Thanks for a dog’s dinner
Besides what you’ve already heard about the annual Alfred E. Smith Dinner, it started at the Waldorf and might end when the street carts are on Jupiter. Her reconstruction took longer than the reconstruction of Dolly Parton’s face.
At this year’s ceremony at the Hilton, His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan wore brand new cardinal vestments, just made for the first time.
“I lost 30 pounds,” he told me. “Nothing suits me anymore. We tried but couldn’t fit them in as much, so they are all new. I lost everything with this new drug Ozempic. It was great. No after-effects. I’m going to lose more.
Someone woke up the Secret Service because the protection wasn’t a secret. Street barriers everywhere. Roads, entrances barricaded. Police cars parked on the side.
Guys with dark blue suits and open jackets everywhere except the ladies. Private areas delimited according to your level and your ability to move around. The Poles could not even hide behind their donors.
The endless Hilton stage – there are more people on it than people living on this continent – behind the doors. Family members behind one. Friends with relatives who are not in prison behind another. A reception platform. Reception of the Cardinal. Receiving the receiving line. A welcome that cares.
What was everywhere were these bites of room-temperature hot dogs in their stiff, plaster-covered buns. One sip and it’s straight to the emergency room.
Arrival was to be at 4:30 p.m. Dinner scheduled for 7:30 p.m. came and went. After chatting with more faces than I’d ever seen on St. Patrick’s Day, I split up to share the leftovers with my dog.
Cardinal rule of thirds
To keep the Catholic spirit, comes the “Conclave”. Saga of the election of a new pope. Each cardinal with his own agenda.
John Lithgow: “This is a conflict over the faith, ambition and internationality of the College of Cardinals. We all stayed in the same hotel. Like cardinals meeting at a club.
Ralph Fiennes: “Things come out of the shadows. My character wants everything to be resolved calmly. But we are all fallible. None of us are saints.
Stanley Tucci: “I was raised Catholic. I have never fully believed in this faith because the logic is lacking. But with mythology and grandeur, everything about this storyline was complicated.
And shorter than the Alfred E. Smith dinner.
Let him move on
So what makes a great actor? Al Pacino’s memoir “Sonny Boy” states that walking helped him progress and develop the character of Michael Corleone.
Pacino: “I would go all the way – the 91st to the Village and back – just thinking about my role. I always do it. I just walked. Thinking about it allows me to walk the path.
OK for me, but the actresses? Was Vladimir Horowitz his child’s piano teacher? Whose handcuffs are 14k gold? Who has music in the elevators in their house? Somehow I don’t see Jennifer Lawrence walking through a bus stop.
In wonderful, sinless Manhattan, this guy gave his girlfriend a diamond bracelet. Overwhelmed, she asked, “So what’s it worth?” He said, “Oh, maybe ten to five.” »
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
