Culture, Comedy and Michael Jackson

With midterms approaching, I took my mind off the ever-increasing workload with two pretty different outings within a week. First we visited the American Museum of Natural History on Sunday, before frequenting Madison Square Garden for a second occasion, this time to see Aziz Ansari perform on Thursday night.

From what I've seen of New York so far, the Upper West Side - where the AMNH is located - is probably the only area of the city that resembles anything like London. The majority of NYC is so far removed from any other city I've seen in terms of architecture and layout, but the white facade of AMNH would not have looked out of place amongst the V&A and London's own Natural History Museum in South Kensington. I guess there's only so many different ways you can build a museum.

Even though I was expecting it, it still hurt a little to have to pay to enter. I understand New Yorkers pay less than ten per cent tax, but I'm struggling to see where that's going. If your taxes aren't paying for healthcare and museums then what on earth are they paying for? And it certainly isn't going towards city sanitation, either.

Nevertheless, the $20 entry fee proved to be well worth it as it included one of those IMAX shows. We intended to see one about space but my mind was changed at the last minute when I realised there was one about Great White Sharks (narrated by Bill Nighy) and so we split up and did our own thing. I'm pretty pleased with my change of heart as now I know that sharks don't have bones. Who knew?

As a tribute to Theodore Roosevelt, the museum focuses heavily upon New York, with a section entirely dedicated to the state itself. This was basically a timeline of NY's history, starting long before civilisation began (the glaciers in 'Manhattan' during the ice age would have reached the top of the Empire State Building, apparently).

So much of the museum is impressive, from the vast array of Native American artifacts to the giant model of a blue whale that hangs in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. I was beginning to think the place was better than London's effort in every way when it suddenly dawned on me that there was not a single killer whale - picture, video or model - in the place. Shocking.

There was a significant change in dynamic later in the week when we swapped the museum for MSG to see Aziz Ansari's stand-up special. Last minute tickets meant we were stuck up on Chase Bridge, so far up and away from the stage that they literally provided you with TVs to watch the action.

We were doing our best to conceal our disappointment at the situation when we were tapped on the shoulder by a member of venue staff and directed down steps to 'better seats'. That was something of an under-statement, as we suddenly found ourselves no more than thirty yards from the stage at no extra expense, merely because they'd failed to sell-out.

Thus we were able to enjoy the full experience of the peculiar Michael Jackson tribute act Ansari threw on before he performed. Apparently the "best in the world", there was something rather unnerving about it, but I guess that's a compliment when someone's trying to impersonate the King of Pop.

With the upgraded seats it would have been hard not to enjoy the evening, but even from our old seats up where the air was thinning it would have been worth every penny. Perhaps it wasn't quite up to the standard of his previous stand-up specials, but I get the feeling MSG adds a little extra to whatever you're watching there.

Sadly it's back to reality again this week as midterms remind me why I'm actually here in New York in the first place.