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Sunday, 15 June 2014 - Just sayin'

 
Something for the World Cup :)
 

Wednesday, 18 June 2014 - Two years in the Apple!

 
 
Two years ago today I took the shot on the left as I flew over Manhattan for my first day in the Big Apple, and tonight I took the shot on the right from the rooftop bar of one of those buildings down there. I was going to say that this time next year Kristina and I would have not long started our four-month road trip around the United States. However, Kristina has raised the idea and staying in New York for another year in light of a major promotion she recently got at work, so we'll see.
 
Meanwhile, my odometer just clicked over to 7,000km since arriving in New York, and they've been 7,000 of the most fun I've ever had on the bike! Love the Manhattan traffic :)

Thursday, 19 June 2014 - Another moron bites the dust

 
 
I was in the mood for a burn around Manhattan on the bike after work tonight, and was just ten blocks from arriving back home when I put one of this city's countless number of idiotic, overweight pedestrians in the back of this ambulance. I was riding along the dedicated bicycle lane on First Avenue doing about 30km/h (18mph) when out of nowhere from between parked cars this dickhead ran right out in front of me without looking nor stopping, and BANG! It was dark as you can see, and I have two of the brightest, most obnoxious lights money can buy on the front of the bike (and the rear) but they weren't much help in this case. Fortunately for me it was pretty much a direct hit so he absorbed most of my momentum, but I still went down hard on to my knee which has some pretty impressive swelling going on right now. Dickhead on the other hand went flying - all 200-something pounds of him, smacked his head on the curb, and spent the next two minutes writhing on the pavement. I was in no mood to help him but several passersby did. While he was busy seeing stars I was busy checking the bike - all good ;) Someone called 911 and the cavalry soon arrived. While they were dealing with him they offered to transport me to the hospital to have my knee x-rayed, but spending all night at the bottom of the priority list at the hospital didn't appeal so I declined. If need be I'll take myself there tomorrow morning. Dickhead eventually arrived back on earth and I enlightened him about what happened, but it was all my fault of course. If you run out into the street without looking and get smacked by a car, is it the driver's fault? I don't so think so, but evidently he does. New York's cycle paths are wide, painted a bright green colour, stick out like a sore thumb (or knee in my case), and are in constant use by cyclists. If you're stupid enough to run across them without looking, well, you're a moron, and I enlightened him to that too. Anyway, he didn't want to stick around for the police to take a report, so we each limped off. He's not the first and he won't be the last - gotta love it.

Friday, 20 June 2014 - Update

 
Here's the cycle lane I was talking about last night, after I slammed into a simpleton who came running out from between those parked cars and right into my path. Out of interest, I stood here for five minutes and counted 24 bikes go past, including five in the wrong direction (which is against the law, as Alec Baldwin found out a month ago hehe). This was at 1pm today, but during rush hour that number would be closer to 50, so why anyone would go running across here without stopping and looking is beyond me. It's akin to running across the street into traffic without looking. As for my knee, I haven't had it x-rayed. It's still a bit swollen and I can't really bend it, but I've been limping around on it without any pain so I'll continue to see how it goes before forking out for x-rays.
 

Sunday, 22 June 2014 - Footy fever!

 
Despite a beautiful New York weekend, I kept my knee on ice and instead watched a lot of this. I've never been much of a soccer man but you can't help but be interested in the World Cup. I've had it playing on my laptop at work every day hehe. Today was USA's second group match (of three) against Portugal. They defeated Ghana last week, and a win here would see them going through to the next round. There was no shortage of Yanks in the crowd!
 
 
Portugal scored early due to a lapse in the US defence but in the 64th minute the US equalised, and in the 81st minute they scored again to make it 2-1.
 
 
I'm fairly neutral of course but I was yelling for them too (not least of all because they're the underdogs)! All they had to do now was hold on to the lead for another ten minutes or so.
 
But alas, in the final seconds and the final play of the game, Portugal equalised to end the game in a tie. The US now has to at least tie in their final group match against Germany on Thursday to progress to the next round. Not exactly an easy ask.

Monday, 23 June 2014 - Get off my lawn!

 
After four days of hobbling round on it, the swelling has largely subsided around my knee after last week's dust up but I still can't bend it too well. So I hobbled down to the local medical centre after work tonight for an x-ray. It came back negative - no fractures :) The doc reckons I've strained the tendon connecting my quad muscle to my tibia, and hence I can't bend it. I presumed as much. His estimate is a couple weeks for it sort itself out, but in the meantime he highly recommended I keep it strapped so I can't bend it at all. While he was at it, he also gave me a cane hahaha! I've become quite adept at limping around without the help of a cane, but if nothing else I'll use it to nail the next asshole I see jaywalking across a bicycle lane.
 

Thursday, 26 June 2014 - The fever continues

 
The US is rife with footy fever at the moment! Today was the third and final match of the group stage against Germany. After a win and a tie in their previous two matches, the US needed only to at least tie this one to guarantee their progress through to the next stage of the tournament. A few of us headed down to the nearest pub for a two-hour 'work lunch' to watch the game and cheer them on hehe. But, despite a great defensive effort against a superior team, they lost 1-0. However, the US could still progress depending on the result of the other match being played in their group at the same time between Portugal and Ghana. We needed Portugal to win, but not by too many goals (else they would overtake the US in points due to goal differential). In the end, after almost ruining our chances last Sunday, the Portuguese did us a favour by beating Ghana 2-1 and ensuring our place in the next stage. Lovely. The next match will be on Tuesday against Belgium, and we'll likely get spanked, but oh well :)

Friday, 27 June 2014 - Puerto Rico jazz

 
 
Just another random day in the New York life. Kristina, as a travel agent, was invited to this concert tonight at Jazz at Lincoln Center, overlooking Columbus Circle and the bottom of Central Park, courtesy of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Not a bad view :) Aside from the jazz band, there was also a stand-up comedian who only spoke in Spanish. Everyone was laughing except us hehe.

 
 
As for the band, well we had this guy hammering the bongos...
 
This guy who looks more Russian than Puerto Rican and couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face...
 
And, this guy. Yeah. He was either in pain, having a seizure, or just really feeling the jazz vibes :) Video here of them getting their groove on.

Sunday, 29 June 2014 - Orange is the New Gay

 
 
It's the final Sunday of June again, which means it's time for this: New York City's Gay Pride Parade! I did a big write up about it last year and so this year I was only intending to take a few quick photos rather than making a day out of it. Well that didn't happen. Kristina and I arrived shortly after the start of the parade at noon, and a couple hours later we were still standing here hehe. You can't help but be entertained by whole affair. Video of some of the action here.

 
 
 
I grabbed the same vantage point as last year, an elevated spot right beneath the Empire State Building.
 
More than a million people line Fifth Avenue throughout the day to enjoy the gay.
 
These guys came to the wrong party.

 
 
A few months ago Kristina and I started watching Orange Is the New Black, a comedy-drama series from the creator of Weeds. The series centres around a woman in her thirties who is sentenced to fifteen months in a women's prison in upstate New York, and the cast of characters is priceless.
 
There is no shortage of lesbian activity in the show (hell yeah!) and so, quite appropriately, they had their own float, and the crowd went nuts for them! At the head of the float was Taystee (Danielle Brooks). The show stars transgender actress Laverne Cox. Cox has a twin brother who portrays her pre-transitioning character on the show. I think this guy is the brother (hence he's holding a photo of Cox and pointing at her), though I couldn't see Cox herself anywhere on the float.

 
 
Elsewhere in there is love-obsessed Morello (Yael Stone), talkative hippie Soso (Kimiko Glenn), cancer patient Miss Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat), and all-round nut job Murphy (Abigail Savage).
 
Flaunting her assets towards the back was Daya (Dascha Polanco) along with her correctional officer lover Bennett (Matt McGorry), dancing with raging lesbian Poussey (Samira Wiley). Good stuff :)

 
 
After all of that hype it was back to the usual rainbows and ripped bodies. I used to look like that ;)
 
This man loves a quickie. Who doesn't?!

 
 
I remember Mr Stonewall Bear here from last year hehe. Stonewall refers to the Stonewall Inn, a gay tavern and bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, and the site of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 which launched the modern Gay Rights Movement. This parade commemorates those riots.
 
Anyway, it was a gay day had by all, and afterwards Kristina and I found a bar and had two large sausages for lunch. True story ;)

Tuesday, 1 July 2014 - Oh well

 
Back down to the pub today (during work hours) to watch the USA play their hearts out in the second round of the World Cup against Belgium. Despite relentless pressure from Belgians, the match remained scoreless right up to the 89th minute when the US botched a golden opportunity to score that likely would have won them the game. Instead it went into extra time, eventually finishing 2-1 to Belgium and thus ending the US campaign. Oh well, the country can now resume having no interest in soccer :)
 

Wednesday, 2 July 2014 - Summer storms

 
It's that time of year again - hurricanes and mega thunder storms! This isn't my photo - it was sent to me by a friend who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He shot this at sunset from his apartment balcony overlooking Manhattan's Lower East Side after we were treated to one of the most spectacular and lengthy lightning shows I've ever seen! I was at the pub (again) for another friend's leaving drinks, otherwise I'd have been out with my own camera trying capture the show.
 
And this one I stole online. This was also shot from Williamsburg (that's the Williamsburg Bridge there crossing the East River into Lower Manhattan), and in the distance is the new One World Trade Center get struck, again. Impressive stuff!

Friday, 4 July 2014 - Independence Day

 
It's Independence Day in the US of A, an annual holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It is also the annual occasion of this - Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, broadcast live on ESPN for some reason. 15 qualifiers have ten minutes to suck down as many hot dogs and buns as possible. Yuck.
 
On the left is Joey Chestnut, who has won this thing for the last seven years. In addition to that accolade, he has also held the following 'notable' world records: 121 Twinkies in 6 minutes, 70 bratwurst in 10 minutes, 15 pints of vanilla ice cream in 6 minutes, 62 pulled pork sliders in 10 minutes, 141 hard-boiled eggs in 8 minutes, and 8.5 32oz-bowls of chili in 10 minutes. Ok then. On the right is Matt Stonie, who himself has eaten large quantities of shit in surprisingly short times, but has only ever managed to down 7.5 bowls of chili in 10 minutes hehe.
 
 
The weather was pretty dismal for it this afternoon, but that didn't seem to deter the crowds.
 
 
Shortly before the starting whistle, Chestnut proposed to his longtime girlfriend in front of the crowd and TV cameras. Who could say no?!
 
After the gag-inducing spectacle was over, Chestnut had masticated 61 dogs, an average of about one every ten seconds, to take his eighth consecutive title.
 
 
Now that's a winner right there!
 
Totally worth it.

Saturday, 5 July 2014 - Sugar!

 
 
This is the former Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn. The original refinery was built in 1856, and by 1870 it processed more than half of the sugar used in the United States. A fire in 1882 caused the plant to be completely rebuilt in brick and stone which is what remains today, at which point it was the largest sugar refinery in the world. Operations ceased here in 2004, and as of 2012 the property is slated for multi-use development.
 
We ventured out there to see this ginormous piece of art that is currently on display: The Marvelous Sugar Baby.

 
 
She is a monumental sphinx with the head of a stereotypical mammy, more than 35 feet high and 75 feet long in bright white, made from Styrofoam and coated in thick layers of refined sugar.
 
The whole thing really is a sight to behold, with large breasts dwarfing onlookers from the front...
 
...and very large, umm, lady bits, dwarfing considerably more onlookers round the back.

 
 
Also on display are a number of life-size boys cast in molasses.
 
A couple of them had fallen however, and were slowly melting away into a think sugary mess all over the floor hehe. The whole exhibit is a homage to the unpaid and overworked artisans who worked the factory for generations.
 
But how about those lady parts. Certainly the largest and sweetest I've ever seen ;)

Sunday, 6 July 2014 - Back on the horse

 
Last night, for the first time in over two weeks since injuring my knee, I mounted the beast to see how the knee would take it. While not 100%, it has heeled up enough to tolerate the repetitive bending action which is probably doing it a favour at this point. I'm eager to get back into training for the New York Marathon in November, but realistically I think it'll need another week.
 
With Kristina working today, I put the knee through its paces and went for a moderate burn on the bike. This is somewhere in the Boerum Hill area of Brooklyn. Leafy :)

 
 
In the interest of not doing too much too soon with my knee, I only ventured a short way to here - the 478-acre Green-Wood Cemetery. I forget how I found out about this place but I made a note of it some months ago in my little to-do list of New York.

 
 
The cemetery was founded in 1838 as one of America's first rural cemeteries (rural back in those days anyway). It soon developed an international reputation for its magnificent beauty and became the 'fashionable' place to be buried. Personally I don't like to think about that.
 
Oh. Well if the terrorists get their way.

 
 
 
The Wikipedia article on this place contains a huge list of notable people who are buried here. One of them apparently invented the safety pin, and another one invented the sewing machine hehe. Thanks. Also, Samuel Morse is buried here, inventor of Morse code, as well as the wife, mother, father, and uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt, but not Theodore Roosevelt himself.
 
It's a really peaceful spot to just meander through. No car horns, no traffic, and you can actually hear the birds!

 
 
By 1860, Green-Wood was attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year, rivalling Niagara Falls as the country's greatest tourist attraction. In fact, the cemetery's popularity helped to inspire the creation of New York's iconic Central Park.
 
Anyway, there are only so many photos of a cemetery you can take before it all starts looking the same, so with that I left again to enjoy the rest of my life, and enjoy having knees.

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