Historic Distracted Wanderings Complete with Cake!

Don't just stand here!  Swing on over to The Distracted Wanderer and read about my recent trip to New York City to attend the 95th Anniversary Celebration of the PGA of America at the historic and beautiful Radisson Martinique on Broadway!

There was cake! 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I was so tired yesterday that I forgot to mention that Amanda thoroughly enjoyed her trip to New York City over the weekend where she had a marvelous time not just looking for brains but also offering them up on a tray along with some innards and a swig of blood should one find themself down a pint or two! 

I'd be willing to bet that when my old Gram B made that apron that Amanda's wearing with her costume that she never in a million years would have thought that her great-granddaughter who would wear it in a zombie walk!  Not that she would have known what a zombie walk was either!

As you can see, Amanda did her usual great job with her make-up and even has that "flesh sliding off her face" look down perfectly!  Her friend Sami prefers not to have to spend an hour washing the stuff off so goes for the slightly less-zombified look - though still horrific in it's own right! 

No matter how ghoulish and ghastly they look, though, the girls had a wonderful time hanging out together while scaring people on the subway ride back to Sami's place and just being kids.  Someday they'll be able to look back and fondly remember the times they lurched down the streets of Brooklyn in full zombie regalia - something that not a lot of us could ever say!

Escaping the Doldrums

 

So, what does one do while standing in a rather long queue while waiting for one's teenage daughter to get a chance to meet one of her favorite artists in a small shop in the East Village? Simple - one takes pictures of one's surroundings. In this case, most of the surroundings were of the fire escape variety but luckily I like fire escapes! 

If I were younger or had it all to do over again, I'd love to live in a place that had a fire escape as fire escapes are sometimes the things that dreams are made of - if you don't believe me you haven't watched West Side Story or Pretty Woman, have you?

An Art-Full Weekend

This past weekend has been filled with all sorts of art starting with the trip that Amanda and I made down to New York City yesterday so that she (and I) could stand in line at a small store on East 9th Street for much too long!

Originally I was scheduled to work on Saturday evening but when Amanda found out that one of her favorite artists was going to be doing a Sketch 4 Sketch Meet and Greet appearance in New York City I did the thing that any pushover parent would do and finagled a last-minute switch with one of my co-workers so that I could schlep her down there.

Hopping on the MetroNorth train out of South Norwalk, we arrived at Grand Central Terminal and then walked down to the MoMA to try to catch a little bit of the Tim Burton Exhibit that we had originally gone to on New Year's Day.  Our hope was that maybe it wouldn't be quite so crowded as before but alas, no such luck and it was wall-to-wall people - so much so that you couldn't see a thing and the room was so overheated I thought I was gonna pass out if I didn't get out of there and get some fresh air. Seriously, the next time the MoMA decides to do an exhibit like that one, they really ought to consider using a bigger gallery area! After leaving there after only a couple of moments, we quickly popped in to take a look at the Picassos on display in the studio next door and then took our leave of the MoMA to head to The Village.

Arriving just shortly after 4:00, Amanda joined what was already a decent-sized line to wait for her chance to meet San Francisco Bay Area artists Alex Pardee and Dave Correia.  The only thing I knew about Alex Pardee is that he has done album art for The Used and Aidan but Amanda has mentioned him numerous times as being one of her favorite artists; as for the other guy I was totally clueless and Amanda didn't seem to know much more than I did though to her credit, she had Googled the guy beforehand!

Leaving Amanda to stand with the other people who had brought sketches to trade with Alex and Dave, I walked down to the park at the end of the street and spent some time taking pictures before wandering back to see if Amanda had made any progress ... she hadn't moved hardly at all!

I left again to take a walk around the block and check out some of the little shops and restaurants in the area and came back to find that Amanda still hadn't gotten very far but she was bound and determined to stick it  out.  I walked across the street and sat on a planter around a tree for awhile and answered the questions of curious passersby who wanted to know what everyone was queuing up for.

I also had the chance to talk with another Doctor Who fan about the pros and cons of the new doctor and the brilliance of David Tennant as I had borrowed Amanda's Doctor Who t-shirt to wear for the day.  The conversation killed a few minutes before I went back and waited in line with Amanda until I decided that sustenance was in order and walked down and grabbed a couple slices of pizza which I brought back and shared with Amanda as we went into hour number four of patiently waiting.

Finally at almost 9:30 p.m. Amanda got her turn to enter the store and hand over the sketch that she had brought with her to Alex & Dave -

Those who have watched a lot of Doctor Who might 'get' some of this drawing but if you haven't, well ... let's just say it's definitely typical Amanda artwork! Inspired by her Plague Doctor, Alex drew the following for her:

And Dave whipped out the following:

Admittedly those aren't something I'd want hanging on my walls but Amanda was thrilled with both pieces as well as the conversation she had with Alex wherein he complimented her on her choice of Gris Grimly t-shirt that she was wearing (come to think of it, everyone in the store loved her Gris Grimly shirt!) , asked if she was going to be going to art school (which she took as a good sign that her work was good enough for her to go), and then inquired as to how she had done the shading, etc. on her drawing which she also took as a good sign that they liked it.  All of a sudden the blister that had sprung up on her foot was forgotten as was how tired she was from standing in line for over five hours!

With a beaming 17-year old in tow, we flagged down a taxi as there was no way I was walking back down to the subway station and managed to make it back to Grand Central Station in time to catch the 10:22 p.m. train back to Connecticut.   Our long day ended when I pulled into our driveway at 12:58 a.m.  Oy!

Today it was back into the car to make the drive up to West Hartford so that we could attend the opening reception for the CT+5 regional exhibit that my photo of the Brooklyn Bridge had been accepted into.  The gallery was once again very small and very crowded so it was shades of the MoMA all over again minus any famous artwork on the walls!  Connecticut blogging friends Ralph and Patti made the drive up from Ansonia to join us which was really nice as Amanda really felt out of place amongst the older dowagers of West Hartford society who seemed to dominate the crowd and I was feeling a bit out of my league, too.  Honestly, after looking at some of the artwork on display, I am totally shocked that my humble little picture was chosen to be in the exhibit; to say that the room was stuffy in more ways than one (Amanda's words) was not incorrect!

From there we went to the local Red Robin for a nice lunch and chance to chat about kids and college (their oldest daughter will be graduating from the University of Hartford in May) and other things before Amanda and I returned to Norwich via the scenic route as I was apparently daydreaming and missed the turnoff for Route 2!

Finally, to cap off the art-filled weekend, I should mention that I received a letter in the mail yesterday letting me know that my submission to the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 99th Annual Juried Show in Mystic has been accepted for inclusion into the show so that will be gallery showing number two for me for the year.  Mo - I think you'll be pleased with the photo I submitted - thanks for the encouragement!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go collapse on the couch for a little while - I think I've earned it!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

All of the posting the last couple days of pictures from my latest trip to New York City with Amanda got me to thinking about one of my very first trips to New York City when I wasn't much older than Amanda in September of 1977. At the time I had just barely turned 19 years old and was stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey which made it easy to hop on a bus and venture up to the Big Apple where I met up with my best high school buddy Carol, still only 18 years old, who had taken the train down from Connecticut.

We were getting together to celebrate my birthday a few days late as well as attend my very first Broadway play at the Helen Hayes Theater.  We had chosen Equus as at the time it was starring Leonard Nimoy and Carol and I were admittedly big Star Trek fans which made it totally exciting for us!

Probably the only reason we chose Equus was because of Nimoy as the play itself is rather, uhm, disturbing you might say. Equus was written in 1973 by Peter Shaffer and it tells the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious/sexual fascination with horses.  Pretty heavy material for a couple of teenagers especially considering there's full frontal nudity at one point; you've got to remember, 1977 was a totally different time as compared to now and those things were still pretty racy.   I can still remember the older lady sitting next to me waking up at just that point in the play and gasping "Oh my goodness!" rather loudly! 

Still it was quite the adventure for Carol and I and we had a wonderful time posing for pictures in front of the theater ...

... and then later visiting the Empire State Building where I posed for this picture at the top.  The quality is pretty terrible as these pictures are pretty old and were taken with what I believe was a Kodak 110 Instamatic Camera - or something along those lines - so I have no idea if I was pointing at anything in particular or not but I have a feeling I was.  I don't believe that was a typical pose for me!  

Good Lord, and to think that I thought I was fat back then. What the heck was I thinking??

This picture of Carol was taken back at the Hotel Edison where we decided to stay for the night.  That was back in the days when you could actually walk into a hotel and ask if there were any vacancies then get a room without having to lop off an arm and a leg to pay for it!  I bet if Carol were to see this she'd be shocked at how young she looks, too!

Anyhow, this trip was just one of several that Carol and I took to New York City while I was living in New Jersey but it may be the only one that I have any pictures of.  Obviously I wasn't attached to a camera back then like I am now which is too bad as the memories these pictures provoke are priceless.  I can still remember how much we laughed when we went to open the window shade of our hotel room and it came crashing down off of the window or how shocked we were when Leonard Nimoy just materialized in front of us while we were taking pictures out in front of the theater.  And what did my brilliant 19-year old mind come up with to say on such an auspicious an occasion?  "Oh, it's you!"  Duh ...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go feel old and fat!

The Last of Our New Year's Day Trip to New York City

Continuing down Fifth Avenue after leaving the Museum of Modern Art on Friday afternoon, the girls and I came across this statute of Atlas which stands in front of Rockefeller Center directly across from St. Patrick's Cathedral.  As an interesting note, when the sculpture was first revealed it was protested by Catholics who thought it was inappropriate that a statute containing a semi-nude man be placed directly across from the cathedral.  Obviously the protests did no good as Atlas is still standing in the same spot some 72 years later!
 

Installed in 1938, the sculpture was crafted in the Art Deco style - as is the entirety of Rockefeller Center. Atlas himself stands 15 feet tall and when you add on the celestial spheres that he's holding on his shoulders the whole sculpture tops out at 45 feet high - or as high as a four-story building. In other words, it's a tall statute!

Another wonderful piece of Art Deco is located at the main entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza - the relief sculpture of Wisdom which was completed in 1933.

Carved from Indiana limestone, Wisdom is 22 feet high and 14 feet wide and like Atlas, he was the product of one of the United States most prominent architectural sculptors - Lee Oscar Lawrie.

From Rockefeller Center, we decided to head towards Times Square to find something to eat and on our way I caught a glimpse of one of my favorite places in New York City - Radio City Music Hall.

I've only been to Radio City twice - the first time when we went to NYC for my 8th grade class trip way back in 1972 and once for their Christmas Show back in the early 1990's - but I'm hoping to go again one of these days.

I've got to admit, New York knows how to do it up right when it comes to Christmas lights so I'm going to have to make it a point to go back down that way again next Christmas and take some more pictures!  I bet I could even fit in a trip to Radio City Music Hall again, too!

When we got to Times Square we had a chance to see the famous ball that drops on New Year's Eve to signal the beginning of the new year.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've watched it drop from the comfort of my living room and never once have I wished I was in the crowd of revelers who pack Times Square from one end to the other!

It doesn't matter how many times I go to Times Square, though, I still think it's totally cool in spite of - or maybe because of - the hustle and bustle that seems to be there 24/7. It just wouldn't be New York without it! I'm not sure if the girls feel the same way or not but I made them pose for a picture anyway.  What you can't see but what was really cool was that there was still confetti swirling in the air above us from the New Year's Eve celebration the night before!

By the way, see the sign for the Marquis Theater up above Sami's head?  I went to see Damn Yankees there with my cousin way too many years ago and it was one of the best Broadway shows I've seen - ever!  I loved every minute of it and it didn't hurt that Victor Garber was playing the role of the Devil!  I used to love to go to Broadway shows but alas, they have become way too expensive unless you sit in the nosebleed section and bring binoculars to see the stage.  I really miss the annual trips that my cousin and I used to take, though.  Maybe we need to resurrect that tradition.

After dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, we walked back past Bryant Park and the Crumbs Bake Shop that I posted about the other day on our way to Grand Central Terminal where Sami would catch the subway to her home in Brooklyn and Amanda and I would climb on board a Metro-North train back to Connecticut.

I had totally forgotten how close Grand Central is to another of New York's beautiful Art Deco-designed buildings - the Chrysler Building.  New York just has so many beautiful old buildings that I could probably walk around for days and still not get tired of looking at them! 

One last picture because I thought it was cool - this street sign is right outside Grand Central and I just loved all of the flags on it and the perspective of looking up - something you do a lot of in New York City!

All in all I'd have to say that it was a great way to spend New Year's Day and we were fortunate enough to have decent weather while we were there.  It occurred to me as I was nodding off on the train on the way home that there was no snow anywhere in the city and even though forecasters had been predicting lousy weather, we actually saw the sun come out for a little while in the afternoon.  No wonder people say "I love New York!"

Strolling Along Fifth Avenue

Actually, the title of this post is probably fairly inaccurate as there was no actual "strolling along" possible when Amanda and I were in New York City on New Year's Day. The number of other people crowded on the sidewalks of one of New York's more famous streets made it downright impossible to stroll, saunter, leisurely walk, or amble. Instead it was more like being inside a pinball game and dodging people every step of the way!

Still, what does one expect when in New York during a holiday - particularly the day after a holiday where thousands of people cram themselves into a relatively small area to watch a ball descend and welcome in the New Year? After all, those people all have to be somewhere the next day, right? And there they were ... seeing the sights on Fifth Avenue just like we were!

But who can resist with some of the gorgeous buildings that were still decked out in their holiday finery? Like the House of Versace ...

... which is right next door to Cartier Jewelers (both places I will never ever step foot in as I doubt I could even afford to breath the air in either place!).

There's also this beautiful building (which houses I'm not sure what!) with its big snowflakes that I'm sure look fantastic lit up at night ...

... and, even though it wasn't decorated (scaffolding seriously does not count!) there's the renowned Saint Patrick's Cathedral whose cornerstone was laid in 1858 and massive doors swept open in 1879.

Upon its opening, Saint Patrick's was declared to be “the noblest temple ever raised in any land to the memory of St. Patrick, and as the glory of Catholic America”  and it's pretty easy to see why people thought that way!

Just down Fifth Avenue a bit is the equally beautiful St. Thomas Church which was built in the French High Gothic style of architecture.  The current church is actually the fourth building in the history of the Episcopal New York parish's history and was completed in 1913.

I wish that I could have gotten some pictures of the entire church but the crowds made it downright impossible to get more than a couple of shots of the entryways and some of the carvings that adorn the outside of the building.

Apparently guided tours are given each Sunday after the 11:00 a.m. worship service so I'm thinking I need to get a Sunday off at some point and head to New York to go to church so that I can see the beauty that is the inside of St. Thomas as well as listen to the music from the Chancel and Gallery organs that I'm sure is nothing short of heavenly.

Truth be told, I'm not a religious person (I prefer to think of myself as a believer and keeper of the faith without the trappings of organized religion) but I do appreciate the architecture and beauty that went into the houses of worship that people used to build.  It's often been said "to God be the glory" and St. Thomas, as well as St. Patrick's Cathedral, certainly does give glory to God.

I'll be wrapping up our visit to New York with some final pictures tomorrow - hope you'll come back to check them out!

Next Up After the MoMA

I knew that while we were in New York City on New Year's Day that there was another thing I really wanted to see aside from the MoMA ...

Hmmm, now what is that big thing that everyone wants to see when they come into New York City at Christmas time?

I'm pretty sure I've seen it on TV before - especially when we're watching the Today Show at work in the mornings.

Lots and lots of people flock to the City to see it - and I do mean LOTS of people!!

I know! It's the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center! Something that I had never seen in person before the other day and I've got to say that it's very, very impressive!

The girls didn't seem to be quite as impressed as I was but they were nice enough to pose in front of the Today Show studio windows for me as - yes - I can be just as much of a tourist as the next guy even though I try real hard not to act like it!

It's just a good thing that Matt, Meredith, Ann, and Al weren't in attendance at the studios or I probably really would have been acting like a tourist - a goofy one at that!