I love Hudson River Park on the west side of Manhattan, but the thing is.. you sit around there in the sun and stare at Jersey. The cool thing about Pier A Park in Hoboken, which is very similar to Hudson River Park, is that you get to take in a view of Manhattan.
After running around for a few days, I met up with Jeannette, Eleanor, and Dan for dim sum in Chinatown then spent the day with Julie and Jess just laying around Pier A Park and talking and reading and relaxing. It was a nice break.
Tags:chinatown·dan·dim sum·eleanor·fountain·hoboken·jeannette·jessica·julie·New York·pier·pier a park
After lunch I felt like I should go shopping more, but I was exhausted. I’d forgotten how quickly the City can wear you down. I ended up walking over to Washington Square Park to make a few calls. Then I headed to Broadway to wander in a few stores, but I was so tired I just ended up finding a cafe and chilling out.
Used to be Joe’s :: West Village, Manhattan
You know the opening scene of Spiderman II where Toby Maguire is in the tiny pizza place and is going to deliver a pizza? That place was Joe’s and it was just around the corner from my apartment on Bleecker and Carmine. When I was broke in NY I would buy a $2 slice for dinner, almost always at Joe’s. It’s sad to see it replaced.
IFC :: West Village, Manhattan
This theater was empty & deserted the entire time I lived in NY, which is a shame bc it would have been nice to have another one so close.. actually if it was more “mainstream” it would have been nice to have it close. Already I had the Film Forum, The Angelica, and Sunshine Cinema within walking distance to see indie/foreign/artsy films.
West 4th Street Basketball Courts :: West Village, Manhattan
The first time I went to New York was in June or July of 2001. I stayed with Mark on 6th/King. One of my earliest memories of New York is standing on 6th Ave and West 4th Street while Mark took a call on his cell and wonder wtf was going on with all the people and the basketball. Since then I’ve come to appreciate the courts at West 4th and used to stop to watch people play basketball when walking by or before going down into the subway station there.
Flute Jam :: Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
Pink Shirt :: Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
Are You Going to Heaven? :: Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent in Washington Square Park people watching.. or how many pages I’ve read there.. or how many problems I’ve worked out while sitting on a bench or laying in the grass. A lot. I used to go there all the time just to chill for a minute or to relax for hours. Or I would walk places and purposefully walk through the park on the way, even if it was a little out of the way. It’s not as relaxing as Central Park and you can’t lose yourself as easily, but it’s still a nice contrast to the city around it. The only challenge is to pick a spot or try to put on a look that screams you don’t want to be bothered. Someone is always up to something there and I’ve been offerred drugs, hit on, and badgered by religious zealots a ton of times.
Also, I guarantee you’ve never seen anyone jam on the flute like this (.mov, 43 sec, 1.4mb).
Broadway, West Village, Manhattan
Tax Free Week :: West Village, Manhattan
Tax-free week is a dangerous thing!
Tags:4th street basketball courts·angelica·basketball·film forum·flute·fountain·ifc·joes·movies·Music·New York·New York Parks·Nostalgia·pizza·spiderman·Sports·sunshine cinema·Theater·toby maguire·washington square park·west village
Centennial Fountain, Streeterville, Chicago
Centennial Fountain, Streeterville, Chicago
I posted these photos and started to write this with the hope that someone could tell me why this water was spraying over the Chicago River. But I think my question was answered while trying to figure out the exact location of the spray.
Sometimes during lunch when I just need to get out of the office and chill for a little bit I’ll take a walk by the Chicago River. I noticed this water spraying on several occasions. The first photo above was taken from the north side of the river and the second photo from the south.
As I was posting the photos I figured out about what street the spray is at. It’s McClurg, because I remember it was on the same street as Fox & Obel. Then I remembered that it was near a fountain so I Googled “McClurg Fountain” and figured out that the fountain is called Centennial Fountain and that the water spray is actually part of the fountain. Mystery solved.
The designer of Centennial Fountain says that the arc of water is supposed to “symbolize the natural phenomenon of water — how it comes from one source, spreads, and goes back to another.” Centerstage reports that the fountain runs continuously from 10 am – midnight and that the arc operates for 10 minutes on the hour, from 10 am – 2 pm and 5 pm – midnight.
Centennial Fountain is really beautiful. Maybe on my next walk I need to take some photos of the actual fountain.
Tags:centennial fountain·Chicago·chicago river·fountain·mcclurg fountain·streeterville
I sent my dad out with his digital camera on a secret, yet to be disclosed, mission this afternoon and he came back with some extra photographs from my old neighborhood in Appleton, WI where I lived from about 1997 – 1999.
Ring Dance, City Park, Appleton, WI
The first photograph is from City Park, Appleton’s oldest park. I used to live a block from this park and remember spending many leisurely days reading books in the sun or under a big tree, both of which there were a lot of. Also popular at City Park was an annual art show called Art in the Park. The photo my dad took is of a fountain in the park called Ring Dance. The sculpture is by Dallas Anderson and it was dedicated in 1996. It depicts 6 children in a “ring dance,” an ancient game where children link one of their legs together to form a circle and then hop around singing and dancing.
Adler Brau Brewery & Restaurant, Appleton, WI
What I remember about Adler Brau Brewery & Restaurant is that it was in the “Between the Locks” building that a popular comedy club, Skyline Comedy Cafe, was in. The Between the Locks building is named so because it physically is located between the locks. It’s an old historic brewery building. When you attended a show at Skyline, you filled out a postcard survey and if your name was selected then you and 20 of your friends won free admission to the club for a show. It got to a point where so many of my friends and myself won so often that we were like “the comedy club again!?” but I do miss it now. I haven’t been to a comedy club for quite some time. Before the comedy club we often would have dinner at Adler Brau, which was called Dos Banditos at the time. We would also sometimes have lunch there since I not only lived in the downtown neighborhood, but worked there too. Adler Brau has been around for 22 years and has won 6 medals for taste at the Great American Beer Festival.
The Locks, Appleton, WI
One way that electricity is produced is Wisconsin is hydroelectrically. Along the Fox River, which runs through downtown Appleton, there is a canal that is closed off with a series of gates & dams which convert the energy of the running water into electricity. The Fox River was a short walk from each of the apartments that I lived in and I would go there often to walk the shore, which is a mixture of landscaped parks, residential, commercial and industrial zones.
Vulcan Street Plant Reproduction, Appleton, WI
The Vulcan Street Power Plant was built on along the Fox River in 1882 and was the world’s first hydroelectric station. Seen here is a reproduction of the original plant.
That is all for now. This has been a joint presentation, with me doing the research and writing and my dad, Rick, taking the photographs. We hope you have enjoyed this downtown Appleton history lesson!
Tags:adler brau·appleton·art in the park·between the locks·city park·dallas anderson·dos banditos·fountain·fox river·hydroelectric·mexican·Nostalgia·ring dance·skyline comedy cafe·statue·the locks·vulcan street plant reproduction·Wisconsin
Washington Square Park, West Village, Manhattan
One good thing about all the rain that we’ve gotten over the past month is that New York’s drought is over and the water ban has been lifted. This is the first time I’ve seen the fountains in the city parks actually on.
Tags:drought·fountain·New York·New York Parks·washington square park·water·west village