NYC
Last week, I spent a few days in NYC, for work. I've been at this job just under a year, but at this company 11 years, and was now being sent up for new hire training. Ironic, but pretty damned useful, as I met all the voices I've been working with, and learned more about the workings of the strange and mysterious world of Estates & Trusts. I work for the largest bank in the world, but my dept only has about 225 people world-wide. I spent three nights in the legendary Waldorf-Astoria, the very model of the phrase "Art-Deco palace". The place is pretty amazing, although the bathrooms and cable service could use some 21st-centurying up. I encourage anyone who loves that era to visit and gape in awe. I can proudly state that I had a port in it's most famous bar, The Bull and Bear. We were locked in the office from 9-6 Thurs and Fri, and Thurs night a bunch of us had dinner at Sparks Steakhouse. That would be the legendary fine dining establishment, outside of which John Gotti had Paul Castellano whacked. Luckily, I survived. My steak, however, did not.
Friday night I planned to have my crazy party cousin come down from upstate, but even she was too sick to make it. Knowing her, she must have been deathly ill to miss a Friday night in NY with me, and a room at the Waldorf. Since the others had plans, I used my Friday evening to walk about 40 blocks to get to a tiki bar I'd heard of, Otto's Shrunken Head. For the record, it's small, dingy, cramped, and very cool. It has great drinks, eclectic crowd, and the band that night, Strange but Surf, was exactly what I wanted to hear. Sadly, I needed to leave by the time the next band, Il Muchacho, was having it's CD release party, complete with a lovely girl MC, wearing a tampon tiara. Yeah, it was that kind of place. On the way to the club, I passed by the John Pierport Morgan Library Museum. This place was a high point during our honeymoon, lo those many years ago, as the wife spent a sizable chunk of our tiny budget (we spent the honeymoon on a friend's couch in Flushing) on books about medieval and renaissance artists. I was surprised to see it open, and used my company's mystic powers to get in free. At this time, the current featured display is "Draftsmen of the Medici". Really cool stuff. There were many amazing books of hours, and things, a giant Guttenberg bible, and I casually took it all in until Bam, there it was; a manual of swordsmanship, from the school of Fiore dei Liberi, opened where one could view the very pages from which he trained. In the past, I was fortunate enough to take a course taught by the man who learned middle Italian, and the particular ligature of this book, just to learn this fighting style. It is, BTW, incredibly brutal and effective. This book showed me why SCA fighting is to medieval fighting as chia pets are to farming. To see it live, right there, learning that the swords are so dark and black, not by intent, but because they were silvered, and have since tarnished, seeing a few subtle details lost in the myriad of copies; well, it was just goddamned cool. I had to tell someone, so I texted the wife, and Compass Rose (for the sheer jealous factor), and left a voicemail with my knight. I didn't know what else to do. I ended up dragging a big heavy bag of manuscript books over to the 'Shrunken Head, and with my leather trench coat and fedora, I certainly looked the tourist.
One other item of note while walking down 15th street, looking for dinner; the band playing that Sunday at The Fillmore? Bad Manners. Bad bloody Manners! Yes, Skaville USA, That'll Do Nicely & Lip Up Fatty; that Bad Manners.
All in all, a good trip that I appreciate more due to the fact that our company just recently lifted the travel ban, and is still shutting down most expenses, including education.
If you're up there, Otto's Octane is a fine drink, and since I brought them a t-shirt from the Freaky Tiki Surf Shop in Sarasota, I got a few comps, including a mighty tasty German Chocolate Cake.
Friday night I planned to have my crazy party cousin come down from upstate, but even she was too sick to make it. Knowing her, she must have been deathly ill to miss a Friday night in NY with me, and a room at the Waldorf. Since the others had plans, I used my Friday evening to walk about 40 blocks to get to a tiki bar I'd heard of, Otto's Shrunken Head. For the record, it's small, dingy, cramped, and very cool. It has great drinks, eclectic crowd, and the band that night, Strange but Surf, was exactly what I wanted to hear. Sadly, I needed to leave by the time the next band, Il Muchacho, was having it's CD release party, complete with a lovely girl MC, wearing a tampon tiara. Yeah, it was that kind of place. On the way to the club, I passed by the John Pierport Morgan Library Museum. This place was a high point during our honeymoon, lo those many years ago, as the wife spent a sizable chunk of our tiny budget (we spent the honeymoon on a friend's couch in Flushing) on books about medieval and renaissance artists. I was surprised to see it open, and used my company's mystic powers to get in free. At this time, the current featured display is "Draftsmen of the Medici". Really cool stuff. There were many amazing books of hours, and things, a giant Guttenberg bible, and I casually took it all in until Bam, there it was; a manual of swordsmanship, from the school of Fiore dei Liberi, opened where one could view the very pages from which he trained. In the past, I was fortunate enough to take a course taught by the man who learned middle Italian, and the particular ligature of this book, just to learn this fighting style. It is, BTW, incredibly brutal and effective. This book showed me why SCA fighting is to medieval fighting as chia pets are to farming. To see it live, right there, learning that the swords are so dark and black, not by intent, but because they were silvered, and have since tarnished, seeing a few subtle details lost in the myriad of copies; well, it was just goddamned cool. I had to tell someone, so I texted the wife, and Compass Rose (for the sheer jealous factor), and left a voicemail with my knight. I didn't know what else to do. I ended up dragging a big heavy bag of manuscript books over to the 'Shrunken Head, and with my leather trench coat and fedora, I certainly looked the tourist.
One other item of note while walking down 15th street, looking for dinner; the band playing that Sunday at The Fillmore? Bad Manners. Bad bloody Manners! Yes, Skaville USA, That'll Do Nicely & Lip Up Fatty; that Bad Manners.
All in all, a good trip that I appreciate more due to the fact that our company just recently lifted the travel ban, and is still shutting down most expenses, including education.
If you're up there, Otto's Octane is a fine drink, and since I brought them a t-shirt from the Freaky Tiki Surf Shop in Sarasota, I got a few comps, including a mighty tasty German Chocolate Cake.