Midtown

Midtown Manhattan is where all the tourists go, myself included. Times Square is the infernal epicentre, full of awful Euro trash and garish colours. Not all the garish colour is on the Euro trash, but much is... My problem with Midtown is that I have seen it before I guess, infact, on the last trip here I got to see much more. Lady Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, John Lennon's last gasp spot and of course millionaire row on the Upper East Side. Due to planetary laziness and government worker screw ups, I was not born there. Next time, I will not stay in Midtown and unlike this and last time, I am not returning in winter. My daylight hours ended on top of Rockefeller Plaza and seventy stories up in a fierce and icy wind waiting for the perfect night shot just about finished me off. I'd be sent home in a Stouffer's wrapper.

Actually today was a mixed bag. Yesterday's lack of limb feeling may be down to the fact that I came down with a case of flu last night or a very heavy cold. So much so my nose is raw from Comfort Inn brand kleenex and, I felt so blah I went back to bed until noon. It was cloudy out anyway and the wind picked up. Not sure I missed much. It was 1:30 before I got out on the street. Excuse me if I am more moribund than is usual for someone with a core body temperature of 3 degrees...

I forgot to pack a bathing costume, so in Macy's, the self proclaimed "World's Biggest Store" you'd be surprised to hear that they have none. It's a spring thing they say, so I assume no one in a city of 13 million goes on winter holiday. There's business opportunity there I think. That said, the way my head feels, it's probably a sign from the Good Lord Steve Jobs. My ears hurt ascending Rockefeller Plaza, so bad news for flying and maybe a hint as to no diving in 2 days... Not sure what to do about that, but maybe no bathing suit is a good thing. I meant not go swimming silly, no one mentioned naked. After Macy's I tried to get tickets at TKTS for cheap shows, American Idiot was about all they had, I wanted to see The Addams Family. Anyway, Rockefeller's pictures are below. Last time I went up the Empire State and thought paying for another high view was lunacy. But it dawned on me too late, everyone wants pictures of The Empire State as the tallest building in Manhattan, but when up it, you don't see it. From Rockefeller there are also less obstructed views of Central Park.

I have a friendly homeless person living with a puppy dog two doors down from the hotel, I saw him several times today. I also asked directions from a policeman, who I laughed with about the hordes of rainbow huen Euro Trash. Midtown is too much like Las Vegas I suppose, it's mostly full of people that should be put on a one way flight out into space.

That said, my homeless friend can stay with his puppy dog. I was going to eat sushi for dinner, but I gave the homeless man a twenty and ate at McDonalds instead. Wisely spent.

OK, lots to do tomorrow, the van picks me up after 4pm, so I have to have to visit the Church of Cupertino and the Museum of Modern Art. Love it there. I wasn't going to ask the homeless man for a picture, but if he is around tomorrow, I think I am going to.

He is my tribute to Midtown. He signifies the perseverance neccesary to live in an area so dense with awful, awful tourists.

Hey, I am excluded because I wrote it.









Some may recall my last trip to NYC and the infamous Letterman Show. Attending it is something you do when entering Hell is impossible because it is full or closed for refurbishment.
































This bright section is indeed Times Square, the radiation glow being the tourist's winter clothes.








Central Park is behind this section of sky scrapers.




Human entrees can defrost themselves in the complimentary heated rooms on top of the Rockefeller Plaza, note most seem more concerned with holding on for grim life than the view from the windows...













Euro Trash are like lemmings drawn to the Golden Arches. Oh wait, I ate there too, darn it.




Even the face on the pay per use binocular says "Go Home! Too Cold!"

And goodnight New York!

- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on picture for larger image and gallery.

Home - Toronto - New York

Well, a long and hazy few hours on what is really a short hop across North America is what I just experienced. An overpriced chicken sandwich with spinach ailoi was the only break, not sure it was worthwhile, as the chiken and spinach shared similar textures. I have never really known what aioli is, and now I do. It is lawn mowings caught in your shoe treads for a few days. However the sandwich came with an over sized Toronto Airport price tag, so it must be good. Oh I cannot lie it was horrible. The irony of this story is that the shop was called 'Upper Crust' - if anyone there really was upper crust they would have jailed the owners and set the shop ablaze.

I am now on the flight to La Guardia in New York and it is bumpy bumpy.... The first Leg of the trip I had taken 3 lots of pills, Gravol, some tranqs and my gut stuff - I had to phone the pharmacy to see if there was danger in that elixir, but she said no, they would just be longer acting together. It worked so well for the first flight I was hoping the effects would live on for the second. Guess I miscalculated that, I am now reasonably aware I have limbs attached so I am thinking I should have taken more. I can also name all but the one Beatle, the one everyone forgets, so I guess I am lucid again - sadly. We are somewhere over Lake Ontario, completely dark out the window and I am thinking maybe the iPad is causing the bumps, sorry the announcement here says turbulence but they are bumps in the road for sure. The first time I powered it up the bumping began. I turned it off and the bumps dissipated. I turned it back on again after a few and for the first 5 mins exactly the same thing. This plane is also being driven by a teenage car racer. Heavy on the gas on the tarmac, hard braking and a very fast take off it seemed, the plane is only half full so maybe lighter. I just hope when we stop there is no parking lot spin outs. I might see that sandwich again. This plane is very noisy...wow. The landing gear drops and your bowels evacuate. Looking at the floor, not cleaned in a decade, it would be hard to see if a splash would be at all visible, I will not worry about that then. Que sera, sera....

Oh, we are decending from the Apple Store (heaven for the non believers) so I need to sign off for a few. "Turn off all electronic devices" TTYL.

So this is the end of the first day entry, I am in the Times Square hotel. Some pictures are attached. The landing into grungy La Guardia airport was rough, so rough I am considering buying some adult sized Pampers. Walking through the terminal building I already knew I was in NY. The people are different - lots of Jewish people, Hacidim too, you never see Hacidic jews where I live, lots of black people...the van from the airport had a police officer from Belize and a computer programming East Indian chicoletta from Vancouver, the driver was from the Dominican Republic. So welcome to New York, it's the place where humans come to get mixed up as a sort of living coleslaw. And for the next two days I am the rotten apple in that salad. Because this particular temporary resident feels like he just landed on Mars.











Times Square is the ephinany of American culture. It's dirty and messy, garish and expensive. And to boot, it's not even a square!





















Yes a man is living in a store window, and being America is sponsored by a fabric softener.

























Warm grease in the hood.














I went for a walk for a couple of hours, some of the places I have seen before, but, they are colourful. I also ate dinner at White Castle, which was quite a walk into the hood. The food was dreadful, but I can see the addictive quality, it is steamed, greasy and sometimes fried hard mush, but it tastes ok when warm. I would go there again :) Not sure if it will sit well overnight, but I tried to walk some of it off by running around taking pictures. The place has signs that read "20 minutes after buying your food you will be asked to leave. Refusal to obey the rules will result in arrest."

That's a classy joint.

It's Saturday night of course and so it's a bit of a zoo all over midtown, trannies, tarts, tourists and thugs packed into a brightly lit core, note they all begin with the letter T. Perhaps there is a message in that. Oh well off to bed...no time to ponder.

And yes, Mars never looked so good :)

- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on picture for larger image and gallery.

Stop No. 1 is New York City.

It all begins January 29th. Please check back after that day. Thanks !




- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on picture for larger image and gallery.