.
On Facebook,we were
surprised to see that a good many people summed up Robin Williams’s death
this way: Yes, it was a very tragic
thing, but ultimately it was his choice, and we have to respect that. The
opinions were stated as if suicide was just another life option—to smoke or
not to smoke; to book a flight or rent a car. It’s your choice to jump in front of the El,
swallow two bottles of sleeping pills, or dart out into the middle of traffic.
As good citizens, we have to respect “choice,’ though it would be best not to
jump from a tall building and hit a pedestrian on the sidewalk.
Suicide as a choice didn’t hold much water with our
95-year-old great aunt, the last survivor among her circle of friends, and a
lady who felt very much alone in her rooms at Roxborough’s Cathedral Village.
"Every depression, every misfortune," she’d often say, "is like
going through a tunnel. You come out the other end. You don’t want to end
things when you’re still in the middle of it because acting too soon would be
the greatest tragedy." While she would often joke about taking her own
life-- like jumping into the Wissahickon Creek near the Valley Green Inn –-everyone
knew that that she was bluffing, the result of a temporary depression that played
touch and go with her like an intrusive, annoying fly.
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Although the Valley Green Inn was built in
1850, the roots of the Inn can be traced back to
Revolutionary War days when the inn was a hostelry to wayfarers and vagabonds. In
1875, the inn was known as I.D. Casselberry’s Valley Green Hotel. For more than
a hundred years the Inn kept its interior integrity intact, but something
happened recently to prick up our ears: a home and garden design team “updated”
the look of the dining room, so now the place has the look of a restaurant in
Williamsburg or a Disney period room in
Orlando. We feel no affection for these “upgrade” design wreck-o-vators.
We visited the new Dilworth
Plaza
We hear that the Philly Police are riding dirt bikes on the
remote, wooded paths throughout Pennypack
Park Rittenhouse
Square ? Is it now a possible criminal offense to
be seen roaming as a solitary in wild
places off the beaten track?
We heard Thomas Dent Mutter biographer, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz,
speak at the Mutter Museum
The pompadour mystique has
always been high on our list, so like most film buffs we were early fans of Eraserhead,
a visually enriching film that tends to stay with you, even as its meaning tends
towards the elusive. Lynch stumbled into film as a student at PAFA, influenced
by the work of David Cronenberg and Dino Laurentiis. His TV series, Twin Peaks , once hypnotized
the nation, but then something happened. He seemed to fall in love with his pompadour,
and began to immerse himself in things like Sthapatya Veda architecture with
its gold Kalash domes. He founded the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness
Based Education and World Peace, and after becoming an advocate for TM was once
heckled and almost booed off the stage when his cohort and guru, Raja Emanuel,
wanted the audience to repeat, “I’m a good German who wants to make Germany
invincible. That’s what Adolph Hitler wanted. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it.
He didn’t have the right technique.” Lynch then sprung into damage control and
called Raja “a great human being.” About
his movie Dune (1984), Siskel of
Siskel and Ebert once remarked that it is “a story confusing beyond belief—I
hated watching this film. It’s an unintelligible film.” Ebert added that the
film’s “amazing sets are totally senseless.” The best thing about Lynch is his
unpretentiousness and his connection to Philly, especially when he was a
starving artist and when local art gallery owner, Rodger La Pelle came to his
financial—and emotional-- rescue.
We went to the
Cashman and Associates party celebrating the Public Relations’ firm new digs at
232 North 2nd Street .
A very pregnant Nicole Cashman made random appearances throughout the 5 plus
hour event. We met photographer Andre Flewellen, The Tribune’s Bobbi Booker, Fox 29’s Good Day Show co-host Mike Jerrick. We also spotted Sharon
Pinkenson before heading downstairs to the Cashman basement, a cozy den and
library where we wanted to spend the night.
We offer a final good-night to truth teller Tony Auth, whom we had the pleasure of meeting and
chatting with months ago at artist Liz Osborn’s house. Although lionized (after
death) in The Inquirer, two years ago
Auth was forced out of the same newspaper when things there turned sour,
confusing and right wing. Auth told us then that an editorial cartoonist of his
[controversial] stature would stand no chance of being employed there today. As
for The Inquirer’s stepchild, Philly.com, Auth frowned and said Philly.com
was run by well connected but clueless twentysomethings
with zero experience in journalism.
