New York New York
Hi,
We’ve been here now for only two days, but so far, the word I would use is fabulous (like everyone else I’ve ever talked to about N.Y.). Its great having the blog because, at least, its an excuse to reflect on the day and spit out a few words. We are staying at the Travel Inn Hotel in west 42nd street. We are really happy with the hotel. We are on the 6th floor with a beautiful view of the skyline and if you look down there is a trainline that goes under the street (and the hotel) making it real. We are sharing the same, one room, and so far so good. We’ve got two double beds and one roll away (for an extra $15 a night) and we are happy. We’ve sorted out our bags and spread ourselves out over the room. When we get home we watch the tele, and/or Hannah’s been practising her rubic cube (she’s got it down to something like 2 minutes from scrambled to totally sorted) and she’s still working on it to see what else she can find, or do with it. Barry or I on the computer looking things up or writing the blog, and Joey something in between the computer, the fridge, his music, or just chilling on the bed. There is a diner just downstairs that Barry mentioned earlier and loads of restaurants and food outlets all over town. We are staying in the area where West Side Story was set.
The hotel is about 5 blocks east and 1 block north from Times Square, and to visit the square is a real treat. The three or four times we’ve been there, there were hundreds of people with us. It is much better than i have imagined from TV scenes or accounts. Barry was blown away – in every direction there are huge screens, artworks, and flashing lights. I must say I wonderd while we were there how many kilowat hours were being used every second – but there you go – it was a blast. I’ll take up the video camera and get it on film to be reminded again and again.
All over New York there are groups of tourists stopped on corners and being spoken to by a guide. While in Times Square (last night with kathy) there was a huge group, with some of them screaming, or something like, and we thought there might have been a celebrity nereby so we crossed over to get a glimpse – but no – they were taking photos of each other and just having fun – basking in the experience.
We found a huge record shop the other day at Times Square, split up and spent some time looking around, but as Joey pointed out, we’ve seen very few other record shops, so far. We’ve also seen very few book shops, but then we haven’t been down to Soho or Greenwich Village as yet. Each day we are walking miles and miles. Today we went out to Queens and the local cemetary to go to the dedication to LaVern Bakera Jazz singer from the 1940s, 50s. That was a terrific experience. The people were thrilled that we had made the effort to come out and as it turned out the ceremony that was to take place at 1 o’clock was changed and they were getting ready for a cabaret that was to begin at 2pm. We talked with a few people including Eddie Brigato from the Rascals, his girlfriend/wife/lover (one woman), the organiser, and a black guy who was wearing a white collar (church). It was great to talk with them and we told them that we have enjoyed both Jazz and Blues for many years and were delighted to be there. A guy pulled us over on the way out and got us onto film and asked us to say something about why we were there. They offered us to stay, have some food, and listen to the music, but everyone were paying $20 a head and other than paying the $100 for all of us (including my niece) to stay (as well as putting up with the kids grumbling – we would have had to wait another hour and a half until the show started) so we cut our loses and thanked them, saying that we had things to do. By the way the church guy talked with us and after discovering that we were from Australia, he said to Barry, and you are travelling with your daughter – for a second, or two, I wondered what to say, and then realized that he was obviously making a joke – good one!!!
Queens was really different to how I imagined it. To think it is so close to New York and so very different – where the people live. We hung around for a while, had some lunch in a fast food place, and then walked the streets for a while looking for the house that the Marx Brothers used to live in. We walked down one of the residential streets and lots of people were looking at us wondering why we were there. We found a house that Barry thought might have been it, but realized, after looking on the web when we got home, that we had found the right street but not the right house. Anyhow, it was worth it. The ride on the train, and coming up into something closer to reality for the vast majority of Americans. In NY there are street cleaners all over the place, sweeping up cigarette stubs and any little bit of litter, but when we came up from the subway in Queens the streets were lined.
After this we went to Central Park with Kathy, a real treat, and I got about 10 DVD minutes of a demo of breakdancing that Joey thought was truely awsome. I gave the crew a reasonably good contribution and they gave me their own DVD, so something to follow-up with later. There were again hundreds of people, and you could overhear all kinds of languages from around the world. (Though by-the-way I’ve been surprised by the number of times I’ve overheard people speaking Spanish. Not tourists, but locals.)
Anyhow, enough from me. We are going to Ellis Island tomorrow which should be good. It will be interesting to see what Barry says about the same day.
For now, hope life is treating you well, and best from us, with our feet definitely up.
Joannie
PS: I should mention something about the show, Gypsy Rose Lee that we saw last night. Kathy and i set off about an hour and a half before the show was due to start (two blocks over and about 5 blocks up) we walked up, took some more snaps in Times Square, and looked for somewhere to eat. Even though there were dozens of places we didn’t have a lot of time left so we went to a fast pizza place, which was lovely. Our tickets were in the balcony and near the back, so a long way from the stage, though we could see okay. The show was really about Gypsy Rose Lee’s mother – who was driven to make one of her daughers into a star. The first one ran off and got married along the way and the second one (who had played the bottom part of the cow in their vaudaville style song, dance and comedy act) was the one who became Gypsy Rose Lee. After many years of trying the family realized that vaudaville was over and they ended up at one of those cheap Burleszue theatres. The mother resisted and insisted that her daughter not give too much, show some leg, but then take it back, keep her womanliness, her pride, or what-have-you, and she let her daughter do it, saying it will only be for a while. But it came to pass that the daughter loved what she did, you could say she found herself and at some point had it out with her overbearing mother, saying at last she was happy and doing what she wanted.
But, as I said the play was really about the mother, who then sang some wonderful renditions that captured her frustration in the fact that she was forced to live through her daughters and received a couple of standing ovations.
Unfortunately, the night we arrived (Friday) I hardly slept a wink – I just couldn’t sleep – I was feeling okay but they i mistakenly downed a glass of red and when the lights went down, would you believe it for a lot of the show I was fighting my eyelids that didn’t obviously share my joy… cest la vie
Tags: Travel
canberrians
(from Barry)
The commemoration for Lavern Baker was really great, as Joan has said. As a long-time follower of black American music, I knew about her and admired her. It surprised me that she was buried in an unmarked grave and so when I heard that the local historical society at Richmond Hill in Queens, NY, had raised money for a headstone, I felt I really wanted to be there. Luckily Joan agreed, and the kids tagged along. I’d emailed Nancy Cataldi, who heads the historical society (she’s also a freelance photographer who once did work for Rolling Stone magaine), about the event from Australia. However, her great surprise when we turned up today suggests that she didn’t really think we’d be there.
Lavern Baker was a rhythm and blues singer but also a female pioneer of rock music. It was great to meet Eddie Brigati jr. at the ceremony – he is an original member/vocalist of the 1960s soul/rock group The Rascals. We had a family photo with him – he was very friendly and very politically-minded (predictably anti-Bush). He kept saying that everything is ‘one’. I kept wanting to say, yes, but one divides into two. How surreal would that have been? Arguing philosophy and dialectics with the lead singer of one of the Sixties’ best rock soul bands?! I resisted the urge, however, as Joey and Hannah were becoming a bit restless. (They’re very patient kids but understandably couldn’t relate strongly to this particular event). The Rascals had a few international hits, reaching number one with hits like “Groovin”, “Good Lovin” and “A girl like you”. Eddie gave me his personal card, so I hope to keep in touch with him from Australia.
Meeting him and being at the Lavern Baker commemoration (actually, the event was to dedicate her headstone), plus then being interviewed with Joan on film for a documentary (I think) about the event, made it all surreal. In fact that whole New York trip so far has been surreal – from the magnificent sky-scrapers (is there anyhting we humans CAN’T achieve?!) through to the constant motion of the city and the wonderful art-works, especially the sculptures, that are part of the city-scape. I feel like we’ve been here a month already, such is the intensity and busyness of our visit, but it’s only been a couple of days.
Joan beat me to the draw in doing her latest blog. I also wanted to write about the Marx brothers’ old house. The reason she got in first was that I went to the local ‘food emporium’ to get some groceries and also to buy a takeaway pizza from a place a few minutes’ walk away that makes the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten. The vegetarian ones come with thick fresh broccoli and onion, on a crispy thin base. I keep meaning to mention how inexpensive food is in NYC. We’re all surprised by this but things are much cheaper than in Australia.
We stumbled across Grand Central Station this afternoon – what a delight. How long does one have to spend, just in mid-town Manhattan, to do it justice? And we’re yet to go uptown or downtown!
This is truly an amazing place – a tribute to what human beings can create. There are 67,000 people to the square mile in Manhattan – what a great place! (Sydney, by contrast, has about 900 to the square mile).
We also went to that other tribute to collective labour and imagination, Central Park. It’s totally unnatural – built entirely by humans. And it just rocks with life, people having fun, playing games, break-dancing, or just wandering aimlessly – all in the heart of this magnificent alphacity.
Barry
God you two are so exhausting. How do you do it – all that sightseeing and then blogging too! Peter and I are so dense we’ve only just discovered we can leave comments. It sounds fantastic – and you are obviously brilliantly organised. I’ll get some tips from you when you get home. Heard your Perspectives spot Barry. It made good listening. You know me, somethings I agreed with and as you know, not others. But that’s OK – that’s what makes life interesting. Keep on loving New York! And love to you all from us both – Lesley in Adelaide
More wonderful, amazing, memorable experiences. Look forward to reading them every night now. Did you say something poignant when you were interviewed on video? Sounds like a lovely experience at the cemetery. Loved your description of Times Square Joan-am so glad you got to see a Broadway show. How lovely to do it with Cathy. Keep off red wine! You’re probably exhausted from all the walking. Travelling is definitely hard work. Do you see lots of business people on the streets too? Have you been to Wall Street yet? You have been away a whole week now – can you believe it? Sounds like you are relaxing and into the swing of travelling now. What shows are you watching on TV? Are the supermarkets like ours? Same range of foods? Are clothes cheap? Have you seen/ heard any Australians? What’s it like to hear so many American accents – or are you used to it already? What was the housing like in Queens? Do you see very many black Americans? By the way, Marty is in New York too at this very minute doing a book binding course. Our news: Sam has assembled our table tennis table – with a lot of swearing – he did a great job; Sam also caught a chicken in our front yard yesterday – belonged to the neighbours; ACT government is having to very unhappily backtrack on plans to legalise lesbian/gay unions due to federal pressure; pre-school sites are going to be sold off; and lots of housing sites shortly to be released with a plan to allow people to pay rent on land to reduce costs. Tomorrow evening I am going to Sydney for the Happiness Conference! Looking forward to that. There’s an interesting book out now Barry – called The Happiness Trap – think you’ll like it! The author is not on the conference program I notice! Keep enjoying every minute.
Love from Jen and Sam
By the way it is 8pm Monday night now – and 5.04am Sunday in New York?
Jen
Jenny, the east coast of Australia is 14 or 15 hours ahead of New York. (I think 14 hours, due to daylight saving). If it’s 8.00pm at your place, then it would be 10.00 in the morning for us in NYC.
I’m typing this at 7.40 in the morning NY time – 9.40pm for you.
All the best,
Barry
Hi Canberrians
Sounds wonderful, all of it. You guys are doing a fantastic job of taking us all with you. Joan I’ve been wondering when you give your paper. I see you are off to South Roscoe tomorrow. I’m looking forward to discovering what is happening there. I know you had lots of special visits planned so it will be interesting to hear about them as they happen.
Barry I rang Larry immediately after we got off the phone and suggested if he had another call that he wait before hanging up as there seemed to be a delay. He seemed fine but was very pleased that a week had gone by already. It’s incredible to think what you’ve packed into that week.
Are you planning on meeting Simon? It was so good you were able to go to the Broadway show with Cathy, Joan. That’s something that will always be a special memory, even if you did keep dozing off.
Our sad news is that we accidentally let Yoko (our yellow canary) out yesterday. We just hope she is having a wonderful time and has not become some other creature’s gourmet meal.
Lots of love to you all
Leslie (Ken sends his love too)
Hi Guys, as the yanks say
Its great to read whats happening over there, and it all sounds fabulous. Thats about as creative as my mind manage right now, as I’m a bit anxious about finally comming to a decision about buying a townhouse or not, so my head is only there.
Have a great time giving your paper and meeting other like minded folk at the conference Joan. Keep having a ball and enjoying those delicious pizzas.
Cheers, Annette
Hi all,
Nice to touch base. Jenny you ask many questions – I’ll have a go at answering some of them.
Do you see lots of business people on the streets too?
You know I thought that people would be well dressed on the streets, though I’ve been surprised to see just how casual most people seem to be. We’ve seen a smattering of men in suits, though that’s it (maybe its got something to do with where we are and the times we are there). The other day Joey, Hannah and I were walking back to 42nd street from Lower Manhattan and loads of people were coming home from work. Hannah was amazed to see just how fast they were walking and they all seemed to be also talking on their cell phones at the same time – most dressed casually. Even when I went to the show on Saturday nght most people were dressed casually, jeans, joggers, etc.
Have you been to Wall Street yet?
We were down in the financial district today. Thank heavens we’ve started using the subway, the distances are great and my feet have been killing me by the time we get back to the hotel. We didn’t actually go to Wall street, by the time we got nearby it was past 5 and we were keen to get back to the hotel but we are planning to go down that way again sometime.
You have been away a whole week now – can you believe it?
In some ways the time is going fast, in others not. We keep doing things (though we’re taking it in a reasonably relaxed way – we’re not leaving too early) and are exhausted at the end of the day but as Barry says, there is just so much left to do (even the basics) that I’m sure we are going to leave before we’ve done everything we’d like to do. But there you go the nature of the place i think.
What shows are you watching on TV?
Would you believe Joey and Hannah have seen quite a few shows that they’d already seen in Canberra – amazing. And there is an american version of deal or no deal – as Hannah mentioned the tele is very disappointing – particularly here in New York. Though some of the news shows Barry and I have enjoyed – but you know sharing the room – we’ve been finding the common denominator most of the time if you know what i mean.
Are the supermarkets like ours? Same range of foods?
I just went up to the supermarket. I bought a large beautiful salad for $10 at the supermarker that did the four of us towards our dinner. It is possible to buy fruit salads as well made up – with so many people living in apartments and tourists I think a lot of people probably go to the supermarket and get something for dinner. The prices are good but otherwise the range isn’t all that big.
Are clothes cheap?
I’ve barely seen anything that I even want to buy let alone being tempted to spend. We walked through Soho and Greenwich village today and there were quite a few dress shops – looks like paddington – I imagine the prices would have been more than I’d want to spend, but as I said, nothing tempted me to even take a look. We spent hours walking around trying to find a record shop for Joey and its hard to believe it, but so far we’ve only come across one (large 3 storey shop) but other than that no second hand record shops or even independent shops. I mentioned this to an american woman on the train and she said, yes, there used to be loads of record and book shops but they’ve been taken over by the chains. we looked up the telephone book and have found that there are some across the city but we’ll have to write downt the addresses and track them down!! Hardly seen any book shops as well??!!
Have you seen/ heard any Australians?
yes, we’ve met a couple of australians but you hear all languages in the street everyday. There seems to be a lot of spanish speaking locals.
What’s it like to hear so many American accents – or are you used to it already?
Most people seem to have a little trouble understanding me though I am speaking slower and looking at them and we’ve been able to communicate. The us accent doesn’t seem as pronounced as it used to be. We’ve had some fun talking with some of the local black americans – great style and sense of humour.
What was the housing like in Queens? Much more down market than on the island of Manhattan – almost like two different worlds.
Do you see very many black Americans? yes, there are loads of black americans everywhere and a real mix of classes, though on balance many more on the street stalls than white americans.
glad to hear that sam got the ping pong table up – good on you Sam!!!
take care and best from us, JBHJ
nice one guys!!