VIDEO: Patti Smith's Advice to the Young

and sewn into the seams were forty-one seasons of dreams

JAMIE
First, a story. A little Christmas story. I call it "The Story of Schmuel, Tailor of Klimovich."

Schmuel would work 'til half-past ten at his tailor shop in Klimovich,
Get up at dawn and start again with the hems and pins and twist.
Forty-one years had come and gone at his tailor shop in Klimovich.
Watching the winters soldier on, there was one thing Schmuel missed.

"If I only had time," old Schmuel said,
"I would build the dress that's in my head,
A dress to fire
The mad desire
Of girls from here to Minsk,
But I have no more hours left to sew."
Then the clock upon the wall began to glow...

And the clock said:
"Na na na na, na na na,
Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!
Na na na na, na na na,
I give you unlimited time!
Na na na na, na na na,
So Schmuel, go sew and be happy!"
But Schmuel said,
"No, no, it's not my lot--
I've gotta make do with the time I've got."

Schmuel was done at half-past ten and he said, "Good night, old Klimovich,"
Put on his coat to go, but then the clock cried, "Wait! Not yet!
Even though you're not wise or rich, you're the finest man in Klimovich!
Listen up, Schmuel--Make one stitch and you'll see what you can get!"

But Schmuel said,
"Clock, it's much too late,
I'm at peace with life,
I accept my fate..."
But the clock said, "Schmuel!
One stitch and you will
Unlock the dreams you've lost!"
So Schmuel, with reluctance, took his thread.
He pulled a bolt of velvet and he said:
"I should take out my teeth and go bed,
I'm sitting here with talking clocks instead!"

And the clock said:
"Na na na na, na na na,
Oh Schmuel, you'll get to be happy!
Na na na na, na na na,
I give you unlimited time!
Na na na na, na na na,
Just do it and you can be happy!"

So Schmuel put the thread through the needle's eye
And the moon stared down from a starless sky,
And he pushed the thread throught the velvet black
And he looked, and the clock was turning...back!

So he grabbed his shears and he cut some lace
As the hands moved left on the old clock's face!
And his fingers flew and the fabric swirled--
It was nine-fifteen all around the world!

Ev'ry cut and stitch ws a perfect fit,
As if God Himself were controlling it!
And Schmuel cried, through a rush of tears,
"Take me back! Take me back all forty-one years!"

And on it went, down that silent street,
'Til Schmuel's dress was at last complete,
And he stretched his arms, and he closed his eyes,
And the morning sun finally started to rise.

And the dress he made on that endless night
Was a dress that would make any soul take flight!
Not a swatch, not a skein had gone to waste--
Ev'ry ribbon and button ideally placed,
And sewn into the seams
Were forty-one seasons of dreams
Dreams that you could feel
Coming real.

And that very dress, so the papers swore,
Was the dress a girl in Odessa wore
On the day she promised forevermore
To love a young man named Schmuel
Who only one day before
Had knocked at her kitchen door.

Plenty have hoped and dreamed and prayed, but they can't get out of Klimovich.
If Schmuel had been a cute goyishe maid, he'd've looked a lot like you.
Maybe it's just that you're afraid to go out on to a limb-ovich.
Maybe your heart's completely swayed, but your head can't follow through.

But shouldn't I want the world to see
The brilliant girl who inspires me?
Don't you think that now's a good time to be
The ambitious freak you are?
Say goodbye to wiping ashtrays at the bar!
Say hello to Cathy Hiatt, big-time star!
'Cause I say:
Na na na na, na na na,
Cathy, you get to be happy!
Na na na na, na na na,
I give you unlimited time!
Na na na na na na na
Stop temping and go and be happy!

Here's a headshot guy and a new Backstage,
Where you're right for something on ev'ry page--
Take a breath,
Take a step,
Take a chance...

[HE gives her Christmas present to her: a lovely watch]

Take your time.

Have I mentioned today
How lucky I am
To be in love with you?

BLACKOUT NYC

On a cold Thursday night, my friend Kaylee lured me from my favorite pizza at Cafe Fiorello in Lincoln Center... all the way down to Lower Manhattan. I say lured, as it was during the recent blackout.  Apparently, I had to-- if even for a few hours-- experience and see what it was like.

Kaylee was staying with a friend at the Bowery Hotel, which was operating with only one small generator, and thus, minimal lighting in the hallway sconces only. For the most part, stepping foot into the hotel felt not much different than stepping into the McKittrick Hotel that houses Sleep No More. Only this was real life.

After one Old Fashioned, two glasses of red wine, three new friends, and several attempts to play Bach on the hotel's broken piano, we found ourselves at Gemma for a complimentary dinner. With the restaurant's famous gigantic candles lit,  a mere twenty people scattered throughout the restaurant, and the pure silence all around, one could mistake the normally buzzing restaurant for a big barn-turned-restaurant in the Catskills. The Chianti was poured, glass after glass, and we feasted on fresh tomato basil pasta, roasted veggies, bread, and salad.

By this point, our cellphones were dead (though I must note: due to the lack of cellphone service in all of downtown Manhattan, everyone in the room clearly forgot they existed to begin with).

And so we ended up outside. In the darkness.  Kaylee ran into friends, and they were attempting a journey to The Smile.

Someone had sparklers. And somehow, we all took part in this impromptu video.

BLACKOUT NYC from L.A. on Vimeo.

Adria Petty's NU-6 on Nowness

Adria Petty: NU-6 on Nowness.com.

From NOWNESS:

Adria Petty: NU-6

The Beyoncé Video Director Reveals Audio-Visual Hallucinations in a New Short

Hauntingly shot in black and white and accompanied by a cacophonous and angular score, LA-based filmmaker Adria Petty shares her latest film, NU-6. After suffering two ruptured eardrums and near deafness, the director of music videos for Beyoncé and Regina Spektor experienced a surreal episode while taking hospital hearing exam “NU-6,” induced by its strangely evocative test words such as “love,” “home” and “void.” “I felt the words I had to repeat were intimate. They had thoughts and images and history connected to them,” explains Petty, daughter of rock music legend Tom. “I felt embarrassed saying them in front of a stranger and I wanted to express that internal monologue,” she adds. Filmed over a single day, the film follows model Jessica Cook through the halls of a hospital and into a testing room where she is launched into an increasingly abstract and frightening space of inner-consciousness, fantasy and illusion. Citing influences such as Godard, Buñuel and The Twilight Zone, Petty found the filming process itself cathartic. “It was a very special experience because it was quick and spontaneous and creative for the sake of creativity alone,” she says.

Skaters and Adam Green for BK at Bowery Electric

 

 

 

anyone who would like to make any additional donations please e-mail info@meghanfarrell.com and I can help direct you to the right place!

regina chan took over my closet and apartment today

evan rachel wood at stones fest 2012

can somebody tell this girl's people to have her officially cover this song?

horses horses horses

TED talk: Comedy as Translation

SNL: Zooey Deschanel in "Bein' Quirky"

nowness: spike jonze for olympia le tan

Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi on Nowness.com.

how to start a movement

hysterical

"be patient" is very good advice

I was working at my workbench yesterday and had Disney's Alice in Wonderland on in the background.

As a child, it was one of my favorites... and we really did have every Disney film.

Watching it now, I can see why.  Visually and artistically, it is beautiful, even ahead of its time.

"you can't take a picture of this, it's already gone"

the best show. just finished watching all seasons in their entirety this morning.

Nate tells Claire

"you can't take a picture of this, it's already gone"

yet Claire takes the picture anyway. 



the past:

(it's done, you can't change it or hit rewind)

accept it, and move.

 honor it in the present.


the desire to hold on to the past:

 accept this need

as part of our humanity.


then let it go.

never look back.


onwards.
run to the future.
carpe diem.

NATHANIEL
You're missing the point.


DAVID
There is no point, that's the point. Isn't it...

NATHANIEL
Don't give me this phony existential bullshit. I expect better from you. The point's right in front of your face.


DAVID
Well I'm sorry but I don't see it.


NATHANIEL 

You're not even grateful are you?

DAVID

Grateful? for the worst fucking experience of my life?

NATHANIEL

You hang on to your pain like it means something... like it's worth something... Well let me tell you: it's not worth shit. Let it go. Infinite possibilities and all he can do is whine...

DAVID

Well what am I supposed to do?

NATHANIEL 

What do you think? You can do anything you lucky bastard! You're alive! what's a little pain compared to that?

DAVID

It can't be so simple.

NATHANIEL

What if it is?

jo hamilton

new york city sunset

had never done this before....
the only substantial thing I did on thursday was watch the sunset over pier 25
took a bunch of pictures
videos
but I realized in that in all my years in new york city,
I had never watched the sun actually set before
instead, I saw the proof of a sunset
as I looked upwards while I walked
or out of a window as I worked
the pink and the orange,
those pretty colors
proof that a sunset was there
proof it was happening
as I looked up
the buildings themselves acted a picture frame
as I looked out
the window frame was a frame too
for this picture I wished to see the fullness of
but rarely ever did

so I went to the pier

water is water
and water is running
and water is moving
and water is unpredictable
but water is constant
and the sound of water is the sound of water
there's nothing like it

as it sets,
the sun's reflection
on the water
 appears to be a moving path
widening as the sun moves downwards
and then suddenly
down behind a building in new jersey it goes
in one instant
in one split second
it's gone

the sky remains pink and the clouds
make the sky appear gradient
a spectrum of pinks and purples and oranges and yellows

and then,
suddenly,
purple.

and then,
suddenly,
darkness

the lights flicker on
the boys still play basketball
the runners keep running
and the pedestrians keep walking their dogs well past 10pm
and I jump the fence of the playground on the pier
to swing
just for a little

I walk
I always end up near the water.

the days have been warm and the city has been happy
to feel the buzz is freeing
but overwhelming
so many people
 so many interesting people
so little time
and you're only young once.


and to have the liberty to wander during these weeks
has been so rewarding, eye opening...

forehead relaxed
back without a single knot
I travel the city streets

but the water
I always end up near the water

elementary penguins, central park

When Jaime and I were in the park, we ran into this band that does all Beatles covers.

I basically ruined every video I took, but this one was the best.

scars

  

I spent the day in the park with Jaime and Bella.

st. barths sunset