Mandy Woods Singer Songwriter
  • Home
  • Gigs/Reviews
  • Homelessness
  • Albums
  • Wags Lyrical
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Photos

My last full day in the Big Apple

27/10/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureThor the Wonder Dog
This morning began with a trip on the subway up to Harlem – the furthest north I’ve so far ventured in New York. I felt I was beginning to look like I’d been using the NY subway all my life, though, when someone who looked to me like a born-and-bred New Yorker asked me if he was on the right train! My reply that he was sounded utterly convincing even to me – even though in reality I wasn’t 100% sure that even I was on the right train… Miraculously, we both turned out to be, however.
​
My preconceived idea of what Harlem must be like (a bit dodgy and scary) turned out to be totally wrong, with mainly classy café bars and restaurants, health spas and hair salons lining the main streets. I was hoping to find some funky arty boho kind of shops, but there didn’t seem to be any. It didn’t matter, though, as that’s not really why I was there – I DO NOT NEED to be shelling out any more dollars on crafty things I don’t need, so thank god there were no funky arty boho kind of shops, actually.

When I later made my way back down on the subway to my brother’s apartment, it was only because I walked a little way past the entrance to look at the bus timetable that I happened upon Thor, the cool cowdog, and his almost-as-cool cowboy human. They kindly allowed me to take a pic of them, and I was glad to be able to return the favour and take a snap of them with the cowboy’s iPhone. Round these parts, one good turn deserves another, y’hear?

Later in the afternoon I set off in the other direction – i.e. downtown - to play at the Sidewalk Café open mic on the Lower East Side. It turned out to be a mammoth trek there from the subway station at W. 14 Street and Seventh Avenue, and the evening itself was a strange mixture of the good and the not so good. An English chap I’d met at the Bitter End showed up with his friend Susan (who took the pic of me – thanks!), and we all hit it off, so that was the good part. The not-so-good part was that all those who wanted to perform drew numbers at random to determine the order of play, but in the event some – well, quite a few – people seemed to manage to push their way by other means to the top of the list, so that although I was officially number 13 (eek!), I didn’t get to play until nearly 11 pm, after which I didn’t want to risk taking the subway back, so had to shell out for a taxi ride all the way back up to the Upper West Side. I was very glad I did though – especially after seeing the state of some of the folk, from the safety of the taxi, as they staggered around on the streets that I would’ve been walking along… Some of the acts also left a bit to be desired – in particular the female stand-up who thought that talking in lurid detail about the most gross bodily functions and sex acts constituted rollickingly funny comedy. Let me tell ya something bluntly, darlin’ – it didn’t.

Tomorrow evening I fly to Nashville, so here endeth the tales from New York, to make way for musings from Music City, Tennessee! Yee-hah!

Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mandy Woods

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    July 2017
    May 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Amanda Burgess
    Angello Sound Studio
    Arran
    Bayonne
    Bluebird
    Bluebird Cafe
    Calamity Jane
    Campervan Adventures
    Camping
    Cannes
    Carol Mac Photography
    Catweazle
    Cayman Islands
    Charity Shop
    Copy-editing
    Country Music
    Cowboy Hats
    Dachshund
    David Naylor
    Deadwood
    Distinctly Blue
    Dolly Parton
    Eastbourne
    Felix Macintosh
    France
    Freelance Work
    French Riviera
    Fringed Jacket
    Germany
    Gigs
    Gilet Jaunes
    Gilly Spencer
    Guitars
    Holy Isle
    Homelessness
    Kibosh
    Kitten Kaboodle
    Le Mans
    Le Pilier Rouge
    Lesvos
    Lfest
    Mandy Woods
    Memory Stick
    Mouans-Sartoux
    Musée Matisse
    Nashville
    New Life Abroad
    Nice
    Petula Clark
    Phantom Power Supply
    Pick-ups
    Proofreading
    Randy Moods
    Renegade Of The Road
    Rhinestones
    Sausage Dog
    Scène Ouverte
    Scully
    Scully Jackets
    Self-employment
    Songwriting
    Southwest France
    St Tropez
    The Chase
    Tigersonic
    Toyota Campervan
    Under Ground Theatre
    Usa
    Wags Lyrical
    Women's Centre
    Youtube

    RSS Feed

Mandy Woods