Tag: NYC

That time we almost saw the Daily Show

Nishi and I went into NYC yesterday to attend a taping of the Daily Show. Jon Stewart is leaving later this year, and I thought it would be fun to see a taping. The trip down was part of my birthday present from my parents this year.

We dropped Charlie off with my parents, and got on the train in New Haven to head into the city. We had a roughly half hour walk from Grand Central to the studio, and would arrive at Grand Central about an hour before we needed to be there. The Daily Show overbooks tapings, so you need to be there a little early. We thought we’d get there by 2, but were about a half hour late, putting us right at the time they start handing out tickets. The line stretched around the block. We were about six people away from the front when they announced they were out of tickets for the day’s show.

We were at a loss. Being near the theatre district, we though it would be nice to catch a play, but everything there was out of our price range, and everything in our price range was far away. Maybe some live music? No, it’s a Wednesday night, most of the bars have a dude who couldn’t hold a candle to the people we like to listen to, nevermind a full band.

Food was in order – lots of it. We had a grand meal, and it brightened both our spirits. We made our way back to Grand Central and then New Haven. Though we didn’t succeed in our reason for going out there, it was a fine day anyhow.

The Winter’s Tale

Nishi managed to get tickets to The Winter’s Tale playing in NYC. We managed to convince Ned and his girlfriend to come along. It was a pretty cool show, and a pretty unique adaptation. Earlier that same day, we caught a play directed by a friend of Nishi’s, also in NYC. Someone to Watch Over Me had a much different tone, and was pretty powerful.

Developments

So. I just got a job offer from the Census. Interestingly enough, it’s the third one I’ve gotten since I’ve applied. Each successive offer has been for a better paying and more desirable position. The first was a clerical job, located in an office that was just too far away. The second job was the one I was gunning for, but my return trip to get the bus was a dealbreaker for them. This third job is close to home, and starts after I’m back with the bus. Marvelous!

However, it presents an interesting predicament. This job may very well last the entire summer, conflicting with my plans to live in NYC. If push comes to shove, this job will win. I can’t scoff at this money, since it will put me much closer (probably a year ahead of schedule) to getting my own place and unplugging. I am going to do New York at some point…it just may not be this summer. :(

New York, NY

Went to NY with Ali this weekend to see some friends, sights, etc. I enjoyed the city a lot more than I did on previous visits, and I’m pretty sure its because we did the city at night. Daytime in NY gives me a headache, and on top of that I don’t like the rush. Nighttime is different. We did a lot, and I could tell a lot of different stories, but I’ll just tell the one anecdote that stands out from this weekend.

At some point on Saturday, someone commented on/started singing/started humming Mahna Mahna. Slowly, it crept into everyone’s mind, and refused to be stopped. Later into the night, we started bursting into song, because we just couldn’t keep it inside. While hanging around the Bamn! Automat (which I very much enjoyed, even if I didn’t eat there) Max decided to try and get people on the street to join in with us in song. He went up to the corner, and started singing/humming, and one by one we joined him, as if we were just passersby, caught up in the magic of the song. We got a couple other folks to join in with us, but for the most part people just walked past us, bemused.

This wasn’t nearly satisfying, so we started to look for another target. Across the street were two musicians, playing trombone and accordian, playing traditional klezmer songs. We walked up to them, and waited for them to finish the song they had been playing before tossing the Mahna Mahna ball into their court. Quickly, they picked up on what we were doing and started to jam along, creating an entirely new beast of a song. Max was clever enough to think of recording it, and hopefully I’ll be able to get a copy. Once that was finished, they started back up with their own repertoire, with us clapping and dancing along. Soon, a crowd had gathered to hear these guys play. Some in the crowd were musicians with instruments in hand, and before long they had joined in as well. Now we had a five piece band consisting of a soprano saxophone, fiddle, guitar, trombone and accordian, with a mass dancing and clapping people around it all. On a street corner in New York City. At 4 in the morning.