Uncultured Swine (no flu though, thank you very much)

One of the things I love about living in New Jersey is the traffic... or is it the taxes... or maybe Newark. Wait, none of that sounds right. Oh yeah, what I really love is the culture. I've never been anywhere else that had as much cultural diversity in my entire life. It's incredible. We've got just about every cultural influence ranging from different ethnic groups to vastly different economic extremes. You want to see crack dealers, stop by Trenton (or the aforementioned gem of the Garden State, Newark). You want to see hoitie-toitie opera goers, swing by the Metropolitan Opera for a show. Oddly enough, either visit will cost you about the same amount... namely, everything you've got in your wallet.

Except during the summer; that's when checking out the opera or the New York Philharmonic can actually be cheaper than getting mugged after stopping by the ATM (you stopped by the ATM in Trenton??? are you insane???). During the summer, if you time things right, checking out these high-culture events is so cheap they're, well, free.

I always hope to make it to a few performances, taking the opportunity to enjoy an evening of great music while relaxing in a beautiful grass-filled park. I don't always succeed, life sometimes just gets in the way, but hopefully this summer will prove one of cultural growth for me.

If you're in the area and are interested in checking out the events for yourself, take a look at the following web sites (and search Google for lost more, this is just the stuff I'm interested in).

New York City:

- New York Philharmonic (no tickets needed)
- Met. Opera's Summer Recitals (free tickets required for the Central Park performance)
- Met. Opera's new HD Festival (this one's actually at the Lincoln Center, indoor seating, first come first served)

A little closer to home:

- New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (no tickets needed)

Labels: music

posted by Brett at 12:48 PM