A Tribute to Gandolfini

by Gregg Chadwick

Yesterday in Coventry, Bruce Springsteen dedicated a live full-album performance of Born to Run to the recently-departed actor James Gandolfini. Born to Run is a cinematic album that conjures up the noirish romance of New York and New Jersey seen through the eyes of a youthful protagonist. Unspoken desires and Jersey lowlifes haunt this character as he roams a landscape of broken dreams from the break of day until the dark morning hours. Gandolfini's characters seemed to embody this endless search for something more, something bigger, something more real.  Gandolfini will be deeply missed.





Video: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Play Meeting Across The River for James Gandolfini in Coventry on June 20, 2013

Little Steven and James Gandolfini on April 7, 2002, during a Hard Rock Cafe Presents "Little Steven's Underground Garage" radio show at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.
photo by Kevin Mazur / Wire Image

 

Video: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Play Backstreets  for James Gandolfini in Coventry on June 20, 2013

Magritte's Painting Olympia Stolen During Armed Robbery at Belgian Museum

Magritte
Olympia
oil on canvas 1948
Musée Magritte

Olympia painted in 1948 by Belgian surrealist René Magritte was stolen today by gun wielding thieves in a daylight heist at the Musée Magritte. The museum is housed in Magritte's former residence just outside Brussels and is dedicated to Magritte's art and life.

The Times online interviewed Johan Berckman’s, a policeman at the scene, who said: “At 10.10am this morning (24 Sept 2009) someone rang the bell of the museum asking if they could visit. He was let in and when he was inside he pulled out a pistol and ordered the woman to go back to the door to let a second person come inside.

“There were three museum workers inside at the time and two Japanese tourists. All five of them were ordered out the back and told to keep quiet by the man with the gun.

“In the museum the other person stole the painting and they both made good their escape. They seemed to know which painting they wanted to steal - they took the whole painting off the wall, including the frame.”

Fortunately no one was injured in the theft. But the loss of Olympia is a crushing blow for the small museum and the cultural patrimony of Belgium.

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Armed thieves steal Magritte painting in daylight raid