NYC Visit

Last week my old friend Luke and Jenny came up to visit.  As Jersey is...well...Jersey, we made our way to New York City several times.  It wasn't really the best weather to go out sightseeing and we ended up walking around in the cold and rain.  Still, I think we all had fun and it was good to get out of the house.

The first night had tickets to the Broadway show American Idiot.  It was a little strange to see Green Day songs being performed with kicks and dances on stage.  Plus, I mostly remember Green Day from Dookie, so I haven't really listened to their later, more serious stuff.  I would have guessed there would have been other rock operas to adapt to Broadway first (hmm, how about Pink Floyd?).  Anyway, it was pretty good.  It did feel like it was trying to be the new Rent, i.e. the new hip rock and roll Broadway show about disaffected youth.  The director made a decision to cut out most of the dialog and let the songs carry the show, which I'm not sure was the best idea.  The result is a plot that is a little harder to follow and more free-form, and while that may have been the intent, it made it a little harder to connect the characters on a personal level.  Especially when their lives started falling apart.  Instead, it was 90 minutes of being blasted with teenage angst.  With rock music.  And choreographed dance scenes.  Which isn't bad, per se, but I think it was a missed opportunity.

We also got tickets earlier in the day to do one of those tourist-y water cruises around the city.  It's a little cheesy, but it's still a pretty cool way to see the different parts of the city.  The boat goes around Manhattan and then closes in on Liberty Island before returning.  The weather was bad and it gave the city almost an oppressive feel with the clouds hunkering down over the skyline.

Photography: Tribute in Light

The 9th anniversary of 9/11 took place over the weekend.  Every year, the city  has set up the Tribute in Light to mark the date.  It consists of a series of powerful searchlights resulting in twin columns of blue light shooting to the heavens from Ground Zero.  It's a mute but powerful memorial to the losses of that day.

We were in the city to pick up my mother-in-law visiting from Hong Kong from JFK airport (in a sign that the people of New York have moved on, the city was packed and there was a huge traffic jam going to the airport---people aren't afraid of flying anymore).  When the sun set, we headed to Brooklyn Bridge Park to view the tribute.  Luckily, I had my tripod with me and was able to shoot some pictures.

World Trade Center Tribute in Light

 

 World Trade Center Tribute in Light

Brooklyn Bridge with the Empire State Building lit up in red, white, and blue

Panorama of Manhattan

Moonrise over the Statue of Liberty

Playing with black and white, cyanotype toning

The light is even more amazing and inspiring in person.  It's not overwrought or tacky---it's a very classy, minimalistic tribute to the lives that were lost.  The park was packed with people who came to see the memorial and pay their respects.  The photos can be seen at my Flickr site.