Monday, June 04, 2007
Singing in the RainA storm descended over NYC yesterday afternoon and 24 hours later it's raining heavier than ever. It's quite incredible seeing how a sudden change in the weather can transform the idyllic sunkissed, blue-skyed city of tree-lined avenues and beautiful people into a haggard, chaotic and unbearable cacophony of beeping-horns, grid-locked traffic and foot deep puddles. Gross. Maybe it's the fact that I woke up at 6am with the sound of the rain or perhaps that I don't have any suitable attire for this weather (why do I only own canvas shoes?). The good news is that it should hopefully be gone tomorrow and we will see a reutnr to the 28degree heat to which we have become accustomed.
D and I went to a couple more gigs last week. We saw Bright Eyes' show 6 of 7 at Town Hall and it was not as good as the previous night, despite our Row A seats. The guest was off our pop-culture radar (Steve Earle...some old hippy) and then Zea from The Like came on to embarrass herself not knowing the words to the song she was supposed to sing. We saw Cansei de ser Sexy at Irving Plaza, or should I say 'The Fillmore(TM) at Irving Plaza' as it was rebranded last month. That was excellent - they through food out into the crowd (always a winner), did a couple of great covers and were exciting to watch. I got some really good pictures which you'll get to see...in a month. Or sooner if my boyfriend brings over his laptop when he comes on 9th June.
On Saturday we went up to Morningside Heights where Columbia University is - I conteplated the merits and costs of doing a masters there rather than in London. Hmm. Something to keep pondering, but it is quite beautiful up there - one of the only hills in Manhattan and only a stone's throw from Harlem. We went to Harlem too - it was lovely, which isn't the first thing you expect people to say of Harlem. There's so much life on the streets and its political spirit is still alive and well. We saw lots of different groups and individuals preaching - Nation of Islam, the one about Israel, Christians, anti-war people, anti-slavery. We then walked through a park between Harlem and Spanish Harlem where they were having an Afrikafest. There was such a great, positive community spirit there - everyone was out, using the park, having barbecues, banging drums, playing in the playpark. Although it's still riddled with social problems, I think there are some real lessons to be learned from Harlem.
We also took the Staten Island Ferry, explored some more of Brooklyn - including Red Hook which is brilliant, walked up the East Rver from Battery Park to thge East Village - with lots of bench stops to rest our tired feet! Today we are going to take a tour of the UN and see the place where all my essays happen, or something. I'll be seeing the Pipettes at Highline Ballroom tomorrow night and the Long Blondes at our local (kinda) venue, the Luna Lounge on Wednesday. Exciting.
posted by Unknown at 6/04/2007 05:21:00 pm
1 Comments:
said...
i'm glad you like harlem too! we stayed 4 blocks away from it the last time and there is so much culture up that way. have you been to guggenheim yet? let me know if you do - loads of it was closed when i was there and i want to know all about the photo exhibitions!
(commenting you everywhere today!) xx
