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Dog dressed as Snoopy at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
I’m finally writing the conclusion of last weekend, starting with Sunday’s Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. I love dogs and I love Halloween, so of course I was excited to see the collision of those two things. I don’t believe I ever dressed my own dog up for Halloween beyond a festive scarf around her neck, but some people certainly spent as much time on these dogs’ costumes as I’ve seen people do for any child. The above person not only put goggles on their dog to dress it as Snoopy, they also built a biplane and dyed another dog yellow to be Woodstock. The Snoopy dog shows an admirable level of resignation and acceptance by sleeping through it all here. Here are some other highlights:
Dog dressed as Michael Jackson at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
One of the dog owners decided to go with the popular Michael Jackson in “Thriller” look, complete with miniature zombies on a platform with a TV playing the music video.
Three banana corgis at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
I also enjoyed the three hyperactive corgis dressed as bananas, who were leaping over each other in all directions. I can’t imagine having these three dogs in any New York apartment. Maybe you just don’t have any furniture or glass. Actually, most of my apartments have been like that.
Hulk dog at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
But what if you want something more permanent for your pet that will last all Halloween week? This dog was dyed green to be the Incredible Hulk by his surprisingly well-dressed owner.
Dragon dog at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
I wonder if this dog could actually walk while encased in this glittery dragon costume. I like the skull leash, too. We didn’t stay around the see who won the costume contest, but there were so many good contenders I wouldn’t have wanted to be the judge. Plus, I have a bias towards spaniels, so I might not be able to judge fairly.
Yetis love hot cider.
After seeing the dogs, we walked through the market in Tompkins Square, which was full of apples (and free apple samples). While I still miss the market in Valence with its amazing cheese and olives, I’m growing to be fond of the green markets here as well.
Apples at the Tompkins Square market.
Not only are apples in abundance, but so are pumpkins and pumpkin-flavored food. You can’t go down a street without seeing pumpkin lattes, ice cream, yogurt, bread, muffins, cupcakes…and I love it all. Patty and her roommate hosted a Halloween party at their amazing Park Slope apartment with amazing pumpkin carving, bread, and ice cream this Wednesday
Chalk letters on 14th Street.
After the dog parade on Sunday, I walked down 14th Street to Union Square for the second round of the R-A-L-L-Y performance. On the way there I saw some of the other Art in Odd Places, including the chalk writings like the above “Coastal Oak-Hickory Forest.” I thought these were just free association, but google has revealed that this is the name of a tree. And further internet searching has found the actual project, where the artist added “forest and stream sidewalk labels” to show where there were natural features in 1609.
Boat going down 14th Street.
I also saw the “Ice Race,” where current “contenders for power” such as an iceberg, a container ship, and an oil rig were going at paces determined by their current power. What does it mean that the container ship is ahead?
Rally Letters.
Then I met up with the other letter carriers for R-A-L-L-Y, which you might remember from two weekends ago. This time I carried a silver “N” and fabric “F” in the two performances of the phrase “M-A-K-E I-T F-U-N.”
Pile of letters.
The other phrase was “W-E A-R-E T-H-E R-E-M-E-D-Y.” You can see the giant “B” I carried last time in the picture above. People seemed to be into it; kids especially. I remember being of an age when the idea of spelling was fascinating, that letters could be arranged to create words. It is still cool.
"Howls" being dismantled by some kids.
I’ll have to keep an eye and ear out for more arts opportunities. It seems to be one of the best ways to meet people and see what’s going on here. Despite not being an artist (well, maybe a literary artist), I tend to get along best with artistically minded people. I guess I like being around people who are creative and adventurous.
Uncle Sam skeleton.
I will leave you with this unsettling Uncle Sam skeleton I saw in Union Square to start your Halloween weekend. I’m sure I will take many Halloween pictures, so get ready.
Space Invader sighting in Manhattan.
Here is the continuation of my last post, although I guess technically all of these posts are continuations of the ones before them. Today was rather rainy, nevertheless Elizabeth and I had delicious smoothies at the Liquiteria before looking at Halloween merchandise.
Dumpling Man looking at a giant dumpling at the Dumpling Festival.
Saturday was rainy (a trend of October), but we still made it to the Dumpling Festival and saw the above giant dumpling and got our picture taken with the Dumpling Man on the right of the photo. We also did a bit of shopping where I upgraded my wardrobe to a more professional level. After that we watched the OU/Kansas football game at the alumni bar, which offered some redemption after Texas.
The start of fall colors in Central Park.
That evening we went to the 92Y Tribeca for the DVD film screening premiere of Sufjan Stevens‘ The BQE. And Sufjan Stevens himself was there to emcee! Before the film, DM Stith played a set. It was the first time I’d heard his music and really enjoyed the subtle instrumentation and his unique voice. I was thinking during the performance that he’s one of those singers who uses the microphone to turn a voice that’s almost a whisper into a room-filling noise. After his set, the string quartet Osso played selections from Run Rabbit Run, an album of instrumental arrangements of the electronic songs inspired by the Chinese zodiac on Sufjan Stevens’ Enjoy Your Rabbit. Maybe it was the clever ways they used the instruments to mimic distortion and electronic texture, but I found the music to be really entrancing, and string quartets aren’t usually engaging enough to keep my attention for long periods of time. Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond also came onstage as a special guest and sang “If I Were Queen.” After Osso’s performance, Sufjan Stevens came back to introduce The BQE, his triptych film and orchestral score about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Despite the fact it was mainly footage of traffic, it was beautiful. I live really close to the BQE and walk under it everyday on the way to the subway, so I guess it’s one part of Brooklyn that feels familiar even while most everything else feels new.
Cafe at Grand Central Station.
Quite a bit has happened since I last posted, so I’m going to break it up into a couple of posts. This is an interview-intensive week, so I probably won’t have too many adventures while I attempt to prepare to impress. I feel like I say it so often it’s a mantra, but I still think that something is going to work out soon. Until then, I’ll just keep the Hold Steady’s “Stay Positive” on repeat in iTunes and use my flexible schedule to get to know the city better.
"Crossing the Line" exhibit at FIAF.
Last Thursday Sean, who I was an assistant with in France, invited me and friends to the closing party for “Crossing the Line” at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) gallery. I had seen the exhibit before (which is when I ran into Sean for the first time since France), but it was fun to experience it again, especially when accompanied by my old French friends Ricard and 1664. In the photo above, you can see the back wall which had fans on light sensors. When covered, they turned blue and spun, creating motion silhouettes of people. The towers changed color based on the noise around them, and I guess the sound of a lot of people talking over vaguely familiar indie rock makes them green.
Duck mosaics in the subway.
After the party, we got Thai food in the East Village, where I had a delectable green curry. The next day I continued my attempts at running and almost made it three laps around the track (with a walking lap in between), so I’m making slow progress. Maybe I’ll be able to run a mile by the end of the year? I will probably be moving into a new apartment next month or at the beginning of December, so hopefully I can stay near the track, but it’s just going to depend on where my job is. I really enjoy Williamsburg, although sometimes it’s a little too “hip” for me. There’s only so much ironic clothing I can see in one day. But I love the proximity to Manhattan and the endless coffee shops and thrift stores.
Remote control giraffe street art in Williamsburg.
On Friday, we attempted to see a talk by Simon Critchley, Judith Butler and Jacques Rancière at the New School, but apparently everyone wanted to spend their Friday evenings theorizing intellectually and the place was overflowing. Oh well, at least a nice thing about New York is that you usually have more than one shot at seeing notable people. I did enjoy the Kara Walker paintings and Petah Coyne sculpture that decorated the New School staircase.
