Mornin NYC!

It seems that even a simple trip to work is blog-worthy these days.

On an otherwise innocuous day, my morning commute is harmless-uneventful to say the least. This morning was not one of those days.

I could easily have foregone the 30 seconds of daydreaming in my apartment while I paraded around in my black, raw silk, 3” heels that I have never worn on New York City streets. I purchased them in Kentucky on a trip to see my son (the last time I saw him now that I think about it) and upon return, realized that my knees simply are not well enough to withstand the pressure of the pumps. But I digress…

I felt great this morning after getting my hair treatment at “The Experience” Salon on Franklin Avenue. Wearing my “Hair by Hameen,” gave me the confidence and ease I needed on a Tuesday morning. As I stroked back my blonde twists I remember thinking, “Today is going to be good, no matter what.” What the hell was I thinking?

As I descended the train station steps, I thought I missed the A Train, but it sat there as it often does. Two girls board ahead of me and quickly exit as I enter. I think it’s weird but I don’t study it, I just keep it pumping. The car is crowded anyway so I will keep walking. Let’s just see what’s up ahead…

Next car: we have a homeless man sprawled out on several seats. Ok, let sleeping dogs lie and let the sleeping man sleep I always say….ok I don’t… but this morning you bet your sweet cookie I am….I keep walking…

Here we have a sermon being delivered by a woman preaching to everyone- and no one at the same time….Needless to say I exit…to the next car…

Cool, clean (enough) and quiet. This is the car for me. If I was smart and lucky, this morning would have yielded an excellent half hour of extra rest. This morning I am neither so I get an hour of alternating screaming, crying babies. One of the precious bundles made a little stink-stink to keep us company as the train crept along. The babies were not annoying; the recurring announcement WAS:

“Passengers, we have traffic ahead due to signal problems on the express track. As the traffic moves, we shall proceed.”

After the 10^th announcement that incited another round of a crying chorus, one woman clasped her head with both hands, closed her eyes and cried out, “Oh, God!”

I had to bridle my laughter after the last two weeks of train mayhem in the city: First, the Youtube.com sensation of two women who duke it out on the train while the baby of one of the women rolls off the train and into the station. This week on Youtube.com, I watched a man commandeer a BMT #5train driving coach after climbing into the side window at 149^th street with the driver still inside of it! And did I mention that the man has been arrested over 40 times!

Eventually I exit the train after an hour of this experience that I swear started to swerve to the right toward the end of my ride. My sympathy went out to the remaining passengers during my egress.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/21/2011-07-21_new_york_subway_fight_not_even_a_baby_can_get_in_the_way_of_scrap_between_two_wo.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/07/26/2011-07-26_start_train_or_die_terrifying_10minute_crisis_for_conductor_on_5_train_in_bronx.html

Find your seat for the next Purelements' Performance of "Humanity: An Ancestral Odyssey"

Recently the Blue Butterfly landed in a seat at the Thelma Hill Performing Arts 35^th anniversary season. One stand-out performance belongs to a daring new work by Purelements: An Evolution in Dance entitled, “Humanity: an Ancestral Odyssey.”

Kevin Joseph, choreographer and co-director of Purelements, unleashes “Humanity” onto the audience of THPAC without warning, and without mercy. House lights are turned on as a town crier appears from what seems to be nowhere. The vessel of the voice (Tammy Hall) descends the steps, issuing warnings of an alien species, carrying supernatural strength, who means the human race absolutely no good. Dancers appear unobtrusively, slick with the black of their costumes for skin.  With griot grace, Hall summons the greatness and antiquity of Africa, as the dancers/aliens reveal their unworldly thirst for domination. This foreshadows the intentions they have for their future prey-the human race.

The company members appear in primordial fashion, oozing from beneath the curtains, morphing in and out of shapes across the stage. It makes perfect sense that part of the mission statement of THPAC seeks to: “…furnish rehearsal and ‘incubation’ space for choreographers and dancers;” as viewers sense the hive collective of this alien force. In syncopation, the company shudders, spins, runs and thrills the captive audience with acrobatics. Among the company members, the alien Queen- masterfully played by Dina Wright Joseph- milks every move, stretches every step, and delivers a phenomenally exciting performance.  As “Humanity” is dedicated to Octavia Butler, Wright Joseph assumes the role of a parallel “Doro” from Butler’s “Patternist” series.  Danny Soto lands in a perfect split that would rival any teenage cheerleader, while company members display floor work to rival any break dancing crew uptown.  Spectators cheer on the edge of their seats while the company performs feats of wonder. There is no doubt: this is the finale of the night.

There is an ironic twist that should only be revealed to viewers, so I strongly urge anyone who hasn’t seen a solid dance performance, rife with comprehensive storytelling, to witness Purelements through “Humanity.”

BLUE BUTTERFLY VS. BROWN WATERBUG: INCIDENT AT JEFFERSON GABLES

On an otherwise uneventful Thursday night, Blue Butterfly settles in for the evening. Gently, she rustles beneath the covers while watching "Old School Killers: Twin Dragons." The only light in her cozy bedroom eminates from her laptop as the expanded view of Netflix reveals the 1973 feature.

Suddenly,while leaning on her left hand, there comes a disturbance from behind her head. The noise is familiar, yet unwelcome. Blue Butterfly rushes to the light switch on the wall exposing her suspected nemesis: Brown Waterbug. Discharging a sound of disgust, Blue Butterfly stares down Brown Waterbug. As if to laugh at her despised glare, Brown Waterbug unleashes his wings, flaunting his intention to employ his flying technique. Until this very moment, Blue Butterfly thought herself to be the only free flying creature in the room; she regrets ignoring the legendary accounts of Brown Waterbug's aerial skills.

It is fight or flight for both species in the room; Brown Waterbug makes the first move. Blue Butterfly takes flight through the house, slamming the bedroom door behind her, enclosing Brown Waterbug in the room. Blue Butterfly instantly realizes the futility of this maeuver and begins to devise a plan to lure her enemy out...and into the open...into the killing fields.

Blue Butterfly hesitates, thinking of the exposed clothes in the room where Brown Waterbug could easily hide. A flurry of thoughts flood her mind:

BB:

If I turn out the light in the room and turn on the light out here, the darkness will enfold Brown Waterbug while the greater light will attract my foe into the killing fields. There I will attack. There I will win.

In a BLINK! Blue Butterfly opens the bedroom door, slaps the light off and flits to the living room.

In silence, Blue Butterfly awaits the golden moment. Marveling at the turn of events of the evening from serenity to severity, Blue Butterfly looks up from her contemplation to behold her opponent perched quietly on the bedroom door. The trap was set to perfection.

The classic table cloth trick turns into the scarf on the clothing bin trick, and all contents fly about the room as Blue Butterfly reaches for it as her best weapon of attack.

Deep, uproarious, profane screams of insults to Brown Waterbug's lineage come racing out of Blue Butterfly's mouth. A blue scarf whips about the room as both Brown Waterbug and Blue Butterfly retreat into the room for the final showdown.

BB:

Come on out Mutha*&%&*^! You are wrecking my sleep you son of a brown b#$%%&^^% COME ON!

Blue Butterfly spies Brown Waterbug resting on another corner in the room, crawling downward into crevaces that her scarf could not reach. She can only scream a prayer that will echo down into the chambers of the walls of the room, drowning out her foe:

BB:

WHAT THE FU^&&*!!

After violently grabbing a heavy book left unshelved, Blue Butterfly eyes the room after long, hot moments of anticipation. Irony turns the wheel, and fortune smiles. It is the signature technique of Brown Waterbug that leads to its downfall.

Brown Waterbug soars to high ground all too late-Blue Butterfly spies the maeauver and hurls the novel at the target-and misses-hurling obscenities against the air. Blue Butterfly grabs a box of enclosed intoxicating oils encasing four vials of potents-explicatives! Another miss! Blue Butterfly grabs a plastic bottle of shea butter motion lotion-explicatives! more misses! She grabs a spherical jar of Jane Carter Nourish and Shine and holds it in the balance of her hand as the fate of her night is held in the balance...steady...steady...one breath-EXPLICATIVES! BANG!

A brown chunk of Brown Waterbug's thorax smears against the white wall of her bedroom. Brown Waterbug falls to the bed limp and dying.

Where Brown Waterbug musters up the strength to turn over layed beyond Blue Butterfly's comprehension. But it was shoe time.

A determined thud befalls Brown Waterbug as its wing is separated from its body now falling to the floor. She issues a final command to his afterlife:

BB:

GO TELL A FRIEND!

Chest heaving and throat coarse, Blue Butterfly sets a course for the livingroom loveseat for a celebratory smoke. Checking the corpse of the enemy, for assured victory, there, behind the bed, it is sure.

There is a knock on the front door. It is the police.

Glances of fatigue are exchanged. When Blue Butterfly delivers the tale of the battle, the officials bid the one standing a good night. Apparently, the neighbors were concerned about the "domestic disturbance."

Blue Butterfly warily lays down on the couch to recover. Work tomorrow is the reward ahead.

In the morning, Blue Butterfly cleans the mess from the night before, restoring order to the nest...and claims trophies.

The splattered partial thorax on the wall would remain there, resembling a decapitation left on the battlements as in the days of old...and a warning to others belonging to the same clan.

The wing would rest among her collection of stones and shells gathered on near and distant shores.

And now for the body...the body...surely it was...it was...GONE!

The saga continues...