Simon Lindberg

New York obviously has a lot to offer in terms of theater, concerts, sports, etc. I don't go to the theater a lot (at all) back home but I figured I had to see a play on Broadway. So I went to see Hedda Gabler, written by a Scandinavian and starring a Swede (Peter Stormare), although I had read in Dagens Nyheter before I left that it had got some bad reviews. Turns out it was so bad I had a telemarketer from the theater calling me a week later to apologize to me for enduring two hours of a play that stinks (his words). That's American customer care for you I guess.

I'm more into sports than theater but since the last time I was in the US for an extended period, I've unfortunately lost interest in the "American" sports. Still, I went to a Knicks game in the Garden the other night. I guess I had expected to get blown away by the atmosphere but I was actually a bit disappointed. I guess the recession has hit sports as well because there were actually a lot of empty seats.

So if theater and sports aren't fun, what is? Well, politics in the US has a bit of both mixed into it, so an event that did meet my expectations, and more, was a debate (sort of) between liberal comedian Bill Maher and conservative political commentator Ann Coulter at Radio City Music Hall. It was packed to the rafters with people more animated than they were at the Knicks game. Maher had home court advantage, but Coulter had surprisingly strong support too. The audience cheered, booed and even heckled them on topics ranging from the stimulus package to stem cell research. It was great.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and just judging by what I already saw this weekend, there will be plenty of New Yorkers coming to work with a hangover on Wednesday (not at Bonnier, though). Having St. Patrick's Day on a Tuesday is as if Swedes would celebrate Midsummer and work the next day. I'll actually go out too (but stay clear of the Irish pubs, which is a tall order in this city) but that's because tomorrow, my cousin comes to visit me. It's been a bit lonely here at times but from tomorrow and a month ahead I will have visitors practically non stop.

My cousin is an artist, so Sunday I brushed up on my knowledge of art by going to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts. It was...big. When I go to an art museum I guess I'm more likely to say, "Wow, that's cool" than "Wow, that's beautiful," so I mainly focused on the modern art section. Bearing in mind that I don't know the first thing about art (and that I am possibly a bit of a narcissist?), my favorite object was a mirror. It was in an exhibition, though, and not in a restroom. I promise.