2009 July 19 - Last week i went to New York - i've been meaning to check it out for some time, and booked a reasonable package from Travelocity for flight and hotel room. I arrived 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, for four days.

2009 July 19 - The Hudson River, north of New York.

2009 July 19 - The flight times between Toronto and New York are padded - 1:50 for a flight that takes just over an hour - mainly because LaGuardia is such a pain. We got in New York 25 minutes early, only to wait on the tarmac for 40 minutes. Samething happened on the way back - the palbe left the gate on time, but sat parked for over half an hour waiting to take off.

2009 July 19 - I got a shuttle bus (12$) from the airport to Grand Central. It's a grand old building, completely surrounded by other buildings. It was a short walk from Grand Central to my hotel room. Grand Central is on 42nd Street, at Park (which would be 4th Avenue). The 'Streets' are just a single street north-south from each other, while the 'Avenues' are bigger blocks west-to-east.

2009 July 19 - A food cart on the way to the hotel. There were tons of them all over the place, selling all kinds of food.

2009 July 19 - My hotel was The Algonquin, a famous New York landmark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Hotel). It's dead centre (very narrow). It's on 44th Street, just east of Sixth Avenue

2009 July 19 - On my door, words from one of the literati who made the place famous

2009 July 19 - The hallway in front of my room. The wallpaper is cartoons from The New Yorker.

2009 July 19 - My room.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - Funky shower curtain.

2009 July 19 - I was hungry, and wasn't picky, so i grabbed something at the McDonald's i'd walked past. They didn't have fries! I walked down Fifth Avenue (which reminds me of Bloor near Bay and Yonge), and came across the main Public Library (undergoing renovations). I didn't really know where i was going, lol. I eventually turned west along some side street (37th?) that had a lot of closed businesses - i saw a lot of that, crazy busy streets right beside totally dead streets. I turned back north along Broadway, which unlike all the other streets in Midtown Manhattan, and crosses them at a diagonal.

2009 July 19 - South of Times Square.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - Times Square is where Broadway meets Seventh Avenue - the photo makes it look darker than it was.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - Bizarre.

2009 July 19 - The place is crazy full of people - all the time. Its like Yonge and Dundas plus King Street theatre district combined, times ten. Traffic was also crazy, but they have taken a large part of the street and given it over to pedestrians and places to sit.

2009 July 19 - You can see the Lion King sign. 'Broadway' theatre means all the theatres that are within a 3 minute walk of here - they are all in the same spot, it is nuts.

2009 July 19 - Problems with the dynamic range of photography?

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - There was a flea market going on Sunday too. You can see the sign for Wicked, another Broadway show.

2009 July 19 - *sniff* home.... I was looking for a newspaper, or something to show me where movie theatres were - thought maybe i'd catch something that was showing only in New York.

2009 July 19 - What th'?

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - Ads for Billy Elliot and Mamma Mia - the theatres would be very close (if not just below).

2009 July 19 - Gah!

2009 July 19 - A close up of Radio City Music Hall.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - What th'!!! Tim's has just opened shops in NYC, ha ha. No mention of donuts, or Canada.

2009 July 19 - "Gentlemen's club", i love it .

2009 July 19 - New York's fa... finest.

2009 July 19 - I had supper at Tad's, visible in the Tim's pic, where you buy cafeteria-style, but the seating is more restaurant-style. i didn't eat the garlic bread (or garlic brick, ha ha). Actually, there were two Tad's in Times Square, but i'm not sure which i ate at, ha ha.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - I walked down to 42nd and west of Broadway. This store is across from the AMC. The AMC had 25 theatres, about the same as the AMC at Yonge & Dundas or Whitby, but in five high floors. Of course, the movie i saw, Blood The Last Vampire, was on the 5th floor. Next time, i take the elevator.

2009 July 19 - I bought a shish-kebab at a food cart when i got out of the movie, and ate part of it, but i was worried about how well it was cooked. Also, they put it into an untoasted hot dog bun. Times Square was just as busy at 10:30 as it was at 5. That Walgreens (drug store) was 24 hour. I don't know when most of the stores close. I walked by and H&M on 5th Avenue, and was impressed it was open until 8 on a Sunday, but the stores on Times Square were open until at least 11, including clothing stores, electronics, etc. There were quite a lot of drug stores, but no convenience stores or grocery stores, at least in my neighbourhood.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19

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2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - New York cabs - plenty of them! I liek how most of the streets were one way - you only had to look for cars coming in one direction.

2009 July 19

2009 July 19 - I made it back to my hotel, which was just a block east of Times Square, around 11.

2009 July 20 - Monday was first full day. I started off with an egg mcmuffin, which was cheap and on the way. It was just the same as Canadian egg mcmuffins, with real egg. I walked east along 42nd Street. This is the base of the Chrysler Building, which i find more attractive than the Emoire State Building, and less apey.

2009 July 20 - Look waaaaaay up.

2009 July 20

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2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - A composite to get the whole thing in.

2009 July 20 - Toronto has similar new boxes, but these are much tidier. In fact, i was very impressed with how clean New York is - just as clean as Toronto is on the best of days, if not cleaner. Also, i felt very safe. Of course, i wasn't in any bad neighbourhoods, but it's nothing like the bad reputation New York has had. I missed taking a photo of a newstand, booths where you can pick up newspapers, magazines, pop and candy, which were all over Times Square.

2009 July 20 - What does 'curbing' your pet mean?

2009 July 20 - The UN Secretariat Building, at 42nd and First Ave.

2009 July 20 - Looking back along 42nd.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - The UN Headquarters.

2009 July 20 - Dag Hammarskjold Park (named after the first secretary general of the UN) - a man was doing exercises there, tai chi i think.

2009 July 20 - Dag Hammarskjold Park, on 47th Ave, between First and Second Ave. It's not big, but it is nice, mainly benches for sitting.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Yes, you can get breakfast at a food cart. Along 47th St.

2009 July 20 - Or steak, rice, and so on.

2009 July 20 - Looking up Park Avenue.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - I turned up along Fifth Ave, and had to take a pic of TGIFridays. They are all over - there are at least two in Times Square. Where we have Casey's, Kelsey's, Jack Astor's, Milestones, they had only TGIFridays.

2009 July 20 - And a ton of Sephora stores. There were also about 5 H&M's in the midtown area. In fact, i was drenched from all the walking around, and stopped at one to get a fresh shirt to wear into the museum, lol.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Hot dogs. I bought one late Monday night. New York hot dogs are different than Toronto ones - they are awful! Where in Toronto when you ask for a hot dog, they put a deluxe weiner on the grill to cook and toast your bun, in New York, they pull a little one out of water where it's been soaking after being cooked (grilled still, i think), and put it on an untoasted bun. So disappointing.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - As i was waiting in line to get into MoMA, someone was lifting something up a skyscraper. The Museum of Modern Art was the most important place i wanted to see.

2009 July 20 - Pablo Picasso Night Fishing At Antibes

2009 July 20 - Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night.

MoMA is an amazing art gallery - it has the majority of the famous art pieces you seen or heard about. This one was referenced in Coraline.

2009 July 20 - Henri Rousseau The Dream

2009 July 20 - Pablo Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Ah, nice.

2009 July 20 - Pablo Picasso Woman's Head (Fernande)

2009 July 20 - Fernand Leger Exit The Ballet Russes

2009 July 20 - Egon Schiele Nude With Violet Stockings And Black Hair

2009 July 20 - Henri Matisse Jeannette I-V

2009 July 20 - Henri Matisse Dance (I)

2009 July 20 - Constantin Brancusi Blonde Negresse II, The Cock, Maiastra, Bird In Space, Mlle Pogany, Endless Column

2009 July 20 - Pablo Picasso Three Musicians

2009 July 20 - Constantin Brancusi Mlle Pogany

2009 July 20 - Piet Mondrian Trafalgar Square

2009 July 20 - Frida Kahlo Fulang-Chang And I (sorry, a little out of focus).

2009 July 20 - Joan Miro Hirondelle Amour

2009 July 20 - Joan Miro The Birth Of The World

2009 July 20 - Salvador Dali The Persistence Of Memory. Surprisingly small!

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Arman I Still Use Brushes. Those are paint brushes stuck to a canvas,

2009 July 20 - Edward Ruscha OOF

2009 July 20 - Roy Lichtenstein Drowning Girl

2009 July 20 - Toni Abruzzo panel from 'Run For Love' (published in Secret Hearts).
Lichtenstein always ripped off his comics-style works from actual comics, and thus from the original artists, with barely any kind of transformation (other than the fact he painted rather than drew), let alone acknowledgement.

2009 July 20 - Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Cans

2009 July 20 - Robert Smithson Alogon #2

2009 July 20 - Jasper Johns Flag

2009 July 20 - Jackson Pollock One: Number 31, 1950

2009 July 20 - Alberto Giacometti Tall Figure, Half-Size

2009 July 20 - Mark Rothko No. 3/No. 13

2009 July 20 - Hans Bellmer Doll. What?

2009 July 20 - Looking down into the sculpture garden.

2009 July 20 - Song Dong Waste Not

2009 July 20 - Arthur Young Bell-47D1 Helicopter

2009 July 20 - There were a couple of food places at MoMA. This is Cafe 2, on the second floor, logically enough. It's little upscale from the ROM's new cafeteria. You order at the front, then sit down, and they deliver it to you.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - That is the White Bean Salad (fava beans, spring peas, 'haricots verts' - known in Canada as green beans, lol - and shaved pecorino cheese), and Organic Tomato & Basil Soup (roasted tomato, corn, shaved ricotta, and some other veggies).

2009 July 20 - This is the Grilled Center Cut Pork Chop (with kumquat, pineapple, sage motarda, roasted fingerling potatoes, arugula). This was my most expensive meal - or close to it.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - I'd already seen the bulk of the 'classic' works, 19th/early 20th century, so it was on to more contemporary works. I forget the name of this one, but it was a room full of height marks.

2009 July 20 - People are standing in line to get their heights measured and marked on the wall.

2009 July 20 - Jim Shaw Untitled. I recognize many of the Superman drawings, stolen from covers - oh, and a Green Lantern. I wish people would stop thinking it's okay to rip off comics artists. I think i can identify some of the original artists, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Neal Adams and Gil Kane.

2009 July 20 - R. Crumb The Complete Fritz The Cat. Wow, an actual comics artist's work.

2009 July 20 - R. Crumb God Wants Me To Draw

2009 July 20 - Tom of Finland Untitled. I picked this because it look like a gay Superman, ha ha (just needs the spit curl on his forehead).

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Arturo Herrera Untitled

2009 July 20 - Arturo Herrera Untitled (close-up)

2009 July 20 - Paul McCarthy Penis Hat

2009 July 20 - Raymond Pettibon No Title ("Vavoom series")

2009 July 20 - Jennifer Astor Stills From 'The Perfect Ride' Animation. Photo didn't work out very well. In this case, it's animation that's being disrespected.

2009 July 20 - Jennifer Astor Still From 'The Perfect Ride' Animation. Because this work was done by an "artist", rather than an animator, it gets to be in a gallery. But all she did was trace from film of bull-riding, and flatly at that. Take any sequence from an actual cassical animator, and it would blow this away.

2009 July 20 - Andre Thomkins Untitled. Made by pouring enamel paint into water, which pooled on the top, played with the paint, then placed the paper on the surface to pull off the image - kind of like a print. This made me think of Dar.

2009 July 20 - Jeff Koons Untitled (Winnie The Pooh Series). Seriously, Jeff Koons, you suck.

2009 July 20 - Song Dong Waste Not (close up)

2009 July 20 - Song Dong Waste Not (close up)

2009 July 20 - Song Dong Waste Not (close up)

2009 July 20 - Alexander Calder Lobster Trap And Fish Tail

2009 July 20 - Weng Fen Bird's Eye View - Shenzen. I'm in the reflection, d'oh!

2009 July 20 - Robert Wilson plan for the opera 'the CIVIL WarS: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down'

2009 July 20 - The Triadic Ballet: A Film In Three Parts After The Dance By Oskar Schlemmer

2009 July 20 - Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater, Edgar J. Kauffman House, Mill Run, Pennsylvania (model)

2009 July 20 - Arthur Young Bell-47D1 Helicopter

2009 July 20 - Julia Lohman Waltraud Cow-Bench

2009 July 20 - James Victore Double Justice, Use A Condom/Bugs, Use A Condom/Bunnies, Just Say No

2009 July 20 - The design area was a little disappointing, with just a bunch of objects, and no context or any information for the pieces.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Vico Magistretti Eclisse Table Lamps

2009 July 20 - I was getting pretty tired, after museuming for 4 hours, and decided to get a gelato in the sculpture garden.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - Okay, they only had one flavour, coconut (with actual coconut shavings, so it was kind of like hairy ice cream), and it was very hard.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - The exterior of MoMA - not overly impressive to look at, but the works were amazing.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - I walked back to my hotel along Sixth Ave. Now THIS is competition.

2009 July 20 - I realized i must've passed Rockefeller Center on the way up to MoMA without noticing - what? So i walked along 51st to check it out.

2009 July 20 - Nothing like what i thought it would be. What's that ugly strcuture behind the gold guy? You never see that in movies. I figured it would be a giant open plaza that would dominate the street, but it's actually sunk, and where people skate in the movies is currently covered in tables and umbrellas. Underwhelming.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - This is the opening to Fifth Ave, and obscures Rockefeller Center, which is why i missed it.

2009 July 20

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - A lot of people with signs, a lot selling bus tours...

2009 July 20

2009 July 20 - I checked out the hotel internet, which was 50 cents a minute, or 50 cents a page (a page!), and figured it was probably painfully slow. I went to Times Square to check out the Times Square Information Centre (which looks like it used to be an old theatre).They have free internet there, but it is truly awful and frustrating, lol. I was looking to see what shows were playing, but Mondays there are hardly any shows, so i decided to catch another movie, this time 500 Days Of Summer, which wasn't playing in Toronto (yet).

I grabbed a slice of pizza before the movie, and that awful hot dog after. The hot dog was so bad, i decided i needed ice cream to wash it down, and got a butterscotch sundae from a truck. Wasn't very buttery flavoured, but it did the trick.

Tuesday, i was going much further, to the American Museum Of Natural History on the upper west side, Central Park Ave (=Eighth) and between 77th and 81st Streets. So i had to figure out the subway system. There were a number of stops near to me, but they all go different places and it's hard to keep track, and different routes share parts of the tracks.

2009 July 21 - My feet were tired from the day before and if i'd bought ticket beforehand (online?) i could've gone in straight from the subway, so i was forced into the rain, so that made me a little grumpy.

2009 July 21 - I crossed the street to get a better pic of AMNH.

2009 July 21 - Central Park is to the left.

2009 July 21 - The main entrance.

2009 July 21 - Also making me grumpy - the line up.

2009 July 21 - The Asian Animals area - they sure do love their dioramas.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - The Stout Hall of Asian Peoples.

2009 July 21 - "Peking Man" - this area is a little older and pedantic. This area is supposed to be about Asians, but focuses a lot on Europeans, and constantly refers to "man", which wouldn't be so bad if every image they made wasn't in fact male.

2009 July 21 - 'Adaptation To A Pleistocene Environment' - during the ice ages, there were in fact humans also living in temperate and tropical environments, and there were also warm periods between glaciations (which is actually what we're in now).

2009 July 21 - Fertility figure from Catal Huyuk 6500 BC (one of the earliest known agricultural/neolithic sites). She is apparently giving birth.

2009 July 21 - Diorama of 'Peking In The Late 15th Century' (late 1400s).

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - The food was downscale from MoMA's, which i guess makes sense, as there were a lot more people here, and probably a wider variety of incomes. This was pure cafeteria, altough i was shocked when i got a half chicken - yeesh! I could've done with a quarter chicken, an extra piece of corn, and less beans, lol. gthat cupcake looked better than it tasted. I only ate about half of what was on my plate - sorry.

2009 July 21 - Okay, i'd spent an hour and a half before lunch on a small portion of the second floor, and realized, unlike MoMA, there was no way i'd cover the bulk of the museum in one day. So, i had to pick what i really wanted to see. I think this is the Hall of Biodiversity, which just on the way of where i was actually going.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - My first target was the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins. Neanderthal.

2009 July 21 - This didn't turn out so well, but includes a variety of different primitive primates.

2009 July 21 - Modern human (Home sapiens sapiens) and neanderthal (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis).

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Australopithecus afarensis in the centre, modern human upper right, neanderthal top centre, 'hobbit' (Homo floresiensis) top left.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Ouranopithecus, probably ancestral gorilla, and a modern gorilla skull (Gorilla gorilla).

2009 July 21 - Recreation of the Laetoli prints.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - This entire exhibit was just amazing, awesome, and very up-to-date. I wish there was something like it at every museum.

2009 July 21 - Another famous fossil.

2009 July 21 - 'Lucy' (Australopithecus afarensis), one of the most famous hominid skeletons, more than 3 million years old.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - "Ha ha! Pink girl colour!"

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Horse engraved on a massive limestone rock, about 25,000 years old, southwest France.

2009 July 21 - Then it was off to the fifth floor, first stop, Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals. Mammuthus - mammoth, essentially an elephant, no more primitive than African or Indian elephants, and they weren't all woolly (only those living in the far north).

2009 July 21 - Metaxytherium - extinct dugong.

2009 July 21 - Palaeoparadoxia - a desmostylian, distant relative of elephants and seacows.

2009 July 21 - Mammut - a mastodon, not a mammoth or elephant, but their relative - see the life model, really flat headed.

2009 July 21 - Gomphotherium - older relative of elephants/mammoths and mastodons.

2009 July 21 - Moeritherium and Phiomia - very primitive relative of elephants/mammoths and mastodons, would've looked pig-like.

2009 July 21 - Platybelodon - more closely related to Gomphotherium.

2009 July 21 - Brontops - a brontothere, old rhino-like relatives of horses.

2009 July 21 - Megaloceros - "Irish elk", extinct giant deer.

2009 July 21 - sequence of horse evolution.

2009 July 21 - sequence of horse evolution.

2009 July 21 - sequence of horse evolution.

2009 July 21 - Amphicyon - related to bears/dogs/weasels/seals, called 'bear-dogs'.

2009 July 21 - Leptictis - very old shrew-like animal.

2009 July 21 - Moropus - chalicothere, related to rhinos and tapirs, looking like a cross between horses, gorillas and giraffes, but with claws.

2009 July 21 - A chalicothere

2009 July 21 - Indricotherium - super-sized horn-less rhino, possibly the largest mammal ever on land (maybe tied with the biggest mammoths) , similar to a decent sized sauropod, double to triple the weight of a tyrannosaur.

2009 July 21 - Indricotherium again. The Hall of Primitive Mammals (though a lot aren't any more primitive than the 'advanced' ones).

2009 July 21 - Lestodon - ground sloth (Sid is way too small).

2009 July 21 - Glossotherium - ground sloth.

2009 July 21 - Megalonyx - ground sloth, but more closely related to living two-toed tree sloths than the other ones here, and Scelidotherium - more closely related to the other ground sloths above.

2009 July 21 - Glyptotherium , Panochthus (giant), Propalaehoplophorus - relatives of Euphrastus (model, living armadillo).

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Thylacoleo - lion-like marsupial meat-eater, related to kangaroos, koalas, wombats, possums.

2009 July 21 - Diprotodon - rhino-like marsupial plant-eater, closely related to koalas and wombats.

2009 July 21 - Ptilodus jaw (multituberculate) - not closely related to any living mammal.

2009 July 21 - Thylacosmilus - lion-like marsupial meat-eater, this time from South America, but not closely related to living ones.

2009 July 21 - The Astor Turret.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Simosthenurus - extinct kangaroo.

2009 July 21 - Smilodon - classic saber toothed cat.

2009 July 21 - Moschops, early (255 m.y.a.) plant-eating therapsid, mammal-like reptile, which preceded the dinosaurs.

2009 July 21 - Lycaenops - early (250 m.y.a.) meat-eating therapsid, mammal-like reptile.

2009 July 21 - Lystrosaurus - early (250 m.y.a.) vaguely pig-like therapsid, mammal-like reptile.

2009 July 21 - Edaphosaurus (back) - even more primitive reptile (ancestral to therapsids and mammals), pelycosaur, and another pelycosaur, but i missed the name (looks like Ophiacodon).

2009 July 21 - Another pelycosaur, but i missed the name again.

2009 July 21 - Dimetrodon - pelycosaur.

2009 July 21 - Then on to the Ornithischian Dinosaurs Hall. Ceratopsian skulls.

2009 July 21 - Styracosaurus.

2009 July 21 - Triceratops.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Anatotitan - a duckbill/hadrosaur.

2009 July 21 - Stegosaurus.

2009 July 21 - Edmontonia - an ankylosaur.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - This is the Saurischian Dinosaur Hall (saurischians are the two-footed meat-eating theropods, and the gigantic sauropods).

2009 July 21 - Struthiomimius - ornithmimosaur/ostrich-like theropod dinosaur.

2009 July 21 - Deinocheirus - a theropod, possibly (giant) ornithmimosaur.

2009 July 21 - Deinonychus - dromaeosaurid ('raptor') theropod, with images of its close relative, Archaeopteryx.

2009 July 21 - Archaeopteryx - considered the first bird, essentially a small theropod dinosaur (fossils without feather impressions have been called as such), showing the slab and counter-slab.

2009 July 21 - Archaeopteryx - showing the slab and counter-slab.

2009 July 21 - Tyrannosaurus - a tyrannosaur theropod.

2009 July 21 - Hesperornis - a toothed, wingless diving bird (not closely related to living birds), and Mononykus - with claws instead of arms for wings (possibly related to ornithomimosaurs).

2009 July 21 - Tyrannosaurus - a tyrannosaur theropod (different angle).

2009 July 21 - Albertosaurus - a tyrannosaur theropod.

2009 July 21 - Me touching a sauropod bone (it was set out for people to touch).

2009 July 21 - Allosaurus - a carnosaur theropod (much older than the tyrannosaurs).

2009 July 21 - Allosaurus - a carnosaur theropod (again).

2009 July 21 - I think a prosauropod - before they grew big and became proper sauropods.

2009 July 21 - Apatosaurus.

2009 July 21 - Coelophysis - a primitive small theropod.

2009 July 21 - Coelophysis - a primitive small theropod.

2009 July 21 - Vertebarte origins hall - that is, every vertebrate except dinosaurs and birds, mammals and humans.

2009 July 21 - Pterosaur - couldn't find the kind.

2009 July 21 - Pterosaur.

2009 July 21 - Pteranodon - tailless pterosaur.

2009 July 21 - Pteranodon skull - close-up.

2009 July 21 - Pterosaur forelimb - very large (composite photo).

2009 July 21 - Rhamphorhynchus - long-tailed pterosaur.

2009 July 21 - Prestosuchus - not a dino, early relative of crocodiles.

2009 July 21 - Tylosaurus - gigantic, swimming lizards, related to monitor lizards, over 65 million years old.

2009 July 21 - Cryptocleidus - plesiosaur.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - The rain wasn't so bad now, but gawd my feet hurt - i really should've had two pairs of shoes.

2009 July 21 - Stupid line-up to buy passes. There are no tokens, and you can't pay cash, and you can't buy from an attendant. You have to buy cards (cardboard) passes with magnetic stripes, even for one trip. Except these machines weren't selling single passes. I got frustrated, becasue when i tried to buy 8$ worth of trips, it wanted my zip code. For reference, it turns out foreigners can use 99999 as their zip code.

2009 July 21 - Station attendants are there just to answer questions, like why can't i buy tickets from station attendants.

2009 July 21 - The station platforms are a little grungy (tidy though) and hot, but the cars are clean and air-conditioned. I was never on one that was packed to the gills (i was going in different direction than commuters), and they felt very safe (though apparently they're not recommended after 11:00 pm).

2009 July 21 - After relaxing briefly at my hotel, i went to buy a ticket to a Broadway show, and had supper at TGIFridays - figured i had to do it once. You can see the Winter Garden Theatre through the window here.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21 - Dead centre is my theatre, the Palace - the show i saw was West Side Story. Below the first McDonald's sign you can see (just above the umbrellas) The Times Square Information Center. Behind the other one, you can see TGIFridays, but not the one i had supper in, ha ha.

2009 July 21 - Inside the Palace, waiting for the show.

2009 July 21 - I got a rum and coke during the intermission, which you could take into the theatre (because it was a sippy cup). Yeesh, it cost me 12$ (US!).

2009 July 21 - I've never seen West Side Story - caught a tiny bit of the movie a few months ago - but i know most of the songs. It's a variation on Romeo & Juliet, except involving New York gangs, Italian vs Puerto Rican. See one group is Catholic, Latin-speaking and from a warm climate, the other is from a warm climate, Catholic and Latin-speaking. [not my photo]

2009 July 21 - "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" Oh, wait, wrong musical. "Me siento hermosa, oh so hermosa..." [not my photo]

2009 July 21 - Times Square in the misty evening. I thought i'd give a New York sausage a try, but it was just as disappointing as the hot dog.

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 21

2009 July 22 - My original plan was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but my feet were killing, and i couldn't hack another day of stumbling through a museum. I'm not sure if wandering the streets was a good alternative, lol. This is Herald Square, at 34th Street and Sixth Ave and Broadway (where Sixth and Broadway intersect), looking like a sedate version of Times Square. Looking north.

2009 July 22 - 34th Street and Sixth Ave and Broadway. Looking north-east.

2009 July 22 - 34th Street and Sixth Ave and Broadway. Looking east.

2009 July 22 - 34th Street and Sixth Ave and Broadway. Looking west.

2009 July 22 - 34th Street and Sixth Ave and Broadway. Looking south.

2009 July 22 - On Seventh near 34th, i found a Burger King that had internet that was fast and relatively cheap (2$ for ten minutes). I also had a Croissanwich for breakfast - they really ought to toast it, not microwave it.

2009 July 22 - At 34th and Sixth! Another grand opening.

2009 July 22 - Finally! Found a bookstore. Not very impressive though, no better than any Chapters, not nearly as good as Indigo or World's Biggest.

2009 July 22 - The Empire State Building, ape-free.

2009 July 22 - Macy's, apparently the world's biggest department store, at 34th and Sixth. I kept going back and forth between Sixth and Seventh.

2009 July 22 - The Empire State Building (and another H&M).

2009 July 22 - The bottom of the Empire State Building.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - The Empire State Building (composite), from 34th and Fifth.

2009 July 22 - Fifth Ave looking north from 34th.

2009 July 22 - Don't know what this is, but it looked nice. I walked back up to my hotel.

2009 July 22 - Right beside my hotel was a restaurant called the Red Flame. I'd been craving pancakes, so this was lunch.

2009 July 22 - This is.. i think, Park Avenue and 65th, in the upper east side. I was on my way to Central Park Zoo.

2009 July 22 - This is Fifth Avenue, looking south from 65th Street - Central Park to the right.

2009 July 22 - This is Fifth Avenue, looking north from 65th Street - Central Park to the left.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Those bronze animals move - it's a big clock.

2009 July 22 - Okay, my map said the zoo was on 65th Street. I could see the zoo to my left. That is, beyond the GIANT EFFIN WALL OF IMPENETRABILITY! So i had to walk back to Fifth to find the proper entrance.

2009 July 22 - Confusion reigns.

2009 July 22 - This is the 'Intelligence Garden', though no one knows why.

2009 July 22 - Toucan.

2009 July 22 - Larger Malayan chevrotain - pretty small for a deer, like a large rabbit

2009 July 22 - Fawn-breasted bower bird

2009 July 22 - Some kind of ibis.

2009 July 22 - Bamboo.

2009 July 22 - Uhhh...

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Bats - caught with flash.

2009 July 22 - Silvery marmoset.

2009 July 22 - The Tropical pavilion was two levels.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Black and white ruffed lemur.

2009 July 22 - Toitles.

2009 July 22 - Red panda.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Snow leopard.

2009 July 22 - Brown-eared pheasant.

2009 July 22 - Hairy-nosed wombat... uhhh...okay, it's really a chicken.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Harbour seal.

2009 July 22 - Harbour seal.

2009 July 22 - The Central Garden.

2009 July 22 - California sea lion.

2009 July 22 - California sea lion.

2009 July 22 - California sea lion.

2009 July 22 - Snow monkey (Japanese macaque).

2009 July 22 - Penguin exhibit.

2009 July 22 - Not sure which species.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - I was only in the southmost part of Central Park - it is over 4 km long, and 0.8 km wide. Yeesh! A little bigger than the block from St. Clair to Queen, and Yonge to Avenue Rd, or 50% bigger than the Toronto Islands.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - There is a small amusement park in Central Park.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Looking across Central Park South (59th St) from Sixth Ave.

2009 July 22 - Looking down Sixth Ave. I took a bit of a break at my hotel before heading out again.

2009 July 22 - Around 6, i headed down to the Soho area to see what was there. This is Broadway and Houston (Soho means 'south of Houston), so i'm actually looking north from Soho to... Noho, lol.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - Walking south along Broadway. This strip reminded me of Queen Street West, as it's becoming, stores like H&M, Zara, and so on. There was also a Uniqlo, which is kind of the same thing, but from Japan - and it was enormous. There was a short i really wanted, but they only had it in small and extra-small. Boo! Oddly, there were very few restaurants, as if the cool had been squeezed off the street. The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art was supposed to be around here somewhere, but i couldn't find it.

2009 July 22 - I don't know!

2009 July 22 - The side streets were kind of dead.

2009 July 22 - I went along Broome St, but it was about the grubbiest street i saw. Some woman was selling DVDs from a bag.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - By the time i got back to Broadway from Church, there wasn't much on Church Street either. I really needed a better guide to find the right streets in the neighbourhood. This is Lafayette and Canal.

2009 July 22 - This is Centre and Canal Street, looking into Chinatown.

2009 July 22

2009 July 22 - And this is looking north, at Grand and Centre, looking into Little Italy.

2009 July 22 - I stopped for supper at a cute French restaurant called Parigot, at Lafayette and Grand. This is the Warm Goat Cheese Salad (the goat cheese on baguette is warm [and oh so good] not the mesclun), plus fresh bread and butter, and a glass of chardonnay.

2009 July 22 - Then i was brought a bag of light, lol.

2009 July 22 - Coq au Vin (rooster cook in wine) with Fettuccini.The chicken tasted more like beef .Oh, and another glass of wine. Yeah, this probably cost more than the meal at MoMA.

2009 July 22 - I was sitting on that empty chair facing in to the restaurant (there was no one sitting beside me while i was there). Oddly, i heard more French in New York than i do in Toronto, mainly from tourists from France, i think. Interestingly, the subway has different language service in Spanish, Italian and French.

This was the only place where anyone engaged me in conversation - a couple sitting kitty corner from me asked where i was from, was suggesting places to go - too bad it was the last night.

Also, it was the only restaurant where the serving staff that was really friendly (like most Canadian restaurants). The Algonquin hotel staff were really nice, and so was the ice cream truck guy, but otherwise, most customer service were not at all friendly, though no one was rude. Some people, like the coat check guy at MoMA said their spiel like they'd said it a million times, and as long as they say 'enjoy your trip' don't care how it sounds.

2009 July 23 - My final morning. I walked around Times Square a bit on my last day - this is Good Morning America being taped. It looks dark, but it was around 8 am and sunny.

2009 July 23 - Hilarious - so many restaurants have signs posted for choking and occupancy.

2009 July 23 - Back to the Red Flame for breakfast. Talk about not friendly - the waitress seemed almost confused/annoyed i was there eating.

So, then i was done. The lame airport shuttle was 40 minutes late picking me up, but i got to the airport by 10, and despite the delay taking off, back in TO by 2 pm. I was impressed by how clean and safe New York is. I missed using loonies and toonies - all those dollar bills are lame. Also, there are no blue boxes or recycling bins anywhere - i don't know how/if they recycle in New York.