what about the plastic animals?

The Statue of Liberty

I had a few young visitors last week.  We trekked out to the Statue of Liberty on the coldest day they were here.  I hadn't been to the statue since a class field trip in third or fourth grade.  So long ago I can't remember when!  On that class trip we all climbed up to the crown to take in the sights.  When we were done there was still lots of time before the ferry arrived so a few friends and I repeated the 315 step climb to the crown.

There was no crown climb this time.  The crown is open but access is booked-up five months ahead of time.  We already have crown tickets for late June. 

The torch in the second photo is the statue's original torch.  It is now in the museum in the pedestal of the statue.  The museum is really good and includes many depictions of the statue in popular culture.

You can make your own joke about souvenir statues being made in China, the cradle of liberty.

Oh, here's a panoramic view of the skyline from Liberty Island.

I think we're getting in trouble

I break my Internet silence to share this news from Lincoln, Nebraska.  That is all.

BadBoy

Too much time in front of the computer and President's Day weekend adds up to me being a bad boy and staying away from the blogging for a few days.  See you all next week.

The Icy Steps

There's a reason why I've avoided the 116th St. stairs in Morningside Park these past couple of months.

There are two tiny seeps on either side of the vertical stone in the top photo.  Those seeps, along with the tiny waterfall, are enough to make the landing and steps below 116th Street a treacherous mess.  Sheets of black ice form at the edges of the two streams.  The safest, but wettest, passage is to walk through the fastest moving water.  The Parks Dept. needs to work on the drainage here but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

Anyway, what I really wanted to show is this video of water flowing underneath the ice:

 

Reclining Tree

A tree rests in Morningside Park.

A Good Sign

The Times printed the most enjoyable Sunday sports section of the year today.  Baseball is above the fold on the first page and pro football has been banished to the interior.  Spring training starts this week which means spring itself can't be too far behind.

Oreo

"America's Favorite Cookie"

A Marblelous Interior

Columbia recently opened the Northwest Corner Building, which houses a number of interdisciplinary science labs and a new science library at the northwest corner of campus.  The New York Times ran a rave review of the building today.  I thought I had written about the building here but I can find it.  Here's a picture of the exterior from a year ago.  It looks pretty much the same now.  The Times review, which I coincidentally happened to read while in the building this morning, mentioned that the "lobby interior is clad in richly veined Portuguese marble".  They weren't kidding about being richly veined!

By the way, if you happen to have a few tens of millions of dollars under your mattress and haven't committed too many crimes against humanity I'm sure Columbia would be willing to talk to you about "naming opportunities".

Lump Update

It took until last night to check back on this mound.  Unless there's a Smart car underneath it is definitely a giant lump of ice and snow.

My New Car!

I wish! What the hell is this wonderful thing?  What written on the side?  Is that Cor-Ten steel?  How much does that limo weigh?  Seen on Franklin Street in Tribeca yesterday.