Those lovely chocolates that formed part of my goodie bag made for a tasty breakfast not quite in line with nutritionists advice, but better than nothing. After days of searching for a slushy, Ed finally got his wish. Some fast food type place made this drink that's name changed depending on person asked. People always understood when it was explained as "like the squishees they have in The Simpsons". Personally, I like the drink but cannot understand Ed's obsession with the flavoured ice. Nevertheless, the search for the slushy did not end here, this was merely the beginning of a month long determination by Ed to get as much of the frozen goods in him as humanly possible.
Then the Apple store. Or as I like to affectionately call it, Hell on Earth. I like my ipod, beyond that I am not a fan of Apple. As a gift I had been given an iphone, or rather money to purchase an iphone and contract with. I was told by a rep that on that day they were releasing something new, and I could wait and see what their new slightly updated money earner was like before buying an iphone 3gs. That would mean two more hours surrounded by Apple products, by lovers of Apple products convinced that their appreciation of Apple makes them somehow unique and trendy at the same time. I took the iphone 3gs, with a $500 deposit. I have no credit history in the US. Over there that is considered a crime, and one for which any guilty citizen pays heavily for.
Ed, who supposedly shared a common dislike of the apple store, ended up buying a pair of earphones costing over $100. We had both saved up money for this trip and to waste it like that seemed foolish to me. Now it was less than my iphone admittedly, but for a pair of earphones? Ed responded to my criticism by paraphrasing David Lynch's rant against films on phones. "You think you've heard music, but listening on those crappy earphones you've not really heard any music".
Then we go to the bottom of Manhattan for what I feel is a tourist must, a visit to the Statue of Liberty. Most NYC residents will admit to never going, it always seems that locals tend to disregard their own history. The view from the ferry of Manhattan, and what I think was New Jersey and maybe Brooklyn is stunning.
Liberty Island is the home of the statue. A couple were rolling around on the grass locked in each other's arms just next to the statue, and just opposite to a sign telling tourists to stay off the grass. Was this a metaphor for American freedom, a place where societies signs mean nothing and the power belongs to an individual, not a sign? Was it evidence of a morally bankrupt civilisation, a country with a stone lady as a false god to symbolize itself. Was it just two slightly inconsiderate lovers more obsessed with themselves than the outside world as perhaps should be expected? Probably the latter, possibly all three, I don't really care. Far more interesting to me at the time and now was what the Statue of Liberty really symbolised.
As the title would suggest, she is meant to be a symbol of liberty. She holds up a torch I believe to serve as a light to the immigrants that used to arrive by the shipload. But immigrants come by plane nowadays. And the thought of immigration seems to strike fear into the hearts of Americans everywhere. The Statue of Liberty was originally copper, her colour has faded into a decaying green that looks almost greyish. So here stands this old, decaying woman forced to eternally hold up a light to immigrants that won't see it. Beyond that, if they do arrive by boat and get to pass through New York, the statue will be one of the first things they see before entering a land where many will treat them with contempt and fear. Beyond all that, she's French. And the French hate everyone. Especially Americans. Give the statue just a little humanity, and you can't help but feel a little sorry for her.
Saturday, 25 September 2010
The Hangover
The Hangover. No, not the recent comedy film set in Las Vegas which I still have not seen. My hangover. Or jet lag or laziness. I woke up at 8.30am in line with my usual jet lag from UK to US routine. However, after effects of alcohol meant I went straight back to sleep until 12.30. Having been to New York once before for a total of 1.5 days, I knew that John's Pizza on Bleeker's Street was a must. Ed and I eventually dragged our weary bodies out of bed and trudged to Bleeker's Street in the Manhattan heat. After wandering up and down the wrong way on Bleeker's St we get there. The pizza is very good. And very filling.
We ate a fairly late lunch, but we had also been invited over for a lovely meal right by the UN building. Feeling very bloated, we got on the subway to head over to somewhere around 62ndstreet so that we could go through a little of Central Park before heading down to 42nd street. Now on the NY Subway there are trains that go locally and express, often it seems, on the same platform with the same number. Unfamiliar with this, we got on an express train. We got off on 125th Street, Harlem.
As a taxi driver in Texas later said to us, "anything north of 110th is spade city". Ed and I being white boys were certainly in a significant minority. I want to point out though that Ed's pasty British skin makes him much more of a whiteboy than me, with my slightly darker somewhat ethnic but still very white skin. Other than feeling slightly out of place, the area itself felt fine, kids playing, people just out going about their business. I found relief in being in a non-touristic area of the city. This was the daytime however, I have no idea what the area is like at night. It's reputation would have you believe that you were in a war-torn zone controlled by the gangs. It didn't feel like that at all, but like I said, we were only there in the daytime and not really there for that long.
We walked south. Through Central Park, top to bottom. It really is a lovely park, lots of trees, grass, a couple of lakes. In the middle of such a crowded city it is amazing that there is so much space giving to a place of nature. They must have some devoted and influential people protecting it otherwise I'm sure most of it would have been converted into high-rise buildings long ago. After the long walk through harlem, the park, the streets beneath the park, we get to our destination. An hour late.
Our late arrival was probably the first of many inconsiderate acts we forced our various hosts across the country to endure. As a reward we were treated to a dinner consisting of both steak and sushi with a penthouse with a view. Further more, I was given a goodie bag, consisting of various chocolates, magazines to suit my tastes (rolling stone, travel mags), a book about a poker player.
On a sidenote for those that don't know me, I am a keen poker player. Once letting my interest develop into obsession and pure degeneracy, though I never risked more than I could afford to lose. And in the long term I am a winning player. Just. The idea of making easy money while engaging in an intellectual battle just appeals to my sensibilites. It has triggered a recent interest in the stock market, a game in which I am heavily down but have not played for about eleven years. My only purchases being at the age of roughly ten-eleven, with my parents money. Making it all their fault.
After that lovely meal we returned home and had a nice, relaxing end to the day that contrasted heavily with the night before.
We ate a fairly late lunch, but we had also been invited over for a lovely meal right by the UN building. Feeling very bloated, we got on the subway to head over to somewhere around 62ndstreet so that we could go through a little of Central Park before heading down to 42nd street. Now on the NY Subway there are trains that go locally and express, often it seems, on the same platform with the same number. Unfamiliar with this, we got on an express train. We got off on 125th Street, Harlem.
As a taxi driver in Texas later said to us, "anything north of 110th is spade city". Ed and I being white boys were certainly in a significant minority. I want to point out though that Ed's pasty British skin makes him much more of a whiteboy than me, with my slightly darker somewhat ethnic but still very white skin. Other than feeling slightly out of place, the area itself felt fine, kids playing, people just out going about their business. I found relief in being in a non-touristic area of the city. This was the daytime however, I have no idea what the area is like at night. It's reputation would have you believe that you were in a war-torn zone controlled by the gangs. It didn't feel like that at all, but like I said, we were only there in the daytime and not really there for that long.
We walked south. Through Central Park, top to bottom. It really is a lovely park, lots of trees, grass, a couple of lakes. In the middle of such a crowded city it is amazing that there is so much space giving to a place of nature. They must have some devoted and influential people protecting it otherwise I'm sure most of it would have been converted into high-rise buildings long ago. After the long walk through harlem, the park, the streets beneath the park, we get to our destination. An hour late.
Our late arrival was probably the first of many inconsiderate acts we forced our various hosts across the country to endure. As a reward we were treated to a dinner consisting of both steak and sushi with a penthouse with a view. Further more, I was given a goodie bag, consisting of various chocolates, magazines to suit my tastes (rolling stone, travel mags), a book about a poker player.
On a sidenote for those that don't know me, I am a keen poker player. Once letting my interest develop into obsession and pure degeneracy, though I never risked more than I could afford to lose. And in the long term I am a winning player. Just. The idea of making easy money while engaging in an intellectual battle just appeals to my sensibilites. It has triggered a recent interest in the stock market, a game in which I am heavily down but have not played for about eleven years. My only purchases being at the age of roughly ten-eleven, with my parents money. Making it all their fault.
After that lovely meal we returned home and had a nice, relaxing end to the day that contrasted heavily with the night before.
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