Up at 5 am riddled with jetlag and checked out how the Saints were going against Richmond.
Some trading of insults later via text with my boss as I’m listening to the game live in New York (technology is truly amazing) and the bottom line is we went down by 26 pts, gained another wooden spoon and my boss gets 2 Gold Class tickets from me. Supporting St Kilda is a sickness I tell you!, a sickness! 1 premiership in 141 years is appalling but we will always live in hope…always.
Funny story from our first trip on the subway yesterday. Sat opposite a young black guy with long braids, beautiful specimen, fit, immaculate and mirrored sunglasses with headphones on. Imbecile here takes a cheeky look (just a heterosexual look of course) and I can’t see his eyes because of the shades but he appears to be talking to me. I thought, “that’s nice” and proceeded to lean across and said, “sorry mate what was that” in my broadest Kwinana accent. He muttered something to me but with the noise of the train I couldn’t quite catch it, so I moved even closer, this time turning my head to the side like the old fart with bad hearing that I am and got nice and close to his face and said, “sorry mate you’ll have to speak up”. This time I heard him loud and clear. He replied in a deep Barry White tone, “I’m singin’”. I quickly reverted back to my seat apologising the entire journey till I felt the plastic of my seat ram into my spine! He gave a rye smile but this is what could have happened. Let’s take it from “sorry mate you’ll have to speak up” shall we?
“Listen here motherf……r, take your pudgy white ass and move to the next carriage before I take this Glok (he gently pulls the weapon above his belt line) and pop a cap in yo’ ass.”
Large Puerto Rican wedding party under the Brooklyn BridgeHeading to 9/11 museum this morning and a boat ride around Manhattan then we’ll see what happens. Can’t wait to get to the galleries and museums.
“I like New York. It’s an intellectual town, and I’m certainly into that. Why just yesterday I went to the Turd Museum. Yeah they’ve got a lotta great shit there. And I guess some of that crap’s worth a lotta money as well.” Steve Martin 1976
7 pm. Just returned from a somewhat paradoxical day. From the awe and beauty of the 9/11 museum to the madness of Times Square. Our feet are killing us but it’s been all worth it. The new 9/11 museum is nothing short of one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Architecturally it’s spectacular. The museum sits directly under the remembrance pools and therefore the actual perimeter of each tower and what’s left of the foundation girders is seen clearly and is roped off like an Egyptian ruin. No detail of what happened has been omitted except for maybe what drove these terrorists to commit such a vile act. The tribute to the dead is stunning and it is a true masterpiece in terms of a museum. It reflects a generosity of spirit that lives and breathes in this city. Lynda reckons the deeper you go into that museum the weight of what happened starts to crush you (she described it as an omnipresence of sorrow) and there are many exits available to the public if you want out at any stage. An amazing experience but I couldn’t go back.
Left to Right – 1. White roses are placed on victim’s names on their birthdays at the Remembrance Pools. 2. One of 7 artists employed to polish the metal at the Remembrance Pools 3 & 4. Last pillar left standing at Ground Zero 5 & 6. The perimeter footings of the World Trade Centre 7. Huge blanket in honour of the victims. 8. Art installation[/vc_message]We then took the subway to Times Square. I honestly didn’t know where to look. Just to catch our breath we ducked into an “all things American” sports fashion shop and I got myself my very own Yankees cap! Gee, I look cool. Importantly it’s the first hat I’ve got that actually fits my massive bonce. We then headed to the Hudson River but the boat was full so have to go back tomorrow. Whilst in Times Square we weren’t sure which way it was to the boat ie Hudson River and asked 2 store assistants which way..left or right down 42nd St. Neither had a clue. A bit like asking someone in Footscray Mall which way to the Maribyrnong. Mmm maybe they can be excused this time but really Manhattan is an Island. It’s either The Hudson or East Rivers, 1km each way. Can’t be that hard surely? Anyway, after missing the boat we wandered around the Hudson near the giant warship Intrepid (HMAS America F..k Yeah!). There was a dog park with not one blade of grass but instead a child’s swimming pool. The dogs had a ball in the heat but I couldn’t help think what NY dogs are like cooped up in apartments. I imagine them being little Woody Allen dogs, in therapy most of their dog lives.
Closer to the Hudson was a small area of grass about 100m x 15m wide being used by mainly gay guys in Speedos sunbaking on towels. None of them would dare swim in the Hudson of course. I remember years ago reading about one of Australia’s greatest sportspeople Shelley Taylor Smith, the queen of long-distance swimming. She won a legendary 20km swim in the Hudson many times and reflected on bumping into all forms of dead flesh including the occasional human!
We then headed back through some beautiful streets of brownstones in the theatre district and back into the fray in Times Square. From Times Square to Central Park along 8th Ave was about a mile of what we would call a market. Every type of meat was being barbequed and the smell of marinated flesh was only interrupted by the sudden stench of raw sewer. It doesn’t happen often but it can take your breath away. There were literally hundreds of thousands of people out and about and we managed to buy a couple of “New Yorky “ gifts for the kids.
We saw the naked cowboy, the original naked cowgirl, naked cowgirls and just plain naked girls! There were heaps of nutbags, mostly in deep conversation with themselves and just lots of eccentrics. Regardless of your mental state, New York is a city that embraces the flawed which is why I feel so at home here. Melbourne does too which is why it’s such a special city but this joint is on the broadest spectrum of what self-expression is all about. Next to the man playing pots and pans like drums, is a religious order demanding we repent and next to them is a man holding a sign saying “Need money for weed. Why lie?” Seriously intoxicating.
Times Square is also a tour de force of consumerism. Certainly, not everyone’s cup of tea but I got sucked into an Aeropostale outlet and bought some jeans and shirt for $60 which was worth $200 back home. Again I look really cool as well so look out casual Fridays at work. Lynnie bought an Annie Hall hat and John Lennon glasses at the market.
We must say, we have been overwhelmed by random acts of kindness in NYC. Yesterday morning we got on the wrong train line. It wasn’t a subway line, more like a regional service in Vic, and we only had 3 stops to where we were going. A conductor challenged us for our tickets but we obviously stuffed up. He was supposed to charge us $24 by law and apologized for having to charge us this amount. He then started asking us questions and we reassured him we understood he had a job to do. Suddenly he paused, you could hear him thinking, then he rolled the notes up, handed them back and said “have a nice day”. We have had superheroes offering to take photos for us and refusing compensation, even a bottle of water. I think people respond to us also. Like anything, you get back what you put in and if you show openness without being gullible, most people respond positively. There’s only been one instance of a New York tirade when Lynda was walking the Brooklyn Bridge on the wrong side of the line and nearly got cleaned up by a cyclist. He kindly referred to her as a “f…..g idiot” as he bumped into her. Anyway here’s some more photos’
