11/4, NY trip continues

Let's try the self interview technique again...

Foothill Scrambler: Welcome back to an interview on the continued adventures of Mark in New York. How are you doing today sir?

Mark: Wiped out, which I think is good thing. It means that I covered quite a bit of territory.

FS: Let's start from the beginning. What did you do after you got up today?

M: First of all, I can't believe how slowly I'm acclamating to the Eastern Time Zone at 10:00 AM, I was still completely exhausted and barely was able to get out of bed under my own power.

FS: That doesn't bode well for Sunday.

M: No, not at all, at least at this rate. I need to get to bed earlier so I can have chance of getting up on time. So you asked me what I did after finally awakening. I felt like I needed to break a good sweat and what better place to do that than Central Park. I put on the running gear and started heading north through the heart of the park, which also happened to be part of the marathon course. I saw mile markers for 24 and 25 and when I was walking back I even saw the finish area. I usually don't like to see the finish area. For some reason it just seems like bad like, kind of like seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding.

FS: That's an interesting analogy. Has it bitten you in the past.

M: No, but there's something that bothers me about seeing the finish before I've gone and done the race. Anywho, so I ran about 3-4 miles northward through the park, running with my camera so that I could snap some shots on the way back. I saw a fair amount of runners actually, some seeming to be doing during their lunch time and others probably tourists like me. It was great see. After I built up a bit of a sweat, I pulled the plug and started walking back.

FS: How has the weather been?

M: Beautiful. I couldn't ask for better weather out here. Yesterday it was in the low 60's the whole day and today I think it even hit around 70. It's been sunny and warm and just wonderful, especially going through the park.

FS: Are the fall colors still around?

M: Yes! One thing I remember from my trip to NY last year was that Central Park was still blooming with lots of color even in the middle of November. It seems like it takes the park a little longer to move from fall to winter with respect to the foliage. I took a ton of pictures.

FS: Where were the nicest spots to be?

M: I really loved this area called "The Reservoir". I have no idea if it has another name, but that's what it says on my map and that's what it says on the park map. It's this nice round body of water that is about as wide as the park itself and has a nice dirt path all the way around it. It also has trees lined all the way around its circumference and with the colors still being around its like having a yellow, orange and red wreath draped around it. Gorgeous.

FS: Anything else stick out about the park?

M: Yeah, I think what I enjoyed even more was this area called the "The Lawn" - I know they use very dinstinct names - that was just south of this pretty little pond called turtle pond and just to the south of that is this Belvedere Castle.

FS: A castle in Central Park?

M: Yeah, a little one. Very cool. You can climb up this inner spiral stone stair case to the top and get this gorgeous view of the pond the lawn, where people are all out taking in the day. I saw a lot of mothers with strollers, lots of couples and lots of families out there. It made me forget that I was in the middle of a city.

FS: How does Central Park compare with Golden Gate Park.

M: Wow, that's a good question. I'd first say that it's very comparable. With the little ponds and lakes that this park has along with all of the beautiful athletic fields, along with an ice skating ring, I'd have to give the nod to Central Park. Part of it may have to do with the fact that it's fall here, which makes the park so much more spectactular I'm sure. Maybe if I went back to Golden Gate park my vote would sway, but man, this park is awesome.

FS: After you left this Oz-like place, what was next on the agenda?

M: After leaving the park, I finally convinced myself to go to the NY Marathon Expo, something I had been putting off.

FS: To pick up your bib and chip?

M: You got it. And to pick up some GU, body glide, all that good stuff. I was almost run over by a car on the way there.

FS: No kidding?

M: I'm noticing that NY drivers don't really respect pedestrians one bit. I think Californians are spoiled by the fact that that cars generally stop at cross walks. In Wisconsin, this isn't a law, so I'm fairly used to being on my guard before crossing, but New York takes it up a notch. I had the "walk" sign when crossing over to Jaccobs Convention Center and it wasn't like it turned to a blinking "Don't Walk" I had it the whole way, but this van decides to take a left turn right in front me and my elbow actully bumped into it. And the funny thing was, is that the guy was pissed at me. I mean, fuck you! I had the right of way all the way asshole.

FS: Geez.

M: But all of that hostility went away as I walked through the admission area of the expo. This guy took my ID and said, "Mountain View, huh? I know that place. Is this your first marathon?"..."No, I've done a few"..."Awesome...well, we have some nice California-like weather for you, so you should do fine" I got the same kind of treatment from the person that gave me my bib and chip and goodie bag. Very friendly.

FS: So it was good expo?

M: Probably the best I've ever been too. One noticeable thing is that carpet they used was softer than anything I've walked on in a long time, very easy on the feet. I guess it behooves them to keep people around, buying some additional gear, but I really appreciated that walking surface. It's not something you really consider. I also noticed a booth that was advertising the marathon for Prague. Wow, what a beautiful looking city. It reminded me of Dresden, Germany, which is supposed to be a "sister city". I've heard a lot of good things about Prague, but seeing a nice arial shot with people running the course, I'd have to say I've filed that marathon away into my list future races.

FS: What came next?

M: Next I was on the way to MOMA for its free Friday night entry.

FS: Did you grab anything good to eat before going there?

M: Yes, actually one thing I forgot to mention was that I took a walk through Hell's Kitchen on the way to the expo. To be honest, and this is a bit embarrassing, but I don't know why it's called that. I've just heard about it and saw it on my map. I did notice that there were many restaurants, including many "to go" type of venues all along 9th avenue as I was heading to pick up my bib, which was at 11th Ave and 38 St. On the way, this burger joint caught my eye, a place called "Island Burgers and Shakes" . I noticed it was Zagat approved, for what that's worth, but also had a picture of a cute local anchor woman, who signed and said something like "Thanks for the best beef in town". Good enough for this burger eater.

FS: Did it work out?

M: Yeah, definitely. Tasted very home made, not having this perfect circle, disk type of shape, just a good chunk of meet with some nice swiss on top. It really hit the spot.

FS: Back to MOMA, what was that experience like?

M: For starters, I needed to weave my way through this enormous line, which my friend Chris said I would find. But what he also said was true, in that the line moved really fast and I was in like flynn in no time in no time. What I noticed as I went through the line, passing many people weaving their way by, was that I hardly heard any english being spoken. I heard lots of French, German, Spanish, Russian and who knows what else. It reminded me of being in some of the more popular tourist spots in San Francisco, only I think more amplified. Just such a huge international scene.

FS: Not suprising. Go on.

M: Sure. like the Metropolitan, MOMA is huge. They have 6 floors of exhibits and two cafes and believe it or not, in the 4 hours that I had to work with, I covered every floor. Maybe I wasn't in every room, but I did a pretty comprehensive job on every floor, except maybe 4, which I skipped to get to the special exhibits at the top after floor 3 and worked my way back down.

FS: What did you like?

M: One of the special exhibits contained some works by Elizabeth Murray, whom I've never heard of before, but was very impressed. It's very hard to characterize her work, as is true with most modern artists I think. Actually I have know idea what I'm talking about, but that sounded good (ha ha). Apparently she was inspired by people like Picasso and Matisse having somewhat of a "cubist" theme apparently. She seemed to be focusing on everyday objects and took them to abstract levels, which also appears to be a goal for most artists that do "modern art". I took a few pictures of her work, which is something I've never done before in an art museum, but I saw others doing it and security wasn't bothered, so I said, what the hell, let's take some shots.

FS: What else caught your eye?

M: There was a big exhibit by Odilan Redon, another artist I had never heard of, but seems to be quite famous in the classic sense. He had this set of paintings that fell under a genre called "noir". These were mainly black and white and focused on mysticism, christianity in parts, monster, ghosts, etc. He seemed very appropriate for a Halloween exhibit. He also had a fair amount of pastel paintings as well, with some brighter subjects, but still some of the same themes. Apparently he moved from black and white to color later in his career, which reminded me of Van Gogh. It was said that he had really mastered the black and white to the point that he could really do no more.

FS: So you liked his stuff?

M: Yes I did. You know it's funny though, I kinda whipped through a lot of his paintings until I started reading what was written about him. I think I really need the background before I can start to truy appreciate the works of an artist. I can't simply look at a painting and make a fair judgement, which may sound a little strange, but I feel like I need a little more input before I decide how I feel about a painting. Maybe it shouldn't be that way, but that's just the way it is.

FS: What else did you discover in your four hours there?

M: Picasso. They had a terrific exhibit of his work. In particular, they had this huge painting called the "Three Musicians" which featured himself, dressed as a harlequin, flanked by two of his friends and a dog. Very abstract, maybe cubist in genre. I don't know. But I really liked it, to the point that I'd like to find that print online, which is something I don't generally do. He had himself playing a guitar and his friend was playing wind instrument of some sort, like a clarinet and they had this sheet music all broken up and off to the right. It just looked very cool. I notice Picasso uses musical instruments, especially guitars, in a lot of his paintings. I like that.

FS: Any other surprises?

M: I noticed a sculpture that looked very similar to one in the San Francisco MOMA and sure enough, it was called the "blonde negress, 2" done by this artist named Brancusi. I remember that name of the sculpture in the SF site and it's always been appealing. It looks a lot like an owl , which I don't think was the intent, but who cares. That's what I see. Owls are one my favorite animals and this sculpture kind of reminds me of the mechanical owl found in the Clash of the Titans, only this sculpture is much more elegant. Another thing that suprised me at the museum is that they have "Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I was able to snap a picture of. I didn't know that they had it.

FS: Again, you look like you're about to nod off to sleep...probably best to get some rest and do this another time.

M: Agreed.

FS: Good night all.