Tuesday, June 08, 2010

New York, Yew Nork (part 2 of 2)

I woke up on Al Pacino's couch ridiculously early, already damp with sweat. I was sleeping on the third floor, and in full sun, so continuing to snooze was not an option. I knew that Hyatt was going to be sleeping for quite a while, so I left him a note and made my way back to Manhattan.

Luckily, the film crew outside of Lindsey's apartment hadn't started for the day. I would find out later that the crew was there to film an adaptation of the play "For Colored Girls That Have Considered Suicide," a play I know nothing about, but did remember from NPR.

Showered and refreshed, I headed back downtown to Time Square. From the directions I'd read off a sign on the subway, the King Tut exhibit was somewhere in that general area. It was not hard to find, thankfully. Time Square isna critical mass of tourists and bizzarre New York entertainment, and I prefer to view it from a distance.

The exhibit was surprising not only for its completeness, but also the scope of how informative it was. While Tut was not present, the exhibit goes to great pains to help the viewer understand the social, political, and religious context of Tut's rule.

For instance, I had no idea that Tut was the son of Aknahten, the enigmatic pharoah who overthrew the traditional gods and instituted his own brand of monotheism to Egypt. Tut succeeded Aknahten, and set about undoing most of the social and political turmoil created by his father. All of this was rather deftly handle by te exhibit, in addition to supplying plenty of shiny and interesting things to look upon.

After I'd had all the Tut I could handle, I retired to Bryant Park. I stumbled upon it while trying to find my way elsewhere, but found the peaceful allure of the trees too much to resist. As a result, I spent some time there.





The city provide park goers with equipment for games like bocci and ping-pong. I was stunned by how many games I ended up watching. It was shockingly engrossing!

Once Lindsey was off work, we strolled the stately grounds of Central Park. I arrived a little before she, and used the location-based game Gowalla to find some of the park's attractions that I had missed during previous visits. Little thing like the Cherry Hill Fountain:


And big things like the Bethesda Fountain Square, where I found a man playing cello:


After an excellent Thai meal, Lindsey, her boyfriend Noam, and I went out to Brooklyn to meet up with some of her friends. It was a curious evening, made curioser by the Armenian gentlemen we shared a table with. I think I'll go into greater detail on the other blog (wmeddy.com), but needless to say: the subject of the Michigan Militia was addressed.

We closed off the evening with a night-cap of rum from the Dominican Republic that tasted eerily like Nyquil. We used these coasters:


My last hours in New York were spent pleasantly with Lindsey and another of her friends over a late lunch. Befor I left, Lindsey was kind enough to show me one of the advantages of living in NYC.


And then I was off to New Jersey! I'm sorry that this is so glib, but I am running Late an have just completed a 22-hour bus trip from Jersey to Atlanta. More to follow, of course.


Onward!

Location:Savage Rd,Denville,United States

No comments: