Sunday, January 23, 2011

Whoops! "She Doesn't Come Off As An Older, Desperate Person," 28-Year-Old Groom Tells NYT, Of 37-Year-Old Bride.

Will this marriage make it past the publication of their NYT wedding announcement this morning?

In today's NYT Styles section, the wedding blurb for 28-year-old Nathan Love and his 37-year-old bride, Karen Alinauskas, included an extended section about the couple's romance. Towards the end, it addressed the nine-year age gap between husband and wife.

"Later that February, when she thought that she could be falling for him, she began to question the differences in their ages," NYT weddings reporter Rosalie R. Radomsky wrote. "'I was thinking a 26-year-old is definitely not serious,' Ms. Alinauskas said. But she added that Nizza Heyman, her friend, told her: 'Don’t question love. Just enjoy yourself.'"

Turning to Love, Radomsky found the groom with his foot hoveringly perilously close to his mouth. She asked him about the age difference, whereupon he shoved it in -- perhaps permanently.

"As for Mr. Love, age was never really a concern. 'She’s brilliant and has a young soul,' he said. 'She doesn’t come across as an older, desperate person.'"

Fortunately for Love, the wedding took place last Monday evening.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Are NYT Critics Losing It? Ratliff Mistakes Trombone For Trumpet, Pareles Gets A Song Wrong, And Stanley Hears "Oddball" As "Awful."

Of course we all know that any critic can occasionally get it wrong.

But from the string of flubs in today's NYT corrections column, it would appear that the NYT's aging team of arts critics might be having some trouble following along with the art forms they're paid to cover.

According to the corrections:

-- In a critic's notebook on a 92nd Street Y performance last week, Ben Ratliff mistook a for a trombone for a trumpet.

-- In a review of Keith Jarrett's Sunday Carnegie Hall concert, Jon Pareles misheard an encore as the song "Someone To Watch Over Me." (The song was actually "Someday My Prince Will Come.")

-- In her Tuesday Golden Globes recap, Alessandra Stanley mistakenly quoted Christian Bale referring to the "awful characters" who make up the membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Actually, he called them "oddball characters."

Okay, so we'll be the first to admit that sometimes we find ourselves saying "huh?" in our Broadway balcony seats, or turning up the sound full blast when the characters on "Modern Family" mutter under their breath.

But it may be time for NYT critics to step it up a notch -- the volume, that is.

Maybe we're being a little greedy this morning -- the jet lag, and all -- but we're counting on the NYT's highly-paid, experienced team of arts critics to tell the difference between musical instruments, name tunes properly, and get the words right on television shows.

The NYTPicker And Maureen Dowd On Vacation Together At Undisclosed Mediterranean Location. Please Stand By.

Due to the volume of requests for information, we are revealing today that The NYTPicker and Maureen Dowd have been on vacation together for three weeks at an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean. Please stand by. Posting will resume shortly.