rone | trip report, apr 2-5 (Reply)

OAK-JFK on JetBlue: TV on an airplane is a good thing. You just get sucked into whatever you're watching and the time just flies by, just like at home, except on a plane, that's exactly what you want to have happen. I heartily endorse this service and/or product.

Watching Mets-Cubs, hoping to see Sammy Sosa's 500th home run. Cliff Floyd steps up to the plate, and waves his bat just so, saying, "Put it here." So Matt Clement winds up... and puts it there. Floyd puts it out of the park.

Getting out of JFK is a trip in itself. Mostly a bad one.

Carnegie Hall is... impressive. Awesome ("Remember what 'awesome' meant before it applied to pizza?"). Belleville High School starts us off with the Overture to Candide, one of my favorite pieces, and one that, due to its difficulty, i didn't expect high schoolers to perform. They also played Ives' "Country Band March", which sounds like a Sousa march arranged by a drunk Bill Bruford. The Leigh kids play damn well (they came away with a gold rating, so the judges must've agreed); Whitacre's "October" was especially impressive. Concord High School played Copland's "Danzón Cubano", which felt like a flat, sterile version of Gershwin's "Cuban Overture", except captain_nesky tells me that Copland's piece came first. The Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music's wind ensemble was the best group of the night, playing a wonderful selection (including a Wagner piece which i found very enjoyable[!]) at a high level of talent and emotion; they also added an unlisted encore, a piece that was based on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and resembled those cringeworthy Christmas medleys in structure except it didn't suck, as a tribute to the troops in Iraq.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is very nice. The medieval arms and armor display is my favorite; their array of various polearms is the coolest part. Afterwards, Kim, elmuchacho, and i had dinner with Ed and Elena at Jacques Brasserie, which was superb, especially their ale and chocolate soufflé.

Envision a busy Grand Central Station hallway. On one side, a corridor leads to the restrooms; the line to the ladies' room snakes out into the hallway. On the other side, a gathering of men placidly await their women.

Note: if you are as allergic to the Bee Gees' music as i am, do NOT eat at Ben Ash on 7th Av. Yeah, the food's good —a bit pricey for a deli, but the portions are huge— but godDAMN, how can you enjoy your meal when it's all motherfucking Bee Gees, all the motherfucking time?