NYC

Just back from a couple of days in Manhattan. Always a sublime rush.

Highlights in chronological order-

1- the very cool hotel at 30 E. 30th St. http://www.thirtythirty-nyc.com

2- the 3 thuggy looking guys on the subway who, when the doors closed, yelled, "IT'S SHOWTIME, FOLKS!" and had my girls cowering, expecting gunfire and not a totally respectable doo-wop version of Under the Boardwalk.

I gave them 3 bucks, it was so good.

3- the corner bodega/deli short-order cooks who hate how non-New Yorkers (especially Canadians) order- “Oh, gosh, it all looks so good…Is the bacon really salty? I don’t know… Trevor, what are you going to have?” New Yorker (actual order)- “Sesame seed roll, no butter, egg white omelet, provolone on top. Quick. Thank you!”

http://www.lewrockwell.com/callahan/callahan138.html

4- walking down designer knock-off central, Canal St. and hearing the constant murmur “Prada, Gucci, Chanel” and how that chant magically and instantly disappears when I leave my 3 female companions.

5- leaving my 3 female companions to stroll around the Lower East Side, http://www.tenement.org/Virtual_Tour/index_virtual.html boyhood home to many of my idols- George & Ira Gershwin, The Marx Brothers, Irving Berlin, etc… while listening to scratchy old 78s, ironically, on my ipod.

6- discovering that the amazing Eddie Gomez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obDxgY6T10Q&mode=related&search

will be playing with the Larry Willis Quintet at Jazz Standard http://www.jazzstandard.net/red/index.html just two blocks from our hotel in about 2 hours.

7- listening to this incredible quintet and adding one more reason to my already long list of reasons why I could never share a bandstand with the likes of these guys- I can’t keep a straight face that long. I have terrible “game-face”.

8- checking out the Annex’s antique and fleamarkets Sunday morning alongside Manhattan’s Sunday morning eccentrics. (Hear in the Hammer we can only afford to call them crazies)

http://www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com/index.html

9- the trip out of the city and up through the beautiful, green Poconos back to my big comfy house surrounded by trees, knowing that I’m actually living a New Yorker’s dream.

Comments

[paul panchezak]

hi carl
donna and just celebrated our 25th anniversary. 25 years ago we spent our honeymoon staying in the hotel between the twin world trade center towers and we also saw eddie gomez playing in a small club with gary bartz, al foster and kenny barron. what a night !
- paul p.