The court proceedings for Eric Bellucci, the 30-year-old Staten Islander accused of killing both of his parents and fleeing to Israel, are going to take longer than expected. Yesterday the Stuyvesant and Williams graduate was to appear in court for an eight-count indictment but "refused to be fingerprinted and when transported to the Supreme Court for arraignment refused to leave the holding cells," Daniel Donovan, district attorney for Staten Island, told the News. His arraignment is now postponed until after a psychological evaluation and his next court date is scheduled for late January.
SI Double Murder Suspect Refuses To Leave His Cell
On the Road is Over the Hill and On Display
Jack Kerouac. “Face of the Buddha.” Pencil on paper, 1956(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. Jack Kerouac. “Stella by Jack.” Pencil on paper, 1966(?). NYPL, Berg Collection. To help commemorate the 50th Anniversary of On the Road, the NYPL has put together a great exhibit titled Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac on the Road. The exhibit explores the work and life of the Beat writer and showcases "the three extant typescript drafts of the novel, including the...
Museum Center 2.0
Expect some changes at the Museum of TV and Radio. Today the museum announced it will not only no longer be referred to as a museum (the word didn't test well with the under-40 crowd!), but that it's throwing the "TV and Radio" out of its moniker for good, too. Good-bye, MTR. Hello, The Paley Center for Media. From the press release:
The thirty-one-year-old institution will be renamed The Paley Center for Media to better reflect MTR’s evolution to a center that convenes media leaders and enthusiasts for programs that explore and illuminate the immense and growing impact of all media on our lives, culture, and society. The new name, approved by the board, is effective immediately.more ›
Jacob Burckhardt, Director
I was telling a filmmaker friend of mine that for the Mafia boss I needed someone who is old and physically not very strong but psychically totally dominating, like William Burroughs. He said, why not ask him? I could think of no good answer to that, and got in touch with Burroughs, and he was interested. He did the part perfectly, except for his Midwestern accent. An unknown (at the time) actor named Vincent D’Onofrio was a bartender at the Ritz, a club that has since turned into Webster Hall, and somebody I knew who worked there put us together and he tried out for the lead part. He wasn’t right for it--too big and tough looking--but he was a good actor so I asked him to play one of the muggers.
Hotel Chelsea on BBC
The below is from a BBC documentary on the Hotel Chelsea, it includes footage of Andy Warhol (inexplicably wearing headphones) sharing a meal with William S Burroughs and Nico singing "Chelsea Girls".
Before There Was "Found," There Was "Semina"
While you’re touring New York’s Beat Generation landmarks, drop by the Grey Art Gallery to find out what the “community of disaffiliates” were doing out in San Francisco. You’ll discover through Semina Culture that they were hanging out with Wallace Berman.
Map of the Day: Beat NYC
To correspond with its 50th anniversary celebration reading tonight, the 92nd Street Y Blog created this map of Beat Generation spots. The map is based on a Post article from Saturday that mentions addresses and events in the history of "all those crazy hepcats who turned postwar America on its head."
Burroughs Collection at NYPL Can't Be Beat
. This makes the NYPL's collection of Bea-era materials the most comprehensive, since it already holds the Jack Kerouac archive. The NY Times story about the acquisition had the interesting sidenote about how Allen Ginsberg wanted the NYPL to buy his collection, but since he wanted to sell it quickly, the NYPL wasn't able to get the money together in time - the Ginsberg collection is at Stanford - but now the NYPL can say "This will be the place in the world to come to study the Beats." At any rate, we hope an exhibition of the work will be mounted soon - we'd love to see his letters to Kerouac, Timothy Leary, Ginsberg, and Terry Southern, among others.
Weekend Movies: It All Ends With a Red Carpet
Don't get confused – today is Friday. Gothamist has been a bit under the weather, hence our little weekend movie preview showing up today rather than on its usual Thursday. And while we all anxiously count down the minutes until Monday's Golden Globes, there are a lot of great movie options available without even considering all the 2005 films hoping to take home a prize.

