I manage to visit, apparently one of the hottest venues in Budapest, twice in one weekend. Meet Artemovsk 38 – a Ukrainian stone barge in former life – now a restaurant, bar, concert space, and dance hall all in one rusted body. On Friday we went to see a show of a gipsy musician –Mitsoura. Her shrill voice and accompanying blurry hippie-times style video made me feel stoned almost immediately, but overall the concert was impressive. On Saturday, we returned for a work party. The good part about A38 is that it’s enormous in size. This, of course, prevents the waters of Danube from moving it in any which direction, so even those weak of stomach when at sea will be fine.
As a self-claimed snooty beer lover, I have been snubbing Budweiser for years of living in the US. So the brewery tour to me was an event of pure investigative significance. Who knew that at the end of the tour two beer samples would be offered to us for free! Impatient, we listened the guide’s shrill remarks on the factory’s origins and magnificence.
Taken over from a small Saint Louis operation by a German immigrant Eberhard Anheuser around 1852, the plant roots the rise of Anheuser-Busch – now the world’s third largest beer brewer. Anheuser’s son in law, Adolphus Busch, soon joined the business and the two decided to christen their beer “Budweiser” because it was well-pronounced by Germans and native English speakers alike. Read more…
AJ, I so hearted you, and now you are gone. Way to let me down! I was so into you, but I guess you weren’t into being IT. But let’s be honest AJ, you are not a model. You are a dork. You are a girl at the counter of a food co-op. You are a coffee shop regular. You are a book worm. You are also my hero, AJ! My Wednesday nights will not be the same without you!
Now that the Open has finally come to a close, I can speak freely about the anxiety and other chaotic feelings that I experienced a week or so ago. I never thought of myself as much of a sports’ fan with an exception of soccer and occasionally gymnastics and figure skating. Of course during the Olympics I show my national pride by rooting exceptionally for the Motherland and resorting to heavy vodka drinking when the Russian hockey team doesn’t get into the finals. While the biannual celebrations of sports are in session, I also love to send obnoxious emails to my international friends and say things like “Did you see how we totally kicked your ass in that last race?” So I guess I do get into it. And tennis, due to the recent Russian invasion of the sport, has been my obsession.
Soviet symphony composer, equally loved and banned in his time, will triumph this fall and winter in music venues all over the East Coast. I am excited beyond belief. Nerdy, I know, but on most occasions the works of the genius will be performed by symphony crews from my hometown. Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center will all hear some sweet Russian tunes.
So the infamous Myer Lemon and I finally made it to Central Park on the day when the symphony actually did perform. What joy. This time we decided to forgo the cheese and purchased chips and salsa. Of course wine was present as well. Equipped with a fleece, camping-style blanket we situated ourselves under a tree, slightly further from the crowds. Our location proved to be reasonable as it provided protection from light rain that befell on heads of lees thoughtful listeners. The down side of our situation was the unidentifiable proximity of the symphony – only about twenty minutes into the concert did we realize that the far away meowing sounds we heard were indeed a work of musical art performed by an orchestra. Despite this slight mishap and the grueling heat, an outstanding time was had by all.
NYT Caption: Molly Chanoff of LAVA, a theater company that incorporates modern dance and acrobatics, warmed up at center stage before a performance.
This picutre is awesome and so is the short article that mentions Molly and LAVA. Read more…
Myer Lemon and I attempted to see the New York Philharmonic in Central Park. Unfortunately due to the torrential, rainforest-like downpour the show was canceled. So what did we do with the wine and cheese that we brought? We still drank and ate it. In our attempt to find a discrete and dry place to partake in our slightly illegal feast, we settled at a certain rock formation. We were quickly joined by another pair of heart-broken music lovers, and eventually had to introduce ourselves. Read more…