Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Slept in. Checked out of Holiday Inn LES. At checkout I reported three issues which I did not consider problems: 1. the wireless forces me to relogin each day or perhaps each session, which is annoying but no different than other hotel wireless. 2. the deadbolt on my room (#810) did not close properly because the door was installed improperly. 3. the room key did not work consistently in the door or elevator, perhaps a problem with the reader: it usually took 3 or 4 tries before working, whereas the key worked consistently in the reader by the main entrance. The hotel is new and very well-designed. Power outlets are plentiful making it very convenient to plug stuff in: laptop, phone, battery charger, iron. The air conditioning unit was simple to use and worked well. The space in 810 was a bit cramped, especially at the bathroom sink, but workable. The iron did indeed drip less when, as instructed, I let it heat for a few minutes before using. I checked in to Brian and Kelly's place, then got blueberry pancakes and water at Clinton Street Baking Company after a 25-ish-minute wait. Back to Brian and Kelly's to rest and catch up on journaling and make plans. Added $20 to my mta card to receive a $21 credit. Subway F train to York Street Station in Brooklyn, walked back to Manhattan Island via the Brooklyn Bridge, taking lots of photos along the way. After crossing the bridge, I stopped to eat trail mix I had brought with me and drank water from my klean kanteen. Then I walked through parts of Chinatown, stopping at Vegetarian Dim Sum House where I ate mock ha gow, a half order of egg rolls, and purchased steamed rice to go. I then stopped at Prosperity Dumpling for some pork and chive dumplings in soup ($3) to go, Kossar's for an onion bialy (90 cents), Doughnut Plant for a coconut cream yeast doughnut (filled). Back to Brian and Kelly's place. Ate dumpling soup. The soup dumplings from Prosperity Dumpling are very flavorful. Each dumpling is larger than I can fit in my mouth, and so I found it awkward to eat, the thick wrapper falling apart somewhat inelegantly every time I took a bite of half a dumpling. The chive-embedded meat holds together well and contains only a tiny amount of gristle. Nap. Acoustica Electronica with Joeski at Santos Party House. The event was scheduled to start at 9:00 PM, but as it turns out the doors open at 9 and they give you a little time to get drinks and listen to the DJ and experience a bit of pre-show before the performance which started at 9:50 PM and lasted until about 11:00 PM. This was my favorite event on this Chicago and NYC trip. Acoustica Electronica takes place in a nightclub and combines theater, opera, classical music, rock music, electronica, acrobatics, and more. The performance is also interactive in that you're encouraged to interact with the performers in a limited way, and you're also encouraged to dance before, during, and after the performance. Performances take place on the stage but also on the floor and in different areas of the space sometimes at the same time. Sometimes you're an arm's length away from a performer, sometimes you're face to face with one, and other times you're watching a group of them on the large stage. Inside I laughed at all the people trying to vidcapture the experience on their smartphones because they got confused about where they should be filming at any particular moment. Lesson for those people: you're experiencing something that cannot possibly be suitably captured with your phone, so stop recording and put it away already. I got a discount ticket on Timeout's website for $9, but when it ended I felt it was easily worth 4 times as much. What I liked most about it was that they were reinventing performing arts in a very energetic and openminded way like nothing I had ever seen or even heard about before. From a lights and sound perspective, the show seems extremely complicated and technically challenging, but I could not detect any flaws. You might think that having performers be so close to the audience would cause problems, but they seem to have everything figured out, and it seems to work. The show is moving from NYC to Boston soon, so catch them if you can. I'm quite convinced that you've never experienced anything like it before. My favorite part was the act just before the intermission (which I won't describe because I don't want to spoil it). Late meal: steamed rice with leftover broccoli beef brisket, Doughnut Plant coconut creme yeast. Watched parts of movies on iTunes.