On The Town

This week we had the chance to see two of our friends in a great production of On The Town. This 1944 musical was written & created by 4 of the most brilliant people in music, theatre and dance - Leonard Bernstein, Adolph Green, Betty Comden and Jerome Robbins. (The movie starred Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Ann Miller...)

The production we saw was a staged reading and was music directed/ conducted by our friend Todd Ellison. Also appearing in the ensemble was our good friend from college, Autumn Hurlbert.

The music was great, the dancing superb, and we felt like we were transported to a different time and place. The magic of theatre!

See the NY Times review here.

Got Inspiration?

We visited the Whitney Museum of American Art today to see Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926-1933.

Goldfish Bowl, 1929
(This has moving parts and if you turn the crank, the fish "swim" up and down with the waves!)

We did not know much if any of his work before today, but found his wire sculptures and mobiles (he was the first creator of one!) to be fantastic examples of what art can achieve:

- a sense of play
- movement
- engineering, using math & physics

Calder created a miniature circus (watch the video) that had working parts, and designed toys for some of his career. We especially thought of Mikaela, Alexandra and Andy as we wandered through the galleries. Calder started creating as an 8-year-old and some of his earliest work was on display. We hope you can look at some of his art online and get as inspired as we were today!

Circus Scene, 1929 Fernand Leger, 1930

Tight Rope Artists, 1926-31 Romulus and Remus, 1928

Obama!

We witnessed history on November 4, 2008.

Our work is not done, but rather it has just begun.

It begins on January 20, 2009 - 

and Rebecca and I plan to be there. 

Here's to change in America.

Election Night!

6:36pm EST

An exciting and historic night for sure. 

Right now, Rebecca and her best friend 

Sam are cooking a delicious lasagna for dinner. 

Sam's Aunt Pat, my mom and brother and I 

are watching MSNBC and pouring over any 

information we can gather as it comes in. 

Lucky is trying to get any food he can from us.

We are excited to be a part of history, and hoping to 

celebrate in the next couple of hours!

10:43pm EST - Update!

On MSNBC - Obama currently at 207 electoral votes. 

California, Hawaii, Oregon & Washington polls still not closed. 

Those polls would give Obama 284 EV  & close in 15 minutes. 

We may have a new president very soon...

11:09pm EST - Update!

Every network has projected Barack Obama 

as our next president!

YES WE CAN!!

4 Hours, 2 minutes, 39 seconds

We did it! My friend Gavin and I ran the 

NYC Marathon yesterday, 

and finished in just over 4 hours. 

We saw friends and family all along the route, 

and Rebecca had a bunch of people ready 

for us at our apartment at Mile 18.

This is the view from our balcony (fire escape!) on First Avenue. For 5 years we have watched the marathon run by our windows, and that is how I got the crazy idea to actually run in it. It was an amazing experience to travel through the 5 boroughs, see all the people that came out to support the runners, and feel what 26.2 miles of running is like.

Here we are running down 5th Avenue towards 90th Street

and the entrance to Central Park. (Mile 24)

Here are some more pictures of family & friends from race day. 

Thanks to everyone that was able to come out on the course. Enjoy!