We got out to another Yankees game on the Monday of this week with tickets costing us roughly $7. We didn't have the plush corporate seats this time and were shunted up to the “tier” at the very top of the stadium with the rest of the plebes, but the reward for such seats was a much more lively atmosphere. The game was a more exciting one this time, with the Yankees coming out on top 6-4 against Toronto.
Saturday wasn't filled with too much excitement as I had misplaced my traveling guides and when I went into the city to go places, I didn't know where they were so just spent the day walking about and lazing in Central Park.
Once I was reunited with my precious books, I was ready to hit the museums on Sunday. My first destination was the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, thankfully I got in at a discount with my student card because this place bored me almost to tears.
A masterpiece, I think you'll agree.
Where do they come up with these wacky ideas? God bless that Arts degree. *ducks*
It's not big, and it's not clever.
I think the artist's thinking behind this work is; haha, watch us put blank canvases on the walls and charge people $20 to get in and they WILL pay because they wish to maintain their self-important pompous and pretentious image. (I cannot be included in that category since I payed discount) Although I may have mis-interpreted the work, it's easy to do. PS; it's entirly possible this was a place-holder, but it's hard to tell.
Finally, something decent.
It's me, in the nip, with the horse. (Father Ted for those scratching their heads)
I believe this piece came about when the "artist" had too much paint left after a renovation of his (or her) sitting room, along with a few sample colours from B&Q.
This chap bought a brand new canvas, cut a slash in it and stuck it on a wall. Apparantly this made it "3D". The mind boggles.
Soup-wall.
Here's a hint; the "paintings" in the MoMA are rubbish.
This was definitely my favorite thing in the museum, almost worth the price of admission. We used to get in desperate trouble for trying to (unknowingly) recreate this painting in the notebooks of our fellow pupils in secondary school. To think of all the wasted art work buried on the pages of our maths books that the world will never see, it's a travesty.
When I finally escaped the MoMA, I got something to eat before wandering over to the Frick Collection. Another student discount was in order, which saw me in at $5, not too bad. There was actual art in the Frick Collection and some very impressive pieces altogether, but the collection was short lived and I was in and out in about 20minutes, no pictures allowed.
Overall, I think I'll stick to jumping out of planes for my kicks.
Part of the reason for the two previous quiet weeks is that Anna and her family are coming over next week, so I've gotta have some funds for that and with that in mind, there won't be a blog next Monday, you'll have to tide yourselves over for a week.
Well, like I said might happen, I took it easy this weekend to let my wallet prepare itself for the coming weeks. This week was "E3" week, and for those of you not in the know, E3 is a big conference in Santa Monica where the worlds largest games publishers and the big 3 (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo) gather, to tell you how they will be taking your money from you this "holiday season" (or Christmas as it is known to most). So in honour of that, I played some video games during the weekend, ensuring that my wallet became no lighter (although my tan did suffer). It was a nice change of pace and it allowed me to catch up on some sleep which was great.
There's not long to go now as I'm almost 2/3 of the way through but I have quite a few of my weekends already planned out between now and when I leave, so there should still be some stories yet.
Don't ask us why, but both Gary and I had our hearts set on one thing before we arrived in America; we didn't want to grow as people, we didn't want to learn responsibility, we didn't want to shop. We wanted to throw ourselves from an airplane mid-flight and hopefully live to tell the tale and since Darren shared our stupidity this weekend presented the perfect opportunity to fulfill our desires.
High-five, Gary and Darren, good times.
So after Madam Tussaude's on Friday, we didn't make our way directly home. Instead, we made a bee-line to the nearest Hertz car rental joint and picked up a car for ourselves. After a controlled exit from the car park (with Gary driving by the way, just in case you were wondering) we made our way down the avenues of NYC to get home. It didn't take Gary long to adjust to the American style of driving which, in NYC, is do what you want, when you want. After a few wrong turns and some general mis-direction (I blame the GPS) we were back into the safety of NJ, of course, we took some wrong turns there as well, but that's half the fun. We got back safe and sound and put ourselves to rest, we had a long day ahead of us on Saturday.
Up at about 6am, we were scheduled to be out at our skydiving location in Pennsylvania for about half 9 and so wanted to give ourselves some time to allow for any potential (Read: guaranteed) wrong turns. After a few hours of enjoyable driving we arrived at the airstrip, what greeted us was slightly un-nerving. A bunch of guys in a hanger playing some pinball, with an airplane in the back. Not quite as professional as I had expected at least. Of course, being America, they immediately put us to work signing our lives/rights away and once that was done got us suited up. There was little delay between signing/paying/suiting up/training and the opportunity to back down was getting further and further away at quite a pace. Training consisted of a 2 minute talk about how to prepare for the “jump” and then you were left to your own devices.
Weeeeeeeeeeeee...
*breath* Weeeeeeeeeeee...
Next thing we knew, our names were being called and everyone started to line up. They squashed about 20 of us into a small-ish propeller airplane and began the ascent, no turning back now... and I hadn't even had time to reflect on my life. As we climbed, one of the guys opened the door on the airplane and I couldn't help but think “Don't be crazy!” but that was the least of my worries. It took about 5 or 10 minutes to climb to the required altitude where a few jumped out then we circled round for our jump. The realisation still hadn't fully set in, I had convinced myself that this was happening and that it was OK so I was fairly comfortable moving up towards the door....as comfortable as one can be before they jump from a plane I guess.
You can see the Delaware water gap in the center, beneath my right arm. More on that later.
The initial fall from the door is a very alarming one as your body twists and accelerates but once the stablising chute is out and your “floating” at terminal velocity (~120mph) it's a complete rush, it feels incredible and I recommend that everyone has a go at least once! Once the full chute is pulled (after about a minute), and things begin to slow down, you don't get “jerked” as much as I had expected. While I was floating in-mid air, feet dangling below me, the facts of what was happening really hit home. I was 10,000ft above ground, with little more than some cloth above me. My instructor asked did I want to “have some fun”, to which I eagerly replied “of course”, which resulted in some quick turns and 360's while gliding back down to earth. Ironically, it was these moves that made me feel a little queasy. Once we came in to land, we spent the next half hour or so walking around the hanger to let to adrenaline die down a little before driving on and it was only 11:30am.
I approve!
While driving home, we unanimously agreed that it was too early to head straight back and instead opted to have a look around Delaware Gap while we were in the area. It was a cracking day (weather and enjoyment wise) so we just (or should I say Gary just) drove around the area taking in whatever sights we could. It was a lovely little region and the Delaware was fairly populated with life. After a while of driving, we thought we might have a look at some of the local waterfalls, but after a wrong turn (it was coming eventually) that led us about 40minutes off track, upon our return we got stuck in a traffic jam. After 15minutes in the jam, we turned back, satisfied with what we had managed (and needing to get the car back before 10).
Green stuff.
Green stuff on a hill.
Me in front of green stuff.
Our car; in the middle of our car-park.
Delaware River
Suffering from withdrawl. Hot, sweaty and still slightly queasy.
There was two, but one made a legger before we could cap him/her.
I treated myself to some Z's in the car (don't you love not having a driving license?) as we made our way back to Bayonne, where we tried to develop our pictures but were denied, instead we made our way to Hoboken and got them sorted there while all 3 of us tried to stomach the “Big Easy” burger for lunch around the corner. Once we had failed to finish our "Easy" burgers and collected our pictures, after driving half-way to Bayonne because we thought we had forgot the rental forms, we found them in the glove-department and swung a U-y (How would one spell that?).
After a weekend of solid driving (bar perhaps a close shave of a traffic cone in front of 2 squad cars, although the proximity from said cone is currently in dispute :P) Gary brought us back safe and sound to Hertz. We made our way home, laughed at the pictures some more, then collapsed into slumber. Sunday was spent recovering our bodies, but I suspect our bank accounts will take a little while longer to mend their wounds, there may be a quiet weekend or two ahead!
Hope you have enjoyed this mid-week special, I know we all had a great time making it happen. And finally, I present to you, the reason for the delay... the video.
Since Gary's friend was with us for the week from the 3rd up until the 8th we started our 4th of July with a trip to the local outlet mall, Jersey Gardens. After an expensive taxi ride out to the mall, we shuffled in and began making tracks around the mall. It finally gave me the chance to pick up some much needed sock supplies, the initial ration of 1 pair were beginning to fray after 3 months. After our few hours it was time to head back to the house to begin the trip into NYC for 4th of July festivities.
In a rushed attempt to make it into B&H before closing, we dumped our shopping in the apartment and bolted out the door, arriving at B&H 5 minutes before closing, bish – bash – bosh $500 spent. From here, we made our way towards the fireworks display on the east side. After being searched 3 times in the space of 100 feet we made our way onto some bridge to watch the events unfold. It was a bit of a wait for the fireworks to start, and rain teased with the idea of putting a dampener on things but once the spectacle got underway it was nothing short of breathtaking. Wide-eyed but stiff-legged we made our way home. 4th of July hadn't exactly been the over-the-top patriotic juncture I was expecting (and it's probably for the best), but the fireworks were more than enough to satisfy.
On Friday, Gary and Darren meet up with me after work and we made our way into NYC to check out Madam Tussaud's. This place was the business! We spent an easy few hours in there without noticing. Filled with wax models of famous people, it provided ample opportunity for posing; illicitly (just ask Gary).
Still got some catching up to do.
Yarr! Shiver me timbers, if it isn't Cap'n Jack Sparrow himself.
Myself and Elton having a gay old time.
Mmmm, tastes like chicken.
Jerry - Jerry - Jerry. (That's Gary btw)
Rock on.
We must seize this opportuinity.
Scha-mo!
She's mine, back off.
Well, that's pretty much it for this week....so far. Tune in later this week (hopefully Wed or Thur) for an extra special mid-week blog.
Twas an interesting work in week as most of the figure heads were out in California at a conference to demo the package to clients. And while the cats were away.... The week included Nintendo Wii, mandatory free lunches, an early finish on Friday and a free bar on Thursday until about 10 or 11pm. Overall, not too taxing (har, har; can't believe I haven't used that one sooner).
In order to unwind after the hectic weekend, Carmel had generously organised a baseball game for our viewing pleasure. We made our way to Carmel's early on the Saturday morning where we were treated to a mouth-wateringly delicious fry, greasy goodness at it's best. From there, it was onto the number 4 subway towards Yankee Stadium. Once we were heading into the stadium I got pulled back because my backpack was too big...sheesh. A trip to the local bowling alley “secured” us a place to keep my bag and we were ready to go. I still had my camera on me, and luckily I got past the fella this time; take that!
Made contact, but fouled.
Myers came out when things started going badly; they only got worse.
Once we found our seats we were mighty impressed; right in-front of the pitching mound and about 10 rows back, not your typical seats. Unfortunately, things were not going to continue quite as amiably as the Yankees proceeded to do... well, nothing; apart from giving Oakland 7 runs. With only one hit in the entire game (and I missed it for the sake of the blog opening pic!), it wasn't exactly their best showing... thankfully I'm a Sox fan... *cough*. It had been a great day out, slightly tarred by the 7-0 hammering, but we couldn't complain, just hurl insults at the pitchers as they walked dejectedly from the field.
Almost...
I had been meaning to get a picture of one of these for a while. It's a black squirrel, only ever seen them in the Bronx, how fitting.
Word had it that there was a free concert in Central Park on the Sunday; free? Sign us up. So we wandered down to Central Park on Sunday and investigated. We arrived just as it started at 3pm, but were subjected to possibly the most excruciating audio-martyrdom imaginable, suddenly, free wasn't so attractive. Thankfully we knew the act coming up was of a much higher standard, so we reluctantly grinned and bared it. We moved up closer for the main act and quite surprisingly got up to the front barrier with only a single body separating us from the act. The gig was a resounding success and much fun was had. Rodrigo y Gabriela, in case you were wondering ( perhaps Carolyn or Brendan have heard of them? ). Not too many pictures, as most of the cameras space was spent on videos and it's a little late to start video editing now, but rest assured, I got some good footage!
Team Torture. No doubt punishing everyone around them because they have those ridiculous beards and outfits.
Someone should tell him how to use that thing.
There we go, now he has it.
Celebrating...
Head banging. ( though the shot seems to have focused on the blokes head infront of me >.< )
Totally zoomed out.
Ah what the hell; here's a video, editing is crap-tastic, you have been warned. Sun was reflecting quite a bit too.
Drained from the Sunday sun we made our way out for some food, by pure coincidence (¬ ¬), we stumbled upon a fine upstanding joint, only slightly out of our way, going by the name of Hooters. In we trotted. Shocked and appalled are the only words I can summon to describe the scenes I saw, Gary insisted we stay though and I am not one to argue. 15 “Hail Mary”s tonight.
Stuffed; we took the subway home to let the bloating die down.
