I guess a bit of a comedown was to be expected after I'd been running around New York grinning like a Cheshire Cat for three days.
Today was a bit grey and cold and I walked into town to see the Columbus Day parade. I didn't realise Columbus was Italian, but apparently he was, and the Italians in New York seem to have taken over this holiday. The parade was a bit lame unless you're really into high school marching bands or old people dressed up as Roman poets, so I escaped the cold by going into the MoMA - I bought a combination ticket for 6 attractions when I went up the Empire State Building the other day, so I thought I might as well do as many of them as possible. But it was the same problem you always get when visiting big, famous art museums - each painting deserves at least 5 minutes of your undivided attention and requires quite a bit of background knowledge, and after looking at one room you're pretty much full up of art. I was in a bit of a daze after only the first floor. The only thing I really remember was a drawing by Marc Brandenburg, who was also in the drawing exhibition we had in Bristol.
I decided to try and refuel by trying the expensive Cafe Bar at the MoMA and ended up paying the best part of $20 for three halves of boiled eggs with a bit of caviar on. This didn't really help to reenergise me for more art so I went back to the Jane to chill out for a bit.

Fortunately, I'd picked up a copy of Time Out and decided to go to the Upright Citizens Brigade (a comedy club) in the evening, which turned out to be a great choice. For $5, I got to see Garfunkel and Oates, two girls from LA who do very good funny songs, AND a bunch of stand up comedians for free afterwards, including Brendon Burns! I also befriended a very nerdy guy in the queue (or "line" - I am working on my American) who had brought his Holocaust homework to the club with him. So overall, today was not a total washout!