Archive for September 11th, 2005

The US Open can bite me.

I went yesterday afternoon, hoping to enjoy a pleasant day in the sun, watching a little yellow ball go back and forth in a hypnotizing and peaceful way. Instead I spend the afternoon completely frustrated by some of the stupidest rules on the planet.
For example ‘No Backpacks’ are allowed inside the grounds. That’s right, no backpacks - go back up the hill and check it.There are women carrying in purses the size of a small child, eliminating a ’size’ argument and they rummage through your bag, thus eliminating any sort of ’safety’ argument, so what’s the reasoning behind it? Did they just randomly decide to discriminate against those who carry their things around on both shoulders? But, once you check it, they do give you a tiny clear plastic bag to carry all your stuff around in, and you can have as many of those as you want. So, after you’ve been switched from having all your stuff on two shoulders to pretty much having to hold it all in your hands, maybe you’re a little stressed. Maybe you want a cigarette. Well, I’m sorry because there is ‘No Smoking’ on the grounds. Fine, that’s not unheard of in NYC. Let’s just get to our seats. You go up the escalator and wow! What a beautiful view! You can see the Unisphere and those spaceship-y things from Men in Black, and you go to take a picture, but, uh oh, ‘No Pictures’.
I will admit, once I got to my seat, it was very nice. I got to see Agassi and Ginepri battle for every single point. I saw some cool skywriting, and got some sun. I cheered for whoever needed cheering for and stayed quiet when everyone else did. So overall, I guess I’m glad I went, but I’m never going again.
And I’m not completely stupid. I know that the picture rule is because they had a professional photographer taking people’s picture with the Unisphere in the background for $5. And I know one of the reasons they don’t let you smoke is so you’ll buy more $7 fries and $8Heineken. And they make you check your backpack because the bag check cost $3. The Open does everything it can to separate you from your money. In fact, if you feel stupid carrying your tiny plastic bag around, you can buy a $47 backpack at one of the souvenir booths once you’re inside.
Well played, US Open. Well played.

By Guest Reviewer: Jay

This past Friday I finally got to see DJ Z-Trip live at Irving Plaza and I have to say it was one of the best shows I have seen this year. I have been a fan since Uneasy Listening, two years ago. The tour was in support of his newest release (which also happens to be his major label debut) Shifting Gears. It was nice to see that many of the vocalists on the album were accompanying Z-Trip on this tour. Specifically Prince Whippier Whip and Bus Driver who performed the tracks ‘All About The Music’ and ‘Take Two Copies’ respectively. One thing I really enjoyed was how great Z-Trip worked the crowd. His only goal was to make sure everyone had a good time, and he succeeded ten fold. He even included audience participation, a guy got to go up on stage and play Pac Man on a huge movie screen, while Z-trip played drums and DJ Goldenchild (who assisted during much of the show, as well as being the opening act) scratched and mixed the Pac Man music. I found it exciting because a lot of the songs he performed weren’t from his albums and the ones that were had been changed and re-structured so they sounded new. All in all it was really fun time. If you get the chance, even if you don’t know his music, go see this super talented DJ.