Experiencing Planet Earth on the Lower East Side

There is something in animals beside the power of motion. They are not machines: they feel. E.B. De Condillac: Traite des animaux, I, 1755


When Jo last visited me in New York, we went to the most breathtaking performance at a bar called Pianos on the Lower East Side. A man passionately played the keyboard and tuba in front of a showing of Discovery Channel's Planet Earth. The way he played the instruments was completely reflective of the imagery screening behind him. A stampede of wild elephants meant that the music became dramatic and energetic, yet when rays of sunshine appeared, the music was serene and subdued. Although I was sitting in the middle of a grungy Lower East Side bar, I was taken to a place of serenity, far away from the hustle and bustle of the City.

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Psalms XXIV, 1, c. 150 B.C.