Tuesday I went to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.This is not your grandmother’s MSG. These days it resembles an airport .You go through security. Guards poke through your belongings, a mysterious wand is run over your body. I miss the gone forever freedom of going to an event without being searched, but it’s not a big deal. How would I feel though if I were black or an immigrant?
The buffet dinner in the Club Bar and Grill was perfect for the occasion: creeping through the happy hour crowd at the bar to immediate seating, a buffet line that moved, attentive service and good (not great) food. Rushing out to find our seats, we felt smug because we’d dined, not woofed down hot dogs at the various stands near the arena. I’m a doggie person and get extremely silly over beagles. However, if we had not been able to see the show on the tv monitors the dogs and their trainers would have seemed like ants. Did I pay good money to watch TV? No.
With the temperature dipping into the single digits, I met a friend downtown in Tribeca at the BMCC Performing Arts Center. We attended the venerable Highlights in Jazz, 42nd year and still going strong. Bria Skonberg was on the trumpet and the terrific pianist, Gordon Webster, played a selection of jazz favorites and original songs.