Dave Raphael

and we celebrated with lunch in between the thunderstorms that have defined the Summer of 2009 in NYC.  Not quite the drama of the Summer of Sam, but we’ll take whatever identity we can grasp in NYC these days, or at least, so it seems to me.

Ive been working hard on my expatriate status, she on her law degree and well, we both had some tales of adventure to share.

I had traveled East across the ocean to sit along de gracht on top of bricks that had been packing the sand behind the dykes since 1600.

She had driven West to sit under the low desert sun on rocks that had be silent there since, well, the dawn of time.  Or whatever fantasy number carbon dating assigns to these matters.  Scientists measuring time should pause to consider that the world was once flat, and when it was, certainly nobody was wrong about the possibility of sailing your wooden, mutiny laden mess right off the edge of it.  Sometimes its suffice to suggest that rocks are just old and sometimes I digress.

The last time I saw her, I was rightfully distracted by her eyes.  The time before that too.  This time as well.  Im hoping that surprise doesnt wear off anytime soon.  Surely, there are people who eventually grow bored looking at De Nachtwacht but Im hoping there will always be some new angle to see in large things.  Or in the light reflected off them.

Soon enough, the surface of Northern Europe and The Great American Southwest (coincidentally not terribly far from Nye Valley) played itself out and welcomed that wonderful awkward silence that prompts the real nitty gritty.  While we both sat coyly twisting our bits of hair, the check came and leaving behind a map scrawled on a napkin written in ink designed for NASA, we headed out into the rain.

We wandered around in the shadow of the now forgotten Filmore East, echoes of an amplified tale of The Edgewater Inn and images forever frozen by Jim Marshall until the anxiety of missing a transcontinental flight grew from slight procrastination, skipped game of chance entirely and went straight to pressing matter.

And it is always then: in the rain, at shift change, lurching towards the standstill of rush hour when you are about to miss a flight, when you need to get a cab the most.

Shortly, she would be gone and soon enough I could count on finding myself standing in the street wondering if that all just happened.  Suddenly, swiftly…again.

There is probably some wisdom in appreciating the freakish good time in small doses, really small doses, but Ive never been fond of goodbye’s, especially not just after saying hello.  And there she goes…

LUH lived happily ever after.

If you think it’s easy doin’ one night stands, try playin’ in a rock roll band…  Just cue this guy, its a long way to the top…

You know the economy sucks when a bounty hunter has to reduce himself to playing tunes on an accordion in Union Square to make a buck.

One would think a wretched hive of scum and villany would be booming in such troubled times.  Who knew?

yet, I feel compelled to sit in it.

The Pirate was walking in a show last week and invited me to come along.  It was an interesting event, held at Bohemian National Hall, which is also home to the Czech Consulate.  The show featured predominantly Czech designers.

The event was largely attended by a Czech audience, but there were plenty of Americans there and an open bar as well, so when the festivities commenced with an unamplified opera singer performing three songs (which would have been met with full attention and silence in Europe) it came as kind of no surprise that the room could-not-shut-the-fuck-up.  Cowering beneath the roar of a drunken crowd, I felt kinda bad for these two guys but you know, the show must go on…

Two ballet dancers were featured, and while they were pretty fabulous, there was definitley some bit of confusion as to wether or not their attire was a featured part of the program or not…

Some of these designs are actually quite beautiful:

The show concluded with one of the designers walking up on stage in a space suit (a fake one).  I suppose this was engineered to be the show stopping big deal.  Perhaps Im just really jaded from working in the movies all these years, but this seems like something that Spike Jonze should have been doing and it just seemed oddly out of place at this event.  Regardless, it was a fun night with a good look at some incredible designs and a noteworthy experience stepping off a NYC street and into the heart of a buzz of positive Slovak energy.

summer is coming.