Knicks Games! Booo! You're a bum!

We've been to two Knicks games in the last 8 days. I bought tickets to see the Knicks play the Suns the first day that tickets went on sale since the Suns were the team we really wanted to see. A couple weeks after buying those tickets I got a special offer for $10 tickets to see the Mavericks 8 days after the Suns game, so I couldn't turn that down.

Getting to Madison Square Garden was easy. Once we get on the subway in Brooklyn, we don't have to step outside until after the game is over and we're back in Brooklyn.

The Suns game was great. We arrived early and waited until the turnstiles were opened and took the escalators up Tower A to our seats. There is always a feeling I really enjoy when I go to games especially the first time I go to an arena. I just love walking through the hallways around the arena and passing by the gates, getting a glimpse of the stadium inside. Then the best moment is when you walk through your gate and the whole place opens up in front of you - a cavernous dome filled with thousands of seats and thousands of people.

We were able to walk down pretty close to the court about 50 minutes before the game and watch a few of the Suns warm up. We were really close. The security guards were telling everyone to move along, but as long as we stood out of the aisles we were allowed to loiter and take pictures.

Steve Nash came out to shoot around and was impressive. He doesn't miss. Okay, he missed a few shots, but overall he was unconscious. He shot three pointers, layups, mid-range shots, fade-aways, scoop shots and they all went in. He was the last player out on the court warming up.

The game itself was great. The Knicks team doesn't get nearly as many cheers as the visiting squad, but instead they're greeted with thousands of people booing. Their coach, Isiah Thomas who just settled a sexual harassment case, gets the worst of it, deservedly so. He's a bum!

Hang your head in shame, Isiah.

There were boos during both games we saw, but by far the most boos came last night against the Mavericks. We were seated in some sort of "fan zone" or something where a fat kid with a cowbell and Stephon Marbury jersey ruled the section.

Behind us sat some comedic "fans" who had nothing nice to say about the Knicks and routinely called the players bums, commenting on how they were really "earning their pay check" and sarcastically complimenting one of the team's leading scorers for having 2 points in the third quarter.

Unfortunately they left early and the Knicks' comeback wasn't as humorous as it could have been. And come on people, don't leave a basketball game after the third quarter no matter what (okay, unless your team is down by 40). There is still a whole quarter to be played! If we had left after the third, we only would have gotten $7.50 worth of our $10 tickets!!! Who can afford that?

Cowbell boy was some sort of mini-celebrity though. As people flooded towards the exits, a good number of them stopped to chat with him for a couple minutes. During the games he often got out of his seat and lumbered up and down the aisle banging his bell and chanting "Let's Go Knicks!"

After the game, it was said that Isiah had mentioned they wouldn't have missed so many layups if the fans weren't booing. I guess they couldn't hear the cowbell.

BOO!!!

In other booing news (booing, not boring), there was a talent search during halftime and the kid singing Sinatra was booed (he was probably 12 years old). There was a half court shot competition during the game against Dallas. When the announcer mentioned a participant was from Dallas, the kid got booooooed (he was probably 14)!!! There was another shooting competition. When one guy couldn't make a free throw he got the worst of it from the Madison Square Garden faithful.

Man, these New Yorkers can boo.

Celebrity sightings at the games:

Keri "Felicity" Russell

Magic Johnson

Shannon Miller (Olympic gymnast)

Steve Schirripa (Bobby 'Bacala' Baccalieri from the Sopranos)

Kim Catrall (Sex in the City)

Some Mets players who got BOOOOOOED!!! It was quite funny. Booing is fun!

Julianne Moore

Seann William Scott (American Pie, other stuff)

Madison Square Garden (The World's Most Famous Arena):

The current Garden is the fourth incarnation of the arena in Manhattan and opened in February 1968 on the site of the beautiful Beaux Arts designed Pennsylvania Station, with the trains being rerouted beneath the arena . The first Garden dates back to 1879.

The Garden is famous for housing the Knicks and the Rangers, but also for numerous other events:

• 2 Joe Frazier versus Muhammad Ali fights
• John Lennon's final concert before being murdered
• The Concert for New York City (after September 11th)
• Performances by many of the greatest musical acts (you know, like Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey, Elvis and Sinatra, although I bet no one booed him)
• Many historic performances by Michael Jordan (55 point "double-nickel" game, playoff games, etc...)

• John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday party (where Marilyn Monroe sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President)
• MSG was the nest for Godzilla babies in the 1998 Godzilla movie.

And there you have it, 2 games at the Garden, 2 losses by the Knicks. Booooo!!!!

Celebrity Sighting Extravaganza!

What a place to live, this New York City. So many celebrities running around, getting coffee, filming movies, walking dogs and pushing strollers!

Just this week I saw Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman, as well as Brad Pitt and Angelina (and all their kids!) It was crazy! Man!

Okay, I'm lying. I haven't seen a single celebrity since I moved here and I'm a bit disappointed. Maybe it has something to do with my working from home and rarely leaving the apartment?

I don't know if there are any celebrities in my Latin neighborhood, but I think I may have seen Rosie Perez at the supermarket.

You think her voice is crazy? You should hear it in person. Just take a ride on the L train around 3pm when school gets out. All the Spanish speaking teenage Brooklynites talk like that, and faster!

"Billy!! You lost all our (expletive) money!!!" - Rosie Perez in White Men Can't Jump

Emergency and Evacuation Instructions

I picked up the pamphlet at the library last week about the Emergency and Evacuation Instructions from on-board the subway train.

I figured I should prepare myself and read it through, just in case. The pamphlet says that more than 4.5 million passengers ride the subway every weekday. I'm probably one of only a few of them to actually read this thing.

The rules are pretty simple.

Do Not Pull the Emergency Brake Cord

Stop - Stay calm and don't leave the train on your own. The third rail (6000 volts of electricity!!!) may still be electrified.

Look - In the case of an emergency look for a subway crew member.

Listen - To the often inaudible and static messages that are broadcast over the intercom systems.

These instructions are pretty simple and seem to only apply in the case when the train breaks down or if there's a loss of power or something.

What I really want to know is what to do when the following instances occur!!!

FM Belfast

One of my good friends at Parsons is a girl from Iceland. She just told me a few weeks ago that she was playing in a festival in Iceland with her band so she had to take a week off from school. I said "What?! You're in a band!" and she replied "yes: FM Belfast". And such was my introduction to the most awesome up-and-coming party band the music world has yet to see. They should not be confused with the Irish warship HMS Belfast.

My friend informed me that she and her band were going to be playing two gigs in the Lower East Side, so Joel and I of course went to show our support. My friend and her bandmates were happy to see us and promptly put our names on their guestlist (score) and gave us their drink tickets (double score!).

Joel and I had no idea that we were about to step into the most happening 40-minute dance party of our lives.

They took the stage: my friend, her boyfriend and their lead singer and launched into their set. The room was about one quarter full when they started and halfway through their set, it was packed with suspciously Scandinavian-looking men and women dancing their asses off. I guess it looked something like this:

Except most people were blond.

It was quite the workout, let me tell you. They write ridiculously catchy tunes.

We were out with those crazy Icelanders until 3 in the morning. Another notable event during the night was that I met an Aussie who used to work with Richard Kingsmill and Robbie Buck at Triple J!!! This was quite an event for me, as I've been listening to Triple J for years now and it's by far the best radio station in the entire world.

Do yourself a favor and watch FM Belfast's video. You'll be singing it all day:

Tonight was our first American Thanksgiving dinner. It was er...good?

O-Fresh! Live and in Concert!!

O-Fresh is going to take the world by storm, hurricane, typhoon, monsoon, tsunami, Chinook, cold front, earthquake, NUCLEAR DISASTER!!!

You have heard me mention the One and Only O-Fresh before, now I will mention him again, praising his rapping ability.
O-Fresh (not to be confused with the oral bubble bath tooth foam) is a rapper from Providence, Rhode Island. If that alone doesn't strike fear in your eardrums, then you haven't heard suburban rap before.O-Fresh, Live and in Concert

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007. Fontana's, New York City. The night was cool, like a temperate refrigerator, which required my wearing a hooded sweatshirt on top of my Original Gangster t-shirt, emblazoned with an original Nintendo gun centered in the middle of the old English typeface. I was ready to see the Original Fresh in concert.

Chantal and I made our way down the skinny lower-east-side streets, navigating our way around garbage bags and refuse on the street. The strange Chinese signs illuminated the cobbled street in a neon glow and rats were out in abundance.

Fontana's stood out from the run-down buildings and seedy restaurants like O-Fresh stands out amongst his rapper contemporaries - like a welcome sight and clean-cut alternative to all the garbage out there.

We arrived at the door to Fontana's basement and were greeted by a woman with a pen and a sheet of paper listing the names of the night's performers. Under each one of the three acts was a tally of who the guests were there to see. When she asked us, I responded with a definitive "O-Fresh", and gave her a scowl, curled my upper lip and squinted my eyes as if to say, "Who else? Please."
The door to the basement opened, and I immediately heard sounds of rap beats cascading up the uneven staircase. We rushed down to find O-Fresh already in the middle of his set!

We had missed the first 20 minutes, regrettably, and we were immediately sorry that we did.

Mr.Fresh sounded even better in person than he did on his MySpace page! He skipped around the stage with his two co-rappers, Sneaky Pete and John MackEnflow. Both of whom are incredible rappers and performers themselves.

There were two backup singers as well, and O-Fresh himself played his beats off his iPod situated at the back of the stage.

We heard about three songs, two of which we had never heard before. His newest song, 1st of a Kind was incredible performed live.

We were also fortunate enough to make it in time for Suburban Gangsta, which contains Chantal's favorite lyric: "Even if it says 'Don't Walk', I'ma stomp through/ I keep the crossing guard paid so I cross when I wants to."

If he keeps up this kind of rapping, he'll be able to do whatever he wants. He is good. Really good. So good that I fully intend to go to his next show, and the show after that one. As long as O-Fresh is making music, I'll be listening.

Not only is he a great musician, but he's a really nice guy. I had the chance to meet him after the show and talk 80s pop culture. Nice guy, great music, incredible performance.

If things happen like they should, O-Fresh will be on everyone's MP3 player soon. You can buy his CD here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/ofresh I don't have one yet, so when you buy yours, why not one for me? You get 10% off if you buy more than one!

Visit his MySpace page here to hear four of his songs: www.myspace.com/ofresh

I know I encouraged you to listen to Joe Bendik in my last post, but if you listen to anyone, listen to O-Fresh. Watch the video, too (I've embedded it below for your viewing and listening pleasure). That way you can tell all your friends you knew of O-Fresh before he was a multi-platinum recording artist, and you will have added another great artist to your Facebook musical preferences.

Hallowe'en Night

I was excited for Hallowe'en this year because Chantal made the greatest costumes.

It was quite a change from last year when we went to a friend's party and we threw together costumes an hour before we left our apartment. I dressed up last year in a Team USA basketball jersey, wore a large USA Flag and hung a USA license plate around my neck and carried a small flag. I was Captain America.

Well, this year Chantal made beautiful costumes designed in the Regency era style (between 1811-1820).

In addition to looking forward to wearing the costumes, we were excited to take in the annual Hallowe'en Parade that marches up 6th Avenue. After that we had a party to attend in the East Village.

The photo above is of us in Union Square before heading off to the party.

The Parade

We were a few rows back from the street so it was hard to get a good view of the costumed people, but these skeletons (below) would fly right overhead and threaten to bite your head off. There were so many great costumes, it's too hard to even list any. Anyone with a costume was allowed to participate in the parade, and they say they usually get about 50,000 participants and over 2 millions spectators lining the streets.

The Party

Now for the party, the highlight of the night. We bought tickets to this thing after reading some great reviews online. Also, it sounded like the best one we found. The other one we found online had a costume contest judged by famous porn-star, Ron Jeremy, and his friends, the Penthouse Playmates.
We were looking for something a bit more dressed up and less trashy.

So, to the Theater for the New City we went. We should have known better. The website advertised theatrical shows and performances and I guess they were in a classic, artsy, pretentious theater way. It was like being in a movie watching these performances. I thought they only made this stuff up for cheesy scenes in teen comedies (see: She's All That), but it's real, it is very, very real.

Upon arriving at the venue, we gave our tickets to a grumpy man and walked into the lobby where we immediately saw a man dressed as a naked man. Or so we thought. But why dress like you're naked when you can actually be naked? So throughout the night this naked, old man roamed the halls - and he wasn't the only one. There were two naked, old men! No photos of that, sorry.

Puppet Show

We watched a horrendous puppet show, but it was great because of just how bad and how theater it was. Who makes this stuff up? Who cares? I don't know. But for three dollars I got a plate and unlimited access to the Cauldron. I had 5 slices of pizza, 4 slices of delicious cake, 6 cookies and a mound of hummus and chips while "watching" the show. Despite the, um, quality of the puppet show it was also fun to watch the people in their costumes wandering around.

Bad Improv

There was this tiny, little stage in the basement tucked away past the bar. There were two people on stage, a guy and a girl, and they were going back and forth with improvisational phrases. Neither of them were in costume, they were completely not funny. Were they trying to be? Who knows, who cares. It was funny anyway. Was that there intent. No. There were just that bad.

The Ukulele Group

There was a group of men grouped together in the basement playing ukuleles and singing. They were set up right across from the bathrooms. I don't think you can get a prime location better than that. They sang some Hallowe'en hits like Monster Mash. At one point, the wandering violinist (who walked around the theater all night long while playing his violin) joined in.

The Womb Room

If I had to go back to this party next year I would skip everything and head straight to the dark, cold basement, down the hall past the bad murals and go straight to the Womb Room. Yes, you read that right. It may be so-named because of its claustrophobic feeling, or maybe because the performances were so impressive that it gave me the feeling of being born again.

We were treated to two of the most unique and simultaneously crappy/incredible performances I've ever seen. But I loved them both for their pure, raw, emotional expression. I think. At least that's what they probably wanted me to think!

For those of you who have seen She's All That (alluded to earlier), the first act we saw was pretty similar to that scene where Freddy Prinze Jr.'s character does the stupid hacky sack routine. Performance art. Just not my thing. Is it anyone's thing? WHY!!??

The first act started with an older woman waxing some incomprehensible soliloquy about who knows what. Then she left the room and when she returned she was rolling in a barber's chair with an overweight naked man on it.
She the rifled through her Walgreen's shopping bag for some gauze and fake blood. She taped the gauze over the man's eyes with scotch tape and dripped blood over top.

Then the naked man (except for a towel around his waist, thankfully) began his journey into his mind, and unleashed the powerful words of his subconscious. He wonderfully channeled Nietzsche and his performance reminded me of the some of the best and most deeply moving dramatic pieces that I've seen since the great live performance shows I was fortunate enough to witness in Berlin in the early 80s.

Right. You really, really had to be there to enjoy this, but here are some excerpts (I have video, and I just need to format it correctly before you can enjoy it)

"When I woke up I heard someone ask me, are you going to sue? Strange question from someone who has just been dealing directly with the dead. Over my eyelids there lay balls of cotton. I was not supposed to talk, because talking would loosen the anchors of the bandages. Sleep! I want to sleep!"

As I type this, I have cotton bandages over my eyes as well. Not because I want to prove how awesome a typist I am, or because I was so moved by the performance that I want to feel the way the old, bald man did, but because after this performance on Hallowe'en night, I involuntarily stabbed myself in both of my eyes with a toothpick I found on the floor of the Womb.

Joe Bendik

Wow. Really, wow. I am still feeling the surge of energy flow through my veins. After the naked man left the stage, so began a performance that will never be rivaled. Joe Bendik, an old, anti-folk singer living in New York City, tuned up his guitar and began to play.

And play he did. With the voltage of a thousand 9 volt batteries, Joe turned up his amp and brought the Womb Room to an awe-full (not awful) silence that could only have been replicated by the enveloping placenta and amniotic sack that surrounded us, reverberating with the sounds of his guitar and the timeless sounds of his voice. Our mouths hung agape, to our knees, and as he played on, only the spittle dripping from our open lips moved. When the first song ended, as one, the audience collectively moved to wipe their mouths and closed them, only to then bring their hands together in one loud, deafening applause that shook the walls of the Womb.

This loud, vibrating culmination of kilowatts and decibels, mixed together and created an aura of light pink and yellow lights. With this insane, unparalleled movement and excitement, the Womb undulated and swished until it just about gushed every one of us into the street.

Anyway, it's not hard to describe his energy, his wailing and yelling and incredible emotion. He sang a song called NYC Malltown as his opener and it got me right into his show. Here are some sample lyrics.

"New York City, mall-town, (repeat), smoke free, no dancing, mall-town, mall-town. MTV in Times Square!!!

7 bucks for a pack of smokes, that ****in' mayor, he's a ****'in joke...he's a real live version of Diet Coke!

Yes! Yes! I came from a small town, I moved to a mall-townnnnnnn, whooo yea! That's what I said!"

I know the lyrics look good here, but wait until you hear them in person! Seriously, I know you think I'm joking, but this guy was great. He rocked so hard that he broke a string in his second song and he kept on playing. Kept on rocking. Kept on doing his thing. It may sound like I'm joking, but this guy put on a show and I was a bit disappointed when it was all over.

Check him out, seriously. If you have to listen to just one song, make it NYC Malltown. You won't be disappointed. http://myspace.com/joebendik.

You'll give birth it's so good.

Buses in Brooklyn.

Taking the bus in Brooklyn is always interesting. Since getting from North to South in Brooklyn is rather difficult by subway, Joel and I have been forced to take the bus if we want to go to say, Prospect Park or the Brooklyn Museum.

Most the time buses stop traffic when they stop to pick up passengers because there is never enough room for them to pull over, due to all the parked cars parked in front of the bus stop. There are sometimes bus lanes (in downtown Brooklyn) but these are completely blocked by parked cars and therefore completely useless. Most of the time we find ourselves boarding the bus in the middle of the street. Very safe. This ain't no OC Transpo.

And since Brooklynites are rather fond of parking anywhere they damn well please, this causes problems for Brooklyn bus drivers. Last week, Joel and I took the bus to Prospect Park and along the way our bus came to a sudden halt. As we leaned forward we saw that the reason the bus had stopped was because there was a double-parked car in the middle of the road. The bus driver honked repeatedly but the car didn't move. Finally, the bus driver got out of the bus and went up the steps of an apartment building and yelled at an old man sitting there. The bus driver then returned to the bus and about five minutes later a guy came waltzing leisurely out of the building to the double-parked car, put some things in the trunk like he was in no hurry at all, and proceeded to move his car.

Today, again, we experienced a car completely blocking the path of the bus, but there was no getting out of the bus, just menacing honking from the bus driver and the car eventually moved.

Frankly, I think Brooklyn could profit from one of these buses:

Just get right over those double-parked cars!

Time - Life

I've had a couple of meetings/portfolio drop-offs at the Time-Life building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue). It is an extension of Rockefeller Center and opened in 1959. It is a 48 story building with better security than some government buildings in Ottawa.

First, I have to scan my bag through an x-ray type device, like you find at an airport. Then the security guard tags my bag with a bright green sticker and sends me to the receptionist. The receptionist then calls the name of the person I'm there to see, gets confirmation that I have an appointment, and then prints out these little badges for me after seeing my identification. The badges come with fancy little plastic clips so I can clip them on my shirt. Notice that the badges are also color coded for different days.

After getting my clearance badge I can proceed to the security turnstiles. Once there, I show the security guard my driver's license so he can make sure it corresponds to my face and my badge, and then I can finally make may way to the appropriate bay of elevators.

If anyone ever managed to surpass all the security, they would still be stuck outside two sets of secure ID-card-activated doors once they arrived to the floor they were heading.

All this to drop off a portfolio!

O-Fresh

I posted a poll a little while ago asking "Who is the Best Brooklyn Rapper?"

After two weeks of the poll being open, I had an astounding 2 people (3 in total, but one vote was by me) answer the question.

I would like to thank those 2 people for reading our blog, and for pressing the button on their mouse to answer the poll question.

One of the answer options was a rapper named O-Fresh. Although he isn't actually from Brooklyn, he is living here. He is originally from Rhode Island I believe, and I found his music through MySpace. He sent a request to be a friend, and although I normally reject requests from bands, I actually decided to listen to his music and liked it. That is why I voted for him in the poll, "Who is the Best Brooklyn Rapper?" You may dispute and say Biggie or Jay-Z or Nas, but really, Biggie is dead, so he can't be, and Jay-Z and Nas are just getting old. O-Fresh is on the up and up!

He raps about my childhood, Nintendo and riding bikes. It's great lyrically, funny and not only that, but his music is really good. Great beats, good samples, production, overall, really good!

I am disappointed that I missed his show this past Saturday. I had it on my mental calendar for months and months. It was one of the many things that I was really looking forward to doing once I moved to Brooklyn. And I missed it!

Thankfully he has another show coming up on the 7th of November. I will be there, O-Fresh, I will be there.

If you're into hip hop, check out his site. He has a few tunes on there you can listen to and they are all great: http://www.o-fresh.com/ The photos posted here are from his website.

Wendy's America Conquers the World

Chantal and I headed to Prospect Park on Saturday for an afternoon of picnicking and enjoying the only forest left in all of Brooklyn. More on Prospect Park later, right now I want to talk about something even more important, and that is Wendy's. More specifically, Wendy's Frosty menu.

For years I have been a Frosty lover. It was the post-game snack after basketball games. My Dad would drive through the uh, drive-thru and I would always hope for a large, and he would get me a medium.

It was always a chocolate Frosty, until one magical evening this summer after beating my brother in a game of one on one in Cape Cod, we headed to Wendy's for the traditional Frosty treat.

I was treated to something even more special and nontraditional: a vanilla Frosty.
Yes, it was something new to behold.

Canada had not, and as of this post, still does not have the vanilla Frosty.

Then on Saturday, after picnicking on a delicious meal of pasta salad and chicken Caesar wraps, Chantal and I decided to treat ourselves to a Frosty. Little did we know, it would not be just any Frosty. I had a Frosty... with M&Ms!!! Chantal had a Frosty (vanilla) with Oreo Cookie crumbs!

They were fantastic, although a little too melty.

Sure, it's a blatant copy-cat effort of McDonald's' McFlurry, but I'm a Wendy's guy and this combines a Frosty with M&M's, so there.

The other thing I noticed on the menu that I didn't try, but will in the future, is the Wendy's Frosty Float!!! Whaaattt!! I know! I know! I couldn't believe it either. Eat that McDonald's.

7 World Trade Center

I had a portfolio meeting yesterday at 7 World Trade Center on the 29th floor.

I didn't realize it was rebuilt after the original buliding was destroyed on 9/11.

The original 7 WTC was 47 storeys tall and collapsed after being hit by debris and furthermore by fires that burned throughout the day.

The new 7 WTC began construction in 2002 and was completed in May of 2006. It is 52 storeys tall.
It felt a bit strange to be there. While I was waiting outside before the meeting I watched the construction at Ground Zero. There is still a staircase standing from one of the original towers. I think they may use it in the design of one of the new buildings or in its memorial area.

I was a bit confused by the elevators in the new building. I got in the elevator alone, and went to press the button for the 29th floor, when I saw there were no buttons. Anywhere! Except for the door open and door close buttons. The elevator took me straight to the 30th floor, but the doors didn't open. I pressed the door open button and the 30th floor was full of planks of wood and dry wall and looked like it was still under construction for office use or something.

It turns out you have to enter the floor number from outside the elevator. This system is designed to reduce elevator waiting and travel times.

Anyway, the building is being promoted as the safest skyscraper in the U.S.

Here are some other fun facts from Wikipedia:

• According to Silverstein Properties, the owner of the building, it "will incorporate a host of life-safety enhancements that will become the prototype for new high-rise construction".


• The building has 2 ft (60 cm) thick reinforced concrete and fireproofed elevator and stairway access shafts. The original building used only drywall to line these shafts.


• The stairways are wider than in the original building to permit faster egress.
  Steel columns are encased in much thicker fire protection.


• The building is also considered New York City's first "green" office tower, using 30% recycled steel. Rainwater is even collected and used to irrigate the park across the street and to cool the building.
  

This is a very similar view to what was out the window during my meeting. I didn't take this photo, but I wanted to.

P.S. The meeting went well.

iPod Shuttle

So, the other day Chantal and I were waiting at the subway platform for the 1 Train. We had just come from a movie, and it had been raining all day (see last post). Well, there was a nicely dressed man waiting with us on the platform. He was wearing a black suit, tie, the whole thing. Well, he dropped his umbrella, and the handle broke off. Chantal said, "Oh no!" I didn't think it was that big a deal, and the guy put the handle back on without any problems.

Well, then he said to us, "Can you watch for the train?" And then he jumped down onto the track.

I hadn't realized, but he had dropped a case off the platform onto the subway tracks below. It looked like one of those shaving kits you can get. We figured there must be something really important in there to jump onto a subway track for it. This specific subway line gives no indication of the arrival of the next train, so when he jumped on the track, the train really could have arrived in any second, and he would have only had a small amount of time to get back up.

Well, thankfully he made it with about a minute to spare. It was strange to see this guy down on the tracks.

When we got onto the train, he got into the same car. We watched intently to see what was worth getting hit by a train for.

Well, here is the answer:

Flash Flood

When it rains in New York, it really, really, really rains. Or maybe it rains as hard as it does in Ottawa, but the streets just retain the water better (or worse, really). New York just gets soaked when it rains. When it rains, it rains ALL day long. Broken umbrellas are trashed on the sidewalks or stuffed in garbage bins and there's often someone every couple blocks selling umbrellas to those unfortunate, soaking wet people.

Not that umbrellas really help either.
Here is a photo of Chantal standing in a puddle of water.

These puddles form at the edge of every street corner, all rushing to the drains and the sewers below. The puddles are so deep that when we were walking together to the subway I had to take a detour down the side street where the water level is lower and even then I still had to make a heroic leap to safety. I had to do that on at least 3 different streets.
I am going to buy a pair of rubber boots. It is the only way to go anywhere without getting drenched when it is raining.

New Yorkers and their yappy little dogs

Today I almost had my finger bitten off by a miniature something or other that sort of looked like a dog. The dog's owner proceeded to make excuses for the dog, unhooking its leash and explaining "now he's not on the leash so he doesn't have to protect himself". I really, REALLY do not care what her excuses were, the dog almost BIT MY FINGER OFF.

Joel and I were then informed by the cashier at the store that this woman was a "famous painter" (Amy Sillman) who sells her paintings for $100,000 apiece, in which case I wish the dog HAD bitten my finger off so I could have sued her ass. Hah.

A dog is a DOG, so train it.

(JOEL HERE: Also, when we got to the cash and were told the dog's owner makes $100,000 for her paintings, I told the cashier "Well, then I guess she can afford obedience lessons!" Zing!)

Hurricanes!

Chantal and I got a pamphlet in the mail last week about hurricanes in New York City.

A hurricane in NY could cause some pretty extensive damage due to all the highly developed and coastline. The pamphlet notes that if a major hurricane hit, it could put some parts of New York City under as much as 30 feet of water.

The pamphlet included tips on preparation and also included a map showing what zone we live in. According to the map, we are living in evacuation zone C, the green zone. It says about Zone C:
Residents in Zone C may experience storm surge flooding from a MAJOR (Category 3 & 4) hurricane making landfall just south of New York City. A major hurricane is unlikely in New York City, but not impossible.I should note that we are right on the cusp of a No Zone, in which we would not face a risk of storm surge flooding. Those in a No Zone region are advised to shelter in place.

We've got the pamphlet on our fridge, and will have to put together our "Go Bag" soon!

The Go Bag includes essentials required in case we have to evacuate our area. Hopefully we never have to use one!

In other news, Chantal is incredibly swamped with school work and is painting up a major storm! Thankfully, it doesn't warrant our having a Go Bag or having to evacuate. Although I'm sure she'd like to evacuate her Art History class if she could.

(P.S. Doesn't it bother you when people pronouce the word hurricane as a hurruh-kuhn? Well, it bothers me. Hurruh-KANE!!!)

The Big Apple

Since moving to New York I've had friends call or write saying, "How's the Big Apple?" It's happened a few times, and I usually answer with, "Awesome" or something like that. Then they ask, "Why is it called the Big Apple?" and I have no answer.

So I decided to finally do some research. It isn't exactly concrete fact, but I figured I'd post it anyway so that I won't have to remember all this stuff and say it over the phone.

From what I've read, there are several answers to the question.

The most common response is that the term originated in the 1930's from jazz musicians who would refer to New York as the Big Apple. They would refer to New York in this way because it was the biggest, best, hippest, most enthusiastic and with all those attributes it was the most coveted place for them to play.

So how some random trumpet player came up with "Big Apple" isn't really certain. Although there is the thought that it may have come from the fact that there was a popular nightclub in Harlem called "The Big Apple." That makes sense too me.

The other story is that some newspaper writer in NY once heard some guys working in a stable who were so excited to come to New York where all the money was that they called it "The Big Apple." Maybe the horses ate apples, and they thought the apples would be bigger? I don't know, but the newspaper writer used it and it became a popular term.

So there you have it. More exciting trivia to come, including the origins of the I ♥ NY logo.

Note: The Big Apple (NYC) is not to be confused with the Big Apple, Colborne, Ontario.