A really old fence

This is the fence that goes around Bowling Green Park in Lower Manhattan. Now the fence encircles a really nice place to have lunch. But until July 9, 1776 the area inside had a statue of King George III. It was ripped down and turned into cannon balls that were fired at the British fleet that was occupying New York Harbor.

The fence used to be adorned with crowns. They were removed and also melted into cannon balls. That is why the tops of the fence posts are so uneven, they were hacked off by Patriots. From Wikepidia "The cast-iron crowns that topped sections of the surrounding fence were knocked off, as well."

So many tourists feel compelled to photograph the bull at the North end of the park. It is just a big anatomically correct bull. But the top of that fence was touched by men who fought in the the Revolutionary War.

What is the deal with this???

I every subway station there is a least one card reader and attached to it is a little box where you are supposed to put your old metrocards. At the 14th Street station on 6th Ave there is a box welded to the turnstile.

This can be used one of two ways

• You swipe you card to enter the subway and realized you just used your last fare. So you have to take a step backwards and place it in the slot. The people behind you are gonna love that

or

• You happen to be in the station and your realize you do not want it anymore. So you have to go right next to the turnstile to discard it. Again the people on their way into the subway are gonna love you
  

I don't think it is gonna cut into my MetroCard revenue. I actually had a good day. I walked from 34th Street to the Battery. I found about $12 in cards. But I did not keep them all. At W 4th St. a women was freaking out because she only had an old $2 card. I traded it for a $2.25 card. When I was checking out the new station at Whitehall I watched a tourist from the land of Oblivion use 4 swipes in one a 8 foot high turnstile because he did not know how to go in. I just swiped him in.

It is good Karma. Good MetroCard Karma

My regular short run

I like to run down to the edge of Red Hook before going into Prospect Park. That way I get to see the ugly first. Then I can appreciate the beauty that much more. This is my route.


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I got new shorts so I got to bring my camera again. Under the El at Smith & 9th Street this Street Couch has been there for at least a few weeks. It is getting accessorized with a little fake radio and and some of its own graffiti. (it says "Fuck Robots") Of course I need to give a shout out to Robert Guskind :(. This is a Street Couch.

Even uglier was this sight on 9th Street. WHERE THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO GO???!!?!?!? Just because you can't find a good spot does not mean you can heave your vehicle onto the sidewalk. NOT FAIR. Please support my friends at My Bike Lane







But is soon get good. Really good. When I reach Prospect Park I appreciate it so much more. This park was created as an escape from urban living. I love it.

When I finished my run I paused atop the Endale Arch. Then I went under the arch. I read that Fredrick Olmstead met Monet in France. He saw his painted landscapes and said I want to do that too. This is the masterpiece he created (for me).

Proof that fried anything is good with beer.

Movie Review: Where the Wild Things Are and Fantistic Mr Fox

I have heard so many good things about Where the Wild Things Are. But I gotta say I did not thing is was so great. A bunch of creepy, dysfunctional monsters. Maybe it was me but I couldn't keep track of which giant stuffed animal was which. Maybe taking a nap in the middle did not help me with the plot. Yea, and who is not gonna cry at the end when a run away 11 year old is reunited with his mom. Uh, I don't think I ruined it for anyone.





But my day not lost. The opening feature was Fantastic Mr Fox . I had no idea what it was gonna be about. I only knew that my 4th grade son said it was the best book he read in 3rd grade. This movie was so much fun. If you are a kid you will like it because plenty of characters get bonked on the head. But as an adult it had plenty for me. Lots of sarcastic humor and beautiful animation. When it looked like everybody was gonna get killed they used the perfect death and destruction song for the sound track; Sympathy for the Devil. And when things got even uglier Mr Fox said "It looks like we are gonna get cluster curses"



Watch the trailer...

Who Shot Rock and Roll at the Brooklyn Museum of Art

This picture was later voted the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q (magazine)

I stood looking at that photograph. My heart rate and goosebumps both rose. That simple photograph reminded me what it was like to see the Clash at the Palladium. A 20 year old with a notepad actually asked me if I was ok when I was looking at this picture. I said "yea, I just remember being in honest fear that the building was going to collapse from all excitement, when that picture was snapped." She wrote down what I said. She should get a life.

They also had the photo that made this album cover. I used to to make my fashion statement...

There were photos showing the real excitement of live rock and roll. There were however to many photos of famous people, just because they were famous.

If you take you time you will not spend more then an hour at the exhibit. That is good because for the suggested donation price of whatever you get the rest of the museum. Stuff like this.....

Found on 8th Ave and Union St.

There was a bicycle there this morning.

We saw Miss USA on The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum

Believe it or not but today was the first time I visited the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. I have been on the pier, or the next one but that was in 1982, the see The Clash, but that was in a previous life.

Today was Veterans Day and I figured we would go. My tour guide head told me it would either be over crowded with special events or an empty museum because it was a mid-week, non school trip day in November. It was neither. Not to crowded and some extra stuff going on.

Both my kids spontaneously said they had a great time, they wanna make it a Veterans Day Tradition. I am honestly surprised that they said they had such a good time. It was their fist realistic exposure to the consequences of war. They might have even seen me a little upset. Looking at so many machines that were made just to kill people made me think that we have to stop this war stuff. Not just in the abstract, but the reality for me is that in 9 years my kids will be 18 years old. If we keep fighting we are going to run out of volunteers and there will be a draft again. I was not happy.

Anyway we had a strange celebrity sighting . Miss USA, Krsiten Dalton, was promoting Service Nation. We had a fun 15 minutes waiting for her. I told my kids we would recognize her from her crown. My son picked her out of the crowd right away. Who else wears a sash? But look at those shoes. Those are shoes!