So, in the meantime, I ask for your patience.  Do continue to watch this space.  Adieu.

For those among my readership who may have questioned the reasonableness of paying for such NYC related expenses as airline tickets, an expensive 2-night Manhattan hotel stay, pricey meals – all to see a concert… allow me to direct you to the video above.  This, alas, is not footage from the Radio City show that I saw, but from the Beacon Theatre concert a few months back.  He gave the exact same recital of this gorgeous poem, though, and if I find a video of the RCMH version I shall update appropriately. 

Allow me, too, to post the set list from Saturday night – if only for the benefit of my own memory.  The list is from an anonymous commenter at BrooklynVegan.com, which has its own review of the Radio City shows as well as other info, pictures, etcetera.

 

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Ain’t No Cure for Love
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who By Fire
Chelsea Hotel
Waiting for the Miracle
Anthem

 

–intermission–

 

Tower of Song
Suzanne
Sisters of Mercy
Take This Waltz
Boogie Street
Hallelujah
I’m Your Man
(Poem)
Democracy

 

–1st Encore–

So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan

 

–2nd Encore–

Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will
Closing Time

 

–3rd Encore–

I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest

This might have been, quite simply, the best concert I have ever attended.  Was it worth the trip and the expense?  Yes.  In fact, in the long record of the reckless, impulsive decisions I have made over the years, this one was by far the most successful.

…

A side effect, it should be mentioned, appears to have reared its head.  As a consequence of Mr. Cohen’s concert, I am now – perhaps hopelessly – in love with New York City.  It is not pretty or picturesque.  It has no deep sense of history – not that I care anything about.  It is a gargantuan, undulating city; ugly as sin.  But it is the hub of everything.  The heart of the world.  Now there’s a metaphor we probably shouldn’t explore too deeply, eh?  I want to be there.  I want to be a part of that energy.  If you asked me why, beautiful reader, I could not give you an answer.

All taken from my hotel room balcony on the Lower East Side; Friday, after midnight.

For someone who might have begun reading this blog at its inception, over half a year ago (give or take), I’m sure their thoughts may likely, upon reading my latest posts, turn to the question: “wasn’t this a political blog?”  Yes, during the 2008 pre-election phase I had a lot of material to spew out.  It was important to me to add my tiny voice on my tiny blog with my tiny 20-30 person on-a-good-day readership to the chorus clamoring for a progressive change in our government’s direction.  And so, as they say, it came to pass.  Voila:  President Barack Obama.  Young.  Black.  Democrat.  Historic.  All grand.  Fun to watch on television.  And he has set out to do what he promised he would do.  He is exactly what he presented himself as – a pragmatic progressive democrat.  And it is better than the alternative.  And it is far better than Mr. Obama’s predecessor.  But I must admit, I am in a deeper personal-political dilemma than the normal post-election what-do-I-do-now funk.  It has been a long time since we saw the progressives have this much power in Washington.  It is what I wanted.  But it isn’t nearly enough.

The United States of America is suffering from a malady that has festered for so long that there likely is no cure for it.  There will only be decline.  As Rome’s magnificent, dominating society slowly became unstable, chipped-away, less esteemed, less respected, less powerful, and, finally, broken apart – as the Roman Empire fell to ruin, so will we.  The “American” ideals that served us so well in the colonial and industrial ages have accelerated past the point of usefulness.  It is a runaway train… and there are no brakes.

Over-simplifying (I’m not an economist or a political scientist): There probably was a time when our American brand of capitalism advanced our society.  It encouraged citizens to build, invent, design, innovate.  It encouraged individual Americans to be successful – by working hard and by investing in American businesses.  And by their individual successes the whole of society (though not everyone, as we all know) profited.  The problem is that there is no natural end to the game.  The dirty truth is – what capitalism really encourages and rewards is greed.

Now we, as individuals, are slaves to our own greed as well as the uber-greed of the mega-corporations.  Sell the product by any means necessary – deception, over-saturation, political influence and corruption.  Fraud.  We are arrogant.  We are selfish.  Our companies are now resistant to the same spirit of innovation that gave birth to them because it threatens their bottom line.  Industry exerts pressure on government.  Government in turn exerts pressure on other nations.  Arrogance.  Greed.  Every man for himself.  And we wonder why the rest of the world despises us.

So what we have done, in this past election, is substitute one capitalist with another (albeit a kinder, gentler one – we hope).  Better than the alternative, but still serving the corporate dollar.  This new democratic regime will at least champion health care reform, alternative energy, equality, diplomacy, etc.  But it is still bending over backwards to save companies that deserve to die.  It is still propping up institutions that are “too big to fail”.  (Antagonists will point out here that allowing the companies to fail would be the ‘true’ capitalist way - survival of the fittest and all that - but the real problem is the deeper one.  This is what we spend taxpayer dollars on?  Saving wealthy investors and poorly-managed corporations instead of feeding, clothing, caring for the desperate human beings who live among us.)  Its health care reforms will be tempered to a large degree by political deference to the insurance companies.  And the right-wing media is trying to brand Obama as a “Socialist” and a “Marxist”.  Those dirty words.

Barack Obama is not a socialist, or else he doesn’t have the backbone to be one publicly.  A true socialist – an honest socialist – could not get elected to so high an office.  They’d be pulling gold-plated arrows from his assassinated character long before he made any significant progress on the campaign trail.  The anti-socialism propaganda is so entrenched in the public understanding now, and the average citizen’s attention span is so short and his or her knowledge base is so limited and his or her curiosity is so anemic, that there is no persuasive, productive discussion to be had on the matter.  We live in a “tell me what to think” age.  On the radio, Marx – a philosopher – is mentioned in the same breath as Stalin – a tyrant.  Branding.

Where is this going?  I don’t have an answer for that.  There is, like so many other macro-scale topics, no nifty little bow to tie around it.  I know I am a socialist.  I know, in my gut, that it is the only moral, ethical, compassionate socio-economic path.  I also know, in that same gut, that there is no way in hell America will loosen its grip from its collective wad of filthy cash.

I am a socialist, but I am calling for no revolution.  I am merely pulling up a lawn chair to observe the downfall of our once mighty nation.  More to come, as I flesh out my thoughts on the matter.  I know, dear reader, how you will wait with fervent anticipation.  Goodnight.

you say
    I play — a lost little boy
and I tell you
    I will never grow old
and I tell you
    I will never be found(little girl)
I am         lost     in the stories
we told
        to each other across all our distances
crossed — pale electrons
    spinningandfree
now I peer through my hair to make sure you are there
        and you peek back
            through your hair
                        at me

past lives we have led are now
    twis-ted rust-red
    mere reminders of places we’ve been —
the remainders of long-ago love’s long / divisions
    scratched out
        with invisible pens.

the sunlight retreats
                down cruel fiery streets
    and the twilight takes over the skies
little stars flicker on
    in hotel rooms
    and bar rooms
    and galaxies
    highways
    and eyes

as we cast little games
with our words
with our names
with our what-ifs
    and
what-could-have-beens
    so we fade with the night
        and the lines that we write
    scratched out with invisible pens

If you only had one full day in New York City, what are some of the things you would do and some of the places you would go?  No tourist destinations, please.  I’ve seen the statue of liberty.  Give me a slap and send me a comment. 

Also, if anyone has seen my motivation, I would love to have that back.

What with doing mounds of laundry, catching up at work, and struggling against what I am pretty sure was simple jet-lag and not the onset of aforementioned formerly pork-monikered illness, I have not updated this page in quite some time.  So allow me to rectify that.  To kick off what I’m sure will be many, many vacation-themed posts, what follows is a simple, non-comprehensive, unordered list, made on the airplane, of personal highlights from the trip to Eastern Europe.

• walking across the wide, bustling, beautiful (if not quite blue) Danube river
• making the trek up Gellert Hill and enjoying the panoramic views of Budapest below
• driving through the rolling hills of rural Slovenia
• enjoying the slow food (Gostlina AS) and cognac (at Cafe Romeo) in Ljubljana 
• photographing the war-damaged buildings in Croatia and Bosnia 
• being treated like millionaires in Tucepi
• strolling beside the clearest, cleanest water I have ever seen on spotless pebble beaches in absolutely perfect weather
• getting a dose of reality in Sarajevo and at Dubrovnik’s war photo exhibition
• slowly circling the city atop Dubrovnik’s ancient walls 
• exploring and photographing the ruined castle at Mali Ston
• the six-course straight-from-sea-to-kitchen-to-plate all-oyster dinner on night 1, and
• the freshest red snapper I’ve ever eaten on night 2 in a little Croatian fishing village
• dining on baby-lobster-sized shrimp all down the Balkan coastline
• the red wines of the Peljesac peninsula (Dignac, Postup and Plavac varietals)
• the top-notch customer service on Lufthansa Airlines
• the late-night conversation with a Croatian bartender regarding cigarette politics, football graffiti, tourism and olive farming
• every hotel we stayed in, from the simple to the luxurious 
• stumbling upon a local folk art festival in Pest
• lying on our backs in the middle of Budapest’s city park
• sipping espresso at Cafe Gerbeaud and watching the corny street-saxophonist entertain children
• the people-watching… everywhere
• getting lost in the Budapest post-communist ghettos trying to find our hotel
• getting lost (and staying lost for 2 hours) along the Croatian/Slovenian border
• eating great ice cream every day in Dubrovnik
• google-maps sending us down a one-car-wide dirt road in the middle of a Slovenian forest, us turning around, and then discovering that the dirt road was, indeed, the correct path… awesome.

A wonderful experience.  I cannot recommend Slovenia and Croatia highly enough.  Please go before all the tourists figure out what a great vacation this is.  Like I said, more to come.  Watch the ol’ fotoblog for pictures.  Ta-ta.

Now, on to Budapest, Hungary – the first stop on our nearly 2-week eastern European excursion.  In brief summary:  it has been a nice visit.  The hotel (the Boscolo New York Palace) is superb, as is our extravagant junior suite with balcony overlooking the large ring road.  The people-watching has been spectacular.  We are staying on the Pest side of the Danube, which is a little more gritty and metropolitan.  The Buda side, where the old Hapsburg castle and various churches and ruins stand, is more historical and picturesque.  As our hotel is located about a mile and a half from the riverbank, there has been a considerable amount of walking.  My legs are definitely feeling the distances covered over the last two days, and are mighty grateful that the remainder of our accommodations should be located closer to the city centers. 

The culinary experience began at a mediocre level – the first two restaurants offered slightly bland menus and inattentive staff.  Yesterday evening’s and tonight’s meals, however, were outstanding.  Allow me, in fact, to recommend both the Apostolok and the Sorforras Etterams if you are ever in the neighborhood.  Outstanding food and service at each place.  Sadly, the service at those establishments does not seem to adhere to the norm – which is quite rude, unfriendly service from restaurant staff… to the point of being downright annoying.  A black mark against the city. 

For a city which has been so hard hit by the economy (and it shows, what with the overabundance of vagrancy and shuttered businesses), you would think the working citizens would be more welcoming of foreigners who are willing to spend their money here.

My preconceived notion of Budapest was one that was firmly European, yet still slightly exotic (eastern influences and what-not).  The fact of the matter is that it is not exotic at all.  It is a European city in the same vein as Prague and Vienna.  However, where Vienna was clean, friendly, and stupefyingly beautiful, Budapest is less so on all counts.  A neat city.  A great travel experience.  But on the scale of “would I want to visit here again… or would I want to live here,” my answer is a resounding “no, not really.”   Vienna is the standard I will judge every European city by.  It captured my heart two years ago and, if I was only fluent in German, I would feel a strong inclination to try to relocate there.  It is that thrilling.  Better than Paris.  Budapest, on the other hand, is Vienna-but-poor.  There is a hard, sad edge to the people here.  I identify with them, but I do not want to live among them.  One visit is enough.  It is off to Slovenia for me. 

The next post will be from Ljubljana.  Stay tuned.

It is my ambitious intention to update this blog regularly throughout the journey.  I will also be uploading pictures to Flickr, if anyone feels like taking a peek.

So, wish us luck with the airlines – we change planes in Chicago and Munich, and I would very much like our luggage to follow along with us.  And here’s hoping for some good sleep on the transatlantic leg, since I’ll probably need to be sharp for the rush-hour drive into the city.  Should be interesting.

Best wishes from vacationland, then.  Adieu.

Please do not expect much from me over the final two weeks of tax season.  Feel free to read some of my previous posts.  Or go outside and play.  Or read a book.  Enjoy yourselves.  I shall emerge from my little cell and join you very, very soon.