Childhood Wish Come True

Throughout my childhood (ie., prior to the age of 25) there were a number of places I decided I just 'had' to go to, or experiences I had to feel, at some point in my life. Slowly slowly, I've been checking them off my list. Seing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and wandering around Venice were 2 items on that list that I managed to check off quite early, but others lingered on. Some of them I'm guessing I will never manage - such as walking on the moon or another planet, or even just piloting a jet beyond Mach 1. Now at least, another one is checked off - visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

I could easily have spent a day at this place (and probably another day at the Udvar Hazy - the second Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in DC), but time was short and the crowds were almost unbearable. However, the main Air & Space Museum was amazing and seeing some real classics 'in the flesh' was quite an experience. Most notable, of course, was the Wright Brothers' Flyer. Talk about an impressive machine! Anyway, this is a place I would recommend for anyone who has even the slightest interest in aviation or aerospace - there are classics, early passenger aircraft, and modern day UAVs. The only dissappointing thing, is the reality, that so many of the aviation and technology advances advances on display are all related to finding better ways to kill people in war...

The weekend I spent in DC was the start of a 10 day work trip to New York (that obviously being a side trip). DC was absolutely packed as it was Spring Break and the Cherry Blossom Festival was in full bloom. Quite an amazing site (the cherry blossoms, not the throngs of people). DC is a rather interesting city - somewhere I could probably spend a week. The Holocaust Museum was the other main attraction I went to - extremely impressive (both the museum, and the fact that it was so packed!) It's a museum which although focuses on the Holocaust, deals a lot with genocide in general and they had an interesting exhibit which encompassed the recent atrocities in Rwanda and South Sudan.

Most of my time in the US, unfortunately, involved me being at work and dealing with the frustrations that are my job. Thankfully though, I got to spend the week with a good friend so it half felt like I was on holiday, and not just working. I had what is now my favourite New York experience of seeing a Broadway show (this time it was Catch Me If You Can - a musical I thoroughly enjoyed) and eating more than I need to. Of course there wasn't much idle time - between the working, eating, Natural History Museum and visit to Coney Island, there was only a bit of time left to sleep. A great trip overall. Not least because after the trip there was only 3 days back at work before heading off to spend 2 weeks of beach weather with my beloved Jessie...

The Highline - an old, disused elevated train line running along Western Manhatten has been converted into a park.

New York, New York!

Ahh, New York. I now understand why they call it the city that never sleeps, though it does definitely have a bit of a lie down on Thanksgiving Day!

I arrived in NYC on Thanksgiving Eve and was totally buggared. So after an early night I woke up before dawn to go the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a friend and her fiance`. Now I hadn't seen this friend for around 12 years when she was an exchange student in Canberra, so talk about catching up with a long lost friend. It was fantastic to catch up and relive old times (and we did so multiple times over the following 10 days) The parade itself was lots of fun - definitely something amazing for kids, but also quite nice for adults. If only from the point of view of seeing so many thousands of people out enjoying themselves (sans alcohol and drugs). We joined the throngs of people on Central Park West and watched the spectacular floats sail by, intermixed with some pretty funky marching bands (which to me really typifies America), lots of baton twirling, and a random sprinkling of celebrities.

Next To Normal

No, this blog entry isn't describing myself, nor is describing my experience of America (though the title really isn't that far off) - it's the name of a pretty awesome Broadway musical I saw last night. After finishing the week at work I wasn't sure what to do, but figured that while I've got so much theatre [in English] around me, I may as well make use of it. So off again I went to Tkts to get a ticket for a shot. At a Thanksgiving Day dinner the previous week someone recommended Next To Normal (which I hasn't heard of before). Since there were tickets available I decided to go for it (though it was a toss up over Cirque du Soleil or Mamma Mia). This show was primarily a musical with bits of dialogue scattered throughout. A relatively small cast (especially compraed to American Idiot) of only 6 plus a great on-stage band. My only gripe with the show, was that every now and then the music drowned out the singing - though thankfully this wasn't too significant and didn't happen much. Overall, I don't think I could have chosen a better show to see - it had everything: great music, excellent singing, fantastic acting, a really hard hitting storyline which although relatively emotional, was filled with some awesome comedicc moments. My overall rating: fantastic!

American Idiot

Last night I went with a couple of colleauges to see the Broadway musical American Idiot. We decided after work to go to the half price ticket booth in Times Square and just see something - I had heard something about American Idiot (can't remember what really) and knew that it was based on the Green Day album and full of Green Day music. So, off we went. I think this is one thing I could get used to in New York actually - popping down to the theatre, once a week perhaps, to catch a musical or a play...

It was a great musical with an on-stage band playing all the music. The singing and the music was fantastic, if not a bit loud and crazy at times (with perhaps the strobes being just a tad too bright!). The acting and dancing was pretty good too, perhaps not choreographed perfectly, but then again, perhaps being a punk rock style musical it's not supposed to be.

Chicken & waffles

While strolling through Harlem on the weekend, I decided to stop at a small take-away/diner for some lunch. I was hungry. But couldn’t decide what I felt like, so decided to pick something random. The place I walked into offered Chicken, fish and waffles. I figured it would be a standard take-away joint that also sold desserts, perfect. Much to my surprise though, there were no desserts, waffles formed part of the main dish! Although I got myself a standard chicken and chips (though I did try the ‘jerked’ chicken, having no idea what it meant – and I’m still not quite sure what it means), the guy at the counter next to me had what seemed to be the standard dish there: deep fried chicken together with large thick waffles. The waffles then got saturated with butter and maple syrup and formed part of the main meal eaten with the chicken! Wow! Not even I could stomach that!

On the subject of weird things in New York, I still can’t get over the role of doormen here. While I think I have been convinced somewhat of their usefulness (added security, someone to sign for parcels when you’re not in, etc), I’m really not sure I get the utility (efficiency?) of the doormen in the building I’m staying. Mainly because more often than not there are 2 on duty. In the evenings, one of them seems to be permanently assigned to operate the elevator as if the people who live here are incapable of pressing numbered buttons themselves! And this is a relatively small apartment building – 25 floors or so and about 5 apartments per floor. Talk about a waste of money!

MoMA

I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – modern art is definitely the more interesting form of art for me. Partly because I do actually like some of it and find it quite impressive, but partly also because I find it interesting how crap some things can be that people pay lots of money for. Whilst the MoMA doesn’t have a urinal as an art installation like the Tate Modern in London, it didn’t disappoint and I managed to spend almost 3 hours there. In short, whilst I really like some of the Matise, Chagall and Dali, there is some utter rubbish there, namely most of Jackson Pollock’s work (there was one painting there that I thought was OK) and quite a lot of the Van Gogh. All in all, interesting to see some of the famous works, even if some of it is rubbish. What I did enjoy were some of the art installations rather than paintings – there were some cool works which were artistic, colourful and quite obviously required lots of talent in their creation. All in all, a worthwhile outing.