I'm a book cover designer and art director based in New York and New Mexico. I've been blogging about home renovation, interiors, graphic design, DIY, food, cosmetics, dogs, art, music, books, and life in general since 1998. I could really use a cup of coffee right now.
29 Comments
Love it! I have never seen him before. Great photos!
hee hee. look at the other passengers in the background ignoring it all…
PATTY! Hi Patty.
Yeah, he kind of picked the wrong time of day. 8:45AM? Really?
was he good? that would have made my day!
He was good, but he would have been better in a different setting…and at a different time of day. I give him major props for not wearing a wig or whiteface (UGH) like a lot of MJ impressionists.
What a cool/funny/odd thing to see at 8:45 in the morning. Looks like he even has the jheri curl going on. Or he just crimped his hair? Only in NYC…
P.S. You have awesome stalker picture-taking skills!
NINA! Hi Nina. He was totally rocking the Jheri-Curl, and it was PERFECT. Very 1983 MJ.
Totally awesome and who better to document it than you!
Whoa, le… I think I have that jacket. Sequins make me totally wanna SHAMONE!! (Hee-hee…)
Man, you gotta love New York. That rocks.
Only in NYC. Unfortunately, for the rest of us.
There is a LOT of MJ love in this city, that’s the truth…
how did you snatch those pictures? did he ask you for money?
I didn’t try to hide it, I just took photos (and video, but I can’t figure out how to get it off of my phone). That’s normal here, I guess! Subway performers always “pass the hat” after they’re done, but there’s no expectation or anything. I’d have given him something, but he went in the other direction—they have to hustle in order to collect $$ and hope off the train before the doors close!
How funny! I would love to see the video.
perfect capture! i was just totally there.
Since that song was stuck in my head yesterday [thanks for that!:)] I looked up the lyrics that I sort of gloss over with mumble [yeah, I do that with a jillion songs]. Had no idea it was deep at all:
. . . lift your head up high
and scream out to the world
“I know I am someone”
and let the truth unfurl . . .
See, now it’s it’s stuck in my head again, but I way more okay with it.
That guy + this post totally started somethin’.
Yeah, that’s true for a lot of his songs, actually—there’s a lot more going on than it seems on the surface. I think WBSS was the first one he wrote himself that stepped away from fun/dancing and into something more serious. I love this part:
You’re a vegetable
Still they hate you
You’re just a buffet
They eat off of you
Sad that he was already feeling that in his early 20s (actually, he was already feeling it by the time he was 14…).
HOW FUN!! I heard “Rock With You” this morning on the way in to work. It made me happy! It took me WAY back..
So jealous. That would have made my day so much better.
I see this guy ALL the time! Especially walking with his radio in hand in Washington Heights! He is really a site to see! Kinda think of it….I must have seen him on his way to the A train!
That’s so funny! I’ll have to keep an eye out for him in the ‘hood.
Oh how I wish I lived in New York :op… I’ve never seen a performer on BART :o(
That is so awesome. Great photos, Anna! The “coolest” thing I’ve seen on my Seattle bus commute so far was a man who kept moving his sneakers back and forth (like Dorothy’s “there’s no place like home” trick), laughing, and repeatedly saying, “My shoes! My shoes! They won’t stop squeaking! My shoes! My shoes! They won’t stop squeaking!” This experience was closely followed by an older woman wearing a huge Cat in the Hat sized “Finding Nemo” stuffed hat.
What you just described is a daily experience on the NYC subways, Melanie!!
Here’s my favorite Seattle bus story. Once I was waiting at the bus stop and these two guys were lounging on some nearby rocks drinking secret beverages out of paper bags. One of them said, “Hey! You waiting for the bus?” I withheld “duh” and instead went with, “Yeah.” Then he said, “We don’t need the bus.” And I was like, “Oh yeah?” He said, “Yeah…when it turns midnight…we grow wings…and fly!” Then he and his buddy started cackling with laughter. Then my bus came. The end. 🙂
On the Q train we’re stuck with mediocre mariachi bands. “MJ” needs to get to Brooklyn ASAP.
Oh, we get the mariachi bands, too!! Usually at 8AM, which is probably the time when you least feel like hearing mariachi music.
Man, I almost never take the A train anymore! Please Lord let him get on the 2,3 🙂 Great photos, Anna!
Sooo… what New York City is about!
Wish I took my morning commute a few minutes late to have caught him.