Hanging out with Lenny Kaye

Noodles a walk in a park to the east village and Poor Things

Yesterday Lenny Kaye drove to the city from Pennsylvania, so that we could go to the movies. It was a mild though overcast winter day and we took a walk through Washington Square, lingered before the bare yet expressive trees and listened to some musicians channeling Ornette Coleman. Lenny always gives buskers something in their guitar cases, then we went in search of ramen.

The Park

Strolling through Washington Square

Searching for Ramen on St. Marks

After lunch we walked to the theater, passing St. Mark’s Church on the Bowerie where we first performed together on February 10, 1971, opening the beautiful poet Gerard Malanga, and saluting the birthday of Berthold Brecht. It was satisfyingly nostalgic to pay silent homage to the church, a strong hold for poets for decades.

Then to the movies to see Poor Things, at the Village East, an awesome old style theater that was nearly empty as it was mid afternoon on a Thursday. We stopped at the candy counter and Lenny bought me a box of raisinets, that cost five dollars. That was a bit of a shock remembering paying only ten cents a box in 1959 when my siblings and I went to the movies to see Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

The film we went to see was Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. I’ve been wanting to see it and was delighted to watch it in an old fashioned theater with Lenny, eating raisenets, although I was a little disappointed they were not dark chocolate but some new breed of milk chocolate. I ate them anyway. So, we loved the movie in every way. It was beautifully shot, sometimes the camera lingering long enough on a certain frame that it was as gazing at an exquisite photograph. Emma Stone is brilliant in the film. All the actors are great. The landscape, carriages and costumes were transporting. It is quite raunchy in parts, but true to its premise. I am certain to go see it again. Just for Emma just for the cinematography. Well, for it all.

When we exited the theatre it was night. There was a lot of clouds obscuring the full wolf moon. But one could feel it. Time to walk home, still with one foot in the nineteenth century. Speaking of centuries, Lenny and I have been friends for over half a century. How fortunate to have a pal to share ramen and a movie.

Here we are, doing our thing, in Amsterdam for the Nexus Institute