Wednesday, May 31, 2006

perfect

After a long session of sleep I gradually dispelled the "jet lag" and really appreciated just sitting reading and looking at the garden...every day has been sunny and bright and I feel that can really lift ones mood....it certainly made me realise I had needed a holiday. The past month has been a non-stop whirl of work and gigging..a lot of my all -time favourite musicians have entertained Manchester with surprising results..who would have thought that a fiddle extravaganza would be better than Morressey but it was certainly true that there was more genuine feeling and heart and soul in the Bruce Springsteen show than the photocopy exactness and lack luster of the Morressey shows... It has been a weird juxtaposition of resting in a beautiful garden and reading about the horrors of life in Mao's China...70 million people is a lot to kill and the book details his total lack of concern about death or life..he was consistent ..he didn't care even about his own family....really everyone should read this book if they want to understand evil that existed in the 20th Century... Onward into the city of marvels..although it can give me reassurance NY for me is excitement and change..today we went to 3 places I have never been to before..the battery park area took a battering on 9/11..and I'm shocked there is still an empty shell at ground zero...but the surrounding areas have been improved with new gardens ,weird sculpture and a bizarre monument to the Irish potato famine...!! A filling visit to 27th street introduced a stream of cool Indian restaurants I had not seen before.. Superb presentation and flavours. for $8...of course we paid $40 to park tho..!! It was the 3 rd meal out so far ... the best was a charming Italian restaurant in Bronx ville..minimalist design...handsome waiter and superb food ,delicate sauces and sumptuous salmon..a treat The ever changing streets ,full of construction workers sweating with toil in the mid-day heat kept my attention as we passed an architectural highlight ..the Hurst building came gleaming upon the horizon, after the neoclassical delights of Carnegie Hall, it shares that building sense of fin de siecle decadence ..but with a new twist ..Norman Foster has, I believe , created a building of light and shadow that fits seamlessly with its surroundings ..bravo... Columbus Circle looks amazing compared to its seedy glamour of 20 years ago..I always get excited around there as it reminds me so much of my 86 visit,staying in the local YMCA..!!! So ,as the sun sets ,dappling the many coloured trees..I sit in the garden ruminating...

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

2nd day

Lovely nature reserve 5 mins walk from Phils...relax and float down stream.. In blissfull sunshine and after 12 hours sleep I merged into the world of Mao.. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-1626700,00.html http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/biography/0,6121,1498718,00.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jung_Chang.

Monday, May 29, 2006

arrival

Thats the life...

The first post

Delta delivered me to the city of dreams