Jazz rulz (and will always do)
Yups, I finally fulfilled my long term ambition of going to a jazz club :) but more on that later, we'll discuss things in chronological order.
there's this funny (and stupid) thing about NY. it'll be nice and bright and sunny throughout the week, and as if to punish us for the work we do over the week, it'll start raining on weekends! not that i was going to let it dampen my spirits.
so comes saturday (21st april), i wake up at 11:30, and as expected, it's raining. not a heavy downpour, just an irritating drizzle. well, i had an inkling that this was going to happen, and i was prepared for it. so i called up the IIMC junta and ask them if they wanna ghoomo. seems they were too scared they would melt in the rain. neway, so i hurry and get ready (it's amazing how much time you can take if you take your time getting ready) and leave for manhattan. no set plans, just get out and then we'll see where to go to.
rockefeller center happens to be a minute's walk from the lehman building, so that was my first stop. after walking around the block twice, and trying to decide what it was i actually wanted to see (i coudl choose between a radio city tour, and a NBC studio tour, and a NYC view from the top) and eating a godiva peanut butter cupcake in the process (it was amazing, by the way) i finally decided to get a bird's eye view of NYC. so i went in and they first make you look at the history of rockefeller center in pictures and text (i mean, just let me go up there yaar), i finally was taken to the 67th floor (yups, 67th!). before i get to the NYC view though, the elevator was amazing!! it had a glass ceiling, and they had a projector behind it, so as you went up, you would not only see yourself going up the building, but also an advertisement (for lack of a better word) of the place! really good it was :)
ya, now to the NYC view. ummm... it was nice, nothing awe inspiring about it. i could see the hudson go by the city, and a huge park (or whatever it was) between rows and rows and rows of buildings... but that was about all. nothing out of the world.
neway, so after spending some time there (i spent 18 dollars for getting up there, i might as well make some use of it), i came down and consulted the "not for tourists (NFT) guide to NY", which lehman brothers had very generously given all its interns. i found a list of recommended contemporary art museums, one of them being Dia on 22nd street. after asking arouund for directions, and having a chocolate cream cheese muffin (divine) and a white chocolate mocha (divine again) at starbucks, i took off for Dia. the drizzle had intensified (someone please suggest a better word) by then, and the basta*d at barnes and nobles sent me off in the opposite direction, and it was decently long walk, so basically by the time i got to Dia, i was completely wet. bah! neway, the museum more than made up for it! the ground floor especially had amazing stuff (there was also this long quote from an artist which i copied down on paper and am too lazt to post right now). there is this artist who designs mobile homes, and experiments with different materials, and what all you can do in a small trailer and stuff. they also had something called an escape vehicle, which was an oddly shaped enclosure for a single person, which people could customize to their liking. different artists had done nice stuff in it, one had made it into a lounge kind of a place, one had made it up like a dungeon, one had nice white soft pillows and stuff in it... really good stuff there. they also had models of "compact living spaces" so to say, not very different from the cellular sleeping places you find in japan. on the other floors, there were photo exhibits by an islamic photographer, and random shit, but most of my time was spent on the ground floor. for people who visit NY, it's a must see. oh, ya, they also had a video showing how the artist went about experimenting with materials and building her mobile home in a desert and stuff.
ah, so that took some time and it was about 5:30 by the time i left. i called up IIMC people again (as they had asked me to do) and asked if any of them were interested in going to a jazz club. fortunately, priyanka and bhargav agreed and we decided to meet up at lehman at 8:30. yippeee, we were going t oa jazz club!! since i had loads of time till then, and no enthu of walking around any more, i went to a starbucks near lehman, and spent my time there reading the book on jazz history i bought. 8:30, and pinku and bhargav were nowhere to be seen. so i took out my NFT and started searching for places we could go to, i came across a recommended list of 3. fortunately i was carrying my lehman ID with me, so i decided to call them up. village vanguard was full, but we were lucky to get place at birdland :) i booked the last table they had left, and after waiting for another half an hour (they were really late!) we left for the place. afer asking around for birdland while standing right next to it (seriously, right next to it!) we realized our folly and went it quickly (we were already late by abt hald an hour for the 9:00pm show). it was amazing! seriously... one of the experiences i'll always remember (just like the opera i saw in vienna). the singere was really good, and so was his band. classic jazz pieces they were playing... real good fun! and the experience of live jazz is something hard to describe... unfortunately the show went on only for about ah hour and 15 minutes (of which we missed half an hour). neway, we had (a very expensive) dinner there and came out with a plan to get drunk somewhere.
now hard rock cafe happens to be just a few blocks down from where we were, so it was the obvious choice for us to go to. the shop was open when we went in, so we roamed there and checked out overpriced "hard rock cafe" branded stuff (that sweatshirt was amazing though, i'm going to buy it before i leave this place) and after taking pictures of the wall of guitars (seriously, they have a wall made out of electric guitars!) we went into the pub. it was simply rockin'! great music, great bartenders (real enthu junta), great people and great booze (well, that's the same everywhere, but still). i had a chivas regal after a long time, and since pinku was not satisfied by the strength of her screwdriver, i got her an absolut on the rocks!! :D we spent a lot of time there, soaking up the atmosphere, singing the songs playing (ok, we knoew very few of them) and watching sports.... i could understand why the place was so popular! neway, we got out of the place at about 1am, and after having a chocolate muffin (thanx too pinku's craving for something hot and chocolatey, which she didn't get), we got back home.
spent the sunday recuperating from the hectic saturday and cleaning up the house (and making other people help out :D). that was about it. a successful weekend i must say :)
still have to tell you about my visit to MOMA on friday, but it's time to sleep abhi. g'nite. tata!
there's this funny (and stupid) thing about NY. it'll be nice and bright and sunny throughout the week, and as if to punish us for the work we do over the week, it'll start raining on weekends! not that i was going to let it dampen my spirits.
so comes saturday (21st april), i wake up at 11:30, and as expected, it's raining. not a heavy downpour, just an irritating drizzle. well, i had an inkling that this was going to happen, and i was prepared for it. so i called up the IIMC junta and ask them if they wanna ghoomo. seems they were too scared they would melt in the rain. neway, so i hurry and get ready (it's amazing how much time you can take if you take your time getting ready) and leave for manhattan. no set plans, just get out and then we'll see where to go to.
rockefeller center happens to be a minute's walk from the lehman building, so that was my first stop. after walking around the block twice, and trying to decide what it was i actually wanted to see (i coudl choose between a radio city tour, and a NBC studio tour, and a NYC view from the top) and eating a godiva peanut butter cupcake in the process (it was amazing, by the way) i finally decided to get a bird's eye view of NYC. so i went in and they first make you look at the history of rockefeller center in pictures and text (i mean, just let me go up there yaar), i finally was taken to the 67th floor (yups, 67th!). before i get to the NYC view though, the elevator was amazing!! it had a glass ceiling, and they had a projector behind it, so as you went up, you would not only see yourself going up the building, but also an advertisement (for lack of a better word) of the place! really good it was :)
ya, now to the NYC view. ummm... it was nice, nothing awe inspiring about it. i could see the hudson go by the city, and a huge park (or whatever it was) between rows and rows and rows of buildings... but that was about all. nothing out of the world.
neway, so after spending some time there (i spent 18 dollars for getting up there, i might as well make some use of it), i came down and consulted the "not for tourists (NFT) guide to NY", which lehman brothers had very generously given all its interns. i found a list of recommended contemporary art museums, one of them being Dia on 22nd street. after asking arouund for directions, and having a chocolate cream cheese muffin (divine) and a white chocolate mocha (divine again) at starbucks, i took off for Dia. the drizzle had intensified (someone please suggest a better word) by then, and the basta*d at barnes and nobles sent me off in the opposite direction, and it was decently long walk, so basically by the time i got to Dia, i was completely wet. bah! neway, the museum more than made up for it! the ground floor especially had amazing stuff (there was also this long quote from an artist which i copied down on paper and am too lazt to post right now). there is this artist who designs mobile homes, and experiments with different materials, and what all you can do in a small trailer and stuff. they also had something called an escape vehicle, which was an oddly shaped enclosure for a single person, which people could customize to their liking. different artists had done nice stuff in it, one had made it into a lounge kind of a place, one had made it up like a dungeon, one had nice white soft pillows and stuff in it... really good stuff there. they also had models of "compact living spaces" so to say, not very different from the cellular sleeping places you find in japan. on the other floors, there were photo exhibits by an islamic photographer, and random shit, but most of my time was spent on the ground floor. for people who visit NY, it's a must see. oh, ya, they also had a video showing how the artist went about experimenting with materials and building her mobile home in a desert and stuff.
ah, so that took some time and it was about 5:30 by the time i left. i called up IIMC people again (as they had asked me to do) and asked if any of them were interested in going to a jazz club. fortunately, priyanka and bhargav agreed and we decided to meet up at lehman at 8:30. yippeee, we were going t oa jazz club!! since i had loads of time till then, and no enthu of walking around any more, i went to a starbucks near lehman, and spent my time there reading the book on jazz history i bought. 8:30, and pinku and bhargav were nowhere to be seen. so i took out my NFT and started searching for places we could go to, i came across a recommended list of 3. fortunately i was carrying my lehman ID with me, so i decided to call them up. village vanguard was full, but we were lucky to get place at birdland :) i booked the last table they had left, and after waiting for another half an hour (they were really late!) we left for the place. afer asking around for birdland while standing right next to it (seriously, right next to it!) we realized our folly and went it quickly (we were already late by abt hald an hour for the 9:00pm show). it was amazing! seriously... one of the experiences i'll always remember (just like the opera i saw in vienna). the singere was really good, and so was his band. classic jazz pieces they were playing... real good fun! and the experience of live jazz is something hard to describe... unfortunately the show went on only for about ah hour and 15 minutes (of which we missed half an hour). neway, we had (a very expensive) dinner there and came out with a plan to get drunk somewhere.
now hard rock cafe happens to be just a few blocks down from where we were, so it was the obvious choice for us to go to. the shop was open when we went in, so we roamed there and checked out overpriced "hard rock cafe" branded stuff (that sweatshirt was amazing though, i'm going to buy it before i leave this place) and after taking pictures of the wall of guitars (seriously, they have a wall made out of electric guitars!) we went into the pub. it was simply rockin'! great music, great bartenders (real enthu junta), great people and great booze (well, that's the same everywhere, but still). i had a chivas regal after a long time, and since pinku was not satisfied by the strength of her screwdriver, i got her an absolut on the rocks!! :D we spent a lot of time there, soaking up the atmosphere, singing the songs playing (ok, we knoew very few of them) and watching sports.... i could understand why the place was so popular! neway, we got out of the place at about 1am, and after having a chocolate muffin (thanx too pinku's craving for something hot and chocolatey, which she didn't get), we got back home.
spent the sunday recuperating from the hectic saturday and cleaning up the house (and making other people help out :D). that was about it. a successful weekend i must say :)
still have to tell you about my visit to MOMA on friday, but it's time to sleep abhi. g'nite. tata!
posted by Paritosh Gupta | 11:49 PM
1 Comments:
I have a sublime feeling crawling inside me .. lemme see ... voila !! I am jealous :-) Good to know you are not parked on your posteriors on the weekend and doing most of what even I would love (even pay) to do. You just added a few more things to do on my list.
Keep it rolling !!
Cheers
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