"You like basketball?"
I think I confused a lot of people by my attendance at the Knicks vs. Heat game this past week. If the game is good, I do like to watch basketball, but I didn't go because I like basketball. I went because I don't believe in passing up adventures. I wouldn't have and couldn't have paid for an actual ticket to Thursday's game, but if I could have, it would have been worth it. It was a fabulous game- plenty of talent and audience to observe. It was a close, fairly well-played game so the 48 minutes that took two and a half hours kept my attention for a surprisingly large portion of it.
I have been asked how I ended up at the Knicks game, the story goes like this:
The cast was workshopping "Macbeth" in the basement when the buzzer buzzed. Assuming another designer arrived, I let buzzed open the major door. When I opened the apartment door there were two boys with backpacking backpacks and suitcases. "Are you here for "Macbeth"?" It was a dumb question for me to ask, but necessary... you never know.
I found out later that this is not the first time people have arrived thinking their apartment is a hostel. In 2011, and earlier, guidebooks this apartment [not my own] is listed as a hostel. A few years ago it was, but the guidebooks aren't checking their sources and the change hasn't been noted. The snow had begun to fall, the start of Thursdsay's storm so I invited the boys in, out of the cold for a minute. They were both French. One was studying in Toronto and the other was just visiting. They had just stepped off a 10 hour Megabus to NYC from Toronto. I have a soft spot for Megabus riders so I called a couple other hostels in their guidebook to check for open beds. I found them a place on the UES[ish] with 2 open beds all weekend and wrote out directions on how to get there- explaining the E wasn't running that night so they had to take a slightly complicated route. They were thankful and offered to take me for a drink. I said sure. Of course, I was working so I couldn't then, but they were going to be around for a couple of days. Youssef then asked me if I played basketball. I informed him I was probably the worst basketball player ever [although, I will note now that I had more speed than a lot of the other sixth graders and was taller, thus diligent about rebounds]. They had an extra ticket to the game. Apparently you have to buy an even numbers of tickets- either 2 or 4. Their friend who was coming in from Poughkeepsie the next day was also attending so that resulted in a loner ticket. So, I said yes and we had a great time! I really wish these guys lived in NYC because it was one of the most relaxed, fun times I've had in awhile. I felt a little bad because Youssef is a huge LeBron fan and he didn't have the best game, but it was a great experience all the same. Living in NYC and being from the Cleveland area, I was quite content with the Knicks Win. Plus, I wore, as voted upon on FB, my 1993 New York Knicks Taz t-shirt.
Bonus story:
Sometimes I get tired of people [myself included] saying "only in New York" when it's not always true. That said, on our slow walk down the steps at Madison Square Garden the reasonably-orthodox-appearing, black pant, white button down wearing Jews yelling "Go New York, Go New York, Go New York, Go!" for about 20 minutes straight in a manner that usually requires more alcohol, wearing their free Knicks caps on top of their wide-brimmed black hats is something that stunned the "Frenchies" (as they referred to themselves) and I can't imagine happening in many other places. I laughed a little cause the guys were being silly, but I had forgotten that was unusual until one of the guys informed me that the orthodox Jews in France are usually more reserved. Yeah, most other places in America too... New York's kind of awesome that way.
I think I confused a lot of people by my attendance at the Knicks vs. Heat game this past week. If the game is good, I do like to watch basketball, but I didn't go because I like basketball. I went because I don't believe in passing up adventures. I wouldn't have and couldn't have paid for an actual ticket to Thursday's game, but if I could have, it would have been worth it. It was a fabulous game- plenty of talent and audience to observe. It was a close, fairly well-played game so the 48 minutes that took two and a half hours kept my attention for a surprisingly large portion of it.
I have been asked how I ended up at the Knicks game, the story goes like this:
The cast was workshopping "Macbeth" in the basement when the buzzer buzzed. Assuming another designer arrived, I let buzzed open the major door. When I opened the apartment door there were two boys with backpacking backpacks and suitcases. "Are you here for "Macbeth"?" It was a dumb question for me to ask, but necessary... you never know.
I found out later that this is not the first time people have arrived thinking their apartment is a hostel. In 2011, and earlier, guidebooks this apartment [not my own] is listed as a hostel. A few years ago it was, but the guidebooks aren't checking their sources and the change hasn't been noted. The snow had begun to fall, the start of Thursdsay's storm so I invited the boys in, out of the cold for a minute. They were both French. One was studying in Toronto and the other was just visiting. They had just stepped off a 10 hour Megabus to NYC from Toronto. I have a soft spot for Megabus riders so I called a couple other hostels in their guidebook to check for open beds. I found them a place on the UES[ish] with 2 open beds all weekend and wrote out directions on how to get there- explaining the E wasn't running that night so they had to take a slightly complicated route. They were thankful and offered to take me for a drink. I said sure. Of course, I was working so I couldn't then, but they were going to be around for a couple of days. Youssef then asked me if I played basketball. I informed him I was probably the worst basketball player ever [although, I will note now that I had more speed than a lot of the other sixth graders and was taller, thus diligent about rebounds]. They had an extra ticket to the game. Apparently you have to buy an even numbers of tickets- either 2 or 4. Their friend who was coming in from Poughkeepsie the next day was also attending so that resulted in a loner ticket. So, I said yes and we had a great time! I really wish these guys lived in NYC because it was one of the most relaxed, fun times I've had in awhile. I felt a little bad because Youssef is a huge LeBron fan and he didn't have the best game, but it was a great experience all the same. Living in NYC and being from the Cleveland area, I was quite content with the Knicks Win. Plus, I wore, as voted upon on FB, my 1993 New York Knicks Taz t-shirt.
Thanks to nyknicks.com/fanfoto Album 57, Picture 19 for the above photo.
Bonus story:
Sometimes I get tired of people [myself included] saying "only in New York" when it's not always true. That said, on our slow walk down the steps at Madison Square Garden the reasonably-orthodox-appearing, black pant, white button down wearing Jews yelling "Go New York, Go New York, Go New York, Go!" for about 20 minutes straight in a manner that usually requires more alcohol, wearing their free Knicks caps on top of their wide-brimmed black hats is something that stunned the "Frenchies" (as they referred to themselves) and I can't imagine happening in many other places. I laughed a little cause the guys were being silly, but I had forgotten that was unusual until one of the guys informed me that the orthodox Jews in France are usually more reserved. Yeah, most other places in America too... New York's kind of awesome that way.
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