Sunday, September 28, 2008

Bye bye King


King, the beloved German Shepherd in my neighborhood, passed away this September.

Three years ago, I was watching Animal Police in a hotel during my trip in Puerto Rico. It was about a German Shepherd who has been kept inside a car parts garage. Obviously, the owner never takes him outside the lot where dangerous and toxic car parts are scattered around. I instantly recognized this garage in my neighborhood and visited him after the trip.

Even though he's been raised in such an environment, he is absolutely sweet and sticks his head from the gate to play with people. We met a neighbor lady who comes and feeds him every day. She told me people were calling him King. I always wished if I could keep him, only if I had a big house. And last couple months, I saw another lady walking with King. He was walking so slowly, dragging his rare foot in socks. As great to see him outside, I was sad how old he got.

After many cold winters and hot summer in NY, he finally went to the heaven. One may think he had a good life. Still, its so sad that one lovely dog never knew the world outside this lot until the last few months of his life. We will always miss you, King!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

JFK Birth Place


I took my parents who were visiting from Japan to Boston, where I spent 2 years to get Master's Degree from Emerson College. Regardless of what people say about Boston, it is one of the most beautiful cities, I believe. And I had lots of places to show. All other recommendations set aside here for now, let me talk about JFK's birthplace.

Managed by National Park Service, this birthplace was first purchased by JFK's mother Rose. She collected all the furniture and pieces from their old house and made this house into a museum, honoring her children. You have to take a tour ($3/person) to see inside the house. While we waited, we watched a documentary about Rose and her children, including JFK. And for the tour, they have multi-lingual audio guides. The audio guide was initially created by Rose, recording her own voice.

Through this tour, you learn that this family's central figure was the mother Rose who had a strong discipline and considered being a mother as a professional. The first 4 children were born when Rose and Mr. Kennedy lived here. The other 3 children, including the youngest girl who was mentally challenged, were born in the bigger house couple blocks away. The new house now belongs to another family so we only saw the exterior.

Although it's more about his mother than JFK himself, I really enjoyed to learn about her and where JFK came from.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Manhattan Sailing



After being in New York for 6 years, there are still so much I haven't tried, especially touristy things. I took a whole week of from work to spend time with my parents who recently came to visit me in the States for the first time in the eight years since I left Japan.

We did pretty much everything, Empire State Building to Broadway, Met to Ground Zero. But the most memorable and fun experience for them was the sailing cruise. So was for me. There are number of sailing tours. Some are on a sailboat, some are on a gigantic ship. Since the weather was unpredictable, I chose the boat with seats on a deck as well as inside. Luckily, the weather was excellent and we stayed out the whole time, but I think it was a good choice. The sailboat Schooners seems fun and refreshing, but you can't really keep standing.

Another good choice is the time of the cruise. I selected sunset cruise so we start while it's light, cruise in twilight and ends watching the Manhattan's night view. I absolutely recommend this plan as the city is almost the best at night. The cost for 1.5 hours cruising was $50 per person with one complimentary drink of wine, beer or champaign. Additional drinks are around $6.

Sail NYC
http://www.sail-nyc.com/

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Vicky Cristina Barcelona


After seeing the trailer, I had a huge expectation in this movie. It's a truly charming, good movie, but not Allen's best.

Allen knows how to capture the beauty of the city, weather in NY or Spain, without using dazzling gimmicks. This movie did make me want to go to Spain.

Javier, in my mind, still is the powerful villain from No Country for Old Men. Scarlett is always Scarlett. Penelope completely nailed the hysterical, beautiful artist character. I wanted to see more of her. Her character was stronger than the story itself. I don't expect a big finale in movies, but I left the theater, feeling unsatisfied.

It's a worth-seeing movie but not in the theater necessarily.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Man on Wire


Why did you do this? --There’s no why.When someone needs to do something totally crazy, there’s probably no much reason for that. This documentary, which may not be a significant piece in and out of itself as a movie. What’s interesting is the story told here. The real story about this real man who achieved an insane adventure of his dream: Crossing on a wire between the Twin Towers, 1370 ft above the ground.

Philippe himself to begin with, this project team consist of all unique characters from France and U.S who recall the days emotionally and humorously.

While other people do something similar, like the recent New York Times building scaling, Philippe’s lunatic idea probably can’t be overwritten until someone tries Petronas Towers.