The Jamjar

NYC:07

My last whole day in New York. I've had sunshine, and I've had rain - today it's misty, drizzle and wonderfully atmospheric. I'm told this is a typical New York kind of day so thanks Big Apple - I appreciate your attention to detail.

Busing and subwaying it into Manhattan - I'm not an expert but I don't feel lost. Streets mark up the Island, Avenues stretch down longways. It gives a sense of direction - cities built on grids are the best! well, for those of us who have a nose for direction.

The first subway I took didn't have any indication of which station was which - and the signs on subway walls aren't as clear as in, say, London. So my first experience was of great concentration and that was annoying. Taking the F train was much easier - they have ann electronic map with next stops and that made life very easy.

The subways are grimey-looking while you're in them - clean and litter-free, but a grime covers the walls and stairs and it's really nice to get out of them. Some of the points of entry/exit are really quite nice - and generally they all have a green ball on a black pole so you can spot them from a distance.

Today I walked. I walked and walked. When I looked at the map I understood why it had felt like I had walked for the entire day - because I actually had. Manhattan is a large island - don't be fooled, people.

But it was lovely. The misty day made the light soft, and the sheen from the wet streets and low hanging mist over bare trees made for a romantic last day wondering the city. My wanderings started at Park Avenue. According to Monopoly, this is an expensive part of town. It's pretty subtle, with all the old money tucked away inside apartments climbing up off the sidewalk. Concierges guarding entrances but with a smile for everyone. I walked past a couple of schools with a few buses and a few more limousines waiting for their occupants to be discharged from the hallowed halls of learning.

Yes, it was a late start to my day.

I expected the Guggenhiem to be larger. Why, I can not tell you - but it seemed almost like a model of itself. Today was a day of new exhibits, so some of the floors weren't available to the pubic. This was good for two reasons: firstly, because of my lazy start to the day, I didn't have lot of time, so the restriction served me well and secondly because the price of entry was slashed to $8!

Look, you can call me old fashioned - I don't mind. I wanted to see the Paris and the Avant Garde exhibition. It was delightful. I enjoyed the audio-tour commentary, which whispered information about the artwork as I meandered through this wonderous building. I have loved Chagall forever and today was the first time I got to see a one, up close and for reals. And a large Miró. And Toulouse-Lautrec. And the wonderful and sometimes overshadowed, Georges Braque.

I spent some time contemplating the void but my heart was happy with the paintings I was fortunate to see.

The world was still misty when I returned to it. Strolling down 5th Avenue, learning to jay-walk properly and enjoying the world, I found myself outside the huge cube that is 5th Avenue's Apple Store.

If you called me old fashioned earlier, you might like to add "simple soul" to that. While the building of the Apple Store is impressive, it really is just an Apple store. It was teeming with people with their grubby fingers all over the merchandise. I found a place to sit (which wasn't easy - to find or to sit on concrete for long) and joined the wi-fi with my iPhone and coordinated the rest of my evening. I took a couple of photos then I felt I needed to leave. The very best thing (and I don't mean this in a bad way) about the store was the magical umbrella wrapping device at the door to stop rain from dropping all over the floor.

I really should have taken the subway to Union Square - but Google maps assured me it was only a 35 minute walk and I had an hour to get there. Please note people, if you not nothing else: Google maps likes quite a lot. I know I stopped at a store on the way but for only 15-20 minutes - I was still 30 minutes late meeting Kiki at the statue of Ghandi in Union Square.

We started our evening by beering and fries'ing at a local diner. Kiki's daughter Kat met us there between appointments. I've heard about this accomplished young woman since meeting Kiki a decade ago and she me (does that make sense) and this was the first time we met. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay for dinner - so Kiki and I made our way to a Japanese restaurant for tea.

Dinner was lovely, and afterwards Kiki wanted to take me to her favourite (gay) bar over in Chelsea, but first: Staples and a stationery stop.

I'm a bit nuts for stationery - so much so that going to Staples in New York was a highlight. I bought a quad pad and some batteries - and touched everything else. Kiki is very much the same, buying coloured pens and folders. We both had a ball.

Then it was off to Cubbyhole - which proved problematic as neither of the first two cab drivers believed the address Kiki supplied. As mentioned earlier, streets mark up the island, and avenues streak down the island - therefore, you might think, avenues doen't meet as corners, but due to some quirky streets in Chelsea, this bar is on the corner of two avenues (or was it 2 streets?) anyway - two argumentative cab drivers later we find a third who knew exactly where he was going.

Cubbyhole was full of people - FULL of people. It's a small joint but it was packed to capacity. And, I am surprised to report: full of men. According to the few guys I spoke to, they weren't that fussy on who or what they took home - and they enjoyed the bar. As with every night we went out in New York, we met a guy. Tonight that guy's name was Warren - and he only told us that by accident. He didn't want to talk about anything personal or identifying. We met him because he accused Kiki of stealing his white bag of electronic equipment he had left on the floor while he went to the toilet. She, of course, hadn't taken it but it took some convincing. He ended up buying us drinks and spending some time chatting. It was a great bar for a small bar - the staff worked their asses off and we had a few too many beers before calling it quits.

NYC:06

I had great plans for today - Manhattan, MOMA, Grand Central Station - but I woke up tired, and it was raining, and I thought I'd take a day off. I sat on the couch all day, drinking cups of coffee, listening to Kiki work (she works from home) and puttering around on the internets.

What a nice way to spend a rainy Monday.

One of my plans I stuck to though: dinner at O'Barone.

Kiki and her son Ted are regulars at O'Barone on a Tuesday, so Nate was surprised to see them there tonight. I think Nate said he was from Chicago - he's been in New York for a couple of years and has a surfer dudeishness about him.

Nate is a sweet young man, and was very surprised to find that Kiki thought he was gay. He assured her he wasn't but also mused that maybe that's why he wasn't quite as successful with woman as he thought he ought to be. He is also the butt of jokes from teh kitchen staff. A couple of times during our meal we noticed he had things stuck to him - such as the label from a bacon packet or a twisted piece of grease-proof paper on a hook from his pocket. It seems that Nate has such an amazing ability to focus on the thing he is doing - like reading his book, for instance - he doesn't feel the kitchen help attaching weird stuff to him until someone in the restaurant brings it to his attention.

We stayed long past opening time, talking with Nate and drinking red wine. The short walk home to our warm beds, falling asleep as the rain pattered against the window.

NYC:05

Another lovely Spring day - and today we got to visit Brooklyn Museum.

A few weeks before coming to America, I attended Webstock in Wellington. Among the many wonderful speakers was Shelley Bernstein the Chief of Technology at the Museum. She talked about how they blended online tools with their museum experience - including allowing photography in the museum.

I mean: who does that? most museums say you can't even answer your cell phone let alone take a photo of a piece of art or artifact. Visiting this place instantly became a priority - I wanted to experience the museum with my iPhone and camera.

Getting to the museum ended up taking a lot longer than anticipated. We had the use of a friend's car, so opted for that rather than the Subway. Unfortunately for us, a St Patrick's Irish Day parade had decided that Sunday was a good one for closing off all the streets around Park Slope and therefore, diverted the usual route to the museum. We eventually ended up in a traffic snarl-up at Grand Army Plaza which meant we spent 45 minutes trying to move as many meters.

photo by arthur ohm

Eventually we arrived at the museum, having parked the car and walked through the top end of Prospect Park. First real impression of the digital layer of the museum was the wi-fi was actually strong - it was the real thing - I wasn't piggy-backing on an open unsecured connection - this place is wired for good access.

Each room has a small notice explaining how to log into the wi-fi, ideas about how to access digital information and giving a room code. This, along with some instructions, opened up a world of information via my iPhone. I could see a gallery of important or significant objects in the room, or I could access a gallery of all the objects in the room. You might wonder why I would want to just look _at_ the objects in the room - the information via the gallery and other visitors comments adds another layer of information over the things I was seeing. I could 'favourite' any object I liked and it would be added to what others think. I could also take a photo of objects I liked and upload them to Flickr.

Besides this kind of interaction, I could also use Four Square and log in - and if I'm the Mayor on the first (or last, I can't remember now) Saturday of the month, I get a free membership to the museum. They also have Twitter accounts, blogs, and all manner of socially and digitally networked ways to keep and stay in touch with the museum. These all point to physical meet-ups and help build and maintain the community that surrounds and supports the museum and encourages visitors as curators by allowing these digital touch-points and interweavings.

Oh and the other great thing is, apart from the objects behind glass, you can touch stuff in this museum. It's about the people, you see - and it really is a human space.

Two exhibits stood out for me while I was there: Kiki Smith's and Judy Chicago's permanent exhibit, The Dinner Party.

photo by meg zimbeck

After the museum, it was time to find somewhere to eat. Walking around Park Slope, showed me the vision of New York I've always seen television sitcoms. Rows of beautiful brownstone homes on tree-lined streets - steps leading up to beautiful double-doored residences that looked as if I'd need a hefty income to own.

It really is a beautiful, romantic part of New York. I really have got around this town - from Red Hook to Harlem, from Park Slope to Chelsea, from Queens to Park Avenue - and all the neighbourhoods change and are quite different.

A lovely day which ended with a meal of lamb from a Middle Eastern restaurant and a stroll back to the car and home to Red Hook.

NYC:04

Today was a day of extremes. From a quiet sunny walk around Red Hook, to the neon lights of Broadway.

Red Hook has a reputation for being dangerous. There seems to be a section of the suburb that has high-rise 'commission' housing which might be, in part, responsible for this idea. Most of Red Hook isn't based around this commission housing. It's a port and shipping area, without any subway connections to the rest of Brooklyn and the cities of New York. The place is a haven for artists and creative types - which makes it strange and lovely, and a possibly a hidden gem.

Kiki took me on a walking tour of the area which included Steve's Keylime Pie shop, the piers and the park outside IKEA. The only IKEA store in New York, it is serviced by a water taxi that shuttles between Red Hook and Manhatten for those who require Swedish flat-pack furniture - which is no small number, by all accounts.

The cafes, restaurants and bars of Red Hook are friendly and off-beat, and quite excellent. There are community gardens and shared spaces - and while it doesn't feel at all like a sea-side town, it does feel like a close-knit neighbourhood.

From a quiet, fine day of walking around interesting streets, to one of the world's most famous: Broadway and Times Square.

We were off to the city: a dinner and a show. First eating a delicious meal at a China Town szechuan-style restaurant before making our leisurely way to the Minskoff Theatre to see The Lion King.

The show was extraordinarily good. Gorgeous costuming and wonderful voices - our front-row seats really did give great eyes and ears for both.

The Minskoff's windows look directly out at Times Square and all the neon signs and video screens. Leaving the show at after 11pm, the night was banished by the white unnatural lighting and it felt like midday rather than nearly midnight.

We weren't ready to go home yet, so we crossed the road to a very touristy Irish (cough) pub. It was lovely sitting there, supping beer and talking before grabbing a wee-small hours-taxi for home.

The evening was topped off by a rare celebrity sighting - forgive the unsteady camera - due to the New York cabbie and general excitement of seeing someone so famous:

NYC:03

The weather here in New York is just gorgeous. Clear, cool Spring days - I think I've struck it really lucky.

Today I walked across Brooklyn Bridge and then took the Subway for the first time, popping up at the entrance to Central Park. The place was teeming with people, but everyone seemed to have quite low energy, so there was a calmness to the place that was much appreciated.

Meandering along the paths, way finding people and sights. We couldn't resist taking a ride on the beautifully restored Central Park Carousel - at $2 for a 3-minute ride, this has to be the best bargain in the entire city of New York.

We walked and walked - checked out park performers, fountains, statues, The Boat Shed, up under and through the many bridges - it really was a lovely long walk through a wonderful park.

We were surprised and pleased to find that when we were kind of done with the park, we had not only made our way to the other side of the Park, that the Metropolitan Museum of Art was not only right there, it was a late night and we were able to keep meandering, but now through the cool halls of Byzantine Art exhibits and Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings!

"The Mourners from the tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy are deeply affecting works of art. Beyond their evident visual and narrative qualities, we cannot help but be struck by the emotion they convey as they follow the funeral procession, weeping, praying, singing, lost in thought, giving vent to their grief, or consoling their neighbor. Mourning, they remind us, is a collective experience, common to all people and all moments in history."

Sophie Jugie, Director, Musée des Beaux-Arts. Dijon

The Mourners were gorgeous and moving. 37 individuals in a procession in mourning, their detail delicate and gorgeous - the subtle colour in the marble not visible in the online reproductions. I actually could have spent all day studying these guys - they were really quite wonderful.

The really pleasent surprise about The Met though, is how fantastic the cafeteria is. An array of courses and foods of restaurant quality are offered, with payment made by weight (after subtracting the weight of the plate). I had a heaping plate of wonderful salads, a glass of pineapple juice and fresh bread for US$10. I was impressed, happy, and no longer hungry by the time we were done.

..and we were worried about how we'd spend our time between the Park and going through to Harlem for jazz.

So off to to find jazz. John had suggested yesterday that we go to either the Cotton Club or Showman's in Harlem for good Jazz.

We struck up a conversation with a 8-year veteran of the bar named Andre. He not only regaled us of stories from his life, but helped keep us on the straight and narrow as far as bar rules go: no rowdiness, no over-indulging, polite conversation and keep the bar stools tucked tightly against the bar. Mona is the owner and runs a tight ship - she looks after her customers and made sure we ate, we were happy and in the end, had a good car to travel home in. The place wasn't cheap - but we were only there for a couple of hours and one set of Jazz. It was good fun and a great end to a groovy second day.

NYC:02

Today was the tour, by water, of the Island of Manhattan. Circle-Line Sightseeing offer a number of options to see New York, and with the weather as glorious as it was, we chose the 3 hour full island cruise - sounds almost tropical, doesn't it!

It really was a great way to get my bearings of the city, and also to realise how many bridges connect to Manhattan - in the end we'd sailed under 20. I kinda like bridges.

Coming ashore we walked up 42nd Street and found a bunch of neon lights as we got closer to Broadway. Grabbing a cab, we tottled across town to Chelsea Market. I was really hanging out for a good coffee, so we stopped at 202, hitched ourselves to a bar stool and ordered espresso, with the intention of seeking out the rest of the market shortly thereafter - we never made it, of course - we were absorbed into a larger-than-life John Lewis who diverted first our attention, and then our plans.

To make a long story short, we ended up staying for a few non-caffeinated drinks then moving on to eat a delicious meal at Pastis. Afterwards, John invited us to accompany him and see some new comedians at a comedy club in the next block.

NYC:01

Today I found out how honest Americans can be.

I had this plan to leave on the day after SXSW so I wouldn't have to rush out of Austin. Due to flights and connections, however, my first flight meant I had to leave the Hotel early in the morning so no lying in nor leisurely start to the day for me after all: I was flying out of Austin to New York, via Dallas Fort Worth Texas and had to start that journey at 7:25am.

Dallas Fort Worth is a very large airport that requires a monorail/train to get between terminals. It is all so very well signed too and I managed to get myself where I needed to go. I found myself waiting at the correct Gate, which had a local Starbucks and plenty of seats.

Texas seems very generous with their power points both in Austin and Dallas, so I plugged my laptop into the closest one and started figuring out how to get online. A guy dropped by from American Airlines and gave me a discount card for on-board wifi. The flight to Dallas also offered internet connection from on-board the aircraft, but I needed a snooze more than I need anything else. This time, I thought, the longer flight up to NYC might be nicely spent Googling, blogging and generally schlepping around online. And from on-board a flight: how very 21st Century!!

I logged onto the site and attempted to purchase a short-term account to see me good for the flight. Needless to say, it didn't work - my card wasn't accepted and it was all a bit odd and I gave up and closed my laptop remembering I had a very good book that needed reading during the flight after all.

I puttered around for a bit, had a bite to eat, then went to the bathroom - returning to the Gate just as the boarding of the aircraft began. After a little bit, my name was called over the intercom and I was asked to come to the check-in desk. This had happened a few times with my connection flights. They have a lot of stand-by customers, and my tickets and boarding passes had been confirmed ahead of time so they seem to like to check I'm actually in the terminal and still require a seat.

When I got to the counter, however, I got the fright of my life as the Policewoman standing there was holding my credit card. "Holy crap!" I said "where did you get that??" She said it was found in the bathroom, on the floor, and I was very lucky to be getting it back because she had seen some shoes she really wanted in the store down the road. Apparently someone had picked it up from the floor of the very busy restroom, and had handed it to the Policewoman. I was very grateful, and somewhat surprised - and while I think I was pretty lucky, I have been told since that generally, American's are very honest - except for the actual dishonest ones.

I arrived at La Guardia airport, New York around 5pm, and found Kiki outside waiting for me as promised. It was so lovely to see her again - both of us worried that after 10 years we wouldn't recognise each other, but there was no problem - people never really change, do they.

After dropping off my bag at her place, and meeting her two dogs Riley (big black Labrador) and Bailey (long-legged Jack Russell), we popped up the road to one of Kiki's favourite restaurants.

Home Made in Red Hook, Brooklyn offers biodynamic and organic wines by the glass, as well as off-the-beaten-trail beers on tap. The other patrons were friendly, Home Made is hosted by the charming Monica and Leisah it was the coziest, loveliest most declicious end to a day of traveling and a great beginning to my New York adventure.

SXSW Interactive

I’ve been in America for nearly two weeks and honestly, this is the first time my head has had any space to think about what is going on. The last five days in particular have been full, interesting and full of beer.

South by South West (SXSW) is a nerd-fest of the highest order. Internet nerds, film nerds and music nerds gather here every March and try to survive a week of information overload and multiple late-night parties. I’m talking about thousands of nerds - thousands. A tweet flew by as we landed in Austin, Texas from the SXSW official channel saying they’d stuffed 12,000 interactive, 11,000 music and 8,000 film swag bags. This year was the first year that the interactive/internet stream surpassed the numbers of the music stream.

Fox and I arrived in Austin from Vegas after driving the ‘scenic route’ (I missed a turnoff and added over an hour to our trip) from San Francisco. We both agreed that, while we’re pleased we visited Las Vegas, it’s not our kind of town. I believe we did it proud though, stayed at a seedy hotel (not on purpose) and attending a cheesy show (American’s version of King Arthur’s Court) but I know I’ll not be going back again unless I really have to. I did achieve my goal of shooting a gun there, so that was great. I failed to see the Grand Canyon - but when I come back to do that, I’ll stay somewhere else - maybe add Los Alamos into the mix to make it a truly awesome trip.

The landscape of Nevada is gorgeous and I’m so pleased we got to drive through it. The purples, blues and golden ochre of the desert is just gorgeous. Cresting hills on the ribbon of highway, dipping down into massive basins of rocky desert, rising up into amazing mountains layered with millions of years of history, I found quite breathtaking. The size of the place is indescribable. I am not sure I would have believed the scale had I not had my own eyes in the front of my head.

We arrived in Austin, Texas on Tuesday evening to begin the point of the whole trip: SXSW. We had booked the Austin Hilton which was directly opposite the Austin Conference Centre’s main doors, was a great idea. No rushing about in the morning or catching shuttle buses, and my bed was never far away from where I was which, as the week wore on, proved a great bonus.

The days are filled with panels, talks, book readings, swimming through crowds and queuing. With such vast conference numbers, queuing becomes a way of life. You queue for coffee, you queue for food and queue for some of the panels and workshops.

With five 1 hour sessions per day, I decided on which I would see by who was speaking rather than what they were speaking about. I got to see and hear many people I’ve admired and followed online - Ryan Irelan, Greg Storey, Austin Kleon, Jim Coudal - I’m such a nerd-groupie. I got to speak with Mike Rohde who I’ve been following for ages on Flickr. His sketch-notes are mouthwatering and he was such a nice guy. The absolute highlight, in a week of highlights was seeing Ze Frank. He’s tall, handsome and seemingly comfortable in his own skin - though I think to be extremely creative, as Ze is, needs a large dose of self doubt and bouts of depression (or is that just me?). He held us all in the palm of his hand during his session titled Living the Creative Life. He was at his best fielding questions from the audience - showcasing his quick wit and goofy side while being completely charming.

photo by Alex Design

After each day of speakers, there were the parties. Hosted by such companies as Frog Design, The Barbarian Group, Microsoft, Adobe, RackSpace, Happy Cog and Twitter, just to name a few - these were tremendous fun and a great way to meet people while having the kind of fun only booze can buy.

As you know, I’m getting old, so I couldn’t manage five days of panels followed by five days of parties - I had to bail and opt for a decent meal and an early night on the Monday night. I also needed a nana-nap during the Sunday.

photo by Alex Design

But all and all, the stories of the SXSW parties are pretty accurate, and to do the conference (festival?) justice, the immersive technique of saying “Yes!” to everything is highly recommended.

HiJack!

Song for Jo

A song for Jo from a talented man named Corey.

9 mm

"You're in America now, you can do anything you want."

That's what Pat, our ex-military Sergent Major assured us as we choose our weapons.

Neither New Zealanders (me) nor Australians (Fox) are used to normal, everyday people carrying firearms - but there stood Pat with a .44 Magnum strapped to his hip.

Las Vegas Gun Range on the Blue Diamond turn-off in Las Vegas was all we hoped it would be: Google didn't let us down. It was clean and safe and friendly. Even Luger the 7 month old alsatian is well behaved and not gun-shy.

Fox and I listened carefully to our instructions, loaded and "squeezed off" two 15 round clips of ammunition each.We were both surprised at the weight of the Beretta 9mm and the jump it made when we fired. Pat said it was a great gun for ladies because it was very loud and could potentially scare off any would-be attacker or intruder. I'm not entirely sure I would be able to fire one round at a person let alone empty a clip into anyone coming for me - guns are seriously real, up-close and personal.

Pat said they got a lot of foreigners in the store. Earlier they had had a group of people from Germany. They were all good, he said, except for one who asked "When are you Americans going to become civilised?"

I was thinking the answer to that question might be "When you visitors decide to not be rude when you visit America!" but that's not what Pat said. In fact, he said nothing at all. He hitched his t-shirt up over his Magnum, casually turned and stood facing the right, so the man from Germany could see the large, blue-steel barreled weapon strapped to his hip. He patted it tenderly. The German then asked what Pat meant by the gesture. Pat said "It means, there's the door, and you'd best leave and get on the other side of it now." The German, then offended by this comment asked to speak to Pat's manager. Pat pointed out his manager who was also patting his gun holster, paying very close attention to the proceedings, as were all the gun-totting employees of the store.

So if you don't plan to walk into a gun store in Nevada and insult the American people, I can highly recommend Las Vegas Gun Range for the experience of shooting in a controlled and safe situation. Our Sergent Major gave clear instructions, and watched us like a hawk to make sure we were safe at all times.

Wednesday Matinée

Japanese Tea Garden

Lonely Planet

I've been trying to tell you something for a while now. Something that oughtn't be this difficult to share. You'll be happy for me, you'll probably even begin to hope for more frequent updates. That might be a false hope - we'll have to wait until the fat lady sings.

I'm sitting at Sydney International Airport awaiting my flight to Japan.

That sounds awfully exotic ( I flew up here today from Melbourne with the lovely Qantas people) and while it is, it's just the beginning. After I spend a little bit of time soaking in the sake and taking bad photos of tiled roofs, I'll be boarding another plane. This time to fly across the Pacific from Narita to the USA.

Yes, I'm coming to America. (if I were Willo I'd say "Brace yourself bitches!")

I'm visiting San Francisco to get my brows waxed.

I'm driving to Las Vegas to shoot guns.

I'm going to SXSW - Rosie? How could I think of this place and not think of you - I'm going to Austin! Texas for the rest of yous. don't worry, if you thought I was a dork at Webstock with Russell Brown, wait til I'm in the same room as Ze Frank. At least I have an outside chance Ze will think my accent is charming, Russell just knew I was drunk.

Then, then THEN.. hold on to your hat, Rosie (and Todd who doesn't read this blog but if he did and if he was wearing a hat it would blow OFF within the next second) I'm going to see Kiki in NYC.

No, really. Kiki. Me. NYC. It's gonna be like Devonport all over again but with more wine and better shoes! and more expensive!!

Is that even possible... it's been so long coming and 2010 has been a personal mountain of crap so far. So.. so.. so can't even tell you how crap.

I am not happy with this post - I may well delete it in the morning. Wesley? where's my neck pillow and my book light?!

Wednesday Matinée