Halloween Parade #33

When else can a penis be reunited with his sperm amid a gaggle of picture snapping onlookers?

Bowling For Cheese Fries

My night started at Cafetasia. It was my 2nd visit there in as many weeks. What is the name of that drink I keep getting there? Later rendezvoused with the rest of our crew and headed into Bowlmor. I remember taking high school gym classes there with Ms. Miley when it was still a hole, but now it's all swanked up. As their website says, "Everyone from Richard Nixon to the Rolling Stones to Cameron Diaz has enjoyed Bowlmor — shouldn't you?"

Our fearless foursome was joined at the last minute by a ringer. He cleaned our clocks and vipnyc even broke a nail. Wounded, but not defeated we all headed over to Saigon Grill for some tasty tasty.

...And Back Again

CP and MC's wedding that night.

There...

M's mom's funeral and burial this morning.

The Ends Justify The Means

Had tickets to Machiavelli this Friday night (at the ArcLight Theatre). Popped into Alice's Tea Cup a few blocks away for some scones and tea before the curtain rose. I do like their chai teas! Anyway the play was enjoyable and I noted how much the daughter character resembled one of my co-workers. Also formulated the beginnings of a plan for a big holiday bash.

Vipnyc's account of the goings-on.

All Thai All The Time

Another night of books, drink and food. Though I do think it would have been fun to lug those two monstrous books around all night.

Andras Schiff (again)

RV got us the hookup and we went to yet another Andras Schiff performance this year (It was my 2nd and my brother's 4th time). It was a fantastic performance; others agree.

October 27, 2006

By BERNARD HOLLAND

Metropolitan Museum

Pity the critic faced with music that arrives in a natural state and then is allowed to speak with complete naturalness. Writing about the pianist Andras Schiff playing Mozart at the Metropolitan Museum on Wednesday, you looked for traction -- a fissure or crack, or some extraordinary anomaly to hold onto, but here the critic's fingers just kept slipping off.

Mr. Schiff played the two most popular of the major-key sonatas: The A Major and the C Major. He manufactured a sonata of his own from the smaller of the D minor Fantasies (he played the bigger one as an encore), the B minor Adagio and the Rondo in D. There was also the heaven-sent A-minor Rondo, the powerful A minor Sonata and, at the end, the Variations in G, prime Mozart that needs more exposure than it gets.

Sober thinking after the fact tells the critic that there were too many intelligent decisions about all kinds of details for these performances just to have happened. First of all, Mr. Schiff reads what Mozart says. The familiar ''Alla turca'' of the Sonata in A is marked ''allegretto'' -- somewhere between a brisk stroll and a slow trot. It is not the racecourse for eager, nimble fingers it usually becomes; Mr. Schiff replaced the breathless with the casual. Similarly, the Andante movement of the A minor Sonata, sad though its message, specifically asks that its tempo walk as it did here, not trudge.

There were also the lovely shadings of scale and graceful hesitations joining one section to another. This is a reasonably small hall, and Mr. Schiff never tried to overpower listeners. He has the technique for Mozart, which is difficult not in the way of Rachmaninoff or Balakirev, but for being mercilessly transparent, susceptible to the smallest vulgarity or malfunction. If this concert had been less good, this review would be longer. But so successful was the evening that the critic can only throw up his hands, wish you had been there, and quote Ira Gershwin's endearing tombstone inscription: ''Words Fail Me.''

Take the A train to STC,STW

I didn't expect things to turn out the way they did. There were several meetings and partings, but my favorite part of the day was utilizing vipnyc's online online reference to illustrate the verbal traffic jam that is a New York conversation. :)

Stairs, Sporks, & Ice Cream Axes

Had yet another lunch at Loreley for a departing co-worker. It sucks.

As always vipnyc does a good job detailing the splendor that is the Cooper-Hewitt.

I like going up to the Design Museum, because it brings back fond memories of more halcyon days in and around Carnegie Hill. I feel like I've been spending a lot of time looking back on past glory, past joys. Maybe it's just all too much for me to handle.

NLCS Game 7 tonight

I'll be at Shea tonight in the upper deck, left field (Section 36, Row P).
I'm so excited.

Let's go Mets!!!

UPDATED

The Mets lost 3-1.
They had plenty of chances, even loading the bases in the bottom of the 9th.
But Endy Chavez made the defensive play of the year, maybe even the best defensive play in all of Met history in the top of the 6th inning. Scott Rolen hit a line drive to left field with a runner on 1st, 1 out. The ball was going over the wall for a home-run when Chavez made a backwards leap, reached above the wall, barely caught the ball (snow-cone), and threw the ball back into the infield to double up the runner at 1st base.

Here's one of the greatest comebacks in sports, the bottom of the 10th inning, Game 6, 1986 World Series.

Thai (again) & Russian

I just really want to say, "Sbasiba!" to vipnyc for all the blogorific linkage. I also need to mention that I now have a West Coast blog comment rival. :)

NLCS (2-2) on hold again

Game 5 was rained out (the 2nd rain-out in the series). It means that both Tom Glavine and Jeff Weaver will be pitching on normal rest tomorrow night. The team that wins tomorrow will have a huge psychological advantage in Game 6, since both teams will likely board 2am flights and get back to NYC around 4am for a Game 6 start (on Wednesday night) will little or no rest. I have 4 tickets to NLCS Game 7, but I'd much rather have the Mets win out before it even gets to that point.

UPDATE

Got a haircut.

Hot chocolate snafu

I'm too lazy to come up with anything better than this synopsis of the morning's adventure (including the hot chocolate/horchata incident).

Though I don't remember trying to eat the baby in the Maclaren. How can hipsters afford to have babies? and afford Maclarens? Maclaren by Starck, Kate Spade, Burberry...why am I writing about baby carriages!

Anwyay I did end up at the CultureFest 2006 in Battery Park that afternoon - "A free outdoor festival spotlighting museums, gardens, zoos, historic sites, performing and visual arts from all five boroughs." Picked up a bagful of brochures and other freebies and even ran into one of my fellow origamists at the AMNH booth. Future good times await.

(Edited to add the following)

I won the raffle for tickets at the Young Concert Artists booth, by correctly identifying a 1975 photo of Emanuel Ax!

Sausage Party (the good kind)

LC was having a housewarming/Oktoberfest gathering at her place in Bay Ridge. She usually attends all the events at our place, so even though Bay Ridge is a good two hours away on a weekend, I made the trek out there. I was on time and one of the first there. Picked up some fresh bread from Parisi Bakery on the way. Parisi Bakery has been there forever, and their neighbors keep changing.

LC's place was bigger than I expected. I helped with the cooking, since none of the guests there seemed comfortable in the kitchen. The spices were all in a shoebox! We got some flavor on those brats and wieners!

Vanessa, Atoosa, & Manny

I had $10 tickets to Carnegie Hall tonight.

Stopped in at Burger Joint while I waited for vipnyc. I ordered my burgers and fries and waited off to the side. One of the burger dudes exclaimed, "I am done with black women." He looked at me and said, "You can have 'em. I like your kind." I said something non-commital about how I love the ladies, in all their pulchritude. This goes on for a bit until I finally get my order and grab a coveted booth. Joined a few minutes later by Vanessa, a lawyer from West London. She'd just tried to cram into the booth next to me, but Atoosa was holding her booth for three people and could not accommodate her. I doubt the EIC of Seventeen magazine is used to sharing. Vipnyc got there soon enough and we were soon off for Carnegie Hall.

Manny Ax was playing some Mozart tonight along with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Of course our seats were second row center again. :)

Manny was alright.

Some lovely pics and fine details from that night.

Bye Bye Libby

Another departure. This time we went to the Vig Bar. I didn't stay long, but I left a nugget, a little bomb for my co-worker buddies. They were enraged by this latest bit of news. Ah yes, job well done.

André Watts and friends

Attended a concert at Carnegie Hall with bro, JS and RV. But first things first, we ate burgers at the Burger Joint inside the Parker Meridien.

Description of the concert on their website.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Christoph Eschenbach, Music Director and Conductor
André Watts, Piano

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique"

Both the Brahms Concerto and Tchaikovsky Symphony on tonight’s program initially challenged the expectations of listeners in the late 19th century. Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto was the longest concerto written to that point, a work of symphonic proportions that boasts an added scherzo movement.

Tchaikovsky’s final symphony, known as the “Pathétique,” had the expected four movements, but seemingly in the wrong order—the work ends with a despairing slow movement that became a model for Mahler and later symphonists. As the composer died just nine days after conducting its premiere, the unusual format of the Symphony inevitably sparked considerable speculation about possible autobiographical implications.

ALCS - A's vs Tigers

The American League Championship Series begins tonight. The Yankees are not playing. Because they lost to the Detroit Tigers, an inexperienced team with good young pitching and impatient hitters. The Oakland A's should now be the favorite to win the AL and face the NL champion (hopefully the Mets) in the World Series next week.

23 Skidoo

Here's something I learned in the middle of a cornfield today (confirmed by the interweb when I got home).

From the Wikipedia entry on the Flatiron Building,

"The building also helped coin the phrase "23 skidoo" or scram, from what cops would shout at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being blown up by the winds created by the triangular building."

Steak and greet

Threw together a steak dinner for some (old & new) friends this Sunday night. Leeky potatoes and a cheesy baked squash dish were a part of the mix. Could have done a better job with the logistics and actually served the dinner on time, but I think everyone was happy enough at the end. So happy that we hatched a plan to reconvene for a somewhat larger dinner party two weeks hence. Cassoulet anyone?

OHNY

Open House New York this weekend. I'd volunteered to be at one of the sites for a few hours this Saturday, and was assigned to the Hindu Temple Society of North America out in Flushing. GP, the PR point man for the temple showed me around before the onslaught of visitors, at least I hoped it would be an onslaught anyway. A grand total of four (4) people came to visit the temple. A building collapse on 108th Street earlier in the day (which shut down the 7 train) may have been a factor in the lack of OHNY folks. I took some pics of the temple which I'll post later.

Subway Series 2006?

The Yankees and Mets are both up 1-0 in their respective Division Series. I think a series between these teams would be much better than the 2000 World Series.

Everyone in New York wants a Subway Series, but FOX Sports execs (and the rest of the country) probably want the St. Louis Cardinals to advance to face the Yankees. The Cardinals are the most storied franchise in baseball outside of New York (9-time World Series winners) and they were the westernmost baseball team for a good part of the 20th Century (before the Dodgers & Giants left New York for California in the 50s). The radio broadcasts of their games on KMOX 1120AM made them the #1 team of every baseball fan west of the Mississippi. (In 2006 KMOX lost the broadcast rights to Cardinals games to a radio station (KTRS) owned by the Cardinals.) Though their fan base is smaller nowadays with several other teams moving west and multiple expansions of MLB, I imagine most people would still root for the Cards over the Evil Empire.

Somebody

Give me a reason to believe.

(EDIT)

Been feeling so ridiculously sad (again).

(EDIT)

But it's Tuesday.
And the Mets and Yankees are both in the playoffs.
Maybe life isn't that bad after all.

My Longest Post So Far

I'm so totally cheating at this blog thing.