Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Wasting.

The camera crew camped out across the street from the corporate hotel building that Dominique Strauss-Khan had been released to on parole. It was a Sunday morning and he was not expected to be leaving the building for any reason. And yet, half a dozen major news outlets had staff parked across the street just in case he showed his face. What a wonderful use of resources.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Very Exciting.

And just a few blocks from our hotel. Perhaps you've heard of it? The Holiday Inn Wall Street.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Another Time.

I was not the only person who wanted to get their picture taken with the famous Wall Street 'Charging Bull.' The scrum of tourists didn't let up at any time during the morning that I was in the area.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

A Metaphor for Something.

With a bit of extra time before my train left, I spent an hour on a misty Sunday morning wandering around the Financial District and Battery Park in New York City.

I headed south to see if I could catch a glimpse of the State of Liberty through the light rain, but was instead treated to the sight of two statues. Now, we all know that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France, but did you know that when you speak to her she responds in a man's voice. In Spanish.


I'm sure that a Spanish speaking Statue of Liberty wrapping an American flag around an Asian tourist is a metaphor for something, but I don't really know what.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

After the Invasion.

The last time I saw streets this empty I was living on a little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The monthly fuel tanker had broken down (or skipped us or didn't pay the monthly bribe or who really knows what happened) and the island very quickly ran out of gasoline.

Within about a week, the road (singular) was almost completely devoid of cars. The local government was able to find enough fuel to run the island's one school bus, and this was used as a makeshift commuter shuttle for all of the government employees.

But the rest of the road was empty. This meant that I could finally ride my bike down the middle of the street, weaving back and forth without a care. On occasion we work ourselves up into questions about a post-oil future, but I'll say that for a few weeks it was quite nice.

Capitol Hill wasn't having a fuel shortage this morning, but several blocks were closed off to traffic for a 10k run. I wasn't officially registered for the run, but I was able to take advantage of the empty streets while I was out jogging on my own. And once again, running down the middle of normally busy streets held a certain charm.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Oh My!

Okay, okay. Everybody just calm down. There's nothing to get excited about 'round here.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Curios.

One of our gracious hosts for the weekend described the Museum of Jurassic Technology as, "Quirky beyond..." and then her voice just kind of trailed off. And that's probably one of the better descriptions out there.

Inside the museum itself (which, naturally, is housed inside a random old house in Culver City about 2 blocks from a giant movie studio) one can watch a short film that explains the origins of the museum. According to the film, the museum is essentially a shared relation to both the modern museums of today, and also carnival sideshows.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology traces its lineage from the collections of relics held in European churches throughout the middle ages to the quiet reading rooms of learned men who would sit, surrounded by their collection of curios while waiting for inspiration from the muses. Thus the root of the word Museum.

Or maybe it's all just a hoax. Or a collection of odds and ends left in a set of deteriorating shadow boxes and dioramas.

I have a suspicion that it is more than a hoax, but it can be hard to explain how a dimly lit collection of impressionist portraits of dogs from the Russian Space Program qualify as the trigger for inspiration from the muses. Or maybe it's not difficult at all.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Chairman.

The man responsible for the death of 40 - 70 million people? Or a hip reference for an organic "peasant style" Chinese food restaurant on Melrose?