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| in the zone |
So, the last time I stayed in a hotel in NYC was back in the 60's with my parents...... the Plaza (yes we all mourn that they are condos now, especially Eloise of the Plaza). This past week I had the opportunity to re-visit Old New York by staying in a real time-warped hotel: Hotel 17 (Grammercy Park) ......lots of dark walnut, pre-Raphaellite paintings, narrow corridors and Bathrooms in the hallway (vintage sinks in the bedrooms). Egads, I realized this After I had booked the hotel..... (I was distracted by the fact that Woody Allen had filmed in this hotel......and I just started to think....and reminisce about Old New York and its quirky neighborhoods, local provincialism and Charm.)
The occasion presented itself in tandem; it was my darling daughter, Diandra's 21st birthday (9/11/91) and Raghu Dixit Project was debuting at Joe's Pub (the Public Theatre).
O Joy!
(this was my favorite band from the Galle Music Festival, in Sri Lanka)
As we parted, they waved,"we'll be in NYC in Sept. touring for our new album" and I replied, "I'll be there with my daughter"
Arriving on Labor Day; truly the QUIETEST day in terms of traffic, crowds and general NewYorkese - sensation -overload....my kind of day to enter......we had a blast eating good food, walking my old haunts and shopping for my daughter.
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| the rather new residential Frank Gehry building seen from the Highline - (the theme of this visit seemed to include a lot of "cloud" images, or experiencing the environs as if being within clouds) |
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| Kathy and I found this neighborhood park with fabulous Edward Gorey murals near the Highline |
Down to Joe's Pub (Cooper Union looked the same; another undulating Frank Gehry now intersects Astor Place). I do not need to overstate that much of NYC looks very very different than when I left full time in 1987.
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| Diandra at Joe's Pub |
The Music:
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| Raghu and Partha and Bryden |
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| soulful |
The music is melodic and upbeat. It's a real collaboration of Indian folk music, poetic lyrics and new Indian beat. They are still on tour, and Raghu's reverberating voice has stayed with me.
www.raghudixit.com (check out the dates/videos/music)
(especially their Youtube video on 1500 km- a collaborative project to bring new music to rural India)
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| yes i got up and danced |
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| Ecstatic Guarav |
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| Friends Albert and Kathy were elated by the music |
After schmoozing with the band, Albert led us to a neighborhood bar in alphabet city. Unpretentious and real, jazz musicians played some great music and invited others to join them. This is more Old New York and I am happy that Diandra had the opportunity to experience it. The serendipity, the creativity and the diversity. I mourn the displacement of the middle class for uber-rich foreigners and their pied-de-terres, the entry of big box stores, the loss of the immigrant neighborhoods gentrified into sterility.
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| visiting the Met with my dear friend Esme |
the charmed life continued with Tomas Seraceno's "Cloud City" . An installation on the rooftop of the Met. One experiences a rare perspective by being above the tree tops of the park as well as 5th Avenue. The skyscape of architecture is a linear rhythm unseen from below. The physical uncertainty of walking within the sculpture is daunting; but I experienced it as physical poetry of space.
Ah clouds
In case you are wondering, I am feeling soemwhat better; but I am uncertain as to whether this is the new "normal" or whether I will again feel "good + well" in the future. My physical strength has returned but there are still some weird neurological aspects of my brain that leave me very distracted, anxious and vulnerable. I have not felt these states to any degree in my life, but they are present now.
New York City will always feel like home; especially if I am able to fly into the clouds.
travelin' woman
