What is the Spanish verb for "to whip"

I'm not really sure how to describe the scene that unfolded outside of our window last night. That is our lovely fire escape in the foreground and behind that is some sort of Mexican Festival that we couldn't really figure out.

There were men, dancing in masks and large hats with osterich feathers. The outfit was completed by loud sequined capes. These men danced around in a counter-clockwise circle for the entire day...to the same song. The only time the dancing stopped was when the men would line up facing each other and take their bull whip and hit the other guy on his backside. I'm not making this up.

We should have more pictures to post later.

Law Firm Night at Yankee Stadium

Just for the record, the Yankees won 8-2.

Where has a decade gone?

My 10 year high school reunion is tomorrow. This has led me to realize that I AM OLD and really need to get my act together. I am, for all intents and purposes, an adult now.

PS

GO SPARTANS!!!!! Class of 98 RULES!

Clearing the Backlog of Pics - 4th of July Coney Style

So I'm a little behind in getting some 4th of July pics up, but better late than never. Hers and I headed out to celebrate the 4th on Coney Island. The highlight, of course, was the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating World Championship. As the carnival-style barker made clear to all, it was here, in front of the original Nathan's Hot Dogs, where God and Satan would meet in the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. But until the competition began, we had an Uncle Sam on stilts to keep us amused.

And watching over Unlce Sam are some of New York City's finest perched atop Nathan's Hot Dogs.

Before we knew it, the competition had begun. We all knew it was going to come down to two competitors, Kobayashi and last year's Champ, Joey Chestnut.

Being an American on the 4th of July met we pretty much had to cheer for Chestnut against Kobayashi, who hails from Japan. Chestnut jumped out to an early lead only to see Kobayashi come back and take a slim lead heading into the final minute. Chestnut somehow made an incredible come back in the last minute, however, and the two ended in a tie. 59 hot dogs and buns each.


They decided on an eat-off to crown this year's champion. Whoever could down 5 hot dogs first would win. Somehow, Chestnut was able to pull through. His perserverance in the face of overwhelming odds made us all proud to be an American. Or so the barker said.

As the competition broke up, Hers and I went to grab some corndogs and headed off to ride the coasters. Ah, Independence Day in NYC.

Bon Jovi as Seen Through My Cell Phone

Not the best cell phone pic every taken, but it should give you some idea how close to the stage we were. Yes, the dark blurr in the center is Jon, who, as Hers pointed out, is a bit of a spaz on stage. Oh well, it was still a great time in a great setting.

Bon Jovi

Was awesome.

A more detailed report to come.

****More Detailed Report ****

His surprised me with two tickets the Bon Jovi concert in Central Park because he is a great guy, and, well, I love Bon Jovi! Crossroads is one of the all time great road trip CD's. Ah, hair bands. Their well-penned philosophy on life and love truly inspired a generation. Okay, maybe not but when a steel-horse riding cowboy tells you its "[His] Life", well, you listen. Unless you want to go "Down in a Blaze of Glory". Okay, I think that's it for the Bon Jovi song references.

Concerts in Central Park don't happen all that often, mostly because the Parks Department wants to keep the Great Lawn intact. Previous acts have included Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Simon and Garfunkle, and Garth Brooks. So it is kind of a big deal to get tickets to the concert. His did good.

It was reported on the news (okay, it was gothamist.com but that is as good as the news in NYC) that people were lining up the night before in order to get the good seats in the Park. Seating was on a first-come basis. We got in line at 11:30 am, the concert was to start at 8:00 pm.

The line wasn't bad. We were number 737 in line. We met a couple from Long Island in front of us, and a family from New Jersey behind us. Come to think of it everybody there was from New Jersey or Long Island --- I've never been surrounded by worse accents in my life. But we made friends with our line mates and before we knew it 2:00 came and they were starting to let people into the park. We made our way through miles of barricades and security only to stand behind another gate that wasn't open. And then that gate opened and the race was on. It was a mad-dash of big haired jersyites sprinting across what was once a beautiful lawn in Central Park. I took the heavy bag and sent His on his way with the towels to claim a spot. I bet this is how the land grabs in Oklahoma worked too.

We got a great spot and by the time the concert started we were about 15 yards from the stage. Bon Jovi was great. Although Jon is a bit of a spaz, he really is high energy. And they sang nothing but hits for two hours (the concert had to end at 10 sharp). The coolest part was to see the crowd behind us projected up onto the big screen, it was such a cool sight.

The concert ended and the crowd dispersed really quickly, leaving the remnants of Jersey behind them. His and I tried to stay out of the way and let the crowd thin out before we started heading out. It was a gorgeous evening and the moon was shinning of the Manhattan skyline. The PA system was playing "New York, New York". So we danced. in central park. under the moon.

Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!

That means Merry Christmas in Polish.

It is official, His and I have booked our flights for our Winter Break to Eastern Europe. There was just something fitting about visiting former Soviet Bloc countries during the winter. After we booked our tickets we went to a German Beer Garden in the West Village and had a great time chatting with the proprietor, who is from Germany, on what we can expect: Christmas Markets, waffle's with cream and fruit, hot wine, and holiday beers.

We will be there for 3 weeks. We are flying in and out of Munich, a town that I fell in love with on my previous trip to Europe. So far the itinerary looks like Munich, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Salzburg with a sprinkling of smaller towns in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary and perhaps a stop in Slovakia and Slovenia.

If anybody has any tips/ suggestion or a clue on how to pronounce the title of this post let us now.

We reminded ourselves of what we don't like about New York

Last night I met His up by his office in midtown. His had spent the day up at a partner's summer place in Westchester (read: more expensive and exclusive than Beverley Hills) lounging around the pool and eating BBQ. I had spent the day in the monotony of a government office building. I figured this entitled me to a nice evening out.
We went first to Nintendo World where we checked out the latest wii games.
Then we had dinner at Bar American, Bobby Flay's least Southwestern restaurant. The food was great. His' tuna was fabulous.
It was a gorgeous evening so we decided to walk the 40 blocks back to our apartment. The problem was the walk led us right through Times Square, the place we vowed never to return to.
I just don't understand the draw of this place. Yes there is a lot of neon signs, but you have to have seen a Red Lobster, TGIF, Applebee's, McDonald's, etc. before. Do you really have to stop directly in front of me to take the picture? And if you do, take the picture quickly. It is called a SNAPshot for a reason; snap it and move on. And to the tourist that I almost plowed over last night, do not stop in the middle of a crosswalk. New York is a crowded city but it functions very efficiently when people use the sidewalks for walking not standing. Time's Square is decidedly our least favorite place in the city. For any of you out there that read our blog and are planning on visiting us out in New York, please understand why we will not be taking you there. And if you insist on eating there, we will make fun of you mercilessly.
/Rant.
12 hours to I rock out on my steel horse!

Let the madness begin

We're going to the Bon Jovi concert tomorrow in Central Park.
I'm concerned though, because people started lining up for the concert yesterday: http://gothamist.com/2008/07/11/bon_jovi_mania.php