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I hope that each of you had a great President’s Day Weekend. Hopefully you had Monday off or at the very least had a quiet day.

This past weekend found me down in New York, New York. I went down to visit with my former Jesuit Volunteer Corps roommates Sarah and Ben as well as take in all that Gotham City has to offer.
My friend, Mairead, and I took an Amtrak down Friday night in time to catch our old Boston College friend, Greg Johnson, finish up his comedy routine. Greg hosts a variety show at a bar, Rififfi, that is in the East Village at 332 East 11th St. Greg along with his co-host Larry Murphy just won a city-wide award for best variety comedy show in all of New York. The show has drawn a bunch of name comics and Friday night Eugene Mirman who was just featured in an HBO special was performing. Friday night Sarah and I also got to check out the restaurant, Three of Cups, which is a pretty good choice for Italian dining in the East Village. I went for the gnocchi in a plum tomato sauce and it was a solid choice.

Saturday morning I made my maiden voyage to Long Island where I got to visit my friend Sarah’s homeland. After overwhelming her poor dog, Bailey, with energy and attention for a few hours we returned to Manhattan. We met up with Ben and headed over for another first for me—Vietnamese dining. We went to Saigon Grill which if I understand correctly has a few locations in New York. I went with the ginger honey chicken which was very good. And in what might come as a surprise to most of you who know me I was even daring enough to try some coconut shrimp and peanut beef wantons. I have to admit that I was a fan of all of the food.

Sunday Sarah and I went over to Midtown Manhattan to try to get tickets at the half price ticket booth on Broadway. We were lucky enough to snag a pair of orchestra seats to see Tom Stoppard’s “Rock N Roll.” The play focuses on the relationship between Czechoslovakia and communism as it begins to fade away in the second half of the twentieth century. The play weaves in rock hits from such legends as The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and U2 to serve as a backdrop from which the play can be viewed. Rock N Roll is one of the more talked about plays on Broadway in 2008 and it is worthy of the attention. It runs through February at the Jacobs Theater on 45th St and Broadway.

Monday I met up with Ben and got to check out Mud Coffee which is the restaurant he works for. Mud is a very trendy spot in the East Village. While Ben and I were eating lunch sitting one table behind us were Saturday Night Live stars Rachel Dratch and Will Forte. It is definitely worth checking out if you are in Manhattan’s East Village.

The weekend wrapped up with our attendance of a live taping of the Late Night with Conan O’Brien Show. Guests on the show Monday were actor and comedian Larry “The Cable Guy,” Project Runway host Tim Gunn, and blue grass singer Jim Lauderdale. The tickets to the Conan tapings are free and tickets can be obtained through the NBC Show Tickets box office at (212) 664-3056. The tickets are generally booked 4-6 weeks ahead of the show date and are randomly opened up so it is best to constantly check for their availability.

I’d highly recommend anyone attend one of the tapings. The show is very impressive to watch and even more impressive is the ease that Conan displays in working through the show. At our taping there were no pauses or retakes and Conan was as funny and charismatic as he seems on TV. Before the show, Conan spent about five minutes warming up the crowd and even hugged a few lucky male fans and encouraged them to do the same to each other—it was quite an icebreaker. The whole experience lasts about two and a half hours and allowed us to get to the Port Authority for an 8:00 bus back to Boston.

All and all it was a very full and exciting long weekend.