21/2/13 – Supreme and BOSE

This morning we jumped a taxi and scooted the 95 blocks to the corner of Prince and Lafayette – location of the Supreme skateboard store. After our scouting mission the previous day we had anticipated some hype for this event but we were not prepared for the queues that went back for over three blocks. We sought advice from a skater girl in the line and were informed that we were only allowed to buy one hat each once inside and that she had been standing out in the bitterly cold and windy street for over three hours and was still fifty people from the front of the line. ‘Bugger that’ we both thought! We were relieved when she told us that the stock is replenished every 4 or 5 days and that we should be able to come back next week and buy whatever we wanted with ease ‘when all of these publicity stunts are over’. Deal – lock that in for next week.

We then took the subway to the Time Warner Building and visited the Bose store to get advice on what sound system we should put into the apartment when we get back home. We are so over all of the different devices, cords and remotes that we had been using and were pleased to be shown a simple and elegant entertainment system that ticked the boxes for quality and style. So goodbye TV/DVD/VCR/stereo/radio/turntable/tapedeck/amplifier/speakers and hello to simplicity with a brilliant sound. And in the meanwhile for the NYC flat we bought a blue tooth speaker for our iTunes devices.   

We had lunch at Café Bouche overlooking Columbus Circle (who would have thought meatloaf on rye would taste so good!) and then enjoyed a walk back through Central Park in the bright winter sunshine to the Met. Well, actually we went to the Met Shop as it was offering a members’ 20% discount so I bought some jewellery that I have been eying off for some time now and Peter purchased a ‘Met Collection’ watch that has been deemed ‘appropriately cool’ by both Cameron and Alistair.

20/2/13 – Shopping at the Village

Supreme is a brand that ‘cool’ young people will recognise immediately for its skateboards and associated merchandise. As they only have stores in NYC and Tokyo and as they were releasing their Spring Collection this week, Peter and I (at my nephew Jordan’s request) popped down town to check out the place before the sale began on Thursday. The shop was closed and the windows covered over in brown paper. There was already a long line of people outside the store, all of whom were apparently willing to sleep out all night in the freezing cold just to ensure they got ‘first bite of the cherry’ tomorrow morning. Worse still there barricades strategically placed along the curb that indicated that many more eager shoppers were expected to arrive overnight,  so we were a little concerned over our ability to fulfil the order placed by said nephew tomorrow when the sale began!     

When we left the Supreme store we walked north up Lafayette Ave towards 14th Street in search of a taxi. Instead we found upon a new bar and jazz club called ‘Joe’s Pub’. It is contained within what was once the Astor public library and across the road was the original Astor Mansion – note to self – must bring Hans and Sue here when they arrive next week.

Further up on 8th Avenue we dropped into the downtown Jensen-Lewis furniture shop to see if their stock was any different to the stock that their 56th Street store had carried. The show room as bigger and we found a few other items to our liking. Unfortunately the research into shipping stuff home is not looking good as most companies aren’t interested in consignments under one container in size.

Without knowing what we were walking into we dropped into West Market in the Village to pick up a few supplies before retuning uptown to the flat. This massive gourmet food market was amazing. We entered at the cheese section (that seriously would have had over 500 cheeses on display) and soon made a right hand turn to find shelves of refrigerated food that went all the way to the ceiling. It was quite unnerving to not be able to see over to the next aisle let alone out of a window. We then found ourselves lost in a tinned food maze and we lamented not dropping crumbs from the time of our entry as we were by now well into the bowels of this monster and beginning to fear that we might never find out way out. The inspiration for Lennon and McCartney’s ‘Long and Winding Road’ must have come from here because this experience was surreal. But just as we were about to ask for help to find the way out we came upon the fresh produce section and we could hear horns and see flashing lights indicating that impatient NYC was still out there. But rather than make a dash for the door we were seduced by the shape, presentation and names of exotic fruit and vegetables that we had never seen before. We had to check ourselves several times as we held up objects and tried to pronounce its name as indicated on the information ticket. We considered taking photos of these items but in the end we decided that there was a limit to the extent to which we would/could embarrass ourselves. Luckily we managed to compose ourselves in sufficient time to avoid a visit from the staff, paid the bill and jumped into a taxi bound for more familiar surroundings.        

19/2/13 - Apartment Furniture

If only we could afford some of the treasures at the Met!

Peter and I have spent the last few evenings trawling through various American websites dedicated to interior design. One called ‘Houzz’ has over 800,000 display shots! One of the businesses that features on this site, Jensen-Lewis, has a shop on the corner of 3^rd Avenue and 56^th street so after the gym today we popped down to wander through their showrooms.

Peter and I fell in love with several stunning pieces of furniture and are now going to look into the logistics of importing them into Australia. The designs are very different to anything we can get in Australia and that is very attractive to us as we make plans for how we want to furnish our apartment. We are keen to fill it with things that are ‘different’ and which will serve to remind us of our time in NYC. (no jokes about ‘big apples’ please!)   

18/2/13 - Day 6 Metropolitan Museum of Art

Beautiful day but crispy! Did the torture routine at the gym (why does it never seem to get easier?) and then dropped up to the Met to do the Middle Ages and the Italian Renaissance.

The bulk of the Met’s collection of Middle Ages Art is housed in the Cloisters up in Fort Tyron Park at the very northern tip of Manhattan and a later blog posting will no doubt cover this amazing place, but in the meanwhile I thought I would have a look at what the Met’s main building had to offer, just to wet my appetite.

As most of us know the church was a powerful force in the Middle Ages and religious art celebrated the place of the church in people’s lives. It was also used, a cynic might say, to instil fear in the poor and to ensure that the rich ‘did enough to get into heaven’ or at least enough to avoid being sent to Hell! Religious paintings and sculptures made Bible stories accessible to a mostly illiterate population and were often used to draw the faithful to embark upon a pilgrimage to view the miracles that were depicted – a bit like modern day tourist attractions!

A good example of this in the Met’s collection is a stunning monstrance allegedly containing ‘the tooth’ of Mary Magdalene and a silver reliquary cast from Saint Yrieix’s head that contained his skull (it even had a little metal grill on the top where you can look in and see the holy relic).

The journey to knighthood was a significant one for boys at the time and lessons were dedicated to inform a squire on the techniques of courtly love. I attach a photo of a ceremonial saddle with ‘bone’ carvings that would have been of significant interest to any teenage boy. Please look where the knight has his hands!  

The Met has some amazing stuff, like a statute of a youth that was sculpted by Michelangelo when he was just a teenager in Florence. This piece stood as part of a water feature in the garden at the Whitney family home on 5^th Avenue in the early 1900s before being donated to the museum.

In the 1560s Francesco de Medici established a ceramic workshop in Florence where Florentine craftsmen learned, over a period of some ten years, to imitate the expensive and fragile soft paste blue and white porcelain of China. There are only fifty nine pieces of this famous ‘Medici porcelain’ still in existence today, and the Met has six of them on display. Amazing craftsmanship!

And then there was the ‘Farnese’ table. This marble and alabaster table from the Farnese Palace in Rome was made in the 1560s and is inlaid with hundreds of semi-precious stones. It would have taken pride of place in the dining hall.

 

 

 

The next feature room I visited contained a reconstruction of the Chapel of the Chateau de la Bastie d’Urfe near Lyon. The walnut frames made around 1548 with inlaid exotic woods were truly exquisite.

The room also contains several stained glass windows from a Benedictine priory in Lorraine by Valentin Bousch (circa 1540). These windows are innovative because Bousch rejected the practice of compartmentalising the frames to tell the story but instead used the window as one canvas and dramatically increased the scale and impact that such artistry could convey.   

And to finish today’s adventure – I went to ‘the Venetian room’. This room was the first ever installed in the Met and has remained a popular attraction ever since because it gives the viewer a sense of what is must have been like to have been a successful trader in Venice at a time when all roads lead to this amazing city.

17/2/13 – A Treasure Trove from the East

 
I have always found the ‘cradle of civilisation’ fascinating and so, inspired by the Afghani Orchestra, I decided today to cover the Met’s section on Middle Eastern Art.  As you is the case with most things at the Met their collection is outrageously extensive covering a large span of time and many places and cultures.

I started my tour in 3000 BCE so I could thank the guys who invented writing. The origins of writing are actually quite interesting and the Met has a few of the earliest forms of cuneiform ever found. I include here for Oli and Andy, a picture of the recipe for beer that found amongst some of the earliest of these tiny tablets. Good luck deciphering that one guys!

And so I wandered through a succession of civilisations that conquered their enemies, prospered mightily, and then were themselves conquered and destroyed over the centuries; from the Sasanians in the 4^th century to the Turkmen and their beautiful jewellery in the 19^thcentury .

I marvelled at Shah Tahmasp’s ‘Book of Kings’ - 759 folios of illuminated manuscripts which tell Firdausi’s epic story (with 258 paintings – the Met has 29 of them) of warriors like English knights who performed valiant acts like slaying the ‘lion-ape monster’ to win the heart of their beloved princesses, and wise men playing games of chess, and horsemen playing polo before the King.

A little further on and I was in awe of the Islamic wood and metal work, ceramics (like the tiled prayer niches that point the way to Mecca for the faithful) and the rich fabrics.

But the carpets were a treasure on another level altogether. The Simonetti carpet from the Mamluk period in Egypt (circa 1500) is a shimmering mosaic of five medallions (instead of the usual three) with bright and varied colours. And then there is the Seley carpet from Iran in the Safavid period of the late 16^th century. This silk, wool and cotton asymmetrical knotted pile is one of the finest Persian carpets ever made and it has to be seen to reveal its true beauty – if only we could touch it or better still walk on it!   

I adored the rare lacquered fan with twenty wooden blades (each inscribed in gold with poetic verses from Peter’s favourite Persian poet Hafiz) that is said to be from Tehran in Iran about 1300. This particular poem was recited to me through the commentary on my ‘audio tour’ player and, although I do not understand Persian, it was clear the rhyming couplet verses were meant for the ears of the special person who is your one true love.  

And if you’re into intrigue then the Goa stone is for you. It comes from the Mughal period in India (1526 – 1858) and it is said that these ‘stones’ were manufactured by Jesuit priests living in Goa to replicate the bezoars (a mixture of gallstones and hairs found in the stomach of deer, sheep and antelopes) which, when scraped and ingested with tea or water, were supposed to have profound medicinal benefits. They were kept in ornately designed gold cases and were particularly sought after in the Middle Ages by those kings and queens who sought an antidote for any poisons that may have been administered to them by their enemies, or not so loyal family.

At one level the scope and breadth of the works on display was so different from the American and European art I had been looking at prior to today … and yet at another level it was not really that different at all. In fact many things, particularly in art, maths and science that are attributed in European culture to the ‘Crusading’ English and ‘Renaissancing’ Italians were originally just copied (or stolen) from their established homes in the Levant or other Middle Eastern lands.

16/2/13 – Super 15 Starts Today

Given their poor results in 2012 and the sweeping changes (new management, new coach and new players) we were surprisingly keen to go to the Australia Bar today to see the Western Force play. Good news is that the guys behind the bar can play you any game at any time as it is all pre-recorded. So we sat ourselves down with a giant can of Fosters (for Peter) and a a Cape Mentelle SSB (for me) and a steak sandwich and watched the WF v Brumbies followed by Reds v Rebels. Bad news was, despite some good play by the Force backs in general and Kyle Godwin in particular, the Force lost and the second game (Reds v Brumbies) was a waste of time with poor play from both sides. We made arrangements to come back next week for the Six Nations and the next round of Super 15. I also made a note to bring our own chips. I can’t watch Rugby without chips and they don’t sell them here in bars not even Aussie Bars – go figure? I found a solution though. During the break between the two games this week I went next door to the deli and bought two packets of plain chips as a taste test. Lays ‘Classic Chips’ and Lays ‘Original Baked Chips’ – both came in almost identical yellow packets but their taste and contents were quite different. Lays Classics – 42g of product with 240 calories (140c/fat) – ingredients were potatoes, oil and salt. Lays Baked – 31g of product with 130 calories (20c/fat) – ingredients were dried potatoes, corn starch, sugar, corn oil, salt, soy lecithin and corn sugar. The Baked Chips didn’t even look like chips … but you can be very sure that the prominent signage on the Baked Chips packet that says ‘fat free’ is effective to lure many people to eat them … I just can’t wait until we get such products in Australia … or are they already there?

The mass production of food for a growing world is a significant problem. How to get the food that is grown to people all over the world who want it and are prepared to pay for it? So many affluent consumers, so far away. We live in a profit driven world where every effort is made to keep production and transportation costs down. But this can lead to increased processing to ensure that products travel well or don’t go off. For example, green produce picked and transported and gas ripened at the point of sale to suit the flow of demand and reduce damage and waste. Why do we demand seasonal foods like strawberries all year round? Increased wealth to the middle class now means that Russians don’t have to eat potatoes and cabbage and the emerging Chinese middle class is demanding more than just rice. I must remember to ask Professor Powles how the world is planning to provide for this increasingly ‘picky’ wave of demand. Food co-ops particularly for organic fruit and veg are a big thing here in NYC.

After the football we went to Pepelinos (West Broadway between Canal and 6^th). It is an intimate restaurant with an authentic Italian menu. I had the three soups - Ribollita (tuscan bread soup with black cabbage, mixed vegetable & fresh thyme), Passato di Zucca (butter nut squash soup with crumbled amaretto cookies) and white cannellini bean soup with a full bodied chianti, followed by a slice of foie gras freshly cooked and served on toast with a reduced fig sauce. It came with a big glass of sauterne – oops more alcohol than I was planning! Peter had the lamb shank and the rest of the chianti. My food was fantastic … and to judge by the satisfied moans coming from Peter his was both excellent and extremely filling!

We then hailed a cab and took a wild ride home with a middle aged white guy cab-driver from Jersey who wasn’t a big fan of Jews, blacks or any other people from Manhattan!  

15/2/13 - The Purpose of Long Service Leave

It is a beautiful thing to just wake up in the morning. Just wake up because your body says it has had enough sleep. To wake up unassisted by an alarm or the encouragement of children, either yours on the ones next door.  And when one lives ‘in’ the Wesley College Boarding House – there’s quite a few of those!  

The next thing that is wonderful about LSL is having the freedom to decide what to do with your day. There are no ‘have tos’ on LSL. If you feel like it you can just roll over and go back to sleep, or you can lie around on the couch all day just watching the TV (but there’s no cricket on the TV here in NYC so what’s the point?). You can eat whatever and whenever you like. Every day is about making a decision and acting upon it. It may seem trivial in the beginning, but choosing what to do each day is a big step when there is nothing and no one to tell you what you have to do.

The power to have and to make choices has always seemed to me to be the point of a good education and one of the keys to a happy and fulfilling life. Choices are things that unfortunately some people don’t have. Worse still, some people, who do have choices, let the opportunity to choose fall by the wayside because the choices they are faced with are ‘too hard’ or because there are so many other more urgent (but ultimately much less important) things that need doing. So choices are overlooked and opportunities are missed. For some people this goes on, day after day until, eventually, their life becomes something that someone else has chosen for them. It may seem easier to not make a decision and just do what you’re told, but life is filled with people who end up not achieving their potential and not being who they dreamed of being because they were too busy fulfilling someone else’s vision for them.

By all means seek advice from those you trust, or who have wisdom, but make your own choices. That way, regardless of whether you succeed or fail, at least you have the dignity of knowing you did it on your own terms. And what is failure anyway? In reality it is just the chance to make a new decision! Life can too easily become a seemingly never ending cycle filled with deadlines set by others, in which the only time spent making decisions, is time spent deciding what you don’t have time to do in the day. A bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, we find ourselves lost in someone else’s reality, falling and falling and wondering if it is ever going to end. Or worse, that it won’t end.

But it does end. And haven’t we all been warned by old people we speak to and by the postings that we ‘like’ on Facebook that ‘life is a journey not a destination’ and that ‘or no one wishes they could have worked harder when they are on their death bed’. An unexamined life, so they say, is a life not worth living. So from time to time we need to stop busily rushing around living our life and take the time to examine it. Often this process of examination is something that is forced upon us by our own impending death, illness or impairment, or by the death, illness or impairment of someone close to us. Luckily for me it was something much less dramatic that forced me to examine my life. I have this luxury on my LSL! (Did you know that most Americans only get one week’s holiday a year and have never heard of LSL?)

One starts off thinking it’s is all about having a rest, but LSL for me has become about taking time to think about the journey I am on, reflect on where I have been, where I am going and who I have and will share the journey with. What are the ‘big rocks’ of my life and how do I keep them in the forefront of my thinking so that they guide my decisions and actions and the journey I am travelling? 

I haven’t come up with the blue print for the next ten years but it is a work in progress, so wish me luck.