Springtime In New York (almost)

As I prepare to catch a plane upstate to Rochester I've just got time to type up a few notes on my last few days in the 'Big Apple'...


Let's see, I've been walking about a lot, bought too many DVDs and eaten way too much pulled pork (pigged out?). I spent a long day at the excellent American Museum of Natural History and Rose Center for Earth and Space. Fantastic Dinosaurs and courageous Astronauts sourcing the dreams of boys of all ages. Sitting under the giant dome of the Hayden Planetarium I felt small and insignificant. Robert Redford's voice boomed down from the heavens telling me that 'Cosmic Collisions are a good thing', whether they be at the sub-atomic or galactic scale. Our galaxy (the Milky Way) is apparently heading for a smash up with Andromeda that will last for billions of years! News at eleven.


What else have I been up to? I caught a couple of movies; Michel Gondry's heart-warming and funny 'Be Kind Rewind', and George A. Romero's disappointing 'Diary of the Dead'. Well, bits of DotD were pretty good but it was mostly ho-hum, with some poor cast performances compared with those in George's previous 'Dead' films. The acid-brain Zombie was cool though.


Finally... last night I saw Jonathan Richman performing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A sold out venue, a good atmosphere and great sound. Tommy Larkins providing accompaniment on the drums. It had been a mild day in the city, around 55-60F, and I'd noticed that, weirdly, there was still the odd pile of snow hanging around from last week... so it was neat when Jojo made the same observation in an extended version of 'Springtime In New York', a song that unsurprisingly went down well with the locals. Jonathan was more relaxed than I've ever seen him before and it looked like he was really enjoying the show. Bizarrely though, after a fun set, he left everyone with a slow, moving song about his mother dying in a care home! Jaws could be heard dropping throughout the hall... When he'd finished the last note Jonathan told us that this tale should'nt be thought of as something sad but rather as a beautiful thing. If only we could all view the world through Jojo's eyes.
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