in 
sunny days
sunny days Monday
22Jan
Grateful Dead Tribute at Ground Zero
Monday, January 22, 2007 at 17:42 Last night I and Scott S. (the ultimate Deadhead), a close friend for many years, wandered down to Ground Zero for a Grateful Dead tribute concert in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center, which is just a small explosion away from the big hole in the ground formerly known as the WTC (click here for my 9/11 photos).
Many ironies here. Not many of the people who died on September 11, 2001 can be considered as "grateful dead." Not sure whether Jerry and his band would have ever played on Wall Street in Merrill Lynch's corporate lobby. On Sunday night the Financial District is about as lively as a graveyard on a winter's night (oh yeah, it was a New York winter night and it is graveyard.)
"Friend of the Devil", "Skeletons in the Closet", "Rhythm Devils", and "Tons of Steel." These Dead song and album titles could easily have been applied to the carnage that was the Winter Garden of September 11, 2001 (picture left).
Last night, however, the Winter Garden was remarkably pristine (rebuilt of course and quite beautiful in a touristy sense) and the atmosphere was really "melooooooooooow." No dope smoking inside or anywhere nearby. The sponsors of the show were American Express, Merrill Lynch (I fucking swear , I swear, and something called "Brookfield Properties."). Acid, ecstasy and tripping out was apparently a pre-concert event. One guy, with the nicest hair you could ever imagine, spent hours pulling an imaginary rope down from the Winter Garden ceiling as he moved like a stoned snake.
Another anomaly. The host was John Shaefer of WNYC, New York's Public Radio station. He sucked. My business partner's yuppie girl friend could have done a better job.
Luckily, I caught a ride back to Jersey and got home in time for the 1:00 a.m. replay of "The L World." I vaguely remember Cybil Shepard coming out the closet (a little late Cybil) and having sex with Alice, who, I didn't write this, wanted to "try an older vintage."
It is Monday again, just like last Monday, and the Monday before that and the Monday before that. I am thinking already of finding a Country and Western Dancing place somewhere here in Jersey. I may have to travel 4 hours to find one, all the country places in the New York metro area have closed down. What's up with that?
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