I had a somewhat extraordinary evening. I popped out around 7:45 to go grab a bite to eat on 8th Street, finding an amazing falafel sandwich at Maoz (highly recommended). Afterwards, I sauntered East with the intention of picking up a DVD at Mondo Kim's. With Peg and the kids out in Quogue for all of July, I figured now was the time to catch up on some of the films I've been wanting to see. Crossing St. Mark's, I was suddenly face to face with a familiar figure in front of Trash & Vaudeville. Legendary drummer Billy Ficca of Television was hanging out and havin' a smoke -- that's right, an *actual, legitimate Punk Rocker* was hanging out on St. Mark's Place (who'd have expected that in 2008?). I stopped and said hello and he was a completely mellow, affable gent who was happy to talk. This isn't actually the first time I've accosted him. I ran into him once outside of Restoration Hardware on 5th Avenue a few years ago and he was equally chatty. According to Billy, he'll be doing some dates with bandmate Richard Lloyd in the near future, and evidently Television is doing some recording, but there's no target date for release as of yet. I bid Billy farewell, shook his hand and went off to Mondo Kim's, where I ending up buying the Joe Strummer documentary, The Future is Unwritten.
On my way back west, I was stopped dead in the middle of Astor Place by a truly stunning sight. Perfectly framed in the sky above the center of West 8th Street was the hugest, most clearly defined, luminously red setting sun I've ever seen. Truly, it was like a painting. This was at almost precisely 8:15 pm. Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown foot traffic, a few other individuals were similarly paused in their tracks by the dazzling display. I tried in vain to snap a picture with the camera in my phone, but it simply didn't translate. I watched the vast orb slowly sink behind 6th Avenue, feeling like I'd been treated to a rare privilege. I wish I could share it here. It was truly something to see.
In any case, it all made for an interesting few minutes indeed. And cheers again to Mr. Ficca.
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Billy & The Big Red Sun
I had a somewhat extraordinary evening. I popped out around 7:45 to go grab a bite to eat on 8th Street, finding an amazing falafel sandwich at Maoz (highly recommended). Afterwards, I sauntered East with the intention of picking up a DVD at Mondo Kim's. With Peg and the kids out in Quogue for all of July, I figured now was the time to catch up on some of the films I've been wanting to see. Crossing St. Mark's, I was suddenly face to face with a familiar figure in front of Trash & Vaudeville. Legendary drummer Billy Ficca of Television was hanging out and havin' a smoke -- that's right, an *actual, legitimate Punk Rocker* was hanging out on St. Mark's Place (who'd have expected that in 2008?). I stopped and said hello and he was a completely mellow, affable gent who was happy to talk. This isn't actually the first time I've accosted him. I ran into him once outside of Restoration Hardware on 5th Avenue a few years ago and he was equally chatty. According to Billy, he'll be doing some dates with bandmate Richard Lloyd in the near future, and evidently Television is doing some recording, but there's no target date for release as of yet. I bid Billy farewell, shook his hand and went off to Mondo Kim's, where I ending up buying the Joe Strummer documentary, The Future is Unwritten.
On my way back west, I was stopped dead in the middle of Astor Place by a truly stunning sight. Perfectly framed in the sky above the center of West 8th Street was the hugest, most clearly defined, luminously red setting sun I've ever seen. Truly, it was like a painting. This was at almost precisely 8:15 pm. Amid the hustle and bustle of downtown foot traffic, a few other individuals were similarly paused in their tracks by the dazzling display. I tried in vain to snap a picture with the camera in my phone, but it simply didn't translate. I watched the vast orb slowly sink behind 6th Avenue, feeling like I'd been treated to a rare privilege. I wish I could share it here. It was truly something to see.
In any case, it all made for an interesting few minutes indeed. And cheers again to Mr. Ficca.
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