September 2005 Archives
[Posted by editor for off-network Nicole.]
Hi Dad. NYC was incredible! We drove back Monday as planned the whole time. Mark is very flexible and is interested in what I'm doing with the band.
In NYC, we just walked around, had a picnic in Central Park - spent two days at the park which was breathtakingly beautiful - went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which is gigantic, I could spend a week there). We spent a long time in the Modern arts section. Saw a bunch of original Andy Warhols. It is incredible to see such great works of art up close and personal, to see the different textures of the paints on canvas. My favorite piece of all was this painting that looked exactly like a picture. Painted in the early 80s. It was titled "Mark." This painting was huge and very detailed - a portrait of an unshaven geeky kind of man with red hair and glasses and bucked teeth. His mouth was slightly open. Whiskers and a bit of grease on his face. I would never have known it was a painting if I hadn't read the marker next to the piece. I wish I wrote down the name of the artist because now I can't find a picture of this online. In the future I would like to see the costumes exhibit, the armour exhibit, and the ancient Egypt exhibit among so many others. Our time was limited. We also went to the Dakota where John Lennon was shot, and walked through Strawberry Fields. Saw the place in Central Park where people drove little battery operated sailboats in the lake. My feet hurt so badly by the end of the trip, but the walking was worth it.
It was really cool to go to this city for the first time, with a purpose. The shows went well. People really liked it. The first night there was a decent crowd, and the second night some "authentic" NY hipsters saw the show and danced like crazy. They asked us to play at one of their DJ functions at a really hip club called Pianos in the future. That was exciting. We went to a place called Barcade which was a bar filled with arcade games from the 80s that cost a quarter to play. They had Mario Bros, Star Wars Trilogy, Rampage, Galactica, etc.
We also went to the zoo in Central Park and saw the cutest penguins laying on their bellies, a polar bear, monkeys, seals. Walked up fifth avenue and through Times Square. That place is crazy packed with people. We didn't spend more than 10 minutes there though. The transportation system in New York amazes me. We could get around so quickly and efficiently using the subway. I don't see why anybody would want to own a car there. And I have never had better pizza. We had pizza all of the time. It was cheap and good. Everything about NYC is surreal. I had the greatest time. I did catch a cold but I'm getting better now.
