Random stuff from a recent brief visit to New York City …
There seemed to be more bicycles on the streets than in years past. Two things set them apart from the DC variety: many seats are covered with plastic bags, and most of the bikes sport kick-ass locks and chains.
A doorway on West 17th—maybe you can make out the boobs for eyes. (Unfortunately, the rise of smart phones has led to a resurgence of poor-quality photography. Since I was lugging all my belongings around Manhattan in a backpack for two days, I decided to leave my real cameras at home. I suppose the phone camera is better than nothing …)
Some kind of bird in the pond at the south end of Central Park—a crane? (Yes, there’s a bird somewhere in there.) I was just a little surprised to see it in the middle of the city.
Also in Central Park: a nice rock resting on one of the many outcroppings. The temperature was in the nineties, so the breakdown of people moving and people reclining/sitting in the shade was about 50-50. I spent half my time doing each.
Despite the heat, you were rarely out of earshot of music being played on various instruments. I have no idea what this one is called—it had a single string attached to a board at one end and a flexible stick at the other. It was amplified, and the player changed the pitch and vibrato by manipulating the stick. (He was also accompanied by canned music.)
Addendum 2011.07.22: Forgot to mention our visit to the Society of Illustrators on East 63rd, which had a show devoted to the cover art of pulp fiction from the ’30s–’50s. Also had a great buffet lunch in the Society’s dining room, courtesy of cousin Nishan, who is a member.
