FAMILY, RAIN, U2-3D

FAMILY VISITORS! Cliff and Heather, our son and daughter-in-law, flew up from Tallahassee today for a weekend visit. So, we promptly hit the ground running. And running: not only were we trying to accommodate the desire to see and do everything in a short time, we were also trying to dodge the raindrops that began falling right around the time they arrived (accompanied by warmer weather!). Dinner was first at Rosa Mexicana, followed by a cab ride in a downpour to MoMA and a quick run through the 4th and 5th floor galleries. When that closed at 8 the rain had stopped, so we walked over to Rockefeller Center, up 5th Avenue to Central Park, and then west to Broadway and north to the IMAX theater (with a stop at the mall in the Time-Warner building on Columbus Circle).

We had previously purchased tickets to see 'U2-3D,' hence those Elton John-sized glasses Heather and Cliff are wearing in the last photo. I believe NY and LA are the only cities where this concert film is currently playing, but when it gets to your locale be sure to see it: a) it ROCKS, and b) it is stunningly photographed. If ever there was a good subject for IMAX 3D technology, a rock and roll concert is it, and if ever there was a great live performance band, U-2 is it. Watching this concert, filmed in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, on the HUGE screen was so outstanding, and the audio reproduction and transmission was equal to the task. The theater audience was only somewhat less involved and demonstrative than the South American audience on film, as this experience is SO close to 'being there'--only without the wait in line outside the stadium, the discomfort of standing on a soccer field for hours, and the restricted view most of the spectators at the actual event had (how ARE those upper-deck seats 120 yards from the stage, sir?). I thought this could be the highlight of their visit, an opinion that lasted until our experience on Sunday...

Dan

---

---