Back In My New York State Of Mind

Yes, I have gotten back into my Big Apple groove and it feels so good to be in New York City, The Greatest City in the World. Ah, yes ...

On Tuesday I spent a lot of time doing chores, sorting stuff and taking things to the laundry across the street from the apartment and making two extended trips to the two grocery stores in the ‘hood. One of the minor annoyances of big city living is that the grocery stores are much smaller and often the choices are meager. This means I usually have to go to both stores even if I have only 5 or so things on my list. I have learned to live with it but it is still annoying.

I saw an early evening showing of the recently opened stoner-comedy “Pineapple Express” - “Process server Dale (played by co-writer Seth Rogen) scores some weed off of his lonely dealer Saul (played by James Franco), who’s peddling Pineapple Express, which smells “like God’s vagina” and smokes “like killing a unicorn.” Dale witnesses a murder committed by Saul’s super-bad-guy dealer and a corrupt cop, and in short order Dale and Saul are on the run, dodging bullets, wreaking cars, smoking weed, and slowly ... falling in love with each other.” I was in the mood for a silly/dumbass movie and this was it. I loved it.

Speaking of movies - I can hardly wait to see the just released “Tropic Thunder,” co-written, directed by, and starring Ben Stiller, with Robert Downey, Jr., in black-face and Jack Black. There is another must-see on the horizon too - “The Rocker.”

When the show was over I came on back to the apartment and settled in to watch the Yankees/Minnesota game, which the Yankees won in extra innings after Mariano Rivera gave up a game tying three-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was another game where the Yankees played sloppy ball and seemed to be sleepwalking. And, Derek Jeter had to leave the game with an ankle injury. With each passing day the playoff chances seem to diminish. I have tickets for 9 of the remaining home games.

Today, Wednesday, was another excellent weather day. In the afternoon I had my every 6-8 weeks finger prick to check my Coumadin level and everything was fine, as usual

Spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the Eastside while listening to the Yankees/Minnesota game and the Yankees sucked dog-dicks again and lost another game they should have won. Thankfully, that ended a terrible road trip with their record only 3-7. Hank Steinbrenner has basically shifted into a “wait till next year” mode and that ain’t good.

Had an interesting Off-Broadway show this evening downtown in the East Village. It was “Day In Dig Nation” - described as: “After smash runs in Boston, Seattle, Edinburgh, and Prague, a Day in Dig Nation arrives at Performance Space 122 for two weeks in August. A mash-up of media, sound and live performance, this one-person adventure, performed by Michael McQuilken, features Rex, a man so consumed by technology that he forgets how to communicate with actual people.” It was only 50 minutes long, was extremely well performed and written and took head-on our ever increasing reliance on cyber-communication and digital programming over face-to-face experiences. I had a complimentary ticket.

At the present time my entertainment schedule for the next week is:

Thursday - Neil Diamond @ Madison Square Garden (full price ticket)

Friday - Mostly Mozart Festival Concert @ Lincoln Center - Sibelius: Pellas och Melisande; Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major; Beethoven: Symphony No. 2. (discounted TDF ticket).

Saturday - open - probably The Fringe Festival

Sunday - open - probably The Fringe Festival

Monday - open - probably The Fringe Festival

Tuesday - “The Marriage of Bette & Boo” - “Christopher Durang's award-winning dark comedy takes a look at the complex marriage of Bette and Boo. Three decades of marriage, divorce, alcoholism, nervous breakdowns and death - all blended in a unique mix of irony, humor and farce - are played out in 33 quick scenes. At turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, absurdist and honest, the play is a seminal work in the Durang canon and a ferociously funny family portrait.” Off-Broadway. This is part of my annual subscription to the award winning Roundabout Theater.

Wednesday - Mostly Mozart Festival Concert @ Lincoln Center - Mozart: Serenade for Winds; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3; Mozart: Symphony No. 39. (discounted TDF ticket)

OK, OK, you want to know - what is The Fringe Festival? Well, first of all, the correct title is: “The 12th Annual New York International Fringe Festival,” and it is 202 plays offered at 19 downtown venues from August 8th through August 24th. The tickets are $15 or $10 for us senior citizens. Tomorrow I will go down to the Festival Headquarters and purchase tickets for a least 9 shows for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

I have scored a ticket for The Who concert on October 29th in New Fucking Jersey.

OK, I am tired of writing, so I will post this and crash at or around the usual 2:00am.

Oh, Scott & Benjamin - it is 401 hours and counting.

Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com