Just a quickie...

.... to say I'm not forgetting you. I had a gig on Tuesday and I'll have a last one on Friday so I'm focusing mainly on my singing right now.
I'll catch up hopefully at the week end.

Guess where ?

Wednesday September 23d : Gig again in Coney Island

This time I sung only in French : Charles Aznavour, Charles Trenet & Jacques Prévert. There were 20 people in the audience. It went fine except for one incident : my friend L. , who was helping out again with the settings, got the wrong track for the 1st piece. I was very confused and only noticed the mistake afterwards when I listened back to the recording.

Monday September 21st : I nearly opened a bank account

I had picked up a bank situated in Mid Town Manhattan next to my favorite deli / grocery shop. The person who had first greeted last week and with whom I had an appointment was from Gabon and so was a French speaker. To open a bank account all you need is a passport, an other ID and a proof of where you currently live in this country (utility bill at your name or a contract lease). I had met by chance our landlord at the week end and asked him about the contract lease. Unfortunately he hasn't done it for me yet so the appointment I had made at the bank was useless.
I then had the last dance lesson with D. I have decided to spend the last lessons with his girl-friend. We were a bit sad to part from each other. I mean we are going to keep in touch and hopefully see each other next year.

Sunday September 20th : a bit of tourism

It was a lovely day, sunny and warm. I decided to go for a nice visit. I saw in one of my guide book that there is an area called DUMBO - Down Underpass Manhattan Bridge - in Brooklyn. It is in actual fact between Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan. A few streets where former warehouses have been converted into art galleries and such. But it is going to be very soon a chic residential area facing lower Manhattan. I then crossed the River on Manhattan Bridge. Obviously the best point of view over Brooklyn Bridge.

From Dumbo Water Front

Saturday September 19th : Dance evening again

D. was not there this time to remind me I was a Tiger. And I actually didn't act as one at all. I just watched for one hour and then left. I find it very difficult to make up my mind and pick up one lady. Never mind. I still had a good time observing people. You always learn something.

Friday September 18th : 1st Dance Class with a lady

Today D. introduced me to his girl-friend L. who's a dance instructor too but in an other studio, the one where I went to last Saturday for the evening. It was very useful for me to have an other approach. For example she showed me how to lead in a smooth way. I'm probably going to have more lessons with L. before I leave.

Thursday September17th : Current News in Williamsburg

Interesting discussion again this week with the seniors. I had picked up an article about the main automakers projects on electric cars. All the people in the group couldn't get why someone would want such a car. Furthermore when I said small cars seemed better for driving around the cities they didn't agree at all "small cars are not safe" they claimed. And : "Big cars are better in cities because then people are careful not to run into other cars. Leave the small cars for the other States, it's no good for the East Coast Cities."
I'd like to have your comments on this post please.

Wednesday September 16th : Gig in Coney Island

Being a Wednesday I still had the Spanish-French exchange with L. but we did it in Coney Island. The weather wasn't very nice so we had our pique nic at the Senior Center. Only 7 people stayed to listen to my singing so I didn't need a mike. The sound track was still not loud enough. Nevertheless I think they enjoyed the gig. I finished by a sing-along of "Frères Jacques".

Tuesday September 15th : my brother for lunch at home

My only brother had a nice surprise for me : he emailed me last week end saying that he'd be in NY for less than 24 hours, arriving from Toronto. He had already some engagements on his 1st and only night and on the following and last morning so he had the possibility left on Tuesday lunch time before catching his flight back to Paris. As C. Street is only 20 minutes by cab from JFK it was the sensible thing to do. F. was probably a bit chocked when he saw our house which is not really luxurious and in desperate need of repairs. As for the neighbourhood , with the shops closing one after the other, it is very different from F's usual surroundings.
Nevertheless I was very pleased to see him and at least one member of my family has a better idea of where I live.

Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan Bridge

Sunday October 13th : Rosh Hashanah Package Delivery

"Rosh Hashanah" is the Jewish New Year. Like last winter for Easter I went to visit a senior, the pretext being to deliver a special cash er package in behalf of the NGO Dorot. I asked to be pre-matched with B. , the 96 years old I saw last time. B. is pretty the same. Probably thanks to his training as a psychiatrist, B. is the kind of person who rather ask you questions than speaking about himself. He said to me : "so your life is presently going around singing and dancing ?"
I suppose he's partly right, and why not ?

Saturday September 12 : Dance Party

D., my dance teacher invited me to join him to a dance party. It was held in a dance studio similar to the one where he is teaching me but with bigger rooms. The principle is quite straight forward : you pay $ 15 per head and you can dance non-stop from 9:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. And most people there just do that : they dance, and dance & dance and then go home or wherever. They do it very seriously. Not really any time to joke, talk or drink.
Saying that I had fun myself. Firstly because D. is a funny guy and told me things like : "think yourself as a tiger, Benoit, looking out for your next lady to dance with..." OK... Then he had fun himself with his dancing partners. And finally I had a go with several ladies : one I made her dizzy (and me too), an other one afterwards D. told me "to be careful not to break any arms", and someone said to D. about the way I danced "he's a bit rusty but he's OK".

9/11, Coney Island.

Thursday 9/10 : Current News at Jasa Williamsburg Center

I resumed this weekly activity I did last winter : to lead a discussion group on the current news in English & Spanish. It was actually with the same people as last time. I picked up an article about the 40th anniversary of the cultural revolution in China. We talked about the importance of getting an education. Two seniors gave their testimonies. A lady who grow up in the States, on a country farm and had to work long hours for her parents as well as following her studies. And she made it. A gentleman from Puerto Rico who had to go to school bare foot whatever the season because he was from a very poor background. And he made it too.

Gig in Mid West Manahattan (1)

Gig in Mid West Manahattan (2)

Gig in Mid West Manahattan (3)

Gigs and non gigs

I eventually did a gig last Tuesday at the Mid West Jasa Center. You remember ? The one where they forgot to advertise me ? It went OK. I arrived slightly late and therefore couldn't sing everything on my agenda. Nevertheless the audience was, I think, quite receptive. I have a technical problem to get solved : the sound track on CD doesn't help because if I want to move around the room I can't hear the music and then through the mike it's louder than the music... I have a few ideas in mind to get round that.

Yesterday, Wednesday, was supposed to be the performance in Coney Island. I arrived at the last minute as well... and nobody was there ! I mean no seniors ! Lack of communication again. I'm going back there tomorrow morning : I'll have to do my own communication.

View from Lake Michigan (1)

View from Lake Michigan (2)

View from Lake Michigan (3)

View from Lake Michigan (4)

Jazz in Brooklyn / My teacher's trio & more

My room mate B. was going to play the saxophone Sunday night. Unfortunately he was not very well and at the last minute couldn't go. Y. and I went along nevertheless to this gig. It was held in a building back yard in Brooklyn, Grand Army Plaza neighborhood, from 4:00 p.m. It works like that : every one brings his own seat and some food and/ or drink. The musicians play apparently at random, sharing the instruments. New people are arriving all the time with food, instruments, seats... It's free but donations are welcomed. They do this gig at this particular place every year on the Sunday before Labor Day - which is always the Monday following the 1st weekend in September. But sometimes they miss a year out because they don't feel like it.
Obviously it was going on until whenever time in the early morning. We left at 7:45. Y. had some homework to do and I had been invited to an other gig in Manhattan for 9.
My singing teacher, J., from Brooklyn has her own trio : pianist, percussionist and herself as a singer. She writes and composes her own songs. I found the percussionist absolutely fascinating. J. does sing very well too. And the pianist is pretty good. It was happening in a cafe in the South Village where they have musical evenings regularly. The bands change every hour. They are only paid through the audience tips. I was going to leave after J.'s trio. J. told me the next one was French so I stayed. A singer and a pianist. We listened to the classic French songs for a NYC audience : Piaf - La Vie En Rose - , Trenet - Douce France etc... And then she (the singer) gave a chance to other musicians to perform : a saxophonist along with the pianist, a Japanese singing in English, the waitress from the cafe in English. At the end the singer and the pianist song together, the pianist in Arabic and the singer in French. The pianist was absolutely an amazing performer : he could play anything by heart and in a very grand way.

Photos to come later

Sorry I had some connections problems. I still "owe" you some photos from Chicago. I'm back in NYC in a kind of routine. Saturday I went to the hairdresser. Same as last time but I have been taken care of with a lady from Iran. She was so pleased to talk to me. I. came in NYC 25 years ago because "she didn't like the new government in her country". She has a few relatives and friends in France and she loved to live there. I gave her my business card and she gave me her schedule to make sure I get an appointment with her next time.

Photo below...

Right hand side building is the John Hancock Observatory Tower and in the middle, yes, it's a lighthouse, copy of the original one back in older days.

N. Michigan Avenue at Chicago Street

Chicago : a likelable City

I really like this City. Somehow the Millennium Park and its surrounding buildings remind me the Strand in Shanghai, well without the Chinese... I think it's got a more manageable dimension in a way than New York, larger avenues. Architecturally wise, obviously there are many astonishing sky scrapers as well as historic places. I went up 2 nights ago to the John Hancock Observatory. From the sky the Windy City - which takes this nickname from the politicians who were blowing useless speeches to get votes - appears very much like a sea resort. And thanks to the audio guide system you learn a lot on local history.
I had the opportunity to chat with several people living there. One of them told me he was originally from New York and came here 20 years ago because it's much more affordable and easy to make your dreams come true. And when I asked him about the winters, he said "yes they are horrible but it's OK". Someone else, born and bread in Chicago, and who could have had the opportunity to settle down in Japan, came back because "Chicago is home" and about the cold season said "no, it's not as bad as its reputation, maybe we get 2 or 3 days with O F. (more or less minus 14 C.) and a bit of snow now and then, but the frozen lake is so beautiful and white Christmas are so romantics. You just have to be prepared and well equipped."