election – Diplodopest.

Mac missed, a chapter closed

Despite all the planning, effort and lost sleep with came with my single-minded mission to meet Mac DeMarco in New York City this year, I’ve returned to Perth without having even come close to doing so.

Mac’s move and subsequent movements made the possibility of a meet-up improbable, and admittedly there was a point in planning where I subconsciously accepted this fate and turned my focus to other things.

Fortunately there’s no shortage of things to do and see over three weeks as a solo traveller in New York. I learned tonnes about the US, the world and myself from the experience.

For anyone reading or thinking of taking a trip of their own, and to close this chapter off, I’ve put together a list of my favourite things about New York City from my experience travelling there.

Records

A record started this whole ordeal, so it’s only fair that I gave significant time to exploring this realm of New York while I was in town.

New York’s second-hand record scene is packed full of early soul presses, limited new releases and basically anything you could imagine in between. I brought back around 25 LPs gathered from visits to stores across town and lovingly packed into a hard case before being checked in as luggage. They survived, and that’s the main thing.

For those interested, my perspective on this is below:

Best store for digging: A-One Records, East Village

A-One wasn’t the biggest or most visually appealing store I visited, but it was by far the best in terms of digging and very competitive on price. In this store I found a neat original press of Etta James’ first LP, a bunch of Marvin Gaye and my personal favourite – a sealed copy of The Adventures of Ali and his Gang vs Mr Tooth Decay. Commissioned by the American Dental Association in the 1970’s, this record follows the ‘fight of the century’ between Mohammad Ali, close ally Frank Sinatra and the rest of their gang against evil Mr Tooth Decay (seriously). A must have for every collection.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — **New York – a hunting ground for classics, bootlegs, limited editions and sealed copies of The Adventures of Mohammad Ali and His Gang vs. Mr Tooth Decay**

Best for new and limited releases: Turntable Lab, East Village

Turntable Lab killed it for soundtracks and special editions – Stranger Things on smoke coloured vinyl, Drive on fluorescent pink and Twin Peaks on coffee brown.

Best animals: Record Grouch, Williamsburg

Record Grouch was cool but the real highlight was the owner’s Chihuahua, who spent most of the time I was there jumping all over the records and trying to dig at them in his own right. What a champ.

Wildcard: The Thing, Williamsburg

The Thing was too hard for me, but if you knew exactly what you were looking at you could do some real damage down there. A floor to ceiling affair in a basement crammed full of records in no logical order, to go through every one would take three weeks of its own but everything there is US$3. The best thing I found was Shaq’s first album, but I left this one behind.

Accessibility

In three weeks I managed to see Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen, Louis CK, Jon Stewart, Jim Gaffigan, Stephen Colbert, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Rangers at work without too much effort at all.

I got caught up in everything from a Halloween parade to presidential protests, stumbled across part of the New York Marathon and snapped pictures with priceless artwork.

There always seems to be something happening in New York on any given night, and as a solo traveller with the time and freedom to make decisions at short notice it was really easy to make the most of these things. One night I caught a train to see 7000 jack-o-lanterns set up about an hour out of the city. I’d strongly recommend taking it this way for those considering a trip over there if that’s what you’re looking for in a trip.

3. Independence

Further to the point, I feel that spending time travelling on your own provides the clarity required to better understand the things you enjoy without distraction or external influence.

While Mac DeMarco provided a catalyst, it was sense of dissatisfaction with the way things were (as touched on in Roaches & Records) which really drove the decision to take this trip. The decision only affected me and wasn’t anything special to anybody else – people holiday all the time – but I have a better understanding now of the things I want to do with my time having had that break to assess and explore. I’ve come back with a lot of ideas and motivation, and I’m really excited to pursue these into 2017.

Bowie

I count Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as one of my favourite films, and Seu Jorge’s Life Aquatic themed David Bowie tribute show at Town Hall was the best live gig I’ve ever seen.

seu-jorge-pterridactyl — I didn’t get a pic to do it justice so this one comes courtesy of @pterridactyl via the Seu Jorge Facebook page.

It has been 12 years since Life Aquatic was released but the tour is the first time Jorge – decked head to toe in costume from the film – has performed his acclaimed soundtrack of Portuguese Bowie covers.

I can’t really put it in words, except to say Jorge did full justice to the legacy of Bowie and his father recently passed. He was open, honest, funny and talented in equal measures and it was unlike any other show I’ve been to.

Perspective

Fair to say the election was the biggest thing (globally and in New York) while I was abroad, and I feel lucky to have been on had to see everything go down.

This blog has never been about spouting political ideologies and I don’t have much interest in changing that, but what was clear is that the American people are more divided than perhaps was thought in the lead up.

The result of the election caught a lot of New Yorkers off guard, resulting in protests in the street and quiet contemplation on the subway.

No one (not even Trump) really knows what will happen from here, but it will be fascinating to see.

Bonus. Support

Thanks to the people who reached out or got in touch during, before and after the trip to talk about it and the blog more generally – especially those I haven’t spoken to in a while or much at all. As I’ve continued to say, it’s been really encouraging to know that support exists.

I’m going to have a week or so off from it now but I have some short and longer term plans for content which I’ll explain as they come to be. But they are on their way.

Thanks for sharing this first journey with me.

Jack.

Entering the Upside Down

Three full days have passed since the announcement of the Trump presidency, and In New York the topic still very much dominates conversation in the context of the media and on the streets.

The rallies in New York are reportedly ongoing, and though I’ve not personally seen these going on what I saw on Wednesday that’s hardly surprising.

I decided since my last post took perspective from an anti-Trump rally to explore the other side of the discussion. With this in mind I ventured again to Trump Tower.

Trump Tower on late Friday afternoon was a very different experience to Trump Tower on Wednesday night. Parts of Fifth Avenue were blocked – not by protesters as they were two nights before but by barricades set in anticipation. The police presence was strong as you’d expect, and curious passers-by congregated across the street to snap a photo or two.

At this stage of the evening – around 5pm – there was no yelling, no protesting and if you had reason to you could enter the tower itself. In this spirit I was feeling a little run down. There’s a Starbucks in Trump Tower.

Once past security – understandably stringent given the circumstances – being in Trump Tower felt like entering the ‘Upside Down’ in Stranger Things.

The building is unlike any other I’ve visited – floor to ceiling decked out in tones of bronze, with an internal waterfall flowing from an alfresco garden down several levels to a pond on its lowest level.

Past a solid media contingent who looked as though they’d been there for days was Trump Bar, exactly as it sounds, and down a corridor from this was the makeshift Trump Store.

Trump Store was bustling– hats and T-shirts were walking out the door on the heads and backs of the president-elect’s supporters.

The mixed aged demographics probably shouldn’t have surprised me given the results of the election, but they did. There was plenty of younger people sporting Trump merch in the tower, along with some middle aged and older couples. Being Veteran’s Day it was easy to tell who of the building’s visitors had served, and clear that plenty had.

In that moment, and I can only speak for that moment, there was far less diversity in terms of race.

I talked to a couple visiting town for Veteran’s Day, who asked me to take their photo in front of the waterfall with their brand new Make America Great Again caps. I obliged, and asked how they were feeling post-election. They said it was one of the greatest things to have happened to the US. A passer-by nodded in agreement – few people there would have disagreed.

Aside from coffee and drinking there’s not that much else to do at Trump Tower, so in the hope Trump would emerge from an elevator and do a flip or something I went and stood by the media contingent for a while, and we watched as people came in and out.

A lady walked past with four immaculately dressed kids, including three small girls with matching velvet bows and dresses. They were having a discussion about how cute ten-year-old Barron Trump is. From what I could gather one of the kids wanted to marry Barron, but another wasn’t interested at all. Groundbreaking.

I wish I had more excitement to share, but this is the gist of the whole experience. Conversation was civil, polite and Trump-centric. People came in and out of the lifts with a smile. Three of the building’s four lifts were decked in reflective bronze and indulgent marble. The fourth was a service lift –sterile and silver with a Trump campaign poster tacked to its back wall.

I bought my coffee and returned to the dimension I knew.

The kick-on

If the New York I experienced in the day following Donald Trump’s remarkable 2016 election win was a city quietly sobbing, by sunset said tears had turned to a uniform roar of anguish.

The protest – international news, no less – started at Union Square at 6pm and navigated some 40 blocks toward Trump Tower, picking up people along the way as it closed the city streets and took on a life of its own.

The chants reverberated through the night sky – ‘F**k Trump, Pence, Christie, ‘the wall’; Black, Latino, Muslim, gay lives matter; Pussy grabs back’ – a blend of the political and social and all expressing extreme distaste with Trump’s conduct and character.

The closer it got to the tower the more uniform the message. “We reject the president elect,” they shouted loud enough that surely, even from the top of Trump Tower, their presence would have been felt.

Little may come of these protests – not just in New York tonight but across the country – but as a fly-on-the-wall it felt like a moment in history, as though a collective had thrown its arms up in exhaustion at the prospect of its coming years.

I said in my earlier post that I didn’t feel things were different in the street during the day and I stand by that remark. While the people I saw on the subway and outside the tower by day were merely going about their day-to-day lives this was a congregation of the like-minded people whose displeasure at the election result was bolstered by energy of the pack mentality.

They were primarily but not all ‘millennials’ (for whatever that term has come to mean – I’m talking people in their 20s and 30s). Age aside, the displeasure with target of the evening’s disdain seemingly transcended gender, race and sexuality – it was a united New York, but one united against the man self-tasked with making the nation great again.

I don’t personally want to delve into the politics of the situation – as a visitor that’s not really my place.

The reality remains that the United States has democratically elected Donald Trump as its 45^th President.

What I can tell you is that a lot of people in New York City are disillusioned by the election of their hometown ‘hero’. From what I saw in the streets tonight I’d expect the distaste to last for some time to come.

I was only there briefly but I took these pictures. The protests continue even now, and are expected to kick on through the night.

Also three posts in two days is too many but time sensitivity is important too, so provided nothing else remarkable happens (no promises) I’ll be toning it down a bit from here.

All photos by Jack McGinn. Please note that all views are opinion and guided only by personal experience as a traveller in New York City.

The Hangover Pt. Trump

As they went about processing the shock results of last night’s election, the people of New York City woke to a blanket of thick, grey haze which absorbed the city skyline.

It’s seemed an apt shift from the blue skies of election day – where yesterday there was optimism of a Clinton victory, today there is cloudiness at the prospect of a Trump future.

For many in the US, the Trump future is the one they want. Pushing aside significant controversy, voters clearly engaged with the Republican’s rhetoric around a lost greatness, promises of a shift to greater control on borders and an anti-establishment movement. I saw a lot of people on social media ask if the people of the US learned anything from the Brexit – they clearly did, and they liked what they saw.

But for New York, a safe Democratic state, most signs suggested this was not a desired result.

I was at the Nets game in Brooklyn last night when the news started to trickle in that Clinton was in for more of a fight than earlier predicted. You could see attentions slowly turn away from the basketball as it went down.

Not even Ja Rule, who was in the crowd and they kept showing on the big screen for some reason, could bring people back to the game.

It was visible again today, in some of the eyes of those riding the subway, the quiet chatter of those looking for solace in the company of others and the occasional person verbalising their concerns to anyone willing to listen.

In the spirit of being a good journalist and a horrible tourist I did my best to seek out trouble and a story today where possible. Overwhelmingly though, it seemed remarkably similar to any other of the last few weeks.

The people

There was a lady at Myrtle-Wyckoff Station adamant that the decision to elect Trump would spark a civil war, but her views were largely ignored by a crowd which seemed more intent on quiet reflection than outward expression.

The destination was Trump Tower, where I figured there’d be someone doing something of note. Last night Lady Gaga was there in protest of the election result. Today it was surprisingly placid, though swarming with a significant police presence.

A small group of younger people gathered out front in protest of Trump’s views on sexuality, abortion and gender. One tried to go to work but had to leave at her perceived injustice of the situation – “I told my boss I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing,” she said.

On the other side of the fence were Trump’s fans. Those who turned out seemed to be of various groups – there was Blacks for Trump, Jews for Trump and Christians for Trump – but there didn’t seem to be one united assembly of Trump fans gathered.

Regardless, the word from this side was that the nation had been saved at the hands of the election result the previous evening. The mistrust of Clinton was clear, and the desire to be removed from an establishment politician dominated discussion.

One thing I’ve loved about watching the political debate on the street is the mutual respect New Yorkers have displayed for one another. The conversation can be heated, but not once have I seen it get personal or violent despite the size of the topics at play.

The politicians

In a nation of 319 million people stretched across 3.8 million miles of land I find it astounding that the presidential candidates could spend the evening just two blocks apart, but that’s exactly what happened.

While Trump was holed up in his namesake tower on the corner of 5^th Avenue and 56^th Street, Clinton spent her election night literally down the road at the Peninsula. They’re on the same street.

On the way to Trump Tower I noticed a crowd, and realised we were standing at the front of the Peninsula. Surely enough, within 10 minutes Hillary and Bill emerged and jumped straight into awaiting cars surrounded by a strong police presence. All things considered the crowd was pretty adoring of the Clintons as they left, and not long after she delivered a speech to fans nearby.

There was no sighting of Trump at the tower, but a large queue of garbage trucks filled with sand formed a barricade of their own on the street in front of the building. It was an unusual sight, but I suppose this is no orthodox politician.

The lesson learned

Every vote counts the same, and at the end of the day America democratically elected Donald J. Trump as its 45^th President. Say what you will about the candidate and the motivations – racial, gender, ideological – of the people making this decision, this is democracy at work and the freedom the United States prides itself on.

Will he follow through on his campaign promises? No one really knows. Once the fog clears I suppose we’ll have a better idea.

All photos by Jack McGinn. Please note that all views are opinion and guided only by personal experience as a traveller in New York City.

An Australian take on US Election Day

stranger-things — Barb scandal aside I felt the Demogorgon ran a strong campaign

Sitting in a rented bedroom in Bushwick my view of Manhattan is somewhat obscured by the neighbouring flats and homes. You can see one building comfortably – One World Trade Center – and that’s hardly surprising since it’s the sixth largest building in the world.

Every other day of my time in New York I’ve been motivated to leave and explore as much as possible. As a visitor today is no different – there’s no shortage of things to do and see – but with the election in full swing I’m feeling more inclined to take in that limited view, itself hugely significant and symbolic, from the comfort of said bedroom.

As an Australian passing through its been interesting to watch and listen to New Yorkers as they live through the most divisive election experiences in recent decades. The candidates have strong ties to NYC – Trump was born and raised in the city, and Clinton was its first female Senator and lives around 30 miles north of the big smoke.

Since I’m not voting in the election my political views don’t really matter on this one, but having talked to people on the ground I figured I’d share some insight and comparison based on my Australian voting experience.

Election Fatigue

When Australia voted in a double dissolution election earlier this year it came on the back of a campaign of around two months, and needless to say by the end of it we were all pretty tired of hearing about Turnbull’s privilege and Shorten’s lettuce preferences by the end of it. By contrast, Clinton and Trump announced their campaigns for presidency three days apart in June. June 2015. From the initial campaigning for their respective party tickets to now the American people has sat through some 18 months of political talk and speculation, commercials, accusations and scandals. The majority of everyday people I’ve spoken to in New York just want it to be over, and it’s not hard to see why.

The voting system

Australians are required by law to vote, but Americans are not. As a consequence while there are people who vote in every election there are scores of people who need to be convinced by one candidate or another that it’s worth their time and effort to turn out on election day (a Tuesday and not a public holiday, by the way). I haven’t been here long enough to establish a strong opinion on it but I’m sure this would have an influence on the candidate rhetoric and where they target their campaigns. I’ve seen reported that early figures suggest a strong Latino voter turnout – I have my theories but where this significant minority vote will go and what motivated the strength of numbers remains to be seen. It also probably clouds the reliability of polling – no one really knows who will turn out on election day.

As an aside, when I told one guy that Australians were required to vote he insisted that was undemocratic. I’d never really thought about it.

Celebrity endorsements

Perhaps this is another consequence of the voluntary voting system, but it seems to really matter to people which way their favourite celebrities vote. The Clinton campaign has called on Beyonce and Jay-Z this week and appears to be more popular with entertainers of this ilk. I had an interesting conversation at the ice hockey of all places with a builder from upstate, who told me he liked Billy Joel’s philosophy on political endorsement – “who cares about the opinions of a piano player”. As an outsider it is interesting that the lines between the celebrity and political realms do appear somewhat blurred – I can’t imagine Barnaby Joyce calling on Flume for an endorsement anytime soon.

Whatever happens with the vote today and politically in the coming months, the heart of New York City seems entirely likely to continue ticking as it has done for years to come.

I’m grateful to have visited at such an interesting point in its story.

Records

Accessibility

Bowie

Perspective

Election Fatigue

The voting system

Celebrity endorsements