New York City Baby
I went
to New York for the first time last year through Shepherd. They did a day trip up to the city where they
packed everyone on a bus at 4AM and we didn’t get back till the same time the
next day. It was one of the most
exciting and tiring experiences of my life.
The whole time I was there, I kept asking myself why I had never done
this before. I realized I’m still in
this mindset that I need adult supervision to do something cool. Even when I went to New York I did so with
the safety net of going with the school.
Well I swore to myself that I was going to be a big boy and do something
on my own, so my friends and I planned a weekend trip to NYC for the beginning of
this semester.
The
biggest concern we had about going to New York was expense and parking. Luckily we found a way to combat both. Instead of staying in a hotel, we stayed in a
hostel on 101st and Broadway.
It was the nicest hostel I’ve ever been in. As for parking, we parked at the Staten
Island ferry for $20 and road the ferry in.
The
whole experience was awesome. First, the
TV in our room only picked up Chinese channels.
I spent most of the first night watching a Chinese rip off of America’s
Got Talent. It was the most mesmerizing entertainment
I’ve ever witnessed. Also, when you
search Yelp for best
restaurants in Manhattan, the top 10 on the list are all
five star restaurants, except for one.
Number 3 was a place called prosperity dumpling in China Town that gives
you four fresh dumplings for a dollar.
Of course I had to go there. It
was awesome in every way. First off, I
got to experience China Town, which is an experience. Then you stumble into this tiny shop with a
small angry gentlemen who asks you what you want. You tell him, hand him a dollar, and he makes
it in front of you. While in line, I was
standing between an elderly Chinese woman and some Yuppie Wall Street broker in
a $3,000 suit. It was a true melting
pot. |
| 150 dead women |
I got
to visit a lot of cool places, but there were two that I was really excited
about. The
first was the Triangle Fire
Building right by Washington Square Park.
If you don’t know the storied history of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
fire, I’ll indulge you. Basically women
were locked in the top floor of this factory and forced to work all day without
breaks. One day, a fire breaks out. The women are locked in the building and 150
die either from fire or leaping from the windows. It was one of the most important moments in
the call for unions in the US. The
building today is I believe a chemistry lab for NYU. There is a tiny plaque 10 feet in the air on
one of the corners of the building.
The
second place I really enjoyed was the Museum of Natural History. It was the only museum I was able to go to
the few days I was in New York, simply because the last hour it’s open they don’t
charge admission. I was only able to
spend about 45 minutes walking around, but it was really nice, a lot better
than the one in DC. I not only got see
some groovy artifacts, but I got to visit one of the settings of a Ben Stiller
comedy.
Inherent Vice
About
two years ago, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The
Master came out. It’s a dense film
kind of about Scientology but mostly about two men struggling to find their
place. As a fan of P.T., I followed the
film very closely, but was unable to see it until it came out on VOD. The first time I watched it, I was blown
away, but not necessarily in a good way.
I knew what I’d see was great, but I wasn’t sure I understood it. As I’ve watched it, I have come to understand
why I was blown away, and I now consider it one of my favorite films.
Anderson
did some pretty extensive publicity for the movie considering it was a pretty
Inherent Vice, I went out and bought the
first Pynchon book I could find which just so happened to be his first book V. Reading
V was one of the most interesting
experiences I’d ever had. I enjoyed it
the whole way through, but I wouldn’t say I “got” it till I was close to the
end.
After
reading V I was incredibly excited to
seen Anderson’s interpretation of Inherent
Vice. I even bought the book but
decided to wait until I’d seen the movie to read it. I followed the films production and early screenings
as much as I could, while trying to learn as little about the film as
possible. When it came out, it did not
show at The Alamo in Winchester, which is the best theater I’ve ever been
to. I like it so much I almost exclusively
go there. My original intention was to
wait until the Vice came to the Alamo
in hopes that they would play it in 70mm, but after nearly two years of waiting
I couldn’t control myself.
I broke
down and went with my friend to see it at the Regal in Fredrick. I would like to go on record as saying that
Regal theaters are the devil. No, worse
than the devil. If I had to choose
between going to a Turkish bath with Satan and attending a screening of my
favorite movie in a Regal theater while being showered with money, I’d chill
with Satan.
Even
though Regal BLOWS, I still enjoyed the movie.
Like the Master, I knew what I’d
I could
go on for hours, so I’m going to stop myself.
Simply put, I was more excited for Inherent
Vice than I was for any movie in my life, and I was not let down. I plan on being the first person in line to
buy the DVD when it comes out.
Deaf Basketball
One of
my friends it taking a sign language class, and occasionally the class will go
to deaf events in order to practice their skills. I tagged along on one of these trips because
I had nothing better to do, and it would meet this requirement for class.
I grew
up in Hampshire County, West Virginia which is home to I believe the only deaf
school in the state. If not the state,
then at least the panhandle. I had a lot
of interaction with deaf students during my time there. The school for the deaf and blind is
constantly having its budget cut, so it became cheaper to have some students
attend classes at my high school. I had
classes with blind
Before
going to this game, I had never seen a deaf basketball game, but I had seen a
deaf volleyball game at my school. For
the most part, it was similar. Coaches
were reliant on hand signals to call plays as well as drums that send
vibrations through the floor.
The
strange thing about the whole event is that you would expect a deaf event to be
quiet. For instance you wouldn’t expect
them to have announcers or play music over speakers, but they did. For the most part, it seemed like the
audience themselves weren’t deaf. Many
people knew sign language, but many people were able to speak as well. Several players on the team had hearing aids,
so I guess and the deaf teams weren’t all that deaf.
Ultimately
it wasn’t any kind of shocking or profound experience for me. The only thing I was worried about was
ordering something at the snack stand. I
made my friend come with me so she could sign to the concessions lady, but she
ended up being able to hear.
The Strangled Darlings
The Strangled Darlings are probably one of the strangest
bands I’ve ever seen. It’s made up of
two members George Veech and Jess Anderly.
George plays the mandolin and Jess plays a custom made electric cello
that functions more as a bass guitar.
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| Electronic Cello |
They classify their music as a cross between Americana Doom
Pop and Indie Folk which is probably the best explanation of their music that
can be given. I saw them perform in
Winchester at the Bright Box Theater. A
local girl from Harper’s Ferry opened up for them singing self-written country
ballads and playing a barely filtered electric guitar. What appeared to be a mute giant played a
small
drum kit behind her.
When The Strangled Darlings took the stage, the first
question I asked myself was, “Is that it?”
Seeing a man with a mandolin and a woman with some alien stringed
instrument take the stage made me incredibly skeptical, but as soon as they
started to play, that skepticism was washed away. As I’ve said, it’s hard to describe their
sound, so all I’ll say is it works.
Watching the two of them perform was mesmerizing, though
there was little showmanship. George
moved around the stage in a way that was reminiscent of Talking Heads front man
David Byrne. Jess stood stoically as
you’d expect as bass player to do, but I couldn’t stop watching as she plucked
at her instrument. In between songs, the
two exchanged comedic non-sequiturs and talked about their experiences
traveling the country in a Winnebago.
It was one of those “You had to be there,” experiences
because, well, you had to be there. IF
you want a taste, check out this sweet vid.
English Capstone Presentation
As a disclaimer, I had intended
to attend a lecture by Dr. Foulds about women in the Confederacy, but I spaced
out and went to a Five Guys instead. I
realized about halfway through my burger that I was missing the lecture, which
really bummed me out because Dr. Foulds is a great professor and it was going
to be my last chance to see him lecture.
Luckily I was able to eat my sorrows away immediately.
I
attended the English Capstone presentations that were held in Reynolds
hall. I believe there were about eight
presentations, but I had to leave after the fifth one to go to work. I actually really enjoyed the presentations
that I saw. For some reason I went in
thinking that it was going to be incredibly boring, but I had a swingin’
time.
I had a
few friends that were presenting. One
presented some poetry she had written and the other presented a story they had adapted
from a screenplay they wrote. I had
already talked to them about their projects, so I knew what to expect. The other projects caught me pleasantly off
guard.
The one
that I enjoyed the most was a guy who had written several Haikus for his
capstone. He first started by giving the
history of the original Japanese art of Haiku and how it was adapted into
English. He spoke about how he had originally
chosen to do haiku because it just seemed easy, but he quickly realized that
because it’s such an abbreviated form, you have to pay extreme attention to
what words you use. You need to be able
to convey a vivid thought with the least amount of words possible.
I
appreciate this simplicity in writing.
Whenever I write anything, it always comes out longwinded. I greatly respect people who are able to
write purely and simply because the amount of work it takes to reduce something
to its most basic form without compromising any of the emotion it evokes is a
profoundly difficult task.
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