Last night we attended a wonderful FREE concert at The Julliard School. Although we have attended other events at the school this one was unique. All of the pieces played were composed by one person. AND he was in the audience. To make it even more special - the composer is 99 years old and will be 100 this year. The performers were all Julliard faculty members. Can't ask for much better than that. Sorry we don't have any photos for this entry because they are not allowed in the theatre. There was a clarinetist, two violins, a viola, and a cello. I was able to enjoy the compositions more because their was a description of each piece written by the composer. He describes the musical image he wanted to present and the result was that it really worked.
On our bus ride to the concert we saw what we think is one of the first street fairs of the year. A Google search found a schedule and it lists fairs for at least one a weekend, more often two (one on Sat and one on Sun) for the next several months. We should have photos to post then.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Spring Day at South Seaport - NYC
Variety, diversity, fun, free - some of the features that make The Big Apple so WONDERFUL!
It was a warm day. We rode the bus down to the seaport to see what was "happening". One of the first activities to capture our attention was a high school band, complete with precision team.
Street performers abound on Pier 17 where we had a great vantage point from the third floor balcony of a small shopping mall. This was a team of two people - one male and one female. They set up a tripod of poles and proceeded to do acrobatics for contributions from the passing observers.
A close-up of the young lady doing one of her many feats.
The pier has many places to walk and take in the beautiful views.
The lady doing character portraits was busy.
We are great people watchers. The pier had native New Yorkers as well as many tourists. We enjoyed sitting a trying to ID the many languages we heard spoken - Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, Italian and more.
If you look closely you can see the finished sketch of two of the children around the artist.
One of my favorite shops in the mall is what I call The Butterfly Store. Butterflies of all colors from all parts of the world. They look alive. The colors are so vibrant and beautiful.
Another butterfly from the store. We shared a table at lunch with two ladies and I showed them this photo. They thought the butterflies were possibly made of silk due to the wonderful colors.
There are bright yellow "water taxi"s. You can hop on and hop off at a number of stops and sight see. Today they seemed very busy.
Here is another street performer. She stood up on a platform and would pose for photos with anyone who wanted. If a donation was made she would pull some wires and her wings would expand. If the donation were made by a parent who's child posed for the photo the performer would give the child a small token remembrance.
We also saw someone making balloon animals, hats and swords.
Another street performance was by a group of acrobats/tumblers that worked to music.
There was also a vocalist who sang while being accompanied by instrumental music on tape.
It was a warm day. We rode the bus down to the seaport to see what was "happening". One of the first activities to capture our attention was a high school band, complete with precision team.
Street performers abound on Pier 17 where we had a great vantage point from the third floor balcony of a small shopping mall. This was a team of two people - one male and one female. They set up a tripod of poles and proceeded to do acrobatics for contributions from the passing observers.
A close-up of the young lady doing one of her many feats.
The pier has many places to walk and take in the beautiful views.
The lady doing character portraits was busy.
We are great people watchers. The pier had native New Yorkers as well as many tourists. We enjoyed sitting a trying to ID the many languages we heard spoken - Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, Italian and more.
If you look closely you can see the finished sketch of two of the children around the artist.
One of my favorite shops in the mall is what I call The Butterfly Store. Butterflies of all colors from all parts of the world. They look alive. The colors are so vibrant and beautiful.
Another butterfly from the store. We shared a table at lunch with two ladies and I showed them this photo. They thought the butterflies were possibly made of silk due to the wonderful colors.
There are bright yellow "water taxi"s. You can hop on and hop off at a number of stops and sight see. Today they seemed very busy.
Here is another street performer. She stood up on a platform and would pose for photos with anyone who wanted. If a donation was made she would pull some wires and her wings would expand. If the donation were made by a parent who's child posed for the photo the performer would give the child a small token remembrance.
We also saw someone making balloon animals, hats and swords.
Another street performance was by a group of acrobats/tumblers that worked to music.
There was also a vocalist who sang while being accompanied by instrumental music on tape.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The Flowers of Kips Bay
As the daffodils begin to say "goodbye" other flowers are just saying "hello".
The garden also has flowering trees. The color is so brilliant the tree caught my eye and demanded I take a photo of it!
This apartment complex has a beautiful park filled with spring flowers! The trees have yet to spread their leaves but that can't be far behind!
You can see a small portion of the park here. It is wonderfully large and beautifully maintained. On the far side of this photo are the basketball court and childrens' playground.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
NYC Tartan Week - And a Parade!
The web page said to expect 10,000 drums and pipes in this parade. I think they were about right. There were so many wonderful groups.
This video is but a small taste of being at the parade. We took many videos but this one is the clearest.
New York's finest was there to make certain all went as planned and all were safe. Here are the handsome mounted policemen.
One of the many smartly dressed drum majors. I chose this one to publish because he reminds me of a PC volunteer in Thailand that we both thought a lot of - David.
The very first band was from the U.S. Naval Academy. They were a handsome group and their music was the best! But where were the West Pointers?
Many family names were represented in the parade.
This one said McFarlane, I think.
A large crowd turned out to watch and take photos. Not all of us were Scottish though.
Lochgelly. Hmmm. Is that the name of a region in Scotland maybe? They do look smart in their uniforms and the music was great too.
This group came in from New Jersey. A number of the pipe and drums represent police/fire departments.
Of course the day would not be complete without representation from NYU so here it is.
The Daughters of Scotland - but they are from New Jersey! What a great country. We are all Americans but we can still identify with the roots of our forefathers if we wish.
What is a Tartan Day parade without some Scottie dogs. This one is proudly wearing the tartan colors of his/her family.
Anther group in from New Jersey.
Not all of the Scottie dogs were sporting a coat but this one certainly was memorable.
A group of Scotts from Cajun country? In the U.S. almost anything is possible.
Duchess County is not quite as far away as the Gulf Coast but the marching was just as smart.
This Scottie didn't want to show any partiality so he is just wearing the Scottish flag.
This video is but a small taste of being at the parade. We took many videos but this one is the clearest.
New York's finest was there to make certain all went as planned and all were safe. Here are the handsome mounted policemen.
One of the many smartly dressed drum majors. I chose this one to publish because he reminds me of a PC volunteer in Thailand that we both thought a lot of - David.
The very first band was from the U.S. Naval Academy. They were a handsome group and their music was the best! But where were the West Pointers?
Many family names were represented in the parade.
This one said McFarlane, I think.
A large crowd turned out to watch and take photos. Not all of us were Scottish though.
Lochgelly. Hmmm. Is that the name of a region in Scotland maybe? They do look smart in their uniforms and the music was great too.
This group came in from New Jersey. A number of the pipe and drums represent police/fire departments.
Of course the day would not be complete without representation from NYU so here it is.
The Daughters of Scotland - but they are from New Jersey! What a great country. We are all Americans but we can still identify with the roots of our forefathers if we wish.
What is a Tartan Day parade without some Scottie dogs. This one is proudly wearing the tartan colors of his/her family.
Anther group in from New Jersey.
Not all of the Scottie dogs were sporting a coat but this one certainly was memorable.
A group of Scotts from Cajun country? In the U.S. almost anything is possible.
Duchess County is not quite as far away as the Gulf Coast but the marching was just as smart.
This Scottie didn't want to show any partiality so he is just wearing the Scottish flag.
The Flowers of New York City
We are back in the city that never sleeps. This first group of photos is from Central Park. We had a wonderful 68 degree day. Besides seeing these beautiful flowers, horse drawn handsome cabs, lovers, a fella playing jazz saxophone we also were able to watch a softball game. What a city!
It is spring here and spring flowers are making their appearance all over the city.
Pansies are one variety of flowers traditionally seen in spring. These have a vibrant color and have helped welcome us back home.
Tulips! How wonderful!
At almost every turn we seem to see daffodils. I think this yellow flower contains bits of sunshine that help its color be quite so vibrant.
Periwinkles on Third Avenue of all places. Thank you to whoever it was that planted them!
What is spring without the mighty crocus. Although they come in many varieties of colors yellow seems to be popular here.
Hyacinths have the most wonderful smell. We could tell they were in the area well before we spotted them.
It is spring here and spring flowers are making their appearance all over the city.
Pansies are one variety of flowers traditionally seen in spring. These have a vibrant color and have helped welcome us back home.
Tulips! How wonderful!
At almost every turn we seem to see daffodils. I think this yellow flower contains bits of sunshine that help its color be quite so vibrant.
Periwinkles on Third Avenue of all places. Thank you to whoever it was that planted them!
What is spring without the mighty crocus. Although they come in many varieties of colors yellow seems to be popular here.
Hyacinths have the most wonderful smell. We could tell they were in the area well before we spotted them.
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