verena

Estelle - American Boy ft. Kanye West (Video)

i will write more soon. in the meanwhile a video of grandmaster caz, he performed live for us…

when i stepped out this morning from my apartment building i recognized an unfamiliar smell. it was an after-rain-fresh-air-smell i have never experienced before in new york. it smelled a bit like graz. from wet concrete, trees and a bit of grass. like it….
except when passing by a fried-chicken-place. then it smelled different.

i have taken on my most favorite hobby from three years ago. concerts!
a short reprise on last evening’s jay-z and mary j. blige concert: i don’t know why i like this whole rap thing that much, but i just do.
first: a great mary j. blige, but damaged a bit by the not really well adjusted sound in madison square garden. i remember my last concert in the garden. i see the people standing in the illuminated exit hallways on each section. their silhouettes against the yellow light from behind. it feels most familiar. doing the shaky-shaky-thing to “familiy affair” is a bit hard, because i am “sticked” on the ground. probably spilled and dried-up beer from a whole season… so it’s all an upper body exercise thankfully my neighbor spills his beer too, so it’s somehow wet again and i can lift my feet.
there comes the man jay-z! he is pulling off one hit after the other. we have fireworks, a big band style orchestra, cool visuals on big screens and all over the stage, p. diddy and beyonce showing up. another guy showing up and doing one song with jay-z i can’t identify. and how? he is wearing a big hoodie with sun glasses and a cap. but i guess it’s memphis bleek.
when singing to “99 problems, but the bit** ain’t one” and all the other songs i am thinking how weird it is to repeat lines full of “my nig*a” as a “whitey” as i am. i probably have not the slightest clue what it means to be black in america. otherwise. this is just a show…. or not? jay-z refers to the katrina disaster. bush not helping the black community there. followed by “fu** bush” and “are you ready for a change?” - barack’s face all over the screens. a screaming crowd.
by all you can say against jay-z (when you probably not into that whole rap thing, which i haven’t been before my new york time) he has a certain kind of charm. a boyish smile paired with a certain street smart wit.
i guess i found parts of what i left three years ago. it just takes some time.

ps: found that video on youtube. i sat on the other side.

great job mr. ashcroft.

when searching for an apartment you always get to know some people. so today i planned a photo tour with a guy from brazil.
i like to meet new people. just for the fun of it. but as i learned three years ago, that can be tricky. i am not sure how often i walked into that trap. there is no such thing like just hanging out together (a man and a woman). it’s always a date! always.
so i am a bit curious about how this thing is going today.
our plan is to see the cloisters, a collection of medieval european art and architecture in the very north of manhattan, fort tyron to be exact.
we meet at the subway and go uptown. we start talking about photography, apartments, living in new york, visa stuff, music, totally random things. so as it turns out my fear was reasonless. we have a totally relaxed conversation over a couple of hours. i guess that weren’t like this with an american. sorry. no offending. it’s just an european thing.
by the way the cloisters are really worth seeing it. it’s like being in europe. i will post a couple of pictures on flickr later on (the reason for our visit). i run almost into michelle williams and her little daughter. she is hiding behind big glasses, but i instantly recognize her.

so this makes two times europe in one day.