Thomas Dolby in concert

Okay, it's 1982 and I'm a senior in high school, and this amazing song comes on the radio called "She Blinded Me With Science". I at once become a huge Thomas Dolby fan, and have been ever since. I saw him perform at Radio City Music Hall in 1984, The Ritz in 1988, Roseland in 1988, and this past Friday at The Canal Room in 2006. He actually left the music industry for a really long time, and only returned because he started reading fan forums about him and realized that there really are people out here who would love to see him return.

The concert was amazing. There was one person between me and the stage, so I had an awesome view. The forum was teeny - probably about a hundred people there - so the show itself was really intimate. It was totally excellent to be surrounded by people my own age, who love the music as much as I do. I have to admit there were others there who knew some of the words better than I did too! I also have to admit to being disappointed that he only played 1.5 hours. His songs are long so they were not as many as I would have liked. Nevertheless, traveling two hours for a 1.5 hour show was still worth it. And it was very cool that this time he was alone. In his previous shows he had a full band, but in this intimate setting it was just him and his synthesizers and computer and "tubes and wires."

Here's another song which made it to the charts and which you'd likely know. And my favorite of his songs, which you wouldn't. That synthesizer music is great stuff; for dancing or head music, you can't go wrong with Thomas Dolby.

The boys slept at a friend's house, so B and I were able to have a real night out in Manhattan. I never think I miss the place until I go back there. (Well I don't actually miss Queens, but I do miss Manhattan.) After the show we parked in the West Village and walked over to the east side to have dinner.

Sixth street between 1st and 2nd Avenues has always been the place to go for Indian food; there has always been at least a dozen restaurants to choose from. They had no liquor licenses, so the food was really cheap and you could bring our own bottles in. Well, it's different now. The addition of liquor has changed everything. The restaurant entrances have become quite ostentatious with neon signs and such, and also have "hosts" out front trying to talk you into their restaurants.

We walked along the street peeping through windows at empty places until we found one which was crowded with NYU students. Taj Cafe at 310 East 6th Street was an excellent choice. They have not updated themselves along with all the other places along the street, and frankly they don't have to. The coconut samosa was a definite highlight, and the rest of the food was excellent and reasonably priced.

We really enjoyed eating Indian food in Manhattan in a crowded restaurant at 11:30 pm on a Friday night. Seemed like old times. There are definitely some things about NY which we miss. On 6th Street, and along 1st Avenue, we also saw restaurants which feature Cajun, Thai, Peruvian, and Ethiopian Vegetarian, among others which I now can't remember. And the streets were crowded. A real haven for a night owl light me...

We arrived home at 3:00 am or so, and were very glad that the boys spent the night someplace else, because it meant sleeping late in the morning. Although in the old days 10:45 am would have seemed early, now it was a real treat.

The boys had a wonderful time where they were too, so it worked well for all of us.