Category Archives: Notes in the News

On current and historic events, likely with a musical angle

Deconstruction of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on October 1, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Homo Barbershoptus went extinct in the late Tinpanalleycene. And we are back for another six-pack (plus one alternate caption). This is the 26th edition! Every installment of the full series can be most easily located in the literary lyricism archives. … Continue reading →

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ARTSY MINIATURE GOLF

Posted on September 21, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Attending the Drachenfest on the Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin I came upon a delightfully innovative miniature golf field called the Nuture Mini Art Golf: The above sign perfectly explains the conceit behind this unique miniature golf course. The photos below … Continue reading →

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DRAGONS (Kites) in BERLIN!

Posted on September 14, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Drachen in German means dragon. It also means kite. September 12 thousands of Berliners congregated in the Tempelhofer Feld to celebrate the “Drachenfest” – the dragonfest-, I mean the Kite festival. The Tempelhofer Feld (Field of Tempelhof) is a park … Continue reading →

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The Picture is Locked

Posted on August 3, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

“The Raven – a musicabre” is completed I signed off on the final version and my editor Stolis Hadjicharalambous sent me the files: “The Raven – a musicabre”, the third in a series of Poe musicabres, short film musical adaptations … Continue reading →

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RESURRECTION now in full on line

Posted on July 20, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The Film Where I Play a Resurrected Corpse “Resurrection”, the short comedy/drama by Sam Zaslov-Braverman, in which I play Randell, a deceased man alloted extra life to give the eulogy at his own funeral, is now viewable in full on … Continue reading →

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PRIDE NYC 2026

Posted on June 29, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Video Diary of Watching and Marching in New York’s Pride Parade – with a special appearance of the Pride Puppy! Ed Elder and his Trophy Husband We arrived just at the 12pm start time, and thought the bikers were the … Continue reading →

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THE RAVEN at the REFLECTING POOL

Posted on June 25, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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Revelation of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on June 21, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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BROOKLYN PRIDE 2026

Posted on June 14, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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Announcing the New Musicabre: The Raven

Posted on May 19, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

“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 →

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Wisdom of my own personal NEW YORKER CARTOON captions

Posted on May 10, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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Artemis Launch Viewed from a Plane

Posted on April 3, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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NO KINGS 3/28/26

Posted on March 29, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

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 →

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Snow Storm on Our Street

Posted on February 23, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

As Ed and I came home last evening just as the Big Blizzard was kicking in, we just had to take some photos of the snowy landscape our street had become. City Bikes, marshmallow coated

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Solaris Film Festival Awards “Prelude to a Death”

Posted on February 8, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

The Solaris Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland has given “Prelude to a Death” the award for “Best Unproduced Script”. “Prelude to a Death” is a feature length gothic ghost story. I have sent the screenplay to a handful of festivals … Continue reading →

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Ian McKellen Performs Shakespeare’s Immigrant Speech on the Late Show

Posted on February 5, 2026 by dannyashkenasi

Ian McKellen appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, and the whole interview is delightful and engrossing – the full video is posted below – musing on Gandalf and Magneto, Christopher Lee and Elvish tattoos, and seeing … Continue reading →

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