NY Philharmonic at Central Park
It has been quite a week.
With Israel on the brink of an all-out war with Hezbollah, the bombings in Mumbai, and the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan, conflicts around the world seem to have experienced a sharp increase as of late. New York cultural landscape, people and weather are in an explosive and variant mood as well. What’s happening in the biosphere? Astrologers say Mercury is retrograde, and a cloudy cosmic energy surrounds our planet…where the Ego is the center of our human consciousness… whatever.
While daydreaming such reflections, gazing beyond my computer to the never-ending green Central Park treetops view, Entourage alerts me, “You’ve got mail.” It’s from “Judios Latinos,” a New York network community that, like many others, regularly sends me newsletters about their events and meetings in the city. This time is about the Central Park NY Philharmonic summer concert.As this summer brings the three finest teams outside to play, like the Yankees, the Mets and the music loving New Yorkers –including me– we will have the honor, debt and gratitude to appreciate on Tuesday, July 12, conducted by Xiang Zhang, the performances of Tchaikovsky’s Festival Coronation March, with Jennifer Koh Fiddling Violin Concerto, and Dvorjak Symphony # 8, absolutely for free thanks to Time Warner costly support, making music accessible to all.
The Judios Latinos suggests we bring blankets, food, bug sprays, drinks and that we should follow (like in a treasure hunt) first the white, then the blue and finally the pink balloons in order to find each other. I also learn that after use, balloons must be thrown in the trash because they can be harmful to wildlife; alcohol is tolerated but must be kept low key because there will be a lot of police around; plastic garbage bags can be good liner between moist ground and towels or blankets. We are sent a map with a red dot, the apparent ultimate reference for final meeting point of destination.
All right. What do I do with all this? I would love to go with my friends too and moreover I don’t know any of the Judios Latinos. Of course this is an opportunity for me to meet new people, but the operation already looks a little intricate, and my Spanish is getting better, I know, but there must be an easier way to have it all. After reflecting while watching the news, I finally find the solution. As usual, internet saves me, and I decide to forward the email translated to my best English possible, including the map and the operational color balloon scheme –I only add a little style… “Wear your most glamorous white, bring candles –possibly citronella, French champagne and strawberries.
Calypso beach-bag, Crate & Barrel striped waterproof Picnic mat, and we’re on.The sky is getting dark, friends are not sure they are coming since rain is pouring over the city like never before in the last 10 years…. The concert is cancelled and transferred to next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, an unknown Brazilian man asks if my friend and I –since we arrived two hours in advance to get a reasonable spot– would like him to take a picture of us and if we are palm-readers due to my white dress from the Mercado Municipal of Bahia. We tell him we are not palm-readers, but if he desires to know about the weather without charge, we tell him that it is going to rain only much later in the evening after the concert and give him my web log address to see his art work on line.
The balloons were useful, and 100.000 attended. It was impossible to find the Judios Latinos because everyone was too busy trying to get a good space in the Central Park Great Lawn. Prokofiev and John Adams performances were amazing; everyone appeared mainly through cellular phone calls, fireworks were moving through their explosions.Unfortunately rain decided to come earlier and an announcer told us that the middle piece, the Beethoven # 2, had to be cancelled since by 9:30 it would start raining. I did not take the weather report so seriously and suggested to my friends to wait till the end of the concert for everyone to leave and then we would move too. The evening was so beautiful…Well, I don’t know why people listen to me.
We had to walk for 40 minutes covered by the magical waterproof carpet under a never seen before intense storm. My Sony camera, iPod, Bahia’s kit, top, underwear, and Razr phone were definitely gone. Because of my smart suggestion, 10 persons showered in my apartment wrapped in all towels and robes I had, and we prepared a hot tea.
I wish the explosions we heard in the news while safely sipping hot tea in the kitchen could be just those of the Central Park fireworks and not of missiles, the sounds, just the tunes of the Beethoven performance by the NY Philharmonic and not of sirens.
My prayers go to those who courageously fight not just a storm but for the safety of their lives and survival.
And may these turbulent times be over soon.
I am taking the opportunity to post the link of Galya Daube, a 15-year old girl from Haifa, Israel, called by the New York Times today the Anne Frank 2006. She uploaded a jittering, first person video clip last week filmed as she ran through her home, rushed down whitewashed staircases, and blurred her way from room to room towards the family’s bomb shelter.
Wode Paint Boudicca & Wode Scent Boudicca
