p.s. my time wasn’t 50 minutes that was the clock time.  I made it in 42 minutes, a little slow but not shabby.

   There are also a few building facades that when the building was being demolished, they took the whole front off the building and rebuilt it inside the MET.  They did this for an old post office I believe.  There are also apartments from the romantic era, and even some Frank Lloyd Wright styled rooms.  It’s pretty awesome to consider architectural history as art, and then find a way to move it inside a museum for others to come to one place to enjoy it.  The MET also houses a huge selection of fine art which should not be overlooked as I’m rambling on about everything besides art that they have.  They have some amazing Impressionist work from Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Picasso, etc.  There are also that line the halls and courtyards dating from modern times back to Roman times.  Places like this make me puzzled when considering all the funds and time it would take to have such an extensive collection.  All the lives that were dedicated to making this museum what it is today.  So that ordinary people like Jason and I who have totally different interests in what is art, could both find something to love and appreciate when walking in here.  We had so much fun wandering around the halls and rooms.  Jason found on the map that they had a instrument collection and we got lost trying to find it.  We finally ended up in it and found the oboe section spanning 200 years, it was a lot of fun.  While exploring the galleries I realized there was a huge line for an exhibition.  When I say huge, I’m talking a 2 hour wait.  The MET is so large that I didn’t even realize this huge line till I was in a specific part of the place.  I asked someone what the exhibition was for, and his accent kind of masked what he was saying.  When I gave him that puzzled “oh neat” look, he repeated himself and I said “Alexander McQueen”… THE “Alexander McQueen”?  Soo….. back to the MET I came on a Sunday morning (today) before the museum opened to get in line to see this exhibition.  Even with arriving to the museum 30 minutes before it opened, I stood in a line down the steps, and I waited in an additional 30 minute line was I had my tickets to get inside.  IT WAS WORTH IT.

Like my childhood friend Natalie can tell you, I am no fashionista.  I usually just copy the trends of what I see my friends wearing.  I could never bring myself to just wear whatever I felt like expressing myself in.  Alexander McQueen was ahead of his time.  His fashion ideas set the trends of today.  His “bumpsters” pants that were meant in political irony to show his Scottish roots, set the trend for today’s hip riding jeans.  I went from room to room (it took an hour to see everything) in total amazement at what was before my eyes.  Yes it was women’s clothes, but this artist meant something when designing them.  He had a story to tell through his clothes and it was there for anyone to see. McQueen’s quotes describe his fashions for woman as romantic, drawing his themes from styles like Edgard Allen Poe and Victorian Gothic.

I got to  see the Lady Gaga snake shoes and a hat made of porcupine needles and glitter.  There were some Philip Treacy hats in the collection specially designed for McQueen as well.  I had so much fun immersing myself in a little ‘couture’ today.  I hope I’ll try to keep up a little bit more on this art, if nothing else for my own personal style that we all know I need.  My favorite piece in the collection was this dress that started like a skirt.  It had a belt above the bust line, and the dress hung from there all the way to the knees like a large skirt.  They had a video of the model that wore it on the runway, she stood on a revolving circle, and these two robot things that you see on the Honda commercials for assembling cars painted the dress while she turned.  In the end she head paint all over her dress, her hair, her skin, but somehow it was still beautiful.  Like technology and couture combined into this new art.  The dress was on display in its ‘new’, painted state.  There were no pictures allowed in the exhibition, which is why I have none posted.  I’m not sure if all these items are going back to the McQueen and their owners or if this show will continue on.  However, I recommend seeing it sometime before Aug 7th in NYC.

Alexander McQueen, the world will miss you.

AND that is the MET!

Here is a photo of me and Rebecca on the steps of the MET when she came to visit.  Originally we tried to see the McQueen exhibit before her flight, but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time.  I think she enjoyed exploring the fine art though.

New York City has always been prevalent in movies and tv shows.  It’s funny that until you really live here and see the sights daily do you really start to pick up how many famous backdrops there are!  I’ve been a long time fan of Friends and Seinfeld, and I know next time I see an episode it will be a whole new experience to watch the credits and opening scenes.  Most of these tv shows are filmed in LA and Hollywood of course, but they use backdrops from the city when the show is “set” there.  Here’s a picture of the Friends apartment facade!  Notice how there isn’t a balcony where they watch “ugly naked guy” from!  Feebee’s apartment is supposedly set on Morton Street which is just a couple blocks away from this apartment building in Greenwich village.  I find it kind of funny how all of the Friend’s characters are supposedly broke but own sweet, HUGE (for NYC) apartments in Greenwich Village where real estate is in very high demand.

The new show Suits has been advertised highly in NYC subways and buses, mostly because it’s set in New York.  I decided to watch the pilot on hulu (it’s free on iTunes right now) and I really, really enjoyed the plot lines!  I totally recommend it, plus you get to see some awesome sights from New York’s skyline!  Next time you watch tv look out for the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, and New York’s other famous hot spots.

I walked to work one morning and was surprised to see a whole street blocked off with movie trailers!  I probably will never know who was in the trailers or what they were shooting, but it was pretty cool to see that something was going on (They had fake names on the trailers. e.g. Lucy and Desi).  Also note one of my previous blog posts where the guy was on top of a cherry picker filming a movie outside by office window on 5th ave.  Just remember not every resident appreciates their home being used as a movie backdrop ALL the time: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/monster_that_ate_soho_VdW5POGj4kk2YKCD1R0g6I

Fireworks are sure crowded in NYC!  Apparently until recently the fireworks have always been on the East side, but now they’re on the West.  Macy’s has 5 barges that go out into the water to shoot off the fireworks for 20 minutes.  The cost of this show is $500,000 according to several website resources.  It was pretty awesome!  They even had some fireworks that exploded into smiley faces and hearts!  The West side highway parks closed early when they reached capacity, so we just found a spot behind a police line to watch the show.

However, the art itself… eh.  They had a very small amount of their permanent collection on display.   However, there were a few works by impressionist painters that I enjoyed seeing.  There were even two Pablo Picasso paintings that were done before his era of Cubism that I’ve never seen before.  They were of the French working life in the early 1900′s and painted in a very solemn/subdued look, very atypical Picasso.  The Lee Ufan exhibit that is on display now, and is the majority of what you see at the museum.  It was kind of weird to me.  I’m sure some people can find art in it and have a different view point, but I just didn’t get it.  Rocks on pillows on the floor look just like that to me.  Sad, I know.

There was also a Hugo Boss display of money.  Yes, money.  There were 100,000 $1 bills on the walls, facing both directions, layered on top of each other.  They covered the 9 geometric sides of the room and 2 expansive columns inside the room.  If I had that much money to put on display, I could do it too!

So yea, I bought a groupon to this museum 2 months ago and did not realize it was only good for the month of May.  Sadly I lost my $12 groupon and payed $15 for a student ticket to get into the museum.  Oh well, I enjoyed looking at the inside of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural wonder and I can I say I saw the Guggenheim!  There was no photography allowed once you left the bottom floor, so this is all I have.

During my wait for the matineé I walked around and saw some cool spots around Times Square.  The Hearst building is definitely an architectural feat to check out.  According to Wikipedia, the base of the building was commissioned and built in 1928.  This is the stone portion you see.  The building was always intended to be a skyscraper, but the plans were put off during the Great Depression.  80 years later in 2006, the building was finally designed and completed to keep up with modern times.  The building has a 3 story escalator and water sculpture.  I walked into the atrium, but the fountain was not turned on.  I didn’t try to make it past security since I   really had no business being there!  I also walked by Columbus Circle and checked out the Christopher Columbus statue.  I always find it fascinating to see how different countries and parts of the world honor the same people in similar ways.  This particular statue is highly reminiscent of statue located in the port of Barcelona.  There, the statue faces toward America so where does it face in America?  I’m not sure, I’m bad at geography and Wikipedia isn’t telling me.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see the Christopher Columbus pedestal at the bottom, it’s pretty tall despite what the picture looks like.  There’s also a bunch of shops behind it in the Turner building!

After the show, I tried out a pretzel croissant at the City Bakery mentioned in a book I’m reading.  It was phenomenal!   Flaky, doughy, and not sweet makes the perfect croissant!  I really like how books and pop culture mention NYC stuff all time, and it’s all in walking distance of my current home.

Jamba Juice has been promoting it around NYC.  Like the Red Bull girls from college, Jamba Juice trucks pull up and hand out this $2/can stuff for free!  Unlike most energy drinks and it made from juice, has natural ingredients, and is absolutely delicious.  I’ve tried 3 kinds so far including apple, banana+strawberry, and blueberry+pomegranate.  Delicious!  I hope they start carrying this in regular stores.  If I’m ever in need of an energy drink, I’m grabbing this.

Picasso is also highly stocked at the MOMA.  Picasso always interests me, but I seem to only like half of his stuff.  I went to the Pablo Picasso museum in Paris and it was full of his Spanish style bull fighting sketches which I was not fond of.  The MOMA has a huge display of his guitar paintings and sculptures which I did like alot.  The painting below caught my eye.  I am also posting one of Dali’s famous paintings which I’m sure you’ll recognize.

and another Van Gogh!

The MOMA also features alot of very interesting modern art that I do not pretend to understand.  I’m sure there are several of you that would find it fascinating.  I loved the architecture floor in the MOMA, and I even found a sketch of a concert hall in Dresden, Germany!

For more Van Gogh: check out Arles, France and see the sights of Van Gogh’s lifetime! (This is where most of his famous paintings were completed, he also was in the asylum there) also Museé d’Orsay in Paris has a few.  The best Van Gogh museum is in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Fore more Picasso: Check out the Picasso museum in Paris or Barcelona.

For more Salvador Dali:  Check out the Dali museum in Tampa, Florida!  (Acoustic consultant on the new museum building this year was my UF advisor!)

I’ve explored several parts of Central Park so far.  It’s amazing to me that NYC has been able to preserve so much prime real estate so that its residents will have a place to picnic, enjoy strolls, and have concerts.  It’s like a break from the city, and a green space to replace the endless streets of buildings.   I also love how amazing musicians perform for fun and a few $’s.  I have an awesome video of a jazz band in the park, but I haven’t quite figured out how to upload media yet!  To be determined!