Finally, a non-holiday message (for the kids)

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Well I am back in Toronto right now, but I still haven't posted about my experience at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, so I will do that now. A couple of weeks ago, Lyndsay and I were lucky enough to take a tour of the Tabernacle, and attend a performance by the six-time Grammy-award winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. The Brooklyn Tabernacle is a gospel church run by Pastor Jim Cymbala. I had never been to a gospel church before, although there used to be a gospel church on my street that provided a nice Sunday morning soundtrack, audible for several blocks. The Tabernacle recently moved from its old home on Flatbush Avenue to a newly restored theatre that dates back to 1918 (pictured). As you can see, it is super beautiful and massive - it seats 4000. The restoration was a big job, and Pat Robertson - evangelicist extraordinaire - donated a million bucks. Our tour guide was a member of the choir, and also an interior decorator who helped with the restoration. Her cell phone rang a bunch of times during the tour, and at one point she actually answered it, and snapped, "I can't talk right now, I'm giving a tour". What's the point, really, of even answering your phone, if that's all you're gonna say? It was funny.

The show that we went to was a Christmas concert. It consisted mostly of carols, which were beautiful, but between the songs there were some pretty tedious skits. One dealt with a bunch of angry, selfish people stranded in an airport on Christmas Eve, and the committed Christian, Bible in hand, who makes them realize that they have lost sight of what is important in life. There is a Full House episode just like it, without the heavy dose of Jesus. The only good skit began with a New York City street scene, and street hawkers yelling "DVDs, cell phones!" and other people yelling things like "TAXI!" You know, the regular bustle and mayhem of a city street. Then, out of nowhere, someone bursts into song and dance, using garbage cans and whatnot, and then the whole cast erupts in song, and crazy breakdancing, and the street is transformed into this singing and dancing extravaganza. And then, just like that, it is over, and the street hawkers begin their calls again, and everything goes back to normal.

After the concert the evangelicizing began, and it was kind of interesting for a few minutes, but then it became very uncomfortable. The evangelicist was very charismatic, and most everything he said rhymed - "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" was his most frequent refrain. He kept appealing to the audience to come on stage if they wanted to receive Jesus into their hearts - "leave your coats, take your time, we'll wait for you!" - and a whole bunch of people went down, crying, arms swaying, the works. It was very repetitive, so for people who were not religiously inclined it was a bit tiresome. Many people in my group left early, and headed over to the next stop - Junior's! Junior's makes the most famous cheesecake in New York City. It is one of those places that is always described as a "New York institution". So of course I was very excited about checking it out, even though I am not so crazy about cheesecake. They make a ton of different kinds, so I had chocolate swirl. It was good, definitely tasty and creamy, but not incredible. I'm not sure if I felt that way just because I don't love cheesecake, or because it was actually mediocre. I guess I'll never know.

I am having a great time in Toronto, and earlier tonight I went over to Zoran and Angela's place. It was awesome! Hopefully I will be able to post a picture of them soon, so everyone can see who this blog is dedicated to.

Holiday cheer, anyone?

Sorry that I have been MIA lately, but I've been working on some papers at an unbelievably sluggish pace. I am consoled by the fact that Clifford Geertz, a recently deceased and well-respected anthropologist, only wrote one paragraph a day. It seems that I am averaging two. Anyway, I don't have a lot of new material, since I have been "working hard", but here are some pictures of the Macy's Christmas windows, which are both kinda creepy and kinda awesome. I should have some new stuff soon, since Lyndsay and I are going to see the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir tomorrow, and Ron is arriving on Sunday for a short visit. I will be back in TO from December 21 - January 7, and I can't wait to see everyone who will be around!! So far my most anticipated event is Zoran and Angela's infamous Christmas party, at which wine flows freely and Cheese Boutique is the caterer of choice. A killer combination, if you ask me.

Portrait of a Tree

Here it is, our beauty. That's me, Chrissy and Lyndsay at the tree market. And, we toted our tree over to Bam, this odd fast-food place on St. Marks where everything is pre-made and kept in these little heated compartments, vending-machine style. The peanut-butter and jelly sandwich costs more than the chicken nuggets. I think that says it all.

Some Christmas Spirit

Weird. I just posted about Thanksgiving, and now I already have tons of material for numerous Christmas posts. I'll leave some of it for later, for those inevitable dry days ahead. For now, the first order of business: on Thursday, I happened upon Jewel giving a free lunchtime concert at Herald Square, which is about a block from my school. I heard her sing 3 songs:
1) her song about hands (you know, "these hands, they are not yours, they are my own"...what's that about?)
2) Hark the Herald Angels Sing (my absolute favourite Christmas carol EVER)
3) Silent Night

So that definitely put me in the Christmas spirit, so much so that Lyndsay and I decided to buy a Christmas tree!! Just a small one, it's basically like a plant. We decorated it with a little New York taxi cab ornament that I bought my dad for Christmas (surprise Dad). So it's a bit sparse but it's beautiful. How often do you think these kind of things need to be watered? Lyndsay's friend Chrissy stayed with us Thursday night, which was amazing. She's tons of fun and was awesome enough to lug our heavy, prickly tree around. We bought it at a 24-hour Christmas tree market near Tompkins Square Park - isn't that funny, that such a thing exists? For those urgent Christmas tree needs, I suppose. Anyway, it turns out that our tree is Canadian, so that's extra special. Pictures of the tree to follow.