A Surpise Visit

Recently, Greg's brother Mike paid us a surprise visit.  Our guest bedroom, known as the cell, was available.  So, Mike opted for ankle irons in the cell and avoided sleeping on the much feared foldout couch.

Here are some highlights from Mike's visit.

We enjoyed the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.  It was a great performance of a traditional show, with a few technological enhancements, such as a 3-D segment and some projection mapping.  Mike wondered if he has what it takes to be a Rockette.  Absolutely yes, but he is a bit too tall.  What a shame, since Mike has performance skills as illustrated in the next photo.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mike struts his stuff like King Tut in front of the Temple of Dendur.  Steve  Martin called and wants his routine back.

Also at the Met, Mike visited the Egyptian Middle Kingdom special exhibit and tempted the Crocodile god by putting his hand near the golden icon's mouth. 

Also at the Met, for Mike it's like looking in a mirror.

In the Met's Armor collection, Mike and some random hottie pose in front of a set of armor from Germany.  The photo does not accurately convey the armor's size.  The armor would actually fit Mike.  The armor's original occupant was one big dude.  Or perhaps some big frau? . 

George and Mike crossing the Delaware.  Mike put the famous painting in perspective.  "Don't mess with us.  We will come for you despite the worst conditions, in the middle of the night and attack while you sleep . . . on Christmas." 

More statues from the Middle Kingdom special exhibit at the Met. Mike is emulating the statue and its missing arm.

At the American Museum of Natural History, we hope this guy is friendly.  If not, it would be unfortunate to meet him when he comes alive at night.  In fact, the Museum hosts overnight guests for a "Night at the Museum" experience.  We suppose some of the guests are a little freaked out if they awake in the middle of the night to see a dinosaur looming overhead.

Also at the American Museum of Natural History, twin sons of different mothers?

Family photo:  Greg, Mike, Heather, Bellew and Sean.  Following a nice family style dinner at Tony's Upper East Side.  P.S.  Bellew and Sean survived overnighting at the American Museum of Natural History.  They are New Yorkers, after all.

We welcome surprise visits.  We wonder who will surprise us next.

Random Things, #4

More random things.

An all-truffle store on the West Side (Hell's Kitchen).  These are the mushrooms, not the chocolates.

Not to worry.  Chocolate abounds in NYC.  And the French know chocolate, says this random hottie.  (NYC, Financial District)

A variation on what the Doobie Brothers sang about:  "Takin' It to the Streets"

A truck (above) that instantly converts into a stage (below)

Holiday Windows: Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue, not to be outdone by anyone anywhere has revealed its 2015 holiday windows.  Here are photos of some of the windows.

Apparently, one of the penguins escaped from the Central Park Zoo and made its way to Saks.  Obviously, it is penguin  of discriminating taste and well-dressed for the occasion. 

Did you notice the rodent in the preceding photo?  Here is a close up of the varmint.  This time, it is a mouse. 

Still another rodent.  This time, a squirrel, like the squirrel in the Bloomingdale's window.  An interesting coincidence?  Or perhaps something sinister?  Let's see what happens next.

Monet at MoMA

At the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA for short, two Claude Monet paintings can be found on display.  They are great examples of his later work and worth seeking out.

Claude Monet (age 81), photographed by Nadar in 1921

Nymphéas, or Water Lilies, 1914-1926

Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, 1920

The two paintings above were completed near or at the end of Monet's life.  Because the painting style is abstract and amorphous, you might wonder if his eyesight was impaired.  It was, due to cataracts.  Oddly, his condition might have affected his color perception but does not really explain his painting style.  By comparing paintings executed at the end of Monet's life with modern photographs of his lily pond at Giverny, a town near Paris, it seems more likely that his vision was strong enough to allow him to accurately perceive the image before him but paint it in his impressionist style.

 

The two Monet paintings at MoMA are large canvasses, each measuring more than 6-1/2 feet high and 19-1/2 wide.  Viewed close up, they do not resemble much of anything.  Blobs of paint forming shapeless images are one description of an up-close view.  To perceive what appears on the canvas requires standing back from the painting, 10 feet or more.  So, Monet must have likewise stood back from the canvas and painted with a very long-handled brush.  Right?  In fact, Monet stood close to his canvases like a typical painter but was able to envision how the small area he was painting was part of a large tableau.  If seeing is believing, then click here for a short film from 1915 showing Monet at work.

Holiday Windows: Bloomingdale's

The Holiday Window season has arrived in NYC.  Stores all over New York compete by presenting the most creative and attractive windows to lure shoppers to their stores.  

Since Bloomingdale's is across the street from our building, we naturally took a look at their windows.  The reveal was a big event.  Crowds, barricades, police and even a marching band were present.  The band played New York,  New York, of course.  Some photos of the Bloomies windows appear below.  Look for photos of more windows in future posts. 

Before the reveal, the windows are covered and installed in secrecy 

The Bloomies Bear with a tasty treat--a diamond and ruby studded peppermint

Ms. & Mr. Frosty being photobombed by some random hottie

Sometimes a squirrel finds a really good nut, like this jewel

"Where do you live in New York?" (Part 4)

Here is another answer to the question "Where do you live in New York?"

Near the Queensboro Bridge: Our building is one block away from the beautiful Queensboro Bridge.  In fact, we can see the bridge from our apartment.  Here are some photos.

Queensboro Bridge in morning twilight

Queensboro Bridge pre-sunrise

Queensboro Bridge at sunrise

Queensboro Bridge midday

Queensboro Bridge late afternoon

Queensboro bridge at night

Queensboro Bridge under a full moon

The Queensboro Bridge is a double-decked cantilever bridge decorated in the Beaux-Arts style.  The bridge is also known as the 59th Street Bridge and was renamed the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge in 2011 in honor of Hizzoner.  The bridge opened in 1909 and carries about 175,000 vehicles per weekday toll-free.  We can attest to the heavy vehicular traffic based on the frequency of horns that blare all day and most of the night. 

Notwithstanding any noise, we think the Queensboro Bridge is beautiful and always a marvel to view. 

The Highs and Lows of NYC (Part 2)

From the Lowline to a NYC high.

Skyscrapers around the world, including those in NYC, are reaching so far into the sky that architects have created categories to distuinguish the tall from the insanely tall. 

• Tall:  at least 492 feet (150 meters)
• Supertall:  twice as tall as Tall, at least 984 feet (300 meters)
• Megatall:  twice as tall as Supertall, at least 1,969 feet (600 meters)  

And how is building height measured?  Well, that depends on whom you ask.  The conventional wisdom seems to be building height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top, including any spire but excluding functional-techincal equipment, such as an antenna, sign or flag pole.  Good.  We got that out of the way.  

New York City has more than its fair share of supertall skyscrapers already standing or soon to be erected.  In fact, the number could double in the next 5 years and then double again in the following 5 years. 

• Today:  NYC has 7 completed skyscapers in the supertall category, with the tallest being 1 World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower.  The building is 1776 feet tall (very appropriate) and is currently the tallest all-office building in the world.

1 World Trade Center (a/k/a the Freedom Tower)

• Soon:  Over the next 6 years, the number of supertall NYC buildings is expected to double.  Today, there are 7 more suppertall buildings under construction, with the tallest being the Central Park Tower at 1,550 feet.  The building is located at 225 West 57th Street, not far from Central Park.  The upper floors will have a nice view of Central Park and, on a clear day, just about everything else within a 1,000 miles. The building is also known as the Nordstrom Tower since it will house the first Nordstrom's in NYC.  Shoe shoppers of NYC rejoice.

• Planned:  If approved and constructed over the next decade, the number of supertall buldings will double again, with the addition of 15 more supertall buildings, including one megatall building.  The megatall building would be the Hudson Spire, standing 1,969 feet tall.  If constructed, it will be taller than 1 World Trade Center and also the tallest building in the United States, for a while anyway.

To give you an idea of how the Manhattan skyline will change, below is a photo that provides some idea of the location and height of the tallest existing and planned skyscrapers. 

 

Next:  A visit to the NYC Skyscraper Museum is planned.