Josh & Josh are Rich and Famous

Minneapolis Favorites, Vol. 1: Peavey Plaza

We've been together for almost a year and a half now.  We've discussed everything from runaway romance and touching Jonathan Rhys-Myers to bloody mice, debt, and the beauty of the unexpected bowel movement.   The romance, dear readers, is over.

So let's be honest:  You believe the Midwest is either hokey flyover country or the Land of Complacency and Passive-Aggressiveness.  (I know you do; I read the New York Times, too.)

So I've decided that you all need to come to Minneapolis and learn to love what you assume you'd hate. 

I thought I'd do my part by bringing my favorite places in the M-P-L-S to you.  Straight to your desktop.  Served fresh, every Monday morning.

First up:  Peavey Plaza

(Click on the image to get an enlarged view.)

One of the things I love most about Minneapolis is its commitment to making art and culture free of the snobby elitism that is usually associated with "high art."  On Friday I went to hear some Mozart at Orchestra Hall (which is the grid-like building in the photo) as part of the Minnesota Orchestra's pre-season preview concerts called Sommerfest. Every weekend for most of the summer, Peavey Plaza turns into an outdoor concert venue (free of charge, I might add) while the orchestra takes the stage inside (which, unfortunately, is not free). 

They were hawking bratwursts with sauerkraut for under three bucks right outside the door.  Beer kegs, too!  Add in the free live music and scandinavian sensibilities and you start to wonder if life really just doesn't get any better than this.

Once we got inside and sat down, a rather fey Mozart, the concert's M.C. clad in impossibly tight satin pants and a white powdered periwig, started cracking jokes about how badly Salieri sucked as a composer. Would this ever happen at Carnegie Hall? No.

I took the series of pictures above after the concert.  Some notes: the tall building in the middle is The Holy Church of Savvy Shoppers (also more colloquially known as Target Headquarters).  The pond area off to the left is much bigger than it looks in the photo; it's actually an elaborate series of waterfalls and small ponds that can be drained to make room for larger concerts.

Next week: The Sculpture Garden!

--Josh K.

Etc.

1.  The field next door | I know you'd never believe it, but downtown Minneapolis really is only a ten minute bus ride away from this.  Really.

2.  Taken at a park down the street.

3.  Tree in front of the townhouse (where I live with m'sisters--see #1).

4.  Applebees | The best chicken fingers ever.

5.   Anoka County Airport | After taking a leave of absence in January, buying a plane, and then going off to flight school in Arizona, m'dad is almost officially a pilot.  Meanwhile,  I'm officially making plans to always be "washing my hair" whenever he asks if I want a ride.  But I will go with to the airport (where this picture was taken); it's a surprisingly relaxing getaway. 

6.  See #2.

7.  Walker Art Center | M'friend in front of Takashi Murakami's wallpaper in the coat room.

8.  M'dad's backyard | The neighbor's dog comes over for a visit .  She's really nice, actually. 

--Josh K.

The View from Top of the Rock

A couple weeks ago I did Top of the Rock, the viewing deck on top of Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan. These are some of the resulting pictures. (You can click on the pictures to get an enlarged view.)

The north view, looking onto Central Park.

A southeast view of the Midtown concrete jungle.

A less obstructed view of Central Park.

The view to the east. Note St. Patrick's Cathedral at the bottom of the photo, the church the Kennedy clan attends.

The south view to downtown Manhattan.

Photos by Josh H.

Weekend on Fire Island

This weekend I ended up making a (surprise) trip out to New York's Fire Island, about two hours from New York City by car and ferry. (I stayed on the part of the island referred to as The Pines.)

Fire Island, and especially The Pines, is like gay summer camp. (It looks that way, it sounds that way, it feels that way.) The whole village is connected by a wooden boardwalk. There is one grocery store, one dance club (on weekends packed like a Manhattan club on Pride), two small restaurants, and hundreds of homes overlooking either the bay (looking west to New York) or eastward onto the ocean.

My twenty-four hours on the island (really, almost to the minute) was incredible. It was both surreal and delectable. It was all homecooked meals, swimming in the ocean, walking the beach, exploring the island on foot, making new friends, long talks after dark, the sound of silence, cutting through the water of a swimming pool, and reading poolside.

In short, it was lovely and amazing.

The Sayville Ferry takes you from the mainland on the five-mile journey to Fire Island.

Entering Great South Bay on the ferry.

Welcome to Fire Island. The gays are packed in chest-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder. Can you feel the thump-thump beat already?

The pool at the house where I stayed. I passed some lovely hours in the water and sprawled on the first chaise on the left.

Sunday's post-brunch view from the dock where boats and ferries come in.

The view from the living room of the house where I stayed. I almost passed out when I first saw it.

The beach and the Atlantic Ocean, mere steps from the back door. It had been years since I'd been to the ocean and I was completely enthralled with the sound of the crashing waves. My idea of heaven: Listening to waves crash outside the window, tucked between clean sheets after a hot shower and a day in the sun. (Check and done.)

A brief stop at a Pines birthday party. (Happy birthday, Dino.) Yes, it was surreal. No, didn't stay long.

Two miniature pinschers attending the pool party, unimpressed by the plethora of boys in square-cut bathing suits. I badly wanted to sneak the dogs into my bag and bring them home with me.

A rooftop view in Cherry Grove, just outside of The Pines.

A deer on the way to the ferry home. The Pines deer are totally unfazed by humans. Pet them only if Lyme Disease is your idea of a good time.

Sunset on the way home.

--Josh H.

Hot Day, New York City

Happy Fourth of July, everybody.

Photo by Josh H., near Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan

My Minnesota

A daytrip to the the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota yesterday finally gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of something other than my freckled button nose.  The top picture was taken on the drive down (click to enlarge to see the sickeningly cute little red farm); the bottom picture is downtown Rochester's Holiday Inn (with two mysteriously blue-tinted windows).

--Josh K.

The Week (in Pictures): LA Edition

Top to Bottom:
1. Disneyland
2. Random church as seen from tour bus
3. Random home as seen from the same tour bus
4. Huntington Beach

All images by Josh K.

Grandma's House

Photo by Josh K.

Photos by Josh K.

Photo by Josh K.

The Weekend (in Pictures), Vol. 4

Top to Bottom:
1. The Lower East Side | Blooming tree on Bowery
2. The Cynthia Broan Gallery | Forest (to watch a preview of the film, follow the link and click on the image of the cheerleader. Also: James Wagner has a great review of the show, which is now closed.)
3. Chelsea | Four gay bars were raided and closed by police this weekend for the sale and/or the possession of "controlled substances." Oh, girl!

All images by Josh K.

The Weekend: A Summary (in Pictures), Vol. 3

All photos by Josh K.

The Weekend: A Summary (in Pictures), Vol. 2

Photos by Josh K.

The Weekend: A Summary (in Pictures)

Manhattan From Above

Photo by Josh K.

Wintery Wonderland (Or: A Slushy Mess)

"I knew the snow, the difference between pack and powder. I knew about the walls of my nose feeling like the hard frozen walls of a cave in a mountain in the arctic, toes frozen into pebbles, only dimly related to me, in my shoes, the sting of the wind against my legs, through my papery jeans. I knew all this."

--Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, p. 353-354

Photos taken by Josh K. on December 30th, 2005 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Gratuitous Photo Post

Josh H photographed by Josh K on an otherwise uneventful Saturday evening.

Dans L'appartement

Josh & Josh photographed in their Manhattan apartment, 6:09 p.m., December 10, 2005.

The book: "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers.

The computer: 12-inch Powerbook by Apple.

White Christmas at Saks and Rockefeller

Less "artsy" photos to follow later this week.

What I Left Behind

Fare Thee Well, Central Park

Those who inhabit the world’s temperate climates start getting jumpy this time of year. Somewhere in mid-September the temperate climate dwellers begin to say, “Well, enjoy this, Cletus, because this is the last nice day of the season. This is it. Tomorrow? Blizzard. Big ‘un.” And of course the next day it’s seventy-five degrees, just to be spiteful, but that’s what happens.

But really, today was that day--that last perfect day of the season. Josh and I walked to Central Park, stopping first to cheer on the marathon runners, and then hit up the park. We entered the park just as the sun started setting in a rather spectacular manner. (This specific picture was taken a week ago. Note how green the leaves are here compared to the leaves in the picture below.) Josh and I started snapping mad pictures, trying to capture the way the sunlight came through the trees in that way that makes you want to start saying your Hail Marys or somethin’.

The leaves, stubbornly remaining green through the end of October and into November, finally began changing. Today they were blistering combinations of orange, red, dull green, and then brown. When the wind picked up leaves whisked off the branches and blew around like huge snowflakes, making that rattling, rolling sound as they hit the ground and blew to a stop. Good stuff.

Temperate climate denizens are always ready for the worst and that fact, in it’s own unique way, makes us even more grateful for the gorgeous weather because we’re absolutely, positively sure it’s our last day of good stuff before winter blows in.

If that’s the case, count these New Yorker citizens grateful. Until next year, Central Park.

[All photographs by Josh & Josh]

* * *

Wanna brighten up your day? Watch an excessively intoxicated Ashlee Simpson try to jump up on the counter at McDonald's and demand to see the manager in this season’s most embarrassing celebrity moment caught on tape. What is this girl doing? [Thanks Trent.]

* * *

In the Blogosphere

Juan worries that he’s deformed; Brenner has morphed into a British matron; Steph & Alek know all about hot French booty; Eric has a few bones to pick

Josh & Josh Halloween

I wasn't going to "do" the whole Halloween thing this year.

"Can't we just, you know, stay home and watch a movie or something?" I asked. Josh K. squared his jaw and furrowed his brows.

When the big night finally came I was in the kitchen, pullin' out something to munch on. Josh K. walked in grinning, obviously up to something.

"I've got it," he said. "You're going as a baseball player. I'm still going as a football player. We've got half an hour before we have to leave if we're going down to the Village for the parade, so get moving."

Something about his mix of bossiness and bravado got me into his baseball uniform--from his Halloween costume last year--as he suited up in his football uniform. Good to our word, we were out the door shortly thereafter, dressed as jocks. (Jocks with a secret, actually. Can you guess what that secret might be? Go ahead and insert all manner of sexual orientation jokes here.)

Let's be clear about one thing: New York City takes Halloween very seriously. On Sixth Avenue, between Spring Street and Twenty-First, it looks like New Year's Eve. Throngs of people, packed dozens of people deep, stand behind police blockades, watching the legendary three-hour Halloween parade.

At first Josh and I were content to stand on our tippy toes and peek at the parade streaming by. We particularly admired these two superheros who we assume have, uh, a little secret, too. Props to Green Lantern and his Captain American sidekick. Y'all know what these two were doing a couple hours after the parade was over.

But then Josh and I got bored just watching the parade. What's a guy to do then, you wonder? Well, you hop the police blockade and join the parade yourself, marching along like your badass football/baseball jock selves. Being part of the parade was the best part because we got to see the costumes, watch the crowds, and scope everything all at once. There were some amazing fucking costumes--the kind that you know people spend hundreds of dollars on and considerable time making themselves. You can't buy these costumes in stores, kids. This picture was taken just as the television cameras on huge cranes spun overhead, shooting live images of the parade and the crowd. The lights shining through the crowd made for a sort of hauntingly beautiful image.

After the parade we wandered around town in costume. At the corner of Broadway and 35th we stopped and took a few pictures.

Mr. Josh K. played up the role of the macho football player perfectly. The bastard went all out and got himself real shoulder pads, a football, and even the authentic black stuff to put on underneath the eyes. People on the street kept trying to get Josh to throw him the football but, knowing better than to trust half-drunken Halloween tourists, Joshie kept his pigskin where he could see it.

And me? I rocked that baseball uniform and gave that lamp post on the corner of Broadway and 35th a ride that it won't soon forget. The best part was the family of trick-or-treaters that walked by as I was shimmying down the pole, giving it my best Elizabeth Berkeley. Can't say a guy doesn't work it when he gets the chance, you know?

Josh K. and Josh H., jocks with a secret, Halloween 2005 in New York City.

* * *

NaNoWriMo Update: It's Day Two of National Novel Writing Month and Josh H. has 3,445 words written, ahead of schedule by more than 100 words. Look for a clip to pop up soon.

Now Reading: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler.

Now Watching: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (obviously a Halloween pick), the end of the second season of Sex and the City, and Into the Woods.

* * *

In the Blogosphere

Dustin has a crush; Oliver has an adorable new puppy; Andy dishes the secrets of Confessions; Eric has something smelly in his bedroom; Michael stole a Josh & Josh photo; Toby is still missing in action; Kath likes a good Harley

Happy Halloween!

Left: This weekend our roommate David tried to convince Josh and me that a post-collegiate career as a cater waiter might not be such a bad idea. This is a cautionary tale, kids. Consider yourselves forwarned.

The Upper East Side's Third Avenue Street Fair

Third Avenue's annual street fair stretched 20 blocks on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The picture above shows the street fair a block away from its 86th Street perimeter.

Photos by Josh K.

The First 24 Hours

To my surprise, late-night supermarkets sell fresh flowers even after the sun goes down. I took this photo at midnight at such a market, a mere 50 feet and around the corner from our front door.

On Wednesday afternoon Josh H and I took a two-hour stroll through Central Park where we discovered that, in the heart of the biggest city in the country, you can still get lost in the woods.

One of my favorite neighborhoods, SoHo, is also one of the most expensive. Thank god it's totally in my price range because, otherwise, I'd be forced to sleep on a blow-up airmattress in a tiny bedroom with no air conditioning and a metal airshaft for a window view. Yep; I'm much better off than that.

[Cough]

Really.

(Photos and text by Josh K.)