what about the plastic animals?

Hilltop Park

Greg is right! Yesterday's pictures were taken 99 years and about 80 feet apart.  The photo I took was up the third base line from near home plate in the little courtyard park on the grounds of the Columbia University Med School/New York Presbyterian Hospital.  The medical complex replaced Hilltop Park, which was the home of the New York Highlanders, now Yankees, from 1903-1912. 

In addition to being the site of the famous picture of Ty Cobb stealing third base, Hilltop Park was also the location of perhaps the greatest sustained pitching performance in baseball history.

On Friday September 4th 1908 Humboldt, Kansas native Walter Johnson, then 20 years old, gave up only five hits to the Yankees in a 3-0 victory by the Washington Senators.  The next day Johnson blanked the Highlanders again, this time giving up only three hits.  Baseball in New York wasn't legal on Sundays back then, so it took until Monday for Johnson to throw his third shut-out.  This time he allowed only two hits in a 4-0 victory.  Four days, 27 innings, ten hits, and three shutout victories.  That's beyond impressive.

Second Peaks

This is the original photo shrunk down to 600x400 pixels. 

Since Judy mentioned meringue I am reminded of a question.  What does one do with several leftover egg whites?  I made ice cream the other day, a delicious chocolate ginger, and now I have whites from four extra large eggs.  The only thing I can think to do is whip them into a meringue and eat them.

Peaks

Peaks of a tent against a cloudy sky on the Columbia campus.  I messed with the levels on this one, but not too much.

Beginning and End

Pupin Physics Laboratory, Columbia University

Shinran Shonin, New York Buddhist Church

This was an odd coincidence.  While on the Columbia campus on Sunday I took a picture of the Pupin Physics Laboratory.  It is home to the physics department and one of the more historically important buildings on campus.  Some early advances in electronic computing were done there, the laser was invented there, the heat-resistant tiles used on the space shuttle were developed in this building, and, probably most importantly, this is where the Manhattan Project began.

I guess the Manhattan Project was in the aether as William Broad had a great article in today's paper about "Why They Called it the Manhattan Project".  It was in the basement of Pupin that physicists Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard and others demonstrated in early 1939 that nuclear fission, the splitting of the uranium atom, takes place when uranium is bombarded with neutrons.  It is also where Fermi began to work out how a chain reaction might occur and how that chain reaction might be controlled.

A few blocks away from the Columbia campus is the New York Buddhist Church.  Shinran Shonin, a monk and the founder of the Jodu Shinsu Sect of Buddhism, is depicted in the statue.  The statue was about a mile from where the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima.  Having survived the blast the statue was brought to New York in 1955 as "a testimonial to the atomic bomb devastation and a symbol of lasting hope for world peace."

Newsworthy

News vans have been surrounding the Columbia campus ever since the university announced that the President of Iran would be speaking at the World Leaders Forum on Monday.

Under Wraps

I read yesterday about how NYU has teamed with Times Up! to recycle abandoned bicycles on the NYU campus.  A small grant from the university pays for new parts.  Volunteers at Times Up! repair the bikes.  So far 39 bicycles have been recycled. 

The lovingly wrapped bike above was next to Lerner Hall on Columbia's campus yesterday.   Given the wrapping it probably isn't abandoned.

Cart Contrast

It's taken me five months to get this pair of pictures ready.  The bottom photo was taken in December.  Darkness in winter, my lateness in getting to the bus in the morning, and just plain forgetting, meant I never got a good shot of the cart itself until this week.  You can see the outline of the coolers and the trailer hitch!

Dear Columbia

A long time ago I wrote about how Columbia is seeking to expand into Manhattanville, an old industrial neighborhood to its northwest.  There has been opposition to the development by some in the neighborhood and the university is negotiating a community benefits agreement with representatives of the community.  The signs above are all from Tuck-it-Away Self-Storage.  The university is also reserving the right to ask the state to use its power of eminent domain to acquire the property.

Lots more information can be found in the Columbia Spectator.  Greg beat me to the punch and put similar photos on Flickr last month.

Free Chair

Columbia provides only the finest of dorm furniture to their undergrads.  If you would like this chair it was there for the taking on Morningside Drive just south of 118th.

Mirror Vision Variety

West 15th St. garage via scratchy mirror propped on a fence.

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Zoe

Emma

There are many kinds of mirrors.