My "Bucket List"

Hello Hello

New York is an incredible city with an eclectic array of sights, events and people. To visit New York as a vacation will merely just touch the surface on what the city offers. As of today, I've lived in New York for 4 months and I feel as though I haven't even scratched the surface on things to do and see here. To try and experience everything possible, I created a mental list of sights and events I had to experience. I researched, inquired and scoured materials on New York and came up with my own list of things I needed to do; my "bucket list."

Of course, the first sights I needed to see were the typical ones like Time Square, Madison Square Garden, Central Park, Wall Street, etc. These also happened to be the less expensive and more obtainable sights to visit, so I had no trouble seeing them. As I looked down the list, one event stuck out in my mind - I must go to a SNL show, and this past weekend, I did just that.







A combination of Saturday Night Live's rich history and excellent cast make tickets very difficult to get. Each August, SNL holds a raffle online where any person in the U.S. can insert their name into a lottery and if they are picked, they get an allotted amount of tickets for each show that season. Of course, this means that anyone in the U.S. could get tickets, so those New Yorkers who don't get tickets can expect a few people not to show up for each show meaning that their are stand bye tickets available.

The stand bye tickets process is extremely cruel and harsh. For some reason unbeknownst to me, SNL hands out stand bye tickets at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. To have a decent place in line, you must arrive at Rockefeller Plaza the evening before, preferably 6-7 p.m. Friday night. Then, you wait all night, enduring the outside conditions as you try to sleep on the concrete sidewalk. After 12 grueling hours, NBC gives each person a number. At this point, the number is meaningless, except for the fact that the lower the number, the better.

If you received a ticket for the "Dress Rehearsal", you come back to Rockefeller Plaza that evening and get back in line. A half hour before the rehearsal, SNL determines how many empty seats their are in the studio and if your number is low enough, then you get to go in.
With the Live Show, it works in a similar fashion. I return to the studio at 10:45 and when SNL has determined how many seats are available, then that many people are allowed in. It just so happened that 15 seats were available for the show I attended and I was #7.

Gabourey Sidibe, otherwise known as the lead character "Precious" from the Oscar Nominated film Precious, (a film based off the novel Push, by Sapphire) was the host with musical guest MGMT. She exceeded my expectations in hosting SNL and it proved to be a fantastic show.

Although I may not have visited or experienced everything NYC has to offer in my time here, I feel as though I have done a sufficient job in checking off my "bucket list".

Subway Shenanigans?!?

I like to people watch and since the start of the semester, I had been noticing the oddballs that ride the subway. So after a few of these encounters I started keeping a list in my iPhone of all the rando things I happen to see while riding the subway.

1. 1. 5000 pant-less people (of which, half of the roommates were a part of)

2. 2. Pan flute band

3. 3. Break dancers

4. 4. Gospel singers

5. 5. Michael Jackson reincarnated

6. 6. Man with chainsaw

7. 7. Mariachi band

8. 8. Kid with a guitar and amp having band practice.

9. 9. A man changing clothes on the subway platform

10. 10 .A fight over the volume of someone’s iPod

11. 11. Human beat boxer

12. 12. Rats

13. 13. A stranger actually offering a small child candy

14. 14. An old, old man who talked to me the entire ride up town and then offered me cough drops (I didn’t eat them)

15. 15. Caribbean drum band

16. 16. A very old woman who STRONGLY resembled the crypt keeper

17. 17. Cowboy Band

…. To be continued

Broadway

I may have been the only one who didn't know this but Broadway shows are not always the best of the best. The idea that I had when I arrived here was that Broadway was the holy grail of stage acting and for that reason every show was worth the $60 ticket and your socks would be knocked off every time. I’m sorry to burst any bubbles but that is just not the case. I have seen six or seven shows on Broadway already and three Off-Broadway and in many of these cases I am very happy that I did not pay for the ticket.

The original theory was blown very quickly because the first show that I saw on my first full day in the city was Bye Bye Birdie. This show was star cast with John Stamos and a few other semi famous people. Obviously my hopes were high because this was my first show on Broadway but it took less than 15 minutes to realize that John was not in this show because he was the best at the part or because he could sing, he was there to sell tickets. His acting performance was rather boring and his singing, even worse. Even after saying that you can look at the $80 face value of my ticket and the nearly sold-out house and see that he was doing his job. The theatre was beautiful and there was not a bad seat there and we would know because these $80 tickets got us seats in the very last row of the balcony.

Before you go thinking this is all about bashing Broadway just hold on a second because this first show was motivational for me. Motivational in the sense that when I get in the producers seat I will make it my job to provide that best possible show for the audience. I realize that just because it is a great show though it doesn’t mean that it will make money. The great thing is that there are stars out there that can act and sing and deserve to be on Broadway. The job of the producer is to decide how to provide the greatest show possible and to get as many people to see it as they can.

I have seen two other star cast shows and they have been two of the top shows in my experience. The first was Chicago with Ashley Simpson playing the lead role. Don’t judge me for seeing this or for paying the crazy prices for fifth row seats on her last day in the role. Ashley actually made the show for me. She was energetic and performed her role nearly perfect with great singing, dancing and acting. Granted Chicago does not have an intense plot and is more about the song and dance, but this played right into her hand and the rest of the cast was also unstoppable. The producers at this show decided to take a huge risk by putting her in the show and in my opinion it paid off greatly. The second show was God of Carnage. This was the 2009 Tony Award winner for best play and I again paid to sit up front. This cast only has 4 members and all of them were top film and theatre actors. Lead man Jeff Briles led them. After I got over the fact that the show was made for middle-aged married people with children, the play was awesome. The acting and directing left the audience rolling with laughter at times and amazed/speechless at other parts.

I will leave you with one more downer before I go. The Million Dollar Quartet is a new jukebox musical on Broadway. It is about one day in history when Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins all were in Sun Studios together and had an impromptu jam session. When my boss asked me if I wanted tickets I jumped at the opportunity to see some of my musical hero’s in action on stage. I love Elvis and own every song Johnny Cash has released so this to me had to be one of the greatest shows. Well the quartet tripped over itself and fell flat on its face. I took a dear friend with me to see it and to give a fair opinion she knows much less music history and much more about theatre and is also an aspiring producer. We both left the theatre wondering if that was really it. It was under cast and over dramatized. Elvis could not dance at all and was very pitchy at times and Jerry Lee was the best of them all with his great piano skills but had half the vocal range of the real Jerry. The real jam session between the four greats included mostly gospel, blues and bluegrass songs but thinking that couldn’t sell tickets the show contained only one of these songs and a dozen of the greatest hits. This is only talking a little about the music and we will have to save the lack of a plot for the next time.

After all of these theatrical experiences and several more to come in the next few weeks I am excited to be entering this crazy wonderful world. The funny thing is Million Dollar Quartet will make someone rich and the actually good musical down the street may never even be heard. There is still a fine line that we all are trying to walk.

The Other Side of New York

When I say the word Chinatown, what comes to mind? Food, Mandarin, Stolen/knockoff items, and probably NYC. The Chinatown that many tourists have come to know and love in NYC is located in lower Manhattan, and despite the name, is very much Americanized. Yesterday, some friends and I visited Flushing Meadows, Queens and as I walked up from the subway, I entered a world completely different of that from Brooklyn and Chinatown Manhattan.
Our goals in visiting Flushing Meadows included seeing Arthur Ash Stadium where the U.S. Open Finals are held, Citi Field where the Mets play, and walking through the 1,255 acre park, known as Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (Side note, Central Park is arguably the most well known park in NYC, yet it is far from the biggest park in NYC. In fact, it comes in 5th at 843 acres.)

However, before reaching any of these sites, we walked right into Chinatown Queens. Massive amounts of Asian people, signs predominately in Mandarin and discount, off brand products made it obvious that we were in Chinatown. After exploring up and down Main Street, we walked into the City Hall building and read about tigers and their prominence in Chinese culture. James, a fellow friend and intern, began to color a man/dragon/tiger picture with crayons and did so with a preciseness to be envied by any boy or girl who calls coloring a hobby. Unfortunately, James's coloring extravaganza was cut short due to our hunger and a lunch recommendation given by the receptionist. Being that we were in the heart of Chinatown, we thought it only fitting to eat at an authentic Chinese restaurant, so we visited the "Little Pepper". O yea, did I mention that the receptionist, an Asian man, said with little concern the restaurant was a "little" spicy.

The awning above the restaurant had only Mandarin characters, with a little pepper man eerily smiling at any visitor that dared to enter and brave the Asian cuisine. We sat down and instantly noticed that we were the only Americans in the restaurant. The waiter poured us tea as we perused the menu and i eventually noticed that almost every dish ended saying "with chili pepper", or "hot pepper sauce". I blame our ignorance, but we each quickly realized after one bite the huge mistake we had made. Most notably, my good friend and fellow intern Nathan ordered Lamb coated in seeds from some type of hot pepper and within 5 minutes, was profusely sweating from his face. To put this in perspective, Nathan is a football player at Truman State University. If i were to guess, he stands 6' 3'' and weighs about 270LBS. If anyone could handle this food, I would guess it to be Nathan, so when I saw the extensive sweat on his face, I knew i was screwed. Despite the intolerable spiciness, Nathan cleaned his plate and proved his manliness to each and every onlooker.
Another note about the Little Pepper. The waiter did not give us water, not did any other table have water. We had hot tea, and that was the extent of our drinks. I'm not sure if this is standard with authentic Asian cuisine, but that changed quickly. Within minutes of eating our meal, the woman at the register noticed our misery, began laughing and brought us an entire picture of water. We swept through 2 of these for lunch, making this one meal i will never forget.

After lunch, we visited the newly built Citi Field where the lesser known and arguable less talented New York Mets play. The field was closed, so we were only able to look in through gates, but look forward to photos from a possible future game i attend.
Next, we visited Billie Jean King Arena where the U.S. Open is held each year. We walked through the maze of courts, mainly focusing on Arthur Ash Stadium where the final match is held. I believe i even included a picture of us with Arthur Ash and little children.
From here, we wondered the enormous park, visiting such sites as the Unisphere that you may recognize from the popular blockbuster hit Men in Black along with the concrete saucers, built for the World Fair NYC hosted in the mid 20th century.

After a full day of exploring new cultures, foods and architectural wonders, I gained a new appreciation for the other side of New York. The side off the the beaten path, away from 5th avenue, Central Park, Rockefeller Center and Time Square. Not to say these aren't great places, but I think most people tend to forget that their are 4 other boroughs within New York with just as much to offer and if you happen to take that leap of faith in exploring one, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

This is Nate, saying "Repetition breeds familiarity".

Spring Break

When you think of college spring break, the first thing that comes to mind is Cancun for a week in the sun. Not for Mike and I here at Belmont East. Just because colleges get the week off does not mean that the companies we work for just shut down for the week. So after putting in my 40 hours at work Mike decided that we should go to Philadelphia for the weekend. It was supposed to be the rainiest and windiest weekend that we have had up north. So we went anyways. On friday night we got very little sleep and work up at 7:30 Saturday morning to start our journey. First was the 45 minute subway ride up to midtown Manhattan and then the wait for the Bolt Bus, followed by the just over 2 hour ride to the city of brotherly love. when we get there it is pouring down rain with the wind blowing us sideways. Neither of us had an umbrella, not that it would have helped anyways.

Mikes friend Rachel picked us up at the bus stop and we started our tour of the city at a little french restaurant. I had a really great lamb sandwich with french bread and some awesome french fries. After the filling lunch and a nap that promptly followed, it was time for our walk around the historic city where a vast majority of our nations history takes place. Still pouring rain and sweet wind gusts we walked through all the old sites. We walked down South street and through Washington Square, past the liberty bell and over to the location where Washington crossed the Delaware. Even in the rain we saw a lot of the living history of Philly taking place through thousands of green clad people filling the streets and the pubs. Mike and I learn quickly of the Irish history here after seeing a huge statue showing the many Irish immigrants starving in Ireland and their journey here and getting off the boat in this great city. The best part of this Saturday night was the cheesesteaks. We were told to order it "wiz-wit". This means steak on a hoagie bun with cheese- wiz and onions. Fantastic! Cheese-Wiz never tasted better than it did that night.

Sunday after sleeping in a little longer than we had planned Rachel drove us down town and dropped us off. We walked right around the corner and found ourselves in the middle of the biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade I've ever seen. We just started walking with the parade and saw dancers, Irish bands, clubs, teams and many people that had been drinking before i thought about getting out of bed. We walked with them for a few miles, all the way up to the Rocky steps. Of course we could not resist walking up them and taking pictures of the steps and parade and the statue. (side note: this is the only real statue of a fictional character that I have ever had the please of seeing) Mike wanted to go into the museum at the top which was having Picasso exhibit. We were told that it was free on Sundays so we went in only to find that it was free on first Sundays and this Sunday was a $20 entrance fee and being the very poor college students we are, we left. The rest of our day in town was filled with wandering and looking for food to eat. Yes we did some other cool thing and I may discuss them later, but as far at this post goes, we hit up a random taco bell near where we were staying and headed back to the bus. The bus took two and a half hours to get back into the city and when we got off Mike and I looked at each other and both said that Philly was really cool but we were really glad to be back in the real city. New York continues to be the best city in the U.S. You can argue but you're wasting your breath.

Who Shot Rock & Roll

The pictures above are from the Brooklyn Museum. The museum had a really cool exhibit entitled "Who Shot Rock & Roll" that ended this past weekend, so a few of us ventured out to see the exhibit before they took it down. Although the exhibit was packed and had me feeling claustrophobic at times, it was definitely worth the time to experience these historical photographs. The pictures above include a statue outside the museum, and a bench/gate in the subway station. If you can guess who the groups are in both pictures above, you get serious props. Enjoy!

Knicks!

Hello Hello,

This past Sunday, myself and three other interns ventured out on a cloudy and bleak day in NYC to Madison Square Garden to support our New York Knicks. I knew I wanted to eventually experience the Madison Square Garden building, so when my friend Kevin mentioned going to a Knicks game at MSG, I instantly agreed, not to mention that the tickets cost only $8!
Now, although we sat in the nosebleed section of the stadium, the seats were not all that bad and we had a great view of the court. However, we had some real characters sitting around us. First off, a man no older than 30 was sitting a few rows in front of us, and despite the fact he was wearing a NY hat, he kept cheering for the mavericks! I wanted to walk up to him and say,
"Um, excuse me sir, but your rooting for the wrong team. Do you need me to explain how this whole basketball thing works."
Seeing him root for the opposite team was just to fun though.
Also, a man sitting one section over from us starting shouting "J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets" midway through the 3rd quarter. I'm not sure if he had drank to much, forgot where he was and mistook MSG for the Meadowlands or was somehow related to the man wearing the NY hat and rooting for the Mavericks. Nonetheless, he created some great entertainment as we witnessed the beat down the mavericks gave us. Above, you see a picture of the halftime score, and then of the 3rd quarter score. I was going to take a picture of the 4th quarter score, but at that point, I was to embarrassed to be at MSG rooting for the Knicks.
All in all, it was a great experience.
O and did I mention John McEnroe was sitting court side at the game.