New York City - 2006

So, six months after our last Power Blast to NYC, we are up there again. I guess you just can't keep cosmopoitans like us away from the center of global metroactivities. So this time, we pick up on lots of shows we missed last time. At the same time, we save some money by going to the Yankees game live instead of paying for it on MLB.com.

Driving to, from, and in NYC. We do as little of this as possible. But when we do, its kind of fun. Its like any other city, but on steroids. I have to keep up and not worry about dents in the corners of the car. Cabs are pretty pushy, so it gives me license to be too. The kid hates it - thinks I'm being rude..

Our first day there, we went to the Intrepid. Its an aircraft carrier from the Big Ones (WWII, Korea, and Vietnam). Now it carries an even greater variety of planes, including a YF12 (precursor to the SR71), an F14 and F16, a couple of MIGs and some French airplanes (they sound like accordians). There's a barge berthed (seatalk for parked) next door that has a Concorde. Click Here for the big version

Here's the Concorde. They go real fast and don't hold too many people. But it still takes three folks to fly and a giant staff of folks to keep it running. Plus it uses a lot of gas. I can't believe Chevy hasn't hired their designers (except for the fast part)!

Here's the baddest airplane of all time - the McDonnell Douglas F-4. It looks bad and kicked some serious bad guy bottom during its time in the air. Apparently it made a lot of smoke which made it easy to see. I think Chevy hired their engine guy but people still don't look at their cars.

After the Intrepid and for the next few days, we went to Times Square again to see Broadway Shows. These are expensive exhibitions where actual humans sing, dance, and act. Usually its about $50 per person per hour to watch. This set is for Rent, which we saw again (saw it last time too). But this time we all three were picked in the lottery to get front row seats. That gave us six. We didn't take two and sold the third at cost ($20 - much cheaper on the front row because the actors spit on you).

Going TONY. That means "To New York." Its the way we cosmopolites talk.

This is how you get around - sit in these little metal cars and ride through these dark little tubes where rats and moles live to avoid the sunshine. The cars have bars to hold on if you have to stand up when its packed like a sardine can (anyone remember those?). Note the kid on the left reading. That's what metropolitan metal tube riders do to avoid looking at rats.

This is a store window with beautiful flowers adorning it. It's the Macy's flower shop. Anyone else would spell it Macies. Look at the reflections of the old office building. Stuff like this is all over NYC.

This is what a real office in NYC looks like. New Yorkers make the most of every square inch of storage. I'm wondering if there is really a desk under that stuff. Note the picture behind the human. Its real art - not fake office crap from Staples.

This little cafe has a really gronk, orange-hatted diner dining. Note the office building in the background with the red numbers - 520. It just so happened it was the office building of the office above. Can you believe that? In a city of six million cosmopolitans?

This is Coney Island. They have a little itty-bitty rollercoaster, nothing like the monsters located in Busch Gardens.

If you need hot dogs, this is where to come. We had three. They are fine. This is also where the fastest growing sport of Competitive Eating has its annual Hot Dog Chamionship.

New York Yankees Day. Its neary Opening Day (actually it was day two). We need to wear all this stuff to the game so the other fans don't chuck 24oz beers over our heads and tell us to "Git owda he." Note the Yankess cup and free Yankees magnetic schedule.

We took the Yankee Clipper from lower Manhattan to the Bronx to see the game. It was filled with Yankee fans who could afford the $20 round trip ticket and $6/cold one. It made it easy to get there and back.

While we were on the Yankee Clipper, we saw how the New York Sanitation and Refuse Removal Service rids the city of unused paper, bottles, Starbucks cups, and old theater tickets. Note the line of NYSRRS trucks waiting for their turn.

These were our first seats. There were these concrete ladders that went all the way to the top. Each rung was about 3 inches wide and 6 inches tall. It was hard to breathe and very windy.

We moved down about 100 feet to some unused seats behind Mantle, Giambi, and Jeter. I thought they were dead or playing. There was also a red scx fan. The guys next to us called him a #$& %Y#*@ $%@^#& $*&#. They seemed to have more fun saying that then watching the game. Anyway, the Yanks won, 12-5. It was April 12, 2006.

Here are our hosts and family. Notice the resemblance of this guy with the office guy above.

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