IG account posted a tribute to their former manager, Joanna “Spock” Dean, who just died. I actually knew her very briefly and we hung out in 1988. Seeing her face brought a few memories flooding back briefly, including traveling downtown to CBGB to see Redd Kross but failing to get in because it was during the CMJ convention and it was filled with CMJ badge-wearing dbags, even though she had considerable pull being their former manager. I didn’t know it at the time but Spock is an LA punk scene legend. She was a member off the all-girl band Backstage Pass and apparently played a big role in developing the Paisley Underground scene. I didn’t know her for long but she was so cool and I feel lucky to have spent the time. RIP Spock!
I’ve had an aversion to what might be described as overtly-retro dress up rock since the garage-rock revival of the 1980s. Back then it always had a bit of a Star Trek Convention vibe to it, even if I liked the music. I did like some of the bands but those Beatle Boots and 60s style hats were a turnoff. Often, a phoney or jive vibe infiltrated the band’s stage presence. I did, however, like the dress up components of the scene when it came to the girls who showed up in 60s miniskirts. My aversion stayed with me after this style of music became legitimately popular via bands like the White Stripes and the Black Keys. I just couldn’t get over it. At that point, garage rock was all over TV car commercials, and I was profoundly disinterested.
Lemon Twigs at TV Eye, Ridgewood, NY, April 25, 2024
The Lemon Twigs feel different for some reason, although I was immediately skeptical for the same reasons when I first saw/heard them. While there may be nothing remotely original about their style, the execution of their compositions is impeccable and the brotherly close harmonies are wonderful. It’s pure rock candy in the best way. They also veer into catchy pop ideas that comes across in shameless in a really adorable. I feel like they’re really going for a HIT RECORD and I feel real respect for their approach. I hope they succeed and I feel like they have a great shot at it.
They totally pulled it off live. Great playing and singing. It was a totally fun time. TV was sold out and crowded but I didn’t have any interactions with jerks and didn’t get too claustrophobic. The opener, SUO, a power trio, were also excellent. I want to hear more. Bass was handled by the charming Josephine from the Josephine Network. I feel like she’s in half the bands in north Brooklyn these days. And I’m happy that there’s some semblance of a scene these days that doesn’t repel me.
Undiscovered Brooklyn 