Modern Art and Dunder Mifflin

Wednesday was a busy day in New York. We started out riding into Port Authority and walking up to Rockefeller Center where we saw NBC studios, the GE building, and Radio City Music Hall. Jon had his picture taken at Dunder Mifflin, and we looked for Tracey Morgan and Tina Fey but they weren’t around.

We made our way to the MoMA just after it opened. It has six floors with installations and exhibits of photography, architecture, painting, sculpture, digital media, printing and book making. We really enjoyed seeing Picasso’s works and those of Matisse, Warhol, and Van Gogh. The digital media only had a handful of exhibits but were some of the most interesting and enjoyable. I think computers are going to bring art into a new realm of interactive exhibits that can change and adapt to the viewer. It’s exciting to see the beginnings of this at the MoMA.

We ate lunch at a place that was probably a chain with an utterly forgettable name like “Le Bistro,” but it was really good and full of folks on their lunch break so I feel like it was a good decision. They had stations with make your own salad, sushi, Chinese food, hot and cold sandwiches, and pizza.

The rest of the day was transportation themed. We went to Grand Central Station, Times Square, and Port Authority. We found ourselves trapped by traffic in Newark, so we hung out at the hotel until things cleared out a bit on the George Washington Bridge. We got a good start on the drive home and stopped near Hartford, Conn. Thursday we head back to New Hampshire and to the puppies!

(A and J in Central Park)

Gonezilla and other dinosaurs

The number of homeruns hit last night by the New York Yankees was ridiculous. We went hoping to see A-Rod hit his 500th, but he ended up being one of the few Yanks not to hit a HR. I wouldn't call either of us Yankee fans, but we certainly have a love of the game. It was really exciting to watch the Bronx bombers make history in breaking the their single game homerun record. The folks behind us at the game were from Japan and big Hideki Matsui fans, so they were tickled to watch him hit 2 HRs.

Yesterday we also went to the Natural Histiry Museum and really enjoyed seeing the dinosaur exhibit, especially since at one time I wanted to be a paleontologist. We also liked the origins of man exhibit, eat that Creationist Museum! the museum also provided our quote of the day from a 7-year-old, "(Sigh) I hate bears!"

After the museum, we ate lunch at Big Nick's, famous for their 27 page menu. It's a great place to take a picky eater--not a good place for the indecisive. We then stopped in at Grom for gelato. We also explored Central Park with Strawberry Fields, the Dakota, the Lake, the Belvedere Castle, and Bethesda Terrace.

I must mention the highlight of the day provided by a 13-year-old-boy on the subway. He was with two adult men and another kid about 17. The train pulled into the station, people got off and got on. All of a sudden the 13-year-old looks up in shock and jumps off the train onto the platform just before the doors close. The adults didn't notice, but the 17-year-old said, "Eric, what are you...? Eric just got off!" We're pulling out of the station and the 13-year-old is on the platform making a face that was somewhere between realization and bewilderment at what he had just done, and the other 3 guys are just watching him get smaller in the distance. It was so funny. Poor kid, they were from out of town, and I hope they were all reunited.

(Jon and I in Central Park)

Terminal Illness

We spent very little time today standing still. So far New York is a lot of waiting around for someone to pick you up and drop you off somewhere else. We arrived in Newark at about 11:30. Then, my friends, we began the real journey. I present to you: How to get from Newark, NJ, to Port Authority, Manhattan, NY, for $4.40.

1. Take the shuttle from your hotel to the airport.
2. Take the Airtrain to terminal C.
3. Go downstairs and outside to lane 2 and take the airport shuttle to P6.
4. Leave P6 parking area and back track, cross the street to the bus shelter.
5. Wait.
6. Take NJ transit bus 107 to Port Authority. (Jon is waiting for the 107 above).
7. Arrive bounced, but not broken in Manhattan for the cheapest price possible using public transportation.

After navigating through the above steps we walked to the Times Square subway station and rode to the end of the line at Staten Ferry. We waited at the Ferry Terminal for a free boat ride past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Brooklyn Bridge. But you can’t just stay on the ferry to get back. You have to disembark and wait in the terminal for another ferry on the return trip. (But you can’t beat free!)

We walked past Battery Park, but not really in it because of construction in the area, and made our way to Ground Zero through the financial district. While I think we felt like we needed to go there to pay our respects, there isn’t a lot to see right now. The days of mangled wreckage and smoldering steel are long gone and rebuilding is well underway. It just looks like a work zone. We did see the bronze mural, which I think is called the “Wall of Heroes” and a place where people burn candles and leave mementos. To others visiting the city, I would say don’t go to Ground Zero right now unless you feel like you need to. Sidewalks are closed, jackhammers and bulldozers are loud, and it’s a pretty congested area as everyone else is also taking the detours around the construction. The bustle really takes away from any silent reflection or solace you might be looking for.

Again we found ourselves under ground and returning to Port Authority. Once there we explored the terminal a bit to find where we would be catching our bus to get back to Newark. We also went ahead and bought bus tickets for tomorrow and Wednesday, so we won’t have to wait in line again. We ate dinner on 42nd Street and hoofed it to Times Square and took pictures. All this only to return one last time to the Port Authority bus terminal to get back to our hotel (see above instructions, only read them in reverse :) . Luckily the hotel had warm chocolate chip and walnut cookies waiting and a cool, comfortable room.

Eating with Mayor Mike

Captions: Jon at Mayor Mike's, Traffic on the Mass Pike, the Capital building in Hartford, Civil War memorial in Hartford

Our evening in Hartford started off well and ended even better. We got directions form the ladies at the front desk for where to go to find some eats. They gave us map and we started out to Black-Eyed Susan’s for bbq and Cajun food. Unfortunately, the place was closed, so we worked our way up Asylum Street (interesting name…) and found a place called, “Mayor Mike’s.” We took and look and the menu, finding typical American fare and went in without many expectations. Jon ordered the Gorgonzola burger that came with bacon, onion, and the cheese. I ordered the Pesto grilled cheese, which came on Texas toast with tomatoes, cheddar, Monterrey jack, pesto, and cotija. Wow. It was the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever eaten, and I have eaten my share of toasted cheese. Both of our sandwiches came with fries, but they were more of an after thought. Don’t get me wrong. The fries were really good, but the sandwiches were out of this world.

The bar was hoping at Mike’s but we were alone in the dining room. The manager came over and talked to us about visiting Hartford. When he couldn’t come up with something for us to do Sunday evening off the top of his head, he went and sought out possible activities. He then gave us directions and thoughts for what we might want to do in the morning before we leave. It was an all around great dinner.

We wandered down the block to Bushnell Park and enjoyed seeing the state capital building and a civil war monument in the shape of an arch like one would see in Europe. We also saw a hawk hanging out in the park in a very tall tree overlooking the capital building. Also, I have a new favorite tree—the cucumber magnolia.

We got back to the hotel and watched TV for an hour before going down to the pool. We finished off the evening with a little indoor pool Frisbee. Monday, we are NYC bounding.

There are no good songs about Connecticut

My husband is a master counselor. He can get at the nitty gritty of a problem, dismantling it until it rolls over in submission. Today, we took the dogs to the kennel. Our shot records from North Carolina did not have the dogs’ bordatella vaccines. We knew they were vaccinated because they were boarded in April at their own vet, and the vet would have let us know if one of the girls was due soon. We also asked before we left if the girls would be need any medical stuff during the summer and we were told no. Rather than giving up, Jon stayed with the lady reflecting her feelings and our predicament until she thought of a solution. The “What can we do?” approach.

She took our dogs with a disclaimer we signed that we would not sue her if the girls caught kennel cough. (Kennel cough isn’t fatal, can be treated with antibiotics, and all the other dogs at the kennel are vaccinated so there’s no real risk). This was a huge relief because we were leaving for Connecticut right after dropping them off and we had already paid for our hotel room. The place where they are staying is really nice and there are ducks, goats, and a horse, and other dogs, of course.

Tonight we’re at a Sheraton in Hartford, Conn. It’s breaking up the drive to NYC, and now we can really claim that we’ve been to Connecticut. It’s pretty here, from what little we’ve seen. It’s raining now, so we’ll probably hang out for a bit then venture out for dinner.

Measurable Progress

Jon has successfully completed his first internship as a psychometrician! His project, "A Method for Cooperative Test Assembly for Large-scale Assessment," had great results. The results were so good, in fact, that the president of the company was intrigued. The method, in a very elementary interpretation, basically made selecting test items easier from the start by automatically choosing items that meet both psychometric and content constraints. Interesting, no? The 4 interns made their presentations on Thursday, and each had varying degrees of technicality. The projects will be submitted to the NCME conference to be presented next spring in New York.

We really enjoyed getting to know the folks at MP and the other interns. The interns were like a group selected to be featured in a college brochure with one from the western U.S., the Midwest (by way of Korea), the east coast, and the south. Two guys, two gals. I was like their manager, showing up to dinners and special events but not doing any of the real work--the Miss Elizabeth to their Macho Man.

(The pic at the top is MP. Second, dinner with the interns Eun-Young, Becky, Zach, and Jon. Finally, Jon and I in his cube@MP. Photos from/by Eun-Young. Click to enlarge.)

The Saints are Coming

I saw a commercial for Sunday night football!

Lookin' for a home

Amanda has already covered the highlights of the White Stripes show, but I just wanted to add a couple cents.

First, Jack White is a unique talent. I can't really describe it, but wow. The Presence, the musicality, just the sensibility he has - he really feels it. I have a small man-crush on Jack. And Meg holds it down so well. She's rock and roll.

The songs from the new album were great live. Especially Icky Thump, Effect and Cause, and Slowly Turning Into You (which was my favorite of the night, I think).

I can't say much more about it, just because I enjoyed it so much. Here are a couple of good Youtube videos from the show. The first is a great recording of Jolene, and next is their closer, the old standard "Boll Weevil." Enjoy! We did.

Mainely Moose, Music and Fried Chicken

In our many trips to Maine, we have discovered the use of the word Mainely in many business names, for example: Mainely New Hampshire (a store that sells locally made items), Mainely Auto, Mainely Crafts, etc. This was the inspiration for the title of the post.

When we left for Portland, ME, for the White Stripes show, I found myself watching the sides of the highway for wildlife. Typically, when we are in a rural area and Jon is driving, I help watch for deer. Sunday I was watching for moose. In Kentucky when I was reporting, the police always recommended hitting the deer rather than trying to avoid it because many people would lose control, go into the woods, go into the oncoming lanes, etc., causing a worse accident. Here we saw a bumper sticker that said, "Brake for moose, it could save your life." There is also the sticker, "Break for Moose or die. It's really up to you." A little different philosophy due to the size difference. On the drive, we did see a deer and a fox, but no moose. Though I would one day love to see a moose just hanging out, the last thing I wanted to see was a giant moose in the middle of the road at midnight on a deserted Maine state road.

In Kennebunk, on the other hand, we saw chicken, fried chicken. My friends, it was a Popeye's. We did not anticipate seeing this New Orleans-based chicken franchise so far north.
This ended up being our preshow meal.

The show was great. We sat stage left, opting out of standing on the floor, which was already full about 100' back from the stage. The opening act was Dan Sartain, a rockabilly act from Alabama. I like the song "Gun vs. Knife," and one about spring break 1998--I'm sure what it's called.

Portland kicked off the American leg of the White Stripes' tour. They opened with "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Grounds." We were happy to hear Jack's haunting cover of "Jolene" third in the set. They played a lot of songs from the new album, and the title track, "Icky Thump," was rockin'.

One of the best effects of the show was the big red screen behind the band that alternately showed the silhouettes of Jack and Meg two stories high. They blended the shadows during, "I'm Slowly Turning into You." Check the pics below. Awesome. I kind of wish we had bought tickets to see them in Boston the next night too.

Astro, astro!

Until we have time to properly blog about the White Stripes show in Portland, ME, Sunday. Here are some pics. Note the big screen in the background. It was like watching a movie of the show. Very cool. The last pic is Meg singing, "Cold, Cold Night."