"See a screening of “Elf” at the East Flushing branch of the Queens Public Library."
I happened to have seen a production of the musical "Elf" an easy drive away when I was in Tampa around Thanksgiving, a production with no skimping on effects and ability, or a total Christmas-y feeling inside the theater. I think the cast was even bigger than the show had on Broadway years back. (I went because an old friend who'd done so many plays but somehow just had never been offered an Equity lead in a musical before, despite a terrific voice, was making his musical theater debut - at near 70.)
But I'd never experienced walking out of a total top-to-bottom, side-to-side Christmas environment and into Florida high-80s sun to get to a theater's stage door! And so much of the show took place in New York in the holidays. It was like walking from the Ice House/cooling center into the Florida sun at Epcot, only it was "Elf!"
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I think is a great rehearsal for when the time comes in this country we have to pay homage to the future kings, overlords or whatever titles they'll use on themselves. 12 hrs. no bathroom will be seen as a small price to pay to be near such Dear Leaders. Seen the direction the country is going I don't think this is a far fetched scenario.
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tune of "Auld Lang Syne"
Should old surveillance be enough
To provide us peace of mind?
Or should we add this cool new stuff
That the science guys designed?
It's all designed, my dear
The drones are all designed.
We'll glue the parts together here.
Then deploy what they designed.
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In my life, I've engaged in some grueling New York City rituals:
--I've walked around Manhattan in a single day as part of The Great Saunter, sponsored by Shorewalkers.org.
--I attended a 24-hour Hollywood studio movie marathon decades ago, with my entire family.
--I watched an all-day Kurt Weill marathon at Symphony Space.
--I stayed up all night at the Brooklyn Public Library's "A Night of Philosophy."
But I've never seen the ball drop in Times Square. It sounds awful. Was it always this bad? Did people always have to start lining up at 11 a.m.? Are there hotel or restaurant rooftops from which one could watch the ball drop? (Although watching it on TV might be almost as good.)
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@Lifelong Reader no it wasnt always this bad!
i went as a yute in 1971 and walked around wearing a rubber Nixon mask. It was a lot of fun. Everyone was friendly and having a good time.
I dont know how anyone can go to TS now and endure standing in a grid without any freedom of movement.
Fun to watch on TV!
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@Lifelong Reader - I remember in the 1980s, seeing a show when the Broadway shows were generally performing on New Year's Eve, and getting around was not that bad, although we left the area before midnight. I think it was 1990 when my spouse was doing sound for a play that opened mid-January (I guess 1991), and I hung out while they were recording the authentic Times Square New Year's Eve sounds to be used in the play; it was easy to get around at 10 pm and the only thing of note was they were careful with ID to get in the building because they didn't want strangers wandering in us to see the ball.
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@Billybob73
Thank you for confirming that. I don't remember it being such an ordeal to watch the ball drop in Times Square.
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New Year's Eve in Times Square. I did it once when relatives visiting from Germany forced me into playing reluctant tour guide.
It was also one of the coldest New Year's Eves in history, and I dreaded every hour of standing there freezing, and waiting for that lighted ball to drop at midnight.
And I swore to never do it again.
But it was fun.
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@N. Smith -
"Although city officials and event organizers have said one million to two million people ... crowd-estimate experts say that number is closer to 100,000."
That's quite a variance, bringing to mind the Inauguration Day counts. I'd like to get Sean Spicer's viewpoint on this! :)
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@Freddie
Normally I agree with you on just about everything you say, Freddie -- but here I'm content to let Sean Spicer sit this dance out!
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'“I think it’s great," said passerby Jerry Goralnick, 65. “Public art is really important . . . We don’t know the meaning of it yet.”'
The arch itself is a work of art. Passing it just last week, having been passing it now for over 65 years, I said to spouse, "The arch is so beautiful." Probably I say it every third time we go by, but I think it every time.
Like dogs lifting their legs on trees, taggers feel compulsion to leave their scents.
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