Dr. Drew's Infrequent Blog

03 February 2006

First Friday Art Gallery Walk

Friday was the first Friday of the month, which means all of the galleries in Honolulu's Chinatown stay open at least until 9 PM for gallery walks.

I did several errands during the day, but ended up there by evening. I started out with a late lunch in Chinatown (spicy lo mien beef, which was not really spicy), and then went to the new cafe rRed Elephant. My goal was to finish correcting papers there, but that did not happen. (Reminder to self: I noticed that there is another new cafe across the street). I enjoyed visiting most all of the galleries. I am afraid that I was not really moved by much art this time, but, I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and peoplewatching. I bought a pair of artistic cufflinks for $5, but that was my only purchase besides parking and tea/ food (which is good).

I also made it to the Hawaii State Art Museum , but did not realize that their live music was only from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. As usual, I arrived after that. A few months ago I caught the final aria of an opera performance. Timing seems to be everything.

I enjoyed talking with a few people on my night out. Three of my former students were enjoying themselves. I met a few people, and promoted the new jazz club in town. The one group of new people that I talked with the longest time happened to be the roommate of one of my students. Hawaii really is a small world! We discussed places to eat -- a very important topic.

First Friday in Honolulu (Jazz on Nuuanu Street)

Besides schmoozing and peoplewatching, the other big thrill was hearing some live music. The best gig was on the bed of a pickup truck parked near Mark's Garage. The group was quite good, alternating between jazz and blues.

I later caught a few quick shows at a local dive near the Art Museum appropriately called Detox. The bar has two floors, offering alternating performances on either floor (all for one $5 cover). The first group was a sort of punk gyrls band, which had a surprisingly nice sound. The other performance was by Matt Kubo "sound sculptor." He made some very interesting soundscapes using scupltures and wine glasses attached to an amp. It reminded me of John Cage or Penderecki. I used to be able to listen to those when I was an undergraduate. Some of the fans were interesting to watch as they were so entranced by his genius. There also was some very funny performance art (aka dancing) going on. I was sure to leave before the metal concert began (not my scene).

PS I forgot to mention that yesterday I saw the new Woody Allen movie Match Point. It was classic Allen in terms of script. I was left melancholy, but was happy to catch it. There were only about 6 of us all told in one of those huge Ward Theatre rooms watching the 10:15 PM showing, which is always surreal.

2 Comment(s):

  • As Sophocles once said "To have a quiet theatre in which to see films is the greatest boon of all." When we saw it, I had to bust out the amazing shhhing action. I prefer surreal to having to use the power of the shhh!

    By Blogger Person Person, at Saturday, February 04, 2006 9:02:00 PM  

  • I think Woody Allen and Sophocles used to watch movies together... but that was before death raised the price of films to more than 25 cents a show.

    I agree with you on being able to enjoy hearing the words (for that is the attraction of any Allen movie). I should have appreciated that more.

    I was happy that you were brave enough to comment on the Infrequent Blog. I saw that over 350 people (OK, IPs) have checked out this site, yet only about 4 or 5 have added to my ramblings.

    I am not surprised that West Coast theaters would be busier during a Woody Allen film. That reminds me of a story (uh oh!) My parents saw a Mel Brooks film when they were in Sweden years ago. Almost everyone understands English there, so I don't think people were reading subtitles. The point though was my parents were laughing throughout the entire film, but noticed at one point that they were the only ones. Perhaps NY humor is not universal. Sigh... (or perhaps their laughter muffled the words for others). Further research is called for....

    By Blogger Dr. Drew, at Saturday, February 04, 2006 11:40:00 PM  

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