So I started my journey with an 8-hour flight from Copenhagen to New York. Fortunately it was a direct flight which makes the trip a lot more pleasant! Additionally I had made a low bid to get myLeggi altro
So I started my journey with an 8-hour flight from Copenhagen to New York. Fortunately it was a direct flight which makes the trip a lot more pleasant! Additionally I had made a low bid to get my ticket upgraded to the Premium cabin, and surprisingly my bid was successful.
It was my first time in the Norwegian Premium cabin which is sort of like a budget version of Business, but in reality more like Economy Plus. Aside from more legroom, realistically it wasn’t much better than economy. It was nice to get off the flight quickly at least, and there was virtually no line at immigration in the airport which is extremely rare when you first arrive in the US. So I got out of the airport rather quickly, and grabbed a subway to my hotel.
For the first two nights I’m staying in a budget hotel in Midtown. I also stayed here the first two times I was in NYC (2008 and 2010). I remember it being much better! Maybe because that was before I became fond of the much more luxurious, upscale properties! The room is very small and noisy, and bathrooms are shared. Cheap - but I suppose extra comfort is worth the money..
Today I have lots of things planned - a talkshow taping, a movie screening and two Broadway shows! More on that later :)Leggi altro
Busy first day in NYC!
I started early in the morning, standing in line outside of a TV studio. For some reason there is always a lot of waiting involved when you want to be in the audience for a major US TV show. I usually go for the Late Night shows, but this time a certain guest tempted me to check out Live with Kelly and Ryan - a morning talk show. The guests on the show were Uzo Aduba from Orange is the new Black - and the legendary Harrison Ford! I’m not a fan of Uzo, but I couldn’t miss a chance to see Indiana Jones and Han Solo in person.
Sadly, as it turns out, evidently his segment was apparently taped at a different time. So he wasn’t at the live show this morning! Boo! It was still fun to be in the audience, and I got a great seat facing the two hosts. We were allowed to take pictures, which is very unusual, but maybe the rules were different because it aired live. We saw the interview with Ford on screens - presumably at the same time as it was shown to the rest of the US for the first time.
After the TV show taping I went to a movie theater to watch the new Pearl Jam documentary. It’s partially about The Cubs, a baseball team, but mostly about the two shows they played in Chicago last August. I was lucky enough to actually be at the second show in Chicago (which even now is still their most recent concert). So it was great to see highlights from that amazing performance again. There are many moments when it feels like they are indeed the best band in the world.
I then made my way to the theater district around Times Square to see Michael Moore’s Broadway show. I have always enjoyed his films and books. The show was just him on stage (except for a surprise in the end involving male strippers!). He was sharing a number of stories - some from his youth, illustrating how even small actions can make a difference. He also talked about the water crisis in his hometown Flint, and he talked a lot about Trump and how to defeat him! Definitely a fascinating and interesting experience to see him live. A wet dream for leftist liberals for sure!
I then picked up my badges for the upcoming New York Comic Con, had some food, and eventually returned to Broadway for another show! This time the controversial play 1984, featuring the amazing actress Olivia Wilde. Very good play - and somewhat (potentially?) relevant for the times we live in. Good, solid performances especially from the male lead. I got to meet him and Olivia after the show which was fun! I even spotted Late Show host Stephen Colbert walk casually by in his suit outside the theater. Not sure what he was up to!
Great and very eventful day!Leggi altro
First day of NYCC (New York Comic Con) kicked off this morning. One of the biggest pop culture and geek events in the world. With close to 200,000 people attending this event (!) it is indeed very crowded everywhere!
I visited the first panel of the con which focused on a remake of the movie The Watcher in the Woods, directed by Melissa Joan Hart. She was there to talk about the movie, and we saw a clip of it. Not bad.
Later I attended a panel about a weird new animated series voiced by Michael Madsen, Carl Weathers and Vivica A. Fox who were all present. I saw Michael at the London con a few months ago, and he’s always up for a great story or two! It was also fun to see 80s action hero Carl Weathers from Rocky and Predator.
My next panel was about an audiobook of a novel by the guy who wrote The Martian. The panel featured the lovely Rosario Dawson who is the voice talent used for the audiobook. I saw her at Wizard World in Chicago last year and she’s just amazing!
After browsing the show floor for some time, I had a photo shoot with none other than Mark Hamill from Star Wars! Really fun to meet Luke Skywalker in person.
The con had some other events that I was interested in, but I rushed out of there (and got a whiff of the sun and 28 degrees Celcius!) to attend a movie screening at the beautiful Lincoln Center. The movie was the world premiere of a documentary about Steven Spielberg, as part of this year’s New York Film Festival. Funnily I saw Spielberg in person exactly two years ago at the same festival for the premiere of his new movie at the time. Now he was here again!
It was a great documentary, and definitely quite surreal to watch it with Spielberg himself in the room, presumably watching it for the first time himself. The director Susan Lacy did a Q&A afterwards about the comprehensive project. Great experience.
To finish off another busy day in style, I went to see a stand-up show with Jerry Seinfeld. I’ve been a Seinfeld fan for many years so it was great to see him perform live. As I’m writing this there is a new interview with him on TV.
After Seinfeld it was time to move over to a much better hotel, the InterContinental in the Times Square area.Leggi altro