what about the plastic animals?

Snowy Bonus Gates

The Gates have already been taken down at my end of the park so I was surprised to see them still up in the southeast corner this afternoon.  Even better, the weather was miserable!  Instead of walking to the subway I walked across the park taking pictures.

Don't worry, there are more photos of The Gates to come!

Previous entries on The Gates:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christo
The Gates are Going Up
More of The Gates
Orange Overload
Gates at Night
Gates at Night 2
Just Beyond the Gates
Gates Free Central Park
Moon and Gates Variations

Oh, yes, many have seen the now-retired Somerville Gates, but have you seen The Buckets or The Crackers?

Moon and Gates Variations

On Thursday I had my second of three Mohs surgeries.  This one was a pretty minor procedure, about 1.5cm in diameter if anyone is interested.  I'm sporting two inches of stitches "along a natural crease" in my forehead.  Unlike last time my eye isn't swollen shut and I'm not wiped out.  Not sure I should be out walking around in the cold weather for three hours but tomorrow is the last day for The Gates.

Shortly after taking that last photo Murphy's Law reared its ugly head.  There was a great photo op, but the camera battery died just as I was going to take the picture.  I'm not going to reveal the photo op just yet, but I'll be at Harlem Meer around 9:00 tonight in case it returns.

There's a little creek that runs through the bottom of The Ravine south of Lasker Rink.  Under the light of the moon and a couple of street lamps a waterfall on the creek looks like this:

Next week is vacation in the city time for me.  I'm taking the week off but not going anywhere.  I will probably finally go to the new MoMA and I would like to see the Tim Hawkinson exhibit at the Whitney, including the Überorgan at the sculpture garden at Madison and 56th.  To make the week seem vacation-like I'm going to eat lunch at a different restaurant every day.

Preparing for a Heart Attack, Part 2: Dinner in D.C.

Click on map to get a larger version.

Ben's Original Chili Half-Smoke

Ben's

On Sunday night in DC the weather had warmed a bit so I went for a walk to find a place to eat.  I'm not sure how far I walked but it seemed far.  Down to DuPont Circle, up to Adams-Morgan, around Adams-Morgan, back down to U St., east on U, get tempted to stop at a Mexican place but don't because they charge extra for tortillas, continue on U to Ben's, eat at Ben's, back west on U, up to Adams-Morgan (again) before finally returning to the hotel.

I didn't know about Ben's Chili Bowl let alone know where it was, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had found dinner.  I mean, how could I pass up a place that looked like this.  You can tell I was hungry because I didn't think to take a photo of the exterior.

Ben's Original Chili Half-Smoke is a large hot dog served on a bun with mustard and onion, all topped with a generous helping of Ben's Chili.  Mighty, mighty good with fries and a thick vanilla shake.

Unrelated:  This building is to be built across the street from mine.   Luckily, not exactly across the street from my apartment.  Think of the vertigo!

Mr. Met Goes to the White House

Mr. Met went to the White House last week to see ex-Texas Rangers owner George Bush.  Mr. Met wanted to discuss his disagreements with the President's policies.  Unfortunately, George had left for Europe earlier that day.

Front Lawn with Airplane and Helicopter

What can I say?  I drove by this house in southern New Jersey with giant airplane and helicopter whirligigs on the front lawn so I had to take a picture.  Wish it was a better photo but the highway had no shoulders and was a bit too busy for me to be stopping for long.

 

How to Bring on a Heart Attack Two Weeks Before Turning 44, Part I: Lunch in South Philly

Pat's Whiz Wit

Rear view of Pat's.  Because of the sun angle there was no way to get a good picture of the front.

Geno's Steaks

Geno's Whiz Wit

Top:  Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, and Jerry Blavat
Bottom:  Fabian, Bobby Rydel, Al Martino, Eddie Fisher.

While in Philadelphia last year I led some friends to Jim's Steaks for a Philly cheese steak dinner.  I had been to Jim's a couple of times before and the sandwiches were pretty good.  That visit -not so good. 

On the drive down to Washington last week I decided to try either Pat's or Geno's to prove to myself that there are good cheese steaks in Philly.  The two restaurants sit across the street from each other at the intersection of Passyunk Ave, Wharton, and 9th Streets.

Geno's looked more tourist-oriented so I went to Pat's.  I had the "Whiz Wit", a cheese steak with Cheese Whiz and onions.  Pat's really slops on the Whiz.  It was delicious if you like Cheese Whiz.  If you're looking for a complex interplay of ingredients look elsewhere.  Skip the fries.

Did I mention it was cold?  Oh, man, it was freezing and Pat's doesn't have indoor seating.  You can see the cheese solidifying in the top photo.

After polishing off a sandwich and a few fries before they became inedibly cold, I walked across the street to get a better angle for a photo of Geno's.  As I got closer it occurred to me that I was still hungry and... wouldn't it be nice to compare Geno's sandwich to Pat's.  Geno's has indoor seating but I stayed outside to equalize the eating experience.

Geno's was far skimpier than Pat's on the Whiz.  I could even taste the steak and onions!  The steak seemed to me to be a different, lesser, cut of beef than at Pat's.  I don't what it was about the bread but it was far superior to Pat's.

As I got back on I-95 I debated which was better.  After a bit of thought I realized that that was the wrong question.  Both were really good but in different ways.  I'd go back for both, but probably not at the same time.

Next door to Pat's and Geno's was this new mural of Philadelphia singers.  Philadelphia has great murals all over town.  From his absence in this mural I assume Mario Lanza must have one of his own.

Night Skies from Car Roof

From Geoscience parking lot, Palisades, NY.

Moon from Palisades, NY.

From 117th St. sidewalk between 5th and Lenox, Harlem.

From my car's roof, 117th St.

The sky was really clear as I left work just before 7:00 this evening. When I got to my car I tried a little experiment. I set my camera's exposure to its maximum (15 seconds) and set it on the roof of my car.

I repeated the experiment after getting home. The moon had moved so I couldn't capture it, but I did manage to get my building in the last photo. The street and building lights made the sky much brighter, so I reduced the exposure times to 6 seconds for the third picture and 10 seconds for the last (which is still overexposed).

I'm driving to Washington, DC tomorrow to attend a conference. After I get back next week I've got a couple of really busy days scheduled. Although I'll probably put something up before I leave, posting will be light between now and next weekend.

Gates Free Central Park

The Conservatory Gardens are quiet this time of year:

Mary from "The Secret Garden" hasn't seen any Gates:

The North Woods are quiet too:

While on top of The Cliff you can visit the remnants of a War of 1812 Blockhouse (say hello the junkies!):

Unrelated:  What's a good gift to get twin girls that are about to turn thirteen?

Just Beyond the Gates

There were tour busses running through the park.

Souvenirs were for sale at the Dana Discovery Center.  Mini-gates would have been really cool but they aren't selling them.

There was quite a police presence at 110th and Lenox.  Plus a very irritating police helicopter hovered overhead all day long.

This was on the sidewalk at 110th and Lenox.  I didn't see any buckets.

A Gates volunteer holding a swatch of gates fabric.  If you were nice he would give you a sample.

The Paul Smith store far away from Central Park on lower 5th Ave was in The Gates spirit.

Gates at Night 2

More from last night around Harlem Meer.

Not enough?

Jake made his way up to Harlem Meer.

As did Lex.

Tien posted more photos from... Harlem Meer.  With all these people in my neighborhood I should have had a party, or at least set up a hot chocolate stand.

It doesn't look like Rion made it to Harlem Meer, but she has some really nice photos on her site.

And of course, more from me.