You can say that again.

From Despair, Inc.

During all the fun, let’s never forget.

That’s all, and happy halloween for those who didn’t already celebrate!!

(from last weekend:)

I was going to say that this has been one of the best Octobers on record for New York, with all this extraordinarily pleasant weather of late, but I then remembered that every October in memory is a super nice time of the year for this city, not too hot, not too cold… dare I might say just right.

I have had the great fortune to spend time in Central park just about twice every day now for the last six weeks or so.  I have been walking around aimlessly in a new uncharted direction every day.

It would seem that the Park offers more variety than I am used to associating with it.  I must be calming down as I age, with greater appreciation for subtleties.

I used to think of the Park as just a… park.  But now as I explore, it offers many varying faces.  The lantern-lit stony staircases leading to who-knows-where… then the massive boulders with their lookouts, almost begging for a minor-league rock climbing effort… and the big sporting fields..  and laying-on-a-blanket fields… the many ponds, lakes, and boating… the swerving bike lanes.. the jogging paths, the horse-and-carriage routes… it’s not just one park, is it?

And while these pictures help show off much of the Park’s variety, it is certainly worth noting that… they are all from just the bottom 15% or so of the entire whole of it.  So much more to explore.

Click here for more from just this month.

I remember when I first discovered… or had access to, rather.. graphic design software, I went nuts, it was so fun.

These were all done over ten years ago.  It is unfortunate that larger resolution versions do not exist any more for many of them; I feel lucky to have found as many as I did after all this time.

The titles I gave these at the time included such things as “Aztec”, “Self Portrait”, “Lost Highway”, “Tiger Eye”, “Operant Condition”, “Cy Die”, “Blue Ripple”, “Active Sun”, “Button”, “Abyss”, “7777″, “Clouds”, “Dimensionz”, and “Back Frop”.  Oh, and there was one called “Sinus Pressure”, too.  Another called “Con Fuoco”, and finally, one called “Fundraising”.  You can decide which ones go with which pix.  To see the full gallery, click here.

What do you get when you cross a live all-night jazz club with a chess tournament?

Then of course, you must mix in a ping pong court.

Add a bar and a bunch of Scrabble playoffs.

Complete the concoction with a large pool hall.

Finally, put the odd creation underground, and adorn it with a very chilled out dog that sleeps next to you on big lounge sofas.  What do you end up with?

Anyone?

The answer, of course, is Fat Cat, one of New York’s more unique and enjoyable dwellings, located quite conveniently in Greenwich Village, near a fantastic Thai restaurant (Wild Ginger) and numerous other late-night getaways.

Fat Cat keeps the party going until 5am, 7 nights a week.

Oh, and did I mention shuffeboard?!  I don’t think I did!!

Little Italy, you’re doing alright for yourself.

There are few pleasures anywhere on the planet as nice as a summer night, fresh breeze, good company, walking your street, with cigar and full belly after a jumbo bottle of house red and just really good pasta, while on the lookout for a cannoli.

(Chopping Italian hard candies)

(Welcoming all.)

You know you want one.

You know you want one!

Now seriously this is why we love New York, isn’t it?

Some more pix here.

When I stepped off the train, my first impression was that I was back in Singapore.  I promptly got some kulfi on a stick for $1 and wandered around taking pictures.

The array of Indian shops, clothing, and food was a clear change of scenery.

The Indian movies in Bollywood theatres.

And the street vendors…

This is why we love New York.

More here.

Now, this is why we love New York.

Here are the things we enjoyed, and shall I say “pickle” is a term I have much enhanced appreciation for:

• Pickles of all kinds, of course; along the way, learning all the different forms
• Pickled beets
• Pickled grapes
• Pickled turnips
• Pickled garlic stems
• Pickled potatoes
• Pickled herring (and also pickled curry herring!)
• Pickled okra
• Pickle candy
• Relishes of many a variety
• Pickled onions
• Pickled peppers
• Pickled cabbage
• A Pickle Juice drink
• Pickle ice-cream (which I did not try)

I know there was quite a bit more than this, but I cannot remember them all.  Some of the pickled items were vegetables I did not know existed.

Click here for the entire gallery.

And, in a nice Lower East Side neighborhood to boot.

(Some guy munches down on the stem of a garlic bulb, pickled of course.)

*****

There is one person I would definitely NOT take to this event:  click here.

A couple years later, I would learn that Salaam Bombay is also the name of Mira Nair’s first feature film, one very much worth your time (probably my favorite of all her work, and the behind-the-scenes stories about the before and after in the lives of the filmmakers are particularly moving).  So: watch it, and listen to the commentaries to be extra impressed.

But I first encountered “Salaam Bombay” as an Indian restaurant a couple blocks from the World Trade Center.   New York has plenty of places to enjoy Indian food, but this place was unique as it served mostly vegetarian entrees on its lunch buffet, and not your “normal” staples.  I remember special items like stuffed eggplant, and other complex foods quite beyond the basic saucy stuff (which I love, anyway) in most restaurants.  And, Salaam Bombay’s food was always extra spicy, more so than the average co-worker of mine could handle.

For years, I’ve wondered what happened to this restaurant, if it was hard-hit by the 9/11 attacks, if it survived either physically (which I suspected), or did it die from no business;  after all it was located right there.

I could have looked into this a long time ago, actually.  But I did not.  I had no reason to go down there, and there are other restaurants, so I was content with the memory of the place.

This past week, I have been going through the more than 5000 9/11 photos I uploaded, and eventually came across this one, which particularly struck me:

*****