Today Sally spent most of the day getting ready to go back to Minnesota to go on a Quilting Retreat. I helped. I also read. Nothing much else happened. Not every day has things worth writing about.
June 19.
We got up at 5 AM to get Sally to the airport. I came home and went back to bed. I got up late morning. Nothing much happened until the evening. A Rotarian from the Chinatown club had invited Sally and I to come to her residence, meet her husband, go to dinner and then go to a jazz show. They live near Union Square in a very lovely apartment. Of course, Sally was in Minnesota by the time I went, but they were willing to have me without her. We went to an informal but nice restaurant and then went to New York Baha'i Center for the jazz show.
The story on why the Baha'i Center is that Dizzy Gillespie was a Baha'i. So the performance space at the Center is named after him. It is a very small theater that might hold 100 people. Every Tuesday at 8 PM they have a jazz concert. It only costs $15. I highly recommend it to anybody visiting or in New York. This concert was the Charli Persip's supersound. Mr. Persip has played with several bands, including Dizzy Gillespie's big band and quintet. He has also worked with almost all of the big stars of the New York jazz scene. He has a 16 piece group that was performing this night. I was blown away. There were only about 40 people there, so it was pretty intimate. No cover, no drink minimum, for that matter, no drinks. But, it was amazing jazz. This has to be the best bargain in New York City. The Rotarian and her husband were very nice and interesting people and I look forward to getting together with them again. Rotary has led me to some great friendships and experiences. As I say, if you travel, join Rotary. You will have friends where ever you go.
June 20
I had an interview to be a volunteer at the Manhattan Animal Shelter at 1 PM today. So, I hung out in the morning and then walked to the shelter. It was about 2 miles away and there is a convenient bus, but I felt like walking. The interview went well and now I have to watch about 5 and a half hours of on line webinars and pass some tests on the webinars. Then I get to volunteer to be a Dog Companion Level 1. I do understand that they don't want just anybody with their dogs. So, I hope to get that done by the end of this weekend.
After the interview and tour of the shelter, I decided to walk back home. It was a good walk. The temperature both ways was in the 90's, so maybe it was the best idea, but I took it easy. I got home and cooled down and then it was time to go to my Taiko lesson. I am taking lessons from Kaoru Watanabe. I mentioned him in a previous post. He is an excellent teacher and I really enjoy his classes. However, he also works you pretty hard so I was pretty wiped out be the time I got home. But all in all, it was a good day; except that I missed Sally.
The taiko class. Kaoru is the tall guy.
June 21
I was pretty stiff and sore today, so I didn't do much. I should have done my webinars, but didn't. Do you want to make something of it?
At 7 PM there was supposed to be a jazz performance in the Carl Schultz park. This is the park next to Gracy Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. It is about 6 blocks from our apartment. Anyway, the band finally started about 7:40. I consisted of an electric bass and and electric lead guitar, drummer, vibraphone, and saxophone. The vibraphone and saxophone were not amplified. The lead guitar was very much over-amplified, so you could not hear the vibraphone and saxophone. You could barely hear the bass. The drummer played too loud, I think because he was by the speaker for the lead guitar. All in all, it was pretty bad, so I left after a couple of songs. I suppose one shouldn't complain about a free performance, but I felt bad for the band. They were all young guys and unfortunately their sound management might have masked some good talent.
Gracy Mansion
The jazz group
Looking at the East River from where I was watching the jazz group. The bit of land on the left is the top of Roosevelt Island. The rest of it is Queens
So, I came home and wrote my blog.
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