Saturday, April 05, 2008

Arizona, NYC and on my way to another desert

Rabbits, cactus, heat and country music.
My 2 days of experience in Scottsdale.
To be honest I spent 99% of my time in meeting rooms so I don't have much to say about the place.
From Arizona it was back to NYC where,as a result of last minute changes to my schedule (VERY last minute), I found myself with an unplanned afternoon to burn.
I stayed at the "W" on Lexington. It's got pretensions of being "uber cool" and arriving at 1 am the lobby and bar were crowded with various characters.
I had a bit of a laugh.
The place strives for "studied cool". Pots scattered around contain what appears to be putting green grass.
Very "New Yawwk" I guess.
The view from my bedroom was a little less slick.
I went as usual to Katz's deli and had another heart attack pastrami on rye.
I also took in a long walk from the Lower East side to the village.
New York is the best walking city there is. There's tons to see if you have the time to look around. On an earlier post I put up a pics from a similar walk and you can see those pictures here.
Have a look.
This time I restricted the snaps to two interesting places around Washington Square.
I've always been a bit intimidated by the chess tables at the far end of the square. I always figured that it was about gambling. It doesn't seem to be so next time I'll take a crack at it.Though these pictures don't show it, the brand of chess being played is of the "speed" variety.
The players also trash talk each other constantly throughout the game.
Big Black guys, kids, old guys killing time and shaky looking cracked out ghosts all circling the tables or holding court.
All quite good fun and worth a look if you're in the area.
Just a little further along are the West 4th Street courts. Supposedly famous for spawning a number of NBA players, its an interesting raucous focus for the neighbourhood.
Arguing and shouting is apparently as important as dribbling and shooting. The crowds on the other side of the fence join in the discussion in a less than genteel fashion. Though the tone seemed positively enraged at times, it never seemed to go beyond trash talk and posturing.
Some just laughed the whole time taking none of it seriously.
There's also a handball court and the guys there were really enthusiastic about getting their picture taken.
That's it for today.
I've arrived in Dubai after a bumpy 12 hour flight where the seat belt sign stayed on for the better part of 7 hours.
I've been on rougher flights, but that roller coaster ride was one for the books.
No sleep.
I'm shattered.
Love to all
T

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rucker park in Harlem is better known for its NBA connections.. West 4th is mostly for the average joe, who kinda just wants to feel like a kid again.

Terry said...

thanks for the comment.
Wiki has this to say about "the cage"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_4th_Street_Courts
T

Anonymous said...

As ever some great pics (manual yet?)

Fave is the little boy playing chess; that one pic shows what the place is all about.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia "is" a reliable source. My bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rucker_Park

An important, and yet overlooked part of New York City's history that many ignore. Perhaps because it is in Harlem and many are "afraid" to venture up there for whatever reason.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia "is" a reliable source. My bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rucker_Park

This park is an often overlooked and ignored part of New York City History, unfortunately because many are "afraid" to venture all the way up to Harlem for whatever reason.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ter glad to see your post on the blog - asyou had a few days no post was expecting a bad phone call - great pics you really should be working in tv or magazines anyway glad you are still alive you need to talk to me asap regarding dad's b-day and their aniversary

Anonymous said...

Greenwich Village and Washington Sq park have a lot of memories for me. When I was a wee girl, my Dad used to live around the corner and he would walk me to summer camp at a P.S. something-ruther and I would have Ray's Pizza with extra cheese almost everyday. Wash Sq Park was also the backdrop for my legal education since my alma mater is right there. The law school is across from the chess boards and the dog run.