The Conclusion of my 2005 GWTW Tour

Hey everyone, Wow - this has turned into the longest recap ever. I'm glad i was only there for 3 days or this would be never-ending. The length of time it's taking me to recap isn't all my fault tho - i've been having trouble with blogger. Anyway, I left off on museum day. After the nirvana that was the museum of tv and radio, i went to MOMA. it was around 4:30 and the line was huge, but i was told it moved fast. they didn't lie and i waited no more than 10 minutes and it was free! the first thing i did was rent one of those headsets. it proved to be quite useful and informative. as i was walking to the first exhibit, i passed a familiar looking face. after doingt he classic double-take, i realized it was indeed al sharpton! he was walking with a lady and i turned around to follow him. she gave him directions and he took off on his own, which i found surprising. I expected him to have lots of handlers. He was in a very sharp suit and had quite the swagger. I tried to capture him with my camera phone and am not sure if i succeeded (can't get the pics off the thing at the moment - tech difficulties due to cingular's purchase of at&t i think). Anyway, i didn't chase him down and tell him how much i enjoyed his work on Boston Legal because we left the museum and i wasn't going to stand in line again. it was fun seeing him tho and every new yorker i told about this found it funny that he visited moma on Free Friday.

As for the museum itself, it's been redesigned by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. since i hadn't been there in years, i honestly didn't notice a difference. from what i understand he basically doubled the viewing space. since i only had a few hours, i found the museum quite overwhelming and towards the end i gave up on seeing everything and instead focused on the Architecture and Design section (showed really cool posters, chairs, etc., that have been created anywhere from the early 1900s to today, i.e., Frank Lloyd Wright windows), the Photography section - they have everything from Man Ray to Weegee, and the special exhibit by a German artist I'd never heard of called Thomas Demand (and no, that's not a pseudonym for myhusband, tho it could be;). He takes actual pictures that look pretty mundane but actually have a backstory, makes models of them made entirely of colored paper and cardboard and then photographs them again. For example, the picture in this link: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2005/demand.html
(no, it's not the inside of cyd's apartment) looks like a messy hotel room, right? It is, but it's also based on a photo taken from some book on L. Ron Hubbard - he pretty much lived in this hotel room while writing his first scientology book (hello, Tom Cruise and John Travolta - have you SEEN this picture?? this is where your guru created his religion). Demand found it interesting because it was so messy and it was obvious he practically never left the room. Thank goodness i rented the headphones or i so would not have got Demand's work at all. Because on top of it he names his photos generic things like Room. anyway, once you hear the backstory and his crazy paper mache process, it was pretty interesting.

After the museum, i was to meet cyd for dinner at this sardinian restaurant, Assenzio, downtown. i majorly miscalculated here as it took me almost an HOUR to catch a cab. v frustrating. but i finally arrived and loved this place - wonderful food, great wine and banana flambe and a myrtle favored liqueur for desert. i'm still not sure what myrtle really is or tastes like but it is v yummy. After dinner we decided to go to an off-off-off-etc. broadway play called Reflections of the Breakfast Club. It played below a place called the KGB Bar that reminded us both of our visit to Prague - it was oddly oppressive and of course red. Surprisingly, they did not infuse their own vodkas. We grabbed a glass of wine which was a great idea as it put us in the perfect mood for our farce of a play. It was basically a re-telling of the movie, The Breakfast Club, with everyone acting WAY over the top. We particularly loved the guy playing Judd Nelson. He nailed the snarl and the bangs toss. To top it all off there was a surprise visit from Tootie from Facts of Life at the end (fans of the show will remember Molly Ringwald played Molly Parker during the show's first season).

The next day we went shopping. it was raining cats and dogs and i've never seen so many broken umbrellas b/c it was crazy windy as well (cyd added hers to the broken collection). we had success at old navy, banana republic and sephora, aka Makeup Heaven. Girls, even if you don't like makeup you will love this place. they have every kind you can imagine from Chanel on down and you get to try EVERYTHING on with a bazillion disposable applicators. It rocked! We stayed pretty much downtown and a word here about what the girl on the street is wearing. It's somewhat different than I expected. Maybe it was the weather, the season or the area, but i saw v few manolo blahnik stilettos. In general the girls wore jeans with small, very fitted blazers, intricately tied scarves, and funky colored tennis shoes or galoshes. So maybe this is what we'll all be wearing next fall - if we're not already, of course. We wrapped up the day by meeting Cyd's old friend Michael and his new girlfriend Stacy for dinner at this little creperia next door to her. Happily, more good food and a good time was had by all. I took some pics here that I'll try to post soon.

On my last afternoon, I caught one final off broadway show - Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson. It was set in 1939 and told about the somewhat true story of the five frantic days David O. Selznick (producer), Victor Fleming (director...after Cukor was fired) and Ben Hecht (script doctor and winner of the first screenplay writing oscar ever) spent rewriting the script of - what else - Gone With the Wind. This is probably the official conclusion of my 2005 GWTW tour. At this point, I could write a master's thesis. Anyway, the play was a farce and very enjoyable. I loved hearing all sorts of behind the scenes tidbits on the writing, the actors and Mitchell and it was really funny to hear how they all thought it would be a flop - particularly Hecht who did not even ask for the writer's credit - he was afraid he'd never work again! However, my fav play of the trip remains Orson's Shadow.

Finally (and yes, this is the end of the recap) I have to mention that the entire time I was in New York, I was only asked for money once (try having that happen as you stroll down pearl st in boulder), i saw no people sleeping on the streets and i road the subway several times without incident. some of guiliani's reforms must still be in place. the other great thing was there was NO smoking in restaurants and bars! all in all, weather aside (i am now hopelessly addicted to colorado's blue skies), the city was a fabulous place to visit. I look forward to my next trip and on that occasion, those Wicked tickets will be mine then - they were $300 this trip!! Crazy.

-sunday