Friday Foto: Weightless in Space

...

0.065 pounds? Ahh, if only! If only.

Yes, folks, this would have been my weight if I was dancing about on a giant red star somewhere out in the far flung galaxies. I guess I would have to add a few pounds for the space suit I would need to wear, but hey, I think I should be able to bear the load of a few extra pounds without too much trouble, don’t you think? Especially, given that my current earth weight is around 232 pounds.

“Where can I find this magical scale?” I hear you ask. The answer is in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. To be more precise, you will find a range of similar scales fixed into the floor of the Cullman Hall of The Universe, in the Rose Center. Here’s what the website offers by way of an explanation:

Visitors can step on several digital scales located in different areas of the Hall of the Universe and discover their weight on Saturn, Jupiter, a neutron star, and the Sun, among other celestial bodies. Your lunar weight can be found on the first level beside a model of the Moon. [Source: AMNH website…]

Suggested General Admission
· Adults: $16
· Children (2-12): $9
· Seniors/Students with ID: $12
· Adult Members: Free
· Child Members: Free

Suggested General Admission, which supports the Museum's scientific and educational endeavors, includes admission to all 45 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Should you wish to pay less than the suggested admission, you may do so by purchasing tickets at any admissions desk at the Museum.

Oddly, purchasing tickets online incurs a service charge of $4 per ticket! You'd think it would be cheaper, but I assume the ticketing agency is adding their fees to the process. It hardly seems worth it. On the other hand, if ticket holders are able to avoid the queues, maybe paying an extra four bucks is good value.

-o0o-

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Columbia Laman Peak OmniTech Hiking Boots

Today I took my new pair of boots (see image) for a walk. I think they enjoyed it. On the other hand, I arrived home tired and exhausted after my 12.6 kms walk.

The good news: I am more than happy with my new footwear. The bad news: I am overweight and unfit and need to engage in more exercise on a regular basis if I am to make the most of my future travels.

This is not the first time I have written about the issue of fitness and travel, and probably won’t be the last. I, like presumably every other traveller, want to get the most out of my travel experiences. To do this I need to reach and maintain a reasonable level of fitness. There is no joy to be had in huffing and puffing up and down monuments, through museum galleries, or down city streets bathed in sweat and pausing for extended rest stops every 30 minutes or so.

Google map of my 12.6 km walking route

The image on the right outlines today’s walking route – which according to Google maps is a total distance of 12.6 kms (7.8 miles). That’s the most I have walking in one day since my stay in New York City last summer.

My new Laman Peak boots are made by Columbia. I settled on these because they fit well, look and feel good, and if they are anywhere near as good as my previous Ocanto Peak boots, again made by Columbia, I will have no cause for complaint.

Unfortunately, when I went looking for another pair of Ocanto Peak’s to replace the pair I have worn almost everyday for the past 18 months, I was told by the salesperson that Columbia had discontinued their manufacture. After a long search over a period of several weeks, I settled on the Laman Peak’s and today took them for a work out. Like I said, the boots did well, but I struggled, not due to the boots, but due to several factors including weight, level of fitness, and my age.

Having good footwear is essential if I am going to get out and exercise more, and continue my ‘training for travel’ regime. There is a lot I want to see of the world yet, and like it or not, walking is probably the best way of working out that suits my current lifestyle.



In Review: New York by Lily Brett

The book jacket describes Lily Brett’s 2001 book, New York as a “…wry collection of pieces,” about New York City; a city that has “…entertained, inspired and perplexed her for the decade she has lived there in a SoHo loft apartment.”

The daughter of Jewish holocaust survivors, Lily Brett was born in Germany and moved to Australia (with her parents) in 1948. In 1989 she moved to New York City with her artist husband, David Rankin. At just 156 pages, this collection of fifty-two essays offers short vignettes about New York City, that seek to illuminate and throw light onto life, in arguably, America’s most exciting metropolis.

It occurred to me that New York would make a fine companion piece to the highly successful television series, Sex And The City, since so many of Lily’s essays deal with relationships, fashion, women, personal appearance, marriage, plastic surgery, ageing, celebrity hairdressers, and yes – sex.

What I enjoyed most about Lily Brett’s New York was trying to see how much I could identify about the city based on my own two visits there in 2008, and again in 2010.

Her piece on Chinatown, called appropriately enough, Chinatown, captures the hustle and bustle of that New York neighborhood, and the shock and discomfort many people experience when first encountering the live fish, frogs and crustaceans waiting to be turned into meals of endless variety on nightly dinner tables.

In several essays she seems to lament the demise of the old New York. A city that was more reminiscent of Martin Scorcese’s Mean Streets, or even worse, Taxi Driver. A city bathed in low light, high crime, graffiti and poverty. Of course, all these aspects of New York are still there, though thankfully nowhere near as prevalent as they once were. Ultimately, Brett’s various neuroses leave her grateful that the bad old days alluded to above are for the most part gone, and I can only agree with her regarding this.

According to Lily Brett’s website, the 52 essays that make up New York were originally commissioned as weekly columns for the German newspaper Die Zeit. This accounts for their short length of just over two pages each. As a result, New York, can be read in a matter of hours, and while it doesn’t offer any major insights into the America psyche, it certainly offers many insights into Brett’s mind. So much so, that I couldn’t help thinking, as I read New York, that it would be fascinating to eavesdrop on a conversation between her and Woody Allen. One gets the feeling they might have a lot in common, with both apparently revelling in their neuroses, Jewish heritage, hypochondria, and their love/hate relationship with the Big Apple.

New York is an entertaining, albeit short and easily read collection of New York City observations, and is worth seeking out if you are planning a trip to this amazing city.

Unfortunately, New York appears to be out of print in its English language edition, although there are second-hand copies available on Amazon. Be aware though that there is also a German language edition currently available via Amazon. New York is available as a download for Amazon’s Kindle eReader, and may eventually be available in other eReader formats as well. Your best bet might be to visit your local second-hand book shop and see if they have a copy on their shelves.

Details:
Paperback: 156 pages
Publisher: Picador (January 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0330362453
ISBN-13: 978-0330362450

-o0o-

Lily Brett has written numerous other books and a range of these presented below. As always, you can purchase these directly via Amazon.Com.

-o0o-