Mrs. Helen Handler, a delightful person who is also a Holocaust survivor, spoke to Valerie's classes yesterday. It was a truly remarkable experience for everyone.





As you can see, the class was spellbound and respectful, leaning on her every word.



I had the pleasure of picking up Mrs. Handler, taking her to Red Mountain H.S. and driving her home again. These hours were filled with splendid conversation and was an errand I will long remember.

The irony of the notice, "Now Appearing" was not lost on us as we walked by B.B. King's Blues Club near Times Square a few days after Christmas which is when James Brown died.



When we walked by earlier in the evening, Val saw a photo on the right announcing that the "Godfather of Soul" would be playing at the club on New Year's Night. Later, as we walked by, I snapped this photo of the blank space where the picture was.

I had the privilege of seeing James Brown at the Celebrity Theatre from the front row. He was truly the hardest working man in show business.

R.I.P.

A few months ago, I blogged a phone photo from Val of the Robert Indiana Love sculpture located at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. I finally made a mental connection to the same sculpture on Sixth Avenue, NYC which we visited over Christmas break. Here are the two photos:



Robert Indiana has led an interesting life. He never copyrighted his love sculpture which explains its ubiquity.

see Wikipedia: Robert Indiana for more information.

Actually it was the 4 Train but here is a couple of photos: Nate is on his way to the Bronx to pay homage to Yankee Stadium. Greg is taking a pensive stand retruning from some Christmas Eve shopping.

What a special treat to hear some blues from the Terra Blues stage in Greenwich Village. Ray Shinnery gave us, me Jenna, Val, and Luciano, a memorable couple of sets with a fine blues harp accompaniment from a gent named Dick.



I purchased one of Rays' CDs and love all the tunes. He has a true grasp of what the blues is and makes his complicated guitar licks look easy. A very excellent show.

Of course being in the Village is an experience in itself. The fact is, we spent the day there walking around, eating and shopping and, on Jenna's recommendation, made the trip back that evening.