Macaulay Seminar One at Brooklyn College

Our most recent trip to the city to attend Selected Shorts, wasn’t the greatest trip we had, in my opinion. Primarily, I wasn’t sure what the trip was about so I didn’t know what to expect. When I did realize what the night would consist of, I must say I was very disappointed. The whole purpose of the event, where distinguished members of the art world, read to us, felt like a waste of time. The reason I felt this was a waste of time was because they would keep tripping up the words, and some would keep going for a while before realizing their mistake and correcting themselves. When they would trip up, the whole idea around what they would be saying changes. For instance, I like to imagine what I read or hear in my head. When the readers mess up, and don’t realize, what I picture in my head is what they would say. When they realize their mistake and correct themselves, the entire picture I had would change, and therefore, everything else that happens moving forward changes as well.

I still don’t understand the purpose of Selected Shorts. I believe that reading is an art form, one that has been around since the development of writing. To see this form of art being butchered, was saddening to watch.

Going in to this performance I didn’t know what to expect, but knowing that Mario Batali was going to come out got me excited for the event. When the event started I remained fully engaged to understand what exactly the subject of the performances would be and how they were going to execute, turns out what they were basically going to do was present stories about food and its impact on their lives. I thought this was very interesting because the stories seemed like something you would tell your friend over a cup of coffee or on the phone. The fact that there was a whole magazine and performance dedicated to this subject made me appreciate its importance. I noticed it sort of integrated the beauty of story telling and the passion people have for food in to one, which I enjoyed because it’s something people would easily dismiss, but in fact can hold an importance in your life.

My favorite story was Mario Batali’s The Perfect Moment because of what he emphasized about cooking. To create these culinary masterpieces you have to make sure that you tend to it and pay attention to it in order to capture all the flavors into one perfect moment. His vivid description on the fennel bulbs actually encouraged me to try to cook that vegetable, I’ve always been hesitant on using it because of its complexity, but I’ll try to capture its perfection over the break.

Another story that I really enjoyed was Pan-American which was read by David Cross I believe. The story itself revolved around a different aspect of food, which was the instruments used to make it and how it can hold a sentimental value for anyone who cooks in specific pots and pans. I can sort of relate to this story because my family has a grinder that takes spices and grinds them in a fine powder and from generation to generation we have never washed it because it holds a musky aroma that brings a sort of nostalgic feeling, and the flavors are just so concentrated that it would be a crime to wash it. So I really enjoyed that story. All in all, I would definitely go to this event again. It’s something I might do on a boring Friday night if it just so happens to come up, because I loved the casual atmosphere, and just the fact that everyone’s coming together for one purpose, the appreciation of food and storytelling is something I really enjoy.

I wasn’t really sure what this event was or why we were going. All I knew was that it was the week before finals and I had to make the long trek to and from the city- so I might as well make the most of it. And that’s what I did. I didn’t really understand the whole point of people reading to us. Some of the stories were interesting, some were long, short or boring. I actually really like the long story (forgot what it was called). It was cool to have someone paint a picture for me and read me a story. I was interested in it, and while I didn’t fully understand the meaning behind the story I really like it. Other poems were short and I didn’t really connect to them.

A few things really stuck out to me in a bad way.

1. The readers could not read. every few sentences they’d say “whoops sorry that’s not right” and go back and fix themselves. In my opinion- if you’re reading an audience a story – you should be a good reader.

2.  There should be no reason that the person was eating on stage! and not only was he eating, he was eating and talking and almost practically choked on his food. That kind of made me nauseous.

Maybe I like more formal plays and ballets because this just didn’t do it for me. Yes, there was some funny points, but overall it was probably my least favorite event, especially with the timing.

I attended this event with an open mind, with some knowledge about food and cooking that I have gained from friends, family, cookbooks, and the internet. Initially, I had no idea what Symphony Space was until I got there and saw the show.

I was unaware that a food magazine of this caliber existed, especially one so big with extraordinary accounts involving food published within it. I will buy a copy of the magazine to read when I have the opportunity.

My favorite story was the one about the snake covered in red spicy ingredients. I found it incredibly interesting because of the strange ingredients and because had I ingested that many spices, I would have had the same reaction that the author did.

I enjoyed listening to the stories where the readers made mistakes and then proceeded to make a joke out of it.

Furthermore, seeing Mario Batalli in orange crocs brought about a feeling of Deja-vu. My biology professor loves to wear the same orange crocs, as well as one of my friends. Whether there is a connection between the three or not remains to be an interesting thought.

Although this was not my favorite event that we have attended, I will pick up a copy of the Lucky Peach.

I was pretty excited to go to Symphony Space because a. It was about food and b. it had people that I had actually worked for (David Cross and BD Wong from Law &Order:SVU).

Unfortunately, I was not so excited about the traffic that day, which unfortunately resulted in me missing part of the show. I hadn’t realized that we would be hearing stories though, but after hearing in class that it was for a radio show, it made a lot more sense.

Overall, I did like the experience. I noticed that the person reading the story and what type of story it was determined my level of enjoyment. my favorite reader was David Cross (maybe because I really enjoyed his movies). I think the way he read the stories brought it to life whereas some stories were not as good, maybe because I didn’t understand them or the topic didn’t really grasp my attention. I also realized how much detail they put into their stories. When your looking at a painting or watching ballet, there are very few if any words. In the storytelling, they needed a lot of detail in order to help let the audience visualize the scene. This really made me think of how a picture paints a thousand words, which I definitely think is true.

All the events we’ve gone to have really changed my view on art and I’m glad we had this seminar. I’m looking forward to seeing how peopling of New York will impact me.