I made my first visits to New York City as a touring musician, but my experiences were of a no less hayseed variety: getting lost looking for a public restroom, getting lost trying to follow directions after dark (“go east after exiting the subway…”), and my greatest moment: waking up in the back of the van, thinking I was in Buffalo and getting lost.
Eventually, I graduated from the back of a van to an actual hotel bed, as my career elevated me from the notorious CBGBs men’s room to the posh washrooms of mid town. My band-mates and I would bounce from one office building to the next, discussing the poor quality of our music with the record company, the poor quality of our finances with the accountants, and the poor quality of our contracts with the lawyers. In between, we got to partake of some mighty fancy restaurants (all charged to the band, no doubt).
Now that I’ve returned to civilian life, my visits to The City are much less frequent. So I supplement my experiences vicariously, using visual aids. In addition to books and videos, I’ve also got the family postcard collection. And while I doubt there’s little I can add to the vast plethora of Manhattania already available on the web, here they are anyway:
Nice colorful postcards! I’m guessing from the cars they were from the 1940′s? Of course the toilet-cam made my lunch a bit less mirthful than I like…of course what do I expect when I click on a link like “notorious CBGB’s men’s room.”
The statues in old post cards are always a lot less covered with street grim than in real life, and I am always happy to see them complete, whereas now they have
chipped or broken off pieces. Old post cards also tell you a lot about air pollution
by the color of the sky in them. I think the joke cards are also interesting. There
are no Jackalope post cards from New York City, but from Texas,sure,of course.
It was during one of your Midtown label bumrushes that Jamie played you our (Enormous Richard) song “Hole in My Record Collection,” which features the lines …
There’s a hole in my record collection
Where Meat Puppets II used to be
I said I had to remove myself
But it didn’t go with me.
(True story.)
Jamie – our advocate, I forget why now – reported that you said it was “cute,” faint praise indeed, but you gave the go-ahead to guest-list us for the next Mississippi Nights gig, where we crashed the green room and drank a Heineken.
I wish I could remember wedding anniversaries the way that just came back to me!
I’ve got my anniversary on my calendar, but I confess that story had completely vanished from memory. And you know what? It’s STILL cute!