Saw Julianne Moore in the West Village on Sunday afternoon with her two kids. Smaller IRL than I expected, but luminous.
Jus and I were scooting through the Village on our way to the Hudson for a bit of picnicking and Scrabble on the grass but got caught in a thunderstorm. Ate our ham and American cheese (there is such a variety, apparently: its entirely non-descript) sandwiches watching fork and sheet lightning ravage Jersey City and the financial district. Stayed there for a bit and then fled home by clinging to streets with scaffolding (that got us three blocks) and eventually hopping in a taxi.
Sunday roast for dinner. Beef with gravy, roast potatoes, peas, hard-to-come-by squash, the works. Blueberry pie for dessert. Actually the best pie I've had since I got here. Juicy, whole little blueberries and authentic buttery pastry. All washed down with ginger beer (also hard to come by: went to 4 supermarkets to find it).
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
via Songza
An old fave (Japanese electro pop song called 'Paris Hilton' replete with chicken noises, how can it be bad?) that I dug up on Songza, a website that lets you search for songs and just play them, free, then and there. Don't ask, can't be legal.
Lyrics, to wit:
Shake your body body Move your body body Jump your body body Shake your body body Paris Hilton!
Go ahead! Say What?
I'm the richest party dumb girl
Would you like to look at my sex tape?
Natural beauty, photogenic
Always ready to pose for nice shoots
Put my puppy Chanel dress
He sleeps Louis Vuitton bag
Silver spoon, champagne bath
Mom! I want that one, please!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Montecarlo Review
Review date: Aug.242007
Review by: Anonymous from Seattle, WA
Montecarlo
The Montecarlo features an oversized stainless steel case. Leather band. Stainless steel buckle. Date window. Solid curved mineral crystal. 3 Hand analog movement and digital time. 5 ATM. Thick wrist.
Fantastic and unique - ...
Reviewer Comments: Fantastic and unique - Great watch, very stylish and unique. The face isn't that tall, making it great for guys with smaller wrists. Has date, time, stopwatch, and alarm functionality. A little on the expensive side, but when you are wearing it, you'll love every minute of it.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
About Face
couple of months. I thought they were painful, pointless and petty.
But i'm wondering now if I just had a few unlucky experiences with
shonky nail aestheticians (one of the names I've come across.) there's
a joint next to the office where it's $10 and I've actually gone there
with a colleague for a meeting. Hard to take notes but we walk out
with manis that last for weeks. Not petty at all, right?
Btw it's 11.27pm and 31c outside. Another heatwave. 35c tomorrow and
30+ all week. Oy vey. Bought a fan and haven't worn closed shoes for
weeks. One extreme to another.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Real Life New Yorker #7 - Mike
This is Mike, who I used to work with, live several blocks from, and enjoy teasing very much. He gave me 5 packets of wasabi peas for my birthday and has such a serious thing for Italian red wine that he has tastings chez lui every week. He's yet another Gen Y person making me feel old.
Where did you grow up?
Grew up in Ohio. Dayton, OH. Which is, as I’m sure everyone in the world knows, the birthplace of aviation. Those bastard usurpers in north carolina deserve little to no credit for being ‘first in flight.’ The Wright brothers were born in Dayton, OH. They grew up in Dayton, OH. The owned and operated a bike shop in Dayton, OH. They conceived of, designed and built the world’s first lighter than air flying machine in Dayton, OH. Decided they needed some soft sand and some wind, so they went to kittyhawk to test things out. And from that, North Carolina deceivingly put ‘first in flight’ on their license plate AND their quarter. The world should know, great minds come from Dayton, OH; all that north Carolina has is sand and wind.
What brought you to New York?
School and wanting to be someplace new.
School and wanting to be someplace new.
What do you like about the US?
Is this the same as asking what I dislike about other countries? Well, we have a lot of freedom and liberty here, which is pretty great stuff. Also, manifest destiny is one of the more kick-ass life philosophies I’ve come across.
Is this the same as asking what I dislike about other countries? Well, we have a lot of freedom and liberty here, which is pretty great stuff. Also, manifest destiny is one of the more kick-ass life philosophies I’ve come across.
Is there anything you hate about America?
Immigrants that fail to properly assimilate. You don’t have to actually love it here to stay, but our unspoken social contract very explicitly stipulates that all Americans should always outwardly project a deep love for their country. Also, all immigrants should bring with them detailed knowledge of their country’s traditional cuisine; we love ur food.
Immigrants that fail to properly assimilate. You don’t have to actually love it here to stay, but our unspoken social contract very explicitly stipulates that all Americans should always outwardly project a deep love for their country. Also, all immigrants should bring with them detailed knowledge of their country’s traditional cuisine; we love ur food.
What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Eh…probably exactly what you think Americans think of when they think of Australia. (Ed note: kangaroos, sharks, The Crocodile Hunter)
Eh…probably exactly what you think Americans think of when they think of Australia. (Ed note: kangaroos, sharks, The Crocodile Hunter)
Who do you think is going to win the US election and why?
Hmm…I’d say McCain. Obama’s race and his lack of experience probably being the deciding factors. Although, McCain is a decidedly less eloquent speaker so he might really take a beating in the debates; it should be interesting.
Hmm…I’d say McCain. Obama’s race and his lack of experience probably being the deciding factors. Although, McCain is a decidedly less eloquent speaker so he might really take a beating in the debates; it should be interesting.
Will you work in New York forever?
No. I’m starting to get impatient. Not with being in NYC (which I doubt will ever get old), so much as with not being other places.
No. I’m starting to get impatient. Not with being in NYC (which I doubt will ever get old), so much as with not being other places.
If you could visit one place in Australia where would you go and why?
New Zealand.
New Zealand.
Who is the most famous Australian, in your mind?
Russell Crowe; anyone that throws a phone at someone is tops in my book
Russell Crowe; anyone that throws a phone at someone is tops in my book
What’s one thing everyone should know about New York?
It belongs to everybody.
It belongs to everybody.
Monday, July 14, 2008
More whinging, and then some fun stuff
Am writing myself out of my bank-induced bad mood.
Saturday Justin and I thought we would head to the public pool in Central Park for a swim. Like normal people we get there with our bags, replete with towel, SPF 15, book, hat, ipod, sunnies, newspaper, water, snack. The usual. We're settling in for the arvo.
We rock up at about 1.20pm (no one knows the term 'rock up' BTW).
As we enter we get asked to show our locks. What locks? we ask. we're told we need to have a padlock because you have to stow your bags in lockers. We say that one of us will swim and one will keep an eye on the stuff. We're told its not for safety, its so that bags don't take up precious poolside space. We don't have locks so we leave. I sit in a huff and Jus wanders up to Harlem to find a shop that sells locks because the pool doesn't sell locks to those who didn't know or forgot one (every second person there.)
We return with locks. Its now 1.50pm. We're told that this session finishes at 3pm and we'll have to leave then. We ask, What session? The pool has two sessions and this one started at 11am, and the next one starts at 4pm and they vacate the pool in between for an hour. So we can only stay an hour and a bit. Not what we had planned but what are you gonna do?
We go inside. I remove all the things I need and give my bag to Jus, and he stuffs both our bags in a locker. I'm wearing my dress with my bathers underneath. We wander out to the pool. I'm stopped and told I can't wear my dress by the pool. Why? I ask. You can only wear your bathing suit, otherwise people's clothes would be taking up precious poolside space (NB: there's HEAPS of space like every outdoor public pool you've ever been to in Oz). So I have to take off my dress and give it to Jus who goes back inside and stuffs it in the locker.
There are 6 lifeguards at the pool, which is about the size of the Prahran pool. Each lifeguard has a whistle, which they use continously. There is one swimming lane and about a third of the pool is roped off and unexplicably nobody is allowed in it. Maybe not enough lifeguar coverage? At 2.45 the lifeguards descend from their highchair perches and blow their whistles and yell at everyone to get out of the water. Other park guards come and start yelling all the people poolside to pack up and leave. They're yelling and herding hundreds of people into the locker rooms, which are the size of your average public pool changing room. There is no way for all those people to fit.
At the same time they're removing all the chairs and tables so there's nowhere to put your stuff while you're getting changed. The floor is wet and that's the only place for your bag and your dry clothes. Its a 30c day and there are over 100 people trying to get changed at the same time in a space meant for 30. There's a little boy crying outside the door because his mum is inside and he's not allowed in, and he's scared he's lost her.
We go to leave. They've blocked the exit so that only one gate is open and hundreds of people squeeze out. There are so many people that Jus and I lose each other and I wait ten minutes in one area while he's waiting in another. We find each other and vow never to return.
You take something easy and fun like going for a swim, you add in ridiculous rules and treat everyone like dickheads, and you get a wholly unrelaxing, frustrating experience. In this 'land of the free' they sure like to control things to a dizzying extent.
Fun stuff: heading to Miami for the Labor Day long weekend and flitting through the Keys and the Everglades. Booked a trip to Jamaica over Christmas and New Years Eve to see the relos and thaw and dive and soak up the sun. Heading to Providence and Newport for our anniversary weekend to see some more New England cutesiness and use up some of my Amtrak points. I really need a holiday.
Saturday Justin and I thought we would head to the public pool in Central Park for a swim. Like normal people we get there with our bags, replete with towel, SPF 15, book, hat, ipod, sunnies, newspaper, water, snack. The usual. We're settling in for the arvo.
We rock up at about 1.20pm (no one knows the term 'rock up' BTW).
As we enter we get asked to show our locks. What locks? we ask. we're told we need to have a padlock because you have to stow your bags in lockers. We say that one of us will swim and one will keep an eye on the stuff. We're told its not for safety, its so that bags don't take up precious poolside space. We don't have locks so we leave. I sit in a huff and Jus wanders up to Harlem to find a shop that sells locks because the pool doesn't sell locks to those who didn't know or forgot one (every second person there.)
We return with locks. Its now 1.50pm. We're told that this session finishes at 3pm and we'll have to leave then. We ask, What session? The pool has two sessions and this one started at 11am, and the next one starts at 4pm and they vacate the pool in between for an hour. So we can only stay an hour and a bit. Not what we had planned but what are you gonna do?
We go inside. I remove all the things I need and give my bag to Jus, and he stuffs both our bags in a locker. I'm wearing my dress with my bathers underneath. We wander out to the pool. I'm stopped and told I can't wear my dress by the pool. Why? I ask. You can only wear your bathing suit, otherwise people's clothes would be taking up precious poolside space (NB: there's HEAPS of space like every outdoor public pool you've ever been to in Oz). So I have to take off my dress and give it to Jus who goes back inside and stuffs it in the locker.
There are 6 lifeguards at the pool, which is about the size of the Prahran pool. Each lifeguard has a whistle, which they use continously. There is one swimming lane and about a third of the pool is roped off and unexplicably nobody is allowed in it. Maybe not enough lifeguar coverage? At 2.45 the lifeguards descend from their highchair perches and blow their whistles and yell at everyone to get out of the water. Other park guards come and start yelling all the people poolside to pack up and leave. They're yelling and herding hundreds of people into the locker rooms, which are the size of your average public pool changing room. There is no way for all those people to fit.
At the same time they're removing all the chairs and tables so there's nowhere to put your stuff while you're getting changed. The floor is wet and that's the only place for your bag and your dry clothes. Its a 30c day and there are over 100 people trying to get changed at the same time in a space meant for 30. There's a little boy crying outside the door because his mum is inside and he's not allowed in, and he's scared he's lost her.
We go to leave. They've blocked the exit so that only one gate is open and hundreds of people squeeze out. There are so many people that Jus and I lose each other and I wait ten minutes in one area while he's waiting in another. We find each other and vow never to return.
You take something easy and fun like going for a swim, you add in ridiculous rules and treat everyone like dickheads, and you get a wholly unrelaxing, frustrating experience. In this 'land of the free' they sure like to control things to a dizzying extent.
Fun stuff: heading to Miami for the Labor Day long weekend and flitting through the Keys and the Everglades. Booked a trip to Jamaica over Christmas and New Years Eve to see the relos and thaw and dive and soak up the sun. Heading to Providence and Newport for our anniversary weekend to see some more New England cutesiness and use up some of my Amtrak points. I really need a holiday.
The pits, the shits, the irrits
Banking and paying bills here is the pits. The absolute pits. There's no BPAY: there's a couple of different EFT systems that different companies and financial institutions support. Our utilities companies charge extra fees if you pay online anyway. They prefer cheques! And they include an addressed envelope with their bill but you have to fork out for a stamp.
The online payment screens for the credit card, bank and utility firms are shockingly badly designed and not processed real time. So if you make a data entry error - type in an account number that has too many characters, for example or try and pay with an account and there is insufficient funds - instead of coming back with a 'there were too many numbers entered' message or an 'insufficient funds' message it gives you an an approved status and a reference number and says you've paid, until you get a letter in the mail three days later saying something went wrong and you've been charged a whole bunch of fees.
The lack of real time confirmation means that you can go over your limit or make other errors without any alarm bells going off until days later when they've processed your transactions and realise you've spent too much or entered something wrong. Then they slap you with more fees.
I can't believe how bad it is. I can't believe that a snail mail letter gets sent to deal with payment problems, when they have my email and multiple telephone numbers and every error results in multiple fees. They can call me to tell me I have an unrequested credit limit increase but unusual activity on my account just slips by. Its such bad service I'm livid.
Contrast that with ANZ who called me less than 4 hours after I'd splashed out and bought some airfares, to check the transaction was legit. Or with NAB who called me to check the date I had written was correct because they thought it was a bit odd. Australian banking is so much more sophisticated and human that I can't wait to rid myself of these dickensian financial institutions and their ridiculous check books and shite online capabilities.
Its like banking in 1988!
Aaarrrggghhhh.
The online payment screens for the credit card, bank and utility firms are shockingly badly designed and not processed real time. So if you make a data entry error - type in an account number that has too many characters, for example or try and pay with an account and there is insufficient funds - instead of coming back with a 'there were too many numbers entered' message or an 'insufficient funds' message it gives you an an approved status and a reference number and says you've paid, until you get a letter in the mail three days later saying something went wrong and you've been charged a whole bunch of fees.
The lack of real time confirmation means that you can go over your limit or make other errors without any alarm bells going off until days later when they've processed your transactions and realise you've spent too much or entered something wrong. Then they slap you with more fees.
I can't believe how bad it is. I can't believe that a snail mail letter gets sent to deal with payment problems, when they have my email and multiple telephone numbers and every error results in multiple fees. They can call me to tell me I have an unrequested credit limit increase but unusual activity on my account just slips by. Its such bad service I'm livid.
Contrast that with ANZ who called me less than 4 hours after I'd splashed out and bought some airfares, to check the transaction was legit. Or with NAB who called me to check the date I had written was correct because they thought it was a bit odd. Australian banking is so much more sophisticated and human that I can't wait to rid myself of these dickensian financial institutions and their ridiculous check books and shite online capabilities.
Its like banking in 1988!
Aaarrrggghhhh.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Cutting a long story short
So we didn't go anywhere for the long weekend and I feel like I squandered it :( I could have been in Costa Rica or the Keys or New Orleans but I did not get my act together and the airfares all skyrocketed. So now I am in holiday planning mode for later in the year so we don't miss out on more travel opportunities. The clock is ticking loudly for me.
There were two highlights: wandering around the West Village in the sun and getting cupcakes at Magnolia (of Sex and the City fame) with Lisa and Jus on Thursday, and heading out to Brooklyn for a July 4 party with Corrie, Kerry et al with access to a real live backyard (more fireflies!) and a rooftop at the same party.
At the party people sang the anthem and America The Beautiful and any other America-centric songs they could remember after a lot of beer, wine & champas (we hadn't tuned in to the simulcast and we couldn't really hear the fireworks so the void had to be filled somehow) as fireworks splashed through the sky in New Jersey and on Manhattan. At one stage we were watching three separate fireworks displays, and the two Macy's ones were coordinated.
It was actually so hot and humid it rained during the fireworks, which made them a little lower than usual due to the cloud cover.
It's going to be 30c+ all week and my head is hurting at the thought of our electricity bill and the black balloons pouring out of our always-on aircon. Sorry, Kyoto. Though we did change a lightbulb over to the new kind this week!
That wasn't so short in the end, was it? Ciao.
There were two highlights: wandering around the West Village in the sun and getting cupcakes at Magnolia (of Sex and the City fame) with Lisa and Jus on Thursday, and heading out to Brooklyn for a July 4 party with Corrie, Kerry et al with access to a real live backyard (more fireflies!) and a rooftop at the same party.
At the party people sang the anthem and America The Beautiful and any other America-centric songs they could remember after a lot of beer, wine & champas (we hadn't tuned in to the simulcast and we couldn't really hear the fireworks so the void had to be filled somehow) as fireworks splashed through the sky in New Jersey and on Manhattan. At one stage we were watching three separate fireworks displays, and the two Macy's ones were coordinated.
It was actually so hot and humid it rained during the fireworks, which made them a little lower than usual due to the cloud cover.
It's going to be 30c+ all week and my head is hurting at the thought of our electricity bill and the black balloons pouring out of our always-on aircon. Sorry, Kyoto. Though we did change a lightbulb over to the new kind this week!
That wasn't so short in the end, was it? Ciao.
If it walks like a duck
I just bought the Village People's Milkshake song on iTunes (apparently Gen Y people around the office have never heard of it and I have to share its glorious educational fluffiness with them).
I got my Itunes receipt and I had to laugh at the 'Those who bought your selections also bought' recommendations: Miss Bette Davis, Gloria Gaynor I Will Survive: The Anthology and The Best of Meco (best known for his galactic funk disco version of Star Wars).
Just who do you think I am, iTunes?
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
ID4
So on Friday its Independence Day and I have Thursday off too. And because Jus and I haven't quite adjusted to the US holiday schedule we have not planned a getaway. Four days off and no plan! I'm beside myself. Tonight I'm going to be scouring the interweb for last minute flights to anywhere and cruises to the closer Caribbean islands. If it all goes to pot we'll end up on an Amtrak train to Philly or in a rental car touring the Carolinas and staying in crappy motels.
Who knows from where my next post will be? Crossing fingers its not from 15th Street.
Happy July 4, patriots.
Who knows from where my next post will be? Crossing fingers its not from 15th Street.
Happy July 4, patriots.
Real Life New Yorker # 6 - Olivia
This is Olivia who I used to work with but who has now spread her wings to the wonderful world of entertainment. And its appropriate because she is so entertaining. This gal has stories. About her Katrina-orphan pooch, her fave Italian joint in Miami and her feeling of obligation to take leaflets from desperate looking people on the street.Where did you grow up?
I grew up all over the U.S. I was born in New Orleans, LA spending some of my childhood there as well. I also lived in Manhattan, Canton-Ohio, Louisville-KY, Austin-TX. Following high school I spent a summer in Munich Germany and then moved to San Francisco, CA where I lived for 14 years before a brief 2 year stint in Miami, FL and then back to where I am now which is in one of the greatest cities in the world....NY, NY (of course!).
What brought you to New York?
I came to NY for the opportunity, culture, creativity, and lifestyle that the city offers. I knew I loved it before I decided to make it home. Not liking Miami and having lived so many other places before.....it was NY or bust.
What do you like about the US?
This is a hard question. As a generalization there's not a lot that I like about the U.S. I guess I appreciate that there is so much opportunity here and that if a person sets there mind to something they can achieve it.
Is there anything you hate about America?
I have a strong dislike for our politics without question. I also am often repulsed by the overall superiority and waste that goes on. I hate that as a country we consume so much without seemingly much mindfulness for other countries' lack.
What do you think of when you think of Australia?
I've been meeting a lot of Aussie's lately - first thing that comes to mind is the visa that's allowing so many Australians to live and work here in the U.S.
Who do you think is going to win the US election and why?
I have very little faith in our political system. I'd like for Obama to win but my cynicism has me thinking that it will be McCain.
Will you work in New York forever?
I have hopes and plans to eventually live abroad; as long as I'm in the U.S., yes, I think I'll be in NY.
If you could visit one place in Australia where would you go and why?
Perth. Heard great things about it! It's on the "Life List"
Who is the most famous Australian, in your mind?
Because of recent events I'd have to say Heath Ledger. There are also many of the other Australian actors/actresses such as Nicole Kidman. Cate Blanchett? Isn't she Australian?
What’s one thing everyone should know about New York?
It's the most efficiently ran place on the planet. Nowhere else in the world does time = money like it does here. One more thing, anyone who visits quickly realizes that the people are really nice here.
I have a dream
No, not that kind of dream. The overbearing stage mother with hopes of stardom for her daughters, kind.
Jus and I went to see Gypsy on Broadway last night, starring the indomitable Patti Lupone. Lupone won a Tony for her performance and even before the show opened in March the musical theatre lovers were thrilling about her performance.
Jus and I have been yelling 'Patti Lupone' in our best Long Island accents (think loud nasal drawl) since we bought the tickets and we were very curious about how the whole thing would go down.
And it went down like you would expect on a Tuesday night during the summer when the tourists are in heavy numbers and the Gay Pride Parade was the weekend past: gasps and applause as soon as Lupone's voice thunders from the audience (she approaches the stage from the stalls), rousing applause whenever she did a gutsy number and a standing ovation during her three bows. Have I mentioned before that the locals love a standing ovation?
Lupone may not have the most nuanced, controlled voice but she is so comfortable on stage and so clearly in character, and her performance is so raw and gutsy that she is wonderfully compelling. The first act I was struggling: a 1959 musical with 50s arrangements, lyrics and choreography felt a bit limited after the fun of Xanadu and the realism of August: Osage County. But Act II redeemed the musical with a great scene among three ageing strippers and the final transformation of one of the daughters into a burlesque star.
Didn't realise til we got home that the musical is based on the memoir of a real striptease artist. If I had have known that going in I think it would have helped me cope with the first act.
Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher and Morgan Freeman are in a play at the moment: hoping to catch tix to that next.
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