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Meeting the Foxes in New York City,
The Fox family is worth knowing. During our brief but enjoyable get together I got to sympathize with their daily pursuit. Like many other families, the Foxes strive to protect their ways of life against the destructive ambitions of the powerful food industrial complexes of the neighborhood. The Foxes’energy and resourcefulness are notably directed to defend their dietary traditions. The resourceful, too clever for his own good Mr. Fox goes by the nickname of “Fantastic”. His penchant for recklessness keeps his sweet wife Felicity overly worried. Felicity is a paragon of family bliss. She hasn’t fully convinced Mr. Fox that journalism is a suitable alternative to raiding chicken coops. Needless to say that sly Mr. Fox and his friends outsmart the ruthless industrial farmers.
You may have guessed that Mr. Fox is the creation of British writer Roald Dahl. The furry talking animals have become the characters of a very unusual but satisfying animated film by director Wes Anderson. Mr. Fox is a charmer who enjoys talking. Who except George could have lent his seductive voice to him? In this film, George Clooney is the embodiment of “foxy-tude”. The cast is prestigious: Felicity borrows the voice of Meryl Streep. Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and Michael Gambon among others, lend their well-known voices to Mr. Fox’ furry friends and human foes. A children’s book may not make a successful children’s film; children may find this “herky-jerky” animation too old fashioned. Conversely this analog animation may have what appeals to grown-ups like me. Meet Mr. Fox’ family and friends on www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com
When walking in Manhattan, you routinely meet all sorts of celebrities. I wish I had met George! No such luck. It is no longer unusual to bump into idle and infamous former bankers. You can spot them walking alone or with other unemployed bankers. The limos are nowadays kept in the garage. After being on the spotlight for so long, their faces have become familiar. Going to see my own banker, fortunately still employed in his Madison Avenue office, I spotted John Thain, the tall, boyish looking banker nicknamed the Marie Antoinette of Wall St. Thain is the disgraced former CEO of Merryl Lynch. His claim to fame was his extravagant personal spending: US$ 1.2 million of company money went into his office decoration. He didn’t mind to waste all this money when his company was laying off staff. Remember the $ 28,000 rug, this is him; the $32,000 chandelier, him again! In his heyday, he was worth US$ 83 million. Last week, he was still keeping up appearances, dapper in his dark blue pinstripe suit. According to Wikipedia he has a trophy wife and four mistresses. I wonder whether he still dotes on them?
There are also plenty of adult villains, of the John Thain kind in Michael Moore’s latest film “Capitalism: a Love Story”. Moore is picking another good fight. The picture’s timing is perfect. The first fifteen minutes are hilarious. The rest of the film is typical Moore and more predictable. You learn a few unsavory and scary details about misguided capitalism. I was particularly shocked to learn that many commuter airline pilots survived on food stamps. Some have several jobs to make ends meet. When your pilot moonlights, flight safety may become an issue.
Actually when flying on US carriers it is no longer surprising to find flight attendants still working past their 60s. On my DELTA flight from Rio to Atlanta, three of the flight attendants were over 60 and one lady was 71! There is no retirement age in the USA, a good thing; however these “senior citizens” were compelled to work because they had lost their pension during the cycle of mergers and acquisitions in the airline industry. A bitter truth!
Apparently Moore’s film cost US$ 2 million to make; in the USA alone, it has already grossed US$ 14 m. Congratulations Mr. Moore for your successful anti-capitalism pamphlet! Are the American people becoming more like French socialists? According to a recent CBS poll, over 50 percent of those polled recommended that the taxes of the wealthiest Americans be raised by more than 50 percent! In the same poll, 43 percent would gladly become Wal-Mart patients if the discount store corporation considered offering basic health services. Finally 48 percent responded that the chain symbolizes America.
By November standards, the weather was mild in the Big Apple, it offered perfect conditions for walking. The city is becoming friendlier for walkers. In Mid-town, at Times and Herald Squares, Mayor Bloomberg has blocked off Broadway. Five blocks have been closed. Tables and chairs have been set up on the newly created plazas. Weary denizens can now take a break.
The “in” thing to do these days is to go further south to the former seedy Meatpacking District to stroll on the High Line along the former elevated railroad tracks. The railway line was built in the 1930s to bring freight to the industrial West Side of Manhattan. Trains stopped running in the 1980s. The tracks were abandoned to weeds and an urban jungle developed. Its self grown vegetation is now being tamed by the city gardeners for the pleasure of strollers. www.thehighline.org. The project was inspired by a similar elevated parkway La Promenade Plantée in the Bastille area of Paris.
When completed the High Line will be over 2 km long and run from the Meat Packing District to 34th St at the beginning of the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in the West side.
This colorful name has many possible origins, and Wikipedia may help you. The fact is that it was a seedy, poor and rough neighborhood mostly populated by Irish immigrants.
To reinvent these chaotic NYC landmarks into lead back corners, the city heavily invested in deck chairs, tables and bistro chairs. Not surprisingly, French style furniture was selected. I had a fit to discover that NYC parks and my modest Provence garden were sharing similar furniture! The French firm supplied 250 metallic tables and 650 bistro chairs. It must have been the marché du siecle for the company. So far no one is seen carrying the furniture away.
Manhattan is not going to become car-free for sometimes; but its new slow-lane attitude augurs well for its strolling loving denizens. What is the next step for the city where rickshaws are already competing with yellow cabs in the asphalt jungle? A modest bike rental initiative has been launched in the southern part of Manhattan. It is not yet on a grand scale like the Vélib program of Paris? Probably just as well.
Recently the New York Times (October 30, 2009) described the Vélib bicycle rental as an “utopia which has met its reality”. According to the newspaper, some 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bikes have been either stolen or damaged. French sociologists blame social revolt among young immigrants as the underlying cause of the vandalism. Should I suggest that Paris bikes be shipped to NYC? It will ease the headache of the mayor of Paris and rescue the business model of the Vélib owner, the advertisement firm JCDecaux.
Picture courtesy of the NYC Dept of Parks & Recreations.
The High Line.
Beatrice Labonne, November 30, 2009. |
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