Visit from the 'rents!

Over the last few days, Giordano and Marilyn have visited us at our humble abode. We toured them around the city, taking them to our favourite hot spots and discovering more along the way. Plenty of pictures in this one.

I'll give a chromatic breakdown of their visit in this very post!

Wednesday, March 18th 2009: Dano and Marilyn touched down a little later than originally scheduled, due to being run around by Air Canada. We received a phone call as we were about to leave for LaGuardia for a pickup, in which Marilyn told us that the flight from Toronto to New York had been delayed due to weather conditions. This myth, however, was quickly dissipated by us with a simple glance out the window at crystal blue skies, and negligible winds. Regardless, Marilyn and Giordano arrived and we sped them back our pad where we fed them tasty quesadillas and doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant (a "terrible" place filled with things which should not exist for the very reason that they are too tasty to possibly be eaten without serious spiritual ramifications -- this is especially in regards to the peanut butter and jelly doughnut), and then walked them back to their hotel, a mere five subway stops away. Dano particularly enjoyed the Subway system's intricacies, but did not enjoy the rat pee which dripped on his head.

Thursday, March 19th, 2009: Rain. Ugh. Daunting clouds loomed overhead as we made our trip down to the Village, and sadly they opened up their mouths as we ducked into our favourite coffee shop. After some tasty lattes, we found the famous Washington Square arch, and began to look for a place to eat. We found a tasty Risotteria in the Village just as it really began to pour. Luckily for us, we had a backup plan: we headed to the Metropolitan museum of Art, one of the many apexes of culture in New York City. While the Met gave Giordana, Giordano, and Marilyn reprieve from the rain, as well as cultural distinction, I hopped on a subway and stood in line for a play at the TKTS booth in Times Square. A fun little hint for those of you who decide to visit NYC and want to catch a play (not a musical), the TKTS booth uses a "'plays only' line" system which is always much shorter and allows for the cheap(er) purchase of any non-musical plays, which in my opinion are the good ones. Giordana might not appreciate that remark, as she loves musicals more than life. Anyway, I bought us some wicked seats at wicked discounts to "August: Osage County," the winner for Best Play at the 2008 Tony's, and the 2008 Pulitzer prize for best new play. We watched the play following a tasty New Orleans style dinner at The Delta Grill, which was filled with yam fries, pulled pork, and mayonnaise. Anyway, the play lived up to its merits, as it was absolutely fantastic. Enjoyed by all!

Friday, March 20th, 2009: Would you believe me if I said it snowed this very morning? You wouldn't, but it did. We trekked up to Central Park to explore, and stopped for a vendor hot dog lunch. We continued south to the Central Park Zoo where we saw Gus, the famous polar bear, swimming -- separated from us by a mere half inch of glass. We ate that evening at Les Halles. For the foodies out there, that was the restaurant of which Bourdain used to be the executive chef. Needless to say: best steak I have ever had. Period. End of discussion. Seriously, you have not had a better steak. Stop trying to convince me otherwise. The Hispanic force behind every kitchen in New York is a justified one: they can cook freaking good food.

Saturday, March 21st, 2009: The day began with a hike across the Brooklyn bridge, and a walking tour (led by us, of course) of Brooklyn Heights. The Heights is sort of the Village of Brooklyn, with about twice as many hipsters. Not cool. Regardless, we love it there, so we grabbed lunch at the New York food chain of choice, Chipotle, where a giant burrito filled with organic spicy shredded pork, roasted peppers, onions beans and guacamole only dings you eight bucks. Hell yes. From here, Giordana, Giordano, and I all continued on to the Museum of Natural History where we saw... DINOSAUR BONES! RAAAAAGGHH! The four year old in all of us erupted forth as we were staring into the jaws of the only completed Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton on display in North America. John Hammond was surely nearby (congratulations to those of you who picked up on my witty movie reference). We also saw the giant lifesize blue whale replica. I will never go swimming again, just so everyone knows. We then met up with Marilyn, after her nap, and found a quaint little Italian eatery in the village. Food was good, but it was difficult to eat anchovies after seeing what they evolved from. It seemed almost too ironic. After dinner, we caught the Staten Island Ferry for a scenic late-night voyage.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009: Today we tripped to ground zero (World Trade Center site) and the financial district. We grabbed the best Turkish food ever while down there, then continued on to our favourite cupcake place in order to combat the somber post 9/11 mentality which we picked up while paying our respects to the men and women who died needlessly. After cupcakes we grabbed a subway to the east village where we ate at the only traditional pizzeria in NYC. It was, like the doughnuts, too good to be allowed.

Monday, March 22nd, 2009: After a day of school, Gio and I met Giordano and Marilyn for lunch at our favourite burger joint, then decided to explore Central Park once more before they jetted off. On the way, we dropped by the Lincoln Center Plaza, the center for all great arts in North America. In the park we met some fellow Italians, some crazy pigeons, and found a beautiful view. After one final round of the park, we had dinner in Hell's Kitchen at another Italian eatery. A sad final farewell was made and the folks flew off in the morning, which thus concluded our whirlwind tour of the great apple!

Welcome to Cobble Hill, Population 6,589. Wait, What?

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into...The Twilight Zone.

Giordana and I stumbled into this Brooklyn neighborhood in search for pie on Pie Day (March 14th), and were quite disturbed by its similarities to our quaint little village back home: friendly people, mom and pop shoppes and trees. The hunt for pie was worth it not just for the reasons of experiencing such a bizarre juxtaposition of places, but also because the pie was damn fine.

School has been wrapping up it's third half term. Soon we'll be packing up everything we've learned and applying it to our first play. It's sort of funny to acknowledge that in all my time here at the school, I have yet to be involved in any semblance of a complete work. Movement got scary fast: our instructor has recently taken the class to a place which is incredibly difficult for me. I am just not capable of working at this level unless I am in the zone.
Acting is nuts, scene work has almost begun, and a large series of reports are due soon.

Gio and I are expecting her folks tomorrow, so you can all be jealous during the next blog entry of all the photographs with them with us in NY and you at home on your computer. Bet you wish you got here while you could!

Snow. Again. Sonova-

So, I doubt that everybody follows the weather patterns in New York city but we got another foot of snow. March has thrown its ugly head in the air as it spits frigid icicles down on our heads. I am sick and bloody-well-tired of these God damned east coast weather pattern.

Gio and I are recovering over an illness of epic proportion. The only thing that's really keeping us alive is the care packages pouring in.
Shout outs:

Judy - Casserole was great, fed us for four days (kid you not)
Grandma - Dishcloths are like gold over here. Poetry booklet contains some happy reminders of the Literature twelve course.

Welcome to.... The Island

There's something emotional about Coney Island's skeleton that I cannot understand. It's like walking through the set of Casablanca, long after Bogart and Bergman are dead. Perfect lighting, an abandoned boardwalk lined with splitting planks, the shrieks of seagulls, and the buzz of mumbled Russian all made the experience somewhat nostalgic even though I had never been there before. It was nice to be within walking distance of an ocean, even though it was the Atlantic, which, if you're a Pacific Ocean oriented person, you know just isn't the same: It's colder, younger, less forgiving. The pacific just seems like a party ocean; if you ever invited them both to a kegger, Atlantic would be alone staring into the fire while Pacific would be hollering alongside the Alice Cooper, but still reminding those really drunk partygoers (probably the Mediterranean sea) that they should probably slow down, drink some water and eat some food. Pacific is just such a chill guy.

School has kicked off the second term with a bang. I've been lucky enough to now be working under an acting instructor who has worked with all the old Group actors (Meisner, Strasberg, etc.) which was very obvious as we began to work with Meisner's method. It was nice to actually have something explained and to have it actually work in the class room. Not to say I'm not thankful for my first teacher's instruction during the first term, it's just that my current instructor is, honestly, a million times better.

As of the last couple weeks, around six of you have booked a "stay" at our modest little Brooklyn apartment. Chances are you only have till June to visit before my first stay in NY comes to a close, so if you have not made an effort to room with us and want to visit the City, now is your last chance -- HOWEVER! if you wish to stay with us, please PLEASE check with us first! We barely have room for one guest, we're not going to be able to double book.

"This Chart Doesn't Even Go Up to 1956!"

Theatre. History. Head. Full. Study. Too Hard. Like that scene in Scanners. GAAAH.

Yeah. We have a big final on Tuesday, so Gio and I are cramming. It would be an understatement to say that I've got a little bit to relearn.


The term is wrapping up, which is a little bit sad. Our scenes, which we have been growing with since November, have been shelved, our songs have been performed for a last time, and on Monday our final dance project is due. As sad as it may be, I am very excited to pick up some new courses, and work with new instructors. I'm keeping today's post at a minimum -- typing is difficult.

Enjoy squirrel picture.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat"

It seems that Central Park is what it's cracked up to be. A surprisingly fun day was spent kicking across the park, width wise, twice. We hit up the particularly scary Alice in Wonderland statue which at left is scaring the hell out of Gio. We visited the statue on our way from the west side of the park, on our way to Strawberry Fields. While we strolled through the park and snapped photos, we came across a particularly steep slope filled with sledding children and their parents, who were more concerned with their coffee than the safety of their children. Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: if any of those parents were to actually watch the death defying stunts their precious little upper west side tikes were in the process of completing, those kids wouldn't have half the fun they would have had. The only downside is that it often ends in tragedy -- or in this case, your sled bursting through the retaining fence at the bottom of the slope, and smashing into a concrete park bench. I was laughing just a little too hard to be a friendly passerby as I snapped the photo to the right. In fact, I may have appeared to be a little acidic. Whatever -- New York will do that to you! Haha.

Don't Pay Any Attention to What is In My Hand in the First Photo

Well, it's been two weeks since we returned to the big city after the Air Canada fiasco. School has kicked it up a notch: Scene work has started getting hot and heavy (it's been particularly troubling for me, but I think I've figured that one out), and the term is beginning to wrap up. Movement has turned into a choreography challenge which is both difficult, and freaking' fun. Let me tell you, if you ever find yourself in a position where you can't dance, yet have to put together some Choreography, simply put together a hip-hop dance and don your character the name of "megacomputernerd". That way you look good, by looking bad. The perfect plan, I know. Now if only I could find some way of infiltrating So You Think You Can Dance...

Having returned home to a mostly empty fridge and freezer, Gio and I spent six hours trudging through the snow to Costco and our local food market where we blew a great deal of money. Of course I couldn't even fit everything into our fridge, which led to me having to resist opening any jars or ketchup bottles and keeping them in the pantry, until we ate the vast bulk of vegetables we bought.

Speaking of snow, the cold snap here is freaking ludicrous. As I'm writing this, there's a fine dusting of snow on the ground, and my computer's weather network temperature reading for central park is 17°F -- of course, for those of us who use real measurements, that's about -8°C. Tomorrow, the windchill is supposed to get down to -17°C. That scares me in ways I never thought that the weather ever should.

We've recently caught wind of an especially exciting production: Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard has been redone with a new translation/edit by Tom Stoppard (of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead fame) starring Ethan Hawke, and directed by Sam Mendes. Best part? Student rush tickets are ten bucks. Second best part? It's at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, so for once we're not the one's borough hopping when the lot of us go and see it. Take that Mid-Towner's.

In other news: just today a plane had to put down in the Hudson river between Manhattan and New Jersey. The plane was debilitated by a Flock of Seagulls (of I Ran fame.. Wait... What?) and the pilot decided that instead of turning his un-engined aircraft into a flaming ball of skyscraper cleaving death, he'd put her down in the water. EDIT: Now they are saying it was geese -- not as funny at all. Well, turns out he did the right thing: no casualties have been recorded, and only three people went to the hospital for mild hypothermia. The captain had time to walk the aisle twice in order to make sure he left no-one on board. That's right, the Captain was prepared to go down with his ship. Oh, and they evacuated women and children first. Kinda warms your heart doesn't it? I watched until the local news channel started talking about how much of a good thing it was that it was only a flock of seagulls in two engines which caused the plane to crash, instead of a terrorist. Yeah.