all the news that isn't

I saw the Red Arrows would be doing a little airshow tonight, so we headed out on the bikes when I got home from work. It was hard to see most of the show, but they did buzz Lady Liberty a couple times. After the show, Adrienne and I biked to a little place to get some chow – split a tasty salad and burrito. Sat by the water and watched the ferries unload people. Stopped by the movie in the park, but decided not to stay. Nice little evening activity, nonetheless.

It’s been a busy week. Here are some details that are either worth mentioning, or I just happen to have a pic of!

Tuesday morning before work (I went in late, more below) I went to pic up my replacement bike (for the stolen one – my CC did cover me). They told me it was in, but they still had to assemble it. So I went and waited for 30 minutes in the nearby park. Saw a good opportunity for a HDR pic:

After a nice little leisurely sit on a bench, I went back to the store, only for them to tell me that they actually got the wrong bike delivered, and would have to get a new correct one delivered. They said they’d have it in 3 hours, but I couldn’t wait. I’d come back… more after the jump. (more…)

we’ll bike, we’ll bike through Liberty State Park…

Adrienne and I went on a bike ride last night, and I got the bright idea to attach my camera to the handlebars (with my great gorillapod) and roll video. Just in case you want to share the experience with us! Highlights include scenic downtown Jersey City(!), Liberty State Park with views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan, no less than three compliments to Adrienne on her sweet bike, as well as a challenge to a race, a quick ride past Hamilton Park and a stop to drop off a rent payment! It’s in two parts:

As mentioned previously, today Adrienne and I did an 18-mile ride through Brooklyn. Though I figure by the time you add all the riding we did to get there, get to lunch afterwards, and get home, it was likely closer to a 25-mile day. Lots more pics after the jump. (more…)

A day of respite from the pledge drive. Was nice. Adrienne and I are more and more considering folding bikes, so we actually went and test drove some yesterday.

That’s a Dahon Speed P8. Nice ride. We’re going back today to check out the now-assembled Dahon Mu P8. Since we were downtown, we stopped by what Adrienne declared to be her favorite restaurant in NYC, Alfanoose.

Some of you that have been here have enjoyed it before.

I’ll keep this short, since we’ve got stuff to do before, yes, I have to go into work…

Apologies for the lack of updates, it’s been a bit busy around these parts (wherever that is!). Since late Wednesday night I’ve been in Vegas for two conferences. The night before I left I had to pull an all-nighter (due to some equipment failure) to mix something we had recorded the night before. So it’s been a bit crazy. Yesterday I actually had some time to get out and just walk up and down the strip (which technically, for you trivia buffs, it not in Las Vegas, NV but rather in Paradise, NV). Here are a couple of pics:

That’s a real dog sitting in the sidecar, complete with goggles.

The New York, New York hotel/casino, whose facade is made to look like famous NY landmarks.

And part of the Paris hotel/casino, with appropriate re-creations of landmarks.

Las Vegas reminds me a little bit of Wichita, KS (big, open space) and a combination of Disneyworld and Times Square (highly produced, everything over the top). No, I haven’t tried my luck at the casinos, but they’re everywhere, from the airport terminal as soon as you get off the plane to the entrance of every hotel and food court.

I think I’ve had a cold since I’ve got here, but it’s odd, as my nose doesn’t run – it’s just too dry here. That’s something I’ve had to adjust to, especially when I went running last night!

That’s it for now, time to conference!

Amie got in just fine, Dan (who was already in town for work and stayed the previous night) and I went to the airport to get her. After dropping stuff off, we went into the city, Downtown. Grabbed some lunch at a favorite Mediterranean place and took it to go to eat at City Hall Park:

See Dan shopping at childhood favorite J&R and a full review after the jump!

(more…)

I feel like my posts have been a little food-centric lately. But really, I do other stuff.

Today Adrienne and I went to a concert at the Manhattan School of Music – Elliot Carter’s Overture, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Good music and a good performance, though the performance hall acoustic left a lot to be desired. At $10/per, the price was right (compared to most other classical concerts in town). Afterward, we walked along the river a bit, and found the General Grant National Memorial and a pig-snowman, among other things:

Yesterday I had some browsing to do at J&R in downtown Manhattan, so I pulled Adrienne along with. J&R is right across from City Hall and the adjacent park of the same name. It’s really quite beautiful, and I think it’s sometimes easy to overlook these little places. Here’s a quick slide show of some pics we took (I’m sure you’ll spot the HDR pic I made).

I know (or at least I’m pretty sure) the grammatically correct way is to say “the depot,” like “The Home Depot.” They seem to endorse that, as you can see on the signs on the new Home Depot in our ‘hood, right by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel going into NYC (wow, all those prepositions – diagram that!).

But when you leave the house and say where you’re going, do you say “I’m going to the Home Depot…”, or do you say “I’m going to Home Depot”? Similarly, we have this website for NPR stations that is called ContentDepot. I’ve noticed some people say “the ContentDepot” while others (myself included) just say “contentdepot.”

Well, to make up for an ugly picture of a big-box corporate company (who now has some of my money) and a bunch of cars, here are two that I snapped on our way there. Adrienne and I wore light jackets, as it’s 51 degrees and sunny today…

And here’s a pretty street sign that retains its Jersey-ness, as you notice one of the light covers is missing (and thus a bit, well, Jersey).

Happy last weekend of the year!