The Rockettes Turn The Seasons Upside Down

It’s snowing in Radio City Music Hall even in August, as the Rockettes kick-off the Christmas holiday season on the 13th of this month. Hoping to relieve a bit of the sweltering New York summer weather, Santa Claus is due to arrive from the North Pole at 11am, along with famed ice sculptors from Okamoto Studios.

The sculptors will carve a unique, large, work of art under the marquee at the iconic music showhouse. The Rockettes will be there, and so will the animals from the Living Nativity. John Foxx from WPLJ will participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony as the sculpture is unveiled to the public.

To make the day even cooler the Rockettes, in collaboration with the popular New York City-based ice cream company People’s Pops, will distribute the specially created “Rox Pop” around town. The Rox Pop is a cranberry-apple flavored ice pop, totally inspired by the Christmas Spectacular and the Rockettes. The pops are all natural, and will be given away for free from a Christmas Spectacular-themed food truck as well as from a red double decker Grey Line New York bus. To track the location of the truck New Yorkers can go to Facebook for the times and places the bus and truck will be, including Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, the Beacon Theatre, Union Square and Park Slope.

If you miss the bus and truck, you will be able to get some cool Rox Pops at the People’s Pops shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn, from August 14 until October.

The Best of Opera this Summer

Opera fans- take note of some upcoming performances that should not be missed:

• Glimmerglass: It might be a four hour drive to Cooperstown to the Glimmerglass Opera festival, but it is worth every minute. The 900 seat opera house, surrounded by the countryside makes idyllic location for this very special musical event.  In a recent article in the New York Times Steve Smith wrote about the festival that it “rises to new levels of innovation, curiosity and, yes, chutzpah.” Now through August 24; 7300 State Highway 80, eight miles north of Cooperstown, (607) 547-2255; $26 to $132; $10 to $25 for youth (18 and younger.)

• The Summer Recital Series at the Metropolitan Opera: Outdoor opera is presented by the Met Opera at two locations. On Tuesday at the Jackie Robinson Park in Hamilton Heights, and on Thursday at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City. For more information call (212) 362-6000.

• ‘Oresteia’: The only opera created by Russian composer Sergei Taneyev, “Oresteia” is an ambitious piece based on the tragic trilogy written by Aeschylus. Performances will be this Friday July 19 and next Friday July 26 at 7pm; Sunday July 28, Wednesday July 31, and Sunday, August 4 at 3pm. Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y, (845) 758-7900; $30 to $90.

The Earth Room by Walter De Maria

The Earth Room, a long-term installation which first appeared at its home at 141 Wooster Street in New York was created by artist Walter De Maria in 1977. The sculpture is made of 250 cubic yards of earth, taking up 3,600 square feet of floor space. The earth is 22 inches deep, and the total weight of the sculpture, entirely of earth, is 280,000 pounds.

New York’s Earth Room is the world’s third. The first was installed in Munich in 1968, and the second in Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, also in Germany, in 1974. Today New York’s Earth Room is the only one of the three still extant.

Those who have visited the Earth Room, usually out of curiosity, come away with an experience not easily found in the middle of a city like New York- the overpowering scent of wet earth, as if you just entered a forest. According to some the sight is so unusual and even beautiful, it can bring tears to your eyes.

Earth Room

No photography is permitted in the Earth Room. Open from September 11, 2013 until June 15, 2014, Wednesday to Sunday, 12-6pm and closed from 3 to 3:30pm.

July Fourth: Remembering Our Soldiers

The Fourth of July is a great time to enjoy and to relax. In New York alone, there are so many activities to enjoy today from the Macy’s firework show to The Empire State Building (yes, it’s open!) and the Air & Space Museum.

While we grill out, relax and enjoy awesome fireworks displays, we should also take a few minutes to reflect on those who made it possible for us to enjoy today. The 4^th of July is only possible, of course, because of our soldiers and the battles that they endured. One such battle, the Civil War, is carefully detailed and preserved through the Shapell Manuscript Foundation. On July 2, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Private Ellis Strouss survived the heated and gruesome battle that took 50,000 casualties.

Having survived, Private Strouss penned a letter to his mother. In the letter he wrote,

"The Battle of Gettysburg is fought and thank God The Army of the Potomac has been victorious. I took part in the battle with my Regt on the 2nd inst and it has been my good fortune to escape unharmed. I am well and so are the rest of the boys in the Co. I cannot tell yet what the loss of our Regt is. We have many missing who may be either killed, wounded or taken prisoners…. The Loss in the Regt is (as far as I know) Killed 10 Wounded 53 Missing 68… Our Corps (the 3rd) has not started yet but we are expecting to go every minute. The Boys are all confident that we will whip Lee's Army so that he will not be fit to do anything more for some time to come."

Ellis C. Strouss enlisted in the Federal Army in 1861 as a private and was wounded twice in the course of the battle. He served until the Civil War ended and finished as a captain.

Let’s raise our cap today to soldiers like Capital Strouss and remember those who have given us the freedom to enjoy today’s fireworks.

Discover Discovery Times Square

Finally an official exhibition space which can hold fascinating large-scale shows right here in the Big Discovery Times Square, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on June 24, hosts traveling exhibitions in their 60,000 square feet of space which explore the world’s culture, art, history and events. The time-sensitive exhibits are designed to be educational, immersive and interactive.

Apple.

Sponsored by Discovery Communications, the people that bring us the Discovery Channel on cable television, together with Running Subway Productions, a New York based entertainment production company, the stated goal of the museum is "to create a home for traveling exhibitions that local museums might find either too large, too expensive, too non-disciplinary or too commercial for their nonprofit attention."

Discovery Times Square sees itself as much more than just a museum. It is the go-to place for exploration and discovery through “unique and immersive” exhibits in New York.

The following are a sampling of what DTS has already offered:

•    Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit
•    Leonardo Da Vinci’s Workshop
•    King Tut
•    Pompeii: The Exhibit
•    Dead Sea Scrolls

And what is going on at DTS now?

•    The Art of the Brick- Lego sculptures that will blow your mind: Now through January 5, 2014.
•    Body World- The science and splendor of the human body: Now through April 27, 2014
•    Shipwreck! Pirates and Treasure- an incredible journey through thousands of years of maritime history: Now through January 5, 2014

Located at 226 West 44th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Hours are Sunday - Thursday: 10:00AM - 8:00PM; Friday - Saturday: 10:00AM - 9:00PM until June 30. Beginning on July 1st extended summer hours will go into effect: Everyday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM. (*please note that on Thursday, July 4, we will close at 8:00 PM.)

NYC Third Annual Street Fair

Next month, Adorama will be hosting its third annual street fair. On Sunday 22^nd, this prominent photography, video and electronics retailer, will welcome tens of thousands of guests to its fair to enjoy rides, games, food and technology.  It is anticipated that there will be even more attendees than last year’s 20,000 mark.  There will be quite a few major technology companies to be present this year including: Adobe, Bogen, Canon, Dell, Foscom, Intel, Nikon, Pentax, Sony and more.  In addition, Adorama itself will be hosting booths in: Adorama PIX, Rentals, Used and the Learning Center.

On the day, there will also be interactive activities; free photography clinics; carnival games and petting zoo; tons of food options; prizes and raffles; vendor exhibits (to check out digital imaging technology); celebrity appearances; workshops and technology makeovers.

Ultimately, for those living in the New York City area, or just find themselves in the region for a visit, the Street Fair is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy fun-filled activities for the whole family.  

Recent Central Park Donations

The Central Park Conservancy has been raising money in order to enhance all of New York Central Park’s 21 playgrounds. Central Play, its fundraising project, is seeking to raise $40m from private donations to use in construction enterprises over the next five years.

While the Central Park Conservancy itself raises 80 percent of the $45.8m annual budget, there is still 20 percent to be gleaned from private donors, oftentimes large corporations.  For example, for Central Play, a donation of $3m has been received by JPMorgan Chase.  As well, a year ago, a pledge to the Central Park Conservancy of $100m was received from John Paulson of Paulson & Co.

According to officials from the Conservancy, the project is going to require a capital injection of $31m.   Renovations will have an impact on park users over the next few years while the projects are being undertaken, but as Dena Liner of the Central Park Conservancy explained, once the playgrounds that are temporarily closed re-open, it will be “almost like a big surprise for the neighborhoods that have loved them, with brand new equipment including new water sprinklers, water features, climbing structures, brand new swings, sandboxes, everything, so it's going to be a big surprise for the five million kids who love their park.”  Since the majority of the playgrounds were built in the 1930s and have, for the most part, not been modified in decades, it will definitely be a “big surprise.”