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Notes from a Composer
“Speakeasy” Selections
Author Archives: dannyashkenasi
THE RAVEN at the REFLECTING POOL
Footage of the the Memorial Waters before the Drumpfian Disaster Little did I know when I traveled to Washington D.C. last fall to shoot footage for my third musical short film Edgar Allan Poe adaptation “The Raven-a musicabre” that I … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Cinema Scope, Notes in the News, Poe Musicabres, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged algae, D.C., Drumpf, Edgar Allan Poe, Felon-in-Chief, film, John Stewart, Lincoln Memorial, Michelle Cottle, mountain dew, musicabre, Poe, Reflecting Pool, short film, tear, The Raven, Trump, Washington
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Revelation of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions
Meanwhile that fool Hare is still waiting for his visa into the US. I suppose after 10 installments of my own personal New Yorker cartoon captions that took their title inspiration from the Old Testament, I suppose I should allow … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News
Tagged allemande, Book, caption, cartoon, chicken, cross the road, football, lab rat, little piggy, medieval, New Testament, New Yorker, Old Testament, proposal, receipt, restaurant, Revelation, running gag, shopping, siege, soccer, trebuchet, turtle, visa
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BROOKLYN PRIDE 2026
Last night was Brooklyn Pride, just down the street from where we live in Park Slope. Two weeks before the big NYC march that goes down 5th Avenue in Manhattan, the Pride march that goes down 5th Avenue in Brooklyn … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', LGBTQ Alphabet Soup, Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged brooklyn, Cheer, Cheerleaders, Drew Warshaw, Dykes on Bikes, Edward Elder, Herstory Archives, Hetrick-Martin, Knicks, lesbian, Letitia James, marching band, Park Slope, Pride, Quakers, Queer, Queer Big Applecorps, schools
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MONET in VENICE
Impressions from Last Winter’s Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum with close up details of those famous paint strokes
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged Alice Monet, architecture, art, beauty, brooklyn, brush stroke, canal, Claude Monet, detail, enveloppe, Giverny, Harmony, Impressionism, light, Monet, museum, oil painting, Painting, Palazzo, reflections, Series Painting, Thomas Mann, Venice, water, Water Lilies
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Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged baby carriage, bench, Bridge, brooklyn, Clouds, lawn, park, Prospect Park, rambles, sky, stream, stroller, trees, tunnel, underpass, woods
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Every Brilliant Thing with Daniel Radcliffe
This Sunday we experienced Daniel Radcliffe’s final performance in Every Brilliant Thing. This play is a singular Broadway experience, as the audience is enlisted to engage with the only regular cast member to bring the performance to life. As such … Continue reading
Announcing the New Musicabre: The Raven
“Raven” is the New Page in the Notes from a Composer Banner I’ve been teasing this announcement for a while now. Three previous posts have already revealed that I am working on the third short film Poe musicabre, to join … Continue reading
Wisdom of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions
If it ain’t pastels, it don’t pass muster! This will be the last of the caption installments whose title is inspired by books of the Old Testament. Only the Catholic and Orthodox churches recognize Wisdom, the Protestants and Jews consider … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News
Tagged art, Atlas, Book, Bunny, caption, card game, cartoon, Cheshire Cat, Contest, Easter, flute, Goldilocks, Lego, Moon, New Yorker, Old Testament, pastels, shark, stone age, weightlifting, wheel, Woodwinds
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Two Hours as the Nightmare Doctor
“Your mother has high blood pressure. Don’t you see – your little attention grabbing stunts are going to kill her!” That was my line as a nasty Doctor berating a young child in a woman’s nightmarish recollection. I shot this … Continue reading
CHERRY BLOSSOM EXPLOSION!
The Most Popular Weekend at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden The recent unseasonably warm and sunny days have led to an early explosion of the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and that is always its most popular attraction. This … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged alder, bloom, blossom, botanic, brooklyn, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Burkwood, cherry, Ed Elder, Esplanade, Garden, lilac, mountain witch alder, peak, pink, smell, tree, tulip, viburnum, White
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Judges of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions
It’s the midterms. And the series continues to mine the Old Testament for title inspiration, if not comical inspiration. So far the Judges of the New Yorker, be they the editors (at one time) or the public via on-line voting … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism
Tagged bagel, blue wave, caption, cartoon, cat, Contest, Dali, Ed Asner, Everything, formal wear, Hollywood, midter, midterms, New Yorker, penguins, Pixar, red carpet, royalty, surrealism, swipe, Tinder, Up
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Early Spring in Brooklyn
Ed and I enjoyed a sunny day in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend (that’s me above indulging in the sweet honey scent of the paper bush) and I took some pictures of the first blossoms of Spring. The entrance … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Beginnings, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged apricot, blossom, botanic, brooklyn, cherry, Daffodil Hill, daffodils, Ed Elder, Garden, Grand Army Plaza, hyacinth, Kindergarten, magnolia, museum, ornamental, paper bush, Park Slope, pear, photography, pink, Prospect Park, tree, White, Yoshino
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Artemis Launch Viewed from a Plane
There are a lot a videos of the Artemis II launch taken from planes. The best one I’ve seen, lasting about two minutes is this one:(https://x.com/HustleBitch_/status/2039728543819497846) I’ve not found the full video on YouTube, only the site formally known as … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged airplane, Artemis, Artemis 2, Clouds, flight attendant, launch, Moon, NASA, plane, rocket, screenshot, sky, Twitter, video
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NO KINGS 3/28/26
We joined the estimated 8-9 million protestors in over 3000 No Kings protests across the USA, not to mention the marches and rallies held elsewhere all over the planet. The NYC protest started at Columbus Circle to march down Central … Continue reading
Posted in Arts-a-Poppin', Literary Lyricism, Notes in the News, Two-fisted Touristing
Tagged 7th avenue, Broadway, Central Park West, Columbus Circle, democracy, Epstein, ice, Immigration, Manhattan, midterms, midtown, Nazi, No Kings, NYC, Protest, Quakers, resist, Times Square, Trump, Tyranny, War
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Notes from a Composer 