Happy B-day Surprise Kate. Love, New Joisey

We decided to celebrate Kate's birthday a day early this year because tomorrow we're going to a friend's place. So first off, Happy birthday Kate, and what better way to celebrate your 30th birthday than Jersey style. Ok we didn't really have anything planned so we just let the plentiful bounty of New Jersey provide. First we went to Kate's favourite place for Indian food, the mall's food court. Surprisingly I have to agree that it really is good Indian food. You can't beat a good butter chicken and naan bread. Next we went to a the A-Team and had a few laughs. It was a full moon and a refreshing cool break from the 30 degree days we've been having so we decided to sit on our stoop, take some pictures of the moon and see if we could see some fireflies. New Jersey had other plans.



As we were sitting there a BMW pulled up and double parked right in front of us to wait for someone. A few minutes later another car came ripping around the corner and sped down the street, clipping the BMW's mirror. The two drivers got together to talk it over and they were both a little worked up. The BMW driver didn't like that the other driver (who we suspect was drunk) kept saying that he could just fix it himself and things escalated. When he heatedly demanded that they exchange insurance info the drunk started throwing punches and BMW fought back. Both of them got some good shots in. After recovering from the shock of this happening less than 5 meters away from us, I decided I couldn't sit there anymore so I gave Kate the camera and started yelling at these guys while walking towards them. Kate said I was using my loud angry voice that she's never heard before. By the time I got close to them BMW had the drunk on the hood of a car so I pulled him off and drunk sort of stayed on the hood.


I thought it was over and I backed off not wanting to get too involved. However, the drunk had other ideas and starting going for BMW again. Bad move. BMW, who obviously had more of his wits about him and possibly had some previous fighting experience, hit drunky in the head a couple of times and then started choking him so I pulled him off again and the drunk slumped to the ground in the middle of the street. This time I made sure BMW was walking away and not coming back before I checked on the drunk who' was then laying on his back with a dazed look in his eyes. I make sure that he was OK and then told someone in the now gathering crowd to call the cops.

Once again I backed off, thinking it was over as the aggressor was still lying on the ground and all we had to do was wait for the cops.. Wrong again. Drunky stumbled to his feet and lunged yet again at Mr. BMW, catching him half turned around, and landed a punch. That didn't stop BMW from hammering him back a few more times and slamming him to the ground. Once again, I pulled him off and walked him away and this time the drunk decided to stay down, helped by another guy from the crowd who came in to stay with him to keep him down. Finally, 3 police cars pulled up and calmed things down. Apparently a bunch of people called the police and the cops had the impression that it was a giant street fight that spanned a full block, which is why 3 cars showed up.



At this point quite a few people had left their apartments and were hanging out on the street talking about what had happened. A group of them standing next to our stoop where Kate was standing holding the camera still attached to the tripod started talking about how someone was filming it. They looked at Kate expectantly saying "You guys were filming that right?" to which Kate replied "Um, no. We were taking pictures of the moon."




So after all was said and done we were thinking that we should have taken some pictures or video of the whole thing but we were both kind of caught up in the moment. We only took this one after we went inside and Kate suggested we might need some picutres for our blog. It's a pic of the drunk guy still stunned sitting up against a fence with the police waiting for his ambulance.



So, to sum it up, we had planned to finish the evening with a pleasant night out on our stoop and instead we ended up with a little bit of Joisey right up in front of our house. Happy Birthday Kate.

Park Art

Everyday I walk through Madison Square Park on my way to school and every so often the park has a new art project in it. Past displays include tree houses in the trees, 8 foot tall concrete shapes on the grass, and a ring of lights around the park that light up to people's heart rates when they put their hands on sensors.

About a month ago on my way to school I came across one of these in the middle of the pedestrian area in front of the flat iron building. At first I couldn't tell if this was a statue or a guy in a body suit or body paint and just standing still (not entirely out of the question around here). Either way I gave him a wide birth as I walked past him. I didn't really know what to make of a naked metal statue in the middle of the sidewalk and was even more confused to find another one on the other side of the park too. But I guess that's art right?


I walked past these guys for about another week before I heard someone talking about something on top of buildings. On top of many of the buildings surrounding the park are more of these statues. Turns out there are 31 of these guys in all. As you can imagine, at first there were some problems with people thinking they were jumpers, especially from the one on the empire state building, but now they have settled in and are a part of the park. They are the sentinels of the park keeping watch at all times.


I actually kind of like watching people crane their necks around and do a double take when they see them for the first time. People love taking pictures with these guys, and putting hats, scarves and coats on them.

The whole thing has sort of grown on me.

Niagara Falls

We went up to Niagara Falls last weekend. We had a lot of fun but as I started to write about our trip I started boring myself with how wordy I was so here's a bunch of pictures with captions instead.


Pregnant Kate at the falls


Picture from behind the ponchos you get when you go on the Maid of the Mist boat in an attempt to protect the camera from all the mist.

Maid of the Mist boat

Both falls

Kate didn't think there were enough pictures of just me in this post.

Kate beating me at mini-golf. In my defence it was 2 against 1. Notice how the club hits her belly even though she's using a kid's putter.

U.S. falls at night.

Horseshoe falls.

Into the fiery pit.

With this slow shutter speed it looks like a coloured curtain.

Looking down into the Horseshoe falls

More of the pregers

Fun with our camera. Spooky scary.

Scotland Run

I ran another race in Central Park this weekend. It was in connection with Scotland week which from what I put together is a bunch of events in the city that are sponsored by the Scottish tourism industry. It was a 10Km race which is just over one loop of the park. I'd never been all the way to the top of the park before. In classic New York style where the feel and the mood of neighborhoods can change drastically in just a couple of blocks, popping out of the park after having no view of the surroundings and suddenly seeing Harlem I wouldn't have thought I was still in Manhattan.


We decided that red is a much better running colour for me so Kate can actually pick me out of the crowds. Because this was a Scotland run there were a number of people who ran in kilts. Kate really wished I'd brought the kilt that she bought me in Scotland a couple of years ago with me out here so I could wear it too. I wasn't as heart broken about that.

The $18 registration fee was the least I've ever paid for a run but there was still a shirt and food after. Oh, about the food after the run, what else would you expect after a run in New York than bagels and New York apples. There were also canvas bags with the a Scottish flag on them and filled with SWAG advertising Scotland.


This video is from the start line. Kate said it took 15 minutes for all the runners to cross it. I show up in red at about 29 seconds.

The Belly

Kate's a couple of months (or five) into this whole pregnancy thing so it's about time that it's documented on this thing. When Kate showed up here after her extended stay in Edmonton over Christmas she had a only the slightest sign of a belly that if you didn't know any better you might not notice (or worse think she'd just gained weight). Since then a lot has changed. There's no mistaking it anymore, there's a kid in there (or a small tuba or both).





The belly is now large enough that while eating poporn the other day Kate dropped a piece and couldn't find it on her initial search. Of course she couldn't see it, it was under the over-hang of the belly.

The other day Kate came in and met me in the city for dinner and a piano concert. While waiting on the platform in the PATH station we started to wonder if anyone would give up their seat for Kate. The trains at night can be pretty full and you usually don't get a seat unless you get on at the first stop. Kate was convinced that no one would give up their seat for her so I made her unbutton her coat and stick her belly out. It worked. As soon as she made eye contact with the guy sitting closest to her he asked if she wanted to sit down, so she did. It pays to be pregnant.

Crazy Weekend

(This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just like to have a picture at the top of my posts and why can't it be a seagull)

Last weekend was kind of a crazy one for us. I’ve decided that the best way to write about it is to write about an event in its entirety and not necessarily follow a chronological order.
Last Friday Kate and I were going to meet in the city after school and have dinner together. She came in early to run some errands and she ended up walking from the temple near Lincoln Center down close to Carnegie Hall all the way to 34th street where we met at our favorite Korean restaurant. As we ate she told me that while she was at Carnegie Hall she noticed that the Julliard Orchestra was performing there. This was great because it was hitting two birds with one stone, see Julliard students perform and going to Carnegie Hall. The only problem came when Kate told me the date of the show. When she bought them she thought they were for the next Saturday but when she told me the date we figured out that they were actually for the next day. Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem because our typical weekend is pretty low key, but we’d just accepted an invitation to a Chinese New Year party which was on the same night. Fortunately, the party was at 5:00pm and the show was at 8:00pm. We knew it would be tight but we thought we could still do both. And we did. The party was fun, with some authentic Chinese food that was really good, though we had to leave early so we missed the Chinese games. We raced home to change and made it to the PATH station just as a train was pulling up (weekend service is spotty, so you don’t want to miss your train or you’ll be waiting another 15-20 minutes). It was tight so we caught a cab to Carnegie and make it to the performance on time. It was a good performance. I’m sure if Kate were writing this she would have more to say about it, but she’s not and so it was only good.

Back to Friday night after the restaurant… on the way home Kate told me that she’d heard something about a 4 mile run for Haiti support in Central Park the next morning and she thought I should do it. One thing I want to do while I'm here is run the New York Marathon. It can be kind of tough to get into this race. When you apply your name goes into a lottery and it’s just luck of the draw of who gets accepted. However, there are some ways to guarantee yourself a spot in the run, such as buying a travel package that includes a spot in the run, having run the NY marathon 10(?) times previously, being an elite runner and qualifying based on your smokin’ hot time, or participating in the New York Road Runners’ club (which is like the running room back at home) 9 + 1 program. I recently opted to join the club and do the 9 + 1 program which means I need to run 9 races and volunteer at one race this next year to guarantee my spot in next year’s marathon.

When we got home Kate looked up info on the race and found out it had been upgraded to a double qualifier (meaning it counted as completing 2 runs for the 9+1 program). That sealed it. But I wasn’t registered and on-line registration was closed at that point. The only way to register was to go to the race early and register on site. This meant getting up really early to make it there on time and hopefully grab a remaining spot. Needless to say we planned to relax for the rest of the evening and head to bed early.
Once we had settled in for the night, I was flipping through channels and noticed that there was a New Jersey Nets game on TV, which reminded me that my friend Dave had given me tickets to a Nets game coming up. I went and checked the tickets and sure enough they were for that very night and the game started in 30 minutes. I asked Kate if she wanted to go to a Nets game in half an hour and with that we were on our way to the game. They were playing the Toronto Raptors. The seats were good and the game was mediocre and Kate’s favorite part of the game was the half-time show and the free buffet that came with Dave’s season tickets. It was Kate’s first NBA game and we had a great time. We did end up leaving early to beat the traffic home and get a little sleep before the race but if you know anything about the Nets it’s that they have an even worse record this season than the Oilers so the outcome of the game was no mystery.

The next morning, we woke up at 5:45 and headed to Central Park to register for the race. At first it looked like the race was going to be a pretty low key event but as the start time approached more and more people kept showing up. They announced at the start of the run that they’d only had two weeks to plan this run and that they still had over 10,000 people show up. This was my first run in Central Park and by far the most people I’ve ever been in a race with. They did a good job of sorting people at the start line by their pace. Unlike other races I’ve been in where the pack thins out as the race goes on, this one never did. Even though Kate knew what I was wearing it was impossible to pick me out of the crowd so she just started taking random pictures hoping to catch me in one, and she did! We made a new rule that from now on I have to wear all neon spandex when I race.

(The start)

(Where's Waldo? I am in this picture. I have a grey toque and a black jacket and I'm right next to the "Run for Haiti" sign on the right side)

(Kate liked the singer in this video. You see how many people are there. The numbers on the right side are the minutes per mile marker and those go all the way back to 12 )

SNOW DAY!!!

About a week ago the weather guys pin pointed today as the day when a blizzard would hit New York. I really didn't think too much about this because the last two snow storms that New Yorkers were warned to brace for didn't turn out to be that bad at all, maybe a skiff of snow. But as this one loomed closer people really started sounding different this time. Yesterday in class professors told us that the school never closes and that we should expect business a normal. This was followed by e-mails from the Dean of the dental collage and also one from the NYU admin. saying they expected the school to be open today but that that could change. Most students live within walking distance to the school or use public transit that is pretty reliable so I thought I would be heading in to class today BUT... it started snowing. Now I have to say that this isn't the light fluffy stuff that you could just sweep away with a broom, this is wet heavy slush on sidewalks and streets which is horrible to walk in (and I imagine drive in) because you slip and slide every time you step down into it and you shoes get soaked. However, on the plus side it's the type of snow that makes great snow balls and snowmen.

So when e-mail came saying that they canceled class today (I think they were worried about people being able to get home because it started snowing heavier in the afternoon and into the evening) I was excited that I didn't have to maneuver through that and have to deal with being wet all day.

This is the first snow day I've ever had. Compared to the amount of snow we had here today there were a couple of times back in Edmonton where I think there should have been snow days. I did end up going out today mostly to take pictures and to see how bad it was. What I noticed first was that it wasn't all that cold, I think was around 0 C, so that made walking around a little nicer. My feet were soaked within minutes of been out but my feet never were cold. Most if not all school kids had the day off too, so Van Vorst Park by our place was busy with people building snowmen and playing in the snow. I walked around for about an hour. It's still snowing right now but they are saying that they expect about 10-11 inches when it's all said and done. Kate's flight back here was canceled too but they did that yesterday so she didn't get halfway here and get stranded. An extra day in Edmonton.

(That's Ellis Island in the background. The water was dark and angry looking)

(This is the old train station on the Jersey side where most of the immigrants that went through Ellis Island and weren't staying in New York would catch trains to the rest of the country)