Photographer Richard Avedon Critical After Stroke

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Famed photographer Richard Avedon is in critical but stable condition at an undisclosed San Antonio hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage, a source close to the family said on Thursday.

Register To Vote Now

Just a friendly reminder that Monday, October 4th, is the last day to register to vote in the November 2nd General Election if you are a New Jersey resident.

Call or visit your municipal or county clerk to register in time. You vote counts. Don't waste it.

Off To JFK Without A Ticket

A good while back I swore I would never fly out of JFK Airport ever again. Coming from Jersey it was only a hassle. Spending fifty bucks more to fly out of Newark was still a better value when you consider the time and money lost on the ground getting to and from Kennedy.

But now this evening I will be crawling along the Belt in the usual slow trek to JFK. I have no plane ticket, I am not dropping anyone off for a flight or even collecting any recently arrived traveling friend. For the first time ever I am off to an airport for a party.

Tonight Vanity Fair is hosting a black-tie gala celebrating art and the architecture of old TWA Terminal 5.

Some poser site has a few details about the gathering.

Airport terminals have taken a bad rap in recent years. But this will soon change, if only temporarily, thanks to Terminal 5, an ambitious project promising to bring some jet-set allure back to New York's JFK airport. For four months starting October 1, the TWA terminal, Eero Saarinen's soaring modernist masterpiece, will be the hemisphere's most important destination for art lovers as a crew of intercontinental contemporary artists takes over the entire building—including luggage carousels and ticket counters—to present large-scale, site-specific works. But it doesn't end there. With the participation of Paris boutique Colette, the exhibition will boast the most unusual gift store on the globe, while an accompanying program titled "Arrivals" is packed with lectures, performances and projects by first-class names like Rem Koolhaas and Hussein Chalayan.

It all takes off with a black-tie pre-opening gala hosted by Vanity Fair where guests will be treated to works by Tom Sachs, Douglas Coupland, Tobias Wong, Jenny Holzer and Dan Graham, among others, on Wednesday, September 29, 7:00 pm - midnight. Two nights later is the official launch party, hosted by V Magazine, with plenty o' surprises, and that's all we're allowed to say.

Look here for a full party report soon.

Words & Music

Changing things up last night in an attempt to feed the body, mind and soul a healthier diet, the car was steered clear of the local bars and ended up parked at a book store after the always taxing ride on Route 22.

There wasn’t much browsing. A decent New York Times review had me hunting a new release. In about two minutes I found “The Fall of Baghdad” by Jon Lee Anderson.

Anderson, a staff writer for the New Yorker, was one of the few foreign journalists who was in Baghdad for the “shock & awe” bombing and stayed right there through it and the rest of the invasion. With him was John Burns of the Times and my buddy, Times photog Tyler Hicks.

Though I am only into chapter one, I am truly enjoying this well written, informative book. Then again I am a sucker for war reporter books.

Jon Lee Anderson is the brother of journalist Scott Anderson who wrote the amazing book, “The Man Who Tried To Save The World.” Scott is also one of the owners of The Half King bar in Manhattan. It is a grand bar with decent food, ever-changing photo exhibits and book readings.

Brother Jon will be reading from “The Fall of Baghdad” at The Half King on October 3rd.

And the shiny new CD I picked up last night to go with the book of war was Steve Earl’s latest, “The Revolution Starts...Now.”

The album has the best trucker in Iraq song I’ve ever heard. It’s called “Home to Houston” and is damn well worth a good listen.

Can They Shoot What They See?

Photo District News has a fine feature on a new exhibit featuring the pictures of six current photo editors "in an attempt to show that those who assign and select photography have learned a thing or two in their day jobs."

Photographers who've always wondered what Kathy Ryan's photos would look like will be able to assess the camera skills of the powerful photo editor of The New York Times Magazine and several other prominent editors in a new exhibition at the Robert V. Fullerton Museum in San Bernardino, California.

Posted by Jim at 04:16 PM

"Dazzle 'Em With Bullshit"

Today old pal Ken Layne highlights the current take on "confuse and divide."

This would be funny if the situation wasn't so sad and dangerous:

At yesterday's Allawi press conference, Bush repeatedly referred to the "Afghan national army" fighting in Najaf.

And:

Rumsfeld repeatedly confusing Saddam with Osama.

My favorite, for lack of a better term, is the Department of State map showing "Countries Where al Qaeda Has Operated." Iraq isn't one of them.

Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Australia, Austria
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia
Egypt, Eritrea
France
Germany
India, Iran, Ireland, Italy
Jordan
Kenya, Kosovo
Lebanon
Libya
Malaysia, Mauritania
Netherlands
Pakistan, Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Switzerland
Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey
Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan
Yemen

Xpat Glory Days

I am enjoying the new trashy Budapest gossip site way too much.

Way back when, before people started stripping the "e" off of "expat" - or just getting rid of the horrid word entirely - the life of a western expatriate in a place like Budapest was a blissfully uncomplicated affair. Such folks, mostly foreign businessmen, spent their days looting state assets, building market share for their brands of consumer do-dads, and otherwise helping to bring these withered post-communist states back into the Western fold. And then they would leave their offices and have nasty animal sex with local gals dazzled by their unimaginable riches and regular use of underarm deodorant.

The picture above is from a sexy party thrown by xpatloop.com. I am still looking into that. (The site, not the picture.)

The Price Of Art

Newsday reports:

When the Museum of Modern Art reopens its expanded midtown Manhattan home at 11 W. 53rd St. in November, an adult admission will cost $20, 66 percent more than the previous $12 fee. Industry experts say that's an unprecedented level for an urban museum and the highest tab in New York City.

Posted by Jim at 11:54 AM

I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia

Old pal Pete Donohue took the slowest bus in Manhattan yesterday while another News reporter hopped the train to Philly. And the race was on. Who would reach the end of the line first?

Not So Car Free

Dubliners didn't seem to get the idea behind this week's European Car Free Day.

The Automobile Association has confirmed that European Car Free Day turned out to be the busiest day of the month so far on Dublin's roads.

And of course old Pal Tim Blair did his part in Oz.

A Take On Ayad Allawi

Old Pal Ken Layne has a fair bit to say about the Iraqi leader.

Allawi, a secular Shiite from a wealthy merchant family, was a spy and -- maybe! -- assassin for Saddam Hussein. As a high-ranking officer in the dreaded Mukharabat, the Ba'athist secret police, he was Saddam's friend, colleague and eventual rival. His Baghdad medical degree is said to be phony; the Ba'ath Party gave it to him so he could travel Europe on a World Health Organization grant and infiltrate Arab student groups.

Posted by Jim at 04:50 PM

Rocking The Vote

Bruce Springsteen just emailed me his interview with Rolling Stone.

Bruce: I felt we had been misled. I felt they had been fundamentally dishonest and had frightened and manipulated the American people into war. And as the saying goes, "The first casualty of war is truth." I felt that the Bush doctrine of pre-emption was dangerous foreign policy. I don't think it has made America safer.

Posted by Jim at 04:19 PM

Off Screen

The other day I happened to walk into this odd classic car show run by muppets and cartoon characters. It was, er, well, here are a couple of pictures.

Jim Lowney Photos

Careful What You Say Around The Bush's

Yesterday I mentioned the mother of a G.I. killed in Iraq was arrested for confronting Laura Bush at a NJ rally. The charges were dropped but the feds are keeping an eye on her.

TRENTON - Cops may have freed a New Jersey mom who confronted Laura Bush last week over the death of her son in Iraq, but now the Secret Service is investigating her.

Posted by Jim at 12:42 PM

Some Son's Mother

The Times' Chris Hedges profiles the mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. The mother, Sue Niederer, was arrested last week when she confronted First Lady Laura Bush during a campaign rally for her husband in New Jersey.

As Mrs. Bush was lauding her husband's war on terror, Mrs. Niederer slipped on the shirt, which bore a photo of the lieutenant and the words "President Bush killed my son." Standing at the back of the crowd, she interrupted Mrs. Bush, shouting that if the war was warranted, "Why don't your children serve?"

"She did not answer," Mrs. Niederer said. "She looked stunned."

Suddenly, Mrs. Niederer recalled, she was surrounded by "men in dark suits with little earpieces" as well as angry Bush supporters. She was escorted from the hall, and as she tried to speak with reporters outside, she was arrested, handcuffed, taken to the Hamilton police station and charged with trespassing. She was released soon afterward, and prosecutors later dropped the charge.

Posted by Jim at 11:27 AM

Southside & The Jukes

Besides reading the obits over the weekend, I also got to enjoy a rockin' show by Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Hadn't seen them in years. The boys are looking good and still sound sweet.

Jim Lowney Photo

Founder of the Bluebell Girls Dies

The Times had a great obit in on Sunday. Irishwoman Margaret Kelly, 94, who founded the Bluebell Girls, the long-stemmed, high-kicking, slightly clad troupe considered the most glamorous chorus line in Paris and perhaps the world, died in Paris last week.

Risqué even by Paris standards, the Bluebell Girls were in great demand. By the 1960's, Miss Kelly, after an inward moral struggle, allowed them to perform bare-breasted. An Arab sheik once tried to purchase the entire troupe, Newsweek once reported, and an Italian magnate offered 16 white Ferraris in trade. But Miss Kelly watched over every aspect of the Bluebells' conduct, on stage and off, and there was no sale.

After all, the young women she affectionately called "my girls" were no common chorines. "I created class with chorus girls," Miss Kelly told The New York Times in 1988. "Although the girls are topless, it's done with taste and elegance."

Posted by Jim at 04:45 PM

Combat Photographer Eddie Adams Dead at 71

Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer Eddie Adams died Saturday in New York. He will forever be remembered for the picture above. What a life he had.

In a 45-year career, much of it spent in the front ranks of news photographers, he worked for The Associated Press, Time and Parade, covering 13 wars and amassing about 500 photojournalism awards.

Adams also ran brilliant photojournalism workshops. RIP.

Speaking of Hungarians

The New York Times reports today that Serb attacks against ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina in northern Serbia are increasing.

"You have to bear in mind, this is how the war in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo began," said Jozsef Kasza, leader of the Vojvodina Alliance of Hungarians, the main ethnic Hungarian party in Serbia.

Posted by Jim at 03:14 PM

The Gawker of Budapest

Want to get a taste of the good life around the hip and funny scenes of Budapest? Start reading Pestiside.hu

Pestiside.hu is an English-language web magazine covering current events, gossip, living, style, entertainment and just about everything else happening in Hungary that may be of interest to the international community.

(via Generation Expat)