Weekends

4th of July weekend was very nice. Watched Public Enemies (decent movie, but it had me wanting so much more texture and depth from Johnny Depp and Christian Bale). Checked out the Morgan Library and Museum – which is turning into one of my more favorite museums, simply because Morgan’s library and study are fabulous 19th Century pieces.

This 2nd weekend of July: weekend Road Trip!

Saturday: Philadelphia – As part of the road trip weekend, siblings and I checked out the Star Trek: The Exhibition” at the Franklin Institute on Saturday, in Philly. It was mildly entertaining, but as even this review in the NY Times noted, I personally wished there had been more of a Science Behind Star Trek theme (the Krauss book, by the way — which I’m amazed that the NY Times review referenced! – is quite good on the physics of Trek, even if it is several years old now).

Guess Franklin Institute’s got to be entertaining, rather than educational.

And, needless to say, I – the Trekkie – probably knew way too much for my own good. And, the exhibit played mostly the soundtrack from either the original Trek series or “First Contact,” the latter of which is really good – and reminded me how the last Next Generation movie “Nemesis” left so much to be desired.

Dinner in Phildelphia: Jade Harbor, in Chinatown. Pretty decent food; clean bathroom, more or less (yes, I do get fussy about that).

Sampled a cheesesteak from Geno’s. Probably should have tried Pat’s, the rival.

Sunday: Saturday overnight was spent in Baltimore. Walked around the Inner Harbor area, walked around Babe Ruth’s museum. Caught the game between the Orioles v. Blue Jays. Blue Jays lost. I kept looking for ex-Mets players. Sigh. Didn’t get to do crab cakes, but perhaps another time.

First Krispy Kreme, now it’s going to be Tim Hortons? Tim Hortons coming to NYC?! I could’ve sworn NYC was a Dunkin’ Donuts town, way back when I was a kid and watching those “Time to make the donuts” commercials. Canadian coffee and donuts? If it’s really going to be at Penn Station, it should at least make the hockey fans content when they head to or from the Madison Square Garden and the Rangers games.

This coming Thursday: Juan Diego Florez and Natalie Dessay, in “La Sonnambula” on Channel 13’s Great Performances! Well, I’m something of a fan of both of them – Florez especially, as noted in previous posts).

Here at Triscribe, we talk about APA’s and we have certainly talked a lot about David Chang (or maybe it’s me who has been talking about him, but that’s because the NY Times and Charlie Rose make it easy to learn so much about him) – here, here, here (which contains the link to the Charlie Rose interview with Chang), plus I spent my birthday dinner at the Momofuku Noodle Bar. The latest: how David Chang spends a lazy Sunday – at home, watching… Charlie Rose on DVR? What? So glad to know you like Charlie Rose, Mr. Chang!

Last, but not least: eventually, I got to check out the new MoCA! Not that its old location is/was bad – the Mulberry St place made it a part of the community, right in the middle of NYC’s Chinatown (Chinatowns being the heart of the concept of the Chinese diaspora), but it’s great that they’re transitioning into bigger space. Fascinating review in the NY Times.