Mike Daisey @ Joe's Pub - Public Theater 250 Lafayette St.

A monolog/solo performance at the intimate cafe performance space in the public theater building. Part auto-biography, part rant on the state of theater in the american provinces, the evening is witty and thought provoking. Mike Daisey describes the current state of regional theater as a network of buildings and institutions which put on production with a tailorist mentality of industrial planing, instead of looking at theater as the people who create the experience on stage. We may all speculate about the reasons, but it seems clear that theater audiences are shrinking and getting demographically older. Wether that is an unavoidable and irreversible phenomenon with wider cultural roots remains to be seen.

Journal Square, Jersey City

As a corporate off-site event, we go to Jersey City to watch Blade Runner and Brazil at the Loew's Jersey Theater, which is currently being restored and operated by a non-profit foundation. Originally built in 1929 as one of 5 grand movie palaces in the NY metro area, this is a truly impressive movie theater. Very large with over 3000 seats and impressive baroque revival decor all made out of painted plaster it is a reminder of times when going to the movies was a major event and possibly the only form of entertainment available to a large part of the population.

The other impressive feature of the theater is a large-scale theater organ - also being painstakingly restored into working order. Originally designed as a cost-cutting measure to replace a full orchestra with a single person to provide the sound-track to silent movies using the only technology available at the time to fill a space that big: pipe organs. In additions to organ pipes these theater organs have all kinds of bells and whistles to imitate the timbres of other instruments as well as provide all kinds of sound effects in a purely electro-mechnical way.

Given how scarce and expensive living space is in New York City, most New Yorkers share an exceptional obsession with Real Estate. Given how utterly unaffordable any even somewhat nice or spacious place has become, there is ample opportunity for senseless lusting over pictures in the NY Times real-estate section or in the windows of Brokerage offices.

The next level of pornography is to go to open-houses for apartments you know you can't afford - which at this point is pretty much anything. We are not pushing the curve too much and try to see if it could be possible to find a 2BR in Manhattan which we maybe could afford, if we recklessly over-extend ourselves financially.

For example, we learn that the reason why apartments in Battery Park City are somewhat cheaper per sqft is that the entire complex is on a land lease which leads to a monthly tax and maintenance fee on top of any mortgage payment, which is higher than what most people would be willing to pay for housing. Or that 19th century 10ft wide tenements can be converted into luxury apartments, with bedroom to small to fall down without hitting the head at the opposite wall but kitchens full of exotic German made hardware.

The conclusion of all this is that even though it is becoming popular again to have a family and still live in the city, this is the exclusive privilege of those who do not rely primarily on a salary for their likelihood. Gentrification has reached a level where the employed middle classes (without huge bonus or ownership in a flourishing business) are pretty much forced to live outside the city center - not because they can as during the urban flight of the 60ies - but because that is now the only pace which is barely affordable enough.

Carnegie Hall

We went to a Saturday afternoon family concert at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's with the theme of "Symphony in Space. $10 tickets for orchestra seats sounded like quite a deal for a world class orchestra at Carnegie Hall, besides it was a good way to see what people with kids do for fun around here.

The program included excerpts from works with a more or less direct connection to space with some explanations from the conductor. During some of the pieces, NASA imagery from various planetary missions was projected on the back of the stage.

The program included:

* Opening of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Richard Strauss), famous from the earth-rise scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey"
* Jupiter from "The Planets" (Gustav Holst)
* Finale from Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
* Excerpts from the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (Johann Sebastian Bach), which supposedly is included in the series of artifacts carried on board of the Voyager I space probe
* Variations on the nursery song "Twinkle, Twinkle little Star"
* Arrangement from the sound-track of "Star Trek" TV shows and movies
* Finale from Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" (Antonin Dvorák), which had been the one personal item which Neil Armstrong had taken with him on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon
* Mars from "The Planets" (Gustav Holst)
* As an encore, excerpts from the score of the "Star War's" Movie trilogy.

The Down Town Association

A black tie ball in the in the home of a venerable old-shool gentlemen's club in downtown manhattan as a fundraising event for the NY harbor foundation. The party is spread over various rooms on 4 floors of the building with different music, themes and alcohol sponsors in each. But one of the main attractions is the building, which is the kind of place where us mere mortals (non members) don't get to hang out on a regular basis.

Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall

An evening of baroque chamber-music from Vivaldi to Bach at the smaller new Zakel Hall concert space underneath Carnegie Hall.

VIVALDI Concerto for Strings and Continuo in G Minor, RV 152
MARCELLO Oboe Concerto in D Minor (with ornaments by J. S. Bach)
GRAUN Concerto for Viola da Gamba, Strings, and Basso Continuo in A Minor
P. H. ERLEBACH Overture No. 5 in F Major
BACH Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra in D Minor, BWV 1052

45 Bleeker

Three short plays by Ethan Coen, best know for edgy movies and winning 3 oscars in one night. His Off-Broadway stage debut was produced by the Atlantic Theater with a stellar cast, but we somehow missed it (was fully sold out anyway...) but is now coming back for another run at the 45 Bleeker Theater. The three pays are basically light sketches about heavy topics, like death or god - treated an irreverent way typical to comedy. Funny and entertaining, but not earth shattering and without all the celebrity and talent associated without the production, would probably have gone without being much noticed.

22 East 21st St - Chinese

Another exploration towards the new eastern frontier. The italian bistro at the corner is too crowded at 9pm (30min wait) so we continue along 21st street. This is the next door door down and practically empty (typically not a very good sign). The decor is a lot more elaborate than the typical Chinese restaurant, but the food is ok and not that exceptional.

30 W 22nd - New American

As we explore the new neighborhood towards the east, we come past this lounge/restaurant along 22nd street. The decor is a very high-concept take on an apres-ski lodge, with wood paneled walls, glass deer-heads hanging over the bar and birch branches stuck in the flower-beds outside the courtyard windows. The music is a bit too loud for the dining room, but the food and atmosphere were otherwise quite interesting, so we might be back there some other time, since its just around the corner.

Paul Fussell

Americans don't tend to think of themselves as class society, but recent research seemed to show that there is less social mobility between generations in the US today than even in aristocratic old Europe. At first glance the American class system is largely about money, but not quite. According to this book, there are many defining or at least telling signs of class, like education, culture, security, values, habits, dress or speak.

By and large, American society is defined by the bourgeoisie or middle class, which has swept the old landed aristocracy from power at about the time of industrialization. And the United States being born in this period is clearly a country of bourgeois ideals: values of hard work, success, personal improvement, achievement are an implicit part of the social contract.

However, even in the US there is an upper class, but not very visible since "we", the dominant middle class don't really understand them (and vice versa). They are born rich into a life of leisure and even though they may have heard that some people need to work to earn a living, they cannot relate to the idea from experience. Thus to be upper class - or "old money" as it is called in America, on has to be born rich in the second or third generation at least in order to not be exposed to any more to such middle class values like the virtue of hard work.

Some of the richest people today have amassed their fortune as part of their professional career, which makes them upper-middle class at best. Class also has to do with security or the freedom to choose ones own destiny - not having any bosses or other socio-economic pressures dictating what to do. According to this book, the middle class is the most insecure about its position, sandwiched between the working class and the upper class. Feeling the need to constantly prove and establish themselves, they are very aware of status and the wealthy middle class is the quintessential consumer for any kind of perceived status symbols. The upper class does not feel the need to prove themselves, since they know their place and they don't really understand the so very middle class idea of self improvement anyway. In some sense, they are not that different from the aristocracy of the feudal age.

Today we tried out my new zipcar account for a family visit in New Jersey. I had always liked the concept but after reading very bad reviews from users in NY. In summary: don't even dream of being able to get any car for the week-end and should you ever score one, it will be filthy and break down after a few miles. Besides the insurance coverage is really ridiculous compared to the cost of anything you might collide with in the streets of New York.

Since then, Zipcar seems to have raised its insurance coverage to reasonable levels (300k basic liability) and I could sign up through work without paying signup and yearly fees.

Since parking in the building is so expensive, taking in the car for 3 nights is more expensive than a zip-car for the afternoon. Our experiment wether there would be any cars available for a weekend outing with less than a weeks notice was quite successful - maybe because this is really off-season.

For this trip, we get a red Mini Cooper convertible, which is a lot of fun to drive, but rattles quite a bit. The car is clean and in pretty good shape, except that the gas card is missing.

718 Amsterdam ave (95th st.) - Italian

We are on the upper west-side again to go shopping for strollers, cribs and other baby related infrastructure at Albee Baby Carriage. We stop here for brunch as one of the first place we encounter after we get off the subway and walk over to Amsterdam Avenue.

Atlantic Theater

Something dark is festering under the surface of everyday domestic life in some unnamed, faceless British suburb. Plenty of cryptic metaphors and symbolism hint at relationships which aren't what they seem to be at the surface between an estranged couple and their friendly neighbor (in more ways than one).

300 Amsterdam Ave - health food

The menu is a combination of vegan and omnivorous, but generally with a healthy and environmentally conscious twist. The menu is full of informative sidebar notes on various aspects of health conscious farming or cooking - i.e. how to make less damaging french fries.

For my wife's grand-parents who are from Slovakia, Easter is probably the post important family holiday in the year. Their tradition involves a very particular meal on Easter sunday. Tradition also involves that a basket is prepared with some of that food and brought to church on Easter to be blessed before the meal.

This year, we were getting up bright an early to go to their church, the Cathedral of Saint Michael the Archangel. This being a cathedral and Easter being a very special if not the defining event in the christian calendar, the ceremony and blessings were performed by the new Bishop of Passaic himself.

114 8th av. - Thai

Since there is apparently no free dinner at the office on Friday nights, we had to go across the street to try out a newest of the hyper stylish Thai restaurants along the runway section of 8th avenue. A convenient place to grab a simple byte, in a decor that is tacky in a good way and where the waiters are good looking and very friendly.

The first of a series of pregnancy and parenting books we have received from concerned friends and family, since I guess we appear to be that unprepared...

Written by a British nanny who now runs a baby consulting business in Hollywood, this has been recommended as one of the more middle of the road "pragmatic parenting" approaches. (If this is pragmatic, I rather don't want to see the non-pragmatic ones...).

The centerpiece of the prescription is the E.A.S.Y approach, as sticking to a regular and predictable but not rigidly timed cycle of Eat, Activity, Sleep and You (while the baby sleeps). Baby's seem to be creatures of habit who take much comfort in their daily routine.

The author's key observations seems to be that most parents are overwhelmed and don't know how to interpret a baby's need, since crying doesn't always mean "feed me". Much of the book is about giving parents more structure and help figuring out what baby might need this point. She also tries to reassure parents that it's perfectly normal to be overwhelmed and people always have been - except that in pre-modern times there used to be more of a stable and local support structure in traditional families and communities. Today, if you are lucky enough to live in the UK, you have the professional support from a nanny by the NHS, if you live in the US and lucky enough to be rich, you can hire a highly paid baby consultant - otherwise good luck figuring it out yourself eventually...

69 W23rd St - Irish pub

To celebrate St. Patricks day, which in a strange twist of catholic dogma falls on the 15th of March instead of the 17th, we go across the street to this Irish pub for a Guiness and some corned beef and cabbage.

Comedians on a week-night tend to be a whiny bunch, complaining all the time how bad the audience is while they are struggling through their new material. But with a friend visiting in town all the way from Seattle we couldn't be picky about the day. Besides to other weeknight performances this wasn't even that bad and there were enough people in the audience to fill a small bus.

Since my previous experiments with Apple's Time-Machine online backup solution had not turned out as expected, but I really like the idea of continuous online backup - specially since the new 10.5 Leopard release does not seem as stable any more as my old 10.2 Panther release.

The basic idea is to use rsync, which is an efficient and robust way to synchronize two file-system trees over the network. This article for example explains in much detail, how to use rsync and unix-file system hard-links to create multiple snapshots of a filesystem tree over time and only consume disk-space for the files which have change in the meantime. Minus the fancy GUI, sounds a lot like what Time-Machine is trying to do...

For my purpose a few monthly snapshots are more than good enough with the current one being kept reasonably well in sync - daily at least, as long as the laptop happens to be online long enough for the changes to be pushed over. Since the network is private, I am using a native rsync server directly instead of running over ssh, which should hopefully increase speed and reduce CPU consumption of the background backup task.

On the linux server, rotating the monthly snapshots from the current tree (using cp with hard-link option...) is as simple as adding the following script into the monthly cron queue:

/etc/cron.monthly/rotate-snapsots.sh:

#/bin/sh

cd /home/backup/powerbook
rm -rf snapshot.3
mv snapshot.2 snapshot.3
mv snapshot.1 snapshot.2
cp -al current snapshot.1

On the Mac side, the backup should only be triggered, if the laptop is connected to the home network. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an easy way to trigger an action whenever the wireless interface connects to a network, we'll have to run a periodic job to check for it. Since the linux server advertises itself through bonjour, this could be done by detecting its presence - e.g. ping its local name - "tinylinux.local". Since this name is not very imaginative and somebody at work or on any wi-fi network I might connect could have a host with the same name, I use a check for the name of the wireless network instead to trigger the rsync backup:

#!/bin/bash

netname=<my network name>

sleep 30 # make sure wifi network is up and configured

# check if we are in home network
system_profiler SPAirPortDataType | grep $netname &> /dev/null
if [ $? != 0 ]
then
exit 0
fi

echo "starting backup"
/sw/bin/rsync -vaHKL --numeric-ids --delete --progress \
--exclude="*/Cache/" --exclude="*/.Trash" --exclude=".Spotlight-*/" \
--exclude="*/Caches/" --exclude=".Trashes" --exclude="*.trindex" --exclude=".fseventsd" \
/Users/<my homedirectory>/ tinylinux.local::backup &> /tmp/backup.log

Launchd seems to be the recommended way to run periodic and background tasks on Mac Os now, so here is a user specific launchd config for the backup service, to run the above rsync-backup.sh script every 1800s (30min):

~/Library/LaunchAgens/rsync-backup.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-
1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>rsync-backup</string>
<key>Program</key>
<string>/Users/<my homedir>/backup/rsync-backup.sh</string>
<key>StartInterval</key>
<integer>1800</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

It seems the StartInterval does unfortunately not take into account hibernation time, otherwise the job would start up most likely right away whenever the laptop is unsuspended after sleeping for more than 30min.

Even if rsync is interrupted in the middle of a synchronization, it is smart enough to pick up right away when started the next time. As long as the laptop is online for at least somewhat more than 30min on the home network, any changes made since the last time, should be synchronized properly to the current snapshot on the linux server.

The latest version of Mac Os comes with automated backup system called time machine, which besides the cool GUI is basically taking periodic snapshots of all changes and saves them to an attached disk. Since my new 17' Powerbook is suspended most of the time and moving back and forth between home and office, any solution which assumes a static environment is going to be challenging.

I was hoping for a solution which would automatically back up any changes incrementally to my linux server at home, whenever the laptop finds itself on that network. This means, the system would have to auto discover its network environment and deal with interruptions, since I am not going to wait for any invisible backup job to complete before closing the laptop again.

Following these instructions , I created an AFP share from my linux server, including a bonjour zero-conf advertisement, which can easily be discovered in the network neighborhood and mounted as a share on the mac. Despite Apple's stated commitment for zero-conf plug-and-play wireless networking, there does not seem to be a way for a share to be automatically re-mounted whenever it becomes in reach. Funny enough, this seems to work only for AFP shares exported from Apple's own new Airport extreme base-stations, which can double as a network share based on an USB attached or built-in hard-disk. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have reverse engineered yet how that is done to replicate it on linux... Another interesting quirk by Apple is that Time-Machine does not work with any AFP shares other than those base-stations anyway - something which can be circumvented pretty easily.

So far, I can at least activate time machine on that network share to play with it, but given that it will time out when disconnected and not re-connect when back in range takes out most of the fun. In addition, Time-Machine seems to want to complete writing one of its snapshots and doesn't' re-try incrementally, which means it may never finish a single one if my laptop never stays online long enough. In addition, Time-Machine seems to have a tendency to fill out any available disk-space which is quite nasty on any shared disk unless it is given a dedicated disk.

All in all, I don't seem to be able to get Time-machine to do what I want - except maybe by spending another $300 for Apple's new Time-Capsule base-station with file-server, which might get closer to a usable solutions for mobile host like my laptop. On the other hand Time-Machine seems very rigid and not very thought out yet, but I like the basic concept so maybe it is time to build something myself...

Ocean Grove

We spend a week end during off-season at bed & breakfast in Ocean Grove. The area resembles a ghost town this time of the year, not just because of the rolling fog at the time we arrive on Saturday afternoon. After days of rain, Sunday is finally clearing up a bit and we get to see the sun while driving back along the coast - or shore, as they say in Jersey...

Ocean Township, NJ

After getting married sometime last year, this is now the wedding reception for friends and family.

1 5th Avenue - Pizzeria & wine bar

Meeting some friends from a long time ago in this chic pizzeria/wine bar, where the menu is less than a page and the wine list fills the remaining 3.

Carnegie Hall

Tonight's program included excerpts from Remeo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz, Preulde and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner as well as La mer by Claude Debussy.

50 W 22nd St (5th & 6th ave) - bar, new american

Probably the closest place right across from the back-door or our new building - good for brunch or a simple dinner.

Starting my new job at Google today. For the first time, I can actually commute to work by walking to the office which is at the Port Authority building which fills the whole block between 8th & 9th Avenue at 16th Street.

46 W 22nd St - Italian

Due to the really nasty weather, we try to go to the closest restaurant from the back door of our new building, which turns out to be a lot fancier than we thought. They also have Osso Bucco alla milanese on the menu, which we have certainly go back for to try.

All in line with the trend of the latest US Dept of Labor employment statistics, I am experiencing today a brief period of unemployment until I start a new job on Monday.

Such periods of transition often bring an exciting air of freedom, of new possibilities outside the usual constraints. And with increasing age, the excitement is also mixed with a certain tired anxiety, that the new might not be all that good, that any transition comes brings additional cost, effort and risk.

From the point of view of of the existentialist, this is not even the biggest moment of pure freedom. Even in the absence of external constraints, we are restricted by our own plans. As Alfred Andersch claims in "The Cherries of Freedom ", we can only be truly free in the split second before taking a major, life altering decision...

Effective today, I am quitting my job at Bloomberg L.P. It's not an easy thing to do since Bloomberg is a rather generous employer - by todays standards. Compensation, benefits and working environment are well above par. In its about 25 year history, the company has only been growing and has never had any lay-offs and a fair amount of people have long tenure. It's the kind of company which seems to offer a pre 1980ies stable career environment where one could retire from.

One of the things I learned in my 2.5 years at Bloomberg - other than an insight into the financial services industry - is that I am still too much a technologist at heart to settle for a cosy job a above average pay working in the boiler rooms of wall street, fixing leaking pipes with duct tape or whatever it takes to keep creaking old infrastructure running. Finance companies do and should care about finance - technology is a necessary evil, a cost factor that nobody who matters fully understands or appreciates.

424 Amsterdam Ave - Cuba/Latin

After going to the upper westside to check out a new fulton sleeper-sofa for our new multi-purpose room, we stop at the first place next door for dinner.

Today is the first ultrasound. Something is in there... about 11mm long, moving and with its own heartbeat. On the printout it still looks like a kidney bean or a space alien, but experience assures us that it will eventually grow into a full sized human being. Kind of miraculous...

696 6th Ave - Italian (chain)

At the end of moving and unpacking, we go downstairs to have dinner at the Olive Garden at the base of our new building. It almost feels like a crime to support the suburbanization of the city, by visiting an Italian franchise if there are so many unique local restaurants available around - but to our defense, it is very cold, we are very tired and this is the closest place from our door.

Today, we are moving - a whopping 3 streets and 1 avenue to the north-east. However this is enough to change the zip code and instead of trying to do this ourselves, we hire a moving company since traffic conditions, elevator restrictions on both ends require a swift move. Even the professional movers almost get in trouble as the truck is a block away and we almost miss the our reserved time-slot for the loading dock and freight elevator at the new address.

No matter how far, moving is always a pain, with all the packing, unpacking - the disruption and the need to change utilities and mailing addresses along the way. I always thought as highly efficient studio dwellers, we had very little stuff, but all lined up on dollies in the hallway it still ended up being quite a bit.

Over the next 3 days, I am painting the new place. Instead of standard issue hospital-white, we chose a warm yellowish color for the rooms and some kind of light blue ("battleship grey") for the kitchen island. Despite all the effort, the result turns out to be well worth it in creating a personalize feel and to help lighten up the space.

Tonight I am picking up the keys to our new 1 BR apartment. We had been searching only half-heartedly since we really liked the Kensington-house , where we were staying, the character of a pre-war apartment with art deco accents as well as the sweeping views of open sky, city skyline and the empire state building.





We were still debating if we could not somehow make it by adding more storage or convert the dressing room (a.k.a. "walk-through-closet") into a nursery.

In the end pragmatism won over sentimentality when we found a 1 BR in one of those brand new luxury rental buildings at a "reasonable" rent, since this is the low season of the year. The apartment has a state of the art kitchen with dishwasher, marble appointed bathroom, built in AC in both rooms as well as well sized closets. The building itself has many amenities and services like a large roof deck, laundry, game room, lounge and an on-site gym. On the other hand, instead of a stunning view, we are now looking at a tall building across the 23rd St & 6th ave intersection which is one of the busiest in the area. While 20th st & 7th ave is quiet and residential, at the edge what in character is really Chelsea, this is now much busier and more commercial - dominated by chain stores and franchise restaurants - a small outdoor mall in the middle of Manhattan.

236 8th Ave (22nd St) - Chinese

My wife is really taking advantage to the max of the easy availability of the most different kinds of food in NYC and of her valid excuse for all kinds of wild cravings. Tonight it is Chinese and since it is kind of cold and snowy outside, we are looking for the closest Chinese restaurant from our door.

62 Thomas St. - Japanese

Going there are as a surprise for my birthday, we climb the stairs up and down into the dining room with the giant temple bell hanging from the ceiling. As the main attraction for the evening, we try a Kobe style Wagyu steak to see what all the hype (and price) is all about. Very rich indeed - kind of a "beef foie gras", which melts on your tongue so you don't need a steak knife.

I am happy to live in a city which is environmentally conscious enough to have a special after christmas recycling program for retired christmas trees. It is not just good for the environment, but also a nice symbolic gesture as all those trees come to life again in new forms within the city, throughout the park system.

Walking to work this morning, I could see trees all over by the curb, waiting to be picked up.

As last year, we made a reservation for low-key new year's eve at our local neighborhood French bistro. A bit more quiet than last year, probably a function of the crowd. Also a bit preoccupied with other things and we left 30min before midnight to go home toast to the new year with ginger-ale and watch the Time Square thing on TV - in HD... not as simple as it once was - they now even have life music.

My wife has not been feeling well for the last 2 weeks or so and otherwise started to exhibit some symptoms which are commonly associated with pregnancy - like a sudden appetite for strawberries at 4 in the morning... The pregnancy test from the drug-store turns positive bright red within seconds and will all the other evidence, the case seems to be clear: we are going to have a baby later this year, probably in July/August.

The happy news creates somewhat of a planing frenzy since we quickly need to decide on some logistics for the coming year. How quickly perspectives change - now I find myself with a sudden new interest in hospital ratings, baby cribs, strollers and 2 bedroom apartments.

Christmas Eve dinner in my wife's family is traditionally at the grand-parent's house. The traditional holy supper meal on Christmas Eve consists of bread with honey & garlic, mushroom soup, sauerkraut soup and piroghi.

Finally all the gifts are wrapped and ready to go for the next few days of visits with family.

Atlantic Theatre 336 W 20th St

A piece of scientific history reenactment theater - with some level of dramatic license to bring together events and people which didn't happen at the same time or didn't meet in person. At the core of the story is the fact that both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace had discovered the theory of natural selection through competition for limited resources as the explanation for the evolution or transmutation of species.

The story begins when Wallace writes do Darwin with a request for help in getting a paper published in England outlining the core of a theory Darwin himself had been working on for 20 years but never dared to publish. Even though Darwin and Wallace came to the same conclusion on a fundamental mechanism which seems to drive the earths biosphere, but the conclusions they draw from it for the personal lives seem to be fairly different.

Masterwork Chorus @ Carnegie Hall

A traditional christmas performance at Carnegie hall provided the backdrop for a family visit to NY with a stroll along 5th avenue and visit to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and dinner at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants.

Today is winter solstice , the astronomical event which is at the core of so many festivities around this holiday season. It marks the shortest day/longest night of the year and also the turning point after which the days are beginning to get longer again. It seems than nearly every culture originating in the northern hemisphere has come up with some festivity around that time, often involving fire, light and a spirit of hope and optimism as things are taking a turn for the better again.

When christianity became mainstream in the Roman Empire, winter solstice fell on Dec 25th in the Julian calendar, which was turned into a festival to celebrate the birth of Chirst - to superseded the Roman Sol Invictus festival. We know very little about the real birthday of Jesus of Nazareth - except that it most certainly was NOT in winter.

Todays christmas traditions in particular, have been shaped by a wild mix of influences over the years, roman, germanic, celtic, medieval, victorian to modern commercial and consumerist and still only represent a small fraction of the cultural heritage surrounding this time of the year.

In that sense, a happy holiday season to all!

24 5th Ave - New American

With a wine list that is quite encyclopedic, this sounds a place to try the recommended wine pairings with the menu. Quite expensive, but a sinfully indulging 3h dinner event, which in the absence of an expense account, we had to pay for by ourselves.

380 W 33rd - General Post Office

One of the frequently asked questions is how Santa manages to deliver all these presents in time for Christmas. The key to this might be as for many other problems in efficient order fulfillment and supply chain management: outsourcing!




Straight from the factories in East Asia via a chain of UPS, Fed-ex and USPS straight under the Christmas tree! Large scale order fulfillment agents like Amazon.com now even allow goods to be gift-wrapped before shipping and delivery directly to a 3rd party address.

While red suit, flying sled and reindeers may be good for parades and ceremonial spectacle, the real miracle these days is happening on 33rd St - somewhere in the under-belly of the giant beaux-art structure , which is the New York City home of the US postal service...

200 9th ave (22nd/23rd) - Eureopean/American Brasserie

A dinner to welcome a former colleague to the neighborhood - he just moved to Chelsea from NJ. Menu seems to be eclectic bistro fare, somewhat Austrian and German inspired.

We had our own Christmas tree lighting ceremony tonight after finishing the decoration today.

Chelsea Community Church - St Peter's Church 346 W 20th St

We had gone there a few years earlier and found it a very nice event to get into a festive mood for the holidays and to rediscover that Christmas once used to be a religious holiday centering around the story of the birth of christ.

Heicrich Hotel, 10 Livingston Avenue New Brunswick, NJ

Tonight we are heading to NJ for the holiday party of my wife's company, an up and coming startup, which is quite a bit bigger every year and so is the party. Pretty nice this year, in a hotel in downtown New Brunswick, which can be reached easily from NYC.

56 Beaver St - Steak house

Since we were in the area and never been inside the legendary Delmonico's Steak house, which is about a block off Wall Street and about as old as the stock-market down there. The building and interior looks classy in a old-fashioned kind of way. The steaks were good and given the decor and ambiance quite a standout among the high-price steakhouses.

Suspenders Bar & Restaurant, 111 Bway

We got there about 1h after the party started and left not too long after since alcohol on empty stomach wasn't exactly what we needed at this time.

Jersey City

With an entire parlor floor of a JC victorian town-house as its new venue, this fixture of our pre-holiday social calendar is taking on a whole new scale - with ample bread, social games and everything.

In the tradition of my childhood, Santa Claus - or "Samichlaus" was not associated with Christmas, but with December 6th - the day of St. Nicholas. In the evening of this day, he would come out of the woods with a donkey carrying heavy bags of nuts, chocolates, mandarins, gingerbread etc. to hand out to kids who, according to the big book, supposedly had been reasonably well behaved throughout the year or at least can somewhat redeem themselves on the spot by reciting a poem or sing a song. While Santo Claus does the talking and clearly seems to be brains of the operation, "Schmutzli" a dark clad, usually somewhat sinister fellow is the muscle. He does the heavy lifting with the bags and rumor has it that he takes children who are not nice, stuffs them into his bag and carries them off into the woods with him, never to be seen again. Nobody seems to actually know anybody in particular who disappeared in such a way, still most kids seem to think that Santa Claus is a guy you better don't want to mess with...

Since we now live a bit far from the forest, we had to make our own basket of nuts etc. for our inner child.

The best thing about Christmas in my childhood always was the anticipation. It always starts with the 1st Advent, i.e. the 4th sunday before Christmas Day. Every Advent sunday would be a small celebration with a festive dinner, the lighting of one more candle, musical performances and maybe some small presents for the kids.

Disneys heavily self referential satire on a variety of its classical fairy-tale cartoon movies. A series of animated characters are thrown out of their animated fairy-tale world into the presumably not so fairy-tale world of NYC, leading to some funny juxtaposition of Disney fairy-tale and NYC clichés. All in all some light-hearted humorous fun, but probably (hopefully!) no serious contender for the Oscars.

Today was the closing for the sale of the house in Washington Town Center. It had sold after only about 10 days on the market - in fact the people who ended up buying it had made an offer on the first week-end, before it was even officially showing. They needed to get out at the end of their lease, so the time to close was rather quick too, not leaving us much time to clear out. Most of the stuff which was in the house, is now in storage - "organized" in such an arbitrary way, that we will probably never find anything in there unless we clear it all out. The apartment in the city is now starting to feel like a ship being readied for a 3 year voyage of exploration into the south-sea.

Metropolitan Opera - Lincoln Center (Bway/64th St.)

After a few week-ends of packing and moving stuff into storage to get ready for closing next week, we think we need a break and some time for ourselves. As a last minute decision, we catch this last performance of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" at the Met. A strange thing of an operate - or rather not an Opera by the standards of the time, but a "Singspiel" written not for the court, but the popular theater in the form of a kind of magical fairy tale complete with heroic heroes, flashy villains and comic relief characters. Somewhat unexpectedly worked into this formula is a recruiting pitch for the Freemasons in particular or in general any advocacy of enlightenment, where the light of reason should triumph over the darkness of irrational superstition. With its richness and contrasts, the magic flute has the kind of "multi-level accessibility" to be enjoyed by children and opera snobs alike. An it must be particularly fun for the production designers - which in the case of this production at the met have outdone themselves. The rich set reminds of a rotating version of the time-warner center but the real eye-candy are the various elments of puppetry, from the giant serpent, to flying birds to the stunning costume of the Queen of the Night.

Garfield/North Haledon, NJ

A traditional Roman-Catholic wedding in the local church, by the long-time parish priest (coming out of retirement once just once more for this occasion). Followed by a big feast afterwards.

Garfield, NJ

Because of the wedding tomorrow, this traditional thanksgiving at my wife's grandparents is unusually busy - with over 17 people from all over the country. As I have been told, it hasn't been that busy in a very long time - which might be true then be now even at the "children's table", the average age is over 30.

We take a day to visit Zurich and meet up with some friends and colleagues there which I had not seen in a long time. We have dinner at LaSalle a trendy new restaurant in the now very hip industrial quarter of Zurich-West (no relations to the Rock-band by the same name).

Rest Schmiedstube Attelwil, AG

A party with my extended family, for my father's 70th birthday and our wedding 4 month earlier to the day.

A short extended week-end trip to Switzerland at the occasion of my father's 70th birthday and our 2nd post-wedding party. First day to relax and get over the jet-lag and such.

As the year before , we dress up a and head down to Canal street to join the Halloween Parade heading up 6th avenue. This time, we are more experience, bring a camera and manage to sneak out at 19th street to the west-side. Maybe it was the colder weather or the looming recession, but the streets along the parade route seemed to be a bit less crowded than last year.

126 W 13th St (6th/7th ave) - Italian

Exquisite Italian bistro - specially for the homemade pasta.

Peter F. Drucker

Looking for an introduction to the work of the late management philosopher Peter Drucker, this sounded like a good starting point - given his extensive writings. Either that or an MBA.

429 Amsterdam Ave (80th & 81st St) - Tapas/Spanish & Portuguese

After the walk back through central park, we stop on the upper west side for a drink at a student dive bar and for dinner at this place across the street. The Paella wasn't extraordinary and we probably would have been better off to stick with the Tapas.

1000 5th Ave

Taking the week-end off from all the work and frustrations of packing up and selling a house during a severely depressed housing market, we head off for a day at the museum to check out the antiquities collection. The Met is simply too big do do much in a day and even for this subset the visit remains superficial.

310 W 53rd St (8th & 9th ave) - Swiss

Since we were in the neighborhood and it is starting to get cold enough for a fondue or other forms of molten cheese, we try out this place which we had seen at the Swiss national day party this summer. We try a Raclette with a glass of Fendant du Valais, which was pretty good and harder to find in NY than Fondue, for which quite a few good places exist. On top of that, a dark chocolate fondue, which could almost be considered excessively over-indulgent.

National Theatre of Greece @ City Center 131 W 55th St (6th & 7th ave)

It all seemed a bit Greek to me - maybe because it was. Even without understanding a word the performance was captivating to the point that the audience was ready to lynch the idiot whose cellphone went off twice during the climactic scene of the play, with an obnoxious loud and cheery melody for polyphonic cellphone ringer. After watching bloodlust and revenge fantasies on stage for over an hour, the guy can consider himself lucky of having gotten away with his life!

Too bad that the English "subtitles" projected on a screen next to the stage were blurry at best when the lights were dim and completely washed out when the lights were high. Presumably a large part of the audience did understand the modern Greek translation, but for those who didn't more exposure to the text itself would have been appreciated - even though the basic plot-line can be summed up in a few paragraphs and is rather common knowledge.

openhousenewyork

As part of the 5th annual New York Open-house event for opening some architecturally notable and significant buildings to the public, we went to see the Freemasons Grand Lodge on 23rd st. The unassuming 19 story building from 1910 on 6th avenue, between 23 & 24th streets contains a series of meticulously restored meeting rooms with different architectural themes from Egyptian to 19th century empire style. All the decorations are plaster painted or plated to look like wood, marble, textiles or metal and are all newly restored or recreated during the 1985 restoration.

Tonight, we celebrated our 3 month wedding anniversary with a glass of champagne and a nice dinner a the Red Cat Inn in Chelsea.

Ely Crescent, Robbinsville, NJ

Today we put up the house for sale in central NJ and prepare to move into my studio in the city temporarily until we figure out what we are going to do next. This is a very hard time to sell a house and specially so for my wife who has put a lot of heart and effort into making this her home. I feel awful about making her go through all this and hope that some day we will find a place together that will be as much home to both of us.





The next few weeks we will be packing and put a lot of things into storage to consolidate our households into a minimal size for the immediate near future and until we see how our plans are going to pan out...

Ocean Grove, NJ

After labor day marks the end of the commercial summer on the Jersey shore - the boardwalks are rolled up, the lifeguards are off duty, but on the other hand, you don't need a $5 a day beach-badge any more to stick you feet into the ocean.





It's a bit cold an rainy today, but we are really here to visit for dinner with friends at their new house, which they built themselves over the last few years.

The Tribute in Light has become a regular presence in the NY skyline on every September 11. This year it is rendered particularly spiritual and ethereal by the rainy and cloudy weather, which was shrouding the city into a veil of mourning today.



(photo by scubapup )


Intended as temporary memorial in 2002, it is still seen by many as the most serene and meaningful form of official commemoration: pure, simple and mostly immune to the politicking and bickering which seems to affect most 9/11 related projects in downtown Manhattan.

Clubhouse, Manhattan Sailing Club

After completing the sailing class over the week-end, we receive an invitation for an evening out on the floating clubhouse of the sailing club, which is operating the school along with other regular racing, casual sailing and social activities for its members. The launch takes us from the North Cove marina at the World Financial Center out to the clubhouse floating in a lagoon between Ellis Island and the Jersey City waterfront.

We get to watch the finish of todays race and the night fall over the lower-Manhattan skyline as the sun sets and sip a few drinks from the bar.

Spiegeltent, Pier 17, south-street seaport

For the second year , the Spiegeltent is back with two adult cabaret/circus spectacles. The basic premise of La Vie is that we are all dead (the tile "La Mort" supposedly didn't pass the focus-group tests) and in some kind of cosmic waiting room, subject to a whacked out bureaucracy. As cases are being called up for review from the files, this present the framework for performances, usually related somehow to the live or death of the character. One of the most eerily memorable performance is by a contortionist & acrobat with wild hair and a maniacal laugh for an arial number using tied-up bed-sheets (5 stories worth, for an escape from the 10th floor of the psychiatric hospital... we are all dead, remember!).

This also marks our 2-month wedding anniversary , the first one having fallen victim to market turmoils and resulting performance problems which resulted in the (perceived) need to work over the week-end.

Manhattan Sailing School

Since we did not have any plans to go away for this long week-end, we signed up for a basic sailing class (ASA Basic Keelboat standard) - primarily in order to get a bit out onto the water. The class turned out to be pretty intense, with a lot of theory and vocabulary sections... It was a good idea to take it on a long week-end with another day to relax afterwards! The weather and wind conditions were excellent during both days so we did have a lot of great sailing. Learning to sail in the New York harbor can be a bit stressful, with currents, and very busy traffic situations, but I guess as Frankie S. used to say - if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola/Jazz at Lincoln Center - Bway & 60th st.

The smallest of the 3 new performance spaces of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which as one might easily gather from the name, is in the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle. The drinks are strong and food is cajun, but overall this is a long way from the (once-) smoky downtown or Harlem jazz clubs. The interior space of the club is very slick, cool, state of the art and like anything at the Time Warner center oozes an air of money.

In particular the view out of the glass front over central park and the city-skyline in the light of the full-moon might seriously distract from the performance, but the 6 musicians on stage (Eric Alexander, tenor saxophone; Steve Davis, trombone; Jim Rotondi, trumpet; David Hazeltine, piano; John Webber, bass; Joe Farnsworth, drums) manage easily to use the setting to their advantage and create an unforgettable mood.

J.K. Rowling

The final volume in the 7 book epic series of a young wizard's coming of age in difficult times is loaded with action and dramatic tension. As opposed to the previous book , the challenge of making the movie might be not the lack of cinematic scenes but too many worthy ones to be sacrificed.

It starts explosively with a spectacular arial combat sequence of the great air-lift operation to bring Harry to safety around hist 17th birthday, when the protective shield-spells around his childhood home expire. Book number 6 had defined the task for Harry and his close circle of friends to accomplish if they want to stand a chance of ridding the world of the dark lord Voldemort.

However, things do not appear to be going well. In the middle of a wedding, news comes that Voldemort and his followers have taken over the Ministry of Magic in a coup instituting a reign of terror. Harry, Ron and Hermione go underground and are on the run from there onward.

While they know in principle their mission, they really have no clue about the details. Finding the reminding Horcruxes, magical object in which Voldemort has hidden part of his soul to achieve immortality, is complicated by the fact that they barely know what these objects might be and even less where they might be hidden. Operating under the dangerous and oppressive conditions of an occupation or totalitarian regime does not make things easier and any move requires spectacularly risky operation like the intrusion into the Ministry of Magic, a Heist of Gringotts.

The middle section is an excellent portrayal of the unromantic sides of a resistance movement or live under occupation by a ruthless totalitarian force. After loosing their safe-house we find the trio hiding in the countryside, freezing, starving, dispirited by doubt and frustration from the lack of progress, moving daily to avoid detection and capture, always on the defensive. Any attempts to regain the initiative results in ambushes, dangerous near-misses and escapes by a hairs width at considerable cost each time. The low point is reached, after Ron runs away and the remaining Harry and Hermione barely speak for weeks being reduced to going about their daily routing to evade capture. Only through luck - or an invisible hand - they finally make some progress in retrieving and destroying some of the items necessary. They are finally tracked down by bounty hunters and end up in the dungeons of Malfoy manor, which is now the headquarter of the Death Eaters, Voldemort's pretorian guard and secret police from which the magically escape with the help of Dobby the house-elf.

The final act is the great battle of Hogwarts, where a spontaneous resistance is formed to provide sufficient cover for Harry to go about his secret mission of finding another Horcrux which he knows Voldemort has hidden somewhere at Hogwarts. Here the story takes more twists than a John Le Carre novel with secretive and manipulative spy-masters and double-agents whose ultimate goals and loyalties seem to shift and twist by the minute. Snape's reputation is restored as he is reviled as an ultimately tragic romantic figure (or a very good liar...?) and Harry learns that he is the 7th Horcrux and that the ultimate sacrifice is required of him, to break Voldemort's immortality.

Some some hair-splitting subtleties in the laws of magic and a near-death experience later, the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort has some of the ritualized pompousness of a spaghetti western with all the drawn-out twisted scheming, positioning and maneuvering followed by a quick and decisive climax.

While the endings of Harry Potter books tend to wrap up too many things somewhat too neatly and too quickly, I find the description of life in the resistance during the quest for the Horcruxes the most captivating. But I always like the Harry Potter franchise best for its matter-of-fact description of the mundane details of magical every day life as well as its punchy political allegories. Overall this might be my favorite book in the series.

Today, I spotted the first $20 bill signed by current Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson - slightly more than a year after he was appointed. I guess that might be about as long as it takes for fresh money to make it from the mint to any random ATM. The same withdrawal still includes the last 4 previous Secretaries of the Treasury

Washington Town Center North Park, Robbinsville, NJ

We had always been planing to have a somewhat more elaborate party for all the friends and family who could not come to our wedding, which was a deliberate small affair. Since there is a park right in front of the house , having a BBQ there sounded like pretty good idea. Not sure if this would work, we contacted the township administration, which did grant us a permit for the use of the park without much trouble (no alcohol, though...). Hiring a caterer who was able or willing to accommodate our date on short notice was a bit trickier, but finally everything is arranged pretty easily. Luckily we also had decided to get a tent, since the day is turning out one of the hottest of the year, after a week of rather cold weather.

We clearly seem to be setting a precedent, since to our knowledge, nobody has used the park before for any kind function, public or private. Once the preparations are starting to show signs of unusual, if not suspicious activities - like setting up a tent in the park - the police arrives on the scene, since they had apparently been receiving quite a few calls on the matter. We show the permit, which seems to satisfy. Shortly thereafter the shift supervisor arrives on the scene personally for a second visit, since the first officer had apparently failed to inspect the permit properly.





The party itself is quite a success - despite the very hot weather and many people being stuck in traffic trying to get there - as any NJ resident can attest that on any summer week-end, there simply is no good way to go south... ;-) Being next to the house is ideal, for going to cool off, going to the bathroom and getting something to drink since the caterer runs out of liquids halfway through the afternoon.

At the end of the day, everything disappears they way it came (except the tent stakes are stuck in the ground overnight until somebody comes to remove them with special tools the next morning). We did not seem to have caused too much damage or disturbance. But it remains to be seen if next year, this type of event will be more common or banned by a new town ordinance against disturbance of the peace...

Washington Town Center, Robbinsville, NJ

My wife owns a townhouse in a neo-urbanist development "down south" by I-195. The developer did quite a nice job with the site. The development is denser, not as sprawling as the usual suburban subdivision, the houses have some nice touches and decorative details above and beyond the standard NJ neo-colonial architecture, the garages are in the back as detached "carriage-houses" on a back-alley/service road , the streets are in grid pattern with some broader boulevards, an artificial lake some small parks and squares to lighten up the layout. They are currently building a "town center" - i.e. a fancy looking strip-mall with some apartments above the ground-floor commercial space at the edge of the development. The initial grand plans of 3 more phases like this, re-routing the highway and turning the current road into a quiet main-street has probably gone the ways of many ambitious development plans and land options in the current real-estate melt-down.



(morning fog)

Even though the place does have a certain atmosphere, there is still a big difference between neo-urbanist and urban. Towns live because they are places of public life, all kinds of business, social and leisure activity, and even though some people are walking or biking around on a nice evening, this is basically still a suburban bedroom community where neighbors barely know each others names.

The park, surrounded by blocks of brick-faced town-houses is a nice touch, but feels dead most of the time. Maybe what would have been needed to jump start a livelier atmosphere would be a mix of residential and commercial development along the main roads, squares and parks. Imagine the corner house at the park a restaurant, coffee shop or ice-cream parlor, maybe even with a outdoor seating area in the park.

But maybe that would start to get noisy and messy and isn't what people who moved here would want after all. Or it simply wouldn't work and still not enough people would come that far off the beaten path to get a coffee, sit in the park and read a book.

J.K. Rowling

The downside of a short commute, is that I don't really have the time any more to read books - I barely make it through my copy of The Economist in a week. So this is the first fiction book in almost 3 years...

This episode is a bit slow, without major dramatic side plots and action sequences (until the very end). Might this could be a bit tougher to make a movie out of than some of the previous ones. Many flash-backs, much time is spent to tie up loose ends and work in some historic context and background.

It is now undeniable that you-know-who is back. People are starting to disappear or die, but the dark-side's struggle for power is still at the level of covered action. There is a general sense of malaise and paranoia - kind of like the mood in the US in the years after 2001. In order to appear in control, the ministry is arresting and locking up people at random.

Dumbledore is passing on the conclusions of research on to Harry in a series of private lessons, through which it becomes clearer what Harry is really up against and what he is supposed to do once we get to the 7th and final book. At least some rough outline of a plan.

FringeNYC - SoHo Playhouse - 15 Vandam St.

The inevitable charm of the bourgeoisie... 2 starving artists stage a multi-year protest in front of the offices of the evil Sunshine Foundation for the Arts, who corrupts the arts by funding - in their eyes - only mediocre artists. Much of their artistic self-esteem is based on the fact that none of their countless proposals has ever been accepted. Their downfall begins the day one of their proposals is accepted and they receive financial carte-blanche (in the form of a Sapphire Amex) to realize all their artistic inspiration, just to notice that really don't have any left - or worse, maybe never really had any to begin with.

Overall a very funny and well executed production - a company to hopefully see more of.

Episode V of what is turning out to be the epic pop-culture saga of the '00s. In fact, the new director seems to have made choices in visual language, atmosphere and emphasis on plot-lines, which seem to evoke Star Wars as the previous cinematic pop-culture mythology for much of the preceding generation. After the magic-wand duel between the old wizard/spiritual mentor Dumbledore and the dark lord Voldemort one almost expects the later to announce to Harry, that he is his father and that Hermione is his sister... just kidding.

As the series is taking on more epic proportion and focuses on The Big Questions of good vs. evil etc. - similarities with any other such epic story through human history are starting to become unavoidable. That is probably why stories made up as a "designer mythology" - like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings - have such a resounding success with the public, as they tap into a cultural undercurrent with their universal story-lines and archetypical characters.

As compared to some of the earlier H.P. movies, this installment is a less faithful transcription of the book and makes some more significant choices of particular story lines - probably for the better. It becomes more easily accessible by people who have not read the book. In particular the emphasis on Harry's development and internal struggle between good and evil makes for a good main plot line. At the end, in a Lord of the Rings moment, he recognizes the need for support from his friends in facing his demons. As for Tolkien, reluctance, vulnerability and the need for support from a fellowship of friends are the hallmark of a true hero. A long shot away from the arrogant superman image of a Wagnerian hero...

The end of this movie possibly marks the turning point of the saga, where Harry comes to terms with himself and is ready to face his destiny (with the help of his friends).

What I remember from reading the book, was a juicy Orwellian political parable on the rise of fascism or any form of totalitarism: a radical ideology supported by a hard-core of well placed supporters from the elite of society (the death eaters) as well as the complacency of the bourgeoisie who prefers to believe that nothing bad is going on to justify their continued inaction, or even secretly sympathizes with the extremists, supporting their ideas even though pretending to condemn their methods.

We also witness firsthand how a ruling party would try to build and cement mind-share in the quest of a "premanent majority" by influencing the youth and taking control of the education system. Here in the form of Dolores Umbridge, a ruthless apparatchik an crony of the current Minister of Magic. Her rise and hold to power are solely based on the principle of "loyalty before competence", which should be eerily familiar to anybody who has followed US politics over the recent years. For many Brits, the particular struggle for the soul of education, weather the purpose of learning is to pass standardized tests (O.W.L's in this case...) or to become a better human being in some immeasurable way, could also be a reflection on the Thatcher years where similar struggles between utilitarianism and idealism must have raged throughout the places of public education (similar theme as in The History Boys , recently on Broadway from London).

Pier 54

Since 2004 or so, a regular event around the 1st of August - partly a get together for expats to have a bratwurst with beer or a glass of Fendant du Valais, partly a PR even for Switzerland. Since the traditional firework is illegal in NY, the was a substitution of "waterwork" curtesy of the FDNY Fireboat John D. McKean.

1085 2nd Ave (58th) - French bistro

The 2 course lunch menu starts out with a big pile of sausages and raw vegetables on the table to share family style, which is really the main attraction of this rustic bistro. Only steps away from the office, but I have somehow never been there.

GND-MBJ-JFK

We leave the ship around 11 to head to the airport. The return trip involves again multiple airlines, this time Air Jamaica (Grenada to Montego Bay) and Delta Airlines. We check in and are assure that our luggage is checked in to JFK directly, that MBJ will be international transit as one might expect - no problem man!

Well, as expected, it didn't turn out that way. Our luggage was unloaded in Montego Bay and not put on the Delta plane instead. However after some back and forth Air Jamaica agreed to deliver it to JFK on their next flight, but delta never figured out where it was, bohered to invesitage or even just go pick it up, once we told them where it was: right there in Terminal 4 at JFK. Finally, 4 days later, I spend an evening going out to JFK myself to visit the Air Jamaica baggage services department to get it out of the storage warehouse, where it had been sitting since Sunday night.

SV Yankee Clipper, Day VI

After a stop a lonely beach at Chatham Bay on Union Island, with great conditions for snorkeling and some really authentic underground beach bars, we set sail for the last time to head back to Grenada. Time for group pictures and a captains dinner in the most colorful attire.

SV Yankee Clipper, Day V

We anchor on the outside of a gorgeous sandy beach in front of the beach hotel and yacht club, where we are welcome to use the beach. Like everywhere it is off-season and very quiet. The water off the beach is shallow and warm like in a bath-tub. In the afternoon we set sail for some sailing in the light breeze with an almost complete set of sails for the 3-mast staysail-schooner rig (main fisherman and outer jib appear to be missing).

SV Yankee Clipper, Day IV

At 5 in the morning we wake up for the first time from the the noise of the winch on deck above our heads used to hoist the launches back on board to prepare for the short hop to the Island of Mayreau. The nice beach on Salt Whistle Bay is on the other side of the island from our anchorage and a bit of a walk over the hill. On the way back, we take a scenic ride in a "water taxi" (nice wooden speed-boat hand-made in Bequia...) around the island back to the ship, since we are schedule for introductory scuba diving in the afternoon. The diving trip into the Tobago cays is spectacular, just the ride on the speed-boat between the island is worth the trip. Here we fully understand, why the Grenadines have such a reputation among yachtsmen.

SV Yankee Clipper, Day III

We anchor all day in Admiralty Bay off Bequia. An island tour on the back of a pickup truck (on bad roads beats a ride in the precarious mini-vans, which are common all over the Caribbean) including a visit to a a breeding station for endangered hawksbill sea turtles. In the afternoon the local dive boat takes us around to 2 different sites for some snorkeling. In the evening, we go on shore again for dinner at a local restaurant with a commanding view of the bay, run by the family of an old retired ship-cook, who like many inhabitants of Bequia and similar islands make a living traveling the seas.




Special during this quiet off season and on the very small islands of the Grenadines, the advantages of traveling on a small ship become obvious. Even 50 people arriving one day from the sea are making a significant impact on a island with a population of maybe a few 1000 people. Clearly arriving with 2000-3000 people at once would turn any place into an overcrowded madhouse.

SV Yankee Clipper, Day II

Around noon, we finally cast off the pier and set sail for the Grenadines. The sea is a bit choppy and the wind more or less right on the nose, which makes the use of sails rather a bit symbolic, except maybe to help stabilize the vessel. This is the longest and roughest trip of the week, including dinner at sea, which is a bit less well attended than usual as some of the passengers are not feeling too well. Around 10pm, we anchor along the way and continue the trip the next morning at 5pm to Bequia, the first destination.

SV Yankee Clipper, Day I

At 5pm, we take a take leave from the lovely beach and a taxi to the container port of St. Georges where Windjammer Cruises' SV Yankee Clipper lies at the pier, to take on the passengers for the next week's cruise through the Grenadines. We settle into our cabine (luxurious maindeck cabine, it's still our honeymoon after all...) and meet some of the fellow passengers who are already on board since they are staying over for the 2nd week. As the night goes on, vans are coming from the airport with other people just arriving.





Being used to sailing on 30-40ft boats, the cabin is actually quite spacious and luxurious: air-conditioning, 110V electricity, running water and a full blown regular toilet (called a "head" on a ship...). For people used the comforts of a luxury cruise-liner, this may still be a bit of a culture shock. On the flip-side of all this comfort is the noise of the generator running all the time, even at night when anchoring in a lonely bay.

Grenada, Day VII

This is our last day/night at the hotel La Luna. It really is a beautiful spot, serene and secluded, a sense of minimalist, casual luxury, while every aspect of the stylish design and architecture blends with the natural surroundings to create a mood of relaxed sensuality.

Given this is a perfect romantic spot, not surprisingly, almost all of the few guests are like us newlywed couples on their honeymoon. All the couples are behaving very aloof and self-absorbed, which after a while is starting to become a bit annoying. Or maybe I just don't like to be reminded, how petty, conventional and predictable we are in our petit-bourgeois ways...

Anyway, after a week in the honeymooners isolation ward, we are ready again to mingle with the general population.

Grenada, Day VI

Today is Friday... every Friday the Fishing village of Gouyave, about 1h north of St. Georges is having a street festival, unceremoniously called "Gouyave Fish Friday". The point is simply to eat fish... (and every successfully promote the local economy). Today is also a very sunny day and we see a lot of color full fish on the little coral reef in front of our hotel.