Central Park and Sushi

Recently recovered pictures from a perfect early November autumn afternoon. Even if this was the only reason I came to New York, it would be enough.

Thanks for all the fish

Despite mocking its premise incessantly (so you thanked the natives for saving your sorry arses by killing them all the next year? (that said, it isn't as bad as Rape-And-Pillage (Colombus) Day)) Thanksgiving was a bit hit with me. Probably my favourite part of Xmas, other than the awful TV movies and being able to play as many board games as I want is the food, so getting to have a big spread a month in advance seems like a pretty good deal to me. Jen came down for the festivities and after accidentally gatecrashing a party on Wednesday night, we wandered bleary-eyed down to the Macy's parade on Thursday morning, and had a reasonable lunch out of the cold and rain. However, our big dinner plans somewhat fell apart, and at 5:30 (half an hour before the shops closed) seven of us rushed out to cobble together what turned out to be a yummy dinner of sweet potatoes, cheese sauce, broccolli and veg, with lashings of pumkin pie. Jen was a star and cooked despite receiving no warning (and Ed spent over an hour boiling broccolli in my little kettle thing) and we had a great time - dinner nicely complimented by a specially edition Grey's Anatomy. The only problem was the "cranberry sauce" - seriously, the biggest disappointment EVER. It comes in tins, and is one solid, gelutinous mass of yuk. Tastes pretty damn funky too, yuck.

Ah, those famous New York landmarks: The Empire State...

The Statue of Liberty...

That Bloke...


Garfield...

A snowman...

Yarrg! Monster! Just as I was about to start whining about the evils of
McD's (and that's a scary looking mascot if ever I saw one) I realise that
I was at the Macy's parade, which is one big corporate sponsored event. Joy.

Then these guys pitched up, and Jen was quick to point out that
had we been in Alaska, they'd be real reindeer. Show off.

Father Christmas, tempted out a whole month early by capitalism. Woo.

In true holiday tradition, it rained. Lots.

Some hours later, everyone looks on in fear at the idea of my cooking.

Ed proudly displaying his neatly sliced cranberry mush.

I tried to point out that cranberry sauce is not meant to be sliced. It is
not meant to exist in any form where slicing is a possibility. Nor is it
meant to feel like a cold, fleshy, rubbery mass. I can't even describe how
much it is not supposed to taste like it did.

Dishing up...

The thanksgiving crew - Kirsten, Roshni, Ahmed, James, Ed, Jen and Moi

So, in traditional thanksgiving style, I am thankful for the following (in no particular order):

- All the amazing friend's I have made out here, who make New York what it is.
- Not being American, but still getting to have Thanksgiving.
- Jen's cooking
- Trader Joe's
- 24 hour diners
- Fridays off
- Dad and Billie and all my friends and family at home who got me this far
- Chocolate
- Central Park
- Roshni's accent
- Chinese take away
- The fact that I am not a laughing crab
- The fact that where I'm from we have PROPER cranberry sauce.

The list goes on. I would also like to say that I'm really thankful that Jen and I made it home on Friday night after what was perhaps a rather excessive amount of booze. All's well that end's well (sort of) and this didn't do too much damage to a very enjoyable Thanksgiving experience. Havine - yet again - to stay awake all Sunday night to study was more of a problem - why on earth did I schedule every single class for Mondays?

3000 miles from Balham to Brooklyn

Last week was, to put no too fine a point on it, a bit shit. I was ill most of it, with something between food poisoning and an ear infection, which meant I didn't sleep all that much and missed a lot of classes. However, the good news is that I'm all better now and I've had a busy busy weekend. On Friday Rosh, James, Stacey and me went to FAO Schwarz which is a bit like Hamley's but not nearly as big - or in London for that matter. They had a giant cuddly woolly mammoth and lots of ridiculous toys, and I enjoying running around pretending to be about 7, which is a good two years older than I usually act. Half an hour later we were on our way to campus to hear an all female panel talk about the impact of Hip hop, followed by a number of perfomances. The appearance of Immortal Technique was obviously the main attraction, and I'm not sure how many people had realised that there would be a panel speaking first (I certainly hadn't). The panel included a number of pretty important women in the industry, including Kimberly Osorio, previous editor in chief of the Source magazine who recently won a $15.5 million settlement against them after being fired for complaining about sexual harrasment and discrimination. While I don't have more than a vague, pop culture knowledge of hip hop it was still interesting to hear their different views on how women are represented (pretty poorly) and what needs to be done about it. Some of it was great, and I liked that they were talking to a largely male audience and emphasising their responsibility in changing the current situation. However, things changed when issues of race/ethnicity were discussed (I'm going to write an extended post on that issue later). After hearing about the oppresive capitalist white men running the industry (not that I'm necessarily arguing that this is true) my friend Amy asked what she, as a white, middle class journalism major could do going into the media. The response was initially a very Malcolm X style response of we have to do this for ourselves, you can't help. Then, the slightly more positive respons that she could use her position of power to shift the balance of representation in the media. I really struggle with the idea that the fact that I happen to be white means that I can't help with causes that don't necessarily appear to directly effect me (especially as they will inevitably effect me indirectly). This was more infuriating given that the same speaker was happy to encourage guys to help out with problems of discriminating about women. Happily the talk ended on a more positive note, discussing grassroots community groups in which everyone could be involved - fitting as the evening was a celebration of the 5th anniversary of such a local group. The actual performances ranged from a bit iffy (there were a number of students performing) to reasonably good (if you like that kind of thing). It was unfortunate that after such a positive talk about improving female representation that there were a number of guys with a lot of homophobic and mysogynistic lyrics, but there was some more upbeat stuff too. Immortal Technique, we all agreed, was almost frighteningly aggressive in his political messages - which I guess is what's needed to get heard. It was great to hear someone with some actual opinions and ideas, but standing about 3 feet from the edge of the stage was pretty intimidating especially when it looked like his head was about to explode. The evening was rounded off with a nice bit of chinese take out, and though it was certainly an interesting experience I don't know how much hip hop is actually going to make it onto my ipod.

Saturday we ventured out into the boroughs once more, and had a wander around Brooklyn during the day, a very nice Thai dinner, and then went back out to Queens for a house party. There was some drinking and fun was had by all. As a bonus for reading my big o'l rant, you now get to rest your brain and check out some pics. The photos are of Brooklyn and the party, at which there was an inexplicable owl, and a leeeettle turtle. Ah, a great evening it was too.

Riding the subway does weeeeird things to James.

As a great man once said, we're about as street as pavement.

We're like the cutest couple eveeer - watch out Ahmed!



Ohh purdy

New York skyline never gets old. Directly across the East River from dorms.

Mmmm Thai.

So very impressed.

Who are these people? Seriously, where did they all come from?

Aparently a few beers were enough to make me relinquish vegetarianism
and attempt to eat this owl. I think he survived unharmed, despite my best efforts

Evidently Stacey is as confused by the owl eating as me.

Not as confusing as this though. Aparently not only do a few beers make
me a carnivore, but also some kind of weird demonic spirit.
Perhaps not that big a suprise, really.

Sunday saw a wee bit of a hangover, swiftly (yeah right) followed by some serious workage on my part. I hate Sunday nights; I always have a paper which often results in me missing the comedy club, booo. Roll on Thanksgiving - I get most of the week off, woo!

Late Night, Early Morning

I guess it's about time you had some actual news of what I've been up to, but right now anything particularly exciting doesn't spring to mind. I've been pretty ill the last few days which has been fairly restrictive, and New York's weather has very suddenly taken a rather more autumnal feel. Last week it absolutely poured down for 24 solid hours, which was followed by two days of glorious warm sunshine that we'd be lucky to get in London in mid summer. I've seen more blue skies here than I ever usually have the chance to at home, it really does wonders for your mood. Central Park is astoundingly picturesque, and last week we spent a magical afternoon there watching all the colourful leaves falling around us. Today I went to the park to be alone and to gather myself, and as ever it's unexpected beauty made me feel a little better. I walked across the far southern area, and sat on a rocky out crop looking over an ice rink, trees, and skyscrapers beyond, trying to take stock of everything that's happened so far here in the city. I still feel like I'm only just getting to know it - it's interesting as I intend to write one of my term papers on ideas of mapping the city and mapping identity, based on Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.

I've no idea if being in this city is really going to help to "find" myself, especially as I increasingly believe that personal identity is created - maybe it will instead help me make some crucial decisions in forming myself. I know that even though I'm desperately sad today and it seems as though some wonderful experiences are over, this city provides endless opportunities for reinvention and rediscovery. Every day I encounter new beauty and experiences, even if it's something as trivial as sitting in an unexplored cafe with my friends, reading something I'd never normally be exposed to and listening to what sounded like it might well be Thom Yorke's album The Eraser, which sounded pretty damned good to me. Maybe the most important thing New York has to teach me is that even if it's raining tonight, tomorrow might be the most beautiful day I've ever seen.

Snap Happy

A selection of shots from my visit to Jen, specifically from the greenhouse at Mt. Holyoke. My camera and I have something of a love-hate relationship, so I can't really take credit for some of the more interesting effects. Hell, I'm going to anyway.

Arg! It's a Jen monster!