New York City… day 2… part 2… man, we put a lot of energy into coming up with ways to kill each other… and some fancy butts…

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It is amazing, the time and effort and technology we have utilized in the search for more efficient ways to do each other in.

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Most ancient weapons and sets of armor that still survive belonged to rich people. They had space to store stuff, even after they got too fat to wear it or too old to use it. They had servants to oil and preserve their stuff.

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Although that looks like it belonged to a regular guy.

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Most of the things you are looking at cost more than a peasant made in their lifetime.

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Not that that kept the rich asshats from giving the peasants a pointy stick and a leather shirt and making them do most of the fighting.

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I was never a fan of using horses for war. I hate it, but thanks for at least giving them some protection.

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But hey, a well-trained war horse was expensive.

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Okay, we are coming up to the fancy butts… gun butts.

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A very few of these might be hunting weapons.

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But you must admit, the craftsmanship is incredible.

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And now, the fanciest butt of all…

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I flintlock pistol with a face on the butt. I couldn’t help but think that, if you hit someone with that… pistol-whipped…  it would leave an impression… of that face.

 

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New York City… day 2… part 1… more questions than answers…

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Keep calm, and don’t lose your head, that is the main thing, right?

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Why is my son-in-law standing in front of an ancient Roman mosaic floor? And why does he look so much like that guy in the tiles, handing the maiden a… flower arrangement? A fruit assortment? A horn of plenty?

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Why does it look like we are in the chapel in an old castle?

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What’s with the fancy coat of arms thingie?

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How long did that guy have to stand around in his fancy party armor to have his portrait painted?

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Which of those suits of armor would look best on Jason?

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Why does that ancient Viking dagger look so uncomfortable to stab someone with? Did part of the handle rot away?

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Is that a stirrup? When did they invent stirrups anyway? It seems like stirrups would really make swing a sword on horseback a lot easier, and couldn’t you use a lance more effectively?

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Why is there a lady lurking behind that knight? And why is his shield so freekin’ big?

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How many kinds of swords are there?

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And what is really better for armored, hand-to-hand combat, a sword, or a mace, or a war hammer, or an axe? And why does your spell-checker underline ‘axe’ like it is not a real word? It is a real word, isn’t it?

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Is that an upside-down mermaid on that helmet?

Wow, you ask really good questions. A lot of them. And the answers will be revealed. Maybe not the answers to these particular questions, but at least I will fill you in on where Jason and I went on our boys-day-out in New York.

 

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Make mine a Manhattan, on the rocks, and make it extra wiggly… which, I suppose, would be shaken, and not stirred… the final chapter…

Don’t get too excited.

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When I say ‘final chapter’, I mean just of the wiggly pictures I took on the first night of our 3-and-a-half-day adventure in New York, standing by the East River and overlooking Manhattan across the river.

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But you have survived to the last post of the first day. Now, let me see if I can explain why I love taking these photos.

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Mostly, it is just that I never know how they will turn out until I look at them full-sized. Some are awesome. I find them artsy.

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Also, I like the challenge of figuring out what combination of distance, lens, lighting and wiggle give the best result.

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Also, there are things about this which I do not understand.

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Why is it that some lights leave a complete, distinct line, while others seem to stutter and leave dots or dashes behind?

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But yeah, mostly it is the wiggle. I try sweeps and swoops, up and down flicks, side to side swipes.

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That one of the Brooklyn Bridge is barely wiggly.

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And that one, of a skyscraper on the island across the way, seems to be repetitive up and down wiggle, with a slight curve. I may have been using the zoom lens on that one. Maybe I should be taking notes.

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Now that is some world-class wiggling!

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Okay, see you soon for the start of day two… which is going to contain lots of photos of penises. Yes, you heard me. Penis pictures. I am mostly telling you that to see if anybody is reading the words on these posts, but it is absolutely true. And yet, we will still stay within the framework of my more-or-less family-friendly blog. I hope.

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Make mine a Manhattan, on the rocks, and make it extra wiggly… which, I suppose, would be shaken, and not stirred… part 2…

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Make mine a Manhattan, on the rocks, and make it extra wiggly… which, I suppose, would be shaken, and not stirred… part 1…

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Once again, my title is too clever by half. Obviously, these are just more of those photos I take when the lighting is low, and the shutter stays open longer, and I wiggle the camera around trying to get interesting results.

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But how often do I get to do it while standing by the East River, not far from the Brooklyn Bridge?

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Not often, since I live in San Diego, in California, and it is not close to New York City.

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But, as you may be aware, I was there recently to visit one of my kids.

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So I took the shot. A few shots, actually.

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Sometimes these are awesome, and sometimes they aren’t.

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I just enjoy doing it. I discovered this art-form when I was at my mom’s house for Christmas last year, and I was trying to take pictures of the Christmas tree in low light.

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Turns out, after a few adult beverages, my hands are not always steady.

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Wiggly lights reflected in wiggly water.

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I am still playing with the best distance to take these from, and whether or not to use the zoom lens.

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But mostly, it is all about the wiggle. That one isn’t nearly wiggly enough. I have about two more posts of these, but I am not adding any words to them, so I hope you read the words in this post. Then, we are done with day one of the three-and-a-half day adventure. And, as usual, I will probably save the best few of these to do some other weird digital stuff with someday.

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But I did warn you that those purple lights would come back to haunt you.

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New York City… day 1… part 13… and yes, I am luring you in with a picture of Lady Liberty, and then will make you look at more photos of the Brooklyn Bridge, but hey, it is all lit up now, and I swear, this will be the last post with photos of the bridge… sort of… except for… well… never mind…

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There she is, calling you, lighting the way to…

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More pictures of that dang bridge.

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But look, it is getting dark.

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The lights are coming on.

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The bridge has adorned herself in sparkling jewels.

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Manhattan is lit up like a Christmas tree.

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Darkness descends over the East River like a cloak.

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Okay, I am trying too hard. That was just stupid. You put a cloak on just like a coat, only without the trouble of finding the arm holes… sleeves… I know because I have a cloak. I would like to say I only wear it on Halloween, but that wouldn’t be true.

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Remember those purple lights over there. They will be highlighted in the next few posts… but in a weird way.

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And really, can you blame me for taking so many pictures here?

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Even the bridge footing is lit up in purple. I love purple.

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That is a fancy restaurant on the East River, under the end of the bridge. It is lit up like a fairy tale. And Manhattan gleams in the distance.

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Because it is getting dark, you know what that means.

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You have survived almost to the end of the first day of our 3-and-a-half day trip to New York! You deserve a medal. You must be exhausted.

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New York City… day 1… part 12… Manhattan, as seen across the East River from Brooklyn… and yes, there might be some more pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge too. What am I supposed to do, not make you look at them? And I threw in a couple of the Statue of Liberty and some boats, so just look at those if you are tired of the bridge…

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Okay, well, yeah, that is the bridge, but look at the pretty lights in the trees.

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Ummm… look at the clouds? The top of that hill over to the right? I got nothing! I just like the way the cables look in that one.

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See, the Statue of Liberty. No bridge at all.

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Why does that stupid bridge insist on photo bombing a perfectly good photo of Manhattan? There is a nice little sail boat there.

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I swear, that bridge is following us.

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Yay! To misquote Led Zeppelin: “I’m just trying NOT to find the bridge”.

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Yup.

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I know, right?

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In my defense, I am not the one who built the bridge right there.

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Lady Liberty, surrounded by stormy, dark waters, and evil-looking, roiling dark clouds. If that isn’t a cynical commentary on the dark state of affairs under the current administration, I don’t know what would be.

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I know, but that one has a cool old boat in it, hearkening back to the rum-runner days of gangsters and prohibition.

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I was clearly trying to get a photo of that ferryboat. I will end it here, with the solemn pledge that the next few posts in this series will have a smaller percentage of bridge pictures, as we fade into posts that have no photos of the bridge at all!!!

 

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New York City… day 1… part 10… The Brooklyn Bridge…

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Okay, back to my recent adventures in New York City.

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My daughter and son-in-law live not to far from the bridge.

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No, that isn’t a bunch of dead Matadors who had a run-in with that metal bull from Wall Street, it is some part of a Filipino wedding celebration… I think…

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We have made it to dusk on the first day of our 3-and-a-half day adventure on the other coast of the United States.

 

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I should warn you that we stayed and watched the sun go down, and I took a lot of pictures.

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They aren’t all of the bridge. I watched the lights come on in Manhattan, across the East River, and I took a lot of pictures of that.

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But the bridge is pretty cool if you have never seen it up close and personal.

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And I will try to add in more posts of other weird things… you know…

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So the new people don’t get confused and think this is a travel blog.

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Or, at least, not only a travel blog.

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And empty window in an old, abandoned warehouse. The area is really quite gentrified now.

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But I seem to recall that, back in the 70’s and 80’s, they shot a lot of police and crime movies in this area, and it was a lot seedier.

 

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Just in case you forgot this isn’t a freekin’ travel blog… but I am pretty sure this is tRump’s view of the universe…

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Oh, wait, I forgot to put a ‘get out of jail free’ card in ‘god’s hand, as he hands the keys to the kingdom over.

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New York City… day 1… part 9… a historic tavern from before the Revolutionary war, some drunken photography, and a game involving subway rats…

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Congratulations! We have made it to lunchtime on the first day of my three-and-a-half day trip to New York city to visit my daughter and her husband. We said goodbye to Lady Liberty, and walked a short distance.

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The place we ate lunch, which I picked out after careful internet searches of historical sites, was certainly historical.

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This place was built before we were a country. I mean, we were a country, but it was England.

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I can’t begin to tell you all about the history represented here.

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But I can tell you this place had historic ambiance out the wazoo.

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There is my older daughter, Jessica, and her husband, my son-in-law, Jason. Do they look like they have walked for miles, because we did. My wife doesn’t ever want to be in this blog, so I cropped the photo a little. But you can see her hand as she raises a water glass.

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I just remembered I have a bunch of photos on my phone of the trip, so I will have to come back to those later.

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The thing is… hey thing, where you been hiding?… that I got a little drunk on some fancy adult beverages. And when I do that, I like to take selfies. I also like to call random people and say “I love you, Man!” But we can discuss that another time.

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The tables were held up by old Singer sewing machines, which is great, until you bang you knees after using the restrooms.

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The name of this magical place is Fraunces Tavern. You should Google it if you love history and great food… or getting drunk. George Washington used to hang out there, after the war. Remember, the British occupied New York for most of the war.

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We said goodbye to the tavern, refreshed and ready for more adventures… if that is what you call going back to your hotel to rest for a while.

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It turns out that another thing I like to do after a few drinks is get whimsically artistic. So I took some photos of buildings reflected in other buildings as we walked to another subway station to leave Manhattan for Brooklyn.

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Oh, drunken whimsical artistic expressionism.

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I love you, man.

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Okay, we are almost done with this post.

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Just a few pictures of another random subway station, because I found them fascinating.

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We invented a new game. It is like that game we play when the whole family goes to my mom’s house in the Bay Area for Christmas, and we see who can spot a deer first. Only this time, we substituted subway rats. Whoever saw one first would win.

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I never did see one, not the whole time I was there. I am strangely disappointed, like I missed out on a quintessential New York experience.

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