ATP New York 2008
I attended the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival this past weekend. I can't begin to explain what an event this was. I think it will take a while for everything to soak in an leave it's mark. For a start it was momentous and worth the 3-month or so wait once I learned of the line-up and purchased the ticket. I saw some of my favorite bands all in one venue in one weekend. These bands are my favorite when they're recorded and they shine especially bright live, in fact 3 of them purport to be the the loudest live bands in the world.
Mogwai
Dinosaur Jr
My Bloody Valentine
Loudness aside, favorite bands aside it was a wonderful festival concluding a wonderful vacation to New York with my wife and too great friends. We also incorporated a pre-trip to NYC. Our hotel was a block from Times Square. We were hooked up with free tickets to a Broadway performance of Hairspray, Bodies: The Exhibition and FuerzaBruta..in that order. And in-between we absorbed as much of the city as possible. We 'mastered' the subway system, walked holes in our shoes and ate the best pizza ever and that was only 99 cents a slice.
Like a said, to put my ATP experience into words will take a while plus I have photos to link to. That will come later, bit-by-bit.
The highlights were being free to wander NYC, hang-out with friends, see some amazing sites, both famous and accidental, have no free-time, but look forward what's next and feel dead tired every night from taking it all in. New York City is such a vibrant place that initially it's overwhelming, but always I was very excited and happy to be there among all the people, noise, traffic etc... it was just stimulating. We all talked about moving there, in fact. talking to a co-worker who does live there, it was clear that sacrifice was key to making such a move from Big 'ol Texas. It's an option none-the-less.
I was ambiguous to the idea of seeing a Broadway show, but that turned out to be an experience I recommend just based on entertainment value alone. I've always been a fan of live music and seeing a live musical is equal. There's something special seeing live performances of any kind. Being with the artists and watching them do their craft, it's moving.
FuerzaBruta is another live performance altogether. Equal parts dance party, performance art, and audience interaction it's a must-see for anyone going to New York City. The troupe conveys a message through the show and it's very upbeat, exciting in the way they do it. Not like showing images of oppression, or turmoil. The subject matter is tastefully implied. It will be very cool if they decide to take that on tour. I would definitely pay to see that show multiple times especially since the content changes every few months or so.
Even though I've been wanting to an of the human body plastination exhibits for a couple years now I was not prepared for what I saw at Bodies: The Exhibition. Being in the medical profession for over ten years now I've seen a lot of things that the average person finds very gross or odd, but seeing the human body in this form was overwhelming to me. I found myself spending more time looking at the eyes of these bodies more than anything (except for the butthole and genitals, I don't know what's going on with that). I guess I find it curious that these were once real, living people with a history. I was very subjective, finding myself slightly embarrassed for staring at their faces. The anatomy I'm comfortable with, but the people I'm not. I believe they're still people even their skin has been removed, certain muscles dissected, organs displaced. The penis turns white when you're dead, the eyes were totally clouded over. The anuses still had hair on them and all were still intact. Many of the bodies, it the head was involved, retained eyelashes, eyebrows, lips, hair in the nostrils and toe/finger nails. Leaving those structures intact retained the person. Was it intentional? Was it necessary, scientifically or chemically, for the plastination process? It was a bit difficult eating a hot dog immediately following the exhibit.
Mogwai
Dinosaur Jr
My Bloody Valentine
Loudness aside, favorite bands aside it was a wonderful festival concluding a wonderful vacation to New York with my wife and too great friends. We also incorporated a pre-trip to NYC. Our hotel was a block from Times Square. We were hooked up with free tickets to a Broadway performance of Hairspray, Bodies: The Exhibition and FuerzaBruta..in that order. And in-between we absorbed as much of the city as possible. We 'mastered' the subway system, walked holes in our shoes and ate the best pizza ever and that was only 99 cents a slice.
Like a said, to put my ATP experience into words will take a while plus I have photos to link to. That will come later, bit-by-bit.
The highlights were being free to wander NYC, hang-out with friends, see some amazing sites, both famous and accidental, have no free-time, but look forward what's next and feel dead tired every night from taking it all in. New York City is such a vibrant place that initially it's overwhelming, but always I was very excited and happy to be there among all the people, noise, traffic etc... it was just stimulating. We all talked about moving there, in fact. talking to a co-worker who does live there, it was clear that sacrifice was key to making such a move from Big 'ol Texas. It's an option none-the-less.
I was ambiguous to the idea of seeing a Broadway show, but that turned out to be an experience I recommend just based on entertainment value alone. I've always been a fan of live music and seeing a live musical is equal. There's something special seeing live performances of any kind. Being with the artists and watching them do their craft, it's moving.
FuerzaBruta is another live performance altogether. Equal parts dance party, performance art, and audience interaction it's a must-see for anyone going to New York City. The troupe conveys a message through the show and it's very upbeat, exciting in the way they do it. Not like showing images of oppression, or turmoil. The subject matter is tastefully implied. It will be very cool if they decide to take that on tour. I would definitely pay to see that show multiple times especially since the content changes every few months or so.
Even though I've been wanting to an of the human body plastination exhibits for a couple years now I was not prepared for what I saw at Bodies: The Exhibition. Being in the medical profession for over ten years now I've seen a lot of things that the average person finds very gross or odd, but seeing the human body in this form was overwhelming to me. I found myself spending more time looking at the eyes of these bodies more than anything (except for the butthole and genitals, I don't know what's going on with that). I guess I find it curious that these were once real, living people with a history. I was very subjective, finding myself slightly embarrassed for staring at their faces. The anatomy I'm comfortable with, but the people I'm not. I believe they're still people even their skin has been removed, certain muscles dissected, organs displaced. The penis turns white when you're dead, the eyes were totally clouded over. The anuses still had hair on them and all were still intact. Many of the bodies, it the head was involved, retained eyelashes, eyebrows, lips, hair in the nostrils and toe/finger nails. Leaving those structures intact retained the person. Was it intentional? Was it necessary, scientifically or chemically, for the plastination process? It was a bit difficult eating a hot dog immediately following the exhibit.
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