Wynning My Way to Brooklyn

[vovat]

revme got me into the Steve Wynn show last night at the Bell House in Brooklyn. I hadn't heard anything by him (at least as far as I can remember), but he'd collaborated with Scott McCaughey, and I thought the show sounded pretty cool. I'm going to write a review of it for Kittysneezes, so I won't go into detail about the actual concert in this post, but I WILL say some things about the events surrounding it.

Since bethje didn't want to go, this was my first solo trip to New York. I really didn't do much there aside from attending the concert, but I DID stop by Books of Wonder to buy a few items. Honestly, I've come close to exhausting their Oz section. I hope they'll decide to stock The Master Crafters of Oz, Phil Lewin's newly-published sequel to The Witch Queen of Oz (of which they did have one copy), and maybe some other new stuff as well. I ended up purchasing Donald Abbott's How the Wizard Came to Oz, Gilbert Sprague's The Patchwork Bride of Oz, Evan Schwartz's Finding Oz, Roger Baum's Dorothy of Oz [1], and a Merry Go Round in Oz mug. I also received a free tote bag with my purchase. I think one reason I'd held off on purchasing those first two books was how short they were, and I did manage to finish both while riding the subway and waiting for the concert, as well as my copy of The Annotated Hunting of the Snark that I brought with me. I had lunch at a pizza place at the corner of 14th Street and 6th Avenue [2], and then headed to Brooklyn. When I got to the venue, a guy who'd been hanging out on the front steps asked me about what I was reading (which, at that point, was Snark), and said that he liked Lewis Carroll, even though he was a perv who was heavily influenced by the Russians. (I'd heard the former point before, of course, but not the latter one.) He was also prompted by my Neko Case shirt to say that he'd seen Neko and thought she was "okay," which I think might be blasphemy in my book. {g}

After I'd seen the two opening acts, Stephanie M. texted me to let me know she'd arrived there, and I got her in as my guest. She enjoyed the show, and it was cool to see her again, so that worked out well. This was actually my third trip to New York this month, and there's a good chance I'll go up there at least once in July. If it weren't for the cost and Beth's job, it would probably make sense to just move up there. Oh, well.

Finally, happy birthday to secretnthewings and bluesilverkdg!

[1] This book was half-priced (which is why I decided to buy it; I've already read it), and I noticed that it was one of the books they'd give away free to anyone who spent more than $100. They must be trying to get rid of their stock of that item.
[2] Surprisingly, considering my love for pizza, I believe this was the first time I got pizza at a local New York place (I'd had Sbarro there before, but that doesn't count as local). It was good, but not much different from what you can get in just about any mall food court. Can anyone with more experience with the New York pizza scene recommend some places I should try in the future?

Comments

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I can't remember the names of any specific places, but my best bets when I was in NYC were in little hole-in-the-wall by-the-slice type places we stumbled into. I got some really good, very thin-crust, "New York" pizza at all the ones I tried (my favorites were vodka slices and white/bianca pizza). I realize this doesn't help much. :P But real New York pizza is definitely very different from mall food court... I'd just keep your eyes out for what people are eating and find one that looks like it was made on a tortilla. :P

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous of your New York trips!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm lucky in that I live not terribly far from there.

[3x1minus1.livejournal.com]

yeah you are. *i* live in *NY state* and you're closer! it's not fair.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's not MY fault that the city is so close to the state border!

[revme.livejournal.com]

I HAVE THE POWER!!!!

(of happening to be in contact with a really friendly publicist for folks)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

But do you have access to Castle Grayskull?

[revme.livejournal.com]

OOH, what label are THEY on?

influenced by the Russians?

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you were just able to walk into Books of Wonder ... turns out there really are advantages to living near a big city!

Re: influenced by the Russians?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, definitely. I've been there several times now.

And I don't know what the guy meant about Carroll being influenced by the Russians. Maybe I misheard him.

Re: influenced by the Russians?

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I'm not 100% convinced he was a pervert, either -- people had a different way of thinking, back then. (Although, on the other hand, *somebody* had to be a pervert -- you know they had them.)

Re: influenced by the Russians?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

His obsession with little girls, including photographing some of them in the nude, definitely comes off as rather creepy. On the other hand, I don't know of any specific indication that his interest in them was sexual in nature.

Re: influenced by the Russians?

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm thinking, that there's no indication of a sexual interest. Not saying it wasn't there, but when you figure in my ongoing fascination with the Oz universe, and add to that the fact that I've spent most of my life around kids (having raised two daughters), I have to wonder what people might be saying about *me* in a hundred years are so. This is assuming they're saying anything!

Nudity, of course, was looked at in a completely different way back then. I know of some photographers in modern times who've gotten into trouble because they saw nude children as just part of the art, rather than something sexualized. Making assumptions just bothers me, even though -- like any human being -- I do it myself.