Philadelphia

Philadelphia surprised me. For some reason I’ve always thought of the city as a grungy, industrial metropolis that happens to have a few sights of historical significance. I don’t know whether I got that impression from watching too many ‘Rocky’ movies or whether it was just something I conjured up in my mind, but when I arrived on Saturday morning I was impressed by how modern and clean the city is, and also by how many great things there are to do besides just seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

This entire past week has been packed, so I should start with a brief overview of a few worthwhile things I did…

Monday night I met up with a handful of others from the Manhattan 8th Ward for a game of Ultimate Frisbee at Riverside Park. I spent an hour or so rushing up and down one of the few wide open spaces in Manhattan, and enjoyed the views of the Hudson River as we played (which reminds me, I still need to spend some time in Central Park this summer). Tuesday I hit the gym with roommate/hard partier/Georgetown linebacker Rob Lane. I don’t even pretend like I’m in the same league as Rob in the weight room, but I can say that we walk at about the same pace to and from the gym. Wednesday I went to a Mets game with about twenty other interns from American Express. I wish I could write about a few memorable moments from the game, but the truth is that I haven’t followed Major League Baseball since 1994, and to remember any of the memorable moments I’d have to pay a visit to ESPN.com. I generally just enjoyed hanging around with a few friends on a summer night at the Mets’ immaculate new stadium, ‘Citi Field’ (I do remember that the Mets beat the Cardinals, 8-0).

Thursday night I headed to Brooklyn with a friend of mine to see an outdoor showing of the new independent film, ‘William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe’. I loved that film. William Kunstler is famous (or infamous, according to some) for defending notable and controversial causes as a New York attorney. The documentary, which was recently produced by his two daughters, began with accounts of Kunstler heroically defending activists protesting Vietnam and Native Americans standing up to the federal government, then moved on to his transition to defending alleged rapists, terrorists, and murderers. For a film made by his family the account was incredibly unbiased, and also included descriptions of famous historical events involving Kunstler (including his defense of the Chicago Seven, rioting inmates from Attica Prison, and suspects from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing). After the film a panel including Kunstler’s daughters and some former clients took questions from the crowd. One of the things I love about New York City is the variety and randomness of all the things to do. I definitely will fit in a few more outdoor independent movie screenings before the summer is through.

American Express sponsored a trip to Harlem for several interns Friday, so I made sure to sign up early to go. After taking the #2 express train to 125th Street the hoard of us headed to the ‘Studio Museum of Harlem’ to begin our day up there. The best word to describe the Studio Museum would be ‘eclectic’, and that’s a huge understatement. The Museum featured every wild piece of art imaginable that celebrated black people and the diversity of black cultures in Harlem. A few of my favorites included a white room covered in tasteful art resembling graffiti, a plain white canvas with bold black letters spelling the words ‘BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL’, and several photographic collages of the famous black boxer Joe Louis (I didn’t quite know what to think of the giant video screen displaying a flamboyantly homosexual black man singing in the bathroom). Our visit to Harlem also included a walk past the famous Apollo Theatre, where hundreds were gathered to commemorate Michael Jackson, and lunch at ‘Sylvia’s’, Harlem’s famous ‘soul food’ establishment where we were served fried chicken, fried catfish, barbecued ribs, collard greens, cornbread, potato salad, and banana pudding for dessert (I still can’t believe AMEX pays me to go to this stuff).

Friday night I took the Long Island Railroad to Jones Beach, New York to see Aerosmith in concert. ZZ Top opened up for the group and I quickly realized that they should have quit while they were still stylishly old back in the 1980’s. Now they’re so old that they can hardly move anymore, and I wondered to myself several times how it was possible for a decrepit man hardly mobile enough to move his lips could possibly belt out ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ perfectly in tune to a crowd of 50,000 (the words ‘lip-syncing’ quickly come to mind). Fortunately Steve Tyler and Aerosmith were decidedly more lively. Colorful lights and mechanical props brought the stage to life, and Steve Tyler caressed the microphone as he danced wildly over a gigantic glow-in-the-dark Aerosmith logo. My best Aerosmith memories are from listening to Camille’s albums back in the early nineties, and fortunately the band played nearly all of my favorite songs. ‘Dream On’, ‘Sweet Emotion’, ‘Come Together’, and ‘Cryin’ were all played perfectly, and the tunes constantly looped through my head on the way back to Manhattan. After a 1:00 AM visit to Dunkin’ Donuts and a one hour train ride I finally pulled into Penn Station… then finally crashed in my bed at 2:30.

Now for Philadelphia…

Saturday morning I took the Bolt Bus to Philly and arrived at the City Center Sheraton just before 10:00. I was in a bit of a daze due to a lack of sleep the night before, but I whenever I visit a new place I always get a thrill from the excitement of being there, and my weekend in the City of Brotherly Love was no different. LOVE Park was an appropriate way to start my weekend, and I happened to pass by it while walking to Independence Hall. The modern ‘LOVE’ sculpture for which the park is famous is one of those things I’ve seen plenty of times before in references to pop culture, but until recently I never realized it’s in Philadelphia. I took a few pictures that contrasted the modern sculpture with the classic architecture and fountain behind it, then moved on past City Hall to Historical Philadelphia.

I vaguely remember visiting the Liberty Bell on a trip with my Grandma Calder nearly 18 years ago, and even though I hardly recall anything from that trip, it’s clear that Philadelphia is a lot different now. A wide green park featuring museums and monuments dedicated to the American Revolution spans five city blocks in the city, and one day would barely be enough time to rush through it all. Although I didn’t hit everything during my visit this weekend, I was sure to see all the sights that meant the most to me. Of course I saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, but I also visited the historical Free Quaker Meeting House, where a woman dressed in colonial clothing played Bach music on an instrument made of crystal glass, Christ Church, which was frequented by Benjamin Franklin and other prominent figures, the Betsy Ross home, and the modern National Constitution Center, which was filled with fascinating exhibits about American History and the US Constitution that I only scratched the surface of in two hours spent there. Of course I learned plenty of things I didn’t already know, but I’ll list just a few of them: The famous crack in the Liberty Bell was widened in 1846 to allow the bell to continue to be used, but the crack that permanently silenced it was created later that year while the bell was ringing to celebrate George Washington’s Birthday… Also, when the British occupied Philadelphia for 10 years during the Revolutionary War they ransacked Independence Hall, then used it as stables for their animals and a prison for American Revolutionaries.

I couldn’t visit Philadelphia without having a cheesesteak sandwich, and after a fair amount of research I discovered that the sandwich originated 70 years ago at a place called ‘Pat’s King of Steaks’ in the south part of the city. In true local fashion I took the public bus down to 9th and Passyunk where the famous restaurant is located. I was surprised by how small and intimate the place is; it felt about like getting a chili-cheese dog at the little league baseball field at Lindsay Gardens. While eating my cheesesteak at one of Pat’s plastic picnic tables out front I couldn’t help but notice a gigantic knock-off of Pat’s directly across the street; ‘Geno’s Best Steaks’. If Pat’s exemplifies the classic neighborhood-joint feel, then Geno’s has the look of a flashy commercialized chain. Giant neon lights flash the words ‘BEST STEAKS’ repeatedly, and a huge colored sign of a cheesesteak sits prominently at the top of the building. I can only imagine the legal wrangling that must have taken place when Geno moved in across the street from Pat. I wonder if court documents featuring cheesesteak warfare are still available for the public to read for entertainment…

I had time for a few more attractions in Philadelphia, and at the top of my list was the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Originally I wanted to visit the museum for its famous steps that were used for a classic scene in the movie ‘Rocky 3’… and of course I needed to see the original Rocky statue used as a prop that sits outside the museum in a small garden. When I got inside the giant building, though, I realized what I would have missed out on if I hadn’t come. I’ve been to a lot of very impressive art museums in Europe, and it’s possible that nothing will ever top the Louvre, the Vatican Museums, or the Uffizi. With that said, I can honestly say that I’ve never enjoyed medieval art more than I did this weekend in Philadelphia. The collection is easily one of the most impressive in the world, and I spent an entire morning exploring rooms filled with authentic knights’ armor and weapons, enormous colorful tapestries, and depictions of famous European cities as they existed several hundred years ago. One of my favorite pieces was a painting by a Venetian artist named ‘Canaletto’ depicting St. Mark’s Square and the canals of Venice filled with a colorful annual celebration featuring giant, ornate gondolas. I also enjoyed a huge mobile sculpture in the lobby created by Alexander Calder (who, as it turns out, was from Philadelphia).

My final visit in Philly was to the Independence Seaport Museum on the banks of the Delaware River. The museum featured a special exhibit on the history of tattoos and the significance they are to sailors, but the real reason I visited was for the ships outside. A giant US warship called ‘Olympia’ sits prominently in the river, and as I wandered through the various decks of the ship I wondered what life would have been like for the sailors who used it during its wartime career from 1892 to 1921. The submarine, though, was far more interesting to me. The ‘Becuna’, as the submarine is called, patrolled the Pacific waters during World War II and the Cold War. It seems almost unfathomable to me that men lived for three months at a time in the cramped conditions of the Becuna many hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the ocean. As I walked through the narrow body of the ship I passed the officer’s quarters, a small kitchen, the engine room, a control room filled with dull red light, and torpedo rooms at either end of the vessel. Even though this particular submarine is more than sixty years old, the technology is still fascinating to me. As an engineer, though, it makes a lot more sense to make submarines that are unmanned these days. I’m sure that naval officers would much rather guide a ship and launch torpedoes from a command room somewhere in rural Nevada than from one actually in the sub hundreds of feet beneath the ocean… and I’m sure the company would be a lot better too; who wouldn’t prefer to go home to their wife and kids in American suburbia after blasting an enemy ship somewhere under the sea halfway around the world?

Museums of NYC

Shortly after arriving in New York a few weeks back I bought a Lonely Planet guidebook to the city and made a list of everything I wanted to see while I’m here. Every week since then something has come up on the weekend and I haven’t been able to rush around the city and hit all the big sights like I intended on doing. After reviewing the list again last week it became obvious that one summer isn’t nearly enough time to cover all the great things to see and do in New York, but with a full Saturday at my disposal this weekend I decided to hit just a few of the top things on my list.

I ate at a few great ethnic restaurants this week that are worth mentioning. Katz’s Deli is a New York icon, and is famous for its incredible sandwiches, and for a certain scene in the movie ‘When Harry Met Sally’. I’ve had plenty of Rueben sandwiches at the New York inspired ‘Blue Line Deli’ on the bottom floor of the business school at BYU, but there’s no way I could leave the City at the end of the summer without having one at an authentic Jewish deli here. Delis in New York are so different from what nearly everyone else in the US thinks of as a deli, that I almost think they should be classified as a different kind of restaurant. A deli in New York serves meat, not sandwiches. Whether you want hot pastrami, corned beef, steaming turkey, or cured ham, the place to get it in New York is a deli… and to help you eat it, they’ll give you a couple slices of fresh bread too. After waiting in a giant line that was a real testament to the fame of Katz’s Deli, I finally got to watch a skilled butcher carve up a heap of pastrami for my own, authentic, New York Rueben sandwich. Sixteen bucks for one sandwich is a bit steep, but it is Katz’s Deli, it is delicious, and it is in New York… and they gave me a few fresh pickles on the side. The meat was so tender, hot, and juicy that I felt sinful eating it, but I had to have the New York deli experience at least once. Maybe later in the summer I’ll try the Carnegie Deli for comparison…

Wednesday I met up with a friend of mine from East High and had dinner at a Cuban place in Brooklyn called ‘The Habana Outpost’. The place was worlds apart from Katz’s deli, but every bit as colorful. My main course was an amazing Cuban-style toasted pork sandwich, but the real treat was the ‘Corn’. Corn on the cob is something I’m used to, but Habana’s puts a pretty incredible twist on it. First a fresh ear of corn is perfectly blackened on the grill, then it’s covered in cream, spices, chili powder, and parmesan cheese. I’ve never been a huge corn fan before, but the Corn at Habana’s converted me; and the Mexican-style Tamarind soda that I had was pretty good too.

Friday night I headed to the Astor Place Theatre to watch ‘Blue Man Group’. For the past eight or nine years I’ve heard so much about ‘Blue Man Group’ and I’ve seen advertisements for their show plenty of times in Vegas, so I was excited to finally see it for myself. The show was a mix between a comedy act, an acrobatic performance, a concert, and a commentary on modern culture. Three men dressed in black and covered entirely in blue make-up pounded catchy rhythms on drums and PVC pipes, and the musical parts of the performance were creatively interspersed with silent comedy acts and interactive acts with the crowd. At one point the three blue men climbed off the stage and up onto the seats of the spectators, making their way past the crowd by walking on the armrests. During another part the blue men pulled thick tissue paper from the back of the theatre and passed it up through the crowd as wild strobe lights flashed to the beat of loud rhythmic music. Throughout the performance a theme of acceptance of others seemed to be the only consistency. The show was radically different from anything I’ve seen before, but it was interesting to see and a fun way to spend a Friday night in New York.

Saturday morning I met up with my friend Jason, another BYU MBA who is interning at American Express, and rushed around the city to a few of the different museums. Jason likes large, iconic museums, so we started with the Museum of Natural History. Like the Met in New York, the Museum of Natural History is so huge that it would take days to see it all, but Jason and I picked a few of our favorite parts to keep us entertained for a couple hours. One section of the museum featured artifacts from foreign cultures all over the world, complete with descriptions of the people who created them. I particularly enjoyed the Asian and African cultures, including exhibits on Southeast Asia and Tibet, but I also enjoyed the Central America exhibit that featured a replica of a giant Mayan carving that I saw at the Copan Ruins in Honduras. Our visit to the Museum of Natural History wouldn’t be complete without seeing the dinosaurs, and Jason and I both enjoyed wandering through the exquisite life-size replicas of dinosaur bones on the fourth floor of the museum. I definitely felt like an eight-year-old kid getting that excited about dinosaurs, but it really was amazing and I don’t think I’ve seen dinosaur bones for at least ten years. As cliché as it may be, my favorite was the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Last November I really wanted to see the Guggenheim, but unfortunately didn’t have the time because I was occupied with other wonders in New York City. Jason and I made time for a visit Saturday and wandered up the spiraling corridor through the museum, enjoying countless architectural designs created by Frank Lloyd Wright as we went. I was surprised to see famous works by Picasso and Monet in the same museum, but my favorite exhibits were still those created by Frank Lloyd Wright. I could write about what I saw for hours, but in the interest of time, the most interesting exhibit to me was a design for a giant community center in central Baghdad. Obviously today the thought of a modern, state-of-the-art center for sporting events and commerce in Baghdad seems ridiculous, but only a few decades ago it apparently was a possibility. The exhibit included professional architectural models of the proposed project, as well as several of Frank Lloyd Wright’s incredible drawings for it. If built, the complex would have been incredible, and would be every bit as modern and impressive as the best facilities in the United States. It was almost eerie to me to walk through the exhibit, in awe of how much destruction has been done in that region in just forty years.

I finished the day off with a visit to the intimate ‘Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’ in SoHo, which featured original drawings for the ‘Batman: Year One’ comics created in the early 1980’s. Afterwards I dropped by the ‘WTC Tribute’ museum across the street from the World Trade Center, and just a half-block from the World Financial Center where I go to work every morning. Working in Lower Manhattan has brought the events of September 11th to life for me. Even though I didn’t see any of the newscasts because I was in the MTC, it suddenly feels more personal now that I know some of the people who experienced it and can literally see the entire construction site right below me from the 30th floor of the American Express Tower. It’s hard to imagine what that day might have been like; although I guess it would be like seeing a plane smash into the Goldman Sachs tower or the WTC7 tower next door to ours. Just the thought of it is pretty mind-blowing.

Saturday night I met up with some friends and headed out to Giants Stadium in New Jersey to watch the New York Red Bulls play (a MLS soccer team, for those who are unfamiliar with them). Sports games are always fun just because it’s a good way to hang out with friends, but I enjoyed it even more because it was a chance to get some close-up pictures of the action with my new camera. It’s amazing how much emotion can be caught with a telephoto lens from the stands. I liked getting shots of players juking each other or of a tense situation after a foul, but some of my favorite shots were ones where I caught players in unusual positions in the air.

Midtown Manhattan and Senegalese Fare

One of the things I enjoy most about New York City is the contrast of the different experiences that can be had all within hours of each other. One day you might be eating a fine Saturday brunch at a restaurant in the Upper West Side, and on another you could be dining with a West African crowd at a Senegalese café in Harlem. Friday night you could gaze out at the lights of Midtown Manhattan from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, then the next morning visit the neo-medieval Cloisters north of the City. This week I was fortunate enough to do all of the above, and when looking back at it all it really is amazing what a variety of cultural experiences are available all in one city.

I’m determined to fulfill my goal of seeing one Broadway show every week for twelve weeks that I’m in New York. After entering the free lottery for front-row tickets at Jersey Boys and missing out twice, I finally bought a half-price ticket to ‘Exit the King’ from the TKTS stand in Times Square. Before seeing the show I honestly didn’t know anything about it except that it’s a comedy and the New York Times gave it a good review. The basic plot of ‘Exit the King’ is that the powerful, but insecure and sentimental King Berenger has just discovered that he will die at the end of the play and must come to terms with denial and regret. The play was surprising for a few reasons – first of all because I discovered about fifteen minutes into the show that it was definitely not a musical, and second because it included high-profile Hollywood actors such as Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Altogether it was an okay way to spend a night after work, but there are probably other shows I would rather have seen. Two hours is way too long to watch an old man on stage pout about his inevitable death; even if there are a few laughs mixed in.

Thursday night I met up with my friend Allison and her friend Rebecca to have dinner at ‘Restaurant Le Baobab’, an authentic Senegalese place on 116th Street in Harlem. Rebecca told us about meeting with ambassadors from Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Belize as part of her summer internship working for the public relations department of the church, and I talked a little bit about traveling in those parts of the world (although I haven’t yet made it to Bangladesh… it’s not exactly high on my list of places to see). A distinctly West African crowd filled the restaurant – some in authentic West African apparel – and a small TV at the top of the room blasted Senegalese political rants on a channel that must broadcast from somewhere in Africa. Allison and I had a dish called ‘Thierry’; cooked chicken in peanut sauce accompanied by a pile of fine cous-cous. The Thierry was alright, but Rebecca’s dish turned out to be much better; juicy chicken kabobs with grilled onions, cous-cous, and fried plantains.

I vaguely remember visiting the top of the Empire State Building as a third-grade kid touring the East Coast with my Grandma Calder, but I decided was high-time to refresh my memory and Friday night was the perfect time to do it. After enduring an unbelievable series of long lines and elevator rides I finally made it to the 86th Floor Observatory at 7:30; just in time to catch the last rays of sun hitting the city, but late enough to watch Manhattan light up after dark. The crowds at the top were thick, but with a little strategic placement of my body and a little luck I had some great unobstructed views from all sides of the top of the tower. Looking south from the Empire State Building gives visitors a great view of the Flatiron Building below and a straight-shot look at Lower Manhattan. Looking north, though, turned out to be my favorite part. The Chrysler Building, Fifth Avenue, the GE Building, Central Park, and Times Square were perfectly laid out in front of me, and I snapped picture after picture with my new camera as the lights slowly came on in the city below. As the sky grew darker it was impossible to miss Times Square, which lit up all the surrounding buildings in Midtown like a giant, never-ending party.

In November I visited the American Express headquarters on a networking trip with the BYU MBA program and talked with a BYU alumni there named Kyle Poll about how to be competitive for a job at AMEX. I kept in touch with Kyle throughout the interview process, and when he called me Friday to ask for help with his engagement photos I was not only flattered, but also glad to be able to do something for him. Saturday morning I met Kyle and his fiancé Emily at ‘The Cloisters’ north of Manhattan, and together with Kyle’s friend Ashley I took hundreds of pictures of romantic engagement poses. I never imagined I would take any engagement photos, but it turned out to be a really fun way to experience New York’s own medieval museum. Ashley and I took shots of Kyle and Emily posing against stone columns, walking down medieval corridors together, and enjoying the landscaped gardens outside the museum. Even though the Cloisters was built in 1938 specifically as a museum, it felt just as classic as visits I’ve made to Rothenburg, Germany or York, England. Later this summer I’ll go back and spend more time at the Cloisters and get to know the authentic medieval art that’s housed inside.

After we all were satisfied that enough engagement photos had been taken, Kyle and Emily and Ashley and I headed to ‘Sarabeth’s’ restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue for a Saturday Brunch. As I ate my lemon and ricotta pancakes and Kyle enjoyed his pumpkin waffle, we uploaded the pictures to Kyle’s Macbook and previewed a few of the best ones. I’m secretly hoping they’ll choose one I took as the photo they send with their invitations, that would be a really random, flattering thing to happen during the summer.

As the day wound down I spent an hour or so wandering through Midtown Manhattan. I passed by the Chrysler building and gazed up at it from below, walked through Grand Central Station to 44th Street, then ducked in a few high-profile stores on Fifth Avenue. I enjoyed Facconable and The NBA Store, but my favorite was probably Saks Fifth Avenue. Iconic fashion shops like ‘Gucci’, ‘Prada’, and ‘Dolche & Gabbana’ lined the sides of the department store, and in my shorts and polo shirt I felt very out-classed, not to mention out-priced. A small handbag at ‘Dolche & Gabbana will only cost $1895 (yes, that’s nearly two-thousand dollars, I didn’t forget the decimal).

I can’t get enough of Thai Food. My favorite Thai restaurant outside of Thailand is definitely the inconspicuous ‘Thai Drift’ in Orem, Utah, but New York has some okay places too. I heard from a few different people about a Thai place in Soho that is well-known throughout Manhattan, so Saturday night I took the ‘R’ train down there for an Asian feast. The restaurant is a narrow room lit by neon-pink lights and graced with a golden Buddha, a classy chandelier, and loud techno music. I had the Pad Thai, which was excellent, and a dessert of chocolate mousse and banana sticky rice drizzled with chocolate and garnished with mint leaves (easily the best mousse I’ve ever had). Of course I enjoyed the food, but what I really came for was the bathrooms. After dinner I pulled open a mirrored door on one side of the dining room and, true to what I had heard, from the toilet inside I could look out and clearly see everyone in the restaurant. Mirrors on the ceiling of the dining room complete the one-way mirror theme of the bathrooms that inspired the name of the trendy Thai café: ‘Peep’.

Belmont Stakes

One of the greatest things about Manhattan is the endless variety of dining options. I could live here a lifetime and it still would be impossible to try all the great restaurants in the City. Unfortunately my tight summer budget means that I’m currently sampling the best pizza parlors and hole-in-the-wall ethnic places rather than the city’s finest French restaurants or steakhouses, but it’s still easy to get filled up on amazing food from a different place each night. Tuesday night I ate at New York Burger Co., which is widely acclaimed for having some of the best burgers in New York. Wednesday I sampled a couple places in the Lower East Side – Rosario’s Pizza and the Zagat-rated Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery. Thursday was boiled seafood dumplings at Mandoo Bar in Korea Town, and Friday was authentic thin-crust pizza at an Italian place called Angelo’s.

Monday and Saturday’s meals were less notable… brownies and ice cream for FHE, and a Whopper at Burger King.

Whenever I heard the term ‘Broadway’ while growing up, the first image that popped into my head was a giant black billboard with a gleaming white mask and the words, ‘Phantom of the Opera’. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Broadway’ were synonymous terms as far as I was concerned, and any visit to Broadway would most definitely have to include a visit to ‘Phantom of the Opera’. My impression of Broadway has changed considerably over the years, but I still had never seen New York’s most popular and longest-running show ever. Friday night I met up with a friend of mine from the MBA program and headed to the ‘Majestic Theatre’ on 44th Street to finally see ‘Phantom of the Opera’ for the first time.

Twenty-six bucks got us standing-room tickets at the back of the first level. It wasn’t quite the experience of sitting on the third row at ‘Wicked’ or the second row at ‘In the Heights’, but most Broadway shows are impressive regardless of where you are sitting (or standing), and that was definitely the case with ‘Phantom’. I enjoyed the special effects of the show, including the rickety chandelier that swung wildly above the crowd before coming crashing down to the stage, the seemingly instantaneous movement of the actors to different parts of the set, and the towering flaming candlesticks that rose silently from fog covering the ground below. The plot and the acting were great, but surprisingly I had no sympathy for the Phantom. Sure, it’s a little disheartening that his face is disfigured, he has no friends, and the girl of his dreams runs off with another man; but somehow I don’t see how terrorizing an opera house is going to solve any of his problems… Maybe I’m just not a sophisticated theatre-watcher and if I saw the show a few more times I’d understand.

One of the other interns at American Express sent out an e-mail this week inviting everyone to go to the ‘Belmont Stakes’ on Long Island. I’ve never really thought to go to a horse-race before, but it sounded fun so I decided to go for it. To me the entire experience was part of the event, from riding the Long Island Rail Road past Brooklyn to Belmont Park, to watching the hoards of people ecstatic about the race, to seeing the jockeys and horses themselves on the track. Our whole group ended up being Ashley (the girl who invited everyone), her fiancé John, myself, and my friend Allison who’s interning at Jet Blue this summer. We claimed a spot at the front of the grandstand right by the track and laid a blanket down on the ground for a picnic. Lunch was artisan bread with thinly-sliced peppered sausage, cambembert cheese, cranberry-apple chutney, and kalamata olives. As we ate I did a little people watching, trying to spot nostalgic fans dressed in seersucker suits or wide-brimmed floppy hats for the race. Between the exotic food, the finely-dressed fans, and the horse-race itself, I felt like I had been transplanted into a 1920’s-era novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The occasional sighting of rowdy drunken college kids, or men in their fifties who haven’t yet realized that they’re much too old to be strutting around with their shirts off, brought me back down to earth though.

Ten preliminary races kept a crowd of 50,000 entertained throughout the day until the climax of the event – the ‘Belmont Stakes’ race itself – a once annual running of the finest horses in America and one of three races that constitute the Triple Crown (the other two being Preakness and The Kentucky Derby). Eleven jockeys paraded their horses past the crowd in a pre-race ‘prance’; a practice before each race that gives bettors the opportunity to get a good look at the horses they plan to make wagers on. My favorite horses included ‘Mine That Bird’, a 50-1 underdog at Preakness who came from behind to secure an incredible victory, and ‘Luv Guv’, a horse named for Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York and self-proclaimed moral stronghold who later resigned after being caught with a prostitute. The intensity of the crowd grew as the horses were released from the gate, and towards the end of the race the grandstand erupted when Mine that Bird took the lead (presumably because so many people had placed bets on the horse). As the group of horses rushed directly in front of me a different horse, ‘Summer Bird’, took the lead. Summer Bird finished first, a horse named ‘Dunkirk’, was second, and ‘Mine that Bird’ finished out the top three. The excitement of the crowd collapsed at the results, a reflection of millions of dollars likely lost by bettors, and Summer Bird suddenly was the most hated horse on the track. I wondered to myself if fewer people picked Summer Bird to win because of the commentary on him in the Belmont Stakes program, “This horse’s biggest weakness is that it exhibits a lack of class.”