Sunday, June 9th
9:30am- I wanted to leave pretty early, but Mad Patter said that the
earliest that he could get to my house would be 9:30 cause he was gunna
be out late the night before. So at 9:30 I call him only to find out that he
is still in Charlotte. (I live in Winston-Salem, soon Charlotte) It turns out
that he is freaked out cause he does not have renters insurance, so he
had to haul all his guitars and amps over to his parents house. This gets
to me a little cause he knew we were going like 2-3 weeks in advance
(besides his place is like really nice with covered parking, rare in
Charlotte), but what can I do I love the guy.
11:00am- Mad calls me after he figures out that he went the wrong way and overshot Winston-Salem, and is Greensboro. I first try and give him new directions and then we decide that Vanessa and I should meet him in between and then Vanessa can drive his car back to my place. (This excites Vanessa as she had never driven a Lexus before, not knowing that the only reason Mad has it is that its got some problems, most notably the power steering fluxes from good to bad) So I set off to meet him.
11:20am or so- I meet Mad at an Exit 203 Texaco Station. We move his stuff into my car and begin the trip northward to the Big Apple. On the way up we listen to a lot of antifolk, and only stop once for Gas/ Food/ Stretching. DC was no problem, but damn that New Jersey Turnpike. It took FOREVER to get through and ruined our chance to hit Artland that night.
10:30 pm- we pull into the city and drive round till we find my Aunt's apartment. The doorman remembers us from 2 years ago and we go up to the place to drop off out stuff before finding a parking spot for the car. By the time we park the car and are halfway settled it is 11:00. I call Mike and Dina form Prewar Yardsale and we set up something with Mike in the morning. But right now let me lay out the apartment for ya. I kinda am getting a kick outta the Henry Kissenger thread currently on the OliveJuice board now cause unless he has moved recently he was like right below us almost. This place is huge. Four Bed/ Three Bath. The bedroom I stayed in had a really cool shower. With a small window that comes down to the crotch, I may have been showin' off the goods to a small part of New York. The shower his no lip, by that I mean the bathroom floor and the shower floor are the same. The shower had a curtain and the three showerheads pounding down on you. Awesome. The dinning room is huge and has one of those tables that Mad & I could have sat at separate ends and used a phone to communicate with. The largest room is the living room and it overlooks the East River. Oh wait I almost forgot my sister's favorite part. In the Kitchen there is a fridge, but in the pantry there are two half-size fridges. One with a glass door that is for wine, and the other more normally designed one that is specifically for beer. We marvel at the porn on cable and then go to sleep.
Monday, June 10th
The next morning, we get up and call Mike again and set up a time and place to meet him. He is gunna take us to the Guggenheim. We get ready and I guess I should mention, when staying at my aunt's I feel like I have to dress up somewhat. I don't wanna embarrass her by showing up in t-shirts and such even if they do say cool things like Fortified and Joie/ Dead Blonde Girlfriend. After getting ready, we start to make the trek from 52nd and 1st to 89th and 6th. We stop midway and get a slice of pizza, I order a white pie slice then Mad follows suit, only to find out that he really doesn't like it. I get a Coke and he grabs a beer. This is where I found out that Mad forgot his deodorant. (He didn't use any the whole trip, as he didn't borrow mine or any of my Aunt's either. This didn't bother me as I have no sense of smell what so ever. If he stank to you that's why) After we ate, we finished walking up to meet Mike. Mike and I made it easy to spot each other as I was wearing my antifolk hat and he had a Paleface shirt on. We talk briefly outside and then go inside. The Museum is between shows at the moment so a couple of the floors are off limits. We do get to see a lot of cool stuff though, we were even told to step away from the paintings when Mike was takin' a piss. Just pushin' authority a little you know. Back when I was an art major I used to argue that people should be able to touch paintings if they wanted, and that the art world really needed something to get back in the mind of mainstream America, to bring it closer to the people. We then walked to the Jewish Museum. The show that was on the main floor was really neat. The highlights for me was the first piece that had a Pop art feel that showed Nazi imagery in movies and TV and the Hitler/ Duchamp portraits.
We then went to a café and bought some cold coffee drinks. After getting those we went through Central Park. Which I had not been to since I was 4-5 years old. I of course and like always finished my drink really flippin' early. (Vanessa gets upset that I finish em so fast) Mike and I talk about some antifolk stuff and he tells me the Moldy Peaches are gunna play the Park later this year (sweet). After going through the park we go and get some grub. (Well Burrito's look like grubs don't they) Mad and I hold up for omnivore's everywhere while Mike goes vegetarian. After the burritos and some conversation that includes talk of giving credit about songs written and OJ, we call it an afternoon, and head separate ways to meet up at the antihoot. Mad and I walk back to out home for the weekend and he makes the comment that "there sure are a lot of people here that talk to themselves. We determine that some of them must be performance artists, who can't get a gig at any establishment and therefore are forced to try and gain attention on the street by yelling to them.
We catch a cab to the sidewalk. Walk in and I notice Timothy Dark, who invites us to sit with him and we do. I met a lot of people there before the show started including Lach, who I interrupted while he was eating some dinner. (Oops) When the show started we got to see a lot of great performances, most of which by people that I hadn't heard of before. I have the Lach's Antihoot CD, but to be there in person is a better experience. I am gunna have to recommend it. Everything was there! From high energy rockin' acts to soft-spoken whispery acts. From performance art, to poetry, and even a little rap thrown in. Hey you know I love a lot of the artists' stuff that were there and I don't wanna name drop at the risk of missing someone. But damn it check it out, name drop for yourself, listen up and discover some new artists!! (If you can't make it check out the Antihoot online at www.pseudo.com) Enjoy it like I did and BE good! We left earlier than I would have liked, but Mad was ready to leave, so we took another cab back. I then kicked his ass in chess after taking his queen early in the game.
Tuesday June 11th
After waking up early I woke up a very gracious John Kessel who had been up working on Peter Dizozza's "Prepare to Meet Your Maker." Talked to him for a while. Then talked to Linda Draper and Steve Espinola (separately). Steve and I set up some lunch plans. I then got freaked the hell out, cause while walking through the apartment I heard a woman say "hello." I jumped. It was the maid. I felt better. I went to get a chocolate croissant and waited for Mad to wake up. He finally did and then we finalized plans with Steve. We took the subway to Union Square. It was the first time Mad had been on a subway, and the first time I had been on the one in NYC. We got there and Steve was late, by like 20 min. We spanked around till he showed up and took us to a falafel place that had a line out the door. We had never had falafels before. We walked beck to Union Square and ate in the park there. Steve kept telling us about girls and we kept listening. Mad and Steve talked some about keyboards and we talked a little antifolk as well. We then all went to the Virgin Megastore, which is where Steve left us to go back to work.
We then went to St. Marks Place and went to the vintage clothing shops and CD stores. Damn Vintage clothing is expensive in NYC. I do admit there was a whole lot better selection there than at the Goodwill near my house, but I'd much rather pay $1.50 than $60 for a used T-shirt. Mad bought a Bob Marley CD and I almost got the new Adam Green CD. Kim's underground had priced one of me wrong and when I got to the counter I guess they thought I was trying to rip em off cause they refused to sell it to me at that price. So I let em keep it. We then walked from 8th street back to 52nd, to take a shower and get ready to go to see Nan Turner play. It was hot as balls and during the walk so the showers were needed.
We took the subway to Union Square and then walked to Sidewalk. We say Nan play. Anders Griffen, Dina Levy and Fenton Lawless were also there. Matt Santry played his first gig ever after Nan. When he was taking around his mailing list he said that he wasn't gunna bother the couple in the back who were suckin face. I told him he had to ask them to join his mailing list cause if his music in anyway contributed to that guy getting laid that night, it was the least the guy could do to join his mailing list, Matt didn't see it that way and didn't ask em. We talked for a little bit, then went back to the apartment to sleep.
Wednesday, June 12th
Woke up early as hell, to get a shower and get on the road. Mad drove most of the way home and sped a lot most of the way so we got back fast. (9.5 hours)
All in all- great time had by all. Wish I could have stayed longer and gotten to have longer conversations with many a person. Be good- till next time- Brad
