Freud's Last Session

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis was born in Austria. He eventually fled to England. Freud has always been of considerable interest to me since much of my career I was a psychotherapist. I have a collection of many of his books translated into English before I was born. I do not subscribe to all of his concepts but acknowledge the foundation he created for much of what therapists do in the present day. Freud regarded God as an illusion based on the infantile emotional need for a powerful father/family.

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was born in Ireland and was writer and a professor at Cambridge. He is best known for his work The Chronicles of Narnia. He was an Atheist who one day had a revelation and converted to Christianity at age 33. He wrote much about his Christian beliefs in such books as Mere Christianity and the Four Loves. His books have sold millions of copies and continue to be read and loved to this day.

Playwright, Mark Germain wondered what a conversation between these two men would have been like. He speculates that the clash between the two would be classic. Apparently they never actually met but after Mark’s exhaustive research he speculated on the nature of interactions during a meeting between the two men. He transformed his speculations into a remarkable stage play which I was treated to for my recent birthday.

Of course, as one would expect, the primary subject on the play starring Mark Dold as Lewis and Martin Rayner as Freud, was Christianity versus Atheism. This led to a wide ranging spirited discussion between the two that embraced many related areas. The list of subjects that I gleaned from the 90 minute play included myths, suicide, war and its horror, politics, music, anti-Semitism, fear, trauma, facing pain and death, father’s love for daughter, homosexuality, sexual energy, the psychoanalyst’s couch and its role, humor and its role and intellectualism as an avoidance of emotion. I’m sure this isn’t an exhaustive list but hits the main topics.

Sitting in the first row of the New Worlds Stages on 50^th Street in Manhattan, we felt as if we were actually sitting in Freud’s office during an intimate, revealing and spirited discussion. One might expect that it could be dull but a combination of the script and the acting brought it alive and made it riveting. Freud was dying of mouth cancer at age 83 brought on by years of cigar smoking which he had not given up. Freud’s pain and his blood were graphic and Lewis, 41 at the time, attended to him with caring. 

It is not clear who won the debate regarding Christianity and Atheism. Neither convinced the other but it seemed as if they had respect for each other’s position at the end. I am reminded of an old Blood Sweat and Tears lyric: “I swear there ain’t no heaven and pray there ain’t no hell.”

A short time after their meeting, Freud took his own life with morphine provided by his doctor. C.S. Lewis went on to write his well known books. In spite of his popularity, his death on November 22, 1963 did not receive much attention. It was the same day that John F. Kennedy was killed.

Freud’s Last Session was slated to run 15 sessions. Due to its popularity it has now been performed more than 500 times and still going. Woody Allen had a session with Freud and of course one who really might need it, Alec Baldwin.

Stan the Man     

Mind-boggling Canstruction

On a recent weekend my youngest son Tim, who lives in Denver, visited New York City. In reality, he’s not so young anymore and he was celebrating another birthday. Are any of us so young anymore? At any rate he had two things he wanted to do while visiting, besides of course spending quality time with his dad and stepmom. Number one was to visit Ground Zero and the surrounding developments that have taken place there. This led us to the World Financial Center. It provides some great views of Ground Zero, the Memorial and the new towers going up. It was cold and Tim was wearing shorts which made the inside environment more comfortable.

In the common area of the World Financial Center we discovered a mind-boggling exhibit. Structures were on display that had been constructed entirely of canned food that would later go to the needy. They called it the Canstruction Exhibit. What the participating teams were able to accomplish was mind-boggling (see some at the right). I have to say my personal favorite is the replica of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is almost entirely constructed of cans of Spam. I love Spam. Yes I know, disgusting. I learned to enjoy it in Hawaii.

The second thing Tim wanted to do was to go to Times Square. We took the subway up there the next night. Times Square on a Saturday Night just before the holidays is a trip. We had an enjoyable evening with the other 10,000 people and ate ah nice dinner at an Irish Restaurant.

Overall a nice time, almost like a reunion with Tim.

Stan the Man

Mind-boggling Wildlife in the City

Fall grinds on into winter. Temperatures drop then rebound but only temporarily. It is a downward trend. We know what’s coming and it won’t be pretty unless you enjoy snow and ice. Leaves turn brilliant then let go and fall to the earth leaving bare branches braced for the first snowfall.

At the same time the wildlife is more active and makes its presence known. Yes, there is wildlife in Battery Park. Squirrels scurry about gathering their winter sustenance and begging for treats from tourists. Migrating ducks and geese stop to rest and forage. With Thanksgiving coming one would expect the turkeys to hide out. But no, with unabashed courage, at least one resident prances around the park providing photo ops for all.

Meanwhile up the street at Zuccotti Park the wildlife has become extinct through the actions of NYPD. Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were forcefully moved out at 1AM last night. There court order may help them recover. That remains to be seen. Oh, now I hear they are allowed back but without tents and sleeping bags. Brrrrrr!

I’m packing for my evacuation in a couple days. South Florida here I come. Eighty degrees and sunshine sounds delicious, especially on the beach. It will be a great environment for Thanksgiving.

Stan the Man 

                                                                                                                                                                                          

Mind-boggling Productions

Feature movies, documentary films, TV series episodes are constantly being shot in New York City. There isn’t hardly a day that I walk in Manhattan that something isn’t going on in that realm. Take yesterday for an example: I’m walking up Broadway lost in my own thoughts which can be dangerous in New York. I should have known better. I wound my way through a gaggle of people, stepped over cables on the sidewalk and noticed some unusual lights sitting there. Then a loud voice yells, “Background.” This was followed by the same voice yelling, “Action.” I stopped, turned to see what was going on just in time to see an attractive lady in some kind of short trench coat, displaying a gun in her holster on her hip. She marched directly towards me and beyond with a cameraman following her closely. Apparently, I had stumbled into one of those TV crime shows being filmed. A guy came up to me and asked me if I was part of the “background.” I answered in the negative and stated, “Just observing.” When I got out of the way, they did the scene all over again.

Last week we were enjoying a Sunday afternoon glass of wine in a historic Lower Manhattan watering hole when the waitress told us excitedly that if we would follow her to the back window we could see the Batmobile. Yes, there it was. Later outside we stood in the freezing cold wind. It had snowed the day before. Sure enough the film crew was getting ready to shoot a scene for the newest Batman movie that will be coming out sometime in the future. See the picture to the right. Mind-boggling! It will be interesting to see the movie when it’s released.

The mind-boggling thing about these scenes is they last all of ten seconds or maybe a minute.  But it takes a huge crew of men and woman along with trucks, lighting equipment, cameras many hours to set everything up and get ready for what must only be a small piece of the finished product. The expense has got to be astronomical. One can begin to understand the incredible cost of these endeavors. It also sheds some light on why it is necessary to make a lot of money off advertizing and movie tickets to even break even. It is providing much needed employment for many.

In fact the Mayor’s Office reports that the film production industry in New York City provides over 100,000 jobs and generates more than $5 Billion every year.  Many actors make their homes here. Matt Damon and Michael Douglas are among them, from what I hear.

Stan the Man

  

Who Can You Trust? Mind-boggling Corruption.

Who can you trust? Can you trust “New York’s Finest?” That’s the New York Police Department. Can you trust doctors? Can you trust Unions? Can you trust politicians? Apparently “no” is the emphatic answer to this question. I do concede that the examples below don’t represent the whole (hopefully) but it does make one stop and think.

Most recently 16 NYPD officers were indicted for fixing traffic and parking tickets of friends and relatives. These indictments came as a follow-up to the investigation of Officer Joe Ramos who was indicted for making a heroin buy and delivering it in a patrol car while on duty.

Making the above corruption worse, reportedly, 500 members of the police union showed up outside the courthouse while their partners in crime were being indicted. They held a demonstration in support of the accused and were apparently quite rowdy with applause and cheers for the accused. They displayed placards saying, “NYPD culture, Not a Crime.” According to one report they then turned their ire on a line across the street where welfare recipients were waiting to report to their caseworkers. They also left a mess of discarded coffee cups and other garbage that the folks at Occupy Wall Street would never even think of.

A few months ago two NYPD officers were accused and went to trial for raping a young woman who had asked for help getting home from a celebration after she had been promoted.

 NYPD officers accused recently of illegal smuggling and sales of guns.

An officer of NYPD, against procedural rules, used pepper spray on several Occupy Wall Street participants. His punishment as announced is the loss of five days of his accrued vacation.

Last week it was announced that the Long island Railroad has many employees or former employees on disability. Some are receiving as much as $100,000 per year. The problem with this is that doctors who examined them to determine eligibility were filing fraudulent reports and getting kickbacks. The union was apparently knowingly involved in this fraud as well.

Twelve people, including three medical doctors, were arrested in Queens and Brooklyn just yesterday for allegedly taking part in a nearly $100 million Medicare fraud scheme. Members of the ring allegedly posed as patients to de-fraud the Medicare System. No wonder our healthcare system is so expensive. This isn’t the first such scheme uncovered around the country in the last year.

Finally, there’s Herman Cain who hasn’t yet found his way to the truth regarding his sexual harassment history.

Again I ask, “who can you trust?”

Stan the Man   

Mind-Boggling Change of Season

It is autumn in NYC again. The rate with which it arrives from summer is mind-boggling. How do we know it has arrived? We take a walk around lower Manhattan. Among the signs of autumn are:

The changing colors of the leaves in the parks. There are a few trees, believe it or not, in this concrete jungle.

The hot humid, smog filled atmosphere has been replaced by blue skies, clear air and a chilly 30 mph wind from the northwest racing down the Hudson River. The dirty brown water froths with white waves.

Increased tourist traffic is everywhere. It seems that the fall colors of the northeast and the cooler weather rejuvenate the tourist trade.

The lines to board the tour boats to the Statue of Liberty are several blocks long. They are urgent visitors who only have until Oct. 28^th when the Lady will close for a year during her renovation.

The beautiful display of Geraniums in Battery Park is gone. Park crews have taken them somewhere and are busy mulching and trimming for the winter.

The clothes of the throngs on the streets and sidewalks have transitioned from t-shirts and shorts to fleece jackets, sweatshirts and topcoats. The garment colors of summer are gone with the advent of fall. Everything worn is black.

The Weather Channel is reporting a foot of snow in Denver this morning that will be arriving in upstate New York tomorrow with rain and flood warnings elsewhere in New York. Temperatures are in the 40s and 50s instead of 70s and 80s.

Halloween shops and goodies are available everywhere.

Turkeys are hiding out, not wanting to be part of our upcoming Thanksgiving feast.

New car models for 2012 are out and being promoted. On display on Broadway yesterday was the new little Fiat 500. We’re trying to decide between a Mazda and a MINI or if we win Powerball maybe a Maserati.

And a sure sign it is autumn and that winter is coming quickly: We are dreaming of Florida, California, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii or Belize. Which one will it be this winter. Thanksgiving will be in Florida, we know that much.

A mind-boggling surprise this fall is that the demonstrators down the street who are Occupying Wall Street are still there in force after more than a month. We didn’t think they would last that long. There is no sign yet that the weather will deter them.

Another mind-boggling sign of fall is that the World Series is underway and the Yankees are on vacation. The Giants and the Jets are playing but where are the Knicks?

Finally, so-called progress continues as 1 World Trade Center continues its climb to the sky, adding at least one new floor every week.

Stan the Man & Katherine the Great

Mind-boggling Occupation on Wall Street

Returning from Florida to New York City we find that the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstration, movement or whatever we should call it now is surviving and well. Anybody who watches the news or reads newspapers is well informed about what’s happening. We have a window on Zuccotti Park which is a block from Wall Street. This is the birth place of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Yes, I think that’s what I will call it. Of course it all started here one month ago today and has now spread throughout the country and has gone global. These folks have been expressing their message in primarily peaceful demonstrations and marches. In Rome, I understand things got out of hand and became violent with demonstrators doing an estimated $1.4 million dollars worth of damage to property. That is unfortunate and certainly has not been the mood or intention here in New York City, at least from my observations. I walk among the “occupiers” and feel no threat of violence but rather a sense of persistence that comes out of real commitment to their causes. When the owners of the park and the City stated they would have to temporarily vacate to allow the area to be cleaned what happened? They gathered brooms, mops and other cleaning utensils and cleaned it themselves. They were not forced to leave.

The “Occupy Wall Street” folks are growing in number daily. Over this last weekend they moved their occupation to Times Square. Several thousand participated peacefully. Yesterday (Sunday) we walked through the park. There must be close to a thousand camped there with others milling around. The conservatives of our country would have us believe they are simply a bunch of young hippy types. That is not true by any stretch of the imagination. Spend a little time with them and it becomes obvious. Yes, the main issue is what they call the greed of Wall Street Banks and Corporations but there are many other causes. There’s an 87 year old veteran of World War II who opposes the current wars we are engaged in. There’s a 57 year old retired teacher who is there with her daughter, an engineer. They want to set an example for emerging democracies. There’s a 23 year old homeless man who simply see’s a need for unity. There are seniors who want to insure that Medicare and Social Security are maintained. People of all ages that fear the loss of their jobs and retirement are there as well. This could be the seeds of revolution

According to the New York Times, Wall Street Bankers generally dismiss the protesters, saying they are gullible and unsophisticated. Not many are willing to say this out loud for fear of drawing public ire. According to the Times, one hedge fund manager stated, “Anybody who dismisses them is putting a bulls-eye on their back.” I’d say, apparently the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is working if it has initiated that kind of fear amongst the Wall Street Bankers who have never really been challenged in any meaningful way before now.

I had wondered why there had been no marching in the streets, no demonstrations. Just a month ago I wondered if any one cared about the condition of our economy, unemployment, the right-wingers threatening to take over and much more. I found it mind-boggling that nothing was being done. There didn’t seem to be any resistance. Now the “Wall Street Occupation” has energized and focused the resistance. More power to them!        

Stan the Man