A Couple Quick Notes

Good AROTE, all. I’ve two things for you this morning.

First, registration is open for the first annual Urban Librarians Conference is on April 5, at the Brooklyn Public Library’s main branch. I’m going to try to get the day off from work so I can go, hope to see you there.

Second, as you’ve probably heard by now, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, died yesterday. Rather than expounding upon this myself, I defer to my dear comrade Chepe, who is more knowledgable about such things.

ETA: No, make it three things I have for you this morning. Two weeks ago the last performance at the Living Theater on Clinton Street in Manhattan went up. I’m sad to have missed it; I knew the theater was closing but didn’t realize that evening that it would be the very last performance. The is near and dear to my heart, as my dear friend Tam is Judith Malina’s grandson. Judith founded the theater with her partner Julian Beck so many years ago and is a grande dame (if she’d tolerate such words) of New York arts and culture. To paraphrase someone said about the Theater’s closing (I think it was Chepe again, but it might have been Tam, I can neither remember nor find it), if we lived in some place that valued its arts more and was not so fucking full of capitalist bullshit, the Living Theater and Judith would be valued and supported by society, rather than chased out of their home by rising rents and lack of funds. Anyway, Tam suggests this article about the end of the Theater, and tells me that Judith is moving into an assisted living facility populated by theater and arts people and that future productions will be hosted by the Clemente theater.