DECORATIVE DIVERSITY IN THE BIG APPLE(c) By Polly Guerin

Decorative diversity takes us on a stroll through the exotic ‘lost’ world of mystical Hinduism whilst stopping for a spot of tea and tranquility as we ponder the wonders of furniture art. It’s the Best of New York my friends, the Very Best of New York. Here’s the scoop!!!
VISHNU: HINDUISM’S BLUE-SKINNED SAVIOR, Polly’s Exhibit of the Week takes you on a visit to Vishnu, one of the most important Gods in Hinduism, often depicted with four arms, engaging simultaneously in many activities as well as a blue skin tone that associates him with the cool expanses of water and sky. The exhibit explores the many personae and legends of Vishnu, his entourage, and his accoutrements, as well as the diverse traditions of worship related to him. The Brooklyn Museum’s large scale exhibition includes Indian sculpture, paintings, textiles and ritual objects on view through October 2, 2011. 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. www.brooklynmusum.org. Picture above: Vishnu Saving the Elephant, mid 18th century. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
KNOLL TEXTILES, 1945-2010 Founded on the premise that a well-designed environment enriches our lives, Knoll, the German-born U.S. furniture producer of modern textile design, supplied sleek, classic and sophisticated furnishings and interior design for chic office environments and gave new meaning to ‘modern’ in the 1940s. The exhibit at Bard Graduate Center, 18 W. 86th St. comprises approximately 175 examples f textiles, furniture, photographs and ephemera using color and texture as primary design elements with new fabrications: parachute webbing, fishnet and manmade fibers. Over the years Knoll’s contribution to modern environments included the work of leading artists, architects and designers including Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, Mies van de Rohe and Frank Gehry. Through July 31, 2011. Visit http://www.bgc.bard.edu.
FRANCHIA RESTAURANT, Polly’s Restaurant Pick of the Week is a welcome refuge for a spot of tea in an unexpected location: Park Avenue (Between 34th & 35th Sts.). Tea and tranquility merge in a Zen-like setting that is a welcome retreat from summer sightseeing and museum hopping. With an extensive tea menu you can find just the right tea to tame the heat or soothe a headache. If comfort food is needed, try the Asian-inspired vegan menu that has an exotic flair and tasty sauces. Franchia is located at 12 Park Avenue. 212.213.1001. www.franchia.com.
ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT Polly’s Movie Pick of the Week is an enchanting story of Flora, adopted at 2 years old by David Balding the owner of a small St. Louis circus who made her into the star attraction and their attachment is a lesson in love and devotion. In the end as both owner and animal become old together Balding must find a home for Flora but the separation is heart wrenching and the separation unbearable for both. The unhappy consequence of this relationship makes one pause to think twice about separating animals from other members of their species. At Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St, west of Sixth Avenue. www.filmforum.com.
Ta Ta darlings!!! I’m off to visit the Blue-Skinned Savior. Fan mail welcome www.pollytalk.com . Visit Polly Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the right hand column click on the link to the Blog of your interest.

GARDENS 'N MUSIC SERENDADE NEW YORKERS (c) By Polly Guerin

The 'Leopard' at Des Artistes>>>

Visit Spain’s Alhambra, enjoy music, dance and poetry on a lush lawn, hear music in a sculpture garden, and bask in the summer serenade. It’s the Best of New York my friends, the Very Best of New York. Here’s the scoop!!!
SPANISH PARADISE, The Gardens of the Alhambra, pictured left, a feast for the senses, features flowing fountains, elegant arches and a broad palette of Mediterranean plants that intoxicate with the aroma of rose, jasmine, lavender and gardenia in this Islamic palace city. It’s an exotic escape to Spain right here in New York City at New York Botanical Garden where the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory exhibit showcases manuscripts, watercolors, engravings and prints with a special section on New York’s native son Washington Irving, author of the fictional collection “Tales of the Alhambra.” Stroll along the poetry walk and read verses of Granada’s native son, the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. On weekends, there are Flamenco performances. At 2900 Southern Blvd. Bronx, NY. Through August 21. www.nybg.org.
MOMA’S SCULPUTE GARDEN, Polly’s Music Pick of the Week is a cool way to spend an evening of international music presented by MOMa’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden in two sets (5:30 and 7:00p.m) on Thursday nights during July and August. Featuring adventurous musical performers from Africa, South America, China, Indonesia, and beyond the musicians build on specific national and popular musical traditions, bringing new instruments into standard ensembles, and enlivening the music with distinctive personal approaches. As the music wasps through the night air sit back and feel the stress melt away. www.moma.org. FREE July 7,14,21,28 and August 4, 11, 18, 25.
THE LEOPARD AT DES ARTISTES, Polly’s Restaurant Pick of the Week is set in the old Café des Artistes where scenes of those naked nymphs cavorting in the restored murals remain a favorite decor. The Wood Nymphs and Swing Girls look brighter and happier and so do the patrons of the Italianized version of the old-favorite restaurant. The long front room, elevated dining area and bar behind it survived but the new mellow lighting makes diners’ faces glow almost as fetchingly as those of the nymphs on the walls. Regional authenticity includes fregula, a seafood couscous ragout of Sardinian inspiration while other dishes speak of Sicilian, Calabria and Sicily origins. At 1 W. 67th St. 212.878.8768.
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! “PAGE ONE" is Polly’s Movie Pick of the Week. Contrary to what the naysayers say newspapers are not dead and the movie Page One: Inside the New York Times, an entertaining documentary by Andrew Rossi, attests to the value of newspaper journalism and the incredible journey of the pulp process. Watch as editors and reporters tackle news breaking stories, deliberate on developing stories and grind out with dizzy race the news in the hectic newsroom. Grindstone journalism at its best “Page One” is a ‘must see’ for the sheer value of appreciating newspaper journalism. Check movie schedules in your local newspaper.
Ta Ta darlings!!! I’m heading for the Alhambra, a short hop on Metro North of the Botanical Gardens. Send fan mail to: pollytalk@verizon.net. Polly Blogs go to www.pollytalk.com and in the right-hand column click on the Blog of your interest. The latest feature “Yoga: Rock & Roll Exercises in the Sky” at http://www.awakenyoursleepingbeautyedgarcayce.blogspot.com.

SERIOUS CULTURE IN STORIED VENUES (c) By Polly Guerin

“Making Lists” creates historical reference to famous and celebrated Literati, while Museum Mile celebrates art and Callas returns to the stage waxing nostalgic over Ari. It's the Best of New York my friends, the Very Best of New York. Here’s the scoop!!!
LISTS, TO-DOS, ILLUSTRATED INVENTORIES, COLLECTED THOUGHTS! Save your lists my friends!!! Who ever thought that these documents would be historically significant? On view at the Morgan Library & Museum the exhibit presents a broad range of artists jottings, from Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder to H. L. Mencken to Elaine de Mooning and Lee Krasner to name a few giving an intimate view of an artist’s personal life. Take Franz Kline’s $274.51 liquor, I’d like to have gone to that New Year’s Eve bash for his abstract artist friends. Then let’s take a lesson from Adolf Konrad’s whimsical and detailed “Illustrated Packing List” for a 1962 trip to Rome, pictured at left. Picasso was a list maker par excellence. He itemized his recommendations for the ground-breaking 1913 Armory show. These personal artifacts sometimes become works of art, some dashed off quickly, other beautifully illustrated. www.themorgan.org.
MASTER CLASS, Polly’s Theater Pick of the Week, CALLAS is back in true form in the guise of Tyne Daly who comes to the stage to teach Master Class just as Callas did at Julliard during her last years. I was there when the original Callas dispensed the secret of her art to a new generation of singers passing through her searing scrutiny. Her directives were riveting and glad I was not to be one of the singers on the stage under her baton. During Class, Callas monologues about her tempestuous relationship with Aristotle Onassis. Tyne Daly holds class at the Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., with an affable Manny (Jeremy Cohen) at the piano. Previews begin June 14. Tickets as low as $48. ClubManager@playbill.com.
MUSEUM CRAWL, Polly’s Event of the Week Tuesday, June 14th is FREE for the walking, up and down Fifth Avenue where New York City’s cultural institutions open their doors for Museum Mile that stretches from 82nd to 110th Streets. Start at the top at Museum for African Art (110th St.) where dance performances enliven the evening and nearby catch El Museo del Barrio’s Files: Voces y Visiones featuring works of Latino Caribbean and Latin-American artists, and don’t miss Joel Grey’s exhibit, “New York Life” at the Museum of the City of New York . Fashion aficionados head for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for the Van Cleef & Arpels jewels and the Parisian artist, Sonia DeLaunay’s textiles and interior design. Stop off at the Neue Gallerie for Vienna 1900 and check out the Café Zabriske to indulge your chocolate cravings. Catch your breath and go up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s roof for Anthony Caro’s sculptures and a breathtaking view of the city while sipping cocktails named after the art works. More fun awaits with entertainers, variety acts and musicians along the way.
ARTISANAL, Polly’s Restaurant of the Week, off Park Avenue and 32nd Street, a Fromagerie Bistro and wine bar, features a unique varied menu and a world of cheese specialties including the starter sampler, the Cheese Plate with three seasonal cheeses $15.50, wine is extra. The Lunch Prix Fixe is value priced at $25 and includes Hors-D’oeuvres, Plats Pricipaux, a choice of 3 entrees such as Wild Mushroom Risotto with Fava Beans and Black Truffle Butter. Desserts include Crème Brulee “Le Cirque.” On a budget? Choose, Croque Monsieur/Madam or Vegetable Quiche at $16.50 or the Artisanal Blend Burger $15.50. Best to make a reservation. 212.725.8585. http://www.artisanalbistro.com.
Ta Ta darlings!!! I’m revisiting Callas at MASTER CLASS!!! Fan mail welcome, pollytalk@verizon.net. Visit Polly’s Blogs: www.pollytalk.com, just click on the Blog of your interest in the right-hand column.

A NEW YORKER'S DREAM VACATION IN NYC (c) By Polly Guerin

Why travel the globe when New York City is a dream vacation. Just stay put and invest in the Big Apple’s diversified venues from pulp art to a musical hit at its best, free movies and dining at Sardi’s. It’s the best of New York my friends, the very Best of New York!!! Here’s the scoop!!!
PULP ART: The Robert Lesser Collection. When Americans needed an escape from the harsh reality of day to day life pulp magazines provided the fantasy escape. This is a rare opportunity to view an almost forgotten art form because very little of the work, often by leading illustrators of the time remains today. Lesser said, this “unique American (art) form combined all the elements of the male imagination during the Great Depression.” An exhibition of 88 rare paintings created for the front covers of popular fiction magazines in the first half of the twentieth century are colorful, bold eye-catching adventure-charged scenes which pushed the boundaries of what was then acceptable to society. With a hint of six, rescued maidens, murder and mayhem the original oil paintings like the one pictured here "Fleeing in a motorcycle and sidecar after their heist" by Richard Lillis is on view at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrations through July 30th, 2011. FREE admission at 128 E. 63rd St., Tues. 10-8pm, Wed-Fri 10am to 5pm and Sat. 12-5pm. Visit www.societyillustrators.org.
BABY it’s YOU! Polly’s Theater Pick of the Week is one of the best musical hits on Broadway. Though I’m a devotee of classics and baroque I was blown away by The Shirelles with a high voltage cast re-enacting the story of how Florence Greenberg, a New Jersey housewife-turned-mogul, discovered four black teenage girls singing in a playground and turned it into one of the music industry’s greatest success stories, the Shirelles, one of the most successful girl groups of the early 1960s. No ordinary woman, Greenberg founded a record label and changed the face of pop music. They were a million dollar quartet, climbing the charts with such hits as “Soldier Boy,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and the title tune, “Baby its You!” You’ll be dancing in the aisles. At the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St.
A WEEKEND OF FREE FILMS June 10-12 in Lincoln Center’s first movie multiplex, the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center. There will be a marathon of choices from Ran to Pulp Fiction. For Film schedule and Free Tickets visit www.filmlinc.com. West 65th Street, between Amsterdam & Broadway. The official opening is June 17th with “Page One,” inside the New York Times, a documentary about The Times newsroom. General Admission $30. www.TimesTalks.com or call (888) NYT-1870.
SARDI’S, Polly Restaurant Pick of the Week. To hang your picture on the wall of Sardi’s is to make your mark on the history of the American stage. Broadway’s hall of fame started in 1927 when Mr. Sardi was brainstorming about ideas to increase business. Taking a cue from Joe Zelli’s in Paris where the walls were covered with caricatures of celebrity patrons, Mr. Sardi hired Alex Gard, a Russian refugee who pledged to exchange caricatures for two meals a day. Sardi’s remains the “Toast of Broadway” and one can dine quite reasonable from a classic cuisine menu to veggies and tofu but do ask for the Sardi’s original, Baccone Dolce dessert, a sweet mouthful of meringue, fresh strawberries, whipped cream and a touch of chocolate. 234 W. 44th St. Reservations: 212.221.8444. www.sardis.com.
Ta Ta darlings!!! I’m going inside the New York Times newsroom checking in at the new film multiplex at Lincoln Center. Fan mail welcome pollytalk@verizon.net. Polly’s Blogs can be accessed at www.pollytalk.com, just click on the Blog of your interest in the right hand column.