The official stats are in, and apparently we received nearly 4 inches of rain in the City, between Friday and Saturday. 4.7 inches is the monthly average amount of rainfall for NYC for the month of March. Winds were gusting to 60 MPH, and they actually canceled the Staten Island Ferry service, on Saturday evening because it was becoming to dangerous to dock. I literally did not leave the house one time on Saturday.
We were planning on seeing Piper early Sunday morning. But when I checked the traffic report, all of the parkways heading north were either flooded or closed for debris removal. Right about then, the thunder, lightning and hailstorm kicked into high gear.
Around 2 in the afternoon, the rain turned to a drizzle, so Reagan and I decided to wander out and inspect the damage. Luckily, there were no downed tree limbs across our car. We took a stroll to Ft. Tryon Park, where the parks department had already done a stellar job of clearing all of the mess from the storm. Plus, I really liked the photo below, that I snapped of Reagan, on our walk home. We made it back inside, right as it started to really pour, again.
Since this is the 50th post of La Musica Coolica, I decided to do sort of a double feature. The artist for this week is Velvet Underground. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Velvet Underground, generally. I feel like Lou Reed kind of rips off Bob Dylan a lot, stylistically. More than anything, I just kind of have to respect what the group did for experimental Rock. I sort of see them as the Sonic Youth, of the late 60’s, early 70’s.
Another reason that I have to respect them, is because I’m am so intrigued and interested in that whole nexus that they had going with Andy Warhol. To me, it is kind of cool that two huge New York, art icons of that era had meaningful interaction. I know that Jim Morrison hung out with Andy Warhol, too. But, I think that the thing with Velvet Underground was different. Partly because VU lived in NY, and was really in touch with the scene here, at the time. Basically, I’m just bleeding from the mouth about the way that I imagine things, though. Because in reality, I wasn’t there, nor do I have any concrete evidence to support any of my hypotheses.
I was first exposed to the group through covers of Velvet Underground songs performed by some of my favorite groups, growing up. Cowboy Junkies does a cover of “Sweet Jane,” that I listened to back in the day. Another one is “Here she comes now,” covered by Nirvana on “Outcestiside.” It is a really gritty recording, that barely passes for more than a jam session that just happened to get recorded. In fact, the first time it breaks into the chorus, Kris plays the first couple of bars in the wrong key. I personally think that it is one of the coolest tracks that I have every heard, primarily because of its raw quality. I love the way that Kurt starts really getting into it, vocally, toward the end of the track. So, the double feature that I mentioned earlier, is both the Velvet Underground version, and the Nirvana version of “Here she comes now.” You can check them out back to back.
Reagan and I have been working all year long to gain guaranteed entry to next year’s New York City Marathon. We have been doing the NYRR 9+1 program. We have had all of our races (plus a few extra) finished for quite some time now. But when we got online to sign up to volunteer, everything was booked except for the last two races of the year. Good thing that we didn’t procrastinate any longer than we did.
Reagan and I woke up at 5:30 on Saturday, so that we could be in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, by 7:30. It was a gorgeous day. The temperature was in the low 20’s but it didn’t feel that cold, because we were bathing in sunlight. The photo above is of Reagan dancing to Madonna’s “Holiday,” which was playing through the PA. So, it is official now. We will be running in Nov. 2010. We also had that chance to talk to another volunteer, who was near us, who has run NYC and Chicago for like the last 15 years straight. He said that they are spread almost perfectly apart. We have wanted to run Chi town for a while now. We are debating possibly doing both of them next year.
In Piper news, the date that she is scheduled to move back to NJ, has now been pushed from Tuesday to Thursday. We took advantage and had a super long and fun visit with her today. She is a clapping and smiling fool, these days. It is really fun to goof around with her and watch her smile and make little squeaks, like she is trying to laugh.
Reagan told me that on Friday, she was clapping Piper’s hands together, and when she stopped Piper kept clapping by herself. I couldn’t wait to see it for myself. To my amazement, I had her bouncing on my knee, clapping her hands, and she totally kept going, when I took my hands away. I was busting up laughing. One of the cutest things I have seen. It is especially cute the way she turns around and looks at me for approval afterward. We took some video today, that I’m hoping to get posted at some point. Anyway, I have rambled too long. Below, is a shot of Piper being so patient while Reagan works on her hair.
With such an anticlimactic Valentino Rossi world championship victory, this year, I almost stopped paying attention to the GP headlines. But, today Vito Ippolito, the president of FIM Confirmed the rumored change in engine specs for 2012. This should make things interesting. You may recall when the bikes changed from the first 4 stroke size of 990, to 800 ccs of displacement, Stoner and Ducati dominated. Ducati had not really even been on the radar before that. I mean sure, Stoner had something to do with it, but I’m just saying. Also Nicky Hayden, who had won the world championship on the 990 cc Honda Repsol, the previous year, had a tough time even finishing in the top 10, on the 800 cc bike. All I’m saying, is that the new specs could shake things up, a bit.
For 2012, the maximum displacement limit will jump from 800 ccs to 1000. There will also be a limit of 4 cylinders, with a maximum cylinder bore measurement of 81 mm. The 800 cc bikes are pushing 200 mph. I can’t wait to see what the factory teams will be able to do with the extra 200. According to MotoGP.com, Mr Ippolito said:
The main changes we have decided on are new rules for the MotoGP class. We will have four cylinder engines, 4-stroke of course, with a 1000cc maximum, and the bore of the cylinders will be 81mm. This base will give all the manufacturers the opportunity to start work. At the beginning of next year we will produce the new rules in a more complete format, but that is the basis; 2012 will be the year of a new era of MotoGP.
I’m curious to see if this will open the door for a new factory team to dominate the premier class of motorcycle racing.
Our good friend Zach has been holding it down for a while now, at Kielhs. It just so happens that the brand teamed up for a benefit collab with Jersey bred [former] street artist Kaws. They held a soiree at the Kiehls flagship store to showcase the collection. Zach was kind enough invite me to cover it for SoJones. I was happy to oblige. I has as much fun kicking it with Zach and just catching up, as I did shooting. You know I had to get at least one good shot of the DJ working the fader.
Before tonight, I hadn’t really had a chance to take any NYC Christmas light photos. So here are my contributions, so far:
We found out this morning that Piper will be going back to NJ on Tuesday. We knew that she was next on the list, for a couple of weeks now. But I was secretly hoping that she wouldn’t go back until after the holidays, and everything. She has been at Blythedale for a long time now, and it really does feel like home.
I’m trying very hard to be optimistic. Last time Piper was transferred to this place in NJ, it got off to a bad start, which kind of set the tone for the remainder of her stay there. Eventually she developed bi-lateral pneumonia, spent some time in the ICU and ended up back in Westchester.
But, in fairness, Piper had a rough first round at Blythedale, too. We kicked and screamed for her not to go back there, then ultimately ended up completely falling in love with the place. It is mostly because of the wonderful wonderful people who take care of Piper while she is there.
So, it’s possible that Piper’s second round at Wanaque (the place in NJ), will pan out to be equally good for Piper. It is just a little hard to feel like that right now, since anxiety levels are pretty much off the chart. Change of venue, has always been a tough thing for Piper (and us). Keep your fingers crossed for the little squirt. I will update as things progress.
We have already had a pretty busy week, this week. I worked late yesterday, but still managed to fit in a winter line launch party for Flud Watches. Then Tuesday night, Reagan and I attended a (work related) holiday party at Rockefeller Center. It was at one of the restaurants that is adjacent to the skating rink. Skating was included in the party festivities. I went to this party alone a couple of years ago, and Reagan really felt bad, because I don’t really even like skating, she does. Plus she had been begging me to take her. So I hope that this year makes up for it. We brought the point and shoot, but it died after the first shot. So, all of these pics are from the gritty lil blackberry cam.
Apparently Reagan, at some point today read a Facebook blurb from my sister about cherry limeade. She said that she had been craving one, ever since. So, that is what she ordered at the bar. The bar tender was a little bit stumped at first. But after she explained it a little bit, the mixologist (yes, I am using that term, because the dude earned it) came up with a pretty fancy looking drink that seemed to satisfy Reagan’s fever. Try to ignore my totally serious face, below. I was focusing pretty intently on keeping a steady arm for the photo. Doesn’t Reagan look cute though?
Reagan on skates, below.
In addition to all of the festivities of the last couple of days, we also finished our Christmas cards tonight! Man, I’m feeling pretty productive, right about now.
Peanut Butter Wolf, AKA Chris Manak, is a California based DJ, who produces and mixes Hip-hop fusion tracks. Hip-hop fusion sounds like kind of a lame term. But I’m not feeling very creative at the moment, and that was the best that I could come up with.
I throw “fusion” in there, because the stuff he puts out is more than just a Timbaland-style beat with some rappers going back and forth over the top of it. A lot of tracks have a strong jazz flow to them. Other’s, have an overt disco flavor. Anyway, the track that I’m sharing today is instrumental. It is from the album “Peanut Butter Breaks.”
The song is called “Summer’s end.” I feel like this is fitting, because, although winter solstice is already almost upon us, winter just showed up in NY last weekend. It is a really mellow groove with some horns and a solid bass line. Give it a spin.
I know that I have posted this photo before. But I really like, it. Plus it is the only digital photo that I have, of my grandfather, during WWII (lower left). I didn’t write anything, this year for Memorial Day. So I thought that I would take a second and say something on Pearl Harbor Day.
If you have ever visited Pearl Harbor, then you have felt the reverence that still exists there, to this day. The Memorial has a mantle that has immortalized the honor of those soldiers who lost their lives that day, December 7, 1941. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to be there.
I have looked at the photos of the aftermath a thousand times; those black and white images of the capsized and burning fleet. They truly were the greatest generation.
As a side note: Pearl Harbor day is also my little niece, Maya’s birthday. Happy birthday Maya!
