NYC Election Madness!!

This has really been a great semester in New York. I have been lucky enough to be here during the election. For those of you who have been watching SNL can understand how incredible my time has been!

On Monday (the day before the election) I left work to see that Rockefeller Center had been decorated for the next day's activities. This was where NBC News would be broadcasting its live election coverage. There was a catwalk-like pathway running along he building and red, white and blue lights were lighting up the building.

The next evening, on election Tuesday, Julie and I decided we would go and check out Times Square. I was surprised, at first, that it didn't really seem that crowded. However, there were definitely many heavily crowded pockets of people watching the various screens covering the election results. After a quick stop at the Patriotic McDonald's , we crossed to the center of Times Square to watch the CNN coverage being broadcast. We were crowded in with a bunch of tourists and New Yorkers watching as the electoral votes came in. Whenever Obama took a state, the entire crowd cheered like no other! Obviously, New York voted Obama- although Staten Island voted McCain!




Anyway, it was getting late so Julie and I decided we would go back... naturally, if we had stayed only about ten minutes longer we would have been in Times Square when Obama won the election!! Just missed it by TEN MINUTES!!!... story of my life...

Weekend with Molly

Molly came and visited me over Fall Break, and we did a whirlwind tour of (some of) Manhattan!

I picked her up a week ago Friday from Laguardia Airport, after quite some trouble getting there... We took a cab into the city and went out for sushi a few blocks away from the house.

Saturday we spent most of the day exploring Times Square and wandering up Fifth Avenue. I think we made it into almost every clothing store there was in Midtown!

We started our day in Macy's, the largest store in the world! Then wandered up to Times Square and along Fifth Avenue.

That night, we had tickets to see Spring Awakening. So we checked out zagat.com to find a restaurant near our show. We ended up at a very nice Italian place, which got high Zagat ratings for their food and service. As soon as we arrived, they asked us if we were trying to make a show and at what time it started. We got in and out with plenty of time to spare!
We go to the theatre, which was about three blocks from our restaurant and found our seats- which were at he very back of the theatre... Luckily, the theatre was not very deep so we still had a great view!

The show was rather different from what I expected. The stage had some seating around the sides and it was decorated in a very urban style. The time period was also somewhat mystical. "Stereos" were mentioned in the show... but in one of the scenes, students wrote on individual chalkboards they kept under their desks..... on top of that, for those who are not very familiar with the show, all of the music was of the rock genre. Though it all fit together superbly. I an definitely see why it won all its Tonys!
On Sunday we moved into the hotel, which was about 15 blocks south, in the heart of Chelsea. We then ventured down to the South Street Seaport. We paroozed a lot of the shops in the area and I was rather successful in the Express store in the shopping mall. I jokingly pointed out a black and white tracksuit, but Molly said she liked the blue and white one.... and so did I. It was a little different than most of the clothes I own- but I really like it.



That nigh, we met up with Laura and Julie and ventured to Pinkberry. Molly had the same creation I tried my first time- and she HATED it.... haha. So, we then tried Red Mango, which was two doors down. While this was better, it wasn't quite ice cream.

On Monday I took Molly to show her where I work. She got to meet Mel and Brian, who were the only ones in the office that morning. We then took a tour of the studio hoping Lenny would be in by the time we came back.

I showed her around our floor, then took her down and showed her the SNL studio. Unfortunately it was VERY empty on a monday, so there wasn't a whole lot to see.

After a quick stop at the NBC Store, we head back up to the office. Sadly, Lenny hasn't come in yet. So, we go down to the concourse with Brian and get some lunch at Cucina.

The rest of the afternoon we spend seeing more of Fifth Avenue and we take a carriage ride through central park. I thought it was kind of funny that our driver was on his cell phone while giving us the tour....

We then went into Saks Fifth Avenue and ended up in the very expensive clothing section... with sweaters for $400....

That night we ate at a great mediterranean restaurant. It was in Chelsea again. We got to sit outside along one of the side streets, which was really nice.

We then met Julie to get some Tasti-D-Lite, which, while not being ice cream, was still very good.

On our last day we walked around Chelsea. We found a great grocery store that was set up inside a great old building. It looked almost like an old bank building.

After a few more hours walking thourgh Chelsea, and a great sushi lunch, it was time to take molly back to the airport. :-( Even though it was only a short time, we still were able to see a lot and we both had a great time!

Something funny I'd forgotten to mention....

Before I begin to tell you about this funny excerpt, I am going to have to tell you about one of the perks of interning for SNL. Since we do have quite a few late nights, for example- every Saturday, NBC wants to make sure that we get home safely (and not get mugged/murdered). So, we have access to a car service, Minute Men, which picks us up in Lincoln Towncars and drives us to where we need to go. I have taken this service home a few times when I have been a wok late, or dropping off/picking up instruments for repair. Anyway, to my story...

After the show this past Saturday, we were invited to an "intern after party" by Matt, one of he interns for the research department. So, after the show wrapped, Brian and I (Julie was still home sick) ventured off to find the Lower East side. We were supposed to take the F-train to... 14th street?- I don't remember. The point is that the train we got on did not stop where we needed it to. So, we ended up about 10 blocks too far south. So we go on the same train in the opposite direction... though this time it did stop at our stop (this still makes no sense to me).

From our stop we were supposed to take the L-train to the east. Conveniently, this station had signs that showed the time remaining until the next train is to arrive. The next L-train was not scheduled to arrive for another 20 minutes... it was already almost 3 in the morning by the time we had arrived at this station. For those of you who don't know, Saturdays we arrive to work at 11 am and don't leave until about 1:30 the next morning, we spend most of the time on our feet. That's over 14 hours of standing- which can be very tiring... So, we decided we would call it a day and just go home to sleep.

So, as we were leaving he platform to go home, Brian seems to be heading toward another train while I am going toward the exit to the street. I call down to Brian "Are you taking the subway home, or do you want to take the car service?". He replies "Yes, let's take the car service". As we make our exchange, another patron of the subway walks by and looks at us and, in quite a mocking tone, calls to us "Yes, of course! Take the car service, just like royalty"!

I could tell that the man was joking, but it was still extremely awkward. I hadn't thought about what I was saying... as much as I hate to admit it, having the car service had sort of become normal to me- I didn't realize what it must sound like to other people overhearing us talk about it..... I'm gonna have to think of some more tactful way of referencing Minute Men in public...

Asian Fusion Altoid Tins

Wednesdays have become our weekly pot-luck days, for us three music interns. We have decided that every week we'd each make a dish to bring in and share. September 24th was our first pot luck. We ended up with various assortments of dip and microwaved s'mores. It seemed that these dishes loosely fell under the category of hors d'oeuvres. So, we thought it would be fun to have themes for each of our potlucks. The nest week was to be Asian food.

On our way home from Pinkberry one night, Laura, Julie and I stumbled across a Korean Supermarket where I found "Sweet Korean Pancake" mix. That sounded like a good idea. So, on Tuesday night I set up a space in the kitchen. While the instructions on the box were in broken English... the labels for all the packages of mix were in Korean... so I had no idea which one was flour and which was yeast etc... There was also a mytery package which turned my dough green. (I later found out that I had purchased "Green Tea" pancake mix).

So, my batch was far from perfect:



I brought it down to the third floor kitchen, where Julie was cooking. The first thing she does when she sees my pancakes is laugh, uncontrolably. She does brave one and give it a taste. They taste half-way decent, just look like cinder. So, to make a long-story short, I headed out to Gristedes (grocery store) and bought cool whip, chocolate chips and cherries.



Surprisingly, Julie and Brian ate my concotion. Needless to say, Julie is home sick for the second day in a row. Is this because of my food? Or a strange coincidence? You decide!

The eve' of our potluck, the three of us went to see Ben Folds perform at Terminal 5. The concert was INCREDIBLE! He performed quite a few songs from his new CD, "Way To Normal". One of the highlights of the concert was his prepared piano piece, "Free Coffee". He placed Altoid tins in hs piano, creating a very unique sound. I thought that the guy playing synths was accompanying him.... but it was in fact the prepped piano!



Missy Higgins, an Australian singer/songwriter, opened for him. She did well... but I thought a lot of her music sounded the same to me. There were several parts in her songs that were incredibly beautiful- then she began to whine and moan into the microphone, completely killing the mood. Shame.

On another, completely random note (since it was a completely random encounter). I was walking through Times Square tthis morning and saw a Netflix promotional tent set up. I went to get a closer look, and saw this man....

Whirlwind

It has been quite a few days so far... in short, I moved in on Sunday around noon- and it's all been pretty much a blur since then.

So, Sunday morning I got up at 6:30 am to shower and finish packing. Molly spent the weekend, so she drove me to the airport at 8 o'clock. We got to the airport a little before 9, and checked in- Molly escorted us to the security gate to catch our flight.

The airport and the actual flight were pretty much uneventful. We landed at LaGuardia at about 11:40. When my mom and I were waiting for our luggage, a girl, Hannah Trager, came up to us and asked if I was from Albion. It turned out she was also doing the New York Arts Program, so we shared a cab to the house.

After a short cab ride, we arrived at "305". I marched up the four(!) flights of stairs to my closet... i mean... room(?). It's rather small and designed for two people- which would be absolutely awful. But since I have the room for myself, it worked out perfectly. 

After I got settled, my mom and I walked to Rockafeller Center (where I'll be working) and had lunch in the cafe at the water fountain.

When my mom left, I met up with Julie Kocsis (she is doing the same internship as me) and some girls from her hall to go grocery shopping. Julie and I then went for a walk to familiarize ourselves with the area and ended up walking to Times Square, where we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

My first full day in New York City was Monday. Julie and I had planned to go see more of the city today. In the morning she had some errands to run, so I set out to find the Chelsea Market near "305".

I started venturing north waiting to get to 16th Street.... it took me about 5 blocks to realize that I was going in the completely wrong direction! So I had to turn around and head back... about 15 blocks only to find that the market was closed on Labor Day.

So, Julie and I met up and took the subway to 86th and explored Uptown and Central park for a few hours. She then returned to the house and I took a subway to Times Square- I had a few errands to run.... My room is quite lackluster and I was hoping to lien it up with a few posters. So I went to Virgin Records-  but to my disappointment, they had none that pleased me. 

So I took the red line downtown to get back to our building... It turns out that I got on the express train, which took me about four stops too far... so, therefore I had to switch trains and backtrack to 28th street to get back home.

Monday night we had our first house meeting. It was the basic rules of the house- what we are and are not allowed to do, what our chores are, yadda, yadda, yadda.... This was the first time I got to see everyone living in the house. There are about 25-ish of us living here this fall..... less than half of Fall '07. 

After our meeting, I went for a walk with Christoffer, a guy from Sweden/Denison who lives in my hall. We walked East and got some better bearings for the neighborhoods we are living in.

Tuesday morning, today, we had our orientation for NYAP. We all gathered at The People's Improv Theatre, where all the advisors for NYAP talked to us about what to expect from our internships and the city. Two NYPD detectives (who, I swear, stepped out of Law & Order to talk to us) gave us safety tips for walking and living in the city. They had the stereotypical color-coordinated suits, and talked out of the sides of their mouths.

After a quick bite to eat, the NYAP group met at the Circle Line pier and took a 2-hour cruise of Manhattan. I took plenty of photos... so they should be on facebook soon!

After our tour, we had dinner catered at the house.... I was absolutely exhausted so I took a nap.. then I explored a bit more and found a three story KMart at Penn Station- haha, thought that was kinda funny. So I did a bit of shopping... and now here I am sitting in our lounge typing this blog!

It still hasn't hit me that I am living in New York. It's still kind of surreal. I'm sure once I start working regularly it will sink in... so, we'll see!

Stay tuned for more!