Hairy Kate and Trashley

Well, here I am, back in the US for the election.

Yesterday I went to a book signing by the Olsen twins at Barnes and Noble. Nearly. First of all, the signing was on the whole top floor, which they blocked off. Then, you had to buy the book ($35) before you could go upstairs. I heard one man with his young son - they made him buy two copies.

I saw some stickered copies of the book hidden behind a pillar - at 20% off - they'd obviously removed these from the book signing.

The twins weren't going to personalise copies, just sign their names, and you weren't allowed a camera. What a rip off. I even overheard a Barnes and Noble employee saying to her colleague "Have you seen the book? It's just a bunch of photographs of them." It was true. There was no way I was paying $35 for it.

There were PETA protestors outside, with Hairy Kate and Trashley masks. But MK and A went in the back entrance, so I don't think they got to make their point to them personally.

Perfect New York days

I'm booking my flights this weekend - am gearing up for my stint as an election tourist. I can't wait! I'm already planning the perfect days too.

1. Day One (a perfect Sunday in New York)
First stop Brooklyn Flea Market, then checking out hip new shop Kill Devil Hill, going to church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, walking up through Chinatown to the Lower East Side - finishing off at Teany.

2. Day Two
Checking out all the thrift stores on West 14th Street, finishing off with lunch at the City Bakery. Then, I will walk across to Union Square, stop in at ABC Carpet and Home and the Gramercy Housing Works - this has the best finds I think.

Goodbye New York

I am back in London, after the end of my New York adventure. I had a great time, and will be back in November as an election tourist, although I may be hyping it up in my own mind too much, no Americans I have spoken to seem to think there will be street parties.

Please check out my other blogs:
My eco blog: http://www.myecoself.blogspot.com/
My style blog: http://www.teaforjoy.blogspot.com/

I will still be updating this blog for any further New York trips, or thoughts on the election.

Best cafes with free wireless internet access

After some deliberation, I've decided these are the best cafes with free wifi in New York:

West 11th Street cafe - great service and coffee, not many tables (very busy in the morning), good speed internet. My favourite (because of the service, God loves a cheerful giver (or barista.))

Aroma Cafe - good for anonymity (it's pretty big) but sometimes the access is a bit slow. They turn it off during lunch hours. Good sandwiches.

Mojo - Charles St. Slightly less relaxed about you sitting there all day, but the interior design is great and there's a good range of breakfasts and sandwiches (I really enjoyed their blueberry pancakes and a vegetarian sandwich with balsamic vinegar and capers (oops, can't remember what else, but it was one of my favourite New York lunches.)

Emma's NY pictures

Emma took all these photos in New York (notice the improvement on my attempts.) If you would like to buy them, please contact me.

Teany

We finished off the evening with tea at Teany, which is one of my favourite places in New York, a tea shop with 98 types of tea! The chocolate macaroon cake was a big hit, really delicious - I was pleased about this, because the last dessert I had here was disgusting - I don't think their strawberry shortcake translates well to the vegan version. We couldn't sit inside as it was too full, but the area where we sat outside had lots of pretty fairy lights - I felt very Mediterranean.

Dinner in the Lower East Side

A few weeks ago my friend Emma was here on business, and her boyfriend Jon came along a few days later. They stayed in a stylish hotel, the Soho Grand. Although I note from their website that it is pet-friendly (I am not.)

The bar at the hotel.

Emma's appetiser....

Dinner party

I think is one of the only photos I posted of my New York apartment. Katie (on the right) had a dinner party for me. It was yummy! We had chilled cucumber soup with wasabi cream (avocado, creme fraiche and avocado), pork ribs with cornbread, and a salad with tomatoes and purple basil. She is a great cook. I made her photograph the leftovers the next day for my new blog, Loving Lunch.

Doma

There's a nice cafe in the West Village on Perry St, called Doma. It has a good selection of breakfasts - this was French toast. I had a tasty Mediterranean platter too one evening. It's mostly locals, and it's always busy. They have a little art gallery on the wall and a mix of old tables - there's a nice little library corner with bookshelves too.

I can't find a website, but there are some reviews here - they seem to highlight poor service, but it is self-serve (you order at the bar) and I haven't had any problems there. The main problem in finding a seat.

Giselle at the Lincoln Theater

I just got home from seeing Giselle at the Lincoln Theater, a production of the American Ballet Theater. I really enjoyed it, I got all dressed up and went on my own, and bought myself a good seat as a treat. It was much cheaper than going to the ballet in London. I was sitting next to an older gentleman called Henry (65+) who was there on his own too, and who bought me a drink in the intermission. So, it was a very enjoyable excursion. I loved the ballet too; except all the attractive male dancers went home at the intermission - there was no opportunity to see them again at the curtain call.

Newseum in Washington DC

I forgot to mention the Newseum in my account of Washington DC. It's a museum about the press. I walked in and walked straight back out as the admission was $20 and I think that's a lot to pay in a city which is full of free museums.

However, I only had 2 hours left in Washington DC, so I went back in and paid up, mainly because I had a look at the brochure and it looked quite interesting.

I actually really enjoyed it, and I didn't get round half of it. There's a great Pulitzer prize exhibition, with all the photos which have won for about 80 years. There's an interactive exhibit where you can find out more about the stories behind the photos and it's quite touching. One photographer committed suicide after he took a photograph of a child dying in a famine, and he got a lot of backlash for not picking the child up.

There's another great exhibit which lets you watch key news moments in history - civil rights march in Washington DC, US Government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Clinton's impeachment - it was really interesting to watch.

That's all I saw; I never quite made it to all seven levels. But actually well worth the money in the end.

A Brooklyn Sunday: #3 Brooklyn Bridge

I walked back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. I saw the Olafur Eliasson Waterfalls (well, I saw two of them). They weren't that exciting. I didn't see these, but some New Yorkers told me that they rated the Gates as 9/10 but the waterfalls only 2/10. I think Time Out agrees.

A Brooklyn Sunday: #2 Brooklyn Tabernacle

Next stop was church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. They have a Grammy Award-winning choir. I loved it. This is their MySpace page.

A Brooklyn Sunday: 1# Brooklyn Flea Market

I had a great Sunday morning in Brooklyn. First I went to the Brooklyn Flea which had a good range of stalls, including some food stalls (I wish I had gone to the Fair Trade coffee stall, I didn't notice it until I had bought coffee elsewhere) and some other new Etsy craft-type stalls, selling things like knitted jewellery. There's a much better review than mine here.

Further to my post about Philadelphia, I was pleased to find somewhere in New York which sells old ceiling tin. The vendor, Olde Good Things has a shop in Chelsea too - I'm going to check it out.

Me with the real Kramer

I went on Kramer's Reality Tour yesterday. It was fun, there were a lot of good anecdotes about Larry David, but not many actual sites. For the first hour we sat in a theatre while Kramer talked about his friendship with Larry, and about the events in his life which had been used in an episode of Seinfeld. We watched a few excerpts of Larry talking about the real Kramer. Then there was a 40 minute break for people to get a snack and buy cheap tat from the Kra-Mart (and yes, almost everyone did, to my surprise - including bumper stickers about Vandelay Industries and Assman number plates - also available from the website) and then we set off on the bus. The bus has tv monitors so we watched a couple of short items, which were really worth watching and are pretty exclusive to this tour, like a really funny interview with the real Soup Nazi, who says Seinfeld ruined his life. When we got to Tom's restaurant, Kramer was very accommodating and happy to have his photo taken with everyone.

A lot of the original businesses used have been replaced, so there weren't many sites to actually see. You could just go and see the two main ones by yourself:

Tom's restaurant at West 112th and Broadway
The Original Soup Man at West 55th and 8th Avenue (this location is now closed, so not sure where the Soup Nazi himself hangs out.)

There's some other information about locations here.

The real Kramer is a definite character and if you are a hardcore Seinfeld fan you will enjoy the tour and the footage - but I think most of the people on it fit this demographic (over half were Australians). Just don't go expecting to see a lot of sights - after all, the show was filmed in LA.

New York kitchen

I guess it is true that New Yorkers don't cook much...

4th July fireworks

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to a 4th July party at James and Ayumi's apartment, which has an amazing view of the river which avoided the need to stand outside in the rain.

I was encouraging the partygoers to hold an election party for when I come back in November as an election tourist. I'm determined to get to one, one way or the other, but it is on a Tuesday, so not sure how many late night revellers there will be.

Quiz

Who knows the connection between the event at the New York Public Library, and U23D at the Museum of Natural History in Washington DC? There's a prize for the winner...

Salman Rushdie at the New York Public Library

Last Friday I went to a discussion by Salman Rushdie of his new book, The Enchantress of Florence, hosted by Jeffrey Eugenides, who wrote Middlesex. It was at the New York Public Library.

There were some interesting points: JE told a story of how he was in London 20 years ago (before he was an author) and he looked up SR in the phone book as he wanted to go to his house and congratulate him on the book Midnight's Children. Salman Rushdie actually was still listed, so JE just showed up at his front door. He wasn't there, but his ex-mother-in-law was there, and she let him in! He wrote a note and left some rupees for him - and he never thought he would be interviewing him in the New York Public Library 20 years later!

In response to a question about Satanic Verses, SR said something like this:
"I don't think you should be killed for writing a book, no. Even Dan Brown must live."

I thought that was funny. SR also told us how he dreams really banal simple things when he is writing a book - for example, a dream about getting up and reading a newspaper and going back to bed (that may not have been it, I can't remember) but that as soon as his book is finished, his dreams become more colourful again.

Coldplay on the Today Show, NBC

As I thought, someone put a video on YouTube of Coldplay. Man, I wish I had gotten out of bed for this.

Jonathan Adler birds

My friend Emma was in New York for business a few weeks ago, and was thrilled with her purchase of these Jonathan Adler salt and pepper shakers. She unwrapped them so carefully so I could see them, and held them gently in her hands. I agree they are very stylish, especially as they are birds. I'm not sure about Jonathan Adler after I went in there just after reaching the surface after my traumatic subway tunnel situation (traumatic for me.) The guy said, "How are you this afternoon?" I said, "not very good." And he just was thrown by that,

he didn't ask me what had happened or anything. I suppose it is not the response he usually gets.

Washington DC birds

As you may know, I love birds. Here are some Washington DC birds.

This is part of an exhibition of photos taken by Barbara Bosworth at the American Art museum.

Often in life, I find that opportunities pass me by. I was watching these birds go crazy in the water fountain. The one in the middle really drenched himself from top to toe(?). It only occurred to me much later that I could have taken a video with my camera.

The White House at night and Capitol Building

I did a bit of sightseeing at the other monuments as well. Today I went on a tour of the Capitol Building. The tour guide was able to speak to everyone in their own language - Serbian, Vietnamese, Dutch...very impressive. Except it was a bit unnerving because he could barely stand up - he had to hold on to these two men for support. He was pretty old, I think he should think about having a bit of a rest. We also had a look at some of the other monuments at night - I think it is the best time to visit.

U2 3D

CaSandra and I went to see U2 3D at the Natural History Museum. It was brilliant! It's good to see those old guys are still together. I think this video is an official trailer.

U2 3D

CaSandra in her new shades - or getting ready for U2 3D.

Smithsonian chic

I plan to decorate my home in the Smithsonian palette of colours - if you go you will know what I mean.

Museum retreat

I've just been on a museum retreat to Washington DC - a retreat from the heat. I spent most of my time at the museums, in an indoors and air-conditioned state of bliss. If you like museums, Washington DC has the best in the world. I went to lots of the Smithsonian museums, and they are all free too. My favourites were the Freer Gallery, American Indian Museum, Renwick Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. There was so much to see.

Courtyard at the Freer Gallery.

The Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery.

The adjoining roof at the Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art. (I liked the hip hop exhibition, 20th Century Americans, bird lady photos, presidential portraits, posters as art - it was amazing.)

Windows at the above museum.

Museum of the American Indian: beautiful beaded costumes, and an interesting cafe which sells Native American food; today I had sunchokes, which are the root of a native sunflower.

Kansai Yamamoto at the Perelman Museum

This jacket was part of an exhibition showing the fashion of the designer Kansai Yamamoto from 1971-1973. But I think it looks just like my winter coat!

Big Buttons

I've always loved a calculator with big buttons.

Designing Modern Exhibition at the Perelman Museum

I also enjoyed this exhibition, Designing Modern.

I would love to own an Olivetti typewriter. This one is the Olivetti Lettera 22. I liked the poster too.

Perelman museum

I really enjoyed all the exhibitions at the Perelman museum at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I love Ansel Adams, so I especially loved that exhibition.

I got a little excited. Can you see why?

My photo I bought at Pippin Home.

Ansel Adams photograph.

Ok, so I didn't really think it was that likely I had bought an Ansel Adams photo at the vintage store, as I thought the man in the shop would have picked up on it. And if I had thought about it, I knew my photo was signed as that was one of the things I liked about it. I do like Ansel's photo more, but mine isn't bad as far as a vintage store find goes.

Update: the blue picture I mentioned in an earlier post was sold by the time I actually went to buy it. I think because it had already been reduced, that I was safe. I've bought two black and white tree photos instead.

Fork restaurant in Philadelphia

I had lunch at Fork in Philadelphia. The food was good, but the portion was enormous. I wish I had eaten in the Fork deli next door, Fork Etc. Its decoration is much more modern, with 1950s style formica covered tables and blackboard paint-covered walls.

Ceiling Tins on Pine Street

I saw these ceiling tins for sale outside a shop on Pine St. I think it was $40 for a large one. I would have liked to buy 6 and make into a coffee table top - except I'm running out of space.

These are the exact same type of tiles they sell in Estilo Home in Wimbledon, made into picture frames which cost over £100 - so that's a pretty big mark-up.

Polish Mountaineer's Belt

I saw this belt in the Polish American Center. I like those places - I did my Masters dissertation on ethnic groups' museums in Chicago, so I have been to quite a few. This is a Polish Mountaineer's belt - but I thought it looked just like something I might wear now!

A day in Philadelphia

I had a very nice day trip to Philadelphia.

This is on Ben Franklin Parkway. This is supposed to be a replica of the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Napoleon's brother's house.

Nice houses on Pine Street - older and more Southern, with shutters.

The City Hall, which is supposed to be an exact replica of the Paris City Hall, except for the tower.

I had a very informative tour of an old Jewish graveyard by a guide called Jordan. Well, what could I do, he didn't have any other customers and was sitting there on his own.

On the Bolt Bus to Philadelphia

Extra leg room.

Plugs for your laptop.

All in all, a very pleasant experience on the Bolt Bus.

When the cat's away...

This is what spare keyholders get up to....

This is my new kitchen in this Real Food video for Times Online with the BBC Chinese chef Ching-He Huang. I love how they've styled it...I'm sure I didn't leave my kettle and cookbooks in the back..

Coldplay on Today Show

Right now I should be at the Coldplay early morning concert at Rockefeller Centre- but I couldn't get out of bed in time. I'll post a You Tube clip later if I can find one. It looks really busy though, I'm sure I wouldn't have got anywhere near it. I think Gwyneth Paltrow is very lucky to be married to Chris Martin.

Christie's Pop Culture Auction

On Wednesday afternoon I went to watch the Pop Culture Auction at Christies. It was pretty relaxed, you could walk in and out whenever you want, so it's worth going even for a short while. It was very entertaining. Someone should hire the auctioneer for tv, he was good-looking and had a bit of banter with the beautiful women on the telephone bids. Most of the bids were telephone bids, but I did feel bad for the man in the room who bid for quite a few things but didn't win. You can actually watch the auctions online too.

At the front of the room were some large clothes, and I couldn't figure out who they belonged to. I was thinking Elvis, but there was a blood-stained shirt. Finally I looked in a catalogue and it was Tony Soprano's shirt from the Sopranos. You can see the results online - looks like that outfit went for nearly $44,000. There were lots of interesting things for sale; old Disney stills, stills from King Kong 1933, lots of rock memorabilia.

Photo is from the Christie's website.

Dinner at August in the West Village

Last night I had one of the best meals of my life at August in the West Village. There's a review and a slideshow here - in the third picture of the slideshow you can see the beautiful plaster effect on the walls which I loved.

I had this:

Spanish Mackerel a la Plancha
Baby artichokes, cucumber, grapes, and toasted almond milk

Panna Cotta with Rhubarb

It was totally delicious. I couldn't fault it in any way (although you might want to make sure and order extra vegetables with this one.)

Pawtisserie

Here's another dog shop - good name, Pawtisserie, but I couldn't work out if the food in the gourmet bakery is for dogs or humans.

Albert Einstein's house

This house in Princeton, New Jersey, is where Albert Einstein lived for the last twenty years of his life.

Day trip to Princeton

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Princeton. They were filming a Transformers movie around the campus.

Bolt Bus

I've just booked myself a trip to Philadelphia and to Washington DC on the Bolt Bus. I can't believe how cheap it is! It can only be that the locals haven't picked up on it yet - most of the New Yorkers I've met seem to take the Chinatown bus. There's WiFi and extra legroom, and $1 tickets which don't even seem that elusive (I saw a couple of $1 tickets in the dates I checked.)

There was a good review of it in the Sunday Times - see the article here.

Breakdancing boys on the subway

Now, here's an ingenious move I haven't seen before...

Obama Mama