Time Machine Travelogue Fifteen

"New York, New York! It's a helluva a town"

"Defying Gravity"

Guess where the time machine is going to this time? Have you guessed New York City then you get a complementary ticket on the time machine this time.  Sorry you will receive no double frequent flyer miles.  So sit down take your time displacement pills or stick on that patch because we aren't trying anything new.  We are taking just the original time machine with no improvements.  As previously promised in the May 27th blog, Time Machine Travelogue Thirteen, New York City would be a destination.  This was a field trip that was taken in March of 2008.  


We took a charter bus from Washington D.C. to New York City.  The countryside was amazing even though many of the student's would never know.  They slept.  When we got there and checked everybody in, there was little resting time because we had tickets to the Broadway musical, Wicked. 
This meant a visit to Rockefeller Center, 30 Rock, and Time Square. The Rockefeller Center is famous for its Christmas Tree in December.  However, our guide told us that have different statues each month.  Of course, everyone is aware of the Prometheus Statue that adores the plaza.  Prometheus was a Titan, who tricked the Olympian god Zeus disguising the best parts of a slaughtered animal as mankind's portion.  Zeus and his ilk got the offal and skin.  Prometheus also stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind.  For this he was bound to a rock and an eagle would feast on his liver, DAILY.  Not very pleasant I say.

Hope that eagle has bacon and onions.

Prometheus Unbound

A fountain of light

We have seen this scene several million times in movies.  However, there were other displays of Greek Mythology.  I love Greek Myths.  I read them as a child and studied them in college. They have a Statue of Atlas.  Atlas was also a Titian.  He was tasked to bear the Earth on his shoulders.  Because of my love of myth and the fact that I am a fifth grade teacher, I have read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. He too was forced to bear that load.  

He's got the weight of the World on his shoulders.

On the wall were bas-relief styled depictions of other Greek deities.  Hermes had many attributes and jobs.  He was the messenger for the gods.  He had a helmet and sandals that had wings.  This facilitated his rapid dispatch of messages from one place to another.  He carried the Caduceus, which is two snakes intertwined on a staff.  This is the symbol today of the medical profession.  He was the god of thieves, too.  No comment as to the relation to doctors.  He had another characteristic but this is a family blog.

Did someone order flowers?

I also saw Demeter.  She was the goddess of the seasons.  Her daughter Persephone was stolen away by Hades to the Underworld.  This made Demeter extremely sad and she withheld spring.  Her daughter was finally allowed to visit her mother and spend part of the year apart from her husband, Hades.  When Persephone left the Underworld, spring returned to Earth. Crops could be sown and the bounty can be reaped.

Ceres in Latin, where we get cereal

Leaving Rockefeller, we walked with the tour guide toward the Gershwin Theatre.  On the way, we saw many sights that live in our popular culture.  We passed by the theater where they broadcast the Late Show with David Letterman.

Where would this trip fall on Dave's Top Ten List?

Anytime you get to go the a theater for a play or musical it is a magical event.  Living on the West Coast, I have been to many theater events at theaters in San Francisco, Los Angles, and Sacramento.  Every one of these experiences were awesome.  While the show were fantastic, nothing comes close to the electric air of the Broadway area.  You can feel the presence of every performer who walked those streets and performed in those theaters.  We were headed to the Gershwin Theatre.  Named for the legendary George and Ira Gershwin, composer and lyricist of countless popular songs, Broadway musicals, and musical compositions.  Just walking and listening to the subtle pulse of the street you can hear Rhapsody in Blue vibrate around you.  We were there to see the musical Wicked.  It is a musical adaptation of a book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire. Do yourself a favor and read the series of books in this saga.  Everyone has a back story, those events that develop a person's character.  We are all familiar with the Wicked Witch of the West a character in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.  Well, Elphaba, as she is known in Wicked,  is revealed to us.  Her story gives us a different, more human side, of the green skinned Witch. Her name Elphaba, you may notice was inspired by the original author L. Frank Baum.  The show was fantastically memorable. Even eighth-grade students enjoyed it, which isn't an easy prospect.

After the show, we walked to a different NYC landmark. It is known as the Crossroads of the World.  We have seen it crowded with a million people on New Years Eve.  It too has been the focal point and backgound and many movies.  We know it as Times Square.  Times Square has gone through many changes but it has always lured people for the mere sights and sounds. The Disney Corporation has taken over the area.  This allowed more seemly styled entertainment to be displaced.  The newer family friendly Times Square is safer to take a group of eight-graders.  It, however, was late but New York is the "City that never sleeps".

I thought it was only my eyes that were blurry

Dibs on this spot for New Years Eve.

The King of Rock and Roll

This was the first afternoon and evening in New York City.  We were all tired but overwhelmed by the sights and sound of this day.  Tomorrow will bring sights and sounds.  A strictly American experience is in store.  But we are all reboarding the time machine for the journey back to our own time.  We will return for another "New York Minute".  Make your reservations now or just wait for the new posting what works best for you.  The trip back has been cleared so off we go.  Until next we meet again remember, time waits for no man.