A funny (weird) thing happened to us on Sunday. While we were waiting for subway train home from 59th Street/Columbus Circle, an older lady approached us. As she approached, she looked distinctly familiar to us. It seems that on Saturday, when we were coming up from the subway platform to go to Hester Street (Lower East Side) a lady who appeared to be a couple bubbles off of plumb approached us. She looked us in the eye and asked for spare change, we ignored her and then she said something to the effect that we were going to be beaten and killed by a specific ethnic group. Of course she used a very distinctive a racial epithet. At that time, we just turned and walked away. Now, here, way uptown, this same lady started talking to us again and this time she made a very vulgar crude remark to Felice that was sexual in content. As the lady turned to walk away, Felice, in her best New York City attitude told her in the crudest of fashions to have sex with herself. Yes, we are being changed. We frequently feel like the non-tourist and more like a native. We often bemoan those damn tourists who while walking down the street suddenly just stop, and block the sidewalk, causing others to have to take evasive action.
Anyway, on Sunday, we took the subway to 59th Avenue and Columbus Circle and walked over to 5th Avenue for a stroll down one of the most famous streets in the world. We learned very quickly that Sunday is not the day to do this, as we were besieged by those damn tourists. At least on the way, we found out how to get to Carnegie Hall, and it is not, "Practice, Practice, Practice." You actually find it on 57th Street and 7th Avenue. After almost a mile of fighting through the crowds, we went down 42nd Street and hung out at Bryant Park. It is a cool little place and we watched some guys playing boccie in a boccie pit. Interestingly, those damn tourists were at it again as at some point, a large group of teens were led by their adult chaperones into the boccie pit to have their group picture taken, which disrupted the game in progress. We then went to the St. James Theater where we met Lauren and saw the show, Leap of Faith, starring Raul Esparza. It was okay as musicals go and was based on the Steve Martin movie of the same name. We then had dinner with Lauren at a restaurant called, The Eatery, which was excellent. We walked Lauren to the theater where her company's musical, Fat Camp was opening that night and having their big opening party. Then we went home, having the opportunity to see our vulgar friend, as described above. We walked 4 1/2 miles on Sunday.
On Monday, we took a crosstown bus to 5th Avenue and walked over to the City of New York Museum. It is a quaint museum, but had some interesting facets to it. On one floor, they had pictures from New York that were taken by a photographer who I would describe as a performance artist. For example, he had one set of moving pictures focusing on people and how they look when they emerge from the subway. Another were pictures of business owners opening their grate in the morning. Another contained pictures of people getting on a bus and other similar stuff. Another photographer displayed still pictures taken of police during ride-alongs. The museum had a nice half hour motion picture on the history of the city. There was also an exhibit showing in detail how the Manhattan grid came about. From there we took a bus back crosstown and then a subway to Central Park to see Strawberry Fields, the area of the Park dedicated to John Lennon and walked over to the Dakota Building, right across the street, where Lennon was shot. Total miles walked on Monday was a mere 2 3/4.
On Tuesday, we headed to Queens (our 4th borough) to the Museum of the Moving Image. On the first subway line we took, we were about 3 stops into it, when a female left our train car and totally "stopped traffic." She was naked from the waste up (except for a handlebar mustache drawn on her face). Apparently that was bizarre enough to register even with New Yorkers as the whole train car "shared a group moment" upon her departure. After changing to a 2nd subway line we arrived in Queens and walked to the Museum. This museum too had a bizarre area, with weird interpretations of art using video games, videos of people destroying technological equipment, and other things that we quickly bypassed. The heart of the museum was a history of the moving image focusing on equipment and science. There were lots of cameras, microphones, pictures, scripts, etc., as well as videos with memorable moments. For me the most fun were the hands on exhibits where I could dub my words in certain movies, add certain sound effects and add certain music to set the mood. The one thing that was most memorable about the museum was that the first and second floors were entirely white. It was very weird like an optical illusion. From there we took the subway to pick up theater tickets for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and then home for dinner before returning to the theater. The show is a great show and this production was pretty good. Nick Jonas had the Robert Morse lead, which was well played, while Beau Bridges was at best weak. Felice was excited to identify one of the minor leads as an actor who we determined was on Ugly Betty.
As an aside, today was the big day that the Tony Nominations were announced. Lauren and her company were thrilled as their production, Jesus Christ Superstar was nominated for two Tony's including Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Best Musical Revival. (We are seeing JCS tomorrow night).They were very excited for the nominations and we are thrilled for Lauren and Dodger Productions. This brings to mind a trivia question, the answer to which we learned last week. Without checking Google or Wikipedia, why are the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) called "Dodgers?"
We have attached a little video about an artist who has a picture displayed in the subway. In the video, you get some flavor for the subway and get to see this picture. Her name is Sophia Blackall. http://missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com/2012/02/etsy-video.html
Be well and we will write again soon.
Gary and Felice
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