New York City, at eye level

Months after I finished building its web site (link goes to it) I finally went out of my way to go see Top of The Rock, the observation platform on top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the building seen during the opening credits of Tina Fey's 30 Rock sitcom; used to be the "RCA" building, now GE headquarters).

(I did not take the photo to the right,
but I did take this one)

So, from 70+ floors above street level:

The Pan Am building, with the Chrysler behind it.




The Sony building


Upper West Side


Upper East Side


Empire State building, with a new twin


Central Park...


...which isn't as big as one thinks




Citicorp Building



Then afterwards we went to a restaurant with lawn jockeys out front:

Overdue: Volunteered at a Brooklyn for Barack rally

About a month ago I volunteered to help coordinate an appearance by Barack Obama at a downtown Brooklyn hotel (ok it was the Marriott, which has now hosted more than one such appearance in NYC; a kudos to them). In an ironic twist of fate I was charged with a task which required two skills in which I particularly lack those abilities: schmoozing and handwriting.

I was asked to do "press intake". What that means is that as members of the press, be it magazine, newspaper, radio, TV, whatever, arrive they need to be "checked in" against a list of those who were known to have RSVPd and if they weren't already on the list -- and here's where the handwriting comes in -- write them up as walk-ins. I was also expected to explain to said members of the media why, for example, they were not allowed to enter the rally/speech/convention space for fully an hour after they were cited to be at the location -- not the sort of diplomatic assignment with which I brag about having had experience on my resume.

I did manage with the help of various people whose names are lost to posterity.

What most impressed me about the afternoon was that in the space of minutes this:

... turned into this:

The power of a rock star, in essence (or, GQ, in this case).

Radio Drama Hour

I kept thinking the whole time that the only thing worth saying while being questioned this way is "This is for you to prove, officer, not for me to disprove."

I mean, do judges routinely take the word of the police as fact in victimless / evidenceless cases? Not that I would die of shock if it's so, but where do you draw the line in a free society?

(link goes to article describing the incident being discussed in the audio)

9/11 - v2007

To celebrate (?) the anniversary of 9/11, the New York Historical Society is exhibiting a collection of some of the photos gathered by Here is New York, an organization with which I was involved. Tonight was the gala opening. They wouldn't let me take photos (I had to take these on the sly) so I got bored and left. Way to go and turn down free publicity, NYHS.

It's Giuliani's Balls time

(in case the references are lost on anyone)

Great Moments in History

"There, there.. it's always darkest before the dawn..." President Nguyen Van Thieu (South Vietnam) and President Lyndon B. Johnson , 07/19/1968

"Smile, motherfucker, or we leave you here when we go..!" 8/22/2007

Still a pathological liar alcoholic with delusions of grandeur, after all these years...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 — When President Bush is asked what he plans to do when he leaves office, he often replies curtly: “I don’t have that much time to think beyond my presidency” or “I’m going to sprint to the finish.”

[...]

“I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.” With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, “I don’t know what my dad gets — it’s more than 50-75” thousand dollars a speech, and “Clinton’s making a lot of money.”

(link goes to rest of article)

Is it just me who has these daydreams that, for the rest of his days after he leaves the trappings of the presidency, this man will be shunned by all good, right people? That he will be turned away at restaurants, receive response letters from the American Enterprise Institute (!) saying "we appreciate all you did during your terms, Mr. President, but our speaking calendar is booked for this season.." ? That no-one will return his calls? Who, to verbize a name, will Frost him? (And what a horrible, pointless, thankless, go-through-the-motions-for-nothing task that would be; I'll pass.)