The City That Never Sleeps

I live in a city that has been called "the city that never sleeps." Tonight it lived up to that reputation. I headed out on my bike around midnight (because I don't sleep much either). A couple of my friends really wanted to get free tickets to Saturday Night Live and I guess because Justin Timberlake is on the show, they figured they needed to get in line early- like a couple of days early. Normally the line begins to form at the NBC studious at the Rockefeller Center sometime on Friday. So to be sure- they sent up camp on the sidewalk on Thursday- intending to remain there until Saturday morning. I thought I would pay them a surprise visit- maybe ridicule them a bit.

I love riding the streets of New York City at night. There is still traffic, but it is very manageable. But tonight, the city was wide awake. What should have been a simple 10 minute ride covering about 24 blocks became a bit complicated. I was flying down 33rd Street and as I hit Park Avenue I realized a bunch of people were yelling at me. I had apparently ridden onto the set of a film crew filming a scene for an upcoming movie starring Nicholas Cage. I was forced quickly up onto the sidewalk and out of the way. Then I noticed the two Lamborghinis, the lighting cranes 60 feet up in the air, the truck watering down the pavement, the camera on a boom mounted on the back of a car, etc. I was stuck against a building until there was a break in the action. Look for me in an upcoming Disney Film.

As I neared the NBC studios I came across hundreds of people camped out on the sidewalk on 49th Street, 4 deep and stretching an entire block. They were in sleeping bags and cots and covered in plastic to ward off the heavy rain we had earlier. I went up and down the block several times looking for my friends with no luck, and thinking all the while how crazy they were. I finally asked a NYPD officer if these people were waiting for SNL tickets. Nope. They were waiting for Friday's "Today" show, and the outdoor mini-concert at the studio featuring New Kids on the Block (are they still around? They sure aren't new). The officer told me that many of them have been living on the sidewalk for 6 days. It has been a horrible week of weather- heavy rains and thunderstorms. These fans have been enduring all that for one shot to see the New Kids up close. Hundreds of them.

I found out where the line was for SNL and on my way passed the trucks and crew setting up the concert for the New Kids- at 12:30 AM!. I arrived at the NBC Rainbow Room entrance to find one tent and three people in line. No sign of my friends. Turns out they figured they didn't need to be there that early, so they went home and to bed.

On Monday this week my friend Timm invited me to join him at a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. I have been a Letterman fan for a long time, so it was pretty cool. We were chosen to be in a group that sat in the front row. The Ed Sullivan Theatre was amazing. David was great. My favorite comedian, Brian Regan, was on the show. It was a really fun experience. But that's all it was- 60 minutes of laughter and good music, and then back to life. Can't see how it changed my life, and I wouldn't have waited 5 hours on the sidewalk if that's what it took. But thanks, Timm, for the tickets (see his blog about it at http://mustardseeddistributed.blogspot.com/)

As I rode home I tried to imagine what would compel people to endure 6 days on the sidewalk for 5 minutes of live music by a boy band. Will they go home satisfied? Will it have been worth it? I know they will post pictures and words on Facebook- telling everyone who cares to listen how close they were to the band. Why do we worship celebrities? In the end, what does seeing or meeting or being near someone famous actually accomplish? Whatever it is, the expectations must be pretty high for people to endure the kind of discomfort I saw tonight.

Well, it's after 1 AM now, and I can hear the noises outside the window telling me that the city is still awake, but I am tired. Plus, I better be rested in case Disney calls asking me to reshoot my scene tomorrow night.