Play Ball! SI Yankees vs. Brooklyn Cyclones

I am a latent loyal fan of the New York Yankees and have taken an appreciation for the effort and hard work the players put in the game. I am very impressed with the owner's selection of players and the teamwork these players exhibit during a game. Teamwork, just like in any sport, is critical to success. And I enjoy watching them play.

We took the Staten Island Ferry on a beautiful Friday evening to see the opening game of the SI Yankees against the Brooklyn Cyclones. Both are A-teams for the NY Yankees and NY Mets, respectively. It was exciting and I had a wonderful time. And I get to appreciate minor league baseball and its family-oriented focus that night.

Happy Father's Day!

Why I Love New York: Public Art!

Seeing works of art around you makes you pause and wonder how originality and creativity captured in an art object can elevate our mundane lives. This summer, we passed by an exhibit of sculptures on our way to a spontaneous Chinatown dinner. The exhibit of 10 sculptures, "Statuesque", is right in City Hall Park. These figurative sculptures are far different from my favorite sculptures of Tom Otterness I blogged in a previous post.

To know more of the exhibit and the Public Art Fund, click HERE.
About my favorite sculptor (or one of them), Tom Otterness, click HERE.

A Patriotic Post: Don't Tread on Me

Back in Time (BIT): Fleet Week 2010

The USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) is a “Wasp-class” amphibious assault ship. The ship's motto, "Uncommon Valor," is based on Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's words when he spoke of Sailors and Marines who fought at Iwo Jima in World War II: “Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”



The USS Iwo Jima also carries a mix of 30 helicopters and 6–8 AV/ 8B Harrier I planes, my favorite. I love the Harrier because of its vertical/short takeoff and landing. You will see in the photos that I went through every inch of the Harrier, making sure that it is ready to fly.



Photo credit HERE.

Back in Time (BIT): Fleet Week 2009

New York City Fleet Week 2009 had representatives from both the U.S. military and the Canadian Navy. The ships we visited in Staten Island were the USS Vella Gulf and the Canadian Navy’s HMCS Athabaskan.



The Vella Gulf is famous because of its involvement with pirates. On February 2009, the Vella Gulf responded to a distress call from the tanker Polaris in the Gulf of Aden. The Polaris reported that pirates in a single skiff were attempting to board the tanker with ladders, though the Polaris crew was able to thwart their efforts. Upon arriving in the area, the Vella Gulf intercepted a skiff with 7 men aboard. One of the 7 Somali men is now on trail in downtown Manhattan.



We have a fondness for the Canucks and we were so pleased to see their patrol boats. The HMCS Athabaskan is not only a patrol boat but also a destroyer, protecting Canada’s sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. She has also been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean; specifically, the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea after Iraq occupied Kuwait, and most recently in Haiti. When we were there, the HMCS Athabaskan was sailing out of the Stapleton Harbor back to where else? Answer: Au Canada!

Photo credits:
USS Vella Gulf
HMCS Athabaskan

Back in Time (BIT): Fleet Week 2008

Click on the photo above to see my collage masterpiece.

The USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) is a small ship compared to the aircraft carriers but take note, it is a “Ticonderoga-class” guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy. She was named in memory of the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific. And it made me specially proud as I toured the ship.

The USS Leyte Gulf has a large complement of guided missiles for air defense, attack of surface targets at sea and ashore, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). She carries two "Seahawk" LAMPS multi-purpose helicopters, whose primary mission is anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

Informally, the USS Leyte Gulf escorts aircraft carriers and is the first line of defense, protecting the aircraft carrier. This ship, is by far, the most interesting ship I have toured. The nozzles you see on the photos actually hold and release missiles. So the lecture about them was pretty intense. The ship is covered with numerous warning signs – from wearing protective gear to no leaning on the side of a missile door. Okay, sorry I slacked off for a moment.

Top photo credit.

Back in Time (BIT): Fleet Week 2007

The USS Wasp (LHD 1) is a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship. The primary mission of this Navy-Marine Corps amphibious warship is to support a Marine Landing Force, which may include the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

Click on the photo above to enlarge it.

There are nore images for Fleet Week 2007 if you clickHERE.

Back in Time (BIT): Fleet Week 2006

The USS Kearsarge is one of 3 Amphibious Assault Ships and embarks, deploys, lands and supports Marine Landing Forces.

Every year since the late 1990's, Mark and I spend Memorial Day holidays touring the big military ships that sail into Manhattan. The ships become open to the curious public and we always have a lot of fun playing with the munitions that would not even fit in my closet or weighs just as heavy as my balikbayan box. We explore and poke around the assault ships and aircraft carriers that happen to be there. This is our tax dollars at work. We see sailors, soldiers, marines, pilots, military police, practically everyone that is assigned to the ship. We are proud of them just as they are happy to be around us.

Click on the photos to enlarge the photo groupings. Panoramic shots credit HERE

So You Want to Be a Crame Operator?

Click HERE to see the other signals.

A very nice Sunday New York Times graphic.

May 29, 2010: Glebe-Ketchum Hiking Trail

Andy - this one's for you.

I took this photo as we began on the Glebe-Ketchum Hiking Trail. Hiking in the woods always brings me a sense of peace. The trail is near our home in Bedford. At that time, I wasn't aware that Andy has moved on.

Happy Memorial Day celebration to one and all!

A Summer Chore I LOVE!

This is one chore I look forward to every summer!

Enjoying the harvest of White Hydrangeas

Vintage Photos of Harvard Square / Elliott Yards, ca. 1972 taken by Mark Solomon

The rail yards no longer exist and is now the Harvard University JFK School of Government.

Photos taken by Mark Solomon

Tardy Post: My Mother's Day Card

Take Me, Alain! Si'l vous plait!

I have taken to watching vintage European movies with Mark staring with the Italians - Antonioni, Fellini, de Sica. But bar none, when it comes to French cinema or any French movie for that matter, you can always count me in. I'm a closet Francophile. So when I saw this picture of Alain Delon while I was doing research on the film "Borsalino," I decided that he will be my summer 2010 fantasy.

Credit: Style Icon

Spring has sprung!

A spontaneous photo-op on Broadway and 60th Street. Photos from my Nokia cel phone.

An Aspiring Writer in the Pre-Blog Days

An aspiring writer was fascinated with an Olivetti typewriter in 1958.

811 taken by a Pro

This week I am planning to enter my studio in a "beauty contest." The photos below were taken by a professional photographer in May 2008. We renovated the apartment in the summer of 2007. Since then, our art collection has grown and the room seems more full now with dramatic black and white photographs (channeling Henri Bresson!) of the circus (do I here Zampano and Gilsomena?) taken by Mark contrasting with the bright and colorful paintings of landscapes and women and men who work with nature.

Should I enter it now or should I wait until 2011?








Photo credit: Gerard Tabones
Links to the make-over:
Living Room
Dining Nook
Medicine Cabinet
Bathroom
Kitchen and Foyer
Breakfast Nook