Dope on the Slope

Snowverdose

Well whaddya know.

The forecast calls for another 4-6 inches of snow tomorrow!

I'm so happy I could just [CENSORED].

Atlantic Yards Sunset

While I've Been Away...

I took a trip to San Francisco and had dinner with Katie and Jonathan at a very nice restaurant. So nice in fact that my client will never see the receipt. (What was the name of that place?)

Jessamy and I went to see the first weekend of SPAMALOT in previews with Steve and Rachel. I farted in Eric Idle's general direction when I spotted him standing a scant six feet away at the sound board just before the curtain went up. I regret now that I didn't buy the Deluxe Cow Catapult playset for my nephews. Keep an eye on cast member Sara Ramirez, she's a goin' places.

It snowed 5 inches Sunday and it's snowing another 6 inches today.

The Supreme Court heard Kelo v. New London, a challenge to eminent domain practices that has implications for the proposed Atlantic Yards project. (more on that later)

I used my mandoline for the first time and had a severe case of wrist cramping the next day. Are potatoes au gratin really worth it?

My niece's third birthday party was treated to a performance of trained monkeys.

I finally found a place where you can play "vintage" video games for a quarter while drinking beer. It's in hipper than thou Williamsburg, and it's called Barcade. We checked it out with Neil and Rebecca. Unfortunately, Joust and Qbert were on the fritz. However, I managed to play Dig Dug, Moon Patrol and Frogger.

I'll be back to semi-regular posting tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a bit of nostalgia for those of you who used to hang out at Goldmine or Aladdin's Castle. Those were the days my friend...

Barbarians at the Gates

Jessamy and I caught a glimpse of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005" Sunday evening at dusk and I snapped a few blurry photos.

Today, I decided to see what it looked like in the light of day. The weather was unseasonably warm (mid 50s), so I was prepared for a crowd. However, I didn't really expect to see the throngs of people who were out walking the paths. I wouldn't be surprised if Central Park had a half-million visitors today. Not bad for the city's second best park.

UPDATE: Here's Wikipedia's excellent description of New York City's best park.

More photos here

Friday Bird Blogging: Watch This Space

I notice that South Knox Bubba doesn't have a bird pic up yet today. I'm hereby challenging myself to go out, nab a bird pic, and get it posted before bubba has his up.

It's good to have goals.

UPDATE: I should have known better than to doubt Bubba. He posted a beautiful picture at 9:13 AM. Still, I did manage to get some good exercise and interesting photos.

Here they are for your amusement.

I figured my best bet for getting some bird pics would be the "lake" in Prospect Park. When I arrived, I found that the majority of Prospect Lake was iced over, and most of the birds were gathered near the few remaining patches of unfrozen water. I was using Jessamy's small Sony digital, so my zoom capability was severely limited. Getting a good shot was going to be difficult. One of these days I'll have to get one of those fancy digital SLRs, but as Donald Rumsfeld might say, you go photo blogging with the camera you have, not with the camera you want.

Thank heaven, for little gulls...

There were easily 500 gulls congregating on the ice. Unfortunately, very few of the shots I took were clear enough to be interesting.  The shot above is a bit blurry as well, but I liked the looks of the cracks in the ice.

Here's something you don't see every day - swan's legs.  This particular swan was crossing from one open patch of water to another. It seemed to me that this move was precipitated by the arrival of several Canada Geese. The ducks apparently didn't want to be around the geese either, and they joined the swans in moving to goose-less territory. This is pure conjecture, but I've found geese to be very aggressive about defending "their" territory. Maybe the other birds figured it was easier to move than to try to get along. Either that, or they didn't appreciate the fowl language.

Here are the offending geese. I apologize for the poor focus, but I was constrained by the limitations of my mobility, the camera, and the fact it was so cold I could barely press the shutter. It also seemed to me that the shutter was slower than normal. I wonder if the temperature had an effect?

I was also on the lookout for songbirds and raptors, both of which are notoriously difficult to photograph. There were several rushy areas near the water that were ideal for smaller birds. I spotted a female downy woodpecker, but she was impossible to photograph. There was also a juvenile mourning dove nearby, but she took flight before I could get close enough for a good shot.

Finally, I snapped a picture of a robin. Can you find it in the picture below?

If you decide to brave the cold and visit Prospect Park this winter, the Brooklyn Bird Club has some nice birding tours on their website.

Hope Springs Eternal II

It will soon be baseball season again! Here's a picture of us enjoying a Mets game with our buddies Katie and Jonathan last year. My ambition this year is to be a diehard  Brooklyn Cyclones fan.

Hope Springs Eternal

"The splendor of the rose and the whitness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it’s scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness."

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Jessamy's sharp eye settled on this snowdrop bursting through the crust of slush in front of a 2nd Street brownstone. I'm looking forward to quite a show at Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens this spring.

Speaking of Roach Motels...

A favorite New Yorker gag from the cartoon bank:

The Intruder

I'ts been a living hell this week in Whippany, New Jersey. I've been held prisoner in one of those off the highway "Whatsits Suites" for a week performing corporate-speak lobotomies on aspiring consultants (i.e. training). Never leaving the hotel, eating the same old crappy food every day, bleaching under the warm glow of the jaundiced conference room lights. The last thing I needed was to be  assaulted.

Sometimes we get the last thing we need.

This morning around 5 AM I awoke with a start. Did I hear something? Maybe it was just my stomach grumbling - the happy hour snacks from the night before were wreaking havoc on my innards. No, there was definitely a noise. I looked toward the kitchenette area just outside the bedroom. A roach scurried into the green glow cast on the wall by the clock radio, but I could not make out a human presence. "It's just your imagination," I told myself. I headed for the bathroom.

That's when he attacked.

As I was passing the closet, a heavy set guy came at me out of the darkness. He wasn't kidding around. I yelled "hey" while throwing my best punch. I hit him solidly in the chest, but  no punch of mine was going to bring this ugly bruiser down.

His skin was like polished glass.

APOLOGY & EXPLANATION:

Well, the "dope" on the Slope certainly lived up to his name in a number of ways today.

First, I'm OK. The blow I landed on the mirrored wall wasn't sufficient to break either the glass or my hand. In fact, it wasn't really a punch. It was more of a forearm block and a shove. I may have slightly sprained the wrist of my left hand thrusting it against the mirror. However, I think my ego was the main thing that was bruised.

Second, I'm really sorry for causing any alarm. I re-read the post when I got home and it's not at all clear what really happened. I should have thought more carefully about how people would take the story. After all, this is usually a straightforward log of daily events. I hate worrying about my friends and family, so if I put any of you through that, I apologize.

Three - Here's what really happened.

I had been having trouble sleeping all week with the light coming in from the parking lot. Last night I decided that I would pull shut the heavy vinyl shades and try to block out all light coming into the suite. It was very dark. The only illumination was the clock radio and the microwave. This made all of the spots outside of the radius of these lights nearly pitch black.

The noise that woke me up was the sound of someone rustling papers. I had been working on several papers that I had left stacked on the desk in the combination kitchen/office/living room. There was no way a draft could have blown the papers around. I was certain someone had brushed against one. Of course, once the lights came on it was clear that the source of the rustling was the clerk slipping my receipt for the week under the door.

The bathroom was connected to the bedroom by a narrow passage with a sink and mirror on one side, and a floor to ceiling mirrored closet on the other. Basically, the entire passage is one large mirror. After I had convinced myself that maybe the paper rustling had been a dream, I headed for the bathroom at an angle that brought me face to face with my own reflection, which literally seemed to be lunging at me. The effect would not have been so convincing if there had been more light, or if the mirror had been framed. As it was, it was very scary, and, of course, very embarrassing.

It's Ours Now

or perhaps it's the bank's. At any rate, we are now  the proud owners of one of eight units in a lovely turn of the century brownstone.

That's our unit on the left.

It's funny how you don't notice the flaws until you've handed over the downpayment - the voices saying "get out," the swarms of flies, the blood oozing from cracks in the plaster. Still, at least it's not a co-op.