songbird's crazy world

So you're in lower Manhattan, you've got a couple of hours to kill, and you don't want to spend a lot of money.  What do you do? Maybe you take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. Yes, the Staten Island Ferry.  A NYC icon. You may remember the ferry from that old I Love Lucy episode just before the gang took their trans-Atlantic cruise, or as the background for a Madonna video or as a Billy Joel lyric . The ferry is a form of commuter tranportation, carrying passengers between lower Manhattan across New York Harbor to Staten Island, and then back again.  But it's also popular with tourists.  There's no fee to ride the ferry these days.  So if you don't have the time or the money to visit Liberty Island, you can get a nice view of the Statute of Liberty while riding the ferry. On the Manhattan side, the ferry terminal is located  on Whitehall Street, next to Battery Park, convenient to several subway lines.  The terminal has a large, comfortable waiti

 I can't believe Labor Day is almost here, that the summer is coming to an end.   In a few short days, Drew will host his annual Labor Day barbecue, and then our attention will turn to autumn. It's been a very full summer, filled with ball games, beach trips, etc., but ... Labor Day seems to be the dividing line between the seasons.  Maybe that's because here in the northeast the school year begins right after Labor Day, so I've always thought of September as the beginning of autumn.  Yes, the weather will remain warm and summery for a few more weeks, but everything else says "fall".   And this year, the Jewish holidays  come "early", Rosh Hashanah on September 10 and 11, Yom Kippur on September 19.  The minor holiday of Sukkot (a harvest festival) begins on September 24, and the Jewish holidays end with Simchat Torah on October 2.  It's been a very full summer, but I think I'm ready for the change of seasons.  I'll be starting my

We had an absolutely incredible evening at Feinstein's/54 Below.  Located on the lower level of what was once NYC's most famous disco, 54 Below is an intimate supper club that features some of the best talent Broadway can offer. Doors open at 5:00 PM for the 7:00 PM show.  That gave us plenty of time to enjoy our meal before the entertainment.    I ordered a glass of riesling from the extensive wine menu, Drew had the white sangria.  For our appetizer, we shared a crock of bacon baked macaroni and cheese finished with truffle oil.  I could have made a whole meal out of that baked macaroni, it was that good.  I had the Amish chicken, roasted chicken served with buttered parsnip, sauteed dandelion greens and mashed potatoes.  The greens were a bit too bitter for my taste, but the chicken was well prepared, the mashed potatoes creamy and satisfying.  Drew ordered  pan-seared scallops, which were served with shiitake mushrooms, citrus, and parsnip puree.  the scalllops

The sky over the ballpark was so interesting.... #skywatchfriday

It's an annual event, our trip to the   New York Rennaisance Faire .   We drive from Long island to Orange County, breakfast at the Orange Top Diner in Tuxedo Park, then continue on to the fair, on the grounds of Sterling Forest. There's lots to do at the fair.  There are all sorts of shows, most of them suitable for families,  as well as characters who wander the fair grounds interacting with fairgoers.  There are craftsmen and other vendors selling merchandise.  If you are so inclined, you can get a reading from a psychic.  There are games (such as archery and knifethrowing), and rides for the children (a swing, a carousel, even camel rides).  Adults can do a pub crawl.  There's lots of food: nachos, turkey legs, sausages, gyros,  as well as ice cream, pretzels, and incredible treats from the bakery. Our first stop of the day was to see Master Shakespeare. He had audience members acting our roles in a humorous take on Julius Caesar .   Very witty. Next up was

Got to work Monday morning and found myself in my team leader’s office. A coworker is taking an emergency leave of absence.  Coupled with all those end-of-summer vacations, it leaves my team leader very short handed. So the client in the city has agreed to postpone my start date to sometime after Labor Day. Since my caseload has been transferred to my replacement, I’ll be babysitting other people’s cases for a couple of weeks.

The iconic Fire Island Lighthouse. Fire Island is a barrier beach on Long Island's south shore.  At the eastern end of the island is Smith Point County Park, at the western end is Robert Moses State Park and the Fire Island National Seashore (including the lighthouse).  Between the two parks are a number of summer communities, accessible only by boating across the Great South Bay.  (Some people drive to the state park and walk down the beach to Kismet to avoid taking the ferry, but for the most part the communities are not accessible by car.) Last year we took a dinner cruise to Fire Island, to a lovely restaurant called   Flynn's . We had such a great time that we had to go again this year. You park your car at Captree State Park and board the Moonchaser for a leisurely ride across the bay.  There's a cash bar on the boat's main level, but we prefer the upper deck, so we can see the scenery. We boarded shortly before sunset. Flynn's is in a tow

Another icon of my youth is gone.

Hard to believe it's been 15 years.  August 14, 2003.  The Great Northeast Blackout of 2003. I was working for a large insurance ocmpany at the time.  Our office was on Pine Street in lower Manhattan, just north of Wall Street, just west of the East River, and just across town from the World Trade Center site (a 5-10 minute walk). It was midafternoon, and suddenly the electricity went out.  We looked out our windows, and saw that power was out in the neighboring offices as well. Two thoughts occurred to us.  Back then, Con Ed had recurring summer power outages, where everything south of Canal Street might lose power during peak demand.  The other thought ... well, we were coming up on the second anniversary of 9/11 ... In either event, I would be stuck in Manhattan for awhile.  And I was supposed to pick up my daughter Jen later that evening.  I called home to ask someone else (either my parents or one of my sisters) to pick up Jen ... ... and my sister told me that there

Singer-songwriters were the voice of the early 1970's.  Harry Chapin.  Gordon Lightfoot. Jim Croce. And and a British guy named Cat Stevens. Songs that were deep, had meaning.  And then ... he converted to Islam, changed his name and stopped performing secular music. But...he's back....

When I first started practicing law, way back in the 1980’s, lawyers were exempt from jury duty. The rules changed, though, and I’ve been summoned to jury duty twice.   Once was for criminal court, and as soon as the defendant saw us all gathered in the hall, he decided to take a plea bargain. But then there was the auto accident case ... Jurors are selected through a questioning process known as voire dire .  The purpose of voire dire  is to uncover bias, reasons why someone cannot be a fair and impartial juror.  Sometimes a juror is dismissed “for cause”, meaning there’s an objective reason why the juror can’t serve.  An example would be, the potential juror went to high school with one of the lawyers.  Bias is assumed, and the juror is excused. But during voire dire  each lawyer is looking to find the jurors he thinks will most likely favor his case.  And each lawyer is given a specific number of peremptory challenges, i.e., he can dismiss a potential juror simply because he doesn’t

I said I wasn’t going to talk about movies anymore...but... We watched The Justice League  the other night.   As you know, we really love the Marvel series of movies — The Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America ... Of course we are interested in the DC Comics movies, too.  We’d seen Batman vs. Superman   and Wonder Woman   in the movie theater, but passed up The Justice League  because of all the bad reviews.   But ...anything with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman can’t be all bad ... The reviews exaggerated.  It’s not that bad.  It’s just not as good as the movies Marvel is making.  In fact, I felt like I was watching a rip-off of Infinity War. Simple plot.  Superman is dead, and the world is plunged into hopelessness and despair.   Steppenwolf is an alien who wants to take over the Earth and give it an evil makeover.  But first he must recover three “mother boxes”, which, when united, will provide him with incredible power.  Batman assembles a team — Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, the Flash —

So yesterday I posted a photo of the Empire State Building.  The lights used to be white every night.  Then,  in 1976, the Helmsleys (then-owners of the building) installed red, white and blue halide lights.  After that, colored lights replaced the white for special occasions.  The current LED lights were installed in 2012, so we can see different colors every night of the week ... It’s such an iconic building, beautiful Art Deco at its finest.  I’ve been there, of course.  I took the elevator up to the 102nd floor more than once.  I always liked the view here more than the view from the old World Trade Center towers.  I haven’t been to the observation deck of the new One World Trade Center yet.  I’ll be working in lower Manhattan again, so maybe I’ll find my way over to the Trade Center one day and take the ride up ... I hear it’s incredible. Yes, I do love working in the city.  It’s the commute I can do without.  The Long Island Railroad made the news several times last week because

Looking at it never gets old. #skywatchfriday

After this, I promise I’ll stop talking about movies. But, in keeping with our jungle theme (and it has felt as hot and steamy as a jungle around here lately), we added two more movies to the list:   Tomb Raider and the original Jumangi . First up was Tomb Raider.   I had never seen the original Lara Croft movies with Angelina Jolie, nor had I ever played a version of the video game, but of course everyone has some understanding of who this character is supposed to be.  No matter, Tomb Raider  is an “origin” story, where we see a young girl grow up and go off searching for the father everyone assumes is dead.  Not very heavy on plot, the movie features a lot of action, characters in peril, and most famously, fight scenes.  It was a fun ride. And then there was the original Jumangi  to remind me how much I miss Robin Williams.  In 1969, two children —Alan Parrish and Sara Whittle— begin a game of Jumangi.  Their pieces move around the board miraculously with each role of the dice, and a

Photos from a  trip to the park last month. I love the man-made lake.  And yes, it has fish in it.  I wish I had my camera out when the hawk swooped down and grabbed a fish, then dropped it....

So...after all that heavy movie  drama, we decided we needed something light and fun. And what could be better than Jumangi: Welcome To The Jungle ? I never saw the Robin Williams original, Drew is looking for that DVD so I can enjoy it.  But you really don't need to have seen the origianl to enjoy the more recent movie.  The Jumangi game has now morphed from board game to video game.  Four Breakfast Club -esque teenagers get sucked into the game during detention and become the avatars they've chosen.  The avatars all have skills and abilities that the teens lack -- the nerd becomes a hunk, the football player becomes a sidekick, the shy girl becomes a Lara Croft type, and the popular girl turns into a middle aged man.  They are on a junge adventure, must avoid the natural hazards and defeat the bad guys in their quest to restore a stolen gemstone to a statute.   They must play as a team, and must learn to work together in order to master each level of the game.  And in d

A double feature. Sticking with our reality-based theme, we chose All The Money In The World.   This was about the kidnapping, in 1973, of J. Paul Getty III, and how his richest-man-in-the-world grandfather wouldn’t pay the ransome. The elder Getty was a real SOB.  What makes the movie a curiosity is that the elder Getty was played by Kevin Spacey, but when Spacey was disgraced prior to the movie premiere, the role was recast and all the scenes re-shot.  Christopher Plummer was an excellent Getty. And then we switched to fictional drama.  Woody Allen’s  Wonder Wheel.   Set in 1950’s Coney Island, it’s thestory of Ginny, her husband Humpty, her son,his daughter,and Mickey the lifeguard. Mickey, played by Justin Timberlake, is clearly Woody’s alter ego.  Very intense drama, with interesting twists, self-destructive behavior, and a non-ending. After that we will need something much, much lighter.

Storefront pizza place, in a strip mall, very old school.  The owner and his family have been doing business in the area for decades.  Owner was behind the counter serving customers the day we were here, and he was charming, friendly, and very proud of his business. Pizza was great, cannoli were great.  This one is definitely on our list, we'll be back.

So what do you do when you are recuperating from surgery?  Initially, you go home and sleep.  I basically slept for two days. And when you’re feeling a bit better.... movie marathon! Yeah, Drew broke out the DVD’s on Friday. Interestingly, we watched three films that are based on real events. We started with I, Tonya .  I love figure skating, and I remember the ice princesses of the early 1990’s.  And the whole Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan thing.  And how Lillehammer was supposed to be this big showdown between them, until both were eclipsed by Oksana Bayul. Next we watched Chappaqudick.   I’m a little young to remember when it happened, but Teddy Kennedy was always a big part of the political world, and I do remember his 1980 run for President and how Chappaquidick played a role ... interesting to watch his moral compass doing flip flops. The final film of the marathon was The Greatest Showman , starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum.   I must tell you that Drew is madly in love with Ba

No, you don’t really want to hear me kvetch (nice Yiddish word...has more nuance than the English equivalent, “complain”), so I’ll be brief. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia.  At that time, the surgeon suggested I consider weight loss surgery, to be done at the same as the hernia repair. Well, I didn’t have surgery.  Instead, I joined Weight Watchers, bought a Fitbit, and lost a significant amount of weight.  My symptoms disappeared, and my doctor said I could put off the hernia repair. Until I landed in the ER last April. And found out the hernia was worse. So I had surgery last Tuesday.  Simple hernia repair. And I’m currently recuperating at Drew’s house. I am doing ok and may even venture out today...

There's always something interesting in Times Square.  This sculpture currently takes up a good deal of space. But the best is seeing One Times Square, with the ball from New Year's Eve.  They leave it in place all year long. #skywatchfriday

Yes, we are dedicated fans. How did you guess?

The New York Wildlife Conservation Society operates five parks within the City of New York.  The largest and most famous of these is The Bronx Zoo , a 265 acre park filled with wildlife from all over the world.  You could spend a day at the Bronx Zoo and still not see everything the zoo has to offer.  Drew and I are proud members of the WCS.  That means we have unlimited admision into each of the five parks.   You can read about a day we spent in the Bronx Zoo here . The WCS also runs the Central Park Zoo.   The Central Park Zoo is very small, only about 6.5 acres, but very charming.  I love the clock that sits atop the tower on the walkway between the zoo and the children's zoo. Then there's the Prospect Park Zoo , about twice the size of the zoo in Central Park, located in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.  Also in Brooklyn, on 14 acres along  the Boardwalk in Coney Island, is the New York Aquarium , the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States (originally loc