Never On Sunday

On Sunday, I got to meet up with my dear mission president and his family! They came to the US for a reunion in Utah and spent 4 days in New York first. On Sunday we went to church together at the stake center in Manhattan. Then we enjoyed lunch together and had some time to catch up. It was so great to see them!

-Pink Martini-

Walk On

There's nothing in the world like a nice garden. Today as I emerged from that strange funk that only unanticipated Sunday afternoon naps can bring, I decided that I needed to get out and get over it. Has anyone else noticed that Sunday naps bring a considerable increase to the number and strength of wrinkles induced on your clothing? Maybe it's just me. Anyway, to pull out of the haze that followed my nap, I decided to go for a walk at Heather Garden in Fort Tryon Park. It was a lovely little sunset stroll - the air was filled with rosemary and lavendar, occasionally kissed by the sweetness of a lily or a rose. Someday when I settle down, I will have a garden of my own. But for now I can appreciate the beauty that has been created by nature cared for by others.

-U2-

Spitting Games

Five floors up. Two trash cans below. Make what you will of it. I only observed.


-Snow Patrol-

Sleeping on the Roof

There's something so magical about being on top of the world. Or at least at a place where you can look down from above. On Friday after we got some grub in the Village, we headed to Collin's house to explore the view from his rooftop. The city lights lit up the horizon and the nightlife buzzed below. Although we didn't sleep on the roof, we were definitely there during the hours that are traditionally used for sleeping... in any city except for New York.

-The Flaming Lips-

Let's Live It Up

-The Brian Setzer Orchestra-

Fast Car

Empty subway cars in Manhattan can either be creepy (when alone)
Or the source of seven minutes of amazing entertainment (when with eight friends)
-Tracy Chapman-

Cold Water

In Battery Park there is a clever little fountain that shoots straight out of the ground. It often attracts young children on hot summer days to cool in it's pulsing rhythm of spurting chilled goodness, and in the evening it provides a feast for the eyes as a firey light display becomes visible when the water becomes illuminated in it. It was this same fountain that found us gazing, then splashing like little children on Thursday night. I love things that bring out the child inside.

-Damien Rice-

Fifth of July

Here are the rest of my photos from the fabulous Fourth of July.
John. Me.
Me, John, Megan.Megan. Lady Liberty.Seth, the MacDaddy. Get it? Haha.
Me being blue. Is the Fourth even the Fourth without one of those red, white, and blue popcicles? I didn't think so.Jared, Seth, Me groovin' to Belle and Sebastian.Belle and Sebastian.Friends at the Concert.Jason.
John.Stilts.Sunset.
Fireworks.
Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts.
Going home with some tunes and Chris.


-Eddie From Ohio-

July, July!

Happy Fourth of July! Today I celebrated this great American holiday New York style with friends old and new, a free concert in Battery Park, free food, free fireworks and Duncan Donuts. Belle and Sebastian gave a lovely afternoon show to a stalwart crowd that hung out through the threatening thunderstorms. As the show ended we thought we were leaving, but really we were entering the VIP section of the park. We had no idea, but decided to take advantage of the piles of food that were there for our enjoyment. Ribs and Mac 'n Cheese. Yum. It tasted even better since it was free.

More photos to come later. I've got to get some sleep.


-The Decemberists-

Heartbeats

On Monday I went with Megan, Jessica and Travis to the Bowery Ballroom to see Jose Gonzalez. Psapp (pronounced sap) opened the night with a fun mix of electronica and repetitive melodic acoustic and electric instrumentation with an interesting use of children's instruments and noise-making toys that ranged from children's xylophones to farmyard noise-makers and squeaky rubber poultry. After each song Psapp named and threw a small plastic animal toy into the audience.

Next up was Juana Molina from Argentina. Her breathy vocals and synthesized sound combined with her ever calming acoustic picking and masterful looping almost had me hypnotized. For a while we couldn't figure out the uni-brow, but then understood that Psapp had drawn (or pasted - we couldn't tell, we were on the balcony) it on the unassuming Juana.

Jose Gonzalez closed the show sounding pretty much exactly like his cd, which is to be appreciated in one aspect... but slightly disappointing in another. When I go to a show, I can tell it's a good one if I feel more connected to the artist, the music, the world or understand myself better afterwards. A good concert experience is something that can't quite be described but it sticks with you for days. It makes listening to the artist a different experience not only during, but after the show as well. So until we got to Heartbeats (the second song of the encore) Jose was just like listening to Verneer. Heartbeats was highly entertaining, as he sang an octave lower than the recording, played with a mask on and had Psapp and Juana join him on stage to help him draw out certain lines into comical nothingness. Megan was lucky enough to capture the whole thing.

Overall a satisfying, not captivating show.


-Jose Gonzalez-

Anyone Can Play Guitar

But who can take pretty pictures of it?
-Radiohead-

The Strangest Party (These Are The Times)

Two girls. A watermelon. The world cup. Does it get any better?


-INXS-

Gimme A Sign

Sometimes we pray for answers about what we should do. Sometimes we just "feel right" about something. Sometimes we seek guidance from others. Sometimes we try to methodically figure out what makes the most sense. Sometimes we come home from church to find a book of French poetry on the top of the giveaway pile in our building. Sometimes all of the above.
I'm going to Belgium.

-Ryan Adams-

Sad Girl

Dashed hopes. Shattered dreams. Brasil lost. Goodbye world cup glory.-Moxy Fruvous-

I Am Brazil

Game FaceGame Shirt (my jersey is in storage...)Game Shorts

Game Sandals

It can only mean one thing: Game time!
Go Brasil!

-The Redneck Manifesto-

Disappointed

Celebrate Brooklyn has yet to get me in the mood to celebrate anything. As a second attempt to appreciate the free performances that are Celebrate Brooklyn (after Savion Glover's intese yet uncaptivating performance last weekend) I journeyed out to the park for Celebrate Indie Rock night. It looked like a good lineup and was certain to impress even the most savvy critic of the modern music scene. As a sidenote, I took quite the detour on the way out to the park and found a great cemetary where the graves are just as crammed in as the people in Manhattan. I only snapped a picture from the subway, but I'll have to go back and explore more later.
So, when I finally arrived at Prospect Park, I was not alone. Megan, Jessica, Natalie and I were surrounded by every hipster in town (and an otherwise electic mix of father and son couples and women strangely sporting tin foil ponchos when it started to drizzle). We started out on the lawn, but a huge group of people standing behind the seated section kept us from seeing anything.
So we joined them on our feet. The crowd was full of hecklers and complainers. Voxtrot was very upbeat, but I couldn't really focus. There was so much going on around me the entire time, it was not my favorite concert experience. People were particularly impatient by the time Matt Pond PA hit the stage, which was my favorite performance of the night. I loved the cello. I think strings add so much to rock music. It's like falling in love.... You're just marching along to this great beat and beautiful strumming guitar or maybe a keyboard and suddenly - enter violins and cellos - everything just gets better. It started raining towards the end of the performance and several people started to leave. Megan and I got seats and anxiously awaited TV on the Radio. Everyone around us was so astonished. "Wow! They're so innovative." If the fact that they are black people playing alternative music is innovative, then yes. But as far as the music itself - nothing too cutting edge in my opinion. So we left early. And that's when we got to see our favorite performance of the night. A bassist, a saxist, and an onlooker pretending he was the drummer on the subway platform of Broadway and Nassau. I love New York.


-The Frames-