amidst a ton of lovely time at the cloisters, the creative bar for 2008 was set for me by U2.
we saw their limited-release, experimental project, U23D and wow. the performance was amazing as always. hands down, this is the band i want to see live more than any other. they manage to make a football stadium feel as intimate as a small club gig, while still being as spectacular as something in a room that size needs to be.
3D has come a long way from the days of the red and blue glasses. now it’s grey glasses and a method of polarization that does the trick. the results are simply outstanding.
and the effect was most definitely not a gimmic. the medium was used to full effect, not only were the people and performers in 3D (Bono reached out to touch you), but they layered graphics and combined shots to form a whole 3D world on the screen.
to add to the immersive experience, we saw it all on an IMAX screen. Bono’s head 6 storeys tall. you could see the beads of sweat. amazing.
the energy in their performance, the way they stretched the medium and the overall presentation set the standard that we now all need to reach for.
i’m crossing my fingers that we can get the bucks together to see it again before the run ends as this won’t be in wide release and it won’t be coming out on dvd.
the rest of the weekend was pretty damn cool as well. went to two different talks at the cloisters (one on saturday, one on sunday) along with taking some more pictures there. the place is starting to feel like home.
before the big U2 thing, we had dinner at the mall food court. yum. veggie sushi and tempura with my green tea in a steel can. followed that up with chocolate chip mint gellato and a browse through barnes & noble and the japanese bookstore that i always forget the name of. they have the most awesome stationery.
sunday was the cloisters again and then dinner at miss’ apartment with the end of the superbowl (uhm, go giants? i honestly wasn’t so interested) and then the 5th installment of the Young Indiana Jones movies that we’ve been working through since the beginning of the year.
feel like i’m coming down with a bit of something, hopefully i can fight it off. here’s to a quiet day at work and a quiet evening at home.
