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Tuesday, 25 June 2013 - Take me out to the...

 
 
...ball game! This is Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, home stadium of the infamous New York Yankees! Tonight was the first of their three games against the Texas Rangers, and with Kristina hailing from that neck of the woods we figured we may as well go along for our first Yankees game.
 
Spot the chick behind Kristina's right arm hehe - one of just many special people in the crowd.

This stadium opened just four years ago, replacing the original Yankee Stadium which had stood nearby since 1923. When you see these guys smack home runs over the fence on TV it always looks impressive, but at an average distance of over 120 metres (400 feet) from the home plate to the outfield fence it's in fact bloody impressive, even more so in person!

 
 
Oh hell yeah - cotton candy (or candy floss as we call it back home :)
 
As for the game, Texas shot out to an early 3-1 lead, before the Yankees came back to tie it at 3-3 later on.
 
The outfield looks like a very lonely, boring position. Plenty of time to think about how many millions they make from playing baseball.

During the seventh-inning changeover it is apparently customary for everyone to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" hahaha! Video here.

 
Geez, there's never any doubt which country you're in over here.
 
Going into the ninth and final innings the game was still tied up at 3-all. The Rangers, batting first, failed to improve on that. With the crowd going nuts there was a lot of swinging and missing from the Yankees, desperate for another run.
 
 
The Rangers then missed an opportunity at first base but it mattered not - the Yankees' next batter sent the ball straight over our fence to take the game 4-3. Exciting stuff :)

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 - Fun is subjective

The South Street Seaport is a historic area down the bottom of Manhattan adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge, featuring some of the oldest architecture in the area. It's a good spot for eating, drinking, shopping, and people watching. I spotted this while scanning the news today - an article entitled "South Street Seaport Fun" followed by the other article there hahaha, fail! Good job guys.

Thursday, 27 June 2013 - Tony Soprano

 
 
This is James Gandolfini, probably better known to some as Tony Soprano - mob boss and family man in the multi-award winning drama series The Sopranos. As was all over the news a week ago, Gandolfini died of a heart attacked aged 51 while holidaying in Rome.
 
Born and raised just across the river in New Jersey, his funeral took place in Upper Manhattan this morning in the massive Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the fourth largest Christian church in the world and also known as the Cathedral of Saint John the Unfinished given it was never completed hehe (as can be seen in the shot on the right). Anyway, several big names were here for the occasion which would have made for good celebrity spotting, if I didn't have to work that is. Oh well. I've never watched the Sopranos right through, but after all the rave reviews it's been getting in light of Gandolfini's death, I think I might.

Friday, 28 June 2013 - Citi Bike

 
 
Exactly a month ago, New York City added another transportation option to the menu. We all know about the buses, the subways, the cabs, and even the pedicabs here.
 
But now, just like London, Paris, Barcelona and other such cities before it, New York now has a bicycle sharing system installed known as Citi Bike. You basically pay a daily, weekly, or annual subscription for unlimited rides within that period. Stations such as these have been installed in various locations throughout parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and members can simply grab one, get to where they need to go, and leave the bike at any other station. Brilliant.
 
However, you can't please everybody, and for some folk these bikes are the latest gripe in their lives. So, with typical comedic class, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart took to the streets of New York to find what those folk find so displeasing about Citi BIke. Even neighbourhoods with no Citi Bike stations are displeased, feeling they could really make use of them. Watch the video here. The dude interviewed at the end from Brooklyn is all class ;)

Saturday, 29 June 2013 - New York goodies

 
 
Another perfect New York summer day to go exploring some of the lesser known goodies of the city. This is the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market in the Midtown neighbourhood of Hell's Kitchen. There are several theories regarding the origin of the name "Hell's Kitchen", but as far as I can tell it's been lost to history. Back in the day, Hell's Kitchen was a very poverty-stricken area, and became known as the "most dangerous area on the American Continent" with a number of gangs controlling the neighbourhood around the start of the 20th century. Today the area provides transportation, hospital, and warehouse infrastructure support to the Midtown Manhattan business district (where I work). As for its flea market, it's here every weekend and contains some very random but very cool stuff for dirt cheap!

 
From Hell's Kitchen, Kristina and I made our way down to the South Street Seaport area, plonked beside the Brooklyn Bridge, with a good view over the East River to Brooklyn itself.

 
 
This is the Seaport's most prominent shopping area, known as Pier 17. As well as the indoor shopping, there are a number of restaurants and so forth outside, as well as this awesome beer garden out the back! Not a bad way to kill a day in the sun :)

Sunday, 30 June 2013 - Gay Pride Parade

 
 
Right beneath the Empire State Building was the start of this today - New York's Gay Pride Parade, officially known as the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride March. The parade is held every year on the final Sunday of June and never fails to be an entertaining display, no matter how heterosexual you might be ;) Video here.

 
 
Back on June 28th, 1969, members of the LGBT community rioted following a police raid on the now-infamous Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the West Village. This riot, along with further protests and rioting over the following nights, were the impetus for organising LGBT pride marches on a much larger public scale.
 
Men. Enough said.

 
 
Over the course of the couple hours I was here, countless colourful floats went by, most of them booming out the beats with the dancers on top close to busting the suspension hehe. Video here.
 
Then the Mormons turned up hahaha! Interesting.
 
Hmm, well keep an eye out for that.

 
 
 
This chick smoking the huge joint was part of a 'legalise cannabis' group. I'm sure we all thought this was pretty funny until the air started reeking of weed immediately afterwards for the next ten minutes. Then we all started to wonder.
 
Even the oldies turned up to demonstrate how progressive they are :)
 
This minivan went past and not only blew our ears drums but blew the little microphone in my camera as well. It was phenomenal! Video here, doing it absolutely no justice.
 
I was perched up on a pillar to get these shots. Some dude who sat down in front of me got his mate / boyfriend to take a shot of him. Nice one, with my leg in the background, and my sweat rag (this parade was making me hot ;)

 
 
Then my friends turned up hehe.

 
 
An election is due to be held later this year to vote in the next mayor of New York City. Anthony Weiner is one of the candidates, best known for resigning from the US Congress in 2011 after sending sexually explicit photos of himself (including his, well, 'weiner') to two young women hahaha! Just the kind of mayor this city needs.
 
Christine Quinn is another mayoral candidate, and being openly gay, she had a much larger turnout in the parade hehe.
 
Gay Asians don't like to be frisked. Who knew.

 
 
As well as the floats, huge marijuana joint, and minivan with 500 speakers in the back testing the strength of every window along Fifth Avenue, some of the costumes were equally impressive.

 
 
 
Leather!
 
'Sup boyz.
 
This guy brought his snake along, in a manner of speaking.
 
Stonewall Bear is the definition of being comfortable in your own skin.

 
 
So it was a gay day had by all, with plenty of (inappropriate) love in the air.
 
Then an ambulance flew past. Someone had a bit too much gay for one day.

Wednesday, 3 June 2013 - Independence Day road trip!

 
July 4th (tomorrow) is Independence Day here in the US of A, a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, declaring independence from the British Empire way back in 1776. I wrote plenty about the history of all this during our trip to Boston back in May if anyone is interested. Anyway, we're celebrating the occasion with a five-day road trip throughout New York State - hell yeah! We'll be including Niagara Falls in there too which will be my second time to see them (but my first in summer) as well as lakes, mountains, state parks, and plenty of random middle-of-nowhere towns along the way :)
 

Monday, 8 July 2013 - The Empire State

 
Five days and 1,225 miles (1,970km) later, we've seen some of the best and some of the worst that the state of New York has to offer. In a nutshell, it was awesome! All the photos and stories to follow :)

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 - 4,000kms

 
About two and a half months ago my odometer ticked over to 3,000kms (since arriving in New York last June) while I was crossing the Queensboro Bridge on my way home from work. Then this morning, while crossing the same bridge and on my way to work this time, it ticked over to 4,000km (2,500 miles). Still loving the NYC traffic ;)
 

Friday, 12 July 2013 - The Empire State
Photos and stories from our road trip around New York State are here!

Sunday, 14 July 2013 - Protests for Trayvon

 
 
America loves a good criminal case. A couple months ago I mentioned the Jodi Arias case, the whacko who slaughtered her boyfriend and denied all knowledge of it before changing her story multiple times. Her trial gripped the nation, and she was eventually found guilty of first degree murder. Sometime before her it was the Casey Anthony case, a mother accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter to "free herself from parental responsibilities". She was found not guilty of first degree murder after a six-week trial, sparking national outrage. And now the latest case. I'm not sure how much publicity this will have received outside of America (minimal probably) but one night early last year a Hispanic 28-year-old neighbourhood watchmen, George Zimmerman, shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-old black kid, Trayvon Martin, in a gated community in Florida. On the night of the shooting Martin was walking through the neighbourhood headed for his step-mother's house where he was temporarily living. After a spate of recent robberies in that neighbourhood by young black males, Zimmerman followed and confronted Martin. According to Zimmerman's account of events, Martin then attacked him, breaking his nose and slamming his head against the pavement, and made a move for Zimmerman's gun. Zimmerman retrieved his weapon and shot Martin in alleged self-defence. Zimmerman was treated for his injuries, questioned for five hours, and released without charge. Amidst a subsequent media circus involving misleading accusations of racism, Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder six weeks later. His trial started five weeks ago and has been all over every news station in the country. The verdict was reached last night: not guilty. And this here in Union Square today is an example of the inevitable result - more national outrage and protests over what these people claim was a miscarriage of justice with a focus on racism, their argument being that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin and his claims of self-defence are bogus. Incidentally, a 911 call made by a neighbour was released in which Zimmerman can clearly be heard screaming "Help!" multiple times prior to a gunshot.

 
I personally think the verdict was the right one. In my opinion, the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt to justify a murder charge, and the defence did a good job of arguing self-defence. Plenty of legal analysts seem to agree. Not guilty doesn't mean innocent however (hence it's not an option), but given the burden of proof is always placed squarely on the prosecution, their inability to do so in this case meant a not guilty verdict was the only option for the jury. These people clearly beg to differ.
 
This chick was here for another reason. She thinks the Boston Marathon bomber is innocent hahaha! The fat man there had plenty to say about that, essentially telling her she's stupid. I agree. By the way, the kid confessed 'off the record', i.e. before he was read his rights and therefore everything he said is inadmissible in court. The FBI was eager to speak to him regardless to establish whether there was a continued threat. He was eventually given his rights (you have the right to remain silent, etc.), and stopped talking.
 
 
This protest then turned into a march, blocking a major Manhattan intersection and continuing south along Broadway. Video of the action here. It's now Sunday night as I write this and we've just heard on the news that the protests have now moved to Times Square and are creating chaos there.

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