9/11/06

Mornings are usually a noisy affair. The builders across the street seem to have their watches syncronised and as the little hand reaches eight a cacophony of hammer on steel begins - if they ever take the day off then I'll be late for work. This morning though there was an added commotion. For a good 5 minutes sirens wailed and fire trucks raced by, their foghorns blaring no doubt there was an emergency somewhere but today it was an eerie way to start the day. There were blanket blue skies outside and five years ago I hear the weather was much the same, I imagine the sounds were significantly louder and more sustained back then though.

For every generation there is a "where were you when..." moment. September 11, 2001 is ours. Personally I was on a 'late shift' at work in London. I had got to my desk at 1.45pm and switched on the TV to catch the CNN coverage just after the first plane had hit one of the World Trade Centers. It was a very long day after that and I guess the world hasn't been the same for any of us since.

I'm not usually one for mass compulsions but today I really did want to head down to the Trade Center Site to take a walk around and soak up the atmosphere. Obviously it was pretty chocker. The young, the old, tourists, families, those in uniform - everyone seemed to have adopted a gentle-paced amble around the narrow streets. Commemorative events could be found in many locations from a walk-in music recital in Trinity Church to a very quaint British Memorial hidden away in the backstreets for the 67 Britons killed in the attack; it began with a pipe band, was guested by Prince Andrew and Jack Straw and included an honour guard of 67 British police officers; there were performances from a brass band from the West Yorkshire Police, the choir from St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, and a Welsh soprano. It was a little bit of Britain in a skyscrapered corner of Manhattan - music and song echoing around the concrete amphitheatre; and it was just as comforting to see those same uniformed "bobbies" walking around the city later enjoying the sites before flying back home.

The WTC site itself was understandably less sedate. Thousands flowed past the enormous open space; flowers, poems, photographs, ribbons, flags - the fencing was adorned with memories. Probably the most striking though were the debates and mass demonstrations taking place. Quite simply they were split between those who believe that terrorists were behind 9/11 and those who don't. "An Inside Job" stated one banner, "Don't Believe The Lies" on another; a sea of black T-shirts emblazoned with "Investigate 9/11" massed behind a megaphoned speaker chanting and then marching off into the streets. The basic argument seemed to be that the buildings didn't fall as a result of the planes crashing into them but instead well placed explosives within the structures of many of the towers were the reason for their demise. There are some who believe that a plane never actually crashed into the Pentagon at all and that a missile was to blame for the devestation. Allegedly all this was part of a grand scheme by the government to declare war with selected regimes around the world.


Believe what you want. I thought Jay Leno summed the subject up well at the end of his chat show tonight, "Our government is not bright enough to carry out something like that..." Nevertheless, as the Tribute in Lights shines up into the sky this evening, the irony still lies in an event that so united a country in grief but very much divided it over their government's reaction.

Ten Bites at The Apple

I had a friend ask me today why I hadn't "blogged" here in so long. Two things:

1) I've been a bit busy of late,
2) Someone's reading this blog??
Anyway, he specifically came all the way from London to tell me this so the least I can do is oblige.

It was nice having someone around who had a fresh pair of eyes with which to view the city. It's becoming all too easy to slip into a mundane routine and to forget where you are. Without it being pointed out to me I wouldn't have given a second look at the shifty dealers in Washington Square Park or even at the man talking to a tree. I hadn't noticed school term was about to begin either and that NYU was filling up today; kids arriving with sparkly white kitchen appliances, VHS and DVD players, TVs and Playstations. Once again Bleecker Street will be filled with the shouts and wretching of teenagers into the early hours of the morning. I miss higher education.

It got me thinking, I've just had a couple of weeks out of the box and been back to Blighty, while it's fresh maybe now's a good time to remember the goods and bads about living in this fair city. So, in one of those High Fidelity moments, here are two lists of five (almost).

NY Bottom 5s:
1) Concrete jungle fever.

I guess it's a bit like those bears you see in the zoos that have gone a little loco because they've been in a confined space for so long.
2) Ear, nose and throat attack.

The ability to successfully spew forth all forms of pollution: from smog that sits at the back of your throat to the 4ft high wall of pungent garbage bags that lie out on the streets and then require collection - at the social hour of 3am. Between the sirens, trucks and traffic there's not much peace to be had at any hour.
3) Huh? Wah?

Annunciation has completely the opposite effect. Unless you're able to string your sentence into one complete word then you're not going to get anywhere. "Youwannapaycashcreditordebit?" I was asked today. It's English Jim but not as we know it. And "telephone customer assistance" has got to be the greatest modern misnomer to date. They don't understand me and I don't understand them.
4) Hidden costs.

Between tipping, sales tax and bank fees what you thought was a good price turns out to be a downright dishonest twisting of the truth. Get Nicky Campbell and his Watchdog crew over here.

5) Excess.

There's a disgusting amount of waste, from the supersized food portions to the energy consumption. Sadly you feel more a part of the problem than the solution.

NY Top 5s:
1) That skyline.

Whether it be in the distance or close-up, it just never loses its 'wow factor'. It's worth growing the hairs on the back of your neck just so they can stand up.
2) Being an urban explorer.

Pack up provisions and appropriate weapons and then hit the streets in search of lost bars, restaurants, cafes, galleries and shops. There are discoveries to be made at every turn: I stumbled upon an outdoor trapeze school in Tribeca, and on the way to work the equivalent of a dozen mini gardening centres sprawling onto 27th Street with hundreds of small trees, shrubs and plants pulled out onto the sidewalk every morning, and of course you can't go too long without seeing filming taking place of some kind - Spiderman the Third zipping around the streets was particularly impressive.
3) Les Arts.

With galleries and museums packed full of exhibitions, the city has to squeeze shows into the most unlikely of places. A photo exhibition was suspended from the trees in my local park this week. Film, theatre, art, dance, music - it's pouring out onto the streets and NY does a great job in promoting it all with free concerts and performances throughout the year.
4) Rooftop bars.

It's got its fair share and there's no better city in the world to be in one. Sunset over The Hudson seen between the skyscrapers while sipping your over-priced cocktail, the Chrysler Building catching every known shade of red and yellow that the pollution has managed to concoct - perhaps the only upside to not signing in Kyoto.

230 Fifth - where the cocktails come with umbrellas and a palm tree

5) You're starring in your own movie.

Whether they've been here or not everyone knows this city through film and television - it's almost like deja-vu the first time you visit - and now you get to walk around the actual set with 2m extras, sirens wailing, people shouting in their thick accents, steam pluming out of the streets, the ordinary and the extraordinary all around you. Buy a hotdog or pretzel from a street vendor or hop in a cab and rattle off an address in midtown... get lucky and the driver may have even understood what you said.

Counting was never one of my strong points...

6) Food glorious food.

Arrive thin, leave large. Close your eyes and toss a bread roll in any direction and you're guaranteed to hit a restaurant, cafe, bistro or pigeon. New Yorkers instinctively refer to an area by the quality of its eateries, "I live in the East Village, yeah, it's got great places to eat," or "Oh yeah, I love Chelsea, there are some fantastic restaurants there." Live a lifetime here and you could probably go without ever having to visit the same restaurant twice.

7) The passion.

New Yorkers are nothing if not passionate. On the street, in work, at the sport's bar, at the baseball game, whatever the circumstances you won't get a withering, apologetic or timid response. And it rubs off on the outsiders too. Yes, I have instinctively shouted at a cyclist who cut me up at a crossing, "Hey! I'm walkin' here!" Hoffman eat your heart out.
8) The clincher.

You get to say, "I live in New York".

Speaker's Corner

It's like an addiction. Simultaneously I'm appalled, amazed and amused. I want to switch over but then I can't help but switch back just in case I miss a classic bit of jingoistic journalism. It's the top of the hour and in a moment straight out of primetime the announcer declares, "Live! From the Israel-Lebanon border iiiit's Studio B with Shep Smith." And there he is in his bullet-proof jacket walking the world's most dangerous border, with Israel "Just over there behind these tanks" and Lebanon - "a little smaller than the state of Connecticut" - over to the right. Earlier we had learnt from the channel's military analyst that Lebanon was where "the bad guys" were and military capabilities of both sides had been matched up for us with swishing and swooshing graphics that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Playstation. But now it's time for some commercials, "Let's strike up the Fox orchestra for some music as we go to a break," announces Shep. "We'll be right back!"

Of course, there's only one news network that can put the jazz and glitz into an international crisis, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News.

"America's source for news on the war in the Middle East"

Please, no. It's bad enough that a few people have such a skewed view of events, don't start ramming them down the throats of an entire nation.

Arguably Murdoch and his empire was the inspiration for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies where a crazed media mogul influences global events in order to improve business. Of course, I'm not saying that's the case here but we all know that bad news is good news for those who report on it. I just wish Fox wouldn't make such a song and dance about it.

Soapbox moment over.

So, Robert Wagner. He's got quite a big head. Physically I mean. I don't remember that being the case when he was in Hart to Hart. I wonder if his body is shrinking with age and his head is being left behind. At some point he's got to reach a size when he moves to smaller jumpers but won't be able to fit his head through the tighter neck. It's going to be a cold winter for Mr. Wagner. Nothing to worry about at the moment though, it's rather warm outside. While New York is stewing in its own smog and blanket humidity I see Britain is melting like a block of Wenslydale left out in the sun too.

Apparently by the end of the century this will be an average summer for us. Fortunately, by the end of this century I won't be here. Nevertheless I'm doing my best to get greener, mostly by shaking my head at those who aren't. I went up to Boston last week and took a bus. As we crawled through the five hours of traffic that stretched from New York to Massachusetts I tut-tutted at the number of SUVs on the road - my estimate was that they made up one in every three cars on the interstate. The ads on TV boast that the new generation of SUVs here can manage a miraculous 20mpg. Twelve years ago, in the last century, my first car did about 38mpg - given it was a small thing but why the average Joe needs a 4l vehicle is beyond me.

Still, thank goodness you have the option of off-roading in New York should the need arise - there's a particularly nasty pothole on West 18th street that tests most ordinary vehicles. However, I don't doubt that there's a revolution in the American car market around the next bend. Where we keep swallowing the ever increasing petrol prices in the UK, this side of the pond that's not going to wash. 2005 was the year for the hybrid car, Toyota's Prius became one of America's top selling vehicles: fuel and electricity wrapped up in one ugly looking car but with twice the stamina.

Today, though, I'm left astounded by the police cars left running outside the local station being used as personal cooling stations for officers who have stepped out of the building for some "fresh" air. I have to bite my lip at the double-bagging of groceries, please someone just design a stronger bag. And, after ordering a small iced coffee, I opened the bag to find two straws, five sugar sachets and seven (!) serviettes - all of which would have been redirected to the bin; and then you've got to ask what the girl behind the counter was thinking? That she was serving diabetics who had trouble locating one of their two mouths?

Soapbox moment over.

So, this new Pope...