travel – Page 2

Watching the Olympics on and off

I’ve been watching the Olympics occasionally, depending on when I catch it. I am feeling FOMO of not being in Paris, it looks like it’s the place to be this summer.

When I was a kid, I watched it all – from opening ceremony to closing ceremony. I knew every Olympians life story if it was reported on tv and I watched hours and hours of it. Of course we didn’t have 1000 tv channels back then, so since there weren’t many choices, I watched the main event for two weeks.

I did catch the men’s gymnastics and I stuck with it because one of the guys is the spitting image of one of my neighbors. He could be his brother. They look so much alike. I’ve seen still pictures of this Olympian online and he doesn’t look like my neighbor in still shots, but on tv, moving, he looks just like him.

I haven’t told my neighbor because I don’t know how he would take it, sometimes when people tell you that you look like someone it isn’t a compliment. My neighbor is much younger than me, more like a son, and I yelled at him one day, as a father would yell at a son, only he isn’t my son, and it caused bad feelings. He’s back talking to me, so I don’t want to be stupid by saying anything that might be stupid.

For years I’ve said things out loud that I think I am only thinking in my head. I’m not sure how or why that happens, but really, I think it and I think I am only thinking it, and I end up blurting it out.

I’ve been having fun with Ollie And Jacomo, setting them in Paris during the Olympic games. It’s given me lots of ideas and themes to work with.

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Is he today’s Michelangelo?

Saw this on CBS Sunday morning. A story about an Italian artist named Jacopo Cardillo, known in the art world at just Jago. he’s called the modern day Michelangelo due to his incredible sculptures.

One of his current marble pieces was placed in NYC this week, I missed it by a few days, hopefully it will still be there when I return in the fall. It’s called, “Look Down,” it s a sculpture of a baby, laying down on the ground. It’s in Thomas Paine Park, a small park a few blocks north of City Hall.

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Came to Miami to cool off

Glad to be home, I had to leave NYC to get some cooler weather – in Miami!

NYC was brutal. Heat indexes over 100 made it unbearable at times. This red hoodie cartoon reminded me of my favorite red hoodie, which I brought to NY with me, thinking I might need it at nights like most summers, but even the nights were warm this year, there really was no cool air other than the airconditioned places. I heard a weatherperson on tv describe it as the Northeast having “no airflow.”

I was living on iced coffee.

One day, I felt I was getting heat stroke, really – I wasn’t sure what to do, but I managed to get back to the a/c and my bed and I drank a lot of color water, and in time, I got back to normal. I wondered how I would get back across town, from uptown to downtown, as I waited on those roasting subway platforms.

Also, this year Manhattanhenge was a bust – too many clouds blocking it both nights.

But in spite of all the heat, I did have a lot of fun. A lot of my family from Miami was up north and we had good times mostly in The Hamptons. In the city I did a lot of my favorite things and went to many of my favorite museums, including Cleopatra’s Needle, behind the MET Museum and the JP Morgan Library, which I had passed a few times, but never visited.

Ate in a lot of new places – three Greek restaurants ironically. But I forgot to check out Maria Loi’s place, Loi Estiatorio, which I see on tv a lot. I like her Mediterranean cooking style.

I’m looking forward to cooler temps in the fall, when I return for NY Comic Con and pumpkin and apple picking in October and Thanksgiving and so many more things in November.

***Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park***

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McSorley’s Old Ale House

A few of us went to McSorley’s Old Ale House the other day. It’s the oldest bar in NYC, founded in 1854. Able Lincoln visited the place! Along with dozens, if not hundreds of celebs.

The 170 year old saloon is located at 15 E. 7th Street. Interestingly enough, across the street from LaSalle, which was my father’s high school.

McSorley’s only sells beer and only sells two types – dark or light, and they price – $2.75 per glass! You get two glasses with every order because of the head on the beer, so to compensate, it comes in two glasses.

I went back a few days later to buy t-shirts, I wanted to buy four. The bartender told me the price was $80.00. I asked, “Per shirt?” He replied, “No, total, tax included!” I think they are usually $25, but since I purchased four, they reduced the price a bit.

So beers are $2.75 and t-shirts are $20.00 – probably the best deal in town. And of course, the history is even better.

The place is full of history – all sorts of items around the bar, old photos on the walls, an old stove in the center of the room and so much more. It looks like a movie set, but it’s all real, all authentic. It’s a museum that you are drinking in!

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Paul McCartney’s photos

I went to the Brooklyn Museum to the the Paul McCartney exhibit, “Eyes of the Storm.” They are random photos Paul took during 1963 and 1964, an important time for the Beatles.

He didn’t plan any of it and that’s what makes it so great.

I’m not a fan of the Brooklyn Museum, it’s impossible to navigate and they have a rude staff, but I went for the Paul exhibit.

Maybe it was just a bad day for me, that same day I was sitting in Union Square along with dozens of other people, and the rainbird type sprinkler came on. Hard. And it hit me right in my face along with wetting my whole right side from head to toe. Some stupid teens thought it was funny, but it did feel good in the summer heat.

On the subway a big heavy guy in one of those big ass wheelchairs ran over my toe. He backed up right over me. My toe is still hurting, hope it’s not broken.

And a chocolate Mister Softee dripped onto my new white sneakers. The cone had a hole in it. The guy in the Softee truck offered to give me a new cone, but I told him no problem. Then I saw the big stain, that looked like a black bullet hole.

Oh yes. On another train a guy comes up to me. Puts on a rubber glove and shoves it in my face. I don’t know what that was about. We were the only two on the car. I ran out at the next stop.

Just a random Wednesday in paradise.

*The actual subway car. That’s not the guy with the glove, he got off and the nut with the glove got on after that.*

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Angry housekeepers

I noticed a similar behavior with all the hotel h9usekeeprs in New York City. I’ve stayed at a number of places and it’s always the same. The housekeeping ladies are bullies.

It’s like this – they never show up to clean the rooms when you want. Since the pandemic, it is sporadic, some places won’t even bring clean towels or take the garbage unless you specifically ask for it. But either way, you never know when they are going to show up, but it’ s always at an inconvenient time.

The other cay I was out from 8 am to 5 pm, I only came back to send something via email that I couldn’t send from my phone. Just then the housekeeper showed up, I told her I needed a few minutes – five minutes and she could do the room. She then did what they all do. She stood there and sort of folded her arms, basically saying, “I’m here now, get out.”

I don’t get out, I never do. I tell them to go away. And they really are obstinate. Do they get paid per room that they clean?

But it’s the same at every place I’ve stayed. They stand there daring me to slam the door in their faces, or at least, shut the door politely.

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Tommy the pinball wizard

A bunch of us went to see The Who’s Tommy musical on Broadway last night. I loved it. There were a few slow moving parts, but the music and the flashing lights and loud production was the thing.

Two small kids played Tommy at ages 4 and 10 and what was remarkable was that they didn’t have much or any dialog but their presence and silence and they way they were swung around and turned upside down and just thrown around as if they were dolls was amazing. When the stage was full of other singers, dancers and actors, you couldn’t keep your eyes off the young kids.

Of course, I knew most, if not all of the Who’s music and that made it great.

The story of course is of a boy who witnesses a murder, in his own house, at age 4, and that causes him to turn into himself and he becomes deaf, dumb and blind, as the song goes. It’s a great, loud production.

I heard various reviews from the people I was with and it seems as if I am the one who was the most enthusiastic. But at the end of the musical, the whole audience was up on their feet cheering and singing and leaving the theater smiling. A day later I can still hear the music in my head.

The musical is at the Nederlander Theater on 41st Street in Manhattan.

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New York in July

Got to NYC yesterday. The city is packed. I’ll be here for a few weeks. I already got my Mister Softee ice cream, and it wasn’t so hot and humid, so it didn’t melt all over my hand.

This Thursday is July 4th and people have started their holiday this weekend.

It’s gonna be a long week, I have a lot of family plans. We’ll be in The Hamptons, Connecticut, and we’re going to The Who’s Tommy on Broadway this week. Plus a lot more things. I visited that Portal thing in Madison Square, right next to the Flatiron Building – where we can see Dublin, Ireland and they can see us live.

It’s funny how people are so flabbergasted at it and can’t believe they are seeing Dublin live, but can’t we do that on our cell phones and zoom on our computers every day if we want?

I’ll visit the usual museums – MOMA, the MET, etc.

I’ll take you along.

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Media softball in the park

Cartoonist Jason Chatfield mentioned that there’s a summer softball league in NYC where The New Yorker magazine crew plays various other media outlets in Central Park. They play Rolling Stone magazine and the Financial Times, NY Review of Books, Slate, and NY Public Radio to name a few throughout the summer.

Cartoonist Roz Chast designed The New Yorker “uniform,” it’s a two sided t-shirt. I would love one of those but they are all sold out.

***The New Yorker “unform” designed by Roz Chast.***

I’m in NY for part of the summer, so I’d like to stop by to watch a game or two. I’d love to meet some of cartoonists and magazine people involved.

Along with The New Yorker league, there is another league called The New York Media Softball League (NYMSL) which consists of other NY-based media organizations. There are teams from Forbes, BuzzFeed, the Wall Street Journals, Axios, the Associated Press, etc. This is the 17th season for that league.

I remember some years back I watched a few games with different soap opera actors playing each other in Central Park. Different shows played each other.

The NYMSL plays at various parks including Central Park, East River Park, McCarren Park in Brooklyn, Riverside Park and a few others.

The schedule for this summer’s NYMSL games is here and Jason has The New Yorker games listed here.

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Me as a flight attendant? No.

As I was cleaning out my old room last weekend I found some old photos of me that I needed when I was applying for a job as a flight attendant. I think it was for Eastern Airlines. I was 18 or 19. They were images of me in a tan suit.

I remember that time. I went to the airport, met in a private classroom with many others and we had some sort of class and lecture. I never did get the job, thank god, and I think I know one reason.

We had a questionnaire, some sort of psychological thing and I was too honest on it. One question asked, “If you had the opportunity to be at a party meeting new people or staying home and reading a book, which would you choose?” I chose the book. Which of course is the total opposite of a flight attendant job. But that was the truth.

I’m still not sure why I wanted to be a flight attendant. Maybe I wanted to travel the world.

I a friend, also named Tom, who was a flight attendant. He traveled to exotic places all the time – mostly the far east. He was a runner, and he would tell me, “I ran on the Great Wall today” or “I jogged through Tokyo yesterday.” Things like that.

But it was a lot of work and travel. He lived in Miami but was based in Hawaii, so before he even set out on his job/journeys he had to travel thousands of miles to just get to work. He also didn’t make a lot of money. I would complain about things like, “I spent almost $35 for lunch today!” And he would say, “I don’t even make $35 a day.”

I am glad I never got the flight attendant job. Who knows where I would be now. But it was nice seeing those old photos of me, it brought back so many memories of my late teens.

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