the pod bay door

.: First, I can report that my friend Noella is ok, but had a series of unfortunate events, including horrendous traffic problems and an illness, which prevented her from making it to the show. I heard from her today, so all is well, although she needs some serious downtime.

Today, NYC is experiencing its second torrential downpour since Friday. Yesterday was a glorious NYC day for me, however. Around 1130 hrs, my North Carolinian friend from Baltimore, Mary White, arrived on the bus to hang out with me for the day. With the rain having subsided, we took full advantage and walked all over. After shopping for a New York Yankees souvenir for her friend (in the dumps with strep throat and the Yankees’ 2005 demise), we went to Greenwich Village and had a coffee, where we caught up on our lives, and compared notes about everything from spirituality to teddy bears. I showed her the Strand, and afterwards we headed back to The Leo House, where we rested briefly before heading to Rockefeller Center, trying to find the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Eventually we found it, and Mary chose a bear, bought a Yankees uniform, and built her bear. This involves choosing a bear, giving it to an employee who works a machine that stuffs it with fluffy things (feathers, I assumed). She then had to choose a little cloth heart, which Mary had to kiss on both sides, and make a wish, and other stuff, and then heart was put into the bear, and it was sown up.

Next, the bear had to be given a name, birthdate, etc., so I suggested Derek, given that Mr Jeter is Captain of the Yankees. After completing the online form, Mary paid for the bear and outfit, was given the Official Birth Certificate, and then we went to the “dressing room”, a little shelf near the back of the store, to dress the bear. As we fussed with Derek to get his baseball uniform on, Mary remarked that it was if we were putting clothes on our baby, so we played the fussing parents, ensuring the little Derek was dressed properly before putting him in his carrying box! 🙂

Then it was off to see U2. We arrived around 7:15, and by 8:00, MSG was about 25% full. At 8:05, Keane took the stage, and rocked the Gardens for about 40 minutes. Keane is an interesting combination: keyboards, vocals, and percussion only. The lead singer, Tom Chaplin, has an amazing, powerful, and unique voice, and fits together with Tim Rice-Oxley’s somewhat minimalist keyboard style quite well.

Pumped up, and with the stadium approaching capacity as people flowed in during Keane’s set, U2 took the stage around 9:30. Immediately everyone rose, and stayed standing for the majority of the set. The band was on one end of a large oval, which allowed band members, mostly Bono of course, to wander about during the show. A waterfall of lights came down from behind the band, and the colours were amazing and brilliant. Mary and I were sitting behind the band, with a north-by-north-east view of the stage. But the lights did not detract from the visibility, allowing those sitting behind to still see the band through the curtain. The lights were retracted during the show a few times, re-appearing at programmed times, awash with different displays of colours, with one offering of flags of different countries, following a song in which Bono appealed for an end to poverty.

What can I say? The show was incredible. My God, does this band rock out and give it everything. It took me 25 years to finally see them, but it was worth the wait. When the lights would go up in the arena from time to time, we would see 20,000 fans standing, jumping, singing and rejoicing. One guy standing next to Mary and I didn’t stop jumping for the entire show, except during the slower tunes. Say what you will about Bono, but the man works the crowd into a frenzy, one filled with joy and expectation of better things to come. On most songs, the audience turned into the largest choir I’d even seen. Near the end, Bono asked us to open our cells phones, and the arena lights went down. He said we would turn the Gardens into a mini-galaxy, and that was exactly how it looked. “Talk about a 21st century moment,” Bono noted, before beginning another tune.

I could say more, but I’ll leave it at that. Unfortunately, Mary had to catch a 2330 hrs bus back to Baltimore, and I wanted to ensure she made it safely to the Port Authority station, so we left during the last song, and missed the encore. But no worries – it was an incredible, rewarding show, and I saw it with a dear friend, which was the perfect ending to the perfect day. Here’s the set list:

1. City of Blinding Lights
2. Vertigo
3. Elevation
4. Out Of Control (first single from 1980)
5. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
6. Beautiful Day
7. Miracle Drug
8. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
9. Love and Peace or Else
10. Sunday Bloody Sunday
11. Bullets The Blue Sky
12. Miss Sarajevo
13. Pride (In The Name of Love)
14. Where The Streets Have No Name
15. One

The encore followed, of course, but I don’t know which songs we missed. No matter, there will be another time to see them someday.

.: I am sitting in Starbucks on 23rd St and 8th Ave in NYC, trying to sort through the evening. Among other things and in unrelated events, I missed the Les Paul show, and my digital camera was stolen.

Earlier in the day, I saw the movie Junebug and bought a few copies of Earth Mother, the amazing new book by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by the Dillons.

A few weeks back, I ordered two tickets to see Les Paul and his trio at the Iridium Jazz Club. A friend was to meet me around 7:30, 30 minutes before the show began. She called about an hour earlier, saying she was about to leave, and would call me when she made it to midtown Manhattan. Unfortunately, she didn’t show, and as of this writing, I’m still not sure what happened to her, so I’m a bit worried. I sold my tickets to an older couple from the UK, who were really hoping to see Les Paul.

Unable to reach her, I wandered around the Broadway and Times Square districts for a while, walked down 42nd Street to the Port Authority Bus Station, then hopped an E train back to 23rd Street. Once on the train, an announcement was made that it wouldn’t stop at 23rd Street because of emergency track maintenance, so I had to get off at 34th and catch a C train the rest of the way. But while waiting there, an NYC Transit official was yelling at everyone to go under the track to the other side of the subway station, because the E and C trains weren’t running on the track where they normally do, but instead were running on the express track.

So I got up with everyone else, went to the other side, got the next C train; while sitting on it, I realized I left my knapsack on the bench on which I has been sitting while waiting for the C train ; I panicked, and when I got to 23rd, I asked the station attendant if he could call back to the 34th Station for me, and I hopped a train back to 34th.

When I got there, an old African-American lady saw me and yelled at me; she said she found my knapsack, and turned it in to one of the workers; I found the subway worker, and he had the knapsack; unfortunately, someone had rifled it, and took my maps, umbrella, and *sigh*, my digital camera.

A lapse in judgement on my part. So tonight, I am feeling somewhat deflated on a number of fronts. At least it didn’t rain today.

Today it has been raining non-stop, Manhattan is soaked, and the humidity is high. I could hardly sleep last night, if at all. At noon, I met my friends from New Haven CT, Susan and David, at Grand Central Station. We went here for some food; I had oyster stew, which was more like oyster soup. I “slurped” down three oysters in the shell. Next we road the subway uptown, and walked a few blocks in the rain to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw this exhibit, called Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437. Afterwards we took the subway back downtown, and had coffees at this hip place. It was very hot and humid there, and we stood for about 15 trying minutes waiting for a table. We walked about in the rain next, eventually ending up here for something to eat; the place is a few blocks away from NYU, and was filled with groups of preppy-dressed university students, most of them future YITs, no doubt.

When finished, we rushed back on a subway to Grand Central Station, then hopped the subway shuttle to Times Square, and walked fast to AMC Empire Cimema 25 to see Good Night, and Good Luck. This is one of the best films of the year, and is directed and co-written by George Clooney. The movie is in b&w, and takes place in the early 1950s. Based on true events, the subject matter is Edward R Murrow, the ground-breaking television show he created in the early 1950s with Fred Friendly, called See It Now, and their efforts to expose the inadequacies and lies of Joseph McCarthy and his hearings. The movie’s time period is during the height of McCarthyism, as Murrow learns of the dismissal from the US Air Force of Milo Radulovich. Murrow reports on Radulovich’s dismissal, and the fallout from the broadcast leads to a dramatic confrontation with McCarthy. The realistic feel of the film is enhanced by its black and white cinematography, attention to detail, and the use of real footage from the time period. It’s a powerful movie, with themes that resonate today. Highly recommended, see it when it comes to your town.

Note to self: when you purchase a $24 Metro card for unlimited seven-day riding on the NYC subway, don’t use it once, and then drop it on the subway tracks.

.: Greetings from a Starbucks café in NYC, where it is drizziling and about 22C, actually kind of pleasant. The flight in was uneventful, and for the first time, I ate no airline junk munchies, and drank only ice water on the two flights (Edmonton-Toronto-La Guardia). I haven’t been here since June of 2003, when Geoff and I attended SLA, but it feels like I was here last week. I’m staying at The Leo House for (at least) the seventh time, and they recognized me when I came through the door. In the immediate neighbourhood, I have noticed a few new shops and restaurants and such, which is good, and G will be pleased to know that the Krispy Kreme is still close by! 🙂 Not that I need another doughnut.

So that said, I’m off to find some fresh fruit and bottled water…

.: As mentioned earlier, it was my intention to attend the installation ceremony of the new president of the University of Alberta last Sunday, September 25th, and to participate in the academic procession into the Jubilee Auditorium, joining other faculty members for the event. This meant donning the academic dress of my degree, Master of Library Science. I arrived at the Jubilee and joined other faculty members, some of whom were being helped into their gowns by convocation staff. My gown had been misplaced, so I had to wait until it was found. I confess that I felt very special when the gown and hood were placed on me. The view from behind highlights the hood. I was not able to attend either of my convocations in the 70s. Now, twenty-eight years after graduating with my MLS degree, I was afforded a golden opportunity to wear the gown while participating in a ceremony important to my University.

The ceremony was glorious. Our new president, Dr Indira V Samarasekera, is, to be blunt, amazing. Her installation address was powerful, heartfelt and very moving. I urge you to read it, and to share in her vision for our campus. (Audio and video versions are also available.) I have worked at the U of A for 22 years, and look forward to a few more under her leadership. She is relatively young with energy and enthusiasm to spare, unpretentious, accessible, humble, and inspiring. One of my proudest moments as an employee of the University of Alberta was while listening to her speak of what lies ahead, her goals and visions, and of the University’s burgeoning potential.

But I digress. 🙂 A week from today I will be in NYC. A number of activities are already in place. On Saturday, friends from New Haven will come to Manhattan on the train, and meet me at a Dean and DeLuca’s somewhere near NYU. We’ll spend the day doing whatever, and try to see a Broadway show in the evening. On Monday night, ny friend Noella and I will see the Les Paul Trio at the Iridium Club. Les Paul is one of the electric guitar pioneers, having worked on prototypes and ideas in the 1940s. The legendary Gibson Les Paul model first appeared in 1952. On many a previous trip to NYC I have wanted to see Les Paul perform; now in his 90th year, I will finally make that happen.

The next night, Oct 11, my Baltimore-based friend Mary and I have tickets to see some band called U2 at Madison Square Garden. The seats are behind the stage, but whattheheck, it’s U2, and I can share the experience with a good friend. Wednesday night I’m off to Brooklyn for dinner with very special friends, Leo and Diane Dillon, whose latest illustrations appear in the new book, Earth Mother, which will be released in a few days. I hope to have a few copies for them to sign for me, along with other recent titles. Saturday I’ll attend Jessica‘s wedding in Summit NJ, with Noella if she can make it. The rest of the trip will fill in itself as the days progress: movies, maybe another play, walking, photography, visit with my friend Sekeena, two or three visits to the Strand, and on.

Tomorrow and Sunday I’m volunteering at the Edmonton International Film Festival.

.: I have made progress in writing the draft of my first column for IRSQ. I spent most of today in my office, and a couple hours this evening, working on the column. Writing for me is a painfully slow process, having never studied it formally, and I often feel like I am in way over my head. Relief will be the felt when the essay is ready for submission, because it will be one less thing to do before leaving for NYC on Oct 7. I am still working on four presentations, three of which will be delivered next week, and one on Oct 17, the day after I return from NYC. That day, I will be attending the first of two conferences over a five-date period, but will come to campus to deliver a lecture to fourth-year chemical engineering design students in the afternoon.

On Sunday, I will be attending the Installation Ceremony for our new University President, Dr Indira Samarasekera. Because librarians at the University of Alberta are academic staff, we are eligible to wear academic apparel, i.e., the cap and gown, at functions such as convocation. University staff members were invited to attend the installation ceremony, and I accepted. I also accepted the invitation to participate in the academic procession, meaning I will be in academic dress appropriate for my degree (Master of Library Science), and will enter and sit with other faculty in a designated area in the Jubilee Auditorium during the ceremony.

I believe in the celebration of an accomplishment. A little pomp and circumstance, an acknowledgement of an achievement, is deserved and good for the soul. I missed the convocation ceremony for each of my two degrees, one in 1975 (BSc, U Manitoba) and one in 1978 (MLS, U Alberta.) When I am in academic gown at the President’s installation on Sunday, it will be in her honour that I am doing so, and I will be proud to be there on her behalf. On a personal level, it will also be an quiet opportunity to gently honour myself for six years of university education between1971 and 1978, which have brought me to where I am at this very second. Here’s to me. Finally.

Speaking of work, I recorded my first podcast. It’s called the iPod Walking Tour – Main Floor Services, of the Cameron Science and Technology Library. BTW, it’s the English version. 😉