There is plenty of roadworks happening in Brooklyn at the moment and much the same with construction in Manhattan. Something unique to the northern hemisphere that we don’t have to contend with at home is the extreme weather. In order to stay on top of things, the Vic Roads and CMFEU equivalents of the northern hemisphere have a short window in which to get things done. Did you know the Empire State which was built in the 1930’s, was completed in 1 year 45 days! Our industry needs a total shake up!! I’m going to write a letter.
We’ve been debating in Vic parliament whether to have a train going from the city to the airport for 20 years. Please stop talking and DO IT!! No more warnings on TV and billboards about smoking, drinking, king hits, drugs, getting fat, gambling, train safety, speeding, speeding, speeding, jay walking and breathing in the wrong direction. How about saving all the money you’re spending on the “telling” and actually “asking” what it is we want? We have a population which is a pimple on the backside of the earth and yet our many, many of layers of government seemingly can’t give us any credit for having any intelligence whatsoever in making decisions for ourselves?
This community announcement was brought to you by A. Imbecile, Brooklyn NY, NY
Last night we were very lucky to head into see the Broadway production of “Rock of Ages”. Now I’ve never been a musical kinda guy…much prefer gritty, challenging drama or comedy being the grumpy old festering fart that I am. However I must say that this was fantastic and heaps of fun…damn it, did I say that? Yes it was fun. Lynda summed it up as, kitschy, cheesy and unbridled enthusiasm. Superb production and brilliant performances. According to Lynda to make it in Broadway, you need the “Triple Threat”, sing, dance, act. These guys had it in spades. So glad we did it.
We piled out into the city at 10.30pm and the streets are packed. It’s Tuesday night people! So much accommodation in NYC and yet no one seems to have a home! I’m struggling to get to Lateline these days and I love Emma Alberici! Recently I’m ashamed to say that I’ve even been too tired to watch Q&A on a Monday night at 9.30pm! This is a disgrace given my long time man crush on Tony Jones, and I feel dirty not staying up for another hour.
Went to a tiny pizza bar on the street and demolished a few slices of authentic NYC pizza. Awesome. Still not sure what we are doing today. Looks like the jetlag has gone finally. Hot again. Need one of those classic Melbourne down pours that always come at the right time.
Left to Right – 1. Our daily entrance to the subway in Brooklyn 2. Broadway 3. Entrance at the Helen Hayes Theatre 4-8 Rock of Ages 9. Disgrace
Pardon my self indulgence here but below is my National Geographic moment! On our first night in Brooklyn we grabbed some takeaway late and heard these rants from a preacher coming from the bookshop across the road. The TV in the window permanently reels speeches from Malcolm X and many other African American Muslim black rights leaders as well as Kung Fu instructional videos!
The sound comes out of the roof and there is always someone watching it. Below is the morning shot from across the street and the night shot is when we got home last night. I asked the gentleman in the wheelchair if I could take it.
6pm. Hot, tired and exhilarated! Another amazing day.
Been in the deep south working lately. Pulled into a roadhouse and ordered a coffee. The clerk says,
”You want the 2 litre or the large?”
Jesus, how big is that large?
“You’re gonna wanna pull ya truck ‘round back and I’ll start the pump!”
No thanks. I don’t think I want to stay awake that long in Mississippi – Bill Hicks
Took the subway to the Rockefeller Centre and had a massive Iced Coffee at Dunkin Donuts. More like a bucket of coffee. We then went to Radio City hoping to get on a tour but the queue was ridiculous so stuck to our plan to walk to the Guggenheim. Beautiful walk up 5th Avenue and got our first look at Central Park.
The Guggenheim was everything I’d hoped. Like George Costanza I too wanted to be an architect. About 20 years ago I saw a fantastic doco on Frank Lloyd Wright, which obviously took in his designing this incredible gallery. The sad thing was that his wife and kids were bludgeoned to death by their deranged housekeeper at the family home while Frank was away on business.
Anyway if you haven’t seen it before it’s shaped a bit like the inside of a snail’s shell. Unlike many major galleries the gradual incline as you walk and the way it’s designed means that it’s difficult to miss anything. It’s just such a brilliant design and the art was mind blowing. The feature at the moment is futurism from Italy and there were all these incredible, paintings, design and photographs from the pre-WW2 era which we’d never seen before.
The permanent art owned and displayed at the Guggenheim is first class. If I can put this in context. We’re not talkin’ hack Richmond draft picks here. It’s Picasso, Van Gough, Monet, Manet, Lautrec, Renoir et al. If you can imagine the best ever games of Matthews, Ablett, Williams, Carey, Blight, Harvey (Rob of course) and the Krakour Brothers, put them in a gallery, then this is it. Shocking analogy I know.
Unforgettable couple of hours in the Guggenheim. We then walked down in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and grabbed a real NYC hot dog. I just asked for the lot, which included, chilli mince, melted cheese (looked like mustard), some sort of white cabbage, some tomato and onion stuff, ketchup and mustard. Under that was the dog itself, suffocating in saturated fat. The vendor looked concerned, handed me 20 serviettes and wished me luck. She needn’t have worried, I pretty much inhaled it.
“It really put’s things into perspective doesn’t it?”
“Too much f……g perspective!”
David St Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel at Elvis’s grave, Graceland, “This is Spinal Tap” 1982
We then decided to walk to Strawberry Fields and pay our respects to John Lennon. It was virtually a straight line from east of Central Park (8th Ave) to west (Central Park West). Central Park is incredible. You could be anywhere but in one of the busiest cities in the world. So beautiful and peaceful. Talking to an old hippy vendor near Lennon’s memorial, he said that Yoko Ono funded Strawberry Fields which is just a small area of Central Park which she helped rejuvenate after John’s death. This sparked a complete transition of Central Park itself which previously had been run down in the 70’s and housed a lot of crime. The Dakota building where John was shot is right over the road and Yoko still lives there. I read last week that Lennon’s killer David Chapman has again been denied parole which is great.
A cracking day. Tonight we are going to see some comedy at the Comedy Cellar in the West Village. Hope you are all good. Lots of Love Willow and Lynda.
Left to right -1&2. Brooklyn 3&4. 8th Avenue 5. Have you finished with that Penske File George? 6. The Met 7. Busker singing soul classics accapella outside The Guggenheim 8&9. The Guggenheim 10. One heart attack with sauce please 11-15. Central Park 16. Strawberry Fields 17. My next career move..he gave us this for $1…“I went for a job and they wanted to take a sample of my hair for a drug test. I told them to go ahead. I don’t put drugs in my hair. I put them up my nose.” Maybe my workmates will appreciate me more now! 18. Dakota Building 19. Columbus Circle South Central Park
