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ICON 12
THE SUN KING
SINCE 1992, the arts have been integral to our mission—and to our lives in large and small measures. We too often don’t realize their importance. The arts can influence cultures. The arts can change politics. The arts can give comfort in dark times. The arts can change lives. The arts, the economy, and ICON, as well as well as mom and pop businesses and Fortune 500 companies, are subject to the vicissitudes of life and fortune. We’re all together now in this time of historic insecurity. ICON has supported the arts since 1992, through good times and bad. We think of ourselves as their partners, their cheerleaders. We haven’t skipped an issue in nearly 30 years, so if you can’t find ICON one month, if we skip an issue here and there, be assured we’re just resting until the arts—and all of us—are healthy and confident again.
ESSAYS 5|
A conversation with Laraaji on laughter, luminous eyes, suns, and moons.
contents
EDITORIAL Editor / trina@icondv.com
PRODUCTION Richard DeCosta
NEW BOOKS
Rita Kaplan
Jack Byer
EXHIBITIONS
Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind
Allentown Art Museum
The Best of Me
Mark Keresman
Silverman Gallery
Bag Man
George Miller
Bethlehem House Gallery A Mano The Snow Goose Gallery
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FILM ROUNDUP City Hall Dick Johnson is Dead On the Rocks Time
A. D. Amorosi Robert Beck Peter Croatto Geoff Gehman
Susan Van Dongen
From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA
ON THE COVER:
Glenn Harren, Museum in Blue. Represented by Gallery On Fourth, Easton, PA galleryonfourth.org harrenfineart.com
PRESIDENT Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
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New Hope Arts Center
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215-862-9558 icondv.com facebook.com/icondv
Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net
by Bob Beck
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Since 1992
Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention
A THOUSAND WORDS
Field Work
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The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, nightlife and mad genius.
GUIDE TO THE ARTS ETCETERA
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HARPER’S FINDINGS
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HARPER’S INDEX
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THE WASHINGTON POST SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Keith Uhlich
Subscription: $40 (12 issues) PO Box 120 • New Hope 18938 215-862-9558 ICON is published twelve times per year. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. ICON welcomes letters to the editor, editorial ideas and submissions, but assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. ICON is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. ©2020 Prime Time Publishing Co., Inc.
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a thousand words
Field Work
L
LIKE ANYONE WITH ANY sense, I’ve been feeling emotionally threadbare lately and needed to get out for a deep breath. I threw my kit into the trunk of my car and headed nowhere in particular, looking for a road I might not have driven yet and something to paint. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. I passed a farm with a distinctive stone barn not far from where I lived when first establishing myself as a painter. Many artists have painted that building. I sat for a moment at the stop sign, remembering the days when having something capture my attention was all it took for me to spend the next three hours describing why, then I drove down the long driveway like I would have done back then. A group of old stone barns and sheds hud-
STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK
dled in the middle of the surrounding fields. Everything was old-school. Windbreaks of tall conifers guarded the farmhouse. An enormous ancient shade tree—a maple I think—stood in the center of the yard. Tall dormers on the long barn made it look like a European painting. It just needed oxen and peasants. This was a working farm, with dirt and gravel drives, equipment scattered around, and plenty to be done. I could see four tractors from where I stood, each set up for a different chore, parked where they would be needed. An old stone workshop filled with a lifetime of tools
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exhibitions
Andy DiPietro, Along the Edge
Works in Wood 2020
Autumn Tree, 9 x 12, oil on board
Desmond McRory Rigo Peralta (American, b. Dominican Republic 1970), Doña Negra, 2016, acrylic on linen. Allentown Art Museum, purchase from the Ardath Rodale Art Acquisition Fund, 2019. (2019.7)
Modern & Contemporary Art Butz Gallery Allentown Art Museum 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA 610-432-4333; Allentownartmuseum.org Opened October 9, 2020 In the decades after World War II, the United States became a leader in the art world. European artists fleeing persecution came to America while Latin American artists contributed to and led contemporary art movements among an increasingly international community of artists. A recent rehang of modern and contemporary works presents dynamic and diverse styles from the postwar era. Included are new-to-you works by Mexican abstractionist Gunther Gerzso and coal-region painter Jack Savitsky alongside not-seen-in-awhile art by Keith Haring (Andy Mouse, 1985), local legend Greg Weaver (Chicken Coop, 1978), and multimedia provocateur Jenny Holzer (her LED signs Inflammatory Essays 1 and 2, 1979–82). These standouts converse with outstanding examples from modern masters such as Motherwell, Nevelson, and Oldenburg—a fresh mix in Butz Gallery that offers a taste of the exciting directions art has taken over the past seventy-five years.
Jack Savitsky (American, 1910–1991), Drilling the Coal (detail), 1966, oil on Masonite. Allentown Art Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Savitt, 1993. (1993.31) 6
Silverman Gallery Bucks County Impressionist Art 4920 York Rd., Holicong, PA In Buckingham Green, Rte. 202 (N. of 413) 215-794-4300; Silvermangallery.com November 7-December 6 Meet the artist Sat., Nov 7, 3-7; Sun., Nov 15, 12-4 Especially important today, Desmond’s work is a peaceful and quiet presence in the world. The Stockton, NJ artist feels strongly, “This will be my best show to date.” These thoughtful, evocative paintings will be featured live and online through Dec. 6.
New Hope Arts Center 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope, PA Newhopearts.org; Private appt: 215-862-9606 November 21–January 10, 2021 In-Gallery and Online Exhibition Sat. & Sun. 12–5 Works in Wood 2020 at New Hope Arts traditionally celebrates the woodworking heritage of Bucks County. The national draw of this exceptional curated art, features the finest contemporary examples of fine furniture, turned objects and sculpture and innovative uses of the wood medium. Now in its 21st anniversary year, the annual juried exhibition is presented in live and virtual formats in keeping with the challenges of hosting publicly accessible events. Viewing opportunities, timed admission, and private viewing options are available in the gallery. Protocols for viewing the exhibition include social distancing and wearing masks. Ten guests at a time are admitted to the gallery and reservations are suggested. Gallery hours, free to the public begin November 21, Saturday and Sunday from Noon until 5 pm and continue through January 10, 2021. There is no opening reception in keeping with small gathering mandates.
Blue Chair, 18 x 24, oil on board
Winter Sunset, 18 x 24, oil on board
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Chris Taylor, White Form
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exhibitions
Tammy Kushnir, The Fighter, 18x24, acrylic
2020 Holiday Show Bethlehem House Gallery 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-419-6262; BethlehemHouseGallery.com Through January 9, 2021 Wed.-Thur. 11-7, Fri.-Sat, 12-9, Sun. 12-5 2020 Holiday Show features artwork by Kacper Abolik, Khalil Allaik, Rachel Bell, Keith Garubba, Thomas Kelly and Tammy Kushnir. Bethlehem House Gallery specializes in pairing beautiful local and regional art with unique and inspiring home interior design. Come and visit us this holiday season in beautiful Historic Downtown Bethlehem. Protocols for viewing the exhibit include social distancing, wearing masks and limited capacity. Bethlehem House Gallery is committed to exhibiting innovative, thoughtful art in a safe environment.
Keith Garubba, Drip Analysis Frame 0028, 22x15. acrylic and silkscreen 8
Robin Goodfellow, Freshwater Pearl Bracelet
Holiday Gifts A Mano Galleries 42 No. Union Street, Lambertville, NJ 609-397-0063; AManoGalleries.com open daily from 10–6. Extended hours during holidays & fair weather. Jewelry designer Robin Goodfellow’s whimsical, artisan-made pieces are carefully crafted with wire wrapping techniques and are uniquely designed to emulate nature and the ethereal world around us. Designs are also inspired by the elegant look of vintage jewelry. All of the pieces are hand-made by artists in her Michigan studio and they are passionate about artisan trade in the United States. Allen Designs is a company that strives to bring smiles to peoples faces through creative, quality and functional products. Michelle Allen is the sole, creative talent behind Allen Designs. She has never found anything completely flawless in life and yet she finds beauty everywhere. She loves the imperfect, slightly eccentric, witty quality of the world she sees around her. Although the pieces she designs are practical, her hope is that her art will never become so serious that she betrays the uniqueness that inspires her.
Bessy Cow Pendulem Clock by Allen Designs
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Linda Rossin, Spring’s Promise, oil
What Do Artists Do in Quarantine? A Celebration of New Works by Gallery Artists The Snow Goose Gallery 470 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-974-9099; thesnowgoosegallery.com November 8-December 20 Bradley Hendershot, Katharine Krieg, Judy Lalingo, Linda Rossin, Mary Serfass, Sherri Trial, Sue Wall, Marion Winter, and Chuck Zovko. Some of the artists will be appearing inperson or virtually on Sundays, 1-4, throughout the exhibit. View at thesnowgoosegallery.com 11/8: Bradley Hendershot & Katharine Krieg; 11/15: Linda Rossin; 11/22: Alexander Volkov;: 11/29: Chuck Zovkov; 12/6: Sherri Trial; 12/13: Judy Lalingo; 12/20: Richard William Haynes (virtual) and Mary Serfass.
Alexander Volkov, From the Garden, oil
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KEITH UHLICH
Rashida Jones and Bill Murray in On the Rocks.
film roundup
City Hall (Dir. Frederick Wiseman). Documentary. Turning his sights on the city government of Boston, Massachusetts—in particular its centrist-in-progressive’s-clothing mayor Marty Walsh—the incomparable documentarian Frederick Wiseman offers up a multifaceted portrait of American politics at a time when corruption, paranoia and distrust seem the orders of the day. Walsh initially comes off as a superheroic figure, showing up in just about every scene, at events ranging from a food bank charity dinner to a veteran’s celebration where he likens his struggles with alcoholism to battlefield combat. Yet as City Hall goes on (this is one of Wiseman’s longest works, at four-and-a-half hours), the calculations of, and the cracks within, Walsh’s persona come more to the fore. As they also do with the government he is at the head of (prepare yourself for the harrowing half-an-hour long cannabis dispensary community meeting). Wiseman’s approach, however, isn’t that of a gotcha! cynic but a healthy skeptic. The necessity of the institution he’s surveying doesn’t in any way mitigate its myriad flaws. And vice versa. [N/R] HHHH1/2 Dick Johnson Is Dead (Dir. Kirsten Johnson). Documentary. Kirsten Johnson follows up her exemplary nonfiction feature Cameraperson (2016) with this playful and moving documentary, available on Netflix, about her psychiatrist father Dick Johnson. As he approaches his mid80s, it seems that Dick, like his deceased wife 10
(Kirsten’s mother), is well on his way to an Alzheimer’s-afflicted dotage. Knowing what’s coming, daughter aims to memorialize father on camera while he still has his wits about him. This includes filming elaborate fantasies of how Dick Johnson could die (a falling air conditioner to the head; a bone-breaking tumble down the stairs) as well as envisioning both his funeral and his ultimate heavenly reward. These knowingly goofy scenes switch on a dime between horrifying and hilarious; they’re cathartic precisely because they imagine the worst as a way of counterbalancing a pervasive, and very relatable, fear of loss. The rest of the film chronicles Johnsons père and fille as they navigate their new parentchild dynamic, preparing for the inevitable with a compassion so achingly specific it eschews easy sentimentality. [PG-13] HHHH1/2 On the Rocks (Dir. Sofia Coppola). Starring: Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, Marlon Wayans. Laura (Rashida Jones) is a NY mom and writer whose creative block (and general middle-age malaise) dovetails with her suspicions that her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is cheating on her. Enter Laura’s playboy father, art dealer Felix (Bill Murray), who semi-playfully stokes her doubts and plots some father-daughter surveillance time to catch Dean in the act—in-between bites of caviar and sips of cocktails, of course. Writer-director Sofia Coppola is working in yet another rarefied milieu, one where stickers touting Bernie Sanders and Stacey Abrams are accorded
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similar preeminence to a Monet “Water Lilies” canvas. It hardly feels like anything consequential can pierce the bubble she’s created, yet the toss-off nature of the film, as well as the nimble performances by Murray, Jones and Wayans, are key to its strange emotional resonance. A profound sadness undergirds the characters’ every action, though they often seem not to realize it. This feels like a tragedy in the guise of a farce. [R] HHH1/2 Time (Dir. Garrett Bradley). Documentary. Garrett Bradley’s superb doc, available on Amazon, focuses on Sibil Fox Richardson, a Louisiana activist, entrepreneur and mother (of six children) who, as a young woman, plotted a failed bank robbery with her husband Rob. Both of them went to jail. She was released after three-and-ahalf years, while Rob was sentenced to 60 years, and is perhaps to be paroled after 20. Though given the inequities of the American prison system, and its treatment of people of color in particular, who knows? The black-and-white feature unfolds achronologically (a good deal of footage is home videos Sibyl shot herself), collapsing decades of ups, downs and in-betweens into a free-floating, soul-stirring tone poem. Richardson herself is an incredible subject—tough and tender, righteously angry, though aware that the best revenge against the powers-that-be is, as she says, “success” in her one driving goal: getting the man she loves home where he belongs. [PG13] HHHH1/2 n
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interview
Laraaji
A.D. AMOROSI
Laraaji SINCE 1980 AND THE release of Days of Radiance, pianist/autoharpist, Afro-transcendentalist, and ambient music icon Laraaji—a Philadelphia native raised in New Jersey—has become the very thing he strived to be: a Gandharva, a heavenly being possessed by the skills and spirits of music whose tones most resemble the joys and melancholy of meditative trance states. The angels are with him on his most recent work, a self-described set of “contemplative sound paintings, embracing a quiet, tranquil unfolding of nurturing reflection” that is Sun Piano, Moon Piano, and Through Luminous Eyes. All released in 2020, each part of this new trilogy is more introspective, raw, and minimalistic than Laraaji’s meditative works on famed albums such as Flow Goes The Universe and Bring On The Sun. The lushness of intricate layering, improvisation, a hymn-like mediative ardor, and the depth of spirit that is Laraaji’s hallmark can be witnessed in his trio of contemplative albums— to say nothing of the rich, bawdy sense of humor that he teaches in laughter workshops. We caught up with each other at his home in New York City. How could you tell, or feel, what works best for Sun Piano as opposed to Moon Piano There were trails as to what sequences fit best or suited what. You started as a pianist and blossomed into other instruments as you got older. When did you feel the pull of meditative sound, of soothing, healing ambiance? It was in the 1970s, right after I filmed a part
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Winter Festivities Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem Through November 29. Celebrating its 28th year, Christkindlmarkt is a one-of-akind family event that brings Bethlehem Alive with the spirit of the season. Twice recognized as one of the best holiday markets in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure, the event features handmade works by more than 50 of the nation’s finest artisans, live Christmas music, handmade ornaments, nutcrackers, and collectibles from Germany, and cooking with St. Nicholas via Zoom select days in November (additional ticket required). SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., Bethlehem. 610-3321300 ChristmasCity.org Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides November 6-December 31. Experience “Christmas City, USA” like never before. Horse-drawn carriage rides are the perfect way to enjoy the lights, sights, and sounds of Bethlehem. Tickets on sale now-get yours before they sell out. The Visitor Center, 501 Main St., Bethlehem. 800-360-8687. Purchase today at HistoricBethlehem.org
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Historical Holidays in the Colonial Industrial Quarter November 6-December 31. Activities include pop-up shopping, Putz displays, a winter art exhibition, Christmas Huts, Colonial Blacksmith demonstrations, and warming stations. 459 Old York Rd., Bethlehem. Reserve your timed tickets, 800-360-8687, HistoricBethlehem.org Historical Holidays at Burnside Plantation November 6-December 31. Find your perfect tree at our tree farm, and don’t miss the holiday greens sale and winter garden. Celebrate the farm’s historical roots through hands-on activities, a barn bake sale, outdoor displays, family photo ops, and pop-up shops. 1461 Schoenersville Rd., Bethlehem. Reserve your timed ticket at 800-360-8687 HistoricBethlehem.org Storytime with St. Nick November 7, 11 am, November 14, 10 am, and November 14, 2 pm (limited capacity). Presented by ArtsQuest, St. Nick is taking up residence on the
Levitt Pavilion this year. He’ll spend the first part of each session reading one of his holiday favorites from his home on the stage. Afterward, every child in attendance is welcome to come up on stage-socially distanced-t tell St. Nick what gifts he should pass on to Santa for his list. Each square can accommodate up to four people for $25 per square ($22.50 ArtsQuest member). Patrons should bring chairs or blankets for seating on the Levitt Lawn.645 E. First St., Bethlehem. 610-332-1300 ChristmasCity.org Holiday Cocktail Trails November 7, 14, and 21, various locations in Downtown Bethlehem. Be sure to stop in Moravian Bookshop on Nov. 7, and enjoy a “Christmas Punch” to go. Presented by the Downtown Bethlehem Association. 610-739-1775 GetDowntownBethlehem.com Christmas City’s Tree Lighting Ceremony November 27, 5 pm, Virtual event. Join us virtually for Christmas City’s tree lighting ceremony. Details will be post-
in Lehigh Valley ed on Facebook and the Lehigh Valley Chamber website. Free. 610-841-5800 Lehighvalleychamber.org Trellis at City Hall November 27-January 1, presented by Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce. Payrow Plaza (Bethlehem City Hall). The Chamber will be dedicating the ornaments on the trellis at Bethlehem City Hall to the healthcare heroes in our lives. Ornaments and engraving are free and first-come, first-serve. They will be on display all season and then available for pick up. If you are interested in reserving one or sponsoring this initiative, please email Angela at angelad@lehighvalleychamber.org. 610-841-5800 Lehighvalleychamber.org Dining and a Show Saturdays and Sundays, through November 30, 11 am-4 pm. Contemporary and classic holiday music by some of the regions’ top performers as you enjoy our special holiday menu at the ArtsQuest Center. Indoor/outdoor seating is based upon the day’s weather. Tables
must be reserved in advance and are good for up to four people in the same party. SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., Bethlehem. 610-332-1300 Christmascity.org Luminaria Night December 12, sundown, citywide, Bethlehem. Luminaria Night is a beautiful evening when neighborhoods line their streets with luminaria-white bags illuminated by votive candles. Luminaria is a symbol of unity and caring for those less fortunate. Luminaria night started in 1998 in a small neighborhood in Bethlehem to benefit one family in need. Now celebrating its 22nd year, it has grown into a valley-wide event connecting neighborhoods in a beautiful evening of light and giving. All proceeds from the sale of kits go to New Bethany Ministries, a faith-based, nondiscriminatory agency providing programming to the hungry, homeless, poor, and mentally ill of Lehigh Valley. $10 kit includes ten candles, sand & bags. 610-691-5602, ext. 201 Newbethanyministries.org
Opening Up Our Hearts Music and inspiration of Christmas, December 13, 4–6 pm. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem presents virtual concert on The Bach Choir’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Recorded outdoors in Nazareth and in Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, this virtual concert offers seasonal selections from Bach and other composers, along with poetry and sacred texts expressing the season's beauty. Free tickets. Bach.org 610-866-4382, ext. 110 Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker Christmas stream, December 19, 8 pm. Step into a simpler time filled with sweet dreams and Christmas magic. Worldclass artists, over 200 dazzling costumes, stunning sets, towering puppets, and soaring birds. Tickets sold through Moscow Ballet’s platform. $50 for stream only, and $65 for stream with Meet & Greet. $25 of each stream purchased will go to the non-profit State Theatre’s Your Seat is Waiting Campaign. Easton, PA. 610-252-3132, 800-999STATE, Statetheatre.org n
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new books Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention by Ben Wilson Doubleday; 464 pages November 10, 2020 In the two hundred millennia of our existence, nothing has shaped us more profoundly than the city. Historian Ben Wilson, author of bestselling and awardwinning books on British history, now tells the grand, glorious story of how city living has allowed human culture to flourish. Beginning with Uruk, the world's first city, dating to 5000 BC and memorably portrayed in the Epic of Gilgamesh, he shows us that cities were never a necessity but that once they existed their density created such a blossoming of human endeavor—producing new professions, forms of art, worship, and trade—that they kick-started nothing less than civilization. Guiding readers through famous cities over 7,000 years, he reveals the innovations driven by each. Lively, erudite, page turning, and irresistible, Metropolis is a grand tour of human achievement. Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind by Kermit Pattison William Morrow; 544 pages November 10, 2020 In 1994, a team led by fossil-hunting legend Tim White uncovered the bones of a human ancestor in Ethiopia. Radiometric dating indicated the skeleton was 4.4 million years old, more than a million years older than “Lucy.” Kermit Pattison brings into focus a cast of eccentric, obsessive scientists: Tim White— an exacting and unforgiving fossil hunter whose virtuoso skills in the field were matched only by his propensity for making enemies; Gen Suwa, a Japanese savan; Owen Lovejoy, a onetime creationistturned-paleoanthropologist; and the Leakeys, for decades the most famous family in paleoanthropology. Fossil Men is popular science at its best, 16
and a must read for fans of Jared Diamond, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson. The Best of Me by David Sedaris Little, Brown and Company; 400 pages November 3, 2020 For more than twenty-five years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to read without laughing. Now, for the first time collected in one volume, the author brings us his funniest and most memorable work. But if all you expect to find in Sedaris’s work is the deft and sharply observed comedy for which he became renowned, you may be surprised to discover that his words bring more warmth than mockery, more fellow-feeling than derision. Nowhere is this clearer than in his writing about his loved ones. In these pages, Sedaris explores falling in love and staying together, recognizing his own aging not in the mirror but in the faces of his siblings, losing one parent and coming to terms—at long last—with the other. Taken together, the stories in The Best of Me reveal the wonder and delight Sedaris takes in the surprises life brings him. No experience, he sees, is quite as he expected—it’s often harder, more fraught, and certainly weirder— but sometimes it is also much richer and more wonderful. Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz Crown; 304 pages December 8, 2020 Is it possible for a sitting vice president to direct a vast criminal enterprise within the halls of the White House? To have one of the most brazen corruption scandals in American history play out while nobody’s paying attention? And for that scandal to be all but forgotten decades later? The year was 1973, and Spiro T. Agnew, the former governor of Maryland, was Richard Nixon’s second-in-command. Long on firebrand
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rhetoric and short on political experience, Agnew had carried out a bribery and extortion ring in office for years, when—at the height of Watergate—three young federal prosecutors discovered his crimes and launched a mission to take him down before it was too late, before Nixon’s impending downfall elevated Agnew to the presidency. The self-described “counterpuncher” vice president did everything he could to bury their investigation: dismissing it as a “witch hunt,” riling up his partisan base, making the press the enemy, and, with a crumbling circle of loyalists, scheming to obstruct justice in order to survive. From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA by Pete Croatto Atria; 384 pages December 1, 2020 Perfect for fans of Moneyball and The Book of Basketball, this vivid, thoroughly entertaining, and well-researched book explores the NBA’s surge in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and its transformation into a global cultural institution. Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable. Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. n
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Guide to the Arts Theater
Art
DeSales University/Act 1 Performing Arts Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol, adapted by James Walker; directed and originally scored by Dennis Razze. A live, pre-recorded 2020 production. December 5 & 6. DeSales.edu/act1, 610-282-3192
Allentown Art Museum Evolution of the Spiritual: Europe to America, thru January 3, 2021; Prints and Protest 1960-1970, through Jan. 24, 2021; New Century, New Woman, through Jan. 24, 2021; Intuition & Reflection, The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu, through Jan. 2, 2021. 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333, Allentownartmuseum.org Bethlehem House Gallery 2020 Holiday Show through January 9, 2021. 459 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. Wed.Net Mender by Desmond McCrory. Silverman Gallery.
Theatre Exile D-Pad, by Jeremy Gable. Virtual performance. November 27-December 13; opening night December 2. All performances will be produced online. Explore the world of independent gaming through the lens of wunderkind developer Alex. Theatreexile.org 215218-4022
The Snow Goose Gallery What do Artists do in Quarantine. Nov. 8Dec. 20. In lieu of an opening, nine of the twelve artists will be appearing either in person or online on Sundays 1-4 pm. 610-974-9099 Thesnowgoosegallery.com
Music 2020 Holiday Show.
Thurs. 11-7, Fri.-Sat. 12-9, Sun. 12-5. 610-4196262 Bethlehemhousegallery.com
Williams Center for the Arts. Manual Cinema, A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens’ classic reimagined for 2020.
Mercer Museum WE’RE OPEN! 200 Years of Bucks County Art Through December 31, 2020 Paintings by Charles Willson Peale, Edward Hicks, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Hicks, Thomas Otter, William Lathrop and Daniel Garber, as well as Jonathan and William Trego, Edward Trego, Samuel DuBois, Robert Street, Samuel Moon.. Cocktails by the Castle, Oct. 10, 5-8. 84 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA Mercermuseum.org, 215-345-0210 New Hope Arts Center Works in Wood 2020, November 21-January 10, 2021. In-gallery & Virtual Juried Exhibition, including sculpture, assemblage, furniture, and vessels. 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope, PA. 215-862-9606, Newhopearts.org
Lafayette College, Easton, PA. Live streaming December 5-19. Tickets: AtTheWilliams.org
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Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art. New Work by Desmond McRory. November 7-December 6. Buckingham Green, Route 202, just north of PA 413, 4920 York Rd., Holicong, PA. 215-794-4300 Silvermangallery.com
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Bach Choir Virtual Bach at Noon Concerts: October 13 & November 10. Enjoy pre-taped concerts by featured soloists and members of The Bach Festival Orchestra, from Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem. Introductions provided by conductor and artistic director, Greg Funfgeld. Presented on You Tube channel and facebook.com/BethlehemBach Bach.org, 610-866-4382 Solution to this month’s puzzle, SCREEN NAMES
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Let them know! An ad costs less than you think. Call 215-862-9558 to get started.
Knock, knock. Are you open?
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12 LARAAJI
of Putney Swope [1969]. It was then that I began having the strong sensation that I should investigate my inner nature, all matters of the soul and spirit. I got a sense of how to incorporate as much as possible, in a conscious way, while involving myself in mass media. Around 1971, I began a very dedicated search concerning such spiritual matters, attending lectures, studying with teachers, reading all the right books on the subject to get a real sense of what meditation was all about. Then I meditated. I remember, at the time, Shirley Maclaine was an advocate of meditation. She inspired me as she was also investigating inner spirituality. That impressed me. Were you looking for a deity of some sort, or were you looking for answers and powers? Well, I was curious about finding a relationship with meditation. Was it something that could provide me with a source of inspiration or guidance that would translate into making more conscious and fulfilling decisions about my life and career? I was looking for something that would give me an authority, an inner authority, that would serve as a guide, that could answer questions, that could point the way. Is that what you’re asking? Have you found what you were looking for? Hmm. Good question. I can tell you that I don’t use the word ‘deity’ so much—a relationship with a higher intelligence or power. I resist giving it a name other than ‘source’. However, I did grow up in a community where Jesus Christ, God, and Lord were the terms used. I was not intimate with those terms. You mentioned Putney Swope, so I’ll ask: That’s a little known part of your biography— that you were an actor with that psychedelic comedy as your debut, and you were a comedian. They don’t seem to jive with the picture of an ambient musician geared toward the meditational. Why did you get into acting and comedy in the first place? I got into acting through comedy. That was why I went to New York City in the first place, to pursue a career in comedy. I thought earning a living that way would allow me to buy a large enough space to purchase a grand piano and seriously compose music. Comedy led to acting. Ernestine McClinton, a black casting agent in New York in the 1960s and early 70s, saw me and just knew that I could do more than comedy. She got me commercials, some work OffBroadway, and Putney Swope. That was fun, and I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t making enough money. Not enough to buy a grand piano anyway. So, why did you get out of comedy and acting? Putney Swope taught me something; it made 20
me stop and think about mass media, about the difference between just being part of it or making a statement. Did I want to make a statement? Putney Swope raised the issues of image and importance of the Black community. I wondered if that should be my concern or should I just go for the money. That’s when I began to do some serious soul searching. That’s how and when my meditation search began, which led to yoga and other related things.
“I found myself using the color orange [in the ’70s] to verbalize something that I didn’t know how to verbalize with words. I felt drawn to wear that color without understanding the connection between my inner transformation and the color orange as representative of transformation.”
And that opened you up more to the music of those spheres? It opened up my musical improvisations big time. I found myself improvising from different spaces of awareness and making more meaningful music. The meditation practice also opened me up to having an inner hearing experience, to the point where cosmic orchestras visited me. That sound-vision I experienced couldn’t have lasted more than ten minutes, but it really turned my head around. I had been given a model of how powerful music could be in representing a cosmic field. I researched the experience that I had in my dream, how different cultures and religions look at this, how they honor it through different names. Even the Bible refers to it as ‘The Word,’ the Beginning. I found that this cosmic sound current was a valid experience, that people used it to further their spiritual path. I couldn’t repeat the experience, but it was a model to bring music forth into this linear dimension, You were inspired to pursue the musical expression of that path. And share the energy of that experience with people, yes. There was a oneness with all, a sense of eternalness in the here and now. Whoa. After all the soul-searching that I had been doing, this was a message that I would want to represent, that best represented me, or the me I wanted to be. Especially in the mass media. I realized I wanted to represent myself and my aims
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through music, not acting or comedy. Can you still tell a joke? Yes, I can. And yes, I am still funny. Some of the jokes are pretty blue. Funny thing is, when I do laughter workshops, I don’t tell jokes. I get people into the laugh zone with a more playful spirit. We’re laughing without joking. We’re laughing in an exchange of hilarious excercises as they unfold. It, too, has its own spirit. Brian Eno happened by you while you were busking with your autoharp on the streets of Manhattan, dropped his phone number at your feet, and invited you to work in his studio, which led to Day of Radiance. That was 1980. Forty years later, what of Eno has lasted into the present? Brian brought a sense of openness to being classified within the term ‘ambient.’ It was through him that I began to appreciate the immediate power of high-quality microphones, of being in a professional studio, and of doubletracking my instruments—to experiment more—so to sound like a chorus, to fatten it up. He showed me that I could have a more developed, sophisticated sound. Eno also gave me confidence, validation. I could walk tall while going through what was happening then, the whole ‘new age’ genre and ambient artist realm. Once I was identified with Brian Eno, people would hold conversations with me in a different tone of voice. Some would even use me to approach him, get closer to him. Also, my association with his Opal Ltd. and Opal Evening opened the world of touring to me big time. He brought me out. So much of your music is used for meditation sessions and yoga classes around the world. Are you comfortable with the responsibility that so much of your music is used for healing purposes? Yes. I’m very comfortable. Since the 1980s, the audiences I have had and the workshops that I have been a part of have allowed me to share music and get feedback in regard to those purposes. That has allowed me to finetune what I’m doing and develop the message and energy of what I’m doing to have a valid place in authentic meditative lifestyles and healing agendas. Do you use your music, past, and present, for your own healing purposes? I feel good. Happy. Connected to spirit. I feel expansive. When I perform or channel music, I am transferring my sense of identity from a dense, corporeal human body to a weightless sound and light body. I am in an intimate commune with the creator. I feel joy. Super joy. I feel as if I am in the right place to fulfill my purpose in life. I’m feeling whole and healed and bal-
anced, so to answer your question: yes. My music provides an experience for me. Whether just listening to it, recording it, or performing it live, it is a temple of spiritual renovation, alignment, and expansion. Layering, double tracking, the density of sound associated with your work: within the confines of Sun Piano and Moon Piano, two new albums more raw and minimalist, you’ve scrapped your usual brand of sound for the most part. Why now? They channeled the way I felt. I did make decisions to include sounds and directions that I had been working on but hadn’t recorded. The raw, rugged, and more gritty experience revealed themselves with the more ambient passages of a two-day recording session with Sun Piano. Matthew Jones was there to edit my improvisations, express his feelings of what should go where. If I sit at my piano at home, within two hours, I will go through so many emotions, moods, and improvisations—so many sounds, too, such as rock and roll, jazz, funk, soothing pastoral moments. When I get into a studio, I keep all gates and channels open. Then I go back in and edit for a specific direction for a specific album. On Sun Piano, there is some driving Motown within its walls; I was feeling good. Dancing. I was honoring my dancing spirit. Moon Piano and the Unitarian Church in Brooklyn offers another mood altogether. I had never been to the church, but I trusted the choice. I showed up the day of the recording, and… did it. The church was large. [Producer] Jeff Ziegler set up microphones throughout the church for ambient purposes. The piano was lovely and grand, and, as it was a December day when we recorded, it was chilly. The radiators were going, and you could hear the knocking, a sound you can hear on the Moon Piano album. A Unitarian church is different from a Catholic church or a Jewish synagogue. I know you don’t choose to call them‘deities, but did you feel the spiritual connections at work in a house of worship? Yes, a certain license was pulling the music, opening the channel gates into a sacred ritual. For me, performance is always a sacred temple —a healing place—so a church, any church, is a most appropriate setting. There I play at my highest frequency. I have great respect for churches, synagogues, teepees, and mosques. That supported me through the mood and ritual of romance, meditation being the highest form of romance. How has your relationship with the piano changed since your childhood? Well, it has shifted. I’ve gone to institutes of higher learning and majored in it exclusively. I
studied theory and composition as well, so it gave me the strength of mastery and comfortability. I am not a trespasser. Also, though, hearing and experiencing this otherworldly music has initiated me…. I have been touched by Gandharvas that goes into all of my piano. When I was a boy in Perth Amboy, I was doodling and experimenting. Now I am more sophisticated, using my education to compose in the flow and allow melodic events to happen. I have a sense of structure. I am more confident. As I have spent years exploring the electric zither, he autoharp, it has added to my enjoyment of strings resonating. What I was reaching for with the zither, I reach for and achieve with more passion on the piano.
Photo: Daniel Oduntan
Sun Piano and Moon Piano are part of a trilogy that closes out with an album that’s coming out days after we speak. Explain how Through Luminous Eyes completes the circle, and what you would say is its throughline, the thing that connects it all. Through Luminous Eyes contains electric zither and piano and holds references to the power of light. Luminous Eyes suggests being in a state of altered consciousness, where life can be observed through a third eye, or expanded awareness states. The celestial sound of the zither married to the sound of the classical grand piano heightens it. As for the connection, they represent the expanded feel, that I am not limited to earthly planes, be they churches or studios. This universal feel generates joy, hope, meditative serenity, inner calm, and unity with those who will get to hear it and for those who won’t get to hear it. For me, there is a transparent invisible link that goes throughout all of my recordings, and not just these three most recent albums. n
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5 FIELD WORK
and parts sat door open, ready for the next repair. There was even a sawmill. Nothing pretentious or Lord of the Manor here. The temperature was in the high 60s with enough of a breeze to make you aware of the air around you. It smelled like the earth. I was at home. I heard a tractor behind one of the windbreaks and walked over to get a look. A man was out on an old Farmall F in what looked like a 40-acre section, raking cut hay prior to baling. It was the perfect weather for that. You cut it, then let it lie in the sun for a few days, using a tedding attachment to fluff it every now and then. When it’s dry, you use another machine to rake it into narrow rows that can be picked up by the baler. It’s a lot of time spent in the fields, and a lot of attaching and detaching equipment—unless you have a bunch of tractors. I walked out into the field to intercept the farmer as a courtesy. He’s got work to do and time isn’t on his side. Still, he shut off the engine, rested forward on the steering wheel while I leaned on the chest-high back tire and introduced myself. His name is Jim. He’s In his 80s. The buildings go back to the early 1700s. We got along great, but the sun keeps moving and we both had work to do. It’s a farm, and there is only so much time for talk. He went to the house for a quick lunch and I set up for painting. When Jim returned, I watched him hitch the baler to another tractor, and the wagon to the baler, and head out into the afternoon to collect the hay he had raked that morning. He drove that train for half of a row, until two bales had been pushed up the ramp and dropped on the wagon, then he stopped. Jim walked back to the wagon, climbed up on the deck and stacked the two bales in the back. Then he jumped down and returned to the tractor and drove until there were two more bales. Somebody might call this the hard way, but it’s the only way when it’s a small operation and there is one of you. The weather was going to hold for two more days and the cutting, tedding, baling needed to be done before the rain came—working all night if you have to. After a while, a neighbor came over and got up in the wagon to stack, which kept everything moving. I was up on the slope painting, having the best day. Occasionally a bee would come by to check out the new guy, but it wouldn’t stay long. Everybody had work to do. Before I left, I walked down to the edge of the field and held my hat over my head. Jim saw me and waved a gloved hand. I had to get on with my chores. He would be out there until his were done. n
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harper’s FINDINGS Americans who are old, white, uneducated, unemployed, and live in someone else’s house at no cost to themselves are especially unlikely to wear face masks. Darker-skinned white people tend to cling to their whiteness. Pelagic fish with ultra-black skin can hide in plain sight, and darkling beetle larvae can digest polystyrene. Parisian honey contains lead from the burning of NotreDame. Falling levels of iron in seawater were loosening the grip of mussels. The muscles of European sea bass contain little plastic, but the stomachs of British demersal sharks contain significant quantities. Florida’s 2019 Ultra Music Festival was found to have nearly quintupled the stress levels of toadfish. Lockdowns were found to have caused a global halving of anthropogenic seismic vibrations. Face masks were increasingly winding up in the sea.
g Hypersexual male zombie cicadas infected with psychoactive fungus, which scientists have warned humans not to consume, were found to engage in alluring feminine wing-flicking, which attracts other males who also become infected. An Indian man stood still for seven hours as a snake charmer freed a cobra from his pants. A survey of respondents recruited on the Reddit page r/EveryManShouldKnow, and excluding data from subreddits such as r/SemenRetention and r/MuslimNoFap, showed abstinence motivation to be related to conservatism, religiosity, and lower trust in science. An analysis of late-eighteenth-century hospital records, particularly those of foul wards, indicated that one fifth of Londoners had syphilis by their mid-thirties; crockery analysis suggested that the Norman Conquest increased English pork consumption; and genomic analysis of Polynesians revealed that Native Americans reached remote Pacific Islands in the midtwelfth century. Neanderthals may have had lower pain thresholds than modern humans, who were found to retain a vestigial ability to perk up their ears. Scientists unveiled a new formula for calculating dog years.
g The bystander effect was observed in rats. A graduate student re-created the skull of the giant dormouse. A fossilized cannibal owl was found preserved in volcanic ash, and thirty-two genes were determined to be responsible for turning mandarin fish into cannibals. Scientists admitted to having accidentally hybridized the Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish, creating the sturddlefish, and reanimated 100-million-year-old bacteria from the deep ocean. European river flooding, formerly driven by cold weather, is now being driven by warm weather. Texas will soon be drier than it has been at any time in the past millennium. Rising temperatures may prove catastrophic to the germination of half of all tropical plant species, and spring snowmelts were boosting the carbon emissions of Arctic soil. Aardvarks in the Kalahari are increasingly seen in the daytime, and narcissists don’t make mistakes, according to narcissists. A strain of the novel goose parvovirus causing short-beak-and-dwarfism syndrome was isolated from Jing-Xi partridge ducks. A juvenile chihuahua who presented with hypoglycemia and collapse, and who was observed to have retained her coat of puppy hair and deciduous teeth, was diagnosed with dwarfism. Past trauma is visible in pupillary response. Positive results were reported in trials of Bald’s eyesalve, a medieval formulation consisting of bile salts, garlic, onion, and wine. Suspicions about placebos can create a “lessebo” effect, reducing the efficacy of real drugs. In the United States, opioid deaths were rising again, industrial workers on amphetamine were dying of hyperthermia, and a proposed model for heatstroke among military working dogs declined to calculate thermal transfer via the belly and paws. 22
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INDEX Percentage of registered U.S. voters who said in 2016 they would consider moving to Canada if Donald Trump were elected: 28 Number of Americans who have done so since then: 33,965 Minimum number of recording artists who have sent cease-and-desist letters to the Trump campaign for using their music at rallies: 9 Percentage change in the win rate of professional soccer teams playing at home when the stadium is empty: −23 In the penalty rate: +21 Factor by which white players are more likely than black players to be praised for their hard work on European soccer broadcasts: 1.5 By which black players are more likely to be praised for their strength: 6.6 Estimated number of Americans who have participated in Black Lives Matter protests this year: 15,000,000 Percentage by which the annual number of people killed by U.S. police officers has fallen in rural areas since 2013: 29 By which it has increased in urban areas: 33 Minimum number of trademark applications for Black Lives Matter that were filed following George Floyd’s death: 26 That had been filed over the previous five years: 18 Portion of white Americans who say the benefits of experimental medical treatments outweigh the risks: 2/3 Of black Americans who say the risks outweigh the benefits: 2/3 Date on which the FDA approved the first prescription video game, for the treatment of ADHD: 6/15/2020 Factor by which the portion of Americans who believe that polygamy is morally acceptable has increased since 2005: 4 Portion of Americans aged 20-31 who violated stay-at-home orders in April to have sex: 1/4 Number of countries whose governments have released contract-tracing apps: 47 Amount that Qataris are fined for failing to download their government’s app: $55,000 Percentage of Qataris who have downloaded it: 92 Colombians killed by cartels or paramilitary for not observing social distancing: 8 Amount Uzbekistan is offering to foreigners who contract COVID-19 while visiting: $3,000 Amount the U.S. received in COVID-19 related humanitarian aid from Lithuania: $113,690 % the U.S. Mint increased coin production since June in response to shortages: 65 Number of additional coins it is producing each month: 650,000,000 Chance that a packaged food, beverage, or household good is out of stock in a U.S. supermarket: 1 in 10 % by which Dollar General’s stock price has increased since the start of the pandemic: 23 Chance that a U.S. household missed a rent or mortgage payment in July: 1 in 3 Estimated percentage decrease in the money that migrant workers from low- and middleincome countries will send home this year: 20 Minimum number of fossil-fuel companies that have received COVID-19 relief aid from the government: 7,283 Minimum value of stimulus checks sent to deceased Americans this spring: $1,600,000,000 Amount of those payments that the federal government has yet to recover: $600,000,000 Percentage of American households that have spent their stimulus checks: 70 That have used the money to pay off debt: 16 Adults who’ve delayed or are considering delaying retirement because of pandemic: 2/5 Of U.S. women aged 18 to 49 who plan to postpone or forgo pregnancy: 1/3 Est. number of British smokers who have quit since the pandemic began: 1,000,000 Percentage by which someone with Neanderthal genes is more likely to suffer severe respiratory illness from COVID-19: 70 Percentage by which unprovoked shark attacks on humans outnumbered provoked attacks last year: 56 Maximum number of hours by which the irrational behavior of animals has been observed to predict a major earthquake: 20 SOURCES: 1 Morning Consult (Washington); 2 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (Ottawa); 3 Harper’s research; 4 Gracenote (Nieuwegein, the Netherlands); 5 Impect (Cologne, Germany); 6,7 RunRepeat (Fort Collins, Colo.); 8 Pew Research Center (Washington); 9,10 Mapping Police Violence (NYC); 11,12 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, Va.); 13,14 Pew Research Center; 15 Akili Interactive Labs (Boston); 16 Gallup (Washington); 17 Everlywell (Austin, Tex.); 18 MIT Technology Review (Cambridge, Mass.); 19 Qatar News Agency (Doha); 20 Sensor Tower (San Francisco); 21 Human Rights Watch (NYC); 22 State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development (Tashkent); 23 Lithuanian Radio and Television (Vilnius); 24,25 U.S. Mint; 26 IRI (Chicago); 27 Dollar General (Goodlettsville, Tenn.); 28 Apartment List (Los Angeles); 29 World Bank (Washington); 30 The Guardian (Washington); 31,32 U.S. Government Accountability Office; 33,34 U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.); 35 The Harris Poll (Chicago); 36 Guttmacher Institute (NYC); 37 Sarah Jackson, University College London; 38 Hugo Zeberg, Karolinska Institutet (Solna, Sweden); 39 Florida Museum of Natural History (Gainesville); 40 Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (Radolfzell, Germany).
SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
SCREEN NAMES by EVAN BIRNHOLZ ACROSS 1 ___ vu 5 Feature of Ella Fitzgerald’s recording of “One-Note Samba” 9 Wildebeests 13 Dominates, in slang 17 Shakespeare’s “shortly” 18 Sharpened, as a blade 20 “The Politician” star Ben 21 “This spells doom” 22 GP-to-be’s exam 23 Temple feature 24 Cucumber ___ (Indian yogurt dip) 25 Plastic bag alternative 26 Zilch 27 “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker” actress 29 Earl’s title 30 Dairy Queen orders 32 South Carolina’s state fruit 33 Meal plans 35 Soaks up the Sun, say? 36 Related to an eye part 38 NBA Hall of Famer Robinson 39 Drifts gently 40 With 93 Down, “Man oh man!” 41 “Dear Martin” author Stone 43 Kicked off 45 Monster in the video game “Quake” 46 “Roseanne” co-star 51 Temple feature 52 Prefix with classical 53 Body shop sight 54 “Hey, look at this!” 55 Oozing mass 57 “___ the Right One In” (2008 vampire film) 58 Clear comprehension 60 Love to bits and pieces 62 “To repeat myself ...” 64 Event planner’s concern 67 National Yoga Month 71 Apple device with Thunderbolt ports 72 Acting as expected, and an alternate title for this puzzle 76 Band that David Bowie called “the band of the future” in 1977 77 Considers anew 79 Acquaintance of Goat, Pig and Zebra in “Pearls Before Swine” 80 Fell dramatically 82 “DO NOT ___” (street sign) 83 Leaves suddenly 85 The bird Stephen Jr. (named after Stephen Colbert), e.g. 86 Star of the 1990s TV series “Clueless” 93 Charlie Parker’s style 96 Contaminates 97 Boats similar to cutters 98 Wood work, e.g.? 101 Penny’s value, compared to a dime
103 105 106 109 111 112 118 120 121 124 125 126 127 128 129
Sequence of notes from a chord Olden times Sailor’s post ___ track (product of a musical feud) Rock climbing gym need “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” actor Brought up, as kids Don of “Crash” “Anchors ___!” Antelope one may see in the Zambezi Valley Discharged, as photons Patriotic Japanese cheer To a great extent Toppings on 30 Across, at times Places in boiling water DOWN
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 28 31 34 36 37 39 40 42 44 46 47 48 49 50 53 56 59 60 61 63
Condemns vigorously Boost “Downton Abbey” actress Go before Eyewear for the Marvel superhero Blade Carbonated beverages Thesis intro? Sixth of a fluid ounce Greet like a politician would Pounded fastener Mention verbally Stuck around Stuck around longer than “A Little Bit of Heaven” actress Parisian landmark with bells named for saints Sites for idle mowers Site for fabric softener It’s slashed at a sale Participated in a dash YouTube clip preceders Vehicle often “split” Variety of salmon An arm or a leg Laid down all of one’s Uno cards first, say Elle’s courtroom dress color in “Legally Blonde” Thickness measurer Pickleball court divider Trudeau of Canadian politics Roam (about) “Hey, look at this!” Item at a regatta Cosa ___ Wireless mouse batteries, maybe Modern pet name Having more funds Wood stove fallout “Exit full screen” key “This is real bad for me”
64 65 66 68 69 70 73 74 75 78 81 83 84 87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94
95 98 99 100 102 104 107
Bills once in Italian ATMs It may spell doom Includes, as in Gmail List shortener Knievel who called himself “the last gladiator in the new Rome” Went by 34 Down or 91 Down Many madrassa students Train set component Google Earth predecessor Like one who’s lost control Linguistically sparing Diner menu letters Origin of “Delicious Dish” skits on NBC “I ___ explain!” Player’s words after deciding to split? Command given to sharpen a grainy digital photograph, in TV crime drama tropes Proceeded effortlessly Western mode of travel? Cell game, e.g. See 40 Across She once tweeted: “We all have an incomplete understanding of reality. Let’s complete the puzzle together and have a clear understanding of what is happening.” “It’s possible” Suffer anguish (over) Frayed fabric feature Jacuzzi water tester Try to shred Apt surname for an environmentalist Average fella
108 109 110 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 122 123
Nonbinary possessive pronoun Inflicted on Parts of a Greek map Emulate drill sergeants When the Allied forces invaded Normandy First-___ (top-notch) Catches, as a fugitive Whack Car tire holder Genre for the band AFI Break in continuity “The King Has Lost ___ Crown” (Abba song)
Answer to October’s puzzle, CHORUS LINES
Solution to this month’s puzzle on page 20 ICON | NOVEMBER 2020 | ICONDV.COM | FACEBOOK.COM/ICONDV
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