So today I got to three of the places I wanted to get to, the weather was fantasic all day too. Thanks for all the warnings about how cold it would be, leading to me not bringing any short sleeved tops!
First stop was Rockefeller Plaza - obviously I hadn't watched enough 30Rock to realise that it was a whole bunch of buildings over a couple of city blocks, not just one building! I got a sore neck from continuously trying to see the top of the buildings and none of the angles I could take photos from could get me a whole building. See, in Melbourne, you can stand on one side of the CBD and see the half dozen really big buildings. Well, in New York you can't see the big buildings because of all the big ones in front of them!
I got to see the ice skating rink without ice, as I was there they were laying an unfrozen substrate of some sort onto the rink. No, it wasn't water, it was some other slightly thicker looking clear stuff that froze reasonably quickly. I didn't see it frozen over, but will go back some time if I can and have a look. The plaza not surprisingly was a hive of activity. Little organisations like NBC, Chase Bank and McGraw Hill all call it home, so there were plenty of people going about their daily business among a see of tourists.
NBC Studios were interesting, certainly a shade fancier than the Bendigo Street facilities for GTV-9 back home, although both looked like they were built around the same time. I saw the MSNBC and NBC news studios and the Saturday Night Live sets which were both pretty nice. The illusion of television has always interested me, and whilst they openly use all the tricks in the book, it was still pretty nice in there. Not like the anchor table being held up by milk crates in the Nine News studio! The building, true to everything constructed by the Rockefeller family, was so beautifully art deco with amazing attention to detail throughout. After deciding against buying a set of House MD scrubs for more than the show costs to produce I wandered on to the Radio City Music Hall.
For those of you playing at home, New York is Radio City because NBC was the first national radio broadcaster in the USA and it's hub was, and remains, New York City. The Music Hall was something else, it's hard to describe and the photos did it no justice as I spent most of the time working out how to put my camera into manual mode so I could get it right.
Constructed in 1932, during the Great Depression, the Radio City Music Hall is home to the largest stage in the world today. It is also one of the most sophisticated in terms of its features, despite not being uprgraded since construction. The hall seats 5,931 with a 190 tonne stage capable of holding 82 tonne on it, suspended by hydraulics 27 feet in the air! It has four sections and a carousel that can be operated independently, so the front can drop 27ft below the rest to create an Orchestra pit (the back 13 feet above if that's where you want your Orchestra!). It also features the rotating section where the famous Radio City Rockettes (originally Roxyettes) do there sychronised kicking dance thing. (Yeah, I was obviously paying attention!)
What is really amazing is the complete Art Deco overload you get walking through the place. From the metal leaf walls, to the restored 30's artwork and marble finishes, the hand carved artworks in elevators and the original 1930 hand dryers in the bathrooms, still in working order (although reportedly a little more powerful now, thanks presumably to real hand dryers recessed into the walls behind them). The Roxy Suite, used for entertaining the entertainers is completely original - all of the furniture is the same furniture that was in the room in 1932 when the building was constructed. The room is still used today and artists like Jason Mraz who played there last night would use it for their private parties. I imagine the substance of the parties would have changed considerably, given that RCMH was constructed and commenced use during the time of prohibition in the states. The modern rock star would see the world a little differently I imagine. The final two features with this room that blew me away were the accoustics (an accoustic dome to ensure everyone at the 12 seat circular table can hear other without raising their voices) and the 24 carat gold ceiling. Yep, 24 carat gold leafing on the ceiling. Just a touch oppulent really. My photographic attempts are all on facebook but by no means are they prizewinning despite that the subject matter could give you those kind of shots.
It was great to be wandering through a 'regular' part of Manhattan, outside of Times Square for the day. It helps with making it seem a little more real, so that the great love I am developing for New York is now more founded in what reality might look like. I'm not a fan of how badly the sewers smell as you cross certain streets, and you can't avoid it because most of the pavements are filled with metal grates instead of concrete covers (those of you across the Cranbourne Landfill issue will know why this is important!). I guess when you consider you are cramming the population of Victoria and New South Wales into an area just a few times bigger than Melbourne's CBD you have to expect that.
Tommorrow's adventures (well today, it's 3am and I can't sleep again, but I am good at sleeping in the afternoon - my body is in denial about being in another timezone) will probably include the Empire State Building, Madame Tussauds, Manhattan Mall and Madison Square Garden. I'm thinking of spending Sunday at Central Park (it's only 50 city blocks long and three or four wide! (4kms by .5km). Central Park also features the Metropolitan Museum of art, the American Museum of Natural History and is close to the Lincoln Center.
I'm very tempted to head back to Broadway for another show. I'd see Altar Boyz again in a heart beat but that probably isnt the best use of my time, so I'm thinking Spring Awakening, Chicago, In the Heights or Harry Potter and a Horse (Equus with Daniel Radcliffe). There are actually about half a dozen more i'd love to see too and some I will just avoid (Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia! etc). There is a big temptation to see Phantom again, just to see how it is over here compared with home. So many shows, so few days! (not to mention the dollar, but we won't go there, I'm trying to just pretend that it doesn't matter!)
Interesting observation: I asked Andy, who hated his first week in Hawaii on his own and wanted to come home, how long it took before he felt at home - his answer was the second week. This weekend marks the second week of the trip for me, and I think I can say it has worked the same way for me. Whilst I miss everyone, the anxiety of being so far away without you all is fading and I'm just really getting into the spirit of things now and soaking it all up.
Oh, almost forgot. Several scrolls back up is the image for this blog - the quote above the entrance to Rockefeller's NBC building. "Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the stability of thy time". Ironic, really, at the moment. It is those we assume to have the wisdom and knowledge that have just driven us into a global economic crisis of proportions we have never seen. Lets just hope that we are surprised by the wisdom and knowledge of the US and Australian Governments and they pull us through this time of absolute instability, not just in our financial markets - but the fabric of our society that they currently threaten.
I hope all is well back home.
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