Riverside Park Events

Lots going on in Riverside Park over the next month.....

AMPLIFIED SUNDAYS
Some of New York’s best jazz, R&B, and world music accompanied by spectacular sunsets over the Hudson River! Every Sunday through August 14, 7 pm – Pier I @ 70th St.
July 24, Biakuye Percussion Group / celebrating musical spirit of Africa and America

MOVIES UNDER THE STARS
This year’s theme: Terrorible! Terror through the decades
Pack a picnic, bring a friend and settle in for a night of premier movies.
Every Wednesday from July 13-August 17, dusk (~8:30 pm) – Pier I @ 70th St. 
July 27, The Birds (1963)

Children’s Performance Series
Music, storytelling & theater for young audiences. Wear sunscreen! Suitable for kids up to age 7. Thursdays, July 14–August 18, 10:30–11:30 am Pier I @ 70th St.
July 28, Junior Jam

Pilates Mat Class
This total body workout is a great way to develop superior core muscle power and tone, all with a beautiful view of the Hudson. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat. Tuesdays, June 7 – August 30, 6:30 p.m. — The Plaza @ 66th St.

Soccer Tots & Pee Wee Basketball
All little ones (5 and under) welcome at this introduction to soccer and basketball.
Wednesdays, July 6 – August 3 - 71st St. Soccer Field and Basketball Courts
Soccer Tots; 9:30– 10:30am / Pee Wee Basketball; 10:30 – 11:30am

Yoga: Evening Salute to the Sun
End your day with relaxing Hatha yoga in a beautiful sunset setting. Suitable for all fitness levels. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat.
Wednesdays, June 1-September 21, 6:30 pm – The Plaza @ 66th St.

Kayaking on the Hudson
Join the Downtown Boathouse for 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please Riverside South.

Hiking the Trail

No, this is not a NYC trail.

The Bruce Trail in Southern Ontario has over 800 kilometers of main trails and an additional 200km of side trails that runs along the Niagara Escarpment between Niagara Falls and Tobermory.
This is Canada's oldest and longest footpath and provides access to the magnificent Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, one of only 12 in all of Canada.
Great for family hikes as well as challenges for the more adventurous.

www.brucetrail.org

Star Gazing

Take some time to meet the man in the moon or gaze at another galaxy this summer. The very friendly members of the Amateur Astronomer’s Association holds observing events most nights except Sundays and Mondays.

They are extremely friendly and welcoming of families. Just be sure to return that consideration by respecting their time and equipment and if you take the kids, teach them to do the same.

Here is the sky observation schedule for NYC Summer 2011.


High Line (lower west side of Manhattan)every Tuesday evening http://www.aaa.org/highline
Brooklyn Heights Promenade http://www.aaa.org/promenade

This fall be sure to be part of AAA's annual Urban Starfest in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park on a Saturday evening in the fall. You may think that you won't see a thing with Times Square a few blocks away, but the isolation of the park offers a good view of the night sky away from the city's glare. http://www.aaa.org/starfest .

Times Square

Eternally the hub of activity, there is even more to do in Times Square than usual this week. This week, July 11-24, is Restaurant Week in NYC, and midtown west has 70+ restaurants offering lunch for $24.07 and dinner for $35. You should be dining out every day with deals like that!

AND, if you can't figure out where to dine in advance and you need the ambiance of the Square to get your culinary vibe on, you can log into the FREE WIFI now in the Square to peruse your dining options.

@TheMFWithTheHat

The cast of The Mother F****er With The Hat was at Sardi's today for the unveiling of their caricatures. These images will allow these five to live in fame for as long as this renowned theatre haunt stands.

Picture left to right are Elizabeth Rodriguez, Yul Vazquez, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Rock and Annabella Sciorra.

The show, playing at the Schoenfeld Theatre, closes this Sunday.

It's Titian NOT Red!

Red Hair. 

I've experienced a lot about the hold that red hair has on people when my daughter was born 5 years ago. Our Kindergarten teacher was adamant that it be call titian, so named after Tiziano Vecelli, an Italian painter during the 1500's whose use of colour profoundly affected the art world then and on through the years. Redheads can get teased, to be sure. Carrot top, ginga,  ginge, red, but much more often my girl has lavish attention paid on her by complete strangers, who gush over her gorgeous color, accompanied by another genetic trait - great body.

Red hair, geographically, is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe; it is associated particularly with the people located in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Redheads constitute approximately 4 percent of the European population. Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13 per cent of the population has red hair and approximately 40 per cent carries the recessive redhead gene. Ireland has the second highest percentage; as many as 10 per cent of the Irish population has red, auburn, or strawberry blond hair. It is thought that up to 46 percent of the Irish population carries the recessive redhead gene.

Red hair is also fairly common amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations, possibly because of the influx of European DNA over a period of centuries, or in the original founding of their communities in Europe, although both Esau and David are described in the Bible as red-haired.

In the United States, it is estimated that 2-6% of the population has red hair. This would give the U.S. the largest population of redheads in the world, at 6 to 18 million, compared to approximately 650,000 in Scotland and 420,000 in Ireland.

The pigment pheomelanin gives red hair its distinctive color. Red hair has far more of the pigment pheomelanin than it has of the dark pigment eumelanin. The genetics of red hair, discovered in 1997, appear to be associated with the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), which is found on chromosome 16. Red hair is associated with fair skin color because of low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body of those with red hair and those of us who know redheads know that means 70+ SPF on sunny days!! 

For the past few years, there have been rumors that redheads are going extinct, but that’s not true. Because of intermarriage, the numbers are declining, but there will always be redheads, because there will always be carriers of the recessive MC1R gene. Since it is a recessive trait, red hair can easily skip a generation. It can then reappear after skipping one or more generations if both parents, no matter their hair color, carry the red hair gene. This past weekend, as my daughter and I were at the American Museum of Natural History, we saw Conan O’Brien (ancestors originated from County Kerry, Ireland) – the world’s most famous redhead!  A few hours later, at the playground, there were 5 red headed boys and my girl. That’s a high concentration of recessive genes in 47,114 square feet!!

The draw to red heads takes many shapes - International Red Head Day, the first weekend in September in the Netherlands, is well established but other events like Kiss a Red Head Day and Hug a Ginger Day seem to have questionable motives  ;-)         
In our home, its Hug and Kiss a Red Head Day everyday.

Arthur Ross Terrace @ AMNH

On Sunday I was at the American Museum of Natural History with a pass courtesy of a public school visit one of my children went on this past year. My youngest and I visited the Discovery Room and dug for dinosaur bones, visited the hall of Pacific Peoples - seeing DumDum (Easter Island Head) never gets boring - and dined in the Museum Food Court on the lower level.  At the end of the visit, we went to the Arthur Ross Terrance (outdoors of the AMNH, beside the Rose Planetarium)- it was a hot day and the water fountain offered some cool entertainment.

The Arthur Ross Terrace, a magnificent 47,114-square-foot public outdoor space at the American Museum of Natural History, opened two years ago on September 23, 2000. Adjacent to the Rose Center, the new Terrace is accessible from the Museum, as well as from Theodore Roosevelt Park at 81st Street and Columbus Avenue.  The addition of a new public space in New York City is quite remarkable event. We don't expect to find a newly carved out corner in this big metropoulos, so when an institution generously facilitates such a treasure, it is truly a remarkable event. Certainly, a public work like this illustrates the museum's commitment to the community as well as it's visitors.

The Terrace, rich in trees and plantings, with sloping lawns and a central plaza with water jets, is built over the new parking garage on 81st Street. Visitors may relax at large wooden benches that double as "activity tables," and at café tables and chairs set amongst the trees on the upper terrace, facing the Rose Center. 

Its clean, well manicured and cared for, and is a lovely oasis on a hot day. And its free, cool entertainment for little ones!

Dum Dum

Courtesy of AMNH

Arthur Ross Terrace

Hugh Jackman in Concert

Yesterday I flew to Toronto and saw Hugh Jackman in Concert at the Princess of Wales Theatre.

To preface this post, I have a few things to share. Firstly, I worked at Mirvish Productions when the Princess of Wales was being built in 1993. It was an incredible experience at the time, and a thrill to come back to it last night as an patron. Secondly, my husband has had the pleasure of working with Hugh on Broadway, so we know him - they're "mates".

For any of you who saw Jackman on Broadway in The Boy from Oz or in the West End in Oklahoma! you know his passion for musical theatre. Last night the audience learned that this love was started by his father who bought him a VHS of Singing in the Rain for a Christmas present when he was in his teens. Unsure of the gift, he "gave it a go" and wound up watching it non-stop for the following 6 months. It obviously made a profound impression!

Jackman's concert was a long awaited realization of a dream to have a one-man show, the incarnation of which started this spring in San Francisco and will be playing in Toronto through to July 17th.  The show, about 100 minutes without an intermission, is a collection of some of the best show tunes ever written including Top Hat, Singing in the Rain, Soliloquy from Carousel as well as a selection of Peter Allen songs, supported by a 17-piece band.  Jackman doesn't just stand and deliver the songs, he performs them, acting his way through the emotions of each piece showing us the beaming wattage of his star power. Added to that, Jackman's endearing personality is on full display as he interacts with the audience including some into the act as well as sharing personal stories and pictures of his family. At the end of this event, this huge film star has made you feel like you are one of his "mates".

I look forward to it's Broadway run, hopefully sometime early next year.

Hugh Jackman in Concert at the Princess of Wales Theatre. 

Tara Walton/Toronto Star

Get Cultured...FREE

New York, like any large city, although glorious, can be expensive. A couple visiting a gallery or museum can be manageable, but add 3 children into the mix and 5 x $$ becomes careful consideration.

Here is what makes it work for us:

1. Museums on Us^® is Bank of America's community outreach program. The first weekend of the month has free admission to select museums for B of A card holders. In New York City that's 8 venues. Thanks Destiny, for the heads up on this one!
2. Target also has an arts and culture community outreach program. This program not only subsidizes free admission to select institutions but also sponsors outdoor events and programs that the larger community can enjoy. Our favorites are Wave Hill - a great day out of the city - MOMA, and CMOM.

Today, we took advantage of Bank of America's program and headed to The Metropolitan Museum of Art where we participated in Art Trek - a free-with-admission, regularly run children's program that introduces kids ages 5-12 to the treasures to the MET. The lesson today was about Impressionism and we specifically looked at the art of Monet and Manet. It was an hour in length - perfect to keep attention and interest - and enjoyed by all.  We'll definitely do this one again.

Greek Sculpture Gallery

Listen to me...

Listening to our docent

Draw your impression of the scene

The Gallery

Broadway

On Wednesday I took my gang to see The Addams Family at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater (Brooke Shields , Brad Oscar were great, Roger Rees could be stronger, and the rest of the cast sung through their noses - ugh.)

After the show we wandered over to the Schoenfeld Theatre to visit some friends. As we waited inside stage door, I noticed some framed historical documents dating back to 1927. Two were from the show  Burlesque , produced by Arthur Hopkins who had a long string of shows on the boards during the first half of last century. Burlesque ran at the Plymouth Theater (now Schoenfeld Theater, in honor of Gerald Schoenfeld) from September 1927 to July 1928 - a healthy run in spite of competing with the original hit production of Showboat (Oscar Hammerstein II) that opened December 1927.

The documents on the wall were the title page and the salary list for the show. Shown as lead actress is Barbara Stanwyck, a 20 years old fresh face, earning a respectable $300/week, who a year later would head off to Hollywood to make movie history.