New York highlights (part 1) and music comments

Some favorite NYC moments:
Talking to a homeless guy everyday outside my hotel - he was pretty cool. I talked to a few homeless people, and a lot of natives in Central Park. I explored almost every square foot of that - there was little else to do on Sunday.

Visiting Ellis Island - I was not expecting to be moved, or that it would be so interesting, but it has some great displays, and I learned a lot about historical immigration patterns while I having fun there.

Within two hours of arriving I went to look for the temple - which doubles as a church meeting house - and on my way there I was taking in the sights which were interesting. It is the neighborhood where "You've Got Mail" was filmed, so it is a nice area, but the people are still...colorful. Anyway, as I was walking along about a quarter mile from the temple, I saw a young woman who looked very wholesome and I thought, "Well, I suppose there are all types everywhere". She came up to the same stoplight I was at dragging her rolling luggage behind her. Then she turned to me and asked if I knew where the Mormon temple was. She was from Utah, and I was the first person she talked to after arriving. What are the odds of that?

I hopped off the bus tour down at the southern end of the city and walked most of the way back to the upper west side, which was a lot to explore, but I enjoyed it very much. I finally got tired after several miles and took the subway (very easy to navigate with) to Times Square, because I had not seen it at night and I wanted to see the huge displays. Upon arriving I noticed that the police were setting up barriers and weren't saying what they were for, so I decided to hang around to wait and see. I talked to a couple of teachers from the mid-west and told them my little miracle of finding my glasses (another time, dear readers), and we had a nice testimony as well as a discussion of the city. I helped them plan out the rest of their trip because I knew where everything was by then. Anyway, pretty soon a band started to set up on the platform above the entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe, and it turns out it was Ozzy Osbourne. I could of thrown a rock and hit him - "missed opportunity" some of you are probably thinking. Anyway, I listened until they played Crazy Train and a few other songs and left.

I also loved Grand Central Station - I have a poster in my office and it was as cool as the poster, and had a great atmosphere. By the way, if you want to see a good prank done there, here is a cool site for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo

It is the same link that is on my Facebook site if any of you ever go there. I'll tell the rest of the NYC story later.

Music:
Lately I have been really into Neal Morse. He is a progressive rocker (along the lines of Kansas, Yes, and early Genesis) who was the lead singer/songwriter and multi-instrumental genius behind the band Spock's Beard. Anyway, he left the band a few years ago to do Christian music, and some of it is quite amazing, although a lot of it is still progressive rock. My favorite disc is called simply "?", and it is a theme album about the tabernacle in the wilderness, of all things. It is quite amazing.

This first link is actually a live performance of a Spock's Beard song called June, which I think is amazing. If you don't like live music, there is a video accompanied by the studio version right beside it at the linked site:
http://www.last.fm/music/Spock%27s+Beard/+videos/+1-P9NLFpzh9d4

This last one is my favorite - although it is not progressive, like most of the rest of the "One" album that it comes from. It is called Cradle to the Grave. It is a song written with a verse for man and a verse for God, then their two parts mesh together. You can find it here. There are a few other songs as well, although some of you might be shocked by the distorted opening of Solid as the Sun.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=285998991
You can see the lyrics here if you want.
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Neal-Morse/Cradle-To-The-Grave.html

That's all for now kids, other than to note that we are still having a good time with all the runts, at least when the boys are not making our lives miserable by tormenting Michelle. For her part, she gives us all a trial when her emotions heat up, but overall we are having a great time with our fun children this summer.