"I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel"
-Elf
Yes, that was the first thing that popped into my mind as soon as I saw the sign for the Lincoln Tunnel on our bus ride into New York City. And after a busy first half of the semester, it was lovely to see Mom and get out of DC for a bit. Especially since Mom had never been and there were plenty of things I still wanted to do there, it was a great mini-trip.
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| Well, this is actually from the National Gallery of Art in DC, but whatever. |
So, we showed up on Wednesday, navigating the subway like the tourists that we were, but eventually making our way to the hotel, thanks to the many helpful people we ran into. From our spot in midtown, we walked to Times Square and caught one of those cheesy double-decker tour buses.
It was actually a great chance to see all over Manhattan, including many of the neighborhoods that Dad and I missed when we were here 5 years ago. It's amazing how huge New York is, and Mom and I were both glad that I was decently familiar, so I was able to fulfill my standard role as "Kim the Navigator."
We headed down to the half-price ticket booth at the South Street Seaport to see what Broadway shows were still available for the evening. Arriving half an hour before the office closed, we hurriedly decided for the old-school musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, snagging two of the last four tickets.
And this was a big deal because the star of the show was none other than Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. No, this was not the horse one. And he was fully clothed. He even sang and danced - and did a good job of it! And we were specialllll, since the show was still in previews. Despite its new status, it was really well done overall. I'm pretty sure the audience was 100% Harry Potter nerds.
On Thursday, we headed to the Upper East Side, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we spent ages in the Egyptian exhibit and then had a little time left before trekking out into the rainstorm to catch...
THE DAILY SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had VIP tickets, courtesy of my wonderful cousin Andy, which guaranteed us seats in the show without having to wait outside in the long line. Of course, no cameras were allowed inside, so I have no pictures, but regardless, it was fantastic! I mean, Jon Stewart is one of my favorite people in the world, so this was a big deal for me (in case you hadn't picked up on this).
He came out and answered audience questions for about 20 minutes, including one Alabama redneck's question: "If you were in Africa studying monkeys, and you climbed up a tree and found me -- would you be my friend?"
????????????????????????????????
Watch the episode - now you know who Jon's special friend is from the intro - http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-march-10-2011-trey-parker---matt-stone
Also, as you might be able to guess from the URL, the guests were Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of the show South Park. I almost feel the need to apologize to every guy I've ever met for seeing them, as every single male my age is obsessed with the show, and I'm not - but I'm the one who got to see them. So, sorry for being an ungrateful non-fan...
This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy them as guests, though. I'd really like to see their new Broadway musical that they were promoting: The Book of Mormon. But alas, that show was actually sold out.
The show was over in a flash, since they only tape the 30 minutes of the program, commercial breaks included. However, it was so. cool. Jon Stewart remains one of my favorite people in the world, thanks to his intelligence and great sense of humor, both of which were apparent in his conversations with us. Another man in the audience got him to talk about his interview with Donald Rumsfeld, and he gave us a really honest answer. Essentially, the interview was fairly friendly, but it caused Jon a lot of conflict: on one hand, he was talking to one of the architects of the worst war of his lifetime, but on the other hand, Rumsfeld was an "old man, with old man smells, and a little old man wife." I won't bore you with the entire response, but it was fascinating to see him talk about an interview that obviously he felt strongly about.
The next day, we headed out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, despite the fact that we couldn't buy tickets to actually climb up inside the statue. Eh. It was cool nonetheless. Although I also failed in finding my ancestors in the registry on Ellis Island. Doing some research beforehand probably would have been a good idea....
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| The Statue of Liberty and Manhattan |
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| Ellis Island |
Then, we got to meet up with my friend Amy, who is from Auburn and is now at NYU's Tisch School of the Performing Arts. For the past 3 years, I kept hearing about all of these cool projects that she was working on, so it was great to actually visit her in New York and wander around for a few hours with her. And then, she got us staff tickets to the off-Broadway show where she works as an usher: Fuerza Bruta.
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| Amy and I try to join Fuerza Bruta |
Fuerza Bruta is difficult to describe. It's different. First off, you're standing the whole time, and you're constantly moving because they're bringing out various set pieces into the middle of the crowd or around the edges. Essentially, it's:
one part treadmill...
one part Cirque du Soleil...
... one part deep metaphor for something...
... one part dance party...
...one part destruction...
...one part beating up the audience...
...one part giant slip 'n slide...
...above our heads...
...and a little more treadmill.
It was pretty amazing. Essentially, it was the most hipster thing I've ever been to. I'm slightly jealous that Amy gets to work there and live in New York, for that matter. Although I will say that after my second visit, I feel the same way as after the first visit: I probably wouldn't want to live here. I don't know. It's a fantastic city. I love the diversity, the excitement, the people, and the opportunities in New York. But at the same time, I've left feeling bothered by the materialism that I noticed there. And that's not because everything is so expensive that I can't afford it all. Maybe it's due to the fact that I've spent most of my time there in midtown Manhattan, but money and image and things seem to be so important in the city, not something I'm used to. I don't know. I really enjoy my time there, and it could be interesting to live in New York for a year after graduation. But really, rather than one of those "I (heart) NY" shirts, I think what's more appropriate for me is: "I think NY is cool, but really, San Francisco is better."
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| The view of downtown from the Empire State Building |
- Gone to Brooklyn/the Bronx/Queens/Harlem
- Found the band The National
- Met Andy Samberg
- Eaten the world's best pizza (I have a friend who swears there is no good pizza in California because New York pizza is the best, but I still think Zachary's in the Bay Area is better...)
- Joined the UN
- Been part of the crowd at the Today show
And of course, I created a New York-themed playlist on my iPod for the journey. Listen to these!
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