Category Archives: NYC

The Debut of Mr. Blue: Live at Washington Square

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It was Thursday, July 22, 2010, around 6 p.m.

We had just left The Silversmith on West 4th, where we got the most fantabulous Mr. Blue and Jo’s amber ring to celebrate our 5th anniversary.

The vibes were good. We were oozing happiness. It was a beautiful day, not too hot with a little breeze. And โ€” oh, man! โ€” we love playing in the park!

We found a park bench and spread out a bit. Black squirrels greeted, acoustic guitar tuned, H2 recorder ready.

The whole band was there, minus Josephine, of course (no electricity in the park). ๐Ÿ˜‰

The full show (minus encore, below) with all our crazy chatter and everything:

Since we haven’t edited out individual songs yet, here’s a set list with approximate start times:
What Else Can I Say* (0:32)
All Around the World* (6:17)
Music Man* (12:01)
Every Second of Every Day* (18:08)
Baby, What Do You Want Me to Do (23:46)
I Don’t Need No Doctor (27:22)
Amazing Grace: test (37:07)
Amazing Grace: full (39:37)
Danglin’* (42:42)
Johnny LV* (49:50)
Summertime (56:19)

The encore, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad:

*original ESoED songs

ESoED Acoustic: Washington Square Park, 7/25/09

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We’d been in New York for a few days already and were rich with musical experiences.

We’d been awed by the phenomenal Pat Martino the night before at the Iridium. We’d taken the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tour at the (now-closed) Soho annex (with the awesome John Lennon exhibit). We’d bought Kevin’s Les Paul, Josephine at Rudy’s.

And we’d just been down City Hall-way to purchase a Xoom H2 recorder at JR‘s, the same one we recorded this show of sorts on.

So when we walked toward Washington Square that afternoon, planning to play a little for the homeless people and the black squirrels, we weren’t expecting to be drowned out.

Yep, down by the fountain, a guy was banging on the drums while kids did flips and stuff. And by banging, I mean BANGING.

It was frustrating then, and it was even frustrating editing these recordings. ๐Ÿ˜› It would be very easy to blame the drums for taking two years to get them posted, but it wouldn’t explain the other shows sitting in my to-edit folder..

The full session with all the in-between talk and all:

And the individual tracks…

Intro

Monroe’s Hornpipe

Let’s Shoot for the Moon ยง

Moondance

Jo Song #2 (‘Cause I Love You) โ™ฅ (See legal.)

This is WSP

Every Second of Every Day โ™ฅ (See legal.)

Georgia

Sitting on Top of the World

Willin’

Idle Chatter

Music Man โ™ฅ (See legal.)

Summertime

โ™ฅ Original songs ยฉ Every Second of Every Day
ยง Written by and ยฉ Kevin’s uncle, Danny Cockram

NYC 2008: St. John the Divine

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One of the many things we did on our 2008 New York trip was visit the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.

Unfortunately, the interior of the building was under construction at the time, but the gardens were amazing in themselves.

This statue, called Peace Fountain, depicts St. Michael the Archangel in the process of defeating Satan. It’s huge and pretty grotesque, especially with the Gothic cathedral as a backdrop.

All around the statue are plaques with quotes from writers and philosophers, including Mark Twain and Henry David Thoreau.

I really want to post some of the other awesome things we experienced on this trip, but today has been a full day around the house … rearranging and organizing around the new furniture, praying together … Maybe tomorrow!

Remembering NYC: 2007

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Our third NYC trip together, July 2007, was the year we first visited the Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown.

As you can see by Kevin’s perfect expression above, some of the food’s a little hot. ๐Ÿ˜›

Sure, none of the people who work there speak much English; they only bring you a fork if you ask for it, and they don’t take credit cards, but they have the best chicken fried rice we have ever tasted. Ever.

Some other things we remember about our action-packed 2007 trip:

Remembering NYC: 2006

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As you can see, I was very pregnant by the time our second trip to NYC rolled around. Just two months later, our Atticus was born. ๐Ÿ™‚

The picture’s bad, taken with a cell phone, and recaptured by my Droid tonight from a print. (What happened to those files?!)

Here are some things we remember about this trip:

  • We were only there two nights, July 26-28, the shortest stay so far.
  • We saw “Rent” at the Nederlander Theatre. Awesome production!
  • We stayed at the New Yorker, which was nice enough, but way too far away from any subway stops.
  • We stopped in St. Bartholomew’s on the way to St. Patrick’s. Remember, I was pregnant and it was late July…hot!! This stop changed our lives … long story (to come)!

NYC Wedding Trip :)

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This year marks the first in many that we won’t be spending the end of July in New York City.

Usually, we save up all year long to take a few days alone, Kevin and I, exploring the city. This year, however, all savings went toward a downpayment on our new home. Totally worth it, yes, but we’re still in #miss mode.

We decided to take this week, when we’d originally planned to make the trip, and document the years we’ve enjoyed.

Six years ago next week, we sold whatever we could — jewelry, a guitar, a knife collection, etc. — and scraped together the money to spend a few days in Manhattan … and get married!

We left Danville on Monday, July 25, 2005.

Although I’d been twice (once with students to Columbia’s journalism camp and once to sing with a band at the Hard Rock Cafe), it was Kevin’s first time in New York. You should’ve seen his widened eyes and dropped jaw! Or his panicked look when we rushed onto the first subway car at the last minute. So precious! ๐Ÿ™‚

That first train ride took us from near the Howard Johnson’s on 8th Avenue, where we stayed that trip (it’s another hotel chain now) downtown to City Hall, where we waited in line sweating like crazy in the heat to get our marriage license.

After we explained their marriage code to them (long story! :P), we finally left with that license, but it was so late by then that we had to wait until Wednesday to get married…

At 10:20 a.m., on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, we were married in the Manhattan City Clerk’s office. Our witness was a lady who lived in Harlem and got married just before us.

When we left City Hall, we walked right into a “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” set.

We headed up to Times Square, had lunch at TGI Fridays, and experienced “Phantom of the Opera” for the first time!!

After crashing for hours at the hotel, we rushed down to the Empire State Building, getting in line just before 11. We knew they took the last elevators up at 11:15, and we wanted to be up there on the night we were married, so we’d bought our tickets in advance.

So when the guy in charge of the line, already on a major power trip, told us they were closing early, I got pretty upset to say the least. I got on the phone, called directory assistance (no smart phones at the time), and called the manager of the Empire State Building to complain. ๐Ÿ˜›

Within five minutes, that manager had come down personally to escort us to the elevator!

We spent the final 15 minutes of the day we got married on top of the world. ๐Ÿ™‚

And then we ran uptown to Central Park and found the last carriage ride of the night.

It was definitely a day we will never forget. ๐Ÿ™‚

Village Murals

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We were headed toward Washington Square Park, guitar in tow, ready to play some music for our favorite black squirrels.

Or at least we meant to be headed that way. Even after six NYC visits together (and two before that for me), we still find it quite easy to find things we never meant to see on the way to someplace we think we’re headed but really aren’t.

And then, we saw this awesome trio of murals, which were painted by Rico Fonseca, “the artist of Greenwich Village.” (It’s on West 3rd Street at MacDougal. Here’s a picture of the whole set.)

Here are the other two:

And here’s a video about the artist:

Village Music

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Kevin playing in Washington Square Park, July 22, 2010.

This was taken right after we got the turquoise and sterling Mr. Blue (and my amber ring). It was a gorgeous day: not too hot, a bit of breeze blowing, lots of people lounging on the grass.

Only six more months until our next Village show!

Don’t Start Nothin’, Won’t Be Nothin’ (Kevin and the Hulk)

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We’d walked blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks.

We could’ve taken the subway, but *somebody* didn’t like the subway. And, really, it’s always much more interesting to stumble across places we never would’ve made our destination or even our stops along the way than to sit in the swelteringly smelly subway.

But when we finally arrived at the Chelsea Theater, the showing of The Dark Knight we’d planned on was sold out. Sigh.

So we bought tickets for the late-late show and walked down to Jake’s Saloon for drinks and hors d’oeuvres to pass the hours. We talked and I drew on all the napkins, if our collective memory serves.

A little while later, we went back to the theater to find our seats. Somewhere on the way up the three flights between the theater lobby and our seats, Kevin met up with the Hulk. As you can see, they were kindred spirits at the time. (A lot has changed since the summer of 2008, but that green tattoo on the inside of Kevin’s upper right arm won’t be washing off any time soon. ๐Ÿ˜‰

After the epic movie (epic because it was reeaaalllly long, not epic because it was that awesome of a movie … because it wasn’t really, although at least one actor — who’s no longer with us — gave an amazing performance), we walked down to the other corner to catch the train.

It was well after midnight and the Chelsea streets were pretty much deserted. Imagine my surprise when the newspapers and bags piled up around the corner there moved! No matter how many times we visit New York, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks and park benches.

Thank God my Hulk was there to get me safely back to Midtown. ๐Ÿ˜€